Delicious Mini Vegan Croissants

Hi everyone!

Today, I am going to tell you how to make delicious croissants that are free from many common allergens. This way you all can enjoy them safely.

Usually, we like to make our pastry from scratch, and I will be posting shortly with our favourite free-from homemade pastry recipes. Our Nan S makes the best pastry, so we will be sharing her recipes with you all, just as she has shared them with us!

Due to the current world situation with coronavirus, it can be difficult to get flour just now. You can make this croissant recipe easier by buying a roll of ready-rolled puff pastry that suit your allergy requirements. They even make gluten-free versions. There doesn't appear to be too many shortages of ready-rolled pastry, at the moment.

Before you begin, we have a safety message to share:-

THESE CROISSANTS GET VERY HOT INSIDE, SO BE CAREFUL EATING THEM IF YOU EAT THEM WARM LIKE WE DID!

Here are some of our favourite fillings for croissants:

Chocolate Croissants (Vegan/Dairy Free/Egg Free/ Soya Free/Gluten Free/Nut Free)

• Puff pastry - 350-400 grams approx, depending on your supplies of flour, or if you are using ready-rolled pastry.
• Choc Pot, by Sweet Freedom. (You won't need the entire pot, just as much as you fancy using)
• Hot chocolate powder suitable for your needs, or cocoa powder with some icing sugar mixed in to sweeten it. 

1. Roll the pastry out into a rectangle shape, and then cut it into 6 equal (ish) squares. Don't stress if your squares end up rectangle. It is ok, they will still work. My favourite thing about cooking is not stressing, because it all works out ok even if it isn't how you originally intended it to.
2. Cut a line down each square so that you now have 12 small triangles.
3. Put a heaped teaspoon (or maybe even two) full of Choc Pot into the triangle - try to place it towards the base of your triangle.
4. Roll your triangle of chocolately pastry goodness up towards the apex, and maybe pinch the two outside points, as this option can leak out of the edges otherwise. You so don't want to lose any yummy chocolate!
5. Place them on a lined baking tray and dust over the top with your hot chocolate, or your cocoa and icing sugar mix. 
6. Bake them in an oven for around twenty minutes. (we baked ours for 19 minutes in a pre-heated electric fan oven at 180 degrees Celsius)
7. You could make these into larger croissants by reducing the amount you are making, or by doubling the ingredients. We quite like the mini versions, so that we can make multiple flavours!

Almond Croissants (Vegan/Dairy Free/Egg Free/Soya Free/Gluten Free)

• 35 g of Caster Sugar, or any sugar you can find in your store cupboard.
• 35 ml of Water
• 70 g of Ground Almonds
• 55 g of Icing Sugar ( plus extra for dusting )
• 1 tsp of Almond Extract 

1. Roll the pastry out into a rectangle shape, and then cut it into 6 equal (ish) squares. It doesn't matter if the squares are more like rectangles - you can still make them into the step.
2. Cut a line down each square so that you now have 12 small triangles.
3. Pour your Caster Sugar and water into a saucepan and mix at medium heat until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid starts to bubble. You need to keep stirring this. It gets really hot, so be careful with it. You now have some yummy sugar syrup, which should be left to cool. We left it in the pan, so it saved some extra washing up!
4. Put the ground almonds and icing sugar into another bowl. Mix them together well.
5. Add the almond extract and mix it together with the almonds and icing sugar mixture.
6. Then put in 2 tablespoons of your sugar syrup and stir to make a smooth almond paste.
7. Add an even tablespoon of almond paste to half of them.
8. Roll your triangle of almond sugary pastry goodness up towards the apex, and maybe pinch the two outside points, as this option can leak out of the edges otherwise. You so don't want to lose any yummy filling!
9. Place them on a lined baking tray and dust over the top with your extra icing sugar. 
10. Bake them in an oven for around twenty minutes. (we baked ours for 19 minutes in a pre-heated electric fan oven at 180 degrees Celsius).
11. You could make these into larger croissants by reducing the amount you are making, or by doubling the ingredients. We quite like the mini versions, so that we can make multiple flavours!

Other Croissant Fillings

Using the same pastry cutting/rolling/cooking methods, you can try some of these other great ideas for fillings that are dairy free/soya free/egg free/nut free/gluten free/vegan.

• Vegan cheese - we would most recommend using Applewood Smoke vegan cheese, as it melts so well. 
• Vegan cheese and shredded Quorn Ham slices.
• Caramelised Onion Chutney and vegan cheese.
• Apple, cinnamon, and sugar. (Soften chopped apples in a pan, before you add to the croissant. Then mix with a generous helping of icing sugar and cinnamon to taste).

We hope that you love making these delicious croissants. We so enjoyed making them, and it was a great step in the allergy journey for Princess M, because this is the first time she has eaten almonds!

Please feel free to comment with any other fillings that are allergy friendly. We love new suggestions.

Stay safe, and we will be back with another blog recipe soon. We are doing lots of baking during lockdown, and are looking forward to sharing them with you all!

Love from Princess E and Princess M 

X

Vegan Chocolate Mousse - Dairy Free, Egg Free, Soya Free

Hi! Today I will tell you how to make dairy free chocolate mousse! It is so tasty and creamy, and I am sure you will love it! You could make one for Mother's Day, I am sure it would be a lovely surprise.

Here are the ingredients:

• 200ml Oatly Cremy Oat Fraiche
• 2 tbs Icing Sugar
• 125g to 130g chocolate that is suitable for your needs. We used Moo Free. 

Here is how you make this easy recipe:-

1. First, put the chocolate in the microwave to melt. Only do this for 20 seconds at a time, and stir in between. Alternatively, just melt it in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Either way, stir regularly.
2. Next, put all of your ingredients into the mixer and mix for about 10- 15 minutes, until it forms a lovely thick texture, and leaves little peaks if you pull the mixer up. (Don't pull it out of the mixture whilst it is still mixing or you will get messy!!!)
3. After that, put it in individual pots and leave to set for at least a couple of hours.
4. You can sprinkle cocoa powder over it for a pattern, if you like, just before you serve it. 
5. Finally, grab a spoon and enjoy!

I hope that you have fun making this chocolate mousse. 

Love from Princess E! xxx

Chocolate Chip Muffins - Vegan / Allergy-Friendly

Hi everyone! I hope that your week is going well. I have returned to tell you about some chocolate chip muffins that I like to make. Everyone I have given them to seems to like them, so they are great to share with friends and family, or to have as a back up if you go to parties. They are super easy to make, as you will see below!

Here are the ingredients :

• 420g of plain flour, or gluten free all-purpose flour with xanthum gum included.
• 400g of caster sugar. 
• 6tbs cocoa powder.
• 2tsp of bicarbonate of soda.
• A tsp of salt.
• 2tsp of vanilla essence.
• 2tsp of vinegar - pretty much any type will do.
• 10tbsp of vegetable oil.
• 500mls of cold water
• A bag of Moo Free chocolate baking drops, or other similar free-from chocolate chips.

This is how you make them!

1. Firstly, sieve your plain four and cocoa powder into a bowl.
2. Next stir with the other dry ingredients.
3. Add your vanilla essence, your vegetable oil and, then add your vinegar. The vinegar is important for the reaction that makes your cakes rise, so don't add it earlier than necessary or it may not rise so well.
4. After that pour your cold water over it the whole lot, and mix them together.
5. Mix half of the chocolate chips into your cake mixture. You don't have to use a whole bag, just half of whatever you want to use.
6. Pour the mixture into muffin cases, in a muffin tin, and then sprinkle some more chocolate chips over the top of the cakes.
7. Cook at about 170 degrees in a fan oven. 
8. They need to cook for about 20 minutes, and you will know that they are done when you put a knife into the middle of the cake and it comes out clean.

I hope you enjoy making these muffins. They are so tasty to share with your family. This mixture will make you quite a few muffins, depending on how big you make them.

Also, I would like to use this blog post to say a big Thank You to Moo Free for choosing me to win the delicious Christmas chocolate bundle competition! I was super excited to win it, as I didn't know that anyone had voted for me, and Moo Free is my favourite chocolate! Thanks to everyone who voted for me too, it was so lovely of you all and you said the nicest things about me. I enjoyed sharing the Moo Free chocolate with my sister, now that she can eat some of it too. It made us both smile. 

Love from Princess E! xxx

Lactose Intolerance and Cow's Milk Protein Allergy Are Different!

Hello everybody! Today I am going to explain the difference between lactose intolerance and cow's milk protein allergy, as a lot of people get the two conditions confused.

Lactose intolerance won't kill you, whereas milk can potentially kill someone with a cow's milk protein allergy. If you look at the news in England, lots of people have died from cow's milk protein allergy in the last few years. Even more people than have died of nut allergies! It is very sad, because sometimes it is because people have not understood how serious it is. 

Lactose free products are in a lot of shops, and they are fine for lactose free people, but not for people with cows milk protein allergy. If you get confused with this, you could cause someone a lot of harm. If you're not sure what someone is allowed, please just ask them. That will help to keep people safe.

Lactose intolerance is where the body is unable to digest the milk sugar called lactose. It can make you have a really sore tummy, have cramps, get diarrhoea and feel sick, amongst other things. It can be a really nasty thing for someone to go through, but it won't potentially kill them.

Cow's milk protein allergy can seem similar, with maybe a rash or some eczema, and a poorly tummy. Some of us have quite bad cow's milk protein allergies though, and it can affect your breathing, make you swell up, end up covered in hives, and can potentially kill you. It is very serious, and you have to be very careful.

Hopefully people will start to realise that even though lactose intolerance is important, so is cow's milk protein allergy.  They are very different problems, and you must be careful not to confuse them. This is why it is so, so important to respect all allergies and people who have them. It is not funny to mess around with these things, as you could end up killing someone. 

I really hope that helps people to understand the difference between cow's milk protein allergy and lactose intolerance.

Thanks for reading.

Love from Princess E! xxx

PS - Another cake post coming soon!!!! xxx

Coffee And Cinnamon Cake (Vegan, Allergy Friendly, DF/SF/EF)

Hello everybody! Today I will show you how to make a coffee cake. I made one for my Grandad's birthday recently, and it was so fun and yummy! It was really interesting using coconut oil in a cake mixture, and it made it for a better texture than some other cakes we have tried. I think I will be trying it in some other recipes soon. 

Here  are the ingredients:-

• 350g of self raising flour. (This will work with a self-raising gluten free flour, as long as you add a teaspoon of xanthum gum to the recipe).
• 1 and a half teaspoons of cinnamon, and an extra half a teaspoon for step 4.
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda.
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder. (Gluten free if needed).
• Half a teaspoon of salt.
• 235g of sugar (We used 2/3 white, and 1/3 brown, to give a nice colour to the cake) 
• 150g of coconut oil (you could use a vegan margarine if coconut is not suitable for your needs) - mashed slightly so that it is soft but not a liquid.
• 240ml alternative milk - we used oat milk, but most others would work fine.
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract.
• 1 tsp of white wine vinegar. 
• 75 ml of very strong coffee.
• 80ml Coconut yoghurt, plain flavour - I am sure another dairy free yoghurt would also work fine.

For the topping use these ingredients:

• 70g of icing sugar approx
• 1 tsp water
• Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. First of all, put all of your dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
2. Then, in a separate bowl, mash the coconut oil being careful not to melt it.
3. Put 3 quarters of the mashed coconut oil with the dry ingredients, and leave for the moment.
4. Put half a teaspoon of cinnamon with the remaining coconut and mix. Set this to one side.
5. In another bowl mix your alternative milk, coconut yoghurt, vanilla extract, white wine vinegar and strong coffee.
6.  Fold your wet mixture into your dry mixture.
7. Pour the whole cake mixture into a greased cake tin. Ours was a 20cm diameter cake tin.
8. Take the remaining coconut oil/cinnamon mixture and lightly flick small amounts over the top of  the cake. They coconut oil should sit lightly on top of the cake, hopefully not sinking to the bottom.
9. Cook it in a preheated fan oven at 160 degrees for about 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.
10. Once the cake is cooked, let it cool completely before removing it from the tin.
11. Finally, combine your icing ingredients and drizzle over in your favourite pattern.

I hope that you enjoy it! 

Love from Princess E  x

Ratatouille - Allergy Friendly and Vegan.

Hi again. I hope everybody is OK, and looking forward to my latest blog post about how to make allergy friendly ratatouille! It was so much fun to make it, and so tasty!  Hopefully,it is going to work out great for you and your family too! 

Here are the ingredients that you will need:-

• 3 Really Big Tomatoes - you can use smaller ones, but you will need more of them then. I used beef tomatoes.
• 2 Large White Onions
• 1-2 Large Aubergines
• 2-3 Courgettes
• Garlic Oil Spray
• 1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
• Dairy Free Parmesan replacement. We used Violife Prosociano, but you could use another strong flavoured cheese replacement, if you prefer.

1. Chop all of your vegetables into slices.
2. Get a large oven dish and spray some garlic oil spray all over the bottom of the dish.
3. Pour in your chopped tomatoes. 
4. Organise the vegetables in the dish. You can arrange them in a lovely neat pattern if you want to. 
5. Spray a little garlic oil on the top of the sliced vegetables. Cover the ratatouille in foil.
   
6. Cook in the fan oven for about 45 minutes, at 180 degrees.
7. Take the dish out and cover it with a good layer of grated dairy free Parmesan. You MUST cover it back up with the foil before you return your ratatouille to cook in the oven for another 25 minutes or so. If you don't cover it with foil again your dairy free cheese will go crunchy.
8. Once it is cooked, it is time to eat!
9. Enjoy!

See, it is so delicious and so simple! By the way, next will be my amazing coffee and cinnamon cake post - that I designed for my Grandad's birthday! Hope you come back and look out for that soon. Have fun!

Love from Princess E! X

Vegan Allergy Friendly Butternut Squash Soup (Slow Cooker Recipe)

Hello everybody, it's been a busy few weeks but I wanted to share this lovely new recipe that I created. So, today I'm going to tell you how to make butternut squash soup. I hope you enjoy it!

• 600ml of vegetable bouillon or stock.
• 1 butternut squash (Chopped into chunks - you can buy this pre-cut if it's easier for you. You need around 650g but the amount of vegetables can vary a bit, and it won't matter.)
• 1 large carrot. 
• 1 large white onion. 
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, depending on how big they are. 
• 2 small eating apples.
• A sprinkle of herbs. (We used bay leaves, parsley, sage and rosemary. Fresh herbs taste better, but you can use dry ones too, maybe just add a little more if they are dry.)
• A pinch of cayenne pepper.
• A pinch of nutmeg.
• A pinch of cinnamon.
• A good sprinkle of salt and pepper.
• A can of coconut milk.

1. First of all you need to prepare all of your vegetables. Chop your butternut squash, carrot, white onion, and apples up into small slices or chunks, and add them to your slow cooker pot. 
2. Crush your garlic using a garlic press, or chop it really finely, and add this to the mix.
3. Pour your vegetable bouillon over the vegetables.
4. Add all of your herbs and spices.
5. Do not add your coconut milk yet!
6. After you have added all of your ingredients, except for the coconut milk, into your slow cooker, you can set it to cook for 4 hours. It should work just as well on a longer time setting, but I don't usually cook very early in the day.
7. When the soup is cooked, pour in the entire can of coconut milk and blend it until it is smooth.

Hope that you enjoy making and eating my new recipe. I have a few more soup recipes to share with you soon. These will be lovely on a rainy day. 

Love from Princess E x