Virtual Vegan Potluck 2014

Boy, it has literally been years since I last participated in this! But finally, the Virtual Vegan Potluck has arrived once more and I have no uni commitments to get in the way of it! Aren’t you excited? You should be excited because your head is about to. get. turned. 😀

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Since it has been such an awfully long time since I have gotten in touch with my inner vegan, I thought it would be an awesome time to reintroduce you to this awesome link up event which, literally, has only grown bigger since the last time! Basically, I know you all have met Annie from Unrefined Vegan, and she organises and oversees everyone in a long chain of bloggers all sharing vegan recipes!

It is a goldmine for coconut and almond milk lovers everywhere!

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Paradise, thy name ain’t butter in this case!

Featuring every cuisine, and every meal from appetisers to dessert (guess where I come in 😛 ), this link up is formed in a chain formation, so that everyone visiting the wonderful recipes released goes through each recipe in a circle.

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For instance, from my blog, you can go forward to the next dessert, back to the last dessert or home to the beginning and go through the massive range of vegan bloggers all offering their unique twists on traditional dishes! See how it brings everyone together as well *sentinmental* 😀

Now, it is pretty obvious I am not vegan. I am vegetarian but the idea of living without ice cream makes me want to crawl up into a small hole and cry like a baby. A cake without eggs to me (though I made a pretty delicious one last time I linked up) often leaves a hole. You know how it goes – ‘it doesn’t fill the void!’

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But as I was researching recipes for this year’s potluck, I began to release just how amazing Vegans are! I found recipes for sweet potato ice cream and mango puddings, featuring coconut milk and butter substitutes. And when I began comparing them against their traditional counterparts, it was astounding to see that the majority of the time, vegans were much healthier!

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Now, I always knew vegans are healthier, after all they say, the closer you are to all-natural plant products, the better, but it would seem I had forgotten the extent to which they are better. Using nut paste as a base for brownies and cakes, studding berries into flans and using coconut and frozen bananas in many desserts, as well as more adventurous ingredients like tofu, I was reintroduced to a whole new world! *cue Aladdin sweeping me off on a carpet please*

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So for today, I am an honorary vegan. I am an honorary vegan who is still a uni student though, and therefore likes a good lazy dessert recipe. An honorary vegan who had no dairy-free chocolate in the house, therefore could not use chocolate in her baking. An honorary vegan who felt like something warm but light to combat the weirdly cold-humid-rainy combination of weather Sydney is afflicted with.

Honorary vegan.

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I’m not even sorry, I’m going to keep saying that because I feel so cool 😉

So when I found this crisp recipe that I hadn’t made in a while, I decided to try my own luck and veganise the hell out of it! It really was luck on my part that what I tried work out (though fair warning, this does NOT keep well, eat it on being made since it gets soggy!). With the textural combo of sweet, squishy berries against golden crispy oats, and an undercurrent of coconut, this little crisp served one person and served them very well!

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I would have shown it with some ice cream but I completely spaced on freezing bananas! Not that it mattered, because I was happy to eat this on its own 😀

Enjoy this awesome vegan berry crisp recipe mes cheris and then spend a good, solid afternoon ploughing through the awesomeness that the vegan community has to offer – maybe you will even learn a trick/shortcut or two like I did 😀

Thanks again Annie for organising this awesome event!! 😀

Vegan Berry Crisp

Adapted from: Martha Stewart w/ help from Minimalist Baker

Ingredients:

Topping

  • 1/4 cup almond meal
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts/almonds/pecans
  • 1/3 cup coconut sugar
  • 3 generous tbs of butter substitute or olive oil (I used the oil)

Filling

  • 3 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries, thawed preferably (unlike mine), keeping juice
  • 1/4 cup caster sugar

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease generously 3-4 mini tart tins (without a bottom that comes out if possible.)
  2. Divide the berries evenly between the tins and top with the caster sugar and let sit for 10-15 minutes or till dissolved into the fruit.
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  3. Stir together (or use your hands for better effect) all of the topping ingredients till they are slightly sticky from the oil and can clump together.
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  4. Evenly spoon and pat down the topping onto each of the tart tins filled with berries.
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  5. Bake on a tray lined with baking paper for 10-15 minutes or till golden (mine was abnormally quick so be careful!) and the fruit is bubbling on top.
  6. Cool for 10 minutes before serving as is or with Vegan ice cream (YUM!) 😀

 

Et voila! How easy was that huh? With such good results as well! 🙂

The party certainly is not over yet, so press the links below to take you all around the massive chain of Vegan eats!
And just before you do, I would like to announce the winner of my giveaway as well 😀 😀

Congratulations to Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids! Lucky last commenter on my giveaway post, you have just won my giveaway and now are SO ready to make deconstructed smores! If you could reply to my email at gobakeyourself@yahoo.com.au as soon as possible, that would be awesome!

Phew, so much party going on in here!

Now, why not go forward and check out Fran Costigan Pastry Chef Blog:

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Or go back and relieve the desserts at VGNGF (Vegan, gluten free and delicious)

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Or start from where it all began (this link will be updated soon!) 😀

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Enjoy yourself guys!!!

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72 Comments

  6. mjskit says:

    I’m with you Uru – cream and cheese prevents me from even considering going vegan. However, I have made many vegan dishes and this little Berry Crisp of yours is a vegan dish I could really stick my fork into. 🙂
    I hope that you and your family have an absolutely wonderful Holiday Season!

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  10. Zoe (@bake4happykids) says:

    Hi Uru,

    HURRAY that I’m the winner of your giveaway… Good that I arrived at your blog just in time to be the last participant and managed to win the prize :p Thank you so much for organizing this. Now, I have to stay clam and buy more marshmallows!!! 😀

    Zoe

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  19. helene dsouza says:

    ugh yes… I need to confess too, I have not been very vegan lately. I am blaming the trip to europe. =P Couldn’t believe btw that your crisp was vegan. Let’s dig in!

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  26. Jennifer Eloff says:

    I knew you were vegetarian…didn’t know you were Vegan. We all choose the path that is correct for us individually. I never try to change others when it comes to what they eat. They eat the way they do because it feels right to them for many reasons…often health reasons too. God bless you this season, Uru. Have a wonderful and successful New Year! 🙂

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  37. ｒｉｋａ says:

    So lovely to see you participating, Urvashi! Are you currently in Oz? I’m in Melbourne at the moment, and the weather is just gorgeous! Looks so delicious, I love crisps…and I really want to make some crisp soon!

    ★ ＨＡＰＰＹ ＶＶＰ ★

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  39. Louise says:

    It’s been so long since I participated in Pot Luck, Uru and never in a virtual one. How cool…I’ve been learning so much from visiting vegan websites since changing my eating habits. I must say, some techniques and substitutions are pretty amazing. You’ve done a wonderful job with Berry Crisp. I’m sure it is a virtual big hit!!!

    Thank you so much for sharing, Uru and congratulations to Zoe!!!

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  43. Beth says:

    Your crisp looks spectacular! (And I love crisps.) Vegan recipes have come so far – I made vegan cookies for a friend of mine last year, and was amazed by how good they were.

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  58. kitchenriffs says:

    I eat everything, but really enjoy cooking vegan — it’s good stuff, and it’s fun having fewer ingredients to choose from. Many of the dishes turn out better for some reason. Anyway, this looks terrific — fun recipe. Thanks.

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  63. mmmarzipan says:

    This looks and sounds awesome! My hubby is vegan so I find myself cooking mostly vegan food for us as it’s easier that way… but also because I love plant-based eating too 🙂 What a fab recipe, Uru! ❤

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