Showing posts with label chai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chai. Show all posts

Friday, October 5, 2012

Chai Spiced Banana Breakfast Cake


This week has been a whirlwind. Big Blue Eyes got sick - Witty Husband and I working hard to make her feel better and not get sick ourselves, and we're preparing for a memorial this weekend. To top it all off, I was finishing a slideshow for the memorial and my computer got sick... Yeah, that's right. A virus. Then I messed up lunch and dinner... Originally this post was about quinoa but I screwed that up. I mean, come on, who messes up quinoa? I do, apparently.... oh and I broke my favorite photographing dish this week. Boo.

Finally I dropped everything and I called my momma. (Because we all need a shoulder to cry on once in a while).

"Hi Mom. How are you?" Trying not to whimper.

Her reply, "Good. How are you?"

Then I just broke down, "I had an awful day. I need a pep talk."

...And thank the Lord for my Mom! It feels so good to be able to call her whenever and have her listen, sympathize, and then remind and redirect. And that's exactly what I needed. I could have done it myself but sometimes it helps to vent all that bad energy out to someone who can help redirect us.

Some advice from my mom to you all - "You're brilliant!"

You're Brilliant! All of you... so beautifully and brilliantly made by your Creator.

Thank the Lord that He created Mommas! Because that was brilliant.

So after a full day of hair-pulling and heart-clenching, my computer is fine. No files were damaged. Thankfully I caught it early otherwise this blog might be going post-less for a long, long time.

Finally for all those waiting, here is the recipe... Thank the Lord again for Moms and this delicious cake after an awful, terrible, horrible no-good day.

Big Blue Eyes and I ate half of this last night then danced all over. It was a wonderful, brilliant, and beautiful end to our otherwise terrible day.

This Chai Spiced Banana Breakfast Cake is dense - just the way I like banana bread. It is completely sweetened with bananas and is wonderful with a spread of coconut oil or butter of your choice. It's gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, sugar-free, and soy-free along with being vegan!

A reader asked me recently about baking without eggs. I love farm fresh eggs but I understand that some people choose not to eat them and some actually can't. In this delicious breakfast cake, we use bananas and flaxseeds so there is no need for eggs. I found a great chart on substitutes for egg-less baking on pinterest if you are interested in baking more without eggs. We also have a few other egg-less baked good recipes here on Sweet Roots, inluding Pecan Gingersnaps and Mini Spiced Pumpkin Whoopies.

And this cake ends our Chai Journey Week. If you missed out, check out Chai Tea Oatmeal and Pumpkin Cookies with Chai Glaze from Dandelions on the Wall and Chai Spiced Espresso from Alisa's Garden. Here on Sweet Roots, we posted chai spiced elderberry cobbler and pumpkin chai lattes.

For the spices, you can choose to add whichever you like. I included most of the spices from my chai concentrate. Cardamom is super strong so I use just a pinch. Aside from the spices, this cake is only seven ingredients! And it's super easy to make.

I hope this brightens your day as much as it did mine!

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Chai Spiced Breakfast Cake
3 ripe bananas
1/4 c boiling water
3 Tb ground flaxseeds

1/4 cup millet flour
3/4 cup almond meal
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground clove
1/4 tsp freshly ground clove
1/4 tsp ginger
Pinch of Cardamom

1. Grind flaxseeds. Combine with boiling water, whisking to prevent clumps.
2. Mash bananas and combine with flaxseeds.
3. Combine dry ingredients in seperate bowl. Then combine wet into the dry ingredients.
4. Bake in a 350 preheated oven in a greased 8" cake pan for 40 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes then invert onto a plate and serve.

Additional Add-Ins
Chocolate Chips or chopped chocolate
Craisins
Chopped Nuts or Dates

Would be great with Creamy Vanilla Date Frosting!



Monday, October 1, 2012

Pumpkin Chai Latte

This week starts off with our Chai Week! We also have Christina from Dandelions on the Wall and Alisa from Alisa's Garden contributing with some very fun and unique recipes on their blogs this week.

When the air is turning crisp and the leaves are falling, there is just nothing better than a hot cup of chai to guzzle. I love the smell of the spices as they infuse the tea over the stove. Mixed with pumpkin, it's just one beautiful cup of Fall! Best enjoyed in a cozy sweater and with a book.

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Besides being absolutely delicious, Chai is also a multi-tasker! The Ginger helps to increase circulation and aid in digestion (great for nausea) as well as being detoxifying. Cloves can help relieve stomach or tooth pain and strengthen the immune system, killing intestinal parasites. Cardamom helps relieve gas and can be soothing for bronchial problems. Black Peppercorns has antibacterial properties. Cinnamon also aids digestion when stagnant and can be great for indigestion and cramping (Nursing Mothers be careful of cinnamon as it can be the culprit for acid reflux in little ones). It is also can help fight fungal, bacterial, and parasitic infections (originally posted on my simple chai recipe).

I already have a simple chai recipe here on the blog which you might have seen mentioned in the Iced Coconut Chai Recipe (are you getting how much I like chai?). But for today's recipe I added a couple more spices and made the concentrate a more robust, detailed below.

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Pumpkin Chai Latte
1/4 part pumpkin puree
1 part chai concentrate*
1 part milk of choice
Sweetener of Choice (I used a little maple syrup = mmmm)

1. Warm chai concentrate, pumpkin puree and sweetener in a small saucepot (or microwave).
2. Seperately, warm the milk. Whisking for foam. (If you don't care for foam, you can heat the two together).
3. Pour the chai tea into the cup then the foamy milk. Sip. Enjoy!

Another option to enjoy this is to freeze the chai concentrate and blend it with the milk and pumpkin for a pumpkin chai frappe.


Chai Concentrate
3 Tb cardamom
3 Tb clove
1 Tb red peppercorns
A few square inches of ginger
1 TB allspice
3 anise stars
6 cups water
3 Tb Black Tea

1. Put all the ingredients except for the black tea in a medium saucepot. Boil then simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and add black tea. Cover for 5-10 minutes (depending on desired strength).
3. Strain and store in fridge.

Meanwhile, you can check out Christina's delicious-sounding, gluten, soy and dairy-free chai-spiced scones on her blog.

If you don't have time to make your own pumpkin puree, you can subscribe and save organic pumpkin on Vitacost (here's $10 off your first order) or 12 pack Farmers Market Organic Pumpkin from Amazon.
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