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Three ingredient chocolate mug cake

What is it about mugs that make them cosy? Some of my favourite things are served from a mug: coffee, tomato soup, hot toddy…and now this cake!!!! I made a cake, in 3 minutes, with three ingredients. This is one of those total potluck moments, I wanted to have a little experiment and the cake angels made that experiment pay off. The other thing is that this cake contains an egg & everyone says that you should eat eggs for breakfast so I say you should eat this cake for breakfast!

I wasn’t going to post a recipe today but I had to share this one because its too fun not to try. Its deliciously soft and fluffy. Not quite a cake texture, not quite a pudding. I would imagine it is similar to a souffle…but I have to admit to never having tried one. Its just a yummy little chocolatey moment. You could add in a splash of coffee, top with blueberry chia jam, add in grated apple. Have fun & get your mug on x

Ingredients
1 egg
1 banana
2 tsp cocoa

Method
Place the three ingredients into a blender
Mix quickly and then pour into a mug leaving a little room at the top for expansion
Microwave for 3 minutes checking every minute
Dust with cocoa & enjoy

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Baked celeriac

I love the audacity of a single ingredient meal. The fact that one product can, with a little love, provide total nourishment.

Ive thrown my back out again, I think it’s emotional. The baby turned one, the husband turned a corner, the family returned home after a blissful weekend. I haven’t had the energy or desire to cook properly but I also know that my soul needed something good even if my belly wasn’t sure. I needed something that didn’t need me. Nothing that required measuring or stirring. No weighing. No checking.

This baked celeriac simply needed a clean, then a good glug of olive oil and then to be parceled up with some rosemary & a couple of garlic cloves, salt & pepper.I put the oven on, I forgot about it. As with most root roasts, the longer & slower the better. I gave this one a good 90minutes.

This is as comforting as a jacket potato. The outside is slightly taught & crispy, the inside perfectly fluffy. You simply dive in, mix in a little of the roasted garlic & a knob of butter. If you have any good bread to hand then spread some of the fluffy celeriac on, add a sprinkle of tangy sheep cheese & a extra grind of pepper.

This is comfort food. This is food that says it doesn’t matter that your back hurts, that the baby’s teeth are annoying or that the husband let the summer pass him by. This is food that warms your belly & gives you a little hug from the inside.

One ingredient, pure comfort.

Ingredients
1 cleaned & trimmed celeriac

2 – 4 cloves garlic

2 tbsp olive/rapeseed oil

Salt & pepper

2 sprigs rosemary

Method
Preheat your oven to 160C

Place the cleaned celeriac onto a piece of tinfoil

Rub with olive oil & season

Add the garlic & rosemary to the foil and then wrap up into a parcel

Place into the oven & bake for approx 90mins

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Sexy roasted cauliflower

Have you had a nice weekend? We had a lovely one as my sister and her family came to visit. We headed down to Tegernsee one morning to have time at the lake, to drink locally roasted coffee and drink pale beer. We cycled the kids around in the bike box, hung out at the swings and celebrated the littles ones first birthday again. My sister made the most epic cake topper version of our bull terrier Nanuk and we had round two of lemon cake this time with fresh strawberries in the middle.

Each night once the kids were asleep we could sit and eat together. One night we had german ‘brotzeit’ but the second night I made sexy roasted cauliflower. I have been making roasted cauliflower for a few months now. Alex had a ‘cauliflower steak’ in California last year dressed with herby,tahini lemon salad and it had been on my ‘must recreate’ list since then. Its called sexy roasted cauliflower because Alex thought that cauliflower was an aphrodisiac…I had to break it to him that most of the cabbagy/brassica family is probably considered the opposite for rather unfortunate reasons.

This meal though. Seriously. This meal. Firstly cauliflower has never been top of my food list. Its one those vegetables that I normally ignore if I am honest, but all that has now changed and this is now my go to dinner/dinner party/easy meal. Somehow boiling and then roasting a cauliflower turns it into a thing of beauty and there is also a actual beauty to it when you place it down on the table. The entire head, slightly charred and golden. We have been serving it up with lemon dressed salad but it is delicious with a tangy goats cheese too. A large cauliflower head with serve 4 adults but dont be afraid to make it just for two, its delicious cold the next day…and you might be surprised how much you eat. You can use a standard cauliflower or a romanesco….or do both when you have friends over. Place them on the table whole, slice like a loaf of bread, serve with a huge salad and a chilled rose.

This is simple,delicious week night meal or a phenomenal alternative to a sunday roast. Let me know if you make it…we love it!

Ingredients
1 large cauliflower head
1 tbsp salt
3 tbsp olive/rape seed oil
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C
Place the whole cauliflower (leaves removed) into a large pan of salted boiling water
With the lid on, simmer for 10 mins
Remove the cauliflower, drain, and then place onto a large baking tray lined with baking paper
Coat the cauliflower in salt, pepper and olive oil
Place into a hot oven for approx 40mins or until golden brown

 

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Family friendly ratatouille

Ratatouille makes me think of my mum, and to be honest I’m not even sure why. I don’t think she made it much, as she isn’t a fan of tomatoes, but somehow thoughts of her are wrapped up in this dish.

It’s strange how evocative food can be, how a taste can transport you. Pistachio icecream takes me to France. To waiting in the supermarket laundrette for another load to be done. The laundrettes were always glass boxes, heated by the summer sun & the driers on full pelt. Pre smart phone days, there were few entertainment options whilst you waited for the weekly wash other than a game of uno & a tub of icecream.

Cinnamon and cardamom will always take me straight to Oslo. To bakeries & snowy days. To Sunday afternoons when we would “go for a run out” in the car, a flask of coffee and some buns packed to keep us going (probably alongside the snow shovel & the thermal blankets…just in case).

To be honest I’m not sure where ratatouille fits in. Maybe it makes me think of France, maybe it’s because the smell of freshly picked tomatoes is one of my absolute favourite smells. Maybe we did eat it a lot growing up but I have forgotten. Either way, this was the perfect meal to share with the baby today as we woke up to the arrival of autumn here in Munich. It is seriously chilly. Nippy hands, rosy cheeks, thick jumper chilly. Ratatouille is warming, comfort food. Perfect as the evenings get longer, and perfect for the end of season tomatoes.

This recipe is a simple one. The best usually are. Serve with doorsteps of crusty bread or another grain. Puree or mash if needed for the little ones. Dish up, snuggle up and enjoy.

Ingredients (serves 4)
6 large ripe tomatoes chopped

1 large courgette cubed

1 aubergine cubed

1 red pepper cubed

2 tsp herbs de Provence

3 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 shallot

Method
Finely chop the shallot and add to a large pan with the oil and herbs

Gently soften and then add in the aubergine

Cook the aubergine for 4 mins and then add in all the other vegetables

Stir well and cook on a medium heat until the tomatoes begin to break down

Turn down the heat, cover and allow to cook on a low heat for 25-35 minutes until all the vegetables are soft and well cooked

Serve and enjoy

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Beitzels – the beigel, pretzel hybrid

First came the Cronut, then the duffin….and now we have the beitzel! My hybrid of a beigel and a pretzel. These bad boys are a seriously good thing!

Our baby is definitely half Bavarian. I say Bavarian rather than German because she was born in Munich, during Oktoberfest time & her absolute favourite food are bretzel. Pretzel are a go to here. For breakfast split & slathered with butter, on the go during the day, for “Brot zeit” dinner (bread & cold cuts) and of course the supersize version to help mop up beer.

If the little one is being particularly cute you can guarantee that somebody in a bakery or cafe will hand her one having dusted off the salt. I have to let you in on a secret though, I don’t like pretzel. It’s the distinctive lye taste that I don’t like. Lye is used to give pretzel their traditional brown colour and you can replicate it at home but it’s pretty dangerous as it involves sodium hydroxide, gloves & eye protection…..which makes me question whether it is a good thing to be ingesting. I also wanted to make a pretzel that was simple, that shunned the buttery dough and all the added salt.

These beitzels are a pretzel -beigel hybrid. They are made from a simple risen dough which is then shaped & boiled, sprinkled with seeds and then baked till golden brown.

These beitzels have the shape of a pretzel & the delicious doughiness, but they also have the satisfying crunchy chew of a traditional boiled beigel. The little one had one this morning, we had some last night warm out the oven, dipped in sweet potato hummus. They are great spread with jam or made into a sandwich and if you are celebrating Oktoberfest then I’m sure that they paid well with any beer too!

Ps- if you need some help shaping your beitzels that check out my video on my instagram page yolandanaturally

Ingredients
450g strong bread flour

1 tsp salt

7g instant yeast

220ml slightly warm water

1 tbsp maple syrup

1.5 ltr water

3 tbsp mixed seeds to top (optional)

Method
Place the flour into a large bowl

Place the salt on one side of the bowl & the yeast on the other

Add in 3/4 of the water and stir the dough to bring it all together

Combine well, adding more water as you need

Tip out onto a lightly floured surface & knead the dough for 10mins

Once smooth, place back into the bowl, cover & pop in a warm spot for 1 hour

Once the dough has doubled in size tip out & split into 12 portions

Roll the portions into long sausages and then shape into pretzel

Bring the water to the boil, add in the maple syrup

Place the pretzels, a few at a time, into the simmering water

Cook the pretzels on both sides for a minute & then remove with a slotted spoon

Place them onto a lined baking rack

Sprinkle with seeds

Place into a preheated (190C) oven & bake until golden

Enjoy!

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