This is nice and crunchy and not too sweet, with a hint of cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and cashew nut butter for extra flavor. We usually don’t eat sweet things for breakfast and rarely ever buy granola, but I am now very much hooked to this homemade version – it’s so delicious as a snack with plain soy yoghurt or vegan milk. And obviously there’s plenty of room for creativity when it comes to granola, with all the nuts and seeds and dried fruits and extracts just waiting to be added for good measure.

Here’s what I used:

• 6 dl rolled oats
• 2 dl soy flakes (by Soyappétit), slightly crushed
• 2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/2 dl muscovado (whole cane) sugar
• 5 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 tablespoon cashew nut butter
• 1 tablespoon soy milk

First I heated the oil, sugar, nut butter, and soy milk on medium heat until the sugar had melted. I removed the pot from heat and combined the dry ingredients – oats through ginger – in a bowl. Then I poured the sugar mixture and vanilla extract in the dry stuff, stirred with a fork until thoroughly combined (this takes some time), and spread the granola on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

I baked my granola in 150 degrees Celsius, first 12 minutes, then tossed it, and baked for another 12 minutes, removed from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet. This all depends on the oven I guess, so the granola might need another 5 to 10 minutes of baking time – it should get golden brown (the bits that aren’t cocoa brown) and crunchy.

This is how our soy flakes look like: they’re very light and airy.

Heikki and I liked the chocolate that was sprinkled with both cardamom and pink peppercorns most, and the nutty chocolate did have a nice sugary crunch to it as well. Next time I might just add our favorite spices right into the melted chocolate and then sprinkle with nuts, although it was nice to have a variety of flavors to taste and compare this time.

Sugar-Coated Nuts:

I didn’t actually caramelize the nuts for this chocolate bark – they only got a thin coat of whole cane sugar, more brittle than the solid caramel you’d get by boiling the sugar for a longer time. This is a lovely treat by itself and we munched the leftovers from the chocolate-making in no time at all.

• 4 tablespoons whole cane sugar (rapadura)
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 2-3 teaspoons water
• pinch of salt
• 2 dl pecans, chopped
• 2 dl cashews, chopped

First, I mixed the sugar, oil, water, and salt in a cup to make a smooth-ish paste. Then I chopped the nuts coarsely with a heavy non-serrated knife, and toasted them on high heat until fragrant and just very lightly browned. I lowered the heat and poured the sugar mixture in the pan, stirring with a wooden fork, and it started bubbling right away.

I let it boil for a minute or two, until the water had evaporated and all the nuts were coated with the sugar. Then I spread the mixture on a piece of baking parchment, separating the bits from each other, and let it cool.

Making the Chocolate Bark:

• 200 g (or more) chocolate
• crushed pink peppercorns, ground cardamom, crushed peppermint candies, sugar-coated nuts, cinnamon, etc.

I used a bunch of different “leftover” chocolates for this one, most of them about 70 % cocoa solids. I divided the chocolate bars in small pieces, and melted them in a water bath (first boiled the water, then took the pot off heat and placed the chocolate bowl in the pot). Then I poured the chocolate on a piece of baking parchment in smaller and larger mounds, and spread them a little bit until about 3 to 4 millimeters thick.

Now I sprinkled the chocolate with my favorite things: pink peppercorns alone and combined with cardamom or cinnamon, mint candies, and the sugary nuts from above. I let the chocolates sit in room temperature until settled, for a few hours I’d say.

Apple sauce made this cake very moist and gave it a little bit of fruity flavor as well – I wanted to bake an extra moist cake after having a disappointing chocolate cake experience at a nearby vegetarian restaurant. The cake had a nice crumble, thanks to the whole spelt flour that also adds great flavor. We stored this cake in the fridge after the icing had set, and it was even more flavorful on the following days.

The Cake Batter:

• 5 dl whole spelt flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 dl raw cane sugar
• 1/2 dl whole cane sugar (rapadura)
• 2 dl unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 dl canola oil
• 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur (or coffee)
• 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut (for the baking dish)

I preheated the oven to 175 degrees Celsius and greased a round baking dish, and then sprinkled the desiccated coconut over the bottom of the dish and up the sides. I used a small round baking dish with a diameter of 15 centimeters.

To make the batter, I first mixed the dry ingredients (flour through salt) together, then mixed the wet (sugars through liqueur) in another bowl, and then combined the two with a fork until smooth. Now I poured the batter in the dish and baked it on the lower rack of the oven for 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted came out clean.

The Mocha Icing:

• 1 and 1/2 to 2 dl (raw cane) confectioner’s sugar
• 1 to 2 tablespoons coffee liqueur (or coffee)
• 2 teaspoons desiccated coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

I started by mixing 1 and 1/2 dl confectioner’s sugar with 1 tablespoon of the liqueur, added the coconut and cinnamon, and stirred. Then I added a bit of sugar and a bit of liqueur until I had a good spreadable consistency. Then I spread the icing over the cooled cake and let it set for an hour before serving.

I wanted to make a chewy cookie, and coconut and currants did give these a very nice chewiness. Somehow there is also a crispy and light dimension to the texture, akin to the caramelized oat biscuits that I baked a while back. The nutmeg sort of took over the taste after a few days in the cookie jar (and the chewiness took over the crispiness as well) so I’d say these are at their most delicious right after baking!

The Cookie Dough:

• 1 dl desiccated coconut
• 1 dl graham (whole wheat) flour
• 1 dl muscovado sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons currants
• 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch each: salt, cinnamon, nutmeg
• 1/2 dl canola oil
• 2 tablespoons soy milk

First I preheated the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, and covered a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Then I mixed all the dry ingredients (coconut through nutmeg) together in a bowl, and then poured in the oil. I mixed until a little combined, and then started adding soy milk until a nice, slightly sticky dough formed.

I placed tablespoon-sized dabs of dough on the cookie sheet, and flattened them a little bit with a fork. These cookies spread out pretty much, but I managed to fit them all on just one baking sheet.

Then I baked my cookies in the pre-heated oven for about 8-9 minutes, and let them cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before removing them with a spatula. These cookies are soft right out of the oven, but crisp up while they cool down.

I adapted the recipe from Dog Hill Kitchen‘s Cherry Pocket Pies. I generally dislike rolling out pie pastries and such, but this dough was really easy to work with, and also totally easy to make. My filling is not very sweet, so this recipe makes snack style pocket pies, but with more sugar these would be a nice portable dessert as well.

The Filling:

• about 10 dl chopped apples
• about 1 dl water (or more)
• 4 tablespoons muscovado sugar (or more)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons potato (or corn) starch, mixed with a bit of water

It’s best to start making the filling an hour or so before baking, so it’ll have time to cool down.

I rinsed and cored the apples, and cut them in small cubes. Then I placed them in a sauce pan with the water, and simmered them on medium to medium high heat until they started to soften and mush up. I added the sweeteners and the spices (muscovado through salt), and cooked until I had a nice saucy consistency with a few apple pieces here and there. Then I mixed the potato starch with a little bit of water, and poured the slurry in the apple pot, stirring all the time to ensure it wouldn’t form lumps. This thickened my filling almost instantly. I removed the pot from heat and let the filling cool down before assembling the pies.

You might need more water or less potato starch, all depending on the fruit you use. Our apples were kind of floury.

The Dough:

• 5 and 1/2 dl whole spelt flour
• 2 dl soy milk
• 5 tablespoons margarine
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

I mixed the flour with the baking soda and salt, and then added the cold margarine in the bowl. Now, I used a fork to incorporate the margarine in the dry mixture. When it looked uniformly crumbly all over, I added the soy milk, and kneaded for a few minutes. The dough should come together nicely, so if it is sticky at this point, you might need to add a little bit more flour.

Now I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Then I divided the dough in 12 equal portions, shaped each into a ball, and rolled them out into circles. The pocket shells were about 15 cm in diameter.

To assemble, I placed about 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling in the center of each dough circle, folded the sides together, and sealed them with the spikes of a fork. Now, I covered two baking sheets with baking parchment, placed the pies on the sheets, brushed them with some soy milk, and scored them thrice with a knife to make air vents.

Then I baked my little pockets, for 25 minutes, one baking sheet at a time, until they were a little brown around the edges and on the bottom side.

This is the first time I’ve used olive oil in sweet baked goods, and will definitely be doing that more often from now on. The taste wasn’t overpowering by any means, there was just a hint of the olive goodness hiding somewhere amongst all the apples. I really liked how the top (or, eventually, the bottom) of the cake came out a little crunchy, which is a nice contrast with the moist cakey insides and the fruity topping. The photo is a bit yellowish because of the progressing lack of light in Helsinki, but I guess it’s best to get used to that…

The Cake Batter:

• 1 dl olive oil
• 2 and 1/2 dl sugar
• 2 dl plain soy yoghurt
• 1 dl wheat flour
• 2 and 1/2 dl whole wheat flour
• 3/4 dl coarsely ground almonds
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 dl grated apples

Topping:

• 5 small apples, sliced
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

Before starting with the batter, I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius, grated the apples, and greased a round glass baking dish with a little margarine.

I started with the topping. I sliced 5 small apples, placed them in a mixing bowl, and stirred in the sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Then I poured the slices in the baking dish and arranged them so that they covered the bottom and the sides of the pan.

To make the batter, I first whisked together the olive oil, sugar, and soy yogurt until the mixture was smooth. Then I mixed the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a separate bowl, and added them to the liquids. I whisked the batter until there were no large lumps and then stirred in the grated apple. Now, I poured the batter in the baking dish over the apples.

Then I baked the cake on the lowest rack of our oven for 55 minutes, until it was well browned, and came off the sides of the baking dish. After baking, I let the cake cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then inverted the cake on a surface covered with baking parchment. We enjoyed the first slices with some vanilla ice cream, but I think that this cake is just as delicious on its own.

I used semi-dark chocolate and didn’t even add cocoa powder, since we don’t have any at the moment (and I was too lazy to run to the grocery). This produced an almost milk chocolate-like chocolate flavor. I don’t see why a darker chocolate wouldn’t work as well – the flavor would probably just be more deep and not quite as sweet. This cake really doesn’t need any frosting, but I might drizzle some more chocolate over the top for a fancier presentation.

UPDATE: Alice from Veganland thinks this cake is totally cakey! And now that I’ve learnt that any cake can be cakey as long as it’s delicious, I have to admit that we were wrong – this is indeed a cakey cake!

The Chocolate Batter:

• 220 g semi-dark chocolate (40-50 % cocoa)
• 350 g firm silken tofu (Mori-Nu vacuum packed is what I use)
• 2 dl sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 dl canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon coffee liqueur
• 3 dl wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

The first thing I did was to preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Then I melted the chocolate and set it aside.

Now, I prepared the batter: I placed the tofu, sugar, oil, vanilla sugar, salt, cinnamon, and coffee liqueur in a large mixing bowl and puréed them with our immersion blender until everything was smooth and there were absolutely no tofu pieces visible.

I mixed the flour with the baking soda in a smaller bowl. Then I poured the melted chocolate in the tofu bowl, stirred with a fork until completely combined, and then added the flour mixture in the bowl as well. I stirred with the fork until just combined – some tiny lumps remained  – and then poured the batter in a glass baking dish (15 cm X 23 cm) covered with parchment paper.

Now, I baked the cake in 175 degrees for 35 minutes, until it was firm to the touch but still a little jiggly in the center. A toothpick inserted in the center did not come out quite clean at this point, but it wasnt’t soaked in batter either.

I think this cake was best when still a little warm, but it does keep in the fridge for a few days at least (or until it’s all gone, most likely). I like to warm it up a little bit but Heikki prefers enjoying it straight out of the fridge – it’s delicious either way.

The combination of bitter cocoa flavor paired with intense pink peppercorns and sweet cinnamon is quite complex, and probably not to everyone’s liking, but I could live off the fragrance alone! Muscovado sugar imparts a pleasant, subtle sweetness, which situates these muffins somewhere between a dessert and a snack.

This recipe makes 6 muffins, but can easily be doubled.

The Dry Mix:

• 2 dl wheat flour
• 1/2 dl dark cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pink peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg

The Wet Mix:

• 1/2 dl liquid margarine (or canola oil, or 50 g melted margarine)
  
• 3/4 dl muscovado sugar
• 1 dl plain soy milk
• 1 dl plain soy yogurt
  
• 50 g chocolate, melted

Garnish:

• 6 chocolate squares
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground pink peppercorns

First I preheated the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. The making of the batter was quite simple: I just mixed together the two mixes in separate bowls, and then combined the two with a fork until relatively smooth.

I greased 6 cups of my muffin tin with a little margarine, dusted them with cocoa powder, and spooned the batter in the cups. I pressed a little square of chocolate in the middle of each muffin, so that they peeked out a little bit, and then popped the muffins in the oven. They were done after 15 minutes in 175 degrees Celsius.

When the muffins had cooled down enough to handle, I placed them on a rack, and sprinkled ground pink peppercorns over the melted chocolate in the middle of each muffin.

And this drink is really really good, especially when sweetened with agave syrup. Some believe that sugar isn’t good for a flu, but I don’t think a teaspoon or two of agave syrup ever hurt anyone. I have a feeling that this would be a great summer drink too, only chilled and served over ice.

My Tea Recipe:

• 1/2 l water
• 2 tablespoons ginger, chopped
• (1/2 teaspoon ginger, grated -optional)
• 1 teaspoon whole cardamom seeds (or a few crackled pods)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• juice of one orange
• (agave syrup to taste)

First I let the 2 tablespoons of chopped ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon simmer in the water for ten to fifteen minutes, then remove the pot from heat, and add the orange juice. I sometimes add the extra grated ginger and let the drink steep for 5 more minutes to get a fresh ginger bite as well. Then I filter it in a jug, and sweeten with some agave syrup.

I often double the recipe, and sometimes use the dried ginger root called sonti – it has an even more potent and fiery taste than the fresh root, but takes a little more effort to ground.

I love lemons and the combination of tangy and sweet in this cake, but a vegan cream cheese frosting goes extremely well with this as well. I make it by just mixing a package of soy cream cheese with lemon juice and grated zest, and then add some confectioner’s sugar in the mix.

The Wet Mix:

• 1 and 1/2 dl plain soy yogurt
• 1 dl canola oil
• 2 dl muscovado sugar
• 4 dl finely grated carrots
• 2 tablespoons finely ground flaxseed
• 1 dl soy milk

The Dry Mix:

• 2 dl spelt flour
• 1 dl wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 dl walnuts, coarsely ground

I mixed the wet and the dry mixes in separate bowls, and then combined the two. Then I covered a rectangular baking dish, about 30 cm x 20cm, with baking parchment, poured the batter in the dish, evened the surface, and baked the cake in 225 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.

NOTE: The cake might need to bake a little longer, up to 30 minutes – some bloggers have found the cake too moist with 20 minutes’ baking time.

The Icing:

• 2 tablespoons plain soy yogurt
• juice and grated zest of 1/2 lemon
• 3 to 4 dl confectioner’s sugar

I whisked together the yogurt, lemon juice, and zest, and then added enough sugar to create a relatively runny icing. The I waited until the cake had completely cooled, and poured the icing over the cake, leveling it with a butter knife. I let the icing dry up in the room temperature for a few hours before serving.