Choc quinoa cookie cake​- in one minute!

Something ridiculously exciting might just be about to go down...waiting on a final email. Will have to leave you in suspense there- but i'll be sure to update you in the next few days once things are confirmed!

Anyway, I'm all a bit excitable and so was browsing my photos of recipes not yet posted and found this one I'd forgotten about- the photos were taken back in August but I've made this little snack a few more times since as its so quick… Seriously I can't believe I had not come up with this a long time before!

I love my single serve microwave breakfast cookies and hadn't made one a while, but since I was going through such a quinoa phase it suddenly occurred to me to switch it around and make a super speedy quinoa microwave cooking. It was fantabulous! 

Not the pickup in your fingers kind of cookie, but more of a soft and fancy dessert cookie designed to be eaten off the plate it's served from...maybe added a dollop of coconut or cashew cream!  Feel free to add extra mixing as you fancy.

Recipe: 1-minute choc quinoa cookie cake

Makes: one single serve

Ingredients:

• 1tbs peanut butter
• 1tbs cocoa
• 1tbs ground flax seed
• 1 tbs agave syrup (or a few drops stevia)
• 2 tbs water
• 1/4 cup cooked quinoa
• sprinkle of chia seeds- optional (or other toppings)

Method:

Mix all ingredients (other than quinoa) together to form a thick smooth paste. Add the quinoa last and coat evenly. Spoon into a flattened cookie shape onto the serving plate (make sure it's microwaveable) Smooth the top with the back of a wet spoon if necessary.

Cook for 60-80 seconds in the microwave until firm to touch. The cookie with be soft and fudgey and eaten from the plate. It's not a pick up in your hands type!

o there you have it, a little plateful of power food that literally took one minute to mix and one minute to cook in the microwave- simply can't go wrong there. Obviously this could also be made in the oven if microwaving is not your thing and you had a little extra time on your hands... But for my 'one-minute' mind this was the perfect satisfying answer.

Mint choc brownie (single serve)

Happy St. Patricks Day…wherever you may be celebrating!

I thought I’d do my bit by going down the green themed route with a mint choc brownie. I still had some lovely thick cashew cream in the fridge so though it would work perfectly with my little single serve brownie… a drop (literally) of food colouring, plus a tiny bit of agave is all it took. If I’d had some spirulina (or other greens powder) I would definitely have given that a go for an alternative way of making ‘green’.

I had another chaotic day of cooking and baking to prepare my various snacks for the week plus snacks for others too. So, a little single serving dessert was the perfect fit after a plate of veggies and dip for lunch.

I made this gluten free by using buckwheat and ground almonds but other GF flour combos or spelt (if not GF) would work here also. I had a couple of attempts at this as I felt the first ‘brownie’ was more cake-like that I’d have liked so I increased the yoghurt to two tablespoons and the result was much more gooey and brownie-like.

To be honest, I wasn’t the hugest fan of this cake…and for ages I couldn’t figure out why!

Then I realised… I’m simply not a big lover of mint and chocolate when it comes to cakes (or ice-cream for that matter!) hence why I’ve never created a mint choc combo on my blog before. Give me a little bit of choc orange and I’m well away…now that combo you do see a lot of… here, here and here for starters. But hey, it was ok and I’m sure many of you will give out the mint choc love on my behalf…. but that’s all good as I’m pleased I still gave the green salute.

Cheers!

Recipe: Mint choc brownie

One brownie

Ingredients

• 2 tbs buckwheat flour
• 1 tbs ground almonds
• 1 tbs cocoa powder
• 1 tbs ground chia/flax
• 2 tsp agave
• A pinch of baking soda
• A pinch of salt
• 2 tbs soy yoghurt (or regular yoghurt for non vegan)
• ½ tsp peppermint extract
• cacoa nibs for decoration- optional

Method

Mix everything together in a small bowl. Spoon into a ramekin lined with plastic wrap so that it can be removed (or simple eat it out of the remekin). Cook in the microwave for approx. 40 seconds depending upon your microwave setting, check after 30 seconds to see if the top feels done.

Serve with a dollop of cream/yoghurt or cashew cream (the cashew cream shown here is much much thicker than in the link as I added much less water) as I did here.

I flavoured the cream with couple of drops of peppermint extract along with the green food colouring.

 First attempt- more cake like

 Second attempt- more gooey!

Raspberry cheesecake single serve ‘rame-cake’

It was a busy morning for me. First stop swimming followed by pilates. I enjoy swimming as it is one of the only times I am able to truly switch off, maybe it’s the rhythmical pace gliding up and down the lanes or maybe it’s the submersion and notion of feeling ‘in your own little bubble’. It is also the time when I often feel most creative, my mind is quiet and thoughts come flooding in….

…. It can also be the most frustrating time to be creative, inspired thoughts in the middle of a pool with no way to write anything down is, well, rather annoying at times!

After my swim and a quick sauna, the pilates session is a nice compliment to round off the morning’s activities. I’m a bit of a pilates newbie but I’m finding I actually quite enjoy it. My usual activities involve more hard core cardio or flinging myself about- i.e around a squash court or a pole… (I teach pole dance classes), I was recently advised to take up pilates as I have had problems with my hips due to the fact my joints are hypermobile, and actually I think it may be helping. It also gives me an opportunity to sloooow down, something which I am notoriously very bad at! Thus, my Friday mornings have become a time to revive my mind and set me up for a productive weekend.

Once home I was in need of food and lots of it.…. The mug cakes were calling!!

The recipe for my first ever chocolate mug cake post was based on one large mug or two ramekins. Whilst that’s great for sharing (or if you are in need of a major cake hit!), I often simply want a little treat just for me, and a mug is too much. So here I have reworked the recipe amounts to create a ‘single serving ramekin’ aka the ‘rame-cake’ and believe me this is more than enough to hit the spot!

In putting together this recipe I was also keen to experiment with a GF version... um, so then one 'ramecake' became two... shhhh!  I have noted my GF alterations below, and in my opinion this version was perfectly yummy with barely a hint of any graininess so often typical with GF flours.  I did notice a slight difference in texture as I sampled each cake one after the other, but had this not been the case then I don't think I would have 'noticed' I was eating a GF sponge. 

 Recipe: Raspberry cheesecake single serve ‘rame-cake’

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs white spelt flour
• (see GF version below)
• 2 tsp rapadura 
• Tiny pinch salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• (increase to a heaped 1/4 tsp for GF)
• 2 tbs soy milk
• (add 1 extra tsp for GF)
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp yoghurt
• Few drops vanilla extract
• Small handful of frozen raspberries broken up (I use frozen as they are easier to break, don’t colour the batter and are available all year round)
• 1 tsp vegan cream cheese, 1tsp soy milk, tiny amount of agave (or any liquid sweetener) to make the ‘cheesecake’ (omit this if you just want a fruity sponge!)

Method:

Mix the ‘cheesecake’ ingredients- cream cheese, soy milk and agave together and set aside. Place coconut oil, vanilla and soy milk up in a small bowl and melt together until the coconut is melted.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix and keep mixing until there are no lumps or dry patches of unmixed flour. Lightly mix through the raspberry pieces and spoon the batter into a ramekin or mini bowl. Top the batter with the ‘cheesecake’ mix and mix in slightly with a toothpick if desired.

Cook on full power (based on 900W) in microwave for 30 seconds. Check with a cocktail stick until it comes out almost clean. Cook for up 20 seconds more if necessary until cooked.

NOTE: For the GF version I used GF flours to the equivalent of 2 tbs.  I used 1 tbs of Doves Farm GF mix (this is a UK brand consisting of rice, potato, tapicoca and buckwheat flours) plus 2 tsp almond meal.  I think the addition of nut meal really helps to prevent the sponge from becoming grainy or dry. I imagine any type of GF flour mix would be quite flexible for those that have their favourite combos.  Also note the slight increase to baking powder as I found that with a level 1/4 tsp the cake did not rise to the same degree as the spelt version so was a little more dense. I also added slightly more soy milk as in my experience GF flours are dryer.

Please let me know how you get on and any changes you make!

 P.S The pics are of the spelt version.

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The mighty mug cake

My new favourite dessert is without a doubt… (drum roll please)…. the Mighty Mug Cake!

It ticks all my criteria:

• Quick and simple to make
• Healthy (as healthy as possible for a dessert) 
• Contains chocolate

Oh, and there are endless variations, which again is important to me as I love experimenting and have an aversion to making exactly the same thing twice!

This is the perfect single serving snack… perfect for when you need a quick fix or a little something to cap off a virtuous dinner. I also think in many ways it makes you even healthier as you don’t have to make a whole batch of cookies or a full size cake which means there are no leftovers to be tempted by on subsequent days (there is a logic there somewhere!)

I will no doubt be sharing more mug cake recipes in the coming weeks and months so please check back!

There are countless vegan mug cake recipes out there on the internet, many with varying ratings and seemingly unpredictable results. In making my first mug cake I combined 'the best' of a number of recipes and had a go. The result was super yummy BUT not healthy in any way, so in order to rectify this and produce a yummy but 'healthy' cake for my blog (and for my life!) I subbed the oil, sugar and flour for healthier versions reducing the oil and using part soy yoghurt in the process. I bet you wouldn't be able to taste the difference!

Recipe: ‘the original’ chocolate mug cake

Serves 1 mug or 2 ramekins (if you can bear to share!)

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs wholewheat flour
• 1 tbs rapadura and a few grains of stevia! (approx. 1/8th tsp)
• Tiny pinch salt
• 1 tbs cocoa and 1/3 tsp chocolate extract (or 2 tbs cocoa)
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 3 tbs soy milk
• 1 tbs coconut butter
• 1tbs soy yoghurt or apple puree (I used yoghurt)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbs dark chocolate chunks
• 1 tsp choppped nuts (optional)

(Note: in these pictures I'd added fresh orange juice to sub some of the soy milk and some grated orange rind and flesh to the batter to make a chocolate orange cake- super yummy!)

Method:

Place coconut butter, vanilla and soy milk in a mug and melt together until coconut melted. Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and mix together.  

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in the mug and keep mixing until there are no lumps or dry patches of unmixed flour.

Mix half the choc chunks through the mixture and sprinkle the remaining on the top along with nuts if using. 

Cook on full power (900W) in microwave for 1 minute. Check with a cocktail stick until stick comes out almost clean. Cook for 20 seconds more if necessary (up to two times) until cooked.

Note: timing is quite critical so you don't end up with a dry cake!!

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