3pm Power Balls

These power balls are a perfect treat when you need a little something to keep you going. You can chop and change the ingredients to suit your tastes. I often add goji berries for a nice burst of colour and flavour. I like things really chocolately so I used quite a bit of cocoa and then a bit of honey to temper the bitterness. I've called these 3pm Power Balls because I often find I need an energy burst at that time of day, but they are so delicious I eat them at all hours! 

1 cup raw almonds

1 cup pecans

3 heaped tbspn raw cacao

3 heaped tbspn protein powder (or 2 tbspn ground flax seeds)

Pinch of salt

2 tspn cinnamon

1 tspn all spice

1 tbspn ground ginger

15  medjool dates, pitted

2 tspn vanilla

1 tbspn honey

2 tbspn water

Put nuts, powders and spices in a food processor and pulse til crumb like.  Add dates and vanilla and pulse again. Add honey, pulse.  Add enough water so that the mixture holds together when pressed.  Roll into balls and coat with raw cacao or coconut. Store in the fridge or freezer.

Rocky Road

While I love chocolate, rocky road is not something that I would usually choose. This version changes my whole philosophy on that. The three types of chocolate combine to make something deliciously rich. The turkish delight adds another whole dimension. Obviously you can chop and change ingredients according to what you like.

200g milk chocolate

200g dark chocolate

100g 70% dark chocolate

5 large pieces or rose flavoured turkish delight cut into 1cm cubes (use some of the icing sugar surrounding the turkish delight to prevent everything becoming too sticky as you cut through the pieces)

1/2 packet of marshmallows (I only use the white ones, I think the look and flavor is better)

¼ cup red glace cherries, halved

¼ cup cranberries

½ cup slivered almonds, toasted

½ cup coconut flakes or shredded coconut (toasted is optional)

Combine everything but the chocolate in a large bowl. Line a 20x20cm tin with baking paper. Break the chocolates into small pieces and melt them. You can do this over a double boiler or in the microwave (but make sure the microwave is on reduced heat). Mix the chocolate to ensure even melting. Pour over remaining ingredients and mix gently. Pour into prepared tin and refrigerate until set. Remove from tray, place on a chopping board and cut into squares to serve.

Middle Eastern Fruit Salad

This is a beautiful way too make fruit salad, especially over winter. You can serve it warm or cold and it makes a wonderful accompaniment to porridge, muesli or yoghurt. It also makes a wonderful dessert, served warm with ice cream, custard or yoghurt. You can use any dried fruit that you like.

100-150g of each of dried apricots, dried peaches, dried nectarines, dried apples, and prunes .

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves or 1/2 tspn ground cloves 

a pinch of saffron

1 tspn of honey

1.5 tspns of real vanilla (if you have a vanilla pod, split that and use that)

Put all the ingredients in a heavy based saucepan. Add enough cold water to barely cover. Bring to the boil slowly and then turn heat down and let it simmer uncovered for about 15/20 minutes or until the water is mostly gone and everything is soft and stewy.

You can serve it like this, warm or cold or cool it completely and add some chopped pistachios and a sprinkling of rose water. You could also add a piece of orange or lemon rind when boiling it if you desired. 

Meringue Mushrooms

These mushrooms are the cutest treat and adored by kids and adults alike. 

2 large egg whites (at room temp)

1/4 tspn cream of tartar

1/2 cup of castor sugar

1 tspn of vanilla

1 tspn cocoa 

50g Lindt 85% dark chocolate

50g Lindt extra creamy milk chocolate

Pre heat oven to 100 deg c. 

You will need a large piping bag (mine is 45cm long) with a  1 1/2" nozzle.  Line 3 trays with baking paper. 

Whip egg whites on medium until foamy and add cream of tartar. Turn up to high and beat until stiff peaks form, then slowly add sugar and vanilla and beat til whites are very stiff and glossy. Make sure the sugar has dissolved (you can tell by rubbing some meringue between your fingers, you shouldn't be able to feel the grit of the sugar) 

Place the meringue in the piping bag. Try and get as much air out as possible. 

To Pipe Caps: Holding the pastry bag upright and close to the parchment paper, pipe the meringue with even pressure, into even rounds building up the meringue to form a 2 inch (5 cm) round that is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) high. Sharply twist the bag and stop the pressure as you slowly move the tip off the meringue. Try to make the top as smooth as possible but use a wet fingertip to smooth out any bumps.  Dust the tops of the mushrooms with the cocoa. 

To Pipe Stems: Holding the pastry bag upright and close to the parchment paper, pipe the meringue with even pressure, into a cone-shape, making the base of the stem a little larger than the top. The stem should be about 1 inch (2.54 cm) high. Try to keep the stems as straight as possible. Some of the stems may fall over on their sides during baking, so it is a good idea to make extra.

Bake the meringues for approximately an hour and 20-30 minutes or until the mushrooms are firm enough that they can be lifted from the baking sheet without sticking.  I usually let them cool in the oven to make sure they are really dry.

Once cool remove from oven and with a small sharp knife, make a small hole in the middle of the underside of each mushroom cap. 

Melt the chocolates together. Spread a little on the flat side of the mushroom tops and gently push a stem into the hole. 

Place the mushrooms, caps down, on a parchment lined baking sheet and let the chocolate set.

You can store these for about a week in an airtight container in a cool place. make sure not to put anything else in the container with them or the meringue will get soft and sticky.

Fig, Date and Fennel Grissini

These are my absolute favourite things to eat, and I have been known to polish off and entire batch in the space of 48 hours. They make an appearance at every function I ever have (thanks mostly to my lovely sister who bakes them for me and my daughters who also love them). They are versatile enough to eat any time of day and can be served with sweets as part of dessert or savoury with cheese or as part of a breakfast or lunch spread. There is a bit of work involved, but there is also a great satisfaction in making dough, and in making something that tastes this good.

500g "00" bread flour

Pinch sugar

1½ tbsp instant dried yeast

2 tsp salt

¾ cup poppy seeds

6 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to brush grissini

300ml warm water

100g fig paste, warmed (I use the Maggie Beer, Fig & Fennel Paste)

8 Medjool dates, finely chopped (just snip them with scissors)

1 pack of pitted dates (about 200g) also cut finely

1 tbsp fennel seeds

1-2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place flour, sugar, yeast, salt and poppy seeds in the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment and mix on low speed. Add olive oil and water and knead for five to seven minutes to form a smooth dough. If working by hand, the process will take longer. Place on an oiled tray and roll out to a rough rectangle shape, approximately five centimetres thick. Brush with oil and cover with cling film. Allow to rise for about one hour.

Once risen, roll the dough out slightly so it covers the board and you get a nice big rectangle. Spread fig paste roughly all over dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon and then scatter the fennel seeds over. Then scatter the dates over – try and cover all of the dough with the dates, and press them slightly into the dough.   Fold dough over to enclose. Cut dough into three equal pieces.  I find it easier to put two of the sections of dough on the plate that I used for the dates and just work with one section at a time. 

Cut each into section of dough into 10 (you will have 30 pieces of dough). Roll out each piece into 20-centimetre finger lengths. You will need to have plain flour handy to dust the board and knife when you need it. The dough, fig and fresh dates can make it all quite sticky and make your life unnecessarily difficult.  Place on lined baking tray. Once you have all 10 on the tray, roll with a rolling pin to flatten slightly. Once you have done this you may need to reposition a few of them to make them fit on the tray and make them a bit straighter. Spray them well with olive oil and bake for 15 minutes, until golden. I usually put these in the oven and then just get to work on the next section of dough.

Honey Toasted Muesli

I have made a lot of muesli in my time and I have found that pretty much any combination of nuts, grains, fruits and seeds can be delicious, and so much better than anything you can buy in the supermarket.  The only thing that you need to do is shake or stir the mix every 10 minutes during baking so the nuts and coconut don’t burn. You can substitute the honey for maple or golden syrup or apple juice and change the combination of ingredients to suit your taste. If you are adding dried fruit, slice it up and add it after the muesli is cooked and cooled.

4 cups rolled oats

1 cup raw almonds

½ cup slivered almonds

½ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup shredded or flaked coconut

½ cup raw cashews

¼ cup chia seeds

1 tspn cinnamon

1 cup raisins

½ cup honey

Preheat oven to 160 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except raisins and honey. Microwave honey for 30 seconds and then pour into dry ingredients and mix well. Lay out muesli mix on two baking trays and bake for 10 mins. Remove trays form oven, stir muesli and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove trays, add raisins, stir again and bake for a final 10 minutes. Allow to cool and store in an airtight container. 

Cacao Bliss Balls

I try not to eat too much sugar but I do love chocolate and definitely feel like I need some most days at 3pm.  These are the perfect healthy snack to satisfy these cravings. The raw cacao sates the desire for the chocolate and the nuts make this fulfilling enough that you can generally stop after one (or maybe two…)

1 cup raw almonds

½ cup walnuts

2 heaped tbspn almond meal

1 heaped tbspn raw cacao

1 tspn cinnamon

½ tspn ground cardamom

250g dried figs, quartered

½ cup goji berries

2 tbspn coconut oil, melted

extra raw cacao

Place nuts and spices in a food processor. Pulse til nuts are chopped. Add figs and goji berries. Pulse again until figs are chopped and mixed through. Add coconut oil and pulse until combined. Roll mixture into balls and place on a tray lined with non stick paper. Sift over extra raw cacao and roll balls in the cacao until they are covered. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

(If your figs are really dry, soak in boiling water for five minutes before you use them)

You can also substitute any of the dried fruit, nuts or spices, and roll in shredded coconut instead of or combined with the cacao. If you want a softer paste, you can also add more coconut oil.

Turkish Delight & Pistachio Biscotti

My sister and I can both cook, but her talent shines through in baking. This is her recipe for biscotti studded with jewel like turkish delight and pistachio. These crisp biscuits are totally addictive and mouth wateringly delicious. Try this combo first (because it’s amazing!), but on another day, substitute the turkish delight for chopped dates and the pistachios for walnuts for another delectable treat.

2 cups plain flour, sifted

1½ tspn baking powder

¾ cup dark brown sugar

¾ cup pistachios

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tspn vanilla extract

1 cup chopped rose Turkish delight

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Place flour, baking powder, sugar, pistachios and turkish delight in a bowl and mix to combine. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well until a soft dough forms. This takes a while by hand so it is best to do it with the dough hook attachment on a KitchenAid. Knead dough til smooth and then divide into 2 logs and flatten slightly. Place logs on a lined baking tray and bake for 30 mins. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Slice the logs into 5mm slices and place on a lined baking tray. Bake for 10-15 mins or until biscotti are crisp. Store in an airtight container.