The Kitchen Front - Vegan Cocoa Cake

The healthy eating plan I put myself on early in the year essentially allows me to eat most things in moderation apart from anything processed and anything containing refined sugar (which when you cut out processed foods you pretty much cut out sugar without trying, it's in everything!). This actually is not too much of an issue as I have much more of a savoury tooth than a sweet one and the fact that I've had an issue with dairy for the last year or so, means that I have already cut back on my Cadbury's consumption dramatically, now I only eat dark chocolate which I am slowly growing to enjoy, slowly.

But Easter is a challenge, as chocolate is everywhere! I muddled through last year by having a small bit of chocolate every now and then so as not to feel left out, but this year with me actively seeking to avoid sugar (my skin is thanking me already!) this time there are no concessions, and certainly no Cadburys. So I went searching for a replacement recipe, and this is when I found the wonderful Rachel Khoo's new website which had the very thing I had been looking for! Rachel is the wonder behind Little Paris Kitchen and she is adorable! 

It's a vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free (well refined sugar, natural sugar is allowed) cake, which is so full of healthiness, that you could almost say it's good for you! I have made a few tweaks to the original recipe, as I am incapable of following the rules, so my version is below, for the original recipe hop on over to Rachel's website!

~ Vegan Black Bean Cocoa Cake ~

See Rachel's Original Recipe Here

Ingredients:

20" Cake Tin & Greaseproof paper for lining

400g Tin of Black Beans - Washed and Drained

* 100g Dates Pitted

3 Desert spoons of Coconut Oil

80g of Flaxseed/Linseed

* 80g Cocoa Powder

2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

2 tsp Baking Powder

150g Maple Syrup

1tsp salt - I left this out as my beans were in salted water

Topping:

2 Ripe Avocados

* 4 tbsp Cocoa Powder

Maple syrup to taste

 Honey

Desiccated Coconut

* If you wanted to make this recipe even healthier you could substitute:
- Cocoa Powder for Cacao powder (there is a lot of cocoa in the recipe so it may be a bit expensive)
- Dates for Medjool dates which are bigger sweeter and a little less pithy than their smaller cousins.

1. Start by grinding up the flaxseed/linseed into a flour. The easiest way to do this is to find the smallest container for your blender/food processor or coffee grinder (mine was a herb/spice attachment to my jug blender), this means there is less room for the seeds to escape to, so the seeds get crushed rather than just spinning around your blender like a vegan snow globe!

2. Drain and wash the beans (they don't smell very nice at this point, but don't be put off, it gets better, promise) put in the blender with the pitted dates and blend until smooth, this may take a while depending on the strength of your blender. If it gets too thick to blend properly, add a bit of the maple syrup to make it more liquid.

3. Add in the all of the dry ingredients and the maple syrup. Mix together until you have an even batter.

4. Line your tin and scoop your mixture in, smoothing as much as you can.

5. Pop in the oven for about 45 mins gas mark 5.

6. Once cooked, carefully tip out onto a plate so that it can cool. Be careful as the lack of gluten in this recipe means that it is dense but easily crumbly!

...Once cooled...

7. Make the topping. Put all the avocado pulp into a blender with the cocoa and blitz till smooth, add the maple syrup to taste.

8. Spread the topping all over the cooled cake.
As my blender struggled to make the avocado as smooth as I would like (green chunks in your icing anyone!) I decided to add a sprinkling of desiccated coconut over the top to hide the green bits and then drizzled over some Manuka Honey to add a little more sweetness!

The verdict!

De-flipping-licous! It's gooey, chocolatey and rich, which is absolutely everything you want when craving an Easter sweetness fix! What's also great is that by day 2 the flavours have mellowed a little and so it tastes even better! Another thing, because it's jam packed full of black beans it carries a hefty protein punch, filling you up for longer and kerbing your sugar cravings!

 I will totally be making this recipe again, I think it would make perfect little cupcakes, though I will tweak the recipe a tad, instead of 80g of Linseed, I will use half ground almonds and half linseed, as it did leave a bit of an aftertaste (though not unpleasant just slightly unusual, though by day two it had dissipated).

So delighted was I with this recipe, that I rang my mum to tell her about it. After I'd explained what was in it, she was utterly horrified (I have never heard my mum say erghh! so many times before) and she could not understand why I would even try it! Though I have a cunning plan, the next time she visits I am going to bake it as I am convinced that she will change her mind once she has tasted it, though I won't be mentioning the ingredients until she's on her second slice!

Wendy x

Sew It - Passage To India

Today in London has been dreary, really dreary (come on spring where are you hiding). So to brighten things up a bit I thought I would share a cheerfully bright gift I made for my brother especially for his recent trip to India.

I  feel that before you scroll any further I should give you a warning!

Due to the wild fabrics and floral curtains contained in this post (the only place with any sunlight at this time of the year is right in front of my living room windows, so you're treated to my floral curtains, sorry!), those of a delicate nature should view with caution!

Passage to India - Men's Shirt

Pattern From: 

TGBSB: Sew Your Own Wardrobe 2014
 Men's Shirt  Pg. 102-107

Size Made: 

Men's Medium Body - Large Sleeves

Fabric:

Green Floral Butterfly Cotton Lawn Fabric £3.90 per Yard Ebay

Blue Floral Butterfly Cotton Lawn Fabric £3.90 per Yard Ebay

When I got The Great British Sewing Bee books at Christmas I showed my brother the Men's Shirt and he said he'd love a version of his own, so as a thank you for my gifts I decided to make one for him. I forced him to look at floral cotton on eBay hoping that he would find something he liked but expecting him not to really find anything, as it happens he found lots, so many gorgeous fabrics in fact that I was torn between making him a shirt or making myself one!

The fabric is all my brother's choice, he clearly has good taste (runs in the family don't ya know!).

Eventually, we settled on this gorgeous cotton lawn covered in flowers and butterflies, in a green colourway for the body and we choose the blue colourway for the contrast detailing. On closer inspection we found that the fabric was located in India, there's a theme developing here! Buying this fabric was hard, I mean, how do I only buy enough for what I need!

I ummed and ahhed for a long time and eventually decided to buy five meters of each colourway, so if I made any mistakes I could start again, if not, I'd have plenty left over for something for me, Muahahaha! With the price per yard including free international shipping being so low I was convinced it was good to be true, so I sat back utterly convinced that the fabric would not arrive in time for his trip and that it would be poor quality.

How wrong could I be, it was a mere few days later before I returned to work from the Christmas break, that the fabric arrived! And it was, is, gorgeous! It's a very lightweight cotton lawn which washes wonderfully with no colour loss and though it does crease quite easily it irons up a treat, not that I can see my brother ironing it anytime soon!

So after a pre-wash (I do occasionally follow the rules) I set to tracing off the pattern and cutting out my pattern pieces, everything went really well, I did notice that the sleeves seemed on the small side, I double checked that I had cut the correct size and I seemed to be correct but they looked far too snug. As my mum was staying with me for her annual new years trip she decided to take the shirt back up to Liverpool on her return for my brother to try on.

Lucky she did as it was clear it was going to need bigger sleeves! She sent it back a few days later with her detailed instructions and I set about cutting new sleeves and widening the arm holes. This was actually rather easy, despite me having to completely re-do one sleeve as it got caught in with the fabric when ovelocking and so had a nice hole cut into it, oops! Everything that can be on this shirt is top stitched, which gives a lovely sharpness to the edges of everything, but keeping it even was perhaps my biggest hurdle.

Top stitched to within an inch of its life!

The task I left until last were the buttonholes. I hate buttonholes, I'm pretty convinced that my sewing machine machine knows this and tries to make me loose my mind when using the 'simple' 4 step program. I made 6 of the 7 buttonholes beautifully, perfectly placed, sized and looking really neat. The seventh buttonhole was cursed, my machine suddenly decided it could no longer do buttonholes, nope, no how, no way!

S'cuse, the red chalk rotary wheel markings for the pocket!

No matter how many times I turned the machine off so the computer could reset, whilst I unpicked the latest disaster, it utterly refused, all I could get it to do was the end parts (wider zigzag on top of itself to lock the ends) ALL it would do! Now by this point I was under pressure to get this blighter finished, photographed and in the post, so what you see below is the result of a very sweary bodge job!

Pretty ain't it! No, well just look at that butterfly instead, lovely, lovely butterfly! I decided that I would have to leave it for now, it would function well enough, it's just not very nice to look at, so when I next get the chance I will attempt to fix it, for now, it stays messy!

All in all, this was a great little pattern to start my new year of sewing, though there are a few niggling negatives, which I really feel I ought to mention as they are worth being aware of if you are planning to make this pattern yourself as the pattern instructions are a little vague. OK, this pattern is not designed for a beginner the book sets it at an intermediate level, but I firmly believe a new or intermediate sewer can tackle anything if the instructions are clear and concise and these are not.

• The button bands in the construction drawings and on the pattern pieces show the neck edge sloping downwards diagonally, but the photo of the shirt shows them going straight across.
• The shirt cuffs have points on them on the pattern but the instructions for inserting them, skip to a women's shirt pattern for this bit, does not refer to them at any point (no pun intended) at all, so there is no indication of where about you should line them up. I ended cutting them off!
• The book pretty early in construction on tells you to double roll the hem and stitch, this, as it is a curved hem, is a tricksy task, and could definitely use more explanation.

Despite these negatives, the shirt was a lot of fun to sew, was finished on time and promptly posted off to my brother a few days before his trip to India and his shirts trip home! (I like to think the fabric being an Indian native kept him safe on his travels) as you can see from the photo it fits and he loves it. Job done! Now, what to do with the remaining fabric...

Wendy x

My Sewing Space

Last year I found myself becoming constantly frustrated with my sewing set up, not my equipment mind you, my overlocker is a dream and my brand new Janome sewing machine (thanks, mum and dad) is an utter pleasure to stitch with. No, it was more the location of my sewing that was bothering me, constantly moving things here and there was hampering my productivity and eating away at my enthusiasm. I knew it was about time that I got myself properly organised!

I used to have my sewing space sorted, those of you who have been following my blog for awhile will perhaps remember my old room back in Walthamstow, where I had my dressing table/sewing/computing desk. It was small, a little cramped and with poor light, but having a defined space actually worked pretty well.

But once I moved, despite the extra space, I could not settle on the best place for my sewing endeavours. I resorted to using the kitchen dining table, as the kitchen is the best room for natural light. This has worked quite well for the last few years, but there are problems with sewing in the kitchen. One being that each time I want to cook or eat something, I have to move all the sewing stuff out of the way, usually into the hallway, and if I am lazy and don't move my stuff the smell of food gets into the fabric, which is not ideal.

Another problem is me. I am so easily distracted it's quite ridiculous, I just can't concentrate on sewing or knitting when the flat is untidy, those niggling housework chores keep rolling through my mind while I am trying to work, so the kitchen with its dishes sitting in the sink screaming "forget that hem, wash me, wash me!", the washing machine gurgling and spinning away and a floor that can always do with another wash was distracting me from my task.

Just before Christmas and before my morale sunk any lower (or my house got any cleaner) I started a bit of reorganising. It occurred to me that the best place to set up would be the bedroom, as there was some space under the window which was still just boxes.

I moved my old dressing table from the front room where Beau had commandeered it as his favourite sleeping spot, (he's boycotted the replacement) into the bedroom where I have managed to whittle away most of the boxes that had been languishing there (via eBay, charity and reorganising) creating bit of free space. The desk is now in front of the window where I can make the most of the natural light, the sun hits this room in the early evening, meaning it's the best place for a spot of after work, evening sewing.

My sewing machine and overlocker now have a permanent place side by side, which is honestly fabulous, though I do have to keep remembering to choose the correct presser foot. Also the desk being here means a bit more air can get to the wall, reducing the amount of mould that tends to grow up them (all outside walls are plagued with mould), that is why everything was kept in plastic storage boxes, to protect against the mould - it's glamour all the way here folks!

The new location means in the warmer weather I can make the most of the breeze from the lovely big window and it gives me a good view down the garden, meaning I can keep my eye on the furry one, or should I say, he can keep an eye on me!

What 'cha doing?

One of the best things about my new arrangement is that I can shut myself away from TV temptation, can anyone really sew while watching TV? My multi-tasking skills are just not that good.

I would struggle to absorb myself in my sewing without some music, it has magic powers over my usually wavering attention span, so my beloved record player and my small collection of records, have now found a permanent home on my chest of drawers within easy reach of my desk. I've just got to remember not to open a drawer while it's playing or I'll end up with scratched records.

I have dedicated the wall behind to my inspiration wall, it's a work in progress!

My tailors dummy Vera has found a semi-permanent home on top of my wool chest, which is full, no actually, bursting might be a more appropriate choice of word, I am on a wool buying ban until the lid doesn't have to be weighted down!

Alongside Vera are a few boxes of fabric, there are actually still three full boxes of fabric under the bed, I have even recently sold some off on eBay, almost a box worth! I would dearly love to have a shelving unit here to store all my books and fabrics but sadly because of the mould issue things would inevitably become blackened and ruined within a few weeks, so boxes it is, not as elegant but much more practical.



I decide to make use of my many head scarves by tying them to the back of my chair, it's worked out really well as it has given a much-needed softness to a rather uncomfortable chair, plus they are really easy to untie when needed!

So that's my sewing space I hope you enjoyed having a peek at it, I know I love looking at other people's homes and seeing how they organise things. I also know I am very lucky to be able to dedicate some sewing space like this, it's actually a huge relief to have finally made use of this tricky area, I am even a little annoyed that I didn't think of it earlier, but there was a lot of boxes and stuff to work through so perhaps everything takes the time it needs, oh and please be thankful you didn't see the before photos!

Right, I am off now to actually do a bit of sewing!

Wendy x

Wartime Farm Goes to India

Today is my little brothers birthday, he's currently on an epic three week long backpacking trip around India. As with his holiday last year to China he has been sending me daily Whatsapp updates and pictures of his journey so that I can assure myself and my internet free parents that he is safe and sound and clearly having a wonderful time!

Today his travels took him to Uttar Pradesh where he sent me pictures of his birthday trip to the Taj Mahal and imagine my surprise when I saw the below!

It's only the flipping Wartime Farm Pullover outside the Taj Mahal!! This is getting to be one well travelled knitted!

Wendy x

Things To Do 2015

Hello! How is 2015 been treating you? 

My year so far has been very busy, mostly due to being given extra responsibilities at work, which is great, but a bit more time consuming, but means I haven't had much energy for much else!

So I know it's very late to do a resolutions type post, unless you factor in Chinese New Year "Happy Year of The Goat Everyone!" (which I do as my day job revolves around scheduling for China) but this is, well at least I think it is, a little different. This post is essentially a list of my goals and plans for 2015 things I want to and in some cases have to do. I thought posting them here would help me to clear a bit more head space as my mind is swimming with stuff to do at the moment and it's become quite overwhelming, so I hope blurting it all out here will calm me down and combat the constantly creeping anxiety! Right here's what I have planned...

~ Plan out my new Allotment ~

Late last year I finally got the keys to a new allotment I was really sad to leave the old one but it was certainly time for a fresh start and I hope  some fresh enthusiasm. 

New allotment, I've got it covered

The new plot is a ten minute walk away from where I currently live and is much smaller than my old one in Walthamstow, which should make it more manageable. It will need quite a bit of work to get it in good order as it's covered with grass and brambles, but I am confident that it will be harbouring a luscious victory garden very soon!

~ Leaner and Greener ~ 

As I mentioned above I have been feeling a bit anxious of late, it's nothing new, anxiety is something that's been part of my life for as long as I can remember as I'm prone to panic attacks. This year I have decided to try and address this issue in a different way than I have before by looking at my diet. I have always found that caffeine and sugar play a major role in aiding my anxiety so I want to cut them out as much as I can. I have also decided to eat more veggies and the easiest and supposedly healthiest way to up your veg intake is to drink fresh pressed juices.

Red wine at work!? Ok, it's actually Apple and Beetroot juice

After watching Jason Vale's Super Juice Me, an amazing documentary about how eating right can radically change your life, I was inspired to get out my juicer and recipe books and start juicing again. I did Jason's seven day detox about six years ago when I first bought my juicer, and it worked wonders on shifting the pounds, but it was the hardest thing I have ever done! I think the reason I lost so much weight was as soon as I could eat again I ate super healthy from fear of ever having to do it again! Six years on I decided to do a three day detox (which was more manageable but no more fun) to help kick start my healthy eating plan, and seeing as I have made it to the end of February and am still eating healthily, I guess it's worked! I can't say I am bursting with energy but I certainly feel calmer and a bit healthier than I did, so that's progress!

~ Zen Yoga~

I was very lucky to win the giveaway hosted by the gorgeous May over Christmas and so I am hoping very very soon to pop along one of May's fabulous Cat Pose Zen Yoga classes, as they sound like just the tonic I need to recover from the last few months and reaffirm my resolve for positive mind in the future. I have already been practising her 3 minute Yogic breathing technique which you can watch on May's youtube Channel, and it has really helped to calm me down when I am feeling the stress about to kick in!

~ Bicycle Bicycle ~

The last few months travelling to work as I do by bus (is it weird that I go to work on the bus and then spend all day designing mini ones? If only the big ones were as reliable as the small!) has reminded me of one thing; you really can't rely on buses, especially when they keep going on strike. After multiple six mile walks each way to work and back I decided it was time to seek alternative arrangements, so I have bought myself a folding bike, which will either get me fit, or get me killed!

My new steed

Theoretically it should get me to work in the same time as taking the bus, but without the cold long waits at the bus stop. I have opted for a fold-up bike in the hopes that if it all gets too much, or is raining too hard I can nip on the bus with my folded, yet still very cumbersome bike, I envisage many bruises on my far too sensitive shins!  I have already purchased my bike but now just need to pluck up the courage to tackle London's roads! Meep!

~ Get on an Aeroplane  ~

I am terrified of getting on an aeroplane, just typing this is making me feel queasy. While I am attempting to address my anxiety I feel it's time to be brave and face my biggest demon and get myself on a plane. I have three flights booked for this year, the first is be in May coming back from Rome on a family trip (never been abroad with my family before, exciting) and the other two will be in September when we are all are going for a long weekend to Germany, to see my brother take part in the Berlin Marathon. Deep breath!

~ Parlez Vous Francais? ~

The holiday that my family are taking will involve a few day in Paris (my favourite city, le sigh) so I want to attempt to impress my parents with a bit of French vocabulaire.

Last time I was in France, I used my school girl French to order a meal from a lovely restaurant only to have the waiter laugh in my face, and tell me to speak in English, it was really off putting (I promise my French is not that bad) and lets face it rather rude! Needless to say this knocked my confidence, so once I returned home I decided to invest in some help in the form of some audio CD's by Michel Thomas, it's now finally time to give them a go!

~ Project Audrey ~

I was sent a Boden catalogue a few weeks ago, the moment I opened it I was lusting after their gorgeous French 60's inspired dresses, classic Capri pants and striking Breton tops, all which are stunning but waaaay out of my price range!

Seeing so many lovely outfits re-inspired me to get cracking on my Audrey inspired wardrobe plans. so watch this space!

~ The Vintage Pattern Pledge ~ 

As much as I hate deadlines, I've come to realise over the years, that I am powered by them! More often than not, the only way I will finish something is to have a set date to finish it by, so signing up to the pledge will give me albeit a loose deadline, but one to which I'm more likely to stick to and it should help keep me on track with my Audrey plans!

~ Organise My Sewing Space ~ 

This mission has after years of deliberating actually been achieved! I have finally settled on my perfect space, post soon to follow!

~ Bust Those UFO's ~

I blogged a while back about all the unfinished projects I had found lurking around my home, and to date, I have made little impact on banishing them, so a new year and a new start on getting them out of my way and into my wardrobe!

I am planning to attack one project a month, either finishing it off, calling it quits and re-purposing the fabric or in some cases where they don't fit me, finish them and sell them on Etsy or eBay for someone else to enjoy, which will hopefully give me a few pennies for mooare fabrics!!

So they are my plans, some are exciting others are terrifying, but hopefully, they should make my year an interesting one!

Wendy x