Yogurt, Chia and Olive oil cake – Very quick and easy!

This cake is one of my new favourites because its easy, quick and very versatile.

you can adjust the recipe to whatever ingredients / version you have. It comes out so light and fluffy. the perfect “tea”  cake 🙂

So here you go:

1 1/2 cups full-fat yogurt (or any yogurt you have at home, really)
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 plenty tsp Chia  (optional)
Pinch  ground nutmeg
Pinch ground cinamon

Pre-Heat the oven to 180 C. Grease a Cake pan lightly with baking spray or oil, and line the bottom with baking paper. This cake recipe is for a big cake, so maybe a 9 inches or bigger.

Whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.  you can do it manually. Add chia, stir.  Add baking powder, soda, salt, and nutmeg and cinamon right into the liquids and stir. Add the flour in batches and stir just until no lumps remain.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, covering with foil at the end if the top is browning. When a tester comes out clean, transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.

Cake will keep well for several days if well wrapped.

First time I made, I was trying to make a 2 coloured cake, so I made 2 batches. one of them I added some cocoa powder, the other one I put one Apple cinamon chobani yogurt (as part of the yogurt ingredient), it was delicious as well.

I’m sure it will work out with different flavour oils and yogurts and mixtures.

enjoy!

 

Christmas treat- Pancakes for breakfast

ohh, I love Jamie Oliver. 

I love his recipes, I love the way he cooks, i love his carisma.

This week they had this show, Jamie christmas family on the tv every evening at 6:30. Did you watch? I watched and recorded the 5 episodes, and got so inspired that cooked some of the stuff the day after (even tho he is in the frozen winter and we are in boiling (not so boiling) summer.
One night he made left overs turkey “Chili con carne” so I made chili con carne vegetarian style. other day he showed how to make those amazing roasted potatoes. I adapted on my own way obviously but made with balsamic glaze, was just amazing. 

And one of the days the thought how to cook breakfast pancakes.I made them this morning and they were so good we ate them all (even tho would have been enough for 3 or 4 people).

I must say you will see the ingredients, the are not too bad at all (Until you put toppings heheheh).

So here we go:

easy easy pancakes (For 3 ou 4 people)

1 cup of regular flour  (Jamie oliver recipe uses self raising flour and no baking powder)

1 cup of milk

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Some fruit (optional but advisable) –  I put strawberries. In Jamie recipe he uses pear.

Butter (if you want the fat version) or olive oil spray (little bit lighter, and is what I used) for cooking them

Method

In a large bowl put flour, milk, egg, salt and baking powder and whisk it until gets soft. Then grate or chop the fruit inside and mix with a spoon

Heat up a large frying pan with the butter or oil. You will need to cook them batches. Put 3or 4  tbsp of the batch and it will set in one pancake.  you can make 2 or 3 at the same time depending on the size of your frying pan. Leave it for a couple of minutes than turn and leave the other side to cook for a couple of minutes.

if you want them to look very very nice you can sprinkle icing sugar on the top.

Voila.

Suggestions of toppings.

Ricotta, Banana, Cinamon and honey

Mapple syrup

Strawberries, banana and yogurt

Just honey and yogurt

whatever else comes to your mind.

Ps.: We were hungry so I ended up forgetting to take a photo of the final result. heheheh

Merry xmas.

Basil Pesto

Hey,


do you know how to make pesto?
it is so versatile, isn’t it? Ben (my hubby) loves pesto. He likes to spread it in his sandwich, or put it in salad, or in the pasta…Even in the chicken and pizza.


So here is a home made recipe for pesto that you can make at home:
To make 1 1/2 cup you will need:
2 cups basil leaves, coarsely chopped (preferably from your garden/balcony)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 cup (45g) toasted pine nuts
1/3 cup (35g) finely grated parmesan
1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil, plus extra

Method:

1. Place the basil, garlic, pine nuts and parmesan in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped. (Alternatively, place ingredients in a mortar and pound with a pestle until well combined).
2. With the motor running, gradually add the oil in a thin, steady stream until well combined and a smooth paste forms. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Transfer to an airtight container and pour over a little extra oil to cover the pesto surface (this will prevent the basil from oxidising and turning black).

Image from Salt and Pepper blog

5 minutes microwave white cake in a mug

Do you remember the 5 minutes microwave chocolate cake in a mug?
So what about a variation without Chocolate? I am trying to avoid chocolate at all cost, given is my weakness, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t have a dessert, right? 😉

There is another recipe, let’s call it the 5 minute microwave white cake in a mug.

You will need (For 1 mug cake)
6 tbsp all purpose flour
4 tbsp caster sugar
1/8 tsp baking powder
1 egg
2 tbsp oil
3 tbsp water
1 dash of Orange Extract, or Vanilla Extract, or….be creative.

Method:
Add all the dry ingredients to the mug and mix it to combine.
Add the egg, water, oil and extract, and stir well.
Microwave it for 3 minutes in high

Voilá!