Hot Chocolate / Chocolate Mousse - Wheat, Gluten, Dairy Free (contains egg yolks)

This delightful dessert works well both as a hot chocolate or a cooled mousse.  Ive modified the original recipee to take out the lactose in it, and it works really surprisingly well!  For those who can eat lactose, you can use whole milk and double cream if you like - but I think the result is too rich.  This lactose free version remains light as well as chocolatly and tasty :)

You will need

250ml Hemp Milk
125ml Coconut Milk
60g Sugar
1 tablespoon Corn Flour
35g Coco Powder
15ml Hot water
2 Egg Yolks
60g Dark Chocolate - chopped into chunks


Method:

1. Warm the milk in a pan.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together sugar, coco powder and the corn flour.  Add 2 tablespoons of hot water and whisk into a paste

3. Next mix in the egg yolks, followed by the coconut water.

4. Put the eggy mixture into the pan of warmed milk. Keep on a low heat and stir continuously until it becomes thicker (almost like mayonaise - it may take 5mins or so)

5. Take off the heat and stir in the chocolate chunks

6. Enjoy hot, or leave to cool then place in the fridge to set.


P.S Dont know what to do with left over egg whites? Try mixing with 150g descicated coconut and about 100g icing sugar. Shape into balls and place on a baking sheet. Bake in the oven Gas mark 6 for 10 minutes.

Hemp Quiche - Wheat Free, Gluten Free, Dairy Free

 The last four months my IBS has been playing up and I'm once again lactose and wheat intolerant :(  So I have been experimenting with some dairy and wheat free recipes, and this is one of my favourites! Although there is no cheese, the lovely nutty hemp flavour with the veggies is delicious enough!

For the pastry base, I recommend experiment using a mixture of flours to see what works best for you.  Whether your wheat free or gluten free, Hemp and Gram (chickpea flour) are good options.  I have experimented with rye and spelt too, both of which make nice pastry, although these flours arent suitable for all.

You will need:

For the pastry:
100g Flour (in equal measure - Gram, Spelt, Hemp)
50g Soya Butter

3-4 eggs
200ml Water
A few handfuls of Hemp Seeds (whole/dehulled)

Veggie topping of your choice.

Method

1. First the pastry! Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it becomes like breadcrumbs. If you fancy an extra nutty hempy taste to your base,  add a small handful of hempseeds too.

2. Add small amounts of water and mix until you get a firm dough

3. Roll out and use it to line a well greased pie dish. Prick with a fork 8 times and bake in the oven for 5 minutes at Gas Mark 4 / 180C





4. Next make the hemp milk. Using a blender, mix a handful of hempseeds with 200ml of water and blitz for 2 minutes on full power. If you used whole seeds then I suggest you use a seive to strain out the shells.  If you dont have a blender, then either grind your hempseeds, or use dehulled hemp seeds, and gently heat them in a pan of 200ml of water till the water turns milky.



5. In a bowl, mix the beaten eggs and hemp milk together. Season well with salt, black pepper and mixed herbs.

6. Now begin to build up your layers of veggies in the pie dish. Its often good to start with a layer of tomato puree on the base, but instead a good sprinkling of hempseeds is tasty too. I suggest a layer of Sustainably fished Tuna,  topped with Sweetcorn, fried onions and finally tomatoes.  But any veggie combos will do.

7. Pour the eggy mixture over the top of the veggies, making sure everything is well covered.  Top it off with a good sprinkling of dehulled hemp seeds.

8. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes on gas mark 4 /180 C, or until it is set and the top is golden.



Veggie suggestions



Onions - chop and lightly fry until soft
Bacon - Chop and fry first
Broccoli - boil in water for 5 minutes first
Mushrooms - Slice and fry in butter first
Leek - slice and fry in butter first
Tinned salmon - extra nice if you top with fresh spinach and use riccota cheese
Tomatoes - slice up and place on top of quiche

Vegan Tea Bread

This simple recipe is great because it doesnt require much stuff or effort, its very cheap to make, and once youve tried it you can experiment with it easily!  Try adding your favourite nuts, seeds, candied fruit, hempseeds, or anything else you fancy!


You will need: 

all measurements are in cups, dont panic - its all about proportions, if you just use the same cup then itll work :)

1 cup of tea (any tea is nice, earl grey, redbush etc)
1 cup of raisens (or sultanas/currents/mixed peel)
2 cups of flour (self raising, or add 2 teaspoons of baking powder)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon mixed spice

Method

1. Put the kettle on and make 2 cups of tea.One of them is for you, dont add milk to the other one (but you can stir in a spoonful of honey if you want to)

2. Add the raisens to the cup of tea, and leave until the tea goes cold.

3. Next, add the flour, sugar, baking powder and spices to the tea mixture and stir well until all mixed together

4. Line a loaf tin with baking paper, and spoon the mixture into the tin.

5. Bake in the oven at Gas Mark 4 for about 45 minutes.

Depending on the depth of your tin it might need slightly more or less time, best way to check is to poke a knife into the cake, if it comes out clean its done, if it come out with raw cake mix on it then it needs more time!

Vegan Jam Rolly Polly

This recipe doesnt have to be vegan at all, the secret ingredient is Suet, which you can get both a Vegan and Meat version :)

You will need:

8oz Plain Flour
4oz Suet
A lot of Jam or marmalade
A spoonful of sugar
Optional - for a glaze, either Milk (cows/hemp/soya) or a beaten egg

Method:

1. Mix the Flour and suet together in a bowl.

2. Add spoonfuls of water, bit by bit, and stir in until you have a sturdy dough.

3. Roll out into a square on a lightly floured bit of baking paper

4. Spread your jam all over the square - nice and evenly

5.  Use the baking paper to help you roll the pastry.  The best way is to lift and roll, to ensure that you keep a good layer of jam as you roll round.

6. Once rolled, spoon over some milk as a glaze, then sprinkle on a spoonful of sugar. Dont use too much because the sweetness comes from the jam!

7. Bake in the oven at Gas mark 6 for 25 minutes, then gas mark 4 for another 15 minutes. Leave to cool before eating as hot jam is very very very hot!

Hemp Pancakes (with hemp milk)

Pancakes should be eaten more regularly than just on pancake day!  My favourite topping is Bacon and Maple syrup, once youve tried it youll never eat anything else!

Try these delicious hempy pancakes too!


You will need:

110g Plain Flour
Pinch Salt
2 eggs
50g Butter
275 ml of Water
2 Handfuls of hempseeds

Method:

1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.

2. Make a well in the middle and break the eggs into it. Whisk until its mixed well with the flour.

3. Hemp Milk: You need to make hemp milk now, its super easy! If you have a blender then blitz the 275ml water with a handful of hempseeds for 2 minutes. If you use whole seeds you'll have to sieve out the shell afterwards.  If you dont have a blender, then it may be easier to use dehulled seeds, just gently heat up the water with a handful of seeds until the water turns milky. Sieve out the seeds and leave to cool before using.

4. Next gradually add the milk, and whisk away until any lumps have disappeared.


5. Melt the butter and use it to lubricate your frying pan. Make sure you get the pan nice and hot before you start.

6. Use a cup or a ladel to spoon the mixture onto the frying pan, tilting the pan straight away to ensure you get a even coverage.  Cook for a minute or two on each side until golden.

7. For extra Hempy goodness try sprinkling a few hemp seeds on the frying pan as soon as you pour the batter in.  Or for a hempy overload, try adding a handfull of hemp seeds into the batter - this will give your pancakes a heavy hempy flavour, its very delicious!

Hemp Truffles

You will need:

275g Dark Chocolate
250ml Double Cream
50g Butter
50g Coco powder
50g Hemp seeds
Extra 50g Chocolate


Method:

1. Break chocolate up into small bits and put in a mixing bowl

2. Bring the cream to the boil and pour over the chocolate.  Stir gently until all the chocolate has melted.

3. Add the butter in 2 stages, and stir until its all smooth and glossy

4. Put the mixture in the fridge to set, for a minimum 3 hours or even overnight :)

5. Once set, take out the fridge. Put the coco powder in a bowl and lightly dust your hands with it.

6. Take spoonfuls of the mixture, roll into balls in your palm. Next drop them into the coco powder and turn until they are coated and place back in the fridge

7. Next.. if you want to add a crunchy coating to your truffles begin by melting about 50g of chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.

8. Put the hemp seeds in a bowl. Take a truffle, drop it in the hempseeds, turn until coated.. then drop into the melted chocolate, turn until coated.

9. Place on a plate lined with foil or baking paper, and place back into the fridge until set :)

Sesame Snaps

You will need:

Feel free to be rough with the seeds/oats/nuts, a good sprinkle will do, as long as u have enough to cover your baking sheet :) You can also use alternative ingredients, such as differnet seeds/nuts to taste, you can also replace the peanut butter with tahini if you like :)

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup raw butternut squash seeds
1/2 cup chopped pecans


1/2 cup hempseed
1 cup Sesame seeds
3 tablespoons golden syrup
1 tablespoon peanut butter
pinch of sea salt
pinch ground cinamon



Method 


1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4 /  325F

2. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and spread out the seeds, nuts and oats

3. Bake in the oven for 20minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent over browning

4. Meanwhile, combine the syrup, peanut butter, salt and cinamon in a pan over a medium heat for about 5 mins

5. Pour the syrup mixture over the seeds etc on the baking tray and press down gently

6. Leave to cool for 5 mins, then cut into squares

Mini Chocolate Puddings

This is not for the faint hearted :)  Its a nice gooey chocolate pudding, with a spongey outer and a hot melty chocolate centre. 100% indulgent - be warned.

You will need:

50g Good quality dark chocolate

50g Unsalted Butter
1 Egg

1 Egg Yolk
1 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
3 Tablespoons Plain Flour

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7 / 220'C / 425'F and lightly butter and a pudding bowl (I use a Le Creuset mug - all you need is a little bowl you can put in the oven - like a souffle cup) - then lightly flour the bowl with either coco powder, icin sugar, or just flour

2. Melt together the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl suspended over a saucepan of simmering water.  (its very important that the water in the pan doesnt touch the bottom of the heatproof bowl).  Once melted, leave to cool

3. Whisk together the egg and sugar until mixture is bubbly, then fold in the cooled chocolate mixture

4. Next add the flour and fold again until smooth

5. Pour the mixture into the bowl, and bake for 10 minutes - or until the top is firm.

6. Once done, turn them out into a bowl and eat right way :)


NB: If you're really stuck for something to make this in, then try in a bun case/cupcake papers and cook for slightly less time.

Vegan Butternut Squash and Chocolate Loaf

This recipe includes my favourite vegetable - butternut squash! Ive adapted it from a recipe book, and changed it to vegan, but it doesnt have to be vegan if you like, I'll include both options in the recipe :)

You will need:

225g Butternut Squash - raw, peeled and grated
350g Granulated Sugar
50g Butter (soya butter or marg)
100g Silken Tofu (or 2 large eggs)
400g Plain Flour
1/2 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Mixed spice
Juice of half an Orange (Optional - see note at bottom about this)
50g Dark Chocolate - chopped into small chunks

1 loaf tin - buttered and lined with baking paper

 Method:

First - Preheat oven to gas mark 4 / 350'F / 180'C

1.  Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

2. Add the Tofu half at a time, beating inbetween each addition.

3. Add grated butternut squash and mix well

4. Add the orange juice to the mixture and stir well

5. Sift together the flour, bicarb of soda, salt, baking powder and spices.

6. Fold flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until everything is incorporated

7. Add the chopped chocolate to the mixture and stir well

8. Bake in the oven for 50 mins to 1 hour (depends on how moist the squash is) Check by inserting a skewer: if it comes out clean then its done.

9. Leave to cool before eating, and enjoy! :)


 NB: I adapted this recipe from a green and blacks recipe book. It says to use Maya Gold chocolate, or any good quality orange chocolate..I couldnt find a vegan version of this, so I used Dark chocolate and the juice of half an orange, which worked well. This is optional really, if you cant be bothered with the orange then no worries, but bare in mind you might have to add about 50ml of water to the final mix if it is too dry :)

Homemade Pizza for Two

This recipe is great because its easy to knock up and consists of ingredients that you can find in your store cupboard!

You will need:

150g - 200g Plain flour (dependin on if you want 2 smaller pizzas or one big one)
1 teaspoon dried yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
A sprinkle of hemp seeds (optional)

Toppings of your choice

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients together

2. Add about 4 tablespoons of warm water (not hot!). Add enough so that the dough becomes sticky

3. Knead it on a floured surface, and leave to stand in a warm place for 20 minutes

4. Roll out and add your desired toppings!


My suggestions are (not all together) a layer of tomato puree, cheese, mushrooms, ham, bacon, chorizo, sardines, tuna, onion, baked beans, hemp seeds!  If you dont have any tomato puree you can cheat by adding a tin of chopped tomatos, just add it to fried mushrooms/bacon/whatever and cook for a bit so it reduces!

5. Bake about 2/3rds of the way up the oven at Gas mark 5 for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!