"Raw" Chocolate Nut Balls

My favourite aunt has a lot of allergy issues and has adopted a largely raw food diet to help her sleep and feel OK. I have had some delicious things at her place, but had never made any myself until this week. She heard I was doing sugar-free September and gave me one of her "chocolates" to try. These are her treat to replace the commercial chocolate she can no longer eat. It was delicious. I took the recipe to make my own batch to help me through the month. Finding all the ingredients in suburbia was the trickiest part - but making them was easy. They are certainly helping with the after dinner cuppa which has always been accompanied by a small sweet treat. I'm sure I'll make them again after September finishes!

Raw Chocolate Nut Balls

Ingredients
300g raw cashews
85g raw almonds
30g  walnuts
30g raw sunflower seeds
4 Tbs golden flax seeds, ground
400g dates, pitted
60g raw unsweetened cacao (or unsweetened dutch cocoa if you can't get it)
2 tsp vanilla

Method
Place nuts, sunflower seeds and ground flax seeds in food processor.
Mix well to finely chop the nuts and seeds.
Then add the dates gradually.
Then add cocoa and vanilla and process until well mixed.
Form into bite sized balls

Makes approx 50.

ANZAC Biscuits

I did a guest post on my daughter's blog - Little Blue Bicycle this week while she is away. I baked ANZAC biscuits - a traditional Australian Oat and Coconut Cookie. Click here if you'd like to see it!!

Cooking with small people - Pear Pancakes

As part of my work I teach cooking to kids in the early years of primary school. Currently I am teaching 4 groups of  5 year olds and 3 groups of 6 year olds each fortnight. I thought I might share my experiences for those who want to cook with kids and need some ideas and just because they are fun and inspiring to work with. Sadly I cannot show photos of the kids as it is through my work, but I can show some photos of the food.

Pear Pancakes

The 5 year olds only have about 20 minutes so I need to keep things pretty simple. 

Over the last 2 weeks i have done pear pancakes with them. They were a great success. 

The recipe is based on a jamie oliver recipe for breakfast pancakes. It conveniently has one thing for each child to measure, is ready to eat very fast and is very popular.

Ingredients


1 cup flour

1 tspn baking powder

1 egg

1 cup of milk

1 pear grated (core and all)

• Combine ingredients
• Melt a little butter in a non-stick pan, add ladlefuls of mix, turn when bubbles form on the surface, turn, cook another couple of minutes.
• Serve straight away with yoghurt and honey in original recipe - but we used golden syrup.

I get each child to measure/grate their ingredient and put it into a big bowl in the middle. Then they all had a wooden spoon and they all have a go at stirring. A few of them found the look of the grated pear a little gross, but all but one were willing to eat it and then liked them. 

I let them choose if they want a turn ladleing into an electric frypan after explaining where the hot parts are - they all choose to do it and no-one was burnt. Then they all wash 2 things up while they cook (sometimes I need to re-wash!) Finally they ate 2 each with a squeeze of golden syrup.

I have quite a few kids with allergies, so i have put them in one group. For that group we used gluten free flour, "no egg" egg substitute, soy milk and canola oil instead of butter in the pan.

Nicola

Coconut cupcakes with a passionfruit filling and coconut-passionfruit buttercream

You know those days when you’re just in the mood for cupcakes?

Baking them, decorating them, eating them? Just as long as cupcakes are involved?

Well over the weekend I had one of those days. I had intended to make cakes later in the week, but I just COULDN’T wait!

So I baked these adorable little coconut cupcakes, filled them with passionfruit curd, and topped them with coconut buttercream. Yum!

They were really scrumptious- the filling made them really moist, and the coconut and passionfruit were perfect together!

The cake itself is based on a combination of two Martha Stewart recipes, the passionfruit curd is a Stephanie Alexander recipe and the icing is just a variation of my standard buttercream.

The icing makes enough for a fairly flat covering of all the cakes, but if you want to do piped swirls, you’d need to double it.

And let’s face it, the more icing, the better!

I’ve got some leftover passionfruit curd and cake crumbs from the centre, too. I’m thinking passionfruit cake pops!

Coconut cupcakes with a passionfruit filling and coconut-passionfruit buttercream

Based on: http://www.marthastewart.com/336105/basic-cupcake-how-to, http://www.marthastewart.com/316189/coconut-cupcakes-with-seven-minute-frost and Stephanie Alexander’s passionfruit curd from ‘The cook’s companion’ pg. 681

Ingredients:

Cakes:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup packed desiccated coconut

150g unsalted butter, softened

1 & a 1/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs, plus 2 large egg whites

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 & a 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Filling:

½ cup sugar

60g butter

2 eggs, well beaten

Pulp of 6 passionfruit

Icing:

150g unsalted butter

250g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup dessicated coconut

Pulp of 3 passionfruit

Directions

To prepare the passionfruit curd, combine the sugar and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until the butter has melted and the sugar is completely dissolved. Reduce heat, add the remaining ingredients and stir until the mixture thickens (this will take quite a while, but you’ll know when it happens!) Set aside and allow to cool.

For the cakes, preheat the oven to 180˚ c (350˚ f) and line a small cupcake tin with patty-pans. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and desiccated coconut. Using an electric mixer in a separate bowl (or a food processor with a whisk attachment), cream butter and sugar light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.

Reduce speed to low. Mix coconut milk and vanilla extract in another bowl. Gradually add both the wet and dry ingredients and combine. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.

Bake cupcakes until testers inserted into centers come out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tins on wire racks.

Meanwhile, prepare the icing by draining the passionfruit pulp in a medium sized sieve, reserving the liquid. Beat together the butter and icing sugar until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla extract, coconut and the drained passionfruit liquid, and combine.

When the cakes have cooled, use a knife and a teaspoon to dig a small well in the centre of each cake. Fill with the passionfruit curd, and top each cake with the icing and remaining, drained passionfruit seeds.

Enjoy!

Mia