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

Corn Fritters with Fancy Sardines

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Corn fritters You often see corn fritters on breakfast menus. There is no rule here. It is good not only for beautiful breakfast menu but also great for lunch or dinner depending on what you serve with. I, in fact, made this for my hubby’s lunch box for tomorrow.

Corn is in season at the moment, packed with full of fibre, vitamin A, B and E. It is sweet and dancing in your mouth. Now onto sardines. Some might dislike its fishy taste and little visible bones in them, but you should be friends with them because they are an amazing nutritional punch. Sardines have a good amount of protein, healthy omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, iron and potassium. They are low on oceanic food chain which means low amount of mercury. Rich in vitamin D, yes, good for your bone health. So eat the sardines! It is great as a whole or smashed on fritters or toast. I made a balsamic onion relish and beetroot horseradish cream to go with the sardines so that they are not too fishy. Adding lemon, balsamic vinegar and olive oil can do a trick.

Ingredients

1 can of sardines in spring water
1/2 cup of buckwheat flour
1 egg
milk
1/2 cup of cooked corn
chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 tbsp of nutritional yeast
1 tsp of marjoram
1 tsp of all spice
1/2 tsp of curry powder
1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
2 tbsp of coconut oil
1 tsp of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir well to combine. Heat a pan on medium heat and drizzle with coconut oil. Add a heap tablespoon of batter into a pan and cook 1-2 minute each side until golden. I made four fritters with this batter. Serve sardines, balsamic onion relish and beetroot horseradish on the fritters. Drizzle olive oil and serve with green salad.

Posted in: Breakfast, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes

Acai Bowl

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Acai BowlAcai berry is an inch-long reddish, purple fruit from Central and South America. Its combination of antioxidants, amino acids and omega fatty acids all help slow the aging process by boosting immune and metabolic function and removing destructive free radicals from our bodies. Acai contains anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant, which is also common in red and purple colour fruits such as grapes and blueberries. Acai’s ORAC level (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) is over 3,500, which is hundreds of times higher than your average fruits like apples and bananas – Amazing! Also, the little Acai berry packs more grams of protein than an egg, and when combined with its host of omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids, which helps to improve the quality of your hair, skin and nails. You beauty!

I made this breakfast bowl for Daniel this morning. It contains quinoa flakes, milk, Acai powder and honey topped with goji berries, cacao nibs, buckwheat, bee pollen and coconut. He is going to look so glowing and beautiful after this 🙂 You can also add a teaspoon of Acai berry powder into your drink, smoothies, cereal, muffins and cakes for an antioxidant boost. Have a good weekend, everyone x

Posted in: Breakfast, Gluten Free, My recipes, Vegetarian

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

Mini Hummingbird Bundt Cake

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Hummingbird Cake
Hummingbird cake is a banana pineapple spice cake with a cream cheese frosting from the United States. I have no idea why it is called Hummingbird cake and no one does? The recipe was published by Mrs. Wiggin in Southern Living Magazine in 1978 and was elected the magazine’s favorite recipe in 1990. Some say that the cake is so delicious it makes you hum with happiness while others think the cake is named because it’s sweet enough for hummingbirds (hummingbirds will select only the sweetest of nectar to drink). The first one sounds good to me 🙂 I made little changes to the traditional recipe using coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, reducing the amount of sugar (hummingbirds might not like this), using coconut sugar instead of brown sugar, using flaxseed meal instead of eggs and cottage cheese for frosting. It is similar to making a carrot cake, simply mixing all wet ingredients and dry ingredients, no stand mixer needed. Either making with the traditional recipe or making changes like me, it is lovely using fruits and veggies in baking, a little healthier I guess. And the house smelled incredible while it was being baked in the oven. Beautiful moist flavoursome cake! Try today or weekend…

Hummingbird Cake1Ingredients

150g self-raising flour
50g fine dessicated coconut
50g coconut sugar
1 grated carrot
1 mashed ripe banana
1/4 cup chopped pineapple
1/4 grounded walnut
1 tbsp of coconut oil
1 tsp of molasses
1 tsp of vanilla bean powder
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
1 tsp of coriander ground
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
100g milk
10g flaxseed meal
a pinch of Himalayan salt

For frosting
1 tbsp of low fat cottage cheese
1 tbsp of raw honey
a handful of walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180. To make flax “eggs”, mix flaxseed meal and milk in a bowl and set aside. Combine grated carrot, mashed banana, coconut oil, coconut sugar and molasses in a separate bowl and then mix with flax “eggs”. Add all dry ingredients (sifted flour and spices) into the wet mixture. Stir to combine with a spatula. Pour the mixture into a prepared baking tin and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until cooked. Cool it down and spread frosting on top.

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