Vegan sticky date mug pudding

I had about 2 hours to do something new today. I've been flat out busy today and I got home at 10pm in desperate need of something new. Luckily, I had the idea to make a microwave cake in a mug as I was on my way home. I decided on sticky date pudding because I have not had this since before my vegan days...which is about 2 and a half years now. 

I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find a vegan recipe, but Veggieful was one step ahead of me and had a recipe for a vegan 2 minute sticky date mug pudding. How good is that! 

I ended up making some changes to the recipe in an attempt to make it a bit more healthy :)

This was a perfect way to end my cold and busy day. This incredibly fluffy and delicious dessert was so quick and simple. This will definitely be my future sugar fix. 

Vegan Sticky Date Mug Pudding

Serves 1

Ingredients

• 6 pitted dried dates, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons plain-flavoured oil (I used sunflower)
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon bi-carb soda
• pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon flax meal
• 3 teaspoons water
• 3 tablespoons soy milk

Directions

1. Combine the flax meal and water in a bowl, mix and leave in fridge to set for 15 minutes
2. Add all ingredients to a bowl (including the set flax meal) and whisk vigorously until combined and air has been incorporated into the mixture. (Or preferably, use a processor)
3. Pour the mixture into the mug and put into the microwave.
4. Microwave the mixture on high heat for 1 minute 45 to 2 minutes until fluffy.
5. Pour some maple syrup over the pudding.
6. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Perth's Big Cake Bake Off and Ace Pizza in Mount Lawley

I found out about a fundraising event for the Red Cross out at Ascot Racecourse from the Perth Weekend Notes website and was quite worried that it was going to rain like it has been for the past couple of days. Yesterday in particular had very heavy rain fall and strong winds. But luckily for everyone who went out today, the weather was beautiful. The sun was shining and there was a lovely slight breeze. Perfect weather for the Perth's Big Cake Bake Off. 

The cake entries were very impressive. The novelty cake exhibition was my favourite. The talent was just amazing! After the cakes had been judged and the winners announced, you could buy a slice of cake for a gold coin donation. 

The popcorn was made out of marshmallows!!

My favourite :)

There was quite a lot to see and do, especially for the little ones. There was a petting zoo with pony rides, a bucking bull, bouncy castle, candy stall, a kids dance competition, a men's dart competition, clothes and jewellery stalls and food for sale. We tended to gravitate towards the candy and fairy floss stall :P

Little Batkid on the bucking bull. So cute.

There were also lots of goodies being raffled as well. We bought raffle tickets for a giant Toblerone and 10kgs of Cadbury chocolate in a giant novelty box. So cool...but alas, we didn't win. It's probably better that way because we already overloaded on enough sugar for one day.

All of us had never been to the Ascot Racecourse, so that was another new thing for today. No matter where I go, it's always a great time when I'm with my girls (plus my brother today) :)

I also did another new thing for today and had dinner at Ace Pizza on Beaufort St in Mount Lawley. I've seen a lot of good reviews on Instagram and so we took our friend there for his birthday. 

The restaurant was very spacious and had a very modern look to it. The walls were dark and the lighting was dim, but it all added to the nice atmosphere. The place was very busy, so it was lucky we made a reservation. 

My friends ordered two pizzas and I got the beetroot salad (minus the ricotta cheese). Unfortunately the pizza dough was not vegan friendly, but it was OK because the salad tasted really good. The serving was huge, so I was very full by the end of dinner. What I enjoyed about this salad was that it had both cooked and raw beetroot. The cooked beetroot added a lovely sweetness, while the raw beetroot added crunch. There was rocket and walnuts in the salad as well. It was just delicious. 

For dessert my friends ordered the soft serve which came with salted caramel topping, chocolate ice magic, crumbled biscotti and honeycomb. Are you drooling yet?

This is definitely somewhere everyone has to check out at least once. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did :)

Vegan Banana, Apple, Pineapple, Sunflower and Pistachio Cake

I love fruit. I can't think of any fruit off the top of my head that I don't like. Of course there are days where I don't feel like eating a particular fruit, but there are those select few that I will always be in the mood for. 

Bananas for example are right up there on my list of favourites along with mango. I love that bananas are natures energy source and that they are so versatile. Even banana leaves are useful in cooking!! The banana tree is just all full of goodness from top to bottom. 

My mum loves bananas too and she came home yesterday with a nice big bunch of them. I was struggling to find something new to do today and I didn't have much time but I still opened up one of the vegan cookbooks I borrowed from the library called Now Vegan! by Lynda Stoner. I found a recipe for Banana, Sunflower and Pistachio Bread. I made a few changes to it so that it would be a sugar-free recipe and I didn't have a bread tin so I just made it into a square cake. 

The cake turned out nice and fluffy which I wasn't expecting because I used spelt flour which usually makes cakes more dense than normal flour. But I'm not complaining. This is a perfect little fruity sweet treat for breakfast, morning tea or dessert. Definitely pair it with a nice cup of whatever it is you enjoy be it tea, coffee or some other hot beverage. 

Vegan Banana, Apple, Pineapple, Sunflower and Pistachio Cake

Ingredients

• 100g (3oz) vegan margarine
• 3/4 raisins
• Egg replacer for 2 eggs
• 2 large ripe bananas
• 1 apple, cored and cut into quarters
• 100g fresh pineapple or canned pineapple, drained
• 100g (3oz) shelled pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 cups  self raising flour (I used white spelt flour)
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 cup mixed spice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to moderate, 180 degrees C (350F)
2. Grease and line base of cake tin
3. Combine bananas, apple, pineapple and raisins in food processor and blend (you can leave your raisins whole if you like. I used raisins as a substitute for sugar which the original recipe called for)
4. Add margarine and and egg replacer and blend until combined.
5. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the nuts and seeds.
6. Sift flour and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. Add mixed spice and fold into the banana mixture. 
7. Spoon into cake tin and bake for 1 hour or until skewer comes out clean.
8. Leave to cool in tin for 15 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool completely.