I have been extremely lucky to have had some very wonderful friends over the years, I have been through so many journeys with them and they have seen me grow and become who I am today and I love and thank them all for being so wonderful. One very dear friend I met at my previous job, we became firm friends and I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for her, she has been my rock and my inspiration, she listens, she supports and we laugh together…. A LOT !! I am now even happier because I live less than a three minute walk from her house, I can almost see her house from my balcony !! Poor Jo !!!

One thing we love to do together is walk, we both love nature, being outdoors and walking, one of my favourite things in the world to do is…walk with Jo.

You may wonder what this has to do with this recipe, well I am coming to that! Whilst chatting on our walk the other day she mentioned that she had some rhubarb I could have to make Luca a crumble, at my old surgery, where we use to work together, one of our lovely GP’s brought me in some rhubarb each season just for Luca, I really miss that and so the lovely Jo came up trumps, turned up the next day with lots of lovely rhubarb.

I will make a crumble for Luca, but I found this recipe for this vegan rhubarb loaf a while ago and just had to try it. It is a little out of my comfort zone as it required ‘chia eggs’, until now I have avoided baking anything that required flax or chia eggs as I just couldn’t get my head around it working, but I took the plunge and gave it a go. This vegan rhubarb loaf may not be pretty, but it does taste amazing, still warm and served with vegan vanilla ice cream or vegan custard it would make a great dessert and the ‘chia eggs’ worked well, the loaf is moist and can be served as a dessert, you could have a slice with your morning coffee, maybe spread a little vegan butter on it, add a dollop of vegan coconut yoghurt, or just enjoy a slice just as it is, just enjoy it however it takes your fancy.

I think I would add more rose water next time as I think it would really work well with the rhubarb and I absolutely love rose water and I might even try leaving out the ginger and maybe adding chopped pistachios instead, you could add nutmeg or cinnamon if you prefer, whatever tickles your taste buds. Like I always say, play with the recipe and make it your own.

Love Di 💋

Ingredients

1 cup chopped rhubarb (+ 1 stalk for topping)

1 cup / 240g vegan butter, I have been using Flora Plant B+tree

1 cup of golden caster sugar

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 bicarbonate soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp rose water

1 thumb grated ginger

1/4 cup plant milk (I used almond as that’s what I had in the fridge)

2 chia eggs (2 tbsp chia seeds mixed with an extra 6 tbsp plant milk) – the recipe I found didn’t say if or how long to soak, but I allowed mine time to absorb the milk and swell whilst I prepped everything, it seemed to work out ok

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 190c/375f and line a loaf tin
  2. Whisk the vegan butter and sugar together until creamy, whisk in the chia egg and plant milk
  3. Whisk in remaining ingredients except the rhubarb
  4. Once whisked through and looking creamy – fold in the chopped rhubarb with a wooden spoon or spatula, my mixture was really thick, but it cooked well and turned out ok, just a little difficult to put into the tin 
  5. Add the mixture to the loaf tin
  6. Slice the remaining rhubarb stalk thinly and length ways and place on top of bread to make a pattern
  7. Bake in the oven for approximately 1 hour and 15 or until a skewer comes out clean, mine only took 1 hour, so just check at the hour mark and work with your oven