Make it, Bake it, Fake it

Losing the dairy... Tasty Gluten Free and Dairy Free Chocolate Cake

May 05, 2013

Having caught up with the lovely Uni girls last weekend to eat cake (amongst other things...), I was so excited to find the café in Oatley we were at had a dairy free dessert!!

I could eat cake!!!

Being new to this whole dairy free thing, this was very exciting.

So, in my quest to replicate, here is my first, very tasty, chocolate dairy gluten free cake. and coming from a girl that doesn't like or appreciate chocolate cake...this is a big call!

Dairy and Gluten Free Chocolate Cakes

(Adapted from Donna Hay's Flourless Chocolate Cakes)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

200g dark chocolate

1 1/4 cup caster sugar

3/4 cup almond meal

1 cup cocoa

5 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 140'C.

2. Place in a microwave safe dish the oil, sugar and chocolate. Melt in the microwave, on medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly until melted and smooth.

3. In another bowl, place the almond and cocoa.

4. Add the melted chocolate mix and stir well.

5. Add the eggs gradually, mixing well after each addition.

6. Spray a 12 hole muffin tin (average cupcake size) with spray oil. Divide the mixture amongst the cups.

7. Bake for around 30 minutes until firm to touch. Serve with berries.

Yum!!! Variations and more dairy free things to come....

curd

Peachy sweet!

March 09, 2013

So, I finally got onto making the peach curd. The problem with curd was I needed very finely mooshed (yes, that is a word) peach pulp. So, that involved peeling the peaches!!

Peeling peaches is painful!

Score the top of each peach.

Soak in boiling water.

Dunk into cool water.

Apparently, the skin should peel or rub off quite easily.

Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. The riper the peach the better.

Peach Curd/Butter

Ingredients

1 cup of peach, puréed (blended)

2/3 cup of caster sugar

Juice of half lemon

1 vanilla pod scraped.

4 egg yolks

5 tablespoons butter

Instructions

In a saucepan, over a low heat, constantly beat the egg yolks, sugar, lemon, vanilla and peach purée.

This may take awhile...up to 30mins.

Keep working those arm muscles until it has thickened.

Remove from heat and mix the butter in thoroughly.

Once cool, store in a clean container in the fridge.

Yum!

So many yummy uses, details to follow!

chicken

Millions of peaches...peaches for me!

March 09, 2013

Trying to decide on a dessert one day with the heaps of egg yolks left over from my meringues, and the thought of peach curd came to mind... Could it be done? It sure could! Then whilst I was buying peaches, I thought I would finally restock my chutney supplies. Nectarines, in my opinion, are interchangeable!

Peach Chutney

Ingredients

1 kg peaches, roughly chopped ( I didn't bother removing all the skin)

2 apples, roughly chopped

2 onions, roughly chopped

1/2 cup sultanas or raisins

2 cloves garlic crushed

2 red chillies, deseeded and chopped

2 cups apple cider vinegar

2 cup brown sugar

1 stick cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cloves

Instructions

Throw everything into your slow cooker. Put on high for 4-5 hours.

Once thickened, place into hot sterilised jars and store for when you need it next on ham, or cooked with chicken, or with cheese! Yum!

If you don't have a slow cooker, boil vigorously for a good hour in a large pot on the stove.

Peach Chutney Chicken

My slow cooker is back out...

So I bought a butterflied chicken (which was preherbed). I chopped up some peaches, zucchini and eggplant. Poured over some white wine (1 cup) and a good cupful of peach chutney and cooked on high for 4 hours. Yummy!

Served with some veggies... A tasty meal! Next time, however, I will use a boneless version of chicken, way too many little bones!!!

berry

A Berry Nice Dessert

February 15, 2013

Credit for this Berry Nice Dessert must go to my friend Em. She was over one night and brought this with her for dessert. Yum!! So easy, so sweet and low fat too!

So, seeing as a few of us girls are trying to be a tad more mindful of what we are eating...this seemed like a tasty dessert for Valentines night.

Berry Nice Dessert

Ingredients

4 egg whites

1 cup caster sugar

Pink food colouring

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tub of yummy Greek berry yoghurt

2 cups of frozen berries (thawed)

What to do

1. Preheat oven to 150C.

2. In your mix master beat the egg whites until thick, white and stiff.

3. Gradually add sugar and then vinegar. Mix until thick creamy and smooth.

4. Swirl in some drops of food colouring using a spoon. Don't over mix.

5. Place large spoonfuls of the mix onto a baking tray.

6. Drop the oven temp to 120C. Place trays in oven and cook for around 30mins until they are dry to touch, but not brown.

7. Turn oven off. Leave the door closed with the meringues inside for another 30mins.

8. Remove from oven and allow to cool on tray.

9. Place a meringue, a spoonful of yoghurt and some berries on each plate. And serve!

Some wise words...

Chocolate

A sweet treat for my Valentines

February 14, 2013

I was so blessed today to spend a beautiful evening with some friends, using Valentine's Day as a good excuse for a catch up. Our host made the evening very special with a beautiful set up, well thought out food, and good company.
I was in charge of dessert...
My forte.

I had made berry yoghurt Pavlova for dessert (recipe to come) but decided we needed a bit of something special and Pinterest inspired as well.
I don't think I have every reprinted these myself, so can't remember where I may have seen them before... But here is my Valentine's take on an Oreo lolly pop.

Valentines Oreo Lolly Pop

- pack of Oreos-

- 250g white chocolate-

-wooden skewers-

- strawberry essence-

-pink food colouring-

-sprinkles-

1. Take an Oreo and shove a skewer up between the layers. Do this carefully... They do like to split.
2. Melt white chocolate ( see my chocolate bark recipes for melting tips) in a deep but small microwave dish.
3. Once melted, mix in a few drops of strawberry essence and some pink colouring. Stir until smooth.
4. Carefully dip the Oreo on skewer into the chocolate mix and ensure it is fully covered.
5. Remove from chocolate and place on paper lined baking tray. Be careful they may slip off or split in the process. Use a spoon to assist.
6. Repeat with all Oreos before sprinkling sprinkles on Oreos.
7. Place in fridge to set.