LET THEM EAT CAKE

While I can’t say that I have fully embraced Veganuary, we have certainly eaten less red meat this month – I’ve even forgone my weekly bacon sandwich whilst listening to The Archers Omnibus. My experiments with meat substitutes haven’t gone extremely well – to be honest I’d rather just replace the meat with grains and pulses. I have in the past used aquafaba (canned chick pea water) to make meringues and the results are surprisingly good but I have always wondered what else vegans could eat for pudding. So when I saw a recipe for Vegan Millionaire’s Shortbread in my local COOP magazine I thought I’d give it a go. I have adapted/improved it a bit and it’s not half bad … although to my mind not as good as the real thing …. sorry!

Vegan Millionaire’s Shortbread – Ingredients

• 125g caster sugar
• 150g dairy free spread (I used Biona)
• 200g plain flour
• 20g cornflour

• 400g soft pitted dates
• 50g cashew nuts
• 50g macademia nuts
• 125ml hazlenut drink
• 100g virgin coconut oil

• 100g vegan chocolate

Vegan Millionaire’s Shortbread – Method

1. Cream together the sugar and the spread until light and fluffy – I used a mixer for this. Then add the flours and mix everything together until combined. Spread over the bottom of a lined tin (about 20cm x 20cm), prick the surface with a fork and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C fan and then cook the chilled shortbread for about 25 mins until golden. Leave to cool.
3. For the filling, blitz the dates, nuts and hazelnut milk together in a food processor – I discovered that it’s best to blitz the cashews separately first – until very smooth. This takes longer than you think – about 2-3+ minutes so keep going! Then add the coconut oil and mix again until combined.
4. Spread over the shortbread base and then chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
5. Melt the chocolate over a pan of boiling water and then spread this over the caramel. Chill once again to firm up.
6. When slicing it’s best to use a sharp knife that you’ve run under hot water (and dried of course).