The Life Changing Raw Brownie

I think I may have stumbled across the best chocolatey dessert/snack ever. It's from the same lady as the Life Changing Loaf of Bread, and I think this might just be in that same category. It's the Raw Brownie from Sarah Britton of My New Roots. I've been trying to minimise refined sugar for a while now, so I'm always excited to add to my repertoire of sweet things that are made of good, healthy ingredients. I guess the goal is to cut down on desserts overall, but making sweet treats out of real food ingredients rather than fake, manufactured crap is a good transition step. And more realistic for someone like me with a pretty good sweet tooth.

These brownies are a delight. They only have five ingredients: walnuts, almonds, cacao powder, sea salt and dates. Six if you sub with a few prunes like I did. They're pretty hard on the blender. I overheated my Vitamix twice and it stopped working for a bit, which was a bit of a worry, but eventually I realised it hadn't completely died, and it was just a failsafe mechanism in action. Phew. So basically, you just whiz all the ingredients together until they form a fudge-like consistency, aside from the almonds, which you just roughly chop. Mix it all up together and press into a baking tray and freeze to set. Then just cut into small cubes and try not to eat too many at once.

And judging by the hundreds of comments, they're obviously a hit with others as well. And if you want to feel even better about it, read Sarah's description of all of the health benefits of the ingredients. I had a laugh about how she cannot accept any marriage proposals (as thanks for this life changing recipe) because she's already taken.

Apparently Sarah Britton has a cookbook in production, which I'm pretty excited about. The photos on her blog make you want to crack out the kale and green peas, so I'm sure the cookbook will be something to behold. I just noticed a recipe there for raw chocolate too, that's going to be next off the block!

We should have bought more ladybirds though

Baking is really not my thing. If I really have nothing to offer prior to someone coming over, I might throw together some Anzac biscuits, but that's one of about two things in my baking repertoire. So I find the thought of baking a fancy birthday cake more nerve wracking than the birthday party itself.

Last year I got sucked into the idea of making a cake from the Woman's Weekly Birthday book. Luckily, my favourite 5 yr old chose what looked like the easiest cake in the book. A ghost cake, with some white icing, smarties for the mouth and egg shells with blood red veins drawn in them. Even the recipe called for a packet mix cake. Sweet.

I have a cunning new plan. No cakes from books. From now on, the kids can help me shop for cake decorations and they can decorate/help decorate it themselves. This is our first attempt.

Herman the German Friendship Cake

Herman, the German Friendship Cake is currently not that photogenic. He is a sourdough cake, so, in his current form, he is a bubbling mass in a plastic container. Maybe he will be more photogenic as a cake, in 10 days or thereabouts. I am very excited to have been gifted this sourdough mix from a new friend. I have tried making sourdough mixes before, but the couple of times I have tried it, I haven't got any further than day 4 or 5. The last time I used spelt flour, but it fizzled out (no pun intended) after a few days and went a bit greenish. So this is a living, breathing sourdough mix that has been going for who knows how long!

The idea for Herman is that you keep the sourdough stirred and fed until day 9, when you divide it into four, give three portions away to friends, with the instruction sheet (for feeding the sourdough and then making the cake) and make the cake with the fourth portion. I might be greedy, give two portions away, make the cake and then see if I can make sourdough bread with the fourth part. I am wondering who might be a willing recipient of Herman. I'm thinking, maybe Heleen and Angela? I'm also wondering, since we're going camping this weekend, if I have to get a babysitter for Herman? I'd hate for him to die on my watch.

On the home grown front, the tomato plants have suddenly realised it's summer and are ripening with wild abandon. I was diligent about getting the little seedlings planted and watered, but promptly forgot about them and went out one day to find them all about four foot high and growing horizontally. By that point it was too late to stake them, so they are happily lying all over the top of each other, on the ground and ripening. It doesn't seem to have slowed production at all. Harvesting is a bit complicated by the fact that I put bird netting over them at one point to keep the cat out so half the tomatoes are under the netting and half are on top (since the plants grew right through the mesh). It seems to have kept all pesky critters out though.

Last night I made this deliciousness, Spaghetti with Roasted Tomatoes and Pea and Goats Cheese Pesto. Pip Lincolne's Same Old Crap from over at hellokateberry. I was rather taken with the "Same Old Crap" description, because if my 'same old crap' meals were this good, I'd be doing pretty well. Unfortunately I had to take the best part out of the recipe, ie, the pea and goats cheese pesto, due to fussy little eaters. But I was inspired. And the roasted tomatoes were a hit. For me, at least.

Sunshine

Last year I was lucky enough to experience the awesomeness that is Little Bird, the eatery in Kingsland, Auckland, also known as "the Unbakery". This amazing cafe serves up all raw, organic food and has gained quite a reputation in Auckland for its delicious healthy fare. The thing really stuck in my mind was the blueberry cheesecake. So rich, but so good. When I discovered that Taste magazine published a recipe for the cheesecake, I was keen to give it a go.

As far as cheesecakes go, it's a pretty pricey thing to make. But due to the rich ingredients, the portion sizes are small and it freezes well. Icecream cake! And it's pretty healthy too... cashews and brazil nuts for the base, and coconut oil, cacao butter, strawberries, almond milk and lemon for the top. I made it for Christmas lunch. It was a hit!

Best Bread Ever

I'm not much of a baker, especially bread.  And I'm pretty happy with my Vogels toast with Vegemite and a poached egg on top.  Yum.   But when I discovered this recipe on my favourite foodie website My New Roots the other day, I couldn't resist.  I am converted.  I dare you to try it!  The Life Changing Loaf of Bread