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Flourless chocolate cake (gf) and slovenly asset management
Based on my current posts, anyone would think that we currently existed solely on a diet of chocolate cake. Last week I scored a significant hit of carrots and beets from our neighbour, Yvette. Unfortunately the carrots disappeared within the hour; our asset management leaves a lot to be desired at the moment. Yesterday my husband drove off with his wallet and ID card on the roof of the car (both were later found in the track a kilometre from the house) and I had my Visa card confiscated by a very uppity machine (don’t let’s go there). Back to the disappearing carrots: Texas, the equine retiree with a highly inflated sense of entitlement, broke into the storage grange and scoffed the whole ‘hit’! To my further shame, he also chewed Yvette’s straw basket to bits. Anyway, he was about to move on to the beetroot when I discovered him. Luckily the beets were recovered, almost slobber-free, and I was able to whip up this cake.
Beetroot has plenty of health benefits: It lowers blood pressure, boosts stamina, fights inflammation, supports detoxification and helps prevent cancer. It is also fibre-rich and a very rich source of vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and manganese.
This is another adaptation from Amber Rose’s wonderful book ‘Love, Bake, Nourish’.
Ingredients (serves 8-10)
300g cooked beetroot, peeled and puréed.
4 large free-range eggs, beaten
4 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon organic cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch of salt
125g ground almonds
125g min. 70% cocoa solids chocolate
1 teaspoon of rum (optional)
4 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and prepare a 22cm cake tin. Mix the beetroot, eggs, honey, vanilla extract, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, beating well. Once the ingredients are well combined, fold in the ground almonds. Melt the chocolate in the rum over a low heat and add the oil. Stir the chocolate and oil into the existing mixture, combining well. Transfer to the cake tin and bake for 35 minutes, or until a fork inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool before serving, lightly dusted with cocoa powder. -
Rum and raisin carrot cake (gf) and frustrated traffic wardens
Word is out that I’m a bit of a rebel behind the wheel. Unfortunately I’m also married to, as my father puts it, a ‘repressed traffic warden’. He does have a point — how many people do you know that tell their guests to go and repark their cars within the confines of meticulously-placed traffic cones? (I blush to admit that we own traffic cones.) After our trip to San Sebastian, where I received more than one dressing-down for my mutinous driving, in particular U-turning, I’m now getting reflections from Léo’s friends. I drove one of them to his music lesson the other day and, in the time it took to drive about half a kilometre, he gleefully pointed out that I had entered the car park ‘the wrong way’, driven too close to the pavement and stopped in a disabled parking space. What can I say?
This carrot cake, although healthy and no-doubt sickeningly law-abiding, is deliciously moist and fragrant.
Ingredients
3 eggs
100g coconut sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
200g ground almonds
100g dessicated coconut
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
100g walnuts, roughly chopped
100g raisins
2 tablespoons rum
70g coconut butter, melted
70g butter, melted
200g carrots, grated
Preheat the oven to 140°C and prepare a 24cm cake tin. Place the raisins in a small saucepan and cook in the rum for about five minutes. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the coconut sugar and vanilla extract and beat well. Add the ground almonds, coconut and spices, combining well. Stir in the melted butter and coconut oil, the walnuts and the raisin/rum mixture. Finally add the carrots and mix until everything is well combined. Transfer the mixture to the cake tin and cook for between 50 and 60 minutes (a fork should come out clean once cooked). -
Petits pots au chocolat (chocolate pots), abject terror and an egg dearth
Hugo’s in a bit of a bad place at the moment. He frequently wakes to the resonance of hunting rifles (beyond unsettling for a dog of his delicate mental constitution) and will only deign to go outside if accompanied. On Sunday morning, no doubt in his eternal quest for reassurance, I found him in bed with Léo. Needless to say, he had not been greeted with open arms.
Since the hens, although of sound mind, are enjoying a long sabbatical, I had to concoct an egg-free chocolate mousse solution. This is it:
Ingredients (makes 6 small pots)
150g organic dark chocolate (min 70% cocoa solids)
200ml coconut cream, chilled
20g salted butter
1 teaspoon rum (optional)
2 tablespoons agave syrup
5g agar agar
Whip the coconut cream well until it becomes fluffy. Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt it and the butter in a bain marie with the rum and agave syrup. Meanwhile, dissolve the agar agar in a small quantity of hot water (4 tablespoons), bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Combine the whipped cream and chocolate mixture thoroughly. Then add the agar agar, mixing well. Transfer to small pots (or cups) and chill in the fridge for at least three hours before eating. -
Blackberry and apple crumble (gf) and hideouts for dogs
by Hugo, Canine Correspondent
I’m really not a complaining sort of dog, but there are a few things that have been bothering me recently. The Bossy One invited lots of friends to stay this Summer, which is fine because it means that I can have fun knocking them over and sitting on their laps. But it also means that she has less time to devote to me. And that is not fun, in fact it’s hurtful because I feel neglected. Admittedly she still takes me for walks, but frankly her mind is elsewhere when she’s jabbering away or picking blackberries. Usually she spends her time worrying about where I am while I’m off chasing deer and rabbits. Sometimes I hide to watch her look for me; it’s quite amusing to watch her unspool. Anyway, to get away from it all, I made myself a little camp under the hydrangea bushes in front of the house. Only the hens know where I am; at least they still remember I exist.
Ingredients
300g apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons maple syrup
80ml orange juice
150g blackberries, rinced
80g chickpea flour
40g ground almonds
2 tablespoons almond flakes
pinch of ground sea salt
40g butter, cut into cubes
40g organic virgin coconut oil, at room temperature and cut into small cubes
30g cane sugar
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Gently simmer the sliced apples and maple syrup for a couple of minutes in about 80ml of orange juice (or apple juice or water). Add the blackberries and transfer to an ovenproof baking dish. To make the crumble, put the butter, coconut oil, chickpea flour, ground almonds and salt into a bowl and rub in with your fingertips. Add the almond flakes, mixing well. Sprinkle the mixture over the fruit, adding the cane sugar to the top of the mixture. Bake for about 35 minutes and serve hot with vanilla ice cream. -
10 Reasons to Include Buckwheat In Your Diet Plans
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Caramelised peach and buckwheat pudding cake (gf) and tired chicken legs
Hugo and I were nearly a kilometre from the house yesterday evening when we realised that we were not alone — all three hens had followed us. (The only other time I have seen chicken legs move as fast was at a rugby club barbecue). It goes without saying that Hugo was not best pleased. He tried to explain, rather tendentiously I felt, that they should return home, but to no avail; they were absolutely determined that they needed some exercise. As a result, for the moment at least, we have three hens too knackered to lay eggs.
This pudding cake is another adaptation from my Book of the Moment: Love, Bake, Nourish by Amber Rose. Luckily for me, it is fairly egg-light, but no less delicious for it.
Ingredients
For the peach topping:
3 peaches, peeled and cut into slices
2 cardamon pods
25g salted butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
For the pudding base:
75g butter
75g organic virgin coconut oil
75g organic buckwheat flour
2 large free-range eggs (preferably from hens that don’t partake in cross-country events)
75g ground almonds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
50g maple syrup
50g agave syrup
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Caramelise the peaches and ground cardamon pods in the butter and maple syrup. Set aside. Cut the butter and coconut oil into small cubes and cream with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add a tiny bit of the flour, then the eggs one at a time. Continue to beat the mixture until fluffy. Fold in the remaining flour, ground almonds, cinnamon and syrups.
Transfer the mixture into a greased cake tin, levelling well with the back of a spoon. Place the caramelised peaches on top of the cake mixture, drizzling any remaining juice over the top. Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool. Delicious served with vanilla ice-cream. -
Sweet potato crab cakes and lettuce pilfering
Not only is this recipe extremely appetising, it also has the advantage of being very nutritious: sweet potatoes are bursting with vitamin C and are also high in calcium, folate, potassium and beta-carotene. They have a low glycemic index, far lower than that of regular potatoes. Crab meat is high in protein and Omega 3, as well as being a potent source of vitamins and minerals.
Young delinquent horses, on the other hand, are less beneficial from a nutritional standpoint, particularly if they break into your vegetable garden and steal all your salad while you’re out to lunch. In an ideal world (a world in which horses do not kick down fences), a crisp green salad makes a delicious accompaniment, but they may also be served alone with a spicy chilli sauce.
Ingredients (serves 4)
350g sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
¼ red pepper, diced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
350g crabmeat (I used tinned)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
Flour for coating the ‘cakes’ (I used quinoa flour)
2 tablespoons peanut oil for frying
Place the sweet potatoes, red pepper and garlic cloves on a roasting tray and douse with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 25 minutes. Mash the vegetables with a potato masher until you obtain a rough purée. Add the crabmeat, parsley and chopped onions, mixing well. Shape into individual cakes (roughly 8 cakes 5cm in diameter) and coat with flour. Fry in peanut oil (you could use another oil but I find peanut oil gives a lovely crisp result) until golden brown on both sides (roughly 4 minutes on each side). Serve with or without salad, depending on your animals’ disposition. 😉 -
Chickpea flour cauliflower cheese (gf) and the case for the defence
by Hugo, Canine Correspondent
I’ve decided that I’m a dab paw at blogging, so off I go again. I’d like a chance to set the record straight; I felt the last post was rather slanderous (I found that word in the dictionary I got for my birthday). First of all, I do not dribble. And second of all, I only toot the car horn when I feel that The Bossy One has talked to whoever it is she’s talking to for quite long enough and it’s time to get home. She seems to forget that I have things to do: keep the hens in order, bark at the horses if they’re in the wrong field (or for no good reason whatsoever ;-)), check the boundaries for stray deer, wild pigs and badgers, empty the rubbish bin in the kitchen… I could go on – a dog’s work is never done. Especially if he sits in the car all day *sigh*.
Anyway, I think she must have felt a bit guilty for bad-mouthing me because this was produced last night and she let me ‘clean’ the dish. 🙂
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
1 cauliflower
25g butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
60g chickpea flour
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon mustard
200ml milk
100ml chicken or vegetable stock
50g comté (or other hard cheese), grated
50g parmesan, grated
Begin by cooking the cauliflower florets in salted boiling water for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
For the sauce, place the flour, butter, olive oil, seasoning and milk into a saucepan and place over a gentle heat. Whisk until it reaches a gentle simmer. Continue whisking, adding the mustard and then the stock little by little, for just under five minutes. Add half of the cheese and whisk again until it melts. Pour over the cauliflower florets which you will have arranged in a baking dish. Sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese over the top and add a little more paprika. Cook for about 45 minutes. -
Lemon and ginger mini cheesecake tarts (gluten free and low glycemic index)
There are times when only cheesecake will do and yesterday was one of those times 🙂 As the only ingredients I had to hand were mascarpone, lemons and ginger (four hens and not an egg in sight, but don’t let’s go there), I created these tartlets. I have to say, they were divine and my cheesecake yearning was well and truly satisfied.
These tarts are gluten free and have a low glycemic index (neither buckwheat nor coconut flours contain gluten and they both have a low GI, as do all dairy products).
Ingredients for pastry (makes about six mini tarts)
75g buckwheat flour
35g coconut flour
30g butter
30g coconut oil
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
Pinch of sea salt
Roughly 6 tablespoons of cold water
Ingredients for cheesecake filling
250g mascarpone cheese
Juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger
3 tablespoons chestnut purée
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
Candied ginger and mint leaf to garnish
To make the pastry, begin by cutting the butter and coconut oil into small cubes. Add to the flours and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Blend by hand until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add the cold water, mixing rapidly with a spoon. Remove the mixture from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until you obtain a ball of pastry (if the mixture isn’t ‘sticky’ enough to form a ball, you may need a drop more water). Wrap in a clean cotton tea towel or some cling film and leave to ‘rest’ in the fridge for about two hours. This relaxes the dough and makes it easier to use.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Roll out the pastry on a clean, lightly floured surface and fill the tart tins. Bear in mind that buckwheat and coconut flour pastry is extremely crumbly as it contains no gluten to ‘stick’ it together. You’ll probably need to patch and press the pastry into the tins as opposed to just cutting and placing it in as you would with normal pastry. Cook the pastry for 15 minutes.
Blend all of the ‘cheesecake’ ingredients together well, fill the precooked tart cases and garnish with candied ginger and mint. Chill for at least an hour before serving. -
Tomato and goat cheese tart (gf) and upside down tortoises
Our last skiing weekend of the season was an unmitigated success after a slightly shaky start. I tend to be a bit bossy (as I think Hugo has mentioned), meaning that I pay a lot of attention to telling other people what to do, and less attention to what I should be doing. A case in point: on Saturday we took the first chairlift of the day with two other people and my backpack, which could quite legitimately have had a seat of its own, filled as it was with clothes, water, food, camera and video material. One would have been forgiven for assuming we were about to climb Everest, not spend a leisurely day in the Spring snow. In the interests of pedagogy, I explained to Léo on the ride up that, especially when there are four people on the lift, it’s important to go straight forward when you disembark. Five minutes later, I had ended up on my back with my skis in the air like a tortoise on its shell, unable to stand up due to the sheer size and weight of my backpack. The chairlift operator was very kind and stopped the lift (presumably to avoid a tortoise roadkill scenario) and hauled me up with a large smile (or snigger?) and a gracious ‘bienvenue Madame!’
These savoury tarts are quick and easy to make (particularly if you’ve made the pastry cases in advance) and will be even more delicious when tomatoes come into season properly.
Ingredients for pastry (makes about six mini tarts):
110g buckwheat flour
30g butter
20ml olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Roughly 6 tablespoons of cold water
Ingredients for filling:
2 shallots, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 tomatoes, cut into thin slices
6 slices of goats cheese
Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, paprika
To make the pastry, begin by cutting the butter into small cubes. Add to the flour and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Blend by hand until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add the olive oil, blending well and then the cold water, mixing rapidly with a spoon. Remove the mixture from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until you obtain a ball of pastry (if the mixture isn’t ‘sticky’ enough to form a ball, you may need a drop more water). Wrap in a clean cotton tea towel or some cling film and leave to ‘rest’ in the fridge for about two hours. This relaxes the dough and makes it easier to use.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Roll out the pastry on a clean, lightly floured surface and fill the tart tins. Bear in mind that buckwheat pastry is extremely crumbly as it contains no gluten to ‘stick’ it together. You’ll probably need to patch and press the pastry into the tins as opposed to just cutting and placing it in as you would with normal pastry. Precook the pastry for 10 minutes.
Fill the tarts with the shallots, garlic and tomato slices, finishing up with a slice of goats cheese on top. Season and cook for about 15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are ‘mushy’ and the cheese has melted.
