vegan cheesecake!

Two of my close friends are getting married next week, and asked me to make a vegan cheesecake for their wedding. Admittedly cheesecake isn't the most obvious choice of cake to make vegan, but silken tofu can do wonders. It can be found in asian shops (at the back of Yum Yum; upstairs at New Loon Moon) health food stores like Infinity Foods or if like me you're baking late at night, in Sainsbury's, hidden near the Beanfeast. The stuff I've used is UHT, and comes in a tetrapak.

I made a nice Lime one before, with a base made from digestive biscuits, but my friend who's getting married asked for chocolate, so chocolate it is.

I've largely used the recipe found in Another Dinner Is Possible, an excellent vegan cookbook written by a cooking collective on the southcoast, experienced at serving up tasty grub to large groups of activists.

So.. the recipe.

50g cashew nuts
5 tbsp oil
2 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
100g flour
200-400g chocolate
~600g (2 packs) of silken tofu,
100g + 3tbsp sugar
rum

Glaze (cream+sugar+vanilla)


Preheat oven to Gas 6

To make the base, grind & blend:
50g cashew nuts
3 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1tbsp sugar

add 100g flour

Press this breadcrumby mixture into a tin (I used a round 'springform cake tin') and bake in the oven for 15mins.

Melt the chocolate (200-400g) in a 'bain-marie'

Blend (~600g - 2 packs) of silken tofu, add 2tsp vanilla essence and 100g sugar.

Then mix in with the chocolate like so:

Add rum (2 - 6 shots to taste!)

Put this mix on top of the breadcrumby base, and bake for 30mins.

You can add an extra 'glaze' area if you like. I used half a carton of soya cream, with 2tbsp sugar & 2tsp vanilla essence. Adding more sugar will make a nice shiny gelatinous caramely top.
You can also use yoghurt as the 'base' of this & mix in various flavours.

Bake this for 5-10 mins on top heat.

Leave in a fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, before eating.
Should serve 12.

et voila... 

-------------------------
Here's a lime version I made for the London Vegan Pot-luck last month.

Pearl Barley Risotto

So I actually made a creamy vegan risotto!
AND I put tahini in something that proved to be edible!

Pearl Barley is super super cheap, and can be grown in the UK. In fact most of this can be UK grown (except perhaps, the oil, tahini and nuts!).

• Prepare Pearl Barley (Soak overnight or boil for 30-50 minutes) [75g per person] 
• Chop & fry onion [half per person?] and some garlic to taste. Tastes best in butter or olive oil. I used vitalite. 
• Stir for a couple of minutes. 
• Add chopped curly kale and runner beans (or whatever veg you have). 
• Make 1 litre of stock in a seperate jug. 
• Add the PEARL BARLEY to the onions and veg. 
• Stir until it sticks. 
• Slowly add the stock waiting til it soaks up before adding more. 
• Add more water if it needs it. 
• Add a tablespoon of tahini and/or a tablespoon of ground nuts (I used cashewnut butter, but it's pretty expensive). 
• Stir thoroughly, maybe with some more water. 
• Cook for a further 5 minutes 

• Enjoy !! (You may want to add greated cheese / extra butter/oil)