Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

The First Birthday Cake

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We have reached a huge milestone… or at least this is what I think. Adam is one year old!!! Oh My! How could this happen? I remember the first days when I had problems with the breastfeeding and now he is one year old! Everything happened so quickly. Being a parent can be wonderful and rewarding, but it can also be difficult and unpleasant. This is what Ivan and I learnt in the last year.

On this beautiful day we had a quick porridge breakfast together then Adam got a few small presents and got his first birthday cake. I cooked a vegan pancake cake for him without sugar of couse. See the photos below how Adam enjoyed his birthday cake. It was kind of the most adorable thing I have ever seen. (Plus, recipe of the cake is at the end of the post.)

We love you, Adam! Mom & Dad

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“Let me see what mom cooked for me! “

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“Oh, la la! As a French would say…”

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“Oh My! This is so exciting!”

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“Yum!”

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“This is getting more delicious!”

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“Mom, you are a super talented chef! I love you so much!” 🙂

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Vegan Banana Pancake Cake With Vegan Chocolate Ganache

I used carob powder to make the ganache. Carob is a tropical pod that contains a sweet, edible pulp and inedible seeds. After drying, the pulp is roasted and ground into a powder that resembles cocoa powder, but does not have the same flavor and texture of chocolate. Carob is naturally sweet, low in fat, high in fiber, has calcium, and most importantly no caffeine – that’s why I chose to add this to Adam.

Ingredients (to make 8-10 pancakes)

For the pancake
– 2 ripe bananas, smashed with a fork
– 40 g whole wheat spelt flour
– 60 g white spelt flour
– 150-200 ml rice milk (you can use oat or almond milk too)
– 1 tablespoon baking powder
– 1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeded
– coconut oil for cooking

For the chocolate ganache
– 1 medium ripe avocado, pitted
– 2 ripe bananas
– 2-3 tablespoons carob powder (you can use cacao powder)
– 2 tablespoons almond butter
– small amount rice milk

Method

Place the ganache’s ingredients into the kitchen blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Place it in the fridge to chill.

In a bowl mix together the flours, baking powder and vanilla. Add the smashed bananas, rice milk. Give the mixture a stir, combining the ingredients until mixed and smooth (if you find it too thick add a bit of rice milk 1 tablespoon at a time). Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the batter to rise.

Prepare a non-stick pan with 1 teaspoon coconut oil on medium heat. Spoon batter into pan, forming a pancake. Cook until lightly brown on the bottom. Turn and brown the other side. Let the pancakes cool.

To build the cake, place one pancake on a plate, spread some chocolate ganache on pancake and top with another pancake. Keep doing this until you’ve used all the pancakes. Keep some cream back for the top.

Vegan Apple Cinnamon Pancake With Maple Syrup

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Oh, pancakes Sundays, where are you now? I don’t have too much time to make pancakes in the morning nowadays but once in a while I do. I love experiencing with different flavours so this time I made pancakes with apple and I added a touch of cinnamon too. There is no any sweetener in the pancake dough so it is sugar-free. At the end I couldn’t help myself… I poured off the pancakes with maple syrup! 🙂

You can find more pancake recipes here.

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Vegan Apple Cinnamon Pancake With Maple Syrup

Ingredients (makes about 10)

– 1 cup whole spelt flour
– 1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons white spelt flour
– 1 and 1/2 tablespoons baking powder (alkaline free)
– 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
– 1 and 1/2 cups oat milk (any kind of non-dairy milk you prefer)
– 2 tablespoons coconut oil
– 1 medium apple, peeled, cored, grated
– pinch of salt
– maple syrup

Method

In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl mix together oat milk, coconut oil and grated apple. Give each mixture a stir then add the wet to the dry combining just until mixed (if you find it too thick add a bit of oat milk 1 tablespoon at a time). Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the batter to rise.

Prepare a non-stick pan with 1 teaspoon coconut oil on medium heat. Spoon batter into pan, forming a pancake. Cook until lightly brown on the bottom. Turn and brown the other side.

Serve the pancakes with maple syrup. Yum!

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Best Of 2012

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I’m sharing my favourite top 12 recipes from 2012. Some of them were very popular – according to statistics – but I loved these 12 the most. I really enjoyed looking back at all of these vegetarian or vegan meals I cooked or baked over the past year.All in all I shared more sweet recipes than savory. Of course it doesn’t mean we only eat sweets, I just somehow like taking photos of these delicious yuminess!

I’m excited for the new year and all it will bring! I hope you’ll still be here reading my short stories, commenting and enjoying my recipes. You inspire me to make this blog better and better day by day. See you in 2013!

Let’s see the favourites of 2012…

January

This month I really loved cocoa, chocolate and walnut cookies! I bet you did too! Also shakshuka was a new way for me to poach eggs in herby tomato sauce. Yum!

February

In February we challenged ourselves. We were planning to do a 29 day sugar-free (no cakes, no chocolates, no sweet fruits only apple, lemon, orange and mandarin sometimes) vegan challenge but we ended it on the 25th day. 25 days were enough. We enjoyed it, we had ups and downs but we couldn’t bear not to eat anything sweet anymore.

As a result of the challenge this month only brought savory recipes. One of my favourites is this spring roll with citrus soy sauce but I also loved the udon noodles with creamy tahini sauce, roasted kale and tofu.

March

This month it’s unequivocal that the best recipe was the raw chocolate ganache cake. This has been one of the most popular recipes on the blog.

April

In April I shared the first recipe from the cookbook, Veg Every Day. I could cook and bake all the recipes from the book because all of them are vegetarian or vegan. With over 200 recipes and vibrant photography, River Cottage Veg Every Day is a timely eulogy to the glorious green stuff. This kale and mushroom lasagne was a big hit.

May

The biggest challenge in May was making strawberry leather or you can call it the healthy version of gummy candy. This leather thing is exciting not only for children, for adults too. It’s very easy to make (and a few hours) but don’t miss it.

June

Another sweet favourite in June: vegan chocolate popsicles with roasted almonds. They are creamy, thick chocolate-y vegan popsicles to enjoy! Yum! I also loved making and eating this raw zucchini spagetthi with creamy tahini sauce.

July

I love nut roasts and vegetarian/vegan patties. I made these yum quinoa patties for a picnic.

August

From the end of the summer my favourite recipe is this milk pie I baked with my recently deceased grandmother. This is actually a thick pancake baked in the oven. It is not too sweet but moist and soft.

September

Imagine little sweet indigo-coloured berries and little sweetish yellow corn kernels in soft, moist muffins with a bit of crispness from the cornmeal. You got it? These vegan corn blueberry muffins are just like I described.

October

I love cooking pancakes. I used carrot to make this soft, vegan and sugar-free pancakes. You can use  honey, agave, rice or maple syrup to pour over the pancakes. A real autumn Sunday indulgence…

November

I added pumpkin purée to this oatmeal that’s why its colour looks bright yellow. With a bit of maple syrup and spices it is one of the best comfort food breakfast during winter time. It is a small bowl of harmony in terms of its colour and taste.

December

This month was one of the busiest with 11 recipes I shared. It’s difficult to choose one of them so I let you make this decision. 🙂

Spicy Carrot Pancake With Warm Cinnamon Honey

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Foamy almond milk

Sometimes life just happens and it doesn’t turn out the way we planned it. “… Maybe our mistakes are what make our fate. Without them what would shape our lives? Perhaps if we never veered of course… we wouldn’t fall in love, or have babies, or be who we are. After all, seasons change. So do places. People come into your life and people go. But it’s comforting to know the ones you love are always in your heart… and if you’re lucky… just a plane or train ride away.“

I was going to cook vegan pumpkin chocolate pancakes and to bake vegan banana chocolate cake for my birthday but as I said, life just happens… and I didn’t have the opportunity and time to do all. Maybe a bit later… I know I will find time because the pancakes and the cake are so yum… at least in my mind ! 🙂

But I brought a stunning recipe for you… instead of pumpkin I used carrot to make these soft, cute pancakes. Carrot is also orange like pumpkin (from β-carotene, which is partly metabolised into vitamin A in humans) so it makes your day bright and shiny.

These pancakes are vegan and sugar-free. I used buchkwheat, whole spelt flour and almond meal to cook them. Full of nutrients… and they are yum too! Instead of honey you can use agave, rice or maple syrup to pour over the pancakes. A real autumn Sunday indulgence… in a healthy way!

Do you want to miss it? I don’t think so! 🙂

Spicy Carrot Pancake With Warm Cinnamon Honey

Ingredients (makes 8-10 pancakes)

– 1 cup buckwheat flour
– 1/4 cup whole spelt flour
– 1/4 cup almond meal
– 1 and 1/2 tablespoons alkaline free baking powder
– 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
– 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
– 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
– 1 and 1/2 cup almond milk (you can substitute with oat or rice milk)
– 1 cup grated carrot
– 2 tablespoons coconut or sunflower oil +  for cooking
– 1/3 cup honey
– 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients: flours, almond meal, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg and cardamom. In another bowl mix together  almond milk, coconut oil and grated carrot. Give each mixture a stir then add the wet to the dry combining just until mixed (if you find it too thick add a bit of almond milk 1 tablespoon at a time). Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the batter to rise.

Prepare a non-stick pan with 1 teaspoon coconut oil on medium heat. Spoon batter into pan, forming a pancake. Cook until lightly brown on the bottom. Turn and brown the other side.

In a small pan heat honey with cinnamon for 3-5 minutes. Serve the pancakes with this warm cinnamon honey.
Yum!

Milk Pie Baking With My Grandmother

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Grandmothers are precious gems, aren’t they? They always have a few secret recipes. If we ask them patiently, they tend to share their recipes with us… then we, food bloggers share the recipes with the whole world. 🙂

My only grandmother (who is still alive) celebrated her 89th birthday last week. Unfortunatelly it wasn’t a very happy birthday because she had to spend it in a hospital. She is out now, very slowly getting better but she is still weak, it is difficult for her to walk and she has very strong pain in her waist. Fingers crossed she is getting stronger and better day by day.

Last weekend I went to visit my family and baked my ginger carrot cake (with orange mascarpone frosting) for my grandma. She loved it. I was happy to see a smile on her face.

I baked this milk pie with my grandma during the summer. It was really fun to take photos of her every step. This milk pie is actually a thick pancake baked in the oven. It is not too sweet but moist and soft. You can eat it on its own but we usually spread any kind of homemade jam on top (this time plum jam).

I love this milk pie so much! I bet you will love it too!

Milk Pie

Ingredients

– 1 liter milk
– 2 organic eggs
– 410 g all-purpose flour, sifted
– 3 teaspoon sugar
– 1 teaspoon salt
– sunflower oil
– jam

Method

In a bowl beat the eggs with the sugar and salt. Slowly add the 1/3 part of the milk and 1/3 part of the flour. With a wooden spoon combine the batter until smooth then add the remaining milk and flour. Mix the batter until you get smooth thickish pancake batter. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170C (338F). Spread sunflower oil on a baking sheet (36*36 cm or 14,17*14,17 inch).

Pour batter into the prepared sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes at 170C (338F) until the top is golden brown. Let it cool for 5-8 minutes then cut slices and spread any kind of homemade jam on top. It is best to eat lukewarm!

Spreading plum jam on top…