Emmelou Green’s recipe for blueberry muffins looks delicious but I don’t like using butter in recipes since they’re already so calorie dense. So today I experimented by replacing the butter with courgette! Success! Enjoy these moreish and healthy treats.
Ingredients
200g rice or buckwheat flour
50g almond meal
50g raw cane sugar
100g finely grated courgette (mix it in the mixer so you get a mushy mix)
150g yoghurt
2 eggs
1 tsp psyllium
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Zest of 1 lemon
Handful of blueberries
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
Line or oil a muffin tray.
Mix all of the ingredients apart from the blueberries together.
Add the blueberries. I chucked in a piece of chocolate in each muffin.
Divide the mix over the muffin tray and bake in the oven for 30 mins.
I’ve not had much time to experiment with baking recently, but when I saw @growforagecookferment’s Instagram post about blood orange cake, I just needed to see if I might turn it into something I might be allowed to eat.m
My son’s been eating so many blood oranges recently, it’s been exciting to do something else with the oranges rather than just devouring them raw!
Ingredients
Syrup: 120ml water, 90g sugar, and 60ml maple syrup, 2 blood oranges finely sliced
100g almond meal
140g finely grated sweet potato
80g buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
90g maple syrup
120g lactose free yoghurt
1/4 tsp psyllium
2 eggs
Rind of 2 lemons and some dried rosemary
Instructions
For the syrup, boil the water, sugar, and maple syrup for 5 minutes.
Add the blood orange slices gently, and leave to simmer for 5 more minutes.
Meanwhile, Pre-heat the oven to 175C.
Mix all of the cake ingredients to quite a dry mix.
Put one orange slice in the middle of an oiled cake tin with baking paper. Put more slices from the middle, overlapping until the touch the outside of the tin. Add some syrup on top.
Pour the cake mix on top of the orange slice.
Bake for 45 mins.
Turn the cake upside down and take out of the tin.
Pour some more syrup over the cake before you eat it. The rind is edible by the way.
Gosh, it’s been forever since I’ve posted another recipe. I’ve been baking a lot but without much time to write things down.
I got my son to try out a Sarah Wilson brownie recipe recently, but changed things around a bit to fit our lifestyle. The result is a delicious, moreish snack that satisfies my chocolate craving while not being too sweet or heavy. The main ingredient? Courgette…
Ingredients
200g finely grated courgette (don’t peel it)
175g peanut butter
1 egg
80g rice syrup or maple syrup (add more of you have a particular sweet tooth or if you’re using intensely bitter chocolate)
80g melted dark chocolate
40g roughly chopped pecans
30g buckwheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp gingerbread spice
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Melt the chocolate with the peanut butter and rice or maple syrup.
Mix all the ingredients and pour the mix into a square brownie or cake tin lined with baking paper.
Bake for 45 minutes.
The mix will still be quite gooey when it comes out of the oven. Leave to cool and then enjoy with some whipped cream…
It’s starting to feel quite autumnal and a change in eating habits is slowly taking place: soup replacing salad, porridge replacing yoghurt with granola… I’ve got so any recipes in my mind with pear, squash, and other autumn goodies, but for now I had apples to use up that I’d bought for juicing which I hadn’t gotten round to. The addition of date caramel lends complexity to these muffins which kid will be taking to school and I to work. Can’t wait!
Ingredients
5 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks
For the date caramel:
5 medjoul dates, pitted and soaked in water for 15 mins
50ml milk of any kind
Pinch of nutmeg and salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
For the muffins:
3 eggs
100g raw cane sugar or replacement
200g peeled and finely grated courgette
180g buckwheat flour
160g almond meal
2 tsp baking powder
1tsp psyllium
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Make the date caramel: mix all the ingredients for the caramel in a blender and pour over the apple chunks. Mix thoroughly.
Make the muffins:
Beat the eggs and sugar for 4 minutes.
Add the other muffin ingredients and mix carefully until combined.
Add the apple chunks with date caramel and mix thoroughly.
With an ice cream scoop, scoop spoons of the mixture into oiled muffin cases.
Bake in the oven for 35 mins. Leave to cool completely before removing from the muffin cases.
If you read my previous recipe, you’ll know I made my own mincemeat a few days ago, for the first time ever. It’s delicious and I wanted to try using it in a few ways. So yesterday there were traditional mince pies (and people from outside the UK were like – wait, there’s no meat in these?! Bizarre how some cultural things don’t travel.) Today I baked a fancy fluffy christmas cake using up the mincemeat in combination with pear and some very quick marzipan balls which are hidden in the middle of the cake (surprise!). I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Ingredients
For the cake:
3 medium eggs
100 raw cane sugar or honey
200g very finely grated courgette
120g ground almonds
1,5 tsp baking powder
zest of 2 lemons
a pinch of salt
For the filling:
150g mincemeat
1 large pear, diced into fairly hefty chunks
80g almond flour
50g honey
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Beat the eggs and sugar/honey together for five minutes till very fluffy.
Add the other cake ingredients and mix well.
Add the diced pear and mincemeat.
Mix almond flour and honey in a blender until well combined. Then roll out small balls in the palm of your hand.
Pour half the cake mix into a 18cm diameter pre-oiled cake tin.
Put the marzipan balls on top, spread out over the surface.
Pour over the other half of the cake mix and flatten the surface.
Bake for 35 mins. Let cool entirely. Enjoy with cinnamon ice cream or something similar.
Some days I don’t want fancy decorations or perfectly finished cakes. Just give me flavour and texture on a plate. Wasn’t sure what to do with my rhubarb bounty so this simple recipe was born for those lazy afternoons…
Ingredients
3 eggs
100g sugar
80g liquid honey
200g peeled and finely grated courgette
150g buckwheat or rice flour
50g almond meal
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
About 100 to 150g rhubarb, cut into small chunks.
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Oil a 20 inch diameter cake tin.
Beat eggs, honey, and sugar for 5 mins till fluffy.
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir till combined.
Mix the rhubarb into some extra rice flour before you also add it to the mix.
Pour the cake mix into the tin and bake for 45 mins. Put a sheet of baking paper on top so it doesn’t brown too much.
My cakes have so far been inspired by the great baking tradition of Ireland and the UK where I lived for 17 years. I still remember arriving in Ireland to start my Erasmus exchange – the first place where myself and my friends had dinner, we had the most divine chocolate cake. So cake and the British Isles for me go hand in hand.
However, since returning to Belgium, I’ve reacquainted myself with the Flemish/Belgian baking tradition and I can see it slowly starting to find its way into my own baking. It’s less easy integrating vegetables into tarts and pies rather than cake, but I’m up for a challenge (especially in these challenging times, baking is my haven). So here is a recipe I’ve been working on for a week now. It’s a bit more work than a regular cake which takes like an hour start to finish, but it’s worth it seeing the face on my kid’s face when he goes ‘moooore’!
Ingredients
For the cake:
110g boiled and mashed cauliflower (add a splash of water if it won’t mix well)
120g rice or buckwheat flour
25g cornstarch
20g tapioca starch
20g coconut milk powder (you can use regular milk powder here too)
1,5 tsp psyllium husk
120g sugar or substitute
110g coconut oil, melted and cooled
100g almonds
For the custard (recipe adapted from No Milky Way):
500ml nut milk (I make my own cashew milk)
40g sugar or substitute
30g corn starch
4g agar agar
1/4 tsp curcuma
For the decoration:
strawberries (or any other fruit)
shape cutter for the tart
Instructions:
Make the dough either early in the day or the day before, because this will have to cool.
Mix all the ingredients for the tart together and knead until it comes together into a sticky ball. Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
When you’re ready for the next step, pre-heat the oven to 175C.
Take the tart dough out of the fridge and start kneading again until it’s supple enough to manipulate (you might have to take smaller chunks and knead those separately until you can put it all together again – coconut oil gets very hard.)
Roll out the dough in between two baking sheets until it’s about an inch (2,5 cm) thick. (Use whatever you have left to cut out shapes for decoration.) Put the pastry on a low round baking mould that you’ve prepared with oil and a baking sheet, and bake for 20 mins or until it gets brown. Bake whatever shapes you have made for about 10 mins – make sure they don’t get too brown.
Leave to cool entirely. The coconut oil will make sure it hardens and makes it easier to manage as it cools, so don’t be tempted to try to take it out of the mould when it’s still warm.
Next make the custard.
Put all the ingredients into a small pot and put it on a medium heat. Mix well until the mix starts to thicken. Add a bit more sugar if you’re so inclined.
When the tart has cooled down, pour the custard into it and put it into the fridge so it can set.
After half an hour or so, decorate with strawberries and the shapes you have cut out of the leftover dough – or decorate to your liking! Enjoy!
So. Much. Rhubarb ! I’m totally addicted to rhubarb. Its freshness sings of spring and comfort. Maybe it’s because one of my early childhood memories is of eating rhubarb right after cutting it, by rubbing it with a sugar cube. Ah, growing up in the eighties… This recipe is a bit more sophisticated but also very easy, so a good choice for lazy afternoons.
Ingredients
For the rhubarb cream:
4 stalks of rhubarb, cut into small chunks
100g sugar (I don’t normally use this much but honestly, rhubarb is so tart, it really needs it)
Juice and rind of 1 lemon
2 tbsp elderflower cordial
100g lactose free or vegan cream cheese
For the cake:
125g grated courgette
100g ground almonds
100g buckwheat flour
150g sugar
100g cream cheese
3 eggs
1 tsp psyllium husk
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tbsp elderflower cordial
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
For the rhubarb cream: mix all the ingredients apart from the cream in a bowl, then transfer to an oven dish and cover with baking paper. Bake for 25 mins and then leave to cool.
For the cake: mix all the ingredients. Turn the oven d
Add half of the baked rhubarb to the mix and pour the mix into a well oiled cake tin.
Bake in the oven for 35 mins. Take out and leave to cool.
Mix the remaining rhubarb with the remainng cream. Cut the cake in half, put the cream filling in the middle.
I’ve been looking for ways to use up apple sauce I froze last year and when I came across Oh My Pie’s pink cake, I saw a possibility to experiment. I adapted her recipe and it’s just about the easiest instructions ever. Chuck everything together and leave in the oven for 30 mins. It doesn’t get much easier, and the result is delish.
Ingredients
100g almond meal
100g peeled and finely grated courgette
80g buckwheat or rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
90g maple syrup
120g apple sauce
1/4 tsp psyllium
2 eggs
100g frozen berries
50g chocolate drops
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 175C.
Mix all the ingredients to a supple dough.
Pour into an oiled cake tin and bake for 30 mins.
Leave in the tin until fairly cool and eat. For afternoon, or breakfast, as my kid does…
I have to admit I’ve never been a fan of cakes with beetroot. Even though I don’t mind most other vegetables, beetroot seems to always come through flavour-wise. But since I had cooked beetroot lying around and was looking for veg puree to make cake, this chocolate and beetroot cake was an easy option. It doesn’t feature too much beetroot so that makes it tolerable. I built it up in 2 layers but actually I think it works better as a brownie in 1 layer with the cream directly on it.
Ingredients
400ml any milk
1,5 tsp apple cider vinegar
100g beetroot puree
200g almond meal
100g cocoa powder (I use raw cacao powder)
50g buckwheat flour
200g sugar
40g corn starch
1,5 tsp baking powder
1,5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp psyllium
For the cream: 400ml coconut milk (only the hard stuff), 50g sugar, pinch of pink pitaya powder or another pink colourant. Optional rose petals and Easter eggs…
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 175C.
Put the milk and vinegar together and leave for 2 minutes.
Add all the other ingredients and mix till we’ll combined.
Divide the mix among 2 well oiled round baking tins and bake for 40 mins.
Leave to cool entirely. Then add cream on top and enjoy!
Miss Madeleine Bakes 