nigella's chocolate cake

I have made this cake a few times now and it is always a hit.

It came about because I was having guests over to dinner and was considering what to make for dessert.

 A couple of days before I wasn't feeling well and was in my bedroom having a rest and was watching TV. Nigella Lawson came on and cooked this fabulous cake and also some coffee ice cream. 

I had a aha moment and knew this was my dessert.

It was a hit, and I have now made it a couple of other times when I have needed to take something.

It is great because it is gluten and grain free and dairy free.

It has however got nuts in it, but if you need to avoid nuts Nigella says you can substitute the almond meal for normal flour, though I haven't tried this.

Nigella's Chocolate Cake with Olive oil and Almond meal

Ingredients:

2/3 C light olive oil

6T good quality cocoa powder

1/2C boiling water

2t best vanilla extract (I have substituted instant expresso coffee here for a change)

1 1/2 C almond meal (or 125g plain flour)

1/2t bi-carb soda

pinch salt

1 C superfine sugar (I use coconut sugar)

3 large eggs

Method:

Preheat your oven to 170 C. Grease a 22cm springform pan with a little oil and line base with baking paper (you can use any pan really lined with baking paper)

Measure and sift the cocoa into a jug and whisk in the boiling water until smooth (should be just runny). Whisk in vanilla then set aside.

In another smallish bowl, combine the almond meal (or flour) with the baking soda and pinch of salt.

Put the sugar, olive oil and eggs into the bowl of a freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment (or other bowl and whisk arrangement of your choice) and beat together vigorously for about 3 minutes until you have a pale-primrose, aerated and thickened cream.

Turn the speed down a little and pour in the cocoa mixture, beating as you go, and when all is scraped in you can slowly tip in the ground almond (or flour) mixture.

Scrape down, and stir a little with a spatula, then pour this dark, liquid batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, still looks slightly damp. A cake tester should come up mainly clean but with a few sticky chocolate crumbs clinging to it.

Let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, still in its tin, and then ease the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula and spring it out of the tin. 

Dust with icing sugar.

Serve as a dessert with ice cream or for morning tea with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

my favourite foodie blogs and websites

We have had our main computer blow up in some lightening strikes last week.

I was in town at the time and I asked B2 and B3 who were home, 

why they hadn't turned the computer off in the storm, 

but apparently it wasn't even storming at the time! 

Thankfully, B2 is a bit of a computer wizz and was able to put my hard drive into another computer and do some updates and all sorts of stuff, now we just need to get the other computer fixed and put it all back in and it will be sweet, in the meantime I have a computer to work from for which I am grateful.

So today....

I have been wanting to share with you for some time some of my favourite blogs and websies that are into clean food, healthy eating, some are gluten or grain free and where I often get recipes from to try.

The other thing about them is that they are Australian,

 well there is one New Zealand site, but near enough to count!

The reason why I like these sites is that because they are local, I know I should be able to get the ingredients, nothing like finding a recipe and then not being able to source the ingredients- teff flour anyone!

The recipes are simple and use fresh ingredients.

They are in our seasons, nothing like finding a recipe and then realising that the fruit or vegetable won't be in season for another six months, by which time you forget to try the recipe!

They also use Australian measurements, no converting from pounds or Fahrenheit! 

In no particular order:

This is Therese Cutters site also known as the healthy chef.

Find her here

Doesn't this look yummy and would you believe this is actually sugar free and full of healthy ingredients,

 I am making some of this today as a trial for Christmas.

This is from Sarah Wilson's, I quit sugar website, found here:

Another favourite is Lee Holmes of Supercharged Food.

She has just released a kids cookbook too.

Find her here:

This is a new to me website, but Tania is from the Sunshine Coast and is quite well known in that area for her grain free recipes and cookbooks.

I actually made this bread and it was very nice.

You will find her here:

Finally our New Zealand friend, Eleanor from Petite Kitchen.

 Find her here: 

Why not pop over and spend some time having a look at some of the delicious recipes these ladies produce, they may become your favourites too!

easy homemade granola

This granola is becoming a regular at our house. 

I will usually make it on one of my cooking days.

I start at night after the kids have finished cleaning the kitchen. 

I mix up a double batch in a large bowl and put it in my largest oven tray, in the middle of the oven, it takes about 1/2 hour for a normal batch, I cook it for about 45 minutes to 1 hour for a double batch, every 15 minutes I give it a bit of a turn. 

When it is done I turn the oven off add any nuts and coconut and mix them in and then leave it to cool in the oven overnight. 

The next morning I take it out break it all up and we serve it with Greek yoghurt and some seasonal fruit. 

To make the yoghurt palatable to the kids and me (I only started eating yoghurt about 2 years ago) I stir in a little rice malt syrup and some vanilla powder.

 

I store any leftovers in a glass jar for another breakfast- if the kids don't snack on it all first!

The original recipe comes from The Sweet Poison Quit Plan Cookbook

My improvements are in italics and I double this recipe.

 

Crunchy Granola

1/2C rice malt syrup
1/2 C olive oil (I often use coconut instead)
3 C rolled oats
1/2C sunflower seeds
1/2 C pepitas
1T ground cinnamon 
my additions
1/2 C macadamias
1/2 C walnuts
1/2 C coconut (dessicated, shredded or chips)
or anything else you like to throw in, goji berries are good too!

Pre-heat oven to 180C or 160C fan-forced
Put oil and syrup into a saucepan and heat over low heat for 2 minutes to warm through and mix together.
In a large bowl combine oats (you could use quinoa flakes or something else grain free if you prefer), seeds and cinnamon.
Combine liquid with dry ingredients and mix well.
Spread on a tray lined with baking paper.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden giving it a stir halfway through  
(I find it takes 1/2 hour in my oven for a batch this size, but I keep the temperature a little lower so it doesn't burn).
When cooked turn off oven and add nuts and extras and stir, leave to cool in oven, the residual heat will toast the nuts.
Serve with yoghurt, milk and fruit of choice.

Enjoy!

 

bbq chook in the crockpot and a new quinoa salad to try

Deary me, I have been a bit slack on this old blog lately!

I just haven't been able to get my act together.

A couple of times I sat down to write something and couldn't decide what to write, nothing seemed interesting enough or I couldn't be bothered to take some photos to post or whatever, 

so they just didn't get written.

But last night we had something new and yummy for tea so I just had to come and share it with you.

I have had these recipes pinned for a while and I thought I should go through my boards and have a look for something new and inspiring to cook.

As it was my cooking day yesterday,

(what I don't cook everyday!- no I don't but that is probably a whole other post that I should write soon!)

I thought I would try a couple.

The first part was a crockpot recipe for rotisserie chicken.

Now here in Australia we would probably call it a BBQ chook or cooked chook.

We often used to buy one of these for a quick lunch on the weekend from the supermarket but at $10+ each they work out a little exe.

So I started buying a few extra chooks when I did my grocery shop.

I would get one out on a Friday to defrost and then cook it up in the oven for over the weekend.

Or if we had a roast chicken I would do two and we would have one ready for another meal- either a salad or sandwiches or something else super yummy like a chicken pie.

I buy the fresh chickens from Woolworths, they are around 1.5kgs in size and cost a little over $5, so basically half of what I was paying for a cooked chook.

1.5kg is just enough for our family with no leftovers, but not a huge amount of meat each, 

sometimes we might break into a little of the extra chook if we need to.

So back to last night's dinner.

This recipe cooked the chicken in a slow cooker or crockpot and I thought I may as well give it a burl!

Because I have a very large crockpot I could fit 2 of these chickens in and now we have one for lunch today.

I must say I was surprised at how much this tasted like a bought BBQ chook, minus the stuffing which I can't eat anyway, and goodness knows what junk they put in it or on it as the case may be.

It got the thumbs up from the family, so I think it will become a summer staple.

Great when you don't want to turn on the oven and heat up the house on a hot day!

 I will write the recipe out as I found it and then write in my adjustments.

 Crockpot BBQ chicken

1 whole chicken (1.5kgs)

2T paprika

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional) - I didn't!

1 1/2 t onion powder

2T garlic powder or 3 cloves garlic

1t salt

1/2t black pepper

Place all of your ingredients in a small bowl  and stir in water by the teaspoon until a paste forms.

Rub it on your chicken inside and out.

Spray your slow cooker with spray oil and place your chicken in slow cooker (now the recipe says to place it breast side up, the picture actually shows the breast down, now I have been told that if you place the breast down you will get a moister chicken as the fat runs down into the breast- so that's what I did).

Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high 3.5-4.5 hrs.

Make sure the thickest part of the thigh registers 180degrees- now I presumed this meant Fahrenheit as it is an American recipe and as my food thermometer has both I didn't bother to convert. 

Now I just need to tell you that I cheated a little on the ingredients.

I didn't have any onion powder or garlic powder so instead of that and salt I used an Olssons Sea Salt Rub. I actually have no idea if you can buy these in the supermarket as VCH deals with Olssons for his business and we get heaps of these given to us.

The one I chose is called Wild Thing and contains juniper berry, thyme, onion, rosemary and Australian sea salt.

Now when I checked after 6 hrs on low there was lots of liquid in the bottom, so I tipped it out into a bowl.

I have since put into another container in the fridge and will use as a stock.

I thought it might be just fat but as it is now cool it doesn't look that way at all.

I then just left the chickens in there with the crockpot turned off until we were ready to serve, but I think I could have left it on low if I wanted them really hot or were leaving them for a long time.

Now of course to go with the chicken I thought I would have a nice salad or two - so I made a coleslaw and this lovely quinoa salad with blueberries, strawberries and watermelon.

Here is a link to the recipe:

They served in on individual plates but I just put it on one large platter.

I also used frozen blueberries and not fresh- I just tossed them through the slightly warm quinoa frozen and they were nicely defrosted by the time we served it. 

I also think you could get away with half the amount of quinoa (mine is a combo of white and red), 

when you look at the photo on the original recipe they don't seem to have as much quinoa either.

We have plenty left over for tea tonight.

I think this would be lovely to take to a shared meal.

Again all the family liked this even the ones not overly keen on quinoa!

You may also notice this new button on my sidebar.

I was invited to join this sight because they were impressed by the quality of my recipes- imagine- I was a bit chuffed!

Have a great weekend everyone- I have some custom orders that I need to get finished for a cafe that is

opening soon!

butterfly cupcakes and a sideboard

 A while back I pinned a picture of some cupcakes with cute strawberry butterflies on top.

Wednesday when I was getting fruit and veg I saw some strawberries for a reasonable price as the Qld ones come into season, so I bought some.
Yesterday, when was deciding what to make for morning tea, I thought some cute cupcakes with strawberries on them might be nice.

So I hunted up the picture and tried to get to the website to see how they made them and found that whoever pinned it pinned an image (don't you hate that!) and I was in too much of a hurry to go back and find said website. I ended up printing out the photo and played around with the strawberries to make some butterflies from how I thought they did in the photo.
After when I had a bit more time I found the website and the instructions and I wasn't too far off the mark.

 The recipe I used was one from my new Sweet Poison Quit Plan cookbook.

I made the cupcakes with GF flour and instead of their method, I melted the butter and stuck it all in to mix together, they turned out great.

My only reservation was that they tasted a little but Gluten Free - though no one else complained.
It may have been because I used vanilla powder rather than vanilla essence.
I find that sometimes, something with little flavouring, like a scone will taste like this but I have never found it in cakes before, most of the time you can't tell the difference, next time I will make sure I have some essence on hand or add extra vanilla powder- go here to find out how to make your own.

 I spread a little sugar free jam on top then I whipped up some cream and piped it onto the cake before adding the strawberry butterfly.

The kids were suitably impressed with the fancy cakes they got for morning tea.
After I finished photographing them of course!

The cake stand is one I made for "redeemed" from some mismatched plates and I put it out a couple of times at markets, it hadn't sold and loved it so much I decided to keep it instead!

I used some cute little ladybird liners that fit nicely into my beautiful copper patty cake tin that I stole inherited from my mum a good few years back, when I only had a couple of little ones.

I like to make the smaller cake size as I think the muffin tins most people use these days are just too big, especially for kids.

 
Before we get to the recipe I thought I should show you what I was photographing on.
 This gorgeous sideboard was a friend of mine's parents and as she had no where to put it she kindly gave it to me.

It has some water damage on the front and side, so I put it in the house until,
I have finished some other projects and have room to work on it,
I like having it where it will eventually end up, so I can decide how I am going to redeem it.

 I thought I may as well dress the top, this is what it usually looks like, minus the cupcakes on the cake plate of course!

I also have the extra large chalkboard here, I put it up by measuring another piece of furniture I thought was the same height as my sideboard before VCH had gone to collect the sideboard,
the only problem was that I didn't count on the little mirrored back.
I will fix it one day, if the chalkboard doesn't sell first.

   Fructose Free Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Butterflies

Ingredients:
120g butter (melted)
1C dextrose
2 t vanilla essence
2 eggs
2C self raising flour (I used gluten free)
1C milk

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180C, line your tin with paper cases.
2. Place all ingredients into bowl of a mixer
3. Mix until well combined 1-2minutes
4. Place spoonfuls of batter into cases
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes until skewer comes out clean.
6. Cool on wire rack until ready to ice

You can just top with jam and whipped cream like I did (put a little dextrose and vanilla in the cream) or

you can make a conventional icing or substitute dextrose for icing sugar to make a butter cream icing.

To make the strawberry butterflies: remove stem from strawberry, slice strawberry into 4, cut the two middle pieces in half to form the wings and cut slivers from the side bits to form the body. 

Eat any leftover bits. 

You will get 2 butterflies from one strawberry.

sugar free products available in supermarkets

 Since we have been trying to cut out excess sugar from our diet over the last year or so certain things became non entities in our home. 

The first causality was BBQ and Tomato sauces.

Normally BBQ sauce contains around 50% sugar even more than tomato sauce at around 25%.

I have bought in the past a reduced sugar version to serve at parties, 

but then our local supermarket stopped stocking it. 

I was pleasantly surprised a few weeks back when I happened to spy these sauces on the shelves. 

I quickly looked at the ingredients and saw that they were sweetened with stevia- a natural sugar alternative.

Into the trolley they went and we tested them out. 

They are made by Fountain, a well known brand and they passed the taste test, I couldn't tell any difference to the sugar version. 

If you are looking for a sugar free sauce to save you time in making your own, you can try these ones.

Another sugar free product that we use in our home are these drink mixes, also sweetened with stevia.

Actually the kids only usually use the chocolate version (basically the ingredients are only stevia and cocoa powder) and we use a lot less than what is recommended on the back of the pack- 1 heaped teaspoonful in a hot chocolate is plenty, or you can use it in cold milk like Milo.

 The strawberry version I bought for VCH to have instead of buying commercial strawberry milk that is loaded with sugar, he will occasionally have a glass after the kids are in bed. 

The banana version the kids asked for as a school holiday treat and we even used some to make a banana ice cream, I also used this to make the banana milk at B5's monkey party.

Now you can also buy an adult version of the chocolate one in the supermarkets by the same company and when I compared the ingredients and nutritional ingredients they look to be exactly the same,

 the difference the adult version is about $1.50 more!

Great to see that companies are now realising that there is a market for sugar free and catering for it with a healthier alternative to chemical sweeteners that are not good for you.

These products are still used as a special treat in our home and are not consumed on a daily basis.

making mayonnaise

Many people think that making mayonnaise is hard, 

tricky,

 beyond their skill level, 

takes too long etc etc

and so continue to buy the packaged stuff full of additives and nasty oils

and that was me until earlier this year when I finally plucked up the courage to have a go.

My first attempt was fine, it all came together and worked perfectly, 

the only thing wrong was the taste,

I used extra virgin olive oil as per the recipe, but it was way too strong.

So on my next attempt I used a milder oil and it was much more successful.

Now I use light olive oil and it tastes great.

I have picked up a few tips and tricks along the way that guarantees success so I thought I would post my recipe and share them with you.

Firstly the ingredients:

Lots of mayonnaise recipes call for egg yolks and that is fine if you are planning to make pavlova or some other food that uses egg whites, but most of the time I am not and I found that I was wasting egg whites- they would just sit in the fridge until I threw them out, so I turned to my BFF - Google and asked if I could make mayonnaise with a whole egg and yep sure enough the answer was yes.

So now instead of 4 egg yolks I use 2 whole eggs in my recipe.

Then of course you have lemon juice- but you don't have to use lemon juice, 

you can instead use vinegar. 

My go to vinegar in this case is Braggs apple cider - very good for you.

 

Then there is the oil as mentioned before.

I try to stay clear of seed oils like canola, sunflower, rice bran etc. after reading David Gillespie's Big Fat Lies, so as I mentioned earlier I use light olive oil, or you could try a nut oil like macadamia or maybe avocado,  but they are a little more expensive.

One day I am going to try coconut oil, but I haven't done this yet.

You also add some dijon mustard whatever brand you prefer, I use Woolworth's Select.

Now if you plan to use all of the mayonnaise straight away you can skip this step, but if you want to keep it for a while you can add some whey powder and make it lacto-fermented mayonnaise which will not only keep longer but be much better for you as it develops bacteria like yoghurt.

You may also like to add some salt and pepper to taste.

Now I have always used my food processor for this.

I hate doing things by hand!

I use my food processor for just about anything, 

but sadly it had a little breakdown and is off getting fixed.

What was I to do?

I had a little idea that maybe I could use my Kitchen Aid and again my BFF provided the answer- yes I could!

So I got the whipping attachment out and away I went- it worked fantastically, and I liked how I could see what was happening better than with my food processor.

To store your mayonnaise you want a clean dry jar, 

I always wash my jar out and stick it in the oven at about 100C for a few minutes to sterilise it,

then it's good to go.

Now one last little tip before I actually, finally, give you the recipe.

I had made mayo three or four times and I thought it was about time I showed someone else how to make it.

I like to have a back up in case I am sick, busy or not around.

So I get B2, he is my most talented in the kitchen and doesn't mind making harder stuff and away I go demonstrating.

 Only for what ever reason it just didn't thicken and become white like it should.

What went wrong?

Then it happened several times- my mayonnaise became a bit hit and miss!

Did you guess- yep I turned to Google and asked!

 I didn't come up with any definitive answer, different temperature of eggs and oil, added oil too fast etc. etc.

But I did come up with a little trick that I now use.

Add a little oil in with the eggs, vinegar etc. when you first mix them up, 

I have not had a problem since!

Now finally we get to the recipe, 

I doubled the original recipe,

 if you don't want to make as much just halve it.

Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar

1.5 cups light olive oil

1Tbsp whey powder

Method:

1. Place eggs, mustard, vinegar and about one tablespoon of oil in your food processor or kitchen aid.

2. Mix for around 30 seconds, then slowly pour in oil, starting with a few drops at a time and working up to a slow but steady stream while machine is still going (with the Kitchen Aid turn it up to 8) it will take a couple of minutes, don't rush this step.

3. Continue to whisk it until it is white and fluffy (I thought the kitchen aid did a better job at this than my food processor) at this stage it will not be as thick as store bought mayo, but it will thicken up when refrigerated

Now if you are going to use it within a couple of days you can just bottle it now and put it in the fridge, but if you want to keep it for longer or enjoy the benefits of fermented foods,

4. Add the whey powder now, then bottle it and leave it on your bench for 7-12 hours to ferment, then refrigerate, it will now last for weeks.

To make this into a coleslaw dressing I take a couple of heaped tablespoons of mayo and add a little vinegar and sweetener, I use rice malt syrup, but honey or sugar will work just as well, mix together and pour over coleslaw.

So have you ever made your own mayonnaise?

Are you game to give it a go?

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friday favourites- coconut oil

 I love coconut oil!

It is so versatile and has so many uses!

I use it as a moisturizer, on my face, on my body, in my hair.

I even clean my teeth with it!

 
I use it in cooking.
I have several recipes that use coconut oil in place of butter,
my favourite is of course this brownie recipe.
 I use it to make ice magic for our ice cream sundaes.
 Roasted sweet potato, carrot and pumpkin are all simply lovely cooked in coconut oil.

 I also fry my fish in coconut oil, it gives it a lovely flavour.

 When I am making a smoothie I like to melt some coconut oil and add it to the blender as it is going- down the little hole,

 it gives the smoothie a fantastic flavour and it is so good for you.
I have started a pinterest board called coconut oil love
pop over there for some great links for uses and benefits to using coconut oil.


Coconut oil is not cheap but if you can buy it in bulk you can get it much cheaper.
I found a company on the Gold Coast that imports it from Fiji and packages it.
When we went up to see the Mummy exhibition at Brisbane Museum back in May we called in on the way and I bought 5x 4L buckets.
4 other friends all took a bucket and we ended up paying $30 for each bucket.
I am starting to get low and will need to think about getting some more soon.

Do you use coconut oil?
What is your favourite use?

roasted strawberry ice cream

I came across this on ... did you guess it? 

Yep on pinterest where all the most interesting things can be found!

So seeing that strawberries are cheap at the moment, it is Queensland strawberry season here, I thought I would try it.

One thing that I learned long ago when I used to make ice cream BICM (before ice cream machine) when I whipped up cream and added condensed milk, was that if you use berries they must be cooked first or they go all icy in the ice cream - not nice!

So when I saw this recipe I knew I was on a winner.

You simply roast a punnet of strawberries in an oven 150C with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, 2 T of dextrose (or sugar) and 2 T of rice malt syrup.

For about 30 - 45 minutes until they are soft and mushy looking, cool and process in your food processor.

Then churn with a basic vanilla ice cream base.

Here is my basic recipe:

Enjoy with some extra strawberries on top or some home made ice magic, simply melt a heaped tablespoon of coconut oil with 2 rows of 70% dark chocolate - I use Lindt cooking chocolate, when melted spoon onto ice cream.

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