dates

freekeh salad with nuts and coriander

~ aplotzi ~ Leave a comment

Freekeh has a fantastic flavour and texture and it’s even better for you than quinoa, although it’s not gluten free it’s packed with good things if you google it. I wanted to make a warm salad with it with a Middle Eastern vibe that was easy and delicious. I serve it on its own or as a side dish to a main meal and everyone loves it. It’s not gluten free but the freekeh grain is different in structure to standard wheat grain and is tolerated by some people who are gluten free.

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chocolate avocado ganache

~ aplotzi ~ 4 Comments

This chocolate ganache is super healthy and tastes like a very rich chocolatey ganache made with dairy, this is because the avocados give it a thick and rich creamy consistency. It’s so rich you only need a small amount. You can frost vegan cupcakes and cakes with it and it’s super healthy. It’s also great served as a pudding with coconut cream, desiccated coconut, berries, or bananas. You can even serve it with frozen berries which look amazing next to the dark chocolate ganache and it looks great served in little espresso cups or small shot glasses.

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date paste

~ aplotzi ~ 1 Comment

I have been wanting to use dates to sweeten cakes and other foods for a long time. Sugar is something I try and cut out as much as possible and I tend to use maple syrup instead, except in cake baking as it’s a bit more complicated as the ingredients are integral to the recipe working. So I have been reading up about the best way to use dates as a sweetener and it seems that making your own date paste is deffo the best way to incorporate them into a recipe. So far I have also read that if a recipe uses a cup of sugar, you can then add two cups of date paste but you have to bear in mind there’s more water content in the date paste and it’s not as sweet as sugar. It also keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks and let’s not forget that dates are one of the major ingredients in sticky toffee pudding. So what could go wrong flavour wise…? I will try it out in my recipes, and am really interested which flavour cakes and even biscuits it will work with…plus it will sweeten things like oatmeal for breakfast.

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