Tea for One

South Africans tend to think of themselves as avid tea drinkers (along with the Brits). I take after my mom and simply cannot function without at least 3 to 4 cups of tea a day. For most, it's coffee, but for me, I much prefer a steaming cup of sweet tea (oh, and it's not real tea unless its 5 Roses!).

When we say tea, most of the time South Africans are referring to black tea, or English Breakfast/Ceylon tea. I drink my tea with milk and sugar, without which it just simply isn't tea.

But since moving to Korea and being invited to friends houses and offered something to drink, I have learnt to always enquire about the kind of tea on offer. There are hundreds of different kinds of tea here in Korea (green tea, brown tea, root tea, ginger tea...the list goes on) and I just can't adjust my taste buds and always turn my nose up unless its 'black tea'.

That is until my American friends Cassandra introduced me to a special blend she loves from the States. She has a whole cupboard full of tea here in Korea, and I have been very hesitant to taste of any of them, but I finally said yes to her offer and I am thrilled i did! And then I proceeded to drink about 4 cups of it. The blend I tried is called 'Evening in Missoula' and consists of chamomile, rosehip, raspberry leaf, papaya leaf, peppermint, spearmint, blackberry leaf, vanilla, passion flower, red clover, star anise, wild cherry bark, lemon peel, wintergreen, and lavender.

Heaven in a cup. Now to get my hands on some of it here....

What tea do you like to drink?

Are you a Chai tea fan? I have heard that Chai lattes are pretty yummy too!

How to Blanch Almonds

Today I am trying my hand at making almond flour {recipe to come soon} and it is recommended that you use blanched almonds instead of raw almonds to achieve a smoother texture when baking. Blanching almonds is really easy, and far cheaper than buying them in the shops. A lot of baking recipes call for blanched almonds, so save yourself a few pennies by doing them yourself...

You will need:

-almonds

-boiling water

-collander/strainer

All in all this is going to take you a one whole minute (yup! one minute!) to do!

Simply place your almonds in the boiling water (I was making 2 cups of almond flour and so had rather a lot of almonds, so I did mine in two batches, using the same water for the second batch). Place the almonds in the boiling water for 60 seconds only - any longer and your almonds will start to soften.

Drain the almonds immediately and place onto paper towel to cool. Then the fun part. Peel the skins off, one at a time (or two at a time once you get the hang of it!) the skins will simply 'pop off' leaving you with perfect, cream white almonds to use in your baking. You can discard the skins, or roast them in the oven with your favourite spices (we have only used salt and vinegar so far) to make delicious, virtually fat free, crispy snacks....yum!

Fun Wedding Cake Ideas

From our wedding last year {CLICK HERE to see more wedding posts}, I am still signed up to rather a large amount of wedding inspiration websites and newsletters. For the most part I tend to delete each one that I get, but this one in particular caught my eye as each of the cakes below could be used at any celebration, not just for a wedding.

And aren't these idea's lovely! 

And I had to throw in some photographs of our yummy wedding cake too, as well as our cupcakes and candy bar...just for fun <3

{Found on GreenWeddingShoes, original content by BHLDN}

Chocolate Brownies {recipe}

I made these delicious chocolate brownies again, and every time I do I am (or rather my tummy is!) thrilled with what comes out of the oven.

125g butter

45g cocoa powder

2 large eggs

200g castor sugar

150 self raising flour

60g chopped dark chocolate

makes 12 brownies

**I doubled the recipe and ended up making about 35 delicious, melt-in-your-mouth brownies**

1. Melt the butter. Remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa. 

2. Beat the eggs until light, add the sugar and beat well. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Sift in the flour, and fold in along with the chocolate.

3. Pour into a greased and lined 20cm square tin. Bake in a pre-heated oven  for 25 mins or until cooked through but still moist. 

Don't forget to store them in an unusual looking tin for safe keeping!

WholeWheat & Oats BarOne Chocolate Cookies...recipe

Ingredients

2 3/4 cup / 255g rolled oats (not instant)

1 cup / 125g whole wheat flour

2/3 cup / 45g wheat bran (or germ)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1 cup / 225g unsalted butter

1 cup / 185g natural cane sugar or light brown sugar

1 cup / 170 g firmly packed Muscovado or dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

200g Bar One (I used 2 x EXTRA sized bars) chopped.

Preheat the oven to 350F / 180 C.

Line two baking sheets with wax paper and set aside. What worked better for me after a few tries was Holsum smeared all over the pans, finished off with flour.

In a medium bowl combine the oats, flour, wheat bran, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Either by hand, or using an electric mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in sugar for 3+ minutes, scraping down sides a few times along the way. Incorporate the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla - scraping the sides of the bowl another time or two. Add the dry mixture, and stir until everything barely comes together. Then stir in the chocolate, mixing until it is evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Use a small ice-cream scoop, spoon, or 1/4 cup measuring cup, to make uniform dough balls. I used a metal 1/4-cup measuring cup, filling it about 3/4 full. Arrange each cookie at least 3-inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. They'll flatten out quite a bit. I squashed a small chunk of bar one into each dough ball for some extra yumminess.

For extra crisp cookies, bake until deeply, deeply golden on the bottom, about 15+ minutes. Rotate the pans once about 2/3 the way through baking - back to front, top to bottom. Like your cookies a little chewier? Bake for less time. Cool on a rack.

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies.

Prep time: 20 min - Cook time: 15 min

{adapted from my absolute favourite recipe site: 100 cookbooks}