Apple Slice

Hi Everyone,
SURPRISE!!! I'm back after more than 12 months. I'm not sure for how long or if I'll be very consisted but I'm here for now. I do post a lot on Facebook and Instagram as I like those forums because I don't have to think so much about writing, which I've mentioned before is not my forte. So it might be a case of if I've got a lot to share at once I'll post here and let you know on Facebook and Instagram.
 What has prompted this post, is this recipe. I felt like making something sweet but healthy and this slice came to mind. I couldn't find my print out of it so I came looking on the blog, knowing I'd written a post about it. When I came to find it, I discovered it was only a draft and apparently I hadn't published it at all. I could have sworn I had but I can't find on the blog, so I'm here to remedy that situation.

So remembering this was originally written in March last year, here we go. 

Being Autumn here in my part of the world, it is the season for apples. I have a few small apple trees that have produced more than enough apples for us (and the birds). One tree, I planted when we first moved here 16 years ago, has produced fruit for the first time this year. I can't even remember what sort of apple it is but the apples are quite sweet so they are lovely to stew and eat without having to add sugar. They also hold their shape and don't turn to mush which I like as well.
A couple of weeks ago I adapted my Jam Slice recipe and made a healthy Apple Slice to take to Garden Group for morning tea. Although it was a bit crumbly it was quite a hit so I have since made it again and solved the crumbly problem. Now it's ready to share with you.

APPLE SLICE

Base

100g almond meal (about 1 cup)

½ cup rice flour (or coconut flour)

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup honey

1 egg

1 teas vanilla

Filling

3 large sweet apples, peeled, sliced & cooked

Topping

2 eggs

¼ cup honey

2 cups desiccated coconut

Set oven on 180C (160C fan) & grease (with olive oil) and line a 22cm cake tin.

Mix all the base ingredients together and spread into the cake tin (this can be a bit fiddly as the mixture is sticky)

Bake for 15 mins or until cooked.

Remove from the oven and spread the apple on the base.

Wait until you have done this before making the topping as the coconut will absorb moisture and the topping is too crumbly when cooked.

Using a mixer beat the eggs until they are very light and fluffy.

Drizzle in the honey while the mixer is going & beat until combined.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the coconut.

Spread over the apple.(see NOTE)

Bake for 15-20 mins or until golden brown.

Allow to cool completely for cutting.

NOTE: Smooth coconut mixture down with the back of a spoon then lightly rough it up with a fork, this helps it stick together when cooked and not be too crumbly.
NOTE 2: You can use tinned unsweetened apple for convenience. It is also delicious with a sprinkling of blueberries, fresh or thawed frozen, with the apple.
PRINT RECIPE

Looking at the picture of the apples reminds of when we were kids, and apples didn't come all waxed and shiny. We would have competitions at lunch time to see who could get their apple the shiniest. Did you do that too?

Hope you've enjoyed the catch up

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird 

Apple Sultana Walnut Cake - Gluten Free

Hi Everyone,

I'm back with a quick post. You may recall I shared a recipe for Apple Sultana and Walnut cake back HERE.

I have a couple of relatives who are gluten intolerant so I had a fiddle with the recipe and made a healthier version that is gluten, dairy and sugar free and topped it with a vanilla cashew cream.
I posted the following picture on Facebook and had a few requests for the recipe.

So I decided I would share it here just in case anyone else might be interested.

APPLE SULTANA WALNUT CAKE–Gluten Free

1 cup chopped dates

Water (enough to just cover the dates)

½ cup mild tasting oil

3 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 teasp vanilla

2 cups almond meal

½ cup rice flour

½ teasp bicarb soda

1 teasp baking powder(gluten free)

2 teasp mixed spice

150g (5oz) sultanas

60g (2oz) chopped walnuts

2 apples (peeled & diced)

Cover dates with water and allow to soak overnight or until dates are very soft.

Set oven on 180C and grease (with oil) a 20cm cake tin, line the base and dust the sides with almond meal or rice flour.

Blend together the soaked dates, oil, eggs and vanilla until smooth.

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients, sultanas, apple and walnuts.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.

Put mixture in prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 40-50minutes or until done when tested with a skewer. (It may take longer depending on the moisture in the fruit)

Allow to cool for 5-10minutes before removing from the tin.

 

Vanilla Cashew Cream

85g raw cashews

¼ cup chopped dates

½ cup water

1 teasp vanilla

20g cacao butter(melted in a bowl over hot water)

Soak the cashews and dates in the water with the vanilla overnight.

Blend together until smooth and creamy then add cacao butter and blend until thoroughly mixed.

Spread on the cooled cake and sprinkle with extra walnuts.

PRINT RECIPE

You will notice I have included a link to a printable version of the recipe. I am hoping over the next couple of weeks to update all my previous recipe posts to include printable recipes. That will make your life easier if you want to try any of them.

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

 

 

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird

Happy Birthday

To Me

Hi Everyone,

Well it was happy birthday to me a couple of weeks ago but this post is really about the cake I made myself not my birthday. I posted a picture of it on Facebook and had a request to share it here. I hadn't planned on blogging about it so I didn't take an photos of the process but there is no rule that says that I have to so I'm going to share it anyway.
It's not very often I have to make my own Birthday cake, usually one of the kids does it but they weren't home and baking is not Ross' forte, so it was up to me.
Originally I was going to make a wheat free version of this experiment that Heidi and I made a couple of weeks ago, Caramelised Pear Cake with custard cream.

Yes, I know, not the most elegant looking cake (the components needed to be well chilled before assembly hence the oozing custard cream) but it did taste REEEEEEALLY good. I was a bit pushed for time on my birthday so I didn't have time for chilling things so I decided to do another experiment instead. The challenge was to make a healthy cake that tasted decadent and naughty.
I already had some tried and trued healthy recipes that I thought, when they were combined, might just fit the bill. I started off with my 'Innocent Chocolate Cake', a perfectly yummy guilt free cake. I did a post on it a couple of months ago and you can find it HERE.

For the filling I took my inspiration from the recipe for this chocolate tart that we made in a raw food workshop with Cat Cannizzaro. I changed it so that the flavours blended better with the cake. (If you want the recipe for this tart, which is to die for, it will be available for purchase at Wild Raw soon)

And I  made an orange cashew cream that I used on some muffins a little while ago. I also love hazelnuts and I thought they would go nicely as well.

This is what I came up with,
TA DAH!!
Innocent Jaffa Hazelnut Cake.

Looks pretty good, don't you think? It tasted pretty good too. It certainly fulfilled the brief. In fact tasted so good I almost felt guilty eating it, even though it's perfectly healthy.

INNOCENT JAFFA HAZELNUT CAKE

INNOCENT CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 cup chopped dates (cover with water & soak until soft)
1 teasp vanilla
1/4 olive oil
3 eggs (separated)
1/2 teasp bicarb soda
1/2 teasp baking powder
200g almond meal (approx. 2cups)
1/3 cup cacao powder (or cocoa)
Set oven to 180C & grease and line a 20cm cake tin. Puree dates, vanilla, oil & egg yolks until smooth and  add to the dry ingredients, mix well. Beat egg whites to soft peaks and mix 1/3 into the rest of the mixture then gently fold through the remaining egg whites. Pour into the cake tin and bake for approximately 30 mins or until done when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin.
NB: While the cake is cooking roast 1/2 cup of hazelnuts for 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and roll them in a tea towel to remove most of the skins and chop roughly.
FILLING
Chocolate Cashew Cream
11/2cups chopped raw cashews
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 teasp vanilla
30g cacao powder
40g cacao butter (melted in a bowl over hot water)
Soak the cashews and dates in the water overnight. Blend the cashews, dates, vanilla and cacao powder until really smooth. Add a little more water as needed to achieve a smooth result but it doesn't want to be  runny. Finally blend in the cacao butter until well combined. The chocolate cashew cream will firm up a bit as it cools down so it best to fill the cooled cake straight away while it's still easy to spread.
TOPPING
Orange Cashew Cream
11/4 cups chopped raw cashews
Juice of 2 orange
Grated rind of one orange
5 teasp agave syrup
20g cacao butter (melted in a bowl over hot water)
Soak the cashews in the orange juice overnight. Blend all the ingredients except cacao butter until really smooth (add a little water if needed). Add the cacao butter and blend until well combined. This also will firm a little as it cools so best to use straight away.
ASSEMBLY
When the cake is cold slice in two. Spread one half with the chocolate cashew cream and sprinkle with half the hazelnuts. Place the second half on top and spread some of the orange cashew cream on top, sprinkle with the rest of the hazelnuts and some orange zest and pipe around the edge if desired.

PRINT RECIPE

I hope you give Innocent Jaffa Hazelnut Cake a try and let me know what you think.

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

 

 

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird

 



Five Out Of Hundreds

Hi everyone, I thought I would be back earlier than this but the week sort of got away from me and I might have got a bit side tracked doing some crafty stuff. Also I needed a bit of a computer break. I find that if I sit down at the computer I get sucked into looking at different things and before I know it hours have gone by and I haven't accomplished much so I find it easier to avoid it altogether. Anyway I'm back now.
This post is a reply to an invitation from Pip Lincolne from Meet Me At Mikes. I/we, her 'Blog With Pip'(BWP) students (I mentioned the course here), have been invited for a virtual cuppa at her blog to share five things we love at the moment and add a link to her blog post.

So I have a dilemma.
I don't have to worry about what I'm going to wear, something comfortable is fine.
I know what I'm going to drink, green tea.

I've even made a batch of macaroons to have with the tea.

(I have included the recipe at the end of the post)

No, the dilemma is
How do you choose only five things you love out of a hundred possibilities?
I could choose the five members of my family, but that goes without saying, they are always on top of the list and anyway they're people not things. Plus I don't know that they want their mother/wife raving about them all over this blog, that could be embarrassing. Anyway after much pondering over a few of days I have come up with five things I am loving right now.

FEELING COSY.
As I mentioned last time the weather has been pretty foul here lately but I have been warm and cosy in our little house with the fire burning away. I love hearing the rain on the roof and the wind whistling around knowing that I'm safe and snug where neither can get me. And even when it's not wet or windy but it's frosty or foggy I can look out the winder and thumb my nose at the cold.

SOUP.
I am loving soup, which is something I tend to make only in the winter. I haven't always been a soup lover but since my conversion, I eat it nearly everyday in the winter. Some of my favs are UNnoodle, Pumpkin/Sweet Potato, Pea & Ham, Thai Style Tomato, Chicken & Corn, and my all time favourite Minestone (or Mine Strone as we call it in our house). I particularly like Minestrone the next day when it becomes Minestewy, but I reckon most soups taste better the next day, don't you?
I'm feeling another soup recipe post coming on. Which one should I do? Maybe you could pop over to the Facebook page here and let me know.

BOOKS.

I am not a bigger reader of fiction but not because I don't like it. I love novels but they are a bit like the computer, once I start a good one I can't drag myself away and then I don't get anything else done. So fiction reading is a holiday activity.

I do however have A LOT of reference books, gardening, cooking and craft mainly, with a few human interest ones as well. I love flicking through the pages being inspired, learning new skills and coming up with new ideas. They are my main source of learning along with the internet.

I get most of my books online, only because we don't have anywhere to buy them in our small country town. I do love browsing in book shops though, if I get the opportunity, and always try to find something buy to support them.

BEING CREATIVE.
I'm cheating a bit here because being creative includes, craft, gardening and cooking (3 favourite things). I love making stuff and can't remember a time when I didn't. It's essential for me, up there with breathing. I have gardened, in one form or another, since I was a teenager, cooked from whenever I was allowed (probably 7 or 8), but craft has been my main creative outlet since I was very small. My favourite day on 'Play School' was always Monday because it was 'Useful Box Day'.
At the moment crochet is the thing, mainly because that is what we have been doing at craft group and because it's winter and I only crochet in the cooler months. (I have a crochet post in the pipeline and will have it up here very soon)

YOUTUBE SATURDAY/SUNDAY.
This might seem a little strange. You're probably wondering what the heck is that. Well it started a year or so ago when RC(hubby) discovered music videos on YouTube. On Saturday or Sunday morning or sometimes both, when he doesn't have to rush off to work, RC sits with computer at kitchen table and selects music videos to play while we have breakfast. It started out as an occasional thing but has now become a regular weekend activity. He plays DJ and I dance around the kitchen. Yep, I probably look like an idiot but who cares, I love it.

There, five of the many things I love. Do you share some of the same loves or would you chose totally different things?
If you like you can pop over to Pip's blog and check out what some of the other BWP bloggers have written about.
And as promised below is the recipe for the macaroons. They are really yummy.

Until next time

 TOODLES

 

Orange Almond Currant Macaroons

2 eggs
½ cp sugar
1 teas orange rind
½ cp chopped toasted almonds
½ currants
2 cps desiccated coconut
60g dark chocolate

Beat eggs and sugar together on a high speed until really light, fluffy and pale.
Mix through the rind, almonds, currants and coconut.
Put spoonfuls of mixture on a tray. If the mixture is a bit dry you may need to push it together with your fingers.
Bake at 180c for 10 -15 minutes or until partly golden brown.
Cool a little on tray before removing to a cooling rack.
Melt chocolate in bowl over simmering water.
Spoon melted chocolate into a small zip lock bag, cut a small corner off the bag and drizzle chocolate lines over the macaroons.
I dare you to stop at one.

©Michelle Collins – 18/6/2014

I would love your feedback. You can either comment here, or you can also comment or follow me on Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird

UNnoodle Soup

ME: You do realise that this is not just a food blog don't you?
YOU: Yes
ME: Good that's a relief.
YOU: Why do you ask?
ME: Cos I'm here again with another recipe.
YOU: So?
ME: Well that's two in a row and I don't want you to think that's all this blog is about.
YOU: For goodness sake just write the post.
ME: Okay.

Being a relatively new to this blogging caper, it's very much a learn as you go sort of thing. Before I started I had no idea how long it took to do a post. Taking photos, or remembering to take photos, when the light is good (particularly for cooking posts), setting up shots and editing, all take time. And for me the writing is also quite time consuming too as I'm not a natural writer (words don't flow in an orderly fashion from my brain), so I have to do a lot of editing sometimes over a couple of days. These are skills that I'm hoping to improve and streamline so I can do posts more efficiently, and I'm enjoying the challenge.
That sort of brings me to today's post because I've had to prepare it quicker than I normally would. I put a picture of this Asian style soup on my Facebook page, asking if anyone would like the recipe. I thought I would have a bit of time to prepare the post but no, what with on thing and another, some people thought I had already put it on the blog and were very eager to have the recipe. So here I am posting another recipe when I normally like to mix up the topics).

This recipe is based on a vague memory of a soup made on the TV show "Good Chef, Bad Chef" and is super easy. When I make it I don't measure anything. You know, like those recipes your Mother used to make that she could never give you exact quantities for. It was just a bit of this and a bit of that. Now I find I also make lots of things that way and have to smile to myself when my kids ask me for some recipes because I haven't a clue about quantities, it's just what feels right. Anyway I've done my best to write a proper recipe.
 
UNnoodle Chicken & Veg Soup
(Serves 4)
1 chicken breast fillet
5 cps water
1 Tbsp soy csauce
1 garlic clove (sliced)
2cm piece ginger

¼ teas chilli flakes (optional)

1 zucchini 

2 cps thinly sliced/chopped vegetables (eg carrot, capsicum, celery, corn, broccoli, etc)

Put the chicken fillet, garlic, ginger and chilli flakes in large saucepan and cover with water. Add the soy sauce and bring to a gentle simmer.Cook for approximately 20 minutes.

Take the chicken fillet out and slice into small pieces. Remove the garlic and ginger with a slotted spoon or through a sieve, chop finely. Add back to the stock along with the sliced vegetables and any of the chilli flakes that may have been removed in the straining process. Bring stock back to a gentle boil. Taste the stock and add more soy sauce if needed.

While the vegetables are cooking prepare the zucchini UNnoodles by peeling it first (discard the peel) and then shaving it into long strips with a peeler (or you can get a gadget (see picture) that looks like a peeler with teeth that cuts really thin strips). Only shave the zucchini down to the seeds.

When the vegetables are nearly cooked (this should only take 5 minutes, if you like them a little firm), add the chicken and UNnoodles and cook for about a minutes (don't over cook or the UNnoodles will break up). Serve.

OPTIONS:
Use rice noodles if you prefer.
Add 1 or 2 teaspoons each of lime juice, palm sugar & fish sauce for a more Thai style flavour.

PRINT RECIPE

I would love your feedback. You can either comment here or you can also comment or follow me on Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird

Until next time when I will share something other than cooking.

TOODLES

  

Innocent Chocolate Cake

Hi everyone.  Who's for delicious, healthy and guilt free chocolate cake? Did you think there was a hint of sarcasm to the post title or that is was tongue in cheek? Well no, when I developed the recipe I didn't want to call it guilt free or healthy so I decided that innocent was an appropriate alternative.
The recipe was inspired by a friend who follows mainly a Paleo diet, so that means no sugar, no flour, no butter and lots of other things. She does indulge every now and again, on special occasions. I wanted to take a sweet treat to her place one evening so I thought I would take on the challenge of making something that was yummy and basically fit her diet.
So with my own basic cake formula (which I'll work on sharing at a later date), I decided on the ingredient replacements; dates for the sugar, almond meal (I grind my own almonds) for the flour & oil for the butter. Add some cocoa, because everything tastes better if it's chocolate, vanilla, eggs and you have the ingredients for one healthy chocolate cake.

A bit of soaking, blending, beating, mixing and baking. 

VOILA "Innocent Chocolate Cake" was born. 

This is a great everyday cake, as it satisfies those cravings for chocolate and something sweet without the guilt factor. For me it is wheat free and for that matter it's also gluten free.

Now I don't want you to think I'm a complete wowser when it comes to baking. On special occasions I still indulge in the decedent much less healthy cake options and  I'll share them with you as well but for today it's Innocent Chocolate Cake.

 

INNOCENT CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 cp dates (cover with water & soak until soft)

200g almond meal (approx 2cps)

1/3 cp cocoa

½ teas bicarb soda

1 teas baking powder

1 ts vanilla

¼ cp olive oil

3 eggs (separated)

Grease a 20cm (8") cake tin with oil, line the base with baking paper and dust the side with a mixture of cocoa & almond meal.

Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl. Puree dates with oil, vanilla and egg yolks until smooth, add to dry ingredients and mix well. Beat egg whites to soft peaks. Mix 1/3 of the egg whites into mixture thoroughly, then gently fold through the remaining egg whites. Pour/spoon mixture into prepared tin and bake at 180C (360F) for approximately 30 mins or cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool slightly before removing from the tin.

PRINT RECIPE

 

I would love you to let me know what you think about the recipe or blog. You can either comment here or you can also comment or follow me as One Earlybird on Facebook or @oneearlybird on Instagram.

Hope you have a fantastic day until next time

 

TOODLES

 PS. Coming soon, by popular demand, another winter warming soup recipe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Easy Peasy & Ham Soup

Hi everyone, still not much happening on the crafty front so I'm back with a recipe.
As a child I was a fairly fussy eater or so I was told, but on reflection I don't know that I was that fussy, its just that I didn't like the foods that were served up to us. A lot of the foods that I like now are ones that my mum didn't like so they weren't on the menu, in particular salads. Even the cooked foods I like now I didn't like then because they were cooked to within an inch of their life so   they tasted horrid(I'm gagging as I write).
One of the things I didn't eat as a kid was soup. Even as an adult I wasn't a big fan, until my eldest daughter Cherry (who by the way isn't a fussy eater) made Minestrone (or as we call it Mine Strone) soup at school. She came home very excited and insisted on making because it was so yummy and she was sure I would like it. I had my reservations but she made the soup, I loved it and the love affair with soup began. I started looking at soup in a whole new light, now realising that there were so many options out there other than  Mum's vegetable soup with its favour dominated by onion and celery or my Mother-in-laws goopy split pea soup.

Soup has now become a winter staple in our house though hubby doesn't eat it (I think he was scarred for life by the split pea soup). I like to make a big batch and have it in the fridge or freezer for a quick easy lunch and it's great to take hot to the footy/netball in a vacuum flask.

This particular recipe was inspired by one of my best friends Gabby. I was visiting her a couple of weeks ago when she was making soup. She had been wanting to make pea and ham soup but there must have been a world shortage of split peas as she hadn't been able to get them anywhere, so she decided to try substituting red lentils. The soup was pretty good but

when I left her place I had made up my mind to make pea and ham soup, split peas or no split peas. I hadn't made pea & ham soup before but I couldn't see any reason why frozen peas wouldn't do the job, so I bought a packet and a ham hock. A few minutes prep, a couple of hours cooking and 'Easy Peasy & Ham Soup' was ready to eat. 

    

EASY PEASY & HAM SOUP
1 kg frozen peas
1 ham hock
1 medium onion (diced)
oil
water
salt & pepper
Note: I like to peel the skin off  the ham hock so the favour of the soup isn't too smoky.

Sauté the onion in a little oil over a medium heat in a saucepan large enough to fit your ham hock. When the onion is translucent added the ham hock, frozen peas and enough water to cover the hock, or at least nearly cover it. Note: The more water you add the thinner your soup will be.

Bring the soup to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and put a lid on the saucepan. Leave to simmer for about 2 hours. You may need to turn the ham hock over every so often if it isn't completely covered. Once the meat is starting to fall off the bone, take the hock out of the soup, remove the meat from the bone and cut into pieces.

Blend the peas, until smooth either in a blender or I use a stick blender in the saucepan. Add the ham back into the soup, season with salt & pepper to taste (if needed) and it's ready.

 

I like to add a few chilli flakes for an added little kick, and because of my wheat allergy, I quite often serve my soups with corn chips, instead of bread, they add a nice contrasting crunch.

AND

If you want "comfort" in a bowl, make a mash of potato, sweet potato, creamed corn and cheese and add a big dollop of it to your soup with little extra grated cheese. This is soooooooo good I can't even describe it. YUMMO.  

There you have it an easy winter warmer, and if you wanted to make a quicker version just use some diced smoky bacon instead of the ham hock. I'm sure it would be just as delicious.

Make, eat & enjoy, until next time

TOODLES





Apple Sultana Walnut Cake

 

Hi everyone, yes I know you don't hear from me for over a month and now I'm back again already. That's what can happened once you don't have time lines you have to work to. I don't know about you but I find I'm happier, more motivated and productive if I can go with my own flow.

This time last year I had some allergy testing done and the result was I discovered I'm allergic to wheat (but not gluten) and soy and have a sensitivity to a couple of other things as well. I don't have any major reaction to these things, it just upsets my immune system. So occasionally I still eat REALLY GOOD cake, my home made hot cross buns or nice wholesome bread. I do have a sweet tooth though and I love to bake so I try and adapt recipes to be wheat or gluten free and fairly healthy. I have even invented a few of my own recipes along the way which I will share with you in the future.

 

This morning I discovered these less than appetising fellas at the bottom of the fruit bowl so I decided they needed to go into a cake.

 

An apple, sultana & walnut cake to be exact. It is a beautiful, moist & gutsy cake, my favourite kind. The original recipe came from a newspaper and I have adapted it to be wheat free. I also cut down on the sugar to make it healthier as it was very sweet anyway. 

APPLE SULTANA WALNUT CAKE

½ cup mild tasting oil (or melted butter)
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs (lightly beaten) 
1 cup almond meal
1 cup rye flour
1 teasp bicarb soda
1 teasp cinnamon
1 teasp nutmeg
1 teasp mixed spice
150g (5oz) sultanas
60g (2oz) chopped walnuts
2 apples (peeled & diced)

Mixed together the oil, sugar and eggs in a jug or small bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients except 30g of the walnuts (these will be used on top later) in a large bowl and add the wet ingredients. Mix well and add a little water if you need to. Spread the mixture in a greased 22cm (9") round cake tin with a piece of baking paper in the bottom and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the reserved walnuts and bake in a moderate oven for approximately 45mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out. 

*If you want to make this gluten free just replace the rye flour with a gluten free alternative.
**If you don't have any allergies replace the almond meal & rye flour with1¾ cups of plain flour.
***If you're feeling a little naughty and you want to put icing on the cake this Brown Sugar Frosting goes very nicely with it.

Hope you enjoy making and eating this cake, it is delish. Until next time toodles. 

Crunchy Granola Not Too Sweet

Hi all, like my little play on words, think Neil Diamond. I'm a bit of a fan, maybe daggy to some but true. I think his song "Crunchy Granola Suite" pops into my head every time I make my delicious muesli. Why, because the recipe it is based on is called crunchy granola, from Delicious Quick Smart Cook. I discovered this recipe about 12 months ago and now it's the only muesli I eat. It is easy to make, has very little sugar and no added fat, so healthy, healthy, healthy and yummy, yummy, yum.

This was my situation this morning.

 

An empty muesli jar. Time to make some more and I thought I would share the recipe with you.
This is for a single batch but I usually make double so it lasts longer, particularly when I have my youngest daughter home, cos she loves it too.

CRUNCHY MUESLI
3 cups rolled oats (I use slow cooking)
1/2 cup raw almonds (chopped, or nut of choice, hazelnuts are yummy  )
1/2 cup flaked coconut (chopped, I wouldn't recommend desiccated, it might burn)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup buckwheat (optional)
3 Tbsp honey
3 Tbsp maple syrup (I have also used golden syrup, agave or rice syrup)

Mix together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and warm the honey and maple syrup in a saucepan (or in a microwave).
Pour honey mixture over the dry ingredients and mix really well. It might not seem like enough but it will give everything a light coating. Spread the mixture out on a tray and place in a moderate oven.

 

Check every 5 minutes and mix around on the tray. This helps it to cook evenly and prevents it from burning around the edges. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before putting in an air tight jar or container.
This is a very forgiving recipe, you might like to change the quantities and ingredients a bit or you can add dried fruit when it has cooled. If you're gluten intolerant then substitute a gluten free option for the oats.

 

I love to sprinkle it on fruit and yoghurt for breakfast. I have also sprinkled it on porridge & on top of muffins before baking. It would make yummy topping for apple or fruit crumble or add some crunch to a smoothy, he he, I suppose that would make it a roughy, wouldn't it.

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Hope you give this a try and let me know what you think. I'm off to listen to some Neil Diamond, "Hot August Night" I think.
Toodles.