Banana Raspberry Muffins

Do you know what's so special about these muffins? (Besides the fact that they look and taste awesome?) You can make them with whatever bits and pieces of grains and seeds and nuts and flours you have lurking in your fridge, freezer and cupboard, and they will be a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

Really.

Here's the secret... Soaking!

Yes, if you soak your grains, seeds, nuts, etc, overnight in water with a little bit of something acidic (like apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, whey or yoghurt), you will be amazed at the difference in the texture. The soaking softens the grains/seeds/nuts so that you don't have that dry, gritty texture that can often be the outcome in gluten free baking. And it helps to break down the anti-nutrients that cause irritation to the gut, and helps to release the beneficial nutrients. Basically, it makes them much easier to digest, AND yummier!

[Note: If you're worried about using the soaking water, don't be. You don't need to throw out the water that the grains have been soaked in, as the soaking actually causes the phytase to increase and break down the phytates. The phytates aren't just leaching out into the water and staying there, they are being broken down. The only reason you would throw out the water and rinse the grains is if the water tasted sour or bitter.]

Okay, so don't think I'm telling you this because I've got this soaking thing all under control. I'm the world's worst 'last minute' cook - I get a sudden inspiration and have to make it right away! Which means....ummm... unsoaked. But when you can, it is best to think ahead - prepare, soak, ferment, sprout... all that good stuff. :)

A good way to plan ahead is to think about breakfast tomorrow at dinner time tonight. If you'd like to have muffins, pancakes, waffles or crepes for breakfast, either grind the grains up and then soak overnight with the liquids from the recipe, or in some cases (like these muffins), soak the grains & nuts whole. To use whole grains/nuts it needs to be a recipe that has quite a lot of liquid - a batter, not a dough. When you blend it, it needs to be able to create a 'vortex' in the Thermomix - if it doesn't, it's too thick for this method.

I have posted a few of these 'blender batter' recipes before, but I've been going through a lot of my older recipes and tweaking them to reduce the sugars. So here's one of my latest versions of the Blender Batter Muffins, with a lot less sweetening, and my latest combo of grains, seeds and nuts.

By the way, if you don't have a Thermomix, you can try this method in a really powerful blender that crushes ice. But please don't burn out the motor and blame it on me. Unless you just really want a Thermomix, so you're purposely breaking all your appliances so your partner will give in and let you buy one. ;) Otherwise, you could just buy the pre-ground flours and mix them in a mixer with the liquids, then soak overnight, and continue with recipe. Your call.

Makes approx. 2 dozen regular sized muffins

1. First of all, prepare the grains, seeds & nuts for soaking. This needs to be done at least 12 hours (or up to 24 hours) ahead. Weigh them into a glass bowl or dish, then weigh in the liquids. (Set the empty dish on the top of the Thermomix, zero scales, and weigh in the grains, water, etc.) Cover, and set aside for the night.
- 290g whole grains and seeds, your choice *(see note)
- 40g raw almonds (or sunflower seeds/pepitas for nut free version)
- 200g water
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (or whey/yoghurt/lemon juice)

(Note: For the muffins in the photo above, I used a couple of handfuls of buckwheat kernels, some millet, a little bit of quinoa, some brown rice and a couple of Tbspns mesquite flour. There's so many different gluten free grains and seeds that you can use - amaranth, teff and sorghum are great too - whatever you have, just so long as it all adds up to 290g. Although if you use a lot of buckwheat you'll need more water as it soaks up the moisture. And don't use coconut flour because it works differently and the ratio of flour to water would be totally out.)

2. When you're ready to make the muffins, tip the soaked grains, seeds & nuts into the Thermomix bowl (with the soaking water) and add oil, syrup, cream, bananas and eggs; then blend on speed 9 for 2 minutes.
- 20g macadamia oil (or other light flavoured oil)
- 60g pure maple syrup (or honey)
- 30g coconut cream (or milk of choice)
- 2 large bananas
- 2 large eggs

3. Scrape down sides of bowl and make sure mixture is smooth. If not, reblend for another minute. Once smooth, add the baking powder, soda and salt, and just barely mix in on speed 5 for 5 seconds.
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

4. Pour mixture into muffin cups, filling to 3/4 full. Top with a few raspberries, and bake in 190C oven for 20-25 minutes, or until skewer inserted in muffin comes out clean.

Variation: For Banana Spice Muffins, add 1 tsp cinnamon & 1/2 tsp nutmeg to batter, leave the berries off, and sprinkle muffins with cinnamon and Rapadura or coconut sugar before baking. Can also add a couple of handfuls of pecans or walnuts to batter with the baking powder & soda.

Marike's Coconut Flour Brownies

I was browsing through photos on Instagram the other day and some coconut flour brownies caught my eye. They looked delicious, and were not only made without grains, but were also dairy free and sweetened with rapadura - just my style. So I asked hopefully for the recipe and Marike, who developed the recipe herself, was happy to share. Thanks so much, Marike! :)

Within 24 hours of getting the recipe, these were made and eaten. (Well, except for two squares I managed to hide for the next day!) They were just as delicious as they looked.

Marike converted her old faithful brownie recipe from 'flour, butter, cocoa and sugar' to 'the good stuff', and after a couple of flops, this is what she came up with. See? You don't have to feel deprived once you start eating healthy. You just have to learn how to substitute the good stuff for the bad stuff, and be willing to experiment. If you've never tried coconut flour before, don't be put off by the price - it's actually quite economical because you use a fraction of the amount you would usually use of flour in baking - it expands with liquids. If you want to save money and make your own coconut flour, take the shredded coconut that's left over after you've made coconut cream and milk with it, dehyrdrate it for 24 hours in a dehydrator, then grind it up in the Thermomix.

Marike has kindly agreed to let me share her recipe on my blog so you can all enjoy it too. Thanks so much, Marike! Here's her recipe:

And here's my Thermomix version:

Mix together in your Thermomix on speed 6 for about 20 seconds:
- 70g coconut oil
- 50g coconut flour
- 35g raw cacao powder
- 100g Rapadura
- 6 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan or sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

If you can have nuts, add and mix on speed 5 for 3 seconds to chop and mix into batter:
- 120g raw walnuts (or pecans)

Bake at 175C for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting, if you can wait that long. Bet you can't. Ha ha!!

Note: I also sprinkled the top of the brownies with dairy free chocolate chips before baking. Couldn't help myself. ;)

We enjoyed these with Cashew Honey Vanilla Bean Custard - delicious.

Sugar free variation: I also tried making these with dates and green stevia instead of Rapadura, but I must admit, the Rapadura ones tasted a lot better! But if you can't have Rapadura and need a less sweet alternative, try adding 100g raw dates (pitted) and 1 tsp green stevia powder instead of the Rapadura. You may need to cook it a bit longer, and the texture will be heavier, but my kids still liked them.

Gluten Free Gingerbread Men

I made gluten free gingerbread men people this year based on Gluten Free Girl's recipe, with a few tweaks of my own, and they turned out great - so spicy and crispy, just how I like them!  I'm sure these would have been yummy with the usual pre-ground spices, but I decided to grind the fresh spices myself for a stronger flavour, and it made them soooo good!  

I know this recipe seems like a lot of bother, but it really is worth it :)  You don't have to do it all in one day - you can make the flour mix and dough one day, make the cookies another day, and ice them another day if you like.  And don't feel like this is just a Christmas recipe - use different shapes of cookie cutters and make them all year long!

Below is the gluten free flour mix I've developed (with a bit of inspiration from Gluten Free Girl) - it makes great biscuits and cakes! (Makes 1kg of baking mix.) If you don't have the time or the ingredients to make the mix, go ahead and use a bought pre-mix, it should work fine. They can also be made with spelt or wheat flour - you may just need to adjust the amount of flour to make the dough the right texture for rolling out.

Gluten Free Flour Mix:

1. Grind in Thermomix on speed 9 for 1 1/2 minutes:

- 200g raw brown rice

- 50g dry buckwheat (or dry chick peas)

- 50g chia seeds

(Tip: place a square of kitchen paper under the MC to stop bits spitting out while grinding.)

2. Add and mix on speed 6 until well combined, using TM spatula to help it along:

- 150g sorghum flour (also called 'Jowar Attah' in Indian stores)

- 150g potato starch or mung bean starch

- 250g sweet rice flour (also called glutinous rice flour)

- 200g arrowroot flour (or tapioca or corn starch)

Note: You can grind up the glutinous rice/dried arrowroot/tapioca/sorghum yourself - just make sure it's really fine, and grind in 250g batches for 1-2 mins/sp 9.

Pour into a storage container.

Now for the gingerbread men:

1. Grind the dry, whole spices and roasted almonds first, on speed 9 for 1 minute, until finely ground (don't worry if they're not perfect - they'll grind up more in the next step):

- 1 whole nutmeg

- 3 cloves

- 4 black peppercorns

- 1 vanilla bean, chopped in bits

- 1 cinnamon stick (or more if you like)

- a pinch of cardamom seeds

- 40g roasted almonds, unsalted (can leave out - just add 40g more flour mix)

Have a sniff of that...  Doesn't it smell good?!!

2. Add and grind on speed 9, scraping down now and then until everything is finely ground:

- 170g Rapadura or coconut sugar

- zest of 1 or 2 oranges (preferably organic)

- 1 inch of fresh ginger (peeled and cut in quarters)

3. Add and mix on speed 6 for 15 seconds using spatula to help combine mixture:

- 560g Gluten Free Flour Mix

- 1 1/2 tsp xanthum gum (or 2 Tbspns ground chia seeds)

- 2 tsp ground ginger powder (if you like it really gingery!)

- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt

- 1 tsp baking soda

Pour mixture into a bowl and set aside.

4. Place in Thermomix bowl and mix on speed 5-6 for 10 seconds:

- 230g unsalted butter or ghee or coconut oil

- 220g molasses

- 1 large egg

[Note: for egg free, leave out the egg, add 50g water mixed with 1 Tbspn ground chia seeds. Best to keep the xanthum gum in if leaving egg out.]

5. Scrape down sides, then with blades still running on speed 5, slowly add dry mixture through the hole in the lid, mixing until well combined.  Towards the end you'll need to use the spatula to help it along.  The dough will be a little bit sticky - that's okay.

6. Divide the dough into four pieces, wrapping each one in a piece of plastic wrap, flatten to a disc shape, and refrigerate.  Leave them in the fridge for a few hours, or up to three days - this makes the flavours stronger.  (Try not to eat all the raw dough - it's so yummy!!)

7. Now for the tricky bit: cutting out the cookies and getting them onto the baking trays without mangling them!  I found the easiest way to do this is to roll out one disc of well-chilled dough on a silicon mat, with a piece of baking paper on top of the dough so it doesn't stick to the rolling pin.  Roll it to about 5mm thick, or thicker if you like thick cookies, or if you're in a hurry! ;)  Cut out the cookies (I used a plastic cutter - if you are using metal cutters, do it gently so you don't damage the silicon mat!).  Don't even bother trying to pick up the gingerbread men at this stage - you'll only get frustrated!  Just pull away any leftover bits of dough (from around the cut-out g.b.men), wrap bits in plastic and re-refrigerate; then pick up the whole mat and place it on a baking tray and pop it in the freezer for about 10 minutes... Then you can easily peel them off the silicon mat because they're nice and firm, and place them on trays ready to cook!

I have two silicon mats, so this worked for me - one mat in the freezer, one mat being used, swapping them back and forth.  If you don't have silicon mats, just roll them out between two pieces of baking paper, using the same method.

8. Bake the cookies in a pre-heated 180 degree oven, until the centres are firm to the touch.  Be careful not to burn them - if they're thin they cook in 10 minutes or less.  Cool on racks before icing.  

I just keep gathering the bits of dough together in balls, chilling them, and re-rolling and cutting them - they all seem to taste the same and not get too tough, probably because you don't need any flour to roll them out with, if you use the baking paper.

Now for the icing!  I didn't want to use refined white sugar, so I decided to use xylitol so I'd still get white icing, instead of Rapadura, which I usually use.  It worked great!  This icing hardens as it dries.

Royal icing made with xylitol:

1. Grind on speed 9, scraping down now and then, until very fine:

- 100g xylitol

- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

- 2 tblspns cornflour

2. Insert butterfly and add egg white, mixing on speed 4 for about 4 or 5 minutes, until thick:

- 1 egg white

3. Sit a zip-loc sandwich bag in a glass and drape the edges over the sides.  Pour the icing into the bag, squeeze the air out, and seal.  Snip a TINY hole in one corner of the bag.  Voila!  A little piping bag, ready to decorate your gingerbread people!

We made gingerbread stars too...

As you can see, my kids wanted to add some dark chocolate chips and craisins to theirs... 

...and one of them made a skeleton gingerbread man!

Have fun! :)

Merry Christmas...

... from my kitchen to yours!

Christmas is upon us, and I'm sure you've all been cooking up a storm... I'd love to hear what you've been making!  I had an unfortunate incident with my oven, and it didn't work for a week, but it's up and running again now and I'm trying to catch up on all the baking I'd planned!  

I love baking different types of breads for Christmas gifts - there's so many interesting variations, and who doesn't love homemade bread hot out of the oven?  Here's some of the things I've been making to give away as gifts (when the family doesn't get to them first!)...

Christmas Wreath Bread: I use my Spelt Challah recipe, divide the dough into three (after the first rising) and braid, then form into a wreath shape, rise, and bake.  You can brush it with an egg wash if you want a shiny, golden finish (1 egg beaten with 1 tbspn of milk).  Variation: make a red, white and green wreath by adding finely chopped red capsicum/sun dried tomato/raw beetroot to one strand, and finely chopped green capsicum/spinach/green olives to the other strand!  Or, make a sweet version with sweet brioche dough, and decorate with red and green glace cherries.

Filled Brioche Tea Rings:  Make a batch of brioche dough (you can use the one from the Thermomix Everyday Cookbook with these variations...)  I use spelt grain and flour instead of wheat flour, macadamia oil instead of butter and cold rice-almond milk, and mix all the ingredients at once.  Don't warm the milk - it actually tastes better if you rise it slowly, in the fridge for four hours or even overnight if possible. After rising the dough, roll it out on your breadmat to about 5mm thick, and sprinkle it with chopped hazelnuts and chocolate (dark, dairy free - you can make your own), form it into a ring, and cut it like this with a sharp knife . . .

(Tip: after forming it into the ring shape, pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so, and it will be a lot easier to slice!  Brioche dough needs to be kept cold so it's not too sticky to work with.)

Next, take each section and lay it over on it's side, like this...

(This is when it really helps for the dough to be chilled, as it gets stickier the more you work with it.)

At this stage, you can wrap the brioche carefully (on its' tray) in plastic bags, and freeze it to bake later.  I like to prepare this ahead and bake it on Christmas morning for a yummy brunch!

(I made some mini ones for presents - you can make two from one batch of dough - they look really cute!)

When you're ready to bake the brioche, just thaw it for a while until it starts to rise a little, brush with an egg wash, then place in a cold oven and turn it on to 180 degrees C and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the brioche.  (Make sure you check underneath that it's cooked.)

If you're baking it without freezing it, just rise it until doubled in size and bake in 180 degree oven, 30-40 mins.

Oops, someone already nicked a bit before I could take the photo!

I also made a fruit and nut filled brioche with cinnamon and rapadura, and sprinkled some more cinnamon and rapadura on top - 

that was yummy too!

Herb and Garlic Pull Apart Bread: I just use my usual spelt bread recipe, roll out the dough (after the first rise) and spread it with herb and garlic butter, cut it into strips, roll them up and place them into a baking paper lined springform tin.  Easy!

We had a lot of fun making Gluten Gree Gingerbread People too, with icing made from xylitol... I'll be posting the recipe for that one tonight, hopefully!

My ds (9) made this one into a 'skeleton' gingerbread man 

- pretty funny!

Rapadura-maple syrup toffee:  This is soooo delicious - I used this recipe, from the wonderful website 'Deliciously Organic'.  I cooked it the traditional way on the stove, since it needs to reach 180 degrees (hard crack stage), which is too hot for the Thermomix.  But I chopped the roasted nuts in the Thermomix, as well as using it to melt the dark chocolate.  This is a must-try recipe!!!

Almond Addiction: This is another favourite from the Festive Flavours (Thermomix) cookbook - but I used rapadura instead of refined sugar, and added 2 tsp of cinnamon - YUM!  So quick and easy...

Well, that's about all I have photos for at the moment... I'll be back with some more Christmas cooking ideas later! :)  

Happy holidays,

Jo xx

Do you like my Hydrochloric Acid bottle?  My Grandma sent it to my last Christmas because I collect antique glassware.  Love it!

Gluten Free Croquembouche

Gluten free profiteroles

Have you ever tried making choux pastry for profiteroles or eclairs? It's one of those things that a lot of people avoid, as it can be tricky... but in the Thermomix it's easy as pie! (Well, pie pastry's easy in the Thermomix too, but that's another story.)

I prefer to make gluten free profiteroles - they're light and fluffy, and no one has ever complained that they weren't made of wheat flour. Oh, actually, one person did complain, but she never actually tasted them so I didn't worry about that... Some people are funny. You say something's gluten free, dairy free or naturally sweetened and they run a mile! Well, with this recipe I proved that the gluten free, dairy free version is just as good as, if not better than, the wheat and dairy version. Try it, and see what you think.

I first posted this recipe in May 2010, so here's the original story, complete with some awful photos of my first attempt at a croquembouche, which I hope to update soon! I have added in some photos of my most recent batch of profiteroles and pastry creme, but they never made it to a croquembouche, so now I'll have to make it AGAIN to get photos of that! What a pity... ;-)

*     *     *     *     *

I decided to have a go at a Croquembouche for my Dad's birthday – it didn't turn out exactly as I'd pictured it (a bit lopsided) but it was fun, and very yummy. The filling was absolutely delicious, even with my tweaking to make it gluten free, dairy free and naturally sweetened. Next time I think I'll use the filling in a chocolate meringue pie – that would be scrumptious!

The original recipe was from the Thermomix recipe blog, but I changed it because I didn't want to use wheat flour or sugar or butter... I checked the recipe and decided it was 'tweakable', and thought, “Okay, haven't got much time, got to make the profiterole dough and let it cool before adding the eggs, pipe it onto the trays, cook them, slit them open, let them cool and dry out a little in the oven, make the chocolate pastry creme, pipe it into the profiteroles, make the caramel, dip the rolls in it and stack them in a cone shaped tower, and drizzle with the caramel then decorate somehow... no problem, I can do this in an afternoon, even if I do have ten kids here today!”

Well... unfortunately, profiteroles don't work so well with wholemeal spelt flour and cornflour and ghee, so the first batch was a bit flat. :( (Don't worry, the kids ate them with jam and thought they were lovely!) Start again... uh oh, run out of eggs! Don't worry, hubby is coming home from work and will pick up eggs on the way. Oops, he forgot! Maybe the neighbour's chickens have laid? Nope. Okay, dash off to town to get some more...
The second time round I decided to make gluten free profiteroles from a recipe I'd used before and knew would work! It's based on one from 'Friendly Food' (the recipe book from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Allergy Unit). So I ground up some rice in the Thermomix and began again – this time they worked. Yay!

Time was running out – I'd made the chocolate pastry creme, and a caramel/toffee out of Rapadura, but now I had no time to let the rolls cool in the oven – too bad, just had to slit them and start piping in the chocolate. It worked pretty well. I dipped them in the caramel syrup and started stacking – hmmm, this is harder than I thought! Didn't make it too high because I was scared it would all come tumbling down in the car on the way to the party! Anyway, I managed to get it stacked, drizzled it with caramel, then rummaged in the cupboard for some birthday candles to decorate it with... not very fancy, but it would have to do.

We managed to make it to the party only a few minutes late, and although it did cave in a little on one side as I drove madly trying to make it on time, Dad still loved his 'birthday cake' – so all's well that ends well. I'm afraid it doesn't look very professional, but it tasted good! :) So for those of you who'd like to have a go at a gluten free, dairy free, naturally sweetened Croquembouche – here's the recipe! Have fun :D



First, the Profiteroles:

1.  Grind rice in a dry Thermomix bowl on speed 9 for a minute (or until fine):
- 250g arborio or white rice

     Remove rice flour from bowl and set aside.

2. Cook in Thermomix bowl at 100 degrees for 10 minutes:
- 500g water

3.  Add and mix on speed 5 until mixture thickens and leaves sides of bowl:
- 190g macadamia oil
- the 250g rice flour
- 120g tapioca starch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder

    Transfer dough to a bowl and leave to cool completely.  (Oil may separate a bit - don't worry, it will whip back in with the eggs.)

4.  Preheat oven to 210 degrees. 
     Once mixture is cool, return to Thermomix bowl, turn to speed 5 and add eggs one at a time, beating well as you add each one:
- 6 eggs

5.  Spoon or pipe blobs of dough onto lightly greased or papered trays.  (They are probably neater if piped, but I was running out of time, so I used a spoon.)  Sprinkle with water to aid rising.

6.  Bake until risen and starting to brown, about 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 190 degrees for another 10 to 15 minutes, until cooked.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.  Split and fill with thick custard or Chocolate Pastry Creme.

Chocolate Pastry Creme:


1.  Grate in Thermomix on speed 8 for a few seconds:
- 100g dark, dairy-free chocolate, chopped roughly (eg. 70% cocoa Lindt, or if you're lucky enough to have some, 65% cocoa Valrhona chocolate!)

2. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 7 minutes at 80ºC on speed 4 (or until thick):
- 8 egg yolks
- 90g Rapadura
- 70g gf cornflour
- 25g raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder, preferably organic)
- pinch of fine sea salt
- 500g rice-cashew milk (based on rice-almond milk but with raw cashews instead of almonds; or use your preferred milk)
- 50g ghee or coconut oil

3.  Place into heat proof bowl, cover with a cartouche of baking paper and refrigerate until use.

(This is enough crème to fill approximately 40 profiteroles.)

And the caramel to finish it off... make this when you're ready to put it all together.

Rapadura Caramel for Profiteroles

1.  Stir together in a saucepan over medium high heat:
- 2 cups Rapadura
- 1/2 cup water
     Stir until granules are dissolved, brushing down insides of pan with a pastry brush dipped in water.  Allow syrup to simmer until it's a dark caramel colour and has the consistency of syrup.  I just drip a bit into a cup of water to check if it's ready - if it forms a pliable ball of caramel, it's ready; if it spreads out, it's not.  (But you can use a candy thermometer if you want - it needs to reach 130 degrees C.)  Don't let it burn!!!

Now to put it all together...

"Dip profiteroles, one at a time, into caramel and arrange in a circle on a parchment-lined serving platter or baking sheet, using the caramel to glue them together. Continue building the Croquembouche by dipping and “glueing” another, smaller ring of profiteroles on top of the first one. Continue the process until the classic cone or tower shape has been achieved. Lightly drizzle the remaining caramel over the Croquembouche to form a cobweb of spun sugar. Affix sugared almonds, metallic dragées, or flowers for decoration if you like."
(Thermomix recipe blog)

Enjoy!

GF Chocolate Banana Cake

Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Cake

This is a lovely, moist cake, which is sometimes hard to achieve with gluten free flour!  My friend Sarah made this recipe up when she was looking for a gluten free, dairy free, egg free cake. I've tweaked it a bit to make it healthier and Thermomix friendly. It's also very easy to make nut free as well - just use rice milk instead of rice-almond (or your preferred milk), and grapeseed or light light olive oil instead of the macadamia oil. For a nut free icing, just use coconut cream instead of the almond milk, mixed with the chocolate and dates.

You can make this cake with or without eggs - the eggs make a lighter cake, but without eggs the texture is lovely and moist and fudgey. (The photos are of the cake made without eggs.)  It's a very versatile recipe (see the variations at the end), and very quick and easy - just throw in ALL the ingredients and whiz it up. Perfect for birthday cakes and cupcakes!

1. Weigh into Thermomix bowl and mix on speed 5-6 for 20 seconds, using spatula to assist if needed:

- 300g plain gluten free flour (I use Orgran flour)

- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

- 1 tsp baking powder (or 2 tspns if leaving out eggs)

- 2 tsp bicarb soda

- 30g raw cacao powder or organic cocoa

- 120g Rapadura

- 140g macadamia oil (or other light oil for nut free)

- 240g rice-almond milk or preferred milk for nut free (may need a little more if bananas are not very ripe)

- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

- 2 eggs (optional)

- 350g ripe bananas (approx. 3 large bananas - use 350-400g bananas if not using eggs)

2.  Pour into two round cake tins, or 1 large springform tin, well greased or lined with baking paper. Bake at 180C for about 30 mins (or longer if in one large pan), until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean.  Or you can bake in muffin tins for about 15 to 20 minutes.

The icing in the photos is made from raw dates, dairy free dark chocolate and almond milk. I don't really measure it - I just chop up a couple of big handfuls of dark chocolate and drop into Thermomix bowl, add about 6 pitted raw dates and about half a cup of raw almond milk (made in Thermomix). I whiz it up on speed 9, scraping down a couple of times, then melt at 50C for 3 minutes, speed 2, or until smooth. Add some vanilla bean paste too if you like. If it's too thick, add a little more almond milk. (Almond milk is just 100g blanched almonds ground up on speed 9, with 500g water and a dash of vanilla extract, blended for 1 minute speed 9.) If you need a nut free icing, you can use coconut cream instead of almond milk.

Variations:

- Butter cake: leave out bananas, add 1 tsp vanilla extract, use 2 tsp baking powder instead of baking powder and soda, add a little more milk, and use 150g butter instead of oil.  (This version needs the eggs.)

- Chocolate-coffee cake: leave out bananas, add 220g strong coffee and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Blender-Batter Muffins

Blueberry Spelt Muffins

This is the base recipe I use for my muffins, adding in berries, or nuts, or choc chips, or spices, or crumble topping, or whatever I feel like.  It's a very versatile and healthy recipe - gluten free (or low gluten, depending which grains you use), dairy free and naturally sweetened. You start with the whole grains (spelt, brown rice, barley, kamut, or a mixture of these...), grind the grains in the Thermomix, mix with the liquids, leave to soak overnight (or at least a few hours), then add the remaining ingredients.  (Check out the variations below for ideas.)  I like to start it at night so we can have muffins for breakfast (...and morning tea - it makes a lot!!).

This recipe is inspired by Sue Gregg's Blender Batter Baking recipes in Sue Gregg's 'Breakfasts' cookbook. (I love Sue's cookbooks - this one has nearly 300 pages of healthy, delicious breakfast recipes!!)  I used to use my homemade rice-almond milk with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to substitute for the buttermilk in her recipe, but I decided to cut out a step and make the milk at the same time as I made the muffins... so instead of buttermilk, I add a handful of raw almonds, a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, and water.  It all gets ground up and soaked with the grains, and works just fine! If you can't have nuts, sunflower seeds work just as well.

Soaking the grains in the liquids overnight improves digestibility and vitamin absorption.  You can either leave the batter to soak overnight in the Thermomix, or remove it to a glass bowl, which is what I prefer to do.

1.  Place half the grain in the Thermomix and grind on speed 9 for 1 minute, or until finely ground. Remove to a bowl and repeat with the remainder of the grain. (This is so you don't overload the blades.)
- 290g whole spelt grain (or kamut, hulled barley, brown rice, quinoa or a mixture of grains)


2.  Add the flour in the bowl back into the Thermomix jug, add in the following ingredients, and blend for 1 minute, speed 8:
- 40g raw almonds (or sunflower seeds)
- 160g water
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 20g macadamia oil (or light olive oil)
- 200g raw honey
(You may have to play around with the amounts of grain if not using spelt - if it seems way too thick and there is no 'vortex' while you're blending, add a little more water.)

3.  Leave batter to soak overnight, or for about 7 hours.

4.  When ready to cook, preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 F), and grease muffin trays (or you can use ramekins for extra large muffins).

5.  Add eggs to batter and mix for 1 minutes at speed 8:
- 2 eggs

6.  Mix in briefly, for 3 seconds on speed 5:
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

7.  Fill greased muffin trays (or ramekins) almost full with batter.  Sprinkle the top of muffins with Rapadura and cinnamon (optional), and place in oven for about 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from tins.

Variations:

- NUT FREE: instead of the almonds and water, use 200g rice milk.

- Berry muffins: add berries by sprinkling them on top of batter in tins and pressing in slightly - they will sink in a little while cooking.  You can also sprinkle with Rapadura & cinnamon if you wish.

- Chocolate chip muffins: replace cinnamon with 1 tsp vanilla extract; stir in 1 cup of Rapadura sweetened choc chips with baking powder.  (Berries AND choc chips is nice too!)

- Nut muffins: add chopped nuts with the baking powder, etc, but only mix in briefly.

- Apple muffins: increase the cinnamon to 1 1/2 tsp, add 1/4 tsp nutmeg; add 1 peeled and diced apple to batter with baking powder; sprinkle with cinnamon & Rapadura before baking.

- Banana muffins: add another 20g oil, 1 1/2 very ripe bananas, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and blend, then soak overnight.  Only needs 1 egg.  Optional: add a handful of chopped walnuts/pecans and/or dark choc chips with baking powder.

- Orange date muffins: replace cinnamon with 1 tsp vanilla extract; fold in 1 peeled, diced orange and a handful diced dates with baking powder.

- Orange nut muffins: peel orange skin into Thermomix, add a little Rapadura and cinnamon, grind speed 9 until finely grated.  Use 170g orange juice instead of almonds, water & vinegar in batter.  Add 1 tsp vanilla extract to batter.  Add a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans and a handful of sultanas with the baking powder.  Can also add a handful of grated carrot.  Before baking, sprinkle with the orange zest, Rapadura & cinnamon.

Wholemeal Spelt Artisan Bread

Spelt Artisan Loaf

Spelt Artisan Couronne

Well, the bread was delicious! I love Italian wood-fired oven bread, and this was very much like that, with a moist, slightly chewy texture, and a crunchy, chewy crust - yum! And I'm so happy I've found a recipe that incorporates soaking the grains/flour to make it more digestible. Of course, it's a bonus that's it's so easy! I used about one third ground spelt grain, two thirds unbleached plain spelt flour - next time I'm hoping to try half and half to see how that goes.

Grains (and flour) should be soaked overnight (or longer) at room temperature to increase digestibility - so I'm thinking when I make my next batch that I will soak the flours in the water overnight, then the next day mix in the yeast and salt (with the Thermomix), let it rise for two hours, then put it in the fridge.  It will work either way, and if you don't have time for the overnight soaking, you can just rise the dough for 2 hours (or up to 5 hours) instead.

(This recipe is an altered version of the original from 'Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day'.  There's lots of different way you can use this dough, so have a look at the website for ideas.)

1. Grind in Thermomix for 1 minute on speed 9:
- 250g spelt grain

2. Add and mix on speed 4-5 until all mixed in, using spatula if needed to help it along:
- 750g plain unbleached spelt flour
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons dry yeast
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons coarse salt
- 750g lukewarm water (needs to be lukewarm, or rising time will be longer)
You don't have to knead it, or mix it for very long, only until all the flour is mixed in.

3. Scrape the wet, sticky dough out of the Thermomix into a large plastic container or dough bucket with a lid that is fitted, but not completely airtight. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until it has risen to it's height and then collapsed, or has flattened on the top. Longer rising times, up to 5 hours, will not harm the result, and will help to increase digestibility.

4. You can use some of the dough now, or you can place it in the fridge for whenever you need it. It's a lot easier to work with if you refrigerate it first, as it's less sticky. So for your first loaf, it's probably easier to put it in the fridge for at least three hours first.

5. Baking Day: First, prepare a pizza peel (or a cutting board or pizza tray with baking paper on it) by sprinkling it with cornmeal or wholemeal spelt flour. Sprinkle the top of the dough in the container with some flour to make it less sticky when you pull some out. Pull out a grapefruit sized chunk of dough, hold it in your hand and add a little more flour to the outside of it, so it won't stick to your hands. Don't knead it or squeeze it - just gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom, turning as you go, and gather it under to form a smooth ball, then place it on the floured tray/peel.

6.  Rest the dough on the peel/tray to rise, uncovered.  It will take 40 minutes to rise altogether - you won't see a lot of rising during this time, but it will rise more in the oven.  After 20 minutes, turn oven on to 230 degrees C (450 degrees F) with a baking stone placed on middle rack.  (If you don't have a baking stone you can use a heavy based tray or flat cast-iron pan.  I used a cast-iron pan the first time and it worked really well.)  Place an empty grill tray in the bottom of the oven or on another rack.

7.  Once you've turned the oven on to preheat, dust the bread with wholemeal flour or cornmeal and slash a 1/4 inch deep pattern with a sharp knife - criss cross, diagonal, tic-tac-toe, or a 'sun ray' pattern as on the couronne loaf above.  Leave to rise for the remaining 20 minutes.

8.  After the 20 minute preheat, open the oven and quickly slide the loaf off the pizza peel or tray, onto the baking stone (or tray or cast-iron pan).  Quickly pour a cup or two of hot water into the empty grill tray and close oven door to trap the steam.

9.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until crust is nicely browned and firm - the dough inside won't dry out because it's so moist.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.  Crust will soften a bit at first, but will firm up again after cooled.

10.  Store remaining dough in the fridge in lidded container and use it over the next 14 days.  Allowing the dough to mature over a couple of days will improve the flavour and texture.  Cut off and shape loaves as you need them - only bake what you can use in a day as it gets quite tough after a day or so.  You can have a couple of different doughs maturing in the fridge at different stages, some with herbs mixed in, some plain... check out the website or book for lots of ideas.  Have fun!

Note:  When you're ready to make a new batch of dough, there's no need to wash out the container from the last batch - just scrape the aged dough down and incorporate it into the new dough and it will give you a head start on the sourdough flavour!

'Blender Batter' Berry Cake (GF & DF)

You would never guess that this scrumptious cake is made completely from brown rice, would you! It is the most moist and delicious gluten-free cake ever... and it is completely dairy-free and refined-sugar-free too! It is not made with flour, but with the whole, raw grains, ground in the Thermomix, blended with the liquids, then left to soak for a few hours before the other ingredients are added. You could use other grains besides brown rice - see variations at the end of the recipe. I use raw honey for the sweetener, which I buy bulk to save money.

I've adapted this recipe from one in Sue Gregg's "Breakfasts" cookbook  called "Almond Coffee Cake" which is made with her 'Blender Batter Baking' method.

1. Place 200g of rice in Thermomix and blend on speed 9 for 1 minute. Set aside and grind remaining 150g rice on speed 9 for 1 minute. Return first batch to Thermomix bowl. (It's best to grind this amount of rice or grain in two batches so you don't overload the blades.)

- 350g raw brown rice

2. Add the following ingredients and mix on speed 9 for 30 seconds:

- 260g rice/almond milk

- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

- 50g olive oil

- 280g raw honey

2. Scrape down lid and sides of bowl, and leave batter to soak for a few hours, or overnight, at room temperature. (I prefer to pour it into a glass bowl for soaking.)  If you're in a hurry it can be made without soaking - just add an extra minute of blending once you add the liquids.

3. Oil a large rectangular baking dish. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C (325 degrees F).

4. Add, and reblend for 2 more ninutes on high speed:

- 2 eggs

5. Add to batter, and blend briefly but don't overmix (5 seconds speed 5):

- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp ginger

6. Pour batter into baking pan, and sprinkle over the top:

- 1 cup of frozen mixed berries/blueberries

7. Don't rinse out Thermomix/blender; just place into bowl and chop on speed 5 for 3-5 seconds:

- 1 good handful raw almonds

8. Add, and mix on speed 3 for 3 seconds:

- 1 good handful of raw rolled oats (or if gluten free, use 1/4 cup gf flour instead)

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- 2 Tblspns Rapadura

- 2 Tblspns macadamia oil (or other mild tasting oil, or butter)

9. Sprinkle over cake, and place in oven. Cook for about 45 minutes, or until knife or toothpick comes out clean when poked into centre of cake. Enjoy!

Variations:

- Other grains you can use: 1 1/3 cups wheat or 1 1/2 cups spelt/kamut or 1 1/4 cups barley grain.

- Apple cake: Cook 2 cups thinly sliced apples with 1/4 cup water and 1 tsp cinnamon; place on top of batter in pan, then sprinkle topping over (use walnuts or pecans instead of almonds in topping).

- Dried fruit: Soak 1 cup dried apricots or other dried fruit in hot water for 1-2 hrs, until soft; use in place of apple as above.

- Date & walnut cake: Mix together 3/4 cup of diced dates and 3/4 cup chopped walnuts; fold half into batter, and sprinkle rest on top with topping. (Omit almonds in topping.)

- Pineapple cake: Use juice from tin of crushed pineapple instead of rice milk in cake; add crushed pineapple to topping and omit almonds.

GF Apple-Berry Custard Crumble

This is one of my family's favourite desserts - it's quick and easy to prepare, and not expensive, especially if you buy your apples bulk, in season, like I do. Even if you don't have to eat gluten free, you will love this topping.

I like to add a layer of custard between the fruit and the crumble - it looks really pretty, and tastes so good. (Blueberries make the apples pink, as you can see in the picture above!) Also, the moisture from the custard helps to cook the fruit. If you like your apples really soft and mushy, precook them. (I don't!) To pre-cook apples in the Thermomix, place sliced apples and cinnamon in the bowl and cook at 100C for 10 minutes, reverse speed soft.

If you can't have nuts, just leave them out and add more quinoa flakes (or oats if you can have gluten).

Serves 6-8.

Preheat oven to 180ºC

1. Peel, core, and slice apples thinly into a large, oven proof dish. Add berries and cinnamon and stir through.
- 5-6 apples
- 2 cups of frozen organic blueberries (or other berries)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2. Make custard by adding all ingredients below to the Thermomix bowl and cooking for 6 minutes at 90C, speed 4:
- 2 eggs
- 500g rice-almond milk (or preferred milk)
- 50g raw honey or 60g Rapadura
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 30g gf plain flour or cornflour
    Pour custard over fruit, scraping out bowl. No need to wash bowl.

[Note: to make this custard egg-free, just leave out the eggs and add another 30g of cornflour or gf plain flour. Or grind 30g white chia seeds with the cornflour until fine, then add remaining ingredients minus the eggs and cook.]

3. Add crumble ingredients to bowl and mix on speed 5 for 5 seconds. This will mix it together and chop the nuts at the same time.
- 130g gluten-free self-raising flour
- 70g quinoa flakes (or oats if you're okay with gluten)
- 40g raw almonds
- 40g Rapadura
- a pinch of salt
- 100g macadamia oil (or butter - if using butter leave out the pinch of salt)

4. Sprinkle crumble over the custard and fruit, and bake for 30 minutes, or until crumble is golden.

Great served with cashew cream!

Variation: Make this recipe extra special with a delicious, caramelly hazelnut topping!! (Thanks Chelsea!)

Warning: Even though this recipe makes over 2 litres of dessert, it never lasts long - our family of six can scoff it down in one sitting! So if you want to spread it out further, serve in small bowls! :)

Gateau au Chocolate - Flourless French Chocolate Cake

One of my favourite things to do is to create healthy desserts that taste really decadent. The kind of desserts you can serve to your nine year old boy and your sugar-addicted friends, and they'd never know it was healthy! This cake is a rich, dark, moist 'gateau au chocolate' which I found on Debra Lynn Dadd's website, http://www.sweetsavvy.com/. A serving of one-eighth of the cake has only 12 carbs, but don't worry, it doesn't taste like it!

This recipe has a dark, bittersweet chocolate taste which I love. But if you prefer a sweeter cake, just add more Rapadura (evaporated sugar cane juice, available from health food stores).

I use a Thermomix for most of my cooking - an amazing cooking machine that is a food processor, grinder, cooker, steamer, and much more. (For more information, go to www.thermomix.com.) If you don't have a Thermomix, you will need an electric mixer and a blender.

In case you get confused, you'll need five eggs for this recipe, but two of the yolks won't be used. Store them for later and use in custard or when making your own pasta.

1. Preheat oven to 150° C (300° F).

2. Grease a 7" springform pan with butter, and set aside.

3. Mix on high speed in blender or Thermomix until powdered:
- 1/2 cup Rapadura Tip into a bowl and set aside.

4. Melt over low heat (either on stove in pan, or in Thermomix ):
- 10 tablespoons of butter

5. Remove from heat and add the Rapadura, and:
- 9 tablespoons organic cocoa (or the best dark cocoa you can afford)
Stir until blended, then set aside to cool for 15 mins.

6. Crack and separate:
- 4 eggs
Place the whites into a mixer bowl, and place two of the yolks in a storage container and place in fridge for another recipe.

7. Beat the 4 egg whites in mixer bowl with electric mixer (or Thermomix with butterfly attachment) until they form stiff peaks. Tip into another bowl and set aside.

8. Tip two egg yolks into the mixer bowl (or Thermomix). Add:
- 1 whole egg Beat the yolks and the whole egg together until they are light and foamy. Slowly add the cocoa mixture, beating the whole time, until it's well mixed.

9. Pour the butter/cocoa/egg mixture into the egg whites in the large bowl, and fold together with a spatula until well incorporated, but don't overmix!

10. Pour batter into the springform pan and bake for about an hour. The cake usually rises high, cracks open, then deflates a little. The centre should be set, but doesn't need to be dry.

11. Allow to cool completely on a rack, then remove sides of pan.

You can serve this delicious cake plain, but it tastes absolutely amazing if you pile it with Berry Nougat... this is my favourite way to serve it! (Besides, if it deflates too much, no one will notice if it's covered in berries!)


Berry Nougat
This recipe is one I know from memory, but it was originally from a raw cookbook by Serene Allison - the amounts can vary to taste, so don't stress too much about measuring.

1. In a big mixing bowl, tip in:
- about 300g of frozen mixed berries
- a handful or two of raisins or sultanas (for chewiness)
- a handful of raw almonds (or your favourite nuts), roughly crushed in blender or Thermomix
- a few splashes of pure maple syrup (to taste - make sure it's still tangy, not too sweet)
- a few blobs of almond (or mixed nut) butter

You can let the berry nougat thaw a little, or have it still mostly frozen - I like it thawed, as it's juicier and has more flavour. Berry nougat is delicious on it's own too, thawed or frozen, or on cheesecake (if you eat dairy).

This is making my mouth water - I'm off to make some berry nougat for a snack!