The neuroscience behind manifestation

your new favourite bread, salted honey espresso baked doughnuts

Today’s special sweet-salty cake doughnut recipe, below. Picture taken from my good old DSLR days.

Food news of the week:

Ottolenghi’s lemon blueberry cake is a real thing of wonder, made with lots of almond flour and a simple icing that really, well, makes it. I wouldn’t change anything in the recipe, which you can find in many places online like here. It’s soft, tender, and perfect with creme fraiche. Today’s restaurant review below is on Coal Office, which I have become strangely opinionated on. It’s got my favourite bread, for one, and has polenta so creamy and tender it puts the likes of the fried version at Ceru (a personal Eastern Mediterranean favourite) and rendition at Nopi to shame.

bread to show off to your friends, in today’s review below

Science of the week:

This week’s blogpost goes deep into prebiotics, what they do, and why you should care. They act as food for the beneficial bacteria that nourish your body and mind, and you can get them through specific foods, or in a more efficient way when combined in a pill in a synbiotic.

Insight of the week:

If you live in the current century then you without a doubt would have seen the words ‘manifestation’ and ‘journalling’ and ‘affirmations’ thrown around. It all sounds woo-woo, but some of the practices and concepts behind these words are rooted in neuroscience (and quantum physics). From the first perspective, there is a part of our brain called the reticular activation system (RAS), which helps bring more attention to elements in our life that align with goals that we repeat to ourselves regularly, thus helping us recognise opportunities that we might otherwise overlook if we did not focus our attention repeatedly on those goals and outcomes we want.

Recipe of the week:

Speaking of all things tender and soft, if you have a doughnut mold, please please make these soft and fluffy baked doughnuts. There’s no frying involved here like in a traditional doughnut recipe, making this easy, quick and simple to throw together.

Salted honey espresso baked doughnuts with a salted honey glaze (makes 6 mini doughnuts)

Ingredients

For the doughnuts:

145g (1 cup + 3-4 tbsp) self-raising flour, or use all-purpose flour and add 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

2 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

50g (1/4 cup) white sugar

30g (2 heaped tbsp) melted butter

60ml espresso (1/4 cup) –instant powder permitted, but straight from the bean is your best shot

1 egg

60ml (1/4 cup) milk

2 tbsp runny honey

For the glaze:

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp cocoa powder

85g icing sugar

pinch salt

coarse salt for sprinkling

3-5 tbsp milk

Directions