Unsophisticated Bakes: Vegan Chocolate, Coconut and Passionfruit Cupcakes

I like a challenge. Particularly when it pushes me out of my baking comfort zone. Having a vegan brother-in-law does mean I have to get a lot more creative. I've made vegan brownies, mojito cupcakes - and awakened his mojito obsession (soz Hannah), and even a vegan cheesecake using soaked cashews, but this time I needed to make something suitably fancy and chocolatey for my sister's 30th, and vegan-friendly for her husband, thus the idea for chocolate, coconut and passion-fruit cupcakes was born.

As it turns out, passion-fruit are extremely hard to find in Bristol at the moment, but after much traipsing and researching, and a test bake I slightly forgot about while watching Rick and Morty, here is the recipe I used:

You will need:

200g of self-raising flour
200g of caster sugar
3-4 tbsp of cocoa powder
4 tbsp of vegetable/sunflower oil
250ml cup of cold soya/almond milk
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tbsp of lemon juice

1 can of coconut cream(pop this in the fridge preferably 24 hours before you need to make the icing)
200g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp honey
3-4 passion-fruit to decorate

Equipment: 

cupcake tin
cupcake cases
electric mixer (seriously, you don't want to be whipping by hand)
ice cream scoop (optional but really handy)
mini palette knife (again, optional, but v useful)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180°/160° fan & line your tin
2. Mix together the sugar, oil, milk, vanilla and lemon juice. Make sure the milk is cold or the mixture may curdle.
3. Sieve in the cocoa powder and flour together in 2 stages, mixing in-between additions until fully incorporated.
4. Using your ice cream scoop (or spoon), place one scoop's worth of mixture into each paper case, and bake until tops are springy and a skewer comes out clean. (I didn't time them, I went by instinct, sorry! But I'm guessing around 12-15 minutes before you first check on them?).
5. Meanwhile... turn the can of coconut cream upside down before you open it, then drain off the coconut water for another day.
6. Add icing sugar (sieved), honey and vanilla extract to coconut cream and whip it, whip it real good! Then pop it back in the fridge until you're ready to serve, then ice, leaving a dip in the centre, fill well with passion-fruit and enjoy

Stray thoughts:
I carted these cupcakes around London for about 12 hours before they got to their destination so they did look rather distressed. If making again I'd be tempted to add some white chia seeds to the icing mix to give it some extra stability.

The Walking Dead - Negan's Choice

Pretty much every person who watched The Walking Dead’s Season 6 finale is probably feeling pretty cheesed off right now.

Why?

Because Negan & Lucille have been teased all season long, we all knew that somebody from Rick’s gang was going to get Lucille’d, but we STILL don’t know who it was.

Yup, they shot it POV. Just to mess with us. Even the actors supposedly don’t know who it was that got a bat to the face, ‘cos they didn't shoot the death. Yes, people have tried to analyse the footage to work it out, but it’s not that simple. Angles and rocks, and traces of audio – it’s all speculation until we get actual on set confirmation.

I've gone down a bit of a different root.

Negan is a serial killer. We've seen polaroids of his handiwork in the Saviours’ base that Rick & co. invaded. To work out who he picked to kill, we have to try and look at things from his perspective.

If I were Negan, I would choose the person who would be the biggest threat to me. The person whose death says ‘I am not a man to be f***ed with’. Rick would not be the right choice for this. Rick is already broken. In that state, he’s more useful to Negan alive. He can parade him into Alexandria to show how hopeless rising up against him would be. If their fearless leader has already given up, then that would be far more powerful a tool to get the Alexandrians to do his bidding than the death of Rick. Similarly, the death of Carl would spur Rick into action. Plus Negan sees something in Carl, referring to him as a future serial killer. Additionally, the two develop an interesting dynamic in the comics, AND they’re both referred to from the POV shot, so he clearly doesn't choose them.

Following this theory, I submit 4 candidates that could be Negan’s victim.

1.    Michonne

She does fit the bill. She’s a total badass. However, she does have a few….qualities that might spare her from Negan’s assault.

Firstly she’s a woman. Now, you must have noticed the sheer lack of women among the Saviours in that final scene. The only women we encountered were the ones who took Carol and Maggie. That’s not a coincidence. No, I think Michonne’s gender is probably what will save her from the bat. It certainly does in the comics….

Secondly, when going down the line in the comics, Negan mentions the ‘race card’ as a reason why he can’t kill a few of our friends. Michonne, being both a woman and black should be safe.

2.    Daryl

Daryl is a wildcard, seeing as he has no counterpart in the comics. He’s taken on Glenn’s role of being Rick’s right hand, and coupling that with the damage that Daryl did to a bunch of saviours, single-handed? I would normally say he’d be the most likely candidate. However Daryl is already badly injured after Dwight shot him in the arm. Not cool Dwight. But it might have saved his life. Why would Negan choose to kill someone who is already in a bad way? No, he’d choose someone strong, defiant, like….

3.    Abraham

Good ol’ Abe is living on borrowed time these days. In the comics, he gets shot through the eye by a group of Saviours. Sound familiar? It should. That was the fate of our dear Doctor Denise on the show. Could they have given Abraham a reprieve only to set him up as Negan’s victim? My gut says yes. He & Carl were the only ones to stare Negan down. Abraham actually knelt up straighter, taller, more defiantly when Negan approached him. He was squaring up to him as much as he could from that position. The death of our favourite ginger would definitely fit the bill. Plus he had that heart to heart with Eugene, and is thinking of a future with Sasha. Sorry Abe, I think this might be the end of the line for you.

4.    Glenn

Yes, he did have that fakeout early on in Season 6, but to kill him off twice in one Season? Maybe that’s why AMC decided to wait til Season 7 for the reveal. He was Negan’s choice in the comics, but it wouldn't be the first time that they’ve subbed someone in for a death. Denise for Abraham. Hershel for T-Dog. Andrea’s storyline appears to have gone to Michonne after the character’s untimely death, orchestrated by The Governor. If Maggie is indeed miscarrying (really hope there isn't a zombie foetus in there) then maybe they've decided to save him yet again, for her sake.

My money would be on Abraham. His bravery is gonna get him killed. His death would show the Alexandrians that even the strongest cannot mess with Negan.