Cereal Nut Roll And Not So Sweet Chocolate Cake
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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.
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.
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
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.
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.
hehehehe. such fun parents! your last year’s prank cracked me up
i don’t have the tin roll thingie, i’m thinking of using the muffin tray instead. my husband always throws the bottom part of cereals in the bag, the crushed ones, says they make him puke. doesn’t make sense, hehe. but at least now i can use them somehow instead of trashing!
Nisha´s last [type] ..Tadka Noodles
I love the sound of that chocolate cake. I’m not a huge fan of super sweet desserts, so it sounds ideal for me! And I am deeply jealous of your tin roll pan! How cool is that?
SarahKate (Mi Casa-Su Casa)´s last [type] ..“Just roll with it!”
That nut loaf tin is very cool! And I love that your 7 year totally called you guys on the prank, very smart kid!
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen´s last [type] ..Kelly Moore Bags Review and Giveaway (Worldwide)
You are such a mean Mum! But ingenious, I love it – will definitely be pulling those pranks when I have kids of my own
As for the nut roll, I love the look of that tin – so cool.
thelittleloaf´s last [type] ..Fresh From the Oven Challenge April: Hot Cross Buns
ha ha your 7 year old is smart kiddo. Lovely loaf! I love that round tin of yours but well i love many many props you have
)
awww the 4 year old is so cute and I think next year it will be tough to prank them
Love the not so sweet chocolate cake and that tin you picked.. awsm. And that too from thrift store!
kankana´s last [type] ..Garlic Achaar
I love so much that nut roll tin so I love not so sweet chocolate cake, I will definitely give a try!
Katia´s last [type] ..Homemade vegetable stock… in a jar
fantastic recipe and the nut roll looks divine!
Im afraid I have just made quite possibly the most decadent indulgent and unhealthy brownies known to man…. They are called, Filthy Brownies
(think cookie dough rolos and brownies, layered, baked and served with vanilla ice cream)
http://www.coffeetoastandlondon.com/2012/04/filthy-brownies.html
xxx
i was immediately attracted by the not-so-sweet chocolate cake and that looks simple enough to make. going to try that soon.
Melissa´s last [type] ..Mecca Espresso, Ultimo
The chocolate cake sounds so delicious! And weetbix in nut roll? I am totally interested in trying!
anh´s last [type] ..Tomato Jam | Goodbye summer
i MUST make this cereal nut roll! i love the idea of experimenting with different cereals too! i would love to find that tin somewhere too – maybe online?
Love the rustic loaf tin — and overall styling!
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com´s last [type] ..Easy Garam Masala Chicken Curry
[...] sleek shiny ones with a bit of crust attitude, gorgeous plump ones, fast ones, sticky ones and plain-old-Jane brown ones that are going nowhere but please all. This one here is called A Kid-Baked-That Chocolate Cake. [...]