Rhubarb Almond Ginger Cake

Along with the Coconut Lavender Ice Cream recipe I shared with you guys, I also made this rhubarb almond ginger cake for my mom’s birthday. It is a simple recipe to make and is healthier than you might’ve thought.

This is a moist and fluffy cake that has a mixture of the tartness from the rhubarb, the sweetness from the coconut sugar and the healthy addition of ginger. Instead of sour cream, I used Greek yogurt with great success.

Also very easy to make and clean up since it’s a one-bowl recipe! I love one bowl recipes.

Banana Açai Smoothie Bowl

Açai has been everywhere on Instagram so when I saw a packet of açai puree at Trader Joe’s, I jumped at the chance to finally make my own açai bowl. First of all, for those of you who wonder what açai is, it’s a berry that comes from Brazil and it contains a lot of antioxidants. I’m not sure about the rest of the claims, such as preventing diseases and weight loss, but açai sure is delicious.

I always thought it was pronounced a-KAY, but it’s not! The real spelling is açai, with a c-cedilla, so that means the ‘c’ is said softly and the ‘i’ is not silent. The correct pronunciation is ah-sah-EE. You’ll thank me in the future when you’re faced with the prospect of ordering something with açai and don’t want to embarrass yourself pronouncing it.

I added 1/2 cup almond milk in my açai bowl, which was a bit too much because it doesn’t have the consistency of scoop-able ice cream, so I revised the recipe and cut the milk down to 1/3 cup to make it thicker.

• Servings: 2
• Time: 10 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

A smooth and delicious bowl of creamy goodness. Made with bananas, blueberries, açai and spinach, this is sure to subside the sweet cravings for the day.
Ingredients:
2 bananas, peeled
1 packet of Trader Joe’s açai puree, put under warm water for 5 seconds
1/4 cup blueberries
1/4 cup spinach, washed
1/3 cup almond milk

Instructions:

1. Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth and thick. It should have the consistency of ice cream. Divide smoothie into two bowls and enjoy right away with toppings such as berries, granola and coconut flakes.

Strawberry Rhubarb Upside Down Almond Cake

I made this cake to clear out the very ripe strawberries in our fridge and use up the last stalks of rhubarb. This is a gluten-free almond cake with strawberry and rhubarb and it is so delicious. It’s also healthy because it has fruit, coconut sugar (which is better for you than white sugar), and almond flour. I have to admit, the cake won’t win any beauty contests, but I have high regards for the taste.

This recipe comes from a combination of an almond cake recipe from Well Plated by Erin and my own mixture of fruit on the bottom. The most famous upside down cake is probably the colourful pineapple one, but I would choose this one over the pineapple one any day.

Raspberry, Lemon and Almond Milk Creams

I was flipping through a cookbook, La Tartine Gourmande by Béatrice Peltre, that I had lying around in my house, mainly out of guilt that I had never actually made anything in it yet. All the recipes looked so good but I was feeling lazy. And then I reached the dessert section.

If you’ve read some of my other blog posts, you might know that I have a thing for desserts. So naturally, my interest in the cookbook spiked up to like 200% and I wanted to make everything. Lemongrass and blackberry teacakes, dark and white chocolate mousse cake, rhubarb mousse fraisier, apple and pear verrines, spiced panna cotta… There were just so many yummy-looking recipes!

Blueberry Cranberry Almond Cake

First of all, let me try to convince you why this is the best healthy dessert as of right now.

Number 1: My brother, a very skeptic eater of healthy food, had not one, not two, but three slices of this cake last night!

Number 2: Coconut oil, honey, maple syrup, berries and almond flour all play key roles in making this cake soft and delicious.

Number 3: It’s cake!!! (okay, that was kind of obvious, but I consider it very important)

This dessert is a very rich cake, partly because of the eggs and the almond flour, and that’s what makes it so good.

Healthier Cranberry Scones

On Saturday, I was at the Cranberry fest for volunteering and it was pouring rain! It also didn’t help that my station was right next to the performances and one of them was crazy high-pitched bagpipes. For that performance, I was crouching behind my recycling bins, trying to put a barrier in between me and that noise. Yes, I did look a little crazy but the music was loud!

Thinking back, I probably looked like a madwoman who hovered around the recycling bins for the entire day and I’m pretty sure I inadvertently photobombed most of the performers’ pictures. Hey, it’s not my fault my station was placed right beside the stage!

But wait! There is a good ending to this story.

Crispy Sweet Apple Chips

You know those apple chips that you can buy at the store? The bag you buy when you feel really guilty looking at all those delicious salty chips in all different sizes and flavours? Well you can make it way cheaper at home by just using apples and a slicer/really good knife skills! We first made these a few years ago but it took so much time and sweat using a vintage mandolin slicer, as we had to move the apple back and forth across the blade to create thin slices of apples. Which was even harder to do in the summer heat. And the end result was tiny shriveled apple chips, that although tasted really good, disappeared too quickly for all that effort.

So we didn’t make them again until now. My mom decided, after buying a few expensive bags of apple chips, that it was time to attempt making apple chips again, but this time not with the vintage mandolin slicer.

Raspberry and Blueberry Chia Pops

Ahhhhh! I am so in love with this. The sweetness of berries and maple syrup with coconut milk and chia seeds all rolled into one popsicle. Then drizzled with melted dark chocolate and coconut flakes and more chia seeds. These pops are a definite yum in my book.

I found these cute little blue popsicles molds in the bottom of a containers drawer and they had little green bear sticks attached to them. I remember my mom using them every once in a while when we were younger and we would always jump up and down in excitement when she took them out of that drawer. My mom stopped making sweet things a while ago, giving us the task instead and we totally forgot about these popsicle molds.

Sesame Banana Ice Cream

Smooth, indulgent ice cream made with just… wait for it… 2 ingredients! And it is healthy and vegan because there is no milk, eggs or sugar! Frozen bananas and sesame powder=1 amazing cool refreshing dessert.

Make sure to have frozen bananas on hand, but other than that, there is no way to go wrong. You can’t overheat anything, beat it too long, under mix, etc. Just use a food processor and you’re good.

So I had a birthday party this weekend and it was super hot. Like 34 Celsius hot. Which is why I made this ice cream. Partly because of the heat and partly to celebrate the fact that I’m almost 15! (I might have also been influenced by my mom’s obsession with everything sesame, but let’s not delve too far into that).And guess what I got for my birthday? 

Lemon Blueberry Chia Seed Pudding

Bright flavours, bright colours, and a bright change to any breakfast, who wouldn’t want it? The blueberry and the tangy lemon taste really explodes in your mouth. So delicious. I’m not even kidding.

Although school is ending in just more than a month (which I’m very excited for!), I need to stay focused to keep my grade up and prepare for final exams. And this chia seed pudding, with lemon juice and blueberries, sure helps me wake up in the morning!