Recipe: Chocolate Orange Latte (Homemade!).
Onto the coffee, I really didn't like the Beanies chocolate orange flavour the first time I tried it. But, with the added chocolate orange from the choc shot and the frothy milk, it's actually quite nice. I wouldn't have it any other way. This is something I now look forward to every morning.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup of milk (i used cashew)
1 teaspoon of Beanies Chocolate Orange Coffee (buy it here)
2 teaspoons of Sweet Freedom Orange Spice Choc Shot (buy it here)
1. Start by heating up the milk in the microwave or on the stove. It took around 2.5 minutes in my microwave.
2. Boil the kettle and dissolve the coffee in a small amount of boiling water in your mug of choice.
3. Add the choc shot to the mug. Stir this so the coffee and choc shot are well combined.
4. Now we want to make the hot milk frothy. I use a mini electric whisk/milk frother (buy here or here). All you do is switch it on and put into the milk until it goes frothy. It is definitely worth the small investment to make it feel like you Starbucks right in your kitchen.
5. Finally, add the frothy milk on top of the coffee!
Enjoy!
Food: IQ Chocolate!
Everyone loves chocolate, don't they?
What do you get if you mix organic cocoa beans with coconut blossom nectar? IQ 'Superfood' chocolate of course. Chocolate at it's simplest, fuss free and free from 'nasties'. Oh, and it tastes pretty darn good too.
IQ's chocolate is named superfood for a reason. They're free-from all 14 allergens - so anyone can eat it. They're high in fibre (around 3g per bar) and minerals such as, manganese (90% of RDA per bar) which is used for healthy bones, metabolism and controlling blood sugar levels and copper (170% of RDA) which promotes healthy skin and hair. You can find out more of the health benefits here & here. But, doesn't that sound like a dream come true? CHOCOLATE WITH HEALTH BENEFITS. Is this real you ask? That's what you get when you enjoy cocoa at its finest.
As you can't tell the packaging is really nice, although they are re-styling and bringing out new style bars! So keep an eye out for those. I hope they don't change it too much, i really like the design on the actual chocolate itself and the way they contain all the health benefits for you to see. Definitely makes you feel a little better as you're reaching for the final piece.
These are definitely for dark chocolate lovers.. they would definitely be too bitter and strong for Mars bar or Dairy Milk lovers. But the health benefits definitely win. It's really nice to eat chocolate that doesn't contain lots of sugar (and added crap). Ladies, it's good to know when the time of the month comes you can munch that chocolate guilt free and it's actually doing you some good. If you do struggle with dark chocolate they're great to use in recipes/baking, like in these gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan brownies or in these banana ice-cream pops.
Recipe: Melt In Your Mouth Vegan, Gluten Free Brownies!
Anyway, on to the brownies..
It's the first time i have ever made vegan brownies and they turned out as a result of a random evening urge to bake. My only qualm is that they need a bit more sugar in my opinion. But, these are still phenomenal nevertheless. I don't know, i love the taste of coconut sugar but it just doesn't seem to sweeten things up enough. Or is that just me? Anyhow, so i used 1/2 cup of coconut sugar so i'd recommend upping that to 3/4 or adding some different sugar/sweetener.
It's the first time i have ever made vegan brownies and they turned out as a result of a random evening urge to bake. My only qualm is that they need a bit more sugar in my opinion. But, these are still phenomenal nevertheless. I don't know, i love the taste of coconut sugar but it just doesn't seem to sweeten things up enough. Or is that just me? Anyhow, so i used 1/2 cup of coconut sugar so i'd recommend upping that to 3/4 or adding some different sugar/sweetener.
Update: I made these again and added some brown sugar - still tasty, moist and delicious just with a little added sweetness.
These make 6 small squares (so definitely double up the recipe if you're planning on sharing). I used this square silicone tray from Ebay.
Onto the ingredients:
Onto the ingredients:
1/2 cup of buckwheat flour (I used Dove's Farm available here)
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons of cacao/cocoa powder
1/2 cup of coconut sugar
1 chia egg (or flax egg) - 1 tablespoon of chia seeds + 3 tablespoons of water
1/3 cup of coconut oil
50g of dark chocolate chips (1/2 a packet - mine were from Aldi)
1 teaspoon of a flavoured extract (i used salted caramel from Tesco but, you could use vanilla).
- Make the chia egg and leave to sit whilst making the rest of the brownies.
- Melt the coconut oil in a bowl then mix with 3/4 of the chocolate chips, coconut sugar and extract. Feel free to add more sugar or sweetener at this point - i probably would next time.
- Mix together the flour and cacao.
- Add the dry ingredients and chia egg to the wet ingredients and fold together.
- Put into a a lined tray or silicone mould. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips on top!
I baked these for around 25minutes on 150 degrees. But ovens do vary so just check them by sticking a knife or toothpick through the middle and if it comes out clean take them out. Leave them to cool before taking them out of the mould/tray.
There you have it. The perfect delicious treat for yourself or friends/family. I think these would seriously impress friends and family that don't eat gluten free or vegan. They wouldn't really know the difference. If my boyfriend is impressed ("they're quite good actually" he said, which is a compliment, believe me!) they must be good. I've found the key to making the best brownies is melted chocolate. Without melted chocolate and chocolate chips they just don't have that gooey, fudgey texture a brownie should have.
Now, go make these delicious melt in your mouth brownies and enjoy!
And.. i am partial to a brownie or two, it's my favourite dessert, so if you have any other delicious brownie or blondie recipes i need to try, please send them my way!
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Recipe: Vegan Bounty Balls!
I love making these as the ultimate revision snack and the ultimate procrastination tool. This recipe makes 12 balls so they last a good few days as an inbetween revision snack or a little dessert. We all know now i have a massive sweet tooth (i've mentioned it enough) so just one of these make a perfect little post-meal bite. If i hadn't run out of dates i'd be making these again tomorrow.
Ingredients
- 150g pitted dates (i used Deglet Nour but Medjool would be great. If you only have dried ones just soak them for 15minutes before).- 1tbps of your favourite nut butter.
- 2-3tbps of cacao powder (depends how chocolatey you like them - adjust to your preference by giving the mixture a little taste test!).
- 2-3tbps of desiccated coconut (again this depends on taste preference).
Instructions
Give the dates a few pulses in the food processor until they are a smooth(er) sticky consistency. Next add in the nut butter and cacao (or cocoa) and blend until it is all mixed together. You can add coconut at this point if you like.
Next shape into balls, i just use a teaspoon to make scoop it out to make sure they're relatively similar in size.
Then roll in desiccated coconut.
Store in the fridge for 3-5days. Or in the freezer for a few months (they won't last that long though). You can eat them straight out the freezer or leave them 5mins to soften.
Please do let me know if you try making these. Next on my list is a snickers version, i'll let you know how that goes on..
Also, if you have anymore quick, healthy snack ideas comment below! I need some more revision snacks #procrastibaking.
At Home With Nadia: Baking day!
Don't you just love those lazy days where you don't get dressed, you have your pjs on, a brew in one hand and the TV remote in the other. I love those. To make it even better i'll turn the music up and head into the kitchen to see what i fancy making.
Here are the efforts a successful baking day..
Chocolate muffins with chocolate ganache icing piped on top. Topped with chocolate chips and desiccated coconut or marshmallow.
Lemon meringue muffins. Lemon flavoured cupcakes filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue (finished off the in the oven). Simple and sweet.
Another lemon flavoured recipe. This was a inspired by something i tried in Starbucks (lemon and lime crumble bar). I started off with a shortbread base - you can use any generic shortbread recipe, google has the answer. I then made the middle lemon layer by mixing together lemon curd and icing sugar until it went thick. I then topped with meringue instead of crumble because, i'm lazy and we had lots of meringue mixture left. It tasted amazing though.
Lastly was the almond and raisin shortbread biscuits Again using a generic shortbread recipe but adding some almonds and raisins which i chopped up really small using a food processor. Sprinkle with sugar before baking. Delicious.
All in all that was a good day baking i'd say. Lots of treats to share around. We also made the rocky road recipe i shared here.
All in all that was a good day baking i'd say. Lots of treats to share around. We also made the rocky road recipe i shared here.
Travel: Weekend In Edinburgh.
A few days ago i visited Edinburgh for two days. This is the second time i have visited and i've decided it is a city i really love. The main purpose of the trip was to visit the university as i am contemplating doing my Msc there. However, it kind of turned into a massive shopping trip. For some reason i just wanna shop when i'm there, the Topshop, Primark and New Look (a few of my favourites) just seem so much better in Edinburgh than they do in Manchester or the Trafford Centre. I'm nto sure why. I also love the shop Tiger because i don't have one of them near me :(. I'm also partial to visiting Jamie Oliver's for some good food. And this time i treated myself to a gluten free nutella brownie and a cookie monster cupcake from Bibi's Bakery.
There is so much to see Edinburgh! Of course, it is a beautiful city. I love the mix of old and new. I could wander around for ages. It'd be so easy to just get lost and spend hours exploring. This time we headed to Holyrood Park to the infamous Arthurs Seat. We also walked from Haymarket station to see more of the city. I feel like there is an endless amount of beautiful views and lovely old buildings. It could be a bit of a fashion bloggers paradise, just think, perfect scenic backgrounds *plans photoshoot*.
As you can see my trip consisted mostly of wandering around the city, shopping (a lot!) and eating (a lot!). I still feel like i have a lot more of the city yet to see but, i'm saving that for future visits. One place i enjoyed was the Museum of Childhood on the Royal Mile. That was such a fun blast to the past for my mum and I. I would definitely recommend a quick visit. We were pretty lucky to have one sunny day whilst we were there, the second day it rained - typical. Overall, i had yet another lovely trip to Edinburgh, it is fast becoming one of my favourite places to visit. Now i just need to decide whether i want to live there for a year, but that's a different story...
What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh? Is there anywhere that i have to visit?
Recipe: Choc-a-holic - Homemade Dark Chocolates.
Ingredients:
Dark chocolate
Coconut oil
Desiccated coconut
Nakd bar (I used cherry bakewell)
1/2 tsp Almond extract (to compliment the bakewell bar, feel free to omit this or use a different flavour that suits you)
How to:
- Melt half the chocolate and all coconut oil in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. Once the water has started to boil turn the heat down while the chocolate melts. Stir occasionally.
- Chop up the Nakd bar of chop into little chunks while the chocolate is melting.
- Take the chocolate off the heat and stir in the rest of the chocolate.
- Add in the chopped up Nakd bar, desiccated coconut and any other ingredients.
- Spoon into the chocolate mould and leave to set in the fridge.
Ta daaaaah. There you have the perfect homemade gift. You can tailor the flavours to suit the person you're giving them too. Feel free to use milk chocolate if that's what you prefer. You can make them into chocolate 'sandwiches' by adding nut butter or chocolate spread in the middle and sticking them together. You can decorate them with iced decorations, writing or additional toppings - some desiccated coconut would be nice on top. These would look so cute for Christmas with some red icing, popped into a little jar with ribbon and christmassy decorations.
Things I've Been Loving: Easter Treats
Happy Easter everyone! Hope you're all having a good with lots of chocolate. Easter sunday wouldn't be right without without it right? Or a roast dinner. Mine was the best, thanks mum!
I thought i'd share with you what chocolate treats i got this Easter.. and another present i got to help me burn it all off afterwords. First off, i'm a dark chocolate lover. I found these goodies in Aldi and couldn't resist. I can safely say the truffles are truly amazing, four in a row was not enough. The Easter egg i'm yet to dig into to, i'll leave that for when i am home from Malaysia.
This top is from Primark (Selfridges in the Trafford Centre) and was a bargain at £4. It'll look good in the summer months with a bright sports bra. I also got some plain black 3/4 leggings to go with for £6. To complete the outfit is a plain black pair of trainers, now usually i just get Nikes or Fila but, i thought i would try these for in the gym. They are super, super comfy because they are memory foam and i love how sleek they look. Can't go wrong with a pair of plain black trainers. At the bargain price of £12 i got the full outfit for £22. Not. Complaining. Big thanks to my mum for always kitting me out in the gym. Gotta look good. Plus i never take my gym clothes off, i pretty much what them everyday so i'd rather have a new sports bra or leggings than an actual dress or something nice. I'm sure a lot gym bunnies will agree.
Hope you all had lovely Easter. How did you spend your day?
Recipe: Not So Healthy Rocky Road!
Thought i'd share a classic recipe here. It's a simple rocky road which takes like 5 minutes to make and everyone always loves it. It's a fail safe recipe that everyone enjoys and you can customise it to add in the things you like. Personally i like to add coconut to mine. The mint aero bubbles also taste good too. Its usually suggested that you use digestives or rich tea biscuits but i like to use chocolate chip cookies or oreos aswell. Just chuck in whatever's in your cupboard and i'm sure it'll taste brilliant.
Ingredients:
150g Dark chocolate
125g Butter
2-3 Tablespoons of golden syrup
Around 100g (or a big handful) of mini marshmallows
200g Biscuits of your choice
How to..
- Melt the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a pan. Stir occasionally and make sure the hear isn't too hot so it doesn't burn.
- Crush the biscuits. You can do this in a food processor or put them into a plastic food bag and whack with a rolling pin
- Take the pan off the heat and add the biscuits and some marshmallows while the chocolate is still warm.
- Wait for the chocolate to cool slightly and add more marshmallows. Now is also the time to add in any extra ingredients that you fancy.
- Put in a silicone tray or baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
- Refigerate overnight if possible if not, for a couple of hours until set.
- Chop up into 'bitesize' or rather large pieces depending on preference. Though it won't last long!
So thats it! Feel free to add in different ingredients and try new ones everytime and of course, halve or double the recipe depending on how many people you're willing to share with. I guarantee it won't last long.
Until the next recipe...
Nadia xox
Homemade Ferrero Style Balls!
Nutella is addictive to me, even when i was a child i would eat it straight from the jar & my favourite breakfast would be nutella on toast, every single day. So safe to say i enjoyed eating a fair few of these. I did share a few though ;)
The recipe has been altered slightly, i substitued the butter for coconut oil and used dark chocolate because i am a dark chocolate addict!
Recipe credit: Proper Tasty
Ingredients:
7 malted milk biscuits
13g rice krispies
100g Nutella
100g dark cooking chocolate
10g coconut oil
This was half the ingredients on FB and it still made plenty. 16 to be precise.
All you have to do is blitz the biscuits in a food processor or blender, mix with the rice krispies and nutella in a bowl and roll into balls. Leave them in the fridge until they are firm and not sticky. Then melt the chocolate and coconut oil (in the microwave or above a pan of boiling water) and simply dip the balls in. Leave them on baking paper in the fridge until set and ENJOY!
Give them a go! I promise you won't regret it. You can also roll them in crushed nuts when the chocolate is still melted for a proper ferrero feel!
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