Vegan chocolate cake - it's all carbs and fat :T

http://www.boutell.com/vegetarian/cake.html

Oh yes I had forgotten that you could do choccie cake veggie style.


Maybe pop some raspberries in the middle if you are doing 2 'sandwich' cakes and put em together - maybe using veggie marg instead of butter cor butter cream (use more cocoa powder and some suger.

However you have to be careful with mar - the hard stuff often has fish oils in it and the soft stuff - if light in fat has gelatine in it.

Sarah Ann - when it is all over I want you to lie down with a very stiff drinkie!

Another thought is to roast some mixed nuts and dust them in paprika or a curry blend or splosh with a bit of balsamic or soy sauce.

They're not - they're DH's - they're distant relies (2nd cousins?) that I've never met them before.

Ah HA! Alcohol!! I'll add a splosh of kirsh to the fruit salad. :p

That chocolate cake looks yummy - what do you think I can sandwich it together with? (Its got to be appealing to the masses as well.)

I was going to make this anyway so I might use the cherries for that chocolate cake and make this (dead easy) for the non vegans.

That spicy nuts idea is good - do you think I can make it in advance and keep it in an airtight container?

you could put jam in the cake.....? a bit black forest gateaux-ey

I am sure you can. My friend makes the m the night before our book club but has not made them in a while. I must have a word with her!!!

By the way if you use cream (dairy) then neither of the cakes will do for vegans.

I mentioned a non-buttercream to sandwich the cake together. If you get some soft marg and check there is no milk product or gelatine in it. Tomor is I thnk a Kosher jewish and vegan marg - a hard one.

I think there is one called pure or pura that you can get from supermarkets or health shops.

If not then just spread the middle with a jam - one of the balkan ones that has masses of fruit or a tin of fruit pie filling or something. Or maybe there is a chocolate spread that is vegan? We used to get a lovely dark choccie spread that I think was vegan (I wasn't even veggie then)

FOrgot to say - depending how strict the vegans and veggies are - they may not want to drink alcohol or have any alc in anything. A lot of wine is not veggie friendly cos of the isinglass (fish bladders) but I am not really sure about liquers. wil have to check and get back to you.

Peacock is naughty and drinks whatever regardless!!

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/alcohol.html

Here we are - you should be ok Sarah Ann

Bum! I have jsut found out that drinking port is unacceptable! Mind you as I said I carry on drinking regardless......

I do almost all the prep on Christmas Eve and my neighbours pop in on their way home from work because they know there'll be fresh mince pies out of the oven and a glass or two of wine - I always end up completely :dizzy:

On Boxing Day itself DH makes the bread and lays the table while, I wash salad and load up the plates. Then I cook rice, bake jacket spuds and pop stuff in the oven/microwave to warm up as necessary. I try and keep it as easy as possible.

Well I still think you deserve a lie down and a stiff drinkie - perhaps with DH???!

My mum has a rest now as 1) Brother does the cooking on the day with my aunt hindering him at every turn

and

2) she is not mobile much now and has to sit down to do any thing.

I would help but it is a case of too many cooks when my aunt is around (she is not a cook but is an "expert" if you see what I mean and would have to be surgically removed from my brother's side.

We all still laugh at when my brother was trying to remove some feathers from the goose with pliers (they were tough). He couldn't do it very well so she thought she would offer her eyebrow tweezers.........

DH asked if they needed anything special to drink and was told that they drink wine - and anything else which has got alcohol in it. Bit worried about this because they are coming up from Kent. They haven't asked us to book a B&B (even though we offered) and I have a nasty feeling they are intending to stay the night - which should be interesting because so are quite a few others.

Sorry - meant that the second choc torte would be for anyone who wanted it - pretty much like all my food. I'm not going to report them to the vegan society if they decide they want cream on their pud!

Goose - yuck! Best off using eyebrow tweezers but goose is really not nice.

Oh - we get Pura - the soya one. I use it in cooking all the time because DH thinks its got a more creamier, butterier flavour than butter. :rolleyes:

Well my family all seem to like goose (even fussy SIL and her daughter) and my bruv loves cooking spuds in the fat.

I am the only one that does not have it. I usually have something with polenta or cous cous thogh I keep whining for quorn sausage toad in the hole.