#thesproutedkitchen

Book Review - Bowl + Spoon by Sara Forte

Hey everyone!!

Just to let you know, this will probably be a short review.

I first wanted to start out this review by saying: LOOK AT THAT COVER IMAGE!!!! Sara’s husband, Hugh, certainly did a good job with the photography in this cookbook. Everything looks scrumptious and I feel like reaching into the book and plucking out everything from the page. The photography itself certainly deserves 5 stars.

Second of all, every page I flip to is filled with amazing-sounding recipes that I wish I had the ingredients for to try out. Unfortunately, I don’t. I scanned through every page and each ricipe sounds delictable. I can’t wait to try some. I like the title of the book, Bowl + Spoon, and it defintely sums up every recipe. Another 5 stars and gold sticker goes to that.

Lastly, I just wanted to finish off by saying that I will be defintely checking out Sara’s blog, The Sprouted Kitchen. I get pretty obsessed with food blogs and if she has recipes like the ones in her cookbook on it, she will be gaining a new subscriber.

Check it out if you’re into good food and stuff.

Apologies for the really rubbish picture.

In my defence, these muffins were so good food styling went totally out of the window. Indeed, the boyfriend declared these 'the best muffins you've ever made'. High praise indeed. I wish I could claim this recipe as my own but alas, I cannot. It's the work of The Sprouted Kitchen. If you haven't already, do check out their website. The food photography is utterly gorgeous and all the recipes focus on using fresh, seasonal produce. 

I don't think you necessarily need to roast the strawberries, especially as they're in season right now but I was intrigued so did as I was told. Tip - strawberries reduce in size a lot when roasted! I didn't have enough and had to add some blueberries to make up the 3/4 cup required for the recipe. Roasting strawberries smell heavenly by the way!

One of the things I love most about The Sprouted Kitchen is the way their ingredient lists are always a little unexpected. I was thrilled to see this recipe requires coconut sugar as I've had a bag sitting in my cupboard for a while now. It gives the muffins a really earthy caramel taste and also a bit of crunch. There's no flour - just ground almonds (I didn't have any cornmeal as per the original recipe btw so I used 2 cups of ground almonds) and a bit of bicarbonate of soda and I love the smooth nutty taste this produces. The chocolate chips are optional apparently. Who are they kidding? I chopped up some Green and Blacks chocolate and stirred it in to the batter at the same time I added the berries. The original recipe is for mini muffins but I wanted to make regular-sized ones. The mixture only made 9 so scale up if you want more. Make sure you add another 5-10 minutes to the baking time too (if you're making larger muffins that is).