Apple Cornbread

After reading this cornbread recipe, I very much wanted to make something similar.  I modified the ingredients slightly to fit what I had in my kitchen.
This cornbread has a pleasant smell and is just sweet enough to be a dessert.  I am very satisfied with the texture, which is crumbly without being mealy.

Ingredients:

♕125 g / 1 cup white flour
♕115 g / 1 cup corn meal
♕13 g / 3.5 t baking powder
♕6 g / 1 t salt
♕1 1/2 large apples, or 3 small ones
note: select apples that are good for baking.  Very crunchy as well as mealy apples tend to bake poorly, so if possible, select more sturdy types, such as Gala, Fuji, or Granny Smith.
♕85 g / 6 T unsalted butter
♕2 eggs
♕30g / 1.5 T wildflower honey
♕75 g / 0.3 cups + 1 T brown sugar
note: Turbinado or molasses-darkened sugar both work here
♕240 mL / 1 cup milk
♕Optional: generous handful mixed berries and/or raisins



Procedure:

♕Preheat oven to 205˚C / 400˚F
♕Chop apples into slices or rounds no thicker than 0.75cm / 0.3 inch.  Remove peels if they are rough.
♕In a bowl, stir together flour, corn meal, baking powder and salt.

♕Heat butter until it is still solid, but very soft.
♕Add in butter, honey, sugar, eggs, and milk to the bowl.
♕Mix until no clumps are present.
♕If using, stir in berries and raisins.
♕Oil a 30cm / 12 inch diameter round baking dish, such as a cake pan or cast iron skillet.
♕Place one third of the chopped apple slices on the bottom of the dish, and cover with one half of the batter.
♕Place another third of the apple slices atop of the batter, and then cover with the remaining mixture.
♕Place final third of apple slices on top of the batter.
♕Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a brown crust is present and the center does not jiggle.
♕Serve warm.

Yeast-Risen Rhubarb, Blackberry, and Ginger Dessert Bread

As spring comes around, it is difficult to think of anything but yeast-risen rhubarb, blackberry, and ginger dessert breads.

The yeast really makes this recipe's dough a hybrid of bread and dessert, with a texture which allows it to be pulled apart instead of crumbling.  The ginger adds a somber note to its smell.
This recipe is great to be served alongside breakfast.  With enough sugar to be sweet, but enough berries, whole wheat, ginger, and savory aspects to its taste to be satisfying.  The current baking time yields a cake with a cracked, smooth crust and a moist, poundcake-like inside.
To get a drier, more bread-like dough, you could try baking it either for an additional ten minutes, or at a higher temperature (425˚F / 220 ˚C), keeping a cover on top of the dough as is bakes for 30 minutes and removing it in the last 10 minutes.
If you wish, you could cut this bread into slices and make it act as a fancy sandwich.  Spreading it with mascarpone and adding strawberries is very good indeed.

Serving suggestion.

Ingredients:

♕1.5 cup / 240g white flour
♕1cup / 170g whole wheat flour
♕1 cup / 410g turbinado sugar
♕1/3 cup / 80mL almond oil or butter
♕2.5 cup / 300g rhubarb, cut into pieces and washed
♕1/2c / 70g blackberries
♕3T / 7g grated ginger
♕2 eggs
♕3/4 cup / 240mL milk
♕2 heaping t / 10g active dry yeast
♕handful strawberries or blackberries (optional)

Procedure

♕Heat the milk until it is warm to the touch, as close as possible to (but not over) 37˚C / 98˚F
note: in the microwave on high power it is reached in 50seconds, be sure to stir before using thermometer
♕Mix sugar, white flour, milk and yeast, and let sit for 1-2 hours in a place as close as possible to 37˚C
♕Mix in the eggs and additional almond oil.
♕Sift in the extra flour, then add the berries, ginger and rhubarb
♕Pour dough into a greased baking pan and let sit for half an hour in a warm environment
♕If so desired, after the half hour, line the pan's edges with sliced strawberries or blackberries
note: I forgot to do this.
♕Bake at 350˚F/180˚C for 40 minutes.
♕Let sit in the turned-off oven for 7 minutes if you are not satisfied with the brownness of the crust on the bread.
♕Remove from oven and let cool under a cotton cloth until warm.
♕Serve with milk.

Grapefruit Greek Yoghurt Parfait

This is a tasty, protein-rich yoghurt recipe.  You could either make it for breakfast, or prepare it in a small jar-like container and have it for lunch.  Many elements in the recipe can be adjusted to suit what you have in your kitchen.  I will definitely be using this greek yoghurt-mascarpone base for more lunches, and look forward to trying out new ingredient combinations.

Ingredients:


♕1 cup / 250g Greek-style yoghurt, plain
note: I use nonfat, and the amount of mascarpone added masks the sour taste.
♕2 T / 32g mascarpone
♕1T / 21g honey, ideally one with a strong flavor such as buckwheat honey
♕3-6T / 30-60g oats, rolled or steel-cut
♕1 segment of grapefruit
♕Pinch of grapefruit, lemon, or orange zest
♕Splash quality vanilla extract
♕Handful blueberries

The greatest charm of a parfait in a clear container is that the
fruit, oatmeal, and yoghurt often fall into a face-like shape.

Procedure:

♕Combine the honey and mascarpone, mixing well
♕Add in Greek yoghurt and scrape the grapefruit segment's pulp into the mixture, do not get any of the fibrous walls into the mix
♕Add vanilla and zest.  Mix until homogenous.
♕Layer blueberries, oats, and yoghurt mixture into a container or bowl.
♕Let sit overnight, chilled, or at least for two hours.

Raw, Vegan Berry Cheesecake

This post is about a recipe by the blogger, Fragrant Vanilla Cake.  I found her recipe for a raw vegan cheesecake and couldn't help but try it.  The results were great!  Very rich, flavorful, and so dense in nutrients.
The cheesecake's "cheese" is actually cashews that were soaked in water and pulverized.  The addition of coconut oil, lavender, lemon, vanilla, and blackberries makes it really darn good.
The only changes that I made to her recipe were:

A) instead of using only agave nectar for sweetness, I used equally raw cane sugar, honey, and agave.  I did this because of doubts about agave's healthiness, but still included the agave since honey has a very strong flavor and sugar is not a liquid.

B) I didn't make the frosting for lack of a young coconut, but if/when I remake this cake, the frosting will definitely be included, it looks so pretty!

I strongly recommend making your own opinion about this cake. The hands-on process is only about half an hour if you're quick and have a good food processor (and not making the frosting), but you need a total of 12 hours to make the cake come to its ready-to-eat glory.