Little Lockdown Luxuries

Have you been doing your lockdown exercises? Green Goddess? Joe Wicks? Or my own favourite - Cathy McClendon? Well, so what if you haven't? This lockdown has been harder-and longer- than any of us imagined. Everyone deserves a little treat now and then - and so this month's blog I'm baking some goodies from storecupboard and leftover stuff - and some of them are almost healthy too!





I'm starting with a Date and Oat Slice, following that up with an Apple Cider Loaf. Next, I've poached the recipe for Laura's Luscious Carrot Cake- and I'm finishing up with a Moelleux au Chocolat. (Well, why wouldn't you?)

For the Date and Oat Slice, you will need:

400 g dates (I had them left over from Christmas)
250 ml water
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
400 g porridge oats
250g flour
170 g sugar
1/2tsp baking powder
175 g soft butter

1. Boil the dates, brown sugar, water and lemon juice and add the bicarb.
2. Simmer until easy to smush into a puree.
3.Combine the oats, sugar, flour and baking powder with the softened butter

Mix in the softened butter

4.Spread half the mixture in a greased baking tray

5. Spread the date mixture over this

6. Spread on the rest of the oaty mixture
7. Bake at 175 degrees for around 55 minutes.
8. Cool and slice

Date and Oat Slice ( ready for slicing!)

For the Apple and Cider Loaf, you will need:

400 g flour
50 g cornflour
200 ml cider ( it can be flat from yesterday's aperitif!)
1 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
60 ml olive or coconut oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
75 g sugar
1 large apple, cooked to a puree with a little honey or golden syrup
1 dessert apple. chopped

Assemble your ingredients

1. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl
2. Whisk the wet ingredients in a jug
3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients

Combine wet and dry ingredients

4. Pour into a greased and lined loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes at 175 degrees

Delicious served warm with butter and jam at breakfast.

Cider and Apple Loaf

Next is a real treat which I can claim no credit for at all. It's Laura's Luscious Carrot Cake:

You need:

 3 eggs separated
125g sugar
100 g flour
50 g cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
50 ml milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
Handful of sultanas( plumped up in leftover tea)
1 large carrot  ( grated)
1 large apple ( grated)
2 tbsp olive oil

1. Cream the egg yolks and sugar together
2. Add flour, cornflour, baking powder and milk and mix until smooth
3. Add the olive oil, grated carrot, apple and raisins and vanilla- but don't mix

Ready for the egg whites

4. Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks and fold into the mixture in two batches

Carefully fold in the egg whites

5. Bake at 170 degrees for 35 minutes

Ready for icing

6. Serve with a cream cheese icing- or even better- with custard

Laura's Luscious Carrot Cake

At least 3 of your 5 a day in cake form!

And finally- no apologies for this one- a soft and gooey chocolate cake cum pudding, a Moelleux au Chocolat

You need:
 200g of dark chocolate 150 g soft butter 100g sugar 50 g self raising flour 2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites
1.Beat the egg whites until just forming soft peaks

Perfection in beaten egg whites

2. Beat the butter with the sugar and then add the whole eggs one by one.
3.  Melt the chocolate in the microwave with a splash of water for 1 minute.
4. Mix it into the eggs and butter, then add the flour.
5. Carefully slide in the egg whites, folding them into the mixture rather than stirring them in.
6. Pour into a greased and lined cake tinand bake at 150 degrees for around 20 minutes until the top of the cake is firm to the touch but a cocktail stick inserted into the centre still comes out gooey.

Moelleux au Chocolat

 Wonderful on its own, or warm with cream, custard or ice cream- or indeed all three, as in the picture at the top of this blog.

Well, I hope these treats have encouraged you to indulge a bit- without making a pig of yourselves.

Oops!Too late!

Time for another exercise workout!