Nutella Cake with Banana Caramel Frosting

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I needed to bring a cake to a dinner party that was gluten free – for a gluten free person, dairy free – for a kosher person, sugar free – for a diabetic and egg free, but of course I still wanted it to be yummy! Here is what I came up with… And I called it a Nutella cake because it is chocolate and hazelnut… (BTW someone got confused when we use the term ‘cups’ to measure things. It really is as simple as using a cup to measure. A normal size mug is usually the best way to measure a cup.)

Ingredients

3 cups buckwheat flour
Half tsp baking powder
3 large bananas
1 and half cups almond or hazelnut milk
Just under a cup of maple syrup
3 tbsp coconut palm sugar
1 cup hazelnuts
Half cup vegan chocolate chips

Frosting:
1 banana
Half cup maple
4 tbsp coconut oil
3 tbsp almond butter

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 / gas mark 6.

Measure out the buckwheat flour and baking powder and put it in a large mixing bowl then set this aside.

Add the bananas, almond milk, maple syrup and coco palm sugar to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour this mix into the flour and mix well.

Add the hazelnuts to the blender and blend until they form a flour, then add this into the bowl and mix well.

Lastly, add the chocolate chips and mix evenly.

Get two springform cake tins of the same size and cut baking paper in a circle the same size as the bottom of the cake tins and put one in each, then grease with coconut oil.

Distribute the mixture evenly between the two tins and bake in the oven for around 25 minutes. You want it to be moist but not undercooked.

You can make the frosting while it is baking by putting all the ingredients in the blender and letting it blend non-stop for at least 2-3 minutes, if not more, until a caramel-like consistency forms.

Once the cakes are ready, leave to cool fully. Once cooled add half the frosting to one cake, then place the other one on top and top with the rest of the frosting. You can serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Protein Packed Breakfast Parfait

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Tell me this doesn’t make you hungry just by looking at it! I’m in heaven right now eating my breakfast… mostly because I love that I can basically have dessert for breakfast!

So let’s start from the bottom: the bottom layer is my homemade maple and pecan granola, followed by raspberry coconut chia pudding, then some puffed quinoa pops, then my homemade healthy nutella, followed by Meridian Foods natural organic peanut butter, then some more granola sprinkled on the top. This is basically just one big jar of plant protein. I had a bit of this then went for a 45 minute power walk with the dogs. The cacao, quinoa and peanut butter are packed full of protein and the great thing about chia seeds is that although they contain carbohydrates, most of their carbohydrates are not digested by the body as carbohydrates but as fibre, so it speeds up the metabolism and gives you energy at the same time. They are also loaded with anti-oxidants and omega-3 fatty acids; gram for gram, chia seeds contain more omega-3 than salmon…

Ingredients

Homemade granola – click on link for recipe
Raspberry chia pudding – click on link for recipe
Quinoa pops – store bought
Homemade healthy nutella – click on link for recipe
M
iridian Foods smooth peanut butter

Method

Simply layer away and enjoy!

Love,
Lauren

Healthy ‘Nutella’

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As healthy as I try to be, as much as I now have no problem staying away from all things artificial, (I now genuinely prefer the taste of real foods) I still cannot stay away from Nutella; I just love it! So we set about creating the perfect healthy hazelnut chocolate spread. Because raw cacao is a perfect source of protein, as are hazelnuts, this is actually a great post-workout snack! Hazelnuts are a great source of Vitamin E so it’s also wonderful for the skin. I also use it to layer my breakfast parfaits 🙂

Ingredients

A cup and a half of hazelnuts (soaked for at least 6 hours or overnight. Do not omit this step)
Quarter cup of purified water
Quarter cup of raw cacao
Just over a quarter cup of pure maple syrup
Half tsp vanilla essence

Method

Put the hazelnuts on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool for 5 minutes then put them in the food processor and blend until completely smooth.

Now add the cacao, vanilla and maple, blend again then gradually add the water. Add more water if it’s too thick and add more maple if it needs to be sweetened. Follow your instincts!

Enjoy!

Love,
Lauren