Hello! And welcome to part two of the recap from our most recent Food Photography and Styling Pracshop. There were just too many photos and things to say to squeeze into one post so here goes with all that went down on day two….starting with our traditional breakfast picnic. This time it was maple and honey granola with homemade almond milk, warm poached pears, yogurt and a dollop of creamed honey.
Maple and orange granola
I get that homemade granola seems like lots of work but truly it isn’t. Just add a few extra things to your shopping list, mix them all together and then bake until golden brown. Then bingo bango, you have yourself a big jar of homemade goodness that will brighten every morning and be pretty nice sprinkled over yogurt for pudding too. This recipe is my new favourite granola and I really hope you give it a try too. Much lighter than most recipes that are tossed with melted butter or vegetable oil, it’s packed with goodness and just delicious.
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 cups rolled oats
2 cups quinoa flakes
2 cups mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame etc)
2 cups toasted nuts (pecan and hazlenut are my favourite mix)
1 cup dessicated coconut
Finely grated zest of three oranges
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 cups puffed quinoa
Preheat oven to 170C, dig out two large baking trays and line them with paper. Now toss all ingredients together in a nice big bowl until everything is well coated. Spread across the trays and place in the oven for 10 minutes, remove and toss everything about a bit then return to the oven and repeat this process four times (so your granola cooks for 4o minutes or until it is golden brown).
Store in a glass jar until needed. Then serve with whatever milk, fruit, yogurt combination you fancy.
After such an early start everyone sat about drinking tea in the sun for a bit before we hit the studio for more practical shooting and styling sessions and a great big chat about social media, collaborations , editing and other good things.
Lemon and Olive oil cakes
These lovely little cakes are extra special thanks to the fruitiness of beautiful extra virgin olive oil just like the one produced right here at Kimbri, and the tart sweetness of Meyer lemons, though of course regular lemons and/or orange or lime juice and zest would also be delicious too. The recipe is an adaptation of this one here and is a not too sweet little afternoon treat. I splurged on a gorgeous tray of baby bundt moulds last week, justifying the expense by telling myself it was ‘for work’…hmmm…but of course you could just as easily bake these cakes in a muffin, friand or other small cake tin. Makes about 24.
Melted butter to grease the cake tin
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
juice and zest of one Meyer lemon
2 tbsp orange juice
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla paste
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup Greek-style yogurt
Lemon icing
1 cup icing sugar
Zest and juice of two Meyer lemons
Combine sugar and lemon juice and zest until you have a lovely thick consistency, adding the juice a little at a time.
Preheat oven to 180C and grease your miniature cake or muffin tin with melted butter. Combine the sugar and olive oil and beat until well combined, then add the zest, juice, eggs and vanilla and beat for another couple of minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and yogurt and beat for a couple of minutes. Now divide the batter between the cake tin moulds, filling each about halfway full . Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and springy to touch. Let cool in the tin for five minutes then turn out to a wire rack to cool completely before drizzling with the icing and topping with a rosemary flower for good measure.
This beautiful scene was styled by Stephanie Stamatis for us to shoot and I just love the colours and composition. Those amazing purple greens are a mixture of purple orach (a salty, spinach-like winter plant that’s beautiful in salads or wilted and tossed with olive oil) and mizuna with a carafe of Kimbri olive oil. The produce was picked that morning by local organic grower Fabrice Rolando of First Farm Organics.
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