Red Autumn

I’m sure everybody noticed the change of weather. Although this week we had some lovely sunny days, the temperature dropped, there is more wind and the nights are a lot colder (trust me, I’ve noticed since living in a van). The lovely warm summer is coming to and end and even though I love the summer, I don’t mind swapping it for autumn. I quite like the season where we can harvest beautiful food, where the trees are changing colour and you can curl up on the sofa with a book all day, without feeling you’re being unproductive. And something else I like about this season is the lovely dishes you make this time of the year. It’s time for heavy stews, hot chocolate and porridge! Yum! The recipe I will share with you today is definitely an autumn recipe. It’s perfect with a warm bowl of porridge!

RED AUTUMN

500 gr cranberries
1 cup apple juice
2 medium apples
1/4 cup agave nectar (5 tbs)
1/2 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts vanilla extract
3 tbs chia seed (for jam)

-Use only 1/2 cup of apple juice when you makes jam.
-Take the skin off the apples and cut them into big chunks.
-Put everything in a pan and bring to boil.
-When the cranberries all popped (after about 3-5 min) you can lower the heat.
-Let it simmer for about 30 min.
-For jam: add 3 tbs of chia seed.
-Put it in a container or in a nice glass jar and let it cool down before you pop it into the fridge.
-You can keep it in the fridge for 4-6 days.

Are you an autumn person? Do you get excited by recipes like this and are you going to make it? Please let me know! You can do this in a comment below or tag me on Instagram. You can also use the hashtag #planetmanel is you like, so I can find your picture and comment! Thank you! X

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Apple Feast

It’s autumn, what means the apple season is startingggg.. hurray! This means apple pies and apple compote. For that last one I will give you this super nice and simple recipe. Apple compote is so nice to make and you can eat it with so many different things. On the pictures you can see I served it with some yummy porridge. I can tell you, that this makes an awesome breakfast. You can also use it as a filling for pastries or just eat it on its own. Hot or cold.. with yogurt, extra cinnamon or on top of some muesli. Because you can perfectly keep it in the fridge for a while, you can easily make a lot in one go. So do you have an apple tree in the garden or do you know people with an apple tree? You know what to do now. I was given some very big sour apples by somebody and I think those are the best apples to use, but you can basically use any apple. With sweet apples you might want to use less sugar though or leave it out all together.

APPLE FEAST

Serves: 4

2-3 huge apples (peeled/chopped)
2 tbs palm sugar
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup water
cinnamon (to taste)

-Put everything (except the cinnamon) in a medium sized pan and let it come to boil. Stir it once in a while.
-Let it then simmer on a low fire for 20-30 min. Until the apples are all gone soft and you have the preferred consistency (the longer you let it simmer the thicker it gets).
-When it’s finished you can add cinnamon to taste.

-This is a basic recipe. Ideas to spice it up:
*Add a little bit of ginger, nutmeg or anise.
*Instead of plain water use 1/2 cup of chai tea.

Are you going to give this recipe a try? Where are you going to serve it with? Please let me know! And I’d love to see some beautiful pictures. Please share them on Instagram by tagging me or by using #PlanetManel! Thank you! X

Dutchie Pie

img_8155This Sunday, the 12th of March, Planet Manel will celebrate it’s first anniversary! Yay!! That means: CAKE! So I made this typical Dutch cake for you. It’s the ‘Authentic Apple Pie’. The cake itself is a bit like biscuits and a bit like cake, with a filling of apples, raisins and cinnamon. It has always been my favourite cake. I only like the home-made ones though, because pre-made, they’re not tasty at all. I actually don’t like any pre-made cakes, so that explains. On every birthday I went as a child and also when I was older, I’d choose home-made apple pie. On all my own birthdays I always made an apple pie. Though they never really turned out perfect. My sister is a lot better at it than me. So when I decided to veganise this pie I was a bit nervous. Very surprisingly the pie turned out to be more than perfect. I was so proud of myself that I finally made a good one after 15 years of trying. Vegan Power!! WARNING: This pie is not healthy, haha! ..but super super delicious though!

applDUTCHIE PIE

Serves: 8

dough
3 cups plain flower
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbs flaxseed (+ 6 el soy milk)
2/3 cup liquid butter
pinch of salt
filling
5 big apples (peeled/chopped)
1/3 cup raisins
4 tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp lemon juice

img_8156-Preheat the over at 180C.
-Mix the flaxseed and the soy milk and let it stand for about 15 minutes. In the meantime you can make the filling:
-Mix the apples, the sugar, the cinnamon, the lemon juice and the raisins in a bowl. Make sure the juice on the bottom of the bowl, coming from the apples, is taken out before pouring it into the cake tin.
-Put the flower, the baking powder, the sugar, the salt in a big bowl (or use a food processor) and mix well.
-Then also mix in the flaxseed mixture and the butter and knead it until it forms a firm dough. It should not be sticking to everything: too wet ..or flaking: too dry. Add a little bit of flower/butter in case it’s too wet or too dry.
-Spread the dough over the bottom and the side of the cake tin, but make sure you keep about 1/4 of the dough for the top of the cake.
-Put the filling on the dough and spread it out nicely. Don’t press too hard, but make sure it’s even everywhere.
-Form 8 strips out of the left over dough to cover the top of the pie.
-Put the pie in the oven for 55-60 minutes.
-Let it cool down before cutting it into pieces.

Are you going to give this very tasty recipe a go and celebrate Planet Manel’s 1st anniversary with me? Please let me know! And I’d love to see some beautiful pictures. Please share them with me on Instagram using #PlanetManel ! Thank you! X