All posts filed under: Baking

Lotus Biscoff Rocky Road

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With New Zealand back in Lockdown 3.0, this means more time for baking and getting creative in the kitchen! My favourite things to bake are cookies, brownies, slices and more recently, rocky road. The world-famous Lotus Biscoff has finally landed in New Zealand (available in New World and Pak’nSave supermarkets) and I was recently sent some of their biscuits and spread to try… very exciting!!! (ad/gifted). Lotus Biscoff will take your coffee experience to a whole new level, with its unique flavour (using an original recipe created in 1932, and baked in Lembeke, Belgium), crunchy bite and iconic shape. Their biscuits and spread taste like caramel gingerbread… the perfect excuse to use in baking! While I had plans to make Biscoff Stuffed Cookies, I settled on Rocky Road instead. This delicious and decadent recipe only has five ingredients – Lotus Biscoff Spread and Biscuits, Butter, Nestle Milkybar Gold Chocolate (similar to Caramilk) and Marshmallows – these cuties were purchased from Japan Mart. Recipe below – enjoy! Lotus Biscoff Rocky Road Ingredients 3 x 170g blocks …

Vegan Peanut Butter Cups

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I don’t know about you, but when I hear ‘Chocolate’ and ‘Peanut Butter’ in the same sentence, I get REALLY REALLY EXCITED! I love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, but unfortunately they are full of sugar and also not good for the waistline, and because I love to eat a variety of chocolate during the week, I wanted to find a balance between the two.  Below is my recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter Cups – they are super simple and easy to make, and only require 4 ingredients! Can also guarantee that your friends and family will love them! Makes 24 mini cups. INGREDIENTS For the Peanut Butter Cups: 1 cup smooth peanut butter (I used Revive Peanut Butter) 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (I like Blue Coconut) 1 tablespoon maple syrup For the Chocolate Topping: 1 cup of coconut oil, melted 3 tablespoons maple syrup 2 x 100g blocks of 70% Lindt chocolate (it is in fact vegan – yay!), roughly chopped and melted METHOD 1. Pop 24 mini muffin cases on trays.  2. Combine the coconut oil, maple syrup and dark chocolate …

Kiwi Lime Meringue Pie

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Following on from my Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie, over the long weekend I decided to make something similar – introducing my Kiwi Lime Meringue Pie! This is my version of the American classic Key Lime Pie. Since we don’t have Key Limes in New Zealand, I have used some homegrown Matakana limes. If you are a citrus lover, then you will love this pie! The pie has a sweet biscuit base, topped with a tart lime filling, and finished with toasted meringue and lime zest. Hope you enjoy making my Kiwi Lime Meringue Pie – it tastes heavenly. Adapted slightly from these recipes here and here.  Kiwi Lime Meringue Pie Ingredients: For the Crust: 1 1/2 cups malt or graham-cracker crumbs, broken into pieces 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 3 tablespoons sugar For the Filling: 1 tin (400g) sweetened condensed milk 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 4 large limes) 1 tablespoon grated lime zest, plus more for garnish (about 4 large limes) 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I used Heilala) 4 large …

Choc-Almond Slice with Cocavo

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Baking is one of my favourite hobbies. Cookies, brownies and slices are my favourite things to bake. So, when I was sent the whole range of Cocavo products recently (and having never used their products in baking or cooking before), I was super excited to create a recipe using Cocavo’s products.  For those of you that are not familiar with Cocavo, they are a New Zealand owned and run company which produces a unique blend of extra virgin coconut and avocado oils, bringing the healthiest cooking oil to the market. Their products are made from all natural premium ingredients and are dairy and gluten free, and suitable for vegans and vegetarians. Cocavo has five delicious flavours, including: Cocavo Original (used in a variety of sweet and savoury dishes) Cocavo Light (the light flavour does not have the aroma or taste of coconut, which makes it the perfect cooking oil for everyday use) Cocavo with Chili and Lime (use for seafood or stir-fry dishes) Cocavo with Cilantro, Lime and Ginger (will bring out the flavours in Thai or …

Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie

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When life gives you lemons, make a lemon meringue pie. You may already know about the brand I Love Food Co. – they make the scrumptious I Love Pies (my favourite being the Free Range Butter Chicken) and sausage rolls, plus the I Love Baking Cookies – love the Peanut Butter Choc Chunk ones!  All of their pies and sausage rolls are made with their homemade light and delicate sour cream pastry, which uses sour cream and New Zealand butter – no palm oil in sight! And, after the demand for it by consumers, supermarkets and gourmet food stores are now stocking their delicious pastry around the country. Check out their stockists here.  I was recently sent some of I Love Food Co.’s Sour Cream Pastry, plus their gluten free version. Having never used gluten free pastry before, I wanted to try it out! And, having never ever made a Lemon Meringue Pie, I thought I would do that too! This Lemon Meringue Pie was super fun to make, and tasted heavenly. Adapted slightly from this recipe here.  …

Peanut Butter Acai Bowl

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I recently purchased Hippie Lane: The Cookbook by Taline Gabriel. It is filled with deliciously ‘luxe’ wholefood recipes, split into four sections – Rise + Shine, Lunch Vibes, Dinner Dates and Sweet Fix. I have been an avid follower of Taline Gabriel on Instagram for a while now. Her food inspires me daily and thus, have put this into perspective for 2018. I have never been one for New Year’s Resolutions, but I thought this year, I will finally jump on the bandwagon. Mine is to follow and maintain a healthy lifestyle by focusing on wholefoods (like fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, healthy proteins and fats), cutting down on refined sugar and processed foods, exercising daily and keeping up my water intake.  I have a mega sweet tooth, so it will be a challenge, but one I am willing to give my 100%. I will still be posting about eats in Auckland, new products and adventures on here and on my Instagram and Facebook pages, plus will have the occasional treat now and then (my weaknesses are ice cream, …

Tiramisu Pavlova

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‘Tis the season for fun, sun and glorious food – Christmas is almost here! My absolute favourite dessert around Christmas time is Pavlova, served with whipped cream, strawberries, blueberries and passionfruit.  This year, I will be trying something different because the good folk at Tatua kindly sent me a selection of their products to whip up their spin on my favourite Christmas dessert – Tiramisu Pavlova (otherwise known as ‘Tiralova’ to all the serious pav-lovers). The recipe is simple and quick to prepare – I whipped it up in my office at work, so you can literally prepare it anywhere, any time. All you need is a homemade or store bought pavlova, a few pantry staples, plus three Tatua products – Crème Fraiche, Dairy Whip and Chef de Can Chocolate Mousse. I am a huge fan of Dairy Whip – it is something I will eat straight out of the can, but it is also delicious on Pavlova too. TIRAMISU PAVLOVA Ingredients 1 homemade or store-bought Pavlova 200gms Tatua Crème Fraiche 1 tablespoon of instant …

Harraways Spiced Unbaked Oats and Seed Slice + WIN

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Harraways are celebrating their 150th birthday! The iconic New Zealand brand has been providing us with delicious oats since 1867, with the company still operating from its original site in Green Island, near Dunedin – WOW! As part of their milestone birthday, Harraways have released two Celebration packs: Chia, Coconut & Cranberry Celebration, and Birthday Berry Bonanza. These celebration packs come with free collectables – ‘Harry’ Scottish Terrier magnets and colour changing spoons. I love Harraways oats because they are so versatile and can be used in many ways. I have porridge for breakfast, which is simple, yet filling, I use their oats in smoothies, in desserts (I love making feijoa crumble at this time of year) and my favourite, in baking. While I usually use oats for making Anzac biscuits, cookies or pancakes, I was intrigued to try making a slice this time round! Check out the recipe for Harraways Spiced Unbaked Oats and Seed Slice below: Spiced Unbaked Oats & Seeds Slice Makes 20 bars INGREDIENTS 1/4 cup Coconut Oil 1/4 cup Liquid Honey 1/3 teaspoon Idodised Salt 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 1/2 teaspoon …

Melie’s Kitchen Fudgy Rocky Road Cookies

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I have never met a cookie I didn’t like. There are so many delicious ones. Chocolate chip, Nutella, oreo marshmallow, peanut butter, white chocolate macadamia, snickers, salted caramel, chocolate cookie sandwich, fortune cookies and s’mores to name quite a few. And now, I have a new favourite cookie… a Fudgy Rocky Road Cookie! Thanks to Amelia Ferrier of Melie’s Kitchen, an 18 year old Aucklander who makes beautiful cakes (you can order them from her website here). Last year, she held a demonstration and cookbook launch at Collected, where we watched her decorate one of her amazing cakes and there were samplings afterwards. Of course, I couldn’t leave without buying her cookbook, entitled ‘Melie’s Kitchen‘ which is filled with recipes for her wonderful cake creations, cookies, slices and pastries. I love all the recipes in her cookbook, in particular the Fudgy Rocky Road Cookies. The mix of dark chocolate, almonds and marshmallows sounded delicious. Melie says in her book that you will love these cookies because of their fudgy and chewy texture, and the marshmallows toast beautifully on top, while the almonds give …