Sweet potato, raspberry and avocado flapjacks

These are not your typical flapjacks. Most, after all, do not involve avocado. These are also less sweet than a standard flapjack mix and more colourful.

Whilst these are unconventional, they are tasty. The avocado stands in for butter / margarine but doesn't overwhelm in flavour (I couldn't detect it at all) while the sweet potato and raspberries work in harmony to provide subtle sweetness. The only other ingredients are oats, vanilla and (non-dairy) milk. It is a simple and effective mix.

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Chocolate raspberry green smoothie

Like so many things, my smoothie consumption goes through phases. I'll be obsessed for a while, then forget about them, then resume my love affair. With the warmer spring weather, I think a smoothie phase is starting up. This one was the perfect blend of nutritional benefits and delicious taste.

As the colour shows, I didn't use a vast amount of chocolate flavouring, but you definitely still taste it. I combined regular cocoa powder and cocoa-based protein powder (the same mix I mentioned earlier in the month). If you don't have protein powder, cocoa powder alone will suffice.

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Coconut flour raspberry and apple crumble

It is crumble season. Also pie season and pudding season, but today we're talking crumble. A simple, fruity, comforting crumble with the sweet tartness of raspberries and the tart sweetness of apples.

My crumbles are more fruit than topping, but the topping here is excellent too (even if I scorched mine a little bit). I used coconut sugar and coconut flour, which gave a slightly different texture and taste to standard sugar/flour combinations. I think coconut flour is particularly suited to crumble toppings because it is inherently quite crumbly. It also has a texture that is somehow light and fluffy but also rich and comforting. I liked it in this dish.

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Chocolate tahini porridge (oatmeal) with raspberries

For me, there is no better test of the weather than how frequently I am eating porridge (oatmeal to Americans). I might have it occasionally in summer, but it takes cooler days and grayer skies for me to embrace it on a regular basis.

I've had porridge four times in the last three weeks, so it's safe to say the weather is changing.

If you are struggling with the shift to autumn (or are impatiently waiting for spring to arrive) then this chocolate tahini porridge is guaranteed to lift your morning. It's about as decadent as porridge can be, but is still true to what porridge should be - nutritious and based around real food.

What made this bowl particularly delightful was having chocolate from three sources (!). I added cocoa powder to the porridge when cooking, drizzled Choc Shot over the top, and sprinkled cacao nibs over everything for good measure. This is a breakfast to satisfy in every way.

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Raspberry and rose mousse {vegan}

Chickpea brine, or aquafaba, is turning up everywhere as the latest craze ingredient. I can see why - it's a vegan alternative to egg whites and can be used to make meringues, pavlova, mousse, marshmallow fluff and many things besides. Given my love of mousse, I was pretty excited to hear about it.

I first tried using the liquid to make chocolate mousse, following this recipe from Mouthwatering Vegan. The recipe and photos really were mouthwatering, but unfortunately my mousse did not turn out quite so well! It was grainy, and tasted a bit beany, and didn't fully set. I blame user error rather than the recipe but it did dampen my enthusiasm for aquafaba for a while.

Fortunately, my enthusiasm rebounded and I tried a different type of mousse this weekend. This version is flavoured with fresh raspberries, almond essence and vanilla essence, and I scatted rose petals on top for good measure. To ensure the mousse set, I used some vegan gelatin as well as the chickpea liquid. There was no graininess, no beaniness, and plenty of fluffy joy.

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Raspberry and yoghurt loaf, for a birthday

Those of you involved in research may empathise when I say that I spent all of today (or at least a good 8 hours of it) working on a grant application. The good news is that it is now largely done, or at least done as a complete draft. The other good news is that my life has had plenty of distractions from out-of-hours work. It was my birthday last week, and birthdays do make for nice distractions.

Mr Bite excelled at making this one particularly nice. I got sparkly flowers, above, a voucher to unleash myself at Whole Foods or Planet Organic (dangerous!), a dinner promise for 222 Veggie Vegan (exciting!), a new memory card (essential, with the number of photos I take), an amazingly enormous guide to touring Britain, and ticket to the ballet, The Nutcracker. 

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Vegan pumpkin pie berry pancakes {Christmas ideas 2013}

Yesterday marked one month until Christmas. Today, I am showing previously unheard of blog organisation and kicking off my seasonal posts. Hopefully by starting now, you'll have a chance to enjoy any recipes you like the look of before Christmas is over for another year.

Unlike my last post, today's recipe has also been trialed, revised, re-trialed, and then posted. You can't take risks with Christmas! These pancakes could also do double duty for Thanksgiving, which I know is almost upon you in America.

Pumpkin and berry pancakes

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Raspberry carob mousse

First, thank you to those of you who shared your thoughts on my last post. I really valued your comments and perspectives on what is an incredibly complex topic. It certainly seems like we can all agree there's no easy fix!

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