SWEETCORN, POLENTA & SPELT SOUP DIPPERS, egg, butter and common-wheat free; vegan opt

A different flour combo makes unusual but delightful Savoury Pancakes...

original 2018; updated feb 25

Polenta & Sweetcorn Pancakes, perfect with soups/stews or as a satisfying snack

Thick vegetable soups like Potage of Swede  need something bready, either to dip, or to spread good stuff on top of.   

These soup dipper pancakes are a good bet.  

Sweetcorn Pancakes with Avocado 

Eat these warm if you can (store in the bottom of a medium oven separated by squares of greaseproof paper and wrapped in a clean tea towel).  They'd be great with bacon jam (if you've no blood pressure issues) or vegan tomato jam.  67 likes them best topped with avocado dipped in lemon juice and lightly seasoned with salt and pepper.

You'll need to process some of the corn but otherwise, the recipe is pretty straightforward.  

Cost: £3.50'ish, depends on dairy-free options
Makes 16 dippers/pancakes

Ingreds:

  1x300gm/11oz fresh OR tin/packet corn, drained (divided)

  2 tbsp plain dairy or plant yoghurt (unstrained is fine)

  140ml dairy or plant milk (prefer no-additives; 67 uses Plenish almond)

  1/2 tsp chilli flakes

  2 tbsp finely chopped chives
  2-3 tbsp finely diced red pepper or drained sun-blush tomatoes,(opt but adds a bit of pizazz)

  110gm polenta (cornmeal, not cornflour)
  2 tbsp wholewheat spelt flour +
  2.5 tbsp buckwheat flour (or plain spelt flour)
  (OR 4.5 tbsp plain spelt flour)
  1 tsp baking soda
  good sprinkling salt

  
  
Method:

1. Blitz 2/3 of the sweetcorn in a food processor or using a stick blender until smooth; add yoghurt & milk; stir till smooth; mix in chilli, chives, bell pepper and remaining 1/3 of corn niblets
2. Mix polenta, flours, soda & salt in a good-sized bowl
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry until just mixed; leave at least 10 mins
4. Heat a good-sized non-stick frying pan over med heat; generously spray  with veg oil
5. Spoon in generous tablespoons of batter (67 usually manages 4); cook until bubbles appear on the surface and bottom is golden brown, about 3 mins (check by lifting up the bottom with a fish slice); flip; cook 2 more mins
6. Keep pancakes warm, separated with a square of greaseproof paper, covered with a clean tea towel, in a moderate oven
   
7. Serve alongside soup or stews, topped with sliced or mashed avocado drizzled with lemon juice and seasoned well with salt and pepper OR on their own as a substantial snack with bacon jam or vegan tomato jam (as abov

Comments:  

'I love corn and this is a delightful way of eating it. It's worth getting fresh ears when in season.' Retired writer

Tips:

If corn is on the cob, remove leaves and the silky covering; drop into  a large pan of boiling salted water; let the water return to the boil; turn off heat, cover and leave 3-5 mins.  Cool.  To remove niblets, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOJrREMXBYo 

If you liked this you will also like:

    Bacon & Corn Savoury Pancakes, portable & perfect for lunchboxes
    Cornbread with niblets, spring onions & chilli

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This is a B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises recipe and may not be reproduced without written permission.

VEGETARIAN COFFEE WALNUT CAKE, easy-peasy indulgence, egg & butter free

 Who would have believed a cake free of egg & butter could be as good as this?

Vegetarian Coffee & Walnut Cake
'Very, very good on the day after it was made' Taster

Nothing beats Nigel Slater's ultra-rich Coffee and Walnut Cake but this vegetarian one comes in a good second.  Darkly flavoured, heavy-crumbed and not overly moist, it's achieved without eggs or butter.  It has lovely 'bite': dense rather than airy, more gingerbread in texture than sponge.  

67 has been testing several vegan and vegetarian cakes (see Notes Below) and this one is so tasty, it can pass for the conventional thing. It was inspired by a vegan website but has undergone so many changes since the first test (not least of which is the substitution of organic milk for plant milk) can now be considered a 67 recipe.      

Make it a day before it's needed to give the flavours time to settle.  A thin layer of icing and a few (optional) nuts are all that's needed to dress it up. 

Cost: £2 (without icing) + £1 for icing
Makes: 1 8x11.5inch/20x30xcm rectangle (or 9inch/23cm round/18 cupcakes)

Ingredients:
   220gm/7.75oz plain flour 
   175gm/6.1oz sugar +
     20gm/3/4oz ground almonds  OR 200gm/7oz sugar
   1 tsp baking soda
   1/2 tsp salt

   240ml dairy or plant milk less 1 tablespoon
   1tbsp instant coffee in 1 tbsp boiling water
   2 tsp vanilla
   80ml light veg oil
   15ml (1 tbsp) white wine vinegar

   Icing
     50gm butter or vegetable substitute, at room temperature
     50gm icing sugar
     25 finely chopped nuts

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c/350f
2. Line an 8x11.5inch/20x30cm rectangular pan with greaseproof paper
3. Whisk all dry ingred in a large bowl until thoroughly combined
4. Mix liquid ingred in a jug, blending well; pour into flour
5. Blend using electric beaters or a table top mixer - 2-3 mins; don't overbeat but make sure everything is well blended
6. Pour into pan, use a spatula to level the surface
7. Bake 30 mins or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean
8. Cool completely on a cooling rack; place cooling rack on top of the tin and invert it.  Remove paper. Invert back onto a serving platter.
9. Icing: whip butter until creamy; add icing sugar gradually; stir in nuts or scatter nuts over once cake is iced
10. Spread a thin layer over the cake

Comments:
'I wasn't impressed the day it was made but it was very, very good on the day after.' Political Agent
'Gosh, this was good and the coffee tempered the sweetness.' Retired writer

Tips:

• for a circular cake us a 9inch/23cm springform pan, lining the base and generously brushing the sides with vegetable oil
• the flavours might be a bit strong for kids; they'll love chocolate shortbread  - a doodle to prepare - instead
• for cupcakes, reduce cooking time to 20 mins; a toothpick stuck in the centre will come out clean when it's done
• some may prefer to make 1.5 times the icing recipe

Notes:

67 adapted this recipe from a vegan blogsite after experimenting with vegan  ingredients and techniques.  Some of the results have been surprisingly good though nearly all the products have high levels of sugar.  Many are quick and easy to put together.
But there's no doubt about it: some Vegan cakes can be...well, a teensy bit odd, in texture and in aftertaste.  And the recipes call for ingredients which 67 hesitates to use.  Coconut oil (dairy-free) is high in saturated fat and is currently on the American Heart Association's forbidden list.  Nearly all plant milks contain added sugar, oil or other products and those that don't have eye-watering prices.  (Hemp milk is £4/litre.)  
Cooking without eggs and butter isn't a problem - in fact it's a money-saver - but this blog prefers to replace non-dairy milks with skimmed organic milk and coconut oil with light vegetable oil.

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises and  may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.

SPELT WHOLEMEAL LOAF, with Yeast: vegan, very low fat, higher fibre &protein

THIS RECIPE IS BEING UPDATED 

TO TAKE ACCOUNT OF THE AVAILABILITY OF COMMERCIAL YEASTS

VEGETARIAN ORANGE SURPRISE CAKES, egg/butter free, Vegan option

This one's a (relatively) healthy indulgence...

Orange Surprise Mini-Cakes, Vegetarian (No, not eggs on cakes!) 
'Amazing! I could eat lots of these' 'Really airy & fluffy.' 'The bit of fresh orange was lovely.' Tasters

These delicious little Orange Cakes are as light & moist as traditional cake but are vegetarian, free from butter & eggs.  

They were created after the success of the Vegan Irish Coffee Chocolate Sponge for St Patrick's Day.  The Orange Cakes were inspired by Loving it Vegan.

Instead of plant milk full of additives, 67 opted for organic skim milk for the cakes and developed a butter-free frosting.    

But feel free to use plant milk (untested by 67) in the cake and a dairy free margarine in the icing.

Cost: £3.25'ish (4/2024)
Makes: 16 mini-cakes

Equipment:  

silicone mini cupcake tin, holes 3/4inch/2cm deep
med cupcake liners






Ingredients:
   220gm/7oz plain flour
   200gm/7oz sugar
   1 tsp baking soda
   1/2 tsp salt

  220 ml organic semi-skimmed milk (or non-dairy milk)
    2 tbsp orange zest 
    1 tsp orange essence
    1 tsp vanilla 
   80 ml light veg oil
   15ml white vinegar

Icing:
   30gm/1oz strained yoghurt or non-dairy margarine
   200gm/7oz sifted icing sugar
   orange segments


Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c/350
2. Line small cupcake tins with 18 med cupcake liners (they'll stand up over the rim of the mould)
3. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda & salt; stir well
4. In a separate container, mix milk, vanilla, orange essence, oil & vinegar
5. Form a large depression in the dry ingredients; pour in liquid
6. Using a hand-held whisk, draw in the ingredients along the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix thoroughly without overbeating 
7. Fill cupcake liners to just below the top (an ice-cream scoop helps); bake 18-20 mins or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean
8. Cool; prepare icing 
9. Using a small paring knife with sharp tip, cut out a cone-shaped hole 
10. Fill with half an orange segment then cover with icing 

Icing

1. Remove segments from 1 orange (see below); cut each into halves 
2. Beat yoghurt & icing sugar until thick & soft but still holding its shape; add a bit more icing sugar if necessary 
3. Add orange essence, mix
4. Stuff the pointed end of the orange segment into the cone-shaped depression; push down to just below the top 
5. Using a piping bag or spoon, cover with thin layer of icing

Comments:
'I could eat lots of these in a row; they're not too rich and will please those who don't want too much sweetness but also those who love sugar.  It's rare that I wish I had the recipe but I do want to know how to make these.' 14 year old schoolboy
'Airy & fluffy; very more-ish.' Female Council candidate
'The fresh orange hidden in the middle was lovely.' Political Agent
'Absolutely great; really nice and light.' 20-something campaign manager

Tips:

• yoghurt adds tanginess to the icing which is usually offset by the orange essence and the oranges; a bit of maple syrup could make the icing more appealing to the very young
• 67 ran out of white flour and used about 25gms/1oz wholemeal flour which didn't seem to affect taste or texture

To peel oranges, slice off the top and bottom so that the orange sits nicely.  Slide a knife between the peel/pith and the flesh and press downwards, following the curve of the orange. 
Remove any bits of pith 

Slide a sharp knife between the membrane to the left of the segment and the flesh. Turn sharp edge of knife upwards between the flesh and the membrane to the right of the segment.   



   

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This recipe has been developed by B  Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises.  They may not be reproduced, in any form, without the author's written permission.

IRISH COFFEE CHOCOLATE CAKE: butter & egg free, no dairy option; higher fibre, healthier, vegan

Special occasion cake for St Patrick's Day that tastes and feels like proper cake but is vegan...

updated 3/25; first posted 2018;

'One of the best cakes you've made' 'Melt-in-the-mouth, spongy, cream v. silky' Tasters

Irish Coffee Cake is truly worthy of a St Patrick's Day knees-up. 

Dark, rich and gorgeously chocolate, the cake is fine-crumbed and hinting of whiskey.  The frothy topping can be served on the side or made into icing (as in photo).  It's very rich so portions can be kept small - it'll feed 16 happily.  

67's tasters delivered their verdicts on the dessert before being told that the cake was vegan.  They were stunned -- in a good way.  The cake* passed the 'carnivores love it' test with flying colours, as well as meeting the 67 criteria for budget-conscious and low-cholesterol.  

Butter and egg free, the cake is healthier than most.  67 replaced some plain flour with wholemeal (Or try fine matzo flour, which 67 has not tested)  and cut back on sugar, adding sweet ground almonds instead. 

Cost: £6.00 plus topping (2025) 
Makes: 12-16 slices 

Ingreds:

   125g plain flour, organic if poss 
   100g wholemeal flour , organic if poss

        (Or 225g fine matzo flour)

   1.5 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

   ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

   1.5 teaspoons instant espresso powder OR strong instant

   75g/2.6oz cocoa powder (not drinking chocolate)

   375ml hot water, from a recently boiled kettle
   1 tsp vanilla

   90ml sunflower/light vegetable oil

   1.5 teaspoons vinegar 

   260gm/9.1oz soft dark brown sugar plus 
         40gm/1.4oz ground almonds
   (OR 300gm soft dark brown sugar)

  1-2 tbsp/30ml whisky (opt)

Topping:
    150ml vegan cream (or dairy for vegetarians) whipped to med firm peaks
    1 tbsp whiskey
    3-4 tbsp icing sugar (opt)
    finely grated 70% dark chocolate

1 x  23cm/9in circular pan with removable sides 

Method: