Category: celebration

Gingerbread Men | Gluten Free | Allergen Free

These Gingerbread Cookies have options for everyone – there are 3 basic recipes – all of them are gluten, dairy and egg free, one is also free from coconut and one is free from coconut and grains (but contains nuts), and probably paleo.

These cookie recipes are 3 years in the making! I have been trying for years to come up with one that doesn’t fall apart, cuts well and bakes up crunchy on the outside and just a little soft to the bite, in the middle. Our dietary requirements have changed quite a bit over the years, hence my ability to come up with such a range of variations.

For the icing, we used icing sugar + water and naturally coloured sprinkles. For a low sugar option you can make a paste with tapioca and water to decorate with, if you wish.

when I cut the cookies out, I make sure to press down adequately so it cuts out with smooth lines, then I take the cutter away, and use a cake icing spatula (there’s probably a proper name for that!) and slice it under each cut out cookie, then carefully place it down on the baking tray. For gluten free cookies, these are fairly durable. Once you have removed all the shapes, re-ball and roll the dough out again and cut the next lot into shapes, until it’s all gone.

When I get down to the last scraps we roll the rest into balls and squash down with a fork.

if you make these cookies don’t forget to tag me on Facebook or Instagram! I love to see your creations, and if you have any questions or queries, I’m always happy to help, or see how I can accommodate your requirements.

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Gingerbread Cookies – Top Allergen Free

These Gingerbread Cookies are free from the top allergens, there is a coconut free version below, and a version that is coconut free, grain free , but contains nuts.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Course: biscuits
Cuisine: American
Keyword: allergy friendly, baking, biscuit, biscuits, coconut free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, grain free, nut free, paleo, soy free

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups Gluten Free Flour Blend (or buckwheat flour)
  • ½ cup Coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3 teaspoons ground ginger
  • ⅔ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 4 Tablespoons molasses (or honey)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven 180°c fan bake.
  • Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix until it forms a dough. The dough should be soft, smooth and pliable.
  • If it is too dry, add 1 Tablespoon water at a time, until it comes together
  • If it is really hot (E.g. your coconut oil was liquid at room temp and you didn't have to melt it) then rest the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes before rolling.
  • Split the dough into 2 balls. Roll the first ball of dough out between two pieces of baking paper to ¾ of a centimetre thick (½ an inch).
  • Place a greased piece of oven paper on a large oven tray.
  • Cut into shapes with your cookie dough cutter and place on the baking sheet.
  • Repeat with the second ball of dough.
  • Cook for 10 – 12 minutes.
  • Leave to cool on baking tray for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
  • Decorate as you wish. We used icing sugar + water and naturally coloured sprinkles. For a low sugar option you can make a paste with tapioca and water to decorate with.
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Coconut Free Gingerbread Cookies – GF, DF, EF, NF, SF, RSF

These Gingerbread cookies are free from glutem dairy, eggs, nuts and coconut.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Course: biscuits, cookies
Cuisine: American
Keyword: allergy friendly, biscuit, coconut free, cookie, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut free, soy free
Author: Kayla

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups Gluten Free Flour Blend (or buckwheat flour)
  • ½ cup maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)
  • 3 Tablespoons molasses (or honey)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 3 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ cup oil (mild olive oil, almond or macadamia oil)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven 180°c fan bake.
  • Combine all the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix until it forms a dough. The dough should be soft, smooth and pliable.
  • Split the dough into 2 balls. Roll the first ball of dough out between two pieces of baking paper to ¾ of a centimetre thick (½ an inch).
  • Place a greased piece of oven paper on a large oven tray.
  • Cut rolled dough into shapes with your cookie dough cutter and place on the baking sheet. I use a cake icing spatula to lift the shapes up and on to the tray.
  • Cook for 10 – 12 minutes.
  • Leave to cool on baking tray for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
  • Decorate as you wish. We used icing sugar + water and naturally coloured sprinkles. For a low sugar option you can make a paste with tapioca and water to decorate with.
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Grain Free Gingerbread Cookies

These gingerbread cookies are free from gluten, grains, dairy, eggs, and coconut.
Prep Time2 hrs 15 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Course: biscuits, cookies, sweets
Cuisine: cookies, Gluten free, treats
Keyword: allergy friendly, biscuit, coconut free, cookie, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, soy free
Servings: 10 cookies

Ingredients

  • 200 g almond meal / flour (about 2 1/4 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 Tablespoons ground ginger
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil (light olive oil, coconut, macadamia oil or almond oil)
  • ⅓ cup honey or maple syrup
  • 2 Tablespoons molasses (or honey)
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 170°c.
  • Put the sweetener and molasses / honey in a pot with the oil. Heat to a gentle simmer. While it’s heating, measure the flour, spices and salt into a bowl.
  • Take the pot off the heat and add the baking soda to it. Stir and watch it puff up and bubble. After a few minutes of stirring add to the almond meal and mix together.
  • Chill the dough in the fridge (two hours) or freezer (one hour).
  • Roll out between two greased pieces of baking paper. Cut into shapes and transfer to greased baking paper on an oven tray. The cookies will spread a little so leave enough gaps between them!
  • Cook for 8-10 minutes, but keep an eye on them as they will turn from browned to burned quickly!

Kayla
Gluten free sticky date pudding on a white plate in the foreground, a gold spoon drizzling caramel sauce over the sticky date pudding. 3 sticky date pudding serves in the background.

Sticky Date Pudding | Gluten Free | Dairy Free

The most delicious sticky date pudding – gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, soy free, egg free and coconut free.

Over on Facebook I asked you guys what you wished you had an allergy friendly recipe for. There were dozens and dozens of requests, and it was so hard to choose. So I got my 8 year old, Ashton to choose. And he chose Lily’s request for sticky date pudding that is gluten free, dairy free, soy free and refined sugar free. I know lots of my readers are egg free and coconut free as well, so I also took those into consideration when developing the recipe. As usual, there are no funny substitutes, just a recipe I developed to be naturally free of the things that most of us avoid.

Nut free

This is my go to flour combination that I base my cakes, mug cakes and brownie recipes on. However with the nut butter, its not super nut allergy friendly. As a result, I would like to develop a version of this recipe that uses a simple store brought gluten free flour blend to rid the need for nut substitutes. So if this seems a bit fiddly for the nut free folk, stay tuned and I will add that version as soon as I have perfected it!

I always triple test my recipes for quality. While it often takes me a little while to get a recipe on to the blog, when it makes it here, you can rest assured that it has been thoroughly tested to minimise the chances of you having a recipe flop. I know first hand, how heartbreaking it is to waste precious and often expensive allergy friendly ingredients, not to mention time. That’s why I always ensure my recipes are sufficiently tested first. And they often based on methods and ingredients combinations I know and use all the time.

You can find more dessert and sweet treat recipes here.

I love hearing when you’ve made my recipes! If you make this don’t forget to tag me on Facebook, or instagram.

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Sticky Date Pudding – Gluten Free | Dairy free

This sticky date pudding is sweet, sticky and delicious. It is free from gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, refined sugar and grains.
Course: celebration, Dessert, pudding
Cuisine: Gluten free, Grain free
Servings: 4 Adults

Ingredients

  • 150 g Dates (1 heaped cup)
  • 1 cup hot water (just boiled)
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ cup tapioca starch
  • ¾ cup almond meal (sunflower seed meal for nut free)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ⅓ cup nut butter or tahini (almond butter, cashew butter, or at a stretch, peanut butter) (almond, tahini or cashew work best to keep the flavours neutral)
  • ¼ cup olive oil or coconut oil

Caramel Sauce

  • ⅓ cup coconut sugar* (honey, maple and erithritol / stevia blend* also work)
  • 1 cup coconut cream* *(see notes for a coconut free caramel sauce recipe)
  • Pinch salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180°c fanbake.
  • Place the dates in a bowl and cover with the 1 cup of hot water. Add the baking soda.
  • Place the tapioca, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Whisk to combine.
  • Puree the dates with a handheld blender or in a blender / food processor. Set aside to cool.
  • When the dates are cool – and it's imporatnt to make sure they are not any hotter than luke warm, as adding hot dates to the flour mix will react with the tapioca causing a gummy texture – add the nut butter or tahini and oil and mix together.
  • Pour into the dry flour mix and stir everything together.
  • Grease or line a baking tray or individual pie dishes or remikens. Pour the mixture in.
  • Bake in the oven, on the middle rack. For 4 large individual serves: 20 minutes. If doing 1 large dish or several smaller dishes, you may need to adjust the cook time. 30 minutes for one large dish, or until cooked in the centre.

Make the caramel

  • Put a small pot over a meduim heat. Pour in the coconut sugar, and let it sit on the bottom of the pot until it melts.
  • When the sugar is melted, take the pot off the heat and let rest for a minute, so it doesnt burn the coconut cream when you add it.
  • Pour in the coconut cream and add back to the heat. Add the vanilla and salt. Let it boil in the pot, for five minutes, stirring occasionally, or until it is thickened. It will thicken more as it cools.
  • Serve the sticky date puddings with the caramel drizzled over the top.

Notes

*coconut free date caramel sauce:
1/2 cup dates
1 cup milk of choice (the creamiest milk, that’s safe for your diet) 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch of salt
Put the dates in the blender with the milk and blend until smooth. 
Pour the mixture into a small pot. Add the vanilla and salt. Over a medium heat, heat the mixture to a simmer, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes, or until it’s thickened, but still a pourable / spoonable consistency. Taste for sweetness, and add honey or maple if you would like it sweeter. 
 

Kayla

Healthier ANZAC Biscuits

These are the ANAZC biscuits for you if you are avoiding just gluten or dairy, or maybe nothing at all but just want a healthier Anzac biscuit option. If you are avoiding a bunch of stuff commonly found in Anzac biscuits (like butter, oats and coconut) then this recipe here for everything free Anzac biscuits is what you are looking for. They are also every bit as delicious as these ones.

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Healthier Anzac biscuits

The Most delicious ANZAC biscuits. Gluten, wheat, soy, egg, and nut free with a dairy free option
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time12 mins
Servings: 12 Biscuits

Ingredients

  • 70 g Butter (you can sub coconut oil for dairy free)
  • ¼ cup Honey
  • ½ tsp Baking soda
  • ¼ cup Coconut sugar (Or you could use, any sugar, more honey, maple syrup, agave, date syrup)
  • ½ cup Gluten free or buckwheat flour
  • 1 cup Rolled oats (we use quick cook oats, for gluten free – use gluten free oats if availbale, and tolerated, or quinoa flakes)
  • ½ cup Ground sunflower and / or pumpkin seeds OR almond meal if it doesn’t need to be nut free
  • ½ cup dessiccated coconut

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 190 deg (fan bake).
  • Melt the butter and honey in small pot. Stir togther. Add the baking soda and watch the magic happen! It will puff and rise. Stir for a minute while it reacts.
  • Combine with the rest of the ingredients and gently mix everything together.
  • The mix should feel sticky but hold together when you scoop with a spoon.
  • With wet hands gently shape into approx 12 balls and place them on a lined & greased baking tray. Flatten slightly with a fork, they may spread when baked.
  • Make sure the oven is well preheated before putting the biscuits in, as this helped to reduce any drastic spreading! Cook for 10 – 15 minutes or until they start to turn golden – keep a close eye on them – they can burn quickly! Take them out and let cool on the tray and then a baking rack for as long as you can torture yourself with them, then store in an airtight container if you don’t eat them all at once!

Kayla

Apple Crumble Slice | Gluten Free, Healthy

This Apple crumble slice is super versatile. It’s free from the top allergens, plus coconut. Can be made with any fruit. And you can also layer the fruit on the bottom of an oven proof dish, and crumble the whole mix over the top to make fruit crumble! I actually find we only need half of the mix for fruit crumble, and the other half freezes great, and can be used to make another fruit crumble later on.

This recipe is healthy enough for everyday, (or breakfast even!) and lunchboxes, if you are wanting to make an extra sweet treat, or you are serving people used to sweet baking, then you can use 3/4 cup of sweetener instead of 1/2.

Make it grain free / Paleo

You can make this recipe paleo by substituting the oats, seeds and flour for almond meal – so 2 cups almond meal + 1 cup tapioca. Or 1 cup ground seeds, 3/4 cup almond meal and 3/4 cup tapioca.

Which sweetener?

The sweetener is fairly flexible, this recipe is designed for a liquid sweetener such as honey, maple, brown rice syrup etc. If you use a granulated sweetener such as coconut sugar, then you will need to add approximately 1/4 cup water to ensure the current texture. It only just comes together, so you denote want it too wet.

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Apple Crumble Slice

This apple crumble slice is tangy and delicious and can be made free from gluten, dairy, soy, eggs, nuts and coconut
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Course: Breakfast, Snack, treats

Ingredients

  • ½ cup oil (olive oil, coconut oil and butter all work)
  • ½ cup sweetener e.g maple syrup, honey or coconut sugar
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp baking soda + 1 tsp vinegar (OR 2 tsp baking powder)
  • 1 cup mixed seeds or almond meal
  • 1 ½ cup flour rice flour, buckwheat, spelt or gluten free blend all work fine
  • ½ cup rolled oats or quinoa flakes

Apple Filling

  • 4 apples You can use any other fruit
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp sweetener optional

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180°c fanbake.
  • Peel and core the apples. Dice them and add to a pot with ¼ cup water, cinnamon and sweetener if you are using.
  • Cook over medium heat with the lid on for about 10 minutes, then when apples are softened, take the lid off and allow any liquid to evaporate, before setting the cooked apples aside.
  • If using seeds, grind them in your blender or food proccessor to form a flour. Place all the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix everything together. If it seems a bit dry and crumbly, add 1 Tbsp of water at a time, until it holds together nicely, when pressed.
  • Line a square slice tin with baking paper, and grease it.
  • Place half of the mixture on the tray and press down to spread out and form the base of the slice.
  • Spread the apples (now hopefully slightly cooled) on top of the base.
  • Take the remaining mixture and crumble it with your fingers on top of the stewed apples or fruit.
  • Cook in middle or lower rack in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden and the slice has risen.
  • Remove from the oven and let cool in the tin (you can put the whole tin in the fridge or freezer to help speed it up!) before removing and slicing. Store in the fridge or freezer.

Kayla

ANZAC Biscuits

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Allergy Friendly Anzac biscuits

The Most delicious ANZAC biscuits. Gluten, dairy, oats, soy, egg, nut and coconut free.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Course: biscuits, Snack, treats
Keyword: ANZAC, baking, biscuit, biscuits, coconut free, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut free, soy free, treats
Servings: 12 Biscuits

Ingredients

  • ½ cup Oil (you can sub coconut oil if coconut is ok)
  • ¼ cup Honey
  • ½ tsp Baking soda
  • ¼ cup Coconut sugar or other granulated sugar (for RSF you could use more honey, maple syrup, agave, date syrup)
  • ½ cup Gluten free or buckwheat flour
  • 1 cup Quinoa flakes (or oats, if oats are ok)
  • ½ cup Ground sunflower and / or pumpkin seeds OR almond meal if it doesn’t need to be nut free
  • ¼ cup sesame seeds (these make a nice sub for the coconut)

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180 deg (fan bake)
  • Melt the honey and oil in small pot. Stir togther. Add the baking soda and watch the magic happen! It will puff and rise. Stir for a minute while it reacts.
  • Combine with the rest of the ingredients and gently mix everything together.
  • The mix should feel sticky but hold together when you press into a ball.
  • With wet hands gently shape into approx 12 balls and place them on a lined & greased baking tray. Flatten with a fork.
  • Cook for 10 – 15 minutes or until they start to turn golden – keep a close eye on them – they can burn quickly! Take them out and let cool on the tray and then a baking rack for as long as you can torture yourself with them, then store in an airtight container if you don’t eat them all at once!

Kayla

Gluten, dairy and grain free Hot Cross Buns

I don’t like to take up too much of your time, or make you scroll 500 miles to get to my recipe. So in keeping it as simple as possible, these are pretty much what they say – gluten, dairy, soy and grain free hot cross buns. You could probably make them nut free too, if you needed, using sunflower flour, which I have added notes about below.

I must add, these hot cross buns, are quite ‘muffiny’ and I have found that in fact if you are after that slightly chewy, more bready texture, that lends itself to hot cross buns, then my egg and coconut free version, hits the spot for that. Which is surprising, given the ‘allergy friendlyness’ of it, which often takes us further away from the real thing, not closer! It turns out that over the last two years of being gluten, dairy, soy, egg and coconut free, I have become quite accustomed to creating some delicious, allergy friendly food. And even though we are now able to have eggs and coconut again, I hope to still include these options in all my recipes for you. Let me know if you have any questions, I now have a messenger feature on the website to make that easier for you, hooray!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups almond meal*
  • 1/2 cup tapioca
  • 1/3 cup coconut flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp cinnamon 
  • 1 tsp of each ginger, cloves and nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup honey or other sweetener
  • 2/3 cup coconut oil
  • 3 eggs 
  • 1/3 cup dried apricots, diced (we use Ceres Organics preservative free)
  • 1/3 cup dried Cranberries (we use Ceres Organics, refined sugar free)

The Crosses:

  • 1/8 cup almond meal
  • 1/8 cup tapioca
  • A tiny dash of sweetner
  • 1 tsp of water at a time

*If you are nut free you can substitute the almond meal with sunflower meal (either homemade by blitzing sunflower seeds in a blender or food processor until they are a flour, or store brought). If you cannot have nuts or seeds, you can make hot cross bun flavoured muffins using this recipe, and adding in the above spices.

What to do

Preheat the oven to 180°c fan bake

Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl together.

Melt the coconut oil and add to a seperate bowl, with the honey, and eggs. Whisk them all together, then mix into the dry ingredients. Leave everything to sit on the bench for ten minutes. Put it into the fridge if you are in a hot climate. This gives a chance for the liquids to absorb a little and the coconut oil to firm up which will help you scoop and roll the mix into balls.

Line a square slice baking pan with greased baking paper. Once the mixture has sit for 10 minutes, scoop out large tablespoon sized portions. Grease your hands, then very gently form into balls and place them, just touching in the baking pan. This should yield 12 of the same size buns. If you don’t want to muck around with this, they will cook nicely in a well greased silicon muffin pan.

The Crosses:

Combine the almond meal and tapioca, and a dash of sweetener in a bowl, add the water 1 tsp at a time, until it is a thick, but pipeable consistency. Add the mix into the end of a piping bag, with the smallest nozzle. Or into a glad bag, and just cut a very small snip off the corner. Pipe the mix over your buns to make the crosses.

Bake for 20 minutes. The buns should be starting to turn golden on top. The ones around the edges will be well cooked, but check the buns in the middle, they might need an extra few minutes. I have found that when they are just a little softer to touch, they continue to cook after I take them out of the oven and when left to sit for a while, end up cooked through.

Remove the whole baking paper with buns still on top, to a wire rack to cool. Don’t worry about removing the paper from underneath until they are cooled properly.

Enjoy as is, or cut in half and spread with dairy free spread, or butter if you can have it.

Kayla

Hot Cross Buns – Gluten, dairy, egg, grain free

These Hot cross buns are all the spiced, warm bready delight I could have hoped for in a gluten, dairy, soy, egg, nut and coconut free bun. The secret is in the psyllium husk, which helps to give it that springy bread feel. For some reason I only developed the recipe to make 4 buns because I honestly thought, when I could make a version with other stuff in it, why would anyone need to share my everything free buns. But it turns out my family love this version the best, and even myself, who can now have eggs and coconut, actually enjoy this recipe the most. So from now on I’m going to be making a double batch, every time. Below, I will include the double batch measurements for you, in case you would like to come back and do the same! Happy hot cross bun making, i’d love to know what you think of these, and as always happy to answer any questions. If you would like to check out the gluten, dairy and grain free version you can find that here.

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4.5 from 2 votes

Gluten, dairy, soy, egg, grain free hot cross buns

Gluten, dairy, soy, egg, coconut and grain free hot cross buns. Options to make nut free as well. These give a pleasingly bready texture with the perfect amount of fruit and spice to satisfy all your hot cross bun cravings.
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Course: Breakfast, celebration, easter, Snack, treats
Servings: 4 Buns

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Almond meal or sunflower flour for nut free (Make your own by blending sunflower seeds to a fine flour)
  • 2 Tbsp psyllium husk 
  • ½ cup tapioca flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder  (for grain free use 1/2 tsp baking soda)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp each ginger, nutmeg and cloves
  • ½ cup almond milk (or rice milk, hemp milk for nut free)
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp sweetener 
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 
  • ¼ cup dried apricots (chopped)
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries 

The Cross

  • ⅛ cup almond meal or sunflower flour
  • ⅛ cup tapioca flour
  • 1 tsp of water at a time

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 180°c fanbake.
  • Put all the ingredients in a bowl together and mix.
  • Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes so the psyllium husk can do its thing, and soak up the liquid.
  • Divide the mixture into 4 (or 8 if you have doubled the mix) You should now be able to gently shape the buns with greased hands, into balls, then flatten them slightly. They can be rustic, if you handle the dough for too long it will start to stick.
  • For the crosses:
    Combine the almond meal and tapioca in a bowl, add the water 1 tsp at a time, until it is a thick, but pipeable consistency. Add the mix into the end of a piping bag, with the smallest nozzle. Or into a glad bag, and just cut a very small snip off the corner. Pipe the mix over your buns to make the crosses.
  • Line a square baking pan with greased baking paper. Place the buns touching one another in the middle of the pan. ( if you have doubled the mix they will take up most of the pan)
  • Cook for 20 minutes (or 35 minutes if you have doubled the mix).
  • The buns should be starting to turn golden on top. The ones around the edges will be well cooked, but check the buns in the middle, they might need an extra few minutes. I have found that when they are just a little softer to touch, they continue to cook after I take them out of the oven and when left to sit for a while, end up cooked through.
  • Remove the whole baking paper with buns still on top, to a wire rack to cool. Don't worry about removing the paper from underneath until they are cooled properly. You can eat them warm, but give them 20 minutes to cool down a little first.
  • Enjoy cut in half and spread with dairy free spread. Or toast them first in the oven before spreading.

Double The Buns:

If you would like the double the mix, I have made it easy for you here. Follow the instructions as above.

  • 2 cup Almond meal or sunflower flour for nut free (Make your own by blending sunflower seeds to a fine flour)
  • 4 Tbsp psyllium husk 
  • 1 cup tapioca flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder  (for grain free use 1/2 tsp baking soda)
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp each ginger, nutmeg and cloves
  • 1 cup almond milk (or rice milk, hemp milk for nut free)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp sweetener 
  • 2 tsp apple cider vinegar 
  • 1/3 cup dried apricots (chopped)
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries 

Kayla4 Comments

Strawberry Mousse Cake | Allergy Friendly

This year, I decided that I needed a new Christmas dessert recipe. Something light, and fresh, and of course something allergy friendly that I could share with guests who thought it was as equally delicious as we did! The texture of this Strawberry Mousse cake is like light fluffy mousse, ice cream and marshmallow, all rolled into one.

There are options for a vegan version, and an egg free version below. I hope you enjoy it as much a we did! If you have any special requirements, please sing out and I can help you out with what you need!

There is also a nut free base recipe at the bottom of the recipe.

I have also successfully halved the sugar in this recipe, and it was still delicious and what I’d consider a fairly low sugar dessert, with the reduced amount. But being Christmas, and serving other people who are used to sweet desserts, I have used 1 cup when serving to our guests.

You might also be interested in this mousse tart which is dairy, soy, egg, gluten and nut free, but contains coconut. And if you are browsing other Christmas dessert ideas, you can find my celebration recipes here.

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Strawberry Delight Mousse Cake

Prep Time20 mins
Time to Set6 hrs
Total Time6 hrs 20 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Gluten free
Keyword: allergy friendly, coconut free, dairy free, gluten free, grain free, paleo, soy free

Ingredients

  • 2 egg whites
  • 250 g punnet of strawberries
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 cup maple syrup, or honey you can also use a finely granulated sugar
  • Optional: 1 tsp beetroot powder for colour

Base

  • 1 cup almond meal or whole almonds
  • ½ cup nuts
  • 1 cup dates
  • ¼ cup cocoa butter or coconut oil
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

The Base:

  • Line a spring form cake tin with baking paper on the bottom (you can also do the sides if you wish, but I only do the bottom). My tin is 18cm diameter.
  • To make the base, put the whole nuts in the food processor or blender and blend until broken up into crumbs. Add the dates, almond meal if you are using, melted cocoa butter or coconut oil and vanilla, Blend until well combined and turn out into your lined tin. Press down to cover the base of your cake tin evenly. Set aside while you make the top.

The Topping

  • *Cut the tops off the strawberries and place into a blender or food processor. Blend well until they are all broken down. You can just dice them and put them in the bowl with the rest of the ingredients instead, and the beater will break them up, but I prefer them blended first.
  • Combine all of the other ingredients in a large bowl along with your blended strawberries. Use an electric egg beater or stand mixer to whip everything for about 5 – 10 minutes until you get stiff peaks. That is when you pull the beater up from the mix, a peak forms that stands upright and stays there without folding over too much.
  • Pour the mix over the top of your base and put into the freezer for 3-4 hours. You can also make ahead and keep this in the freezer until needed. Its best served and eaten frozen and will melt quickly in the heat.
  • Bring it to room temperature for 10 minutes before gently opening the springform tin to release the cake. Either plate and serve, or pop back into the freezer until needed.

Notes

*The mousse topping is very delicate and fragile. If you need to transport it, adding some gelatin at the stage of beating the eggs can help make it a bit sturdier for travel and prolong its structure against the heat. 
Bloom 1 tablespoon gelatin in 2 tablespoons cold water, heat gently until melted and add to the egg whites / strawberries and whip as per instructions. You must make sure the gelatin is properly dissolved and heated first. 
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Strawberry marshmallow delight Cake

Egg free, but not vegan Ive renamed this version Strawberry Marshmallow delight, as its more marshmallowy than the other two versions which are more like a mousse / ice cream. To be honest, I think this version is my favourite!
Prep Time30 mins
Chill time4 hrs
Total Time4 hrs 30 mins
Course: Dessert
Keyword: cheesecake, chocolate avocado mousse, coconut free, dairy free, dessert, egg free, gluten free, paleo, refined sugar free, strawberry

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • ¼ cup gelatin
  • 1 cup maple syrup or honey
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla
  • 250 g punnet of strawberries

Base

  • 1 cup 1 cup almond meal or whole almonds
  • ½ cup nuts
  • ¼ cup cocoa butter or coconut oil
  • 1 Tablespoon  vanilla extract

Instructions

Base

  • Line a spring form cake tin with baking paper on the bottom (you can also do the sides if you wish, but I only do the bottom). My tin is 18cm diameter.
  • To make the base, put the whole nuts in the food processor or blender and blend until broken up into crumbs. Add the dates, almond meal if you are using, melted cocoa butter or coconut oil and vanilla, Blend until well combined and turn out into your lined tin. Press down to cover the base of your cake tin evenly. Set aside while you make the top.

Filling

  • Combine the gelatine with the water in a saucepan, and heat gently until the gelatin is melted.
  • Cut the tops off the strawberries and place into a blender or food processor. Blend well until they are all broken down.
  • Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl along with your blended strawberries. Use an electric egg beater or stand mixer to whip everything for about 10 – 20 minutes (if you use a hand held egg beater, beg, bribe or pay someone to hold the beater, or ask them to clean the kitchen around you while you are stuck holding the beater!) After 15 – 20 minutes the mixture should double in size and begin to look glossy and thick, and that’s how you know it’s done. In my experience it takes bloody ages … put that Kitchen Aid on your xmas wish list pronto! Once it’s done you need to work quickly because marshmallow can seize quickly and without notice and you don’t want that to happen*.
  • Pour it over your base and set in the fridge for a couple hours. It can be frozen and thawed before serving too.
  • Gently open the springform tin to release the cake. Carefully peel away the baking paper from the sides. Either plate and serve, or pop back into the fridge or freezer until needed.

Notes

*If it does seize, or set before you’ve poured it, a very gentle heat (i’m talking like 5 seconds in microwave) can melt it back for pouring. But you really want to avoid that as you will lose some of its beautiful light fluffiness.
Print Recipe

Strawberry Delight Mouse cake – Vegan

Prep Time30 mins
Chill Time4 hrs
Total Time4 hrs 30 mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: vegan
Keyword: allergy friendly, dairy free, egg free, gluten free, soy free, strawberries

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup chickpea brine the brine in the can of chickpeas! Also known as aquafaba
  • 1 cup fine sugar*
  • 250 g punnet of strawberries
  • ⅛ teaspoon cream of tatar
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons freeze dried strawberry or raspberry powder Optional, but highly recommended

Base

  • 1 cup Almond meal or whole almonds
  • ½ cup nuts
  • ¼ cup cocoa butter or coconut oil
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

The Base

  • Line a spring form cake tin with baking paper on the bottom (you can also do the sides if you wish, but I only do the bottom). My tin is 18cm diameter.
  • To make the base, put the whole nuts in the food processor or blender and blend until broken up into crumbs. Add the dates, almond meal if you are using, melted cocoa butter or coconut oil and vanilla, Blend until well combined and turn out into your lined tin. Press down to cover the base of your cake tin evenly. Set aside while you make the top.

The Filling

  • Cut the tops off the strawberries and place into a blender or food processor. Blend well until they are all broken down. You can just dice them and place them in the bowl with the rest of the ingredients instead, and the beater will break them up, but I prefer them blended first.
  • Mix all of the other ingredients in a large bowl along with your blended strawberries. Use an electric egg beater or stand mixer to whip everything for about 10 minutes, until you get soft peaks. (That is when you pull the beater up from the mix, a peak forms that stands upright then folds over). They will be more soft than the egg version as aquafaba doesn’t hold up quite as well.
  • Pour the mix over the top of your base and put into the freezer for 3-4 hours. You can also make ahead and keep this in the freezer until needed. Its best served and eaten frozen and will melt quickly in the heat.
  • Gently open the springform tin to release the cake. Carefully peel away the baking paper from the sides. Either plate and serve, or pop back into the freezer until needed.

Notes

*icing sugar, castor sugar, or you can run coconut sugar through a blender or food processor to a fine powder, and use that. You can also absolutely use maple syrup, but aquafaba is a temperamental wee thing and does prefer the bulk of granulated sugar, it means your end result holds up a bit better.

Nut free base

1 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup dates
1/4 cup cocoa butter or coconut oil
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

To make the base, put the seeds in the food processor or blender and blend until broken up into crumbs. Add the dates, melted cocoa butter or coconut oil and vanilla, Blend until well combined and turn out into your lined tin. Press down to cover the base of your cake tin evenly. Set aside while you make the top.

Kayla5 Comments

Gluten, dairy and egg free vanilla cake

We made this gluten, dairy and egg free vanilla cake for our son’s birthday this year. Our youngest is sensitive to cocoa, all the cakes I usually make are chocolate cakes (because who doesn’t love chocolate cake!) I iced ours with a ‘lower sugar’ butter cream icing by substituting half of the icing sugar with tapioca, no one even noticed! (Except me, I am sensitive to sugar and it still gave me a headache – I prefer this lower sugar option here).

I found natural food colouring and sprinkles from Naturally Bespoke Cakes, I was really happy with them and it beats turning my kitchen into a science lab trying to concoct my own natural food colouring experiments as I’ve done in previous years.

If you are after a chocolate cake you can find some chocolate cake options here.

You Need

3 c almond meal
1 c tapioca flour
3/4 c coconut sugar (or any granulated sugar you prefer)
1/4 c ground flaxseed
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup almond milk
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup oil

What to do

Preheat oven to 180 c bake. Line the bottom of a springform cake tin with baking paper. Grease both the baking paper and the sides of the tin. (I use olive oil spray) My cake tin is about 19cm diameter.

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix! Until well combined. That easy!

Pour into your greased cake tin and put in the middle of the oven for 30 – 35 minutes, or until cooked in the centre. Let rest for 5 minutes in the tin. Gently release the sides and turn out onto a baking rack to cool.

This will make a double layered cake if you separate into two lots and cook as two cakes. Each cake will take 20 – 25 minutes, or until cooked in the centre.

Freezes well and can take out and ice while frozen then let it thaw for an hour or two before serving. I also put the leftovers back in the freezer, and they were delicious from frozen, or thawed throughout the following week.

 

Kayla

Double Chocolate Caramel Slice

Free from Dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, coconut, refined sugar & options for gluten & nut free. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup oil (olive oil, melted coconut oil, or butter)
½ cup sweetener (rice malt syrup, maple syrup or honey)
1 T vanilla extract
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mixed seeds (I used sunflower & pumpkin) finely ground up in a food processor or blender. Almond meal will work if no need for nut free.
1 1/2 cup gluten free flour (or whatever you use – gf blend, spelt, whole-wheat, buckwheat)
1/2 cup cocoa or raw cacao
1/2 cup rolled oats (the quick cook kind – or give them a quick buzz in the blender to break them down ) or quinoa flakes for gluten free.

Caramel
7 fresh medjool dates or 1 cup small dried dates
1/2 cup water + 3/4 cup warm water.

what to do

Preheat oven to 180 deg c.

Date caramel:

Boil the dates in 1/2 cup water to soften until all the water is evaporated.

Add them to a blender or food processor with 3/4 cup water. If you use a food processor you might only need 1/2 to 1/4 cup water. Blend until smooth. Return to the pot and stir over med heat for five or so minutes or until the mixture is super thick and sticky.

Slice:

Measure all the dry ingredients into a bowl then add the wet ingredients and mix to combine.

Divide the mixture in half. Press half into the bottom of your baking tin.

Spread your date caramel on top, but not quite to the edges.

Now roll out (or press with your hands) the other half of the chocolate mix between two sheets of baking paper into a thick slab just smaller than the shape and size of your tin.

Take the top sheet off and pick up the slab and flip it down on top of the caramel layer. Gently press out to the edges which should also squish the caramel to the edges.

Pop in the middle of the oven to bake for 25 minutes.

While its cooking make the chocolate icing for the top.

Remove from the oven and let it cool in the tin (can even chuck the whole tin in the fridge or freezer) **IMPORTANT** – this step is vital, or your slice might crumble! Make sure it’s properly cooled before removing from the tin. Then ice with either homemade chocolate, melted dark chocolate, ganache or your preferred icing. You might like to base this on whether it will be travelling in a lunchbox and is at risk of melting. Slice and Keep in fridge or freezer. This can be eaten straight from the freezer. I freeze then put in lunchboxes frozen in the morning. Ashton recons it’s good at morning tea (hasn’t made it past morning tea yet 😆) with a cool pack and in an insulated lunch bag. And that’s with my chocolate recipe (made with cocoa butter) for the icing.

Kayla2 Comments