Happy Father's Day to all you dad's out there! I know some people think that days like this are just a huge money grab for retailers, but I don't care. I love to celebrate my dad each year in a special way. Oh, I know . . . I love and honor him every day, but what does it hurt to have an extra special day set aside just for dads. Not a thing!
I am about 3 in this photo
Because I am the oldest child I got to enjoy my father for three full years before anyone else came along. I love my father so much. It is from him that I got my love of reading, my brown eyes, my dark hair, my easy going nature and my bum chin! Another thing I got from him is everything Maple Walnut! It is one of his favourite flavour combinations and it is one of mine as well!
Having lost my mom this past January only made my father more precious to us. He is 84 years old now, and thankfully enjoys fairly good health. He's got pacemaker and he has diabetes, but for the most part he does pretty well. He still drives and goes out every day for breakfast at the local cafe and in the afternoon for coffee. I wish I was close enough to spoil him and give him one of these tasty muffins!
Instead my husband Todd is the lucky recipient! We were not blessed to have any children of our own, but we do have a very pampered Cocker Spaniel and Todd is a wonderful father to her.
This fabulously tasty muffin is perfectly sized for one. Just what you want a special treat for someone to be spoiled with, something that is all their own!
I don't really mind because in all honesty I don't need to many of things like this hanging around my kitchen. They get in my mouth and that's not a very good thing at all, as my hips will attest to!
This is a muffin which is lightly sweetened with Maple Syrup. You could add a few drops of maple flavouring if you wanted to. Its not something we have over here in the UK. You could use maple sugar also instead of the brown sugar for full on maple flavour! (That I do have!)
I always like to toast my nuts before baking with them. It really helps to enhance their flavours and is a really easy do. Just pop them onto a baking tray and roast them in a moderate oven until you can smell them. Take them out and let them cool before using.
There are toasted walnuts in the muffin batter itself . . . . and also in the buttery brown sugar and cinnamon streusel topping!
A nice crunch and sweetness to gild the top of what is really a beautiful muffin!
It has a beautiful texture . . .
Wonderful flavours . . . and that crunch on top is in short . . . perfect. Todd declared it most delicious! Of course he enjoyed it hot from the oven with cold butter. Oh how I wish . . .
Maple Walnut Muffin
Yield: Makes one giant muffin
A very generous sized muffin built for one. Sweetened with maple, filled with toasted walnuts and topped with a cinnamon walnut streusel. Bake some loving for your honey bunny today!
ingredients:
- 70g plain flour (1/2 cup)
- 2 TBS packed soft light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- pinch ground cinnamon
- 3 TBS whole milk
- 3 TBS amber grade pure Maple Syrup
- 2 TBS butter, melted
- 1 TBS full fat sour cream (now is not the time to bicker over calories)
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- few drops of vanilla
- 2 TBS chopped toasted walnuts
For the Streusel Topping:
- 2 tsp plain flour
- 2 tsp soft light brown sugar
- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 TBS chopped toasted walnuts
- 1/2 TBS cold butter
instructions:
How to cook Maple Walnut Muffin
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a ramekin or baking dish large enough to hold one cup of batter, and dust with flour, shaking out any excess. (I used a medium round ramekin dish and tied a baking paper hat around it.)
- Make the streusel. Combine the flour, sugar, nuts and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until crumbly. Set aside.
- Whisk all of the dry ingredients for the muffin together in a bowl. Whisk together the wet. Add all at once to the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Fold in the toasted walnuts. Pour into the ramekin. Sprinkle the streusel over top.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Fabulously tasty!
I will call my father early this afternoon. Hopefully I will catch him in, in between his forays to the local cafe. I expect my sister is having him over for supper tonight. Oh how I wish I could be there to help spoil him as well.
I am willing to guarantee that you are going to fall abso-flippingly in love with this simple cake I am sharing here with you today. GUARANTEE!
Not only is it a very simple cake to make, but it has to be one of the moistest, most flavourful cakes you could ever want to eat.
I have adapted the recipe from one I found in the book Clodagh's Kitchen Diaries by Clodagh McKenna.
I was able to purchase a copy of this second hand the other week and the day it arrived I immediately bookmarked this recipe and set out the very next day to bake it. I kid you not.
In her description of the recipe she says: "This, I guarantee, will be one of your favourite recipes in this book. Light, moist and so zingy, it will keep for up to a week in an airtight container."
I would agree with everything she said but am doubtful about the last . . . not that it won't keep in a container for up to a week, but that you will even have any left to store for a week! Seriously!
Yes, it is THAT good!
This is the moistest, most flavourful cake I have ever made.
No flour in it . . . but you can't consider it gluten free because you do need a slice of white bread made into bread crumbs . . . and the gluten would be in that . . .
I used a slice of day old ordinary sandwich bread, about 1/2 inch in thickness. I did not cut off the crusts. I blitzed it into coarse bread crumbs in my food processor.
Once again I used Dorie Greenspan's trick of rubbing citrus zest into sugar to release the flavours and aromas. This cake uses the zest of one large orange and one lemon.
Use unwaxed if you can get them, otherwise scrub them well in soapy water and then dry with a soft cloth prior to zesting.
The citrus sugar gets mixed with the bread crumbs and a quantity of ground almonds . . . I think in North America you might call this almond meal or almond flour.
You will also need a teaspoon of baking powder. Mix that all together well then you simply stir in some vegetable oil that you have beaten together with some eggs.
She didn't specify the size of the eggs that I could find. I used large and they worked out beautifully.
That's it . . . just pour it into the prepared pan and bake . . . it smells really good while it is baking. Like a citrus grove . . .
After baking you make a spicy citrus syrup using the juice of an orange and a lemon, some sugar, a cinnamon stick and a couple of cloves.
This gets soaked into the still warm cake, while its still warm . . . this is the secret to it's moist texture and amazing flavour!
Moroccan Orange Cake
Yield: 8
Light, moist and filled with lovely zingy orange flavours. This is destined to become highly placed in your arsenal of favourite cake recipes! If you can't get unwaxed fruit, simply wash the fruit you have in soapy warm water, scrubbing it gently with a brush. Dry well before using.
ingredients:
- 50g slightly stale white breadcrumbs (1 slice)
- 200g caster sugar (1 cup minus 1 tsp.)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 100g ground almonds (1 cup plus 3 TBS)
- 200ml sunflower oil (7 fluid ounces)
- 4 large free range eggs
- the finely grated zest of 1 large unwaxed orange
- the finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
- Whipped cream or Greek Yogurt to serve
For the citrus syrup:
- the juice of 1 large orange
- the juice of 1 lemon
- 75g caster sugar (1/3 cup, slightly heaped)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 whole cloves
instructions:
How to cook Moroccan Orange Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter and flour an 8 inch round cake tin. Line the bottom with baking paper. (I used a spring form pan.)
- Rub the fruit zests into the sugar with your fingertips until quite fragrant. Stir together with the bread crumbs, ground almonds and sifted baking powder. Whisk the oil together with the eggs. Add all at once to the dry mixture, mixing well together. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
- While the cake is baking make the citrus syrup. Put all of the ingredients into a small saucepan. Bring gently to the boil, stirring constantly. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for about 3 minutes at which time the sugar should be completely dissolved and a thickish syrup formed. Discard the cinnamon stick and the whole cloves.
- Poke holes all over the surface of the cake with a toothpick or skewer. Spoon the hot syrup over the cake allowing it to soak in. Spoon any excess syrup back over the cake every now and then until it is all soaked in.
- Cut into wedges to serve along with some whipped cream or Greek yogurt.
She suggest serving it with either whipped cream or thick Greek yogurt.
We had it with yogurt. I had intention only of having one small taste but before I knew it . . .
This is what was staring me in the face. The devil made me do it! OH MY GOODNESS!
Some days are just busy. The last few days this week I have been busier then a "Hen hauling wood" as my old friend Leona would say! Writing articles, doing laundry, appointments, etc. They say there is no rest for the wicked! I must have been rather naughty lately I guess!
Just because you are busy and don't have a lot of time that doesn't mean you can't get something tasty on the supper table! These Maple Baked Beans on Toast are the perfect light supper entree for when you have a bit more on your plate to handle than normal.
With a little bit of pre-prep, they basically cook themselves! Its amazing what you can do with a few store cupboard ingredients!
This tasty recipe uses things I generally have in my larder at all times . . . tinned cannellini beans, a good bottled tomato passata . . .
Maple syrup, a good balsamic vinegar. Today I used a Maple Balsamic from ilGusto, but you could us any good Balsamic vinegar. Since I also use pure Maple syrup I felt the Maple Balsamic would add a nice touch and more maple flavour. It did.
I used a bottle of Ciro Passata Rustica today . . . it is lovely and thick and has a nice tomato flavour. If you can't get that you could use ordinary passata or even tomato sauce. I don't think that it will taste as rich and luxurious however as this does . . .
You will still end up with a terrifically tasty dish however!
I started by softening some thinly sliced shallots in a bit of light olive oil along with some crushed garlic.
Try not to let them brown . . . you just want them softened . . .
After that you just stir in the passata, the vinegar and maple syrup. Let that cook for a few minutes and then stir in the beans. If you think its too thick, you can add a bit of boiling water, but you shouldn't need much.
Bring to the boil, cover and then pop into a warm oven where they can braise away for a time until you are ready to serve . . .
At that time the flavours will have melded beautifully and you will have a dish fit for a king! All you need is some buttered toast to ladle it onto!
These always go down a real treat. Vegetarian. Delicious. High fibre, low in fat. You can't lose!
Maple Baked Beans on Toast
Yield: 3 - 4
These are delicious. If you can think of it, do try to make them the day before. The flavours get even better overnight, but they are still really delicious on the day!
ingredients:
- 3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 fat clove garlic, peeled and crushed
- a splash of olive oil to fry
- 200g tomato passata (3/4 cup, sieved tomatoes)
- 200g tin of Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (14 ounce tin)
- 1 TBS Maple Syrup
- 2 TBS Maple Balsamic vinegar
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- hot buttered toast to serve
instructions:
How to cook Maple Baked Beans on Toast
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
- Heat the oil in a medium oven-proof casserole dish over low heat. Add the shallots and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, without browning, until softened. Add the tomato passata, vinegar, and maple syrup. If you think it is too thick, you can add a couple TBS of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the drained beans. Cover and place into the preheated oven.
- Bake for 70 to 80 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you think they are getting dry, you can add a bit of water.
- At this point you can either transfer to a container, cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight, reheating gently over low heat when you wish to serve.
- Make some toast, butter it and ladle the hot beans on top.
NOTES:
If you can't get Maple Balsamic, you can use ordinary balsamic vinegar. Also if you are not fond of maple you can use honey or soft dark brown sugar in an equivalent amount.
I used a good whole wheat bread today as that is what I had, but a rustic sour dough also goes very well. It also goes without saying that the leftovers taste even better when gently reheated a day afterwards. In fact you could make them ahead and then just reheat when you are ready to eat. Happy days!
Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes several years ago, I have been on the constant search since then for ways to enjoy the baked goods and treats that I have enjoyed throughout my lifetime. Especially during the holidays and on special occasions. Its no fun being the only person in the room that can't enjoy a special piece of cake or a delicious cookie.
I have always felt in my heart that a house without a cake or some other treat to munch on is a home that is sadly lacking in one of life's great pleasures.
Today I am happy to share this fabulous Infographic from Quill filled with information on baking swaps you can make to create healthier homemade treats. I've already learnt a lot from it
Just last week I baked these delicious Spiced Pear Pinch Muffins where I was able to put some of these fabulous suggestions into practice. Instead of fat and refined sugars, I used pureed pears, banana and a tiny bit of maple syrup and they were wonderfully delicious! For me it is a bit like winning the lottery when I CAN have my cake and eat it too! It goes without saying that all sweet treats, healthier swaps or not should remain as only occasional additions to our diet, but it is nice to now that when we do choose to indulge we can do so in a much healthier way!
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