Yeast Cakes with Apricot Jam

So this week I was thinking about how lucky I am that I haven't cought a cold for quite some long time now . I think I was sick last year in January for few days and then for more than a year healthy as a fish. I'm sure a lot of sport I do makes me keep fit and healthy but this time cold came and knock on my door aswell. It's no big deal, but sneezing, runny nose and headache really aren't that nice friends, so I hope they go away as soon as possible!

I know I should be resting, drinking tea with lemon and so on ... but that's just not the way I am. I have too much energy running through my veines so having a rest is really not an option for me. Even when I'm sick. So today I managed to lie down in the morning for half an hour but then I've got bored. I was thinking what to do in order to forget my sickness and to feel good. So I've got an idea to make these cute little yeast cakes with jam again. That's something my grandma used to do and she made them soooo tasty.

It's not realy that healthy choice of a dessert, but considering it is baked and not fried like doughnuts are, I still think it's not bad to eat some here and then. Beside that they really are delicious and tasty and that's why they found a place on my blog aswell. They've turned out light and juicy on the inside and crunchy on the outside so everyone just loved them. Here is the recipe so can also make them yourself:

Ingredients for 10 cakes:

500 g white flour fot yeast dough

2 dcl milk

1 dcl water

0,5 vegetable oil

30 g fresh yeast

15 grams brown sugar

9 grams salt

1 egg

apricot jam

Preparation:

Combine yeast with 1 dcl of warm milk, add 5 grams sugar, mix and cover with a tsp of flour. Let it rest in a warm place for approximately 20 minutes so the yeast rises. Warm 1 dcl of milk and 1 dcl of water. In another bowl prepare flour (it's better if you warm it a bit before) and make a hole into it. Put salt on the corner of the flour in a bowl. When the yeast rises, put it in the hole, cover with flour, add sugar and oil and start mixing with "dough-adapter" of your mixer. Slowly add milk with water and mix until you get dough that does not stick to the bowl. Cover with blanket, put in a warm place and let it rest for some time (30-60 mins). 

Prepare baking pan with baking paper.

After that roll out the dough in a rectangle shape - so you can then cut out 10 squares (around 0,5 cm thick).

On each square put a tsp of apricot jam in the middle. Then compress the dough from two opposite sites so you get kind of a "pouch" shape. Put the cakes so they hold eachother on the baking paper in a pan - with dough sticked together on the bottom side. Cover with blanket and let it rest in a warm place for additional 30 minutes.

Meanwhile heat the oven to 225°C (440 F). After 30 minutes use a brush and spread an egg over your cakes (you will probably not need to use whole egg). Put them in preheated oven and bake for around 20-25 minutes.

Put them out and enjoy them still a bit warm!

Chia Seed Banana Porridge with Pomegranate

So yesterday I went to the store and wanted to buy something new, something that I haven't tried before but tastes good and is fun for what I like the most - "kitchexperiment". So this time I've bought chia seeds. I wanted to try them out for quite some time now, since I've seen all tasty puddings and porridges that can be made out of it. 

Beside that I've read quite some articles about these special seeds and these 13 awseome reasons why should we eat chia every day convinced me to go for it:

- super high in fiber - so no problems with your digestion anymore ;)

- contains lots of Omega 3 - which means good fat, essential to your body

- lots of proteins are great for me as a very sporty kind of person

- contains lots of iron - that I probably don't get enough with red meat

- is also very good for your skin, nails etc. - who wouldn't want that, ha? ;)

- and it should make you feel full longer - I really don't like being hungry at work, which is perfect!

So I've bought it. And couldn't wait untill morning to start experimenting in the kitchen. I've made a chia porridge with mashed banana. Since I love the refreshing taste of pomegranate, I decided to add this freshness to my morning dessert, so I've added some seeds in the middle and some on top. To decorate my creation and make it more energetic, I've put some sliced almonds and coconut on top. To complete my tasty breakfast, there was also already made whole wheat croissant with honey and a cup of coffee to start my day just the way I like the most: lively and full of energy. And that's just how it turned out at the end! ;)

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients for 1 person:

1,5 Tbsp of chia seeds

1 banana

3,5 Tbsp (coconut) milk

3,5 Tbsp water

seeds from vanilla bean

flaked coconut 

sliced alomonds

pomegranate seeds

Preparation:

A night before combine chia seeds with milk and water and mix it well with a spoon. Cover and put in the fridge over night. In the morning put mixture in the blender, add one banana, a bit of vanilla beans and blend untill creamy.

Put half in a jar and add some pomegranate seeds. Put the other half on top of pomegranate seeds and decorate with some flaked almonds and coconut or however you want to. Enjoy your refreshing morning porridge and have a great day!

Chocolate Orange Raw Cake with Pomegranate

It is again that time of the year. And I'm not talking about christmas and new year's holiday. It's february, which means here is Valentine's day and just two days after that my boyfriend's birthday. So as every year I am super excited about making something special for him. I already knew I'm going to make a raw cake, the question was just what kind. So I gave him few options and he has chosen chocolate-orange-pomegranate flavor. Inspired by Amy, "the great master of raw-cakes", I was anxious to try this one out.

I always tremble when I'm making raw cake, since I don't know if it will have the consistency I want and if the flavors will turn out like I want them to. Well this time everything came to one place and the cake turned out to be just fantastic. I am sure I will do it again. And since it is that time of the year I made a shape of the heart to make it even more perfect.

I'm sure you're all anxious to get the recipe, so here it is:

Crust:

225 grams of pecans, soaked and dried (soak them overnight)

0,2 teaspoon salt

16  soft medjool dates, pitted and chopped

Filling:

580 grams of raw cashews (soaked overnight and drained)

180 ml orange juice (freshly squeezed from about 2 oranges)

3 Tbsp organic orange zest

180 ml  agave nectar

200 ml coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1,5 Tbsp pure vanilla extract and seeds from vanilla bean

90 ml  raw cacao powder (I measured it in a cup)

pomegranate seeds from 1 and a half pomegranate (leave half for the topping)

Topping:

120 grams raw cashew pieces (soaked overnight)

90 ml coconut water

1,5 tablespoons agave syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla and seeds of half a vanilla bean (the other half of the one you used for the filling)

3 Tbsp coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

Preparation:

First thing you need to know about making raw dessert is that you first need to take a plate or a nice tray where the cake will be served. Once you start creating the cake, you will not be able to move it later, so think about where you are going to serve it in advance. :) Then take a 23 cm big baking form (or a form in a shape of a heart like I did), coat it with coconut oil and put it on the plate (coat the plate with coconut oil too).

Making the crust:
To prepare the crust, process pecans and salt in a food processor. Then add the dates and process until the mixture holds together when squeezed between your fingers. Press crust into the bottom of the prepared plate, and set aside.

Continue with the filling:

To make the filling, drain the cashews and combine them with freshly squeezed orange juice and zest, agave nectar, salt and vanilla in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. With the processor running, add the coconut oil, and process for a minute until blended. Divide the filling in half and place half back into the food processor.  Add the cacao powder to the filling in the food processor and process until well blended.  To assemble you can either put first one filling and then another or  you can take a tablespoon and drop one tbsp of each over the crust, as well as scattering pomegranate seeds as you go. Once you've finished, tap on the counter to level, and if you want you can then make nice swirls with a knife.  Place in the freezer to set (preferably overnight).

Finish with the topping:
Put all the ingredients into food processor and blend until smooth. Put in the freezer for about 30-40 minutes until it gets the frosting consistency. Place in pastry bag and pipe decoratively on top and at the side. At the end put the other half of pomegranate seeds on top to make it perfect. ;)

Enjoy your beautiful healthyliciously tasty cake and store the leftovers (if there will be any) in the fridge. :)

Welcome to my healthy tasty and delicious little online corner!

Hey everybody!

After already having one blog in slovenian language and receiving many requests when will I start writing also in english, I was thinking for a long time what to do - should I translate all of my 55 posts to english? Leave it as it is and continue in english version? Or just start all over? 

Well as you can see, I've decided to start all over again. I hope I haven't let down my slovenian friends because of this, but there will sure come a lot of new, improved and even more innovative ideas about preparing tasty, healthy and delicious meals. Since my slovenian friends already are experts in english I'm sure it will be no problem for them to understand the writing, and all other followers from all over the world will also have a chance to join and try to make these kind of dishes by themselves. So at the end I hope I will not let anyone down (maybe just with my not-so-perfect english, but I'm sure you will all understand the main point of my posts). :)

Anyway, if we get down to the point, just a short overview what can you expect from my posts. 

Definitely a lot of food - yeah, I just love spinning myself around the kitchen, trying to make something that hasn't been done yet, a mixture of different recipies with a pint of my own idea. Beside that I always put as much healthy ingredients in the recipies as possible. Since I am a huge gourmand and love to eat, I try to eat healthy, otherwise I would probably already be too big to fit in front of the table and type the post I'm just about to publish. :) Ok, let's put the joke aside and get down to business - I'm already excited to start my new coulinary journey (again!) and hope to post and share my recipes with my eager followers.

Till my next post with love,

Darja