Monday 21 December 2015

Glazed nut roast cupcakes (vegan and gluten free)

If you have read my blog over the years, you might remember that I grew up eating roast dinners regularly and when I went vegetarian over 20 years ago I discovered nut roasts made a great centre in a roast dinner and ever since I have eaten nut roast every Christmas dinner (with one exception).  So I have a particular fondness for nut roasts, especially during the festive season.

So it happens that recently I borrowed the Bed and Broccoli cookbook from the library but was too busy to read it and suddenly it was due back and so I quickly skimmed its pages and chose a recipe to try.  And I could not resist the simple nut roast recipe.  For those who have not heard of Bed and Broccoli, it is a vegan B & B in regional Victoria.  Imagine finding nut roast in regional Victoria!  I would swoon!

These nut roasts were intended to be baked in small loaf tins and brushed with glaze when hot.  One of the problems with nut roasts is that so often they turn to mush if you try to slice them when freshly baked.  Similarly these were so soft straight out of the oven they would have collapsed if I had  tried to take them out of the cupcake papers to brush with glaze.  So I spread it on top like a frosting.

I had intended them to be eaten at a local Carols by Candlelight but it was such a cold night that we decided not to go.  (And then a week later it was too hot to go out in the evening, such is our odd weather).  Instead I cooked a roast dinner with roast potatoes, roast pumpkin and peas.  I made a stupendous gravy with the last of a tomato sauce thrown into the gravy.

I found that it was easy to take the nut roasts out of the muffin cup once cold.  It was still a bit fragile but if carefully handled it kept its shape.  Which made these one of the most attractive nut roasts I have made. 

My main concern was that I didn't get the flavours of the glaze quite right.  Bed and Broccoli didn't call for seasoning but the base needed it and I think the glaze would have been better if I had seasoned it well.  However Bed and Broccoli used a BBQ sauce and i just put together an approximation of a BBQ sauce because I don't keep that sort of sauce in my kitchen.  The glaze was quite spicy and fruity.

Despite my uncertainty about the glaze, I loved these nut roasts when served with the gravy.  In fact I could have eaten more nut roast because it was so good.  I would highly recommend it to anyone searching for a vegan and gluten free nut roast.  Though a decent vegan cheese is pretty important.  But these are getting easier and easier to find.  Or if you are not vegan, you could just use a good dairy cheese.

I was pleased to find an article from last year in The Telegraph on A Passionate Defence of the Nut Roast.  There have also been some great nut roasts online this year so methinks I am not alone in promoting the humble nut roast at Christmas, whether as part of a traditional roast dinner or a buffet of cold dishes.

I highly recommend you eat nut roast at Christmas.  I always do and could not imagine Christmas without it.  (Actually I could because one year in Ireland I was served stirfry vegetables instead of nut roast and I could have cried at how disappointing that Christmas dinner was, though my hosts were very kind people.)  So I finish with a simple plea to you.  Eat more nut roasts!

I am sending this nut roast to Jac for Meatless Mondays and Kimmy for Healthy Vegan Fridays.

More Nut Roasts on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Carrot and Feta Nut Roast 
Chocolate Nut Roast
Cottage Cheese and Walnut Nutloaf
Festive Nut Roast Parcels
Golden beetroot nut roast 
Stilton Nut Roast

More nut roasts on the web:
Cashew and Chestnut Roast - Thinly Spread
Lentil and Brazil Nut Roast with Sage and Onion Stuffing - Tin and Thyme
Nut Loaf - Umami Girl
Nut Roast Pie - Domestic Gothess
Ruby Red Chard Mushroom Nut Wellington - Allotment to Kitchen
Stuffed Nut Roast - The Gluten Free Alchemist

Glazed Nut Roast Cupcakes
Adapted from Bed and Broccoli*
Serves 6

Nut Roast:
250g nuts, roughly chopped*
100g vegan cheese, grated*
2 tbsp apricot puree
1 tbsp chopped basil*
1 1/2 tsp dried herbs
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dried mustard
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp ground pepper, or to taste

Glaze:
2 tbsp apricot puree
2 tbsp tomato sauce*
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp chilli paste
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 200 C.  Line a muffin tin with 6 large muffin cups*.  Mix all nut roast ingredients. Spoon between muffin cups.  Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.  While nut roasts bake, mix all glaze ingredients together to make a thick sauce.  Check and adjust seasoning.  Remove from oven and divide the glaze among the nut roasts, spreading it thickly over each on in the muffin cups.  Best made the day before, cooled, removed from muffin cups and heated for about 15 minutes on 180 C.

NOTES: I have seen a similar nut roast recipe by Bed and Broccoli that uses tofu instead of apple puree and vegan cheese.  For the nuts I used almonds, cashews, walnuts and hazelnuts.  For the cheese I used biolife.  I think Daiya would work well here too.  I used basil as that was what I had on hand but other fresh herbs would do, such as parsley, thyme or chives.  For the muffin cups, I used quite large ones because I had them and they did not need to go in a muffin tin as they are very sturdy but if you don't have them muffin cups in a muffin tin are fine.  I used home made tomato sauce but a bottled one or a tomato puree would work fine here.

On the stereo:
Christmas with Boney M

25 comments:

  1. This looks so good!!
    When I was a vegetarian I used to always make nut loafs, lentil and pumpkin loafs Etc, yum... I will have to give yours a go! It's been years since I made one.
    Merry Christmas
    Thanks for sharing
    Julie
    Gourmet Getaways

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    1. Thanks Julie - sounds like you are due a nut roast or savoury loaf of some kind

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  2. Johanna, my you have been cooking up a storm. I agree with you about most nutloafs being fragile and a tendency to collapse, the ones i have made in the past have been good sturdy one. I do love a good nutroast but my husband is not that keen on them, He goes for the Quorn roast and I am not overly keen on them, so we may both have to compromise this year. I've heard of Bed and Broccoli and wondered if you'd recommend it for my bookshelf - e mail me with you honest opinion, its unlikely that I will find it at my library here and sometimes veggie books from overseas are a lot more creative than those I am stumbling across in the UK.

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    1. Thanks shaheen - what a shame that you and your husband do not agree on roasts. I would have liked more time to look at the cookbook and might get it out of the library again some time when I have more time to look through it.

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  3. I don't think I've ever applied the term cute to a nut roast before, but I am now just about too - these do look adorably cute Johanna. I went through a phase of serving individual nut roasts wrapped in cabbage leaves which looked rather good, but it was a bit fiddly. I love the name Bed and Broccoli and I like the idea of using apricot puree too. Vegan cheese, I have yet to try.

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    1. Thanks Choclette - it is hard to make a nut roast look cute but I agree that these are pretty cute. Serving nut roasts in cabbage leaves sounds quite fancy. If you can get hold of violife or biolife or daiya cheese I would recommend you have a go but not all vegan cheeses are created equal so be prepared to have another go if the first one you try is not great. I think it is also a bit of an aquired taste though violife and daiya are pretty good.

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  4. Oh and thank you for linking to my nut roast recipe :)

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  5. These really are beautiful - what a nice way to present nut roasts and a lovely addition to your nut roast collection. And I would swoon too at a vegan B&B in rural Victoria!

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    1. Thanks Kari - I am always pleased to add another nut roast to my collection and agree these are pretty unlike so many of my collection :-)

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  6. I really must make one of your nut roasts one day. I think it's the perfect meal for a vegetarian Christmas. I love the presentation of these with their individual sizes. That's a very inviting plate of food. Merry Christmas to you and all your family xx

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    1. Thanks Charlie - yes do try a nut roast - these individual ones would be really good for the individual vegetarians at a Christmas dinner though I find that my one at christmas is always popular and I get quite protective of it :-)

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  7. Yum - this sounds good. Apricot and mustard are smashing together. Merry Xmas Johanna!

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    1. Thanks Cakelaw - I would make so much more with apricot and mustard if only apricots had a longer season!

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  8. I love nut roasts - Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without them. I've been cooking (and enjoying other people's!) for years, but I find sometimes they have a bit of a bad rap, so I call them by some other made up name (smokey tofu bake or some such) and they seem to go down well. I love the idea of apricot puree in there. I think I'd be tempted to grab a spoon and chow down on the glaze on its own!

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    1. Thanks joey - I agree that christmas is nut roasts! I am quite stubborn about calling them nut roasts but I know what you mean about their reputation for being dry and flavourless - so unfair! (after all you could probably say that about a lot of meat dishes in the 70s too!)

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  9. I have had a couple of nut roasts. They aren't bad. We are having one vegetarian for Christmas but she said that she is happy with salad. I hope she doesn't find it horrifyingly disappointing and unChristmassy that it's salad!

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    1. Thanks Lorraine - I hope your vegetarian guest enjoyed the salad - I suspect you would not serve up just a boring green salad and that she would be delighted with it

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  10. These are the cutest little nut roasts I have ever seen. I love that you made them into cupcakes. How completely adorable. What a perfect Christmas meal these would make.
    I also do not have any prepared bbq sauce on hand - I would have to scrounge to make some, I like the sound of the glaze you made. I love that they are gluten free too. I'm not sure I've had nutroast on Christmas before - sadly, I already have veggie potpies ready - but I assure you this is on my to-make list for next week!
    ps. This is being featured on HVF this week - thanks so much for sharing. I'm pinning it too =)

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    1. Thanks Kimmy - these nut roasts can be made any time of year so keep them in mind for another occasion. Thanks for featuring them on HVF

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  11. I'm with you! I LOVE nut roast and despite being a eat-eater, always have one over the Christmas period!
    These little 'cupcakes' are so cute. I love that they are individual portions and the combination of flavours, herbs and spices sound delicious!
    Thanks for the link to my stuffed nut roast!
    Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and peaceful New Year x

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    1. Thanks Kate - I love that you always have nut roast over Christmas - sounds right and proper :-)

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  12. In a last minute decision of non-creativity I decided to make the butternut squash farinata as the main vegan dish for Christmas but next year, I hope to remind myself to try something like this. Yours is too pretty!

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    1. Thanks Janet - your farinata sounds delicious - hope the nut roast gets its day another year

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  13. And I just noticed it is Christmas already for you. Merry Christmas and best wishes for the new year. :)

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    1. Thanks Janet the time difference at this time of year gets very confusing

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