Vegan Bread Pudding

Personally I don't think i ever tasted bread pudding, well perhaps i did when i was much younger at some buffet dinner but i really can't recall the taste or even the texture. Therefore when i made this vegan bread pudding, i brought some over to my dearest friend so that i can get some feedback , if this is the right texture or even taste.

From what my mom told me, the non vegan version has eggs, butter and milk as part of the ingredients and also some served it with some syrup , perhaps maple or some sweet syrup or even cream, which i'm not too sure of. I read that some baked it in a water bath, but my version is just like how you would normally bake anything.

INGREDIENTS
* 3 cups soy milk
* 3/4 cups brown sugar
* 1 tbsp vanilla extract
* 1 tsp ground cinnamon
* 1 cup golden raisins
* 4 cups day old bread (cubed)
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Method:
1) Mix all the ingredients in a bowl except the bread and stir well.
2) Arrange the cubed bread in the pan and pour the soy mixture on it.
3) Let the bread and soy milk mixture sit for bout 20-30mins, so that the bread will be even soaked.
4) Bake in a preheated oven of 180 degree C for bout 30mins.

Note:
Instead of mixing the raisins together in the soy milk mixture, i scattered it around the cubed bread before pouring the soy mixture over it. If you like raisins all over , u can even layer your bread and raisins alternatively, which i did. I also omitted the nuts for i don't have any at that time.

I baked it for 30mins like what the recipe suggested but it turn out too soggy and wet for me , therefore i further bake for bout 25-30mins. I let the pudding sit for almost 2-3 hours before i tasted it. The texture turns out great after a few hours of sitting and not when its freshly out from the oven. For those who likes a thicker pudding, add more layers. Mine was only 2 layers of thick cubed bread compressed into a pretty decent thickness after a few hours of sitting at room temp.

Non-Dairy Eggless Brownies

For those who has been following my blog, I'm really sorry that i took so long to update. I've been pretty busy and due to that i've hardly had any spare time to experiment. But i'm definitely sure that this will be a good post for those chocolate lovers out there!

My dear friend, Denny, taught me a lot about food, especially those with special diets. With all that knowledge, i'm definitely putting it on good use and i'm slowly learning on how to cater for those who doesn't consume certain food/raw materials. My uncle for instance, he's lactose intolerant therefore there's quite a bit of food/desserts that he has to forgo, which is a pity cuz i totally know and understand how it feels to not be able to eat what your heart desires!

So for those lactose intolerant/egg-free lifetstyle people out there, this is definitely a treat you can whip up at home!

INGREDIENTS
* 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 vegan margarine
* 2/3 cup cocoa powder
* 2 cups brown sugar
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 1/1 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Method:
1) Combine 1/3 cup of flour with 1 cup water and cook on medium heat until thick. Set aside to cool.
2) In a new saucepan, melt the margarine and stir in the cocoa powder.
3) Sift together the remaining flour along with baking powder.
4) Beat sugar, salt & vanilla into the flour mixture. Then add the melt margarine/ cocoa mixture into the flour mixture.
5) Add the above mixture to the sifted flour, baking powder mixture.
6) Bake for about 25mins in a preheated oven of 18o degree C.

Note:

For those who wants a more chocolatey bite, prepare just enough chocolate ganache and pour over the brownies when it has cooled down and voila! your perfect piece of chocolatey dessert!

I've replaced the cocoa powder with chocolate powder for a more chocolatey touch to it. Chocolate powder is a little bit more expensive as compared to cocoa powder but its definitely my preferred ingredient in anything chocolate!

Eggless Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Strawberry Frosting

Chocolate and strawberries are two of my very close friend's favourite and i thought this is the perfect timing to blend both ingredients together for i was invited over for lunch at her place and i thought a sweet dessert might be good. Since she doesnt consume eggs, its another good chance for me to try out another eggless cake with different ingredients used as compared to my previous Eggless Chocolate Muffins. I didnt wanna make the usual rectangular or round cake so i thought why not turn it into cupcakes! Easy to consume and cute looking at the same time!

At first i was skeptical on whether to frost the cupcakes or not then i thought why not give it a try and see if she likes it. We both not a big fan of frosting or whipped cream or anythin creamy for that matter so to have frosting on it its a 50-50 thing , where you either like it or hate it. For someone that doesnt like creamy stuff i actually like the taste of the frosting when i was done whipping it. Food definitely taste different when nothing but the best and fresh ingredients used.

Ingredients:

CUPCAKES
1 packet of eggless premix
400gm condensed milk
100ml full cream milk
200ml UHT milk
185gm melted butter
1 tsp chocolate paste/compound

Method:
1) Beat the sugar (came together with the eggless premix) with the condensed milk, full cream milk and UHT milk until sugar dissolved.
2) Add the melted butter and chocolate paste
3) Fold the premix
4) Scoop the batter into the lined muffin tray and bake in the preheated oven of 180 degrees C for 30mins or when the cake tester comes out clean.

Note:
If eggless premix is unavailable you can use the eggless cake/cupcakes recipe available in cookbooks or internet. If you're in a creative mood, feel free to experiment on the standard ingredients used for the eggless cake and add a touch of your creativity in it.

FROSTING

250gm butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp strawberry extract
3 tbsps fresh strawberry puree

Method:
1) Cream the butter until its light and fluffy before adding the sugar.
2) Once it has combined, add vanilla and strawberry extract.
3) Lastly, add the freshly crushed or pureed strawberry.

Note:
Crushed strawberries are good if you like to feel some texture in your frosting when you eat it. You can crush it with your fork.

But if you want a smooth and fluffy frosting then pureed strawberry is good. Put bout 4-5 strawberries in the food processor to produce about 3 tbsps of strawberry puree.

If your fresh strawberries are one the sour note, then sprinkle some soft brown sugar on it and set it aside until later use.

Eggless Chocolate Muffins

Having friend(s) that doesn't consume eggs/on vegetarian/vegan diet or egg allergy somewhat make you more alert bout the ingredients you infused into your cooking, especially if you're preparing for them.

I once experimented on an eggless dark chocolate cake but it was rather dry and with a different set of ingredients, needless to say i was rather dissapointed but i read that its not easy to bake without eggs for eggs give more flavour and help with the cake texture. So since its already written that it wouldn't be an easy task, therefore i brace myself for another eggless adventure.

So this time around instead of the usual muffins, i decided to experiment on eggless muffins so that i can work on perfecting it in small batches. The ingredients listed belows are just nice for 9 muffins in my 12' muffin tray.


INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups of cake flour
3 tbsps cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsps corn oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 cup cold water

Method:
1) Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.
2) Line muffin cups in the muffin tray.
3) Sift the cake flour and cocoa powder together and add in sugar, baking soda and salt.
4) In another bowl, add corn oil, vanilla extract and cold water.
5) Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined.
6) Add the vinegar quickly and stir in - immediately pour into the lined muffin cups and put it in the oven and bake for 25-30.
7) Cool thoroughly and remove from the tray.

Note:
Instead of using all-purpose flour, i replaced it with cake flour and sprinkled some chocolate rice on top before placing it in the preheated oven.

I have no idea how a great delicious- tasting eggless muffins should taste like but i noticed there's a strong taste of baking soda. Perhaps i can experiment further and replace it with baking powder instead. i wonder if the effect would be the same. I've read somewhere that some even use coke in their eggless cake. That coke in cake sure sounds intriguing. I'm definitely tryin that out the next time around