Young Hottie’s Hot Choccie

“In 2016 it is my mission to improve the condition of my skin, nails, hair and creative brain NATURALLY. I have spent a small fortune on all sorts of lotions and potions and never found that ‘magic tonic’. So I’m putting away my wallet and getting out my mixing bowl. Through exploring my love of healthy dessert making, I will be feeding myself beautiful (hopefully). Follow my diary of tailor made desserts, baked snacks and Breakfast recipes for clear skin, glossy hair and hard ass nails. Starting with…” 

THE FACE – Anti Aging

Young Hottie’s Hot Choccie aka Anti Aging Hot chocolate

Turning hot chocolate into an anti-aging elixir.

There is nothing on earth I find more huggable than a mug of streaming hot chocolate. An elixir of the gods type stuff. On my mission to #feedmebeautiful I am interested in turning my old favourites into natural beauty must haves and looking to share my anti-aging recipes. When thinking of anti-aging recipes about 100 different skin brightening, plumping, skin protecting smoothies come to mind, but when returning home at the end of a long day, out of the dark and the cold I want comfort. I want chocolate!

 With this anti-aging food mission in mind I have whipped you up a super thick, velvety, indulgent, anti-aging Hot chocolate to warm your cockles, super charge those feel good endorphins and de-stress you after a long hard day (all of which is clinically proven, hazzar)!

This recipe was inspired by Jamie Oliver’s – Ultimate Hot Chocolate – a blend of dark chocolate, icing sugar, corn flour and Horlicks ( which sounds rather amazing actually, but not a an anti-ager I’m reckoning).  As you may well know Jamie Oliver is on a Superfoods, no refined sugar mission of his own and I like to think this is a recipe he would approve of!

*Chocolate is a bit of a press floozy. In the news its seems we are constantly changing our minds about whether its good for us or not. The answer is simple – Cocoa is full of all good things we want in our lives, but the added sugar and fat is not, BOO! BOO!

In this recipe I have enlisted the help of dark chocolate (Cacao), Coconut cream, Cayenne pepper, Ginger and Cinnamon (to name but a few) all of which will help kick some serious wrinkle butt!

*In this recipe we will be using Cacao or if you don’t have it 100% Best Quality Dark Cocoa will do just fine. I like Green & Blacks.

* If you’re not a fan of coconut don’t worry you actually can’t taste it but you get all it’s anti-aging beauty benefits.

It’s entirely possible I may have gone a little over the top with all the toppings!

To justify my toppings = Sunday afternoon. Icy cold. After lunch in Borough Market we had these hot chocolates as dessert.

Feed me beautiful facts  – What’s it good for?

Cacao – Hydrates the skin to keep it youthful. Protects the skin from bad UV rays. BISH!

Coconut Cream – Helps smooth skin for a radiant appearance.  Helps improve skin sagging,wrinkles and age spots. BASH!

Cinnomon – Anti-inflammatory. Protects the body against skin damage. BOSH!

Cayenne pepper –  Rich in Vitamin E as well as Vitamins A and C which help fight preventing the breakdown of collagen apparently! DOUBLE BOSH!

Ginger – Stimulates circulation. MAKE THAT TRIPLE BOSH!

Perfectly paired with my healthy Chocolate Cake fingers.

 Young Hottie’s Hot Choccie

This recipes for one

Ingredients

2-3 tsp Cacao or best quality dark Chocolate drinking powder.

 4 tsp Coconut cream (I get mine from Waitrose as they do little tins)

200ml Unsweetened Almond milk ( or whichever you prefer)

2 tsp Maple syrup

half tsp Ground Cinnamon

half tsp Ground Ginger

 Big pinch Cayenne Pepper

Method –

-In a small saucepan simmer your Milk of choice.

-In a small bowl or cup add the cacao, ginger, cayenne pepper, cinnamon.

-When your milk has just reached warm add just a little of the warm milk  to your little dry ingredients bowl and mix with a teaspoon rapidly to dissolve the dry mixture so there are no lumps in your hot chocolate. It will make a pourable paste (we want it like a smooth chocolate sauce consistency)

Pour your chocolate sauce into your simmering milk as well as adding the Coconut cream and Maple syrup

– Next Pour the velvety Hot Chocolate into your favourite mug and pimp up as you wish. I went a little over the top and grated Dark chocolate, Marsh mallows, Coconut, Cinnamon  and Rose petals (it was a special day).

I had a great time photographing this, drinking it, dipping healthy chocolate sponge fingers in it and making a total mess!!

 

Messy Puppy!!!

 

Enjoy your Hot Chocolate with total abandon as I did and feel EUPHORIC about it’s anti-aging, disease fighting, stress reliving qualities.

I would love to see your Young Hottie’s Hot Chocolate creations – tag me or #feedmebeautiful on instagram.

Instagram – @thecakediariesofficial

Twitter – @thecakediaries1

Treat yourself well,

The Cake Diaries

xoxo

 

Breakfast Beauty Jar

 “In 2016 it is my mission to improve the condition of my skin, nails, hair and creative brain NATURALLY. I have spent a small fortune on all sorts of lotions and potions and never found that ‘magic tonic’. So I’m putting away my wallet and getting out my mixing bowl. Through exploring my love of healthy dessert making, I will be feeding myself beautiful (hopefully). Follow my diary of tailor made desserts, baked snacks and Breakfast recipes for clear skin, glossy hair and hard ass nails. Starting with…”

THE FACE

The Beauty Jar aka The Smoothie Granola jar

Turning breakfast into a one stop beauty shop!

I can never choose what I want to eat for breakfast more. If my stomach would allow it I’d start with Homemade Granola, then Scrambled eggs with Smoked Salmon and Avocado on Rye, then a smoothie bowl of frozen fruit and veggies with all the toppings, then I would finish with a stack of buckwheat pancakes with cascading berries and dripping almond butter. For this next post I’ve up 2 of my favourite breakfasts together and used my all time favourite toppings. Fear not, I haven’t chosen to add the smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. I have eaten some pretty strange concoctions in my time but…

Why the glass? I eat with my eyes, I eat with my eyes, I eat with my eyes!! The more beautiful and special it looks the more we want to devour it. If your new years resolution is to eat healthier and that sad bowl of Muesli hasn’t got you salivating then pimp it up in your favourite glass and top it up up up!

Feed me beautiful facts  – What’s it good for?

Blueberries – Helps to prevent signs of aging. The mass of antioxidants in this mighty fruit kick some serious Free Radical ass (Free radicals are unstable oxygen molecules created in the body from pollution, smoking, fried food). WHAM!

Spinach – Helps you ditch that frown and relax with the right antioxidants and Vitamins to help with anxiety and good sleep, not for getting that all important collagen that keeps the skin looking plump and young. BOSH!

Yogurt – Promotes clear skin by destroying bacteria and germs in the body. POW!

Sunflower seeds – Moisturizes and gives you that glow factor  with rich vitamin E and minerals to help maintain elastin’s in the skin. OOSH!

Breakfast Beauty Jar

This recipe is for 1 but double it up like I did for 2.

Bottom layer – Thick Smoothie Feed me beautiful facts  

2 handfuls Frozen Blueberries

2 Handfuls of Spinach

6 tbsp Water/Almond milk

Middle Layer – Yogurt

Full fat Greek Yogurt or any delicious thick dairy free Yogurt

Middle Layer 2 – Granola for one or double it and share

4 tbsp Oats

2 tsp of seeds (I went for one Pumpkin and one Sunflower seeds)

1 tsp of Mixed Spice or if you don’t have that try cinnamon ad ginger mixed.

2 tsp of ground nut oil (or coconut)

1 Tbsp of date syrup (I used this as it has a strong flavour and colour but if I didn’t have it in the house I’d go for Maple syrup).

Topping 1 – Peanut vanilla Spread

1 tbsp Crunchy Peanut butter

7 Drops of Vanilla essence

1 tsp of your favourite Sweet Syrup I went for something milder than the date syrup Brown rice syrup, Maple or honey.

Tip Top – All the toppings

Raspberries

Shredded coconut

Method –

 Start with the Granola.

Pre heat your oven to 160.c. Fan 140.c

In a roasting tin throw all the ingredients together and combine well with the liquid ( I like to do it with my hands as it’s just divine to eat the mixture off your fingers when finished). It gives me a lovely sense memory of when Mum would make Granola when I was a child and Dad and I would sneak into the kitchen and eat as much as we could while her back was turned before it went into the oven.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 7 minutes

Smoothie Makin’

In a blender add all the bottom layer smoothie ingredients.

We want it quite thick so the yogurt sits nicely on the smoothie and is easy to eat with a spoon, plus it looks lovely all layered up which is pleasing to mine eye!

Now you are ready to layer up. Using a nice clear jar or favourite glass.

 

I would love to see your Breakfast beauty Jar creations – tag me or #feedmebeautiful on instagram.

Instagram – @thecakediariesofficial

Twitter – @thecakediaries1

Treat yourself well,

The Cake Diaries

xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Radiance truffles.

 “In 2016 it is my mission to improve the condition of my skin, nails, hair and creative brain NATURALLY. I have spent a small fortune on all sorts of lotions and potions and never found that ‘magic tonic’. So I’m putting away my wallet and getting out my mixing bowl. Through exploring my love of healthy dessert making, I will be feeding myself beautiful (hopefully). Follow my diary of tailor made desserts, baked snacks and Breakfast recipes for clear skin, glossy hair and hard ass nails. Starting with…”

Radiance Truffles aka Chocolate Sticky Fig Truffles

Today I’ve whipped you up a recipe to help with skin radiance using Almond and raw Cacao.

I’m all for a life of balance. But just a week into January I’m missing those dreamy Christmas afternoons tucking into a box of special chocolates in front of the T.V (usually a praline or truffle situation). I love their velvety texture. Now I’m back to ‘real life’  and can no longer justify not seeing the light of day for days on end and living on a diet of strawberry creams and roast potatoes I am looking for a treat which makes me feel like I’m having a really special indulgent experience but doesn’t make my face look like a pin cushion and my body and mind feel like a lethargic slug. So here’s the balance bit –  Radiance Truffles aka Chocolate Sticky Figgy truffles. These feel so special with a lovely chewy texture and deep coco flavour. Plus as soon as that sweet tooth hankering begins you can whip these up in 5 minutes flat.

Feed me Beautiful Facts – Whats it good for?

Figs –  more fibre than other dried fruit helping us to feel fuller for longer. Figs have 15% less sugar than dates (so if you are watching your sugar in take you can swap out dates for figs in most recipes).

Cacoa –  Don’t get me started, (I’ll keep this short)! Big on Antioxidants which protects the skin against aging and Vitamin C which helps protect our skin. Fatty acids to help heals wounds and scars

Almonds – One of the best sources of Vitamin E – Skin radiance. Increases Energy.

Dates – Mood Regulating

Makes 8  Truffles –

Ingredients –

80g Almonds

4 Dried Figs

4 Medjool Dates

4 tbsp. of Cacao  and a little extra for rolling (or best quality cocoa)

Method –

In a food processor blitz the nuts until ground down into a nutty flour.

Throw in the rest of the ingredients until all is well combined.

Scrape out the mixture and on a wooden board roll into 8 balls.

On a wooden board sprinkle 2 tsp of Cacoa over the surface and roll the Figgy Truffles in the cacoa.

Hay presto! You got some super food truffles in 5 mins.

Keep them in the fridge. These can be frozen for a week or so.

A treat that your face, body and mind will love, especially your taste buds!

Currently, these go where I go!

I would love to see your radiance truffle creations tag me or #feedmebeautiful on instagram.

Instagram – @thecakediariesofficial

Twitter – @thecakediaries1

Treat yourself well,

The Cake Diaries

xoxo