3/2016 - Health

I don't know about you guys, but December was a total naughty food gorge-fest for me. So much so that I hit the point of being sick of chocolate. Seriously. That doesn't usually happen for me. So! Along with everybody else I'm at the point of trying to health again. Which for me requires healthy snacks to get me through the day and help me to avoid the bad stuff. I find when I'm after new healthy but not boring recipes I usually turn to the Chocolate Covered Katie blog and this time was no different. Crunchy oat bars, soft oatmeal almond butter cookies and spiced nuts... now the hard part is to not eat them all in one hit!

175 - Oh So Much Baking

If I was to pick out a smell that says 'Christmas' to me, it would be the smell of fruit, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves bubbling away on the stove. I am ever grateful to the lovely workmate who gave me the recipe for this boiled fruit cake - I don't even like fruit cake but this one... oh my... at somewhere between a cake and a pudding it's just so moist and delicious! So I thought, rather than just tease with photos this time, I'll share the recipe!

Letty's Boiled Fruit Cake

Ingredients:

125g Butter

1 Cup White Sugar

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Cup Milk

750g Mixed Fruit

3 Teaspoons Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Nutmeg

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 Teaspoon Cloves

2 Eggs

1 Cup Self Raising Flour

1 Cup Dry Sherry

1 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Method:

Place butter, sugar, milk, fruit and spices in a saucepan over a high heat. Stir until boiling, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Let fruit cool. Add sherry and baking soda. Beat eggs and add to the fruit mixture. 

Sift flour into mixture and stir until combined. 

Pour mixture into a deep round cake tin and bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees Celsius, 350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 1 hour 10 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. 

As a finishing touch I usually poke some holes in the cake with a skewer while its still warm and drizzle a little more sherry over the top.

Enjoy!!

174 - Tradition

 

My Nanna's shortbread is one of those things that I remember from a very early age as a special indicator that Christmas was nearly here. When she was younger, she would spend a few weeks every festive season busting out a huge number of cakes for gifts that were eagerly anticipated by the ones lucky enough to receive them. As time went on, my Aunty and I were let in on the secret recipe and we would spend one big day each year baking with Nanna to get them all made. I adored my Nan, and treasured our annual bake-off. She may no longer be with us (although I feel her with me every single day), but we've managed to keep the tradition alive - and it's still one that I very much look forward to every year. This year we had the added pleasure of bringing in the kids of the family to make their own special shortbread cookies. Many little hands scrunching batter - what a joyous way to spend the day!

 

 

173 - Emma-Cake

 

You may notice as Christmas draws ever nearer that a solid amount of baking related photos start to creep their way onto the blog... I can't help it, it's just what I do. This cake however, was for a very special non-Christmas related purpose. My beautiful little cousin Sophie turned 4 and being that she is yellow Wiggle Emma's number 1 fan - of course a super bright Wiggles cake was needed. A vanilla cake was requested but I couldn't quite resist adding some sprinkles to the mix. A plain white cake just seemed too well... plain!

 

 

It seemed a shame to cut it! But I noticed at least one little mouth couldn't quite resist taking an early bite out of that bow... I can't talk though - I couldn't resist taking a bite of my slice before I got a photo either! 

137 - Hot Apple Pie Pancakes

Nothing like hot apple pie pancakes on a chilly Sunday morning (love that steam!). I used to do pancake Sunday's every week.. I haven't done it in a while - need to get back onto it I think! I got the recipe from one of my favourite healthy recipe sites - Chocolate Covered Katie (with a couple of tweaks) so these ones aren't even that bad for you! Win! Recipe below just in case anyone want to make these sometime...

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup plain flour
• 2 tbsp oat flour
• 2 small apples, finely-chopped
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 2/3 tsp baking powder
• Pinch tsp salt
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp brown sugar 
• 1 tbsp vanilla protein powder
• 1 heaped tbsp light creamed cottage cheese
• 1/3 cup  milk of choice, or more for  thinner pancakes
• 1 tbsp oil 

Method
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl, then add wet. Mix, but don’t overmix. Cook on an oiled (or sprayed) pan, on low-medium, flipping each pancake once. I topped these with more chopped up apple and a little maple syrup. Deeelicious. Also the recipe made 4 pancakes, so there would be enough to have a really major breakfast for one, or a more restrained meal for two. Im saving my two spares to be reheated for a quick breakfast before work during the week...

Seventy Eight - Easter Baking

I love to bake. Its kind of a problem when I'm trying to be healthy so I try to limit the amount of baked goods I produce unless I have a specific event or something to take them to. That is with the exception of the Christmas season and the Easter season when it's totally valid to go a bit baking mad. This year I decided to try my hand at hot cross buns for the first time... but of course they had to be chocolate ones!

Sixteen - Healthy Treats

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to cook. I used to do a lot of baking, but as it turns out, big trays of gooey brownies and cakes covered in icing are not that good for you. So as any good baker does, I adjust. I always get excited when I end up with mushy bananas because you know, when you have mushy bananas you have to make banana bread. Or in this case, oat and banana muffins. That taste like banana bread. Low sugar, low fat, still tasty. Good times (although the brownies on occasion are still pretty great).