GF Almond 'Paleo' Bread with 60 Degree Egg and Smoked Salmon

I was searching for a savoury recipe to use up my almond pulp from my almond milk and stumbled across this recipe by Sarah Wilson which seems to have a bit of a cult following. I was intrigued by this 'bread' as i'd never made anything quite like it. I wasn't quite sure how almond meal, arrowroot, eggs and leaveners could end up with bread.

Homemade Almond Milk

I've previously ranted about almond milk and my dislike of the misleading advertising comparing almond milk with cow's milk. Personally I dislike the flavour of the UHT almond milk, however I decided to have a go making fresh milk to see if there was a difference.

Making almond milk is really simple. Soak 1 cup of raw almonds in water overnight then drain. Place in a Thermomix or high-powered blender with 3 cups water, 2 medjool dates and a splash of vanilla extract and blend for at least a minute or until smooth.

Pour into muslin or a chux (or something called a nut bag? Sounds rude) to strain out all the fibre. Squeeze out as much milk as possible and voila! Almond milk!

Almond pulp

This was a bit of a lightbulb moment - fresh almond milk tastes AMAZING! It's nutty and creamy and has a great mouthfeel. Now I understand what people are raving about. Don't be duped however, this is no cow's milk alternative as it doesn't contain the calcium or protein that cow's milk does but nonetheless it tastes great! The other bonus is that the leftover almond pulp can be used in baking, muesli and smoothies as it is almond meal. If you are going to use it as almond meal, you'll need to dry it out in a slow oven. If not using immediately, pop it in the freezer so it doesn't go rancid.



 Sarah xx

3 Days, 3 Salads

I love spring! Finally there are decent fruits and vegetables back in season. Although I love soup, after six months worth I crave salads.

I'm not one to follow recipes, I prefer to buy food then decide what to cook. Armed with a vegie drawer full of fresh vegetables, I set about to make myself some yummy dinners. Here is the result:

Day 1: Fennel & Orange Salad

 Thinly sliced fennel, orange, goat's cheese, craisins, slivered almonds with a citrus dressing

Day 2: Barbecued Vegetable and Barley Salad with a Lemony Pesto Dressing

Barbecued zucchini, corn & asparagus, blanched broad bean, avocado, feta, pearl barley, lemon juice, pesto.

Day 3: Roast Beetroot Salad

Roast beetroot, chickpeas, baby spinach, feta, za'atar,  pomegranate molasses, verjuice, tahini. 

Sarah xx

P.S. Sorry for the lack of posts recently!

Strawberry Vacherin

Every family has a certain cake that is requested year after year on birthdays. Well for us, it's a strawberry vacherin. Now this is no basic chocolate cake and it is more a dessert rather than an afternoon tea treat. It is, however, very easy to make and very versatile. Above all it tastes delicious!

Macarons

These little beauties are one of my favourite things to bake for a few reasons: 

1. They look so pretty!
2. There are endless possibilities regarding flavours
3. They have a reputation for being difficult to make
4. Everyone will love you for making them!

So this afternoon i was bored so i decided to whip up a batch. I probably shouldn't say whip up a batch because it did take most of the afternoon!

I thought i'd put a bit of a step by step recipe up for these because they really aren't that difficult. You just need to be precise and have patience! This is my favourite macaron recipe. It works the best for me however you do need to own digital scales, a candy thermometer, a food processor and a stand mixer. Although you can probably get away with hand beaters, the scales and thermometer really are vital so i wouldn't try this recipe without them. Additionally a piping bag will make life much easier for you!

Butterfly Cake

Flourless orange and almond cake

This is my latest creation. It was originally going to be a two tiered cake but sometimes things change and this was the result. I'm still really happy with it. I think it'd make a lovely wedding cake!

The cake is Planet Cake's orange and almond cake which I adapted so I could make it in the Thermomix. It then has a layer of buttercream then fondant. The butterflies are fondant + tylose and with white edible shimmer powder.

It really is a beautiful cake and makes a nice change from a mud cake. Still gives you the same sugar coma after eating!

Sarah xx

Chocolate Almond Slice

I managed to find another reason to bake - that pesky jar of homemade nutella! It is so incredibly moorish that i needed to get rid of it before i ate it all! So i decided to share the love and bake a slice using nutella which i'll take into work tomorrow for everyone. I found this recipe on Taste which sounded good so i thought i'd give it a shot - without a Thermomix in sight! You see, i have to give the Kitchenaid mixer a turn sometimes!

The slice was very easy to make. The crust (which is more like a pastry) was hard to press into a tin so i rolled it out first then lined the tin but apart from that it was simple. I used vanilla extract, not almond essence which contributed to it being a very dainty slice. It is not sweet - it would be quite bland without the nutella to be honest, but altogether it makes for a slice that i think my work friends will enjoy.

Sarah xx