Valentine Breakfast

This really would be my ideal Valentine breakfast! What could be better than your man whisking you up some pancakes in the morning for an ultimate breakfast in bed. Sooooooo much better than a dinner in a fancy restaurant on this 'hyped' day. His effort would really show true love (and cookery skills if he manages this :) ) A LOVEly start of the day!

Also I read an article in Psychology Today that food can affect your behavior  even just by looking at it. In an experiment where people were asked to volunteer their time to help a stranger, those who were given a sweet candy were more likely to say yes than those given a salty cracker or sour candy. So the taste you have in your mouth can really affect the way you behave. So I would say bombard everyone with sweets tomorrow! Wouldn't it make for a sweet world :)

Serves 4 (or two very hungry lovebirds)

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

What You’ll Need:

• 60g unsalted butter, at room temp
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 4tsp sugar
• 16 Strawberries, sliced
• 200g flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 300ml milk
• 200g mascarpone

What To Do:

1. Beat together the butter, cinnamon and sugar. Dollop it into a saucepan and melt over a medium heat. When the butter starts to froth add the strawberries, toss well in the butter and turn off the heat.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, egg, and milk until smooth. Heat a heavy based, non-stick frying pan or bake stone and grease with a little oil. Pour small amounts of batter into the frying pan (about 2 tbsp per pancake), once the top has bubbled and dried flip the pancake and cook the other side till golden. Keep warm whilst you make the rest of the batter
3. Reheat the strawberries gently while you arrange the pancakes. Place a pancake on each serving plate and spread with mascarpone then arrange some sliced strawberries on top. Repeat this layering until all the pancakes are used up. Top the stack with any remaining strawberry slices and drizzle over the melted cinnamon butter.

from Vivastrawberries.com.

Healthy Noodles

In Selfridges' Food for Thought section, I found these amazing noodles! Zero Noodles! I am not going to lie, I love pasta but the love handles that come with it, not so much. Especially with wedding dress fittings planned. So I am extremely excited with this alternative! I tried them out for lunch today and prepared myself a stir-fry with these noodles, spinach and string beans as well as too boiled eggs and a dash of soy sauce- simple yet very tasty and healthy! 

Lunch! Zero noodles with spinach, string beans and egg

These noodles consist mostly of water actually (96%), the other main ingredient is Konnyaku (or Konjac) Glucomannan Flour (3.8%). I researched a bit what these noodles were, are they seemed too good to be true and I found this funny article about them: The Shambulance: Zero-Calorie Noodles? by Elizabeth Preston who is the editor of MUSE, a kids'science magazine and also writes her own blog Inkfish on various scientific subjects. 

The main take-away of my short research is that it is a vegan product made from mostly water and flour originating from the root of  the Konjac plant which is grown mostly in Asia. The calories are negligible and also the taste is almost absent but that's ok if you use the noodles in a miso broth or you add soy sauce to your dish. I'll definitely prepare them again!

Tea Time! & Crazy Healthy Carrot Cake

The Great British Bake-Off most definitely has been my favourite show of the year again. The suspense! The jokes! The water-mouthing showstoppers! I am already looking forward to the 'reunion' with Mary and Paul on the Christmas special to be aired on the 18th of December on BBC TWO. Camille, note it down ;)

Apparently I am not the only one who is such a fan of the show. The designer Meadham Kirchhoff said at the end of his spring/summer 2013 show: 'Thank you to the makers of the Great British Bake-Off...for providing me with the only glimpse of happiness I've experienced all year. So Vogue asked him to create his show-stopper:

Meadham Kirchoff Showstopper from UK Vogue January 2013

As it has been so cold, and I am embracing British traditions with Great Bake-Off inspiration, I decided to throw a (healthy) tea party! On the menu:

Sandwiches with 1) salmon and cream cheese 2) spinash, mustard and egg salad 3) ricotta and cucumber 4) roast beef, mixed salad leafs and pomegranate

Desserts included a healthy chocolate mousse, a healthy triffle and a crazy healthy carrot cake of whcih I am giving you the recipe below. If you want to have the recipes of the other desserts, just drop me a line in the comments box!

Tea Time

Roast Beeft, Mixed Salad Leaves and Pomegrenate

Crazy Healthy Carrot Cake

For my friend Emma who like healthy as much as I do, and for Evi who likes her Carrot Cake without raisins :)

Can I get another piece please?? ;)

As this cake really gets better after resting a night wrapped in its tin, I would advise you to make it the day before serving (trust me it will be so much more moist!), and only frosting it an hour or two before serving.

Serves 8 to 10

Preparation time: 90 to 110 minutes

Requires a 20 cm baking tin

Ingredients

For the cake

·         1 medium orange

·         2 tablespoons coconut oil

·         220g plain wholemeal flour

·         2 tablespoons baking powder, plus a pinch

·         1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda

·         1 rounded tablespoon of ground cinnamon

·         Stevia to sweeten to taste

·         3 tablespoons of almond milk

·         280g finely grated carrots (about 375-400g carrots before peeling)

·         100g butternut squash (boiled and pureed)

·         3 eggs

For the frosting

·         100g 0% Greek yoghurt

·         200g light soft cheese

·         Stevia to sweeten to taste

·          1 medium orange

·         1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Method

Preparation

-  Start by preheating the oven at 160C.

-   Finely grate the carrots and the zest from the orange and squeeze in 3 tablespoons of juice.

-  Use half a tablespoon of coconut oil to line the base of a deep 20cm square cake tin.

Cake Mix

-  Mix the wholemeal flour with 2 tablespoons of baking powder, 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda and the tablespoon of cinnamon.

-  Separate one of the eggs. Put the white in a small bowl and the yolk in a large one. Break the other two whole eggs in with the yolk, then tip in the stevia. Whisk together for 1-2 minutes until thick and foamy. Slowly pour in one and a half tablespoons of coconut oil and continue to whisk on a low speed until well mixed.

-  Tip in the flour mix, half at a time, and gently stir it into the egg mixture with a rubber spatula or big spoon. The mix will be quite stiff. (Really, don’t be alarmed as it is quite hard to continue stirring but it will get better once you add the other ingredients)

-  Mix in the carrot and zest mix as well as the butternut squash puree into the flour mixture.

-  Mix in the 3 tablespoons of almond milk

-  Put the extra pinch of baking powder in with the egg white and whisk to soft peaks. Gently fold in the whisked egg white, then pour into the cake mixture into the tin. Jiggle the tin to level the mixture.

-  Bake for 1 hour until risen and firm or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

-  Leave to cool in the tin for an hour, and then wrap the tin with foil for the moisture to stay in. Let the cake rest overnight before icing.

Frosting

-  To make the frosting, stir the soft cheese, stevia, orange zest and lemons juice together. Swirl the frosting over the cake and put the frosted cake into the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving.

Crazy Healthy Carrot Cake

Enjoy!!!

Naughty but Nice Cheesecake

Holidays are coming! Family, friends and food. Lots of food. Delicious, yet often not so healthy. So let me give you a recipe for a healthier version to the traditional cheesecake. I call it my Naughty but Nice Cheesecake, as it tastes just as Naughty as the real thing but doesn't leave you with the bad aftermath

Naughty but Nice Cheesecake with Summer Berries

As the cheesecake needs to chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours it is often easiest to make it the night before serving.

Serves 8-10
Preparation time: 50-60 min
Requires a 20 cm springform tin

Ingredients:
For the base:

• +- 100 g walnuts
• +- 100 g - 150g oatmeal
• +- 50 g ground flaxseeds
• 2 - 3 tablespoons of coconut oil

note: the measurements for the base really depend on how thick you like your base to be

For the filling:

• 400 g Greek yoghurt (0%)
• 400 g ricotta cheese
• 2 large eggs
• Sugar replacement e.g. Stevia. Depending on the brand you use this might differ. You would need to replace 140g of sugar.
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping:

• Any seasonal fruits

Method:

Step 1:

Start by making the base. Ground together the walnuts, oatmeal and flaxseeds. Melt (if not already liquid) the 2-3 tablespoons of coconut oil and stir it under the base mix until you get a paste-like but still crunchy structure. Put the mix on the bottom of the springform tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for around 10 min.

Step 2:

Make the filling by mixing the Greek yoghurt with the ricotta cheese, the eggs, sugar replacement and vanilla extract. Mix until it is smooth.

Step 3:

Remove the springform with the base from the oven and let it cool for 15 min.

Step 4:

Pour the filling mixture over the base and place in the oven at 190C for 20-25 min. Then remove from the oven, let it cool and once cool, chill the cheesecake further in the refrigerator for 8 hours

Step 5:

Take the cheesecake out of the refrigerator 1 hour before serving. Dress it up with seasonal fruits or make a coulis with fresh fruits e.g. with blueberries or raspberries.

Enjoy!

Naughty but Nice Cheesecake with Autumn Fruits