Blueberry, Lemon and Almond Cake (gf) (df) (sf)

I baked this delicious cake yesterday to try out for my open day, it is so delicious and moist, with a crunch from the poppy seeds and a tang from the lemons. This cake is surprisingly spongy and sweet for a gluten, dairy (depending on the icing) and sugar free version. 
It's my ultimate dessert at the moment and I will definitely be making it many times over the christmas season!   

Ingredients:

4 cups (400 g) almond flour

3 tbsp poppy seeds

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup (120 ml) rapeseed oil/ mild olive oil

1/2 cup (120 ml) local honey

2 small organic lemons

3 large eggs (replace with chia seeds* if you are vegan)

2 cups (300 g) blueberries ( half for topping)

Glazing (or side dollop for each slice):

1 cup/240 ml (250 g) Greek yogurt,

2 tbsp local honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Combine almond flour, poppy seeds, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside. Heat oil and honey in a sauce pan on very low heat until combined. Grate the zest from the 2 lemons and add it to the honey/oil batter. Divide lemons in half and squeeze the juice from three of the halves into the mixture, saving one half for the glazing. Add the batter to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Beat the eggs and then fold them into the batter together with 1 cup of the blueberries. Stir gently around with a wooden spoon until combined. Grease a 8-inch spring form cake tin, and add the batter to it.

Bake for about 40-50 minutes (depending on size of the pan and oven), or until golden on the outside and baked all way through (you can cover the cake with tin foil during the last 15 minutes if it starts looking burned). Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before removing the sides. 

Meanwhile, start making the glazing. Drain yogurt in a milk cloth or coffee filter for about 10 minutes. This is to make the yogurt less runny. Discard the water and combine the thick yogurt with honey, vanilla extract and the juice from the remaining lemon half. Leave to chill in the fridge. When the cake has cooled completely, cover it with glazing, top with the remaining blueberries and serve. You could also just serve the cake with blueberries and yogurt on the side.

A Healthier Carrot Cake (Gluten, Dairy & Sugar Free)

I love carrot cake it's my favorite cake, well to be honest i'm not really a 'cake' fan, I think it has something to do with a dry sponge phobia. But chocolate brownies (new sweet potato chocolate brownie recipe coming soon!, gluten,dairy and sugar free of course)and carrot cakes are my vices. So I thought why not make them healthy?

So here it is my 'healthy', deliciously moist carrot cake... and you won't even taste the difference! 

If you feel like a christmas treat use my cream cheese icing instead of the dairy free one.

one cake to serve 10

3 eggs

1-2 bananas

10-15 fresh dates (without seeds)

6 tbsp sunflower oil

1 cup spelt or buckwheat flour (both gluten free)

1 ½ tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp cardamom

3-4 carrots (medium size, grated)

½ cup coconut flakes

½ cup walnuts (roughly chopped)

1/2 cup raisins

Dairy Free Icing (use my cream cheese icing for a treat)

- 1 ripe banana

- 1 avocado

- 3 tablespoons of maple syrup

- 6 medjool dates

- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil

- 1 tablespoon of nut butter

- 1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon

- a handful of hazelnuts to sprinkle on the top

Cream Cheese Icing

200 g cream cheese

3 tbsp honey

1/2 lime (juice)

1/2 cup hazelnuts

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Whisk the eggs in a medium sized bowl. Use a hand blender or a blender to mix bananas, dates and oil into a thick cream in another bowl. Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom and stir it together with the eggs and the banana-cream. Add grated carrots, coconut flakes, walnuts and raisins and stir it until it all comes together.

Pour it into a cake pan and bake for about 40 minutes. Try to stick a toothpick in the centre of the cake, when nothing sticks on it the cake is ready. Let it cool.

Whip together the cream cheese and the honey (bananas or dates would probably also work as sweeteners for the frosting). Add the frosting when the cake is completely cooled of. Serve with roughly chopped hazelnuts or walnuts on the top.

Simple Healthy Dinners

Quick and easy butternut, quinoa and guacamole bake. I cooked this last night and it makes such an easy and delicious meal. Squash is amazingly good for you, it has anti-inflamatory properties, filled with antioxidants and plenty of vitamin A (good for immune and eye health).  

Turn the oven to 180C. Slice the squash in half and place the halves in a baking tray in the oven to cook for about an hour, the exact timing will depend on the size of your squash.

After half an hour take the squash out of the oven and scoop out the seedy part using a spoon, the squash should be nice and soft now so it should come out really easily. Then drizzle olive oil over the squash with a sprinkling of chilli flakes, rubbing them evenly over all the squash. Place the squash back in the oven to finish cooking.

While it cooks make the quinoa. Simply place the quinoa in a saucepan with just over double the amount of boiling water plus a drizzling of apple cider vinegar and a spindling of herbs and salt. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed. At this point stir in the two tablespoons of tahini.

Finally make the avocado basil puree. To do this simple scoop the avocado flesh out of the skins and place all the ingredients into a processor, blend for a minute or two until smooth.

Then once the squash is nice and soft fill the hole where the seeds had been with the quinoa and basil puree then serve and enjoy!

Banana Bread (gluten, dairy and sugar free)

I love making banana bread, they are so simple and quick to make and last so long. This one is adapted from my original recipe as I wanted to make it gluten, dairy and sugar free. Surprisingly still deliciously tasty as the banana is strong and sweet and the crunchy seeds and nuts add texture!

I love this one with almond nut butter for an afternoon snack or plain in the morning on the go! 

Makes one loaf

- 5 large over-ripe bananas

- 1 cup of almonds

- 2 cups of pecans

- 1 cup of buckwheat or brown rice flour

- 1/2 a cup of maple syrup

- 3 tablespoons of chia seeds

- 2 tablespoons of cinnamon

Pre-heat the oven to 145C. Blend the almonds and pecans in a food processor so that they form a flour, (thirty seconds). Once it’s smooth remove the flour and add it to a mixing bowl with the buckwheat flour, maple syrup, chia seeds and cinnamon, mixing them all together.

Next mash the bananas together until smooth before stirring them into the bread mix, at this point the mixture should be really nice and sticky.

Grease a loaf tin with coconut oil and then pour in the mix and allow it to bake for about an hour.

I will definitely be making this for the open day, along side my original recipe... 

Deli Food Packaging.

So using my trusted old recipe for Homemade Muesli, which is Gluten, Dairy and Sugar FREE (so hard to find these days). I have made a few deli Muesli packs, available to purchase at 'the garden' open day.  

Also available are these homemade, deliciously crunchy Almond Biscotti, which are also conveniently  Dairy Free. Also available in Christmasy Pistachio and Cranberry, come and have a cup of coffee or tea with us and get your taster biscotti for FREE!  

All available at 'the garden' open day from the 28th to 30th November 2013, from 9am - 4pm. Come and get yours before they go!

Orange, Almond and Pistachio Cake

I needed a 'healthy cake' for my open day, so I found this old recipe of mine. Surprisingly it is GLUTEN, DAIRY and SUGAR FREE.  

Ingredients :

2 unwaxed oranges

3 large free range eggs

200g raw honey

250g ground almonds

100g pistachios- finely ground

1 tsp baking powder

Directions :

1. Put the whole oranges in a saucepan and cover with cold water

2. Bring to the boil and simmer for one hour.

3. Preheat oven to 170C.

4. Grease and flour a 22cm loose bottomed cake tin

5. Remove pan from heat and drain – blend oranges until smooth

6. Take pulp, eggs, honey, almonds and pistachios and baking powderand beat until combined7. Bake for 1 hour until skewer comes out clean

8. Remove, cool and enjoy with a dollop of natural yoghurt or whipped cream.

YUMMY! On sale per slice at 'the garden' open day. 

The Garden Pottery

A sneak peak at some of the garden pottery collection. All handmade, microwave and dishwasher proof. Consisting of large, medium and small jugs, platters, large, medium and small bowls, mugs and salt servers, all available in either white or white with a grey rim. 

Come and get yours and treat yourself or someone special, at the garden open day on the 28th to the 30th November 2013, from 9am-4pm. Japalana, 6 Hill Lane, Shakas Rock, Ballito.   

Best Gluten, Dairy and Sugar Free Blog

I found this amazing gluten, dairy and sugar free blog called deliciouslyella.com. I have tried many of their recipes since and they are so good, you wouldn't even know they were free from any of the bad stuff...

Here is a few of my favorite recipes from them:

Zucchini and Carrot noodles with avo, pea and kale pesto: yummy alternative to noodles. 

Almond, Quinoa and Pumpkin Seed Bread: perfect toasted with avo! I will never have normal bread again!

Sweet Potato Brownies: free of any nasties!

Cleansing Carrot, Orange, Kale, Lemon and Ginger juice: a perfect new juice to add to my recipe book. 

I could add sooooo many more, they are all so delicious and healthy. Have a look!

It's all about embracing the incredible foods that your body loves and what you can do with them.

 

Wooden Boards

Here are a few images of 'the garden's' newly arrived stock for the open day (28th - 30th NOVEMBER 2013) ! We have some handmade oak cutting/cheese boards, wood and rope handle door stops, lazy Susan's, the garden bottled prepared water, organic sugar free, mixed nut rusks and lots more...

Planting for the Open Day

Some herb and vegetable boxes are all planted and ready to grow for the open day... Full of nutritional goodness and perfect for gardens or windowsills, our boxes inlude: Butter lettuce, Rocket, Spinach, Basil, Rosemary, Mixed Lettuce, Thyme, Chives, and Coriander. 

Come and get yours on the 28th to 30th November 2013, at Japalana, Hill Lane, Shakas Rock, Ballito.