How gorgeous are these vegan Nutella buns?
The upcoming April edition of FOOD&WINE Magazine will be available free with the Business Post this Sunday, April 4 and features a wonderful recipe spread with Phibsboro favourite Monck's Green.
Owned by chef Liam Moloughney, his wife Michelle Moloughney, and her sister Angela Ruttledge, the team at Monck's Green have been serving up delicious takeaway food and perfect coffees throughout the lockdown. In this weekend's magazine, we feature recipes from Liam and pastry chef Nikesh Babooram, including a springtime pearl barley risotto, homemade gnocchi and more. You won't want to miss these tasty dishes, so make sure you pick up your copy with the Business Post this Sunday, April 4, or click here to subscribe online - it's only €1 for your first month, plus you get access to great daily content, magazines and more.
In the meantime, read on for Monck's Green's delicious vegan Nutella bun recipe.
Homemade ‘Nutella’ buns
Makes 12
"It might sound weird, but the base of this cake is vegan mayo - we make it ourselves in-house using aquafaba, the liquid from tinned chickpeas. We also make the Nutella used in this recipe. It doesn't get too smooth, but the crunch is delicious and you can use any leftovers on crepes or on toast."
Ingredients
For the vegan mayo:
- 150ml chickpea water (aquafaba)
- 150ml sunflower oil
For the buns:
- Oil for greasing
- 240g flour
- 180g sugar
- 35g cocoa
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 batch vegan mayo
- 220g water
- 2 ½ tsp vanilla essence
For the icing:
- 225g hazelnuts, plus extra to garnish
- 25g cocoa
- 100g icing sugar
- 150g coconut oil
Method
1. First make the vegan mayo. Place the chickpea water in a tall measuring jug and whisk for a couple of minutes so it gets frothy and then very, very slowly pour in the oil while whisking so that the two liquids emulsify.
2. Preheat your oven to 160C and grease a deep muffin tin well with oil. To make the buns, sieve together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda, then mix in the sugar.
3. Beat in the water and vanilla essence, then fold in the mayo.
4. Pour the mixture into the muffin tray and bake for 12-15 minutes, so that a skewer comes out clean. Allow the buns to cool slightly then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
5. To make the icing, blitz all of the dry ingredients together in a high powered food processor. Then add the coconut oil and blitz again until quite smooth. It would be difficult to get this icing completely smooth but the flecks of hazelnut add a nice crunch.
6. Decorate the cooled buns by spooning over the icing over and smoothing out with a palette knife - dip the knife in hot water first to make this job easier. Lightly toast the extra hazelnuts, then crush and sprinkle over the top of the buns to garnish. These buns will keep well in an airtight container for 4 days.
For more from Monck's Green, click here.
