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

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

 

let them eat cake..

So it’s the weekend and it’s dad’s birthday.

Sure I’ve been unwell, but that’s no excuse not to attempt a bit of baking. Just a little.

It can’t hurt can’t it?

Here is a shot of a new concoction. Here’s hoping it goes down well.

Introducing the Happy 66th. A ginger chocolate fruit cake infused with an espresso shot and a fresh raspberry baked centre. Topped with chocolate icing flavoured with hint of port.

All SF, LF, EF and GF of course.

Something tells me it won’t last the weekend 😉

x

J

berry nice to meet you..

I’ve been having a love affair with berries for quite a while now. All types. Raspberries, blueberries, mulberries, black berries. None are safe when I am around. Especially when I am in the kitchen.

So when I saw a recipe for a sugar loaded orange berry cake, I thought I’d have a go at turning it GF, SF and LF. As I was changing quite a few elements, I decided to stick with the eggs, at least for this attempt. I didn’t want to change too much and have it emerge as yet another GF baking disaster.

ready to go into the oven..

The Goods:

2 cups of gluten-free self rasing flour

2 tablespoons of honey

2 eggs lightly beaten

3/4 cup of almond milk

2 orange rinds

1/4 of freshly squeezed orange juice

130g coconut oil

150g raspberries

80g of blueberries

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of baking powder

Pre-heat the oven to 180c. Combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon in bowl, add the eggs, milk, rind and juice. Add the oil last and mix gently. Pour into baking dish. Use all the raspberries to top the cake, pressing them gently into mix and bake for 20 mins. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top and bake for a further 20 mins.

The final result? A dense, but tasty summery cake/pudding for afternoon tea or desert, best served warmed up on these chilly winter evenings. Drizzled with golden syrup or some greek yoghurt.

 

 

x

J

ginger + choc + banana = one hell of a tart

Since starting this blog I’ve become a bit of a bower bird when it comes to recipes. Collecting them wherever I can and hoarding them in my room.

Then I pull them all out when I think no one is looking and salivate over them. Pondering how to make them sugar free or more vegan or lactose friendly. Kind of  a bit like how I’m sure Scrooge McDuck used to feel about his big pile of green money.  Rolling around in it. Throwing pages of recipes in the air.

Only with so many SF, GF options out there I’ve started to get braver with trying other people’s recipes by adding my own mark with some minor tweaks.

This latest discovery is courtesy of  Madeline at Pureposana and her raw chocolate and raspberry tart which inspired me to create a ginger, choc banana tart, topped with raspberries. All GF, SF, Lactose Free, Dairy Free and Vegan Friendly 🙂

Tart Base

The goods:

150g almond meal or ground almonds

50g Flaxseed meal

50g dates

A handful of raw walnuts

3 heaped Tablespoons raw cacao

2 Tablespoons of coconut oil (melted) + a little for greasing

A pinch of fresh vanilla from the pod or a drop of extract

A Teaspoon of Maple Syrup

Blend the almonds, coconut, dates, vanilla and cocoa together, slowly add the coconut oil.

Grease (a 26 by 26 cm pie tin with a removable bottom) with coconut oil. Now I decided on ramekins, because it’s quite a dense tart/pie. Entirely up to you if you use ramekins or a pie tin. Either way, fold out the crust evenly, making sure it covers the rim then place it in the fridge to set while you make the cream.

Ginger Choc Banana cream

The Goods:

200g almonds

1/2 cup of melted coconut oil

1 tbsp ginger infused honey  (I get mine from markets with chunks of fresh ginger in it)

1 Teaspoon of crushed ginger

2 Tablespoon of raw cacao

1 Tablespoon of maple syrup

2 Small mashed lady finger bananas

1/4 cup of Almond or rice milk

A drop of Vanilla essence

A pinch of cinnamon  & Nutmeg

A dash of filtered water

Directions:

If you have time soak the cashews for 10-15 mins in filtered water. Then blend the cashews with honey, vanilla and  rest of ingredients except the cacao and oil.

Next add the cocoa and oil, blend until creamy. You may have to scrape down the sides of the blender but blend until you create a beautiful smooth texture.

Take the base out of the fridge and with a spatula layer the cream on top of the bases in the ramekins or the pie tin. Refrigerate for an hour at least to set, then serve if you can wait that long.

Toppings: raspberries and crushed pistachios (to give some vibrant colour contrast)

To put it simply. This was divine. I was inspired to use the milk to break up the richness while still keeping it lactose free and I love the combination of ginger, chocolate and thought banana would add an additional creaminess.

Just delish!

x

J

raspberry wonderland

My name is Jess and I’m a muffin-aholic.

At least I was until I discovered I couldn’t eat gluten.

Then all things like muffins, banana breads and biscuits went out the window. Yes there are GF biscuits and muffins in the woolies and coles natural health aisle. Yes I have tried nearly every one. And yes they taste terrible. And lastly yes they are full of more sugar then their ‘normal’ counterparts.

So seeking salvation in the form of a mixing bowl and recipe books I’ve finally cracked the GF muffin code. Not only GF, but also sugar-free and vegan friendly. Anyone who knows anything about GF cooking knows that finding the perfect balance for replicating a favourite dish is pretty much enough to drive someone to insanity.  Especially someone with no chef experience. Finding the right rise, density and texture without dryness has been this aspiring gluten-free girl’s goal and by george, I think I’ve got it.

There is no processed sugar added, which in my eyes makes it taste all the sweeter.

I thought I’d share the latest raspberry muffin wonderland I brought forth from the oven.

Raspberry Muffins

The Goods:

125ml Olive oil

125ml Almond Milk (Soy also works, but avoid rice milk as it’s not quite creamy enough)

1 Cup Gluten Free Plain Flour

2 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup

2 Tablespoons of Honey

2 Teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of crushed sea salt

300g/1 cup and a half – Frozen or Fresh raspberries

(makes 10 – 12 depending on how generous you are)

Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees celsius. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Mix the wet ingredients together and stir in dry ingredients. Once all combined add the raspberries

 

 Divide into paper cases

and bake until muffins are golden brown on top and a cocktail stick comes out clean.

and the final result; an empty muffin paper case!

 

 YUM 🙂

x

J