The best orange chocolate cake ever.

THIS THIS THIS is happening again.

Recipe: here

spiced orange and walnut loaf

3 weeks until my big move to Japan! I simply cannot wait! To celebrate;(the celebrations at the Kazemi household seem to be neverending – not sure if this is because family is happy for me or secretly/not-so-secretly relieved that I’m finally moving out) I baked this baby loaf. Actually not a baby, rather quite mature and decent sized. But, still my baby.

This recipe is naturally free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar. It’s also dangerously delicious. Like, very.

1 orange, washed, cut into quarters and seeded
2 1/2 cups ground almonds
4 free-range eggs
2 tbsp olive oil
5 tbsp honey or maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
pinch of salt
1/2 cup walnut pieces

Topping:
nuts/seeds/granola of choice for topping

Preheat oven to 160C

Place all ingredients (except walnuts) in a high speed food processor and whizz away until smooth.

Lastly, add the walnuts and pulse a few times (or mix through using a spoon) to combine.

Pour batter into a greased loaf tin

Top with desired toppings (I used my homemade granola which gave it a wonderful crunch)

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the fork comes out clean.

Let cool before removing from the tin.

Enjoy at any time of day as is as “healthy” as “healthy” can be. Seriously. I mean, only two tbsp of oil? And OLIVE oil at that? SHUT UP AND PASS THE WHOLE LOAF! Please.

Raw Apricot Orange and Coconut Bars

Making your own bars is surprisingly easy. In fact, this recipe took less than 10 minutes to prepare (not including the soaking of ze apricots).

1 cup dried apricots
1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut plus a little extra for dusting
1  1/2 cup almond meal
1 tsp honey (or maple syrup if you’re vegan)
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one orange
juice of half an orange

Chocolate topping (optional):
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 heaped tbsp honey (or maple syrup)
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Soak the apricots in lukewarm water for 15 minutes then drain

Add all ingredients to a food processor and whizz away until the mixture starts to come together like a dough

Line a small tray with baking paper, and press the mixture in evenly

Dust with extra desiccated coconut then place in freezer for 1/2 hour

Using a sharp knife, cut the bars into 2cm by 4 cm rectangles

For the chocolate topping, melt together the coconut oil and honey in a small saucepan on low heat

Once the oil and honey have melted, add the cacao and vanilla, and whisk until smooth

Remove saucepan from heat and leave chocolate sauce to cool slightly (this will allow the sauce to thicken a little bit)

Using a spoon, drizzle the sauce over the bars

Place the bars in the fridge for about 10-20 minutes to harden before nom nom.

Next Level Orange Chocolate Cake

Four wonderful words to kick off your lazy Sunday afternoon: healthy. orange. chocolate. cake.

After three years of arduous study I am officially graduating in TWO days. Yep, two. To celebrate, I baked this super yum and super healthy orange chocolate cake.

Now, there’s several orange chocolate cake recipes out there but this one is by far the best. Why? Because it contains no refined-sugar, gluten, dairy or oil/butter!

So basically, it’s salad.

Side note: a flustered woman came in to my work and ordered a takeaway carbonara the other day. She said she’d had a bad day and so deserved a creamy pasta. I don’t care what anyone says, sometimes emotional eating is needed. But not in the way that most people think. Instead, we need to practise feeding our bodies/emotions with love and goodness. All I’m trying to say is, she probably felt worse after the pasta.

What’s that saying? “I love you like a fat kid loves cake?” Well, I love cake like ALL HUMANS  love cake (a lot) but I also care about my well-being and health. And by health, I mean I want to look good in skimpy clothing this summer. Dear followers, my advice is to make healthy treats, keep them around the house and if emotional eating ensues, treat yourself; the right way!

2 whole oranges
2 cups ground almonds
1 cup coconut sugar 
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
4 free range eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda

Place whole oranges in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil and boil for 1 hour. Drain and then allow to cool. (Patience is a virtue my friend.)

Preheat oven to 160 C

Cut oranges in half and place in to a food processor (skin pith, flesh and all) alongside the remaining cake ingredients then process until smooth.

Pour batter in to a greased cake tin and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a fork comes out clean.

Let cool completely before removing from cake tin.

Once cake is completely cooled, dust with raw cacao.

Thank me later.

Salted Orange and Chocolate Pretzel Sandwiches

This post is dedicated to my friend Isaac Hindin-Miller – fashion writer and relationship enthusiast behind Issac Likes for the endless support and encouragement regarding my blog. Isaac gives some pretty dope relationship advice on http://www.isaaclikes.com which has inspired me to give you a little counsel of my own. Last year, I went through the most miserable break-up (yep, that escalated rather quickly) and I, like the multitudes of other heartbroken individuals constantly used sugar to solace my emotions. My simple advice is: Don’t. Instead, try and put all your pain, sorrow and negative energy into creating something beneficial. If you’re anything like me (an emotional eater), by keeping plenty of healthy treats handy, you’re bound to save yourself from unnecessary trouble.

Not only are these delicious pretzel sandwiches the perfect combination of sweet and salty, they’re also free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar. In other words; 99% guilt-free.

1 cup almond meal
10 medjool dates 
zest of one orange
juice of one orange
1/2 cup raw cacao powder

Bag of pretzels (gluten-free options available at most supermarkets)

In a food processor mix the almond meal and dates into a flour-like consistency.

Add the orange zest, orange juice and cacao powder and mix again until a dough-like mixture is formed.

Using your hands, form small balls then sandwich between two pretzels.

Store in a covered container in the fridge in between snacking.

Fun fact: The average American consumes about 1.5 pounds, thats 0.7 kg of pretzels per year!