Freddy's 6th Birthday Minecraft Party

Freddy turned six on July 9th and although we celebrated his birthday with a pizza party complete with pinata, presents and family fun, we couldn't have his official birthday celebrations until July 18th. His big sister Megan was away in Bali and we needed her back in the UK in order to have a proper McDonald family do. An erupting Indonesian volcano almost threatened her return home in time for the party, but thankfully the ash cloud blew south and my girl was able to return to Manchester. Joe and Jade were able to come up for the weekend, and as Ella is home from uni I had a full set of children home under the same roof. Perfect.

. 

So on the 18th, we hosted a Minecraft themed party for my little lad. Almost all the home baked food was vegan including five different traybake cakes (coffee, strawberries & cream, iced vanilla, chocolate with vanilla frosting and chocolate & coconut) and two types of cookie (choc chip and oat, cranberry & sunflower seed). We also served up a veggie barbecue with an assortment of homemade salads and sides. I enjoy the challenge of making a party spread that all my guests can enjoy without worrying about what they are eating. I printed off some Minecraft food labels, banners and posters from the internet to decorate the room and we made plain green balloons and cups into Creepers using black tape. A grass green tablecloth and square green paper plates completed the Minecraft theme.

Ian made an Enderman pinata, which was filled with sweets and toys that the kids thoroughly enjoyed hitting with a stick (the grown up kids joined in to with head butts, karate chops and drop kicks aimed at the very tough, extremely well made pinata!) until it gave up its load of goodies on to the grass.

There was plenty of fun and games and lots of laughter as my five kids, my sister and four of her children plus assorted partners, my mum and dad and my gorgeous little grandson Ted, enjoyed the much appreciated sunshine. For the first time ever Ted told us that he loved us...hearing "I yuv you Nana Wendy and Guitar Grandad" was heartwarmingly wonderful.

Freddy had a wonderful day with his siblings, cousins and his little nephew. The trampoline and sandpit were well used and we lost about six footballs into the next door neighbour's garden due to over zealous football and baseball games. I really enjoyed seeing everyone have a good time together. It was a lovely opportunity for my parents to get to see nine out of their thirteen grandchildren and one of their great grandchildren. Family time is particularly precious right now as my sister will be moving away shortly, meaning we won't be seeing her or her two little ones very often any more. We will miss them lots

It was a great day celebrating Freddy's special day (albeit a bit late). He had a lovely time and for me, my birthday party planning and birthday cake baking is finished until next time!

Vegan Apple and Ginger Cake Recipe

This Apple and Ginger Cake is a lovely moist, fruity and gently spiced cake perfect for a teatime treat. Or serve warm with ice cream or custard for a comforting pudding.  It is very quick and easy to prepare, is egg-free and dairy-free, suitable for vegans and doesn't contain too much added sugar.

Apple & Ginger Cake

Ingredients

1 can of unsweetened sliced apple

2 1/2 cups of SR flour (I used half whole wheat and half white SR)

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 cup of Stevia Half & Half brown sweetener (or 1/2 cup of sugar)

1 mashed banana

1 cup almond milk

1/4 cup oil (I used Rice Bran oil)

1 tbspn lemon juice

2 tbspn Duerr's Chunky Ginger Preserve

2 tsp raw cane sugar to finish

Method

Chop the sliced apple and set aside.

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.

In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients together , including the mashed banana and the ginger preserve.

Gently combine the wet and dry ingredients.

Fold in the apple pieces.

Pour into an 8" square prepared cake tin.

Sprinkle 2 tspns of raw cane sugar over the batter.

Put into centre of a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 45 - 50 minutes.

Once cooked and cooled cut into squares.

I developed this recipe to utilise the Duerr's Ginger Preserve that I was sent to review. It is a lovely preserve filled with chunks of soft, warming ginger. It can be found in Asda and is £1 for a 454g jar.

http://duerrs.co.uk/

Vegan Chocolate Frosting Recipe

Since Megan became a vegan six months ago for health reasons (adopting a low GI, dairy free, lower gluten and refined sugar free plant based diet) I have been looking more and more deeply into the benefits of eating a healthier diet.  It is working wonders for my daughter already, and the more I research into it, the more I have come to realise that although we are vegetarian, we rely too much on some animal products, and use too many processed and refined foods.  So I have been consciously making the change to wholegrain flours and using some of the gluten free alternatives such as buckwheat flour.  I'm also cutting back on the use of sugar, substituting maple syrup and other natural sweeteners where possible.  Dairy milk is being replaced with almond milk in my cooking and I completely avoid cow's milk personally. Jars and packet foods, and anything that contains artificial additives are slowly being eliminated in favour of a more natural diet, with more food cooked completely from scratch.  It is really liberating to experiment and rediscover ingredients.

However I am a big cake fan and refuse to let indulgent treats disappear from my repertoire completely.  I've found several excellent cake recipes, which are dairy free or completely vegan, but the search for a good, creamy frosting has eluded me.  Ganaches are good, made using soya cream, but are not the same as a creamy, light filling.  I want to avoid the use of highly refined icing sugar so a dairy free buttercream was not the solution.  After trawling through some American vegan sites I found several recipes (like this one) that used canned coconut milk which had to be chilled and separated into the 'curds and whey', a process which didn't work with all brands.  It all sounded a bit complicated, slightly hit or miss and required cooking followed by extra chilling and was prone to separating if left for too long.  Not the simple, easy and  instant recipe I was after, but it inspired me to experiment with coconut as a base for the perfect frosting.

My eureka moment came when I found 200g pouches of thick coconut milk in Morrison's. It is more like a very thick cream instead of the liquid and solid contents of the cans, so needed no preparation.  I stored it in the fridge after shopping to keep it chilled so it didn't melt and liquefy in the heat of my kitchen.  I was ready to give it a go and it worked an absolute treat!

Vegan Chocolate Frosting Ingredients

200g pouch of chilled Morrison's Coconut Milk 

200g Morrison's Saver's Dark Chocolate (which is dairy free unlike some of the more expensive options)

Melt the chocolate in a microwave on medium heat.

Allow to cool slightly.

Add the pouch of coconut milk.

Whisk together until light and creamy.

Use to fill and top a cake. 

The frosting does not taste strongly of coconut.  Instead it is light, thick, smooth, fudgy and creamy with a lovely rich chocolatey taste.  It isn't overly sweet or heavy, and it remained very stable at room temperature.  It was a really simple one step recipe that made a frosting that was ready to use straight away.  It is the exact frosting I have wanted to make since I started experimenting with vegan cake recipes and one I will make again and again.