Mandarin Butter Cake

 

Ingredients:

(A)

180g butter, softened at room temperature

50g caster sugar

(B)  Lightly beat:

3 egg yolks (48g), bring to room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp finely chopped mandarin peel (remove the white pith before chopping)

(C)  Sift together:

180g self-raising flour

20g milk powder

(D)  Mix together:

45g mandarin juice

10g honey

(E)

3 egg whites, bring to room temperature

50g caster sugar

• Preheat oven to 160°C.  Line a 21 x 11 x 6 cm loaf pan with baking paper.
• In a clean, oil-free mixing bowl, beat egg whites using an electric mixer until soft peaks formed.  Gradually beat in sugar until stiff peaks formed.  Set aside.
• Using the same beaters, cream butter and sugar until light and pale in colour.
• Gradually add in egg yolk mixture, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. (Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl).
• Add in flour and mandarin juice mixture in 3 additions, starting and ending with flour. Combine until just incorporated.
• Finally, fold in beaten egg whites in 3 additions, ensuring the batter is well mixed.
• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the spatula.
• Bake for 30 mins at 160°C, then increase temperature to 170° and bake for a further 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Stand the cake in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
• Serve warm.

Pan-fried Ricotta Dumplings in Tomato Sauce

Recipe from Two Greedy Italians

For the dumplings:
200g high protein flour, plus extra for dusting
220g ricotta
3 egg yolks
25g parmesan, fresh grated
a pinch of grated nutmeg
a pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 chilli, sliced
2 x 400g canned tomatoes (whole or diced)
a handful of basil leaves

• In a large mixing bowl, mix all the dumpling ingredients together to form a soft and moist dough.  
• Tip the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for about 5 minutes.  Roll dough into a long thin sausage shape, then cut the dumplings into 2cm pieces.
• Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil and cook the dumplings until they float to the surface.  Transfer the dumplings onto a plate.
• Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and place the dumplings in a single layer and fry until dumplings are lightly browned on each side.
• Meanwhile to cook the sauce, heat olive oil in a pan and stir fry the onion and garlic until soft.  Add in chilli and fry for a minute.  Add in tomatoes and basil. Bring to the boil and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
• Toss the pan fried dumplings into the tomato sauce and sprinkle over some grated parmesan before serving.

Wholemeal Oats & Seeds Breakfast Cookies

Grab-and-Go the healthy way!  If you are those who always skip breakfast because you don't have the time in the morning, these super easy and healthy cookies which are packed with wholesome and nutritious ingredients is the perfect grab-and-go breakfast. This is a very quick and easy cookie recipe which you can substitute with any healthy ingredients you like to change the type of cookie. No rolling or cutting is required and you can whip up a batch of fresh cookies in no time at all.  What you need is a mixing bowl and a spatula.  

(A)

75g organic coconut oil
1 tbsp organic honey

(B)
70g wholemeal self-raising flour 
1/4 tsp soda bicarbonate
40g grated palm sugar
pinch of sea salt
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
10g brown flax seed meal
15g almond meal
20g chia seeds
55g rolled oats
15g desiccated or shredded coconut
10g raisins (or any dry fruits)
25g mixed of pumpkin kernels & sunflower seeds

• Preheat oven to 170°C.  Line a baking tray with baking paper.
• Over medium-low fire, heat up coconut milk and honey.  Stir to combine. Allow to cool.
• Sift flour and soda bicarbonate together (throw back the husk into the flour mixture).  Add in the rest of the dry ingredients and stir to combine.  Pour in the coconut oil & honey mixture and stir well to combine into a crumbly mixture.
• Shape mixture into balls and gently flatten them. Place cookies 2cm apart onto the prepared tray.
• Bake cookies for about 15-17 minutes or until golden.  Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before storing in an air-tight container.