Cooking & Meal Prep Session 5
Maple Syrup Cake + Ongoing Meal Prepping In Spare Time
MAPLE SYRUP CAKE
A gorgeous, one-bowl, mix-and-bake Maple Syrup Cake with the most delicious soft buttery crumb and a delicate crunch in the crust from the maple syrup baking to golden perfection. The soy sauce addition is something you must try! Dress it up to make it fancy or just enjoy with a smattering of icing sugar and some berries.Â
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Using Maple Syrup As A Sweetener In Cakes
I have been using sugar alternatives in my baking for the longest time. For the past few years, I have almost completely switched to baking with rapadura/unrefined palm/coconut sugar. But every now and then, I bake a cake with just honey or maple syrup without adding anything else and let the taste of that sweetener define the entire cake. It is always lovely and the result is super delicious.
This cake from one of my favourite baking books Love Bake Nourish by Amber Rose first caught my attention because it was a simple yellow cake topped with white icing and some berries. I baked it for my younger son’s birthday a couple of years ago and it was a hit. Since then I have adapted it with some minor tweaks for everyday baking. A staunch member of the sturdy cake committee.
The maple syrup flavour really comes through on day two as the cake sits on your benchtop under a glass cake dome and ages. And when you bake with maple syrup, something magical happens to .....
This week and the next, I am going to be a bit indisposed and spending a lot of time away from home. As such, I started prepping and cooking a week ago whenever I had some free time and stocking up the freezer with some meals I could reheat on days I came back home late.
Monday + Tuesday
Soups and Dals are my go-to for this kind of cooking and freezing. They reheat really well and all you need at the time of eating is some bread or steamed rice. This amazing Bean-Free Veg Minestrone is a lifesaver, freezes well and you can also add protein when re-heating to make it a complete meal. Same with the Vegan Magic Curry Sauce. Prepped, cooked and ready to be re-heated. All I will need are some boiled eggs.
Wednesday-Thursday
A Hot Roasted Chicken from the supermarket is a Godsend when I need to make a quick noodle stir-fry. I prep my stir-fry veggies in advance and cook these Hoisin Noodles. I shred and add chicken for the boys and some quick pan-fried tofu for me. Very easy and delicious dinner! And this Chickpea Chilli Pasta With Sourdough Crumbs is a pantry meal through and through with some fun things like almond butter, tahini and of course, chickpeas and pasta, you can have a flavour bomb of dinner ready in 30 minutes.
Friday-Saturday
A bit of a fun dinner on Friday, I make these amazing Airfryer Cauliflower Buffalo Wings. I make a double quantity of the Buffalo sauce (just mixing a handful of ingredients) during my meal prep session and have it in the fridge for later. It keeps well for almost a week AND when I want to cook with it, I marinate cauliflower with half the sauce and chicken with the other half. Some herb rice is great to serve with these! I also make this Processor Spelt Pastry during meal prep, roll it and pop it in the fridge. I can use it any time of the week or weekend to add leftover fruit and bake for 30 minutes to have a delicious dessert OR breakfast ready!
MEAL PREP SESSION
1. Chop a few brown onions and store in the fridge (curry sauce and pasta)
2. Slice and shred capsicum, carrot, onion and cabbage and store in a container in the fridge (for the stir-fry)
3. Cut cauliflower florets and boneless chicken into bite-sized pieces and store them in the fridge (for the Buffalo wings)
4. Boil some eggs and store in fridge (for the curry)
5. Mix and make the Buffalo Sauce
6. Make the Spelt Pastry
7. Cook some steamed jasmine rice
8. Make some herbed basmati rice (cook basmati rice with a tablespoon of Bolognese herb mix, salt, tablespoon of olive oil, handful of green peas)
9. Peeled and spiralized Sweet Potatoes
10. Make the soup (for the freezer)
11. Make Matcha Chia Pudding
Active Time - 60 minutes
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I have limited copies of my cookbook Tasty Express - a labour of love filled with over 100 of our family's most tried and tested and exciting 30-minute recipes inspired by street foods of the world. Mostly Vegetarian recipes that go from breakfast to quick dinners in a heartbeat. They make great gifts for you or a friend!
