Vegan Effect

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 27th of November 2023   Whatever the occasions, this is a great treat to be had.  The rum soaks into the raisins and results in a perfect infusion of flavours. The rum adds flavour to the raisins while the raisins add sweetness to the run.  This beautiful bread as a great bready texture, yet is fruity and warming to the soul. Although it doesn't need it, you can choose to dust it with icing sugar.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 13th of November 2023 Christmas is just around the corner and you need to start your Christmas cake now!  Yes, it needs time to soak and feed.  You will have to soak the dried fruit for a week or so and once the cake is baked, you will need to feed the cake with more brandy.  Don't worry, all will be explained in this post.  This cake is completely vegan and has an amazing taste.  Holds together perfectly.  

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 2nd of October 2023   What better way to celebrate a festival or just the weekend than with a slice of English apple cake?  This cake is flatter than most cakes, but is spread out more in a larger baking tin.  You can cut it into squares or into fingers. Notably, it is very easy to make and so tasty!

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 4th of September 2023 I love a great apple pie!  This is easy and tasty.  So simple to make and so easy to eat.  Admittedly, I used the pre made pastry from a superstore because it is vegan relatively cheap and very convenient for me.  The apples come from a local orchard, which I stewed with sugar and spices to bring out the flavour.  I used dark brown sugar, which gave it a distinct flavour and its dark colour.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 7th of August 2023   Fancy a little low calorie snack or something different for breakfast?  What ever the reason, these bagels are fantastic! So easy and only 143 cals each. Makes 2 bagels Time 30 minutes Ingredients 90 g of fat free vegan yoghurt 40 g of plain flour  30 g of wholemeal flour 1 tsp baking powder A pinch of salt  Sesame seeds (optional) Method  Mix the yoghurt, flour, salt, and baking powder into a dough. Knead until smooth. Knead the dough into donut-like shapes. Top with sesame seeds (optional) Place on a baking tray with a silicon sheet or dust with flour and bake at 180C for 20-25mins. I hope that you liked this blog and if you do try this recipe, please let me know how you got on and what it turned out like. You can leave a comment in the comments below.  

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 22 of May 2023     I loved this cake as a boy, but never got to have it much.  How things have changed!  This cake has a pineapple topping often with cherries.  I love the different textures and sweet tastes this cake has to offer. It is great warm or cold.  You can have it with cream, ice-cream, custard or just on its own.  Ingredients For the topping 5 – 6 pineapple rings, fresh is better. 50 g softened vegan butter 50 g light soft brown sugar 7 glacé cherries For the cake Wet Ingredients 2/3 cup plain vegan yogurt 1/3 cup of vegan milk 1/3 cup rapeseed oil (any vegetable oil will do)  1/3 cup of pineapple juice 1 tbsp of white vinegar 1 tsp vanilla extract Dry Ingredients: 1 and 1/2 cups of self rasing flour 3/4 cup sugar 1 and 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1/4 teaspoon salt  Method Mash the light brown sugar and vegan butter together into a paste. Spr...

Written by McDonald, T. | Date 9th of January 2023 My sister and cousin are the cake queens.  Since baking is obviously in the blood and I used to bake with my Nan as a child, I decided to bake a chocolate cake for the work's Christmas do.  As ever, I searched for the best vegan cake recipe, but nothing seemed right.  They either had too much sugar or used solid fats in the cake mix, which I try to avoid, especially if the cake will have butter frosting.  Nonetheless, I came up with this recipe based on others I had found.  Although the first attempts failed by either sinking in the middle or sticking to the tins or just didn't taste right, in the end I succeeded.  This is my vegan chocolate cake with chocolate butter frosting.  

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 30th of December 2022 I grew up on this.  It is easy to make, makes the kitchen smell amazing and there is no better comfort than this Victorian pudding!  However, this old fashioned pudding can harbour a huge amount of calories.  With this in mind, I decided to reduce the calories and make it a less frightening bit of fun.   So, since it is the new year and you have been dieting in the lead up to Christmas, why not indulge one last time before you get back on that diet? 

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 27th of March 2023         Let food tell a story.  Making this bread with the family is a great way to explore the Holy Bible and provides the participants with visual cues that will help them remember the story. You will be able to literally digest the story from Judges!

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 25th of July 2022 What could be better than a chocolate chip muffin?  A batch of them!  With this in mind, let us make a whole batch of lovely light vegan chocolate chip muffins.  This is very easy and requires no special ingredients.  

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 22nd of September 2023     Whatever cake you are making, a basic sponge cake is the likely place to start.  This is so easy to whip up in no time at all.  You can alter the flavouring or even add some icing.  Just let your imagination run wild!

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 9th of May 2022 Did you know that lemon is said to ward off depression? Yes, lemon is a happy fruit, so if you need cheering up and you are partial to a piece of cake, this is one that you should try. It is easy to make and tastes fantastic with a lovely light lemon flavour. The sponge is nice and light with a pleasant lemony taste. In addition, the lemon drizzle is made with powdered sugar to excite those taste buds even further. 

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 4th of April 2022  This is a cake of compassion.  Compassion for the animals, compassion for the lonely, compassion for those who are pining for someone they love.  As a vegan, I miss out on nothing!  This is a great cake that is 100% vegan!  In fact, it celebrates being vegan.  It is not just perfect for the month of sorrows when comfort is needed. It is also the perfect recipe for Jewish new year, so bookmark this recipe for the New Year!  Whatever your reason, this cake is a delight. 

  Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 21st of August 2023. Why not try this traditional Irish bread for St Patrick's Day? Soda bread gets its name from the bicarbonate of soda, which is used instead of yeast. This bread is great on its own, with some jam or just with some butter. St Patrick's Day is on the 17th of March this year (2022). 

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 8th of November 2021 Vegans always get excited when we see a pack of biscuits that are vegan.   Sometimes though, just for fun, we like to make our own biscuits.  It is a lot easier than you might think and it will make you think about just how much sugar goes in biscuits. Notes You might find it easier to roll the dough into balls and shape them by pressing on them with a folk.  Creaming means to use the back of a large spoon to mash and mix into a paste. Makes 12 cookies Ingredients   1 cup of  peanut butter 0.25 cup of gram flour or plain flour 6 tablespoons of vegan milk 0.5 - 0.75 cup of sugar (mix brown and white) Milled flax seed 1 tps baking powder 1/4 tsp of salt Method  Step 1 Add the peanut butter and sugar, then add salt and flax seed.  Mix the flour, baking soda and milk in a separate bowl.  Once you have a smoothish paste, add it to the other bowl with the peanut butter and sugar.  Cr...

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 18th of October 2021  As much as I love flatbread, it is not that good at soaking up liquids.  I needed a bread that would adsorb liquids to go with soups and stews, so I searched the internet and the library looking for a suitable bread an I found, ironically, a sort of flatbread that was perfect for the job called Focaccia, an Italian flatbread.  Pleasingly, Focaccia is accidentally vegan because it is mainly just flour, yeast and water.  I then looked for the best recipes I could find.  As always, I found some fantastic ideas and recipes but none of them was exactly what i wanted; as a result, I used the best parts and common themes to create my own recipe.  Since I like to keep the roughage levels high, i added wholemeal flour to the recipe.  After some careful planning, I produced the perfect Focaccia bread.  Just for a little trivia, the Guardian (2018) in their article 'Rachel Roddy's recipe fo...

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 28th of June 2021 While visiting my Mum, she told me about some vegan recipes that she knew about so i wrote them down and now i am sharing one of those little wonders with you.  This is a lovely little treat that is simple and fun at dinner parties or festivals.  If you like vegan food, why not subscribe to this blog?  This is lovely desert with great texture and is filling. Waste Short term  None  Long term Oat container unless you can get them from a zero waste shop. Vegan butter wrapper.   Flour bag. Golden syrup tin. Almond butter jar.  Cornflour packet. Tips  Get fresh cherries from the market and freeze them yourself.  This will make them zero waste.  If you can get almonds from a zero waste shop, why not try making your own almond butter? Choose a vegan butter that is not in a plastic tub. 6 Large slices Ingredients  250g of defrosted and drained frozen cherries 100g of oats ...