Date, cocoa and seed bars

Date, cocoa and seed bars

These bars are delicious and a favourite of my husbands, they are so easy to make and a good little energy snack with no refined cane sugar. Perfect for when you want something sweet. You can put whatever nuts and seeds in you like, same with the spices too. I just love chocolate and orange together with a little cardamon, Yum!

Date, cocoa and seed bars

270g dates

4 T or 40g coconut oil

4 T dutch good quality cocoa ( you could probably use cacao powder too)

1-2 T maple syrup or honey 

1/2 tsp ground cardamon or cinnamon

zest one orange - optional

3-4 T ground linseed

1/4 tsp flaky salt

100g sunflower seeds

50g pumpkin seeds

30g linseed

50g coconut flakes

Almonds and hazelnuts are also nice - just substitute some of the seeds out - use no more than 250g total

Roast the sunflower, pumpkin and coconut until  lightly browned and well roast any nuts you are using. Cool. Chop the nuts roughly if using.

Place top 8 ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and blend until the dates are a paste.

Transfer into a bowl. Add toasted seeds and linseeds

Mix well until all ingredients are combined

Press into a lined tin, it holds it shape well so press to whatever thickness you like. You could roll into balls too and into cocoa if you wish.

Makes about 20 bars

Would freeze well if they last that long!

Buttermilk and Date scones

I had some buttermilk left in my fridge from making the Salted Caramel Almond Cake so here is a perfect way to use it up. This recipe makes 12 large scones.

12 scones may be a lot when there is only two of you...The best thing about scones is that rather than cooking a whole batch you can freeze the uncooked scones to bake at a later date. I just clear the ice trays from the top rack, lay out some baking paper and place the remaining scones on the paper in the freezer. Leave them overnight and then when they are frozen you can wrap them in cling film or place them in ziplock bags.

When you happen to feel like a freshly baked scone you can just leave them at room temperature for 5 minutes, pop them in the oven and cook them for an extra five minutes and boom! Freshly baked scones straight from your freezer!  It has seriously changed my life.

Buttermilk and Date Scones
300g dates, chopped in half
680g flour
1 T baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
100g white sugar or coconut sugar
1 1/2 tsp flaky salt
255g unsalted very cold butter
375ml buttermilk plus extra for topping

Topping
2 T extra buttermilk
raw sugar or coconut sugar for sprinkling

First, chop your dates in half and cover with boiling water and leave for 10 or so minutes to soften.

While the dates are softening, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Add the sugar and the salt and stir to combine. Cut the butter into small dice or grate the butter into the bowl. I usually use the tips of my fingers to rub in the butter but you could use a pasty cutter or two knives or even do it gently in the food processor or a stand mixer. You want to end up with a coarse mixture with visible pea sized lumps of butter.

Strain the dates well and add the dates and buttermilk to your dry mixture.
If you were using a stand mixer here I would gently 3/4 incorporate the wet mix and then tip it on the bench and continue by hand. If you used a food processor I would now tip it in to a large bowl and do the next part by hand. What ever you do you want to gently mix the wet ingredients in and not over work them, if the mix seems a little dry add a  touch more buttermilk.

Quickly and gently shape your dough into a 30cm by 12cm rectangle, Brush the top with the extra buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar. Cut the dough into triangles and transfer the amount you want to cook onto a prepared baking sheet.

Bake at 180 degrees for 25 minutes until the tops are lightly brown.
Serve still warm with good amounts of butter

Makes 12

Lemony rice pudding with poached tamarillos

This is the rice pudding to convert all rice pudding haters. It is rich and lemony and the strips of peel melt down and you get a lemon hit when you bite one. This recipe is an adapted Jane Grigson recipe and you can serve it with anything you like. I have done it with slow roasted quince and poached rhubarb before. Its nice with fruit with a bit of tartness to cut through the rich rice. My mum requested this for Mother's day dessert and she loved it.


Lemony rice pudding
50g short grain rice
300mls milk
300mls cream
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 lemon

Peel the lemon thinly, taking off strips with a vegetable peeler. Put rice, lemon peel, sugar, butter, milk and cream into an ovenproof dish. Cover with tin foil and cook in a very slow oven, 125°C, for 2-3 hours until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and it looks deliciously creamy. Stir it every 3/4 hour.

When the pudding is done, give it a good stir and add the juice from the lemon and some more cream or milk if it is too solid. I cooked the pudding for 2 1/2 hours and then let it rest in a warm place for about half and hour, it only need a little of milk to loosen it up.

Poached tamarillos
8 tamarillos
2 cup water
1 cup sugar
Zest of  one oranges and lemon
1 cinnamon quill
1 star anise 

Meanwhile you can get on to your tamarillos. You can do these ahead and then gently reheat them when your pudding is ready.
Put a small pot of water on to boil. Score the bottoms of the tamarillos with a cross and when the water has boiled blanch them in boiling water for about 10-15 seconds. You can leave them in a little longer if they aren't the ripest. After about 10 seconds, scoop them out and plunge them into iced water. When cool, starting at the scored end carefully peel them and set aside.

Place the water, sugar, zest, cinnamon and star anise in a saucepan and simmer to dissolve the sugar. Add in the peeled tamarillos and bring to a simmer and gently cook them for 10-15 minutes.


To serve...
100g almonds - roasted and roughly chopped
Extra cream or yoghurt if you like

When your rice pudding is nearly ready, bring your tamarillos back up to temperature.
Spoon the rice puddings into bowls and top with the tamarillos and with a little extra syrup, sprinkle over the chopped almonds and serve.

Salted caramel almond cake

Salted caramel almond cake

I originally saw this recipe online here and saved it as I thought it looked so delicious. I have only slightly adapted it, changing the cooking method and adding salt. I would definitely make again and might change the cake a bit to make it chocolate or add some orange zest into it as I think that would be nice.

For the cake: 
75 ml buttermilk
75g unsalted butter
3 eggs
150g caster sugar 
1 tsp vanilla extract 
150g plain flour 
1 tsp baking powder 
1/4 tsp fine sea salt

For the topping: 
150g flaked almonds 
125g butter 
125g light brown sugar 
50ml milk 
1/2 tsp sea salt 
1/2 tsp vanilla 
Extra good quality flaky salt to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 160 degrees

Grease a 9" or 22cm round tin (preferably with a removable bottom) and line the bottom and sides with baking paper. 

Roast the sliced almonds  in a oven tray for 5-10 minutes until they're a light golden brown, then set aside.

Melt the butter for the cake in a saucepan and leave to cool.
Place the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk together on medium-high for 5 minutes or until the mixture is a yellowy-cream colour and very thick. While it whisks, sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together. 
When the eggs are thick remove the bowl from the stand and sieve 1/2 the  flour mixture into the egg mix, folding it in gently and alternating with the buttermilk. When the flour is nearly mixed in, gently fold in the cooled melted butter  Be gentle but thorough, scraping down to the bottom and making sure to get out the little pockets of flour. You don't want to remove all the air you created at the start.

Carefully pour the batter into the tin. Bake for 22-30 minutes until golden and set - a skewer or small knife should be able to be removed cleanly.
Meanwhile start making the topping. Place the butter, sugar, milk, salt into the saucepan and stir as the butter melts. Keep on a low heat until your cake is nearly done. When your cake is out quickly turn up the heat to high and let the mix bubble and thicken slightly. Pour in the toasted almonds and cook for a further 2 minutes

Turn the oven up to 200 degrees and onto grill. Move the over rack up a notch so that the top of the cake will be closer to the grill. Make sure there isn't any baking paper sticking out to high as it will burn.

Pour the almond caramel mixture on to the cake and working quickly spread the  nutty caramel out evenly and place it under the grill. Don't walk away! Watch the topping carefully, you want a bubbly and golden caramel topping. I think I had mine under the grill for 2-3 minutes.

Carefully remove the cake from the oven and place on a rack to cool. At this point you can sprinkle on extra flaky salt which I would definitely recommend! After 30 minutes loosen the sides of the tin with a knife if necessary and remove the ring. You cake wait a bit longer to do this if you aren't worried about it coming out

When the cake had cooled to room temperature transfer it on to a serving plate. My bet is that it won't last long!

The first time I made this cake I made the recipe by three and it filled a 12' round tin nicely and only took 30 minutes to cook. It had a great ratio of caramelly almond deliciousness to cake.

Best Baked Potato Ever

I had a craving for baked potatoes last night for tea but also wanted something healthy. Not something layered with sour cream, bacon and cheese. So after searching our cupboards this is what I came up with. It was delicious, and had a fab texture. Best of all we were left full but feeling fresh and healthy.
I have added fish and chicken stock to this recipe but you could easily replace or remove these to make a vegetarian version, and, remove the cheese to create a vegan dish.

Ingredients

Large potatoes

frozen corn

sprouted legumes

splash of chicken stock

anchovies, cut up

cracked black pepper

baby spinach

chia seeds

roast walnuts

avocado

goats cheese/feta/quark

I haven't added amounts to the ingredients - it really just depends on how many people you are going to feed and how hungry you are feeling.

Bake the potatoes whole in a hot oven.

When the potatoes are pretty much cooked heat up a frying pan on the stove. The filling takes less than 5mins to cook.

Place the frozen corn in the pan, let it thaw and allow the pan to become hot again.

Add the legumes, a splash of chicken stock, anchovies and black pepper.

Stir until slightly heated through.

Add the baby spinach. Stir until wilted.

Add the rest of the ingredients, other than the cheese, and stir to combine.

Take the potatoes out of the oven and slice open.

Place the filling on top of the potatoes.

Top with cheese.

Enjoy!

Grampians Grape Escape

We were lucky enough last week to go away for the weekend and attend the 23rd Grampians Grape Escape. And what a brilliant weekend!!!
The Grampians is a small, western, regional area of Victoria, Australia. It has spectacular scenery, unbelievable amounts of wildlife and some fantastic outdoor activities. Besides the festival we often make camping trips to the area - its just such a nice, peaceful area to go and relax. This time we stayed in a little cottage and the photo below shows what we woke up in to in the morning. Pretty much where ever you go in the Grampians you get a similar view.

The view from our kitchen window

The Grampians - the festival is held at the base of the Mountain

This yearly food and wine festival is an event that aims to showcase all of the local food and wine in the area.
The quality of the food and wine is incredible and so unbelievably cheap. Tickets were $45. That got you into the festival (both days), a free wine glass, and as many wine and food tastings as you want! Furthermore, all the produce was so cheap to buy. Straight from the owners too!
For two days we gorged ourselves on wine, beer, cider, cheese, desserts, honey, sweets, chocolate, etc, etc. I have never eaten so much!
We discovered some amazing local produce that I will definitely hunt out again. I discovered new products to use in cooking. And had such a fun time.
We came home with  blue cheese, buffalo cheese, brie, quark, tea, cider, beer, wine, bee pollen, chocolate, pork scratchings, and, many new places to shop.
Along side all of this they have cooking demonstrations, music, wine tasting sessions, guest speakers and much more.
They do this festival every year and I cannot recommend it enough. One thing I would say if you are going to go - is book accommodation early. I think every speck of accommodation was used over the weekend!

Egg Success!!!

It has finally happened. After months of patiently checking the coop, talking nicely to the chickens, pleading with the chickens and then finally threatening the chickens - we FINALLY have our first egg!!!!!
Hopefully the first of many!!!! I am SO excited!!