Healthy Vegetarian Jaffa Cakes

Today for Meat Free Monday I am featuring a post from a reader who got in touch with me. Recently a lovely reader called Celia sent me her recipe for Healthy Jaffacakes. Celia writes a blog herself, although it not cooking related, so she wanted somewhere to share her recipe. She has just become a Vegetarian and loves cooking healthily.

I always love to hear from people who appreciate the recipes on the site, and also love to hear from those who may have a recipe they want to share purely for the love of cooking, so do feel free to send in your recipe if you have one you would like to share!

Here is Celia's recipe for Heathy Jaffacakes - Thanks for sending in the recipe Celia!

Healthy Jaffa Cakes

Ingredients:
150g flour (or gluten free alternative)
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 eggs
4 tbsp butter
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla flavouring
50g 85% dark chocolate
4-5 tbsp orange marmalade (I used St Dalfour, which has no added sugar)

Method:

1. Grease a large heatproof tin or muffin pan 
2. Mix eggs, butter, honey, maple syrup, salt, vanilla, baking soda and flour thoroughly. Pour into tin.
3. Bake at 180 c for about 10 minutes or until risen and golden. 
4. Turn out when cool. If you didn't use a muffin tin, cut out circles with a jar or even a cutter if you're that well equipped, and turn cake hole side up.
5. Melt the chocolate.
6. Pop a spoonful of marmalade on each circle. Place a small amount of chocolate on to each cake and spread evenly over the surface, covering all the marmalade. 
7. Let the chocolate set. You can speed it up if you put in the freezer for a few minutes.

There is only a very little bit of refined sugar in these and they can even be gluten free! Normal Jaffa Cakes have glucose fructose syrup in and the alternatives usually involve gelatin. These are veggie through and through!

I hope you enjoy Celia's Healthy Vegetauran Jaffa Cakes - What do you think of them?

November Finds: Activia, Howdah and Yu!

A round-up post today of some of the products I have been sent recently for review:

Activia Fruit Fusion Yoghurts
First Up - Activia's new range called "Activia Fruit Fusion", which features three flavours, Mango and Passionfruit, Blueberry and Acai, and Raspberry and Lychee. Available in 4 x 125g packs, these yoghurts contain a mix of five live cultures, which mean that they can be included as part of a balanced diet. They also make a fantastic snack at any time of the day or night! I was very happy to receive these, as we enjoy eating Activia yoghurts. My personal favourite was the Mango and Passionfruit, whilst other members of the family preferred Blueberry and Acai.

Activia Fruit Fusion Yoghurts are available at an RRP of £2.19 for four from all major retailers,


Howdah Indian Snacks
Howdah Gourmet Indian Snacks from Mumbai Foods have recently launched six new flavours of snacks: Bombay Puri, Masala Banana Chips, Peanut Pakora, Peppered Banana Chips, Bakatwadi Bites, and Onion Bhaji..All six flavours are authentically produced, free from additives, preservatives and 100% vegetarian and vegan. Some are also Gluten free.

We were sent Onion Bhaji and Bombay Puri to try. Both snacks we sampled are very rich and full of flavour  Hubby liked the Puri in biscuit form rather than bombay mix style. The Onion Bhaji snacks are very tasty and he loved the aftertaste as the spices kick in. These are great snacks for an Indian Buffet, or just a treat when you fancy it! Howdah Snacks are available from various local stockists.

Yu Fruit Chews
Yu! Healthy Snacks’ Just Fruit Chews are healthy snacks made with 100% real Fruit and with no added sugar. Unlike other fruit based products, Yu! Fruit Chews are suitable for vegans, vegetarians and those who are intolerant to gluten, wheat and lactose. We were sent some of the range to try, including blueberry, mango, raspberry and cherry. I love that these fruit chews look and taste just like sweets, so the kids were happy to pop them in their mouths and give them a try. All of the flavours were delicious, and these are something we will definitely be looking to purchase in the future.

Yu! Fruit Snacks can be found in Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose priced at rrp 65 pence per pack.