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Posts Tagged ‘blueberries’

  1. Muffins

    April 3, 2012 by potatoface

    muffins

    muffins

    Do you know what I like about muffins? That they always come right. You don’t need to measure the ingredients (as long as you know what consistency you are looking for), throw anything in it and voila! Muffins are done. I wish life was more like muffins…

    I recently started taking driving lessons. I had never driven in my life before. I couldn’t afford driving lessons before as well. But now I’ve got this job most of the time I really like (is it weird to like your job if it’s not creative?) and in the job I really need to drive.

    I even found my driving instructor through work. He’s really nice and patient. He even gives me discount on my lessons. And because I really appreciate it, I try to bake something for him every time. And as I have to consider his health, most of the time I’m making him healthy muffins.

    His name is Kevin. Sometimes when Boyfriend is seeing me baking muffins again, he’s saying: ‘we need to talk about Kevin’. Not that Kevin is anything like the one in the book, hahaha….I hope.

    If you don’t know what I’m talking about there is a tip – the book was made into a film. Watch it.

    Anyway, I really enjoy driving around (or trying) in a mini. Yes, in a mini….I look so pretty in it.

    banana muffins

    banana muffins

     Muffins

    basic ingredients:

    240 grams of wholemeal flour

    100 grams of oats

    1 teaspoon of baking powder

    pinch of salt

    half a glass of agave syrup (or half a glass of demerara sugar, nut agave syrup is so much better)

    3 eggs

    half a glass of milk

    half a glass of sunflower or grape seed oil (or 60 grams of melted butter if you are decadent and don’t have to worry about your cholesterol)

    1 spoon of cinnamon

    1 spoon of vanilla extract

     These are your basic ingredients. Now, it depends where the mood (or season) is taking you. You can add any fruit you desire:

    1. one banana and 200 grams of raspberries

    2. three ripe bananas and handful of chopped walnuts

    3. 200 grams of blueberries, zest and juice of one lemon

    4. three chopped apples

    5. zest and juice of 2 oranges and handful of chopped pecans

    6. two pears and 7 plums chopped

    Etc, etc, you get the picture.

    raspberry muffins

    raspberry muffins

     1. So basically what you do is mix in a bowl flour, oats, salt and baking powder. Whisk eggs, and add it to the mixture.

    2. Add oil, milk, agave syrup, cinnamon and vanilla extract and mix it, not to vigorously.

    3. In the meantime heat the oven (170 C)

    4. Chop your choice of fruit or nuts. Add them to the mixture and fold it gently especially if you are adding raspberries.

    5. Line a muffin tray with paper muffin cases. Fill each case with the mixture to just below the top.

    6. Bake in the preheated oven till they’re nice and golden on top. Use the skewer to check if they’re baked inside (has to come out clean).

     See, why is everything in life not this easy?


  2. blueberry cake

    September 29, 2011 by potatoface

    blueberry cake

    I love autumn. The smell of decay, changing colours, crispness in the air in the morning, beautiful sunrise in the morning…aaahh. Always get really excited about this lovely season. And that’s the time of the year when I bake a lot. You have to get some love handles for the winter to keep you warm, and there is all this fantastic fruit and veg around. Brilliant! Recently I bought blueberries from Poland (ha! local to me) and I made a cake using what I found in my cupboards and fridge. Improvisation is the key to creation. So there it is. Enjoy.

    blueberry cake

    Blueberry cake

     

    Ingredients

    1 and 1/2 glass of spelt flour

    1 teaspoon of baking powder

    1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

    125 ml of natural yoghurt

    1/4 glass of sugar

    1/2 pack of unsalted butter (room temperature) or margarine.

    2 eggs

    3-4 spoons of vanilla essence

    6 spoons of cinnamon

    250 grams of blueberries

     

    1. Mix flour, baking soda and powder together.

    2. If butter is not room temperature, melt it. Wait until it cools down a bit. If it is room temperature, mix with sugar till it’s white and fluffy.

    3. Add all the ingredients apart from blueberries to flour, mix well together. Leave it for 20 minutes on the side.

    4. Coat blueberries with a bit of flour, add to the batter, mix gently. Butter the cake tin, pour the mixture into the tin, bake in 160 C for about 30-40 minutes. You can check if the cake is baked if you insert a toothpick (or simply wooden chopstick) in the middle of the cake and it comes out clean.

    5. Leave it to cool, sprinkle with icing sugar.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


  3. blueberry pancakes – much healthier than the american version

    September 12, 2011 by potatoface

    blueberry pancakes

    blueberry pancakes

    I’m blessed to have a few but dear friends I can always count on. One of them, the best one, recently visited me. She’s like a sister to me and I love her very much. She has lived for the last 12 years in California, so the last time I saw her was about 6-7 years ago. We always pick up where we left, I never felt like there was a break at all. It feels almost like having a twin – we always know without talking and with the ocean between us when something happens in our life, when we are sad, or we are going through something dramatic.

    If you have a friend you truly love and don’t need words to communicate with, you know you are lucky.

    First morning after she arrived I made pancakes – my interpratation of an American favourite. It will always remind me of her.

     

    Pancakes but much healthier than the American version

    Ingredients

    1cup of wholemeal flour

    1/2 cup of spelt flour

    1/2 cup of ready oats

    1 teaspoon of baking powder

    1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

    1 spoon of cinnamon

    2 eggs

    blueberries

    maple syrup or agave nectar

    1 or 2/3 glass of soya milk

    knob of butter

    1. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl mix eggs, milk and melted batter. Add those to the dry ingredients and leave the mixture for at least half an hour on the side.

    2. Warm heavy frying pan. Wait until it’s really hot. Add blueberries to your batter, fold gently.  Using a ladle pour some batter, wait till the top of the pancake begins to bubble, turn over, and fry until golden brown.

    3. Repeat till you use all the batter, if you are making a lot of pancakes for many people, keep the ones you made in a warm oven until they’re all ready.

     

    pancakes

    pancakes

    If you just want simple pancakes, instead of wholemeal flour and ready oats use normal flour and ordinary milk instead of soya – and voila!



  4. Healthy crepes

    June 8, 2011 by potatoface


    healthy crepes

    When you have a day off (for some people it is usually the weekend, for myself and Boyfriend it is a random day) you could make something different for breakfast. I quite often make crepes. They are a healthy version with oats and wholemeal flour and they are yummy. They are also good for brunch or lunch. When we’ve got friends staying over it’s always a winner.

    (more…)