Each morning, I say to myself- No More Sunrises!!! And yet, here we are, with yet another sunrise for you to enjoy, even if you sleep late every morning. Aren't you grateful I'm obsessed with them?!
We were gifted with these baby foods yesterday from hubby's fam. Most grateful, may I say! When out, we have quick meals for a hungry bubby. She still rather prefers purees at present, so this is just perfect.
I took Babette and my teen for a tree change drive yesterday. It was so relaxing visiting the country, and just 10 minutes away. Desperately want to move back here. This cow seems pretty chill about things. If I lived here, I'm sure I would be too :)
Speaking of Babette, this gorgeous girl made a feast last night. We also had a dinner guest, yet she still managed to make an absolute abundance of amazing food.
This salad platter was one meal...
...and this divine paella (chicken and salami-not seafood due to a picky teen), was another.
The finished product- topped with the fried salami and chicken, and fresh herbs from my garden. It was soooo delish! And there was more than enough for 2 meals today :)
My contribution to the meal: White Choc Cheesecakes for dessert.
They are wickedly sugary and divinely naughty. Yep- break out meal for sure! And look on, the recipe is here as well.
Ingredients:
Base:
- 1 250 gram packet
of plain sweet biscuits (I used choc chip cookies!)
- 1 cup
Desiccated Coconut
- 3 heaped
tablespoons cocoa powder
Combine
dry ingredients in a bowl.
In a pan, heat together until butter melts (do
NOT boil)
- 1 can Condensed
milk
- 30gms butter
Mix
ingredients together well. Put into a lined & greased slice tray (or muffin tins or cake pan) and smooth
out (clean, wet fingers work best for this). Place in fridge.
Filling:
(This works best in a food processor)
- 2 x 250gms cream cheese
- 3/4 cup brown (or white) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1.5 cups whipped cream.
- 1 cup whipped cream, extra
- 1 tbsp gelatin
- 250gm white chocolate
- punnet strawberries
Combine 2x 250gms cream cheese with ¾ cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla essence. Mix until smooth.
Add 1 ½ cups stiff whipped cream. Lightly beat until combined.
Place 1 tblspn of gelatin powder into ¼ cup cold water. Place cup into another cup of boiling water and stir until gelatin dissolves and becomes clear.
Add to cheese mixture.
Carefully melt 250gms white chocolate (do slowly in microwave to prevent burning). Stir thoroughly to remove all lumps. While still warm, and with processor running, slowly pour into cheese mixture until combined.
Take slice base from fridge and spoon cheesecake mixture generously on top.
Return to fridge and allow to set for 1-2 hours-longer if large cake is made.
Remove from tin and cut into slices with a warm knife.
Top slices (or individual mini cheesecakes as pictured) with whipped cream and strawberries.ENJOY!
Just to calm you down from your sugar high, here is another serene scene- this morning's sunrise :)
I have also added this as I love how vibrant everything looks in the morning sun.
I have been a bit busy with this baking business. I will now redeem myself and show you my refined sugar free carrot cake.
Ingredients:
2 cups of unbleached, whole wheat plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup liquid coconut oil
1/4 cup rice malt syrup
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup soaked, chopped dates
1/4 cup soaked chia seed gel (see note)
3 eggs
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup walnuts
4 small/ 3 medium finely grated carrots
Icing:
200gms cream cheese
1/4 cup honey or rice malt syrup
Extra walnuts
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 180 C
Grease and line a large, spring-form cake tin.
Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Add the coconut oil, rice malt syrup, chia gel, vanilla and eggs. Mix until just combined.
Mix in carrots, drained dates, coconut and walnuts also until just combined.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Store in the fridge.
*Note: to make chia gel, I place 100gms of chia seeds into a large container, fill it with a few centimetres more water than seed- stir, and store in the fridge for a week. More water can be added if it gets too thick.
The carrots, soaked dates, coconut and walnuts ready to be combined into the batter.
The cake post oven. All good cooks need to sample their creations :)
The finished product! It actually tastes so good- not sickly sweet, and its dense and filling. Perfect afternoon tea :)
To end, I will leave you with these, just because they brighten my day, and the dining room table.
I will now go and check on my sweet bubby, who has fought sleep half the day. Then, I think I shall attempt to stay awake until a travel weary hubby arrives home from uni.
Hope that has satisfied you for another day.
Until next time, thanks for reading :)
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