Flapjacks Recipe!

In my opinion, no bake sale is complete without a flapjack! And this is the perfect recipe where you can add anything you fancy. Take out 100 grams of the oats and replace with 100 grams off raisins, chopped glace cherries, chocolate chips, chopped nuts anything you can think of!

Ingredients:

• 750g Oats/Muesli
• 350g Butter
• 350g Sugar
• 8 tbsp Golden Syrup

Method:

Place butter, sugar and golden syrup into a large saucepan and heat gently until all sugar has     melted.

Add oats into saucepan with wet ingredients and mix until all combined.

Put oat mixture into a large, greased and lined, tray bake tin (approx 12"x 9") and bake

in a preheated oven (180 C) for about 30 minutes until golden brown with a slightly wobbly           centre.   

Mark into 20 pieces whilst still warm.

Leave in tin for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack and cut completely.

Enjoy with a lovely cup of tea!  

Love Vic x

Healthy Homemade Nutella Recipe (and Bloggers Block)!

And I'm back! Sorry for my recent absence, on here ass well as victoriahornagold.wordpres.com, recently I have had a rather bad case of bloggers block. Now I'm not entirely sure if that's a common phrase, but I thought if it's good enough for writers - then its good enough for blogger!

To make up for it (I hope) I'm returning with a goodie. Nutella. And not just any Nutella; Helathy Nutella. That's right, this recipe is made purely of hazelnuts, cacao powder, and maple syrup. If you look at the ingredients for the 'real' Nutella, it's made of Sugar, Palm Oil, Hazelnuts (13%), fat reduced Cocoa and other rubbish providing you with absolutely nothing; apart from perhaps a sugar rush.

Hazelnuts are a great source of unsaturated fats, that lower 'bad' cholesterol and raise 'good' one. One cup of hazelnuts contains 86% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin E, along with other minerals, protein, fiber.

Cacao, the raw unrefined version of cocoa, when in its natural state as it is here provides you with antioxidants, magnesium, live enzymes, protein, fiber and a whole bunch of vitamins,.

So now you can grab your spoon tuck into that jar of nutella in the fridge with a bit less guilt!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of Hazelnuts
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of a good quality maple syrup (depending on personal taste)
• 2-3 tbsp of raw cacao

Method:

Spread that hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake at 180C for 10 minutes.

Remove and cool in fridge. Place in a food processor for at least 10 minutes, topping and starting occasionally to scrap down and really get it well blended. 

Add the lower amounts of maple syrup and cacao. .

Once combined, gradually add the water. Mine was quite runny after this, but don't worry it sets up to the perfect consistency in the fridge. Taste to see if you need to add a bit more syrup/cacao.

Fill an empty jar (I just used a jam jar, but a clean Nutella, coconut oil or whatever you've got is fine).

Store in the fridge and enjoy! I've been enjoying this spread on apple, banana, in porridge as an alternative to nut butter (in chocolate recipes). Of course, it would taste delicious spread on some toast as a slightly more nutritious way to start your day. I've heard biona do some delicious breads, which would be a perfect alternative to the classic Nutella on Toast - but with all the amazing taste!

Love Vic x

First Impressions: Sweet Potato Brownies

I hope you have all had a merry Christmas and a great New Year! To be perfectly honest I don't feel like I have any amazing plans in 2015 that I'd say I'm counting down to; but I guess that makes the year ahead even more exciting as I really don't know what to expect!

I also think I should apologise about my  previous two posts, as I came to write this I realized I don't think they actually published! Woops ... As other bloggers will know, the days leading up to Christmas I sought of just pressed publish and carried on stuffing my face. Again, I apologize.

But to get back into the blogging swing of things is something I'm really excited about - Sweet Potato Brownies! But not just that, a sort of review of Deliciously Ella's Sweet Potato Brownie recipe. I thought this would be a good idea as its all very well sharing a recipe, but if I don't think it's as good as it could be I don't want to simply share it on without putting my word to what I thought of the recipe.

Original Recipe:

Makes 10 brownies

• 2 medium to large sweet potatoes (600g)
• 2/3 of a cup of ground almonds (80g)
• 1/2 a cup of buckwheat or brown rice flour (100g)
• 14 medjool dates
• 4 tablespoons of raw cacao
• 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
• a pinch of salt

Improvements:

- I used oat flour (oats ground in a food processor) as I didn't have any buckwheat/brown rice and you could definitely taste it. I mean, it didn't ruin it, and as a I haven't used any of the recommended flour I cant comment on what they taste like, but next time I'd just use plain/all purpose flour or buy the buckwheat/brown rice.

- 5 tbsp of cacao, for me it just needed that bit more chocolaty kick

- 4tbps maple syrup, I know they're not meant to be as sweet as the typical brownie, as they are of course using all natural good for you ingredients, but especially as the first plant based recipe (and if sharing with family) I'd say a bit more wouldn't go a miss.

- another slight substitution I made was using 335g dried dates soaked in boiling water (+6tbsp of that water), simply because they were cheaper and I had them to hand. So if you do use medjool dates, you probably wouldn't have to include that extra tablespoon of syrup as they are sweeter.

Let me know if you've tried this recipe before and what you thought!

Love Vic x

1 Day Of Christmas - Reflection & Honey Roasted Nuts!

'Twas the night before Christmas. As far as these 12 Days of Christmas posts go, I think I've done alright actually?!

I just came back from the loveliest church service I've ever been to, there was no special circus act or an abundance of free food at the end (apart from some biscuits at the end). But there was a lovely flute rendition of Holy Night, a friend I know singing, a couple of readers as usual. But the whole thing was just lovely and vicar really said some inspiring things while still keeping it 'jolly'. One thing in particular he said that stuck with me was 

'World peace starts with yourself'. And I think that's very true.

This year I've learnt that for you to be happiest, you must take care of yourself first! That doesn't mean be completely selfish, but to try and be the happiest you can, which will in return make the people around you happier, which will (if you're like me and seeing other people happy make a you happy, which i image many people are) will make you even happier! 

Now onto a slightly less deep note - FOOD!  

Ingredients

• 2 cups raw almonds
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 2 tbsp honey

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Cover baking sheet with foil, dull side up; this helps them roast faster. Roast for about 10 minutes or until browned. The rule of thumb is once you can smell them they are done. Let nuts cool completely. Leave the foil on the baking sheet to be used later.
2. In a small bowl mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. Add wet ingredients to a large sauté pan and heat over medium high heat whisking constantly until it comes to a boil. Add nuts and stir constantly until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the nuts, about 2 minutes. Be very careful not to scorch your nuts. Add dry mixture and stir until sugar has caramelized. A little more than a minute. Spread in a single layer on your foil covered baking sheet and let cool before serving.

Hope you have an amazing Christmas, 

Love Vic x

3 Days Of Christmas - Christmas Cake Decoration

3 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS (and my birthday as well incase you're interested)

Now you've took that in, we can get on to decorating that delcious Christmas cake!

Google Christmas cake decorations and you will get THOUSANDS of ideas, but here's how I did mine. 

Ingredients:

200g ready roll icing

Marzipan

Blue gel colouring

Edible silver balls

Apricot jam, melted for 10 seconds

Ribbon

Cornflower (or icing sugar)

Method:

Spread the jam over the cake thinly.

Roll out the marzipan on a sufarce dusted with flour/sugar.

Roll up on the rolling pin, then lift and smooth overt the cake.

Spread more of the jam over the marzipan.

Knead then icing quickly, then use a tooth pick and transfer some of the colouring onto the icing.

Knead again until the colour is even. Add more of the die gradually until you reach your Desiree to colour.

Roll, then smooth over the marzipan. Cut around the edge of the cake.

Using different sized snowflake cutters, make imprints over the cake.

On some, push down the balls around the edge, some all over, and some leave plain. If you have it, use edible glue and a tiny cake brush to spread in where ever your putting the balls (don't laugh).

Finish by putting some ribbon around the bottom, and securing with either some sellotape or a cake pin.

Enjoy! This cake will keep for up to 3 weeks, so no real rush though!

Love Vic x

8 Days of Christmas - Turkey and Cranberry Ring Recipe!

Hey guys, I hope you are all enjoying December so far! And my 12 Days of Christmas attempt (check out my room tour I kicked it off with on victoriahornagold.wordpress.com).

This is a recipe perfect for buffets or parties, especially Christmas ones, but so so easy to prepare. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

6 tbsp mayonnaise,  ½ tsp black pepper & pinch of salt 225g cooked chicken or turkey diced 1 stick of celery or spring onion sliced quite thin 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 85g sweetened dried cranberries 85g hard cheese ie cheddar 2 packets of ready to bake dough for croissants (chilled isle in the supermarket. If unavailable use puff pastry) 1 egg Method: In a large bowl mix together the mayonnaise, seasoning, chicken, celery/onion, parsley, cranberries and grated cheese.  Lay out the croissants in a circle with the longest side towards the outside. Because the dough is pre-cut into triangles, it will create a very pretty 'sun' shape when overlapped. Spoon the filling on the dough, leaving about half an inch from the middle and edge where the triangles overlap.  Pull the dough corners in and under the middle empty circle. Brush with the egg, beaten and cook for 15 minutes until golden brown. Devour and enjoy! Love Vic x

12 Days Of Christmas - Healthy Christmas Cake!

Continuing my 12 Days of Christmas (posting everyday between this and my other blog) is a slightly lighter version of the classic Christmas cake. It uses ground almonds, grated apples, carrots, and as usual all the delicious dried fruits and spices.

Ingredients:

175g self raising flour 120g butter 120g sugar 2 egg 100ml milk 120g raisin 120g sultanas 120g currants 55g ground almonds 65g glace cherries 65g blanched, sliced almonds 1 small carrot 1 tsp mixed spice 1 tsp nutmeg (or cinnamon or mixed spice if you dont like nutmeg) 1 small apple rind of one small orange Method: Grease and line a 20cm tin and pre-heat the oven 120C. Grate the apple and carrot into a bowl. Add the cherries sliced into quarters, raisins, sultanas, currants and sliced almonds.  Sift together the flour, almonds and spices into a large bowl. Beat in the butter, sugar, eggs and milk until smooth. Fold in the fruit mix with a spatula until evenly combined. Pour into the tin,  Bake for 2 hours until a skewer comes out clean.It wont be as dark as your normal cake due to its lack of treacle (and dark sugar if using caster). Leave to cool, then take out of the tin. Decorate however you like! For a traditional cake you could brush with apricot jam, cover with marzipan, royal or fondant icing and decorate. For a more modern take, you could brush with the jam, the cover the tops with apricot and pecan halves, followed by more jam to give that nice shiny effect. This cake un-decorated will last for 2-3 weeks wrapped and kept in an airtight container. You could also feed the cake by dotting it with holes with a skewer while still in the tin and pouring over 2-3 tbsp of brandy (or juice for a non-alcoholic version). Love Vic x