Banana Blondie with Chocolate [gluten free / vegan*]

My adventure with cooking really started with baking in my early teens. That is why it is difficult for me to imagine never eating cakes. However - since I know that cakes are better for your taste buds than your waistline - I try to test out healthier options where plain white flour is replaced by wholemeal or by almond flour. If possible, I also swap butter for healthy oil (e.g. rapeseed, though it doesn’t always work due to its strong smell), and I always try to use less sugar.

So I was extremely happy when I came across a recipe for blondies that neither requires butter nor flour. To make it vegan, I made some additional changes and at the end the cake turned out great: moist and fudgy. 

I know you may be skeptical about cakes without eggs, flour or butter. And I agree that they taste differently. But differently doesn't always mean bad. So even if you are one of the people thinking that vegan cakes are not really for you as they are “too healthy”, I think you will be nicely surprised.

* The cake is 100% vegan if you use vegan chocolate.

INGREDIENTS (for 16 small pieces):

2 bananas,

120g rolled oats,

1tsp baking powder,

40g demerara sugar,

60ml maple syrup,

150g smooth peanut butter,

1 tsp vanilla extract,

100g coconut cream (the thick part of the coconut milk that collects on top of a tin),

40g chopped chocolate (if the cake has to be 100% vegan, use vegan chocolate).

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C (180C for fan ovens) and line a 14x24cm (or similar small) baking tin with parchment paper.
2. Put all the ingredients except for the chocolate to a food processor and process till smooth.
3. Add the majority of the chocolate pieces to the batter and stir.
4. Pour it into the prepared tin, smooth the top and sprinkle with the rest of chocolate.
5. Put the tin to the hot oven for 20-25 minutes.
6. Enjoy!

This cake was inspired by Cafe Delites recipe.

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Lemon Cake with Chia Seeds

When it comes to Chia seeds, I am still on a voyage of discovery and experimentation. I read how healthy they are and therefore intend to use them as an ingredient in my food as often as possible. I have already tried them out in a few simple recipes (I will post them soon) but what I really wanted to do was to bake a cake with this novelty ingredient.

Chia reminds me a bit of poppy seed so I used it in a lemon cake as a substitute for poppy seeds. The cake turned out delicious: very moist with crunchy little bits. And although I do realize this is not the healthiest cake in the world (I tried to use healthy rapeseed oil instead of butter but it didn’t work), I am sure that adding chia seeds certainly made it healthier.

INGREDIENTS (for 8 portions):

175g butter, in room temperature,

175g sugar,

200g flour,

2 tsp baking powder,

Zest from 3 lemons,

2 tbsp lemon juice,

3 eggs,

100g Greek yoghurt,

2 tbsp chia seeds,

Icing:

100g icing sugar,

1 tbsp + 1tsp lemon juice.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 180 Celsius Degrees (160 for fan ovens).
2. Put a disk of parchment paper on the bottom of a round 18cm-diameter cake tin and grease its side.
3. Beat the butter and sugar till fluffy, add the rest of the cake ingredients and beat until everything is well combined.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake in the hot oven for 50-60 minutes (when a wooden stick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, the cake is ready).
5. Cool down the cake at first in the tin and after 10 minutes on a wire rack.
6. Prepare the icing by mixing the icing sugar with the lemon juice, pour it over the cake.

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Almond Meringue Roulade with Chestnut Filling

A few weeks ago I was having a friend over for late lunch. I knew she - just like I - liked meringues so I had no problem with choosing a perfect dessert for her: meringue roulade with – this time – chestnut filling. I got to the kitchen in the morning only to discover I had neither corn nor potato starch that I always used for my meringues. Before setting off to a shop, I decided to look for an alternative recipe. As always BBC Good Food site helped me solve my problem: I found a recipe in which ground almonds were used instead of any type of starch.

This meringue was completely different than the one I always used for my roulades: it was thinner and actually crispy. I was a bit worried it was going to break while I was rolling it but it seems that keeping it under a damp cloth after it was baked did make it pretty elastic. The whole cake tasted really divine and probably better than if I had used my original recipe as the almond-y meringue complimented the chestnut filling really well. And it all happened by chance ;)

INGREDIENTS (for 8-10 portions):

4 large or 5 small egg whites,

220g caster sugar,

1 tsp almond extract,

1 tsp white wine vinegar,

50g ground almonds,

2 tbsp flaked almonds,

300ml double cream,

5-6 tbsp sweetened chestnut puree.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 190 Celsius degrees (170 for fan ovens).
2. Line a 25cm x 35cm (or similar) baking tin with baking paper.
3. Whisk the egg whites till stiff; continue whisking and add 1 tbsp of sugar, beat for 10-20 seconds more and add another 1 tbsp of sugar, continue until you have used all the sugar.
4. Gently stir in the almond extract, vinegar and ground almonds.
5. Spread in the prepared tin, sprinkle with the flaked almonds, put to the oven and bake for 30 minutes till golden and firm.
6. Remove from the oven, cover with a sheet of baking paper and a damp tea towel.
7. Whip the cream till stiff; stir in the chestnut puree.
8. Remove the tea towel from the top of the meringue but keep the baking paper. Carefully flip the meringue upside down so the top with the flaked almonds is now on the bottom on the paper.
9. Gently peel off the paper and spread the chestnut filling on top.
10. Roll the roulade carefully, use the paper to help you.

The meringue recipe comes from BBC Good Food site.

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Carrot and Banana Cake

If you are one of these people who can never decide whether a carrot or a banana cake is your favorite, hopefully you will be happy with this solution as it is a very successful (and delicious) combination of both of them.

The cake is wonderfully moist and addition of walnut pieces gives it extra texture. There are no spices added to the batter but this cake has a vanilla aroma due to the yummy icing. I must be honest with you, this is neither the lightest, nor the healthiest cake. But I do think that there is no harm in enjoying a slice of this wonderful cake occasionally, especially on a cold, autumn or winter afternoon with a cup of good tea or  coffee.

INGREDIENTS (for 8-12 portions):

Cake:

3 eggs,

175g brown sugar,

175g plain flour,

2 tsp baking powder,

1 tsp salt,

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda,

175ml sunflower oil,

175g walnuts, broken into pieces,

2 medium size ripe bananas, mashed,

175g grated carrot,

Icing:

75 g soft butter,

75g cream cheese,

150g icing sugar,

1 tsp vanilla extract,

Extra walnuts for decoration.

METHOD:

1. Preheat an oven to 170 Celsius degrees (150 fan ovens).
2. Grease a 20cm diameter cake tin with a removable base and cover its bottom with baking paper.
3. In a food processor or with electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale.
4. Add sifted flour, baking powder, salt and bicarbonate of soda; mix until everything is combined.
5. Add the oil, walnuts, bananas and carrots, mix.
6. Pour the batter into the cake tin, put to the hot oven and bake for approx. 75 minutes (until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean).
7. To make the icing, beat the butter and cream cheese together, add the sugar and vanilla and beat for little longer.
8. Spread the icing on the cold cake and decorate with walnuts.

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Almond Cake with Raspberries

It is not a secret that I have a sweet tooth and I love cakes. In truth, my whole adventure with cooking started with baking. But I do know that cakes - although delicious - are not really the healthiest option. I do try to bake healthier versions with less sugar, no butter, no gluten etc. but it doesn’t change the fact that sometimes I do fancy a heavier cake. That is why I came up with an idea of baking… small cakes. So I use smaller baking tins and obviously end up with less cake and smaller portions. Thanks to this, I can still enjoy a piece of heavier cake but it is a much smaller piece, and after having it, I don’t feel guilty!

For this Almond Cake I used an 18cm-diameter tin which – when I saw it in a shop for the first time – looked so tiny. But you can easily divide this cake into 8 portions. But if you have guests or you fancy a bit more of it, you can simply double the ingredients, use a bigger tin and extend baking time (for the whole cake with the filling) by approx. 10-15 minutes.

INGREDIENTS (for 6-8 portions):

Base:

100g diced butter plus extra for greasing a baking tin,

125g plain flour,

40g sugar,

1 egg yolk,

Filling:

30g sugar,

2 egg yolks,

125g ground almonds,

3 egg whites,

1 tbsp Amaretto liquor,

100g raspberries.

METHOD:

1. In a food processor (or manually) mix the butter and flour, add the sugar and egg yolk and quickly combine together; form a flattened ball and put it to a fridge for at least 1 hour.
2. After that time heat up an oven to 200 Celsius degrees (180 for fan ovens) and grease a 18cm round baking tin with a removable base.
3. Roll the dough between two pieces of baking paper (it is easier this way) and transfer it to the tin making sure the base and sides (min. 3-4 cm high) are covered.
4. Bake in the oven for 15 min.
5. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and amaretto until creamy, add the almonds and stir.
6. Whisk the egg whites till stiff and then add a few spoons to the almonds’ mixture to loosen it a bit, stir and add the rest of the whisked egg whites and stir again very gently.
7. Pour on top of the baked base, decorate with raspberries and put to the oven (temperature decreased to 180 Celsius degrees or 160 for fan ovens) for 40-45 min.

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Meringue Cake with Strawberry Cream

Meringues are one of my favourite types of cake, and honestly I could have them a few times a week. However, due to the high sugar and calorie content, I try to restrict myself – but every now and then I either make a meringue cake, or have it as a special treat.

Some time ago I had a wonderful strawberry meringue in a restaurant, and I really wanted to make it myself. I had made meringues before, so that part was not an issue; but the cream was a different story. I wanted it to taste of strawberries, but too many liquidized strawberries could make the cream too runny and the cake would lose its shape. I had to have a few trials before I managed to get the right proportion of ingredients to get a delicious cream – but all the effort was definitely worth the final result!

INGREDIENTS (for 6-8 portions):

Meringue:

4 egg whites,

200g caster sugar,

1 tsp white wine vinegar,

a pinch of salt.

Cream:

250g strawberries plus a few more for decoration,

6 tbsp icing sugar,

125g mascarpone cheese,

150ml double cream.

METHOD:

1. Take two pieces of baking paper and draw 20cm-diameter circle on each one; then put them on two baking trays.
2. Pre-heat an oven to 180 Celsius degrees.
3. Put the egg whites to a big, clean and dry bowl, add a pinch of salt and beat them with an electric mixer.
4. When they are stiff, start adding sugar (while you still beat the egg whites): add one tablespoon at a time and carry on beating for 20-30 seconds before you add another tablespoon of sugar.
5. When you have used all the sugar, keep on whisking for another 2-3 minutes, then add the vinegar and beat for another minute.
6. Divide the beaten egg whites into 2 portions and carefully spread them on the drawn circles, put both baking trays to the hot oven.
7. After 5 minutes decrease the temperature to 140 Celsius degrees and bake for 90 minutes; afterwards turn off the oven, open its doors slightly and keep it open for 5 minutes. Close the door and keep the meringues in the oven for a few hours or overnight.
8. Liquidize the strawberries, press them through a fine sieve, add the sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves.
9. Put the mascarpone to a bowl, beat with the electric mixer on low speed and add 14 tablespoons of liquidized strawberries*.
10. Whisk the double cream till stiff and gently stir with the mascarpone and strawberry mix till combined.
11. Put one meringue disc (the worse looking one) on a serving plate, spread the strawberry cream on it and place the second meringue carefully on top, decorate. If you prefer, you may keep some of the cream and use it to decorate the top of the cake.
12. Keep refrigerated till needed.

* You may end up with more liquidized strawberries then needed. However you should add only 14 tablespoons, otherwise the cream might be too runny.

  

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Nutella and Peanut Butter Cake

If you – just like us – belong to a peanut butter and Nutella fan tribe, this cake will take you to heaven: it includes both ingredients that combined together create an unforgettable experience. Obviously this is not the healthiest cake in the World, but I do believe that if you have it from time to time it will do no harm to your waistline nor to your overall healthy diet. But I bet it will bring a smile to your face!

It is a speedily made cake: your oven will probably need more time to heat up than you will need to prepare it. It means that - in case of unexpected guests – you could have it ready in slightly more than half an hour. And you don’t have to worry about ingredients, probably - just like us - you always have them in your cupboard ;-)

INGREDIENTS (for 16 pieces):

250g butter,

6 tbsp Nutella (or other chocolate spread),

90g Demerara sugar,

3 eggs,

80g all purpose flour,

0.75 tsp baking powder,

3 tsp cocoa powder,

1 -2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter,

sunflower oil for greasing.

METHOD:

1. Preheat a fan oven to 160 Celsius degrees.
2. Grease with oil and line with baking paper a 15cm x 23cm rectangle (or 20cm square) tin. This video shows a great way how to line a tin with baking paper so that it is very easy later to take the cake out.
3. Put all the ingredients except for the peanut butter to a food processor and whizz them until combined and smooth; transfer to the baking tin.
4. Drop small portions of the peanut butter into the cake, trying to push it to the batter; smooth the top.
5. Bake in the hot oven for 25 minutes.

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Quinoa Chocolate Cake [gluten free]

When I came across a cake made of quinoa, I couldn’t imagine it would be so good as I had only used it previously for savoury dishes. I could understand using millet: sometimes we do have millet with fruit and honey for breakfast, I even bake a tart with millet. But a cake with quinoa?!

I was so curious that I simply decided to give it a try. The result was surprising and delicious: the cake was very moist and rich and you couldn’t taste the quinoa. It only gave a slight “bite” to the cake but this was in truth an extra value added to its texture.

If a thought of the wonderful taste of this cake hasn’t convinced you yet to bake it, maybe its healthiness will: it contains a super grain but it doesn’t include any flour or butter (I replaced it with healthy rapeseed oil). So what can be better than a piece of an (almost) guilt-free chocolate cake?

INGREDIENTS (for 8-10 portions):

130g quinoa,

250ml water,

dash of olive oil,

80ml milk,

4 eggs,

1tsp vanilla extract,

150ml rapeseed oil,

175g Demerara sugar,

85g cocoa powder,

1.5tsp baking powder,

0.5 tsp baking soda,

0.5 tsp salt.

Icing:

100g dark chocolate

100g white chocolate

6 tbsp milk,

optionally 0.5 tsp beetroot juice (or a few drops of pink food colorant)

METHOD:

1. Prepare the quinoa: put it to a fine mesh strainer, rinse it under running cold water rubbing the seeds with each other with your fingers (for at least 1 minute) and drain well. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a pot over a medium heat and fry the drained quinoa for about 1 minute till the rest of water evaporates. Add water, 0.25 tsp salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook covered for approx. 15 minutes. Take it out from the heat and let it rest covered for 5 minutes more. Fluff the quinoa with a fork. The quinoa has to be dry, in case there is still some water left, transfer it to a strainer and let it drain completely.
2. Preheat an oven to 170 Celsius degrees (fan oven).
3. Grease a 23cm loose-bottom cake tin with oil and line it with baking paper.
4. In a food processor combine together milk, eggs and vanilla extract; add oil and cooked quinoa, whizz again until smooth.
5. Sieve the cocoa, baking powder and baking soda to a bowl; mix it with the sugar and salt, add the quinoa mixture and stir it well.
6. Pour the mixture to the tin and put to the hot oven. Bake for 40 minutes.
7. Make the icing: melt each type of chocolate separately with 3 tbsp of milk in a heatproof bowl over a pan of boiling water (if you would like to get pink icing add the beetroot juice or the colorant to the white chocolate).
8. When the cake is baked, take it out from the oven, leave it in the tin for 10 min. Afterwards put it on a plate and cool. Spread the dark icing and then pour the pink (white) icing in a decorative way.

Based on: Decadent Chocolate Cake by Mel’s Kitchen Cafe.

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2 in 1 Valentine’s Cake [gluten free]

Right from the beginning I knew exactly what sort of a cake I wanted to make for the Valentine’s Day: it had to be a combination of chocolate and raspberries, it also had to be rich and heavy from one hand and light and airy from the other. Why such a combination? – Chocolate is supposed to be an aphrodisiac so it is perfect for such an occasion, raspberries are red and this is a colour of love. As far as textures are concerned, I was certain that - as per “the opposites attract” saying – these characteristics will work also for a cake!

I obviously wanted the cake to be of a heart shape but unfortunately the form I used was a bit too shallow (only 3.5cm high) so I was able to use only half of the raspberry mousse. Of course it wasn't wasted as even eaten by itself was delicious J. But I think it would be preferable to use the whole amount on top of the chocolate base, even if you were to make a sacrifice and not have the heart shape. At least this is what I am going to do next time to enjoy this Valentine’s Cake to the fullest.

INGREDIENTS (for 10-12 portions):

Chocolate base:

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces,

2 tbsp rum,

90g butter in a room temperature,

120g sugar,

3 eggs, separated,

a pinch of salt,

50g ground almonds,

35g corn flour (or all purpose flour, if you don’t have to have a gluten-free cake),

Raspberry mousse:

500g raspberries (if frozen than they should be defrosted),

2 tbsp vanilla sugar,

6 sheets of gelatine (or 1 tbsp of gelatine powder),

500g double cream,

80g icing sugar,

extra raspberries for decoration.

METHOD:

1. Put the chocolate and the rum to a bowl that is placed on top of a pan with barely simmering water; stir occasionally and melt.
2. While the chocolate is cooling down, beat with an electric mixer the butter with half of the sugar till it is nice and creamy.
3. Add the egg yolks; beat some more.
4. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees and grease a baking tin. I used a silicon 29cm heart shaped form but it can be replaced by a 20-22cm diameter round tin with a removable bottom. If you are using the round tin, additionally put a disc of baking paper on its bottom.
5. Whisk the egg whites with the salt until soft peaks form; add the rest of sugar and whisk till stiff.
6. Add to the butter mixture the cooled down melted chocolate and the ground almonds, stir well.
7. Now add 1 tbsp of whisked egg whites and 1 tbsp of the flour, stir gently. Repeat till you have used all the flour; at the end add the rest of the whisked egg whites and mix gently again.
8. Pour the batter to the prepared form, put it to the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
9. Put the raspberries to a blender and liquidise them; then press through a fine sieve to eliminate the pits and mix with the vanilla sugar.
10. Prepare the gelatine as per its packet instruction.
11. Whisk the double cream until stiff, slowly add the sugar.
12. Add a few tablespoons of the liquidised raspberries to the pan with dissolved gelatine, stir and then add the rest of the raspberries.
13. Combine the cream with the raspberries.
14. Keep the baked base in the tin and when it is cold, pour the raspberry mousse to the tin, smooth the top and put the cake to the fridge for a few hours, preferably overnight.
15. When set, decorate with raspberries.

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