A Recipe for Faith

To be afraid of failures is natural. Often we get so caught up in copying someone else’s perfected, no-fail, tried-and-tested recipes that we forget the basic essence of cooking: creativity. The fun of just throwing ingredients together, designing my own recipes, spontaneity and finally seeing the outcome was what sparked my interest in cooking. It was an outlet for my otherwise perfectionistic streak, although sometimes I do get anal about the measurements especially when it comes to baking. Nevertheless this morning I rediscovered the joys of spontaneity by conjuring my own recipe for banana nectarine puffins (a pancake muffin). It uses the exact recipe for a basic pancake; the only difference is that the batter was baked in my new mini-springform pan, which I was eager to put to good use. I had no idea how it would turn out, but by faith, I knew that a mixture of flour, eggs and banana could hardly go wrong. At most, I would suffer a lacklustre breakfast. So the experiment got going.

This was beyond what I had expected. It resembled a giant pancake souffle. Light, moist, squiggly, eggy insides were encased within a thin crust. Pieces of nectarine helped cut through monotony while crushed cashews, almonds and macadamia nut butter provided crunch for textural variations.

Likewise, today’s Bible reading was about Faith. Hebrews 11 is a description of faith in action — how God’s people, including Abraham, have always lived by faith and never once hesitated to listen to God’s call. In contrast I am still often gripped by a fear of the unknown – where these unknowns are big issues (unknown future) or small trivial things (unknown calories). Today’s reading is a timely reminder to give my life completely to Him, that things in world is just worldly, a passing sojourn onto something better.

Banana Nectarine Puffin
Serves one.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (32g) 10-grain pancake mix [Bob’s Red Mill]
• Dash of ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp chia seeds + 3/4 tsp water
• 1 (real) egg white, beaten until frothy
• 2 tbsp soy milk (Silk, unsweetened)
• 2 tbsp light coconut milk (Native Forest)
• Few drops of vanilla extract
• 1/2 (38g) small banana, mashed
• 1/4 yellow nectarine, chopped
• Toppings: macadamia nut butter, crushed cashews, almonds, crumbled almond coconut macaroon (Laughing Giraffe), more chopped nectarine

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Make the chia egg and let stand 15 min or until it forms a gooey film.
3. Measure the dry ingredients (flour and ground cinnamon) into a medium-sized bowl.
4. Mix together the chia egg, beaten egg white, soy/coconut milk, vanilla extract, and mashed bananas.
5. Mix dry and wet ingredients together. Fold in chopped nectarines.
6. Pour batter into mini-springform pan or muffin molds.
7. Bake 15-20 min.
8. Topping time!