Chocolate Caramel Date Tart

Now I'm not going to pretend that this is everyday kind of food...... But if you're looking for a special occasion treat then I highly recommend giving this tart a try. It's deliciously sweet without added sugar. It's filling is so smooth and it will give you a great chocolate hit. We served this in place of birthday cake and it was a huge hit!  

CHOCOLATE CARAMEL DATE TART

(Serves 10-12)

                You'll need:
                BASE
                1/2 cup raw hazelnuts
                2 Tablespoons ground flax seeds
                1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
                4 pitted medjool dates
                2 Tablespoon motherless milk of choice

                FILLING
                1 1/2 cups pitted medjool dates 
                1/4 cup motherless milk of choice
                1 teaspoon vanilla essence

                TOPPING
                100g bar of dairy-free dark chocolate (I use Lindt 70-85%)
                100ml motherless milk of choice
                1 teaspoon vanilla essence 


Soak the dates for the filling in a bowl of boiling water for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the base.
Put all the ingredients for the base into a food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together. It will be a bit sticky - that's ok! Press the mixture into a glass 20cm pie dish. You can use another pie dish if you'd like, but I find that the mixture doesn't stick to the glass ones and therefore I don't need to use oil or line it. Place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
Strain the dates and place all the filling ingredients in a food processor and blend til completely smooth and creamy.
Pour the filling mixture onto the base & return to the freezer.
In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients for the topping. Stir continually on low heat until the chocolate has completely melted and the mixture is smooth and shiny.
Pour the topping over the filling mixture.
Place the pie in the fridge and allow the topping to cool.
Once cooled, you can slice and serve (as many pieces as you like hahahahaaaa!)! ;-)

Question of the day:
Do you make yourself treats like this 'just because', or do you save them for special occasions?

Biscuit Base Maple Mousse Cake

I enjoy having dessert from time to time. But I rarely make anything in advance, I prefer to whizz up something just when I feel like it. So that means I need something that can be made quickly and easily.
That is when recipes like this come in handy!

Biscuit Base Maple Mousse Cake

 

Of course its not really biscuits, nor cake.
More like a yummy treat that is inspired by cheesecake!
 

To make 2 servings you'll need:
 
For the biscuit-style base:
     2 Tablespoons hazelnuts
     2 Tablespoons cashews
     1 Tablespoon chia seeds
     2 Tablespoons oat milk (or other plant milk)
     1 Tablespoon cacao
     1 teaspoon stevia (or other dry sweetener)

Combine in a mini food processor and process til nuts are crumbly and mixture has thickened and holds together well.
Line the base of 2 servings glasses with the biscuit base and press down gently.
 

For the mousse:
     150g soft silken tofu
     1/2 teaspoon vanilla essense
     2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
     1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds

Combine in a mini food processor and process til smooth and thick.
Scoop mousse on top of the biscuit base.

Serve with fruit of choice.

If stored in the fridge this will thicken even more..... If you can wait that long!

Submitted to Healthy Vegan Fridays.

Add your healthy vegan recipe on these blogs:

My Healthy Chef 
Herbivore Triathlete 
Hello Veggy 
Rock My Vegan Socks

WIAW - Choc-Hazel-Goji Granola

Welcome to WIAW

I haven't done a Wednesday post for some time, so enjoy today's one!
It comes with a super yummy breakfast recipe.

Today's eats:

Breakfast was the totally delicious granola recipe below - sure beats nutella on toast!

Lunch I made a quick salad with cooked wholemeal pasta, salad leaf mix, grated carrot, sun-dried tomatoes, chopped capsicum and spring onions - topped off with a big dollop of hummus. Quick, easy, delicious :-)
Dinner was roasted sweet potato with a mexican bean mix with capsicum, corn, tomatoes, zucchini, borolotti beans and mushrooms.

Now for the promised recipe:

Chocolate Hazelnut Goji-berry Granola

You'll need:
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup hazelnuts
1/4 cup pepitas
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup coconut
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup goji berries
1/4 cup raisins

Smash the hazelnuts by placing them in a zip-lock bag and beating with a meat-mallet until broken into little pieces.
In a large mixing bowl combine the oats, smashed hazelnuts, pepitas, cocoa powder & coconut. Stir well.
Pour in the apple sauce and brown rice syrup.
Stir until well combined & all the oats have been coated with the moist ingredients. It will look like it won't all combine but keep stirring and it eventually does.
Pour mixture onto a lined baking tray and spread evenly and as thin as possible.
Place in a preheated 160C oven.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.
Remove tray from the oven & allow to cool.
Stir in the goji berries & raisins until evenly distributed.
Pour into an airtight container for storage.

Here's a picture-tip for how to easily transfer the granola into the storage container:

Because sometimes in life we need all the tips we can get right!!! ;-)


Here's another one then...... don't start nibbling on this before putting it in the container - its soooo good that you won't have much left to transfer otherwise!!!

A week worth of oats

I love having oats for breakfast.
But sometimes having the same thing can become a bit boring. I usually just microwave my oats with some non-dairy milk for a few minutes & then add frozen berries.
So I was on a quest to find a few ways to have my oats that were a bit different from the regular way.

Here's what I came up with!

A week worth of oats

Monday's Oats - Fig & Passionfruit
Cut up 3 dried figs into little pieces, put in a pot with half a cup of oats & a cup of soymilk.
Bring to a boil & simmer for 3-5 minutes until oats are soft. Serve with passionfruit pulp over the top.

                                                        Stirred all together for complete yumminess!


 
Tuesday's Oats - Strawberry Choc-Nut
Put half a cup of oats in a bowl & pour over enough boiling water to just cover the oats. Put them under a cover for approx 5-10 minutes. The oats will absorb the water & soften.
Pour a heaped tablespoon of my nut-seed milo over the top and stir to combine with the oats. Add chopped strawberries for a lovely bowl of tasty oats :-)

Wednesday's Oats - Spiced Mandarin
Soak overnight a bowl with 1/2 cup oats, a cup of pomegranate juice, and a 1/4 teaspoon of each cinnamon, nutmeg & allspice. The oats will absorb the juice overnight. In the morning add a chopped mandarin, a Tablespoon pepitas & a teaspoon sesame seeds.

This is what you'll find in the morning after having soaked overnight

 
Thursday's Oats - Prune & Hazelnut
Stewed prunes remind me so much of my grandmother. She used to have them on her weetbix every morning. This is my own version of how to have stewed prunes for breakfast!
Put half a cup of oats in a bowl & a heaped tablespoon of prune spread. Add just enough boiling water til the oats are covered. Top with a lid of some form & leave overnight for the oats to absorb the water. In the morning grind up a tablespoon of hazelnuts in a coffee grinder & sprinkle over the oats with a half cup of almond milk. So tasty....

The oats will absorb the water overnight

Grind the hazelnuts in the morning

Friday's Oats - Raspberry Oat Cake

This was so good that I thought it deserved a post of it's own! You can find it here.

Stay tuned for some great creations for weekend breakfast cooking with oats.

Nutella Waffles

Yes, I'm having a 'chocolate' fettish of late!

My latest edition to my chocolate meals is nutella waffles.
No nutella of course. Just that wonderful combination of hazelnut & cocoa flavours.

Enjoy :-)

You'll need:
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 over-ripe banana, mashed well
1/4 cup hazelnut meal (you can buy this from a healthfood store or else just make your own by grinding hazelnuts in a coffee grinder until no big pieces remain)
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup soymilk

Combine the flour, baking powder & hazelnut meal together in a bowl.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients to the well. Slowly fold in the dry ingredients until all is well combined.

Lightly spray the waffle oven & pour the mixture in 1/2 cup at a time (or the amount advised in the instructions for your waffle oven).

Bake for 4 mins (or if you have a light indicator until the time required).

Lots of yummy options for serving:
    Berries, Sweet William Spread, banana slices, maple syrup, jam!

Whatever your taste buds feel like really......

Makes 4 waffles

Soy-tella!

I decided that I wanted to make a healthy version of nutella! When I told my daughter this she asked what nutella was!!!! I was secretly very proud that I have lasted 7 years without my daughter finding out about nutella!!!! lol
Well now she's addicted - but I'm more than happy to put this on her school lunches!!!

I like the way this doesn't become completely 'smooth' - it reminds me a bit of crunchy peanut butter! And of course, it tastes divine!!!

You'll need:
1 cup roasted soybeans (if you want you can use cooked ones that haven't been roasted, they just won't taste as nutty)
1 tablespoon hazelnut spread
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
2 tablespoons warm water (more or less depending on consistency desired)

In a food processor combine the soybeans and cocoa powder. Process until the soybeans are quite broken down. (This will take some time - also if you have a mini food processor, it seems to work better for smaller amounts of food - it won't all fly off to the edges then!)
Add the hazelnut spread & continue to process until desired smoothness is reached!
(You can choose to add a touch of sweetner if your taste prefers a sweeter sweet - try agave nectar.)
Put into a container & store in the fridge.

Really great as a filling for ginger logs :-)