We're cooking with cinnamon! But it's not what you think!
Every week our food fairy godmother, Izelle Hoffman, joins me in studio to cook, chat, and teach us all a thing or two about mindful eating!
This week, Izelle's magical mindful ingredient is cinnamon!
We've all grown up eating it on pancakes and pumpkin, so cinnamon is not new to our kitchen cupboards! But, this week we find out the reasons why and what it's good for!
Almond blueberry crumble
Prep time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Serving: 1 large crumble 6-8
Filling
400g fresh or defrosted frozen blueberries
¼ tsp Oryx desert salt
1 tsp caramel essence
Crumble
120 g almond flour, plus 1 Tbsp extra for dusting
50 g flaked almonds
50 g pitted dates, chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp Oryx desert salt
100 g almond butter, melted
2 Tbsp raw honey, plus extra for drizzling
1 tsp vanilla essence
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Spray a 23cm ovenproof dish with non-stick cooking spray and dust with 1 Tbsp almond flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients. Transfer to the prepared dish, spread out evenly and press down gently.
- Place all of the crumble ingredients in another mixing bowl and, using your fingertips, blend until the mixture has a large crumb-like texture.
- Spread the crumble evenly over the blueberries and bake for 20–25 minutes. Remove from the oven, drizzle over some honey and bake for another 5–10 minutes.
- Serve warm or cool.
Why do we make use of these ingredients:
Cinnamon Cinnamon is loaded with antioxidants, lowers blood sugar levels and has a powerful anti-diabetic effect. It is anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial.
Blueberries Blueberries are one of the best antioxidant foods, second only to baobab powder. I always have frozen blueberries in the freezer and baobab powder in the pantry to bake blueberry crumble or make a nutritious breakfast smoothie.
Almonds Whether in the form of milk, flour, butter or flakes, almonds are packed with nutritional benefits. They boost the immune system, help repair damaged skin, help prevent cancer, reduce the risk of osteoporosis and have alkalising properties. They are also a source of vitamin E, magnesium and high-quality protein.
Dates Dates are rich in selenium, manganese, copper and magnesium, all of which are required to keep bones healthy and prevent conditions such as osteoporosis.
Oryx Desert Salt What is the purpose of adding salt during cooking? It’s to enhance flavour, right? So why not start by using a good-quality salt to do the job? Sundried and unrefined with no additives will bring out the best in your food in the healthiest way possible.
Raw Honey Salt needs sweet and vice versa to enhance taste and flavour. So when you add sweetness, choose a sweetness that has a healing effect on your body and health. Raw honey is antiviral and antifungal, and contains powerful antioxidants. Its helps ward off allergies, stabilise blood pressure and balance blood sugar levels. It also boosts the immune system and promotes digestive health.
Izelle Hoffman and her book - Mindful Eating - are also the winner of the Health & Nutrition category representing Africa.
Another one ingredient challenge: What's in your fridge?
If you would like Izelle to use your ingredient idea to create a recipe that the whole family will love, send us a message on our Facebook page or leave a comment here and you could win a copy of her eBook - 'Mindful Eating'!
You can also buy your copy here!