a chocolate banana loaf with no sugar

1. whisk together

• 4 chiquita bananas, mashed (the riper the better)
• 1.5 tbsp instant yeast
• 1 cup warm milk

          and let sit for 10 min. It should be foamy and voluminous.

     2.  seperately, whisk together

• 3 C bread flour
• 3/4 C cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp oats
• 0.5 C chocolate chips
• 1/4 pecans (optional)

          with

• 40g butter, melted
• 1.5 tsp vanilla

     3. mix the yeast mixture with the cocoa mixture in a stand mixer until combined and sticky.
         cover, and set aside until doubled in size (about 1 hour)

     4. butter and flour a bread tin. punch down dough mixture, and pour into tin.
         dust with oats/bran/pecans/cocoa/chocolate chips (optional) and let rise till overflowing from tin.

     5. bake at 350 F (180 C) for 25 min, till brown on top and hollow when tapped at the bottom.

(recipe adapted from Chocolate Bread in Apples for Jam by Tess Kiros)

apple-almond cornmeal muffins

whisk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar

add
2 eggs
1 green apple, grated
1/2 tbsp dessicated coconut

mix in
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 C cornmeal
1/2 C wheatgerm
1 C wholewheat flour
1/2 C plain flour
2-3 tbsp almond meal

fill 4 small ramekins.

bake at 170 degrees C with fan for 20 minutes until tops crack and are slightly browned.

mango-cashew "cheesecake": raw (almost), and fabulous!

adapted from the meyer-lemon cheesecake version HERE

#1 Line the base of a circular 9-inch baking tin with a circle of wax paper.

For the Crust (ingredients are approximate: add or subtract to taste.)

#2 Moisten

• 1.5 cup ground pistachios
• 2 tbsp flaxseed
• 2 tbsp wheatgerm
  
• 2 tbsp desiccated coconut
  

with

• 3 tbsp spiced apple butter--or raw applesauce if you want all-raw!
  

Press into the bottom of the cake pan.

For the Filling

• 1.5 cups raw cashews soaked for three hours
• 1/2 cup fresh meyer lemon juice
• 3 tbsp cup raw honey
  
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 1 mango, diced
  

To make the cheese, blend until smooth and adjust to taste.

Pour the mixture on top of the "crust" and carefully tap the pan on the counter to release any air bubbles.

Place the pan in the freezer for at least three hours or overnight. Before serving place on counter to thaw slightly. This is best served semi frozen, soft enough to run a serrated knife through.

blueberry. almond. lemon. a rustic cake.

this makes a hearty, wholesome cake that would be good with a cup of milk for teatimes. Bump up the lemon zest, change the proportions of the dry ingredients, replacing with white flour, and add another egg for a richer cake. an oven-kissed beauty!

preheat oven, and butter a round 9-inch pan.
cream 1/2 c butter with 3/4 c sugar & 1 tsp lemon zest. whisk in 1 egg (2 for a richer consistency), then 1/2 cup of plain yogurt.
seperately, whisk together 1/2 c wheatgerm, 1/2 c wholemeal flour, 1/2-2/3 cup ground almond, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda.
transfer into a floured baking pan, and top with frozen blueberries (or sliced almonds if you like).

bake at 170 degrees celsius until gently browned.

Apple-Pistachio Galette: A Mother's Day Invention

This flaky comforting bit of apple-pistachio rusticity came together in less than 30 minutes.
I'm thinking pear might also be a good alternative to the apple.

Preheat oven to 170 degrees.
Crust:
1/4 C ground pistachio (grind 1/4 c more for pistachio paste)
3/4 C unbleached flour
1/4 C wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
50g butter
1 egg, separated
1 tbsp milk.

whisk together pistachio, flour, baking powder and sugar.
cut in the butter.
stir in egg yolk, then add milk, mixing until dough comes together.
refrigerate dough for 10 min (to keep it cold!).

Pistachio paste:
mix
1/4 c ground pistachio with
1 egg white
1-2 tbsp vanilla sugar
and set aside.

Apple filling:
1 apple, peeled and diced,
tossed with a squeeze of lemon.

Assemble:
form dough into a ball, roll out into a circle.
spread with pistachio filling, leaving 1.5 inches of space from the edge.
place apple in the centre of dough, and
fold 1.5 margins inwards, overlapping and crimping as you go.
A large part of the fruit should remain exposed.

Bake for 20-30 min, just until crust is browned and fruit yielding.

PB & G: Swedish Rye Peanut-Butter Crackers (with Green Tea!)

one day my cute cream-cheese crackers & my all-natural peanut butter decided to get together.
you know, the way jars sitting shoulder-to-shoulder along the kitchen shelves tend to do. proximity is helpful that way.

a sidenote:
once i read a YA novel in which the quirky odd-girl-out
(a romantic who lived in long white dresses &
on a passion for Elizabeth Bennett)
made up a poem that went:

i sat there waiting upon a shelf
i reached for you--i found myself.

i think about that couplet often.

the recipe for luscious cream-cheese-ridden swedish rye cookies comes from
the always-reliable 101cookbooks--consistently good cookies!
i just added a little matcha into the mix for my secret fix.

this is fun for monday mornings.

sweet and guileless: matcha-mango soft-serve!

you make me melt, you do.

you've probably heard of the one-ingredient banana soft-serve.
well, here's my variation:
overnight Matcha-Mango Morning-Madness!
within the parameters of this deliciousness,
i declare all discussions of antioxidants and vitamins superfluous.

tonight:
slice a mango into 2cm sq cubes
freeze the mango cubes.
this is your crucial one-ingredient base.

tomorrow:
i used a regular blender to
blend 6 frozen mango cubes
with 1 generous tsp matcha powder
and 4 small cubes of ice.

notes:
this made about 1 cup,
but it's probably wise to adjust to taste.
my mango was sweet and i like an icy matcha texture,
so I added the ice cubes, which you could leave out.
if your mango is sour, you might have to sweeten the mix with honey.
for flavour-contrast, i also tossed in a pinch of pink himalayan salt.

3 healthy ingredients. um yums. enjoy!