Valentine's Day
Jammie Dodgers
Steak
Chocolate Swirls
Hazelnut Truffles
Vegetable Stew & Dumplings
Whites Chocolate & Raspberry Fudge
Strawberry Sorbet
Valentines Sugar Biscuits
Churro Donuts
Heart Churros
Heart Cake
Jammie Dodgers
Makes 16
Why not try cooking the hearts and dipping them in chocolate. Yum!
Ingredients
150g Butter
90g Caster Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
225g Plain Flour
3 tbsp Seedless Raspberry or Strawberry Jam
Method
Preheat the oven 160C and Prepare 2 large baking trays with baking parchment.
Cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the vanilla essence
Sift the flour in.
Mix to a dough.
Lightly flour a clean surface
Roll your dough to roughly 1/2 cm thick
Using a 2” circular cookie cutter, cut as many circles out as possible. Keep the number even.
Cut heart shapes out of the centre of half the circles.
Bake for 15-20 minutes
Once the cookies are out the oven, on a cooling rack, put the jam in a small bowl.
Mix the jam, gently, to soften it and remove any lumps.
Once the biscuits have cooled, spread the jam from the middle of the biscuits (without the heart shapes in them) to cover almost to the edges.
Place the heart shaped ones on top and gently press down.
Serve straight away or for the best consistency leave them, in an airtight container, for 24 hours.
Enjoy!
Chocolate Swirls
Makes 20;
10 of each flavour
Ingredients
100g Dark Chocolate
2 tbsp Butter
4 tbsp Mango & Passion Fruit Icing Sugar
½ Tin Coconut cream (only the solid part) - Left in the fridge overnight is best.
This recipe requires a mould about 1” each sweet.
Method
Make the chocolate sweet;
In a glass bowl, over a ¼ full saucepan of boiling water, melt your chocolate
Pour a little chocolate into your chosen moulds. Spread the chocolate around and pour out any excess.
Place in the freezer for roughly 20 minutes.
In the mean time, make your fillings.
Cream together the butter and icing sugar. Place in the fridge until needed.
Place the coconut milk into a small bowl. Whisk slightly to get a thick whipped cream texture. Place in the fridge until needed.
Fill the chocolate moulds;
Pipe the buttercream into 10 of your moulds. Fill right to the top.
Pipe the coconut cream into 10 of your moulds. Fill right to the top.
Freeze all 20 for roughly 5 minutes.
Make the bottom;
Pipe the rest of the chocolate over the bottom of the sweets.
Freeze for roughly 10-15 minutes.
Finish the sweet;
Gently take the sweets out of the mould.
Serve 10 minutes after, so the filling can defrost, or store in an air tight container until ready to eat.
Enjoy!
Hazelnut Truffles
Makes 12
Ingredients
80g MooFree Hazelnut Chocolate
90ml Coconut Milk
1tsp Vanilla Essence
½ Cup Hazelnuts
Method
Melt the chocolate and coconut milk together, over a boiling pan.
Stir in the vanilla.
Place in the fridge for 3-4 hours or longer.
Place the hazelnuts in a food processor to create small pieces
Roll your truffles out with a melon baller and roll in the hazelnuts to coat the whole of the outside.
Serve straight away (a little soft)
Or Place back in the fridge for another 2-3 hours to harden more.
Serve
Enjoy!
Steak
This is a Loving It Vegan Recipe
Makes 4
Ingredients
¾ Cup Chickpeas - Drained
¼ Cup Ready to go Yeast
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
¼ tsp Cumin
¼ tsp Coriander Powder
½ tsp Oregano
2 tbsp Soy Sauce - See my soya free soy sauce recipe https://marisasveganrecipes.wixsite.com/mysite/post/soya-free-soy-sauce
½ Cup Tomato Puree
½ tsp Paprika
¼ tsp Ground Pepper
1 tbsp Mustard
½ Cup Veg Stock
1 ¾ Cup Plain Flour
Marinade:
¼ Cup Soy Sauce - See my soya free soy sauce recipe
https://marisasveganrecipes.wixsite.com/mysite/post/soya-free-soy-sauce
1 tsp Paprika
2 tbsp Brown Sugar
2 tbsp Tomato Puree
Method
Add all the ingredients except the flour into a food processor.
Mix together well.
Transfer the mix into a large bowl.
Sift the flour into the mix.
Mix together to create a soft, stretchy dough.
Cut into 4 equal pieces
Using a potato masher, gently, squash the streaks down a little.
Individually, loosely wrap the steaks in foil
Steam for 20 minutes
Marinade:
Add all the ingredients into a small bowl.
Whisk together well
Let sit for a few minutes
Whisk again
Unwrap the steaks and place them in a square dish
Pour half the marinade over them
Flip and repeat on the other side.
Fry your steaks on a low-medium heat
Serve
Enjoy!
Vegetable Stew & Dumplings
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 medium White Onion - rough dice
1 large red Pepper - rough dice
2 stalks of Celery - chunky sliced
2 cloves of Garlic - crushed
½ to 1 head of Cauliflower - florets
2 medium Carrots - 1 cm cubed
2 Stock cubes - crushed
½ bottle of Red Wine
½ tube of Tomato Paste/Puree
Dumplings (makes 8) - Follow packet instructions;
100g Suet
200g Self Raising Flour
Pinch of Salt
6-10Tbsp Cold water
Method
In a large saucepan, fry off the onion and the carrot until softened.
Once they have softened add the cauliflower, fry a little more and add the pepper and celery.
Separately mix the wine and tomato paste together.
Add the crushed stock cubes (no water) to the fried veg, and stir until it sticks.
Then pour in the wine/tomato paste mix and stir again making sure to get where the stock cubes caught.
Then add approximately 500ml - 700 ml of water (enough to cover the veg and then a bit more).
Leave to simmer for about 20 minutes.
While the stew simmers, start preparing the dumplings.
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
Mix all the ingredients for dumplings together to form a firm but pliable dough.
Then using a dough blade or knife, divide the dough evenly into 8, then form balls out of each of the 8 doughs.
Place on a baking sheet in the middle of the oven for about 12 minutes or until golden and crispy.
Once the dumplings are in the oven, set about making a cornflour water mix to thicken the stew, this will be 2 tbsp cornflour and 1 ½ tbsp water, and mixed with your fingers to make sure you get all the lumps out.
Once the cornflour water mix is sorted pour it into the stew and stir the stew, making sure to spread the mix around the pan.
Serve & Enjoy!
White Chocolate & Raspberry Fudge
Makes 8
Ingredients
170g White Chocolate
6 tbsp Condensed Milk
¼ -⅓ Cup Raspberries - Frozen.
Method
Line a 9x5 loaf tin with baking parchment so it slightly overlaps the edge of the tin.
Microwave the chocolate and condensed milk for 1-2 minutes or until the chocolate has nearly melted.
Crush the raspberries so they are small chunks.
While the chocolate mix is still hot stir in the raspberries.
Smooth out the fudge mix into the loaf tin placing 8 whole raspberries on top and refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.
Once your fudge has set, take it out of the tin and cut into squares, making sure you have a raspberry on each cube.
Serve
Enjoy!
Strawberry Sorbet
Ingredients
500g Strawberries - Stem removed & halved
¼ Cup Agave Nectar
Method
Freeze strawberries for about an hour before starting. You can freeze overnight but let thaw for about 1 minute in the microwave before starting.
Place the strawberries in a food processor, blitz until smooth.
Add the agave nectar, blitz to combine.
Enjoy soft or freeze for an hour for perfect sorbet
Serve
Enjoy!
Valentines Sugar Biscuits
Makes 30
Ingredients
½ Cup butter
¾ Cups Caster Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
2 Cups Plain Flour
1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
2 tbsp Water
Icing;
1 Cup Icing Sugar
½ tsp Vanilla Essence
1 tbsp water
Pink food colouring
Pink Sprinkles
Method
Preheat the oven 180C and prepare a large baking tray with baking parchment.
Cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the vanilla essence
Sift the four and bicarbonate of soda into the bowl. Rub between your fingertips to create a breadcrumb like mixture.
Mix the water in to create a dough ball.
Roll the dough to around ¼ inch thick, on a lightly floured surface.
Cut your heart shapes out and place on your baking tray. Repeat until there is no mix left.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Let cool completely before decorating.
Icing;
Sift your flour into a small mixing bowl.
Add the vanilla and water.
Mix until smooth.
Add your food colouring.
Decorate the biscuits once they have completely cooled.
Serve
Enjoy!
Churro Donuts
Makes 4 Large & 4 Small
Ingredients
1 cup Water
2 ½ tbsp Caster Sugar
2 tbsp Veg Oil
3 cups Plain Flour
1-2 tsp Vanilla Essence
2-3 cup Veg Oil for frying
Icing
1 cup Icing Sugar
1-2 tsp Water
1-2 tsp Vanilla Essence
Pink Colouring
Toppings of choice
Method
Boil the water in a medium sized saucepan.
Then add the sugar until it has dissolved.
Add the veg oil and remove from the heat.
Sift the flour and mix into the rest of the ingredients.
Wrap the dough in cling film, place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
In another saucepan heat up the oil for frying, it will need to be about 165C - 175C.
Once the oil is up to temperature, start rolling out your dough and cutting the rings out.
Once you have cut out your rings, now it’s time to fry them, try to only do one at a time, as this makes it easier to not overcook them.
Using a pair of tongs, turn the donuts and cook evenly, take them out when the outside is golden brown, so they don't go too crispy when cooled.
Let cool completely before decorating
Icing;
Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl.
Add the water and vanilla essence. Mix until smooth.
Add the food colouring.
Decorate the donuts once they have completely cooled.
Serve
Enjoy!
Heart Churros
Makes 6
Ingredients
1 cup Water
2 ½ tbsp Caster Sugar
2 tbsp Veg Oil
½ cup Plain Flour
1-2 tsp Vanilla Essence
2-3 cup Veg Oil for frying
Coating:
½ cup Caster Sugar
2 tsp Cinnamon
Melted Chocolate for dipping (optional)
Method
Boil the water in a medium sized saucepan.
Then add the sugar until it has dissolved.
Add the veg oil and remove from the heat.
Sift the flour and mix into the rest of the ingredients.
In another saucepan heat up the oil for frying, it will need to be about 165C - 175C
Once the oil is up to temperature, start piping the churro mix out onto little squares of parchment.
Once you have piped out your lovely hearts, now it’s time to fry them, try to only do one at a time, as this makes it easier to not overcook them.
Using a slotted spatula, turn the churros and cook evenly, take them out while they are still soft, so they don't go solid when cooled.
Let sit for a minute before coating them in the cinnamon sugar.
Cinnamon Sugar:
Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.
Coat your churros.
Serve
Enjoy!
Heart Cake
Ingredients;
Cake;
5 ⅓ Cups Self Raising Flour
4 Cups Caster Sugar
4 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
4 Cups Milk
2-3 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 ⅓ Cup Vegetable Oil
4 tbsp Cider Vinegar
Butter Icing;
500g Icing sugar - I used Mint Chocolate Chip - Sugar and Crumbs
220g Butter
1-2 tsp Vanilla Essence
1-2 tbsp Milk - If needed
Mirror Glaze; Makes about 3 Cups
239g Granulated Sugar
160g Sweetened Condensed Milk - I bought some coconut condensed milk from amazon
114g Water
3 Sachets Vege-Gel - About 19.5g
57g Water
160g White Chocolate - I used Moo Free
Red Food Colouring
Method
Cake;
Preheat the oven to 180C and prepare an 7” round cake tin and a 20cm Square cake tin (roughly 8”)
In a large mixing bowl sift the flour, sugar and bicarbonate of soda.
Add the milk, vanilla, oil and vinegar. Mix until completely smooth
Pour the mix into both of your cake tins.
Place foil over both your tins.
Bake for 40-50 minutes until a toothpick can come out clean.
Let the cake cool completely before decorating.
Butter Icing;
Place the butter and vanilla into a large bowl.
Sift the icing sugar on top
Mix until you have created a thick butter icing.
Add a little milk if the butter icing is too thick.
Place in the fridge until needed.
Creating the heart shape;
Once your cakes have completely cooled slice them into 3 layers each.
Cut the round cake in half
Place one of the square layers on your cake board on an angle so it’s like a diamond - Remember you have to pour a mirror glaze over it later so it needs to be a perfectly fit cake board.
Place one of the semi - circle layers on each side of the diamond - Please see pictures for help.
Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the whole heart.
Repeat this until you have placed the third layer of cake on top.
Place the cake in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to let the icing set.
Spread a thin layer of butter icing over the whole of the heart, called a crumb coat, and smooth it out.
Place the heart in the fridge for 10-15 minutes minutes to let the icing set.
Spread a thicker layer of butter icing over the whole cake and smooth it out completely
Place the cake in the freezer for 30-60 minutes or until the cake is mostly frozen.
Mirror Glaze;
While the cake is freezing make the mirror glaze.
Place the 57g water and the vege gel in a small bowl. Mix to combine and leave for roughly 15 minutes.
Place the sugar and 114g water in a medium saucepan.
Heat on a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved.
Once it starts to simmer the sugar should have dissolved, don’t let the water boil.
Remove from heat and add the vege gel mix.
Stir until the vege gel has dissolved.
In a heat proof bowl or jug break the chocolate into small pieces and add the condensed milk.
Pour the hot liquid mix over the top and leave to stand for about 5 minutes. This softens the chocolate
Use a hand blender to smooth the mix completely.
Add your red food colouring until the mix is the colour you would like.
Pour through a sieve to ensure there are no lumps.
Let the mix cool to roughly 32-34C This took my mix 30-45 minutes.
Finishing the Cake;
Place your cake on a cooling rack, over a pan - Some people like to place it on a mug so it’s easier to pick up after.
Pour the mirror glaze over the whole cake.
Leave like this for 5 minutes to let the glaze set then use a knife to remove the drips from the bottom of your cake board.
Place the cake in the fridge until ready to serve
I added a couple of strawberries on the side just to finish the cake off. You could even drizzle some melted chocolate over the strawberries.
Enjoy!
Mirror glaze loses its shine after 24 hours so if you are making your cake in advance wait to pour the mirror glaze.
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