3 healthy food gifts


Health
25/07/2018
Make these tasty homemade presents for friends or family who are health conscious or who have special dietary needs.

Lemon yoghurt loaf cake

Makes: 1 loaf

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking Time: 45-55 minutes
Oven temperature: 180°C or gas mark 4

Ingredients:
250ml (150g) gluten-free cake flour
5ml baking powder

80ml canola oil

250ml sugar
2 large eggs

15ml vanilla essence

180ml plain yoghurt

grated zest of 1 lemon

40ml freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions
1. Sift the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt together.
2. Whisk the oil, 200ml sugar, the eggs, vanilla essence, yoghurt and lemon zest together.
3. Whisk the dry ingredients into the yoghurt mixture and pour into a greased and lined 20 x 10cm loaf tin.
4. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
4. Prepare the syrup by melting the remaining sugar and the lemon juice together over a medium heat. Drizzle over the loaf as it comes out of the oven. Cool for 15 minutes in the tin, then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Savvy tip
To package as a special gift, clean the loaf tin and line with greaseproof or decorative paper. Place the cake back in the tin. Tie a ribbon around it and add a pretty knife and a name tag.

Cranberry granola

Makes: 750ml

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Baking Time: 35 minutes
Oven temperature: 150°C or gas mark 2

Ingredients:
450ml rolled oats

50ml each raw almonds and raw pecan nuts, roughly chopped
50ml sunflower seeds
125ml cranberry juice
100ml brown sugar 60ml honey
2ml ground cinnamon
200ml dried cranberries

Directions:
1. Mix the oats, nuts and seeds together in a mixing bowl.
2. Stir the cranberry juice, sugar, honey and cinnamon together in a saucepan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Pour this mixture over the oats mixture and stir to coat.
4. Spread onto a lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, tossing the mixture halfway through.
5. Add the cranberries and stir to combine. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.
6. Cool completely.

Savvy tip
To package as a gift, put the granola in a screw-top jar and stick a handmade label on the front. Tie a pretty ribbon around it.


Salad sprinkle

Makes: 100ml

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
20ml sesame seeds
20ml pumpkin seeds
15ml linseeds

20ml onion flakes
25ml raw peanuts

Directions:
1. Put the sesame and pumpkin seeds on a baking tray and toast on a low setting under the grill for a few minutes, turning gently half way through. But don’t burn them.
2. Stir the seeds, onion flakes and nuts together in a bowl.

Savvy tip
To package as a gift, line a clear box with pretty paper. Make
personalised labels for salad dressing ingredients such as extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegars and Dijon mustard. Put the salad sprinkle into an attractive jar with a label and add a small wire whisk as the finishing touch.