Maria Runs

So after my success of making almond milk the other day, I was left with a lot of almond pulp. I scanned google for various recipes, but nothing took my fancy. I saw a few cheesecake recipes, where they used the almond pulp mixed with cashews and other bits for the topping, and I love the base of the raw pecan brownies. So I came up with this;

Makes 12 mini cheesecakes.

Crust;

1 cup pecans

1 cup brazils

12 dates

1/4cup dessicated coconut

1 tsp cinnamon

Topping

1/2 cup soaked cashews

1/2 cup almond pulp

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

3 tsp coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla

Directions (super easy!)

Blend up the ingredients for the crust.

Dates, brazils, pecans, coconut and cinnamon.

Spoon into cake cases (or make one big one)

Press it down firmly.

Then blend up the filling- leave it to churn a bit longer.

Cashews, almond pulp, coconut oil, honey, orange juice, vanilla.

Then spoon onto the base.

Leave these to set in the fridge.

And enjoy with some peach tea 🙂

I have put the rest in the freezer to be enjoyed at my leisure. They were very sweet so I think you could easily reduce the amount of honey further (most recipes I saw had more but I thought it sounded a lot!). Or sub with agave/ some other syrup to make them vegan.

Although I still have a lot of almond pulp left over- I have been trawling for recipes but so many need dehydrators (0r 12 hours in the oven- no thanks!) and it seems you can use it as a replacement for flour, so I might just use 1/2 pulp and 1/2 flour next time I make cookies and keep my fingers crossed. Any other ideas?

Hey peeps

Today is a damp and drizzly day- I did brave a walk up to the shops this morning (managed to pick up a couple more Christmas pressies) but it was cold- I wish I had gloves and a scarf as my raincoat is very thin.

I was meant to be going out for lunch, but it got cancelled. So I got on with some baking. I saw on Lucy’s blog a link to some amazing looking caramel apple bars, and there is a competition on the pink whisk for apple recipes, so I decided to make them. I weighed out the ingredients (well, most of them!)as the original recipe is in cups.

First up, line a brownie pan and preheat the oven to 180C, then mix 1/2 apple sauce (I used 1 apple chopped in a food processor) with 1/2 cup pb (80g), 1/4 butter (30g- I used pure spread).

Then add in 2 cups oats (150g), 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup caster sugar (200g sugar in total), 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla.

Then add in 2 chopped apples (I used one russet from my box and one pink lady, but any you like are fine) and 1 cup white chocolate chips (forgot to weigh, maybe 100g?).

Spread the mixture into the pan.

And bake for 30 mins, remove and leave to cool for 5 mins.

Then make some caramel sauce (or use shop bought stuff)- this was 1tbs pure spread, 2 tbs sugar, 1tsb golden syrup and a splash of milk. I microwaved it for 20 seconds at a time, then stirred it (and near the end, 10 seconds at a time)- it bubbles right up. Put a tiny blob on a cold plate to check that it turns into caramel.

Then pour over the cooling apple cake.

Leave it to cool completely before slicing, and try not to eat them all at once!

Oh WOW is all I can say. They are amazing! Sooooooooo amazing. The apple is sweet, the peanut butter is rich, the caramel sauce is gooey…… need I go on?

Were you a fan of caramel/ toffee apples? I never found them easy to eat- I would rather have some sauce to dip slices into, for example;

Yum- a toffee apple dip from Graze.

Caramel and apples just go together mmmmmmm.

Quinsotto? Risottoa? I think I like quinsotto.

This week I received a lovely package from the super folks at Delamere Dairy.

Lots of goats cheese- yum! They asked me if I would share some of my goats cheese recipes on here, and I was very happy to help!

So on Wednesday this week I made a butternut, beetroot and goats cheese quinsotto (serves 2).

I roasted a peeled butternut squash previously (from my squash box yay), so the pieces were in the fridge. But if you were making it you would need to roast it first- takes about 30 mins, and I like to sprinkle on some rosemary.

Step 1- cook the quinoa. I only had 60g left, but would probably have used 100g if I had any more. Put it in water (about twice the amount of water, but top up if it gets dry) and add a tsp vegetable stock (I used vecon). It takes about 10 mins until the quinoa goes “squiggly).

Step 2- chop up half the butternut squash, and mash the other half.

Step 3 – Add 2 or 3 chopped beetroots (cooked).

Step 4- Add the choppped and mashed butternut. Leave to cook for about 10 mins so it all heats through. Add some dried rosemary.

Step 5- serve topped with crumbled goats cheese- I used the log with herbs.

This was delicious!

I also made black bean goats cheese wraps earlier in the week- very similar to kidney bean wraps.

In the pan- one chopped red onion, 1 yellow pepper chopped, 1 drained tin black eyed beans, 2 tbs tomato puree, 1 tsp easy chilli, 1 small drained tin of sweetcorn.

Then spoon the mixture onto a wrap, and sprinkle some goats cheese on the top (I used the honey goats cheese).

Either roll up and place on a greased dish and bake for 10 mins.

Or leave the wrap open and place in a smaller dish. I like this option as I get more filling and less wrap! Again bake for 10 mins.

Serve with some salad (and raspberry basil dressing yum). Delicious 🙂

I have lots more recipe ideas which will be appearing over the next few weeks 🙂 What do you love goats cheese with? I think it goes so well with beetroot, squash, caramelised onions, figs…