Heavenly Healthy Chocolate Beetroot Cake

Don't we all love a good slice of chocolate cake? However, I don't know about you guys but who has a guilty feeling after eating a rich, decedent piece of chocolate cake? I know many of you here are looking for a healthier version for chocolate cake so do check out this fantastic, moist recipe for beetroot chocolate cake :)

Cake Ingredients

• 85 grams Chocolate (Dark or Milk)
• 3 medium Eggs
• 200 grams brown sugar
• 200 ml Olive Oil
• 300 grams Cooked Beetroots 
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (or 1tbsp vanilla essence)
• 30 grams Cocoa Powder
• 200 grams Almond Meal (or plain flour)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Pre heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. To cook the beetroots, wash thoroughly and place in a pot full of cold water. Bring pot to the boil and cook the beets until soft when poked with a knife (approx 30 minutes though this depends on the size of the beets).
3. When cooked, run the beets under cold water in the sink and rub off the skins.
4.  Blend or mash the beetroots until slightly smooth with some ‘chunks’ remaining.
5. Melt the chocolate (85grams) over a double boiler (or place the chopped chocolate in a bowl, cover with cling film and microwave on low for approximately 1 minute until chocolate has just melted. When you remove from the microwave, stir quickly to melt any solid pieces).
6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and oil.
7. Slowly add the cooked beet puree , the melted chocolate and vanilla into the egg mixture.
8. Beat just until combined. Do not over mix.
9. Sift the cocoa. Add this and the almond meal (or plain flour), baking soda and salt to the beet batter.
10. Fold just until everything is combined. Don’t over mix the batter.
11.  Grease your baking pan and pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan.
12. Bake for approximately 40 minutes.
13. Cake is ready when a tooth pick or skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Baking time may vary depending on the pan and oven you are using.
14. Remove from oven and leave to cool in the pan.

Ingredients for the cream cheese icing (optional)

• 1 cup cream/reduced fat cream/light cream
• 1 cup of  Cream Cheese/ reduced fat cream cheese 
• ½ cup Icing Sugar or honey
• Plain chocolate bar for chocolate shaving decorations

Method:

1. Place the cream in a bowl and whip to soft peaks.
2. Add the icing sugar and cream cheese and beat until combined (Add more or less sugar until the desired taste).
3. You can also use variations of this icing, by adding 1/2 cup cocoa or half a cooked blended beetroot.
4. Using a potato peeler, hold the chocolate bar in one hand and use the peeler to shave off curls of chocolate. Sprinkle these on top of the cake to decorate.

Happy Baking and do share your experience of baking this delicious cake with me!

Top 10 Local Desserts to Beat the Heat in Singapore

As we all know, the sweltering heat in Singapore can make one really lethargic and restless. So here is a list of desserts to help you beat the heat which can be easily found islandwide around Singapore.

1. Bubble tea
Sealed in a plastic cup, the rich and milky ice cold tea, usually with little black tapioca "pearls" at the bottom brings a cool relieve to the heat in Singapore. The pearls add a chewy texture to the sweet liquid and bubble tea comes in many different flavours -- hazelnut milk, green apple green tea or ice blended blueberry, just to name a few. Milk-free versions are also available. The name "bubble" refers not to the pearls, but to the frothy foam created while shaking the drink in a cocktail mixer, although these days many of the teas are pre-mixed and come without foam.

Bubble tea shops can be easily found in most parts of Singapore and common chains include Sweet Talk, Each-A-Cup, Gong Cha and Koi Cafe.

2. Snow ice desserts

Snow ice is incredibly soft, fluffy snow topped with fruity flavors like mango, grape and berries, green tea, adzuki beans, or milk with chocolate and banana. Some shops allow you to customise your own mix. The snow is so soft and fluffy and is an awesome way to chase away the heat.

Try Summer Frost at 41 East Coast Road. Tel: +65 9744-1936

3. Coconut

Coconuts are refreshingly delicious and the best part it is also healthy and help to boost our immunity.There is nothing more rustic and tropical than drinking juice right out of a coconut. A chilled coconut is even better to combat the heat. When drinking the juice of a young coconut, scrape out the sweet and tender young coconut flesh to eat in between thirst-quenching sips.


4. Ice kachang

Ice kachang is a local delight with troves of sweetened beans, fruit and jellies deep inside the mountain of shaved ice splashed with luridly colored syrups, evaporated milk and gula melaka (palm sugar).
This is probably one of Singapore's most ubiquitous desserts and it really helps to cool you down.

5. Grass jelly

Grass jelly is also known as "chin-chow" or immortal grass. Large black slabs of firmly chewy jelly is made from boiling a particular herb related to the mint. It is either shredded to be added to drinks or cut into chunks and served with syrup as a dessert. Grass jelly is not only refreshing and it helps cool the body and aids digestion too.


6. Mango sago pomelo

One of the most popular Chinese cold desserts is mango sago pomelo with ice. Shaved ice is doused with thick, creamy mango puree, sweet mango cubes and pomelo sacs that lend an interesting tinge of tangy bitterness. Sago (tapioca) beads add filling bulk and a chewy texture. 

Mei Heong Yuen's version is extremely popular. Find the main outlet at 65-67 Temple Street. Tel: +65 6221 1156.

7. Frozen yogurt

Frozen yogurt or fro-yo are almost as rich, firm and creamy as ice cream. You get your calcium, protein and gut-friendly probiotics all in one package. Pile on toppings of your choice, be it fruits, nuts or granola and enjoy.
Try Red Mango which has no artificial coloring or preservatives.


8. Cold cheng teng

Cheng Teng is a sweet soup made with dried longans, barley, ginkgo nuts, lotus seeds and lily buds. All of these has beneficial value. Ingredients vary, so sometimes you'll find white fungus, agar or jelly strips, candied winter melon strips, red dates and dried persimmon slices as well. "Cheng teng" means clear soup, and is extremely popular, either hot or cold. Even the hot variety can help beat the heat and humidity, thanks to the brew’s cooling properties.

The one at Stall 41, East Coast Lagoon Food Village has a stellar combination of ingredients.

9. Mobile ice cream

This is one of the most nostalgic way of having an ice cream in Singapore. Peddlers go around on a tricycle with large umbrella and mobile freezers. They hand out homemade-style ice cream scoops in cups or cones. They also serve blocks of ice cream sandwiched between thin wafers or the strangely multi-colored bread.


10. Ice cream
Local ice cream parlors have sprung up everywhere, each concocting their own special flavors to entice increasingly sophisticated palates -- from salted caramel cheesecake to passion fruit with Japanese sake. There are also cold slab mix-ins at some joints.

Try out Isalnd Creamery or Udders for a taste of locally infused ice cream. Salted Caramel and Neli's are also not bad. Try out the ice cream on their own or have them with a nice, freshly made thick waffle.



Be on your way of tasting some of these sweet treats and combat the heat at the same time!

Fat Burning Food That also Keeps you Healthy

Do you know that some food that you eat can increase your metabolism, trigger hormones that release fat, and eliminate toxins that make it hard for your body to shed unwanted pounds? Just be cautioned: For these foods to work their miracles, they must be consumed as part of a clean diet. The eat clean diet is a lifestyle way of eating that allows you to eat more, weigh less, and become the healthiest you can be. Here is some food that helps to step up your metabolism helping you lose fats faster.

Avocados
The much-maligned fat in avocado is actually a triple-fat burner. Its monounsaturated fat plumps up cell membranes, enabling cells to interact better with fat-burning hormones. It also switches off the body's fat storage hormones. In addition, it boosts the metabolism by protecting the energy-producing part of cells from free radical damage.  
Easy meal ideas: Eat half an avocado with sea salt and tomatoes for an on-the-go breakfast, add avocado to a spinach and green bean salad, or make an avocado smoothie with coconut milk and cinnamon.




Brazil Nuts
These little fat-burners help to boost the metabolism by converting the thyroid hormone to its active form. They also bind up toxins that would otherwise store themselves in your fat cells and contribute to cellulite.
Easy meal ideas: Snack on Brazil nuts, drink Brazil nut milk with vanilla and cardamom, or sprinkle Brazil nuts on a mango, papaya, and citrus fruit salad.
 

Chia Seeds
Packed with omega-3 fats, fiber, and protein, these tiny seeds help suppress the appetite, fire up the metabolism, and turn on glucagon, one of the body's fat-burning hormones. The trick is to soak them for 15 minutes so they swell up to 10 times their size. Just as with oatmeal, the larger the seeds are, the quicker your stomach will release those hormones that let you know you're full—and hopefully satisfied.
Easy meal ideas: Make a chia seed pudding by soaking them in almond milk and then topping them with raw almonds, blend them with coconut milk and pineapple for a piña colada-inspired dessert, or eat a chia energy bar.

 
Wild Salmon
Strip abdominal fat by eating wild salmon on a regular basis. The omega-3s in wild salmon help improve insulin sensitivity, which shrinks fat from your waistline. Wild salmon also activates the thyroid hormone for a faster metabolism. Other types of fatty fishes such as mackerel and tuna are also great for burning fats as these fishes trigger fullness and fire up fat burning.
Easy meal ideas: Poach wild salmon with a watercress and pink grapefruit salad, eat smoked wild salmon with dill and mustard or grill the salmon.
 

Oysters
Oysters are your salvation when you're dieting and dining out. In addition to being low in calories they have the richest dietary source of zinc, which helps to decrease the appetite and PMS-induced cravings.
Easy meal idea: Eat a few oysters at the raw bar with a squeeze of lemon and a dash of Tabasco.
 

Coconut Oil
Not all dietary fats are created equal. Coconut oil is rich in medium-chained-triglycerides (MCTs), which your body preferentially uses for energy, leaving less opportunity for them to be stored as fat. Greater abdominal fat is loss when MCTs are consumed versus olive oil. That doesn't mean ditching your olive oil entirely (it has other beneficial properties). Instead, use coconut oil to cook with and olive oil for a salad dressing.
 

Cinnamon
This aromatic spice helps move glucose into the cells faster so our fat storage hormone, insulin, hangs around a lot less. But note: Eating a cinnamon bun doesn't count! You need to consume at least a quarter of a teaspoon of cinnamon to reap its fat-burning benefits.
Easy meal ideas: Add cinnamon to a vanilla smoothie, make an apple-spiced chia pudding, or toss cinnamon through warmed quinoa with raspberries and pistachios.
 

Coffee
Coffee stimulates adrenaline, which sends a message to your fat stores to burn fat. When you drink coffee 20 minutes before a workout, it also acts as an ergogenic aid enabling you to train more intensely. The key is to make it caffeinated and black, as milk reduces its fat-burning potential. However, drinking more than one cup of coffee a day can start to interfere with your body's ability to regulate insulin, its fat storage hormone.

·      Whole grains

Your body burns twice as many calories breaking down whole foods (especially those rich in fiber such as oatmeal and brown rice) than processed foods. Small doses of whole grains is all that is needed to prevent the body from storing fat.
 

Lean meats
Protein has a high thermogenic effect: You burn about 30% of the calories the food contains during digestion (so a 300-calorie chicken breast requires about 90 calories to break it down). Lean meat also builds muscles and strengthens your immune system.
 



Low-fat dairy products
Rich in calcium and vitamin D, these help preserve and build muscle mass—essential for maintaining a robust metabolism. Dairy products also build strong bones and fire up weight loss.
 
Green tea
Drinking four cups of green tea a day helped people shed more than six pounds in eight weeks as EGCG, a compound in the brew, temporarily speeds up metabolism after sipping green tea.
 
Lentils
One cup packs 35% of your daily iron needs which 20% of us are iron- deficient. When you lack a mineral, your metabolism slows because the body’s not getting what it needs to work efficiently.
 

 Hot peppers

Capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their kick, heats up your body, which makes you melt additional calories. You can get it by eating raw, cooked, dried, or powdered peppers.

Easy meal ideas: Add as much cayenne or hot sauce as possible to soups, eggs, and meats. 

Almonds and other nuts (with skins intact)

Build muscle, reduce cravings

 
Eggs

Build muscles and burn fats

 
Berries

Improve satiety and prevent cravings

 
Enova oil (soy and canola oil)

Promotes fullness and is not easily stored as fat

 
Peanut butter

Boosts testosterone (a good thing even in women), builds muscle, burns fat

 
Grapefruit

Lowers insulin, regulates blood sugar and metabolism. Be sure to eat the fleshy white membranes

Spinach and green vegetables

Fight free radicals and improve recovery for better muscle building

 
Beans and legumes

Build muscle, help burn fat and regulate digestion.

 

Whey

Builds muscle and burns fat 

Easy meal ideas: Make a proteinn shake consisting of whey powder

Eating healthy, drinking lots of water and doing exercise would surely set you on your way to toning up and losing the fats present in your body! Be on your way to achieving a healthier body now ;)

10 Healthy and Creative Halloween Treats

So Halloween is just round the corner and who is excited for it? I know I am!

Other than dressing up in crazy costumes, Halloween is also about the sweet treats and candy you get to eat and get when you go trick or treating :)

Here are some hauntingly HEALTHY treats that you can consider making this Halloween!

1. Crunchy Carrot Fingers

Shape some carrot into finger like shapes and stick them into a bowl of yogurt dips. Add some tuna or sliced almonds or cheese at the top of each carrot stick to create the shape of a fingernail.

2. Apple Teeth

Cut an apple into quarters and in each quarter, cut away the middle half to create a mouth like shape. in the middle section, you can add some tomato sauce or tomato ketchup to create blood stained mouth. Alternatively, you can add some mini mash mellows or mango cubes for the teeth

3. Eerie Eyeballs

Flatten out a few dried apple rings and carefully slice a few apricots down the centre to create two circular halves.Place the apricots in the center of the apple rings. Add a raisin in the center of the apricot to create the pupil.

4. Ghost Toast

Using a ghost cookie cutter, cut out pieces of bread in the shape of ghost and add some cream cheese spread on the bread. Add raisins or mini chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth.

An alternative to using bread is to use some bananas. Cut bananas into half and place them on a stick. Dip the bananas in white frosting and stick on mini chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth. If you want, you can also add some shredded coconuts onto the white frosting for more flavour.

5. Juicy Brain

Using a vegetable peeler to remove the entire green rind and expose the inner white rind. Slice off the bottom of the melon to create a flat base to prevent it from rolling. With a toothpick, outline squiggly furrows that look like folded surfaces on the brain. Finally, carve narrow channels along the tracing with a sharp knife to expose the pink watermelon below.

6. Mummie Pizzas

Using a small piece of pizza dough, add tomato sauce and olives to create the face and the eyes. Use thick long pieces of cheese to create the bandage on the mummie.

7. Salted Bones

Make some breadstick dough and shape them into shape of human bones to resemble a skeleton.

8. Jack O'Lantern

To make the lantern, use a small knife and slice off the top of an orange. Cut around its interior to remove the orange pulp. Cut the orange flesh into cubes and mix it with other mixed fruits and nuts to make a fruit salad.

Carve out facial feature on one side of the orange skin and then slit the lid to accommodate the handle for a spoon. Fill the lantern with the fruit salad and cover with the lid.

9. Wicked Nails

Wear plastic gloves over your hands to keep the cheese smudge free as possible. Use a paring knife to cut each string in half and then carve a shallow area for a fingernail just below the rounded end of each half.

Mark the joint right below the nail as well as the knuckle joint by carving out tiny horizontal wedges of cheese.

For the fingernails, slice a green bell pepper into 3/8 inch wide strips. Set the strips skin side down and trim the pulp so that it is half as thick. Then cut the strips into ragged topped nails shapes and stick them at the ends of the finger with dabs of cream cheese.

10. Witchy Pear

Cut the pear in half lengthwise and remove the core. Place one pear half onto a plate. Slice a piece off the top of the pear cutting away from the forehead at an angle. Shape that piece into a nose and carve a notch into the witch's face to hold the nose.

Attach the eyes and wart by carving small circles in the face to hold them.

Cut a grin from a red apple and carve out an area on the face to hold the grin.

To make the witch hat, use frosting to glue an ice cream cone to a piece of cookie. Let the frosting harden and then place the hat on the head. Grate lengths of carrot for the hair and place them underneath the hat.

So there you have it, 10 Creative ideas for Halloween! However, a party isn't quite a party without drinks right? Here are 2 drink ideas you can consider :)

First, fill a surgical glove with red cordial, ribena or any liquid of your choice. Let the liquid freeze in the glove and when it solidify, use the glove as an ice cube and place it into a bowl of drinks.

Next, you can make bloody eyeballs. Use lychee as the eyeballs and add cubes of pineapple or blueberries into the centre of the lychee to create the pupil. Add these eyeballs into cups and fill them with tomato juice or any cordial drinks.

Have fun this Halloween and if you are looking for more cute treats, Check it out at this link!

Making Different Cookies from One Simple Cookie Dough

Homemade cookies are a die for. Aren’t they? Wouldn’t it be so good if we are able to taste different flavour cookies at the same time so that our taste buds do not get bored by just one flavour? Well, here’s a simple and easy way for you to bake all the different cookie flavours with just one simple cookie dough!

1. Use a food processor or stand mixer

Start off with the plainest cookie dough and work your way up to the more flavourful cookies.Since all cookies most likely start off with butter, sugar, and flour, you can save time by using a machine and by mixing many batches of dough in quick succession.

After each batch of dough is prepared, wrap it in plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container and refrigerate till further use. By performing all your like tasks (mixing, forming, and baking) for the different cookies together, you’ll save time and energy:)

2. Make and freeze bulk cookie dough

After making your dough, just freeze them till needed. Before baking, just thaw the dough overnight and it should be ready to roll and bake the next day.

Another tip is that if you freeze the dough in round logs, you won’t have to wait more than an hour. You can have slice and bake cookies really quickly.

3. Make and freeze individual cookie dough balls

Another option is to freeze the dough in “ready to bake” dough balls.

4. Bake and freeze the cookies

This is one of the easiest way of preparing your cookies ahead of time. Prepare the dough and then roll and bake before keeping the cooled cookies between layers of waxed paper in large, airtight containers. Baked cookies should be good in the freezer for at least a month if wrapped properly.

When assembling the cookie trays, pull the cookies out of the freezer and thaw them for a few minutes.

So now are you ready to know the basic cookie dough recipe? I know I am! Here goes:

You will need these simple ingredients and items:

• A pre-heated oven of 180 degree Celcius
• 2 large cookie sheets
• 1 large mixing bowl
• 1 mixing spoon

• 1 large egg
• 185g of all purpose flour
• 75g-85g of brown sugar
• 110g of butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• A pinch of salt

1. Measure out all your wet Ingredients( brown sugar ,1 oft butter, 1 vanilla, and 1 egg)
2. Blend all these wet ingredients in a large bowl on high speed with a blender for about 2 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
3. Measure out all dry Ingredients(all purpose flour ,baking soda , salt). Sift all your dry ingredients together into a large bowl. This combines all your dry ingredients together.
4. Mix the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 parts. Combine all the ingredients together with a mixing spoon until a dough ball forms. This forms the basic cookie dough.
5. WIth this basic dough, you can make different types of cookies by adding different toppings such as chocolate chips, Reese Pieces Bites, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, M&M's, toffee bits, peanut brittle chunks, Mini Hershey Kisses, Mini Peanut Butter Cup Bits, nuts, raisins or any other things that you want in your cookie.
6. Measure out one teaspoon for each cookie and place it onto a cookie sheet. Bake the cookies in the oven for 15 minutes, and remove them from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.

With these easy tips and basic cookie recipe,you will surely be able to enjoy the various flavours of cookies all at the same time ;)

Best type of bread

Bread is a form of carbohydrate and most people who are on diets or who are watching their weight would try to avoid bread; especially white bread that is high in sugars( causes blood insulin level to spike when consumed) which increases the risk of getting heart diseases, stroke, diabetes and a fatty liver. If you want to look young, try to minimize the consumption of white bread as it causes wrinkles, dull and lifeless skin.

White bread is made from refined grains which are stripped of protein and important vitamin B to produce sweeter bread.

So what constitutes to healthy, good bread?

Look for 100% whole grain bread!

Don't be fooled by the packaging of some bread that says "wheat", "multi-grain" or” contains X amounts of whole grain" as it is usually a disguise for white bread.

So what so good about whole grain?

Well, whole grain bread is a great source of fibre that reduces the risk of colon cancer, heart disease and for those watching their weight, whole grain fills up your stomach more so you would not feel hungry easily. This prevents you from over-eating;) Whole grain also contains useful proteins and vitamin B that is essential for youthful skin and great, healthy looking hair.

Some healthy bread do not have the 100% whole grain sign so another way to tell if the bread is beneficial for health is to look at the amount of fibre present. Whole grain bread would have at least 2 grams of fibre. Any less would mean that the bread is refined and hence should be avoided.

When we look at the ingredient list of the product, whole grain should be first. Sugar would also appear as the third or fourth ingredient and this is OKAY:) ;Sugar is needed in bread for fermentation of yeast which causes bread to rise.

Although some of us would love to eat healthily by consuming whole meal bread, some do not fancy the rougher and coarser texture of wholemeal bread. If this is the case, you can opt for soft meal bread. Soft meal bread contains a lower content of gluten and is softer and less grainy compared to whole meal bread. Soft meal bread taste a little like white bread just that it has the added healthy benefits of wheat.

Hope that with these useful knowledge that you are now armed with, you would be able to eat and live more healthy :) When consuming bread, try to go for whole meal or soft meal as they keep you fuller for longer periods of time. This fullness would prevent you from over eating and result in better weight control and management! Let's all strive for a better, healthier lifestyle and still enjoy the food we love;)

For more health realted and diet related articles, click here :)