Hey, friends with Benefit!
It's coming up to that time of year again...that most wonderful time of year when all your family comes together and asks you lots of questions about being vegan while they munch on pigs in blankets and turkey!
We decided to give you a helping hand and give you the top 5 Christmas recipes we found to make your family and friends jealous of your #plantbased diet!
1 - Eggnog minus the egg!
We found this little wonder from Tasty Yummies and can't wait to snuggle up by the fire with this in hand!
Ingredients:
2 cups homemade cashew milk or other non-dairy milk of your choice
½ cup full fat coconut milk
⅓ cup raw cashews, soaked overnight or for at least 30 minutes (optional)*
4-6 Medjool dates
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of sea salt
Method:
Throw this all together in the blender and process until smooth and creamy. Serve immediately, as is or add spiced rum, bourbon, brandy or whiskey, for a spirited version. Finally, sprinkle on that nutmeg and you are set to go!
2 - Beautiful Breakfast Bowl
From the amazing @foodiefittwinmummy who is always creating more and more amazing breakfast bowls. This one really steals the win for festive flavours with oats, chia, seeds and nuts, hazelnut milk, caramel and hibiscus almond milk yoghurt with benefit chocolate and topped with berries!
3 - Bloody Marys Vegan Style
Sometimes simple is best, so when it comes to this Blood Mary all you need is three main ingredients!
250ml Tomato Juice, Vodka of your choice and 1 tsp of Cox's Original Bloody Mary Spicer. Just add your garnish and you are set to go with a winter warmer to keep you all happy.
4 - Vegan Protein and Vitamin Chocolate Yule cake
In the season of festive foods, why not try our Benefit Chocolate Yule Log where you can enjoy the indulgence without feeling too guilty! This is adapted from the wonderful @thelittleblogofvegan recipe.
Ingredients:
240ml of almond milk
1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
210g of self-raising flour
100g of golden caster sugar
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
60g of coconut oil (Melted)
100g of dairy-free butter
160g of icing sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
100g of dairy-free butter
115g of icing sugar
1, 1/4 tablespoons of cacao/cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
80g of Benefit Chocolate (40g Vitamin and 40g Protein)
Method for sponge:
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c and line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Combine the almond milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. Creating vegan 'buttermilk'.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine.
- Add the melted coconut oil to the 'buttermilk' and whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until a smooth batter.
- Pour into the lined tray and level with an offset spatula, making sure to spread it to the corners. Make sure to tap the tray on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Pop the tray into the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.
- You will know when it’s done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and it is springy to the touch.
- Lay a large piece of baking paper on your work surface, sprinkle over cacao powder and invert the sponge onto the paper, peel way the original baking paper.
- Trim the edges of the sponge with a sharp knife.
- Roll up (from the longer edge) using the paper, rolling it up with the paper inside. Set aside to cool. Rolling it up with the paper inside helps the cake not to stick to itself.
- Set aside.
Method for filling:
- Cream the butter in a bowl, on a high speed until creamy. I use my stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachment.
- When your butter/margarine is creamy & light in colour, add in the icing sugar, vanilla extract. Whizz together until fluffy & fully combined. Add a splash of milk if the buttercream is too thick.
- Once the sponge is cool, unroll and spread a thin layer of the filling then re-roll tightly without the paper inside. Pop into the fridge while you make the ganache (coating).
Method for Ganache:
- Melt the chocolate, then set aside to cool.
- Cream the butter in a bowl, on a high speed until creamy. I use my stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachment.
- When your butter/margarine is creamy & light in colour, add in the icing sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract & melted chocolate. Whizz together until fluffy & fully combined. Add a splash of milk if the buttercream is too thick.
- Transfer the yule log to a serving plate or tray and using an offset spatula or knife, spread the ganache all over the yule log.
- I used my spatula to create bark texture by creating lines. It looks really realistic and effective.
5 - Vegan Christmas Cake
Finally, it wouldn't be Christmas without a big boozy Christmas cake and this one by The Vegan Society is delicious and contains no added fat and is low on processed sugar.
Ingredients:
250g dates
240ml water
85g plain wholemeal flour
85g plain white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp mixed spice
340g mixed dried fruit
115g chopped dried apricots
85g mixed nuts, roughly chopped
4 tbsp orange juice
4 tbsp rum
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 170C/340F/gas mark 4.
- Place the dates and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook gently for five minutes or until soft. Mash, then add all the other ingredients and mix well.
- Spoon into a greased 2lb/900g cake tin and smooth the top. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours.
- To give this a Christmas touch put half the mixture in the tin, then a thin layer of marzipan, and place the rest of the mixture on top and bake. This way the marzipan melts into the cake and is delicious. Alternatively, put marzipan and white icing on the top in the traditional way.
We hope you enjoy some of these recipes over the holidays!
Merry Christmas