Best Ever Granola

I know I shouldn't toot my own horn, but this might actually be the tastiest granola in the world. It is delicious, and oh so good for you. One of my new year's resolutions for 2013 was to eat breakfast every day, and this recipe makes that a very easy resolution to keep.

I was introduced to the idea (and the starting point for this recipe) by my friend Jen at Cake'n'Bake Club - you can find Jen's version of the recipe here. I used a different variety of nuts and dried fruit to Jen, and added extra honey, because that suited my preference. That's probably the best thing about this recipe, you can make it your own by subbing out the fruit and nuts listed below and replacing them with your favourite. This granola definitely tastes better than any shop bought granola I've tried, and it's healthier to boot!

Ingredients:
50g whole almonds
50g whole cashews
225g rolled oats, the chunkier the better!
25g sunflower seeds
25g pumpkin seeds
50ml sunflower oil
3 generous tablespoons of runny honey
40g dried cranberries


Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Makes around 6 portions

1. Start by preheating your oven to 170/gas mark 4, then line a flat baking sheet with baking parchment.
2. Tip the nuts into a food processor and whizz them a couple of times until they are in smaller chunks. Tip the nuts into a large bowl then add the oats and the seeds.
3. Stir in the oil and honey until everything has been coated and the mixture starts to come together, then tip the mixture out onto the lined baking sheet, spreading evenly with the back of your spoon.
4. Bake in the centre of the oven for 10 minutes, then gently remove the tray from the oven, tip the granola back into the mixing bowl, give it a good stir, then put it back on the tray and back in the oven for another 5 minutes - this should help the granola to be cooked evenly!
5. After the granola has been in the oven for the second time, take it out and pour it once more into the mixing bowl, stir through the dried cranberries, then leave the granola to cool, uncovered, in the bowl.
6. Once cool, transfer the granola to an airtight container, where it should keep for up to a week.

Happy Thoughts
x

Pineapple and Mango Ice Cream

Welcome to the latest feature of the blog: Ice-Cream Sundays! I've been toying with this idea for a while, and figured that since it's the New Year, I might as well just give it a go! So, even though The Princess and the Cake is and will always be a baking blog, I've decided to have a little dabble in ice-cream making, and I'll be posting those ice-cream recipes here, you guessed it, on a Sunday! For now, as I'm new to ice-cream making and don't have many recipes in my repertoire (yet) this will be a monthly feature, posted on the last Sunday of every month. Maybe in the future this will increase - who knows!

What I do know, however, is that it may come across as a silly idea to launch an ice-cream feature in a month I've dedicated to healthier-than-usual recipes. Well, I'm a bit silly - but I also came up with a healthy ice-cream recipe, so we're still detoxing!

I do, however, have a confession to make. This isn't actually an ice cream - but it does have the same texture and is so tasty you'd never know you were eating a fat free, sugar-free* alternative to ice-cream!
*Sugar-free except for the sugars that occur naturally in fruit, obviously!

I invented this recipe sort of by accident during a crohns flare-up. I try not to go on about my crohns, and I'm not going to start now, so to cut a long story short I found myself re-evaluating the foods I ate, and looking for "east-to-digest" foods. Mango and pineapple came up in a list of the more easily digested fruits, so I went out and bought a load. And then realised it was fresh fruit and there was no way I'd be able to eat it all before it went off so I ended up cutting it into chunks and freezing it, and then just getting a bit out and allowing it to defrost whenever I fancied eating some. Then one evening I decided to stick some in the blender to see what happened, and what happened was yummy!

Below is enough for a one person serving, but you could make as much as you like by sticking to the 60:40 pineapple/mango ratio. Please note that this "ice-cream" cannot be re-frozen once it's blended, so you might as well eat it up all at once :-)

Ingredients:
60g fresh pineapple
40g fresh, ripe mango

Prep time: 40 minutes
Serves: 1

1. Cut the pineapple and mango into bite-sized chunks, place in and airtight container and freeze for 30 minutes,
2. Remove from the freezer and put into the blender. Pulse until smooth (around 5-10 minutes)
3. Serve and smile - it's actually good for you!

Happy Thoughts
x

Healthier Than Usual Brownies

It would be a lie to say this recipe was healthy, but with a few changes (and the help of an unexpected ingredient!) these brownies are much healthier than their traditional counterparts.

This recipe is based heavily on this recipe I found on BBC Good Food (I LOVE GOOD FOOD!), with a few extra changes to make the brownies even lighter! My dodgy old maths skills tell me that per brownie, there are approximately 104 calories and 3.5g fat - not too shabby for a chocolatey treat! I think this is my favourite of the healthier recipes I've posted this month, and even though I don't think the brownies tasted quite as good as normal full-fat full-sugar lots of chocolate brownies, they were still better than most store-bought brownies I've ever tried! I will definitely be coming back to this recipe again.

Ingredients:
50g dark chocoalte
75g dark brown sugar
3tbsp stevia
1tsp vanilla extract
40g (2tbsp) buttermilk
1 medium egg
120g extra light mayonnaise
85g plain flour
pinch of salt
40g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Makes 12 brownies

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 and line a square baking tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Melt the chocolate, either in the microwave on short bursts or in a bowl over hot water, then pop this to one side to cool slightly.
3. Stir the sugar, stevia, vanilla extract and buttermilk into the cooled chocolate until all combined. Beat the egg into the chocolate mixture, followed by the mayonnaise. The mixture should now be smooth and glossy.
4. Sift the flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking powder into the chocolate mixture and gently fold in until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes, until firm but still a little sticky on top. 
5. Allow the brownies to cool in the tin, then turn them out, cut into 12 and enjoy the relatively guilt-free chocolatey goodness!

Happy Thoughts
x