Quick Choc Beet

The Midnight Banana recipe is my favourite in the whole world. I love it so much, I had to play with it a little (or a lot) because we were getting bored with it. Simply adding chocolate chips or nuts wasn't enough anymore. So one day, in desperate desire for some chocolatey goodness, I created a shortcut to the beet chocolate cake. It goes like this:

1 1/2 c cooked and shredded/puréed beet
1/3 c oil
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 c sugar (can be less)
cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp baking soda or baking powder
1 1/4 c of spelt or another wholemeal flour
1/4 cup cocoa (can be more, can be mixed with carob)

Preheat oven to 170 degrees C, mix the beet with oil, add eggs and sugar, mix (all by hand, no mixers), sprinkle the cinnamon and, if using, baking soda. Mix a little, then add flour and cocoa (and baking powder). Pour into the pan, muffin cups, madeleines forms or whichever form you feel like. bake for 50-60 minutes for loaf pan, 30-40 minutes for small cupcakes and madeleines. If using a gas oven, you might want to put a cup of water underneath to avoid dryness.
The loaf version is best when wrapeed in aluminium and kept in the fridge overnight.

Bon appetit :)

Chocolate Beet

Hi there! Yep, I'm still alive. And I have the yummiest chocolate cake for you. It's almost guilt-free as well. It contains beet. And yes, it is delicious. Seriously.

For a round cake pan 20cm diameter:

100 g wholemeal spelt flour
50 g ground walnuts or almonds
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
150 g brown sugar
250 g chocolate
100 ml oil
3 eggs
250 g cooked/baked beet

Grease the cake pan and put parchment paper on the bottom.
Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Melt the chocolate and put aside to cool. 
Purée the beet in the food processor.
Mix all the dry ingredients(flour, baking powder and baking soda, nuts and sugar) in a bowl.
In another bowl mix oil with beet. Add eggs one by one. Then incorporate melted and cooled chocolate, spoonful by spoonful. Now add the dry ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes. To avoid over baking the top, cover with aluminum foil halfway through. Wait until cool before taking out of the pan. Decorate and serve. Bon apetit!

I'm not promising anything but...

I’m back. Yaaaay. I have a bazillion things to blog about, some recipes to share but for some reason, might be my amazing gift for procrastination, I don’t. 7 weeks ago I gave birth to my second child and so the circle of feeds, diapers, sleepless nights and general exhaustion has begun. Add a 3,5 year-old to the mix and you can see I’m desperate to blog again. Anything to escape the motherhood, lol. 

Je t'aime, melancholie...

Ramadan is knocking and I got a bad bout of nostalgia. I miss UAE. I miss the mood, the food, I got a bad bad craving for Sarai restaurant food (the best Syrian food), I miss the evening crowds in shopping malls, the salty humidity blowing from the sea. I miss being able to go downstairs for a stroll after sunset with Little Miss and not only feel safe but see lots of other parents doing the same. I miss my girl being welcome in proper restaurants, I miss being able to eat anywhere and not worry about the almighty pork in pancakes. And I miss our apartment, not smelling cigarette smoke 24/7 from addicted neighbours. I miss the bread from Organic Café, I miss being able to wear the all-black abaya with black scarf without scaring the living daylight out of people... I miss the respect and courtesy regarding pregnant women, I miss so much...
This, too, shall pass but today I allow myself to indulge in memories.

Joys of multilingual life

Little Miss decided to be a French speaker. She started to speak and answer exclusively in French. She obviously understands when I speak to her and acts accordingly but answers in French. Counts in French, her letters are French. Only her food is still Polish but I guess it will change as soon as she actually learns French equivalents in kindergarden. Oh well, I always said what counts is that she understands my and husband's languages. This way the languages are imprinted in her brain and if one day she decides to use them, it will be so much easier. Understanding what people say to you and around you is very reassuring and confidence-boosting, as any TCK or foreign language learner will tell you. But for now, I have a little francophone at home. Can't wait for the Quebecer accent to come out!

Quick cake update

Two days ago I made the cake from the post below with 3 bananas (I added a table spoon of flour to balance the consistency) and it came out even moister and yummier! It's best the next day after spending some time wrapped in the fridge. Sinfully good!

Midnight Banana

Little Miss has been going to sleep early lately. Probably, because she refuses to nap. And so when the urgent need to eat something sweet got hold of me yesternight, I had to find a recipe that doesn't require use of electric gadgets. Found one and since I tweaked it to the point of making a different recipe altogether, I share it here.

It's a dairy- nut- and soy-free banana bread. It' really sweet, so feel free to use less sugar. Personally I like my cakes sweet.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup olive oil (not virgin, the lighter the better)
• 1 cup brown sugar (I substituted some of the sugar with maple sugar)
• 2 eggs, beaten (by hand - I used a beater but can be done with fork)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice (optional)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (NOT baking powder)
• 1 1/2 cups + 1 tbl spelt flour (can be all-purpose flour or any flour, really)

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 170 C (325 F). With a spoon, mix oil with the mashed banana. Add sugar and beaten eggs. Mix. Sprinkle baking soda and cinnamon onto the mixture and stir. Mix the flour in. Stir just enough to incorporate the flour into the batter. Do not over-stir, the batter is supposed to be lumpy. Pour the batter into a loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour. Let it cool before taking it out of the pan. If you want the cake extra-moist, wrap it in aluminium (or put into tupperware loosely wrapped in wax paper) and put in the fridge. It's better the next day (if you can wait, that is).

It works perfectly in muffins, mini-loaves, cup cakes, just adjust the baking time accordingly (30 minutes for small cup-cakes).

You can use 1 egg and 3-4 bananas. You can substituted melted butter for oil. You can add walnuts or chocolate chips. Vanilla extract instead of cinnamon. Etc etc... 

Enjoy!