When Life Gives you Lemons - Make a Lush Lemon Cake!

Hello and happy weekend!

I sure gotta take every opportunity and hold on with both hands these days, as Kev, Alphonse and I need to find a new flat to rent as well as looking for a flat to buy - stressful? Aye! We went to our first viewing today, one of many - I assume. It's fun, but also stressful... I just hope that the end result is us finding the perfect home.

So in the meantime, I want to make cakes! I had been craving lemon cake for weeks, as I remember fondly the lemon loaf cake my mormor used to make when I was little - back then I thought "It's more of a grown up cake", but now...well I wont say I have grown up, but lemon cake sure is a wonderful thing, especially with a cup of coffee to go with it, mmmm.

So let's get to it shall we?

Lush Lemon Loaf Cake
(Makes 1 loaf cake)

Ingredients
250g flour
2 tsp baking powder
200g sugar (I used light brown)
75ml sunflower oil
250ml soy milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of two lemons

For the icing:
Juice of 2/3 lemon (Or desired thickness of the icing)
75g icing sugar

- Pre-heat oven to 180C.

- Pour vinegar into the milk and let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it looks curdled. Grate lemons and set one aside for the icing.

- In a large bowl, mix the milk, oil, sugar, lemon zest and juice. Stir to combine. Then with a sieve, sift the flour and the baking powder into the mix and stir until combined without over-working the batter.

- Line a pound-cake tin/loaf tin, and pour in the mixture. Bake for 40-50 minutes. Cool down almost completely before mixing icing sugar and lemon juice to an icing and pouring over the cake evenly (You could do the full drizzle-technique, but I decided to go for the easier option).

Serve with a cuppa and enjoy!

Original recipe here.


What is your favourite lemon cake recipe? I would love to hear it, as I am looking forward to trying out all kinds of recipes in the future!

Have a lovely Friday! Currently Alphonse and I are sitting on the sofa listening to some Einaudi, and Kev has gone for a nap. We're wild - I know!

xox J

Pistachio & Rose Loaf Cake

So, tonight I had to use the shoe horn to fish out my wireless mouse that Alphonse had been playing with, haha! What even!

The other week I had a charity bake night with some of my friends, and it was a success! I got asked a couple of times "Are all these vegan?" - and they were indeed,not the people; but the cakes and scones and that! I am so pleased it was a success *smiles*
The favourite of the night was this pistachio and rose cake - which is exactly why I wanted to share this recipe with you! Because we use a bunch of ground pistachios, the cake is a little dense, but it is supposed to be! And it is even pretty healthy too! I only added icing sugar to the icing as the original was a little too.... meh for me, and it worked great!

Pistachio & Rose Loaf Cake

Ingredients:
125g ground pistachios
70g oats - ground
40g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
A good pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
120ml vegan yoghurt (I jused Alpro coconut)
80ml maple of agave syrup

For the frostings:
Pink:
75g cashews
60ml milk
2 tbsp maple or agave syrup
100g icing sugar
1/2 tsp pink food colouring
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp rose water (be very careful with this!)

White:
100g icing sugar
Just enough lemon juice
A tiny bit of soy or almond milk

To decorate:
Chopped pistachios

- Start by pre-heating your oven to 180C.

- In a large bowl,mix all the dry ingredients for the cake. Then, make a well in the middle, and add your yoghurtand syrup. Stir well to combine, then tip into a lightly oiled loaf tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

- Allow to cool slightly before popping it out of the mould. Then cool completely before decorating it! Have all the ingredients for the pink frosting in a blender and whizz until smooth (Add more icing sugar if necessary). Drizzle generously over the cake. Then, mix the remaining 100g of icing sugar with juice of 1/4 lemon and just enough milk to get a lush white frosting, drizzle this across the white to create that pink-zebra look!

- Decorate with chopped pistachios and you are ready to serve up this cake! I daresay you could even have a slice for breakfast if you wanted!

What is your favourite nutty cake? I'd love to hear it!

And I hope you are having a great week so far! I just finished up my working week today, but I have a tight schedule for the rest of the week, running errands and going to an Escape Room for the first time - yay! :D

Have a good evening!

xox J

Original recipe here

Delicious Spiced Carrot Cake

Hello everyone and happy Saturday! Today has been amazing here in Glasgow, sunshine all day long! And then a sliiiiiight shower, but we can take it...

And if you have a rain day, then why not rattle up a quick, simple, but more importantly de-friggin-licious carrot cake?

My favourite local cafe always has a handful of loaf cakes to choose from, they're not overly fancy, but always topped with delicious frosting and some sort of decor... And the flavours.... yum! But since I am eating vegan now, I have to make my own. I don't mind though, because this was a treat!

Delicious Spiced Carrot Cake
(Makes 1 loaf)

Cake:
1 large carrot, grated
120g brown sugar
3/4 cup apple sauce
90ml sunflower oil
185g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Frosting:
4 vegan spread sticks
1 cup icing sugar
Juice of 1/4 lemon
(add more icing sugar if needed)

- Start by pre-heating the oven to 180C.

- Then in a bowl, mix the carrot, sugar, apple sauce and oil in a bowl and stir. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients for the cake. Tip into the wet mix and stir until just combined - don't over work the mixture.

- Oil a tin, and spoon the mixture in and distribute evenly. Bake for 40-50 minutes; my oven is quite aggressive, so 40 minutes will do, but otherwise give it at least an extra 5-10 minutes.

- Once baked, allowed to cool aaaaaalmost completely until mixing together the butter cream and top the cake with it.

Now, your place smells great, you're hungry - and the kettle is waiting for you to brew a cuppa to accompany it....

I used Pure vegan spread which crumpled up a little, but the lush flavour is still there!

I hope you love it as much as I do, even Kev was convinced and agreed I can make this all the time if I feel like it, YAY!

Are you having a good weekend so far?
Here, I have been taking it easy... Kev and I went out for lunch today at a new cafe called Tulipane. We did the weekly food shop, and watched some TV.
On Monday I am starting work again, so I am just enjoying this weekend and taking it easy.

xox J

Original Recipe:
https://www.lazycatkitchen.com/vegan-carrot-cake/

The BEST Vegan Brownies

.....yup - or the best ever brownies I have ever made anyway! And to quote Kev "Why did you do this to me, woman?!" when he tried a slice and reached for another one as soon as the first one had disappeared, hehe!

Cut them into small pieces as these are moreish - but rich! Also... a good excuse to have two slices ^ ^ The original recipe can be found here

In the meantime, give this a go - you wont regret it!

The BEST Vegan Brownies (Makes 1 square pan)

Ingredients
1 + 1 cups of flour (I used 1 cup plain and 1 cup self-raising)
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar (I substituted this for coconut sugar)
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup neutral oil (I used sunflower)
1/2 cup dairy free chocolate chips (I used Moo-Free)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

- In a medium sized pan, have a cup of water and 1 cup of the flour on low heat. Stir constantly until you have a gluey sort of paste, take it off the heat and let it cool. This only took me about 3-5 minutes.

- Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

- Now, in a bowl, mix all your dry ingredients apart from the flour and chocolate chips, and stir well to combine. Make a well in the middle and tip in your water-flour mixture, oil, and vanilla extract. THEN add the second cup of flour Stir until you have a really thick dough like consistency - this takes a bit of muscle, but it's worth it!

- Now, fold in the chocolate chips (and nuts, if using), make sure they are evenly distributed - then, line a square baking pan, and tip in the dough. Pat down firmly with your hands (I found this the easiest!) and place in the middle of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Leave to cool slightly, before cutting into ooey-gooey pieces of chocolate goodness!

So today, Kev and I are travelling to Prague! I have been wanting to go ever since I read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series - which takes place in Prague, amongst other magical places!
So yesterday, when I was doing up the bed in the guest bedroom (my sister is a champion and is going to look after Alphonse and house sit ^ ^ ), new sheets and everything - this little rascal quickly claimed it as his own.

Just look at that smug lil' face!

Anyway, I hope you are having a lovely week so far! I'll be taking some photos whilst we're away that I miiiiight just share with you once we return!

Until then - eat cake, and be merry!

xox J

Carrot & Banana Bread

Carrot cake and banana bread are two of my favourite sweet bakes. I think it is because normally they are never TOO sweet, if you know what I mean?

Katrina of Warm Vanilla Sugar (yes, I am a massive fan!) posted up a recipe - carrot AND banana bread. I could not resist, and I am so glad I made it!

Carrot & Banana Bread
(Makes 1 loaf)

1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2-3 ripe bananas, mashed
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk of choice, I used almond
1/3 cup sunflower oil
3 carrots, grated

- Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, and then grease a loaf tin. Pour in the mixture, and in the oven it goes! Make sure not to open the door to the oven as banana breads have been known to collapse due to the change in temperature before it is baked through. Leave in the oven for 50- minutes.

- Take out and leave to chill (if you are patient enugh!) and serve whilst it is still warm. Remaining "carrana" bread makes for epic treat at work the next day, or perhaps even for breakfast? Don't mind if I do.... It's light and fluffy and works any time of the year!

This week a friend from work and I watched Mockingjay Part 2 and it did not disappoint!
Also, I have not been a fan of putting up a christmas tree before 23rd December (tradition in my family in Norway), but last weekend I bought a christmas tree and his name is Gerrard? Why? Well... Gerrard because the name came up upon purchasing him, and the buying of the tree itself because I want to make the most of the festive month over here this year before I go over to visit my family. I haven't seen them in a whole year, so it will be amazing to see them again!
I am in a room surrounded by poinsettia, a christmas mouse, straw billy goats courtesy of Ikea, string and wine cork deer, Gerrard the christmas tree and some paper chains I made.... It's happening!

I hope you are having a great start to a new month! Have you got any plans for the coming weekend? I have today off, so I will meet a friends for coffee and later - improvise!

Have a wonderful day! x


Original source:
http://warmvanillasugar.com/2015/07/17/carrot-banana-bread/

- Jules

Second Helping Chocolate Brownie Cake

Better late than never right? Behold! Cake!

Pretend this is what I posted on my three year bloggaversary *cough*

So I was going to make Sophie Dahl's chocolate cake, which stated it only used a 25cm wide cake tin, well.... I made a big traybake with this one, and it turned out delicious! It would have gone all over the place had I only used a normal cake tin, but I suppose you could make two and layer them if you feel like it! It's up to you!

I brought this monster to work, and everyone really liked it! The texture is like a hybrid between good ol' tradition chocolate cake, and the infamous brownie! I decided to leave out the nuts, as I didn't know if anyone was allergis to them, but I can imagine it would take it that half a step up a notch with some nuts for crunch.

I added a bit of rum essence in the frosting, like my mother always does - but that is optional, of course!

Second Helping Chocolate Brownie Cake
(Makes one 30-40 x 20cm traybake, or one deep 25-30cm cake)

300g room temperature butter
500g caster sugar (I used light golden)
4 eggs
350g plain flour
75g/half cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
125ml/half cup milk
125ml/half cup boiling water
Juice and zest of one orange
120g chopped walnuts (optional, but highly recommended)

For the ganache:
250g dark chocolate, chopped
250ml/1 cup double cream
1 tsp rum extract (optiona)

To decorate:
Candied orange peel and extra chopped nuts
OR icing sugar
OOR dessicated coconut

- Start by pre-heating the oven to 180°C.

- Now, in a large mixing bowl, have ALL the ingredients for the cake batter. Mix well to combine and simply pour into a greased or lined cake tin/pan. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for about an hour - NOTE - mine was in the oven for probably about an hour and a half, but after an hour check if a toothpick comes out clean when you check to see if it is cooked.

- Once done, leave to cool, before making the ganache, otherwise the ganache will just drip down to the sides.

- Melt the chocolate in a bowl in a casserole of hot water (water and chocolate don't like each other) on the stove, the heating turned to medium low. Pour in the cream and allow for the chocolate and cream to get completely mixed, add in rum extract if you want. Leave to set for a little bit before spreading evenly over the cake, topping it with either candied orange peel and nuts or simply with a dusting of icing sugar, or some dessicated coconut!

Simply.....enjoy! Either with a cup of coffee, tea, or perhaps an ice cold glass of milk? I have been addicted to Koko's coconut milk recently, so good! Oh! And Alpro has released a dairy free yogurt made from almond milk, and it is delicious :)

The healthy banana dolphin will laugh at you whilst splashing around in his blueberry sea... but who cares? You have cake!


Original source:
Sophie Dahl's "From Season to Season", p. 256

- Jules

Luis' Savoury Cheesecake

So my friend Luis came over for dinner once a while back, and had brought this amazing cheesecake that he had made for dessert. But this cheesecake was different - it was a lot more savoury than any other cheesecake I had tried before, the secret? Parmesan! And it worked really well, because more times than others, I prefer having two savoury courses... I had the leftovers for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next few days afterwards, and I had to get the recipe for this so I could share it with you!

And here - my first ever, properly made cheesecake! My previous attempts has been a little so so. I halved the original recipe, as I was only making this for myself, and I had to suss out how high a temperature and for how long I had to cook it. You can add an additional 5-10 minutes in the over just to be sure, maybe just cover the top with aluminium foil then so it doesn't go darker in colour at the top!

Luis' Savoury Cheesecake
(Makes 1 - Serves 4-6)

3 eggs
1 small can of condensed milk
250g cottage cheese
25g parmesan/grana padano grated
1/2 tea spoon baking powder

- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

- Blend everything with a stick blender or in a processor. Place in a silicone mould or a greased and baking-paper clad cake tin, and scoop in the cheese mixture. Have the tin/mould into a baking deep baking tray filled with water (about 1cm), this will allow for the cake to steam.

- Place in the middle of the oven and cook for about an hour and ten minutes, then - turn down the temperature to 160°C and cook for about 10-20 minutes more if necessary, until the cake is properly set.

You can also cook this entirely at 160°C, but then I imagine the cooking time will be longer, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours altogether.

Have you tried savoury cheesecakes before?


Recipe mi amigo Luis!

- Jules

Easy Spiced Banana Kakemix Cake

HA! Try and say that lots of times and fast, quite the tongue-twister, eh?

It has been quite a long day - I was covering in the kitchen today, and I got to make lots of delicious things, and prepare meals for customers. But now I am beat! It's Bonfire Night here in Glasgow, and so now - with my feet up - I see the occasional fireworks outside my window, it's so nice!

But onto something completely different, but that sort of applies whenever you have had a long day and want to take a little shortcut (I am sure fellow Norwegian will have heard of this.....).


Kakemix.... I know there are quite a few fellow Norwegians who drop by this blog regularly, and I really appreciate that. Many of you might have bought the infamous "kakemix", and today, I though I would give you a lovely and super easy recipe that you can use it for. The cake base is sugarfree, but I decided to make the icing with real icing sugar instead of sukrin icing sugar. This cake bakes really fast, and within 35 minutes, your cake will be ready!

Easy Spiced Banana Kakemix Cake
(Makes 1 cake which is about 18cm in diameter)

125-150g kakemix
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cardamom
A pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp coconut oil (or sunflower oil)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk of choice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 banana, mashed

For the frosting:
1/2 cup icing sugar
Juice of 1/3-1/2 lime

- Pre-heat the oven to 180-200°C.

-Have all the dry ingredients in a bowl, stir well to combine before making a well in the middle. Pour in the oil, vanilla extract, eggs, milk and banana and mix well.

- Pour the batter into an 18-20 cm cake tin or mould, and place in the middle of the oven - bake for approximately 30 minutes. Leave to cool for about 15 minutes before preparing the frosting. Squeeze the juice of 1/3 of a lime and mix well, the icing should be quite thick, but still be able to drizzle. Add an extra squeeze of lime if it is too thick.

- Drizzle over the cake and serve! This went down a treat with my friends, and myself... The lime frosting goes amazingly well with the lovely, sweet cake. I hope you enjoy it too! The whole cake was out of sight before I got the chance to take a picture of an actual slice, but I suppose that's a good sign if anything!

Have you ever used kakemix before? Aaaaand will you celebrate Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes'?


Recipe by yours truly,

- Jules

Gul Kake

..or Yellow Cake, as it were should you translate it to English.

In Norway, this cake is also called "Suksessterte" which basically means success tart. It's wonderfull, almost macarroon-like base is the beginning of something good...always.

My mum bakes this to perfection, but since she's back in Bergen and I am here in Glasgow, I gotta make sure I'll keep the tradition alive, eh? And I don't mind that at all!

The first time I tried to make this, I undercooked the egg-custard frosting, and this time? I cooked it for a minute too much and it curdled slightly, I have pinky promised myself that next time it will be perfect. I know what to look for now! Overnight though, thankfully the custard frosting set, and come the following day - it was pretty much spot on!

With only a few ingredients, and a little patience, you'll have an amazing cake in no time! The base also cools down fairly quickly, so you don't have to wait for long until frosting it.

Gul Kake
(Makes 1 cake)

I crushed some "Smash" chocolate from Norway to top it with!

For the base:
4 egg whites (save the egg yolks in a bowl covered with water and a little sugar, ready to use for the frosting later, keep refrigerated until then)
200g ground almonds
200g icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder

For the frosting:
4 egg yolks (the ones you set aside)
100ml milk
100g sugar (I used light brown)
100g light butter for stirring in

- First, pre-heat the oven to 175-180ºC.

- Now, in a bowl, whisk your egg whites stiff, and then add the icing sugar, before folding in the ground almonds along with the baking powder. Pour it into a cake tin (about 18-22cm diameter) and bake for 45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and the surface is nice and crisp. Set aside to cool.

- Once the cake has cooled (about 20 minutes or so later) you can get cracking with the delicious egg custard frosting! Melt the butter and set aside.

- Heat the milk, egg yolks and sugar in a small saucepan over a medium low heat and whisk almost constantly for 5-10 minutes. Once it thickens, take it off the heat to prevent it from curdling - and stir in the butter, wait until it cools a little before frosting the base.

- Serve as it is, or with melted dark chocolate drizzled sparingly over it, or scatter some chopped nuts or crunchy sweets on top (I used the infamous Norwegian Smash! chocolate, yum!) For ideas, you can optionally google "suksessterte" soooo many beautiful examples there! I just prefer them a little plain, s'all ^ ^

I hope you like this as much as I do!

Oh, and today, I had the pleasure of having a little bottle of blackberry sparkling wine delivered to my door, now how about that? Remember the blackberry trip I went on with some friends? Well, turns out the most enthusiastic blackberry picker of the lot had a hard time finishing all the blackberry wine he made and needed a little help from his friends. And holy smokes - it was delicious! I used a little bit for braising some venison I got at a bargain, and the sweetness really shone through in the gravy I made for it. The wine itself though - so good on its own! Come to think of it - it would even have been really nice on the evening cake was had, mmmm ^ ^

I hope you have a great week so far! I myself had a trial shift yesterday which went well, but sadly not well enough, so now I'm a-looking for a job still, and making the most of my spare time. Also, I have become addicted to the Great British Bake-Off and over the course of a few evenings I have caught up on the most recent episode, like I said - making the most of it. I have done a lot of cooking and seen friends too, it's been good! Now I gotta turn on the "job search mode" button though, wish me luck!


Original source:
Iris (Grandmother's sister <3 )

- Jules aka Yellow Cake Addict

Kiwi & Peach Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze

Hey you! Yes, come on over here and have a look at this!

Originally this was going to turn into some lovely kiwi muffins, but I had a peach begging me for mercy and with a few alterations of the recipe, it turned into something completely different. And the best of all? The cake itself is sugar free!

My flatmate loved it (unless he was just being polite, but in that case he wouldn't have wanted a second slice!), and said it was almost like a flan. Now, I have never had flan before, but if it's like this - I'll definitely want to try me some, and I hope you give it a go too!


Kiwi & Peach Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze
(Makes 1 medium-sized cake)

2 eggs
70g xylitol/sukrin gold
2-3 drops Stevia vanilla or vanilla creme
100ml milk (I used almond)
2 kiwis
1 peach
2 tbsp flour of choice (I used extra fibre-flour)
1 tsp xanthan gum (optional)
1/2 scoop vanilla powder (or an additional 2 tbsp flour of choice)
2 tbsp coconut flour (or more flour)
1-2 tsp cinammon

For the glaze:
70g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp low-fat yogurt, or soy yogurt, I used the latter

- Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.

- Have all the cry ingredients in a big baking bowl first, stir to combine and make a well in the middle and have the remailing ingredients. Stir a little bit more before whizzing it all smooth with a stick blender.

- Pour into a greased tin or cake mould (about 18-20cm diameter) and bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before tipping onto a serving plate.

- For the frosting, simply melt the chocolate in a bowl over a casserole with boiling water, and stir in the yogurt, take it off the heat once it's all melted, spread nice and evenly over the cake, and place it in the fridge to set a little before serving.

I hope you like this as much as I did! I had a little bit for breakfast the next day, I couldn't help myself *sneaky grin*

Have a lovely evening!


Recipe by yours truly, with a little help from a completely different recipe!

- Jules

Vegan Vanilla Cake

For the blogs 2nd bloggaversary, I thought I would invite some friends over since it was on a Saturday (aaany excuse right?), the deal being that everyone brought something home made or drinks with them in the spirit of home cooking.

Knowing that some of my friends might have dietary needs due to allergies or lifestyles, that i would try my hands on a vegan cake! I went over to June's blog, as she has been a great inspiration to me as of late, and she suggested this cake here. Which I halved as I only wanted a one-layer cake. I used xylotol in the cake mix, making the base sugar free, but I used proper icing sugar for the frosting - needs must! Also, if you want, you can make 2/3 of the frosting, as the recipe makes a little bit too much.
I decided to decorate it with berries the next morning when the frosting had set, and ta-dah! This came to life *smiles*

A delicious vanilla cake, animal friendly and all, my friends couldn't believe it was vegan - score!

Vegan Vanilla Cake
(Makes 1 cake)

170g plain flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
60g Earth Balance or neutral vegan butter (I used sunflower)
60g coconut oil
170g xylitol or sugar
110g tofutti tofu-based cream cheese or silken tofu
1 tsp vanilla extract
120ml non-dairy milk (I used coconut)

For the frosting (makes a little too much, an excuse to make some cupcakes too?):
115g vegan butter or tofutti (I used the latter)
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
240g/2 cups icing sugar
30ml coconut milk

Berries or vegan chocolate for decorating - perhaps chopped nuts?

- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Grease a cake tin or mould (about 20-24cm diameter) with either vegan butter or coconut oil, and set aside.

- In a bowl, sift in the flour, and mix it with the baking powder and salt. Stir well to combine.

- Take out another bowl and have the Earth Balance/vegan butter in with coconut oil and beat until creamy, add xylitol or sugar and keep stirring until you have a lovely slightly fluffy mixture. Now add tofu, vanilla extract, followed by the flour mixture and stir until well incorporated.

- Pour the batter into the cake tin/mould and place in the middle of the oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Set to cool compleeetely before running a knife along the edge and tip over onto a serving plate.

- Now, for the frosting, simply whisk all the ingredients together until you have a nice, thick and slightly runny frosting. If it's too thin, add a little more icing sugar. It's supposed to be pourable, with a little help of a spoon at the end. Spread evenly out, and set to chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours (or overnight) until the frosting has set. Decorate close to serving and tuck in!

The turnout was great! There were about 10 of us, and everyone brought something to either eat, drink, or both! And I got so many amazing recipes to try!

Gorgonzola crackers and coffee kisses

There were crackers with home-made gorgonzola garnished with walnuts and radishes, Scandinavian-style open rye bread sandwiches by my Danish homie Anna, amazing curried pears, stuffed bacon with red peppers and other such delicious things, juicy roasted onions, coffee kisses and gingered cupcakes as well as sweets, mmmm *smiles*

Love from Scandi-land!

Have you ever been to a party where everyone brings a little something? And in that case, what did you bring? I love these pot-luck set-ups as it's such a nice way to get together, catch up and enjoy some great company and food! I hope you're having a lovely weekend so far!

Original source:
http://philosophyandcake.blogspot.com/2014/07/neapolitan-celebration-cakes-part-iii.html

- Jules

Chai Banana Bread

Good morning, and happy Wednesday. Has the week been good to you so far?

I was to the dentist yesterday (stupid wisdom tooth is being none-the-wiser and giving me grief! Hopefully it'll be better in a couple of days' time...) aaaand my friends and I won the pub quiz, so it has been a mixed week to say the least, but over-all a sociable and good one, and the weather has been magnificent, sunshine all around!

It had been forever and a daaaay since I had made banana bread. I came across a recipe for CHAI bananabread, and I had no option - I had to make this!

I used xylitol instead of sugar to make it a little lighter, but you can of course use brown sugar instead!

This is super simple, and the key to any good banana bread? To cook it over slightly lower heat and do NOT open the door to the oven until it's ready, as then you might risk it to turn to mush, and we don't do that. You can serve ths simply topped with an icing sugar glaze, or serve it topped with some butter and perhaps a little bit of syrup or a sprinkle of sugar? Delicious!

Chai Banana Bread
(Makes 1 loaf)

It literally only needs a slab of butter, if even that! And perhaps a drizzle of honey or syrup if you have a bit of an extra sweet tooth!

3 ripened bananas (spotted/slightly brown), mashed
2 heaped tbsp Greek yogurt or quark
3 tbsp butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup xylitol/sukrin gold or brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
Cooking spray/oil (I used 1 tsp coconut oil)

Optional glaze:
1/3 cup icing sugar (or sukrin icing sugar)
1 1/2 tsp milk/lemon
Few drops vanilla extract

- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.

- In a baking bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients well, then add your butter, vanilla extract, yogurt, eggs, and mashed bananas. Stir well to combine.

- Grease a normal loaf tin with cooking oil (coconut/sunflower/rapeseed), before pouring the batter into the tin or dish. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 60-65 minutes.

- Take out on a rack to cool (still in the tin) for at least 10-15 minutes. I am a little too impatient to let it cool almost completely.

- Drizzle over the icing sugar glaze, or simply serve on it's on with butter and sugar or syrup on the side, and enjoy!

Pre- and post-glaze, both delicious!

Have you ever tried to make banana bread but adding something extra? This here was the first one of mine apart from the normal banana bread I usually make (SO good with walnuts added!). I hope you have a great day *smiles*


Original source:
http://warmvanillasugar.com/2014/06/05/chai-banana-bread/

- Jules

Krydderkake (Spice Cake)

For the flatwarming that we had here after the move, I wanted to make a lot of things - and I got a little overwhelmed. But then...then I had an epiphany, and remembered the cake that I first tried after my sister brought some home from kindergarden years and years and years ago!
She got the recipe for it, and whenever my mum made it, it would sit in the kitchen, and for some straaaaange reason, we would always come up with excuses to go to the kitchen, so we could sneak a piece of this with us...or two!

I halved the original recipe, so that it fit into an approximately 15x25cm povenproof dish, but I had to cook it for 15 minutes longer than the recipe stated.

Krydderkake (Spice Cake)
(Serves 12-15)

*Edited, as original recipe doesn't have eggs as previously stated*
2 cups sugar (I used medium brown sugar)
3 cups flour
2 cups kefir or light soured cream
4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g melted butter

For the icing:
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Water to right consistency (careful!)

- Start by pre-heating the oven to 175-180C.

- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar light and airy. Then add the spices, melted butter, kefir/soured cream, bicarbonate of soda and flour. Mix well until you have a smooth batter. Pour this into your oven proof dish (I used a 15x25ish centimetre one), and place in the middle in the oven to bake for 45-60 minutes, until a knife comes out clean.

- Once done, take out and let it cool for a couple of hours. Then, make the icing sugar, by mixing all the dry ingredients first, and then carefully adding a little water at a time. I think I altogether used around 1/2 cup, but start out with just a little as it liquifies quite easily!

- Pour the icing sugar over the cake and let it sit, covered, until the icing has dried slightly, before serving.

- I know it is tempting to wanting to decorate this bad boy, but you know what? This cake speaks for itself, so it isn't necessary for any other reasons than to make it more fun, hehe.

Pre-party! Spice cake and cocoa Nutty Date Marbles rolled in dessicated coconut, mmmm!

And I thought I'd throw in a picture of a colourful little breakfast I had last week, after having finally bought a milk frother so I could make cappuccinos at home

Crackerbread with soft cheese, ham and basil, accompanied by a home made cappuccino and apricots, yum!

What are your favourite cakes and breakfasts?


Original source:
Camilla's kindergarden (thank you!)

- Jules

Marbled Banana Cake

So I may have completely failed with the actual pattern of this cake. I ended up laying first the plain layer and then the chocolate layer on top and turned a spoon aroun in it, but it all just blended together. Next time, I'll pay closer attention to the recipe...

A gluten free little treat for any day! I like how the banana in it made sure it didn't go dry when baking it, mmmm!

Marbled Banana Cake
(Cuts into 6, serves 2-3)

OK, so it got a bit of a marble pattern, it was definitely funkier than I feared it would be when I took it out of the oven!

1 banana, mashed
1 egg
3 tbsp low-fat yogurt (or an egg white)
1 tbsp Sukrin gold or xylitol (optional, I didn't use it)
3-4 drops stevia vanilla
20g (1 heaped tbsp) coconut flour
20g vanilla protein powder
2 tbsp milk or water
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2-3 drops stevia chocolate

- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

- In a bowl, mash the banana, before adding the egg, yogurt/egg white, sukrin, stevia, coconut flour, protein powder and the milk/water.

- Transfer half of the mixture into another bowl and mix in the cocoa and chocolate stevia.

- In a small cake tin or quiche tin (about 12 cm), add layers of each batter on top of each other until you run out of the mixture. DON'T do like me and swirl, just pop it in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes. If you're using muffin tins, check in on them after 15 minutes and give them another five minutes if they aren't cooked properly through.

- Take out and cool slightly before serving, and enjoy!

At your service! I can imagine it would be lovely with a drizzle of melted dark chocolate too!

Oh and I finally got around to trying the pecan pumpkin butter the other day!

It was a lot sweeter than I imagined it to be, so I would recommend serving it on a good slice of wholemeal bread as opposed to the already sweet apple and cinnamon rice cakes I used. It had a lovely flavour though, and I cannot wait to try some more of it!

Do you have a favourite nut-butter? Perhaps one with a twist like this?

Later on I will try a new recipe I was lucky enough to get when I was in New Jersey, if it turns out right, it might just turn up on the blog tomorrow, fingers crossed! Stay tuned, and have a lovely weekend!


Original Source:
Sunnere & Sterkere med Proteinrik Mat, p. 40

- Jules

Sweetpotato Cake for Any Occasion

This is something I decided to make Saturday morning - for breakfast!

Some people have a full Scottish fry-up, and others have, well... Sweet potato cake! This is virtually free of sugar though, and almost tastes like carrot cake!
You can make a sweet cream cheese frosting, or melt chocolate to drizzle over. Perhaps some nice whipped cream and chopped nuts?

Since it was my breakfast, I decided to be good, so I topped one with Greek yogurt mixed with some jam, and one with sukrin gold and a squeeze of lemon - tasty! It was really good just on it's own as well, and I'm sure chocolate spread will work wonders too!

Sweetpotato Cake for Any Occasion
(Makes one cake, simple as that!)

200g sweetpotato, cubed, cooked and mashed (or use already made purée)
100g wholemeal flour (I used half and half with wholemeal and almond flour)
1 banana, mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp melted coconut oil, or sunflower/rapeseed oil
30g protein powder (I used quite a neutral one, with a hint of vanilla) OR 30g more flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cardamom
1/4-1/2 tsp ground cloves
5 tbsp honey or sukrin gold (Can use brown sugar or syrup instead)

- Start by pre-heating the oven to 180°C.

- First, mix together sukrin gold/sugar/honey/syrup until well combined, then add your eggs, oil, banana, and sweet potato.

- Once well combined, add the spices, flour and protein powder (if using). Stir well, and once it's all done, pour into a greased cake tin (mine is about 20-24cm in diametre).

- Bake for about 20 minutes, and cool slightly before serving.

I also reckon some apple wedges pressed neatly into it would be a real winner as well, I think I might try that next time!


Original source:
http://amanamlyn.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/treningsprogram-og-stpotetkake.html

- Jules

Orange & Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Craving something sweet, but not wanting to make a whoooole cake because you're home alone? (You could make a cake and invite people over, I'd fully support that! Or just double or triple this recipe!)
I find that if I'm wanting something cakey of sorts, it's difficult, because most recipes make enough to feed a crowd, this one however, makes two lovely large cupcakes! I didn't have big cupcake cases, and so I decided to just use two greased ramekins, and it worked a treat! These were gone without minutes, so tasty!

Mind the orange zest though, as I found it a bit bitter, and will leave that part out next time I made them. The cupcakes with the topping was lovely though!

It was definitely about time this post got fed a sweet treat...

Orange & Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
(Makes 2, 95 calories each without topping, 140 with)

For the cupcakes:
1 egg
10g coconut flour (or normal flour)
10g vanilla protein powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sukrin icing sugar, sukrin gold, or xylitol
Juice of 1/3 orange
2-3 drops stevia with vanilla or vanilla creme

Frosting:
1 1/2 tbsp philadelphia light
1 tbsp sukrin icing sugar
1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

- Mix all the ingredients for the cupcake batter until you have a smooth mixture. Pour into two large cupcake cases or greased ramekins, and bake for about 20 minutes until cooked through and risen.

- For the frosting, simply mix the cream cheese, sukrin icing sugar and cocoa powder together. You can leave this in the fridge until it's required.

- Once the cupcakes are done, simply take out to cool before topping with the frosting. You can also add a little bit of grated orange zest on the top, if you don't mind the slight tangyness of it.

What are you waiting for? Help yourself! *smiles*
Have these on a Saturday as well as any Monday, Tuesday or other day of the week!


Original source:
Sunnere & Sterkere med Proteinrik Mat, p. 82

- Jules

Choco-Banana Cupcakes

Delicious, healthy and simple - make these cupcakes in a flash!

They will keep refrigerated for at least a couple of day, I hope you like them *smiles*

Choco-Banana Cupcakes
(Makes 5, about 60 calories each)

2 tbsp light Greek yogurt or quark
1 ripe banana, mashed
20g chocolate protein powder
10g coconut flour (or plain wholemeal flour)
2 tbsp sukrin gold, or other sweetner of choice (stevia, syrup, honey etc)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 egg whites

- Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.

- Mix everything apart from the egg whites in a baking bowl.

- Whisk the egg whites nice and frothy, before folding it into the rest of the cupcake mixture. Have in 5 cupcake cases, lick the spoon, place the soon-to-be cupcakes in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes until cooked.

A lion face! Haha! Had to include this picture...

- Enjoy these lovely chocolate and banana cupcakes as they are, or make a simple cream cheese frosting for them. Personally, I liked them on their own. Sweet, moist and delicious! I also think just dabbing a bit of peanut butter on top would be pretty nice too.

Recipe by yours truly

- Jules

Texan Chocolate Cake

Or "Texas langpanne" as this recipe is originally called!
I went to an indoor barbecue birthday extravanganza at a colleague's on Saturday, and thought I should make something I could bring. And the result? This great chocolate cake that I found the recipe for on a nifty little Norwegian blog. I've been wanting to make for a while now, so this was a perfect opportunity. It turned out like a hybrid between a brownie and chocolate cake! It went down a treat *smiles*

There can't be a birthday and no cake, that simply isn't good enough!

Texan Chocolate Cake
(Cuts into about 25-30 slices, 220-185 calories each)

For the base:
200g light butter
200 ml water
4.5 dl sugar (about 400g)
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
5 dl plain flour, about 500g
1 dl light soured cream, around 100-150ml

For the frosting:
100g cooking chocolate, I used 76%, mmmm!
100g light butter
2-3 tbsp water
100g icing sugar

- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

- Start by making the base. In a small pot, melt butter, sugar and water together. Once melted, take it off the hob and add the cocoa powder.

- Stir in one egg at a time, using a which to get it all nice and smooth, no lumps!

- Then, sift in flour, and baking powder, once combined, add the soured cream, and stir well.

- Pour into a large cake pan, and cook for 40-45 minutes, until a butter knife of tooth pick comes out clean when pricking the cake. The cooking time depends on how big the cake tin is.

- Once baked, leave to cook for 30 minutes-1 hour, before making the frosting:
Melt the water and sugar for the frosting with a couple of tablespoons of water, take the mixture off the heat, and sift in the icing sugar. Stir until it's free of lumps and looks lovely and glossy. Spread it evenly over the cake, and decorate it you want!

It will keep in the fridge for at least 2-3 days!

I dug through some recipes, and suddenly, I came across this fitness test that a local gym who visited our work place did. Here are my results:

The "result column" is my personal score, and the "information" is what it ideally should be. As you can see, my BMI should be a bit higher, and that is what I have been working on for the last year now, but other than that I was healthy as can be physically, which I was really happy to hear!

I hope you have a great start to the new week!

Original source:
http://studenterhjemmet.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/lrdagstur.html

- Jules

Healthy Sweet Potato Brownie Mud Cake

....quite a name isn't it? Originally, it's called Sweet potato brownie, but because something went slightly wrong (possibly the fact that I didn't spray the dish and baked it in an oven dish rather than a cake tin) it turned out to something that resembled more of a mud cake - except, it tastes sooo good! Next time, instead of steaming the sweet potato, I think I will roast it, so the batter will be slightly thicker!

This cake has no sugar in it other than natural sweetners, how about that?! It had one of the richest and smoothest texture I have tasted before! I have been wanting to make a cake that contained vegetables, and boy will I make this again! No one will notice the fact that you haven't added granulated sugar either!

Healthy Sweet Potato Brownie Mud Cake
(Serves 12, about 210 calories each - Now how's THAT for a treat? You can have two slices without feeling guilty!)



Base:
1 ripe avocado
1 small sweet potato, peeled, chopped and roasted (or 1 cup sweet potato purée)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup date paste (I soaked 5-6 dates in boiling water)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Topping:
1/4 cup date paste (or 5-6 dates soaked)
1/4 cup hazelnut butter
1/2 cup fat free plain Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted (I used sunflower oil)
2 scoops vanilla flavored whey protein powder (original recipe uses 3)
2-3 tbsp agave syrup (optional and depending how sweet the protein powder is)
1/3 packet stevia (optional)
Dash of water and milk
Dessicated coconut for decoration (optional)

- Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC. Spray a 22cm cake tin with cooking spray and line if with baking paper.

- In a bowl, add the avocado, sweet potato, apple sauce, dates, vanilla extract & eggs. Use a stick blender and mix until you have a lump free smooth paste. In another bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, sea salt, and bicarbonate of soda. Gently combine the two mixes and fold the walnuts through.

- Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for about 25 minutes (I had to leave it in for another 10 minutes because I used a smaller and deeper baking dish) or until a butter knife inserted into it comes out clean.

- Set the brownie on a wire-rack to cool for about half an hour. While the brownie is cooling, make the topping, combining all the ingredients and pulsing with the stick blender until you've got a nice creamy chocolate sauce. Pour over the brownie and spread out evenly with a spatula.

- Leave the brownie on a wire rack until it reaches room temperature, then transfer into the fridge until it has completely cooled. Cut into 12 squares and enjoy!

PS. this actually keeps together better when you've left it for a day or two, and it is just as scrummy too!

Should be eaten withing 2-3 days, keep refrigerated!

Oh, and on an artsy note, here's what happened when I couldn't find any fridge magnets that I liked, me and my boyfriend made some plaster one and pimped them up ourselves!



I went for the more classic colour scheme, next time I will try with some different patterns I think!



....perhaps something like this? Aye, he funked the simple plaster right up!

Original source:
http://thehealthyfoodie.com/2012/11/09/deliciously-healthy-sweet-potato-brownies/

- Jules

Mini Carrot & Apple Cake

It has been a quite chilled weekend actually. I was out with some friends in this great little pub catching up, and at some point Yatzy was played! I haven't played it for years, literally! I passed the game in a shop and couldn't not get it, that would be madness! I did however get beat whenever it came down to playing it. I blame beginner's luck on the other part...



Anyways, yesterday I decided I wanted to try and make my own little cake-for-two type of thing, without using any references or recipes. It actually turned out really nicely! The only thing I will do differently next time though, is perhaps to use a mix of wholemeal flour and ground almonds, the soy flour I used added a little aftertaste. It was just a hint, so it didn't matter, other than that the cake was deliciously moist. I wouldn't even say the icing is necessary, perhaps just a drizzle of syrup right before serving would do the trick!

Mini Carrot & Apple Cake
(Makes 1 small cake and 3 ramekins - Cake 500 calories without frosting, ramekins about 80 calories each without frosting)



1 whole egg
1 egg white
3 tbsp agave syrup
1 tbsp (15 g) Total sweet sugar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 tbsp (30 g) philadelphia light cheese
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 medium apple, grated
1 tbsp sunflower oil
50 g flour (wholemeal, almond, spelt, coconut, plain)

Optional icing
For ramekins:
2 laughing cow light soft cheese traingles
A splash of lemon juice
1 tsp agave syrup
Pinch of cinnamon

For the cake:
A little bit more than in the icing recipe above.

- Pre-heat the oven to about 180°C

- Mix all the ingredients for the cake in the order they are stated, and stir well. Pour 2/3 of the batter into a small, buttered tin (about 10-15 in diameter) and the remaining of the batter into three ramekins. You can optionally just use ramkekins (if you have that many) or use all of the batter in a slightly bigger cake tin. Note that if you do the latter, it will need to stay in the oven for longer.

- Place the cake in the middle of the oven, and bake for about 20-25 minutes until a knife comes out of it clean. Take out the cake and leave to cool. For the ramekins, pop them in the oven for about 1 1/2 minute (check if they're set after 1 minute!). The top should be soft but hold together. You can also bake them in the oven until they are set, but I haven't tried this yet so I don't know how long they would have to be in for.


Before icing, the mark is from the knife, I had to be sure it was cooked through!

- As the cake and ramekins are cooling, make the icing, or any other icing of your choice. This makes for a silly little treat that will hopefully hit the spot whenever you feel like you want a little something sweet. Make sure you run a fork along the inside of the tin in case the cake has gotten a little stuck.


One of the messy mini ramekins! So tasty ^ ^

Enjoy!

Original source:
Yours faithfully

- Jules

PS. Does anyone know how you can change the size of the photos when you upload them, and also whether you want it in the left, middle or centre? There seemed to have been made some changes over the past few weeks!