Strawberry boost muffins

November 11, 2016March 9, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes you just really need cake.

Yesterday was one of those afternoons.

And since I had a mountain of rapidly deteriorating strawberries and I wanted something that would actually fill me up long enough to last until dinner, I made up these little guys. They are sweet and filling – a few tweaks on my pear surprise muffins (I made the ‘surprise’ dark chocolate part with half of the batch for the kids too).

125g stewed/tinned pears (drained from their juices)
115g ripe strawberries
50g vegan butter/tasteless coconut oil, melted
160g milk of choice (I love unsweetend vanilla almond milk here)
1 medium overripe banana
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (omit this if you use the vanilla almond milk)
1 1/2 cups wholemeal spelt flour OR 1 1/4 cups GF flour mix (I like Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose) plus 1/4 cup almond/seed meal
1/2 cup rolled oats OR desiccated coconut OR rolled quinoa (mill these first if you want to hide the ‘bits’) – you can also use nut or seed meal here
2 tbsp flax seeds (Optional)
1.5 tsp GF baking powder
pinch pink salt flakes
OPTIONAL: 2-4 tbsp coconut sugar or maple syrup – if you have a sweet tooth.

Into your blender/processor/nutribullet/thermal cooker place the strawberries, pear, banana, Nuttelex/oil, vanilla, milk and syrup (if using). Blitz until smooth (Speed 7, 12 seconds)

In a separate bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients (Speed 4, 6 seconds)

Add the dry mix to the wet and mix to combine (Speed 4, 8 seconds, scrape down and repeat). Don’t over beat. I often just tip the wet mix into the bowl with the flour mix and combine by hand.

Spoon mix into a lined standard muffin tin and place in a preheated moderate oven for about 20 minutes or til golden and they spring back to a light touch.

Allow to cool on a wire rack … then enjoy in peace with a cuppa …wishful thinking?!

Makes 12 and they freeze and defrost well.

Enjoy 🙂

Spinach and Basil Pesto

October 31, 2016January 2, 2020 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

Pesto is such a yummy addition to so many meals, but with pine nuts and parmesan being a standard in most recipes, it’s normally not an option for us.

But this year my both my basil and my spinach are growing great guns so I was inspired to make a pesto that would use our fresh produce and be safe.

1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
1 packed cup fresh spinach leaves
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp pink salt flakes
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup pepitas (50g)
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (40g)
1/4 cup hemp seeds (40g)
50g extra virgin olive oil

Dry fry the seeds in a hot frying pan. Keep a close eye on them, stirring regularly, as it only takes a couple of minutes for them to go golden brown.

Add all ingredients, except the olive oil to your blender/processor/thermal cooker and process until quite fine (speed 8, 6 secs, scrape down and repeat).

Process again as you slowly drizzle the oil through the top opening of the machine (speed 4). Process until oil is well combined.

Use immediately or freeze in ice cubes for future use. Makes about 1 cup.

Some ideas for use:

Rub onto chicken pieces or salmon before baking
Add in a handful of sun-dried tomatoes at the processing stage and stir through pasta (Especially awesome if you top with some crispy bacon and home made garlic croutons!)
Fold through some cream cheese (soy based or dairy) or a ripe, mashed avocado as a great dip.
If you enjoy the Parmesan flavour that a lot of pesto has, add in a tbsp of Nutritional Yeast

Enjoy 🙂

Strawberry, apple and chia jam

October 15, 2016October 17, 2016 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

Yesterday I did our markets shopping was seriously delighted to find a tray of strawberries for $8.

15 punnets of those bad boys – that’s a lot of berries!

We have several punnets in the fridge, I hulled 6 punnets and froze them for smoothies and baking and use another punnet in my morning muffins …. and there was still more.

So … jam it is – why not get a head start on teacher’s Christmas gifts?!

I’ve never made a preserved jam in my Bellini (Thermal Cooker before) so this was my first go …. and it so very easy!!

Now – this is lower in added sugar than most jams, and it is unrefined sugar – but it is still a lot of sugar… so, you know – be sensible 😉

600g punnet strawberries, hulled
400g sugar of choice (I used coconut sugar)
the juice of 1 lemon
1 green apple, chopped (skin on)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tbsp chia seeds

Place the strawberries in the bottom on the machine, then add all the other ingredients, except the chia seeds.

Set the machine to 100C, Speed 2 for 15 minutes.

Then turn the temp up to ST (Steam Temp), but the speed down to 1 for a further 15 minutes.

Add in the chia seeds and and cook on ST, Speed 2 for a further 8 mins.

Check that it is ready (Check out these tips from Taste on checking for setting point)

Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal.

*If you don’t have a thermal cooking machine, check out my Mulberry jam post for a traditional jam making method*

Enjoy!!

Salmon and Zucchini Tart

September 22, 2016September 20, 2016 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

A long time ago (and it may as well have been in a galaxy far far away!!), before kids and before food allergies, Libby made us a delicious salmon tart. Goodness it was wonderful but since it was full of sour cream and egg whites it has been off our menu for 8 years.

Then I made some Pumpkin Tarts for my Mum’s birthday and the filling for them gave me an idea!!!

So I set to work to try and re-create Lib’s amazing Salmon Tart and we ate the results tonight. Result – amazing!!!!!! The texture and flavour were SO similar and everyone loved it (well, ok, except my little miss … but … really, if I only cooked what she loved, we’d live on sausages!). Peter ate seconds and thirds, Harry gave it 99%, Will licked his plate clean and asked for it in his lunchbox and George demolished it (but to be fair, he does that with almost everything).

I’m so excited to have little versions of these that I made with the left overs for lunch tomorrow!

300g silken tofu (medium firm)
3 tbsp hummus
2 tsbp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp pink salt
few grinds of black pepper
1 tsp fresh chopped dill
1 tbsp rinsed and chopped capers
400g tin of salmon, skinned and boned
small zucchini, grated and squeezed of its liquid
1/3 cup aquafaba (liquid drained from a can of chick peas)
1 sheet of shortcrust pastry*

*today I made a spelt pastry by pulsing together 200g flour, 1/2 tsp pink salt and 120g cold vegan butter into a crumb. Bring it together to a disc, cover and place in the fridge for half an hour. Roll out to dish shape/size on a floured surface and then blind bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes.

Remove the tofu from it’s package, drain and pat dry.

Into your blender/food processor/thermal cooker place the tofu, hummus, nutritional yeast and salt. Process until smooth (Speed 4, 20 seconds).

Add in the salmon, dill, pepper and capers. Process until smooth (Speed 4, 20 seconds).

Pour into a large bowl and stir through the zucchini.

In a stand mixer place the aquafaba in a small, clean bowl and mix on highest speed for about 4-5 minutes or until you get soft peaks (not as stiff as for a meringue).

Tip the whipped aquafaba into the salmon mix and gently fold through until incorporated – go gently, you don’t want to lose all of that lightness.

Pour the salmon mix into the blind-baked pastry and return to the preheated oven for 35 minutes.

The filling will still be quite soft on removing from the oven, but will firm up more as it cools.

Slice and serve with salad or veg.

It does well being reheated and last a couple of day in an air tight container in the fridge.

Enjoy!!

Roast pumpkin tarts

September 20, 2016June 15, 2021 ~ desertcook ~ 4 Comments

My wonderful mum – who has been the inspiration for much of my baking, and certainly gave me her love of cooking – recently turned 60.

vickis-high-tea-078 — With my Mum, my Nanna and my little miss – all frocked up to celebrate.

She had a most delightful High Tea at her home to celebrate and I was asked to do the baking for those with special needs. So much fun to make little treats!

One of the ‘normal’ foods that was served was quiche. Quiche is delicious, no question, but normally full of gluten, egg and dairy – So I came up with my version and it was really well received …. even my carnivorous husband who knew what was in them!

The filling for the tart was based on this one from Minimalist Baker.

2 handfuls of diced pumpkin
garlic olive oil
1 tsp fresh, chopped rosemary
1/2 tsp pink salt
a few grinds of black pepper.

Preheat your oven to 200C, brush the pumpkin with the oil and sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until golden and roasted.

2 sheets ready bought puff pastry (that fits your diet)
300g silken tofu (medium firm)
3 tbsp hummus
2 tsbp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp pink salt

Remove the tofu from its package, drain and pat dry.

Into your blender/food processor/thermal cooker place the tofu, hummus, nutritional yeast and salt. Process until smooth (Speed 4, 20 seconds)

Cut the pasty and place into greased muffin tins.

Spoon the tofu mixture into the pastry cases.

Top with pumpkin, pressing it down into the mix, and add some pine nuts if your diet allows.

Place into a preheated moderate oven and bake for about 25 minutes.

Serve warm or cool. These also reheat well and will last 2-3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.

You can make a bigger version too – blind bake your pastry in a pie dish, add in your desired veggies (I added spinach to this version) and then top with the tofu mix.

Enjoy!

Coffee (and chocolate) Syrup

September 2, 2016December 20, 2024 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

One year for Christmas when my brother and I were about 10 and 12, Mum and Dad gave us joint presents. A milkshake maker, an air popped popcorn maker and a recipe book for kids.

What an awesome summer that was – we ate a lot, and we ate well!!

20… ahem… something years later, the popcorn maker still features regularly, now for my children. In fact we used it today for our Friday movie 🙂

I’m not sure what happened to the milkshake maker.

I suspect the recipe book is still hidden in my Mum’s recipe cupboard … But I really don’t need it anymore, since the ice coffee recipe from it is firmly cemented in my brain (along with the reminder inscribed on the inside from Mum to clean up after we cooked!!). I would make it for mum ready when she got home from work on a really hot summer’s day. Or at the weekends when my parents had been hard at work in the garden.

Now it is my husband who is the fan… and Will requests it in decaf form!! We’ve cut back the sugar and converted it to an unrefined form.

See below the recipe for a chocolate syrup.

1.5 cups Instant coffee (whichever brand you enjoy, but it must be instant)
2.5 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1.5 cups boiling water

Mix together all ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer.

Simmer gently, stirring regularly, for about 10-12 minutes. (Or 100C, speed 2 for about 12-14 mins).

Pour into glass jars and seal.

To use the syrup mix a tablespoon or two with a glass of cold milk of your choice and some ice blocks blocks in a blender/Nutribullet/food processor/thermal cooker.

It is certainly a much cheaper option to make this at home if you are a regular buyer of the in store or cafe variety!.

If you like different flavoured coffees you can replace the vanilla with an essence of that flavour (hazelnut is particularly nice!).

During my university years I became (just slightly) coffee reliant and one of my very favourite drinks was a (large, eek!)’Very Vanilla Chiller’ from a certain popular coffee chain. There’s no way I could drink one now without feeling ill, but I have discovered that this syrup together with a handful of ice blocks and very cold unsweetened vanilla almond milk, makes a very close approximation!! Yum!

You can also use a splash of this syrup in plain buttercream icing to turn into into coffee icing for Banana cakes etc.

To make a chocolate version of this syrup follow the same method, but use:

1 cups Cocoa
2.5 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1.5 cups boiling water

This version is great mixed with ice blocks and milk of choice for milkshakes or stirred through hot milk for decadent hot chocolate … make sure you add some mini marshmallows 😉

Enjoy 🙂

Choc Chip Cookies

August 30, 2016June 29, 2021 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

Together with the apple crumble that I’ve posted about before, these cookies (in their original form) were sustenance for my husband during exam time at uni … and he says, convinced him to marry me!

I remember making these as a ten year old for my younger brother and eating them together, while they were still warm, over school holiday movies. I must have made a hundred batches of them over the last 20 years! So the other day when my crook William asked if we could make cookies for afternoon tea, I decided to update these to make them safe for our family, and to add a few more nutrients than your standard cookie … and they are now as popular with my kids as they were with my husband, and my brother and I decades ago!

Please see below the recipe for the coeliac friendly version

120g vegan butter at room temperature
50g sunflower seed butter (or nut butter)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour (half wholemeal)
1/3 cup almond/seed meal (OR use and extra 1/3 cup flour here)
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 tsp GF baking powder
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
pinch salt flakes
1 egg OR 1 egg of egg replacement
4 squares of dark chocolate, roughly chopped (about 40g) OR choc chips

In your blender/food processor/nutribullet/thermal cooker place the oats, baking powder, salt & sugar. Blitz to a fine flour (speed 8, 10 secs). You can skip this step if you’re happy with whole oats in your cookie.

Add in the flour and mix to combine (speed 4, 6 secs).

Add in the butter, seed butter, vanilla and egg then pulse a few times to roughly combine before processing to a dough (speed 4, 8secs, scrape down and repeat if required)

Fold through the chocolate. (Speed 4, 6 seconds)

To make a coeliac friendly version: This is one of those times when you can do a straight swap for a GF flour mix for the wheat flour. Replace the oats with shredded coconut.

Form a teaspoon full into a ball and spoon onto a lined baking tray, allowing space to spread. Press down gently.

Cook in a preheated moderate oven for about 13-15 minutes.

They will be very soft when you remove them from the oven. Allow to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. They will be crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Makes about 20.

Lasts for a few days in an airtight container…. if you’re lucky!

Not a fan of choc chip? Weird, but ok! Use sultanas instead!

Enjoy 🙂

Banana, Seed & Oat Muffins

August 27, 2016January 6, 2019 ~ desertcook ~ 4 Comments

These muffins are super easy to make (quick enough that we’ve had them fresh for breakfast!), they are light, moist and sweet but low on sugars, they freeze well for lunchboxes, and best of all – my little people love them!

See below the recipe for the Coeliac friendly version.

300g spelt flour (half wholemeal)
3 heaped tbsp of your favourite seed (mill these first if you want to hide them!)
1/3 cup rolled oats (mill these too if you need to hide ‘bits’)
2.5 tsp GF baking powder
3 tbsp honey/maple syrup/date paste
3 tbsp melted Nuttelex/Vegan butter/tasteless coconut oil**
1 large overripe banana
220ml milk of choice (I love unsweetened vanilla almond milk here)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
pinch pink salt flakes

Into your blender/processor/nutribullet/thermo cooker place the banana, Nuttelex, vanilla, milk and honey. Blitz until smooth (Speed 7, 10 seconds)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt, oats, seeds and flour.

Add the dry mix to the wet and mix to combine (Speed 4, 10 seconds, scrape down and repeat). Don’t over beat. I often just tip the wet mix into the bowl with the flour mix and combine by hand.

Spoon into muffin pans (lined or well greased) and bake in a preheated moderate oven for about 20 mins or until they are well browns and spring back when gently pressed.

Makes 14-6.

Enjoy 🙂

For an even more nutritious muffin, I reduce the flour by 50g and add in another 50g of almond or seed meal.

To make these ones Coeliac friendly I replaced the spelt with 1.5 cups GF flour and 1/2 cup almond/seed meal mix, then replace the oats with equal measure of rolled quinoa or desiccated coconut. Increase the milk by an additional 2 tbsp.

** If you want to cut back on your oils, 1 heaped tbsp of sunflower seed butter (or other nut butter) plus 2 tbsp of aquafaba work well here to replace the 3 tbsp of oil.

Self Saucing Chocolate pudding

August 12, 2016June 24, 2024 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

This warm gooey pudding seems to be a bit of an Aussie ‘classic’ for dessert, and one I have enjoyed at my Mother-in-law’s home many times. But my little miss has always missed out … until now.

“Pleeeeeeease can we make cake for dessert?!”.

Well, it’s Friday – sure! 5 minutes to whip it up and it baked while we ate our dinner. Yummo!! One happy little girl … who wants the left overs in her lunchbox … um, maybe not flossy-dot!

Pudding:

80g neutral tasting oil (I’ve used rice bran or melted Nuttelex)
100g sugar (increase to 130g if you are a sweet tooth)
3/4 cup SR flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 tsp baking powder
130g milk of choice
2 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp aquafaba (liquid drained from a can of chick peas) OR 1 whole egg.
Optional: handful finely chopped dark chocolate or choc chip of choice

Sauce:

2 tbsp cocoa
2 tbsp sugar
350ml boiling water

In a large mixing bowl, use a whisk to mix together the flour, nut meal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cocoa.

In a smaller bowl whisk together the milk, oil, egg/aquafaba and vanilla.

Add the wet mix to the dry and whisk together until well combined. Stir in the chocolate peices if using.

Pour into a greased baking dish.

Mix together the cocoa and sugar for the sauce and sprinkle it evenly over the top of the cake batter.

Pour the boiling water evenly over the top of cake, but do not mix it.

Place the dish into a preheated moderate oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the cake is well risen.

Oops – forgot to take a pic before we dug in!

Serve warm, on its own, or with a little ice-cream of choice.

Serves 6-8

Want it gluten free? use 160g of a good all purpose GF SR mix (I like Bob’s Red Mill) with 1 tsp of psyllium, and increase the milk to 150ml.

Want it nut free? Replace the almond meal with another 1/4 cup of SR flour and omit the baking powder

Need it for a bigger crowd? The recipe doubles perfectly.

Enjoy 🙂

Spiced Apricot Muffins

June 17, 2016June 22, 2016 ~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

These little delights are a bit of a twist on my Spiced Plum Cake.

So easy to make and speedy to get in the oven, the kids love them … and I might be quite partial to one with an afternoon cuppa too!

225g stewed/tinned apricots (drained from their juices) – this is about 8 whole fresh fruit
50g Nuttelex/vegan butter/tasteless coconut oil, melted
160g milk of choice
1 medium overripe banana
4 tbsp honey (use rice malt or maple syrup for the vegan version)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
2 cups spelt flour (i do half whomeal and half white) OR 1 1/2 cups GF flour mix plus 1/4 cup almond/seed meal
2.5 tsp GF baking powder
pinch Himilayan salt
1 tbsp coconut sugar

Into your blender/processor/nutribullet/thermo cooker place the apricots, banana, Nuttelex, vanilla, milk and syrup. Blitz until smooth (Speed 7, 10 seconds)

In a separate bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt, spices and flour (and almond/seed meal if using).

Add the dry mix to the wet and mix to combine (Speed 4, 10 seconds, scrape down and repeat). Don’t over beat. I often just tip the wet mix into the bowl with the flour mix and combine by hand.

Pour into a lined muffin tin and sprinkle with coconut sugar.

Place into preheated moderate oven and bake for about 18 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.