Lemon & Lime Marmalade with Gin

Having previously posted a recipe for my quick and easy lemon marmalade, I thought I'd mix it up a bit for my gin-loving friends and make some boozy preserves for their Christmas presents!

• 5 medium lemons
• 2 limes
• 1kg preserving sugar
• 4½ cups of boiling water
• 5 tbsp. gin 

See my previous post for marmalade-making tutorial with pictures and tips on sterilising your jam jars.

Wash the fruit. Cut in half and juice into a bowl. Strain the juice to remove the pips.

Cut the skins in half again.

Put the fruit, juice and 1cup of the water into your liquidiser jug/food processor and pulse to chop up the fruit. Do not purée until smooth - you want to be able to see small chunks of peel.

Pour into a large pan and add the remaining water. Simmer for around 30 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally, for until the peel has softened and the liquid has reduced by about half.

Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Then bring up to the boil and boil for 10-20 minutes or until setting point has been reached. You can check the setting point by putting a teaspoonful of the marmalade onto a cold plate. Allow to cool for a few minutes and then push it with your finger. If it wrinkles and looks a bit jellified, it's ready!
Now, stir in the gin.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Stir and then pour (carefully!!) into sterilised jam jars, using a jam funnel or a sterilised Pyrex jug. . 

Add a wax disk to the top of each jar and then seal with the lids. Re-tighten the lids as the jars cool. Store unopened jars in a cool dark cupboard for up to a year.

Variation: Swap the gin for your preferred spirit or liqueur.

Top tip: To remove sticky labels from jam jars, soak in very hot, soapy water first.  Carefully, peel off as much of the label as possible. Remove any sticky residue using nail varnish remover. Wash and sterilise the jars before using.

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Pizza Muffins or...Puffins (plus an update)

© Pizza Muffins (Puffins) 

It's been a while, I know. So I feel I owe any regular readers (if there are any left) an explanation.  If the truth be told, I've fallen out of love with blogging for a few reasons:

• Competitiveness - I used to read a lot of other blogs and felt my posts and images needed to look as good. That takes time. A lot of time. 
• Inspiration -  lack of!
• Kids growing up - one is at uni and the other is at college and will go to uni next year. That means that we have fewer family meals together.
• Work - working full time leaves less time for blogging. When I started blogging, I was working part-time.
• Health - I've not been too well lately. No sympathy needed, but again, this has reduced the time and energy I've had available.

Anyway, let's get on with the recipe....no fancy photos. Sorry (not sorry!)

This is a bit of a rehash of an old recipe of mine, but I really enjoyed coming up with a new idea, and the family enjoyed eating the results. Basically, they're mini pizzas cooked in a muffin pan. 

• 1 quantity bread dough
• tomato puree or tapenade
• chunks of firm cheese (feta, Cheddar, Manchego etc.)
• topping: olives, pepper chopped into chunks, thin slices of mushroom, vegetarian pepperoni etc.
• dried oregano/mixed herbs or fresh, chopped basil

Make up the bread dough and leave to prove.

Pre-heat oven to 200 C fan/220 C/Gas 7/425 F

Cut the dough into 24 small pieces and roll into rough ball shapes using your hands.

Pop each dough ball into a section of a well oiled muffin tin.

Leave to prove in a warm place for a further 10-15 minutes.

Oil the end of a small rolling pin or similar blunt implement! You could also use a knuckle.

Poke a dent/well into each dough ball but be careful not to go through the bottom of the dough.

Fill with around  ½ tsp of tomato puree or tapenade and your other toppings. 

Sprinkle with dried or fresh herbs.

© Garlic Bread Muffins

Bake in a hot oven for 8-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
Suitable for freezing.

Variation: Garlic dough ball puffins - fill the well of each dough ball with ½ tsp garlic butter and a sprinkle of grated mozzarella. Bake as above.

Vegan option: Fill as above and use vegan cheese or omit the cheese. Drizzle pizzas with a little olive oil.

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Super Quick Cosmetic Pouches

I hope you'll excuse this deviation from my usual food-based posts, but I've recently got back into machine sewing and wanted to share my latest creations. They make great gifts, are very cheap to make and take just one afternoon, or a couple of hours to make.
This particular design makes two large and two small purses from just two fat quarters of fabric - so that's a cost of around £2-3 for all four pouches, depending on the price of your material.

The patterns for both pouches are made from a single sheet of A4 paper (folded in half for the smaller one). I hope you can follow my picture tutorial and notes...

1. For the large pouch, take one sheet of A4 (letter-size) paper. Place a dinner plate at one end, so the edge of the plate is touching one short and two long sides. Draw a curve around the top of the plate.
2. Fold the paper in half and cut around the curve, then open back out.
3. Put your two pieces of material together and pin the pattern to them.
4. Cut around the pattern, then remove.
5. Place the wrong sides of the material together and pin all around, except for around 7.5cm/3" at one corner (see bottom right photo).
   
6. Sew all around (except for the gap) leaving a small seam allowance.
7. Turn the fabric inside-out and poke the corners out using a chopstick or dowel.
8. Iron to flatten the seams, being careful to press under the unsewn section.
9. Fold up to make an open envelope and top stitch close to the edge all the way around, including the unsewn section.
10. Finally sew on a press stud and press the purse one last time.  

To make the smaller pouch, simply fold a sheet of A4 paper in half lengthwise and use a large mug to make the top curve of the pattern. The larger purse is ideal as a make up bag or pencil case, whereas the smaller one is just the right size for sanitary products! I reckon a teeny one, half the width of the small one would be the perfect size for an asthma inhaler.

If you make these, do let me know how they turn out and post a picture on my Facebook page.

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Churro Waffles with Caramel Sauce

These churro-style waffles are cooked in a waffle maker rather than being deep fried like traditional churros. I made mine in my trusty Sage Waffle Maker, however there are cheaper gadgets on the market. You could cook these like drop scones on a large non-stick frying pan, if you don't have a waffle maker.

Makes 4-5 large waffles

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups SR flour
• 1⅓ cups milk  
• ⅓ cup soft brown sugar                   
• ⅓ cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• a pinch of bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
• a pinch of cinnamon

For the cinnamon sugar, mix ingredients together.

• ½ cup caster sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

For the caramel dipping sauce, heat ingredients together in a pan or in the microwave and stir thoroughly.

• 1 cup dulche de leche/caramel condensed milk
• 1 cup evaporated milk or double cream

Beat all of the waffle ingredients together to make a smooth, thick batter.

Heat your waffle maker or frying pan on a medium-high heat.

Cook waffles until golden brown.

Whilst warm, dust on both sides with the cinnamon sugar.

Serve drizzled with the hot caramel sauce.

Top tip: Make a chocolate sauce by melting chocolate and mixing with double cream or evaporated milk. Heat gently until you have a smooth, warm sauce.

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Ricotta and Amaretti Cake - Suma Bloggers Network

Christmas is just around the corner, so I wanted to create a new, festive recipe for the Suma Bloggers Network.  I decided on a dessert dish, which had to and taste special enough for the festive celebrations, without being too rich or heavy. As I had some amaretti biscuits from Suma, I wanted to use them in something other than a tiramisu and felt that they would add both texture and flavour to a cake.

My Italian-inspired Ricotta and Amaretti Cake is a cross between a cheese cake and a sponge pudding and has quite a  dense texture. It provides a seasonal alternative to the traditional Christmas pudding, which my daughters are not keen on it.

Serves 10

• 50g/2oz softened butter
• 1x250g/10oz tub ricotta
• 150g/6oz soft brown sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 150g/6oz self-raising flour
• 100g/4oz ground almonds
• 200g/8oz amaretti biscuits, roughly broken (from Suma)
• 100g/4oz good quality chocolate (I used Montezumas Dark Chocolate, Bean Machine, from Suma), chopped into chunks
• 2 tbsp very strong, cold coffee (2 tsp coffee granules to 2 tbsp. boiling water)

Preheat the oven to 150C/140C Fan/Gas 2/300F.
Grease and line a loose-bottomed 20cm round cake tin.

Put the butter, ricotta, sugar and eggs into a large bowl. Whisk for 5 minutes until thick, smooth and creamy. Then gently stir the coffee, flour and ground almonds.

Fold in most of the chocolate and biscuit pieces, but retain and handful of each.
Pour the cake mixture into the lined tin. Scatter with the remaining biscuits and chocolate and press lightly into the cake mixture.

Bake for around 45 minutes or until golden brown, firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before turning out.
Dust with cocoa powder or icing sugar before serving.

Serve warm with cream, ice cream or custard.

Top tips: Swap the coffee for 2 tbsp of  Tia Maria or Amaretto liqueur. For a more traditional Christmas flavour, omit the chocolate and add the equivalent weight of dried fruit, pre-soaked in the liqueur.
Gluten free option: Check that your amaretti biscuits are GF. Swap the flour for GF flour and add some GF baking powder if needed.

Integrity Statement As a member of the Suma Blogger's Network, I will receive a selection of complimentary products from Suma every two months, to use in recipe development, and will blog an original recipe for the Network.   

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Spicy Paneer & Vegetable Spring Rolls

Although spring rolls are normally considered a Chinese delicacy, these Indian-inspired creations are quite different in taste. After eating some of these crispy morsels at a local cafe, I thought I'd have a go at making them myself, whilst watching the Diwali fireworks going off in my neighbourhood.

So long as you can buy ready-made spring roll pastry, they're simple enough for kids or any novice cook to prepare, but look quite impressive.

• 2 cups (around 225g/9oz) paneer, crumbled or grated
• 1 cup each of frozen or tinned petits pois and sweetcorn
• 1 tsp freshly-grated ginger
• 1 crushed clove of garlic 
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh, chopped coriander
• 1 tsp garam masala
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• ½ tsp chat masala (optional, but worth using if you can find it)
• 10 sheets of spring roll pastry
• vegetable oil, for frying

First make a flour/water paste using 1 tsp flour to 1 tbsp water (this is your 'glue' for the pastry).

Mix all of the filling ingredients together in a large bowl.
Take one spring roll sheet and place a heaped tablespoon of mixture by one corner (see photos above).
Spread a little of the paste along the opposite two edges.
Fold the bottom corner of pastry over the filling and roll once.
Fold in each side of the wrapper and roll towards the far corner (like a burrito).
Repeat until all of the filling has been used up.

Heat a good glug of vegetable oil in a large frying pan, on a medium-high heat. Shallow fry the spring rolls in two batches, cooking for 2-3 minutes on each side. Drain well on kitchen roll and keep warm in the oven.
Alternatively, brush generously with vegetable oil and bake in the oven at 190C/180C Fan/Gas 5/375F for 10 to 15 minutes, turning once.

Serve hot or warm with salad and your favourite chutneys/pickles, or try my Indian restaurant style mint sauce and onion salad.
To make this into a main meal, simply serve with rice and dhal.

Vegan variation: swap the paneer for 2 cups of mashed potato.
Filling variations: to make the paneer filling go further, add two cups of mashed potato and double the spice quantities.
Swap the peas and sweetcorn for cooked chickpeas (chana) if you prefer.  

Suitable for freezing. Batch cook in advance and freeze if you are cooking for large numbers over Diwali, Eid, Christmas or any other celebrations!

I'm adding this post to the Meat Free Mondays linky at Tinned Tomatoes.

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Rustic Christmas Pies with Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Goat's Cheese - Suma Blogger's Network

These rustic, savoury pies are my vegetarian Christmas Dinner offering this year, and also my last post of the year for the Suma Blogger's Network. Unlike quiches, these individual pies don't involve a custard to hold the roasted vegetables together, and there's no need for pastry cutters or flan dishes to make them look pretty.

They can, of course, be made in advance*, leaving you plenty of time on Christmas Day to prepare all of the other traditional Yuletide trimmings.  I cheated slightly by using time-saving ready-prepared squash, sweet potato and pastry, which bumps the cost up, but you could prepare your own if you are on a budget. Although this recipe serves four, it can easily be adapted to serve one or two, by reducing the ingredients accordingly.

Serves 4

• 500g/1 lb, 2oz (prepared weight) butternut squash and sweet potato, diced into approx.1-2 cm cubes
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 mild, red chilli, de-seeded and sliced finely (optional)
• 1 sprig fresh sage, chopped, plus 4 leaves to top the pies
• 100g/4oz chopped Suma walnuts
• 50g/2oz dried Suma cranberries
• 100g/4oz English goat's cheese, sliced into 4 slices
• 300g/12oz ready made shortcrust pastry**
• 1 egg, beaten, to glaze (optional)

Preheat the oven to 170C/160C Fan/Gas 3/325F
Drizzle the oil over the chopped squash and sweet potato and roast for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven, turn and add the diced onion, chopped sage and chilli.
Cook for a further 15 minutes. 
Check if the vegetables are tender and starting to brown. If not, return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes.
Remove from the oven, mix in the chopped walnuts and cranberries and allow to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200C/190C Fan/Gas 6/400F
Once the roasted vegetables are cool, divide the pastry into 4 and roll out thinly on a floured board to roughly 18cm/7" circles.
Place ¼ of the vegetable mixture into the centre of each circle.
Top with a slice of cheese and a sage leaf.
Fold the edges of the pastry in, to form an open pie.
Brush with beaten egg to glaze (optional), or wrap in grease proof paper and chill until needed.
Place on a greased baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Serve with all the usual Christmas trimmings.
*Can be made in advance and chilled or frozen until needed.
**Swap the shortcrust pastry for puff pastry if you prefer it.

Vegan option: Check that your pastry is vegan...most UK brands are. Omit the cheese, or swap for extra chopped nuts, pine nuts, or your preferred cheese substitute.

Integrity Statement
As a member of the Suma Blogger's Network, I will receive a selection of complimentary products from Suma every two months, to use in recipe development, and will blog an original recipe for the Network. 

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Panforte di Siena

In case you've never heard of it, panforte is a traditional, festive Italian spiced fruit and nut cake, served with coffee and liqueurs after a meal. After watching Antonio Carluccio make a panforte on TV last Christmas, I knew it was something I'd have to try making myself.

The traditional recipe is easy to veganise as the only animal-derived ingredient is honey. I've also adapted the recipe to make it gluten free, contain less sugar and use easy-to-find UK ingredients. The resulting cake is still deliciously sweet and tastes something like a cross between a fruit and nut energy bar and Christmas cake! Having made it once, I reckon it would actually be pretty easy to make a raw version. 

Serves 16-20

• 200g/8oz (combined weight) dried figs and/or pitted dates, roughly chopped
• 50g/2oz each of raisins, sultanas and currants
• 1 level tsp mixed (pumpkin pie) spice
• juice and zest of 2 large oranges and 1 lemon
• 150g/6oz candied fruit, such as glacé cherries, apple, melon, citrus peel etc.
• 100g/4oz almonds, lightly toasted
• 100g/4oz walnuts, lightly toasted
• 4 tbsp agave, date or golden syrup
• 4 tbsp gluten-free flour
• 5 tbsp Vin Santo, dessert wine, amaretto or sweet sherry (I used amaretto)
• Icing sugar to dust

Heat the oven to 150 C/140 C Fan/Gas 2./300 F; grease and line a loose-bottomed 25cm/10" round cake tin, with grease proof paper.

Toast the nuts, cool and then roughly chop or grind coarsely, depending on the texture you prefer.

Chop the figs or dates roughly and put them in a pan with the other dried and candied fruits.
Add the syrup, wine/liqueur, citrus juice, zest and mixed spice.
Stir together and cook gently for about 10 minutes.
Then add the chopped nuts and flour and mix well.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and press down well.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin.
When cold, sprinkle generously with sifted icing sugar.
Cut into thin slices to serve.

Stores for up to a month in an airtight container.

Find my other vegetarian Christmas recipes here.

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Chestnut and Vegetable Lattice Bakes

This is my latest Christmas Dinner recipe, for those who want something a little different from a nut roast but don't want to resort to meat substitutes. I made two different versions of these individual lattice bakes; one to my taste and one for the rest of the family. I love the combination of sweet vegetables and fruits together, so mine contained mushrooms, sweet potato and cranberries. The others hate that sort of combo, so I cooked theirs with mushrooms, white potato, celery and no cranberries!

If you don't want to make these lattices which have quite a chunky filling, you can blend the mixture to fill sausage rolls or to make a nut roast.
If you haven't cooked with chestnuts before, it's worth trying them out. On their own they have quite a strange, slightly sweet taste, but they add a great depth of flavour and texture to vegetarian and vegan dishes.

Makes 4 individual bakes or around 20 small sausage rolls.

• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 100g/4oz cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped. I used Merchant Gourmet vacuum packed chestnuts.
• 100g/4oz mushrooms, chopped
• 50g/2oz walnuts, roughly chopped
• 50g/2oz macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
• 1 medium sweet potato (swap for 2 medium parsnips, 1 large, white baking potato or a mixture of chopped root vegetables), peeled and diced into 1cm chunks- approx 200g/8oz peeled weight
• 25-50g dried cranberries, optional (for the more savoury version, use 2 sticks of chopped celery, or just omit the cranberries)
• 1-2 tsp dried sage or 2-4 tsp chopped fresh sage, to taste
• nutmeg and black pepper to season
• 1 pack of ready rolled puff pastry

Heat the oven to 190C/180C Fan/Gas 5/375F.
Drizzle your chosen root vegetable/s in olive oil and roast for around 30 minutes until golden brown and soft, turning once or twice.
Meanwhile, heat a drop of olive oil in a large pan and soften the onions. Add the mushrooms and celery (if using). Cook down to evaporate most of the moisture.
Remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients (except the pastry!).
Season and add sage to taste.
Remove the root vegetable/s from the oven and crush/mash lightly, so that you still have recognisable lumps of vegetable. Turn the oven up to 210C/200C Fan/Gas 6/400F
Mix all ingredients together.

*At this point you can decide whether to blend the ingredients, to make a nut roast or sausage roll mixture.

If making the lattices, cut the pastry into 4 equal pieces.
Cut 8 lines into the outer thirds of the pastry (see photo).
Spoon a good 2-3 tbsp of mixture along the middle of each piece of pastry, and press down to form an oval mound.
Dampen the edges of the pastry and cross over the first 4 strips from each side alternately. Repeat from the other end of the lattice, so that you end up crossing the last strips over in the centre.
Brush with oil and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.

*Alternative cooking instructions: If making sausage rolls, reduce the cooking time to 20-25 mins.
If making a nut roast, blend the mixture, tip into a greased and lined loaf tin and press down.

Cover tin with foil (uncover for the last 10 minutes).

Bake for 40-50 mins at 180C/170C Fan/350F/Gas 4.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before turning out and slicing. 

Freezing: If you want to make any of these in advance and freeze them. Slightly under cook and allow to cool. Wrap in foil and freeze. Defrost completely before re-heating. 

For more Christmas recipes, including exclusive step-by-step videos from Alex Mackay, and details of the full product range visit merchant-gourmet.com

Integrity Statement

I received some complimentary Merchant Gourmet products for recipe development. All views expressed are genuine. 

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The Great Veggie Christmas Gift Guide & Give Away

I'm sure Yule love my seasonal gift guide! I've included several products which I have reviewed over the year, plus some of my other favourite goodies. Of course it wouldn't be fair for me to tempt you with all these lovely things, without offering something in return, so I have a massive give-away for one lucky reader....read on to find out what you could win!

Books for foodies

I've been lucky enough to review some fabulous new books this year. One of my favourites being Fragrant Heart by Miranda Emmerson, which is a memoir and travelogue of Miranda's time spent travelling through S.E Asia. Although this is not a cook book, each chapter ends with one or two recipes from the region, with both a meat-based and a vegetarian version of each recipe. 

I also really enjoyed reading The Hundred Foot Journey by Richard C Morais which tells the life story of Hassan, a budding young Indian chef whose career takes off in a very different direction to the one his family have planned for him, after they move first to England and then to France.This book has since been dramatised into a film starring Helen Mirren.

Gaia's Feasts by Julia Ponsonby (and friends at Schumacher College) is one of the latest cook books which I've reviewed. It features a collection of simple-to-follow, healthy vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free recipes. This is an ideal book for those catering for large numbers of friends and family over the festive period, as each recipe is adapted to serve either a family of 4-6 people or up to 50 people! If you cook for a community group or run your own catering business, this would be the ideal book for you. I have a copy of this great book to give away. 
In case you don't win, I also have a SPECIAL OFFER for you: You can get your hands on your own copy of Gaia's Feasts for just £13.99 (30% off the RRP) and free delivery in the UK using this exclusive voucher code: WDEAWAF14 at Green Books. Offer valid 2nd December to 17th December 2014.

Stocking fillers and other gifts

I love these political slogan tea towels from The Radical Tea Towel Company. I have one with a fabulous vegetarian quote from Einstein on it and have an identical one to give away. The tea towels are great quality and are sure to raise a smile with the lucky recipient. They also do aprons, bags, Christmas cards and other political gifts, so if you know a radical feminist, staunch environmentalist or even a verdant vegetarian, do take a look at their quirky and original range of products!

As a Suma blogger, I've had the chance to test out lots of delicious Suma products, but didn't realise until recently, that they also do a lovely range of toiletries. I had the chance to try out 2 of

their natural handmade, vegan soap bars, which both smelt and looked amazing as they are packed full of botanical ingredients. Even better than that I have the whole range of 12 fragrant soaps to give away. If you aren't lucky enough to win them, they retail at a very reasonable RRP of under £2 per brand are totally palm free and BUAV approved. Available from many high street health food stores.

You may remember my review for Crystal Spring deodorants earlier in the year? Well, the company who have been trading for over 20 years, also stock a fabulous range of skin care and home fragrance products, starting just £3.50 for the travel sized toiletries. I particularly like the look of their natural candles and bath milk, both of which are on offer at the moment, with 50% off.  All of their natural beauty products are clearly labelled and beautifully packaged. Available from Crystal Sping and health food stores. I have one sweet orange candle to give away.

The Ethicoco Vegan Organic Chocolate Company is a recent discovery of mine. Ethicoco make four varieties of bean-to-bar vegan chocolate, all of which are soy free, dairy free and and nut free.These include: Ecuadorian with Oat Milk, Ecuadorian with Oat Milk and Raisins, Peruvian Dark Chocolate and Peruvian Dark Chocolate with Cranberries, The bars cost between £2.99 and £3.99 each. I have 4 bars (one of each variety) to give away.

Luxury Gifts

I must say that I've been really impressed with my Optimum 9400 professional blender. It really has put my old blender to shame! Although it certainly is a luxury product and not within everyone's budget, I would say it's worth the investment if you make your own nut milks & butters, soups and smoothies on a regular basis. I have been amazed at the way it blitzes whole nuts in seconds and turns a selection of slightly-past-it fruits into a delicious (smooth!) smoothie.

So just to surmise, one lucky, random person will win all of the following prizes:

• 1 copy of Gaia's Feasts
• 1 Radical Tea Towel  Company vegetarian tea towel 
• 12 handmade Suma soaps
• 1 Crystal Spring candle
• 4 bars of Ethicoco vegan chocolate
• ...and a partridge in a pear tree (or maybe not!) 

Just enter with the Rafflecopter widget below and leave me a comment to tell me what you hope Father Christmas will be bringing you this year! UK ONLY, competition ends midnight Friday 12th December. The more entries you make, the greater chance you have of winning! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Integrity Statement

This is an advertorial feature, featuring some products which I have reviewed over the year, plus some which I have been offered to give away in return for a mention in my gift guide. However, all views expressed are genuine.

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Chocolate Hazelnut Truffles (Vegan) - Suma Blogger's Network

I know it's a bit early, and you probably don't want reminding that Christmas is only 53 days away, but as it's the 1st of November, I thought I would start blogging some festive recipes! These vegan chocolate truffles are really easy to make, will keep in the fridge for a week or so, and make great home-made Christmas presents. 

This recipe makes Nutella or Ferrero Rocher flavoured truffles, which are totally dairy-free!

Makes around 10-12 truffles.

• 200g/8oz dairy-free dark chocolate (I used Plamil chocolate drops)
• 90ml/6 tbsp Ecomil almond cream (use 75ml/5 tbsp of cream if using liqueur as the flavouring)
• 90ml/6tbsp Meridan crunchy hazelnut butter 
• 1 tsp vanilla or other flavouring extract
• Unsweetened cocoa powder, desiccated coconut, coconut sugar, roasted chopped hazel nuts, grated chocolate etc. to coat.
• 2-4 tsp date/agave syrup to sweeten (optional)*

Heat the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl, in the microwave, until melted - Stir every 10-15 seconds, to make sure it doesn't burn.
Add the almond cream, vanilla and nut butter and mix well - Taste and sweeten* at this point if you prefer a sweeter truffle.

Chill the mixture for an hour or two, until firm.

Remove from the fridge and working quickly, shape heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls, using your hands.
Roll the truffles in your preferred coatings and pop into sweet cases. Refrigerate until needed.
Wrap in cellophane bags to give as presents.

*These truffles have quite an adult dark-chocolate taste, so may not appeal to younger children. For a more child-friendly option, use a dairy-free 'milk chocolate' and sweeten the mixture with 2-4 tsp date/agave syrup.

Flavour options: Vary the recipe by using different nut butters and flavourings; use 1 tbsp liqueur, 1 tsp flavouring extract or a little grated lemon/orange zest instead of vanilla extract. Try using almond or cashew nut butter instead of hazelnut.

Integrity Statement

As a member of the Suma Blogger's Network, I will receive a selection of complimentary products from Suma every two months, to use in recipe development, and will blog an original recipe for the Network. 

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Carrot, Parsnip and Nut Roast (Vegan)

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Here's this year's twist on my traditional Christmas nut roast recipe. As I've seen so many mentions of Delia's Parsnip Roulade this year, I added parsnip, sage and carrot to make a moist and tasty vegan loaf. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare and is very economical - it cost me around £3 to make. 

Serve with all the traditional roast dinner trimmings plus a vegetarian gravy. 

n.b. I made this loaf yesterday and have frozen it uncooked to defrost and reheat for Christmas dinner (see picture). Once cooked it should be golden brown in colour. 

Serves 4

• 1 medium onion, peeled and grated
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small parsnip, peeled, cored and grated
• 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
• 175g/7oz mixed nuts (I used a mixture of Brazil nuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts and hazelnuts - no peanuts), ground in a food processor
• 2 slices of wholemeal bread, made into breadcrumbs
• 150ml (approx) vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs (I used sage and parsley)

Gently fry the onion in 1 tbsp olive oil, until soft. Then add the carrot and parsnip. 

Cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat, until softened, stirring regularly.

Stir in the nuts and breadcrumbs and mix well.

Add the herbs and season to taste.

Add enough stock to make a firm but not dry mixture. Add more breadcrumbs or stock if needed.

Tip mixture into a greased and lined loaf tin and press down with the back of a spoon.

Cover tin with foil  and bake for 40 mins at 180C/170C Fan/350F/Gas 4.
Uncover for the last 10-15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before turning out and slicing. 

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Refrigerate any left overs and use cold in sandwiches or as a pate.

Suitable for freezing before or after cooking.

Alternative: To make the loaf go further, simply make up an 225g/8oz pack of your preferred vegetarian stuffing mix. Press half of the nut roast mixture into the loaf tin and then spread the stuffing mixture on top. Cover with the remaining nut roast and press down firmly with the back of a spoon. Bake as above, but for an extra 10 minutes.

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Champagne Cocktails

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Here are three easy-to-make (and easy to drink!) Champagne cocktails that Mr O and I enjoy for special occasions such as Christmas. They can all be made with Cava or any other dry sparkling wine for a cheaper alternative.

Classic Champagne Cocktail 
Serves approx 16 people 

This is family favourite cocktail, which has been passed down to me by my dad. The recipe was a closely guarded secret, until recently, but I persuaded him to let me have the recipe and share it on my blog. It tastes delicious and is easy to drink too much of! 

• 1 part/100ml/ ⅓ cup Cognac or Brandy (the cheap stuff is fine!) 
• 3 parts/300ml/1 cup Cointreau/Triple Sec or any other orange liqueur 
• 6 parts/600ml/2 cups good quality orange juice
• Angostura Bitters (optional)
• Chilled Champagne/Cava 

I serve this when entertaining friends and family, so I make the base up in advance with the brandy, orange liqueur, orange juice and around 10 shakes of bitters in a litre jug - this makes enough for around 16 glasses, using 2 bottles of Champagne/Cava). If you want to make an individual cocktail, use a desert-spoon (10ml) for each part/measure. 

Make the base mixture up and stir well
Pour ⅓ of a glass each. 
Top up each glass with Champagne and enjoy!

Alternatives: The base itself also makes a delicious cocktail served on the rocks.
Try a Granita Champagne Cocktail  in the summer - make the base up as before and freeze in a plastic tub over night (it won't set hard due to the alcohol content). Break up roughly with a fork and fill ½ a Champagne glass each. 
Top up with very well chilled Champagne or Cava.

Bucks Fizz:

• Chilled Champagne/Cava 
• Good quality orange juice 

Pour ⅓ to ½ of a glass of orange juice into a Champagne glass, top up with Champagne.

Non alcoholic/virgin version: Mix lemonade/sparkling water & good quality orange juice.

Kir Royale

• Creme de Cassis (blackcurrant liqueur -  use any other berry liqueur as an alternative)) 
• Chilled Champagne/Cava 

Pour 1 tbsp of Cassis into the bottom of a Champagne glass. Top up with chilled Champagne and serve.

Non alcoholic/virgin version: Mix lemonade/sparkling water & high-juice blackcurrant cordial.

How to open and pour Champagne
These tips may seem obvious, however I thought they were worth mentioning for those who rarely drink sparkling wines...

• Make sure that the sparkling wine has been chilled for at least a few hours before opening. 
• Carefully remove the foil and wire cage, without shaking the bottle.
• Place a clean tea towel over the bottle. 
• Grip the bottle under the cloth with one hand, whilst gently twisting and lifting the cork with the other hand over the cloth, until the cork pops. 
• Leave for a minute before pouring to allow the bubbles to subside.
• Tip the glass at a slight angle and pour the bottle slowly, to avoid any spillage!

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