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06Oct 2016

Cloud Bread Breakfast

06 Oct 2016 0 Food Permalink

Breakfast. Who doesn’t love breakfast’ Now, I am not talking about needing it. I totally have my phases – swinging from not being able to live without my breakfast to not wanting to eat at all before lunch (and living on coffee and hot lemon water before). Since a few weeks now, though, I literally need breakfast again to function. It seems that every time the summer ends and the colder, darker days near, I need my vitamins and protein right after waking up. I usually have a chia-pudding during the week. It’s easy, its prepared and done for me to indulge in when waking up and the preparation the night before takes no more than 5 minutes. I usually add some frozen raspberries into it and flavor it either with cinnamon, vanilla or some cacao. I then quickly cut up another fresh fruit in the morning and am ready to eat – or take my breakfast to the office.

Then come the days where I really want to sit down – enjoy every bite, and probably, just enjoy life. These days usually come around on the weekend; Sundays to be precise. I have now made it my little Sunday ritual to sit down and enjoy every bite or spoon of whatever my breakfast is made up of. Lately I have been making cloud breads and eating them with a mix of fresh avocado spreading, home-made jam (such as this pumpkin-apple-cinnamon one), or simple cream cheese (lactose free) topped with some berries. Seriously, there is probably no combination that does not work with these fluffy little pieces. I might try Nutella next! I haven’t had Nutella in f o r e v e r – and now that I am writing about it, I really am craving it. Damnit!

What I was getting at: the cloud bread. It’s so simple. I know I say the same thing every time, but it really is. It needs 5 ingredients, 10 minutes to prepare, 15 minutes to bake and a split-second to love them.

What you need

3 eggs
3 tablespoons of cream cheese (lactose free, if needed)
1 tablespoon of agave syrup (or honey, if you like)
a hint of cinnamon (around ½ – 1 teaspoon)
½ teaspoon baking powder (gluten free, if needed)

What to do

1) Pre-heat the oven to 150°C
2) Separate the egg whites from the yellow and place them in two different bowls
3) Add the cream cheese, cinnamon, baking powder, and agave syrup to the egg yellow and mix it well
4) Now whip up the egg-white until stiff
5)Once the egg-white is ready, add it to the egg-yellow mixture and carefully mix everything together
6) Using the mixed dough, you want to make around fist-sized circles on the baking sheet (usually 3 tablespoons). Make sure to leave some space between the different “circles” as they will spread a little bit in the oven. The mixture should allow you to make 6-7 cloud-breads – but depending on the size, you might up with more or less.
7) Place the dough into the oven and bake for around 15 minutes – keep an eye on them; they should become fluffy and turn into a golden, slightly brown color.
8) Once done, you can take them out and let them cool off for a couple of minutes

The best part, and one that I really can’t get over yet, is that it is really quite healthy – compared to real “bread”. Not being able to eat gluten I try to stay away from all breads. I know there are several gluten-free breads out there, and there are super many recipes (which I actually want to try out). But because I do need to watch my figure a little bit – to not explode – I do try to keep the empty carb-intake low. I admit it. So this “cloud” bread is perfect. It simply has no carbs and, instead fuels the body with tons of proteins already in the morning. Alright, the Nutella probably won’t be the healthiest option if I try – yet, it could be worse! I am also thinking on making my own chocolate-spread. I always prefer having home-made options. They are usually healthier, surely have no additives that are unknown and often test so much better than the supermarket product. Now, I wish you all a yummy-cloud-breakfast and let me know what you think of it!

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13Nov 2015

Apple-Pumpkin Jam Recipe

13 Nov 2015 0 Food Permalink

Happy Friday loves! I’m quite glad that Friday has arrived – the weeks keep getting busier towards Christmas. Last weekend I’ve been busy cooking up some recipes again in my kitchen – it surely never gets dusty in that area of the apartment. Since I’ve been a little kid I’ve always loved the kitchen. I loved watching my mom prepare dinners when I was younger, loved watching her make cakes on the weekends or for our birthdays, and loved some of those traditional recipes my grandma would throw out from time to time when I visited her. Nowadays it seems to be more my grandpa that turns up the stove and prepares meals when we visit – and I must say he is amazing at it! I’ve already stolen so much inspiration from him, though generally, from my whole family. As much as I love trying out new recipes and playing around in the kitchen, it’s always nice to know those meals that will work out perfectly just because they have been perfected throughout decades. My mom used to make super much jam, the whole year round, with all types of fruit. She still does them from time to time, though because we all live in different places she obviously doesn’t make heaps anymore.

Last weekend I made several glasses of apple-pumpkin jam paired with a hint of cinnamon. It tastes amazing – with a great emphasis on the apple and gives a great splash of color to any bread in the morning. Actually, I’ve been using it daily so far, be it on my bread or in my morning porridge. A hint of fruit never is a failure in taste in my eyes. The recipe makes about 8 medium glasses and when closed properly, they stay well for months. Of course it’s also possible to only do half of the recipe, or even less – but I always prefer a few glasses too much rather than too little. It’s also a great little present for your loved ones – be it for a birthday, christmas, or just in general.

What you need

1.2kg Hokkaido Pumpkin
1kg apples (I mixed sweet and sour ones)
1kg brown sugar
juice from ½ a lemon
200-250ml still water
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 packs Confi-Vite from Coop (gelling agent/thickener 2:1, fruit:sugar)

What to do

1) Cut the pumpkin into squares and take out the seeds (no need to peel it)
2) peel and cut the apples into the same size and remove the seeds as well
3) place the pieces into a large cooking pot together with the lemon juice
4) turn the stove on medium heat and cook the pumpkin and apple until they are soft enough to puree
5) once they are soft, puree them slightly
6) add the sugar, water and gelling agent (Confi-Vite)
7) continue to puree it until you have reached your desired texture (I always love keeping some pieces in)
8) now that everything is much more sauce-like in texture, turn the heat up and let it boil for 5 minutes
9) now fill everything into the pre-cleaned jars (I usually turn them upside down before filling them so nothing gets inside). Once a jar is filled, close it with the appropriate lid and turn it upside-down.
10) After all glasses are filled and upside down for about 10 minutes you can turn them normal again – note that you should hear a popping-sound, which means that they are closed fully (air-proof) and will thus stay good much longer

Now you can

1) eat it all up on warm toasts, on bread, waffles, put some on top of porridge or any other way
2) store them in a dark, dry room 
3) give them away as little presents to your dearest ones

Do let me know of how your jam turned out, if you’ve made any amendments to the recipe or found even more creative ways to eat it – I’m always interested in seeing what my readers make out of it!

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09Nov 2015

Apple Cake Recipe

09 Nov 2015 0 Food Permalink

Hello and good morning beauties! It’s monday, a new week, a new day, and a new opportunity to start something big – though it only includes work and uni on my side. As promised last time, I wanted to share my birthday cake recipe with you. I love apple season – there is so much you can do with apples, so much to cook, so much to bake and everything is overflowing with inspiration. And on the positive side, every dessert suddenly seems a tad more healthy! Or at least we can pretend that. This recipe, as always, is free of lactose and gluten.

What you need for the dough

140g buckwheat flour
100g buckwheat flakes (the smaller, partly grinded ones)
100g coconut oil
100g coconut blossom sugar (or normal sugar if you don’t have any – though the color and taste makes a difference!)
1-2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons backing powder (GF)

What you need for the filling

4 large apples (or 5 smaller ones)
1 large tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon speculation spice (not needed but very yummi!)
3-4 teaspoons lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons agave syrup
1 large tablespoon buckwheat flour
2 tablespoons coconut blossom sugar (not needed if you don’t want it sweet, or even more if you like it sweet)

What to do

1) add everything needed for the dough in a large bowl and mix it well
2) the dough should be sticky, though not too dry – do add 1-2 tablespoons of water, if it seems to dry to later knead
3) make sure to line the cake pan with oil so that you can remove the cake easier later on – I used coconut oil, though you can also use olive oil or butter
4) place ⅔ of the dough into the cake pan and knead it to fill the whole inside (see pictures below)
5) cut the apples into 1,5-2cm slices and place them into a bowl with all other ingredients needed for the filling
6) once everything is well mixed, you can place the apples into the dough-covered cake pan – make sure that you don’t add the liquid that is left over in the bowl
7) using the other ⅓ of the dough, you can place any desired design on the cake – I chose the classic grid/checked style for this cake
8) place the cake into the pre-heated oven at 180°C
9) after 30-45 min, when the cake starts getting gold/brown colors, cover the whole cake with kitchenfoil and bake for another 60-45min (90min in total)
10) make sure to let the cake cool-off a bit before taking it out

Now you can

1) serve it while it is still warm – delicious!
2) keep it for later hours or the next day
3) add powdered sugar (looks amazing) or even serve it with whipped cream (lactose free if needed) for those that prefer it

The cake should hold for a good week, though to be honest, it lasted only until the second day for us!
On a side note, I used a smaller cake pan with a diameter of 18-20cm. For the larger sizes, I would try doubling the above ingredient amounts to fill it accordingly.

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01May 2015

Sweet Potato Fries

01 May 2015 0 Food Permalink

Good morning! It’s been ages and I apologize – as you know I’ve been in Hamburg the past weekend and now in Düsseldorf until Sunday. My days have been super busy and I got a taste of what it feels like being a housewife, mother and working simultaneously haha :-). I would have never thought its so much work to keep the apartment clean, take the dog out for regular walks, go grocery shopping, bring the child to school and pick her up (ok fine, my sister could have gone by herself but I was trying to be nice), have the dinner ready in time and work at the same time – damn, who knew! The first few days were fine as it seemed quite calm with work but yesterday was especially busy. Wednesday I had to hand in my last assignment for my uni-course, though now thankfully have 3 weeks off from that.

Finally, today we have officially the day off: hallelujah to May 1! And of course, I wish you all a great start into this month – it’s the month were I personally always see it as Spring – from now on there shouldn’t be any more cold days, and my winter jackets will be officially stored away until October again. Unfortunately I have the feeling I’m getting a little sick, so I will make this a very cozy day and stay in bed mostly if not out with the dog. How has your week been?

I also wanted to take this chance to share of my current favorite, simple meals with you: sweet potato fries. I seem to have this craving for fries at the moment, so before running over to some fast food restaurant, why not make a healthy version yourself?

All you need is, of course: a large sweet potato. Make sure to cut it into slices that are more or less the same size, to avoid burning most of them. I always through the slices into a plastic bag, add one tablespoon of peanut-oil (or any other), a hint of sea salt and (if you like) a bit of cinnamon. Now shake that closed plastic bag like no other – I find it’s the easiest way of getting all fries equally oiled and salted.

Before throwing the fries into the pre-heated 200°C oven, make sure that all fries are separately placed out – you don’t want them lying over each other (and not have them nice and crispy). Leave the fries in for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness you have cut them, until the ends have become a little brown. Voila – here are your perfectly crisp fries.

I absolutely love having something fresh with the rather sweet fries, so I often go for the easy ranch dressing I can make within a few minutes. The recipe to this avocado-mint dressing is here.

Now it’s time for me to jump into the shower and take out my dog – have a great Friday! xo

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04Feb 2015

Gluten- & Dairyfree Banana Bread

04 Feb 2015 0 Food Permalink

Good morning folks and happy Wednesday! Some of you might have seen me sharing my ‘in the making’ baking picture of my Banana Bread on my Instagram. I love banana bread – I used to make banana cake all the time actually. Then I wasn’t allowed to have any gluten and my old recipe fell into dust. I’ve been thinking of making a similar recipe the past weeks on a constant now, so this past weekend I finally tried out throwing in some ingredients. It worked – the banana bread is absolutely delicious. I’ve had it in the mornings for breakfast with either egg or avocado and some fruit. I’ve decided to call it banana bread rather than cake, because it really is more like bread: the texture is too similar.

Not only is this bread gluten and dairy free, but also quite healthy. It has a little bit of sugar in it, I admit, however all other ingredients are organic and natural. So if any of you are interested in trying out this delicious and easy-to-make banana bread, here is what you need:

– 4 ripe bananas
– 1 ¼ cups of ground hazelnut
– 1 ¼ cups of buckwheat flakes
– 1 ¼ cups of buckwheat wholemeal flour
– 1 egg
– ½ cup of brown sugar
– ¼ of golden syrup / agave syrup
– ½ tablespoon cinnamon
– ¼ tablespoon baking powder (gluten free)
– 5-8 drops of pure vanilla / or one fresh vanilla
– 4 tablespoons of coconut oil
– ¾ cups almond milk

bake at 180°C / around 355 F, for about 45 minutes

banana bread 1

You want to start by peeling the 4 bananas and mashing them well until you get what you see on the bottom left corner of the above picture. I used my kitchen machine for the mashing as well, as I couldn’t be bothered to do it by hand. It is however also possible to mash them well with a fork, should you not have a kitchen machine available. Once mashed well, add all the other ingredients, starting from the hazelnut up until the almond milk. Some prefer to adding one ingredient after another and then mixing it all up everytime you have added something. Please feel free to try that as well, however, I admit I am too impatient for so much work when it comes to baking.

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Once you have mixed and mashed everything well, you will end up with a semi-fluid dough as (again) the third picture above. You are now ready to fill in into the baking dish. I used a regular rectangular one for this bread made out of special silicon. If you do not have one made out of silicon, do remember to grease the form well with butter or use baking paper instead.

Now place the filled form into the pre-heated oven and off you go – I used the time for working out at home actually. After about 45-50 minutes the banana bread was done and I can tell you my apartment smelled delicious. I let it cool off for around 20 minutes before taking it out of the form but I couldn’t wait to try it while it was still warm. One hint I can give you if you prefer it warm at all times: the microwave. If you have one and feel like having a warm slice, just pop it in for about 20-40 seconds (depending on how hot it turns) and voila, as if fresh out of the oven. The bread should hold around one week if you keep it open, however it is also possible to freeze the rest for later use.

Voila: done is your gluten and dairy free banana bread! For anyone wanting to try it out and post about it,  I would love to hear how it turned out, what you changed or what you ate it with in the mornings. Feel free to add #StylePhantomrecipes to your instagram photos and I will make sure to check out what you have posted! xo

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