If life gives you lemons...

Hi Y'all,

As you might know, I have a sweet spot named Carnival - as I am born in Cologne, the love of Carnival was given to me as a gift in my cradle. But as the saying goes "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" I decided to see what Maltese Carnival is like. Yes, there is such a thing! And in fact, there are a few things quite similar to Cologne Carnival. Surely the season doesn't start on November 11, and the clubs aren't organised by a board of eleven and they don't wear uniforms, but the Maltese celebrate from Thursday to Tuesday, school children have Monday and Tuesday off, and capable hands work the whole year round to create awesome floats which are even bigger than the carnival trucks in the Rhineland area.

Here is just a small one - and like in Germany closely related to current events :-)

For me the whole shebang felt like a mixture of venetian and Brazilian Carnival, as there was also a lot of dancing and incredibly elaborate costumes (although more modest than in Rio de Janeiro). 😏

But the greatest advantage of Maltese Carnival is definitely the weather! It's much more relaxing to celebrate with 17 degrees Celsius and sunshine and you only rarely have to worry, if rain will ruin the feather in your cap...

And like in Germany, all celebration ends with Ash Wednesday, and therefore I quit talking about Carnival and show you the latest concoctions of my witchy cauldron! Since I made some orange curd lately I have been thinking of a recipe for healthy lemon bars which I once saw on social media. I finally found it and veganised it (0 eggs instead of 4). Thus I shredded some oat flakes and mixed them with some homemade caramel syrup and coconut oil to form my no-bake pie crust. On top I spread some lemon curd made from lemon zest, lemon juice, homemade plant milk, sugar and cornstarch. Was an awesome mix of sweet and tangy! 

And because citrus is my sweet spot, I made an orange cake as well. At first sight nothing special, but I used a whole orange for it. Yes - with peel and all, just quartered and then blended. I sticked to the recipe but next time I would start with batting the eggs with sugar, then shredding the rest and finally and carefully fold in the flour. As you might see in the picture below, it could have been a bit more fluffy. But has potential for sure! 

Clue what that might be?

Hint: These are sweet potatoes and dates. Any ideas now? Sure, these are brownies! Ok, admittedly that wasn't obvious. But it was definitely the base for a brownie dough. Added some cocoa powder, ground almonds and flour and it was coated with a ganache of cocoa powder, coconut oil and caramel syrup. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the finished brownies because they were finished super fast!

And while we're talking sweets, I just stick to it and show you another two things I tried today. In my last post I told you about my chocolate spread with chickpeas. Now I wanted to test a similar thing but with hazelnuts instead. I very carefully roasted the hazelnuts - you guys might remember my desaster with the last batch of nuts when I completely underestimated my oven. But everything went well and then I peeled the nuts and blended them with cocoa powder, caramel syrup, water and a teaspoon of coconut oil. Next time I will start with blending the nuts only to get some kind of nut butter and then add the other ingredients to get it super creamy. Til then I'll have Nutella al dente! 😆

I'm already looking forward to spreading it onto my Sunday morning breakfast rolls! And last but not least another citrus treat: coconut bliss balls! They basically consist of shredded coconuts, lemon zest and juice (or orange juice), coconut oil and maple syrup or caramel syrup. Blend that into a tough mix and roll into balls. Then hide a whole peeled almond in every ball. Finally roll them in coconut shreds and chill them in the fridge. Look a bit like Raffaello but taste more citrusy and thus are the perfect summer treat! 

On that note: If life gives you lemons, make bliss balls! 

Everyday life - but make it culinary

Hi, Y'all!

Wie did our first steps in direction coffee shop, and in preparation I am busy experimenting with all different kinds of goodies... I don't wan't to spill all my beans, but if we manage to produce a barista quality plant-based milk, our café will be vegan. And my first attempts with oats, almonds and cashews were promising. I used the milk for our morning smoothies, but in the process of shredding, hydrating and filtering the nuts and oats, you get some pulp which is way too good to throw away or compost. Therefore, I put it into a simple bundt cake. It didn't rise as much as I hoped for, but the taste was very good and went very well with my tea. 

But then IG made me do this: Bliss Balls! 

The ones on top contain oatmilk pulp, oatmeal, shredded coconuts, ground almonds, dates, caramel syrup and tahini (that sesame paste you also need for hummus). Basically you mix everything together until you have the desired consistency, then form into balls and roll them in coconut flakes for example. Cool them and you're done! But be careful, they are rich in taste and energy - handle with care...

The ones below consist mainly of almond pulp, ground almonds, cocoa powder and dates - ground hazelnuts would go well, too, I guess. Instead I tried to roast whole hazelnuts, but underestimated my oven... But I could salvage some nuts and placed them in the center of each bliss ball. Offered them yesterday at our weekly extended family meeting and went home with empty plates. That says something, right? 

Youtube lately came up with a funny idea - coffee bread! First one I made had room for improvement, but the second turned out pretty good: 

But man does not live by bread alone, therefore I tested two spreads. Here comes number one: 

You might guess, what was the inspiration... But the ingredients may surprise you because it wasn't based on hazelnuts but chickpeas! I roasted them and then blended them with cocoa powder and maple syrup. Texture is smooth, the spread is not overly sweet and most interestingly the taste of roasted chickpeas reminds slightly of coffee - like very much and will do again... 

My neighbor Vicky inspired me to make the second spread, because she gifted my a glass of homemade lemon curd which was awfully delicious. So, the day before yesterday I tried some with oranges instead of lemons and cornstarch instead of eggs. Hubs was delighted! He put it on freshly baked bread, but you could easily spread it on pancakes, sponge cake or use as yogurt flavoring. Neverending options..

Definitely will test with other citrus fruits and let you know :-) 

Hubby requested some burgers the other night, and thus I pulled out my burger bun recipe, substituted the butter with our self-made vegan butter and as an egg-alternative I mixed one tablespoon of chickpea flour with two tablespoons of water (psyllium husk works, too). Turned out wonderfully fluffy just as I wanted them to be. 

I made the patties from chickpeas, tahini and loads of cumin - very yummy! A classic guacamole made from avocado, garlic, pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice was the perfect match. Potato wedges as side dish, and the hubs went straight to burger heaven :-)

If you do not insist on vegan, you could also place some tuna patties on your burgers buns. Tried that lately, and they were awesome. 

And if you are in the mood for Sunday breakfast rolls the lazy kind, I highly recommend these ones (according to the Brotsommelier on YT). You quickly mix the dough of flour, yeast, water, salt and sugar on Saturday night (without much kneading), and place that into a plastic container with lid and put that into your fridge over night. On Sunday morning (after a proofing period of 12 to 20 hours) you simply fold them nicely and bake them for 20 minutes at 250 - 260 degrees Celsius. At the beginning splash a cup of water into the oven to produce some steam wich helps to build a crunchy crust. And just like this you'll get the perfect Sunday breakfast rolls!

And that's about it

- enjoy life and good food!