Recipe for Paleo Chocolate Milkshake

Here is something I am making quite often at the moment. It is a super healthy chocolate 'milkshake' that tastes amazing. It's great for people doing the paleo diet or who are vegan or vegetarian.

What you need
A blender
A cup to soak almonds in
1/2 litre water
2 ripe bananas
1 big handful of raw almonds to make almond milk. You could use bought almond milk but please make your own. (how to make almond milk included in recipe) Do not buy this stuff! If you look on the packets at supermarkets you will see it's got more than just almonds and water in the ingredients.
1 full tablespoon manuka honey
1 level tablespoon raw cacao powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon - optional

How to make it 

• Making the almond milk first 

Note you will need to prepare your almonds by soaking them  in a cup with water over night or for a minimum of 8 hours. This helps them plump up and makes it easier to make more milk from them.

Once your almonds have soaked rinse them in fresh water and put them in the blender. Add the 1/2 litre of water to the blender and then blend it for about 2 minutes. You will notice the liquid becomes white and milky. Now traditionally you need to pour this mixture through a sieve and just keep the 'milk'. I personally think that's a waste of nutritious almonds, and they are not cheap! So my preference is to not strain and to leave everything in the milk. You can choose what you want to do.

• Making the milkshake

Now that you have the almond milk finished, yes that's all it takes!, add the bananas, raw cacao powder, manuka honey and cinnamon. Blend till it is nice and smooth and serve.


ALLERGY WARNING
I am guessing this recipe is not great for children with nut allergies, though some people like my cousin have an allergy to other nuts but not almonds, go figure! If the people you plan on serving this to have allergies please be careful and replace the almond milk with rice milk. You won't get all the nutritional value from the almonds but at least it is still a healthier alternative to a normal chocolate milkshake.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS
Almost forgot, I should probably tell you why this chocolate milkshake is so healthy and nutritious!

Bananas
Banana's contain a good dose of vitamins such as B6; Manganese, vitamin C, potassium, copper and biotin.
They are sweet but low GI and are a great source of fiber. Bananas can also help lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

Almonds
Almonds are high in vitamins E, Folate, B2 and minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, zinc, phosphorous and potassium. They are also a good source of protein

Raw cacao powder
Is a good source of minerals such as potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron as well as calcium. Surprisingly it is a good source of fiber and protein too. 

Manuka honey 
Manuka honey is antimicrobial and antiviral. It is also an antioxidant that can help to increase vitality and immunity.  These capabilities are stable and it doesn't lose its potency when exposed to dilution, heat or light.

Cinnamon
Is an excellent sourse of manganese also a good source of calcium, potassium and iron. Also 1 tablespoon is equal to 16% DV for dietry fiber. It is good for controling blood sugar, anti microbial activity and it has anti clotting actions.

Fondant Nature cake for 60th birthday

Thought I'd just share some photos of a cake I made recently. It was for a 60th birthday party and the lady who it was for is into crystals, healing stones, flowers and other things from nature. The cake itself is a chocolate orange mud cake with ganache layer under the marshmallow fondant topping.The flowers, stones and butterflies are all made with fondant with the details added with watered down gel food colouring. The stones and top of cake have also had a bit of sparkle added to them with some silver edible glitter.

Here is the final product with candles and silver wooden 60 held in place with royal icing. I was lucky enough to be a guest at the birthday party and I must say chocolate orange mud cake is my new favourite flavour!