Cacao Nibs, Raw Chocolate and Cocoa Muesli

Regular blog readers may recognise this Cacao Nibs, Dark Chocolate and Cocoa Muesli  has featured on my blog before, but I decided to make and showcase it again, as its one cereal I am happy tucking into.  Its really a muesli base enhanced with organic cacao nibs, cocoa powder and grated raw dark chocolate.

I have to admit cacao nibs are not to everyones taste, its very distinct in flavour - a tad bitter, but before dismissing it all together, give it a try, you just never know.  I acquired a taste for cacao nibs since making some raw chocolate four years ago and its been making an appearance in my kitchen slowly but surely. Actually the last recipe I made with it was  Sweet Potato Fudge from Bite Sized Thoughts.  

I am sharing this with the last ever We Should Cocoa (WSC) food blogger event hosted by Tin and Thyme.  I have been playing along since its inception eight years ago joining in with both sweet and savoury recipes.  I have even had the pleasure to host some themed WSC, so will miss it even though in the past months I haven't joined in as much as I have wanted to.

Below are a selection of those chocolate recipes shared with We Should Cocoa over the years. 

The Chocolate Chili Round Up
The Chocolate Mango Round Up

Chili Chocolate Salsa
White Chocolate Banoffee Roulade
Red Dragon Chili Brownies
Parsnip and White Chocolate Brownies
Chocolate Lime Halva

Zucchini, Apricot and Pumpkin Seed Flapjacks

Ah I am feeling a little mentally tired today to blog, so share a very simple Zucchini, Apricot and Pumpkin Seed Flapjacks I made over the weekend for the working week.

Lorraine Pascale's Raw Vegan Carrot Cake with Cashew Cream

I am slowly going through some of my bookmarked recipes and starting to tick them off.

Today, I share with you this Raw Vegan Carrot Cake with Cashew Cream.  This Raw Vegan Carrot Cake comes from Lorraine Pascale.

I have to be honest, I don't really do celebrity chefs, so when I first saw Lorraine Pascale on British TV.  the first thought that came to me was, here we go again another model turned celebrity chef, but her approach was really different from all those domestic goddess wannabees. Lorraine Pascale gained popularity without the gimmicks.  She really did win me over on her first cookery show and her down to earth honest approach, I have also come to have a much deeper respect for her as a person too.  

Anyway, this Raw Vegan Carrot Cake was the first that I had bookmarked from her Eating Well Made Easy from Lorraine Pascale.  The only change I have made to the recipe was the use of hazelnut, the original recipe uses walnuts and I did not have to pop this in the freezer, my fridge was plenty chilled.

The recipe makes a generous cake, I took a lot of this Vegan Carrot Cake into work and gave around tasters.  Everyone who had a piece was stunned first at the fact that it was completely raw, secondly that it was very much like baked carrot cake and lastly how Delicious it was, some even wanting a second piece.  The only person who was not that crazy about it was my husband.   He said.  I will eat this, but raw cakes just don't excite me.  Oh well, you cannot win everyone over. 

For the recipe for Raw Vegan Gluten Free Carrot Cake with Cashew Cram see here. 
Keep refrigerated.
Eat within the week.

Welsh Laverbread Cakes and a Piece of Toast

If your a regular reader of my Welsh Vegetarian food blog, you will have seen laverbread featured many times, but for those of you who are not familiar with this Welsh delicacy, in a nutshell Laverbread or bara lawr  as it is known in some parts of Wales is simply cooked seaweed that has been pureed.  It has a pate like consistency, so perfect for spreading on toast.  Welsh Laverbread not to everyone's taste, but I recommend you trying it at least once if your ever in Wales, but saying that its not easy to get hold of, even for those of us who live in the Welsh valleys of Wales.

Many independent high street shops like traditional green grocers and fishmongers no longer exist.  These were places where you can you could pick up fresh sea vegetables like samphire and laverbread are closing down in towns or have closed down due to economic downturn as people snub the High Street and flock to shopping malls stuck in some industrial estate, The places to get fresh laverbread these days in South Wales and South West are cities that have thriving indoor markets.  Cities like Cardiff and  Swansea (and perhaps large market towns like Abergavenny) where I have always been able to purchase fresh laverbread. 

I consider myself a progressive cook with fusion having in the past created vegetarian Welsh Laverbread Burgers aka Glorified Laverbread Cakes, and last year Vegan Welsh Woman's Laverbread Caviar, but today I decided to keep it pure, simple and traditional.

I made these little Welsh Laverbread Cakes, also known as patties this morning.  The recipe is so simple. Stir the fresh laverbread with rolled porridge oats, if you find the mixture too soft, just add some more oats to it and shape into round little patties. Put in the fridge to firm up, when ready to eat.  Shallow fray in a little oil or butter until crisp and a golden crust has appeared.  Serve immediately.

Sweet Parsnip, Apple, Berry and Hazelnut Crumble

A couple of weeks back I made a Parsnip Pie with Edible flowers, I have also been tucking into a bowl of Parsnip Porridge for those days when I have been home alone for breakfast.

This time I am sharing with you home-made Parsnip, Apple, Blueberry and Hazelnut Crumble. On one of the evenings we had this with custard, on the other it was simply with cream.

What I love about this Root vegetable crumble recipe is its versatility.  You can easily swap some of the ingredients to reflect the seasons or your taste.
In place of the carrots you can have Swede, beetroot or carrots.
The golden caster could be demerara sugar, coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup
Nuts - walnuts, pecan, almonds 
Additional spices, nutmeg, ginger, mixed spices, 
And of course you can veganize it too.
Just experiment. 

Black Tahini - Sesame Seed Butter Flapjacks

Flapjacks are back on the menu for our on the go work breakfast bar or energy injecting power snack.

I made these particular ones with Black Sesame Seed Butter, they were so good that I made them twice!  

As you can see the artistic streak came out. I splodged the black sesame seed paste here and there, but could have easily spread it out over the top neatly had I had the patience and inclination.

I mentioned previous, when I made the Black Sesame Seed Butter, D wasn't that keen on them, but when I stirred it into some flapjacks he absolutely loved it.  

Caribbean Sweet Potato - Coconut Milk Oat Slice

A week or so back I made these Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk Oat slices.  They were utterly gorgeous, scented with nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger - all very warming.  Every time I took a bite into these soft, sticky flapjack cake-like slices, it set me up in a happy daze.  

Let me tell you though this was meant to be a Caribbean Sweet Potato Pone.   I had full intentions on following the recipe from Caribbean Modern and not to stray from the written recipe, unless of course I genuinely didn't have the ingredients at home (mixed spice being one of them).  Normally when I do a cake bake style recipe I measure out all the ingredients and set them out in front of me, but I went into a daydream.  I blame the spices: cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and just kept pouring the coconut milk from the can into the bowl.  I realised this when it was a little to late, so to salvage the mixture, I quickly stirred in some rolled oats.  It was a happy and delicious mistake, make the pone a little more dense and perfect to eat for breakfast. You can eat this sticky treat with your fingers, or with a spork!

Caribbean Pone is traditionally made with cassava root, and evaporated milk or condensed milk. If you interested in making one with cassava,  then follow this link  Caribbean Cassava Pone.This one, as you will know from the blog title is made from Sweet Potato and Coconut Milk accidentally adapted from the Sweet Potato Pone featured in Caribbean Modern by Shivi Ramoutar. I've borrowed the cookbook from the library.  I have to praise my library as I am get to take out cookbooks that I would not normally flick through or buy, but this one I am really tempted by as I have bookmarked a number of recipes including cornmeal baked okra and Tamarind dressed Sweet Potato & Beetroot Salad. It is for this reason is one of my Bedside Cookbooks: Caribbean Modern by Shivi Ramoutar .  I am selfishly sharing some of these sliced sweeties with Waste Not Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary, as the sweet potatoes needed using up, I always buy way too many and then don't know what to do with them. 

Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies For Nephews and Nieces

I am very fortunate to have a bunch of nephews and nieces who are genuinely nice to their Aunt and Uncle.  I am really very fond of them all.  Now and again, I like to treat them to something sweet, they have been having their fair share of homemade and shop bought cakes recently, so for a change I decided to make them some cookies.  

Ordinarily they would have some vegetables in them, yes cookies with vegetables such as these Parsnip and Date Cookies, Celery Cookies and Carrot Biscuits or Cookies  - but I didn't want them to think I was a vegetable freak, but nor was I going to spoil them with chocolate chip ones, so I did a sneaky and made them all some super giant Peanut Butter vegan cookies.  So many children these days have nut allergies, I am really pleased to report that none of my nephews and nieces have any allergens.  

By the way, I did keep back a couple of cookies for myself and the big kid that is D.  

The recipe for these comes from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar.  If you don't have the book, then here is a link to the recipe.  The only part I skipped was the additional chopped peanut coating.  I think the peanut butter flavour came through strong, so it was not necessary unless of course it was for visual reasons.  And in case your wondering what the dark brown splodges are on the cookies, its just baked brown sugar that I did not blend well. 

Strawberry Flapjacks

Not quite summer yet, but the strawberries in my garden are beginning to reward us slowly.  I harvested a good handful a few days back.  

D was hinting that he would like something sweet in his lunch box for work to snack on like flapjacks or muffins.  Truth is I've been a bit slack making both.  I used to make them on a regular basis as neither of us has breakfast in the morning, especially on working days and this was a good way to address that gap in our diet.  Well this time round I was more than happy to to the hint.  

As I only had a good handful of strawberries, I sliced them thinly  for a couple of reasons.  To make them stretch, but also I did not want the juices to make the flapjack soggy, just add enough moisture and natural strawberry flavour.  They were simple, summery and lovely, I think though they could have done with a drizzle of white chocolate just to make them appeal to the eye more, but they were perfect for filling that hunger pang in the morning.  

Rhubarb and Custard Cream Cheese Bars

I have had a jar of Duerr's Rhubarb and Custard Jam in my kitchen cupboards for a few good months now, every time I went to use it something came up and then it went back into the cupboards.  I made a decision to bake with it this month, the so-called month of Love, and as my husband loves rhubarb (and custard), I thought I would make him a few delicious treats.  I have already made him Rhubarb and Custard doughnuts - that happen to be vegan and gluten free. 

However, these Rhubarb and Custard Bars are made with cream cheese.  I added a teeny bit of red food colouring to the cream cheese for the pink colouring, as I thought it would look a bit more pretty, and therefore more appealing, hope you agree - but obviously its all about the taste and that did not disappoint.  These bars are not overly sweet, just sweet enough.  They are a cross between a cereal bar and a cheesecake, so definitely one that is a little more luxurious than your average breakfast bar, and not good for the hips, tums and bums, but still very very nice.  

The Duerr's Rhubarb and Custard Jam smells very rhubarb and when you close your eyes and taste it, it really does really taste like those hard boiled retro Rhubarb and Custard sweets - tangy rhubarb and smooth creamy custard.  I loved how it maintained it soft gooey texture once baked, as others I have used in the past burn or become really chewy.   And guess what, its suitable for vegans.  I am sharing some of these Rhubarb and Custard Cream Cheese Bards with Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily at A Mummy Too.

Oat Chocolate Chia Pudding

Some of you will know that this week is National Chocolate Week, well here is my only chocolate offering for the week - Oat Chocolate Chia Pudding, but before I talk about the pudding I want to give my view of it as a chocolate drink.  

Oatly Oat Drink Chocolate is a Swedish dairy -free, soy free milk alternative.  Oatly has been around for years, but has recently been given a make over.  I have to say, as a vegetarian I really enjoyed the Oat Chocolate drink.   Originally when I opened the container and poured it into a glass, I did initially think, oh that looks really watered down.  It was then that I noted the words 'shake me'.  I immediately screwed the top back on and gave it a good shake.  It was much 'chocolate milk' looking.  I really liked it, I would never have been able to say that it was a dairy free alternative, but perhaps that is because when I do drink milk, and it is not that often - it is the semi skimmed type, anyway, the chocolate flavour was enough for me.  Not too sweet and not to weak

Other than just drinking the Oatly Chocolate, I decided to  make a couple of recipes from it. The first is Oat Chia Pudding loosely based on my Raspberry Chia Pudding.   Once the ingredients had swelled, I decided to blend half of it to a smoother texture.  So if you look close at the glass, you will see the two different layers.  

Instead of spooning the Oat Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding to chill overnight in a bowl, I decided to divide it between some wine glasses.  Now how often do you eat breakfast out of a wine glass?!

Beetroot and Raspberry Bakewell Oat Bars

I made these Beetroot and Raspberry Bakewell Bars early in the week, for us to munch on while we work or for a easy breakfast bite.  The reason I've mentioned Bakewell in the recipe title is because these Oat bars reminded me of Bakewell tarts, not just because of the raspberries but also the content of the ground almonds.  

The raspberries are from my garden.  I  have admit that they have been tasting that good in the raw, a bit on the watery side, but when cooked or pureed there is a complete transformation in flavour, which have made these a delight to eat.  I also picked a small beetroot from the garden, unsure what to do with it - I decided to grate and throw it in with the raspberries into these oaty bars, you barely know it is there as its gets lost with the raspberries.  

I am sharing some of these Beetroot and Raspberry Bakewell Oat Bars with Alphabakes hosted this month by Ros of The More Than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes.  The letter this month is 'R' and Raspberries are just so seasonal right now; and Credit Crunch Munch with Camilla of Fab Food For All and Helen of Fuss Free Flavours.  This month it is being hosted by Sarah at Maison and Cupcake.  

Lemon Curd and Cream Cheese Bars

These bars may look small and , but one bite and you go wowzer! This is when a little bite makes a big impact.  The lemon curd zingyness contrasts beautifully with the soft creaminess of the cream cheese layer and the oats just give it some textual bite.

I've chosen to make this recipe with lemon curd as I had a jar that had to be used by its sell by date, but you can choose any kind of zingy curd, like clementine, strawberry, pineapple, grapefruit, mango, orange or even Banana Toffee aka banoffee curd! 

Saying all that, D picked up another jar of lemon curd at the weekend - a no so subtle hint to make them again, soon!  And guess what, he doesn't want me to share them with anyone else.  I am sharing some of these Lemon Curd and Cream Cheese Bars with Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily at A Mummy Too; and this is also my first entry to Bake of the Week hosted by Casa Costello .

No Bake Carrot Cake Granola Bites

There is no shortage of vegan friendly granola balls aka energy bites on blogosphere.  Granola balls are all common in that they are made with traditional rolled oats, but held together with different nut butters such as peanut, hazelnut, almond and dried fruit such as apricots, cherries, raisins, sultanas and so on.  I decided to base mine on this one, only because I had many of the ingredients to hand, as well as the carrots that I mentioned early in the week that had to be used up.

Carrot and Raisin Cake Muesli

Want to try something different for breakfast, then why not try a bowl of this home-made Carrot and Raisin 'Cake' Muesli to kick-start your day.

This Carrot and Raisin 'Cake' Muesli recipe came about last week when I found myself with an excess of carrots that had to be used or thrown in the compost bin, well being a thrifty home cook - of course they were in a number of homely dishes, such as this Vegan Carrot, Potato and Peas Curry. 

Peach Doughnut and Date Crumble

My husband has a tendency to bring home fresh fruit always promising me that he will eat it or make a fruit salad for us both, but neither ever happens and I end up making something sweet with them, as was the case with some peach doughnuts he had brought home last week.  They were beginning to soften and bruise in places and in this humble abode, we do hate waste. 

Peach doughnuts are also known as Saturn peaches and flat peaches (see image below).   The first time I had a peach doughnut was in Edinburgh looking for the sunshine on Leith.   In recent years, they have become readily available.  I do find them far more sweeter and juicier than the round peach bum brand.   

Oaty Ginger and Plum Crumble

My father gave me some plums that have fallen off the tree in the garden both due to ripeness and weight.  The nippers (nephews and nieces) were not that keen on them, so they were looking for someone to offload them on to.  I gladly obliged.  I had ideas of making my Almond, Plum and Thyme Tart.  But as the days went by, sunny on some and dark and grey on others, my thoughts turned to a homely plum crumble: one that I've made before, infused with fiery ginger.  I like ginger, there is something warming and healing about it.  This particular crumble is also made with rolled oats, I like the additional chewy texture it offers.   

Sweet Potato Muesli

I've been making home-made muesli since last year inspired by a couple of Allegra McEvedy recipes, which of course I cannot find links to on the world wide web.  Never mind, I just can't believe it took me so long to make my own, its oh so simple to do and far more affordable than those sold at the supermarkets or health food shops. 

I began making home-made muesli when I found myself with a large sack of rolled oats (5lb honestly) and working really early hours of the day.  I couldn't stand the thought of a greasy fry up or a plain piece of wholemeal toast; and so it was porridge, which quickly turned into muesli.  I had originally made muesli for breakfast.  Now I find it is good to eat any time of the day, but I don't think I will count the evening in that.  

When September comes - not that its that far away, I am planning to have a go at making granola.  I have plenty of dried cranberries, pecan nuts and maple syrup.  I am not the only one excited about those ingredients, my husband loves them too.

Fairtrade Banana Flapjacks

I'm ordinarily a muffin and mug of coffee breakfast kinda girl, but lately flapjacks have been finding their way on my breakfast menu, or at snack attack times.  I also have a 10 year old nephew who adores flapjacks so I partly made some to share with him and his cousins. 

I've made banana fair trade banana flapjacks before: a variation with sesame seeds and sultanas; and another with flaked coconut.   However the recipe below make a large dense variation.  One bite and you know you've been smacked in the face with a banana shake!  I mean, these are seriously bananaree - if such a word exists!?

To make these Bananaree flapjacks look a little pretty and appealing to the eyes, I decided to slice one half of the bananas and pressed them gently into the top.  This gives the onlooker an indication of what's in the oaty slab cakes too.

I am sharing some of these banana flapjacks with the Breakfast Club #22, founded and hosted by Helen of Fuss Free Flavours. The theme this month is Fairtrade and for this recipe I have used fairtrade bananas.  I did nearly add some fairtrade chocolate to these, but then decided to keep them purely banana.

Banana Flapjacks
Ingredients
Makes about 16
250g butter
100g golden caster sugar
150g golden syrup
2 ripe fairtrade bananas, mashed (keep back half a banana if you wish to press some into the oaty mixture)
425g rolled oats
Method
Preheat oven to gas mark 4 or 180oc.
Grease a medium sized baking tray.  My tin measured 8inch by 8 inch with greaseproof paper.  In a large saucepan, melt the butter, sugar, golden syrup and mashed bananas.Take of the heat, then evenly stir in the oats.
Using a spatula, carefully turn out into the baking tray and spread out evenly.  Gently press down down the sliced bananas if using. Place the tray in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes or until the sides are golden. Remove from the oven. Allow to cool, before slicing.

Coconut Date Bars

I’ve been doing a pretty good job of using up what we have in our store cupboards, including tinned and dried goods, but with the good comes a little not so good.  I am also out of honey, maple syrup and golden syrup - so this means that no flapjacks were made this weekend. 

Instead I made use of some other ingredients to go with my oats: dessicated coconut and dates. 

The dessicated coconut seems quite perfect for this time of the year, looking like snow flakes, thankfully the subtle-sweet edible kind.  The chocolate coloured Kimia dates are imported from Iran. They were neatly packed in the box like dominoes. On the side of the box there was lots of interesting information, including the health property benefits of consuming dates such as Vitamin A - good for the skin, Vitamin B1 - regulating the digestive system, and Vitamin B2 to help the absorption of food (metabolism). Well regardless of the health benefits, I found them quite tasty, fleshy and juicy. Unlike other dates that can be a bit on the dry side plus you have to chew them to extract the flavour, these are soft and almost melt in your mouth like date syrup.

These 'Coconut Date Bars' are a little crumbly on top and not overly sweet.  The sweetness comes namely from the date-coconut filling.  I actually think they make a lovely change from the flapjacks.  Do try them if you get the chance.

I am sharing some of these 'Coconut Date Bars' with Raksha at Raksha's Kitchen who is hosting Cook Eat Delicious - Desserts this month.  The theme for December is Coconuts.  This food series was founded by Raven at  Cook Eat Delicious. 

Coconut Date Bars

Makes 6 - 9

Ingredients

275g pitted and chopped dates

75g vegan margarine or butter
60g brown sugar
180g plain flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
90g rolled oats
50g dessicated coconut
Method
Combine the dates and 200ml water in a small saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the dates are soft.
While the dates cook, melt the margarine or butter with the sugar, then pour into a mixing bowl.  Sift the flour, cinnamon and baking powder into the bowl, add the oat and mix until blended.  The dough will be crumbly.  Firmly pat about two thirds of the dough into a baking pan measuring 8 inch square. 
Preheat oven to gas mark 6.
Stir the coconut into the cooked dates.  Spread the date mixture evenly over the crust.  Then scatter the remaining dough over the date layers as a topping.  Bake for about 30 minutes, until the topping is golden and dark brown around the edges.  Cool for 30 minutes before cutting into 6 to 9 squares.  In a sealed contained, they will keep for up to 2 weeks.  Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates.