Chocolate Coated Muesli Slice

I did it!  I ran 12km, without stopping and in a surprisingly good time!  I completed my first and definately not last Run Geelong with over 11,000 other people on this gorgeous sunday morning.  It was then time for recovery food and what better way to do that than a friends 30th birthday in the park.  Good food, great people and a bit of relaxing in between chasing 1 and 3 year olds.  I took along a plate from my last post with a little twist, my Fruity Nutty Muesli Slice with a drizzle of dark chocolate. It's great on it's own but even better with a little treat on top (and look rather inviting too).



Chocolate drizzled fruity nutty muesli slice

So no new recipes today, I'm exhausted, just my tip on melting chocolate for decorating like this.  Simply place about 50g of your favourite chocolate in a zip lock bag and place in the microwave on 70% for about 2 minutes, taking it out and squeezing a little at about half way.  Then cut a very small snip off the bottom corner to turn your bag into a piping bag to drizzle the chocolate over your slice, biscuits or whatever takes your fancy - perhaps even icecream!
Too easy not to enjoy!

Fruity Nutty Muesli Slice

There’s only 3 days until Run Geelong a fundraiser for the kids ward of the Geelong Hospital and I think I need all the energy I can get.  I know I can run the 12km distance now so it’s just a matter of maintaining every bit of fitness I can, eating well and staying hydrated.  Time for some Fruity Nutty Muesli Slice!

I’ve made many versions of muesli bars before but these are my favourite by far.  These morish treats are seriously irresistible and trust me it’s very hard to stop at one.  They have no added sugar, are egg free, have healthy fats including Omega 3’s and are power packed with protein.  And what’s more is they’re nice and soft, a little chewy and great for kids who need energy boost to keep running around all day (and I mean ALL day!)

 

... thought some pictures of the kids at the beach while I was running was a better image than me running!

 

 

You could easily make them without a Thermomix but I find it simply the easiest way to chop the nuts, seeds and fruit nice and finely then gently mix it all together. And as with many of my recipes it’s a flexible and you can substitute your favourite fruit, nuts and seeds.  Actually the original idea came from StephBerg but has a little tweaking for plenty of flavour and extra nutrients.

 

So what are you waiting for?  A healthy treat you simply cannot say no to.



 Fruity Nutty Muesli Slice

2 tbls chia seeds
150g nuts (today I used 60g macadamias and 90g dry roasted almonds)
20g sunflower seeds
20g pumpkin seeds
1 tbls sesame seeds
30g coconut
200g oats
250g dried fruit (today I used  fresh dates, dried apricots, goji berries, and a few dried prunes
½ tsp cinnamon
250g liquid (today I used half apricot nectar and half water but other juices work well too)

Preheat oven to 180°
Add chia seeds to about 40ml water (eg half fill MC) stir then set aside to thicken while you prepare other ingredients
Add nuts to Thermomix bowl and chop for 7 seconds on speed 7
Add seeds and pulse twice on Turbo then set aside
Add dried fruit to bowl and chop for 7 seconds on speed 7
Add all other ingredients and mix on reverse for 30 seconds speed 3 or until combined
Spread into a lined (eg with Thermomat) 20 x 30cm baking dish and press down firmly ( I find a spatula works well)
Bake for 25 minutes then let cool before cutting into slices

Enjoy !

Scrumptious Slice – Naughty but Nice

Scrumptious Slice (Triple Chocolate, Almond and Caramel)

When father’s day was looming I asked veggie daddy what sort of cake or sweet treat he would prefer.  Now  he’s usually very predictable – apple cake.  In fact, any variation of apple cake.  But this time his face lit up like a child in a lolly shop and “that chocolately, caramely, nutty slice you made a while back”  was his reply.



Chunks of dark, milk and white chocolate...
 



And this was a good description as the recipe doesn’t really have a name apart from Scrumptious Slice.  It is based on a slice I had at a cafe whilst I was pregnant with my first born Summer.  I loved it so much that I went out of my way to go back some time later eagerly awaiting more of the same delight.  What started as disappointment when the cafe had none on display turned into satisfaction when the waitress said they had just made a batch and when out the back to cut me a fresh slice.  The things we do when we’re expecting...



 

Black and Green's Organic 85% dark chocolate

It’s kind of like an upside down triple choc caramel slice and in fact the base and caramel is based on a caramel slice recipe.  The difference and wow factor is that rather than top the caramel with a thin layer of chocolate, chunks of three types of chocolate and roasted almonds are scattered throughout the caramel.  The size of the chocolate and almond chunks can be to your liking but I find around 5mm works well.  I used Black and Green's Organic 85% dark chocolate and Lindt milk and white chocolates.  Simply amazing!

The golden base...

...covered in dark, milk and white chocolate and almonds...

 
Like a caramel slice, a little bit goes a long way and it’s a great treat to share around.  So whatever the occasion, just make it and enjoy!

...covered in caramel and baked until golden

Scrumptious Slice

Base

125g butter cubed
100g self raising flour
60g desiccated coconut
90g brown sugar 

Caramel

400g can condensed milk
2 tbls golden syrup
60g butter cubed

100g each of dark, milk and white chocolate roughly chopped
100g roasted almonds roughly chopped

 
Preheat oven to 180°
Place butter in Thermomix bowl and melt for 2 minutes 70° speed 3
Add flour, coconut and brown sugar and mix for 20-30 seconds at speed 4 scraping down if required
Press into a lined lamington pan (28 x 18cm) and bake at 180° for 15 minutes or until golden
Allow to cool slightly

To make caramel add condensed milk, golden syrup and butter to Thermomix bowl and cook for 5 minutes at 70° on speed 3
Scatter mixed chocolate and nuts over base then drizzle with caramel
Bake immediately for around 15 minutes or until then caramel starts to brown

Allow to cool somewhat if you can resist as the chocolate will be like molten lava and just doesn’t taste as great on a burnt tongue.
 

Enjoy!!

It's hard to resist cutting into it piping hot!

Lemon Curd and Raspberry Crumble Slice

Lets start with something sweet........ yet for a good cause....

Lemon Curd and Raspberry crumble slice

A wonderful friend hosted a fundraiser high tea on the weekend for Cuppa for HeartKids Australia.  As her inaugural event it was a relaxing, intimate morning tea with a gorgeous group of girls. We drank tea in our favourite tea cups, ate delicate finger sandwiches and savouries, and most of all enjoyed an abundance of sweet treats.

My favourite tea cup

In order to raise money cakes were made and books and brand labelled clothes were donated for selling.  I had so many cake ideas to choose from but decided to try my first Persian Love cake.  And wow!  But I will try to contain my excitement about this treat until I make it for my sister's birthday in a few weeks....

As a sweet treat to share at the high tea I decided upon a Lemon Curd and Raspberry Crumble Slice.  My parents have an amazing lemon tree that is filled with the biggest, juiciest lemons year round and I had recently been given a lemon slice recipe from another great friend (the one who also gave me great pleasure in introducing me to my ... thermomix). 

Now as you will get to know I simply cannot stick with a recipe completely so I gave it a few tweaks.  The original was from delicious magazine, sounded devine and I had been looking for an excuse to make it.  Rather than store bought lemon curd, I made my own quick and easy thermomix version with extra zest which I include the recipe for soon (amazing on vanilla ice cream says veggie dad).  I reduced the sugar in the recipe and with the help of my budding chef daughter, sprinkled with raspberries.

And here is the result...

  

Lemon Curd and Raspberry Crumble Slice

Base:

45g raw sugar       
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
160g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg yolk
2 tbls cold milk
approx 500g lemon curd (recipe to follow)

Crumble:

80g almonds (milled to almond meal)
50g plain flour
2 tbls raw sugar
50g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg yolk

Make the base...

Mill raw sugar to icing sugar (5 sec speed 9)
Add flour, baking powder and butter and mix until resembles fine crumbs (15 sec speed 6)
Add yolk and milk and use dough setting until mixture comes together (30 sec)
Turn out into a greased and lined lamington pan, firmly press down and chill for 30 mins.

Preheat oven to 180° then bake pastry for 30-35 mins until golden.  Cool in pan.

Meanwhile make the crumble...

Place almonds in Thermomix and mill (10 sec speed 7)
Add flour, sugar and butter and mix until resembles coarse crumbs (15 sec speed 6)
Add egg yolk and combine (5 sec speed 6)
Spread lemon curd over base, then scatter over crumble mixture.
Sprinkle raspberries over top.
Bake a further 25-30 minutes until golden.

Enjoy!