I’m not sure if it’s because of my Middle Eastern background (figs are said to have originated there) but while I’m not generally a lover of fruit, I simply adore figs and can’t get enough.

So in that short window during late summer when they come into season, I make the most of them!

Here are 5 of my favourite ways to eat them:

1. Fresh and as is.
2. For brunch with some prosciutto, goats or ricotta cheese, a drizzle of EVOO and a good crack of black pepper.
3. In a rocket salad with some blue cheese and walnuts and balsamic olive oil dressing.
4. For breakfast chopped into some yoghurt with some cinnamon, buckinis and a handful of nuts and seeds.
5. My new recipe for Honeyed Fig Cheesecake Slice. The beauty of this recipe is that once fig season is over you can replace figs with any of your favourite fruits. My personal favourites are fresh berries, chopped or sliced mango, or passionfruit.

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration, take a look at my new recipe ebook which is getting rave reviews, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes.

It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Spelt flour
Rapadura sugar
Sea salt
Vanilla powder
Raw Honey
Cinnamon

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Honeyed Fig Cheesecake Slice

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

Sweet Short Crust Pastry

• 1 cup spelt flour
• 100 grams butter chilled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon rapadura sugar
• pinch sea salt
• 1/4 cup ice water 40 grams

Cheesecake Filling

• 125 grams cream cheese
• 125 grams marsrcapone cheese
• or you can just use just 250 grams either marscapone or cream cheese
• 1/4 cup rapadura sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice optional
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest optional
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Fig Topping

• Around 5 medium figs halved
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Cinnamon

Instructions

Directions Sweet Short Crust Pastry

• Pop the spelt flour, butter, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Keep running the food processor and pour the ice water through the feed tube until the mixture and keep processing until a ball of dough forms.
• Pop the dough into a bowl and refrigerate for around half an hour .
• When ready to cook, preheat oven to 175 C and grease and line a 19cm x 19cm square tin with baking paper.
• Flour your kitchen surface and roll out the dough to fit the tin.

Directions Cheesecake Filling

• Whisk together the cream cheese, mascarpone cheese, rapadura sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract.
• Scoop the cheesecake batter on top of the pastry then cook in oven for 30-40 minutes or until cheese is set and dough is lightly golden. Allow to cool.

Directions Fig Topping

• You have two options here. You can slice up some fresh figs and arrange on top of the cheesecake slice and drizzle with honey. Or, halve the figs, place in a baking tin, sprinkle over some cinnamon, drizzle over the honey and grill for a couple of minutes. Once cool arrange on top of the slice.
• Put slice in fridge to further set.

Notes

Replace fig toppings with your favourite fruit. Fresh berries or mango make a perfect topping.

If you make this recipe please do take photos and send them to me.

If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life. 

And remember, if you haven’t already, grab your copy of Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes here.

Other similar recipes you might like are Raspberry Swirl Slice and Apple Crumble Slice.

Bren x

Her vision is to identify healthy food choices for her clients and be the ultimate wingman on their journey.

The recipes Penni creates are just wonderful and I’m so pleased to be able to share with you this glorious cake full of goodness which she created.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Gluten free Chocolate, Apple and Chia Cake

Number of Serves: 20
Serve Weight: 77g

Ingredients

4 medium apples
1 cup of brown rice flour
3 tb of chia seeds
½ cup of cacao powder
2 tsp of baking powder
¼ cup of almond meal
4 eggs
175g of honey
½ cup of coconut oil
Vanilla pod scraped or essence

Icing

100g of Dates
1 tb of Cacao Powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 deg
Grease and line a 20×20 cm cake pan
Grate the apples into a mixing bowl
Add the dry ingredients, mixing through
Crack eggs into another bowl and add the honey, vanilla and oil, mixing together
Pour the egg mix into the flour mix and stir well to combine
Pour into the prepared cake pan and let the mixture stand for ten minutes before placing into the oven
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or till a skewer comes out clean
To prepare the icing, simmer dates in 100ml of water till soft, approx 10-15 minutes
Add more water if becoming dry
Cool briefly, then blend till smooth
Add the cocoa powder and mix through, again adding water if too thick
Ice the cooled cake

Tip: The ‘icing’ makes for a delish dip with fresh strawberries or with whole walnut sandwiches, especially if some orange zest is added

‘Penni operates A Method of Cookery, a nutrition and wellness consultancy with a vision of providing healthy food choices for the rising dietary concerns people face today. As a qualified chef she applies cookery theory to sound nutrition principals and develops recipes and menu plans for long term sustainable change. To support the daunting journey of dietary change, Penni also offers nutrition & wellness coaching. She is a mum to three small children (5,3 & 20mth) and fully understands the ‘what’s for dinner?’ dilemma, weight management concerns and all the guff that come with grown up life. This recipe was developed for the many clients facing gluten exclusion and to prove to her sceptical husband, that gluten free can be delicious’

Check out Penni’s website here and Facebook page here

In cooking it can be used for savoury dishes like Thai-style dishes or soups, or sweet dishes like ginger biscuits and cakes.

It is healing, anti-inflammatory, grounding and warming. Who wouldn’t want to be ginger!

Used in moderation, ginger can have many health benefits. Here are three:

Motion sickness

I have suffered from motion sickness since I was a kid, but nothing settles the stomach better than a fresh ginger tea. Ideally, I try to have a cup of ginger tea before my journey or I cut a piece of ginger and place on tongue to avoid or reduce nausea before and during the journey. Alternatively, you can chew on some mixed with a little honey.

Treatment for colds

Ginger relieves cold and flu symptoms, soothes a sore throat and calms a headache. See the ginger tea recipe below, and keep it handy as the weather begins to bite!

Digestion

When drunk as a tea, ginger stimulates saliva, bile and gastric juice production to aid in digestion, especially if drunk before a meal.

Ginger Tea Recipe

Ginger tea is my drink of choice, especially in the cooler months. I love nothing more than wrapping my hands around a warm mug of ginger tea whilst inhaling the delicious and calming aromas.

Simply grate 2 tablespoons of ginger into a small saucepan, fill with water and bring to a rolling boil for a few minutes. Strain into a mug adding honey to taste.

To treat cold symptoms grate turmeric together with the ginger, add lemon and honey to taste (an alternative to fresh turmeric would be half a teaspoon of turmeric powder). When my kids get sick this is the first thing they ask for!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Honey stir-fried Asian greens with ginger and cashews recipe

Ingredients:

Serves 4

400 grams rice noodles, cook according to packet instructions

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

1 bunch bok choy (separate leaves from the stems)

1 bunch Chinese broccoli (separate leaves from the stems)

2 tablespoons tamari

2 tablespoons honey

½ cup cashews

Shallots, chopped and fried in coconut oil

Preparation:

Heat a wok over high heat and add ½ cup cashews and toss until golden and remove. Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil and fry the garlic, ginger, bok choy stems and Chinese broccoli stems until tender, then add the leaves and tamari and honey and stir- fry until leaves slightly wilt.

Stir in the cooked noodles and cashews and lightly toss and sprinkle with the fried shallots.

If you were a spice what would you be?

Have a zestful day!

Bren x

Simply pop all the ingredients on the stove while you get the kids lunchboxes ready for school. Within 15 minutes you have a delicious, creamy & comforting porridge that will have the kids’ spoons licked and their tummies full to start the day!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

3 cups of leftover brown or white rice

3 cups of milk, I choose raw milk, but almond, rice or coconut all work well

1 cup of water

1 dash of cinnamon

1 – 2 tablespoon’s of honey or ¼ cup of coconut sugar to taste

¼ tsp of vanilla extract or half a vanilla bean, split

¼ cup of raisins (optional)

Chopped or sliced fruit in season,

Nuts & seeds

Toasted coconut flakes

Preparation:

Combine the rice, milk, cinnamon & vanilla in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Then reduce heat to a low simmer for approx 15 mins.

Check consistency half way through and add more liquid if needed

Serve in bowls topped with seasonal sliced fruit, nuts and seeds, toasted coconut flakes or home-made granola. A dollop of yoghurt and an extra shake of cinnamon won’t go astray either.

ful life bites:

Although brown rice is more nutrient-dense, there isstill nutritional value in white rice. It contains protein, carbohydrates, iron, and some B vitamins.

Enjoy!

Bren x