Maca Bowls

This is what we are eating for desert at the moment - And if there is any left over in the back of the fridge (read I hid some from my family) then I have a small bowl for breakfast.
It is cool and smooth with a little bit of chia texture. I find it comforting and sweet (cause we don't eat refined sugars and our taste buds have adjusted) - yay. small victories right?

CAULIFLOWER MAC AND CHEESE

This warm and comforting food is great in my mind for a lazy Saturday evening dinner while watching a DVD. But it is great for any night of the week... soft on the inside and crispy on the top, mmmm I wish I had some now.
The dried oregano on the cauliflower is a great Antioxidant. Antioxidants help protect the cells in your body against the effects of free radicals and improve your ability to fight infection.

PINA COLADA POPSICLES

The delicious combination of pineapple and coconut reminds me of summer. Add banana to the mix and you have the most delicious smoothies ever!!! Add rum and you have adult drinks - kind of like a pina colada. 

I dipped them in chocolate for added summer fun. And who doesn't like chocolate?

Green Juice

This is a basic green juice recipe that we use in our house almost daily.

ALMOND MILK

 

This recipe is so ridiculously simple that I can't believe I haven't made almond milk before!
It would be delicious to make into any flavoured milk...
And even though its not dairy it has a lovely texture and tastes really amazing.
I was even able to make frothed milk with it to create a flat white coffee! Which is great news if you need to be dairyfree. This means you can have a decent cup of coffee with frothy milk !!!  How cool!
Well at least I thought so.

VEGETARIAN CURRY (BUTTERNUT AND BEAN)

Im not sure if this is technically a curry as I just added things as I went along and Im not sure on what exactly constitutes a dish being called a curry. But this dish is both flavour filled and burny = so we called it a curry in our household.

CHOCOLATE CREME BRULEE

Anyone who knows me or even follows me on facebook or twitter will know that I love 2 things: Coffee and Chocolate!!


So a few weeks ago I received this very cool parcel in the post... I mean who doesn't like receiving parcels (mail is so cool) and when my parcel happened to be a box filled with chocolate I just knew my year was off to a GREAT start!!!

CHRISTMAS COLD AND FRUITY "PUDDING" ICE CREAMS

With the craziness that comes at this time of year - we all need all the help we can get. Every little thing that helps me have a smooth and stress free Christmas is worth having or doing as far as Im concerned :) 

So here is my idea for an easy, prepared, Christmas dessert that can be tailored to your tastes.

THE BEST BAKED APPLES

The Best Baked Apples recipe on www.bettybake.co.za

I know saying the BEST of anything is a tall claim. You see I'm not a baked fruit kind of person. I am more of a cold desserts kind of girl - you know anything containing chocolate, cold and custardy, or mousse, or creme brulee or anything creamy.
The husband is the reason I make anything baked for pudding - like this baked plums or baked cookie dough apple pie.
But this time its all me!  
I keep making these and actually loving them... usually baked fruit is eaten by me slowly and its ok! but not anymore - this dish keeps being made over and over and I just can't stop!
I think I may take some left over baked apples and try to make a baked apple ice cream!!! (but thats if there is any over!)

INGREDIENTS
4-6 organic apples (or as many as you need - 1 per person)
1 large orange (organic so you can use the skin)
ground cinnamon
2 - 4 Tablespoons Jaggery or brown sugar
a handful of Raisins

METHOD
Wash you apples and make sure they can all fit in a baking dish that has a fitting lid.
Core the apples (take out the centers while leaving the rest of the apple whole)
Make a small slit/ incision all the way around the middle of the skin - just piercing the skin (imagine the apple is hoola hooping)
Place all the apples in the dish you are using and stuff raisins down the necks/ center of the apples until 3 quarters fill.
Wash your orange and grate orange rind on the small side of your grater over the apples - let a little go down neck/ center of each apple.
Sprinkle the Jaggery or brown sugar down the necks/center of each apple.
Cut your orange in half and squeeze the juice over all the apples.
Sprinkle cinnamon over each apple
Place the lid on the dish and bake in a moderate oven 180 degrees celcius until soft and juicy
Roughly +/- 30 - 40 min
Enjoy with a drizzle of cream or served with vanilla ice cream

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE ICE CREAM RECIPE

Chocolate Ice cream recipe found on www.bettybake.co.za


We have cut down considerably on dairy but this week I had an incredible dessert craving...
something smooth and chocolatey. I wanted chocolate mousse or pudding or cold chocolate-something!

I have been using coconut milk and frozen bananas as a substitute in baking for milk and dairy but this time I just couldn't do it! I had to have cream and chocolate! So I started by making a chocolate pudding of sorts and then decided to freeze some of it in individual little cups for dessert. It was so yummy that the remainder that was in the fridge had to be turned into ice cream.

BUT I worried that if I put the mix in the ice cream maker that I wouldn't be able to share the ice cream that came out as  the amount was a little and SO YUMMY! (I wanted to gobble it ALL up) So I added a cup of milk and mixed it all together before putting it into the ice cream maker:) It was now a little less chocolatey but still so delicious. So its your choice whether you want a stronger chocolate taste or a bigger batch of ice cream. You could also not add the extra milk and leave it in the fridge - it sets to a gorgeous velvety pudding! soooo good!

INGREDIENTS
250ml cream (1 tub)
300 milk + 200ml later (optional)
1 vanilla pod
3 eggs
100g GREAT TASTING dark chocolate (the best you can afford)
2 tablespoons jaggery / brown sugar
2 tablespoons agave syrup / honey / brown suagr
2 tablespoons xylitol / brown sugar



METHOD
Place the cream and 300ml of milk in a small pot on the stove with a vanilla pod -score and scrape out the seeds into the milk and then place the whole empty pod into the milk as well.
Heat on medium until just before boiling point then take off the stove and stir through. Allow to cool quite a bit till warm (this will allow the vanilla to infuse into the milk)
In a small bowl or a jug beat/mix the eggs with the a whisk (i use a fork) till the yellows are broken and combined with the whites. Add the sweeteners (brown sugar, jaggery, xylitol) and mix.
Slowly add some of the milk to the egg/sweetener mix and stir.
Add all of the egg mix back into to the pot stirring continuously so that the egg doesn't scramble.
Place the pot on a low heat and continue to stir until slightly thickened. It won't be to thicker - just slightly and won't taste like raw egg any more. Turn off and continue to stir.
Remove the vanilla pod.
Break up and place all the chocolate into the milk mix and stir until it is melted and one uniform chocolatey colour.
CHOICE 1) place into individual small bowls and place in the fridge for chocolate puddings or the freezer for tiny ice cream mousse puddings

CHOICE 2) add the additional 200ml milk and place in an ice cream machine and make into ice cream. If you don't have an ice cream machine then place in a metal dish and place in the freezer and take out and beat to break up ice crystals every hour for 3 or 4 times.

Serve and enjoy
YUM

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE SQUARES - FLUFFY CHOCOLATE MALLOW AND COCONUT

 

  

So life throws you ingredients and I bake...

I was sent some products from Wellness Warehouse ( I always try to disclose when I get stuff for free) they were kind enough to chat to me about what I liked and didnt just guess what they thought I should have... So it was nice to say things like I use coffee beans instead of already ground coffee as I have a coffee grinder and like to grind mine fresh. :) See its the little things that count.

Anyway one of the things I thought would be cool to try was cacao nibs - I have been dying to try these for a while but haven't forked out the money because I wasn't sure if I'd like them. Well now was my chance to get my hands on some.
I am happy to say I love them and will purchase them again when mine run out. Cacao nibs are filled with antioxidants and are healthy for you.
On a side note: cacao nibs should be paired with a NATURAL sweetener to taste good - they are bitter! But with some sweet natural almonds (or sugar) it becomes super yummy as they balance each other out.

Anyway I decided to bake a double chocolate cookie bar from scratch and placed a whole bunch of ingredients on my kitchen counter that I thought I would need and worked from there.. tasting and mixing as I went along. 

This biscuit/ cookie bar is what I came up with and is made in 2 parts - but is quite quick to whip up - just a little patience is needed at the very end when they sit in the oven to cool! but they are worth it. You could try eat them straight away but they are better if you do wait :)


COOKIE BAR BASE (PART 1)

INGREDIENTS
3 Tablespoons coffee (liquid -brewed and cold)
6 heaped Tablespoons Gluten free flour
1 Tablespoon cocoa -sifted
3 egg yolks (the topping uses the whites)
5 heaped Tablespoons xylitol (or another sweetener- eg organic brown sugar/honey)
Half a cup dessicated Coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla essence or a 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 heaped tablespoon cacao nibs (if you have - optional)

METHOD
Separate the eggs and place the yellows in a bowl with the xylitol (or sweetener of choice) and beat on medium high until pale and thick.
Add vanilla ess, coconut, cacao nibs and cocoa and mix.
Add half the flour and mix
Then add the coffee and mix.
Add the rest of the flour and mix again.
Spread in an oiled baking dish and smooth out until about 1.5 cm thick (i used coconut oil and squished the mixture into a ceramic rectangular dish about 20 x 30 cm - it didn't fill the whole dish)
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees celcius for 8 min



TOPPING (PART 2)

INGREDIENTS
3 egg whites
6 heaped tablespoons Xylitol (or organic brown sugar)
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder - sifted
1 Tablespoon coffee (liquid - brewed and cold)

METHOD
In a clean bowl beat the egg whites until soft peak stage.
Add  xylitol (or sugar) and beat until smooth and slightly glossy
Add the cocoa and stir in
Add the coffee and stir in

*When the biscuit base is finished baking take out and turn the oven temperature down to 145 degrees celcius.
Smooth the topping over the base
Place in the oven and bake for 15 min and then turn the oven off and leave in there to get cold ... well leave in for as long as you can resist but for atleast 1 and a half hours - 2 hours.

Cut and serve or place in an airtight container. Will keep for a few days.

NOTES: Next time I may try agave syrup or sugar in stead of the xylitol to see how it turns out. I felt the xyltiol was ok but sugar or another source would have made these cookies AMAZING!

Also omitting the flour out of the base maybe interesting... Will need to report back on this one!

Wellness Warehouse also sent me some gluten-free flour (which I found kind of sticky) but it would probably make yummy pancakes.
They have an online store for your foodie health fix and other things too ;)

LATKES {POTATO PANCAKES} GLUTEN-FREE LATKES

 

I made these for the first time last night and I wonder where I have been living all this time! I will be making HUGE piles of these gorgeous Jewish delights for years to come.
They are:
1) easy
2) keep well in the oven
3) taste good cold
4) make great lunch box snacks
5) taste delicious

Seriously I was just  wanting something quick to make for supper and thought I will make some eggy omelette things with potato in them... Quick google potato pancakes / Latkes. I had read of them before but never made them and thought oh well lets try... and boy am I glad that I did!
This is one of those recipes where you don't have to be exact - you just take the ingredients and throw them together and fry and waalaa you have delicious-ness.
Perfect for making into canapes with dollops of cream cheese on top. this little potato pancake has no end to it uses.
*On a side note I think I will add more onion next time.

INGREDIENTS
4 medium to large Potatoes
2 medium onions
2 eggs
1 and a half cups GLUTEN FREE Flour (roughly) - you can use whatever flour you like
salt  and pepper to taste

METHOD
Peel your potatoes and then grate them on the long side of the potato to give you long strips (large side of the grater).
Place them in a sieve, over a bowl and place a plate on top to help squeeze out the potatoes water/juices.
On a separate plate peel and then grate the onion.
Keep pressing down the potatoes every now and then to get more juices out. It is important to get as much of the juices out as possible. You can also put the potato in a muslin cloth and turn to squeeze the juices out. I eventually squeezed my out in the palms of my hands.
Then mix in the grated onion.
Mix in the egg and salt and pepper.
Add the flour a bit at a time until you have a nice thick batter coating the potato strips
Heat up a frying pan nice and hot with a good quality olive oil
Spoon dollops of potato batter in the pan and flatten out a bit into rounds
Fry in batches until nice and crisp.
Place on plates and eat immediately or place in the oven at a low heat to keep warm

Enjoy

ps people will want seconds