nectarine, ricotta, honey & almond muffins

sweet, tasty and quick! what more could you want? I made this combination at work the other day and loved them so much I recreated them at home! enjoy! nectarines and honey from my wonderful granddad! thanks granddad!

nectarine, ricotta, honey & almond muffins

2 cups (300g) self raising flour
2/3 cup (150g) brown sugar, packed
pinch of salt
1/2 cup (50g) flaked almonds plus extra for topping
1 egg
100g ricotta
1/2 cup (125ml) buttermilk
1/3 cup (83ml) vegetable oil
2 tbs honey
1 tbs vanilla extract
1 cup sliced poached nectarines

preheat oven to 190°C. line a 12 hole muffin tray with patty pans

in a large bowl mix together the self raising flour, brown sugar, salt and flaked almonds

in a jug mix together the egg, ricotta, buttermilk, oil, honey and vanilla

add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until 3/4 combined. fold through the nectarines, mixing until only just combined - the less mixes the better!

divide the mix between the patty pans, sprinkle with extra flaked almonds and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden

chocolate beetroot cake

this video is an endless source of inspiration to me. whenever I am not 'feeling it' in the kitchen - it is truly beautiful. my favourite part is the way they captured the brown sugar moving cause it really does that! and it's so lovely to capture that small moment of cooking which is so naturally beautiful.
watch it now!


beet cake from tiger in a jar on Vimeo.

and ever since I saw this video about 2 years ago I have wanted to make a chocolate beetroot cake and it was only today, when the boredom of holidays was almost about to set in, I made one! I chose a Nigel Slater recipe from Tender because one day I would really like to own that book! I am particulary in love with the poppyseeds on top as a garnish, I think there is a grand plan for poppyseeds, they are so much more than a partner for oranges in cakes!

 

chocolate beetroot cake
straight from david lebovitz

240 g beetroots, unpeeled, rinsed and scrubbed clean
200 g dark chocolate
1/4 cup (60 ml) hot espresso
7 ounces (200 g) butter, at room temperature
1 cup (150 g) flour
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) castor sugar

boil the beets in salted water until they’re very tender when you stick a knife in them about 45 minutes. rinse the beets with cold water. when they are cool enough to handle, slip off the peels and process in a food processor until you make a smooth puree

preheat the oven to 170ºC and prepare a cake tin

in a heatproof bowl, melt the chocolate (I cheated in the microwave but over simmering water is good too). once its pretty much melted add the hot espresso and butter. allow to cool before stirring in the egg yolks. fold in the beetroot puree

sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder in a separate bowl. 

whip the egg whites until frothy and getting stiff. start adding the sugar to create a meringue. fold them into the melted chocolate mixture then add the sifted dry ingredients, folding carefully without overmixing!

pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 mintues until the sides are set but the centre is still a little wobbly, this will help create the fudgy wonderful texture! cool in tin and serve with creme fraiche or sour cream icing and poppyseeds!

homemade pretzels

next time you are sitting at home with nothing to do, make pretzels instead!

homemade pretzels are the definition of not much effort for lots of gain! the recipe is easy, the folding is fun and they taste really really good!

the magic, chewy outsides of a pretzel is created by dipping them briefly into boiling water with bicarb soda (you can do the same thing to make bagels too!) - if you are keen to read up on food science behind it all, check out this page. come on, geek out with me!


homemade pretzels
barely adapted from alton brown

the pretzels:
375ml (1 ½ cups) warm water
1 tbs sugar
2 tsp salt
7g (one pack) instant dry yeast
625g (4 ¼ cups) plain flour
2 tbs olive oil

the water boiling bit:
2 ½ litres water
⅔ cup bicarb soda

the post-boil glazing:
1 free range egg yolk beaten with 1 tbs water
extra salt

combine the water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer and allow to stand for 5 minutes or until it starts to foam (to check if it is alive and re-activate the dry yeast)
add the flour, salt and olive oil
mix on a low speed until a dough forms
mix on a medium speed for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic
cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put the bowl in a warm place for 1 hour until the dough has doubled in size

preheat the oven to 220°C and line two baking trays with baking paper
in a large pot, bring the water and bicarb soda to a rolling boil
turn the dough out onto a clean bench and knock back (aka punch all the air out)
divide the dough into 16 even pieces - do this by making a long sausage, cut it in half then cut each half into half and half and half again! voila! 16 pieces!
roll each piece into a long sausage. make a u-shape with the rope and cross over the ends, pressing them down to the bottom part to form the classic pretzel shape! see - easy!
once they are all rolled up, place each pretzel in the boiling water (I did them in pairs) for 30 seconds, scoop them out and place them onto the baking trays
brush the top with the egg yolk glaze, sprinkle with lots of extra salt and bake for 10 - 12 minutes until dark and golden. enjoy!

peanut butter honey banana bread

 

as you may be able to realise from my other posts, I am really big on peanut butter. like huge. like major love of my life!

here is a recipe that combines not only peanut butter (yum yum!) but also honey (oh! honey!) and banana bread (don't even get me started) into one magnificent beast. I now know what heaven tastes like!


peanut butter honey banana bread
adapted from pies and plots

1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
pinch of salt
4 really really ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup (100g) brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

 

preheat your oven to 180°C and prepare a loaf tin

in a bowl, mix together the flour, bicarbonate soda and salt.

in a big separate bowl mix together the mashed bananas, brown sugar, honey, peanut butter, eggs and vanilla.

add the flour mixture and fold until just combined, don't over mix!

bake for 1 hour until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out pretty much clean. cool in tin for about 15 minutes and turn out.