Nutrient Packed Sweet Goods

Most of the recipes in this section are tweaked to be something to add to your health rather than take away from it.

Coffee Cocoa Olive Oil Cake

Hey guys! I am so excited to share this recipe. I developed it from scratch, and it is just the best.

It has no sugar – only 1 cup of cake flour, and you can use either butter or olive oil. I highly recommend the olive oil, the subtle flavor profile it gives the cake goes really well with the coffee and cocoa tones.

No Sugar!

The no sugar part… Well that is one of my old baking hacks, in the days when I really used to throw things together and break all of the rules. I had a lot (think a lot a lot) of flops and failures. But one of the really awesome things I discovered is sweetening cakes with blended raisins! And if you are about to leave my website completely after that last statement, hold on.

Processed raisins make one of the best natural sweeteners for cakes! Once baked, the signature raisin flavor almost disappears. And you get left with a sweet cake full of fibre, B vitamins, iron and potassium and all the rest that makes raisins so healthy.

Personally I don’t really like the taste of raisins. Except in porridge. I find it difficult to eat the on their own – and I often feel guilty that I do not make use of their super potent source of iron! That is why baking them into a cake, where the taste disappears, just makes me happy all over. If anything, they land a toffee / caramel like flavor!

Coffee!

Which brings me to the next aspect of this cake – the coffee flavor. YUM! You can use brewed filter coffee, or 3 flat teaspoons of instant coffee. Up to you. I actually liked the instant coffee final taste better!

And if you do not like coffee flavored cakes, then you can leave it out completely.

Coffee Cocoa Olive Oil Cake

Olive Oil

Did you know that olive oil is use extensively in mediterranean baking? I thought it was some trendy fad – you know, one of those that sounds great on paper, but is yucky in real life: S -but it is actually a traditional ingredient. What is more, olive oil is quite a celebrated baking item because it creates a ‘superior crumb’.

Please don’t think I am a baking fundi because I said that – it’s just a sign of too much cake research.

Olive oil is also supposed to give great flavor (???) to cakes. Crazy right?

Well, I had to try it to see what all the fuss was about. And hey – it’s good. Really good actually. The olive oil flavor effect is spot on. I guess it’s one of those weird flavor things like chilli and chocolate, or salt and chocolate. Or in this case olive oil and chocolate!

If however the whole idea is just unappealing, or you have tried baking with olive oil and hate it, then you can totally swop out the olive oil quantity below for butter. I have made this cake both ways, and it is fine either way. Just the amount of butter/olive oil varies (will include both amounts in recipe).

How to Get a Fluffy Texture Using Olive Oil In Baking Instead of Butter

One of the big things I hear with baking with olive oil is that it does not really cream as well as butter. Creaming butter aerates it and incorporates tiny air bubbles into the butter which helps to lighten the cake.

Beat the Egg White Well

Because olive oil is not ‘solid’ like butter, this does not work as well. So, to make up for this, you need to beat the egg whites really well – separately to everything else. Beat them until the cows come home and they form stiff peaks.

When folding these lovely stiff egg whites into your batter, do it gently and slowly, so as not to loose any of their precious puff.

Use Fresh Raising Agents

Anybody who does much baking will tell you that you must always make sure that your raising agents are fresh, otherwise your cake will not rise – and be dense and heavy. Anybody who has seen me operate in baking mode will know that positive thinking and optimism will not help to raise a cake without fresh raising agents.

Nope. I have tried this dear readers – using ancient baking soda, and telling myself enthusiastically that all will be well and the baking pro’s have it all wrong.

But alas, they have it ALL right, and fresh baking soda and bicarb are really essential to getting a nice fluffy cake after baking. Especially if you are using a non aerating fat such as olive oil in your recipe.

Coffee Cocoa Olive Oil Cake

Topping

So, that about tops it off… except for the topping! I used tamarillo mousse to top it. I really like the contrast between the flavors! However the Troll did not like the tartness from the mousse… So I am including a quick recipe for a alternative topping, which is the same in flavor as the cake – coffee and cocoa.

What Do You Think?

I want to start a system, where I schedule new posts to come out on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays. I was thinking that if I am unknowing gaining readers who come and check back to see if there are any new recipes, it would be nice for them if there were set days on which recipes came out. Is this a thing, or am I imagining it? I get super amped to check my favorite blogs to see if there is a new post, and I love the ones where I know what day it is – but maybe I am the only nut out there!

Coffee Cocoa Olive Oil Cake Recipe

Coffee Cocoa Olive Oil Cake

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Serves: hmmmm Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup raisins
1 cup coffee (instant or filter)
1 1/4 cup olive oil (or 1 cup butter)
3 large eggs
1 cup cocoa
1 cup flour
3/4 cup milk
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon salt (if you are using butter instead of olive oil, and it is salted - omit this salt)

Instructions

Prep Steps

First off, take out your raisins, and make a cup of coffee : ). Combine the coffee and the raisins. You can do this the night before, to fully hydrate the raisins and make them soft for blending – or just do it first thing, and by the time you need to blend the raisins and coffee they should have softened a little.
If you are choosing to use butter instead of the olive oil, then you must get it to room temperature before beginning to assemble your cake. If you are using the olive oil, you can of course skip this. What I do, if I forge to take the butter out before hand (which is about 90 – no- 100% of the time) is to cut it up thinly and spread the butter slices onto a plate. This I put into the sun, and it usually softens within 15 minutes. But hopefully you are trying the olive oil method, because it is just so yummy!

Assembling the Cake

Heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius).
Line a 9 inch baking tin with parchment paper and butter and flour the sides. I love to use the ones with the detachable sides!!! Never break a cake again trying to get it out of the tin. : )
Separate your eggs. Drop the whites into a container in which you are beat them. Drop the yolks into a large bowl.
Beat the eggs until the are form stiff peaks. This could take 8 – 10 minutes.
Now add the olive oil to the egg yolks. Beat this for 4 minutes. You won’t get that much aeration, but it is just as well to well combine the yolks and the olive and try to cream it a little.
Now blend the raisins and coffee. I use my trusty stick blender. But I think you can use a regular blender or food processor. Try to process them down to a creamy consistency.
Add the creamed raisin mix to the big bowl. Combine.
Now sift in the dry ingredients.
Fold in.
Pour out 3/4 cup of milk and dissolve into it the raising agents.
Add this to the mix and combine.
Now fold in the egg whites. You can do this 1/4 at a time. This will help to lighten and leaven the cake.
Now pour into your pan, and place into the oven.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a skewers, knife or toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. If the tin is cool enough to handle, pop out the cake and leave to cool for another hour on the wire rack before covering with a topping.

Toppings

If you live in a place where there are tamarillos, you can try out the tamarillo mousse topping. If you prefer a more cozy tasting topping, then go for this coffee and chocolate one below. We tried it and it is awesome

No-Sugar Coffee and Cocoa Mousse Icing

Soak 1 1/2 cups raisins in 1 cup coffee for 2 hours.
Pour off any excess coffee.
Add 3/4 cups coconut oil.
Blend thoroughly.
Stir in 4 tablespoons cocoa. You can also leave the cocoa out, makes a nice contrast with the cake! If you find that you want a stronger coffee flavor, and you have instant coffee, add in a little at a time until it is the strength that you want it.

April 25, 2017 0 comment

Breakfast ideas Cakes Gluten Free Nutrient Packed Sweet Goods

Gluten Free Poppy Seed Breakfast Cake

written by Daniela Klein

The other day my Mom was telling me about being a young computer programmer, before she met my dad (and became a pirate). She was living in a small German coastal town in Namibia called Swakopmund, in a little house on ‘Rue de Alie’ by the beach, earning more than she quite knew how to spend. A thing that she loved to do on her days off was to go to a place called Cafe Tref, and order a slice of their famous poppy seed cake, or in German, Mohnkuchen.

While she was telling me all this – I started to get really amped to recreate that poppy seed cake for her. Like a blast from the past on a plate!

So, with a bit of googling and whatsapping to Oma I concocted a recipe. And after a few re-bakes and adjustments – I got exactly what I wanted.

A poppy seed cake literally jam packed full of poppy seeds, with a good texture, and not overly sweet. Yummy!

My Mom was in poppy cake heaven – and I think I just found a new favorite cake recipe. There are so many things to love about it!

Poppy Seed Breakfast Cake Recipe

What I Love About This Poppy Seed Cake

Awesomely, this poppy seed cake is naturally gluten free, paleo, low carb, high in protein and can count as a superfood recipe!

Poppy seeds are pretty packed with nutrition and contain a hefty whack of minerals, fibre and protein. What gets me super excited is that they have lots of zinc – which is great for your skin. So with bite I think to myself that I am feeding my skin!

If you are following a gluten free or low carb eating plan, then this recipe ticks those boxes without your even needing to think about it.

I called it a breakfast cake – because it’s the kind of cake I can easily eat at 11 in the morning with some coffee. That’s the method my folks, Nick and I used to polish off my testers… But you can honestly eat this cake at any point. Top with cream or some sauce, and you can serve if for dessert. As well as stuffing one’s face with it at all other intervals or course.

Gluten Free Poppy Seed Breakfast Cake

Another reason for the breakfast cake name is that I used a cup of oat flour. Oat flour has a fancy ring to it – but you can easily take some normal oats, and turn it into flour if you have a food processor, high power blender or an electric coffee grinder.

In addition I have brought down the sugar quantity to make this into a cake which can stand as a breakfast substitute.

Lastly, on a technical note, I used a pretty detachable ring pan for a baking pan, as it gives that lovely old fashioned feeling! You can use any kind of pan – it does not need to be patterned! – but one where the sides are detachable is great for easy extraction once baked. I hate breaking cakes when trying to take them out of a pan!

Poppy Seed Breakfast Cake Recipe

Poppy Seed Breakfast Cake

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Prep Time: 20minutes Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups poppy seeds
1/2 cup butter (room temperature works best)
1 cup oat flour (or oats)
5 separated eggs
3/4 cup milk (you can also use water)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
Pinch of salt

Instructions

Making the Oat Flour

As I said above, if you do not have any oat flour – you can easily turn some oats into oat flour if you have a food processor, good blender or electric coffee grinder.

Take a cup of oats and process it in one of the above appliances until it forms a smooth powder.
Check to see if it has made a cup of flour. If not, do a little more to make up the shortfall.

Making the Cake

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius).
Combine the poppy seeds and the milk (or water). Using a stick blender, process them for 5 minutes. This will break up the poppy seeds a little and result in a nice texture in your cake. You can also use a coffee grinder for this – just be careful that you do not turn them into a powder, and then leave out the liquid from the maceration process.
Add the oat flour to the poppy seed mix, stirring to incorporate.
Place the butter in a large bowl and beat.
While the beater is running add the egg yolks one by one. Continue beating for 2 minutes after adding the last yolk.
Add the sugar and continue to beat for another few minutes.
Clean your beaters with hot water and soap. Give them a rough dry.
Place the egg whites and pinch of salt into a medium sized bowl.
Beat these until the they form soft peaks.
To combine all ingredients, fold in a quarter of the stiff egg whites into the yolks/butter/ sugar mix. (This divided combining helps with the texture)
Fold in the remaining whites.
Lastly fold in the ground poppy seeds/oat flour mix and the vanilla essence.
Scrape the batter into a greased baking pan. I like to use a pan where I can detach the sides, as the cake is apt to break when dropped out of an inverted pan.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a inserted knife or toothpick comes out mainly clean.
Allow to cool for 15 minutes, and then remove from the pan and leave to cool further on a wire wrack.

Serve plain, spread with honey, or topped with cream or another topping or your choice.

Notes

As mentioned earlier, this is a semi sweet cake. If you wanted a sweeter version - then you can either up the sugar quantity (it will not adversely affect texture), or top with honey, syrup, jam etc after baking or per serving.

Gluten Free Poppy Seed Cake Recipe

April 21, 2017 0 comment

Breakfast ideas Nutrient Packed Sweet Goods Vegan ♥ Dishes

Tangy Tamarillo Mousse

written by Daniela Klein

This mousse. Is so good!

I am tempted to just not say another word – because the quicker you make this mousse and eat it the better for everyone concerned.

But! I think some background info is in order.

What Are Tamarillos?

First up – tamarillos are a drop shaped fruit with a red skin – prevalent in the southern hemisphere. They grow practically wild, and bear buckets upon buckets full of fruit every season.

The skin is pretty bitter, and many people get put off of them by biting into the fruit whole. Don’t do this. It is the insides you are after.

How to make Tamarillo Mousse

How to Use Tamarillos?

Usually we eat the tamarillos from the farm just as they are. For breakfast!

But there are so many – I felt that it was my absolute duty to come up for a recipe which would really utilise their tangy flavor. First up I did a smoothie bowl. YUM! Creamy, tangy, tart, sweat… I will post it soon – but I just had to get this mousse recipe to you immediately, no delays.

Usually people make tamarillo jams, chutneys and preserves and use them in sweet and sour flavored meat dishes. But none of these were rocking my boat.

So after the smoothie success I did some mental scheming, and came up with this what you see here. Just go and make it. If you can get your hands on some tamarillos – just do it.

xxx

Tangy Tamarillo Mousse

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Serves: 2 Prep Time: 10 mintues Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

30 tamarillos
5 heaped tablespoons coconut oil
4 teaspoons honey or maple syrup

Instructions

Halve the tamarillos.
Squeeze out the centres into a bowl.
Add the coconut oil and honey.
Blend all ingredients together well. I used my trusty blender stick. You will probably be left with some remains of pips. These you can sieve out if desired.
Once you have finished blending and sieving, spoon or pour into ramekins.
Refrigerate for about 45 minutes or until set.

Serving suggestions:
To jazz up these mousse ramekins, you could serve them as a dessert with whipped cream. Or enjoy plain as a breakfast treat! : )

Notes

You can adjust the the honey quantity up or down depending on your taste. I preferred it on the tart side, but if you are a sweet tooth, then a little extra honey will merely act to heighten the flavor and sweetness.

How to make Tamarillo Mousse

April 12, 2017 0 comment

Nutrient Packed Sweet Goods

10 Minute Vegan Messy Mousse (No sugar)

written by Daniela Klein

May I present you with a monumentally accidental and valuable discovery. A ‘mousse’ which is ready to eat in 5 minutes, and happens to be vegan and sugar free.

The secret? Bananas.

I stumbled upon this the other day while busy making up a bowl of batter for a batch of No Flour Baked Brownies. It was the morning of Pa Russy’s birthday. I had been scratching my head wondering what we could possible get him that he did not already have (it seems to get harder and harder to find nice presents for men as they get older – simply because they have accumulated all the things that they need or want already!). I feel that giving someone a gift which they have to now use and look after, when it is not something they actually wanted, is just absurd. So I decided that No Flour Baked Brownies were the best option, as they would not take up space for that long – and were sure to be enjoyed.

And so I cheerfully started to put the batter together. It looked so yummy I couldn’t resist licking some off of a teaspoon. It tasted so yummy that I couldn’t resist taking another teaspoon full to the Troll. He then told me, can’t we just eat this? After a little thought, I packed away the baking things.

As so was born the easiest dessert I have yet to make.

All you have got to do is whizz up bananas, cocoa powder and coconut oil until it is smooth and creamy.

For pizzaz I chose to also chop up 2 pears into thin slices, toast some pecan nuts, and layer messily in brandy tumblers.

I am not a huge fan of dessert and sweets, but even after an enormous birthday meal I managed to tell myself I had space for some Messy Mouse. : )

The Taste

The banana flavor does come through a little, so if you are not a fan of bananas, perhaps try increasing the cocoa quantity. However if you like a hint of banana, then the cocoa called for should be just right for a creamy chocolaty taste which is not too bitter.

The texture is perfect – stiff but still smooth and creamy!

10 Minute Vegan Messy Mousse Recipe

10 Minute Vegan Messay Mousse Recipe

10 Minute Vegan Messy Mousse

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Serves: 4 Prep Time: 10 mintues Cooking Time: 0 minutes

Ingredients

6 bananas
2 1/2 cups cocoa powder
1 cups coconut oil
3 teaspoons vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
3 small pears
1 cup pecan nuts

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except the pears and pecan nuts, in a bowl. Blend with a stick blender, or in a blender or food processor until mousse consistency is reached
Toast the pecan nuts in a pan with some oil or butter.
Thinly slice the pears.
Take a nice deep breath – think a happy thought. Start layering the mousse and pear, scattering pecans as you go.
Serve!

Get Ingredients on Amazon:

Bananas
Coconut oil
Vanilla essence
Pecan nuts

10 Minute Vegan Messay Mousse Recipe

March 4, 2017 0 comment

Fast Healthy Meals Gluten Free Nutrient Packed Sweet Goods

Easy Chocolate Flourless Pancakes (or chomlets)

written by Daniela Klein

A couple of days ago, while I was working out how I wanted to do my Stuffed Pumpkin Pot Recipe and trying out a Failed Cheese Spread Recipe – I got really hungry.

And all I could think of were chocolate pancakes! To the top of my brain floated Shay’s yummy sounding flourless pancakes from Living Chirpy…

And I just had to give it a go! So in between my pumpkin adventures (we won’t talk about the cheese spread), I whipped up a bowl of flourless pancake batter. With a chocolaty twist!

All I used were four eggs, two bananas, 1 cup cocoa and 4 tablespoons of sugar. The cooking of these pancakes were slightly less effortless, but at the end of the batch I had it down. Let me share my tips.

At first turning the pancakes was tricky. They were browning too fast at the bottom, but were not quite cooked enough to turn. I found that lowering the heat was the best way to get the pancakes to a cooked consistency for turning. I also used a cake lifter instead of the spatula for the flipping.

Beware, the pancakes come out incredibly dark. As long as you have the flame on medium low, then they are probably not burnt. The cocoa gives a very dark color to begin with, and banana browns very quickly – so don’t freak out and think that the pancakes are not worth serving. Trust me they are!

Once I had finished the batter and had a nice big stack of pancakes piled up, I chopped up a juicy pear. I plunked the slices on top, and looked around for something to use as cream. No cream on hand, so I decided to implement a little brain wave I discovered in December.

I took out some coconut oil, and beat it in a jug with a small amount of water. This causes the fat to emulsify, back into cream! I think one could do it with butter and water as well, but I must still try that one. I love this hack, because there are some situations where cream is absolutely necessary. Like for chocolate pancakes. But I am not one of those cultured souls that have a container of cream as a permanent feature in the refrigerator (sometimes I wish I was).

The other thing that I love about ‘making my own cream’ from coconut oil – is that it is vegan!

Anyway, I plopped a large dollop on top on my pancake pile, made a pot of coffee and called the Troll. We sat down on the veranda and proceeded to gobble down the chocolate pancakes.

Flourless Chocolate Pancakes

The Troll pronounced them very good, and asked me what was in them. When I told him that they were flourless, then he said ‘So they are basically just eggs and cocoa?’ to which I replied ‘Yes, with two bananas.’

He said that that was weird, and it meant that we were practically eating a chocolate omelette. Which I couldn’t argue. However he soon forgot about any weirdness and finished the pile with gusto. With me helping of course. At some point we decided that we should really call these low carb chocolaty pancakes chomelletes!

Oh sorry, my spelling has been corrected – apparently its chomlets. Much more chic in Troll Universe.

Anyway, last thing before I leave you with the recipe, don’t leave out the pear! It was the bomb. ; )

Chocolate Pancake Recipe

Chomelette Recipe

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Serves: 2-3 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 large bananas
4 eggs
1 tablespoon flax seed powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar (you could probably also use honey)
1 cup cocoa
4 tablespoons of coconut oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
One pear sliced for topping

Instructions

Cream the eggs and the sugar. Add the raising agents and vinegar.
In a separate bowl cream the bananas and coconut oil together. Add the cocoa and flax seed powder to this.
Combine the two bowls, gently folding in the egg mixture.
Heat up a pan with a small amount of oil.
Pour in your first pancake.
Turn the heat down to medium low.
To help the pancake firm up for flipping, you can place a large pot lid over the pan.
Once firm enough to flip, turn the pancake and cook for half a dozen moments on the other side.
Remove from pan and repeat until the batter is finished.
Top with sliced pear and cream of your choice (vegan or regular) and drizzle with honey.

Notes

If you are struggling to turn the pancakes, then try using a cake lifter instead of a spatula. It works well.

Chocolate Pancake Recipe

February 8, 2017 0 comment

Breads Nutrient Packed Sweet Goods

Pearana Bread

written by Daniela Klein

Haha! I am sure you are wondering what in the heck is Pearana Bread…

The other day I had the yen to bake a banana loaf. No, there weren’t heaps of fly covered old bananas yet – but I was moved to never the less.

In order so that it could be eaten by the ‘Off The Sugar’ crowd (Pa Russy and my Troll), I decided I was going to leave out the sugar completely and make it with brown flour. As I was putting the mixture together I got a sudden feeling of panic that the bread wouldn’t be at all sweet, just taste vaguely of banana – and be some sort of bland non descript bread without a proper identity. Noooo!

And then a beam of inspiration hit me. Quickly – grate a pear into it! Grabbing a large pear, I did just that.

Into the oven went my banana (and pear) loaf.

About and hour or so later the Troll and I sampled it. Y.U.M. It’s so great when one comes up with a new recipe that really rocks – and meets special dietary requirements!

Just in case you are wondering exactly what the pear adds to this loaf – let me wax lyrical quickly. The pear gives the loaf quite a lot of lightness surprisingly. It of course adds in a bit of sweetness, and I found that the bread was beautifully crumbly. This I think is partly due to the grainy texture of pears.

Another thing I added in, was a couple left over blocks of my Vegan Chocolate Bark. It melted in gorgeously, and yielded up delicious chocolaty spots! If you want to do this too but do not have the chocolate bark, you could use regular chocolate.

In case you were wondering what the other loaf in the pics are – that is a variation of my Last Minute Soda Bread. I hate heating up a whole huge oven for one measly loaf, so I try to double up when baking. These two actually make a great combo in the oven. Often when trying to bake two things at a time – the prep times are different, and you end up practically baking them separately anyway. Fortunately the Pearana Bread (hehe: P) and Soda Bread are so easy to put together you can do the mixes simultaneously no problem.

Anyway, enough me talking, the quicker you try this loaf the better for all concerned. : D

Maybe it was the leftover wine from Sunday Lunch I was sipping on while baking which brought the stroke of pear genius! : P

Pear and Banana Bread Recipe

Pearana Bread

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Serves: 4-8 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 large bananas
11/2 cup brown flour
1 large pear
1/2 cup coconut oil
3 tablespoons ground linseed (for extra fibre - optional)
4 heaped tablespoons coconut flour (if you do not have just add in 2 tablespoons extra flour)
3 eggs
dash of salt
Cinnamon
3 squares of chopped up Vegan Chocolate Bark (you could use regular chocolate if you want, just use a few more squares)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Dash powdered cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

Beat the eggs on high until they are light and foamy.
In a separate bowl beat the banana and coconut oil together until well combined. To this you can add all of the other ingredients except the vinegar and raising agents.
Now dissolve the raising agents and add the vinegar into the beaten eggs.
Combine the two bowls, and the chopped Chocolate Bark or regular chocolate. Fold gently to combine.
Pour into a well greased and floured bread pan.
Set to bake in the oven at 356 degrees Fahrenheit (170 degrees Celsius) for about 25 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the loaf.
Once done, turn out and leave to cool on a wire wrack.

Notes

If you find the mixture slightly stiff, you can add a small amount of water or milk. Do not overdo it however. : )

Pear and Banana Bread Recipe

February 6, 2017 0 comment

Nutrient Packed Sweet Goods Vegan ♥ Dishes

I ♥ You Cupcakes

written by Daniela Klein

It’s so tough watching people who love sweet treats not being allowed to have sugar! You might hate me forever after this – but I am not the biggest sweet tooth. But give me a plate of oily chips and I am drooling at the mere thought…. So although I do not relate to sugar cravings – I can imagine if someone told me that french fries and chips were to never be eaten again, I would be devastated!

The Troll has taken the whole no-sugar diet very well. But then again he is usually on another planet anyway (it’s a wonderful place that planet – I sometimes wish that I could dwell there too!), so I do not think he notices the deprivation much.

Pa Russy however is slightly different. While he has been absolutely stalwart in his resolve, one realises that it is hard won, when he tells up of all the cookies he noticed being eaten by people at the farmer’s market on Saturday.

And so I decided to try out a reduced sugar cupcake recipe – with ‘icing’. And to add to the challenge I had set myself, I thought I’d make it vegan too boot. I didn’t tell Pa Russie that though, otherwise he might have thought I was trying to bake broccoli or something into these cupcakes. : )

I also wanted to dye the cupcakes naturally pink with some beet water (the water that one has cooked beets in).

Thankfully (to Ma Elizabeth!)I had some xylitol to get me going. Xylitol is a form of sugar which is classified as ‘crystallized alcohol’ and has a much lower glycemic index and calorie count than regular sugar. And then because I am not a cupcake expert I went online and looked for a nice vegan recipe. I chose Dana’s funfetti recipe from The Minimalist Baker.

To start off I combined the sugar with coconut oil and creamed the heck out of it. On the side I dissolved the raising agents in some coconut milk with a little vinegar. Then I combined the two bowls, a dash of the beet water and the dry ingredients all together, folding away. Once combined the batter went into a muffin pan and in to bake.

An unshaven Troll in his lair eating pink cupcake batter is a funny sight.

While it was baking I was scratching my head as to what to do about the icing. Of course for pure vegan purposes you can just make regular icing but with vegan butter. But I did not want to flaunt all of that sugar laden icing in front of people who are Off The Sugar.

As I was cleaning up, I spotted my can of coconut milk. As is often the case with coconut milk, the top part had hardened into a cream. I had only used the liquid milk underneath for my baking. So I grabbed this, and added some sugar, and a little beet water. I creamed this until the sugar had dissolved. It was so pretty and pink!

Thankfully I did this pinking of the icing, because when the cupcakes came out of the oven they were not one bit pink. Boo! I will try this again, and make the batter a darker pink. I’ll let you know the results..

To add a touch of confectionary flair I decided to ‘pipe’ the icing over the cupcakes. Because I am not a real baker, I do not have one of those thingys that make those beautiful poufs of icing. So I grabbed a small plastic baggy, and cut off a small hole from one corner. I then filled the bag with icing and started carefully piped my swirls. Not 100% classy perfection, but definitely cute – and really healthy!

Tip: Midway through my piping, I think the heat of my hands was making the coconut cream too runny. So, knowing the nature coconut oil to firm at the drop of a hat, I popped the baggy into the fridge for a few minutes and had some of my coffee while I waited. When the bag came out I could pipe perfectly!

Needless to say the cupcakes were a hit otherwise they would not be here! Even I thought there were yummy; ).

I Love You Cupcakes Recipe

I ♥ You Cupcakes

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Prep Time: 25 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk from the can (you will use the top solidified part for the icing)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup of xylitol sugar ( you can use regular if you want)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Dash of salt
Beetroot water to color the icing + extra sugar to sweeten it

Instructions

Cupcakes:

Combine the coconut milk and vinegar.
Cream the coconut oil and sugar until smooth.
Sift in the dry ingredients to the second bowl.
Add the raising agents and vanilla to the first bowl.
Combine the bowls and fold together.
Spoon into a muffin tray and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius) for about 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.
Once baked remove from the oven and let cool on a wire wrack.

Topping:

Combine the hardened top of the coconut milk in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of sugar and a little beet water. Beat this until it is smooth. You can add more beet water if you want a darker pink. Remember we are talking a matter of drops here, beet color is potent!
Once done, spoon into a small sandwich packet or other plastic bag. Put this into the fridge until you are ready to top the cupcakes.
Remove the bag from the fridge and cut a small hole at one corner.
Apply pressure and ‘pipe’ your topping onto the cupcakes.

Notes

If the coconut milk which you are using does not have a harder layer of coconut cream at the top - then you might want to try your hand at manufacturing you own. I have had success creaming coconut oil with a little water to form a cream. If you try this and it comes out sloppy, you can cool it in the fridge for 10 minutes or so and it will stiffen up!

I Love You Cupcakes Recipe

February 3, 2017 2 comments

Gluten Free Nutrient Packed Sweet Goods

No Flour Baked Brownies

written by Daniela Klein

I am so happy! I have thrown a flourless brownie recipe together and I am proud of it. Today! I have so many other recipes photographed and ready to post – but I just have to jump ahead to this one. I get so worried about taking reasonable photos – that it consumes me. But this brownies recipe is going onto the interweb as is!

Let me explain quickly. These brownies do not have any flour in them. But they feel like they have flour in the recipe.

Today is The Troll’s ♥ birthday. Not that it is making much difference to him – he thought that he already turned 35 last year, when it is actually only this year. And so the absent minded shall inherit the earth…

Any way, instead of baking a cake – I asked him if I could make some brownie cupcakes. Because of the new dietary requirements in the household, I decided to try my hand at a flourless and reduced sugar mix.

First off I blended two bananas with 1 cup of coconut oil. Once smooth I added a dash of salt, some spices and a small amount of coconut flour and powdered linseeds. In a separate bowl I creamed 4 eggs and 4 tablespoons of xylitol sugar. To this I added one baking soda and powder and 2 teaspoons of vinegar. I combined the two bowls together, and as an additional source of sweetness (inspired by the successful no-sugar Pearana Bread) one grated pear. I folded this all gently together and spooned into a greased muffin pan.

Into the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius) and let them bake for about 30 minutes.

Once they had cooled I added an extra decorative touch of inverted dusted icing sugar hearts (this totally goes against the reduced sugar theme, but I couldn’t resist… and it is just dusting, so nothing to lose sleep over). Because the tops of the muffins/cupcakes are not flat, I did a little DIY hack.

In case you want to do this decoration step, let me list it here.

DIY Inverted Icing Dust Heart Hack

I cut out a paper heart. I did this by folding a strip of paper in half, and then cut out the one side of the heart on the fold. This way the heart is symmetrical. I then took out 3 sewing pins, and pinned the heart to each cupcake and dusted them with icing sugar. Slightly time consuming – but it’s my wonderful man’s birthday! Let’s be honest, without him there would be no blog, let alone the myriad of other things he brings into my life (include odd socks and endless dirty coffee cups: P). The hearts look lovely, so it was well worth it.

And that was that. Pa Russy, Ma Elizabeth and the two of us sampled them together ( although I had sneaked some of one to make sure that they were fit to be served to others), and we agreed that they were good! Not just, they are healthy and it is possible to eat them without wishing you had a real brownies in hand… No, really just good all round – even if you had no clue that they contained no flour and only about 2 tablespoons worth of ordinary sugar.

I am thrilled! My recent gluten free/ no flour recipes have been flopping recently (which you might have guessed if you have read Lentil Salad Sprinkles). I almost thought I had lost my no flour touch! Now more than even I wanted to have some flourless super powers in hand, what with all these dietary requirements coming down like a summer storm.

No Flour Baked Brownies Recipe

Flourless Brownies Recipes

Can you see where I photoshopped the dirt off from my thumbnail? Doing intermittent farm work and taking “holding brownie cupcake” shots do not go hand in hand. I wasn’t going to say anything – but that seems just downright sneaky. 😀

No Flour Baked Brownies

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Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients

2 bananas
1 cup coconut oil
4 eggs
2 cups cocoa
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/3 cup linseed powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pear to grated
4 tablespoons xylitol sugar
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of cloves
dash of salt

Instructions

Cream the banana and the coconut oil. You can use an electric beater or a blender or food processor. Add the coco, coconut flour, linseed powder, salt and spices. Grate the pear into this.
Cream the eggs and the sugar. Add to them two tablespoons of vinegar and 1 tablespoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda.
Combine the two bowls together and fold gently unto will combined.
Pour into a greased muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius) for about 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted.
Allow to cool some in then pans, and then remove the muffins/cupcakes and let them further cool on a wire wrack. You might have a little trouble getting them out of the pan, but just be persistent and gentle.

Decorative dusting:

Cut out a small heart from paper. If your muffins are not flat on top, take three pins and pin the heart onto the muffins one at a time, dusting each with icing sugar.

Notes

If left out, the muffins tend to 'absorb' the icing sugar dust. So if you taking these to someone or some where, or serving them at a particular time, rather do the decorating shortly before serving.

No Flour Baked Brownies Recipe

February 2, 2017 0 comment

Nutrient Packed Sweet Goods

Easy Brownies with Rye and Pecan Nuts

written by Daniela Klein

Rye brownies? You are probably thinking those sound awful! Like a sort of sourdough style brownie. But they are not, they are actually very good. The rye flour is somehow able to hide perfectly behind the cocoa, and gives additional flavor. In a good way. : )

Like the Cayenne Pepper Crunchies, this is another unlikely trendy recipe that my mother has developed. She must be a channeler or something because I guarantee you that she does not sit on the internet recipe hunting.

Let me describe these brownies to you quickly, so that you can get an idea of their texture and taste. Firstly, this recipe calls for a lot of cocoa. Which I love, because I strongly feel that a brownie is the perfect opportunity to pack in a proper punch of cocoa.

The 8 tablespoons of cocoa leave this brownie very dark and chocolaty. However the sugar is reduced from the original recipe from my Granny, so the texture is not very sticky. The brownies also do not have that kind sugary “cracked look” top that the very soft brownie recipes have. I am not sure if this is because of the reduced sugar, or the rye flour. It is probably both. Anyway, if you want to recreate that kind of a brownie top, then begone! Its awful to make a recipe which does not come out how you planned.

While we are on texture and what not, although you can of course skip out the nuts, I recommend that you do not. They add that more-ish factor, where you just want to take another bite and find a bit of nut.

One more important element. DO NOT OVERBAKE. This is crucial. If you allow the brownies to overbake, then they will become dry and lose their soft moist beautifulness.

The reason why I called the this the easy brownie recipe is because of two things. It is virtually fail safe if you follow the directions and do not allow it to overbake. The other is that all you will need in terms of baking paraphernalia is a pot, and a baking pan, and something to mix with. It could almost be called a 1 pot recipe!

Easy Rye Flour Brownies Recipe

Easy Brownies with Rye and Pecan Nuts

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Serves: point of debate Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 30 mintues

Ingredients

250 grams butter
9 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
5 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup chopped pecan nuts
1/2 cup rye flour
1 pot
1 greased and lined baking pan
Stick blender, cake beater or whisk

Instructions

Place the butter in your saucepan. Melt the butter gently and turn off heat.
Mix in the baking soda.
Mix in the cocoa to a smooth consistency.
Mix in sugar and eggs with a stick blender for 1-2 minutes.
Add pecan nuts and flour.
Place mixture in a greased and floured baking pan.
Bake in a medium oven for 15 minutes and then turn down the heat to medium-low for a further 10-15 minutes, or until firm.
Do not overbake.
Cut into squares when cool.

January 17, 2017 0 comment

Nutrient Packed Sweet Goods

Cayenne Pepper Crunchies

written by Daniela Klein

My mother has been making crunchies for years. She doesn’t even measure any more. I think she makes crunchies twice a week. It’s just her and my dad, but they use those crunchies like rocket fuel! Or rather, gardening fuel.

Because they use these crunchies as a sort of in-between-meals source of energy, my mom has been tweaking the recipe to strike a balance between nutrition and taste. The result – good! They are sweet enough to satisfy one’s craving and make the crunchies tasty, but not so sweet that you are gonna max out your sugar intake allowance for the week.

The original recipe was a standard oats, coconut, flour, sugar butter combo. Over time Mom added in pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and her latest addition, cayenne pepper! Cayenne pepper has been making its way into all sorts of things these days. But the last thing I expected was for my mother to trend set and pimp the crunchies. : )

But true to what seems like a trend between parents and children, I was wrong. And so what does cayenne pepper do to a batch of crunchies?

It is quite an interesting combo. Cayenne pepper immediately brings to mind curry and hot savory dishes. However when added to a recipe like crunchies, it acts a lot like ginger. Just without the ginger flavor. That is probably the best way I can think of to describe it. And the ginger effect without a ginger flavor is actually really great. I love ginger, but I would feel like a bore if I made ginger flavored biscuits all the time. However with the cayenne pepper, as one does not get any dominating flavor from it, just a pleasant warmth, one can use it again and again.

Before I start with the recipe, I just want to let you guys know that I tried to make a batch of these, gluten free style. I wasn’t actually meaning to make a gluten free version, but that was the only flour left in the house. Determined not to be discouraged, and quite certain that gluten free flour would work fine, I plunged into my baking.

I did everything else as usual. However alas when I opened the oven, I could immediately see that the crunchies looked like they might be crumblies. Which indeed they were. No amount of cooling could harden those babies.

Biting down my disappointment, I scraped my crumblies into tupperwares and hit them at the back of the fridge in shame. The Troll however managed to discover them, and pronounced that what they lacked in consistency they made up for in taste. Aahh imagine if they had been firm?

Anyway, my point is – if you are gluten intolerant and want to adapt this recipe it most probably will not work. I hate being so negative about anything, but its even worse baking something with which you are disappointed.

My suspicion is that because of the reduced sugar, and the lack of gluten (binding agent) in gluten free flour, there just was not enough to hold things together. Perhaps, if there were more sugar in the recipe, or one added some xanthan gum things would work out. But for now, my verdict is – no gluten flour with this crunchie recipe!

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Ingredients

2 cups oats
1 cup coconut
1 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
3 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
250g butter
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
Sunflower & pumpkin seeds to taste (approx 1/3/ cup)
Large baking pan
Large pot for melting butter and mixing all ingredients
Spoon

Instructions

Melt the butter in the pot at a low heat.
Mix in sugar, soda and vanilla essence.
Stir on a low heat for 5-10 minutes to melt sugar.
While you are waiting for the sugar to melt you can preheat the oven to medium heat.
Turn off the stove and mix in the dry ingredients.
Scrape the mix into your baking pan, pressing it down with back of a metal spoon.
Bake until golden brown.
Once the crunchies are done, allow them to cool slightly in the pan.
Cut into squares and allow to fully cool at which point you can remove them from the pan and pack into a tin or tupperware.

Notes

If you are not a fan of spiciness, then you might want to halve the cayenne pepper quantity at first. If you find that this is too little you can always sprinkle some on the top of the crunchies after they are baked.

January 15, 2017 0 comment

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