Get ready for fall with this warming gluten-free semolina pudding.

During a visit at my aunt’s place last week, she awaited us with fresh semolina pudding with plum compote She made it based on the signature recipe from my grandmother Lisbeth. With egg whites, cream, normal milk and lots of sugar. It tasted fantastic because it reminded me of my childhood. My grandmother taught cooking and crafts in school and cooked every day not only for her four children, but mostly also for a variety of their school friends.

I talked to my aunt about why my grandmother always made so many sweet dishes. Semolina pudding, vanilla pudding, rice pudding or – in my opinion inedible – bread crumb pudding. Of course, I was not aware of the reason at that time, but when my father was a child, the money was just short. A house had to be paid off and four children fed – and even if my grandmother had been working part-time back then, money was scarce.

But I believe that the women in my grandmother’s generation were true masters in somehow feeding the whole pack. I do not know if all the children got all the nutrients at the time. But they sure never felt like they were missing out.

This semolina porridge, of course, is very different than Lisbeth would have made it. It’s not as fluffy, and tastes different because there is no normal milk in it. But I used her recipe and added the lemon peel and the lemon juice to make it taste more like hers. It makes a small but important difference and turns regular semolina porridge into a heavenly semolina pudding. To add a few more nutrients, I like to add some chopped almond to the dish. Not necessary, but delicious.

Have fun getting ready for fall!

xx

Lynn

Enjoy!

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With these healthy plum muffins, fall has officially started on Heavenlynn Healthy.

Three weeks ago I got to spend a girls’ weekend in Duesseldorf with my best friends from high school and it could not have been more perfect. We laughed, we chatted, we hugged and we enjoyed spending time with the people that we’ve known for such a long time. Even though we have all chosen different paths, we’re still friends and this is something I do not take for granted. Right before we left, I decided to quickly bake these healthy plum muffins (because I felt like this was my food blogger duty), and we spent the whole 5-hour car ride catching up and munching on the juicy muffins. My girlfriends approved, and I hope you will too!

Our car ride was already so much different than it used to be back when we were 19. There would have been loud music playing, probably one or the other glass of champagne would have been involved together with lots of candy and other convenience products and there would have been lots of boys talk and other seemingly important topics. Now, 8 years later, one was finishing her thesis in the car, while the others were talking about work, insurance, our grandparents and the war, nutrition and body problems, and of course babies. It’s crazy how our priorities have shifted in these past years.

It’s not like we do not know how to party or enjoy ourselves anymore. Of course we enjoyed one or the other glass of wine, but we felt like it was so much more important to catch up, to talk and to listen than it was to dance the night away. Since I’ve never been particularly interested in partying anyways, I was very relieved to find that my girlfriends have changed as well. Our priorities have shifted drastically in the past 8 years, and I find that we’ve actually gotten a lot closer ever since we all have taken on major responsibilities in life.

Even though all of us admitted that we would have rather stayed home because life for all of us is so busy, we realized that taking this trip was much needed for all of us. Especially during busy times, it is so important to step out of your comfort zone and do something for yourself even though it requires a little push.

Before I’ll share with you the recipe for these delicious plum muffins, I just wanted to add a quick disclaimer for my healthy treats. Even though they are made from healthy ingredients, they are still treats and should be enjoyed in moderation. I’m not saying that you can’t indulge, but rather enjoy them one piece at a time :).

Now that we’re all on the same page, go make these now. You’ll love them.

Enjoy!

Merken

Merken

Merken

Merken

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I’ve had some exciting few weeks, which is why it has been a bit quiet on the recipe side, but today, I’d like to introduce you to a German specialty: plum cake with buckwheat & spelt dough. The original dough is obviously not made with buckwheat or spelt, but normal white flour, but white flour isn’t really nutritious, so whole-wheat it is. Germans eat their plum cake with a yeast dough – now, this might seem very strange to non-Germans, but trust me, it’s divine. The dough is similar to that of bread: flour, yeast, almond milk and a bit of coconut oil, and you simply top it with fruit, but you normally only see it with plums, or damsons, a special and very sweet kind of plum that we get over here. 

The real hero of this post, however, are my new plates and mugs from Broste Copenhagen*, one of my favorite interior and pottery brands. It’s funny, but you would think that I have a large cupboard of plates and bowls and could host a large number of people. However, I do have plenty of bowls and plates, but never more than two matching ones. So when Broste Copenhagen sent me this generous gift with their Nordic Sand collection, I did a long happy dance, because I am now finally able to host more than four people with matching plates and bowls. And look at how beautiful they are. I am madly, deeply in love with this brand. I already had a few of their items before, but I am now so proud of my collection – what a big step towards being a grown-up.

So now that we’ve briefly discussed my love for pretty tableware, let’s get back to this plum cake with buckwheat & spelt dough. Plum cake brings back so many childhood memories. For me it means family time in my grandmother’s garden. It means bees swirling around the cake, it means kids birthday parties, barefoot handstands and wheels on the grass. Those were the perfect summer days, and I remember it like it was yesterday. Now, unfortunately my grandmother is no longer with us, but I still feel the urge to make a plum cake every late summer according to her recipe.

Of course the traditional recipe has been tweaked to healthify it: instead of white flour I used a mix of buckwheat and spelt flour to give it more fiber and protein. The dough is also made of delicious coconut oil, almond milk, rice syrup (or raw honey) sparkling water to make it fluffy, as well as yeast. All recipes add up to a warming, but not overly sweet base, which, topped with sweet plums make for the perfect goodbye-summer and hello fall cake.

Now, to all my non-German friends, this plum cake with buckwheat & spelt dough is something to get used to, and they are not for everybody. I just wanted to tell you this straight up front, so you know not to expect a normal sweet cake dough. If you do decide to give it a try though, I promise that you will try something that you have never tried before.

Enjoy!

*A big Thank You goes out to Broste Copenhagen for equipping the Heavenlynn Healthy kitchen with a generous amount of their beautiful plates and bowls. Thank you, Sarah, for the wonderful gift!

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag your creations on social media using #heavenlynnhealthy.

I’d love for this blog to be a dialogue.

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