Year: 2015

Easy peasy chocolate tart

This dessert is a head turner and it’s out to impress your dinner guests.  Not only is it delicious, it is actually really easy to make. If you are not in the mood to make the pastry, you can always settle for those ready made ones but I’ve always like to make things from scratch; this way, I get to control what goes into my tummy. Ingredients for the pastry Preheat the oven temperature to 180 degrees Preparation time: 1hr Baking time: 20 min 120g chilled unsalted butter 60g caster sugar 125g plain white flour 100g wholemeal flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg beaten 1tbs cold water Ingredients for the filling Preparation time: 10min Leave it to chill in the fridge for at least 2-3hr before serving 400g 70% dark chocolate (use good quality chocolate. I usually like to use Lindt chocolates) 180ml skim milk 1/2 teaspoon salt 60g butter Nutrition per slice (One tart serves 10) Click on the images below for baking instructions

Coconut crusted lime tartlets

My kind friend from yoga gave me 12 limes yesterday and I was like, “Yay! Key lime party!”. I adapted this recipe from BBC good food which is my go-to place for recipes. It is fairly simple to make tarts, just that it might be slightly tedious because of the pastry (if you make it from scratch). Instead of the usual graham crackers crust, I’ve decided to make a crust out of rolled oats and desiccated coconuts (just like my pumpkin pie). The sourness of the lime together with the fragrance and sweetness of the coconut is like a marriage made in heaven. P.s instead of making little tartlets like what I did, you can use the same recipe and roll the pastry out into a pie tray – saves you lots of time too! Ingredients for the pastry Preheat the oven temperature to 180 degrees Preparation time: 10min Baking time: 10-15 min 80g plain flour 70g wholemeal flour 60g desiccated coconut 90g rolled oats – blended 60g brown sugar 2 table spoon honey 1/2 tsp bicarbonate …

Mayver’s coconut cookies

Lately I’ve been inspired by wholesome, natural baked goods that I’ve decided to give it a try. So I went down to Woolies and Coles and bought buckwheat flour, almond meal, spelt flour, coconut sugar… and gosh! These stuff are expensive! I decided to combine all these natural goodness with my new found craze – Mayver’s all natural almond coconut & cacao spread. The cookies turned out delicious and I couldn’t stop popping them into my mouth. On a side note, unless you have a gluten or fructose intolerance, it might not be necessary to spend that amount of money on these natural products because the cookies tastes just as good with normal plain flour and brown sugar. Nutrition per cookie (10g) Ingredients: 80g spelt flour 40g buckwheat flour 30g almond meal 60g desiccated coconut 90g rolled oats 60g coconut sugar 100g mayvers almond spread 2 tbs maple syrup 4 tbs soy milk lite 0.5 tsp bicarbonate soda mixed with 1.5 tbs of boiling water Directions Preparation time: 10min Baking time: 10-12min or when the …

The battle of the banana loaves

Have you ever wondered what is the difference in cake texture using different ingredients? Can butter really be substituted? One thing for sure about banana loaves – you can’t really go wrong with the taste because bananas and cinnamon have such strong flavours but the texture sets the loaves apart. So, today I’ve decided to embark on a little experiment using three different types of ingredients to make banana loaves. Aim 1: To determine if butter can be substituted with grape seed oil Aim 2: To examine the difference in texture between the use of buttermilk and non-fat yoghurt Let’s take a look at the ingredients used (click here for the full recipe) As we all know, butter is high in saturated fats – the kind of fats that increases your risk for cardiovascular diseases and also makes you fat. But are healthier options such as olive oil and grape seed oil really healthier? Let’s check out the nutritional values for the various cakes.   Looking at the chart above, it’s no doubt that the amount of …