Delicious Rustic Carrot and Walnut Cake (with Gluten free option)

Last week I made this delicious, moist and rustic carrot and walnut cake and I thought I would share it with you all. The recipe was adapted from a Donna Hay one and if you like really moist, rustic cakes, this is for you! Plus, it has carrot and walnuts in it, so that makes it healthy enough to afford second and third helpings, right?

Ingredients

♥ 1 1/14 cups brown sugar

♥ 3/4 cup vegetable oil

♥ 3 eggs

♥ 1 1/2 cups plain flour (GF plain flour works well in this recipe)

♥ 1/4 cup almond meal

♥ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

♥ 2 1/2 cups grated carrot (about 5 carrots)

♥ 1 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting

♥ 250g cream cheese, softened

♥ 1/2 cup icing sugar

♥ 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place the sugar and oil in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 2–3 minutes. Add the eggs gradually and beat well. Sift the flour and cinnamon over the wet mixture. Add the carrot and walnuts and mix until just combined. Pour into a greased 22cm-round cake tin lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 55–60 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in tin.

For the cream cheese frosting, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixture in a large bowl for 1-2 minutes. Add the icing sugar and lemon juice and beat until smooth. Spread frosting on the cooled cake and decorate with nuts and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Madame Flavour Tea Review

My tea obsession is getting a little ridiculous. As it stands, I currently have 9 varieties of tea bags and one packet of loose leaf tea in rotation for my daily cuppas and the flavour combinations I am trying are getting more and more far out with every purchase. I'm currently browsing Bluebird Tea Co.  for some new loose leaf flavour combinations, as I do much prefer a pot of loose leaf when I have the leisure to the quick, on the go teabag-shoved-into-a-mug-dealio. Unfortunately, the quick, on the go teabag-shoved-into-a-mug-dealio is a much more frequent occurrence in my life than kicking back with a pot of tea, so no matter how much I might love Bluebird's brews when I get my hands on them, tea bags are still going to be a staple in my cupboard, and I will continue, no doubt to search for the perfect ones. 

Usually, as far as teabags go, I'm a Twinings girl through and through, but after stumbling upon the beautiful packaging of Madame Flavour's brews I just had to give her a whirl. I was drawn to the Raspberry and Hibiscus Tisane while Madame Flavour's brews were on special in my local supermarket due to the colourful, floral look of the tea as depicted on the front of the box (and admittedly, the fact the box is pink). I had been after a floral, fruity-toned, sweet tea to enjoy, as we don't often buy milk in our house (Jake prefers soy to full cream and I'm not a big milk drinker) and wondered, could this be the perfect brew?

Well, I was not disappointed! Following the directions on the box, I planned on brewing the tisane for a full three minutes, as recommended, but ended up taking the teabag out after just one after seeing the rich, pinkish colour of the brew and inhaling a sweet and heavy aroma. The tea tasted beautifully rich and sweet. The floral tones of the hibiscus shone nicely through the heavier, raspberry flavour and I have found each cup I have had a delectably moreish experience. I normally enjoy two sugars in my tea, but this tisane calls for only one half in my cup. I think the sweetness of this tisane might not be for everyone, but I quite enjoy it when I'm in the mood and am looking forward to trying some more of Madame Flavour's brews.

Grilled Cheese Cook Off with Sam from Planet bake Life

Hello lovely readers! Today is a very special day for this little blog. You see, today is the day that Sam from Planet Bake Life has invited me to take part in an awesome Grilled Cheese Cook-Off. The idea behind it is that we each make a grilled cheese, filling it with what we think is the most delicious filling in the world, and post it on our blog. Then, next week we will test out each other's sandwiches to see for ourselves just how delicious it is!

Sam is a recent and very good blog friend of mine who was born in South Africa, lived in the UK for nine years and now resides in New Zealand where she and her dad own a takeaway shop with an artisan bakery attached. This makes her one of my geographically closest bloggy pals and we are still a whole country away! Who will win the title of Most Delicious Grilled Cheese Sandwich? Who knows?  Sam is probably at a slight advantage being a baker and all. Anyway, here is what I came up with for my sandwich. I might be biased, but I think it's going to be pretty hard to top!

 Grilled cheese sandwich with honey mustard seasoned shaved turkey, cranberry sauce (on both slices of bread) and camembert cheese! Mmmmm, melty, cheesy, sweet-yet-savoury goodness!

Now, pop on over to Sam's blog to see what she cooked up for the challenge and pop back next Monday to see what I thought of her creation!

10 Minute Chicken Laksa

Living alone on a budget, sometimes I find it a little difficult preparing a meal for myself. Often, I will make a bulk meal of something, and stick portions in the freezer for lazy days where I don't feel like cooking. That way, I at least know I'm getting my nutrients on those "I just can't be bothered" kind of days. There are days when I run out of my freezer meals, or just feel like something different, however, and it is on these days which I turn to meals that are quick and easy to prepare, while still upholding some sort of healthy sentiment. That is where this 10 minute laksa recipe comes in!

I love spicy food, and this laksa can be made to suit your taste in just 10 minutes, which is exactly why I love it! It's quick, easy, cheap and tastes amazing, while still having a bit of veg in it, which makes me feel like I'm being healthy! This is the first time I've really made up my own recipe, so I hope you like it! Of course, you could make it with any meat, or add in different types of veg, to suit what you have on hand, but my favourite laksa is chicken laksa (next to prawn laksa, of course!). The recipe serves two, but if you're like me and you live on your own, just keep the extra serve in the fridge to have for lunch the next day! So delicious!

If you want to have a go at making it, you will need:

1 pack of two-minute noodles

1 tablespoon laksa paste

½ can of coconut milk

1 chicken breast

½ a carrot

Handful of snow peas

Chilli flakes, optional and to your taste

And all you have to do is:

1.     Heat a splash of oil in a fry pan over medium heat. Put a saucepan of water on to boil at the same time. Cut your chicken breast into bite-sized pieces while you wait for your fry pan to heat up.

2.     Julienne your carrots, and chop the ends of your snow peas.

3.     Cook the chicken breast in the fry pan, until it has browned. Add the laksa paste, carrot and snow peas and stir-fry until the laksa paste is fragrant.

4.     While stir-frying the chicken, etc. cook your two-minute noodles in the pot of boiling water.

5.     Once the stir-fry is done, turn off the heat to the fry pan. Drain your two-minute noodles, keeping just enough water in the pot to cover them, put back on the heat, add the flavor sachet and stir.

6.      Add the mix in the fry pan to the saucepan along with the coconut milk and chilli flakes, and toss it all around. Cook for a further minute or two, and then you’re done!

Recipe: Decadent Flourless Chocolate Cake

Hello lovelies, so in follow up to my gluten-free bread making post last week, here is a recipe for a decadent flourless chocolate cake which will send you straght to heaven in one bite! It is incredibly rich and incredibly delicious. Can be served cold by itself (or with a cup of tea) or hot with ice cream. If you're not much of a fan of overly rich things, I would suggest serving it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to break up the chocolatey-ness a little bit. I have tried it both wasy and absolutely love this cake!

 

 

 

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 1-ounce squares coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• For Glaze:
• 2 1-ounce squares coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate squares
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoon milk OR light coconut milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Agave syrup OR honey
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F

Spray a 7-inch tart pan with removable bottom with cooking spray. If you don't have a tart pan, use a 6 to 7-inch springform pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray the paper.

1. Melt 6 ounces of chopped chocolate and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until chocolate and butter are melted and smooth.
2. Add sugar and salt and reduce heat to low. Cook while stirring for about one minute, until sugar starts to dissolve.
3. Remove pan from heat. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. The mixture will look smooth and glossy.
4. Use a mesh hand sieve to sift cocoa into mixture. This prevents lumps. Whisk until the cake batter is smooth.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes. The center of the cake should be just firm to the touch, but be careful to not overbake the cake or it will be dry.
6. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert the cake on a plate.
7. To prepare the glaze, melt 2 ounces of chopped chocolate and 1 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in the same saucepan you used to make the cake. When melted and smooth, remove the pan from heat. Add milk and Agave syrup OR honey and vanilla and stir until smooth and glossy. Let the glaze cool for about 3 minutes before pouring it on the cake.
8. Pour all of the glaze in the middle of the cake. Use a silicone or rubber spatula to spread the glaze evenly over the cake, allowing the glaze to evenly run down the sides of the cake.
   
   Recipe source 

The original recipe says that it serves 6, but let me tell you, if you've used dark chocolate for this one as I did, there is no way one person could eat 1/6 of this cake in one sitting! It is just too rich! I have been cutting myself slices about 1 inch wide and that is certainly enough for me! (The image of someone trying to eat a whole 1/6 of this cake brings to mind one of one of my favourite childhood movies, Matila where Bruce Bogtrotter is made by Miss Trunchbull to eat that whole cake! Haha)