Vegan Chocolate Cherry Slice

Ingredients:
- 2 cups of plain flour
- 2 cups of white sugar
- 3/4 cup of cocoa powder

- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt

- 1 cup of water

- 1 cup of vegetable or canola oil
- Glace cherries for the top of the slice

Method:

- Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a bowl and add the other dry ingredients. Stir to combine.

- Add the water and oil to the dry ingredients and mix.

- Prepare a tray for the slice, you can use a smaller tray for a thicker slice. Line the tray with baking paper and pour in the batter.

- Place in the oven for about five to ten minutes and then remove. Arrange the cherries on the top of the slice. Starting the baking process stops the cherries from sinking into the batter.

- Cook for 30 minutes and check the slice. It may require more time depending on your chosen tray (if it is thicker). Use a skewer to check if it is finished (if the skewer comes out clean it is done).

Christmas Card Making at PVAS 2020

We have been preparing for the festive season this week and enjoying various baking and craft projects. One craft we love to do every year is card making. This year we particularly enjoyed using the Kaisercraft Australian range which worked well with our Australian native theme.

Cards featuring our Sanctuary farm animals and birds:

Thank you to everyone who supported our work in 2020 and wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Vegan Pumpkin Damper Wreath

Christmas is a busy time at PVAS as we celebrate our volunteers, family and friends. We enjoy creating wonderful food for our guests at events. This is a delicious recipe we have adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Magazine's ‘Aussie Christmas’ special (December 2020).

Ingredients

The Damper:
- 400g of cooked, cooled and mashed pumpkin
- 4 cups of self raising flour
- 100g of Nuttelex, chilled
- ¾ cup of soy milk (or any other plant-based milk)

The Chive Butter:
- 100g of Nuttelex
- 2 tablespoons of chopped chives
- Sea salt

To Garnish:
- Cranberry jelly
- Dried cranberries
- Parsley sprigs 

Herb Butter

Method:
 

- Preheat the oven to 180C.

- For the chive butter, simply mix the Nuttelex, salt and chives together and chill before serving.

- For the damper, rub the chilled Nuttelex into the flour until crumbly. Stir through the cooked pumpkin, salt and then milk.

- Turn the damper out onto a floured board then knead gently and divide dough mix into balls  (approximately 5cm in diameter).

- On a lined baking tray, arrange the balls in a circle, forming a wreath shape and then bake for 25 minutes or until the top turns slightly brown.

- Garnish with dobs of cranberry jelly, dried cranberries and parsley. 

 

Carols in the Valley 2020

 

On the 5th of December, the Sanctuary held it’s annual ‘Carols in the Valley’ event. Over one hundred people joined us to celebrate the festive season Sanctuary style.   

 

 

Visitors enjoyed meeting the rescue deer - Elen and Freya - and volunteer Santa Dave. 

 

PVAS Donation Tree

Many enjoyed grabbing a sausage sizzle or bake sale goodies, finding gifts at our stalls, having their faces painted and patting Spud the Donkey.  

 

 

After dark, attendees settled in to enjoy the Christmas tunes of Tanya Mazzoti, Jane Hebitson Tassell and their supporting musicians. 

 

Thanks to everyone who joined us at our final big fundraiser for 2020 – we hope you has as much fun as we did!