Bestfit’s Jess davies, aka the breakfast blogger (www.thebreakfastblogger. com), gives us three easy-to-make recipes that will provide a welcome break from most of the nonsense we’ll be eating this Christmas.

Chocolate Marbled Rum Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup almond flour (not ground almonds), 1 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup coconut sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 2 tbsp maple syrup, juice of 1 large orange, 3/4 cup almond milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 eggs & 2 egg whites, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1/3 cup coconut oil, 1/2 cup dark rum,1/2 tsp salt

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. In one bowl, mix all dry ingredients, except the cocoa. In another bowl, whisk up all wet ingredients except the almond milk. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients, and stir well. Then, split this mixture into two. Add the cocoa powder and 1/2 cup of almond milk to one, and whisk in well. Add 1/4 cup of almond milk to the other and stir. Once you have your mixtures ready, grab a prepared baking dish. Pour the chocolate mixture in first; then pour the plain mixture straight in the middle and on top of the chocolate mixture. Grab a butter knife, and drag it through the mixture in swirling motions until you’ve made some decent looking patterns. Pop in to the oven for 15 – 20 minutes.

Falafel Fritters:

Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed, 1/2 red bell pepper, roughly chopped, 1/2 medium red onion, roughly chopped, 3 garlic cloves, peeled, 3 sweet cherry peppers, 1 egg, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp cumin, small bunch fresh parsley & fresh basil, finely chopped, salt and pepper to taste

Method:

In a blender/food processor, combine chickpeas, peppers (both bell and cherry), garlic cloves and onion and blend until a thick, smooth mixture. A few lumps are fine. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, and add the spices, salt & pepper, egg and fresh herbs. Mix until well combined. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, and coat with either cooking spray or a little olive oil. When pan is hot, drop a dessert spoon full of mixture on to the pan – don’t spread it around. Do this until you’ve run out of space on the pan. Cook for three minutes, and then check if the fritters are ready to flip. If not, let them cook a little longer. Then gently flip them over, and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

Banana Bread:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown rice or whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup oat flour (use blender to grind porridge oats into flour), 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/2 cup coconut sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 egg whites, 3 medium ripe bananas (the riper, the better), 1/3 cup melted coconut oil, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. In one bowl, mix together all dry ingredients (flour, baking powder & soda, sugar, stevia, cinnamon). Using a blender, blend up the bananas into a smooth puree. Add this to another bowl, and whisk in the egg whites, maple syrup, extract, cider vinegar and coconut oil. Add this mixture to the dry, and then add the milk. Stir together until combined – the mixture will be very thick. Press mixture into a loaf pan lined with baking parchment. Bake for 30 minutes, or until toothpick/tester comes out clean.