Vegan MoFo 12 / Pumpkin Barley Risotto

I am still in the middle of my preparations for my A-Level exam next friday, so I'm just popping in to share a delicious & easy recipe with you....

Pumpkin Barley Risotto

feeds 4-5 people

Ingredients:

250 gr pearl barley, rinsed

1-2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, finely cut

veggie broth

1/2 butternut, peeled and cubed 

olive oil

dried herbs 

salt & pepper

 2 Tbsp. oat cream

optional toppings: nutritional yeast, chopped nuts, pumpkin seed oil, vegan cheese

those were just half of my butternut pieces

Preheat oven to 180°C (350F). Start by preparing your butternut. After you've peeled and cubed it, place the pieces in a large bowl. Add some olive oil, so all pieces are lightly (!) coated. Now add salt & pepper, some dried herbs, and more spices if you like. Spread on a baking tray, lined with parchment paper and roast for about 25 minutes, until tender.

Heat olive oil in a pan, and add the finely cut onion. Sautee for a few minutes, and add the well rinsed pear barley. Stir good and just before the barley will stick to the pan, add veggie broth, until well covered. Let cook for 25 - 30 minutes, and until all excess liquid is gone.

When the butternut pieces are ready, puree with oat cream. Add more cream if you like. Now add the butternut mixture to the barley risotto, stir and let cook for a few minutes. You can still add optional toppings, or fold in some vegan cheese pieces, as I did.

Enjoy!

Florence

Vegan MoFo II / Vegan Pumpkin Syrup

 I feel like I'm doing good with this whole Vegan MoFo regular blogging. Days have been good lately, I was busy renovating and dressing up for an elegant (vegan) french dinner. It was a friend's birthay gift, and as we cooked at my place, it was all vegan. There was ratatouille, vegan soy-chicken, tarte aux pommes, some amuse bouche, and lots of wine! It was really nice to have such a nice distraction from studying. 

 

But on to the next recipe. Vegan Pumpkin Spice Syrup! I had some leftover pumpkin puree, and that was a very good use for it. This syrup is spicy and sweet, perfect for Pumpkin Spice Lattes, mixing it into smoothies or frostings and poured over delicious Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls. 

I also used it as a filling for a Pumpkin Gingerbread Cake I made last week. It was amazing!

 Vegan Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Ingredients:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
3 whole cinnamon sticks
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla  (or 1 whole vanilla bean, split lengthwise)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and place over medium heat.
Stirring occasionally, allow the mixture to come to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from the heat and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature.
When the syrup is cool, strain into a clean jar through a fine mesh sieve.
If you store it in the fridge, this syrup will keep for up to 2 months.

Pumpkin Pie Layer Cake

 

I had the idea of creating my perfect vegan birthday cake. Since it was almost beginning of fall, and I like to argue that my birthday (17 september) is already in fall, pumpkin seemed ideal! So coincidentally I stumbled upon the idea of using a crustless pumpkin pie as cupcake frosting and it struck me - why not create a vegan pumpkin pie filling? 

And so it happened, and my vegan birthday pumpkin pie layer cake was born!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie Layer Cake

This cake requires you to plan and make some things ahead (the day before).

   

• 4 Vanilla-Pumpkin-Layers
• Homemade Dulce De Leche
• Pumpkin Pie Filling
• Whipped Frosting

Vanilla-Pumpkin Layer

this makes 2 layers, so please bake this twice to get the 4 layers.

230 gr spelt flour

100 gr sugar

240 ml sparkling mineral water
40 ml canola oil
1 sachet baking powder
1 sachet vanilla sugar
1 heaping Tbsp. pumpkin puree (optional)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)

Preheat oven to 160°C. Mix all ingredients for 5 minutes with a hand mixer, slowly pouring the sparkling mineral water in last. Next grease a 20cm round pan. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper, this will make it easier getting the cake out of the pan to cool. 
Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 30 - 40 minutes until the top is slightly brown and a knife inserted comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 minutes, then cut the cake in 2 layers and let them cool completely on a cooling rack. 

Dulce de Leche
Recipe from seitan is my motor .
I used about 3/4 of the batch I made.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

340 gr silken tofu

450 gr pumpkin puree

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp gingerbread spice

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup brown sugar

80 ml canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 Tbsp apple syrup (or molasses)

250 gr soy yoghurt (drained overnight)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine all ingredients (except soy yoghurt) in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pour into a greased baking tray and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the edges start to get brown. Let the pie cool completely before putting it into a large mixing bowl. Add the drained soy yoghurt and mix thoroughly with a wisk until smooth. 

Whipped Frosting

250 gr soy yoghurt (drained overnight)

500 gr soy whipping cream

2 sachets vanilla sugar

2 sachets of whipping cream stabiliser

1 pinch salt

Beat together the soy whipping cream, sugar, salt and 1 sachet of whipping cream stabiliser until peaks form. Then slowly add the soy yoghurt and the remaining sachet of whipping cream stabiliser and beat for 1 minute. 

 

Notes:

•  You can use your favourite pumpkin pie recipe, but mixing it with the drained soy yoghurt gives the filling the desired creaminess.
• Next time I'm gonna add more of the soy yoghurt to the frosting to make it even yummier and creamy!

In the end I was really pleased how this cake turned out, it tasted even better on the second day! The only thing I regret is not taking pictures in better light... but well, life stepped in and hindered me.

If there are any questions regarding the recipe, please ask, I'll be glad to answer! :)

Florence