It’s cold here.

Meaning, it’s Winter here.

No sun bathing and days at the beach, like the Northern Hemisphere.

Then again, this is Africa, so it’s not that bad. XP

For those chilly days of the year I always like consuming hot drinks, mostly lots and lots of herbal tea.

Other days, I’m in the mood for something a little more decadent… and what better way to satisfy that

with some chocolate? I was once very attached to chocolate, it was around 2007, I was addicted.

What caused this addiction you might ask? The most delicious, most decadent, most exquisite hot

chocolate EVER, I just so happened to taste. It comes from Angelina Restaurant et Salon de thé.

I get chills just thinking about my first experience (yes, there was a second) drinking this, velvety,

pure, rich pool of heaven accompanied by unsweetened whipped cream in a white ceramic pitcher

and a globe glass pitcher of ice water all provided by fancy white-aproned servers.

To read more about this heavenly delight, click here for a review I wrote back in 2007.

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I’m a vegan now and it breaks my heart to say that Angelina’s “Chocolat à L’ancienne dit “L’Africain” is not.

So I have come up with a close replica of my very own recipe. I added some almonds to give it a richer

taste and I’m quite content with the result. You really can’t tell that it’s dairy free, anyone will love this.

Although, not everyone is a fan of rich hot chocolate, it can be quite overwhelming for some.

So for absolute chocoholics, this is a must, vegan or not. Enjoy!

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INGREDIENTS:

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1 1/4 cup soy milk

1/4 cup soy cream

1 tbsp rice milk powder

3 – 4 tbsp brown sugar

20 g 70% cocao chocolate, finely chopped

1 tbsp cocao powder

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

5 crushed almonds plus 2 to sprinkle on top

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DIRECTIONS:

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Bring the soy milk and cream to a simmer. Add the finely chopped chocolate, cocoa powder and sugar.

Mix well with a whisk until the chocolate is completely dissolved.

Add in the rice milk powder, vanilla extract and crushed almonds.

Taste to make sure it’s sweet enough for you.

Pour into a cup and sprinkle some extra almonds and a add a dollop of soy cream on top, if you like.

…and if you can’t take the decadence, have yourself a glass of chilled water.

I don’t know if you’ve ever come across these in a Chinese Restaurant, but surely you’ve

heard of fried bananas and if not that, caramelized bananas.

Fried bananas are a common dessert option in Chinese restaurants, they’re soft on the

inside and crunchy on the outside.

These particular bananas are the best of both worlds, because they’re not only fried but

caramelized too! The caramel covers the entire piece with a thin, hard, candy shell.

I suggest serving these as soon as they’re made as the caramel can lose its hardness,

becoming sticky depending on the climate. It’s very important to fellow the directions of

this recipe exactly as they are, so you don’t end up with a mess!

I have done these before and they didn’t turn out so great. I hadn’t used enough oil to

completely coat the bananas and my caramel wasn’t at the right temperature once

I begun dipping them in. So make sure you do this very carefully, you’ll end up with

delicious candy coated bananas!

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INGREDIENTS:

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2 egg whites

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup corn starch

1/2 flour

3 tsp baking powder

6 ripe and firm bananas

oil to fry

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Caramel

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup corn syrup or glucose

6 tbsp water

1 tbsp vinegar

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DIRECTIONS:

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In a bowl, whisk the egg whites with the water. Add the cornstarch and flour. Mix with a whisk to avoid

and lumps. You want a creamy batter. Only add the baking powder right before dipping in the bananas.

Heat the oil and cut the bananas into bite sized pieces. Once your oil is heated and  your about to dip in

your bananas, mix the baking powder into the batter. Submerge the pieces into the bowl of batter, making

sure to completely coat them. With your oil now extremely hot, gently place the battered banana pieces into

the oi and fry until golden. Make sure you use a big enough pan so that your bananas don’t stick to each other

while frying, you want them about an inch apart, completely submerged in the oil, to ensure a crisp shell

completely coating your bananas. Once they’re done frying, place them on a plate full of paper towels to soak

up the extra oil.

Now for the caramel, in a saucepan, add in all of the ingredients and stir until dissolved, over medium heat.

Once you see that your caramel is almost ready to use, get a large bowl and fill it with water and ice, your

gonna use this later.

Let the caramel boil until its a light golden and at 250º F/122º C. If you don’t have a thermometer, that’s ok!

You can use the cold water test, by dripping some of the caramel into a bowl of cold water. If you can form a

firm ball with the caramel, its ready! Now quickly submerge the fried banana pieces into the caramel in the

pan and quickly transfer them into the bowl of icy cold water. Don’t worry, your bananas won’t get soggy,

the icy water immediately hardens your caramel into a protective shell for the banana. Leave the bananas

in the icy cold water for a minute and serve immediately!

I’ve been wanting to share a Seitan recipe for a while now… So today I made Seitan Piccata.

This particular recipe is from my favorite vegan celebrity, Alicia Silverstone, from her book “The Kind Diet“.

This book is fantastic! Its full of delicious vegan recipes that anyone would love.

I got inspiration from The Pioneer Woman Cooks on the way I post this recipe, step by step photos!

…Which I love… but takes a lot of work and patience in the process, cooking while taking pictures at the

same time, then putting them all together was a bit frustrating. I’m not saying I wont be doing this anymore,

just not very often, even though its nice to look at and makes reading and understanding the recipe easier.

I’ll try to do this method as much as possible for you guys!

Anyway, this came out very tangy, which I love, hence the name of the recipe.

Seitan has become my favorite ingredient in vegan cooking. Its a great substitute for meat, but better, its

softer and much more moist, how can you not like that?..and because you make it out of scratch, the flavor

possibilities are endless! If for some reason you don’t want to make this recipe using seitan, go ahead and use

chicken, cooking it the same way as done in the recipe. Hope you find the time to make this and end up loving

seitan as much as I do!

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Seitan

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup vital wheat gluten

3/4 cup water or vegetable broth

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp ginger powder

1 tsp garlic powder

6 cups broth for cooking

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DIRECTIONS:

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Combine gluten flour and dry spices in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix soy sauce and 3/4 cup broth or water.

Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir gently to combine. After a few stirs, you’ll need to use your hands.

It will have a rubbery consistency.

Once its well combined, knead seitan 10-15 times, allow to sit for 5 minutes, then knead a few more times.

Spread out the seitan and cut into 6 to 7 small chunks. Gently stretch each piece into a flat cutlet.

Seitan will expand to roughly twice its size when cooking, so you’ll want to start out with thin cutlets.

Don’t worry about any holes that may form in the gluten.

In a large pot, add 6 cups of broth and any other spices you may like. I like to add 1/4 cup of soy sauce,

a few pieces of fresh ginger, thinly sliced garlic and some herbs.

Add the seitan, cover pot and let cook for an hour. Be sure to use a large pot and plenty of broth, as the seitan

will expand!.. and also be sure to not cover the pot completely shut as it will result to this:

Once its been an hour and your seitan has cooked and expanded, remove from broth and allow to cool.

I like to squeeze out a little of the excess water that the seitan absorbers.

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Tangy Seitan Piccata

INGREDIENTS:

6 large pieces plain seitan

3/4 cup flour for dredging

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup diced scallions

1/2 cups diced onion

1 tsp chopped garlic

1/4 cup drained capers

1 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup vegetable broth

2 tbsp flour

3 tbsp soy margarine (Earth Balance, Olé, Blossom)

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

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DIRECTIONS:

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Cut the seitan into small chunks, I got 30 chunks here.

Dredge the seitan in the whole wheat flour, shaking off the excess.

Heat 2 Tbs olive oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add the seitan and saute until crisp and tender.

Transfer seitan to a plate.

Cut up the onion and scallions…

Heat the remaining 2 Tbs oil in the same skillet. Add the scallions, onions, garlic, and capers and saute,

stirring frequently, until softened, 1-2 mins.

Add the wine, and cook, stirring frequently, until reduced by half. Whisk in the lemon juice, and cook until

sauce has reduced a bit more, 1-2 mins.

Whisk in broth and the all-purpose flour and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 1 min to thicken. Whisk in the margarine, parsley, salt and pepper.

You can either serve the sauce as is and pour as much as you want over the seitan in your plate

or mix the whole thing together, as I did here.

If you think it needs anything, go ahead and add some soy sauce!

…and your done!

I served this over some rice, you can use pasta if you like.

Ready to eat!

For a long time, I have had a love/hate relationship with cakes.

Sometimes, they just don’t want to get along. The fail in the baking process, making sinking results.

Literally sinking. My cakes just sometimes don’t grow and sink once removed from the oven.

I blame the oven!.. It has to be the oven… It is the oven!

Whoever it is, either fluffy or sunk and compact, the cake itself tastes delicious.

This cake, is a vegan cake. So no beating egg whites for insurance in growing and not sinking.

I knew for sure that this was going to have sad results.

Little did I know, you don’t need eggs or butter to make a delicious and moist cake!

The cake might not be the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen, but it’s “hella” good!

Very moist and tender. The best way to enjoy this, is warm. Its more like a dessert when heated,

the chocolate is more chocolaty and the textures are softer and YUM.

Do make this cake for anybody who thinks veganism sucks, by proving them wrong!

I had a friend come up to me and say that she was thinking about going vegan after trying the

cake, “being vegan isn’t so bad!”. Recipe courtesy Seitan Is My Motor.

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INGREDIENTS:

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1/2 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp margarine (earth balance, blossom, olé)

2 1/4 cup sugar, divided

1 tsp vanilla extract/essence

2 tbsp ground flax seeds

6-10 tbsp hot water

1/2 cup applesauce, divided

1 cup soy milk

3 1/4 cup flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

25 g unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

2 tbsp cocoa powder

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DIRECTIONS:

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Cream together margarine, half the sugar, and vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy.

Combine flax and water, stir and add 6-10 tbsp applesauce.

Add beat sugar/margarine mixture, remaining sugar and soy milk. Beat until everything is incorporated.

Sift in flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until all ingredients are combined and no lumps remain.

Pour 2/3 of batter into pan. Mix remaining batter with melted chocolate, cocoa powder and remaining applesauce.

Pour into the pan as well. Stir with a fork to draw swirls through the batter. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick

inserted comes out clean. Let cool for at least 20 minutes before removing from pan. Let cool completely before serving.

Combine 1 tsp powdered sugar with 1 tsp of cocoa powder (forgot to do this step) and sift over the cake.

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