Sticky Pudding Carrot Pineapple Cake

This vegan sticky pudding carrot pineapple cake is aptly named for the sweet ingredients and the more-ish texture. It is divine alone or with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of double cream. Decadent for sure. 

November is World Vegan Month so I thought it would be fun to celebrate that with my Foodie Extravaganza friends. There are so many ingredients and dishes that we eat that are “accidentally” vegan that it makes me crazy when people turn their noses up if they see the label. 

If you’ve ever eaten a salad, vegan. Ditto literally every vegetable or fruit. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, vegan. Peanut Butter Cap’n Crunch and Life cereal, vegan. Kraft Creamy Italian Salad Dressing, Campbell’s Mushroom Gravy, Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup, vegan. Lay’s Barbecue Potato Chips, Fritos Barbecue AND Original, all vegan. You can find an ENORMOUS list with just a click. 

And that list is just some of the processed food. 

Cooking at home without including dairy, eggs and meat is super easy. I’ve found some delicious recipes searching not for vegan food but for orthodox lent recipes. Lots of Middle Eastern and Greek dishes that do not disappoint, like my bulgur stuffed peppers! So good. 

Lots of Asian recipes are also accidentally vegan as well, like my coconut chickpea new potato curry and baby eggplant curry (made in an Instant Pot - so quick!) 

Don’t get me wrong, we do eat dairy and meat and eggs but it’s healthier for us and for the planet to try to add meals without them to our menu as well. So that’s always a goal. 

Vegan Sticky Pudding Carrot Pineapple Cake

In the case of this delicious sticky cake recipe, the only substitution required is an alternative “milk.” I did a quick search and most people in my non-judgy vegan Facebook group (they like you wherever you are on the curve of trying to eat more plant-based food) agreed that, for baking, soy milk was best, so that’s what I used. This recipe is adapted from one on Nora Cooks. 

Ingredients

1 lb or 450g peeled carrots

2 1/2 cups or 312g all purpose flour, plus extra for the Bundt pan

1 cup, firmly packed, or 200g brown sugar

1 cup or 200g white sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup or 120ml canola oil, plus extra for the Bundt pan

1 cup or 245g crushed pineapple

3/4 cup or 180ml plant-based milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 10-cup Bundt pan by brushing it liberally with oil then coating it with flour. Do not skip this step! Mine stuck on one side, despite my amply preparations. 

Note: I considered afterward that if I baked the cake in a normal pan instead of a Bundt one it might have turned out less puddingy but I have no regrets. My multiple taste testers loved it and that's good enough for me. 

Grate your peeled carrots finely. 

In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients then whisk well. 

Pour in the canola oil, crushed pineapple, milk and vanilla and fold until just combined with a spatula. 

There may still be a little flour showing and that’s just fine. 

Now fold in the grated carrots. Do not over mix the batter. 

Pour the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a wooden skewer comes out clean from the middle. Put foil over the top if it browns too much before it’s cooked through. 

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. 

Allow to cool for about 20 minutes before loosening the edges and carefully inverting the pan onto the wire rack. I’m not kidding about how sticky it is. If some sticks to the pan, remove it carefully and stick it back on the cake. 

Yeah, that's what going on on the far side. It's not pretty but it's tasty. 

Once cooled completely, slice to serve.  

Enjoy! 

As I mentioned above, it’s time for my Foodie Extravaganza friends to share their recipes, in honor of World Vegan Month. Check out the links below.

• Baba Ghanoush from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Bhendi - Okra Masala Dry from Sneha’s Recipe
• Capsicum Potato Curry - Aloo Shimla Mirch from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Chickpea Falafel Salad from Palatable Pastime
• Lumina Pumpkin Olan from Magical Ingredients
• Sticky Pudding Carrot Pineapple Cake from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet and Sour Eggplant Salad from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Foodie Extravaganza is where we celebrate obscure food holidays by cooking and baking together with the same ingredient or theme each month. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board.

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Carrot Pineapple Cake! 

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Coconut Chickpea New Potato Curry

The spiciness of this vegetarian coconut chickpea new potato curry is mellowed by the addition of thick coconut cream creating a rich sauce your family will love.

Here’s the thing about curry. It means different dishes to different people. 

My first introduction to curry was in the small two-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago where we lived when I was a child. Trinidadian curry powder is bright yellow with a heavy emphasis on cumin, ginger and turmeric.  

In Burma curry is made with a paste of ginger, onion and garlic fried lightly in oil until fragrant. Chili peppers are added to the pot and a couple of sticks of rolled cinnamon bark simmer with the sauce if it's a chicken curry or lemon grass if it's seafood, but no other spices are used. 

Since my years in Trinidad, I’ve lived in three other countries where curry is a national dish so I’ve picked up more recipes than I can count. My spice cupboard is well stocked and I usually grind my own spices but in the case of this simple, tasty coconut chickpea new potato curry, whatever curry powder you have on hand will do nicely.

The coconut cream is essential though because I love how coconut milk or cream enrich curry sauce and I think you will too. 

Coconut Chickpea New Potato Curry

This vegetarian/vegan friendly dish is rich and flavorful enough to satisfy most carnivores but you can add one or two cubed boneless skinless chicken breasts in with the chickpeas and potatoes, if you’d like. Lengthen cooking time as needed to make sure they are cooked through, if you do. 

Ingredients

14 oz or 400g small new potatoes 

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons curry powder (I used a Malaysian blend.)

1 large chili pepper

1/2 medium onion

1 clove garlic

3 in or 40g piece of fresh ginger

3/4 cup or 190g chopped canned tomatoes

1 can chickpeas (14 oz or 400g), drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt plus more to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup or coconut cream from top of can

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Method

Cook the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling water for 12-15 minutes, until tender. Drain and cool slightly. 

Meanwhile, mince your chili pepper, garlic and ginger and chop your onion finely. 

When the potatoes are done, turn them out of the pot and drain.

Heat the oil and pop in the curry powder. Fry for just a few seconds then add the onion, ginger and chili pepper. Cook over a medium heat until well softened. Add the garlic and cook for another few minutes. 

Add in the tomatoes, sugar, salt, half a cup or 120ml water and cook over medium low heat, covered, for about half an hour. Take the lid off and cook down until reduced by half. 

Add in the coconut cream and stir to combine.

Strain and rinse your chickpeas. Add the potatoes and chickpeas to sauce. Cook covered for another 10 minutes. 

Taste and add more salt if needed. A good few grinds of fresh black pepper never go amiss. Serve with rice and/or flatbread. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and this week our theme is the humble chickpea, also known as garbanzo beans, chana, Bengal gram, just to name a few. Check out all the great recipes we are sharing below.

• Chana Chaat - Chickpea Chaat from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Coconut Chickpea New Potato Curry from Food Lust People Love
• Hummus Flatbread Caprese from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Instant Pot Chickpeas - How to Cook Dried Chickpeas from Cook with Renu
• Pindi Chole from Sneha's Recipe
• Spicy Rosemary Roasted Carrot Hummus from Amy’s Cooking Adventures

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Marinated Tofu Zucchini Soft Tacos

These marinated tofu zucchini soft tacos are a tasty, easy meal the whole family will enjoy with just the right hint of smokiness and spice. 

These soft tacos make a wonderful dish for company because everyone can assemble their own, for a convivial meal around a big table. Everything can be made ahead and kept warm in a low oven so you won’t spend time cooking once your guests arrive.

A word about tofu: If you have only tried it in its natural state and are not a fan of the texture, give it another chance when pan-fried and crunchy. That was a game changer for me. Now I love it. 

Marinated Tofu Zucchini Soft Tacos

This recipe was inspired by one in the New York Times cooking section for grilled marinated tofu. Smoked paprika and cumin add the right flavors to make this the perfect vegetarian taco filling. 

For the tacos:

1 block (14 oz or 398g) extra firm tofu 

1 medium onion

2 medium zucchini

fine sea salt

12 corn tortillas

canola or other light oil for pan-frying

For the tofu marinade:

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small jalapeño seeded, finely diced

1/2 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet

1/4 cup or 60ml lime juice, freshly squeezed

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

2 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

Optional to serve:

Guacamole

Salsa

Sour cream

Refried beans

Sliced jalapeños

Chopped cilantro

Method

Drain and press the tofu for 1 hour.

Peel the onion and cut it into thick slices.

Cut the stems off the zucchini then cut them in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the fluffy part with the seeds. Cut the zucchini into batons. 

Lightly salt the batons and set them in a colander to sweat and drain.

Combine the lime juice, minced garlic and jalapeño, Kitchen Bouquet, salt and set aside for a few minutes while you cut the tofu. 

Slice the tofu into pieces about 1/4 inch or 1/2cm. Place tofu pieces snugly in a deep dish. Spoon 3/4 of the marinade over the tofu, reserving 1/4 for the zucchini after it’s cooked. 

Refrigerate the tofu at least one hour or longer, turning it occasionally so it marinates evenly.

Heat a large non-stick frying skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle with a little oil. 

Scrape the garlic and jalapeño off of the tofu and back into the marinating pan and reserve. 

Add the tofu to the hot skillet and cook, turning frequently, until it is evenly browned and crisp on all sides. You may have to do this in batches, depending on the size of your skillet. 

Transfer the tofu to an oven-proof pan.

In the same skillet, add 2 teaspoons each of paprika and cumin and the scraped off jalapeño and garlic. Drizzle a little oil in the pan to moisten the mixture and cook it for just a few minutes, until the jalapeño has softened. 

Spoon this over the tofu and put it in a very low oven to keep warm. 

Add the final 1/2 teaspoons each cumin and smoked paprika to the marinade you saved for the zucchini. 

Dry the zucchini batons on a paper towel then add them to the skillet and fry over a high heat until slightly charred. 

Turn the fire off and add the reserved marinade. Toss to combine, remove to a plate or bowl. 

Add the onion slices to the pan, cook until just soft and a little toasted, about 8 minutes. 

If desired, toast the tortillas on a griddle. 

Serve the marinated tofu zucchini soft tacos with guacamole, salsa, sour cream, refried beans, sliced jalapeños and/or chopped cilantro or your favorite taco toppings.

Let everyone assemble their own soft tacos. We really loved the flavor and smokiness of the tofu, as well as the crunch. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and our host Amy of Amy’s Cooking Adventures reminded us that August is all about a glut of fresh zucchini and everyone can use some creative recipes to use it up. Check out all the zucchini dishes we are sharing below. 

Couscous with Spiced Zucchini from Cook with Renu

Garlic Butter Sautéed Zucchini from Amy’s Cooking Adventures

Keto Zucchini Balls In Creamy Tomato Gravy from Sneha’s Recipe

Marinated Tofu Zucchini Soft Tacos from Food Lust People Love

Minestrone Casserole from Palatable Pastime

Moong and Zucchini Pancakes from Mayuri’s Jikoni

Zucchini Agrodolce from Pandemonium Noshery

Zucchini Casserole from A Day in the Life on the Farm

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Roasted Bruschetta Pattypan Squash

This roasted bruschetta pattypan squash - filled with ripe tomatoes, garlic and basil splashed with balsamic vinegar - makes a delicious and gorgeous main course for any special occasion. Added bonus: Even your vegetarian and vegan family and friends can enjoy it!

I can’t tell you how excited I was when I came across two lovely large pattypan squash grown by a local farmer. I didn’t even know they grew that big! Prior to these, the pattypans of my experience were either tiny baby squash or more typically, they were about four or five inches across. 

Special squash deserves to be made into a special dish. I couldn’t bring myself to cut it up and spoil its beauty. Stuffing seemed to be the best answer. With the tomatoes so wonderful and ripe, I wanted them to shine too. 

Except for the chopped squash, this stuffing is exactly the same topping I put on toasted baguette slices for our family favorite classic bruschetta, hence the title. The wonderful bruschetta filling infuses the squash with great flavor as it roasts to golden perfection. 

Roasted Bruschetta Pattypan Squash

If you can’t find large pattypan squash, use whatever squash is your favorite. Don’t worry about the weight of your tomatoes. A little more or less won’t really matter. 

Ingredients

1 large pattypan or scallop squash (mine weighed 1 lb 9 oz or 650g)

For the filling: 

1 large clove garlic

4 small tomatoes (mine weighted about 9 oz or 260g)

7-8 leaves fresh basil, plus extra for garnish, if desired

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little extra for the baking pan

1 tablespoon best quality balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Optional to serve: 

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method

Cut the top off of the squash. Use a spoon to scrape the seeds and fibers out of the middle.

Use a sharp knife to trim off the squash to enlarge the cavity. Chop the squash bits you trim off and set them aside. We’ll add these to the bruschetta filling.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Lightly grease a baking pan or iron skillet. 

Remove the cores from the tomatoes and chop them into small pieces. Put a couple of paper towels on your cutting board to catch the juice that will inevitably pour off. Otherwise you’ll find it dripping off the work surface onto your feet. Not that that has ever happened to me. 

Mince the garlic. Roll the basil leaves together and slice them thinly into strips. Then chop the rolled slices roughly. 

Put the tomatoes, chopped squash bits, garlic and basil into a small mixing bowl. 

Add in the olive oil, vinegar, salt and several good grinds of black peppers. Stir well to combine. 

Spoon the filling into the pattypan squash.

Roast in your preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until the squash is cooked through. 

Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with basil strips. 

Cut the squash into quarters to serve and let your guests add grated Parmesan, as desired. 

Enjoy! 

Happy Sunday FunDay, where we share recipes your families will love every Sunday. Today our theme is Squash it to me! - perfect for the season. Many thanks to our host, Rebekah of Making Miracles. 

• Autumn Harvest Fall Soup by Our Good Life
• Beef and Butternut Squash Chili by Making Miracles
• Couscous-Stuffed Red Kuri Squash by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Yogurt by Cooking With Carlee
• Curried Squash Soup by Palatable Pastime
• Lal Bhoplyache Bharit /Red Pumpkin Raita by Sneha's Recipe
• Roasted Bruschetta Pattypan Squash by Food Lust People Love
• Seared Scallops with Spaghetti Squash by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spaghetti Squash 2 Ways by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

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Slow Cooker Shiitake Congee

Slow cooker shiitake congee is a warming bowl of comfort, made with lots of savory, flavorful mushrooms and your favorite rice. Top it with your favorite add ons.

One of my favorite breakfast buffet dishes when we lived in southeast Asia was the big pot of congee or rice porridge with lots of toppings from crunchy little dried fish and sliced chili peppers to crispy shallots and sambal. Such a bowl of comfort! 

It’s super easy to make in a slow cooker as well. Simply slice up your mushrooms, throw everything in together and walk away. You can eat it plain or dress it up with toppings. 

Slow Cooker Shiitake Congee

I’m publishing this recipe – looooong overdue – with permission from my lovely friend, author Kathy Hester. It’s from her wonderful revised and updated cookbook, The Vegan Slow Cooker. <affiliate link Like all of Kathy’s great cookbooks, the instructions are clear and helpful adaptations are included. Everything I’ve made from ALL of Kathy’s cookbooks has been excellent! Highly recommend. This recipe makes 4-6 servings.

Ingredients

For the congee:

8 cups or 1880ml water or broth (IMHO: Broth adds more flavor.)

4 cups or 280g thinly sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms

4 cups or 280g thinly sliced button, baby bella, shiitake mushrooms or combination

1 cup or 185g rice (I used long grain. Kathy’s recipe says brown rice. Use your favorite rice.)

3 tablespoons or 24g grated ginger

Optional suggestions for serving:

Soy sauce

Scallions

Cilantro

Chopped chili peppers

Extra grated ginger

Leftover cooked veggies

Tofu cubes

Method

If you are pressed for time in the morning, you can prepare the mushrooms and ginger the night before and keep them in the refrigerator overnight. 

Otherwise, cut the hard stem ends off of the mushrooms then use a sharp knife to cut them into thin slices. If desired, set a few slices aside for topping. 

Then grate your ginger. 

Add them both to your slow cooker, along with the rice and the liquid of your choice, either broth or water. Normally I would use chicken broth but in deference to Kathy’s vegan recipe, I used a rich vegetarian stock. 

Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours. When time is up, give the pot a good stir. 

Kathy suggests (be still my heart that LOVES congee in a buffet!) to place your chosen toppings on the table and let everyone add what they like best. 

In our house, sliced chili peppers are an absolute necessity but we also enjoyed the suggested tofu cubes and scallions aka green onion tops. 

You do you but do make this comfort dish. You won’t regret it. And check out Kathy’s blog Healthy Slow Cooking (and her other books.) You won't regret that either. We are not a vegan family but we always love her creative and delicious recipes. 

Enjoy!

It's Multicooker Monday! Check out all the other Multicooker recipes my friends are sharing this month! Many thanks to Sue of Palatable Pastime, our group leader. 

• Air Fryer Pork and Vegetable Egg Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Air Fryer Roasted Broccoli from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs from Making Miracles
• Kerala Beef Olarthiyathu- Pressure Cooker from Sneha’s Recipe
• Slow Cooker Shiitake Congee from Food Lust People Love
• Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce from Palatable Pastime
• Southern Pimento Cheese Crockpot Potato Soup from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Toaster Oven Turkey Schmaltz Cornbread from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group.

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Cranberry Orange Pistachio (Vegan) Muffins #MuffinMonday

These Cranberry Orange Pistachio Vegan Muffins tick all the right boxes, tender flavorful crumb, sticky fruit, crunchy nuts. They are a wonderful treat for all the family, even the vegans among you since they are dairy-free and eggless.

The thing I love most about these muffins is that despite being vegan-friendly, they don’t have any weird ingredients like ground flax or chia seed, commercial egg replacer or silken tofu. Aside from the non-dairy yogurt, they are made with normal things that most people have on hand already.

I made these muffins as another thank you to one my neighbors for being awesome. The current recipient is a wonderful person who takes great care of her special needs rescue dogs as well as being kind and compassionate to the humans living near her. One neighbor said, “She lives on our block.  She is an angel. Cares about people almost as much as her pups - a wonderful person.” Three others called her their hero but this was my favorite accolade: “I've often thought that when I go to the "rainbow bridge" (hopefully) I wish to come back as one of her pups.”

Fortunately in the shower of compliments, someone also thought to mention that our honoree is vegan. I’d have felt terrible to find out later that she couldn’t eat what I’d baked for her!

Cranberry Orange Pistachio (Vegan) Muffins

Due to an Instacart order that went awry, I just happened to have a container of So Delicious dairy free coconut milk vanilla yogurt in my refrigerator. Use your favorite vanilla yogurt. You can also substitute plain non-dairy yogurt and add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract instead.  This recipe is adapted from one on A Virtual Vegan.

Ingredients
Zest 1 orange
1/2 cup or 120ml orange juice
1 cup or 120g dried cranberries, plus few more for decoration, if desired
1/2 cup or 70g roasted, unsalted pistachio nuts
2 cups or 250g all purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
|2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
1 cup or 240ml non-dairy vanilla yogurt

Method
Put the cranberries in a small bowl and cover with the orange juice. Leave to soak for at least 30 minutes but you can even do this step the day before. If you do, pop the bowl in the refrigerator overnight. I like to warm the orange juice for about 30 seconds in the microwave because it seems to soften the cranberries more.

When you are ready to continue, preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by lining it with paper muffin cups or silicone liners.

Chop the pistachios roughly and separate out a small handful for sprinkling on top of the muffins before baking.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and orange zest.

Drain any orange juice that hasn’t been absorbed by the cranberries into another mixing bowl. (I left mine to soak overnight so the cranberries had turned the orange juice a lovely shade of red.) Add in the oil and non-dairy vanilla yogurt and whisk well to combine.

Tip the drained cranberries into the flour bowl and stir well to coat them. Use a fork or your clean hands, if necessary, to separate them if they are clumping together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold till almost combined. There should still be some flour showing.

Add in the bigger pile of chopped pistachios and fold to distribute them well throughout the batter.

Divide the batter between the cups in your prepared muffin pan. Top with a sprinkle of the reserved chopped pistachios and one more dried cranberry, if desired.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until well risen and golden. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove the muffins and place on a wire rack to cool

Enjoy!

Happy Muffin Monday! Check out all of the lovely muffins we've baked for you this month:

• Banana Mocha Chip Muffins from Jolene's Recipe Journal
• Cranberry Orange Pistachio (Vegan) Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Creamed Corn Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Lemonade Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Scotch Bonnet Cornbread Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Simple Summery Squash Muffins from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Soft Blueberry Muffins from Making Miracles
• Sour Cream Rhubarb Muffins with Pecan Streusel from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sweet Potato Mango Muffins from Zesty South Indian Kitchen

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

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