Easy chocolate cake

Preheat oven to 190c

Melt 4 tbsp margarine
1 dessert spoon golden syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar

Remove from heat
Bring down to room temperature

Electric mixer
Add
1 egg
2 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp chai spice
1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup self raising flour
3/4 cup milk

Grease cake tin, bake for 35 mins

Easy – I uses gluten free flour for this one

Passover Chocolate Cake with Dates and Pecans

Preheat fan forced oven to 170c

10 eggs – separate the eggs and yolks
1 pinch of salt flakes
1 3/4 cups of sugar ( I used Low GI cane sugar though caster sugar is suggested)
1 cup of oil (I used Rice Bran Oil)
1/4 cup of Passover Wine
1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
1 cup of Cocoa Powder (I used Cadbury Bournville Cocoa)
1 cup of Super Fine Matzo Meal
110g of Milk Chocolate Drops
110g of Dark Chocolate Drops
3/4 cup of chopped Pecans
3/4 cups of chopped Dates

Line a spring form tin with baking paper and spray with oil
Use an electric beater to whisk egg whites until stiff – set aside
Use an electric beater to whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale
Add oil, vanilla, and wine
Add the cocoa
Stir through Matzo Meal
Add the chocolate drops, dates, and pecans
Gently fold through the egg whites
Gently pour into the lined baking tin
Bake for 55 minutes

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool
Do NOT remove from the tin until completely cool

Middle Eastern Inspired Pilaf

Serves 8

1.5 cups Jasmine Rice
100g Wild Rice
2 teaspoons Massel Beef Stock Powder (2 cubes)
1/4 teaspoon Saffron Threads
5 cups of boiling water
- cook in the rice cooker, striking through thoroughly before you turn it on

1/4 cup Pine Nuts
1/4 cup Slivered Almonds
2 tablespoons Rice Bran Oil
1 large onion, small dice
1/2 teaspoon Powdered Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Powdered Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Ground Tumeric
50g salt reduced butter
1/2 cup Frozen Peas (thawed)
1/4 cup Dried Currants
- toast the nuts, then remove from the pan and set aside
Heat oil in a non stick frying pan
Caramelise the onions
Then add the spices and fry till fragrant
Melt the butter
Add the peas and currants then remove from the heat and rest for 2 minutes

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
Freshly chopped Coriander and Flat Leaf Parsley
- In a large serving dish spread out the rice, then pour over the onion, spice, pea mixture
Sprinkle the toasted nuts over
Drizzle with the olive oil and garnish with the freshly chopped herbs

Enjoy!

Middle Eastern Lamb Kofta with spicy tomato concasse

Serves 6 for mains, or 8-10 tapas style

kofta:
1kg beef mince
1 large onion (grated)
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 egg (beaten)
3 tablespoons of Oasis Bakery Kafta Spices (a blend of all spice, cloves, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger, fennel, star anise, nutmeg, mahlep, galangal)
1 heaped teaspoon of Aleppo pepper
Rice bran oil

Tomato concasse
You could spend time cooking down tomatoes, but this is an acceptable cheat -
1 bottle of good quality passata – I prefer Provista Sugo
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Freshly chopped parsley and coriander to serve
Good quality olive oil

Kofta
Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix through thoroughly by hand
Roll in to golf ball sized balls and squash to get a good crust when you seal them
Do not overcrowd the pan, it takes about 5 batches to cook all the kofta
Seal them in a non stick pan with rice bran oil (do not cook through 40-60 seconds each side
Drain on paper towel

Tomato concasse
In 1 tablespoon of oil, fry off the spices
Then pour over the sauce and bring to the boil
Add salt, pepper and sugar
Remove from heat

Assembly
Lay all the kofta in a large casserole dish, pour over the tomato concasse
Bake in a 160 oven for 35-40 minutes
Remove from oven, sprinkle over freshly chopped herbs, drizzle with olive oil

Spicy turkey burgers (tasty and healthy)

Makes 3 burgers

500g turkey mince
1 beaten egg
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
2 spring onions halved lengthways and then finely chopped
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp thyme
1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Mix together and chill for an hour or over night
Form in to patties
Poke a hole in the middle with your finger – optional – helps the burger cook through evenly
Pop it on the BBQ

I serve it on a low GI roll, with lettuce, tomato, low fat cheese

Enjoy

Muffins. Adapted from La’s magnificent recipe

125g butter or margarine
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup of yoghurt
2 cups self raising flour
1 cup of fruit (mashed banana, stewed apple, peaches, plums, cherries, raspberries, whatever you feel like)
1 teaspoon of spice to complement your fruit choice

Icing
1 cup icing sugar
1-2 tablespoons of fruit juice (syrup from the tinned fruits, or lemon juice) or milk
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
Whisk together until smooth

Preheat oven to 170degrees
Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer
Add the eggs
Add vanilla
Add yoghurt
Add the flour
Gently stir through the fruit so it stays in chunks
Line muffin pan with muffin cases or oil spray
Fill to 3/4
Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden or the skewer come out clean
Cool on a wire rack
When cooled, drizzle with icing

Enjoy!

Easy Mix Chocolate Cake

You will need:

1/2 cup cocoa

3/4 cup boiling water

1 cup caster sugar

170g butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp bi-carb

1 bag of dark chocolate bits

200ml light coconut milk

200ml greek yoghurt

3 eggs

2 cups self raising flour

 

Preheat Fan Forced oven to 160degrees

 

Mix:

Dissolve cocoa and caster sugar in boiling water

Whisk until smooth

Add the butter

Whisk until smooth and dissolved

Then add the coconut milk, yoghurt

Whisk until smooth

Add the eggs and vanilla and bicarb

Whisk until smooth

Add the self raising flour

Whisk until smooth

Stir through the dark chocolate bits

 

Pour into a lined cake tin

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow to stand for 10 minutes then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 

ICING

Mix 2 tablespoons of cocoa with 2-3 tablespoons of boiling water

Whisk together until smooth

Add 2 cups icing sugar and 20g of softened butter

Whisk together until smooth and glossy

Spread over the cooled cake

 

Decorate with chocolate shavings or toasted coconut