What better way to end off the month of May than a delicious and hearty cocoa-almond cake. This cake is topped with a delicious caramel treat that will melt your winter away. Well here in Cape Town 🙂
Tender and moist, this almond-cocoa cake is the perfect decadent treat for your next brunch spread! Complete with fresh fruits and a caramel treat swirl, this almond cake is a serious crowd pleaser!
It’s officially winter baking season! And while you might not be leaving your house for a delicious meal at a fancy restaurant, there’s no reason you can’t bring all that fun inside and whip up a delicious treat at home for you and your family!
INGREDIENTS:
100 grams almond flour
400 grams cake wheat flour
100 grams castor sugar
50 grams cocoa powder
4 large eggs
350 ml milk
150 ml olive oil
1/2tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla essence
400 ml Nestle caramel treat
400 grams fresh strawberries
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
In a bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder)
In another bowl, use an electric mixer to whisk the eggs until frothy. Pour vanilla essence and whisk for another 30 seconds.
Pour the eggs into the flour mixture and use a spatula to mix the ingredients.
Pour the oil and milk into the flour mixture and use a spatula to blend the ingredients until the batter is smooth.
Grease your 20 cm x 20 cm cake tin with a baking spray and sprinkle some flour for your cake not to stick to the pan.
Place a baking sheet on top of the greased pan and pour the batter into the pan.
Bake for 45 minutes. To check if your cake is fully baked, insert a skewer into the cake and it should come out clean.
DECORATION:
Use a knife to cut the cake into two halves.
Spread the caramel treat on one layer of the cake and add some sliced strawberries.
Put the other cake layer on top of the base layer and spread more caramel treat then decorate with fruits of your choice. Enjoy!
Truly Appetizing and a great way to start your day
Welcome to day 3 of celebrating all mothers and mothers to be from all over the globe! Today a great way to treat your mom would be to start the day with these gorgeous and tasty chocolate flavoured cinnamon rolls.
These rolls can be enjoyed with a drizzle of condensed milk as a glaze and topped up with some lovely vanilla ice-cream. I really enjoy having freshly baked (warm) cinnamon rolls with some cold vanilla ice cream. I love the contrast you get from eating something cold and hot at the same time. It is worth trying I tell you.
Oh, also enjoy these rolls with a cup of hot coffee, these will melt the cold away especially if you are in the cold climate.
Ingredients:
2 cups self-raising flour
250 grams corn starch flour
100 grams cocoa powder
2 tbsp xylitol sugar
1 tbsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
100 ml melted butter
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp maple syrup
50 grams milk chocolate drops
1 cup milk
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
Grease your baking tray with butter.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, vanilla essence and butter together.
In another bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, cocoa powder, sugar, cinnamon powder and salt.
Pour the egg mixture into the flour and mix well.
Pour milk to the flour and knead the dough.
Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough and form a rectangle shape.
Spread butter on top of the dough then sprinkle 1tsp of cinnamon powder.
Sprinkle the chocolate drops on top of the dough and finish by drizzling maple syrup.
Roll up the dough tightly and use a floss/knife to cut 8 equal rolls.
Arrange the pieces in the baking tray and bake for 35-40 minutes. Enjoy!
Get your ingredients online today from The Refillery SA online store.
So today is the day after Mothers day. Would you like to join me this week in celebrating Mothers day for a whole week? 🙂
How about trying these delicious Moringa/Peanut Butter/Coffee Flavoured Cinnamon rolls? I promise you will love these. These rolls are pretty easy to make and will be all done in under 1 hour. You could have them as breakfast too.
How did I come up with the recipe? Well, I wanted to do something about the spirulina powder that was left over. I also wanted to make something greenish and looked like roses. I couldn’t find any roses for Mothers Day, so I decided to bake some rolls like roses. Pretty good right?
You can also replace the some ingredients if you don’t like them or are allergic to them such as peanuts and egg yolks, you replace these with jam or white chocolate drops. As for the egg yolks, you can make the cinnamon rolls without the egg yolks. 🙂
Ingredients:
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup corn starch flour
2 tbsp moringa powder
1 tsp spirulina powder
1 heaped tbsp leafy green powder
2 tbsp xylitol sugar
1 tbsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
100 ml melted butter
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp maple syrup
3 heaped tbsp peanut butter
1 cup milk
2 tbsp Nescafe coffee
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
Grease your baking tray with butter.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, vanilla essence and butter together.
In another bowl, mix the flours, moringa powder, leafy green powder, spirulina powder, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon powder and salt.
Pour the egg mixture into the flour and mix well.
Pour milk to the flour and knead the dough.
Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough and form a rectangle shape.
Spread butter on top of the dough then sprinkle 1tsp of cinnamon powder and coffee.
Spread peanut butter on top of the dough then finish of by drizzling with maple syrup.
Roll up the dough tightly and use a floss/knife to cut 8 equal rolls.
Arrange the pieces in the baking tray and bake for 35-40 minutes. Enjoy!
You can enjoy these rolls with condensed milk as a glaze or ice cream. I would highly recommend vanilla ice cream for the topping, it goes pretty well with the combination.
Only made from 5 ingredients. Try this delicious ice cream recipe at your home.
I know that you are running out of snacks during this lock down. You probably don’t have much ice cream left for dessert. I have good news for you. Today, you can make your own super delicious healthy ice cream with only 5 ingredients. You do not need a churning machine. No, all you need are bowls, spatulas and a whisk.:)
I promise you will love and enjoy this recipe. Be creative this season and learn to make healthy snacks at home. Time is on your side and you get to use that time to have fun with your kids and spouse.
Give it a try!
Ingredients:
250 ml condensed milk
250-gram whipped cream
50-gram baobab powder
15 grams spirulina powder
1 tbsp vanilla essence
Directions:
In a bowl, mix the condensed milk and whipped cream until fully blended.
Add baobab powder, spirulina and vanilla essence to the cream.
Fold the cream with a spatula until fully blended.
Refrigerate in a lunchbox for 4 Hours.
Enjoy with chia seed pudding!
Chia seed Pudding Ingredients:
100 grams chia seeds
200 ml milk
Chia seed pudding directions:
Mix the chia seeds and milk in bowl.
Seal the bowl with a cling wrap
Refrigerate for 3 hours
Enjoy with ice cream
Get your ingredients online from The Refillery SA during this lock down and stay safe.
You don’t need any excellent culinary skills to make donuts, anyone can do it! All you need is plenty of time. With the lock down in place, you have plenty of time. 🙂
Tips for the dough. The very first step in creating donuts is blooming your yeast, dissolve sugar into lukewarm milk, then stir in the yeast. To test if your dough is ready, lightly press your thumb into the dough. In about 5 seconds or so, the dough should bounce almost completely back.
Let the dough rise. Donut dough needs to rise twice. First, the dough itself, then the punched out donuts. While the second rise is happening, begin heating up your oil and making your glaze!
HOME-MADE DONUTS
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
¼ cup xylitol sugar
10 grams active dry yeast
4 cups cake wheat flour
½ tsp salt
6 tbsp melted butter
2 large eggs
½ tsp vanilla essence
½ cup lemon juice
Canola oil for frying
Ingredients for glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
¼ cup milk
½ tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp cocoa powder
Instructions:
In a bowl, pour milk and microwave for 1 minute. Add 1 tsp of sugar and stir into the milk. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and let it sit for 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, yeast mixture, sugar, vanilla essence and butter together.
In a large bowl, pour the flour and salt and add the whisked egg mixture to the flour. Mix well with a spatula until a dough is formed.
Knead the dough for 5 minutes and let the dough sit for 1 hour in a warm spot in your kitchen. Cover the dough with a clean dish towel.
Knead the dough again and roll it out into a rectangular shape. Use a donut cutter to create donut rings and let them rise for 40 minutes.
In a large pot, pour canola oil and bring to medium heat.
Fry the donuts in batches until golden brown on both sides.
Transfer donuts to paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain and cool slightly. Dip the donuts into glaze, then place onto a cooling rack.
Instructions for glaze:
Pour the glaze ingredients in a bowl and mix well until smooth.
This is a protein-packed chili pasta ! It’s easy, quick and made with simple ingredients. A perfect hearty budget-friendly dinner!
Have you decided what to eat for Valentine’s dinner? How about a delicious home-made meal. Nothing beats food made with love from home. What I love about this dish is its simplicity and depth of flavour.
Let’s talk about the health benefits of the main ingredients of this meal.
RED BEANS- According to livestrong , red beans nutrition can boost the quality of one’s diet, improve your overall health, aid in weight loss and maintenance, keeps blood sugar steady and lowers your risk of certain cancers.
RED PEPPER- They are known to improve eye health and prevent anaemia according to the healthline.
I have never imagined that one day I would be able to make my own pizza!
The very thought of making a pizza dreaded me. Perhaps the food programs on TV that I watched as a child: where the chef took the dough and spun it in the air made me dread doing it because I was afraid the dough would fall on the floor or stick to the ceiling of the roof.
But thanks to a wonderful lady, she advised me to make my own pizza from scratch using my favourite ingredients such as broccoli, pumpkin, avocado and spinach.
Below is a comprehensive guide of how you can make your own pizza from scratch. Now you no longer have to order fast food. Why not try to make your own pizza and enjoy every bit of the process.
Moreover, you can make your pizza healthy and put your favourite ingredients. Home Cooking is always the best.
Pizza base recipe ( Makes 2 pizza bases 30 cm) (Prep time 15 minutes) (Cooking time 15 minutes) ( Difficulty – medium)
FOOD LOVERS MARKET
Ingredients
500 grams self-raising flour
400 grams raw pumpkin
1 tspn salt
3 tbsp canola oil
1/3 cup of warm water
Instructions
Boil the pumpkin for 15 minutes until it is well cooked and smooth.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. This will aid in baking the dough base faster.
Blend the pumpkin until smooth.
In a bowl pour the flour and oil into a bowl. Using a wooden stick, mix the flour and pumpkin. Add some warm water and make a dough. Add more flour to make the dough less sticky.
Knead the dough for 2 minutes. Half the dough into two portions. Use a rolling pin to shape the dough however you like.
Bake the dough for 10 – 15 minutes each.
You can store your dough in the refrigerator and add your toppings when you want to make your pizza.
VEGETARIAN PIZZA TOPPING
Difficulty- easy . prep time 7 minutes . cooking time 10 minutes
Ingredients:
½ avocado
4 mushrooms
100 grams tomato paste
100 grams tomato sauce
50 grams mozzarella cheese
100 grams cherry tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
50 grams fresh parsley
1 tspn salt
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celsius
Mix the tomato paste and tomato sauce. Spread the sauce first on the pumpkin pizza base
Sprinkle the cheese over the pizza base
Top with avocado, tomatoes, parsley and mushrooms.
Bake for 10- 15 minutes until crispy.
Enjoy.
VEGETARIAN PIZZA
CHICKEN & PINEAPPLE PIZZA TOPPING
(prep time- 10 minutes) (difficulty-easy) (cooking time
-10 minutes)
Ingredients:
300 grams shredded chicken
breasts
10 ml soy sauce
1 tsp chillie flakes
1 tsp thyme
100 grams tomato paste
100 grams tomato sauce
200 grams mayonnaise
100 grams pineapple
50 grams mushrooms
50 grams cherry tomatoes
100 grams mozzarella cheese
1 tsp salt
Parsley leaves fresh
Instructions:
Preheat the oven at 250 degrees Celsius
In a sauce pan, stir fry the chicken breast, add salt, soy sauce, thyme and chillie flakes for flavour.
In a bowl, mix the tomato paste, tomato sauce and mayonnaise.
Take your pumpkin pizza base and top it with the mixed sauce
Grate your cheese and sprinkle it on top of the sauce.
Nicely top with chicken, pineapple, mushroom, cherry tomatoes and parsley.
The winter season is one of the most stressful times for me in terms of food preparation . Unlike winter, summer food is easy to make. You have light meals during the day to keep yourself cool. For instance, in summer I would retire to bed with only having a smoothie and nuts for dinner. Well that’s just me. I usually eat heavy in the morning!
For winter, you tend to want to eat a bit more warm things to keep the blood pumping and that steamy aroma from the food going down your nostrils. You need something hearty, frothy and rich in flavour.
Below are a few ideas of what foods you could have in winter. Food that is easy to prepare and doesn’t require overwhelming techniques :
SOUPS:
You can have soup anytime of the day. I usually like my soup in the morning with a bit of toasted bread. When you have soup first thing in the morning, you:
Boost your metabolism as the soup has to be digested.
Soup contains a high quantity of water that nourishes your body cells and keeps your skin fresh.
Soup is healthy and nutritious especially vegetable soups
Soups satiates you and as a result help you eat less and lose some pounds. I know that in winter people tend to bulk up but how about loading up on some healthy soups to shed the weight or maintain that weight that you worked so hard to get during summer!
My favourite soup is the BROCCADO SOUP ( BROCCOLI & AVOCADO).
broccado soup
INGREDIENTS:
1 Avocado
300 grams broccoli
10 ml canola oil
1 tsp moringa powder
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup full cream milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 block vegetable stock
1/2 tsp pepper
PREPARATION:
Boil the broccoli and vegetable stock for 10 minutes on medium heat until fully cooked. Season with salt, pepper to taste. Also add some oil to the pot.
In a blender , put 1/2 avocado, milk, broccoli and vegetable stock, moringa powder and blend until smooth
Enjoy with some fresh carrots and beetroot
BAKED WRAPS:
Tortilla wraps
Another easy food prep for anytime of the day are these baked tortilla wraps. I stuffed them with avocado, mayonnaise and eggs. Goodness they taste divine.
Wraps take no time to bake, they will be ready in as short as 5 minutes! You can even store these wraps in a lunch box or sealed bag so that when you get hungry you can just warm them up and enjoy.
Make your winter stress free with these easy meal prep ideas.
INGREDIENTS:
1 Avocado
3 large eggs
Mayonnaise 2 tbsp
1 tsp moringa powder.
Tortilla wraps
20 grams Butter
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat the oven at 150
degrees Celsius for 5 minutes
Boil the eggs for 10
minutes
Spread some butter on to
the tortilla wraps.
In a bowl, beat the
avocado until smooth, add the boiled eggs, mayonnaise and moringa powder
Add the avocado mix to the
tortilla wraps, roll the wraps and bake for 5 minutes or until your desired
crispiness.
What do you have to keep yourself warm in winter? Comment below!