Tag Archives: recipe

Mandarin Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies

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There are many codes I live by. Don’t wear pink and red together. Always put salt and pepper on avocado. Butter is best. Keep a bar of dark chocolate in the bottom drawer of the kitchen just in case you encounter a day ending in ‘y’. More books is always better than less books (the same goes for sneakers). Tell those closest to your heart just how much you love them everyday. Always pack that extra pair of unmentionables when you are travelling.

And then there is one from one of the cooking goddesses herself, Julia Child: ‘A party without cake is just a meeting.’

Yes Julia, yes. Make these cookies my friend and take them to work. Watch your team meeting transform into a tea party. See the sugar-induced smile on your boss’s face. If you don’t have an office (like me at the moment) send them to work with your loved one – trust me.

Cookies_filled2

Mandarin Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies

This recipe makes about 27 cookie sandwiches.

Ingredients:

  • 335g butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup caster sugar
  • 2 2/3 cup plain flour
  • 1 cup rice flour
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla essence

 Method:

  1. Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla essence in a large bowl until fluffy.
  2. In a medium bowl whisk together plain flour and rice flour.
  3. Add flour mixture to butter and sugar and mix until it forms a shaggy dough. Tip this mixture out onto a lightly floured bench and knead until it comes together and forms a soft dough.
  4. Divide this dough into two portions and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for half an hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 180C (350F) and line two large cookie sheets with baking paper.
  6. Roll dough out to 5mm-7mm thickness (0.2-0.3 inches) with a floured rolling pin.
  7. Cut the dough into round shapes with a 4cm fluted cookie cutter – or your shape of choice (love hearts would work well here too).
  8. Place each cut out onto a lined cookie sheet. Leave about 2cm between each cookie to allow for spreading.
  9. Repeat using all the dough. You may need to line a few more cookie sheets.
  10. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on a wire rack.
  11. Once cookies are completely cool make the mandarin cream cheese.

 Mandarin Cream Cheese Frosting

 Ingredients:

  • 125g full fat cream cheese at room temperature
  • Finely grated rind of two mandarins
  • Juice of two mandarins
  • 3 cups icing sugar

Method

  1. Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add some more icing sugar if the frosting is not keeping its shape.
  2. Spoon frosting into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe approximately one tablespoon of frosting onto half the cookies. Sandwich the plain cookies on top twisting them a little to secure them.

Cookies_filled1

Almond Tea Cake with Rosewater Glaze

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Stop Press: Once you’ve finished with this post, why not head over and check out my new Recipe page! So happy to have everything in one place for you all now.

Dark gloomy clouds settled over Brisbane early yesterday morning when Mum set off for a tea party for one of her friend’s birthdays. I was unable to attend, but instead I sent along this almond tea cake with rosewater glaze. The lady in question reminds me of an English rose. She has fantastic tales to tell of her childhood and teenage years in England. Tales of holidays in far-off places and the various jobs she and her family have had over the years. Her father is in his nineties and still taking world trips; I believe his last holiday took him on a cruise to Canada and Alaska. Now that’s the kind of ninety year old I want to be!

Almond cake1

I love listening to other people’s stories. One of the main reasons I have always wanted to be a writer is that I truly believe that everyone has a story to tell, and unless we write these tales down they will be lost to the mists of time. There is something fascinating about asking someone how they see the world, and trying to understand their view, how they stand in their truth, and how they choose to interact with life.

This cake is light, but moist and scented heavily with almond and vanilla. The perfect cake for a winter morning tea with a strong and sweet cup of English breakfast tea (Twinings of course). Enjoy.

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Almond Tea Cake with Rosewater Glaze

I made this cake with 6 egg yolks that I had leftover from batches of seven minute frosting. You can use 3 whole eggs in their place, but the results may differ slightly and it may require a little extra cooking time. I used an 8-inch ring pan – similar tins are available on Amazon or at your local cooking store. You can use a normal 8-inch cake tin; your cake will just be a little flatter. 

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 6 egg yolks (or 3 whole eggs), at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup milk, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1 teaspoon almond essence
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 1/4 cup almond meal
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 170C (340F). Thoroughly grease and flour a 8-inch ring tin. Concentrate on the centre piece as you do not want to be fighting to get your cake off after it has baked.
  2. Sift together plain flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a medium-size bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
  4. Add egg yolks one at a time and beat well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and almond essences.
  5. Alternate adding flour and milk in three portions beginning and ending with flour.
  6. Pour into prepared pan and smooth the top.
  7. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the top springs back when touched.
  8. Remove and allow to cool for ten minutes in the pan before gently turning out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before pouring over glaze and decorating.
  9. For the glaze: Whisk together 2 cups of icing sugar, 3-4 tablespoons water, and 1 teaspoon of rosewater until smooth. You can also add a few drops of pink food colouring to complete the English teatime effect.

Tell me dear reader, do you love listening to other people’s stories? Anyone in particular who enchants you? 

Let’s Talk Family, and Muffins, Definitely Muffins

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It’s Tuesday. Let’s talk about muffins. But first let’s talk about family. Let’s talk about my family.

Muffins, but first - family.

Muffins, but first – family.

My family: we are a circus without a ringmaster; we are loud – intimidatingly loud; we are emotive – every emotion, all the time, from ecstatic to furious and back again in barely a sentence; we are so, so different to one another, and a homogeneous lump of genetics at the same time; we are, well, we are a family.

My Dad at the time I sat down to write this post was standing next to me with two baseball caps on top of his head giving me his impression of a ‘gangsta’, before he made himself a slice of apple pie for dessert, and drafted another angry letter – see: a funny, homespun, and cranky old man all tied up in one package.

My Mum is currently ensconced on the couch with the cat on one side of her lap and Molly the malamute’s head on the other side. No doubt she is working on one of her detailed quilts all the while  watching crime shows and solving the case before a CSI cast member can say ‘mass spectrometer’.

My sister and her husband no longer live here but when I last saw my superwoman of a sister we gave each other lectures on our various personality faults (mostly calmly) and then discussed our next baking challenges – we’re just like that, and sometimes people get freaked out that we can go from yelling and crying to best of friends, but people, that’s the way these sisters roll, m’kay?

When a newcomer is introduced into the fold of our family they had better brace themselves. Sometimes it is funny to watch people’s reaction to the way that four people can uphold eight different conversations at once all while paying attention to what’s on television and which of the animals requires feeding or letting in/out. Most of the time though I feel sorry for the initiate. My brother-in-law is a sensible and quiet young man and I think it was truly a test of his mettle that he lived with us all for three years and didn’t run screaming into the night. In fact, he bound himself to our circus wagon forever when he married my sister. We’re like that – get attached to one family member and you get the whole clan.

Over the years I have brought various friends home who have then become like family – Casey, Caroline, Josie, Shane – all of them have been through the trial by fire that is dinner with my family, and survived (I hope) mostly unscathed and mentally un-scarred.

Chris, bless his mismatched cotton socks, fits into this mess perfectly. He pays attention to Dad’s work stories and hands out IT advice free of charge, compliments Mum’s cooking or bonds with her over her action movie collection, and he even likes my dog and is super cute when handling our fairy-sized cat.

Mum, Dad, my Aunty Lone (in the middle), little me (brunette) - and little Jess - see that smirk, still has it.

Mum, Dad, my Aunty Lone (in the middle), little me (brunette) – and little Jess – see that smirk, still has it.

So yeah, that’s my family. We may have to apologise when we leave shops because the sales attendants are either visibly shaking with trauma or laughter;  we never know which it is. We may have to pack an entire boot of food, chairs, books, gardening equipment, an industrial-size first aid kit, and a laptop computer whenever we go anywhere – just in case. We may snack endlessly on whatever lies around the house and hide our sweets from each other (like the time Mum started hiding her Chico babies in her unmentionables drawer because my Dad is a sweet-tooth beyond compare). We may sing Christmas carols in Woolworths in the middle of April, and share forkfuls of food, ask for the special dietary menu, and order milkshakes with low-fat milk and whipped cream, and cry in public, and laugh louder than is acceptable, but that’s okay with me, because they are my family. And I love them.

We also bring things when we visit. There is always too much baked goodness happening in our house for one family to digest in a reasonable amount of time, so we bring things.

Today, I am bringing you, my Thoroughly Nourished Life family, my recipe for Tropical Carrot Muffins (p.s. the whole family can enjoy them because they are gluten-free).

Muffins to share

Muffins to share

Tropical Carrot Muffins (gluten free)

This recipe makes about 14 standard-size muffins. If you don’t require these to be gluten free, simply replace the buckwheat and brown rice flours with 160 grams of wholemeal plain flour or white plain flour. Keep the almond meal as it adds a great texture and healthy fats.

For the pineapple: drain first and then measure. Keep the juices to drink with breakfast – delicious.

Ingredients:

  • 80 grams almond meal
  • 80 grams brown rice flour
  • 80 grams buckwheat flour
  • 80 grams brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder (gluten free if required)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons rice bran oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1 medium carrot, grated
  • 1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple
  • 1/3 cup sultanas

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 200C (390F) and line 14 cups in two 12-cup muffin trays.
  2. Into a medium bowl weigh the almond meal, brown rice flour, buckwheat flour, and brown sugar. Whisk in the salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and shredded coconut. Make sure everything is well mixed and no lumps of brown sugar remain.
  3. In a measuring jug measure the milk and add the eggs and vanilla essence. Whisk together well.
  4. Add milk mixture to dry ingredients along with the crushed pineapple. Mix well.
  5. Add grated carrot and sultanas and mix to distribute.
  6. Spoon mixture equally among the muffin cups and slide trays into the oven.
  7. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until tops are golden and spring back when lightly touched.
  8. Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
  9. Share with your family, or those friends who are like family.
Take a big bite

Take a big bite

My dear readers, what makes your family unique? What is a stand-out trait that everyone shares? Any favourite family recipes?

Chocolate Cardamom Fete Cookies

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Do you remember the joy of a school fete? I do.

Not my own school actually (we had an ‘arts festival’ – not quite as good really for reasons that shall soon become apparent), but I remember with particular fondness the school fetes of my cousin’s primary school. Every year we would go along one Saturday morning and see the school and churchyard transformed. Stalls would be set up in the grass and line the concrete paths, a miniature Ferris Wheel would spin around those under four feet, and items of all natures would be for sale: the second hand book stall, which I always came away from with a heavier bag and lighter purse; student artwork that had been completed over the semester; and, my favourite of all – the homemade sweets and baked goods.

(This is where it becomes apparent why my school fete/ arts festival wasn’t as good – there were never any baked goods. What?!)

Before glaze, and still yummy

Before glaze, and still yummy

There upon the wooden trestle tables festooned with plastic tablecloths would be the offerings of the parents and grandparents of the pupils: buttery shortbread rounds their tops patterned with forks, splodge-shaped jam drops with sweet raspberry jam, sugary caramel fudge, pink and white coconut ice, ANZAC biscuits, patty cakes with pink butter icing decorated with lollies, and always, always, chocolate slice – my favourite.

I would search among all the other treats, wrapped in plastic packets, or little cardboard boxes, to find the chocolate slice. Sometimes with coconut, sometimes without. Always with a thin cocoa glaze. And always, always, my favourite.

Many years have passed since the last school fete of my cousin’s primary days, and many years have passed since I have eaten chocolate slice (too many other treats to spoon/fork/hand-shovel into my mouth).

To be honest, when I made these biscuits I didn’t even have chocolate slice in mind. I had four egg yolks to use up and a yen for something with a chocolate content. But, when I took the first bite of this puffy, lightly-spiced, cocoa and hazelnut treat I was transported back to those fetes – back to the damp schoolyard lawn on a Saturday morning clutching a plastic bag burgeoning with books in one hand and a crumbling piece of chocolate slice in the other. They are a little dry, a little cake-like inside, and infinitely better with a tea/coffee/milk.

Enjoy.

Glazed and ready to devour

Glazed and ready to devour

Chocolate Cardamom Fete Cookies (gluten free)

Makes 9 large cookies, or 18 smaller ones. I suppose it depends how greedy you are feeling really. I made this using four egg yolks I had left over from a batch of seven-minute frosting, but it also works with whole eggs. Oh yeah, and these are gluten free!

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 75 grams brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1/2 cup no fat natural yoghurt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 80 grams hazelnut meal
  • 80 grams buckwheat flour
  • 50 grams cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F) and line a cookie sheet with baking paper.
  2. In a medium bowl whisk together the whole egg, egg yolk, olive oil, sugar and vanilla essence until smooth and thickened slightly.
  3. Add yoghurt and incorporate well.
  4. Weigh hazelnut meal, buckwheat flour, and cocoa powder into a small bowl then measure in ground cardamom and baking powder. Use a clean whisk to beat together until no lumps remain.
  5. Add dry ingredients to the egg and yoghurt mixture and beat well.
  6. Use an ice-cream scoop or tablespoon to measure out mounds of dough onto the cookie sheet. Leave some room between scoops as they will spread slightly during cooking.
  7. Place tray in oven and cook for 10-12 minutes. Rotate tray 180 degrees halfway through cooking time.
  8. Remove cookies from the oven and cool completely on a rack.
  9. Once completely cooled mix up glaze and spoon on top of the cookies and allow it to dribble enticingly down the side. This is about childhood sweets, not perfection, after all.
  10. Eat.

Glaze: Beat together 1 cup icing sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of milk.

Oh yum.

Oh yum.

Tell me, dear reader what were school fetes like at your school?

More importantly, what was your favourite homemade treat?

Bookends of Love and Pancakes

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Sometimes Chris will drive over from his house to mine in the middle of the night – what a gift it is to have someone leave their cosy bed to join you just because they sleep better when they are holding you.

Even when we are staying under the same roof, I usually retire before he does; we are souls born for the opposite ends of the day: he is a night owl and I am an early bird. I don’t mind falling asleep by myself and he always comes in at the time of night I need him most: those middling hours where the threat of nightmare tends to dwell. I love to curl up within his arms. My body knows instinctively which way to twist and turn into his even in the depths of sleep. We dance under the covers throughout the night. Change positions as we get too warm, or an arm starts to cramp.

Choc-chip pancakes

Choc-chip pancakes

As he sneaks into bed late at night, so do I sneak out of bed in the early morning hours. We both have our bookends of the day where we find the best moments to nourish our souls as individuals, and those in-between to nourish us as a couple. I sneak out (with a kiss goodbye and a murmured reply) to run, or write, or visit the markets on the weekend, or to talk to Mum and Dad, or….to make chocolate chip pancakes for my still-sleeping Prince Charming. They are my gesture, my way of easing the hours of the day that he needs easing into. My way of starting the day with a show of love. Just as my darling ends the day that way.

Stacks on stacks of pancakes...

Stacks on stacks of pancakes…

These pancakes are fluffy, crispy on the outside. Once you pour the almond-vanilla-buttermilk dough onto the pan you need only wait about a minute before studding it generously with chocolate chips and then flipping it over to cook on the other side. Once you decide you want to make these you are only moments away from choc-chip heaven. I have even made these while doing dinner, cooled them on a cooling rack, and then packaged them in plastic sandwich bags to be taken for breakfast-on-the-run the next morning.

Sunday morning incarnation.

Sunday morning incarnation.

Chocolate-Chip Buttermilk Pancakes

These pancakes will make you immensely popular. Make them on a Sunday while your loved ones sleep, or on a Wednesday night when everyone needs a pick-up on Thursday morning. This recipe makes about 12 medium pancakes (I measure out my batter with an ice-cream scoop – the easiest cleanest method ever). You of course, can make them larger or smaller as you wish. A half batch also turns out well.

Ingredients

  • 100 grams of plain natural yoghurt
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 150 grams plain flour
  • 75 grams almond meal
  • 4 tablespoons caster sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk (or dark or white) chocolate chips

Method

  1.  Combine plain yoghurt, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Beat well.
  2. Whisk together flour, almond meal, caster sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
  3. Add yoghurt mixture to dry mixture and whisk together.
  4. Spray a large frying pan with cooking spray. Use an ice-cream scoop to portion out batter onto the heated pan. I cook about three pancakes at a time because this is what fits on my pan.
  5. Allow to cook for one minute then stud the uncooked tops of each with the chocolate chips. Let cook for another half a minute then flip and cook on the chipped side for about a minute and a half.
  6. Remove cooked pancakes from the pan and serve right away with ice-cream (for Chris) or cream (or both like my Dad), and some chocolate sauce never goes astray either. Or allow to cool completely and then pack in sandwich bags.

Tell me, dear reader, is there an unspoken way you show love to your family or partner? Are you a pancakes-for-breakfast kind of person? 

Life Happened, and So I Made Cookies Instead (and then ate 2)

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Welcome, friends.

I know I promised you a recipe for a cake today. A carrot-y, nutty, moist, gluten-free carrot loaf that makes a rather pleasant breakfast for both rushed mornings and calm; however, when I tested the recipe (and my memory as I hadn’t written the recipe down the first time I made the loaf) the result was, well, tasty but just a little lack-lustre. (if you really want a breakfast-appropriate loaf cake see here, here, and here; or, go for these scrolls if you have the time)

And lustre is something that a thoroughly nourished life (and, by extension, a thoroughly nourished recipe) should never lack. So, in the spirit of fortitude (and greed) I turned to a cookie for comfort. Upon first bite the skies cleared (actually no, it was raining), the roses bloomed, and all was well in the world again. All memory of the (almost) failed carrot cake was gone.

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I am sure that when you taste these you will agree that a cookie is a great comfort in a world where sometimes your cake recipe kinda sucks, or you get a run in your stockings when you hop out of your car at work, or you spill your tea all over your laptop and printer minutes before you have to call a patient (hello 9am), or you forget to return your library books for the third week in a row (hello 11am), or sleep in an hour past your alarm and your boyfriend only makes it to work 15 minutes before his boss (hello Thursday morning).

A cookie reminds you that despite these (rather minor) disasters this is also a world where you have jam to make the cake (or anything really) taste better, no-one expects you to wear stockings and if you have hairy legs people shouldn’t be looking that close anyway, your patients are sweet and understanding and your laptop is somehow miraculously semi-waterproof, the library understands that you have never (like, ever) returned a book on time in your entire 22-year library history, and your boyfriend’s boss doesn’t care that he was 15 minutes late (and your own co-worker – the sweetest Jenny – makes sure you get a coffee just as you are about to defenestrate your computer, which you can’t anyway because you have a window-less office).

Cookies are good. Life is good.

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Softly-Comforting Coconut and Sultana Cookies

Makes about 14 cookies. You can use 100 grams of plain flour in place of the rice and coconut flours if you do not need these to be gluten-free. They will be just as delicious.

Ingredients:

  • 75 grams butter, softened
  • 60 grams brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1/4 teaspoon coconut essence
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
  • 1/3 cup moist shredded coconut (use dessicated if you can’t find this)
  • 80 grams almond meal
  • 50 grams brown rice flour
  • 50 grams coconut flour
  • 1/3 cup sultanas

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) and line two baking sheets with baking paper – now you’re all set, time to get mixing.
  2. In a medium-size mixing bowl weigh in the butter and brown sugar and add vanilla essence and coconut essence. Cream these together until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the egg and beat until fully incorporated.
  4. In a separate bowl whisk together the salt, baking powder, coconut, almond meal, brown rice flour, and coconut flour.
  5. Add flour mix to the egg-and-butter mix and stir until the dough forms.
  6. Sprinkle in the sultanas and mix these through.
  7. Scoop out rounded tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Place on baking sheet and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Make sure you distance the cookies as they will spread slightly.
  8. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
  9. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the sheet (you may need to eat one at this point for quality control purposes of course…)
  10. The cookies will keep in  an airtight container for a few days – if they last that long.

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Of course, as a scientist I must give the last word to an expert in the field.

Tell me, dear reader, are you a cookie for comfort person, or cake, or do you have a healthier way of dealing with first-world problems? On a different note, who was your favourite Sesame Street character? (I think we can all guess mine…)

Lunchbox Love: Quinoa, Chickpea, and Capsicum Salad with a Lime-Honey Dressing

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I have a confession: as much as I love salad even I get bored of the same leaf, tomato, legume and antipasto combination. This often leads to me resorting to my next option: cottage cheese and crackers or avocado sushi.

In an attempt to revamp my lunch situation, and to ease night-before-work decision-making fatigue, I made a big batch of this quinoa salad. Full of bright vegetables, healthy protein (from the chickpeas and quinoa), fibre, and complex carbohydrates (slowly broken-down for longer-lasting energy and fullness) it will last in the refrigerator all week long safely divided into four lunchbox-ready containers.

I have also made this salad for a work function and a family barbecue. It makes a perfect pot luck dish because it suits so many different special diets (gluten-free, vegetarian, dairy-free) while still tasting delicious (I’ve had reports). I simply doubled the amount and it made a healthy side dish for 10-12 hungry people. Vegetarian friends, this is a complete protein meal; omnivorous friends, I have reports that it goes rather nicely with grilled chicken or fish.

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Quinoa, Chickpea, and Capsicum Salad with a Lime-Honey Dressing

Gluten-free. Vegetarian. Dairy-free.

Serves 4 as a main dish. 6-8 as a side dish.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa (I used red, but any colour will be delicious)
  • 3 cups salt-reduced vegetable stock
  • 1/2 medium red capsicum
  • 1 400 gram can of corn kernels
  • 1 400 gram can of chickpeas
  • 1 small cucumber
  • 2 stalks of spring onion
  • 3 cups baby spinach leaves

Dressing:

  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1-2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Method:

  1. Rinse quinoa thoroughly and add to a small saucepan with the vegetable stock. Heat on a medium-high stove until it comes to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover pot and cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well and return to pot to cool to room temperature.
  2. Meanwhile dice cucumber, capsicum, and spring onions. Drain corn kernels. Drain and rinse chickpeas well.
  3. Add quinoa to a large bowl and add diced and drained vegetables. Toss mixture together with spinach leaves.
  4. To make the dressing whisk together all dressing ingredients.
  5. Add dressing to bowl and toss well.

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Serving suggestions: Perfect the way it is, although sometimes I crumble some feta over the top of mine, or add a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds. Omnivores may like to add grilled chicken or fish (dressed with some extra lime perhaps). Vegans you can substitute agave for the honey.

Nutrition Information: (Per serve. 4 serves per batch.) 315 cals | 1315kJ | 5.55g fat | 0.9g saturated fat | 13.8g protein | 57.8g carbohydrates | 7.8g sugar | 5.2g fibre |

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A Little Piece of Calm and Zucchini, Hazelnut, and Cranberry Bread (Gluten free)

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There is much to be done. The freight train of the year is gathering speed and the scenery is flashing by. Why, it’s already the middle of March don’t you know. My little desk is gathering stacks of paper – lectures and journals to read, books to fill with assignment-worthy words, receipts and bills to be filed, story ideas to be tucked safely away until I have a moment to flesh them out more. Every day I wonder which bags I need to pack into the back of my car, which role am I acting in today? Am I the dietitian/runner/university student (Monday and Tuesday)? Am I the runner/social-media intern/writing race co-ordinator (Wednesday)? Am I the dietitian/runner (Thursday)?

I am lucky to fill my life with so many wonderful things; I am lucky that every day I get to play the role of daughter, sister, girlfriend, and pet owner. Sometimes it helps to have a moment to sit back and look at the scenery that surrounds me. Just a few minutes in the garden in the late afternoon, when the sun is slanting through the palm trees and dancing in patterns on the grass and the breeze ruffles my hair away from my face just right, there is a deep sense of privilege in affording myself a moment like that. I breathe in and all sense of stress falls away. My shoulders straighten and a smile blooms unbidden on my face. I sit on the paving stones with my feet in the grass that has become overgrown after our record rain the past few weeks. I nibble on a slice of cake and sip at my tea and just listen to the faint sounds of life gathering in the houses surrounding ours. The suburb is coming home, settling in for the afternoon, anticipating the weekend and all its pleasures. The time comes for me to return to my desk, but before I leave the garden I tuck away a little piece of the calm that has washed over me for when I need it later in the week.

 

Fresh out of the oven.

Fresh out of the oven.

Zucchini, Hazelnut, and Cranberry Bread (Gluten Free, Naturally Sweetened)

If you are gluten-able then you can use 150 grams of wholemeal plain flour in place of the buckwheat and rice flours. Don’t be tempted to replace the hazelnut meal with flour or you will miss out on the nutty, dense texture in the crumb of the cake. Also, ensure that you use real maple syrup, not maple flavoured syrup; one is a product of nature the other is a product of a lab. If you can’t get your hands on maple syrup you can use honey or agave nectar, or my fellow Aussies can use golden syrup instead (this may yield a sweeter result).

 Ingredients:

  • 100 grams buckwheat flour
  • 50 grams brown rice flour
  • 80 grams hazelnut meal
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 3/4 cup low fat milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons rice bran oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1/2 cup cranberries
  • 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F) and line the bottom and sides of a 9 x 5-inch loaf tin with baking paper.
  2. Prepare your zucchini by coarsely grating it using a box grater. Bundle zucchini shreds into a few paper towels and squeeze over the kitchen sink until you have removed most of the liquid. This will ensure that your dough doesn’t get sloppy. Set aside for later.
  3. In a large bowl weigh in the buckwheat flour, brown rice flour, and hazelnut meal. Measure in the salt, baking powder, and mixed spice and then whisk all the ingredients together until well incorporated.
  4. In a separate bowl combine maple syrup, milk, eggs, rice bran oil, and vanilla bean paste.
  5. Add milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until nearly all combined. Add zucchini, cranberries, and hazelnuts to the batter and mix until fully incorporated.
  6. Pour batter into the prepared tin and slide into the oven.
  7. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean then remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.
  8. Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then remove from the tin and cool to room temperature before slicing.

 

Sliced and ready to take to the garden.

Sliced and ready to take to the garden.

The last step in this recipe isn’t really necessary though. You can allow the cake to cool in the tin for the amount of time it takes to boil the jug for a cup of green tea, then remove it from the tin, slice yourself off a heal of bread from one end, and then pop out to the garden and enjoy the fading light of the sun. I am also planning to have a slice for breakfast in the morning. It should go perfectly well with my Saturday morning skinny cap.

Sit a while and notice the small things that make you smile.

Sit a while and notice the small things that make you smile.

So my dear readers, do you feel like you play many different roles from day to day? I know I get dizzy just thinking about how many hats my Mum wears every day (and how many more she must have worn when we were little).

Where do you take yourself for a moment of peace and gratitude (and perhaps a slice of cake)?

Promise Me This: Gluten-free Coconut Banana Bread

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In two weeks she will be gone. Out of the home we have shared for nearly twenty-three years and into her own nest. As I watched them erect the floor, the walls, the roof, and then fill the inside with bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, and every tiny finishing touch, I started to learn how to let go, how to not hold on so tightly. You see, I have held on so tightly, and sometimes when you hold someone that close, they only yearn to be free even more. So I will watch you go, and help you make your new house into the cosy castle you deserve.

Just promise me this. Promise that you will still think of me when you are craving Peanut m&ms. Promise me you won’t watch Steel Magnolias with anyone else. Promise me that you will still come over at Christmas time and help me put up the tree (I can’t do those lights on my own). Promise me that when you have ‘nothing to wear’ you will drive over and steal something from my wardrobe, or text me ‘help’. Promise me that you won’t be too grown-up and responsible to bust out a Beyonce impersonation. Promise me that we will still find time to make cookies together and eat most of the dough before it makes the oven. Promise me that you’ll save a little space in your life, and a little time in your week, just for me.

Little sis and me in the kitchen

Little sis and me in the kitchen

Gluten-free Coconut Banana Bread

Jess and I take slices of this to the markets every Saturday morning for breakfast. Once the cake has cooled, slice into portions and wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap, then freeze and remove the night before you would like to eat it for breakfast.

Ingredients:

  • 80 grams coconut flour
  • 50 grams almond meal
  • 100 grams brown rice flour
  • 100 grams caster sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup dessicated coconut
  • 2 large bananas
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 250mL milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
  • 1/2 teaspoon coconut essence
  • 2 tablespoons rice bran oil (or other flavourless vegetable oil)

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 180C and line a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with baking paper.
  2. In a small bowl mash bananas with lemon juice and set aside. This will soften the bananas and stop them from browning as well.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together coconut flour, almond meal, brown rice flour, caster sugar, salt, baking soda, and dessicated coconut.
  4. In a separate bowl beat together eggs, milk, vanilla, coconut essence, and oil. Add bananas and mix to combine.
  5. Add banana and egg mixture to dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  6. Spoon mixture into lined loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Check loaf every 10 minutes; you may need to cover the top with aluminium foil if it is browning too quickly.
  7. Once cooked remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin then turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before slicing.
Gluten- free coconut banana bread

Gluten- free coconut banana bread

I suppose I am a little anxious about the change and what it means for my sister and I. No one can live in Neverland forever and I have been lucky to have her so close for so long. If, as the Danish proverb says, ‘the road to a friend’s house is never long’, then the road to my sister’s home will never truly be more than a heartbeat away.

me dear reader, how do you cope with someone you love moving away? Are you better at dealing with change than I am?

Crossroads and Bittersweet Chocolate-Espresso Bundt Cake

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Although at times in my life I am happy to ride the rails, seek adventure, and revel in the joie de vivre of each day; the time for reflection and self-assessment is always close behind. These periods can be helpful: a congratulatory assessment of how far I have come toward a goal, and how far I have yet to go; or, they can be periods of self-doubt where I question every step I have taken and whether I will ever reach the end.

Here between congratulations and self-doubt lies the bittersweet crossroads of life: the consequence of being an adult in an ever-changing world, of being a woman with dreams and ambitions to make her little piece of the world a little more beautiful, and having an eternally-curious spirit.

Los Angeles skyline from Runyon Canyon

High above the world. Where will the path lead?

Recently I have had cause to reflect on the direction of my career and how to juggle my love of words with my passion for health. At the end of this year I will graduate from my Master’s program. Once again I’ll be out in the world, no longer a student (for the moment…), and ready to make my mark on my little patch of earth.

At the end, at the beginning, in the middle of it all. I have to take a step, and I’m ready for the next adventure, but I just don’t know which path will lead to the happiest ending possible. I suppose that is the lesson of the crossroads; you have to make a decision, any decision, to work towards that happy ending, or risk standing still and never knowing where your life could have lead.

Tell me, dear reader, when is the last time you stood at a crossroads? How did you know which way to turn?

 

Bittersweet Chocolate-Espresso Bundt Cake

Bittersweet Chocolate-Espresso Bundt Cake

Bittersweet Chocolate-Espresso Bundt Cake

Makes one 9-inch bundt cake. This cake is not overly sweet. I didn’t want it to be, rather I wanted to serve a cake that you could eat for morning tea with a cup of coffee that wouldn’t be cloyingly sweet to your tastebuds, but satisfied the need for a little indulgence early in the morning (or late at night like my Dad…).

Ingredients:

  • 280 grams plain flour
  • 120 grams raw sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 50 grams cocoa powder
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup rice bran oil (or other flavourless vegetable oil)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
  • 3/4 cup yoghurt
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 75 grams dark chocolate, melted and cooled

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180ºC and grease a 9-inch bundt pan.
  2. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. Measure yoghurt, milk, and cooled dark chocolate into a jug and mix thoroughly. Set aside.
  4. In a large bowl place oil, caster sugar, eggs, vanilla essence, and instant coffee. Using a hand mixer on medium speed beat ingredients together until smooth and thick. This will take about 3 minutes. I set my oven timer just to make sure I beat it for long enough.
  5. Switch to low speed and add dry mixture in three parts alternating with the yoghurt and chocolate mix.
  6. Beat until smooth after each addition.
  7. Pour batter into bundt tin. This is quite a solid mixture but it will rise in the oven. Gently smooth the top of the mix with a spatula but be careful not press down or you will lose some of the air you’ve just beaten in.
  8. Bake cake for 45-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
  9. Remove cake from oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and allow to cool completely before glazing.
Ready for Mum to taste test.

Ready for Mum to taste test.

Chocolate ganache glaze

In a small microwave-proof bowl place 3/4 cup of chopped milk chocolate. Heat in microwave in 20-second bursts stirring between each burst. When the chocolate is melted add 1/4 cup of pouring cream and 3/4 cup of icing mixture. Whisk until smooth and pour over cooled cake.