Vegan Effect

Written by   McDonald, T.    |  Date 19th of January 2026 I love a good pizza and this is a favourite of mine. TVP for the minced beef, extra firm tofu for the ham, jalapeño peppers and olives.  As ever, make the poolish the night before, and it will add flavour and made such a difference to the light crispness of the base.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 22 of December 2025 When I am in need of a quick and easy festive bread or cake, this is always a great option! It is great for any festival at any time of the year. It has all the fun of fruit cake or stollen, but is ready to eat in 2 hrs. The marzipan in the middle makes it an amazing addition to your festive table. Enjoy!

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 3rd of November 2025 I use this recipe a lot because it is a simple bit of fun to liven up the weekend. It's easy to make and great on taste.  The sweet taste and bready texture make for a satisfying treat.  It's wonderful with tea/coffee or as a dessert. 

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 16th June 2025 Never miss out on chocolate bars again.  Making your own vegan chocolate bar is so easy and requires no baking at all.  You can have this recipe ready to eat in a few hours and take only minutes to prepare.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 14th of April 2025     The spicy tastes to this dip is so good!  It's a combination of garlic, jalapeños and sundried tomatoes all blended into the chickpea paste.  Great as a dip with carrots, celery and pitta bread or used as a side dish.

Written by   McDonald, T.    |  Date 7th of April 2025 Straight forward bread with no need for a Dutch oven. Get great results the same day with this easy to make and fantastic tasting bread. Waste Short term waste: Zero  Long term waste: Flour packaging Yeast packaging Salt container  Notes Hydration is at 80%. Baker's notes Flour 100% (500 g) Water 80% (400 g) Yeast 1.4% (7 g) dry  [Fresh is 4% (20) g]  Salt 0.012% (6 g) Water temperature Between 40 °C and 46 °C   Makes one 800 g loaf Ingredients 200 g white flour strong bread flour 300 g wholemeal strong bread flour 6 g Salt   7 g active dry yeast/instant yeast 1 tbsp of vegetable oil 400 g of lukewarm water Seeds optional Apparatus Dough scraper Danish whisk Spatula Large mixing bowl Baking sheet Method  Add both flours to the mixing bowl and mix flours together with the balloon whisk.  Add the salt and yeast in different places, and then mix with the balloon whisk aga...

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 24th of March 2025 If you love potatoes as much as I do, you will love this dish too!  Very simple, but will add that extra layer of taste to your meal.  Potatoes are a great source of carbohydrate, are sweet and delicious.  You can serve these on their own or with your main meal. 

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Updated 10th of March 2025. Soda bread is a favourite of mine.  I like to have it regularly because it's so quick and easy to make. Furthermore, it's a simple job to increase the nutrition if you want, which is what I'm doing with this recipe. Adding the seeds really increases the nutritional value of this Irish bread, and since next Monday is St Patrick's Day, why not get the ingredients this week and be ready to make it for St Partick's Day!

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 20th of January 2025 Yes, this is another variation on banana bread.  The oats and the chia seeds add a lot of nutrition to this bread as well as flavours and textures, making this fun bread with perks. Chia seeds are great sauces of calcium, iron, fibre, and magnesium.  While dietary fibre helps us to fill full, magnesium is thought to help reduce anxiety and depression.  In keeping with alleviating the symptoms of depression, lemon juice is also said to help.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 20th of January 2025 I do like a bit of pizza for dinner.  This is also very easy to make with few ingredients and no hassle. The sauce is fun and exciting while the spinach and tomato provide texture and juiciness.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 13th of October 2025 This is so easy to make. I like to ave soup once in a while because it is easy tastes great, you can make a big batch and freeze it for latter.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 9th of December 2024 If you are looking for a true piece of decadence, this is it. Plenty of flavour from the rum and raisins and plenty of sweetness from the chocolate and coconut cream.  This dessert takes longer to chill than it does to make, so if you are sort of time, this could be for you.  All you have to do is soak the raisins overnight and make the dessert in the morning and put it in the fridge.  When you get home, the dessert will be more than ready. 

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 2nd of December 2024 If you want to make your pecan pie a little more fancy for this Christmas holiday, why not add some bourbon?  Yes, adding alcohol to desserts will always make them a little more Christmasy!  This vegan pecan pie is great and I think it is perfectly ok to cheat a little and use pre-rolled pastry, just be sure it is vegan. 

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 11th of November 2024 This is a relatively easy pizza.  I say relatively because it can be a little tricky, but not impossible.  The key is to stay calm and not try to rush it. With this in mind, if this is your first time at making a pizza dough with a high hydration, do it on a day that you have time to think and follow the instructions at a pace that suits you. The results are well worth the perseverance and the more you make this recipe the better and easier it gets. I have used vegan pepperoni, but you can use any toppings that you like.

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 4th of November 2024 Focaccia is great Italian bread that is easy to make and will impress any dinner guests.  It is light and soft with amazing bubbles, texture, and taste.  I have made a wholemeal version before using strong bread flour.  This time, I thought I would try the more common type using plain flour.  I was pleasantly suppressed on how it turned out. Hydration is at 84% Baker's notes Flour 100% (500 g) Water 80% (400 g) Yeast 1.4% (7 g) dry  [Fresh is 4% (20) g]  Salt 1.8% (9 g) Makes one 800 g focaccia Ingredients Plain flour 500 g Instant dry yeast x 7 g Salt x 9 g Water x 420 g Olive oil x 2 tbsp (you will need another 3 tbsp to grease the pan and more for on top) Apparatus Dough scraper Danish dough whisk Spatula Large mixing bowl Large baking dish  Method  Mix all the dry ingredients together and add the lukewarm water.  Use the Danish dough whisk to thoroughly combine the ingredie...

Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 28th of October 2024 This is very much like a vegan cheesecake or key lime pie, so if you like those, you really need to try this recipe! Yes, it does include pumpkin spice and has all the flavour of autumn. Although it is called a cheesecake, it doesn't even use vegan cream cheese. Instead, I have just used pumpkin purée and coconut oil to hold it together. With this in mind, you might think, will it stay firm?  The answer to that is yes! The base uses dates and almonds, which is brilliant in taste and texture, but if you can't have nuts, you can use digestive biscuits. Just check they are vegan.

By McDonald, T.   |  Date 21st of October 2024 This beautiful breakfast has a lot of warmth to it both in colour and taste.  The pumpkin spice brings out the natural flavours of the already terrific dish.  The pumpkin spice is made up from cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.  Perfect for this time of year. Serves 1 Ingredients 1/2 a cup (40 g) of rolled oats  1 cup (250 ml) of coconut alternative to milk  1 tsp of chia seeds   1 tsp of flax seeds  1 tsp of ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp of ground ginger 1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg  1/8 tsp of ground cloves 1/8 tsp of salt 15 g of sultanas  Apparatus A jar Method Put the 1/2 a cup of oats into the jar with the sultanas, flax seeds, chi seeds, spices, salt, and sugar, into the jar.    Poor the coconut milk in and give it a good stir.   Place in a fridge overnight. Serve on its own or with fruit of your choice.  I hope that you liked this blog and if ...

Written by   McDonald, T.    |  Date 8th of July 2024 This one of my favourite fruit breads because it's so easy and quick to make. There are many ways to make this bread, but this is a more common recipe that will make a mini loaf with about 14 serving. 

By McDonald, T.   |  Date 1st of July 2024 Do you like carrot cake?  Yes, great! So, why not try out carrot cake flavoured overnight oats?  I know, you think that i'm having you on, but I'm not and it is such a great treat in the morning or anytime.  It still has that creamy taste and texture, but with a distinct carrot cake flavour and with the added bonus of vitamin A.

  Written by McDonald, T.   |  Date 24th of June 2024 No need for kneading makes it so easy! All you have to do is mix all the ingredients together and leave it overnight before baking it the next day. Adding in some folding will improve your bread no end while the salt and sugar help to preserve it for longer although it's not likely to be around long if you know what I mean. Waste Short term waste: Zero  Long term waste: Flour packaging Yeast packaging Sugar packaging  Salt container  Mix the dry ingredients together. Sticky dough. After 12 hours, put into a big pot. Notes Hydration is at 80%, but you can go higher. Baker's notes Flour 100% (500 g) Water 86% (430 g) Yeast 1.4% (7 g) dry  [Fresh is 4% (20) g]  Salt 1.8% (9 g) Makes one 800 g loaf Ingredients 250 g white strong bread flour 2 50 g wholemeal strong bread flour 1 tsp of sugar (optional, but advisable) 9 g Salt   ...