Sticky fig cake

For reasons that are too tedious to go into, I have been faced with the challenge of creating a vegan menu recently - not something that comes easily in this household, with its love of all things dairy and a passion for fresh eggs.
But I have never been shy of meeting a challenge, be it rock climbing or motorbike riding, so vegan cooking was simply going to go on the list.

Vegan main courses were fairly straightforward, admittedly I haven't come up with a decent cauliflower cheese, but we have had a number of vegan dishes which didn't even register as being of "special dietary interest".
It was puddings that proved the hardest...... you will already have seen a number of puddings on this blog and without checking, I can be pretty sure that every single one contains at least one prohibited ingredient.
It has to be admitted that some experiments are best glossed over, suffice to say that it's lucky some of our garden birds aren't fussy.
However, we did enjoy a treacle tart, with a pastry made from vegetable suet and filo tarts filled with cashew and pistachio cream and topped with poached apricots and, for the purists, maple syrup and the less pure, honey.

That said, the weather is getting colder and we were craving a proper autumnal pud, so the big challenge was to come up with a variation of sticky toffee pudding and this is the result. And for those of you who are not following a vegan diet, I have included the non-vegan alternative ingredients too.
I didn't tell all my testers that this was vegan, just to gauge the response and I am pleased to report that it got an all round thumbs up and surprise when it was revealed to have no animal products in it.

CAKE
4oz vegan margarine (or butter if you don't want a vegan version)

4 oz sugar

1 banana

2 oz soft dried figs
4 tblsp soaked chia seed jelly (or 2 eggs if you don't want a vegan version)

4 oz self rising flour

1 tsp baking powder

6 dried figs for decoration

Preheat the oven to 170ºC
Put the margarine/butter, sugar, banana and figs into a food processor and mix until smooth and fluffy.
Add the chia/eggs and beat again.
Fold in the flour, mixed with the baking powder.

Spoon into a greased 10" Prospector pan or 8½" cake tin
Split open the reserved figs and put them on top of the cake batter
Place into the oven and bake for approx 30 minutes, until the top springs back when pressed with your finger.
Set aside while you make the sauce.

SAUCE

4 oz sugar

Juice of 1 orange

2oz dried figs soaked for 30 min in 6 fl oz hot water. 

Put the sugar into a saucepan over a medium heat.
Cook gently until the sugar has melted and turned a rich brown.
CAREFULLY pour in the orange juice and continue to cook until the caramel has completely dissolved in the juice.
Add the fig purée and simmer for 5 - 10 minutes until it is a consistency to your liking.
Slice the cake and pour over the sauce.  This can served as it is or with cream, (vegan) yogurt or cashew cream.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2016

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

Toad in the Hole

Do you remember our trip to Finnebrogue and the rucksack full of sausages that we brought back with us?
Well this is what happened to another pack of them; a simple addition to an old favourite.

The key to a good Toad in the Hole is the temperature of the oven and of the oil when you add the batter.  Our Prospector pans are great for really hot cooking, but please remember that if you are using them on induction, you need to start them on a very low heat and increase the power gradually.
As they are made of 99% pure iron, you will struggle to find anything with better performance on induction stoves.

Good Little Company pork sausages, 2 per person

1 tart apple, I used a Granny Smith

150g plain flour

2 eggs

Milk, approx 200ml

Salt and pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 220ºC

Put the flour into a large mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper

Add the eggs and half the milk.  Whisk together.

Add more milk until you have a batter with the consistency of double cream.

Heat 1 dessertspoon of oil in a Prospector pan over a medium heat.

Place the sausages in the pan and brown on all sides.

Quarter the apple and remove the core, there is no need to peel it.

Add to the pan and continue cooking for another 2 minutes.

Turn up the heat and when the oil is smoking hot, pour the batter over the sausage and apples.

Place the pan immediately into the hot oven and cook for 20 minutes until well risen and golden.

Ours was accompanied with carrots, peas and cider gravy.

© Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2016

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk