Raw Superfood Fudge

 

Warning: this fudge disappears quickly!

(naturally sweetened with dates & stevia; gluten free, grain free, dairy free, egg free)

Here's a chocolate treat that you can eat guilt-free, which will help to control those chocolate cravings without overloading your body with sugar. It is not only raw and naturally sweetened, but full of antioxidants, vitamin C, protein, fibre, magnesium, immune system boosters and other nutrients to nourish your body. The raw cacao is a great pick-me-up, and I often find myself reaching for it after lunch when I need an energy boost. I tell my kids this is one sweet treat they can eat as much as they like of, which makes them pretty happy! (Although it's quite rich, so they never eat more than two or three pieces at a time.)

To maximise the goodness of this fudge, I've used two of Loving Earth's superfood powders. Rainbow Superfood Blend is quickly becoming my favourite superfood powder, because instead of opening lots of packets and jars and combining powders, I can just grab this one jar and scoop out a spoonful of maqui berry, acai, AFA, gubinge (Kakadu plum) and camu camu powders. It just simplifies things. I also add some extra maqui berry powder as this is a 'fruity' fudge! It gives it an extra depth of flavour, plus even more goodness. (If you're not sure what any of those are and why they're so good for you, click on the links to see an explanation, as well as ideas of how to use them.)

I also like to add dried, organic cherries to my fudge, or a couple of handfuls of goji berries. If you don't have any, you can either leave them out, or add some sultanas instead.

 

WIN a jar of Loving Earth's Maqui or Rainbow Superfood Powders!

Okay, so here's the exciting news... You have the chance to WIN one of the above superfood powders from Loving Earth!! They have kindly sent me some goodies to give away, so for your chance to win one of these amazing jars of goodness, just leave a comment on this post saying what you would make with it if you had some to try. There will be two winners drawn randomly in one weeks' time, on Saturday 20th October, 2012, at 5pm. The first winner will receive a 150g jar of Rainbow Superfood Blend (worth $44.90), and the second winner will receive a jar of Maqui Powder (worth $39.90). (This competition is only open to Australian residents - sorry to my overseas followers, but postage is horrendous these days! If you are desperate to try it, you can order online from Loving Earth.)

Okay, so here's my recipe for Raw Superfood Fudge ~ try it out, and don't forget to leave a comment! Enjoy :)

1. Grind up in your Thermomix on speed 9 for 30 seconds:
- 1 whole vanilla bean, snipped in a couple of pieces (no need to scrape out seeds)
- 100g raw cacao nibs

2. Add and grind on speed 9 for 10 seconds:
- 100g raw walnuts
- 100g raw cashews

[Note: nuts that are high in enzyme inhibitors (like walnuts) are easier to digest if they have been 'activated' - soaked, rinsed, then dehydrated. You can do this yourself, or you can buy them activated here. You can use regular raw nuts if that's all you have. Any combination of nuts will work - I like cashews & walnuts as they are oily, so they make a 'creamier' fudge.]

3. Add and process on speed 9 for a minute, or until fudge is smooth and begins to form a ball (as in picture below):
- 100g raw dates
- 80g coconut butter (make your own from dried coconut)
- 60g coconut oil (sometimes called coconut butter)
- 1 heaped tsp Rainbow Superfood Blend
- 1 heaped tsp Maqui Berry Powder
- 10 drops vanilla stevia or a pinch of green stevia powder (optional)
- pinch of Himalayan salt

4. Mix in on speed 3 for a few seconds:
- a handful of dried sour cherries or goji berries

5. Press mixture into a square or small rectangular dish (I use a Pyrex glass dish), and pop into the fridge to set. If you like, you can make the mixture into balls instead of squares. Keep refrigerated or it will soften and crumble.

(This is not a paid post, although Loving Earth did send me some samples and giveaways. But even if they hadn't, I would still link to them because I LOVE their products!! I think I should maybe just move into their warehouse...)

Spelt, Almond & Pistachio Cantucci

Here's a recipe I've been meaning to post for awhile... it's a bit of a favourite around here!  These are great dunked in a hot cuppa, are perfect for picnics (because they are kind of hard and don't crumble like a lot of biscuits do) and are not overly sweet - I find a lot of cookie recipes way too sweet for my taste.  I adapted these from a recipe in the Thermomix cookbook "My Way of Cooking," - I reduced the sugar drastically and used Rapadura and stevia instead, substituted spelt flour for the wheat flour (adding more, as spelt needs less liquid than wheat), and added pistachios because I love them!  If you want an aniseed flavour (also in the original recipe), you can grind up a star anise with the Rapadura at the start... I usually just use almond essence because I like the almond flavour.  Another idea would be to grind up a vanilla bean with the Rapadura and star anise - I think I'll try that next time! For a gluten free version, see the variation at the end.

It's a very easy recipe, but you need to work fast, as the dough gets really sticky the longer you take... so have your ingredients ready to go and keep the blades moving as much as possible so the dough doesn't 'gum up the works'.  If it does slow the blades down, just add an extra handful of flour and use your spatula to pull the dough off the blades, then spin them with the interval speed.  That should get it going again. 

Enjoy! :)

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2.  Grind in dry Thermomix bowl on speed 9 for 30 seconds:

- 150g Rapadura

  (If adding a star anise and/or vanilla bean, you'll need to grind for about 1 minute)

3.  Add to bowl and mix on speed 5 for 40 - 60 seconds, until combined:

- 400g spelt flour

  (you can use part wholemeal, but it does get a bit crumbly)

- 1/4 to 1/2 tsp stevia powder

- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 2 eggs

- 1 egg yolk

- 1 tsp almond essence (or vanilla extract)

4.  Quickly add nuts and mix on interval speed for 30 seconds to a minute, until dough is well mixed and nuts are roughly chopped.  If the dough gets too sticky, add another handful of flour to get it moving.
- 120g raw almonds (skin on)
- 80g raw unsalted pistachios

A very sticky dough!

5.  Place dough onto a lightly floured silicon mat and quickly shape into a couple of 3 cm thick logs.  Place onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, making sure there's some space between them.  Cook in preheated oven for about 30 - 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

6.  As soon as they're cooked, remove from oven and slice into diagonal slices - this must be done while they are hot and soft, or they'll crumble! Leave them to cool completely, then store in glass jars.  They also freeze well.

Gluten Free Variation:  You can use this gluten free baking mix instead of the spelt flour, although you may need to adjust the amounts a little if the dough is too sticky.

Hazelnut Version: You can use 100g almonds and 100g hazelnuts too, for a change. :)

Orange Almond Cake (gluten free)

 

Gluten Free Orange Almond Cake

I'm not sure what I love most about this cake - the delightful smell that permeates the whole house while it cooks, or the soft, moist texture, or the tangy-sweet orange flavour! 


My friend Nancy tends to cut steps out of recipes like I do, and she never boils the oranges for the 'Boiled Orange and Almond' cake in the Thermomix Everyday Cookbook - why bother boiling oranges for 40 minutes when it's fresher and just as yummy this way? Not to mention MUCH quicker!! So I started making it her way too, just adding a few more 'tweaks' along the way to reduce the sugar, and make it a healthier version of the original.

This is a cake that everyone will enjoy, whether they're used to eating gluten free or not. It is also dairy free, contains no fat, and is naturally sweetened! You can use two oranges, or an orange and a lime, orange and lemon... whatever combination you like. If you use lemon-lime, you will need to increase the Rapadura and/or stevia a little.

1. Grind almonds in Thermomix for 10 secs speed 8:
- 250g (8.8 oz) raw almonds, skin on

2. Add oranges (limes/lemons) and grind another 20 secs speed 8:
- 2 oranges, preferably organic (or 1 orange, 1 lime/lemon) washed, thick ends sliced off, quartered and de-seeded

3. Add following ingredients and mix for 30 secs on speed 5:
- 6 eggs
- 100g Rapadura
- 1/2 tsp stevia liquid concentrate or powder
- 1 tsp ground lemon myrtle (optional)

4. Mix in baking powder just until combined (5 secs speed 5):
- 1 tsp baking powder

5. Pour mixture into a large, lined, rectangular baking dish (should be about 2 cm (1 inch) deep); or two round cake tins; or you could use some mini Bundt tins like I did - they're so cute!

6. Bake at 190 degrees C (370 degrees F) for about 30 mins, until browned and knife inserted comes out clean. If you like, drizzle with orange/lemon syrup.

Orange/Lemon Syrup:
- Juice an orange or lemon, pour juice into Thermomix bowl, add 30g Rapadura for orange syrup, or 60g for lemon syrup, and cook at 100 degrees for 2 minutes, speed 2. Drizzle over cake and serve warm.

Carob Cake with Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free Icing

Hi everyone - I'm finally getting around to posting a recipe! We're actually on holiday at the beach, which is why I've been so slack. This cake can be made with either cocoa or carob (use a little more if cocoa). There's also a couple of suggestions for sweeteners - if you've never heard of Rapadura, see here. I sometimes use butter, sometimes olive oil, sometimes coconut oil - you can substitute it for whatever you usually use. You can make it either with spelt or gluten free flour (or wheat of course, but I don't use wheat).

I use grams for most of my measurements (because the Thermomix has a built in scale, and that's how you cook with it), so I've converted them to ounces as well, but not to cups - sorry!

The icing (frosting) is really yummy, and so healthy! If you can't have soy, maybe you know of another type of carob buttons you could use. I've suggested a recipe for homemade soy-free carob chips here (with comments).

If you'd like some carob 'candy' recipes, my friend Angie has a website with some: there's Carob Candy Squares, Carob Sesame Balls, Carob Fruit Candy (contains milk powder, but you could substitute with soy milk powder), and Carob Clusters. Yum!

Happy baking!

Carob Cake

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees. Grease / line a 20cm square pan or small ring tin.

2. Melt butter/coconut oil (Thermomix: 2 mins, 60 degrees, speed 4):

- 120g (4.25 oz) butter (or oil)

3. Mix together all ingredients (including melted butter/coconut oil) in Thermomix or food processor for 30 seconds (speed 5 in Thermomix, med-high speed in food processor):

- 100g (3.5 oz) rice-almond milk

- 2 eggs

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 150g (5.3 oz) spelt flour (or 120g (4.2 oz) gluten-free flour)

- 4 level tsp baking powder

- 30g (1 oz or about 3 heaped Tablespoons) carob powder

- 100g (3.5 oz) raw honey or 120g (4.2 oz) Rapadura or 60g (2 oz) Rapadura + pinch of Stevia powder

4. Pour into cake tin and bake in centre of oven for 25 - 30 mins, or until knife inserted in cake comes out clean.

5. Eat warm, dusted with powdered Rapadura, or cool and top with carob icing.

Carob Icing (Frosting)

(based on one from the Fit for Life Cookbook, Marilyn Diamond)

1. In a saucepan, combine all ingredients and warm over med-low heat while stirring continuously with a wooden spoon (or Thermomix - 2 mins, 60 degrees, speed 2).

- 3 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter

- 1/2 cup carob chips

- 1/4 cup honey (or rice malt syrup)

- 1/4 cup rice-almond milk

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

2. Drizzle and spread over cake - it will get firm as it cools.

If you have some left, you can keep it in the fridge and spread it on toast - it's yummy! Try adding crushed hazelnuts for a healthy substitute for Nutella!