Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

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Lemon poppyseed cakeWhen I caught up with my dearest friend from Singapore, she told me that it is illegal to take poppy seeds to their country. I was so surprised. Why??? The reason being is that every gram of seeds has about 33 micrograms of morphine and 14 micrograms of codeine. So…they are happy seeds? 🙂 That’s not enough to cause any ill effects from their use in baked goods, but it is enough to show up as a false positive result in drug tests. These seeds contain several vital minerals like zinc, calcium, magnesium, which is essential for the functioning of your body. They are an excellent source of carbs for energy and omega-3 fatty acids for healthy heart as well.

I just like looking at this cake – little dots of poppy seeds, moist inside and nicely browned outside of the loaf. Plus, it has the nuttiness, the crunchiness and the very distinct flavour from poppy seeds. Toasting these guys creates a nutty and sweet flavour. I think it needs more zingy lemon flavour and sweetness though. So if you have a sweet tooth, definitely add more sweetener or drizzle lemony icing on top. I packed a half of the loaf for my friend to take home. I’ve done so much baking recently and they are not disappearing quickly enough. Cakes, anyone? 🙂

Ingredients

200g self-raising flour
6 eggs
50g brown sugar
1 tbsp of honey
50g olive oil
1 lemon zest and juice
50g of poppy seeds
a pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a loaf pan with a baking paper. Toast poppy seeds in a pan for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Take it off the heat and set aside. Lightly beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add all ingredients in and stir to combine. Then pour the mixture into the pan and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until cooked or a skewer comes out clean. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, My recipes, Snack

Mini Vegetable Rice Casserole

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I ask Daniel “what do you feel like for dinner?” His usual answer is “nothing off the top of my head” which really doesn’t help me come up with menu plans. But this time he actually told me “maybe vegetarian tonight?” He actually had naughty(?) foods for a couple of days in a row over the weekend. He and his mate watched footy at the pub on Friday, which means pizza and beer. We got invited to my friend’s barbeque next day, which means more meat for him. I also cooked some chicken for lunch today. Yep, time for veggies! I didn’t plan what to cook for dinner so I was glad he said “vegetarian!”. I pulled out little cute Le Creuset pots out of the drawer and filled up with lots of veggies and rice, topped with nutritional yeast and baked in the oven. Za’atar flat bread is so flavoursome even just by itself. If you can make fresh za’atar spice blend and top with a good quality of olive oil, it is so divine. Make this flat bread when you have a dinner party next time and serve with some humus, olives and cheese. Yum! heaps better than normal Turkish bread. Your guests will be impressed.

Veggie Rice CasserolMini Veggie Rice Casserole

Ingredients

1/2 cup of cooked glutenous wild rice
1 tsp of coconut oil
2 grated carrots
1/2 grated zucchini
1 sliced onion cooked
1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms
1 cup of chopped spinach
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
1 tsp of minced garlic
1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
2 tsp of nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse and cook the rice in a boiling water for 20-25 minutes until cooked al dente. Preheat a pan and cook all vegetables with coconut oil. Season with salt and pepper. Combine cooked rice and vegetables in a large bowl. Add garlic, mustard, paprika and nutritional yeast into the bowl and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into two ramekins, sprinkle more nutritional yeast on top and put in the preheated oven (180) for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Za’atar Flat Bread

Ingredients

200g flour
1 tsp of dried yeast
1/2 tsp of brown sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of za’atar spice blend (4tbsp toasted sesame seeds, 3tbsp dried thyme, 2 tbsp sumac, 1 tsp sea salt)
1 cup warm water

Place half of the flour, dry yeast and brown sugar in a large bowl. Add warm water in and stir with a wooden spoon. Let it stand for 10 minutes. Then add the rest of the flour and stir to get a sticky dough. Turn out the dough onto floured surface and knead gently until soft. Sprinkle more flour if too wet or add more water if too dry. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand until doubled in size. Gently knock it down and roll out the dough to about 1/2-1 cm thick. Use your fingertips, make dimples onto the dough. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle a generous amount of za’atar all over. Bake on the middle shelf in the preheated oven (200) for 15-20 minutes until golden. Serve it warm right out of the oven.

 

Posted in: Baking, Dinner, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian

Chocolate Cake For Weekend Breakfast

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Chocolate CakeFrench press, or plunger, is an easy and consistent way to brew coffee at home. Here is what we do.

  • For one and a bit cups, you’ll need 20 grams (about two tablespoons of beans/ground coffee) and 300ml of boiled water.
  • Drop your freshly ground coffee (6-8g) into your plunger pot.
  • Let the boiling water stand for 1 minute – pouring boiling water over the coffee could burn it, which would give you a cup of coffee with a bitter taste.
  • Pour the boiling water into your coffee cup as well to warm it up.
  • Add the boiled water vigorously (or stir quickly) to wet all the grounds. Let it brew for three minutes. Use a timer or clock if you’re a perfectionist!
  • Plunge it down carefully. If you push the plunger down too quickly, the grains can come up the sides.
  • If you can’t push the plunger down with two fingers then you have ground your coffee too fine, and it may not taste as desired.
  • Pour the brewed coffee into the pre-warmed coffee cup and enjoy!

Chocolate Cake1Ingredients

1/3 cup melted coconut oil
3 tablespoons cacao powder
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup almond meal
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
1 egg
a pinch of sea salt

Add all wet ingredients in a large bowl. Sift dry ingredients and add into wet ingredients. Stir and combine well with a spatula. Pour the mixture into a cake tin and bake in the preheated oven (180) for 30 minutes or until cooked. Let it cool before you remove from the tin.

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack

Baked Green Tea Cheesecake

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It is Saint Patrick’s Day today. A lot of Irish people must be wearing shamrocks or green clothes and celebrating their national holiday with green foods and drinks around the world. I never knew about St Patrick’s Day until I came to Australia. I guess there is no big Irish community in Korea so I never heard about it back then. Anyways I’m definitely not Irish nor Christian, but wanted to make something green. Green foods don’t really sound appetizing though the first thing comes in my mind is mold? Then green desserts sound better to me. Mint, pistachio, green tea… So I decided to make baked green tea cheesecake. Maybe my oven was a little hot as you can see the cracks on top. Keep an eye on this baby while it’s in the oven so that you don’t get a giant crack like mine or it might get too brown on top. You can also add some fluffy whipped cream by CreamMachine on top based on your preference. Happy St Patrick’s Day!

Green Tea CheesecakeIngredients

1 tbsp of green tea powder
1 tbsp of kale powder
200g low-fat cream cheese at room temperature
1 tbsp of brown sugar
1 tbsp of self-raising flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of vanilla bean powder
1 tbsp of melted coconut oil
1 egg at room temperature

For crust
1/2 cup oats
1 tbsp of cacao powder
1/2 cup of dark chocolate buttons
5 dates
1 tbsp of desiccated coconut
a pinch of salt
water if needed

To make a crust, put all ingredients in a food processor and blend until you get a dough consistency. Add a bit of water if too dry. Pour the mixture into a spring-form tin and press evenly with the back of the spoon. Set in the fridge while making a filling. Gently beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and coconut oil in a mixing bowl. Then add green tea powder, flour, vanilla bean powder and baking powder and combine well with a spatula. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust. Bake in the water bath in the preheated oven (160) for 40-45 minutes until cooked. When the cake is done, take out of the oven and cool down in the tin. Refrigerate to set at least for an hour before serve.

Posted in: Baking, Dessert, My recipes

Broiled Grapefruit with Cinnamon Cottage Cheese

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It can be quite warm or cold in March being a transition from summer to autumn in Perth. One day it is 30+ degrees, next day it drops down to 20. How crazy is that? I took advantage of the cool morning making these broiled grapefruit beauties for a snack. I never made or tasted it before, so was curious about how it would turn out. It is simple to make though I was so impressed with its bittersweet flavour and radiant pink colour. Perfect brunch or snack for chilly weather when it’s served warm with a bit of cheese or yogurt. Highly recommended!

Broiled GrapefruitIngredients

1 Grapefruit
1 tsp of maple syrup or agave or honey
1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
100g cottage cheese

Wash the grapefruit and cut it in half. Cut around the outside of the grapefruit to loosen them. Drizzle maple syrup. Broil for about 3-5 minutes until caramelised on top (don’t burn!). Serve warm with cottage cheese and sprinkle of cinnamon and vanilla. Other serving options? with yogurt, granola, breakfast muffin.

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian