Baking for Fundraising

These cakes and sweets were made for a fundraiser which took place last night at a cafe called New Roots in Sheffield. The fundraiser was to raise money for Syrian refugees and all the proceeds were to go to the NGO Human Appeal International to aid Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

The buffet was to include a selection of Mediterranean cuisine including a wide variety of starters, main courses such as moussaka, stuffed peppers, butter bean curry, vegetable rice and a selection of desserts.

I was delighted that I'd been asked to make the desserts for the buffet and couldn't wait to get started!

Here's what I made..

dates stuffed with almonds and coated in a light fruit syrup and dessicated coconut.

This was my first attempt at these and they were easy peasy and tasted amazing..I think they look quite pretty too..

date, banana and polenta loaf sprinkled with coconut..wheat free..smells lovely when its baking!

apricot and pumpkin seed flapjack/crumble slices..i had to try so hard not to have a wedge of this when it was cooked!

i also grated some almonds on top of the apricot jam

 and the topping was filled with nuts, raisins and dried banana and coconut flakes

lemon and poppy seed polenta buns, sprinkled with cardamom and agave syrup

i used soya milk and a bit of soya yoghurt to make sure the mix didn't crumble when cooked..and I also used a vanilla pod for the first time..they smell so good!!

no buns..

buns! :)

This was my first attempt at these buns and I'll definitely be making them again, they make a nice little treat and look lovely in the cases..perfect for a gift too.

I also made a dip with the rest of the soya yoghurt I had left, I added mint and crushed cumin seeds to make a tasty and cooling dip for the curries..

And here are some photos of the night...

lovely smiley lady!

It was such a lovely evening, the food was absolutely amaaazing!! The best food I've eaten in a while and some of the best food I've ever eaten. I went back for threeses is was that good. I thought I'd be too stuffed for dessert but I sampled a little of the polenta bread and the flapjack, which was pretty good too, and it was nice to see people enjoying it. Everything was vegan and there was no alcohol. It was a nice peaceful evening filled with beautiful people and beautiful food.

I hope there will be more events like this in New Roots in the future..which I'm sure there will be after this evening.

Oh, and I even got to take some home..yipeee!

x