kolač od badema i zobi s višnjama

almond and oatmeal cake with sour cherries

what/
1 cup ground almonds
1 cup finely ground oatmeal
2 tbsp psyllium husks
2 tbsp almond butter
1/3 cup coconut blossom sugar
1 pinch bicarbonate soda
1 cup water
2/3 cup sour cherries

how/
Put water, psyllium and almond butter in a blender and blend to combine. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl. Pour the liquid mixture inside and mix well. Transfer the batter into a cake mould and bake on 175 °C for around 45 minutes. It can take even longer for a bigger mould, but I recommend a smaller one because it will bake more evenly. Bon appétit!

kocke sa želeom od naranče

što/

1 šalica badema

1 šalica suhih marelica

sok 1/2 manje naranče

2 prstohvata naribane kore naranče

2 šalice cijeđenog soka naranče

3/4 šalice vode

1/3 šalice narezanih traka agara (ili jedna jušna žlica pahuljica agara ili čajna žličica agara u prahu)

1/2 šalice punomasnog kokosovog mlijeka

1/3 šalice kakaove mase

2 jušne žlice javorovog sirupa

kako/

Stavite bademe, marelice, sok pola naranče i naribanu narančinu koru u multipraktik ili sjeckalicu i obradite da se sjedini u kompaktnu masu. Utisnite smjesu u kalup. Pomiješajte vodu i agar i stavite na vatru; ostavite da lagano ključa dok se sav agar ne otopi u vodi. Za to vrijeme zagrijte sok od naranče skoro do vrenja. Kada se agar otopio, umiješajte vodu s agarom u sok naranče i izlijte smjesu u kalup preko prvog sloja. Ostavite u hladnjaku dok se ne stisne (oko 15-30 minuta). Rastalite kakaovu masu na pari, dodajte kokosovo mlijeko i javorov sirup i dobro izmiješajte da se poveže. Razmažite čokoladnu smjesu preko sloja od naranče i ostavite kolač još 30-60 minuta u hladnjaku da se stisne i ohladi.

[ENG]

orange jelly slices

what/

1 cup almonds

1 cup dried apricots

juice of 1/2 smaller orange

2 pinches grated orange peel

2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup agar strips cut in smaller pieces (equals about 1 tbsp agar flakes or 1 tsp agar powder)

1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk

1/3 cup cacao mass

2 tbsp maple syrup

how/

Put almonds, apricots, orange zest and juice in a food processor and process until it combines into a compact mass. Press the mixture into a cake mould. Mix agar and water and put it on the stove; let it simmer until all the agar is dissolved. In the meantime, heat the orange juice until it almost boils. Pour the agar water into the saucepan containing hot orange juice and stir well to combine. Pour the mixture into the mould over the first layer and leave it in the fridge to thicken (around 15-30 minutes). Melt cacao mass over a double boiler, add coconut milk and maple syrup and mix well to combine. Spread this mixture over thickened orange jelly layer and leave the cake in the fridge for 30-60 minutes to thicken and cool down.

Bon appetit!

crème caramel ili nešto kao veganska rožata

Veganska rožata, molim? Ne, ne želim pokušavati podvaliti desert bez jaja pod imenom deserta kojemu su jaja glavni sastojak, znam da su mnogi osjetljivi na to... Čak mi nije niti namjera bila pokušati veganizirati rožatu, nego napraviti kremasto-pudingastu biljojednu imitaciju crème caramel (to možda i nije neka izlika jer su ta dva deserta jako slična). Ali kada sam probala što sam zamutila, prva asocijacija mi je bila - domaća rožata. Savršena tekstura, savršen okus, ženit ću samu sebe, pomislila sam. Šta je najbolje, ne mogu reći da sam ikad bila veliki ljubitelj rožate, crème brûléea ili crème caramela. Fino je to uvijek bilo (svih nekoliko puta što sam probala), ali sama ideja da je to puding od jaja i vrhnja mi nije bila baš nešto. Možda sam trebala odrasti, a možda samo smisliti vegansku verziju. Ovo drugo mi je skroz dobro sjelo... sličan okus, dupli užitak. I da ne zadržim ovo genijalno otkriće samo za sebe, evo recepta:

što/
1 šalica punomasnog kokosovog mlijeka
1 jušna žlica tapioka škroba
1/3 šalice kokosovog šećera
1-3 jušne žlice agavinog sirupa (opcija, ako volite slađe)
nekoliko kapi ekstrakta vanilije
1/2 šalice vode
2 jušne žlice narezanih traka agara*
+ za tekuću karamelu
1/3 šalice punomasnog kokosovog mlijeka
3 jušne žlice kokosovog šećera

*ako koristite pahuljice agara ili agar u prahu, količina će biti puno manja. Budući da su ovo bile odokativne i poluimprovizirane količine i da po internetima ima jako malo informacija o korištenju agara u trakama, idući put ću ga izvagati, a do tada vam možda posluži informacija da se obično na litru tekućine (ovdje računamo ukupni volumen vode i kokosovog mlijeka) stavlja 10-15 grama agara. Ja bih išla s manje od 10 po litri, jer ovdje ne želimo dobiti čvrsti žele, nego samo učiniti kremu kompaktnijom i lagano pudingastom.

kako/
U jedan lončić ulijte 1/2 čaše vode i stavite 2 žlice narezanih traka agara. Stavite kuhati na laganu vatru uz povremeno miješanje, dok se sav agar ne otopi. U isto vrijeme u drugom lončiću dobro pomiješajte šalicu kokosovog mlijeka, tapioku, kokosov šećer, agavin sirup i vaniliju, stavite na laganu vatru i uz stalno miješanje kuhajte nekoliko minuta, odnosno dok se lagano ne zgusne. Maknite oba lončića s vatre, ulijte vodu s agarom u smjesu s kokosovim mlijekom i dobro pomiješajte. Ulijte smjesu u kalupe ili zdjelice i stavite u hladnjak da se zgusne i ohladi (oko sat vremena). Za to vrijeme napravite sirup od karamele - pomiješajte 3 žlice kokosovog šećera s 1/3 šalice kokosovog mlijeka i kuhajte na laganoj vatri da se sjedini i malo zgusne. Hlađenjem će se karamela dodatno zgusnuti zbog udjela kokosovog ulja u kokosovom mlijeku, tako da ne trebate čekati da se potpuno reducira; nekoliko minuta uz miješanje će biti dovoljno. Ohlađene deserte izvadite iz kalupa (ili jednostavno ostavite u zdjelicama) i prelijte karamelom. I to je to, guštajte!

☆

[ENG]

vegan caramel custard

There is a traditional Croatian dessert from Dubrovnik region, called rožata, that is very similar to crème caramel. Long story short, without an intention to create a plant-based treat and call it by the name of a cake of which main ingredients are eggs and cream, I did create a dessert that was rediculously similar in taste and texture to the...ahem... "real" thing.. so I present you - a plant-based caramel custard. No eggs, no milk, no cream, but still so freakin custardy... just amazing!

what/
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
1 tbsp tapioca starch
1/3 cup coconut sugar
2-3 tbsp agave nectar (optional, if you like it sweeter)
a few drops vanilla extract
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp agar stripes cut in smaller pieces*
+ for the caramel
1/3 cup full fat coconut milk
3 tbsp coconut sugar

*keep in mind that if you use agar flakes or powder, you will need much less; next time I make it, I will weigh it to have a more precise info. Until then, you could use a tip that it's most common to use 10-15 grams of agar to thicken 1 l of liquid (here you count coconut milk and water). Here i would use less that 10 g per liter because you don't need to get a firm jelly, but rather thicken the cream just a bit and get a (softer) pudding-like consistency.

how/
In one saucepan, mix agar and 1/2 cup of water, put on a low heat and simmer until all agar dissolves. At the same time, mix 1 cup coconut milk, 1/3 cup coconut sugar, agave and tapioca to combine well, and put it on the stove. Simmer over low heat for a few minutes, until it thickens a bit from tapioca absorbing water. Remove both saucepans from the heat, pour the agar water into thickened coconut milk mixture and mix to combine. Pour the mixture into moulds or bowls and let it thicken and cool down in the fridge (for about an hour). In the meantime, cook the caramel - mix coconut milk and coconut sugar in a saucepan and cook on low heat for a few minutes while constantly stirring. It will thicken more as it cools down, as coconut oil from coconut milk solidifies below room temperature. Take the thickened desserts out of the moulds and pour caramel over them. Bon appétit!

poširane kruške

Nedavno sam se sjetila maminih kuhanih  krušaka prelivenih čokoladom koje nam je nekad znala raditi, pa su mi malo sline zacurile na samu misao o slatkoj, mekanoj kruški. Ima nešto u toj kruški, divna je na sve načine, sirova, sušena, pečena, kuhana, u kremi... Da više prestanem sanjariti o toj kruški, morala sam osmisliti neku svoju izvedenicu recepta koja će manje-više zadovoljiti moje sadašnje kriterije vezane uz cjelovitost hrane (i deserti su hrana:).

Prva tura krušaka koje sam bila kupila za poširanje nije preživjela niti razradu recepta u glavi jer smo ih prebrzo sve pojeli sirove (takve su ipak najbolje), ali s drugom smo imali više strpljenja i uspjela je zaživjeti stvarno jako ukusna zdravija verzija krušaka poširanih u bijelom vinu i začinima.

Iako se neka klasičnija verzija ovog deserta radi s puno šećera, koji se s vodom od kuhanja krušaka može ukuhati u slatki sirup, meni je uvijek bila draža manje slatka verzija u kojoj je voda od kuhanja više nalik blagom kompotu (tako ih je i mama kuhala). Ovaj blog je cijeli posvećen zdravijoj, cjelovitoj prehrani i načinu života, pa normalno da niti poširane kruške, iako u njih jednostavno moraš staviti nešto slatko, neće biti iznimka. Mislim da mi je kokosov šećer najdraži od svih "alternativnih" zaslađivača jer je cjelovit, ima ponešto mikronutrijenata u njemu i ima fini, karamelasti okus. Pa... ovako se to zdravije radi!

što/
5 krušaka srednje veličine (odaberite sortu koja nije jako mekana kada je zrela)
1 šalica slatkog do polusuhog bijelog vina
1 i 1/2 šalice vode
1/2 šalice kokosovog šećera
3 štapića cejlonskog cimeta
5 plodova zvjezdastog anisa
1 jušna žlica cijelih klinčića
komad svježeg đumbira
sok 1 limete
sok 1/2 naranče
1/2 narezane naranče s korom

kako/
Ogulite kruške, ali ostavite peteljku na njima. Ako želite, možete odrezati tanki sloj s donje strane kruške kako biste zaravnali dno; tako će biti stabilnije kod serviranja. Stavite sve sastojke osim krušaka u lonac (odaberite manji lonac, tako da kruške budu u potpunosti prekrivene tekućinom kada ih stavite kuhati). Stavite na vatru i miješajte kako bi se sav kokosov šećer otopio. Kada tekućina zavre, smanjite vatru i stavite kruške u lonac. Prekrijte ih tanjurom kako bi ostale cijelim volumenom pod vodom. Kuhajte ih oko 20 minuta, odnosno dok ne omekšaju. Maknite s vatre i ostavite da se kruške potpuno ohlade u tekućini. Tako u tekućini mogu stajati oko tjedan dana u hladnjaku, ali vjerujem da ćete ih puno prije pojesti. Možete ih poslužiti u zdjelicama s tekućinom od kuhanja, ili bez tekućine, prelivene čokoladom. Tekućinu nemojte bacati, možete ju upotrijebiti u nekom drugom receptu. Meni je bila super uz kruške, pa sam ju tako pojela. Za koju god kombinaciju se odlučili, sigurna sam da ćete uživati. Dobar tek!

[ENG]

pears poached in white wine with orange and spices

Last week I couldn't stop thinking about poached pears with chocolate that my mom used to make in the past. I love pears in all combinations - raw (my favourites of course, just like all fruits), dried, baked, poached... They are so flavourful, tender and delicious.

The first pears that I had bought for poaching ended up being eaten before I even calculated a recipe in my head (we just couldn't resist them). Luckily, we decided to be more patient with next round, and the dessert turned out really delicious.

I know that classic poached pear recipes include a lot of sugar, which is often useful to turn the delicious cooking liquid into thick, sweet syrup. I always liked a much milder version, like my mum used to make them, with less sugar and more like a pear compote. Since this blog is dedicated to healthier, nourishing food and wholesome life, I wanted my poached pears fit in this story (that also happens to be how I live). To sweeten this dessert, I used only coconut blossom sugar, in my opinion one of the most wholesome "alternative" sweeteners. It contains some micronutrients, it is not very sweet or refined, and tastes like caramel. One of my favourites for sure! So, here is how I poaches the pears the healthier way...

what/
5 middle-sized pears (choose a variery that is not very soft when ripe)
1 cup sweet to semi-dry white wine
1 + 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup coconut blossom sugar
3 ceylon cinnamon sticks
5 star anise fruits
1 tbsp cloves
a piece of fresh ginger
juice of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 orange
1/2 orange with skin, sliced

how/
Peel the pears, but leave their stalks. You can cut their bottom parts just a little bit to flatten them. Put all the ingredients except the pears into a saucepan (choose a smaller saucepan in which pears will be submerged in liquid when you add them). Put it on the heat and let the coconut sugar dissolve. Bring to a boil, put the pears inside and lower the heat. Cover the pears with a small plate so they stay completely submerged and cook through evenly. Let it simmer for 20 minites, or until the pears soften. Let the pears cool down completely while they are still in liquid. You can keep them like this in the fridge for a week or longer, but I'm sure that won't be necessary because they are too delicious not to be eaten much sooner. You can serve the pears in bowls along with cooking liquid, or take them out of the liquid and serve them with chocolate dip. Anyhow, don't discard the delicious liquid, you can use it in some other recipe. This time I ate it all with the pears and loved it like that.. Make up your own combination and enjoy this delicious treat ☆ . Bon appétit!

chia doručak feat. first in the raw

Četvrti u seriji postova o cjelovitom i zasitnom biljojednom doručku bit će još slađi i zanimljiviji jer je nastao u suradnji s hrvatskim brendom First in the Raw! Ako još niste probali njihove slasne voćno-orašaste sirove energetske pločice, toplo preporučam jer su odlične, a možete ih iskoristiti i u ovom receptu.

Možda sam onima koji me dulje prate već dosadna s tim namakanjem sjemenki i žitarica, ali ne mogu dovoljno naglasiti koliko je važno i kolika je razlika između, recimo, suhih zobenih pahuljica i onih koje su se namakale preko noći. Zdravi doručak je postao skoro klišej i puno ljudi ujutro  žvače suhe müsle u mlijeku ili jogurtu, ali ljudsko tijelo ih na taj način ne može baš iskoristiti. U redu je ponekad, ali usrećite svoju probavu i nemojte jesti suhe žitarice svaki dan. Namakanjem one postaju puno lakše probavljive i nutrijenti iz njih postaju puno dostupniji ljudskom tijelu, pa onda stvarno i možemo govoriti o zdravom doručku.

Uz zobene pahuljice, ovaj put sam odabrala i chia sjemenke s višnjama. Prošlogodišnjim višnjama iz zamrzivača pokušavam prizvati ljeto u ovo predproljetno doba kada nema puno sezonskog voća... Ljeto na tanjuru je bilo super, a First in the Raw pločica od višnje ne samo da me osvojila okusom, nego je i savršeno upotpunila ovaj obrok.

Da ovaj doručak ne bi bio samo ukusan, nego i praktičan, možete poduplati količine svih sastojaka i napraviti si dovoljno za više dana, spremiti u hladnjak i ujutro izvaditi koliko vam treba za doručak, ili spremiti u staklenku i ponijeti na posao ili na predavanja.

što/
(za 3-4 obroka)
1/4 šalice chia sjemenki
1 šalica rižinog mlijeka
1/3 šalice višanja
1 šaka indijskih oraščića
3-4 svježe medjool datulje
1 šalica sitnih zobenih pahuljica
1 + 1/4 šalice rižinog mlijeka
1 jabuka
2-3 jušne žlice javorovog sirupa
2 First in the Raw "Very Sour Cherry" pločice

kako/
Izblendajte višnje, indijske oraščiće, datulje i jednu šalicu rižinog mlijeka u glatku smjesu. Dodajte chia sjemenke i ostavite ih 30-60 minuta da nabubre uz povremeno miješanje.
Pomiješajte zobene pahuljice s ostatkom rižinog mlijeka, dodajte javorov sirup i naribajte jednu jabuku pa sve skupa dobro izmiješajte. Ostavite 30-60 minuta na sobnoj temperaturi.
Ostavite sve skupa da odstoji oko 8 sati u hladnjaku, kako bi zob upila što više vode i postala lakše probavljiva, a nutrijenti iz nje iskoristiviji našem tijelu. Nakon što odstoje,  servirajte chia puding i zobenu kašu u zdjelice i dodajte narezane First in the Raw pločice od višnje ("Very Sour Cherry") kako biste dodatno obogatili okus i nutritivnu vrijednost obroka.
Dobar tek!

čokoladni muffini od zobenih pahuljica

oatmeal brownie cupcakes

what/
1 + 1/2 cup finely ground oatmeal
1/3 cup cacao powder
1/4 cup chopped cacao mass (optional)
1 pinch bicarbonate soda
1/2 cup coconut blossom sugar
1/5 cup chia seeds
1 cup water
1/3 cup date syrup (or fresh dates soaked in water)

how/
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Blend chia, water and date syrup until smooth. Pour the mixture into the bowl with dry ingredients, mix everything with a spoon and let it sit for 10 minutes. Put the batter into cupcake moulds and bake on 180 °C for 15 minutes.

ocat od jabuke i dunje sa šumskim voćem

/apple, quince and berries vinegar/

After a few years (oh my oh my) of promising to share the recipe for home-made apple cider vinegar, i will finally try and write it down for you. I think one of the reasons I waited this long is the fact that I do it different way evert year, and to be honest, I don't have a special recipe. I just let the apples ferment... So this won't be a recipe in classical sense, but more of a descriptive how-to.

There is one old proven way to make apple cider vinegar, the way one Croatian Grandma, one of my favourite grandmas, used to do it and it always resulted in amazing vinegar. Grandma had many apple trees in her garden, that gave plenty of fruits each year. She would use up lots of them to make vinegar - she would just slice them very thin, fill huge glass jars almost to the top with sliced apples, covered them and let them sit for a few months. She would then strain the vinegar and that was it, that easy.

Grandma's vinegar was great, but as a girl who likes to experiment a lot, I could not stick to that one simple recipe, even to try it once - instead I figured other interesting ways to make fermented apple goodness. Every year was something else, sometimes I was satisfied, sometimes not so much because the vinegar would turn out too mild, not sour enough. Last year's project was something cool and worth mentioning, my favourite so far: kefir-enhanced vinegar made out of home-grown apples, quinces and berries. It turned out really delicious (can you also agree that vinegar can be delicious??), almost perfect. I use it to season salads, but I also drink it occasionally, diluted with water (1:4 or so) to provide my body with some probiotics.

I can't really recall the exact amounts of everything to write a proper recipe, but here is more or less how it went: i filled a 5 liter glass jar half way with apples, then with quinces to 3/4 of the volume, and added 2 handfuls of frozen/defrosted mixed berries. Then I added 5 tablespoons of raw cane sugar, 1/2 cup of fully fermented water kefir, 5 tablespoons of last year's wine vinegar (you can use any non-pasteurised naturally fermented vinegar, it will accelerate the fermentation process because it already has the fermenting bacteria in it) and filled the jar with water, just a bit over the level of the fruits. I put a smaller jar to keep the fruits under water to prevent them form catching mould, covered the big jar with a lid and waited for nature to do its magic. After 3 months (it can take more or less than that, depending on temperature, amount of sugar in fruits and other factors), the liquid in the jar had turned into really sour and perfectly tasty fruit vinegar. There was a biofilm on top of vinegar and fruits mixture, which was formed by bacteria. You can use that film to accelerate fermentation in your next batch of vinegar. When I strained the vinegar, it was pretty translucent and lightly pink. And it really did taste amazing.

That's it, the magic of homemade vinegar. I encourage you to try your own ways - once you understand the basics about fermentation, you can play and see what gives you the best results.
Have fun and enjoy the fermenting!

chia puding s kokosom, bananom i jabukama

breakfast series, part 3 - coconut and banana chia pudding with spiced caramelised apples and bananas

{2-3 servings}

what/
1/3 cup chia seeds
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
2/3 cup rice milk
3-4 fresh medjool dates
2 bananas
1 apple
2 tbsp date syrup
1 pinch ceylon cinnamon
1 pinch ground nutmeg
3 tbsp homemade oat granola
3 tbsp coarsely chopped almonds

how/
Blend one banana and medjool dates with coconut and rice milk until smooth. Mix the chia seeds with this mixture and let them absorb water for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It might take the pudding even longer to thicken if the milk/banana mixture is cold. When it's properly thickened, transfer the chia pudding into jars or glasses and put it in the fridge for another 30 minutes (or longer). While waiting for chia seeds to do their magic, you can prepare the spiced apple and banana layer. Chop peeled apple and banana and sautee them in just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. Add date syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg and continue sauteeing on low heat until there is no more water left. Remove from the heat and let it cool down. Put the fruits into the jars with thickened chia pudding and add some granola and almonds on top. Put the puddings back in the fridge to cool down some more, or eat them immediately! Bon appétit 🌸

tortelini od pirovog brašna s punjenjem od ljubičastog batata

spelt flour tortellini with purple sweet potato filling

what/
1 cup spelt flour
1/3 cup water
1 tsp pink himalayan salt
3 small - medium sized purple sweet potatoes
1 onion
1 tbsp dried carrot, celery and parsley mix (or spices of choice)
1-2 tbsp tamari

how/
Mix the flour with salt and add hot, almost boiling water. Stir well with a spoon and continue kneading with your hands. Let the dough sit for 30 minutes, keep it covered to retain moisture; knead it again and let it sit for at least another 30 minutes, but the longer the better.

Cook the sweet potatoes in skin until they soften (around 10 minutes if they are thin). Remove the skin and crush them with a fork. Sautee the onions on a few drops of coconut oil, add dried vegetables or spices, sweet potatoes and tamari and mix to combine. Remove from the heat and let it cool down a bit. Roll out the dough and cut it into shapes that are easy to fill, for example circle or square.

Put filling on the dough pieces and close the dough; press well with yoir fingers to close the edges. You can save the tortellini for later, dry them a bit, freeze them or use them immediately - just put them im boiling water and cook until all of them float to the surface.

Bon appétit!

sladoled od banane i lješnjaka

što/
3 zamrznute banane (narezane na manje komade)
3 jušne žlice domaćeg maslaca od lješnjaka
5 svježih medjool datulja
1/2 šalice zobenog mlijeka

kako/
Sve sastojke stavite u sjeckalicu ili blender, i blendajte dok ne dobijete glatku smjesu.

banana and hazelnut nice cream

what/
3 frozen bananas (sliced)
3 tbsp homemade hazelnut butter
5 fresh medjool dates
1/2 cup oat milk

how/
Put everything in a food processor and process until smooth.
That easy, yes. :)
Bon appétit!