Christmas pudding ice cream (vegan)

This ice cream is packed with Christmas flavours - brandy, spices, cranberry and orange.

Ingredients: 

50g raisins

50g sultanas

100g dried cranberries

3 tbsp brandy

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

a cinnamon stick, snapped in half

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

¼ tsp caraway seeds

2 cloves

300ml full fat coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

50g light brown sugar

vegetable oil, for greasing the bowl

3 ginger nut biscuits, broken into small chunks

zest ½ lemon and ½ an orange

Method: 

Heat the dried fruit, dark brown sugar and brandy until the sugar has dissolved, then leave to cool completely.

Heat the coconut milk, vanilla, spices and light brown sugar until the sugar has dissolved, cool and then churn in an ice cream maker or freeze it in a tupperware box, stirring every hour. Once the coconut mixture is "slushy", stir in the dried fruit, broken biscuits and zest. Oil the inside of a bowl, line it with clingfilm and pour in the ice cream mix. Allow to freeze completely.

Once the ice cream is ready to eat, leave it to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes then slide it out of the bowl and remove the cling film.

Christmas rocky road (vegan)

Christmas Rocky Road (vegan)

Melt:
350g dark dairy free chocolate
175g dairy free margarine
4 tablespoons golden syrup

Then mix in:
200g vegan ginger biscuits, crushed (I used the Co-op’s)
100g brazil nuts, broken into small pieces
100g glace cherries
100g dried cranberries
75g vegan mini marshmallows (I used Freedom Confectionery’s)

Spread into a brownie tin lined with baking parchment and chill for a couple of hours. Cut into squares and dust with icing sugar

Speculoos cake (vegan)

I was asked recently to bake a birthday cake for a vegan who loves Speculoos biscuits. These spiced biscuits are traditionally baked around Christmas time in parts of Europe, so I thought now would be a good time to share the recipe.

For the sponge: 

250g dairy free margarine
340g light brown sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
525g self raising flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
4 teaspoons Speculoos spices (to make 100g Speculoos spices, mix 8g groundwhite pepper, 8g powdered ginger, 16g ground cloves, 16g ground nutmeg, 48g ground cinnamon ad 4g ground cardamon - keep the rest in a jar for next time)
450ml soya or rice milk

For the filling: 

250g dairy free margarine
250g icing sugar, plus a little extra for dusting
1 jar of smooth Biscoff spread
about 12 Biscoff biscuits, broken into small pieces

Available in Sainsburys

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and line and grease 3 x 8 inch tins

2. Cream the margarine and sugar until soft, then add the golden syrup and mix again

3. Sift the flour, spices and baking powder together and add to the mixture, beating slowly and gently

4. Add the milk, taking care not to overbeat.

5. Pour the mix into the tins and bake for 45 minutes until golden brown and the sponge springs back from a touch. Cover with a tea towel and leave to cool in the tins

6. Once the sponges are cool, beat the margarine and icing sugar together with a splash of water, then mix in the jar of smooth Biscoff spread. Try not to eat any of the frosting - it is so tasty that you might find there's not enough left for the cake

You might notice there are 4 sponges here but only 3 on the finished cake - heed the warning above

7. Pipe or spread nearly half the frosting onto the bottom sponge and sprinkle on half the crushed biscuits. Repeat this with the next layer of sponge, leaving a little of the frosting to decorate the top of the cake.

8. Place the top sponge on the cake, decorate with the rest of the frosting and dust it with icing sugar. Enjoy!