Cereal Nut Roll
 
It was April Fool's Day on Sunday. What we did for that in a minute. But first, how does the idea of your favourite cereal baked into a nice round loaf sound? How about a thick round slice of that loaf toasted and slathered with the best churned butter money can buy? It sounds darned good, I'll tell you. That is what we had for breakfast in the weekend spread out over a sheet covered couch (yes, we are painting!). Cereal loaf, who would have thought!
 
Have you ever had Weet Bix? It is the breakfast of champions. Well, in Australia it is. It might need some getting used to because in its dry form, it is literally like sawdust. Don't ask me how I know that. But with milk, it transcends into something else. A hearty bowl of comforting cereal. Plus, it is super healthy. So, I decided to use that for my loaf. I baked it in a vintage nut roll tin I found in a thrift store. You get a perfectly round cylindrical loaf which is half the fun of eating it. 
 
Cereal Nut Roll
 
The beauty of this loaf is that you could experiment with just about any cereal you like as long as the cereal is flaky and light. Like cornflakes, cheerios or All Bran. And don't forget the butter. Some wise old fool said "Everything is better with butter!" and he wasn't kidding.
 
I have stirred through some toasted pecans and some Manuka honey. I am excited at the prospect of trying this out with all natural sweeteners and more nuts and seeds next time. I can picture baking this in an open loaf tin topped with seeds or using yogurt instead of milk. Give it a go, experiment and you might just end up inventing a quick breakfast loaf recipe that will become a favourite.
 
I also baked a not-at-all-sweet Chocolate Cake and was amazed by how much everyone loved it. This cake has maybe less than half the sweetness of a regular chocolate cake. I dusted it with icing sugar and dark cocoa and did not feel the need to sweeten it further. It was almost like eating chocolate flavoured bread. Simple and light.
 
Not So Sweet Chocolate Cake
 
It was April Fool's Day on Sunday and following up on last year's success of frozen milk in the cereal bowl topped with a smidgeon of fresh milk (oh the look on the boy's faces as they tried to scoop the cereal but kept hitting something hard was priceless), Nick and I decided to feature tomato ketchup in our prank. Wrong choice! The seven year old can smell a pot simmering away on the cooktop and name all ingredients in it, so tomato ketchup was just too easy. He wasn't convinced that dad bumped his head on the steering wheel (Nick! Is that the best you could do to explain blood pouring from your forehead??). He calmly dipped his finger in Nick's supposedly gaping wound and licked it "I knew it was tomato ketchup." he said matter of factly and walked away with a look of profound wisdom that only seven year olds can muster. We then turned to see Gummi Bear's horrified face. Thank God for four year olds! It is still possible to prank them. After we exclaimed that we were only tricking him, he tried to save face by saying "I knew that!". But we knew we had him. That horrified expression was priceless. It is going to be harder next year. Did you prank or get pranked this year?
 
Cereal Nut Roll & Chocolate Cake
 
 
 

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Cereal Nut Roll

Preparation Time - 10 minutes
Baking Time - 45 minutes
Serves - 4
 

Ingredients

1 cup cereal, crushed (I used Weet Bix)
2 tablespoons honey (I used manuka honey)
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup toasted and chopped pecan nuts
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
 

Method

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Grease a nut roll tin with melted butter. 
 
Put cereal in a bowl with honey and warm milk. Allow to stand for 5 minutes until cool. Stir through sugar, pecan nuts, flour and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. Spoon into nut roll tin and seal ends. Bake for 45 minutes until cooked and golden. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing and serving warm.
 

My Notes

A nut roll tin is a cylindrical baking tin with two lids to seal both ends. For this recipe, I used a 17cm x 8cm tin and filled it three quarters full.
 
You can experiment with a different cereal or nuts.
 
This recipe can be easily baked in a normal bread tin. I would reduce cooking time to about 30 minutes.
 
 

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Not So Sweet Chocolate Cake

Preparation Time - 10 minutes
Baking Time - 40 minutes
Serves - 8 (Makes 1 standard loaf)
 

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter, softened
3 medium eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup plain flour, sifted
1/2 cup self raising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup milk
 

Method

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Grease a 25cm x 11cm bread tin and line with baking paper.
 
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until smooth, creamy and lighter in colour.
 
Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for approximately 50 minutes until cooked through. Stand for a few minutes before turning out. Dust with icing sugar and dark cocoa powder to serve.
 
 

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