Living Dead Cakes

My favourite vegan & gluten free products

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Living Dead Cakes / 6 Comments

Since becoming vegan the way I shop hasn’t really changed as I’m a seasoned label reader, but when you first become vegan or gluten free it can be a scary and overwhelming time.

Food manufactures fill our food full of things that in my opinion don’t always need to be there & supermarkets take advantage of people with allergies and dietary requirements.

They pad out the free from shelfs with some items that are normally gluten free/vegan anyway, plus they then make us pay extra for it! For example Tesco free from ketchup £1.20 460g bottle vs Tesco ketchup £0.65 for the same size bottle! 55p more! Both are vegan & gluten free!!

My tip: Read labels and don’t always head straight to the free from section. Check your old favorite items first you might have a pleasant surprise.

For me with being vegan and gluten free the amount of ready made food products I can have are limited even more, while something might be vegan it may have gluten in it & then something might be gluten free but then contain egg/milk etc.

If you have been shopping with me, then you may have witnessed my “happy dance” when I find something I can eat. It’s like the dance Snoopy does but with a bit more style! And some jazz hands thrown in for good measure ?

It’s a happy day when I find something vegan and gluten free, so the moment needs to celebrated with a fitting dance.

So these are some of my favourite vegan & gluten free products,

I hope they help you when you are out shopping.

Vitalite Sunflower Spread 500g

Price £1.00

Availability: Most supermarkets (chiller with the butter)

I love this alternative to butter. I prefer cooking with Pure sunflower but both are just yummy on crackers. Plus Vitalite is cheaper!

Schar gluten free cream crackers:

Price: £2.50

Availability: Asda/Sainsbury’s (free from section)

Since being gluten free I have missed cream crackers so much and when I saw these in Sainsbury’s and saw they were vegan too, I did do my happy dance when i found these in Sainsbury’s & they taste amazing & come in little sealed packets of 6 X 5 crackers.

The only bad point is they are very fragile and can break into a million crumbs if you are not careful.

Amy’s Kitchen Mac & cheese: (Dairy & Gluten free)

Price: £2.99

Availability: Health food shops/Whole Foods.
(Tesco do sell a Gluten free version but not dairy free & gluten free)

There is only one word to describe this EPIC!

Perfect to keep in the freezer for a quick easy dinner.

My cons are its price! & its very high in calories.

Tesco Free From Battered Onion Rings

Price: £2.00

Availability: Tesco (freezer free from section)

Perfect treat to go with any veggie burger or with the mac & cheese.

Schar White Ciabatta Rolls

Price: £2.00

Availability: Most supermarkets (free from section)

Perfect for garlic bread & dipping in soup

Violife Cheese Alternative

Price: Around £2.30

Availability: Tesco/Asda/Waitrose

The block is perfect grated on pizza & the slices are good for toasted sandwiches,

Cons, It doesn’t melt completely & uncooked is a little rubbery, but is a nice cheese alternative.

Tesco Free From Coconut Milk Drink 1L

Price: £1.25

Availability: Tesco (Milk free from section)

I have tried every plant milk you can name, and this is the only one that doesn’t give me a sore throat after two cups of tea, I use it in all my baking.

Swedish Glace Vanilla Non Dairy Frozen Dessert

Price: £2.20

Availability: Most supermarkets (ice cream freezer section)

This alternative to ice cream is one of the best for taste and value, Its rich and creamy and they also do a raspberry flavour (i’ve only found that one in Waitrose) which is amazing too. Perfect with my apple crumble or my sticky toffee pudding.

Tesco Free From Strawberry And Vanilla Cones x4

Price: £2.00

Availability: Tesco (freezer free from section)

These are yummy! If the weather gets warm stock up if you see them in stock, they sell out very quickly.

Tesco Free From Penne Pasta 500G

Price: £1.40

Availability: Tesco (free from section)

To be honest I like all the free from pastas from Tesco, Asda & Sainsbury’s.

Vego Organic Hazelnut Chocolate Vegan

Price: Around £1.95

Availability: Health food shops & online

These are so good, very rich & very addictive.

I hope these help you when you are shopping & thinking of wanting to try something, feel free to share your favourites with us and if you have any questions as always message us on here or via our Facebook page or on twitter.

Recipe Key:

?✅ key

?=Vegan
✅=Gluten Free

General/review

I ❤️ vegan junk food!

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Living Dead Cakes / 2 Comments

Who doesn’t love a nice chunk of cake or a toasted cheese filled sandwich?
Being vegan these things don’t have to change as a lot of my recipes on here will show you, but to make some of these things you do need to find some vegan alternative ingredients.

While many vegans like to stick to a plant based no processed food diet, some of us do like to partake in a nibble of some scrumptious naughtiness at times, so to fulfil my craving of some yummy vegan cheese and other naughty treats we went to visit a new vegan shop in Bristol called VX Bristol. Situated on East Street in Bedminster, While its out of the main shopping area in Bristol its definitely worth the journey.

They have a shop in London but have now opened one in Bristol and the last few weeks they have been having some “soft openings” they are practice runs before the main opening event, so the staff can be trained up and get a feel of the shop before it opens properly.

I have looked at the shops website and online store in the past but have never got around to placing an order or visiting the London store, so I was familiar with the products they sold. I was looking forward to getting my hands on some of the infamous squirty soya cream in a can and some cheese for my home made nachos. Sadly, they didn’t have the cream or the cheese I wanted in stock but I did get some of the other bits that where on my wish list.
(If the items i bought are available on their online shop they will be linked.)

I bought the Jeezo parmesan block, perfect for my vegan risotto, i can’t wait to give this cheese a try (I will have the recipe up on here soon), & some Jeezo Bianco – Vegan Mozzarella. I also picked up some egg free omelette mix, I have a few ideas for this so playing around with it will be fun.

I’m very excited to try the cold cuts I bought, normally any form of vegan “meat” I have found has gluten/wheat in so I have never got to try them, but these ones are labelled gluten free & upon reading this i did do my little happy dance. The last item in my mini haul where some of my favourite sweets, Goody good stuffs, Summer peaches.

My little shop came to around £20.00 i can’t remember the exact price of all the items but the cheese and omelette mix where around £5.00 each, the cold cuts where under £3.00 & the sweets £1.99.

The thing I do like about the shops are they have a little seating area where you can have a cup of tea & some yummy vegan cake or something of the menu of hot food they serve, I wanted to try their nachos and compare them to my own but sadly we got there for when they opened at 10am & that was a little early for me. Next time I go I will go a bit later and maybe try them then. On their menus they do sell hot dogs, Vx burgers, Quesadillas. I do think only the nachos are gluten free and vegan, everything else is just vegan.

I will be going back, there are too many yummy things i want to try. I will follow this post up with a new post when i visit again and hopefully i will have some squirty cream next time.

❤️ Like Living Dead Cakes & VX Bristol on Facebook. ❤️

Recipe

A happy tipsy vegan New Year.

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Living Dead Cakes / 1 Comment

It’s no secret that I’m partial to a cocktail or three, since being gluten free my favourite tipple had to change. No more real ale for me. I have tried a few gluten free ales but they are now sadly out of reach as they are not vegan.

If you are not vegan and didn’t know some beer and other alcohols are filtered at the end of production to give the product a clear finish. Not all cask ales are filtered but some are filtered through Isinglass (the swim bladders of fish). This same production method can be used on other alcoholic drinks and even some non-alcoholic drinks such as Diet Pepsi and Lilt are clarified using gelatine.

Drinks filtered with Isinglass are not even considered vegetarian.

Some beers and wine can also be sweetened with honey and in some case may even contain lactose, so not only do we have to contend with hidden animal products in food they also put them in drinks too!.

A great website for us vegans is Barnivore. Type in the brand of your alcoholic drink and they will tell you if its vegan. Luckily for me a few of my favourite drinks are vegan.

Barnivore also have a mobile app too, so perfect for the weekly shop or when you are out in a bar.

Most Vodkas Are Vegan & gluten free, for example Absolut & Blavod.

My favourite Disarano is vegan and gluten free but sadly my other go-to liquor Chambord isn’t vegan as it contains honey but it is still gluten free.

My favourite cocktail when out is any champagne based cocktail as 99% of champagne is vegan & gluten free, its always worth a check on the app just make sure.

Supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s, M&S and the Co-op are great for labelling their vegan products and they don’t stop when it comes to drinks too. So if you are looking for a vegan wine check out the selection they have.

The main classic cocktails you find on a drinks menu such as a Woo Woo, Sex on the beach & a Cosmopolitan are all vegan & gluten free.

Now down to the fun stuff and sadly I will have to make each of these and drink them of course.

These are a few of my favourite cocktails and a great way to show non-vegan friends that you can drink and still have compassion.

Japanese Slipper

Serves 1

Ice
1.5 Measures vodka
1.5 measures Midori
1 Measure lime juice
Lime slice to decorate

Put the cracked ice into a cocktail shaker and pour in the vodka, Midori, and lime juice
Shake vigorously until well frosted
Strain into a chilled glass and dress with the lime slice

Melon Ball

Serves 1

2 Measures vodka
2 Measures Midori
4 Measures pineapple juice
Cracked ice cubes

Pour vodka, Midori, & pineapple juice over cracked ice and stir well to mix
Half fill a high-ball glass with ice and strain the cocktail over the ice
Serve

Sunrise Sling (non alcoholic)

Serves 1

½ glass of cloudy lemonade
½ glass of orange juice
½ measure of grenadine

Pour the lemonade & orange juice into a high-ball glass
Slowly pour in the measure of grenadine to great the sunrise effect
Serve

For an alcoholic version add 2 measures of Blavod.

Dead Charmed

This cocktail is one of my own.

Serves 1

Ice
2 Measures pear vodka
½ Measure Limoncello
½ Measure coconut rum
Top with champagne

In a cocktail shaker add the ice, vodka, limoncello and coconut rum and shake vigorously until well frosted.
Pour cocktail into a glass and top with chilled champagne
Serve

Happy New Year from Living Dead Cakes, Drink responsibly and have fun.

Recipe

Gingerbread Men

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Living Dead Cakes / 2 Comments

I’m not sure if shop bought gingerbread men are vegan as they contain gluten I have never bought them. But this morning the children wanted to make some so I made my old gluten free recipe vegan.

These are a light gingerbread not a traditional dark, so they are little softer & are not break your teeth rock hard, the ginger is a subtle warm hint. If you would like them to be a stronger ginger flavour double the amount of ground ginger you add.

I used melted vegan chocolate to decorate and we had them with a glass of coconut milk after lunch.

This recipe is super easy.

Ingredients:

350g Gluten free self-raising flour (plus extra for rolling out)
2tsp Baking powder
2tsp Ground ginger
100g Vegan butter
185g Soft light brown sugar
3tbs Golden syrup
1 egg quantity of egg replacer (i used orgran no egg)
3tsp plant milk

A few sweets or melted chocolate for decorating

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 200c/400f/ or Gas mark 6 and line a cookie sheet with non stick parchment paper

In a mixing bowl add all the ingredients and mix together with a hand mixer until you form a soft dough, if your dough doesn’t come together you can add a little more milk.
Wrap the dough in cling film and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut into little shapes and bake for 8-12 minute’s depending on the size of your shapes. They will turn golden on the edges.
Once baked transfer carefully to a cooling rack they will be soft so be careful and let them cool.
Now you can decorate in any way you like, I used melted vegan chocolate to give mine a face and some stitches & dark chocolate drops for buttons, but you can use whatever you like.

Perfect to leave out for Father Christmas.

Recipe

Soul warming Soup

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Living Dead Cakes / 1 Comment

Butternut squash & chilli Soup

This delicious soup is a perfect warming filling meal and great for the cold weather & is a huge hit with my vegan friends.

Would also make a perfect starter for any occasion.

I think it’s the fiery kick that the chilli gives that are what makes this soup so scrumptious, but if you do not like chilli then feel free to miss it out, or add as much as your taste buds can handle.

This soup is naturally vegan and gluten free. But if you are using stock cubes just remember to check they are gluten free & vegan.

Serves 2 large portions

Ingredients:

500g Butternut squash (peeled & chopped into small chunks)
1 medium red onion roughly chopped
1 glove of crushed garlic,
1 red chilli chopped and de-seeded
600 mls of vegetable stock
1 Tbsp. Vegetable oil
Salt & pepper for seasoning
Soya cream & a few chilli slices for garnish

Method:

In a large saucepan lightly fry your crushed garlic & red onion in the oil.
Now add your butternut squash and red chilli and fry for a few minutes.
Add your stock to the saucepan and bring to the boil, once boiled lower the temperature & simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the butternut squash is tender.
Once the butternut squash is tender blend to a smooth constancy.
Season to taste and serve with a swirl of soya cream and the slices of chilli

I serve my soup with vegan/gluten free garlic bread.

✅? key

?=Vegan

✅=Gluten Free

Recipe

Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Living Dead Cakes / 2 Comments

Since being gluten free & now vegan this is one pudding that I have missed the most, the thought of the rich dark pudding invokes many a memory for me, countless meals in a little forest pub in the winter when I was little girl with a glass of lemonade sat by a roaring fire to warm up after a long walk with my family.

So I thought it was about time I made a vegan/gluten free version.

You will love this cake and it is perfect for holiday season and despite the sponge being rich its very light and moist.

I only use medjool dates, even in cooking as no other date can compare to the medjools rich Carmel sweetness, but you can use any dates you like as we do soak them to make them soft and plump.

Ingredients:

For the sponge,

350ml plant milk, you can use any milk you like almond, soya, I used coconut milk
200g Dates
1 Tsp Bicarbonate of soda
120g Vegan butter
120g Soft brown sugar
220g Self raising gluten free flour
1 Tsp Gluten free baking powder
¼ Tsp Ground Nutmeg
½ Tsp Ground Cinnamon
½ Tsp Ground ginger
½ Tsp Vanilla extract

For the toffee sauce,

110g Golden syrup
200g Soft brown sugar
150g Vegan butter
225ml Soya cream
1 Tsp Vanilla bean paste
2 Tsp Corn flour mixed into a paste with a 4 Tsp cold water

Pre heat your oven to 375°F/190°C or Gas mark 5 & line a square 20cm/20cm cake tin, I use my trusted brownie tin,

Method:

Remove the stones and chop all your dates into chunks and place them in a small saucepan with your plant milk and simmer on a low heat until the dates are soft and sticky.

Do not let the milk get too hot.

While the dates are simmering, in a bowl beat your butter and brown sugar until its light and fluffy put this to one side.
In another bowl Sift all your dry ingredients together (not the bicarbonate of soda).
Once your dates are lovely and soft add the bicarbonate of soda to the warm milk and mix, pour this over your butter and sugar and mix well,
(if your milk is too hot let it cool for 5 minutes before you pour it over your butter/sugar mix)
Now fold in the dry ingredients and pour the batter into the lined cake tin and bake for 25/30 minutes or until its golden brown and a tooth pick comes out the middle clean.
Once baked allow the cake to cool and cut into portions.

For the sauce:

In a saucepan add your butter, sugar & golden syrup and bring the mix to the boil and simmer for 4-6 minutes.
Let the sauce cool for 3 minutes and add the cream & cornflour mix and heat gently to allow the sauce to thicken.
Pour over your cake and serve, you can also serve with a few scoops of vegan ice cream too.

You can warm the cake in the microwave for 15-20 seconds before serving.

Recipe

A Vegan Christmas: Lentil Loaf for the holiday season.

Posted on December 6, 2015 by Living Dead Cakes / 0 Comment

This is my take on a conventional vegan nut/lentil roast.

All the vegan nut roasts I have found in the main supermarkets have been full of evil gluten so the only option for me is to make one. I did want to try a pre-made one as the festive season is a busy one and I wanted one less thing to have to make, But I’m glad I spent the day playing around in the kitchen to make my one as its worth all the effort.

I made mine mini as it will only be me on Yule eating it and only myself and my mum over Christmas eating it, so minis ones for me are perfect but you can make one big one if you like, You will need a 1lb loaf tin lined with parchment paper.

Ingredients:

For the loaf

2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 large leek, Chopped
1 large Onion, Chopped
2 Carrots, chopped
2 Sweet red peppers, chopped
3 Gloves of garlic (I used smoked)
1 can of green lentils
50g Gluten free oats
300g meat free mince (any that you like or) 150g dried Soya chunks re-hydrated
3 Tbsp. chopped tomatoes (from the 2 cans you need for the sauce)
2 Tbsp. Nutritional yeast
2 Tbsp. Ground flaxseed
2 Tbsp. whole grain mustard
2 Tsp Dried sage
2 Tsp Dried parsley
2 Tsp Dried Thyme
Salt and Pepper

For the Sauce

2 cans of chopped tomatoes
2 Tbsp. Tomato puree
1 Chopped red chilli
1 Clove of crushed garlic
Seasoning to taste

Method:

Pre heat your oven to 375°F/190°C or Gas mark 5

In a large sauce pan sauté on a medium heat with the oil the Leeks, Onions, carrots, peppers, and garlic until soft & cooked this should take about 8-10 minutes.
Once the vegetables are soft add the meat free mince/soya chunks & the can of drained lentils & the 3 Tbsp. of chopped tomatoes and cook for a 3-5 minutes.
Now add the contents of the sauce pan to a food processor with the oats, Nutritional yeast, ground flaxseed, whole grain mustard & the herbs and seasoning and blitz in the food processor until roughly chopped and blended, be careful not to over blend you do not want a paste, you just want a rough blend on the mix, you still want the mix to have some texture.
Once you are happy with your consistency put the mix into your greased loaf tin.

TIP: If you over blend your mix do not worry add some more oats & cooked chopped vegetables to your mix to re add some texture.

This sauce is so easy and you can use it on pasta too.

The sauce

In a saucepan add the chopped chilli & garlic and fry lightly for a few minutes.
Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for 5/8 minutes the sauce will become thick and the tomatoes will break down and become soft, add the tomato paste and season to taste.
If your sauce is too thick you can add a little water or red wine to get the consistency you like.

You can add a splash of Worcestershire sauce if you like too. (just make sure it’s a gluten free one if your making this gluten free)

5. Spread a little sauce on the top of your loaf and bake in the oven for 45/50 minutes, until its brown on the edges and has slightly pulled away from the edge of the tin, if it colours to quickly you can cover with a little bit of foil. (my mini ones took 30 minutes to be cooked)

6. Turn out of the tin onto a serving plate and cut into slices, re heat your sauce and serve.

This is lovely with roast potatoes and lots of vegetables on the side.

Perfect for a vegan gluten free Christmas or just for a roast on a Sunday.

✅? key

?=Vegan

✅=Gluten Free

General

100 likes give-away on Facebook

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Living Dead Cakes / 0 Comment

Over on our Facebook page when we hit a 100 likes we had a little give-away.

The lucky winner was sent a box of chocolate filled goodies.

We will have lots of give-away’s over on Facebook.

Some will be local only and some will postal so everyone will have a chance to enter & win.

Go like our Facebook page so you do not miss when we have our next one,

Who could say no to free cake?

Living Dead Cakes Facebook Like Page

General

Getting back in the kitchen.

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Living Dead Cakes / 0 Comment

I was required to take a break from making cakes and being creative in the kitchen as sadly my health took a turn for the worse & I couldn’t muster the energy or strength to make anything and due to this my confidence was lost.

Another hurdle I had to overcome was in June 2015 I had a major emergency operation and was in hospital for over a week and recovery was long a painful so sadly this year I couldn’t make my children’s big birthday cakes.

I did find the energy to make my daughter 36 Hello Kitty cupcakes for her class & teachers as her birthday treat for her friends, This was the 1^st year I could do them for her and my 1^st year of not doing them for my son as he was now in secondary school.

I couldn’t face a year with no cake for them so this was a compromise.

It wasn’t the same, I missed making their cakes and felt very guilty that due to my health I couldn’t make them but thankfully my wonderful children understood that Mummy was sick and sore.

This year we decided to have a little Halloween party and invited our closest friend, Cytherea and her two beautiful children, Baya & little baby Erika for some spooky fun, games & yummy food.

I wanted something to fit in with our theme of potion making, Halloween fun, crafts and games & something to be the centre piece of food table. So I set about planning and designing my 1^st proper big cake in well over a year. The excitement and anticipation of designing my old battered cauldron cake for our little party had begun and this cake was going to be vegan and gluten free. So another challenge.

The Witchy cauldron was made and turned out just as I as hoped it would. It was then that I realised that I missed baking and being creative in the kitchen more than I had originally thought.

So that’s when the idea for this blog and the website came about. It was something that I had dabbled in before and I did make a blog before my relapse but I didn’t find the energy to continue with it. My heart wasn’t in it, the name wasn’t Living Dead Cakes it didn’t feel right to me so the passion wasn’t there but this time Living Dead Cakes is here and it’s here to stay.

So what cakes are in my cakey future?

You will have to keep coming back to see! But there are few that in my mind will be pretty epic & my to bake list grows every day!

General

One thing I love….

Posted on November 7, 2015 by Living Dead Cakes / 0 Comment

One thing I love making are birthday cakes for my two children, the look of joy on their faces when they see their cakes fill me with love and happiness and really reminds me why I love doing all this.

Over the years I have made Lego bricks covered in green butter cream to pink & purple Rapunzel castles.

Each cake make for them is inspired by the thing they most covet or love that year.

Both my children are summer babies and that adds an element of extra stress to the creating of their cakes as July is normally hot and humid & that is a cake baker’s worst climate.

The year of the Minecraft cake was especially hot. the heat mixed with millions of little green squares of fondant was one that I look back on and laugh at how often I had to keep chilling the cake to keep the butter cream crumb coat from running off the cake.

When I was a child my Mum made me a few cakes that I can remember. The 80’s were the decade of sickly yellow butter cream teamed with chocolate fingers to make a clock from a nursery rhyme out of a M&S birthday cake book. In the years to come I hope my children think back to the years of cakes I made them and smile with the same affection that I do when I think of my clock cake and brown tractor that my Mum made me.