Chocolate Hazelnut spread

May 7, 2015March 2, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ 6 Comments

So, after recent skin prick tests and blood tests came back showing that my biggest boy’s reaction to hazelnuts had decreased, he was booked in to the children’s hospital for a food challenge.

Scary but exciting. We were asked to bring along some Nutella … not something we have ever had in our house. So I dutifully bought it and Will ate it with great gusto! He was absolutely delighted to have a new food – especially such a sweet treat one – in his diet! Thankfully he passed the challenge and now needs to include hazelnuts in his diet at least once a week for the next couple of years.

Given that the first ingredient in a jar of Nutella is refined sugar, then followed by oil, it is not something I really want to feed to him on a regular basis! So I set about making a sweet choc nutty spread of my own, without all of the added extras.

2 cup hazelnuts (toasted and skin off – or follow the instructions below)
1 heaped tbsp cocoa (or 1 flat tbsp cacao)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp flaked pink salt
120 mls boiling water (or up to 160 if you want a thinner spread)
8 medjool dates (pick the big fat juicy ones!)
Optional: 1-2 tbsp maple syrup

If you bought raw nuts, roast them first. I did mine on a tray under the grill (and watched them very carefully!!!)

While the nuts are roasting, seed the dates and cover them with the boiling water. Add the vanilla and salt to the water.

Process the hazelnuts (after rubbing them in a towel to remove skin) for 10 seconds on speed 10. (This will take longer in a food processor). Their oils release best while they’re hot so if you’ve bought roasted nuts, place them in a hot oven for a couple of minutes first. Scrape down sides and repeat.

Add the date mixture, water and all, to the hazelnut mixture and process again until well combined (10 secs on speed 8, scrape and repeat twice).

Depending on the level of sweetness you enjoy add the maple syrup here and process again to combine well (Speed 7, 10 seconds).

Store in a clean, airtight glass jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

20160804_124520-1 — Yep – you can eat this one by the spoonful too!!

Enjoy 🙂

P.S. If you enjoy cheesecakes, leave about 1/3 of a cup of this mixture in your processor and blitz it together with 200g of your favourite plain biscuit (we used LEDA arrowroots) to make a great crumb base. It heads to the freezer until needed!

Fridge Jam

April 23, 2015April 23, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

I came across the idea for this easy fridge jam at thankfulexpressions.blogspot.com

I love that it is healthier and much faster than the normal jam making process!

4 small apples, peeled and cored
3 cups strawberries, hulled
4 tbsp coconut sugar/maple syrup (Optional)
40ml water
4 tbsp chia seeds

Stew the apples together with the water and sugar (if using). (100C on speed 2 for about 10 mins in the Bellini)

Add strawberries and blend until you reach your desired consistency for jam

Add the chia seeds and stir until well combined.

Pour into sterlized jars and place in the fridge. The chia will swell and help the jam to set.

This jam doesn’t have nearly as much sugar as regular jam so it will not keep as long, but that’s not so much of an issue when you can make it so quickly and in smaller quantities!

This also works well with mulberries in place of the strawberries. For the mulberry version I add in the sliced skin of a lemon or an orange to the stewing apples, then remove then skin when I put the jam into jars.

Enjoy 🙂

Sticky Date Cake

April 20, 2015April 4, 2017 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

My mum makes the most amazing Sticky Date puddings. They truly are a decadent ‘sometimes food’ but the amount of cream and butter in the sauce means that they have been out for us for the past few years. I’ve missed the sweet warm stickyness so with this dessert I aimed for something similar but a lot healthier!

See below the recipe for a Coeliac friendly option too.

20 medjool dates, pitted and halved
2 cups very hot water
1/2 cup coconut sugar
120g vegan butter or sunflower seed butter
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
4 cups wholemeal spelt flour
4 tsp GF baking powder
3 teaspoons ground mixed spice
2 medium, very ripe bananas
1 cup sunflower seeds
150ml maple syrup
2 tsp tasteless coconut oil

Place dates, water, butter, sugar and bicarb in the Thermal cooker and cook at 100C on speed 2 for about 6-7 minutes, or until the mix comes to the boil. Add in the bananas and start processing on speed 3 and working your way up to speed 5 for about 20 seconds, or until the mixture is fairly smooth and consistent. (Do this in a saucepan over a medium heat with regular stirring and then transfer to a food processor or blender to do this without the thermal cooker) In a large separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, spices and seeds. Pour the date mix into the flour mix and fold together until all combined. Grease a large baking dish (this is a big cake!) and pour the mixture in. Cook in a preheated 150C oven for about 45-50minutes. As soon as you remove it from the oven, use a skewer to poke holes all over the cake. Mix the syrup and coconut oil together and heat gently until it is melted. Pour it evenly over the top of the cake. Best eaten warm (and with just a little cream or ice cream if your diet allows!)

To make this cake Coeliac friendly replace the spelt with 3 cups of plain GF flour mix and 1 cup of almond/seed meal.

Makes about 20 serves. This cake is quite moist and so freezes well and a half mixture works well too.

If you aren’t going to eat the cake straight from the oven, poke holes in the cake but leave the syrup off, then warm the cake and the syrup and pour over just before serving.

Enjoy 🙂

Hot Cross Buns

March 22, 2015March 29, 2018 ~ desertcook ~ 2 Comments

These are a more traditional version of those yummy Easter treats. They are a little quicker and less complicated than the ones I posted a couple of years ago but they aren’t gluten free because of the spelt (You can find the other version here). Or check out the my simple coeliac version after the recipe.

These are delicious and my whole family scoffed them (… well, Ellie did, after I picked out her fruit 😉 I guess I’ll be making another batch that is fruit free). And I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more rapid response of ‘more more more!’ from George!!

Bun mixture

280 g luke-warm water
2 tsp instant yeast
500 g spelt flour (I do half wholemeal – and this year I’ve use half Khorasan)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (optional, but it works as a bread improver)
1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
40 g coconut sugar
1 tbsp mixed spice
30 g Nuttelex/Vegan butter/melted tasteless coconut oil
200 g sultanas or mixed fruit

White cross mixture

equal parts plain GF flour and water.

Mix together until smooth and place into a piping bag (or a freezer bag with a hole cut in the corner).

Sugar Glaze mixture (optional)

equal parts water and sugar

Place both ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir regularly and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.

——

Place all of the bun ingredients, except the fruit in a large food processor, in this order: water, sugar, yeast, flour, spices, salt, oil/butter, vinegar. Pulse until the dough is roughly brought together. (speed 5 for 15 seconds followed by speed 2 for 1 minute)

Tip onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. (just bring it together if you’ve use a machine kneading function)

Tip the fruit onto the dough and knead again until the fruit is evenly distributed. OR if you’re using a machine with a knead function – tip the fruit in gradually through the top opening during the start of the kneading.

Form dough into a ball and place in a bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

Knock the dough down with your fingers and then break into 12 even pieces and place on lined baking tray.

Leave tray in a warm (breeze free) area for about 45 mins to rise.

Pipe the cross on to the buns and then place in a pre-heated 180C oven for 15-18 minutes.

If you wish to use the glaze, gloss them with the sugar glaze using a pastry brush as soon as you remove the buns from the oven.

Serve warm with you butter of choice.

Makes 12 buns.

To make a coeliac friendly version: replace the spelt flour with 2 cups of a plain GF flour mix plus 1 1/2 cups of almond or seed meal (I make my seed meal from a equal combination of milled sunflower, pepita and flax seeds). GF breads only get one rise (without the gluten there isn’t the same structure for the CO2 ,formed by the yeast, to get trapped), so once you have made the dough, bring it together (skip the kneading step as there isn’t gluten to develop!) and break into 12 pieces of even weight, place on a tray and cover, allowing to rise for about 45 mins to an hour. (place them a little closer together than I did here, to encourage them rising up, instead of out!). Apply cross and bake following normal recipe. As with all GF products, they are best eaten fresh, but if you freeze them in an airtight wrap and bag, whilst still warm, the defrost and rewarm quite well.

To make these a chocolate version (an anathema to me, but my kids have begged for them!), add handful of vegan choc chips. Don’t put the choc chips in the food processor, as they’ll get shredded. Rather add them in at the same stage you would have added the fruit. Then pipe with a chocolate cross (the normal cross mix, but remove 1 tsp of the flour and add 1 tsp pure icing sugar and 1/2 tsp cocoa).

Enjoy – and I hope that this year your Hot Cross Buns will remind you of the joy and hope that the Cross of Jesus has brought 🙂

Salted caramel shake

March 21, 2015October 30, 2018 ~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

Such a delicious breakfast treat for a hot morning …. or for lunch on any given day for my littlest miss and mister!

It packs quite a few calories but it will keep you full for the whole morning because of the protein and fibre.

You will need a good high powered blender/processor for this recipe. I’ve made it in my Nutribullet and Bellini and both work well.

500ml cold milk of choice (my favourite is unsweetened almond milk)
1 large frozen banana
2 medjool dates, pitted
4 tbsp rolled oats
2 heaped tsp sunflower seed butter (here)
good pinch of pink Himalayan salt
8 ice blocks
OPTIONAL – 1 tsp maple syrup (I tend to leave this out for me)

Place the oats on the processor and blitz until fine (Speed 9, 8 seconds)

Place the banana, syrup (if using), salt, seed butter and about 25mls of milk in the processor/blender and pulse a few times.

Scrape down the sides. Then while the processor is running, add in the dates one at a time. Process for a further 20 seconds (Speed 4 during the addition then up to 7 for 10 seconds).

Add in the rest of the milk and the ice blocks (through the chute whilst running) and process until well combined and fairly smooth. (Speed 6)

Serve immediately.

If you’re using a bullet style blender, use half of the ingredients in each of 2 large cups.

*I’ve recently been using cow’s milk as my husband’s taste preference. I use 1/4 full cream milk and 3/4 cold water.

Serves 2

Enjoy 🙂

Banana Oat biscuits

March 18, 2015June 24, 2022 ~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

I love these delicious, soft biscuits – They are very easy and quick to knock up as they are made from ingredients that I always have on hand.

They are low in sugar but they are sweet enough to take the edge off those cravings.

The fibre and protein help them to boost your energy levels and keep you full for a while … what’s not to love?! Great for afternoon tea…. Or even breakfast!

See below the recipe for a Coeliac version and a few extras.

2 medium bananas, very ripe
3 cups rolled oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup nut and seed based protein powder (plain almond or seed meal if you’re short on time!)
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp milk of choice (unsweetened vanilla almond is great here)
3 tbsp aquafaba OR 1 whole egg
Pinch salt flakes

Blend together all the wet ingredients, including the banana, until just smooth (speed 5, 6 secs)

In a separate bowl mix together the oats, seed/nut meal, salt and cinnamon. (Speed 4, 6 secs)

Add the banana mix to the dry mix and process until well combined (speed 4, 8 secs, scrape and repeat if required).

Place spoonfuls on a lined baking tray and cook in a preheated moderate oven for about 12 minutes.

I think these are best served with an afternoon cuppa!

Makes about 24 biscuits.

Extra Options:

To make these coeliac friendly use 2 cups puffed rice and 1 cup rolled quinoa in place of the oats.

Add a tbsp of cocoa or cacao for a chocolate version.

For a nut free version check the protein powder recipe.

For a sweeter option stir through some chopped dried fruit (dates or sultanas are my favourite but cranberries or apple work too) … Or even a handful of chopped dark chocolate.

Enjoy 🙂

Yoghurt dough – for pizzas and scrolls

March 12, 2015May 5, 2025 ~ desertcook ~ 6 Comments

Once a fortnight on a Sunday morning my husband plays with all the kids and I have a massive baking session to prepare for the lunchboxes in the weeks to come.

One of the things that the kids love to eat is Cheese and vegemite scrolls … and then I stumbled across this yoghurt dough from Kidspot.

It is delicious and SO fast to make. I’ve found the best way to get it to the right consistency is the measure the weights, rather than cups, and to make it in the food processor or thermocook machine.

My take on the orignal, calls for

470g SR flour (or 420g GF flour together with 1tbsp psyllium husk). We often use spelt flour or do half wholemeal
1/2 tsp flaked salt
360g high protein greek yoghurt or soy/coconut yoghurt. Here’s our dairy/soy yoghurt recipe.

*BOOST IT? Add 1/4 cup hemp seeds and 4 tbsp nutritional yeast to the flour. You’ll also need to add another tbsp or 2 of yoghurt.

Process all ingredients until it forms a dough, knead together and roll out into a large rectangle, no more than 1cm thick, on floured surface. (Speed 5, 15 seconds).

NOTE: If the dough is too sticky, add in 1 tsp of extra flour at a time and process to combine …. I have found that I often need to add more flour when I work with homemade soy yoghurt.

That’s it! Simple.

To make scrolls, I roll out into a rectangle, top with vegemite and grated cheese (or tomato paste, chopped ham off the bone and grated cheese). Roll into a tight log, cut into even slices and bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C for about 20 minutes.

We use our Mighty Pasta Sauce the as a pizza scroll topping

Ellie loves it with her Bio Cheese.

It freezes and defrosts beautifully so I make a big batch of scrolls and pop them in the freezer – makes weekday lunches lots easier.

It makes an great pizza base too – 2 large ones from this quantity. Just add paste and toppings then bake in a preheated oven at 200C for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy 🙂

Savoury Damper Rolls

March 9, 2015March 23, 2020 ~ desertcook ~ Leave a comment

This recipe was my attempt at replicating something like the doughy bread rolls you can buy from major supermarkets and bakeries that have the cheese and bacon baked on top.

They are a quick bread rather than a long rising yeast dough which makes for much simpler, speedy lunches.

It is VERY popular, especially with my big boys, and so is another of the recipes that I make to freeze for the lunchboxes. I make 2 versions.

The ‘regular’ version:

2.5cups SR flour
1 cup milk
1 tbsp butter
1 cup grated cheese
Optional – about 120g ham, roughly chopped

For the more allergy friendly version:

2.5cups spelt flour (half wholemeal)
2.5tsp GF baking powder
1 cup milk of choice
1 tbsp vegan butter (ghee or coconut oil work well too)
1/2 cup grated Bio cheese (or 1/2cup of nutritional yeast*)
about 120g GF ham, roughly chopped

*If you’re not using the cheese, but the nutritional yeast, add an extra tsp of butter.

If you are leaving out the cheese or ham in either of these mixes, add in a pinch of salt.

In a food processor, pulse together the flours, butter, milk, and baking powder (if required). Process for about 20 seconds until a rough dough forms.

Add in the cheese (and ham) and process again until combined.

For the vegetarian/vegan option, I omit the ham and add some chopped chives and some pepper, or some sundried tomatoes.

Tip dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently to bring together.

Break dough into 8 portions and form into a roll shape.

To make these look more like the store bought ones I sometimes use only half of the cheese in the dough and reserve the rest with the ham and a smear of tomato paste for the top.

Place on a lined baking tray and bake in a preheated 200C oven for about 15-20mins or until the bottoms are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.

Especially delicious served warm.

Makes 8 rolls – and any left overs freeze and defrost well.

Enjoy 🙂

Cherry Pie – and sweet shortcrust pastry

March 7, 2015December 15, 2015 ~ desertcook ~ 1 Comment

My baby turns one this week. Unbelievable.

George Turns 1 097 — We all love our birthday boy!

It really does seem like just yesterday that we bought him home from hospital as a tiny bundle who was thrust into the middle of the very noisy, messy and fun life that is 4 kids under 5 and a half!!

He has been an absolute delight and we thank God every day for him – our family would not be whole without him.

To celebrate his birth (and the fact that we survived and thrived the first year with 4 children!) we had a little party – with the theme of his favourite book – The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

This is what ‘Saturday’ food looks like in the story:

So, we had soy ice creams with gluten free cones, lollypops, watermelon, red sausages, a plate of vegan cheese together with gluten and dairy free salami and pickles (gherkins), banana muffins, chocolate cake (the birthday cake) and then cherry pie. I hadn’t ever made cherry pie before so it was my big challenge!

It turned out to be very tasty and will be back on my dessert menu again!

To make the sweet shortcrust pastry:

2 1/4 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1/3 cup GF icing sugar
1 tbsp chia meal
2 tbsp iced water
90g Nuttlelex
85g lard (or omit this and replace with more Nuttelex for a vegan version)

In a small container, mix together the iced water and chia meal and set aside.

In a food processor pulse together the flour, sugar, Nuttelex and lard until they resemble breadcrumbs.

Add in the gel that has formed from the chia meal and pulse again a few times until it is well combined.

Tip on to the bench and knead gently into a dough. Form into a disc, cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

To make the cherry filling:

750g pitted, frozen cherries
1.5 tbsp pure corn flour
1 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Place 500g of the cherries in a large saucepan. Stir over a medium heat until the cherries are quite soft and have released a lot of their juices. (About 5 minutes at 90C, speed 1 with a blunt blade in a Thermal cooker)

Remove from the heat, then add in the corn flour and sugar. Mix well until the flour and sugar is dissolved (Speed 1 for 20 seconds with a blunt blade in a thermal cooker).

Add in the vanilla and return to a low heat. Mix until the liquid thickens (about 4 minutes at 90C, speed 1 with a blunt blade).

Remove from the heat and gently stir through the remaining 250g of whole cherries. Set mixture aside to cool. It will get thicker as it cools too.

To assemble the pie:

Take the pastry out of the fridge and split into 2 (one slightly bigger than the other for the bottom crust).

Roll out to fit your pie dish – mine is a 22cm round dish and this quantity of pastry is the perfect size.

Grease the pie dish and lay the bottom crust in, add the cherry filling and top with the pie crust. Press the sides together and cut a couple of small slits for steam. Decorate as you wish.

Bake in a preheated 180C for about 50mins – 1 hour.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve warm with ice cream, cream, custard or just on it’s own!

Enjoy 🙂

Orange date cake

March 3, 2015May 23, 2016 ~ desertcook ~ 3 Comments

This cake is based on the idea of the 30 second Orange cake from the Thermomix recipe community and you can find the original here. It is quite a dense, moist cake. I made it in my Bellini, but I think you could make it in a high powered food processor – you’ll just need to increase the times.

1 whole orange (yes, ALL of it – skin, pips, the lot)
6 medjool dates, pips removed
225g Nuttelex/vegan butter/ tasteless coconut oil
80g coconut sugar
1 1/2 cups GF SR flour plus 1/3 cup almond/seed meal OR 2 cups (350g) spelt flour plus 2.5 tsp of GF baking powder
6 tbsp aquafaba (liquid drained from a can of chick peas)
1 tbsp chia seeds

Place orange, in quarters, dates and Nuttelex in the machine and blitz on speed 9 for about 10-15 seconds.

Add in the sugar, chia (and baking powder if required) then process on speed 5 for 15 seconds.

Add in the aquafaba through the top chute whilst mixing on speed 4.

Add in the flour (and meal if using) and mix on speed 4 for 20 seconds, then scrape down the sides and then again on speed 5 for 15 seconds.

Place in a greased 20cm springform cake tin and bake in a preheated 180C oven for about 60 minutes. Allow to cool slightly in tin before transferring to cooling rack. Sprinkle with GF icing sugar to serve. Freezes and defrosts well too. Enjoy 🙂