My version of a classical French Yogurt cake

Hello everyone, summer has arrived...oh yes it has! Pretty soon I'll be using this season's best fruit to make light and healthy desserts, but first a twist on the classical French Yogurt cake.

What's the twist you ask? Well, alcohol and soy yogurt. I like yogurt...but there's something about the plain yogurt Alpro soya makes that's just amazing. It has a gentle taste, very few fat and low sugar so all in all, it's pretty great. Healthy and tasty, that's what we're going for here.

Just like all my other recipes, this is so easy, a child could do it. The cake itself might look boring and simple, but trust me, this lovely thing will delight both your and your family's taste buds.

As I'm typing this, I'm starting to smell the batter turning into something amazing in the oven...so let's get on with the recipe.

 

Ingredients:

2 portions of 125ml plain yogurt (I used alpro soya)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 tbsp Amaretto
2 cups op 125ml almond flour
liquid sweetner

About 10 crushed cookies (I used speculoos)

Way to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 180degrees C and line the bottom of a round, spring-form cake tin with bakingpaper. Grease the sides with vegetable oil.
2. In a bowl mix yogurt with eggs, vanilla essence, amaretto and the sweetner. The sweetner is, as always, to your liking. I used about 2 tablespoons. Bear in mind that the ameretto is pretty sweet too so you might eveb omit the sweetner if you prefer.
3. Use your 125ml cups to measure the almond flour. Top both of them off with flour and add to the mix.
4. Mix till everything is well combined and allow yourself a little taste. Taste good doesn't it. Would it be wrong to just eat this as a sauce....
5. Enough daydreaming. Pour the batter into the baking tin and lightly sprinkle your crushed cookies over the top.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool for about 5 minutes before you take it out the tin. The cookies will have been baked into the top, making for a lovely, crunchy, topping.

This doesn't make a very big cake, so feel free to double the portions to make a bigger cake.

For extra yumminess, you could slice the cake in two and add a thin layer of strawberry jelly. However, I don't really feel like it needs it. This cake a light, slightly boozy version of a classic French yogurt cake. And remember, no added sugar, no butter but bursting with flavor!


Enjoy
xx

Chocolate cake with avocado and banana

May I just say...wow! If I was a religious girl, I would thank the lord. Instead, I'm going to thank nature for blessing us with the combination of chocolate and avocado.

We have to get serious...you can't make a decent cake without butter. It just wouldn't taste right. So if ever we want to indulge, we'll have to settle for a little bit of fat. NOW, that's so not true anymore! Substituting butter with avocado is genious, delicious and healthy. Avocado is fat, yes, but good fat!

If you are looking for a chocolate cake that won't make you feel like a cheater, then look no more. Yummy, rich, healthy and a definite hit with the entire family...my chocolate cake with avocado and banana.

And oh, did I mention this cake is so easy to make?

 

Ingredients:

 

2 ripe avocados
2 ripe bananas
3 eggs
3 tbsp liquid sweetener
100 gr almond flour
100 gr dark cacao powder
100 gr of assortment of nuts (I used almonds, peanuts and cashew)

Way to do it:

1. Cut the avocado's in two and spoon out the flesh. Add with the mashed bananas in a bowl and stir.
2. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth.
3. Add the remaining ingredients (liquid sweetener, almond flour and cacao) and whisk again.
4. Finally gently fold in the nuts.
5. Transfer to a baking tin lined with baking paper and bake for 35mins in a preheated oven at 180degrees C.
 

Let the cake cool before you take it out of the baking tin. You don't need to top the cake with any icing, it's packed full of flavor and it's very moist. However, adding some maple syrup or honey can never go wrong.

A good movie, a cup of great coffee in my new favorite mug (I got it at a second hand store and I'm just so in love with it.) and some home baked deliciousness. Yes...my life is pretty perfect.

Some of you may have already noticed, I'm a baker who loves simple and easy recipes. I don't like to huff and puff in my kitchen and I definitely don't like doing the dishes. So, you can expect many more recipes like this chocolate cake with avocado and banana, easy, yummy and healthy.

If you want to make a cake lower in carb, leave out the bananas and add a little more almond flour. I promise you, it'll taste great. Now if only I would stop myself from taking another piece....

Enjoy and till next time,
xx

Apple buckwheat breakfast scones

Hi everyone, I hope you are doing fine. Summer is just around the corner and that means that the bikini season is ready for kick-off. With it, our bodies need to be in top shape so we can enjoy a summer freed of worries.
I've been experimenting with some new ingredients so watch out, unlike my other posts, this recipe is not really low carb. However it's very healthy due to it's low fat and the addition of buckwheat flour. Buckwheat flour is gluten-free and so amazingly good for you! It has high quality protein, it's rich in iron, very high in antioxidants, it's filled with many minerals and vitamins such as zinc, copper, and niacin and it contains a high level of rutin, which is an anti-cancer agent. Can this get any better?

So for this recipe, I felt like making something a bit less sweet and these apple buckwheat scones are a great way to start of your day. They fill you up, they are delicious and they are also easy to take with you if you don't have time in the mornings for a sit down breakfast. You can keep them for up to three days.

 

Ingredients:

250 gr buckwheat flour
2 tbsp stevia
3 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
100 gr soft butter (not melted)
120 ml low-fat yogurt or cream cheese
2 eggs
1 big apple

Way to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. In a bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and turn over with a spoon so they are combined.
3. Add small chunks of butter. You don't want to melt the butter, otherwise your dough will not be 'crumbly' enough. It's okay if chunks of butter remain in the batter.
4. Mix in the eggs and cream and turn around with the spoon. Gently add in the apple with your hands. I cut my apple in small cubes. The apple will add a gently touch of sweetness to the scone.
5. Put the dough on your baking tray, lined with baking paper and press down into a circle of about 5cm height. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 200 degrees or until golden.

They are so yummy! The buckwheat gives them a more nutty flavor than regular flour so that's why I didn't add macadamia nuts but of course, feel free to play around with the recipe as much as you like. Try adding blueberries or other kind of fruits to the mix. You won't be disappointed!

You can eat them without anything extra with just a nice mug of coffee or tea, or, I smeared one with jam. Delicious!

Enjoy
xx

Litlle Coconut Bites

Hey my sweet-loving friends. I hope you have enjoyed my recipes so far, so here's a new one. At about 14g of carbs for the entire recipe, it's a god sent. These little coconut bites are lovely with a cup of tea or coffee and might just be that little easy solution to your sweet cravings.

 

Ingredients:

4 egg whites 

2 teaspoons liquid sweetener
150 g coconut

A few drops of vanilla essence

 

Way to do it:

1. Seperate the egg whites from the yolks. We won't need the yolks so either you keep them for a later recipe or you throw them out.
2. Add the sweetener to the whites and heat them up in a pan but don't let them boil. Stir all the while until it's one nice blend.
3. Add the coconut to the mixture and keep stirring.
4. Last, you add a few drops of vanilla essence, just for extra taste.

Gently, form little balls of the batter with your hand. Watch out, they are very fragile until you cook them.

Lay the balls out on a baking tray and spread them out. Don't make them too big. Bake at 180 C for about 10 minutes.

This recipe is very, and I mean VERY low in carb...and...in fat! So two for the price of one! Easy, only good coconut fat and very low carb...damn life can be good!



Enjoy
xx

Zucchini Noodles with Bacon

If I would have known how good this turned out to be, I would have exercised more restraint and waited to eat so I could take some pictures. If your low carb diet is making you miss a hot bowl of delicious pasta while you are curled up on the sofa, watching your favorite tv-show, then boy do I have good news for you! Is it that I've already forgotten what pasta tastes like that I'm loving this version so much? Or is it that I just simply love a delicious meal in which I don't have to say goodbye to taste to let in good nutrients? It's a simple recipe, as fast as any pasta but it's way healthier and it definitely fills you up. The combinations are endless and so is my love for the wonderful zucchini!

 

Ingredients:

1 medium sized zucchini
Half an onion
Half a yellow bell pepper
100 ml tomato sauce
100 gr bacon cubes

Optional: some mozzarella for taste

Way to do it:

1. Peel your zucchini and chop off both ends. With a slicer, slice thin strips. Turn the zucchini around as you go for even strips. Cut the strips into thin 'spaghetti' strands. Stop slicing once you get to the middle of the zucchini where the seeds are and just use your knife to cut the center into small pieces. On this blog, we don't waste any zucchini!
2. I used a wok but you can use any kind of big frying pan. Don't add butter, you can fry the bacon in it's own fat.
3. Add the onion and bell pepper and fry until the bacon becomes crispy and the onions start coloring.
4. Add the cut up center of the zucchini and fry some more. This would be the perfect time for seasoning, but since the bacon already has such a strong taste, I didn't season mine.
5. Then add in the zucchini strips and fry some more before you add the tomato sauce. Let the entire thing cook until the water has evaporated and your sauce sticks to your 'noodles'.

Put in a bowl, top with some mozzarella,get comfortable on the couch and dig in!

And now, once you know how to do it, you can make this dish with scampi, fish, chicken, minced meat... Basically, anything you would plop on your noodles, you can plop on this wonderful zucchini alternative.

Enjoy
xx

Icetray Chocolate Base Cheesecakes

A low carb treat for those warm summer days you can make in about 5 minutes? It must be magic. Put your ice cube tray to good use and make your own ice bon-bons. You can substitute the Greek yogurt for cream cheese, but it's basically the same. I made mine using Alpro Soya plain yogurt because I love the taste. You can make these with any yogurt or cream cheese you like. Play around with taste and you'll always have a great outcome.



What's great about this also, is that you can make small sizes. So make a tray with yogurt, make one with vanilla pudding... the choices are endless!

Ingredients:

125 ml non-fat plain Greek yogurt or Alpro Soya Plain yogurt
1 teaspoon liquid artificial sweetener
60 g dark chocolate

Way to do it:

1. Blend the yogurt and sweetener and set aside.
2. Gently melt your chocolate in the microwave or be a real chef and do it au bain marie.
3. Coat a pre-chilled, clean ice cube tray with some vegetable oil. Let the excess drain out.
4. Using a spoon pour the chocolate into each ice cube mold and make sure to fully coat the bottom using your spoon.
5. Fill each ice cube mold with the yogurt filling.
6. Top with a dollop of chocolate.
7. Place in the freezer for 2-3 hours.

To eat, remove from freezer and then, gently twisting the ice cube tray, remove as you would an ice cubes. Eat immediately.



Depending on which ingredients you use, these babies are so low in carb that feeling guilty is not necessary. Mine come out to not even 1 carb per cube.

I hope you like them and let me know what you think!

Enjoy
xx

Zucchinin With Minced Meat in the Oven

I fell in love with my oven ever since I started low carbing. It's amazing what you can do with him. I've baked cookies, pies, cakes and tons of main dishes that keep my hunger at bay. Now, it's time for a zucchini lasagna with minced meat, topped with some peppers and buffalo mozzarella. I know, a big moment because this is my first main dish I post here. It's just too good to not share it. It's an easy recipe, hardly no preparing so it's great for those days when you just wanna relax but still enjoy good and healthy food.

Ingredients:

170 g minced meat (I used a mix of beef and pork)
1 garlic clove
1 medium onion
120 ml of your favorite tomato sauce
1 green bell pepper
1 large zucchini
50 g buffalo milk mozzarella cheese
1 small chili pepper

Way to do it:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Peel the zucchini and with a sharp knife, slice in long, thin slices. Salt the slices to get rid of excess water. Also cut up your green bell pepper in small cubes.

In a pan, fry chopped onions, meat and the garlic. When they are done, add the tomato sauce and let it cook until all the flavors are mixed. Season as you like. I seasoned with a special mix for meat.

Pat the zucchini slices dry with a clean towel and take an oven dish.

Start assembling your lasagna. Place some sauce at the bottom and layer the zucchini over it. Over the zucchini comes the meat and the sauce and the green bell pepper cubes. Add another layer of zucchini and again top with sauce and bell peppers. Continue until your ingredients run out.

Top the entire dish with the chopped up chilli pepper for added flavor and place thin slices of mozzarella on the top.

Bake in the oven at 2000 degrees C for 25 minute Turn on the grill to turn the cheese brown for the last 5 minutes.

Enjoy
Xx