Vegan Chocolate and Hazelnut Brownies

Ingredients:

5 tbsp margarine
1 cup cocoa powder (or dark chocolate bits)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1/2 chocolate chips
2 tbsp baking powder
1 cup water

Method:

• Melt the margarine and cocoa powder/ dark chocolate bits together on very low flame. (It's better if you don't heat it directly and instead, melt them through steam boiling. Basically, in a pan, heat some water and over the boiling water, put another pan, in which you melt the margarine and cocoa powder/ dark chocolate bits.)
• Once they have melted and mixed well, add brown sugar and mix well.
• Take the pan off the heat and add all the other ingredients. Mix well until it forms a batter like cake batter, falling in folds.
• Line a rectangle shallow cake tin with baking paper and pour the batter in it. Make sure that it is not concentrated only in certain places. If needed, level it out with a spoon.
• Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 40-50 minutes.
• As soon as it is done and you get it out of the oven, cut in square pieces. 
• You may serve it just like that or with ice-cream and chocolate sauce.

Vegan Apple and Pecan Spice Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp nutmeg powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
3 medium-sized apples, peeled and diced
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp baking powder
1-2 cups water
1/2 cup pecans

For Icing:

2 tbsp margarine
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fine icing sugar/ castor sugar


Method:

• Pre-heat the oven at 150 degrees Celcius for about 30 minutes.
• In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, vanilla essence, nutmeg and cinnamon powders and pecans. Mix thoroughly.
• Add baking powder and pour 2 tbsp water on the baking powder. Mix with the other dry ingredients.
• Add the diced apples.
• Pour the water slowly and keep mixing the batter. Pour enough water to make the cake batter fall in folds.
• Grease and flour an 8 or a 9 inch cake tin. Pour the batter in the cake tin and bake for about 50 minutes. After 40 minutes, check with a fork or a skewer if the cake is done. 
• Once it is done, let it cool for about 30 minutes and then, put it out on a plate.

For Icing:

• In a bowl, melt the 2 tbsp on margarine.
• Add the cinnamon and sugar. Mix well.
• Using a pastry brush, glaze the cake with this mixture. 
• Once it has cooled down, sprinkle some icing sugar/ castor sugar on the cake.

Variation: You may use any other nuts, like almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, macademias, hazel nuts etc instead of pecans. You may also use butter instead of margarine if you are not a vegan and it'll make the crust richer.