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6-Week Long Maturing Spelt Gingerbread Loaf

Friday, November 19, 2021

Nothing spreads the holiday spirit like a good homemade gingerbread loaf. This particular gingerbread is well-flavoured and incredibly delicious due to the 6-week long maturing process and the generous use of homemade spice blend. For a loaf with a soft crust and tender crumb, cover the gingerbread with a few slices of bread or fruit (I used clementines) for a couple of days before slicing. Glaze the gingerbread loaf with a simple lemon icing or chocolate ganache with some chopped nuts or just serve it with some whipped cream and some stewed plums for a festive brunch or try as a teatime snack slathered with butter.

Gingerbread Spice Blend	Gingerbread
2 tbsp Allspice, ground 2 tbsp Cinnamon, ground 2 tbsp Ginger, ground 1 tbsp Clove, ground 1 tbsp Nutmeg, ground A large pinch of black pepper	125 ml of Honey (or molasses) 100 g Coconut sugar (or raw brown sugar) 60 g Butter 3/4 tsp Baking soda 60 ml Milk 250 g White spelt flour 20 g Gingerbread spice blend 1 Medium egg

Combine all the ingredients for the spice blend in a jar. You don't need all the spices for the recipe. So half the recipe if you prefer.
6 weeks before Christmas: Gently melt the honey, coconut sugar and butter in a saucepan. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Set aside to cool for a bit. Add soda to the milk and mix. Whisk together the spelt flour and gingerbread spice, soda with milk, egg and cooled honey mixture. Mix well. Scrape the thick batter into a 20cm loaf pan. Cover the pan with a piece of plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge, undisturbed, for 5 weeks.
After 5 weeks: Preheat the oven to 170C/340F. Bake the loaf for about 50-60 minutes until nicely browned. Leave to cool in the pan, then turn out. Wrap the loaf with a large piece of tin foil. Set aside at room-temperature for a couple of days or up to a week before serving.
If the gingerbread is hard, place a few slices of bread/apples/clementines on the loaf, then wrap with tin foil. They will help make the loaf tender and soft (change the bread/fruit each day with fresh ones). When the loaf is tender, glaze the gingerbread with chocolate ganache and sprinkle with some chopped nuts over, or simply dust the loaf with some powdered sugar and enjoy!

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Pumpkin Bulgur Spelt Cake with Vanilla Icing

Thursday, November 04, 2021

Light and nutty bulgur adds a pleasant chewiness to this simple coconut syrup butter cake, that is loaded with coarsely grated pumpkin and walnuts. If you want to go nut-free, just leave out the walnuts and replace it with chopped dried dates or figs. The vanilla glaze is optional of course, but I think it adds a fancy festive touch with lemon thyme and pink peppercorns. You can use whatever seasonal touch you prefer.

Cake Batter	Vanilla Icing & Decoration
50 g Bulgur wheat 100 ml Boiling water 80 g Unsalted butter, melted 80 g Coconut syrup (maple syrup or honey) 80 g Castor sugar 2 Eggs, large Finely grated zest of 1 organic lemon 20 g Freshly squeezed lemon juice 100 g Hokkaido pumpkin, coarsely grated 125 g Walnuts, rougly chopped 200 g White spelt flour 3/4 tsp Baking soda 3/4 tsp Ground cardamom	30 ml Whole milk 200 g Icing sugar, sifted 1 tsp Vanilla paste (I use Dr. Oetker) 1/2 tsp Pink peppercorns Lemon thyme leaves

Place the bulgur in a saucepan. Pour in boiling water, then put the lid on. Set aside for 10 minutes. It should absorb all the water and have a slightly chewy texture.
Line the base of a round, 18cm springform cake tin with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 160C (fan-forced) / 320F.
Transfer the cooked burghul wheat to a mixing bowl with the melted butter, coconut syrup, sugar and eggs, then whisk everything together well. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, grated pumpkin and chopped walnuts.
Whisk togehter the spelt flour, baking soda and ground cardamom. Sift the mixture into the wet mixture and and mix until everything is combined.
Spoon the thick batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for about 50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin before removing and icing.
For the icing, combine milk, sifted icing sugar and vanilla paste until smooth and spread over the cake. Garnish the cake with lemon thyme and pink peppercorns.

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Yoghurt Rye Cake with Apricots and Almonds

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Dark rye flour, coconut sugar and cardamom give this simple cake real depth of flavour and a wonderful colour and thanks to natural Greek yoghurt and sweet ripe apricots, the cake turned out really yummy with a perfectly dense and moist texture. It’s great as a teatime snack or you could serve it as a dessert with a little mascarpone cream. For this cake, I used half dark rye flour and half plain flour. Next time I will definitely try it with 100% rye flour.

120 g Rye flour
120 g Plain flour
A pinch of salt
1/2 tsp Cardamom
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 1/2 tsp Baking powder

120 g Kerrygold butter, softened
100 g Coconut sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Eggs, medium
285 g Greek yoghurt, room temperature
5 Ripe apricots, pitted and quartered
50 g Almond slices
1 tbsp Coconut sugar
30 g Kerrygold butter, cut into thin slices

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line the bottom of a 24-cm spring-form pan with parchment paper and grease the sides with a bit of butter.
Whisk rye flour, plain flour, salt, cardamom, baking soda and baking powder together.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, coconut sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
Sift in half flour mixture, gently stir to combine. Add in Greek yoghurt, then the remaining flour mixture. Mix until combined. The batter will be thick.
Spoon half the cake mixture into prepared pan. Smooth surface. Top with apricot wedges. Spoon remaining mixture over apricots. Smooth the surface. Sprinkle with almonds and coconut sugar. Arrange the butter slices on top.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand cake for 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

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Pomegranate Apricot Brownies

Saturday, July 24, 2021

With chewy edges, gooey center, and so rich chocolate flavour, these gorgeous foolproof fruity chocolate brownies are guaranteed to disappear in no time. The pomegranate seeds and apricot cut through the sweetness, and a dollop of creme fraiche or a scoop of white chocolate ice cream would make this even more decadent. I baked them for about 38 minute and it came out really gooey and fudgy. If you like your brownies a little less 'wobbly', then bake for 3-5 more minutes.

200 g Salted butter, chopped
200 g 70% Dark chocolate, chopped
3 Eggs, medium
180 g Light brown sugar (or up to 250 g if you prefer it sweeter)
80 g White spelt flour
60 g Cocoa powder
120 g Pomegranate seeds
3 Ripe apricots, stoned and cut into pieces

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line a 22cm x 28cm pan with baking paper.
Place butter and chocolate in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Place eggs and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk until well combined. Sieve flour and cocoa over the egg mixture and gently fold to combine. Gradually pour in chocolate mixture, stirring to combine.
Pour the batter into prepared pan and scatter the top with pomegranate seeds and chopped apricots. Bake on the middle shelf for 35-40 minutes or until just cooked through. Set aside to cool completely. Cut into squares to serve.

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Almond Spelt Butter Cake

Wednesday, May 05, 2021

This almond spelt butter cake, inspired by Pauline from Happy Retiree's Kitchen and Küchengötter, is a basic butter cake made with a few of ingredients – the key being the quality Irish grass-fed butter. It's quick, simple and the result is a moist and tender butter cake. All you have to do is to dump all the ingredients in your mixing bowl and beat until creamy and combined. Nothing gets easier than this recipe. Serve it however you like with icing sugar dusted over, crème Chantilly or lemon icing.

150 g Kerrygold butter, softened
3 Medium eggs, at room-temperature
1 tsp Vanilla extract
90 ml Almond milk, at room-temperature (or regular whole milk)
130 g White sugar
50 g Potato starch (or cornstarch)
50 g Blanched almond flour
100 g White spelt flour
3 tsp Baking powder
1/4 tsp Salt
Icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 180C/350F (fan-forced is not recommended). Butter and line a 22x11x8 cm loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
Place all the ingredients, except the icing sugar, in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat slowly at first to combine, then increase speed to medium and beat for 4 minutes until thick and creamy.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle some chopped almond over if desired. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack, then dust with icing sugar and serve.

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Browned Butter Coffee Friands

Sunday, April 11, 2021

Friands are small almond cakes, which are also known as financiers in France. They are moist, chewy, rich and perfectly dense. You don't need a special oval Friand pan to bake these, a standard muffin tin would work just fine. This recipe makes about 10 standard muffins or 6 rectangles (10x6.5x4cm). Coffee friands are the perfect accompaniment to your mid-morning or afternoon break. The remaining friands can be kept in an airtight container for up to 3 days or frozen for a month.

185 g Butter, chopped
125 g Almond meal
220 g Confectioners' sugar
75 g White spelt flour
1 tbsp Ground coffee powder
6 Egg whites, lightly beaten until frothy
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Brush six 140ml capacity non-stick mini loaf pans (or 10 regular muffin cups) with melted butter to lightly grease.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium-low heat, then simmer for 5 minutes until golden brown (take care not to burn). Cool slightly.
Combine the almond meal, confectioners' sugar, white spelt flour and coffee powder. Whisk the egg whites until frothy. Add to the dry ingredients, with the butter. Stir until just combined.
Divide the batter among prepared pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Set aside in the pans for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Serve dusted with a little extra sifted confectioners' sugar, if desired.