Category: Recipes

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.
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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

Creamy chicken, bacon & mushroom spaghetti

 

You Need

1 250g dried spaghetti pasta – I use Ceres organics quinoa + rice spaghetti*

2 cloves garlic 

4-5 rashers of bacon 

400g chicken sliced 

200g mushrooms, sliced

Seasonal greens – I used asparagus and spinach, could also use broccoli, kale, zucchini, whatever you have. 

Sauce 

1 cup chicken broth or stock

1 clove garlic 

1/2 cup macadamia nuts (could also use cashews) nut free – see below*

2 tsp tapioca flour OR 2 egg yolks 

salt + pepper to taste. 

What to do

Cover the nuts in boiling water and leave to sit. 

Cook the spaghetti as per packet instructions. 

Sauté the chicken, bacon + garlic in some olive oil, then add the veggies and sauté until cooked through. 

Drain the water from the nuts and add to a blender with all the other sauce ingredients. Blend high speed until smooth. 

Drain the spaghetti and add to the chicken bacon and veg. Pour the sauce in and cook over low heat until  everything is combined and sauce has thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

*grain free – you could make zucchini noodles 

*Nut free – you could try replace the nuts with 1 cup steamed cauliflower + 2 T olive oil and either some nutritional yeast or 1 tsp garlic powder and a squeeze of lemon juice. Or you could use the sauce recipe from my everything free Mac + cheese 

Let me know if this doesn’t fit your requirements, and as always, i’ll see what I can suggest for you 🙂 

Kayla

The Lunchbox Mum

When Ashton was five and Felix was 6 months old, I quit my job to be a stay at home Mum. As I envisioned myself as a school Mum … a stay at home school Mum. I envisioned being that Mum that turns up to school pick up in activewear, because I’ve actually done yoga or gone for a run. The Mum with the slick pony tail who always knew what day it was, and sent her son off to school every day in clean clothes with a healthy 100% homemade packed lunch. The Mum who turned up to help out in class occasionally and paid the school fees on time. The Mum who was always smiling, and organised, with a clear head and a clean car.

The last two years has taught me, that I am in fact, none of those Mums! I’m the Mum that stays in the car at school drop off because she is wearing her slippers, and the toddler is in his pyjamas. I’m the Mum who may have actually been for a walk or a run, but is wearing track pants because she hasn’t shaved her legs in 6 months. I’m the Mum with the un-brushed messy bun, probably still up from overnight, and clothes covered in baby puke, snot and possibly poop, maybe chocolate – but probably poop. I’m the Mum who hasn’t been in to meet the new teacher except through the car window one time. I’m the Mum whose son goes to school regularly wearing odd socks, and on occasion, odd shoes. I’m The Mum who has no idea what day it is, but can tell the time by how heavy her eyes feel. And the Mum who can’t see the floor of her car (last time I checked there was an open jar of mayonnaise in the back seat). But I am also the Mum who tries her best to send her boy to school everyday with a lunchbox made with love. Love doesn’t have to be homemade, or tidy, and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Love just has to try it’s best.

Here is what it looks like when I am that Mum, the one who is messy, unorganised, covered in baby excretions, and tired beyond belief, that tries to send her boys off with a nourishing lunchbox every day. My lunchboxes aren’t perfect, they are not 100% homemade, they are made quickly, on little sleep, and sometimes empty cupboards. When my boys open their lunchboxes, I hope that they see the love.

Don’t worry about perfection, because even the most experienced of us don’t get it right, all the time. Be inspired to pack lunchboxes out of love and the kids will have everything they need 💞

And if you need a little helping hand, this resource I created helped to make sure the kids had somewhat healthy lunchboxes packed daily, in my manic attempt to get everyone out the door on time

https://mailchi.mp/b75eda91781a/chefashton_lunchboxplanner?fbclid=IwAR2zWqBO66IABaMZNqWiyNpDMObZCwe_TTv5MeQgwt92_PsHLadMMrU41Eo

Kayla

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

Veggie Loaded Nachoes


You Need

500 – 700g beef mince
1 grated carrot
1 grated zucchini
200-400g mushrooms – blitz to tiny pieces in food processor
1 head broccoli or a few handfuls of leafy greens (spinach, kale, silverbeet) chopped to tiny pieces by hand or in a food processor/ blender.
Optional extra – Up to 1 cup of any other veggie you have lying around that you feel like hiding – i’ve put in grated parsnip, pumpkin, sweet potato, extra greens.
2 T diced garlic
1/2 bottle tomato passata (350g)
1/2 cup water / stock or broth
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp salt
Chilli to taste (we add ours after to the adult dishes)

1 avocado
1/2 lemon or lime
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander
Optional: small clove of garlic or 1 T garlic olive oil

Chips – corn chips (make sure they are just corn, oil & salt)
kumara chips, grilled kumara slices, or baked tortilla wraps (gluten free if needed)

What to do

Brown the mince, add the spices and stir through over the heat for a few minutes. Then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer, stirring every now and then on a med to low heat for 10-20 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened. Often I put the tomato passata, garlic and leafy greens in the blender, and blend them all up together so the greens disappear into the sauce and I don’t have to chop the garlic! Then pour in to the mince mix.

While it’s cooking, make the guacamole by mashing the avo and stirring through the rest of the ingredients. Or add everything to a stick blender or mini blender (if I use my full size blender I need to double the mix and add some water so it flows freely through the blades, but it comes out super smooth that way.

Put the mince in the middle of your plate, then surround with your chosen corn chips, grilled kumara slices or baked tortilla chips. Top with grated cheese of your choice (dairy free, zucchini cheese or cows cheese). And guacamole, and then at our house the adults add chilli flakes or chilli oil to their plates to taste.

Kayla

Beef Curry in a Hurry

The prep for this curry is super quick and easy – but it does need some love in the form of time, to infuse it’s flavours and make the beef fall apart. So is best done in a slow cooker, pressure cooker, or on the stovetop low and slow.


You Need

700g – 1kg beef stewing steak
2 onions
2-4 cloves garlic
1 thumb ginger
Zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1.5 tsp salt
3 tsp coriander (dried or fresh)
1.5 cup almond milk (or cashew milk, broth or stock) or coconut milk

If not using coconut milk and nuts are safe – measure out half cup cashew or macadamia nuts (we can’t have cashews so use macadamia) and cover in boiled water and leave to sit min 30 mins, max 4 hours.

Optional – fresh chilli and / or 1 tsp chilli powder or flakes – add with the spoices. We don’t add chilli because our kids don’t like spicy, instead we add chilli flakes to adult plates once served.

What to do

Chop the meat – or if you are lazy like me, chuck the whole slab into the slow cooker (or pressure cooker). Finely dice the onion, garlic and ginger and add to pot with all the other ingredients.

Slow cooker: for 8 hours low or 4-5 hours on high, or until the meat is falling apart, if I haven’t cut the meat, I use two forks to pull it apart.

Pressure cooker: for 45 minutes, and rest for 20 mins (same as slow cooker, cut or use forks to pull apart once rested)

Stove top: I’d recommend dicing the meat for this option, then simmer on low, lid on, stirring every 20 minutes to make sure it’s not sticking. Until meat is falling apart. You may need to add more liquid.

If coconut free and using the nuts, blend with half a cup of water in a high powered blender, until it turns into a cream. Add to your curry after cooking, and stir through.

That easy, it’s done!

Serve with rice, salt and pepper and chilli to taste.

Kayla

Pumpkin Soup


You Need

1 whole crown pumpkin
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
3 rashers bacon
400ml stock or broth (water also works if you have neither)
1-2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp natural sea salt

What to do

Wash any dirt off the pumpkin and put the entire pumpkin skin, stalk and all into either your slow cooker, pressure cooker or oven.

Slow cook: On high 4-6 hours, low 6-8 hours.

Pressure cooker: Add 1 cup water pressure cook 30 mins and leave to rest 30 mins.

Oven – 180 deg c for 2 hours

Once the pumpkin is cooked, leave to cool. Then peel the skin off – it should only take a minute to get all the skin off and should come away like paper. Pluck the stem out and then cut in half and scoop out the seeds and discard.

Add the flesh to a large stock pot along with the rest of the ingredients and cook until bacon is heated and liquid is simmering. (Usually I pop the lid on and leave to simmer 10 mins).

Blend everything until smooth, I use my vitamix and blend in batches.

Serve with more salt, cracked black pepper and a dollop of yogurt or sour cream if you can have it. Fresh herbs that lend well are parsley, chives & coriander.

Notes:

If it seems bland or unbalanced it usually means it needs more salt.

Sometimes I cook the pumpkin then store the cooked flesh in the fridge to make soup later in the week. Sometimes I save some flesh to put in baking (like these muffins or waffles) or to hide in other dishes like mince (my kids don’t like plain pumpkin).

Kayla

Dairy Free Butter Chicken |Coconut free

This dairy free and coconut free butter chicken is one that the whole family can enjoy. When we were coconut free I missed curry so much, I spent a lot of time trying to create something that was just as delicious as the cream or coconut laden version, that was family friendly as well. At the time I made this we were dairy free, coconut free and cashew free (among other things) and it was so hard to find recipes that could resemble anything creamy without any of those ingredients. It’s safe to say that iv’e nailed this one. No dairy or coconut required as the cauliflower helps to achieve that creamy texture. It’s fragrant, smooth and delicious.

Anyone else struggle to get veggies into the kids at dinner every night? Eight veggies crammed in and disguised as butter chicken in here! This one is solving all sorts of problems! 

The lemon juice

If you don’t have lemon juice on hand, you can replace that with a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. 

Veggies out of season?

Here in New Zealand when veggies go out of season, you either need to take a second mortgage to pay for them, or they are just straight up not available. Seeing as i’m also budget conscious I’ve adapted to do without certain veggies when they are out of season:

Zucchini – replace with another ¼ of a cauliflower. 

Tomatoes – replace with another ½ cup tomato passata / puree. 

If you would like a delicious gluten, dairy, soy, egg, nut, yeast, grain and coconut free (instant!) naan bread recipe to go with this, you can find that here. 

I love to hear when you make my recipes, don’t forget to tag me on Facebook and Instagram. 

Print Recipe

Butter Chicken – Dairy Free, Coconut Free

This butter chicken recipe is not only dairy free and coconut free, its also free from gluten, eggs, nuts and made predominantly of vegetables, that your family will have no idea are in there!

Ingredients

The Spice Mix

  • 2 teaspoons Cumin
  • 2 teaspoons Garam masala
  • 2 teaspoons Paprika
  • 2 teaspoons Ginger
  • 2 teaspoons Turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper

The sauce

  • ¼ large cauliflower or 1/2 a large
  • 2 small carrots or one large
  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1 red capsicum
  • 1 small onion
  • 3 large cloves garlic (about 2 Tablespoons)
  • 3 mushrooms
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 cup water or broth
  • ½ cup tomato passata or purée
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 500 – 700 g boneless chicken breast or thigh.
  • Chilli to taste

Instructions

  • Measure out all your spices into a small bowl and set aside. Half will go in your sauce and the other half will coat the chicken.
  • Cut up the veg into rough pieces, the carrot needs to be the smallest as that takes the longest to cook. Add them to a pot with a swig of olive oil and gently sauté. Add Half of the spice mix and sauté for a few minutes until everything is coated and it smells fragrant. Add the water / stock and cover for ten minutes or until all the veggies are cooked through. (See notes for pressure cooker instructions).
  • While it's cooking, cut up the chicken into 1cm slices, all of similar size and coat with the remaining spice mix. Set aside to marinate, until the sauce is done.
  • When the veggies are cooked add them with the cooking water to a blender. Make sure you leave the top open where you would feed things into for the steam to escape or the hot pressure might build up and you will be cleaning butter chicken off your walls! I usually cover the top with a tea towel as I'm blending so none escapes. Blend it all together until the sauce is thick and smooth. Add the tomato passata / purée & lemon juice and mix through. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. If it seems quite sharp or bitter, it may need more salt.
  • Now you can either put the sauce aside in the fridge and let the chicken marinate further until dinner time (I usually prepare the sauce earlier and then cook the chicken in the sauce at dinner time). Or you can add the sauce back to the pot, gently heat and add your chicken to cook in the sauce. It’s a thick mixture and sometimes thick molten bubbles can erupt from your pot, I tend to cover the pot and keep the heat low, so I don’t have molten butter chicken bubbles erupt in my face! Check every five mins and remove from the heat when the chicken is all cooked through.
  • Serve with your choice of rice (basmati, jasmine, white, brown, cauliflower) and if you have more time (said no Mum, ever 😆) you can make my naan bread to go with them.  I add chilli oil or flakes / powder to the adult dishes after serving and leave mild for the kids. We dont want to risk any complaints at this point!
  • Now watch your family inhale their invisible veggies and ask for seconds!

Notes

To make the sauce in a pressure cooker, simply roughly chop all the veggies into page chunks, add to your pot with half the spice mix, and the water, and set to pressure cook for 7-10 minutes. Then Follow the rest of the instructions as above. 

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

Chocolate cake – allergy friendly, indulgent & healthy

Well, as healthy as the word goes with cake! Better than many options and yay this one is coconut free!

Having three kids means not only three birthday cakes a year, but I also have to make cake every time someone else has a birthday celebration so my lot don’t have to miss out. My usual go to cake has coconut oil and coconut flour which I can’t have this year because I’m breastfeeding our baby with a coconut allergy. I love the wacky cake recipe for its allergy friendliness using gluten free flour. Not so much all the sugar though. And quite frankly I feel like I’ve made about ten wacky cakes this last year due to ease and it being a fairly fail safe and crowd pleasing cake. But for Hazel’s first birthday this year I wanted to make her a cake with a little less sugar and a little more goodness.

So here came this recipe, gluten free, dairy free, soy free (though the chocolate I use in the ganache does contain soy lethicin, which we are ok with), nut free, egg free, coconut free, refined sugar free and contains vegetables. Now that’s a cake I’m happy for miss 12 months to scoff. And me, I was also happy to scoff this cake. It was truely delicious. It freezes well, so you can make ahead. I doubled the mixture and divided it into three, to make a three layer cake.

Ingredients

1/2 c cocoa or cacao powder
1c gluten free flour (I used Edmonds gf plain flour)
2 Tb psyllium husk (most supermarkets stock this in the health food section)
2 tsp baking soda + 1 tsp cream of tartar (OR 2 tsp baking powder)

2 c Kumara (purple skin) or carrot finely grated
1/2 c maple syrup (or make a syrup with 1/2 cup sugar + 1/3 cup boiling water, then cooled)
1/2 c water
1/2 c oil (I used light olive oil)
1 t vanilla extract

what to do

Preheat oven to 160 deg fan forced (180 deg regular).

Measure out the wet ingredients + grated veg and add them to a bowl. Sift over all the dry ingredients and mix together. Let it sit for a couple minutes while you grease your cake pan, it will thicken as it sits. Pour into very well greased or lined cake tin (recommend a spring form tin).

Cook for approximately 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. And it feels the same to touch in the middle as it does round the sides.

Cake notes:

If doubling the mix and dividing into three cakes, cook each cake for 20 minutes.

I make a chocolate ganache using two blocks of Whittaker’s dark chocolate, melted with 3/4 cup of almond milk and spread this between the layers with refined sugar free raspberry jam and also used the ganache to coat the outside of the cake to make it smooth for the white fondant icing over the top.

To make this cake, after I assembled with the ganache, I rolled out ready made white fondant icing and placed it over the top of the whole cake. I made two plaits with the remains and curved them into a circle on the top. Then added the fresh berries just before serving.

I assembled the cake and ganache then froze the whole cake overnight before adding the white icing on the day, then let it to sit out and thaw until later in the day.

Kayla