Vegan Chocolate Cake

We love Kelly’s chocolate cake. It is so rich and chocolatey with a squeeze of lemon for a citrus tang. Perfect with your favourite cuppa.

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Chai Spiced Quickbread

A spiced tea favorite transformed into a soft, frosted, date-sweet slice–this healthy Chai Spiced Quick Bread is the perfect cozy sweet treat! Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free. It’s kind of like a malt loaf. If you don’t need it to be GF you can easily put normal flour in instead of the GF flour, but I would still use the oat flour as it is very tasty.

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Vegan Mint + Chocolate No Bake Slice

This dessert is a mixture between an Aero and and After Eight, but it’s vegan and refined sugar free! It makes a lovely light finish to an evening meal. I like to cut into small squares and serve with coffee after dinner. But on retreat it was the main desert and cut into larger slices for an indulgent chocolate treat.

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Vegan Banana & Peanut Butter Bread

This is the most wonderful no sugar and vegan cake. It’s doesn’t have frosting so is easy to box up and take on picnics. It makes the most amazing post wild swim snack too. Adapted from a recipe by Madeleine Shaw.

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Minted Pea & Watercress Soup

Here is another delicious recipe from our retreat chef Cathy. This healthy green soup is great for spring with all these lovely fresh flavours. We think the fresh mint is a perfect match. You can use fresh or frozen peas and watercress can be replaced with spicy salad leaves of your choice. Serve with warm sourdough bread and finish with micro greens and a chilli oil drizzle.

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Cauliflower and Celeriac Soup

This celeriac and cauliflower soup recipe was a big hit in our February retreats. These two seasonal vegetables are a lovely combination, enhanced with the simple addition of garlic and herbs. While celariac has celery-like, earthy notes, cauliflower is milder with a cabbage taste, together their sweeter nuttier flavours create a creamy richness in this hearty soup perfect for those colder days.

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Raw Lemon Bars

These lemon bars are both vegan and gluten free, a nutty base topped with with a creamy tangy citrus filling and sweetened naturally with dates, banana and maple syrup. It’s a no bake raw food recipe so packed full of trace elements, nutrients and enzymes to boost digestion, immunity and general health. A lovely healthy treat!

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Baked Cheesecake

We love puddings here at The Zest Life, and this delicious vegan baked cheesecake really hits the spot with a ground almond base and a cashew and tofu filling. Serve with a homemade fresh fruit couli and you have a dessert that’s healthy and scrumptious!

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Festive Millionaire Slice

As it’s the season to be jolly, we thought we’d share a recipe for one of our favourite things to have with a cup of tea, Millionaire Slice.

This recipe is vegan, doesn’t have any added sugar, and is super easy to make – but it still takes like a festive snack that will win you all the points!

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Raw Sushi With Sunflower Pate

This delicious raw sushi and sunflower pate comes from our Lakes chef, Kelly Mason.

Sushi at home may seem a little daunting, but you soon get the hang of it after a few times, and this recipe really is worth practicing for. 

It’s a light yet filling lunch – and is packed with flavour!

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