Hedgehog didn't appeal to me when I was a child. I don't recall my mum making hedgehog although I clearly remember my nanna eagerly offering me her chocolate and biscuit slice on many occasions. On reflection I hope nanna's feelings weren't hurt when I repeatedly rejected one of her signature sweets as my attention was usually focussed on the lemon slice and peppermint slice that my aunts would always provide.
The man has always been the complete opposite – he adores hedgehog and has asked me to make it for him numerous times over the years. It wasn't until he purchased an enormous chunk of vegan hedgehog from our local health food store that I tentatively took a bite and decided it was actually rather nice. After that I promised to try making hedgehog at home.
I went straight to Green Gourmet Giraffe in search of a recipe as I had a vague memory of Johanna being a hedgehog fan. Johanna's recipe looked uncomplicated and traditional, there were no additions like dried fruit or nuts which the man would be bound to dislike. Crushing the biscuits to the right size is possibly the trickiest part - Johanna wisely advises against using a food processor as the biscuits turn out too fine, instead she recommends placing the biscuits in a bowl and crushing them with a glass jar until they are approximately the size of 5 cent pieces. I opted to use the end of my marble rolling pin which also did the trick.
While the recipe wasn't vegan it was easy to veganise using Arnotts Nice biscuits in place of Marie biscuits, dairy-free margarine for the butter and a flaxseed egg instead of a chicken's egg. Both of my men adore this slice which I've made a couple of times recently. I think this has gone onto their favourites list and am sure that I will be requested to make this delicious slice again in the future.
Hedgehog (Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe)
200g Arnotts Nice biscuits
125g dairy free margarine
½ cup sugar
2 heaped dessertspoons cocoa
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons water
2 heaped dessertspoons desiccated coconut
Place the biscuits in a large bowl and crush them with the end of a heavy rolling pin or the base of a glass jar. The biscuit chunks should be no bigger than a 5 cent piece.
Melt the margarine in a small saucepan, stir through the sugar and cocoa and cook for 2 minutes. Mix the ground flaxseed and water together in a small bowl. Turn off the heat and stir through the flaxseed mixture and the coconut. Stir the crushed biscuits into the saucepan mixture thoroughly.
Line a 20 cm square dish with baking paper and spoon the contents of the saucepan into the dish. Spread it out to the edges evenly and smooth out the top. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm then slice into squares and serve. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
The man has always been the complete opposite – he adores hedgehog and has asked me to make it for him numerous times over the years. It wasn't until he purchased an enormous chunk of vegan hedgehog from our local health food store that I tentatively took a bite and decided it was actually rather nice. After that I promised to try making hedgehog at home.
I went straight to Green Gourmet Giraffe in search of a recipe as I had a vague memory of Johanna being a hedgehog fan. Johanna's recipe looked uncomplicated and traditional, there were no additions like dried fruit or nuts which the man would be bound to dislike. Crushing the biscuits to the right size is possibly the trickiest part - Johanna wisely advises against using a food processor as the biscuits turn out too fine, instead she recommends placing the biscuits in a bowl and crushing them with a glass jar until they are approximately the size of 5 cent pieces. I opted to use the end of my marble rolling pin which also did the trick.
While the recipe wasn't vegan it was easy to veganise using Arnotts Nice biscuits in place of Marie biscuits, dairy-free margarine for the butter and a flaxseed egg instead of a chicken's egg. Both of my men adore this slice which I've made a couple of times recently. I think this has gone onto their favourites list and am sure that I will be requested to make this delicious slice again in the future.
Hedgehog (Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe)
200g Arnotts Nice biscuits
125g dairy free margarine
½ cup sugar
2 heaped dessertspoons cocoa
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons water
2 heaped dessertspoons desiccated coconut
Place the biscuits in a large bowl and crush them with the end of a heavy rolling pin or the base of a glass jar. The biscuit chunks should be no bigger than a 5 cent piece.
Melt the margarine in a small saucepan, stir through the sugar and cocoa and cook for 2 minutes. Mix the ground flaxseed and water together in a small bowl. Turn off the heat and stir through the flaxseed mixture and the coconut. Stir the crushed biscuits into the saucepan mixture thoroughly.
Line a 20 cm square dish with baking paper and spoon the contents of the saucepan into the dish. Spread it out to the edges evenly and smooth out the top. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until firm then slice into squares and serve. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
My memories of hedgehog involve high school home ec class and Cookery the Australian Way. It's funny, I bought Nice biscuits today and was thinking of hedgehog, because I always made it with teddy bear biscuits. I might make this soon so thanks for posting :)
ReplyDeleteThanks veganopolous! Oh you have brought back many high school memories of home ec classes with your mention of Cookery The Australian Way although I don't recall making many sweet things apart from a Christmas fruit cake. I'm pleased to see that you enjoyed the hedgehog!
DeleteAs soon as I saw the heading I was excited - given that I have posted about 4 versions of hedeghog and have another up my sleeve you might say I am crazy about the stuff - glad the recipe veganised easily. I loved it as a kid - very pleased you have come around to it and that your boys love it. And crushing the biscuits with a rolling pin is very therapeutic after a bad day :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Johanna, it was a pretty easy recipe to veganise. I must have missed a couple of the hedgehog recipes on your blog as I only noticed two of them. I really loved that this recipe originated from your mum. Crushing the biscuits is a rather therapeutic task!
DeleteI've never heard of hedgehog! It must be specific to Australia. Your slices of it look divine! I like the big chunks of biscuits throughout them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cadry, I should have mentioned in my post that it is an Australian recipe. The chunks of biscuits are great in the slice.
DeleteI wasn't a huge hedgehog fan as a child but did occasionally enjoy the Brumby's type - which always left me feeling a little sick but in a good way! Mr Bite loves them though, and for a while had a Brumby's type weekly. I re-made him chocolate tiffin recently (which is quite similar to hedgehog) but think next time I do a dense chocolate slice I may give this option a try. I like that it involves cocoa rather than melted chocolate - a bit easier to make on short notice :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Kari, I still have your chocolate tiffin on my to make list - thanks for reminding me! Indeed, this hedgehog is very quick to put together which is a bonus.
DeleteI am attracted to biscuits or cake encased in other desserts, so I think I would really enjoy this. When I was in high school, before I was vegan, I once ate some Ben & Jerry's birthday cake ice cream, with chunks of cake inside. I think that really kicked off my dessert-inception obsession!
ReplyDeleteThanks Theresa, hope you enjoy this if you give it a try. The man is similarly obsessed with cookie and cream based ice-creams which we have been able to find a vegan coconut based version of recently, unfortunately the price tag is quite high.
DeleteI have to admit, I've never heard of hedgehog, but it looks pretty awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks Jes, it's definitely an Aussie thing which is probably why you haven't heard of it.
Deleteyummy! i only just discovered that nice biscuits were vegan just last week - very delighted of course!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandy, I'm glad you have made the discovery about Nice biscuits being vegan. They work really well in slices.
DeleteMost of the ingredients remind me of vegan nanaimo bars!!!! I love coconut in desserts!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rika, I'm not familiar with nanaimo bars - that's something I'll have to check out.
DeleteBuffalo Tofu; Huge tofu eater. Men who want to keep their hair and their prostates
ReplyDeleteshould chow down on tofu; prevents testosterone from being converted into estrogen. A bit
surprised the recipe calls for corn flour, and canola oil. All canola has been genetically
modified from the point of commercial oil extraction. Removal of intrinsic factor permitted
longer shelf life in unfriendly oil storage conditions. Now rancidity is non detectable.
Most corn in North America is also genetically modified. Another nice Buffalo Tofu recipe
1/4 cup almond flour, 1/8 cup hot smoked paprika; youcan make your own by adding 1/8 cup cayenne to 3/4 cup sweet Hungarian paprika, add a few drops natural hickory smoke to 1 tsp Grey Celtic Sea Salt, dried in 100 degree oven, combine witha 1/4 cup paprika and grind with mortar and pestle; 1tsp onion pwdr; 1/4 tsp garlic pwdr; 1tsp dried basil & wild oregano;
pinch(generous)nutmeg. Press thawed slices of tofu,( wrap loosely when placing in freezer)
sprinkle with Braggs Aminos; called Soy Seasoning in Canada; non fermented; made without wheat or salt; low sodium yet tastes salty. Yum Yumm!!; before dropping into bag of spice
mixture; leave for at least an hour on cookie sheet before baking or sauteeing in coconut
oil.
Good to know what you are eating. Franks Hot Sauce the Original Recipe is not a Frankenfood, but uses vinegar and vinegar is made through introduction of a mother which
makes it animal based; not vegan. Good old lemon juice to the rescue. Want Balsamic no
vinegar , "vinegar" ? 2 cups fresh pressed lemon juice, pinch Grey Celtic Sea Salt; 1Tbl
Rosemary , unground; 1 cap nat Vit E, squeezed out; 1/4 tsp ascorbic acid. Shake well and leave at room temp 2 days before refrigerating. Can strain if preferred. A little paprika
will authenticate the colour.
Thanks for your comment, you have raised some interesting points! Firstly, I'm not sure if you are aware that I am based in Australia (not North America). The canola oil I cook with is made from Australian grown canola which is definitely non-GMO. Tofu is another product I only buy if it's organic, non-GMO and made from Australian grown soy beans. Thanks for providing your Buffalo Tofu recipe, it sounds interesting.
DeleteI haven't heard of vinegar being classed as animal based previously unless you are referring to red or white wine vinegars which can be non-vegan depending on the production method of the wine. As far as I am aware Frank's hot sauce is vegan - so many North American based vegan bloggers use it in their recipes, surely they can't all be wrong?
Hedgehog slice has always been a christmas tradition in my family, and since Christmas is soon, i thought i would try making a vegan one for everyone. Instead of using Arnotts Nice Biscuits i used Leda Nutrition #GlutenFree Arrowroot Biscuits. I then added a tiny bit more sugar, and a tiny bit more of the cocoa. Once firmed i topped them with chocolate icing, then sliced into squares and served. They were a hit! Will be making again! Thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteHedgehog slice has always been a christmas tradition in my family, and since Christmas is soon, i thought i would try making a vegan one for everyone. Instead of using Arnotts Nice Biscuits i used Leda Nutrition Gluten-Free Arrowroot Biscuits. I then added a tiny bit more sugar, and a tiny bit more of the cocoa. Once firmed i topped them with chocolate icing, then sliced into squares and served. They were a hit! Will be making again!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting Zoe! Apologies for the very slow reply, I've been neglecting this blog for a while. I'm glad to hear that your gluten free version of the hedgehog worked out and you could continue one of your Christmas traditions. Thanks for the tips about the biscuits, I'll have to keep an eye out for them in case I need to make sweets for GF folks one day.
Delete