Banana Bread Granola

October 9, 2015

If someone’s having a party and gifts are involved, I’m the one to bring something food-related. Maybe it’s because I like to give things I like myself and things I’d want to be given… so apparently it’s food. Gift cards to good restaurants, cookbooks, invites to dinner or breakfast at your own place or taking a friend to lunch of coffee make people happy. And those gifts are also fun to give.

I made this granola to my sister and her husband, as they are now parents to a really cute baby boy. And that also makes me an aunt now, yay! I didn’t know what to bring to the hospital as I went to see them, so I made some freshly pressed apple cucumber juice. When they got home, I made some raw energy bits with nuts and dates and the next time I brought a jar of this granola with me. So it seems that I’m on my way to become the annoying aunt, who never has “real” candy but serves only raw treats and vegetable juice. Or maybe my nephew will become a big fan of green juice when he grows up a bit, who knows. But regardless what he’ll like, he’s already a super cute dude.

I’ve made plenty of granolas before and there are a few recipes here on the blog as well. But when I saw the words ‘banana bread’ and ‘granola’ on the same title, I knew I had to try it. The recipe is from My New Roots Cookbook, which I’ve been reading before going to bed for the past couple of weeks. I’ve been a big fan of Sarah’s blog for years and you might probably know the blog too as it’s so popular. My New Roots is one of my go-to blogs when I’m looking for inspiration or a reliable recipe and I’ve tried many of the blog’s recipes over the years. The book is as wonderful as it gets and I love how the recipes are divided into five seasons, summer split in two phases. This week has been really chilly, so I jumped right into the winter section of the book and found this recipe for a banana bread granola, that sounded so good I had to try it first.

I love banana bread and I love granola, so combining them is just pure magic. And o m g, how addictive can granola be. I’ve caught myself eating the granola straight from the jar a few times already, that’s how good it is. So I’ll just keep this short and say: try it. You’ll love it. And as it’s such a big batch, give a jar to a friend too and make someone happy. As these kinds of small surprises are usually the best kind, and of course, there’s nothing like a good granola.

Banana Bread Granola

adapted from My New Roots – Inspired Plant-Based Recipes for Every Season

1/3 cup / 80 ml coconut oil
3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup / 120 ml honey or maple syrup

3 cups / 720 ml gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup / 2140 ml dried mulberries*
1 1/2 cup / 350 ml unsweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup / 120 ml hemp seeds*
1 cup / 240 ml walnuts
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

* the original recipe called for buckwheat groat instead of mulberries and sunflower seeds instead of hemp seeds, but I used the things I had in my cupboards and they worked great as well.

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F degrees amd line a baking sheet with baking paper.

2. Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan on low-medium heat. Pour the melted coconut oil into a blender, add the bananas and honey and blend until smooth.

3. In a large bowl, combine the oats, mulberries, coconut flakes, hemp seeds, cinnamon and salt. Crush the walnuts into smaller pieces and add the as well. Pour the banana mixture over to the dry ingredients and fold to coat. The mixture will be quite wet at this point.

4. Spread the granola mixture in an even layer to the baking sheet and press firmly with a spatula. Bake the granola for 15 to 20 minutes, until it gets a bit of color. Remove the granola from the oven and flip the granola over in large pieces with the help of a spatula. Return to the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes flipping every 3-4 minutes and making smaller pieces every time. The granola should be quite crispy when taking out from the oven. Set the granola aside at room temperature to cool.

5. Store the granola in an airtight glass jar at room temperature for up to one month.

Kale & Zucchini Pancakes

October 1, 2015

Lately I’ve been in really nostalgic vibes. While unpacking our moving boxes, I found a lot of crap but also some forgotten treasures from my childood and youth, which I’ve been really excited about. At the moment I’m really into everything old, scuffed and used and now I really appreciate all the old things we’ve got from relatives and friends. Whether it’s about cups and plates, furniture from kitchens Wilmslow online or food, I’m into stories and history. I feel like going back to the 90’s, making all the ‘hit’ foods back then and asking friends over for coffee and cinnamon buns, which was a typical Finnish tradition in my childhood.

There are a lot of foods that I don’t miss from my childhood (hello convience food!) but I still make some of my favorites, like spinach pancakes. I actually make a lot of different kinds of veggie pancakes, as they’re really versatile, so easy and fast to prepare and you can serve them with pretty much anything. Spinach and carrot pancakes are the true classics and they always work, but lately I’ve been really addicted to – surprise, surprise – kale pancakes!

Kale is totally having it’s 15 minutes of fame now (or more like 1500 minutes) and it seems to a big hit pretty much everywhere. I got more excited about it again this summer as we grew kale ourselves in our summer house. All I can say is that it really grows! And fast! So all you people with backyards or balconies, go and hurry and make your own little kale garden. And then you can make all the chips, smoothies and pancakes you like with homegrown vegetables. Oh what a life!

Back to the pancakes. In addition to kale, I sneaked some zucchini into them, which makes them nice and fluffy. The traditional add to these would be lingonberry jam, which is super good, but you can also have them for example with some goat cheese and avocado. It’s one of my favorite combos right after the lingonberry jam.

And let me just say that these kinds of veggie pancakes are a rather delicious way to eat your greens, especially now that the seasons are changing and salads are not that fresh anymore. With kale and zucchini in them, these pancakes are like salad..right? Right! So go get your greens on with some tasty pancakes and have a beautiful beginning of October, friends! xx

Kale & Zucchini Pancakes (gluten + dairy free)

makes about 45 small pancakes

2 cups tightly packed kale
15 cm / 6 inch piece of zucchini
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups oat milk
1/2 cup gluten free rolled oats
1/2 cup whole grain rice flour (or other gluten free flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

+ extra virgin coconut oil for frying
+ mashed lingonberries for serving

METHOD:

1. Rinse the kale and remove the hard stem. Chop the zucchini into small pieces. Put the kale, zucchini, eggs and oat milk into a blender. Add rolled oats, flour, baking powder and salt and blend until smooth.

2. Heat a frying pan on medium heat and fry the pancakes in coconut oil until golden brown, turn and fry for about a minute. I recommend making quite thin pancakes, so that they will cook eavenly. Serve warm with mashed lingonberries and enjoy!

My trip to JAMAICA

September 24, 2015

In the beginning of September, I took a holiday. I stepped into a plane and flew to all the way to Jamaica (it’s a long way from Finland, phew!). If you’ve encountered some kind of flight mishaps, sites such as EFC have your back.

Since coming back I’ve been mainly surrounded with moving boxes and all the fun that comes along with moving, but it also means that we have a new home, yay! So now that I’m slowly getting back to everyday life I finally have some time for blogging too.

My sister worked in Jamaica for the summer, which meant that I had a pretty good excuse to travel there at the end of her stay to enjoy some sun and heat. This was my first time in the Caribbean and I hadn’t really done any research about Jamaica before our trip, as I trusted that my sister would know all the good places there.

We arrived to Negril, that’s on the west coast of Jamaica, just as the season was ending and the rain season was about to begin. The beach was quiet and some of the hotels already closed, which turned out to be quite nice. The days were still hot and humid and on a couple afternoon there was some rain. Or more like heavy thunderstorms, as I think I’ve never seen that much rain in my life. But the rain didn’t bother us, as you can still swim and read books while it’s raining.

The most beautiful thing in Negril were the absolutely crystal clear waters, that were something really amazing. In the morning the water was really turquoise and the sand white, just like in postcards. During the day the colors got mixed and the sky and the sea started to look similar and you kind of forgot how turquoise the water really is, until you woke up the next morning and saw it again.

We went snorkeling and swimming a few times in the caves and islands in front of the beach. For me, snorkeling is like meditation, as you have to focus on your breath and on the current moment. Also just floating in the sea is like magic for all the noise in my head. You really start to relax and forget the unimportant stuff when there’s just you and the water.

We stayed in a hotel at 7 Mile Beach, which according to it’s name is 7 miles long. The beach has a lot of hotels, restaurants, bars and small stalls that sell wooden statues, beachwear, different kinds of day trips, boat cruises and snorkeling trips

Jamaican food is quite simple: lots of rice, peas, fish and seafood. My favorites were all the exotic fruits (especially those ripe mangoes, yum!) and fish in papaya or pineapple sauce. As it was so hot, I didn’t feel like eating a lot during the day so we just had some smoothies and fruits and then in the evening we tried out different restaurants. The best smoothies and vegetarian food was on the beach in a place called Vegetarian Cafe. Or maybe it might have a different name, or a few names, you can never be sure. You can get smoothies also in pretty much every restaurant but ask them without syrup, as they add it to a lot of drinks. For dinner my favorites were Rockhouse and Ivan’s Bar, which both had delicious food and a gorgeous view too.

The service is slow, always and everywhere, but that’s just part of the culture. So take it easy, relax and maybe bring a book with you if you get bored easily.

There’s a lot of people selling lobsters on the beach and grilled lobsters are served in many cruises and trips. And I think I spotted lobster in every restaurant menu as well. I’m not the biggest fan of lobster but it was pretty memorable to eat freshly caught lobsters that were grilled in front of us after we had been snorkeling. And I truly believe that they tasted a lot better there on the beach eaten by hands than in a fancy restaurant.

Jamiaca is known for its sunsets and there’s something magical in them that makes everything look pink. There’s something really relaxing and calming in those sunsets and while you’re sitting on the beach looking at the sun you really feel like being on a holiday – and far from home.

I’m usually the one that makes to do lists and trip plans for a holiday and I pack carefully to be sure I have all I need. Taking the right stuff with you is important but it’s even more important to have a relaxed attitude with you. You don’t have to be efficient, be gracious to yourself instead. Do a hundred different activities if you want to, or just lie on the beach. Do things you enjoy, whether it’s something boring or something crazy.

Traveling is wonderful and exciting but luckily I love being at home too. And the best thing being at home is that now I can start dreaming of the next adventure to somewhere else. Have a beautiful beginning of autumn, friends!

Rustic Apple Cake (gluten + dairy free)

August 30, 2015

If what others are saying in this blogging world and what the weather man in the evening news is telling us is true, autumn is here. The last weeks of August is my favorite time of the summer, probably the whole year. There’s summer feeling in the air and the weather is warm and sunny, but the nights are already dark, vegetables and berries are in their best season and hobbies, routines and ‘normal life’ at home feels inspiring after a break.

I’ve learned to appreciate having our own place while we’ve been homeless for the summer. Well, not technically homeless as we’ve got to stay in our summer house by the sea most of the time, been able to swim and go to sauna whenever we like, work outside and collect berries and apples from our own garden. I’m super excited about moving to our new place next month and being able to set my things in one place, but somehow I wish I could take one the apple trees and berry bushes with me. Yes? No? Okay. Next summer then.

To celebrate the last weekend of this summer and our time in the summer house, I wanted to make something from the apples from the garden. There are three apple trees there and they’re so full of apples that you can see the apples falling one after another. So it’s more like collecting the apples from the ground than from the tree. I don’t know what variety they are but two of the trees produce apples that taste…just awful. But luckily there’s one that makes sweet little apples, that I picked for my bakings.

I decided to practice my patience and made both a cake and some homemade applesauce, which actually ended up to the cake too. Homemade applesauce is good on everything and as you can freeze it in small boxes, you can treat yourself with it all year round. The easiest way to do applesauce at home is to roast the apples in the oven and then just smash them, and maybe add some honey or spices. This gluten free apple cake gets it flavor and luscious texture from the applesauce, while the crushed nuts bring a nice crunch to it and make it look relaxed and rustic, just like everything is at this time of the year.

Photographing a cake is always a bit nerve-racking as you don’t know is the cake a success or a failure until the end of the shoot. So you just hope you don’t have to do it all over again. And it’s even more nerve-racking if you’re hungry while taking the photos, like I was. As sometimes you might accidentally end up taking a piece just to make sure that you’re on the right track, and then you have to hide that side of the cake in the photos.. It could be that it happened in this case, but I’m not admitting anything!

But let me tell you, the relief was huge when I gave myself the permission to taste the cake properly. It’s juicy and super satisfying and it also tastes great the following day, as I’m enjoying a piece while writing this. Yum.

The cake is good as it is straight from the oven but vanilla yogurt or vanilla ice cream is a great companion for it. You can make your own vanilla yogurt just by adding a drop of vanilla powder to natural (soy / coocnut) yogurt. If you’re more into the ice cream part, I recommend trying the cashew vanilla ice cream or the simple coconut soft serve from our Kind Ice Cream for You ebook. Both of the ice creams are delicious and a top notch for this cake.

With these thoughts and two apple recipes I’d like to wish you a beautiful end of summer and happy beginning of autumn friends!

Rustic Apple Cake (gluten + dairy free)

notes: instead of homemade applesauce you can use store-bought unsweetened applesauce, but in that case add 2-4 tbsp honey to the cake batter to make it sweet. in case you don’t have any almond or oat flour, you can easily make it yourself by grinding whole almonds / rolled oats in a blender until they turn into flour.

1 cup / 240 ml almond flour
1 cup / 240 ml gluten-free oat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
a pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs
1 cup / 240 ml homemade applesauce (or store-bought unsweetend applesauce, see notes above)
1 cup / 240 ml rice milk (or oat or almond milk)
4 tbsp melted extra virgin coconut oil
(1-2 tbsp honey)

2 cups / 500 ml chopped local apples
1 cup / 240 ml crushed pecan nuts (or other nuts)

METHOD:

1. Heat the oven to 350 F / 175 C degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Take another bowl and mix the remaining ingredients (eggs, applesauce, rice milk, and melted coconut oil) carefully. Combine the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in couple batches and mix until smooth. You can taste the batter and add som honey if you desire more sweetness. (Baking soda will make the dough a bit stingy, so don’t be afraid by it).

2. Line a spring form cake pan with baking paper and brush the edges with a little coconut oil, so the cake won’t stick to the sides. Pour the batter into the cake pan.

3. Chop the apples into small cubes and remove the seeds. Crush the nuts into smaller pieces. Spread the apple pieces and nuts on top of the dough and press down lightly to make them sink in a little.

4. Put the cake into the oven and bake for about 45-55 minutes, or until the cake has got a golden brown color and a toothpick comes out nearly clean.

5. Allow the cake to cool slightly before removing the cake pan. Serve as is or with vanilla yogurt or ice cream and enjoy!

Homemade Applesauce

a trayful of local apples, chopped into pieces
2 tsp cinnamon
2-4 tbsp honey

METHOD:

1. Heat the oven to 175 C / 350 F degrees. Chop the apples into small pieces and remove the core and seeds. Mix the pieces in a bowl with cinnamon. Spread the pieces evenly on to a baking tray coated with baking paper and bake in the oven for about 45-60 minutes, until the apples are completely soft.

2. Move the apple pieces into a large bowl and smash them with a hand blender until totally smooth. Add honey and stir until smooth. Store the applesauce in an airtight glass jar in the fridge. It will keep good up to a week.

Homemade Almond Butter

August 28, 2015

Almond butter is probably my favorite ‘healthy treat’. You know the one that you give yourself permission to eat wholeheartedly as it’s just so good for you? Well, almond butter is my weak spot and me standing in front of the fridge eating almond butter straight from the jar is a pretty normal sight in our house. Whoops.

I must admit that most of the times I buy my nut butters from health stores as it’s just so easy. It’s expensive, but easy. Luckily making your own nut butter is easy too, it just takes some patience. And you also get to taste it a few times while making it, which makes the whole process lot more delicious.

I make my own almond butter from oven roasted almonds, as I like the taste of roasted almonds. I also add a bit of salt too to give it a nice twist. Other spices would work well too, especially cinnamon and vanilla.

Nut butters can be made in a blender or a food processor, I used my belowed Vitamix for this. If using a blender, be careful not to overheat the machine. If you haven’t made nut butters before, I recommend reading this and this, as their instructions are better than mine :)

Homemade Almond Butter

makes about 1 cup / 250 ml

2 cups / 500 ml almonds
a pinch of sea salt

METHOD:

1. Heat the oven to 350 F / 180 C. Roast the almonds for about 7-10 minutes, or until they’re clearly roasted. Be careful not to burn them.

2. Let the almonds cool. Once they’ve cooled, add them into a blender or a food processor. Blend until a crumble forms, then turn to high and use the tamper to press down the nuts, until they become creamy. Blend until you get a smooth texture. You might have to let the belnder / food processor rest while making this, if it starts to heat up.

3. Pour the almond butter into an airtigh glass jar, let cool and store in the fridge.

Honey Thyme Lemonade + DIY Herb Bouquets

August 17, 2015

in cooperation with Järvikylä & Asennemedia

One of my ‘big dreams’ in life is to have a my own garden. In my dreams (that might be slightly biased), every morning I’m out at the garden to collect berries for breakfast and later on the day day I’ll pick up salads and veggies for lunch and dinner. There are carrots, potatoes, salads and all kinds of veggies in the garden, and of course a huge collection of herbs. The weather also pretty much always happens to be just perfect (no storms on rainy days there) and I’m wearing linen, I’ve got freckles in my nose and that glow-y, peaceful spirit in me.

To be exact, I’m not there yet. But luckily some improvements have been made towards that dream, as we planted some herbs to the terrace of our summer house in the beginning of July. It was too late to grow anything out of seeds by that time, so we used a range of herb pots we bought from the store. So I’ll probably need to work on my timing as well as some gardening skills regarding my future dream.

I use herbs almost in everything I make, daily. I use them in my morning smoothie, in salads, on top of bread, for flavor and for decoration. It’s easy to always buy the same herbs and use them in the same way, but this time I got to be a bit a creative as I developed two recipes for a Finnish herb and salad company Järvikylä. I got inspired by their wide variety of herbs and ended up creating a recipe for a fresh honey thyme lemonade and made these little diy herb bouquets, that can be used as a table decoration but are naturally edible as well.

It was my first time making homemade lemonade and I was surprised how easy it is to prepare. You only need a few ingredients to make it and it’s definitely the perfect drink on a hot summer day. The taste of thyme comes from a simple honey thyme syrup I made and you can easily try some other herbs as well. I bet rosemary, mint or lavender would be great. Bubbly sparkling water gives the lemonade a nice twist and makes it super fresh, and also kind of fancy so that this would be a great drink to serve at a party for sure.

I got the idea for these little herb bouquets from dried herb bundles that are sometimes sold in small spice shops or in farmer’s markets. First I thought to dry the bouquets but as they came out so pretty, I came up with the idea to use them as table decorations. So at the same time the bouquets make a nice setting but can be eaten too. And if you use different kinds of herbs, everyone can choose the ones they like on top of their food. And if you’re having a theme dinner, you can match the herbs to the menu: basil, oregano and rosemary for Italian, coriander and thai basil for Asian, and so on. Or you can just choose your favorite herbs, as I did with these bouquets.

If you want to make the bouquet real pretty, you can add a small flower to top it off. I used oregano flowers from our small terrace garden, as our oregano has been flourishing and now it resembles more like a flower than a herb. In case you end up with some extra bouquets, you can always dry them and save for later use. It makes a lovely little decoration too, and in the autumn it’s nice to have the scent of summer somewhere in the house and remember these summer days and nights when the gardens were full of goodies.

If you felt that you inner gardener is now coming to life, you should make a trip to the center of Helsinki this week, as Järvikylä is having a pop up event called the Green Bar. A small pop up place in Torikorttelit is going to be filled with art made from herbs and inspiration for your own green dreams. The pop up is open from Tuesday to Saturday and the space is designed by a Finnish designer Laura Väinölä. You’ll find the opening times of the Green Bar from the event on Facebook and also in the end of this post, just below the guide for diy herb bouquets and the recipe for the honey thyme lemonade. So go, enjoy, treat yourself with some fresh herbs and a glass of homemade lemonade!

DIY Herb Bouquets

your favorite fresh herbs or for example:

flat-leaf parsley
sage
lovage
thyme
bloody dock
pea shoots
oregano
+ hay, jute twine or other string

METHOD:

Pick a few longer stems and larger leaves from the chosen herbs. Arrange the leaves and stems into a bouquet and tie it together with hay or string. To keep them pretty, store the bouquets in the fridge until served.

Honey Thyme Lemonade

serves six

1/4 cup honey thyme syrup
1 cup lemon juice (about 4-5 lemons)
2 cups still or sparkling water
+ ice cubes
+ thyme stems for decoration

METHOD:

Juice the lemons. Pour all ingredients into a big pitcher and add some ice and thyme springs for decoration. Taste, and add more syrup or other ingredients if needed. Serve and enjoy!

Honey Thyme Syrup

1 cup water
1/2 cup local honey
6 thyme stems

METHOD:

1. Place water, honey and six thyme stems into a small pan. Heat over medium heat and mix until the honey is totally dissolved. Be careful not to boil the mixture. Turn off the stove, place a lid on the pan and let steep for 15 minutes.

2. After 15 minutes, remove the thyme stems and allow to cool. Store the syrup in an airtight glass bottle or jar in the fridge up to two weeks.

Järvikylä Green Bar

Unioninkatu 25, Helsinki
open tue–sat 18.–22.8.2015
tue–wed 11–19
thu 17–23
fri 11–19
sat 10–14

Gluten-free Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Coconut Cream & Berries

August 12, 2015

When I started to write this post I thought I’d tell how all my patience seems to be gone lately and the temperament, passionate side of me is lifting its head. This past few beautiful weeks of August have clearly turned me into what my horoscope is, a lion.

But then I thought that there are much more interesting things than the length of my nerves. Such as this chocolate cake, that will change your life. I know this sounds like a brag (typical leo), but it’s not. As this is the easiest, fastest and most delicious chocolate cake I have made and it would be wring if I didn’t share the recipe with you.

This cake is the end of result of me being a bit lazy. A few weeks ago I had friends coming over for the weekend and then last week I had a birthday picnic and in both cases I wanted to do as less as I could. But I definitely wanted cake. And even though raw cakes are my favorite dessert, I just wasn’t up for all that soaking and blending and freezing. Anything that takes over 30 minutes in the kitchen is not happening here at the moment.

So what does this kind of impatient baker do?

Well, first of all, she decides to skip any flour and only use a few ingredients to bake a cake. Also all separate steps are forgotten and instead, all ingredients are thrown into a blender. She’ll put up with the noise for a moment, then taste the batter and once she likes it, she’ll pour it into a cake pan and place to the oven.

The end result: a gluten free chocolate cake that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare. A cake, that will charm the baker and everyone tasting it. It’s delicious fresh from the oven but it also gets even better after a day or two.

I’ve made this for a few times now and served it the following day, when it has a more fudge-y, brownie-like consistency. I just baked the cake on the previous night, let it cool down in room temperature for a while, then moved it to the fridge overnight. And on the following day I prepared the chocolate coconut cream and decorated the cake with the cream and fresh berries. It’s that easy! And if you’re not that into chocolate coconut cream (if that’s possible), you could also serve the cake with some ice cream and berries. I’ve tried it and it’s delicious as well.

So all you patient and impatient bakers out there, this cake might change your life. Or not. But the point is that you will have to eat some cake in order to find out. And maybe you’ll even have to eat it twice just to be sure. All I know is that this one-woman jury here will happily bake and eat this cake at all times when impatience strikes.

Gluten-free Chocolate Cake

serves 6-8

2 ripe bananas
4 eggs
10 fresh dates, pitted
1/2 cup raw cacao powder (or unsweetened cocoa powder)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
+ chocolate coconut cream
+ fresh berries

METHOD:

1. Heat the oven to 200 celsius degrees. Cut the bananas into smaller pieces and place into a blender with the eggs. Blend until smooth. Add rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Taste, and add more honey or spices if needed.

2. Put a baking sheet inside a 20 cm springform cake pan, spread some coconut oil to the sides and pour the batter into the pan. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for a while before removing the sides. Once the cake is totally cooled down, decorate it with chocolate coconut cream and fresh berries.

Chocolate Coconut Cream

1 can full fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
3 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp vanilla powder

METHOD:

Open the coconut milk can and scoop out only the white thick stuff into a bowl. Mix with a spoon or with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add rest of the ingredients, taste and add more honey or spices if needed. If the mixture got too runny, place it in the fridge for a while until decorating the cake.

For more inspiration, follow me on Instagram and tag photos of my recipes with #tuuliablog so I can see!

Gluten free Oat & Buckwheat Focaccia

July 13, 2015

I’ve baked only a few times during the last year even though baking is one of my favorite things to do when I’m by myself and I find it utterly relaxing. But all kinds of goodies requiring an oven have been kept to the minimum as I’ve had to work with a combination of microwave and an oven. Apparently Dutch apartments are into those combi ovens and I found those slightly challenging. And even more annoying.

To recover from this kind of 10 month tragedy, tough measures aka lavish baking is needed. During the last moths I’ve been saving all kinds of recipes that I thought I’d try as soon as we were back in Finland. But then the heat wave struck us. And I loved it. I ate piles of strawberries and craved smoothies. I stayed far away from the oven, even though I was thinking about all the things I wanted bake. So when these rainy and slightly chilly days arrived, I was secretly a little happy, put on my apron and finally started to bake. Ah, what a wonderful feeling to put the oven on, get all the measuring cups out and mess up the kitchen table (and floor) with flour.

I started my return to baking with homemade focaccia, which was actually one of my favorites before I was diagnosed with celiac disease. I love all kinds of Italian breads filled with tomatoes, herbs and maybe some cheese, artichokes or bell peppers, but haven’t been feasting with them that much during the last years. So when I found a recipe for a gluten free oat buckwheat focaccia from Outi Rinne’s new cookbook, I almost squealed with delight. I knew that I had to test it right away.

Outi’s blog was one of the first food / health blogs that I ever read with great passion and interest. I think I even made my first raw food trials with her porridge recipes. A few years passed and we met and got to know each other in some blogging events and I still actively read Outi’s blog, which is unfortunately only in Finnish. Outi is an amazing recipe innovator, which can be seen in her new book. In addition to inspiring recipes, the book also offers a lot of information about wholesome ingredients and the connection between mind and the food we eat. I learned a lot by reading her book and of course there’s a lot of recipes I want to try. The first thing I did was this focaccia, which turned out great. Actually it turned out amazing. I loved it. And it tasted good even the next day, which is not the norm for many gluten free breads. But a word of warning: you might not be able to save this for the next day as it will be savored as soon as you serve it. So be quick and take a bite all by yourself before you have to share it with anyone ;)

gluten free focaccia

Gluten free Oat & Buckwheat Focaccia

adapted from Mielekkäät eväät (in Finnish)

notes: the original recipe had tapioca flour but I used potato starch instead, which worked well too. also, I didn’t have any xanthan gum so I just skipped it.

makes one

1 3/4 cups water (heated to about 40 °C)
2 tbsp psyllium husk seeds or 1 tbsp psyllium husk powder
1 1/4 tsp dry yeast
1 tbsp organic honey
1 cup buckwheat flour
2/3 cups potato starch (or tapioca flour)
2/3 cups gluten free oat flour
(2 tsp xanthan gum)
1 1/2 tsp salt
about 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

On top:

olive oil
fresh rosemary
cherry tomatoes
sundried tomatoes
artichoke hearts
sea salt

METHOD:

1. Whisk in a large bowl water, psyllium, yeast and honey. Stir together different flours (+ xanthan gum) and salt in another bowl. Mix the dry ingredients to the liquid together with the olive oil. Mix until smooth. The dough can be quite runny, like a muffin dough. Cover the bowl and put to a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

2. Line a 26 cm diameter round cake pan with a baking sheet. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and chop sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes. Pour the batter into the cake pan and shape with a spoon or by hand into a flat bread. Press small holes with your fingers and put cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke and rosemary to the holes.

3. Transfer the bread in a cold oven and put the oven to warm up to 190 (fan-assisted oven 175) °C degrees. Bake for about 45 minutes counting from when the oven has heated up. The bread is ready when it has a nice golden brown color. Set the baking paper on the rack to cool. Cut into squares, serve and enjoy!

Strawberry Feta Salad w/ Avocado & Herb Croutons

June 28, 2015

Wow, what a feeling! Last Thursday I had the last exam of my studies at the university. I feel so unbelievably relieved but also wistful, as this also means that we are leaving Amsterdam and moving back to Finland in a few days. We moved here in August and the last 10 months have passed by so fast. My boyfriend managed to do a master’s degree while being here and I also did a couple of courses at the university of Amsterdam. I definitely won’t miss studying but instead I know I’m going to miss the city, all its lovely cafes, restaurants, parks and shops and of course the new friends we made this year. But luckily I miss home a lot as well, so it definitely feels nice to go back, enjoy the Summer and see all of my friends and family.

Even though I’ve still got some work to do, I’ve switched to vacation mode and feel relaxed. Once we’ve survived from the third move within a year (ugh), I’m just gonna take it easy, read books and magazines (haven’t done so since last Autumn!), cook and bake a lot, and swim in the sea and walk in the forest. I just read in the news that there’s going to be a great season for bilberries this year, so you’ll probably find me every morning in the forest with my lips and hands covered in that berry goodness. Got to make up for the last 10 months without my daily wild blueberry fix! But before I’ll get to that, let me share my traditional Summer salad, the one that I keep coming back to.

We make this salad with one of my girlfriends every year and it has become quite a symbol of easy Summer days for me. This year I started the season by myself and have been savoring this same dish for days now. The market nearby has an abundance of strawberries at the moment, so now it’s the perfect time to be cooking with them, as well as eating them just as they are. Delicious that is!

This salad doesn’t really need a recipe, as it’s so quick and easy to make. This might be in your repertoire already but if not, now’s the time to make it! The combination of strawberries, crunchy cucumber, avocado and feta cheese is purely divine and the salad is fresh and satisfying at the same time. And the dark balsamic vinegar is a must! But don’t also forget the herb croutons or roasted nuts, as every salad needs to have some crunch. And if you’d like to take this meal up a notch, serve it with some fresh organic rosé vine, which is my favorite on gentle summer nights.

Now I’m gonna eat a few strawberries, continue packing and then enjoy the last days in Amsterdam. Have wonderful Summer days friends and enjoy all the strawberries you can eat!

Summer Salad with Strawberries, Avocado & Feta Cheese

serves two

plenty of dark leafy greens
a piece of cucumber
1 ripe avocado
couple handfuls of local strawberries
100 g feta cheese (I use sheep or goat)
herb croutons (instructions below) or roasted nuts
extra virgin olive oil
dark balsamic vinegar
freshly ground sea salt & black pepper

METHOD:

Rinse and dry the salad. Cut the cucumber, avocado and strawberries into smaller pieces. Fill two plates with plenty of salad and add cucumber, avocado and strawberries on top. Crumble the feta cheese on top as well and serve with a generous drop of olive oil, dark balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and some herb croutons.

Gluten free Herb Croutons

a few pieces of gluten free bread
olive oil
fresh rosemary or other fresh herbs

METHOD:

Cut the bread into small squares. Heat a large frying pan, add some olive oil and the bread and fry on low heat for a few minutes. Add the herbs and fry until golden brown.

Summer Soft Serves (dairy free)

June 12, 2015

Maybe some of you thought I’d move on from the ice creams and stop talking about them, but no, that did not happen. Instead I’m still the crazy ice cream person developing new flavors and dreaming of ice cream. Sorry! But really, I’m not that sorry. Because why should I be? We’re talking about a dessert. And these things are totally good for you anyways

Even though our ice cream ebook is now finished and it has started its adventure around the world (maybe you’ve got yours already?), ideas of different kinds of flavors keep popping into my head. First I thought that no, I couldn’t do more, that it would be time to move on but then…I just gave in. So I made some more and now I’m sharing the love for ice creams with you.

In our book, there’s a whole chapter for Instant Ice Creams that are really quick and easy to make and can be savored straight after making them. Even though all the creamy ice creams made with an ice cream machine or refreshing popsicles are really nice, these ‘fast food’ ice cream remained my favorite. Especially the Coconut Sundae in the book because it resembles vanilla soft serve a lot and I’m a huge soft serve fan. There’s something in the soft texture that makes me a fan. And you just gotta love the melted ice cream that needs to be scooped from the sides of the bowl. Oh yummeeee.

So to be prepared for Summer and to be able to make instant ice cream whenever you like, I’ve gathered a few important notions for you! Check them below:

1. Chop ripe bananas into small pieces and put them in the freezer in small boxes or in ziploc bags.

2. Have a few sorts of berries in your freezer as well.

3. Always (!) have a couple of full fat coconut milk cans in your fridge.

In addition to these essential tips, I recommend having vanilla extract or vanilla powder, raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder and some honey or other sweetener in your cupboards pretty much always. As from these simple ingredients you can make some ice cream magic in just minutes!

Now that I got into the mood of sharing a recipe, I decided to throw a full on ice cream party just in order to get this ice cream thing out of my system. So here you have four different soft serve flavors: coconut vanilla, strawberry, raw chocolate and blueberry almond. All dairy free and super good. And did I already mention that they’re super quick to make? Below I’m sharing two recipes, the ones for strawberry and blueberry almond, and the rest of the recipes you’ll find in our ebook! So go and make these goodies and have some happy ice cream times friends!

raw chocolate soft serve (dairy free)

Strawberry Soft Serve

serves 2

1 1/2 cups frozen strawberries
1 (14 ounce / 400ml) can full-fat coconut milk (refrigerated overnight)
2 tbsp honey (or other sweetener)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD:

Open the coconut milk can and scoop out the white thick part and put in a blender or a food processor. Add all the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. You might have scrape down the sides of the blender a few times until you get a smooth texture. Taste, and add more sweetener or other ingredients if desired. Scoop into bowls, serve and enjoy!

Blueberry Almond Soft Serve

serves 2

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
1 (14 ounce / 400ml) can full-fat coconut milk (refrigerated overnight)
2 tbsp honey (or other sweetener)
1-2 tbsp almond butter (or other nut butter)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

METHOD:

The recipes for the Coconut Sundae and Raw Chocolate Sundae you’ll find in the Kind Ice Cream for You e-book!

Banana Bread Granola

Banana Bread Granola

Kale & Zucchini Pancakes

Kale & Zucchini Pancakes (gluten + dairy free)

My trip to JAMAICA

Rustic Apple Cake (gluten + dairy free)

Rustic Apple Cake (gluten + dairy free)

Homemade Applesauce

Homemade Almond Butter

Homemade Almond Butter

Honey Thyme Lemonade + DIY Herb Bouquets

DIY Herb Bouquets

Honey Thyme Lemonade

Honey Thyme Syrup

Gluten-free Chocolate Cake w/ Chocolate Coconut Cream & Berries

Gluten-free Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Coconut Cream

Gluten free Oat & Buckwheat Focaccia

Gluten free Oat & Buckwheat Focaccia

Strawberry Feta Salad w/ Avocado & Herb Croutons

Summer Salad with Strawberries, Avocado & Feta Cheese

Gluten free Herb Croutons

Summer Soft Serves (dairy free)

Strawberry Soft Serve

Blueberry Almond Soft Serve

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