Recipe: Vegan Banana & Pear Muffins

These muffins are a great way to use up your extra pears. They are delicious cold or re-heated with your favourite icecream.

Pre-heat oven to 180 C.

Ingredients: 

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 2 cups of flour

- 1 teaspoon of all spice

- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

- 2 teaspoons of baking powder

- 1 mashed banana

- Orgran Egg Replacer, the equivalent of one egg

- 1/3 cup oil

- 1 large grated pear

- 1/3 cup soy milk, or your favourite milk substitute

Method:

 - In a bowl, combine the 'wet' ingredients, including the fruit. Grate the pear directly into the bowl to catch the juice.  

- In a second bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

- Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir.

- Spoon the batter into paper muffin cases. Spray the cases with oil first to prevent sticking.

- Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until brown on top.

 

Recipe: Vegan Lemon Cookies

If your lemon tree is full of fruit at this time of year, we have a delicious recipe for you to try!

Set your oven to approximately 180 degrees C. 

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup of Nuttelex butter

- 1 cup of caster sugar

- Orgran Egg Replacer - the equivalent of 1 egg

- 2 cups of plain flour

- 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda

- 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice

- 2 tablespoons of lemon zest

Method:

- Cream the Nuttlex and caster sugar together in a bowl.

 - Add the Orgran Egg Replacer. Mix well.

- Add the flour and baking soda. Stir the batter.

- Add the lemon juice and zest. Mix together well.

- Line a tray with baking paper and drop tablespoons of the mix onto the tray. Leave space between the cookies as the mix will spread when cooking.

- Sprinkle sugar onto the top of the cookies before baking to give them a sweet crunch.

- Cook for approximately 15 minutes. A longer cooking time will give a crunchier cookie. Remove sooner if you prefer a softer cookie.

- These cookies can also be iced with a mix of icing sugar and lemon juice if preferred. 

New Arrivals at PVAS: Webster the Lucky Duck

By Chris R.

 

Webster is a beautiful little grey duck who was rescued after being badly attacked by peacocks at his previous home.  He was nursed back to health, then surrendered to the Sanctuary to regrow his lost feathers. 

 

 

Webster is now fully feathered and loving the peaceful life with his two new friends, Anna and Rudolph, the Sebastapol Geese.

 

 

Vegan Lemon & Coconut Slice

This delicious slice is a tasty addition to a picnic lunch, morning tea, or wonderful warmed with icecream for dessert. 

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a small slice tin (approximately 20-30cm long) with baking paper.

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup of sugar

- 1/2 cup of Nuttelex butter (room temperature)

- 3/4 cup of plain flour

- 1/2 cup self raising flour

- 1/2 cup coconut

- Orgran Egg Replacer (equivalent of 2 eggs)

- 2 tablespoons of lemon zest

- 3-4 tablespoons of lemon juice

- 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Method:

- Cream the Nuttelex and sugar.

- Add the flours, coconut and salt, and mix.

- In a separate bowl, prepare your Orgran Egg Replacer and add the lemon juice and zest.

- Combine the two mixes together and stir well.

- Pour the batter into the slice tray. This slice will rise a little so allow for this.

- Bake for approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven when golden brown on the top.

- You can ice this slice with a sweet icing, or a lemon icing made by combining icing sugar and lemon juice. 

 

Garry the Sanctuary Cat

By Chris R.

 

Many visitors would have met Garry Cat - he loves to join Sanctuary tours and keep the volunteers company! Garry has lived at the Sanctuary for over two years (that we know of!), being first sighted in the darkness of the brook which borders the Sanctuary’s eastern fence line. Over a number of months, Garry was spotted in various locations, coming closer to the Sanctuary buildings as time went by. He was soon bold enough to have a pat, shortly followed by meowing to be scooped up for cuddles.

Once confident with people, Garry was taken to the vet to have his vaccinations and a persistent skin issue sorted. Despite ongoing investigation, no owner for Garry was located, so he was registered with Possum Valley. 

Garry often oversees work going on at PVAS.

Garry snuggles indoors at night, which helps keep both him and the wildlife safe.  He now has a rescued brother, Fluffy Cat, who arrived at the Sanctuary under similar circumstances (his story coming soon!). 

Garry is a joy to have at PVAS and he has an important role keeping everyone laughing with his antics. Be sure to check out his Instagram page (Garry_the_sanctuary_cat) to keep up with his adventures in the Valley!

 

 

Possum Valley’s Egg-cellent Easter Hunt

This year the Sanctuary held its first Easter event – the ‘Egg-cellent Easter Hunt’ in the Valley. 

 

Participants enjoyed assorted craft activities, including decorating Easter bags with natural treasures from the PVAS bush. 

 

Tofu Goat dressed for the special day.

Eggs were hidden in the forest for our all ages hunters to collect.

 

There was also a HUGE bake sale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A special visit by Spud the Easter donkey kept families entertained in the sunshine. 

 

 

 

Spud had an egg-cellent day.

 

Our wonderful volunteers!

 

Many thanks to all our volunteers and especially the Litchfield Family for their hard work and making the day a huge success!

Vegan Raspberry Shortbread Slice

A favourite from childhood, this slice is delicious for afternoon tea or in a lunchbox. It is chewy, crunchy and sweet all in one!

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup of vegan butter (we use Nuttelex) at room temperature

-1 1/2  cups of self raising flour

-1 cup of coconut

-1 1/2 cups of sugar

-Equivalent of 2 eggs using Orgran egg replacer

-Raspberry Jam (preferably room temperature)

Method:

-Line a small slice tray.

-Beat the butter and 1 cup of sugar until creamy.

-Make up your egg replacer for one egg - combine 1 teaspoon of powder and 2 tablespoons of water and mix. Add to the butter and sugar and mix.

-Add the self raising flour and stir. The mix will become like shortbread and stick together. If you find it is too dry, you can add a small amount of soy milk.

 -Using your hands, press the mix into the slice tray. It will rise during baking, so allow room for this and the raspberry topping.

-Spread a thin layer of raspberry jam over the shortbread mix. It will melt in the oven so it doesn't matter if the jam isn't even.

-In another bowl, make up egg replacer for the equivalent of one egg. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and coconut. Mix thoroughly and place a layer of the mix on top of the jam shortbread.

-Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the shortbread layer is cooked and the topping is browning and crunchy.  

Vegan Devonshire Tea Scones

Our Devonshire Tea on Sunday was a great success. A special thanks to our volunteers Emma and Tracie who put in so much work creating our wonderful scones. They have kindly shared their recipes below so you can make some, too.

Recipe One: Three Ingredient Lemonade Scones

Preheat oven to 180 C (with fan) or 200 C.

- Ingredients:

 -3 1/2 cups of self raising flour

- 1 cup vegan cream - we used coconut cream in the can. Refrigerate the can and take the thick cream off the top, leaving the clear liquid

- 1 cup of lemonade

- Jam to serve

Method: 

- Combine flour, cream and lemonade in a bowl and mix until flour is mostly combined. The dough should be soft and sticky.

- Turn out onto a floured surface and knead around 5 times to combine dough. Pat into a disc shape.

-  Use a cutter to cut out your scones. Remember to flour the cutter in-between to stop sticking.

- Place on a tray and brush the tops with your choice of milk. 

- Bake for 15 minutes. When golden, place on a rack to cool. Place a tea towel over the top to stop them drying out. 

 Recipe Two: Vegan Scones

Preheat oven to 210 C.

Ingredients:

- 3 1/2 cups of self raising flour

- 1 cup of soy milk 

- 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar 

- 3/4 cup of lemonade

Method:

- Sift flour into a bowl. 

- In a separate bowl, place the milk and apple cider vinegar together and let stand for about five minutes. 

- Make a well in the centre of the flour, add the mixed milk and apple cider vinegar into the well of the flour, along with the lemonade. 

- Mix just enough to so that the ingredients are combined. 

- Turn out on a floured bench and shape into a rectangle shape. Cut out your scones and place on a floured tray. 

- Put the scones next to each other for support during cooking. 

- Cook for 12 to14 minutes or until golden.

Enjoy!