Cashew Baklava with Orange Flower Syrup

I adapted this from a recipe found on the BBC website. The original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients:
14 sheets filo pastry (I used chilled Jus-Rol).
Olive oil
225g cashew nuts, roughly chopped
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cardamon

For the syrup:
175g granulated sugar
150ml water
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp orange flower water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 17cm x 28cm (11in x 7in) baking tray with olive oil. Lay eight sheets of filo pastry, one at a time, into the tray, brushing each sheet with oil before adding the next. In a clean bowl, mix together the nuts, sugar and cardamom and spread the mixture over the pastry in the tray. Layer up the remaining sheets on top of the nut mixture, brushing each sheet with oil, as before. Using a sharp knife, cut a criss-cross pattern into the top layers of the pastry. Place baklava in the preheated oven for approximately 20 minutes, then decrease the oven temperature to 150C/300F/Gas 2 and cook for an additional half hour to 40 minutes, or until the pastry is slightly puffed and golden on top. Do not allow the top to burn. Remove and allow to cool slightly.

For the syrup, heat the sugar, water, lemon juice and orange blossom water in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over a medium heat until the sugar has melted and a syrup is formed. (This will take about 20 minutes or so. Pour the syrup into the slits in the baklava and leave to cool. Cut into small diamond-shaped or square pieces and serve.

Lemony Apple and Berry Crumble

Serves 4 (or 2 if you're feeling especially greedy, like I was)

Ingredients:
2 apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup frozen berries
juice of 1/2 a lemon
zest of 1 lemon
50g + 1 tbsp sugar
50g plain flour
50g oats
50g vegan margarine

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4.
Evenly cover the base of a pie dish with the apple slices, then pour the frozen berries on top. Squeeze the lemon juice over the fruit, then sprinkle on 1 tbsp of sugar.
Mix together the flour, oats and remaining sugar, then rub in the margarine. Top the fruit with the crumble mixture.
Place the crumble in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Pumpkin Tart With Pecan Crust

This is the first of what will probably be many pumpkin recipes. I have two pumpkins to use over the next couple of weeks. The recipe called for a 15oz can of pumpkin, but I substituted home made pumpkin puree for this.

Pumpkin Puree

Ingredients: 1 pumpkin

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius/Gas Mark 3. Cut the top off the pumpkin and scrape out the guts and seeds with a spoon. Reserve the seeds to make roasted pumpkin seeds, if you wish. Cut the pumpkin into quarters, place in oven and bake for one hour.

When the pumpkin is cooked, remove from oven and leave to cool. When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scrape the pumpkin flesh from the skin and place in a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Pumpkin Tart With Pecan Crust

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup pecan halves
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons real maple syrup
•  
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup arrowroot powder
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree OR 420g/15oz home made pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

1. Set rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9 inch pie plate. Set aside.
2. Spread nuts over a baking pan. Toast for 7 to 10 minutes, or until the smell of nuts fills the kitchen. Set aside 16 pecan halves for garnish.
3. Combine oats, flour, remaining pecans, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a food processor bowl. Pulse until mixture becomes a coarse meal. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Whisk together oil and 3 tablespoons maple syrup, and mix into dry ingredients to form a soft dough. Press mixture into prepared pie plate. Crimp edges. Bake for 10 minutes, and set aside to cool.
4. Blend soymilk and arrowroot in the food processor until the arrowroot is completely dissolved and the mixture is smooth, about 15 seconds. Add pumpkin, 1/2 cup maple syrup, ginger, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, nutmeg, and cloves; process until thoroughly blended. Pour filling into baked crust, and smooth the top with a spatula.
5. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned and the outside inch of the filling is set. Don't worry if the center is still soft; it firms up as the pie cools. Transfer pie to a wire the rack. Gently press toasted pecan halves into hot filling in 2 concentric circles. Cool to room temperature, and then chill until set, about 3 hours. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

The original pumpkin tart recipe can be found on http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pumpkin-tart-with-pecan-crust/Detail.aspx

Introduction and first recipe

Hi, this is my new blog documenting my experiments in the kitchen. I go by the name Enchantress in vegan circles, hence the name of this blog.

The first recipe I'm going to share is for coconut rice pudding. I adapted the recipe from the book Linda McCartney On Tour. I didn't have the canned coconut milk the recipe called for, so I made my own by mixing creamed coconut with boiling water.

The photo doesn't do it justice, I'm not the best photographer and that picture was taken on my mobile phone.

Coconut Rice Pudding with Mango Coulis

Ingredients:60g/2oz basmati rice
200ml/7fl oz coconut milk
425ml/three-quarters of a pint soya milk
60g/2oz Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Half a tsp vanilla essence
60g/2oz desiccated coconut
1 ripe mango, peeled
15g/half an oz icing sugar

Make the mango coulis by pureeing the mango with the icing sugar.

Mix the rice, coconut milk, soya milk, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and stir continuously, then simmer
gently for about 25 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in the vanilla and desiccated coconut and simmer for a further five minutes.

Serve hot or cold topped with a swirl of mango coulis.

Serves 2-3.