Delaney Mes: Home-baked goodies using fair trade products (+recipes)

Coconut and cardamom muesli. Photo / Michael Craig

Home-baked goodies taste so much better if you know where the ingredients come from.

Now that the weather is well and truly wintry, I've been enjoying a bit more time in
the kitchen. I've been trying to keep a well-stocked pantry and making as many things from scratch as possible. This has included avoiding processed pre-packaged food and making my own.

Getting back to baking has come at a good time, as it is Fair Trade Fortnight.

Fair Trade Fortnight runs until May 22, and is an annual nationwide celebration of all things fair. Its main aim is to highlight the difference that choosing fair makes to millions of farmers and workers in developing countries around the world.

We have enormous power in choosing what we buy. We all have an obligation to make an effort to learn where our food comes from and the conditions in which it was produced.

Learning about the farmers growing our cocoa, coffee, tea and bananas will certainly leave a sweeter taste in your mouth. There's a lot of information on the Fair Trade website and this Fair Trade fortnight we're being encouraged to host a Fair Trade morning tea.

I've used a lot of Fair Trade ingredients in this week's column and they're all delicious - from Trade Aid's African raisins and Whittaker's Dark Ghana chocolate to All Good bananas and Kokako coffee beans.

As well as having a commitment to a fair deal for their producers, the products are excellent.

Pancakes are one of my favourite things to make on the weekend and using my All Good bananas, I experimented with a method I'd seen a few people use online.

It completely simplifies pancakes - just eggs, banana and few little extras to bind them together, make these a healthy, filling, naturally sweetened brunch.

I've recently found Bliss Balls, too. Again, sweetened only with dates, these natural bursts of cocoa are a filling, tasty, fun snack. I made these at the Christchurch Food Show a couple of weeks ago, and they were extremely popular.

A recipe like this relies on quality ingredients, though: good cocoa and good-quality vanilla, in particular. Bliss Balls are fun to make with kids -they especially like the rolling in coconut part - and they also make the perfect sweet treat after dinner, or for afternoon tea.

Finally, I delved into the world of home-made muesli. I've been increasingly concerned about the sugar levels in store-bought muesli, plus I usually just stick to porridge at this time of year, anyway. But I had tried some delicious (but expensive) artisan muesli and decided the time had finally come for me to try making my own. I was delighted by how easy it was. This recipe has a great mix of sweet and salty, plus the addition of one of my favourite spices, cardamom. In a jar with a ribbon around it I'd be thrilled to get something like this as a gift. And, as always, you can sub in or out ingredients to your liking.

Try Delaney's delicious recipes at bite.co.nz below

• Simple banana pancakes
• Cardamom and coconut muesli
• Bliss balls