A Christmas challenge…

With Christmas around the corner and countless chocolates, sweets and biscuits in the shop windows, most of whom don’t cater for the GF people of the world, I’ve decided to set myself some christmas challenges.

I really like christmas. Correction, I love christmas.

I wear Xmas earrings and dress the dog up.

I am one of those people, so it stands to good reason that I also love christmas food.

This year I am attempting to re-create the annual christmas fruit cake gluten-free style. I would like to point out it’s never been attempted before. It is nanna’s secret recipe and there is a lot at stake.

Pride for one and disappointed bellies for two, come christmas day. My nerves are already on edge.

I also love rum balls. But this year, will attempt to make rum bliss balls. A much healthier take on the christmas tradition but with a hint of the good stuff.

I am also going to attempt some citrus spice fruit cake muffins and a desert. Thinking about what would make the most festive, but healthy desert. Forget the pav, I’m thinking of quinoa fruit spice puddings but will have to wait and see.

Fingers crossed as I’m planning on testing these recipes out over the next couple of weeks before the big day. Taste testers may be required 😛

x

J

choosing bliss this sunday morning

Blue skies. Sunshine. Light spring breeze. My runners and me.

The perfect start to a sunday morning.

My idea of bliss really. The rush after a run is like nothing else.

But to top it off today, afterwards I baked up a bit of a storm for morning tea and thought I’d share the end result

Fresh raspberry/strawberry scones. GF, NF, EF, DF, Vegan Friendly and SF.

I don’t need to tell you they were delish do I? ;P Happy Sunday all.

Also thought I’d share my favourite quote that I always think of on Sundays. Can set you up on the right foot for the rest of the week 🙂

x

J

“Every morning when I get up, the first thing I decide is: What do I want? Misery? Blisfullness? What am I going to choose today? And it happens that I always choose blissfulness. It is my choice, it is my life, “ Abdullah

my banana bread brings all the boys to the yard..

So my banana bread brings all the boys to the yard, damn right it’s better than yours. Well healthier anyway.

Who doesn’t love a good piece of banana bread? Toasted on a brisk morning and slathered with a nice bit of almond butter or honey. It’s refined sugar free, dairy free,  egg free, lactose free, gluten free and vegan friendly. It can also be made nut free.

The perfect other half to a cappuccino in my book. So I thought I’d share my banana bread recipe which has taken quite a while to perfect but which never fails to bring all the boys  and girls to the kitchen 🙂

The Goods:

2 cups of gluten-free plain flour

1/2 cup of coconut oil

2 tablespoons of honey (you can use agave syrup instead about 2/3cup will do if want to make it vegan)

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

1 cup of sultanas

1 handful of chopped walnuts

2/3 cup of Almond, Rice or Soy milk. I prefer soy for this one

1 1/2 cups of mashed lady fingers (about 4 decent sized ones)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 teaspoons of baking soda

1 teaspoon of xantham gum

2 teaspooons of baking powder

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 apricots (fresh or tinned in natural juices, no added sugar)

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, xantham gum, cinnamon  and nutmeg until all combined.  Add the sultanas and walnuts to the flour mix and stir until all are coated.In the meantime heat the coconut oil and allow to cool lightly. In a separate bowl mix the honey, milk, vanilla and maple syrup together. Add the oil and stir well. Add in the mashed banana and apricot and stir well. Once all combined at the wet mix to dry and fold in carefully until well combined.

Line a bread tray with baking paper and pour in the mix. Bake in the centre rack for 30-45 mins at 180 degrees. Rotate the tin after 20 minutes. Check the bread at 30 mins with a measuring stick and once it’s nicely brown on top it is ready. Allow to cool before removing from tin and cut, if you can stand it.

x

J

ps. would love to hear if anyone else’s banana bread brings the boys to yard or other breads for that matter and their recipes 🙂

“If we’re not willing to settle for junk living, we  certainly shouldn’t settle for junk food.” -Sally Edwards

 

blowing a chocolate raspberry kiss..

So as a little thank you to the hospital staff for all their care, compassion and understanding last week I though I’d send them a chocolate raspberry kiss.

Well an edible one anyway.

Along with some choc raspberry nut biscuits, I sent up some kale and carrot muffins, apricot and banana muffins and a couple of choc cherry muffins. All made GF, LF, DF, EF and vegan friendly chocolate.

Thought I’d share a pic of the biscuits. Saved a couple for home and they don’t look like they will last the day 🙂

x

J

 

to egg or not to egg?……

Baking a cake. Use eggs. That’s how the mantra usually goes right?

Well not so anymore. That rule book has been thrown out and re-written. Welcome to the world of vegan cooking.

Free from animal products for ethical as well as nutritional reasons.

I’ve never felt bad, guilty or sad about eating a humble egg nor have I been able to submit to a completely vegetarian lifestyle. But there is just something about vegan cooking and food. It’s just so damn healthy.

I completely understand and respect the reasoning behind the choice to go vegan, but for me, choosing vegan options in my cooking just makes the best sense in the world. I am already making the food I bake lactose, gluten and sugar free, why not animal product free?

Not to mention for all the egg allergy sufferers out there. They deserve a bit of foodie fun don’t they?

With more than a few friends who are vegan and a couple with egg intolerance who have had to give up cake and all things tasty, I thought I would give egg free baking a try.

When contemplating egg free baking these are some of the options:

a) Cold Turkey – ie no eggs at all. Chia seeds also work well. Mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with eight parts water. Leave to set and until it forms a gel. Using no eggs generally mean it will take longer to cook, may be crumbly or not hold well together and can also lead to dryness. Just means upping other ingredients and adding binding agents such as honey or maple syrup for the vegans.

b) Tofu – silken tofu: It’s actually not a bad option for those who want to go egg free. From scrambled eggs to frittatas and cakes to frostings, tofu has its place in many dishes. Best option is to substitute 1/4 cup of whipped silken tofu for each egg. While baked goods won’t brown as deeply, but they will be very moist and heavy. Best suited for rich, dense and moist cakes, breads, cookies and brownies.

c) Flaxseed meal: Easy to make at home or buy ready-made from the store. Whisk/blend together 1 teaspoon of flax-seed powder with 1/4 cup of water for each egg to be replaced. It makes the baked goods heavier and dense. Flax seed has a nutty flavour and works best with recipes that are grainier and nuttier such as bread, pancakes, bran muffins and biscuits.

d) Pureed Fruit: You can use mashed bananas, unsweetened applesauce, pureed prunes, plumped raisins and softened as an egg substitute. Use a 1/4 cup for each egg. Increase leavening by 25-50%. Bake items slightly longer, if necessary. It’s good for brownies and cakes mainly.

e) Soy Yogurt or Vegan Buttermilk: This is useful as an egg substitute in cakes, muffins and cupcakes. Vegan buttermilk is prepared by mixing non-dairy milk and vinegar together. If there are no other ingredients to make the baked item rise, then one of these can be used in place of the egg. Replace the liquid in the recipe with same amount of buttermilk or thinned yogurt. Replace baking powder with 1/4 as much baking soda. Best suitable for biscuits, bars, flatbreads, cakes, quick breads and brownies.

c) Commercial Egg Replacer Powder (like EnerG): Egg replacer powders including Ener-G, Bob’s Red Mill, Organ and other brands works best in biscuits. You can whip it together in a food processor or blender. Add one and half teaspoons of powder with two tablespoons of water. It’s completely flavourless and won’t affect the taste of the baked goods but is mainly only good for biscuits.

My go to favourites are flaxseed meal, fruit and yoghurt.

I can’t stand the smell and consistency of egg replacer. My goal with baking is for it to be as least processed as possible and somehow an artificial egg replacer in its powder form just feels wrong.

If I’m not going to use something which comes out of a chook’s bum, then I’m sure as hell not going to use something that is a powdered fake form of it.

But as everyone asks, why bother? My not just use eggs? Well, the answer is simple really. I’ve now made more than 15 baked items without it and it actually tastes better. It feels lighter, the natural flavours are stronger and is just that much easier to digest.

Who would have thought 12 months ago I would be looking at recipes online and in books and wondering, just how it would work and taste without eggs, dairy or sugar?

It might take me a little bit longer to make, but the final taste test is always worth the effort.

x

J

show me your skins

I was recently inundated with mandarins and oranges. A huge box full. Straight from the tree of a relative.

So you know the saying, when life gives you mandarins and oranges, you make orange cake. Or something like that.

So I adopted a Lemon Polenta cake recipe to make it vegan and sugar-free with the use of Honey and the ever helpful Chia Seed.

Citrus Chia cake

The Goods:

2 1/2 Cups of GF Self Raising Flour

1/2 Cup of  Polenta

3 Oranges

2 Mandarins

2 Tablespoons of Honey

1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon

1 teaspoon  of Nutmeg

1 Cup of Chia Seed gel

1 Tablespoon of Maple Syrup (pure Canadian not maple flavoured syrup)

1/2 cup Coconut oil

Scrub the skins of the oranges and mandarins until as bright as possible, then put in a saucepan of boiling water and cook for 30 mins at medium heat. Once the flesh and skins have gone soft and well cooked. Drain water and rinse with cold water. Once fruit has chilled. Halve and de-seed the oranges and mandarins. This is fiddly, but worth it. Seeds can be bitter when they are put in processor and you can’t remove seeds prior to boiling as the fruit flesh would be drained of their juices. Put the skins and flesh into a food processor and blend until it makes a fine, dense orange mix. Put aside.

In the meantime take two tablespoons of chia seeds (black or white – although black looks prettier giving it a lemon and poppyseed type look for the cake) and put into a small bowl. Add 8 tablespoons of water and mix quickly until all combined. Leave covered to set for 10 minutes. Once its set, it should be a thick jelly. Heat the coconut oil and add to a bowl with the honey, maple syrup and chia seed gel and whisk lightly. In another bowl mix and flour and polenta together along with a teaspoon of baking powder. Slowly add flour to the liquid mix until all is combined. Add the blended fruit and the cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour into a cake tin or loaf tin and bake at 180 degrees for 40-50 mins. Rotate the tin 180 degrees after 10 mins and keep an eye the top doesn’t get too brown. It’s a really dense and filling cake. So best served warmed up and with a side of greek yoghurt or for the ultimate citrus explosion, try the best zest side sauce. 

Best zest side sauce

1/3 cup of orange juice (freshly squeezed)

2 tablespoons of Golden Syrup

1/2 cup of Orange zest

1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon of All spice 

Put all together in a saucepan and cook at a low heat. Allow to reduce. Take off and pour over cake and serve with sugar-free/lactose free ice-cream or greek yoghurt. Yum!

x

J