Chocolate cake
150gms dark cooking chocolate – nestle Plaistow 63% cocoa is O.K or better organic dairy free dark chocolate.
150 gm nuttelex margarine – you can use butter if not intolerant.
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup boiling water
1 ½ cups hazelnut or almond meal
1 cup dark brown sugar
4 eggs separated.
Heat oven to 180 fan forced otherwise 190.
Line a cake tin with baking paper.
In a double boiler, gently melt chocolate, margarine, sugar. Add hazelnut meal and mix.
While chocolate is melting, mix the cocoa with boiling water in a large bowl till smooth. Add the melted chocolate mix. Add one egg yolk at a time and mix very well before adding the next egg yolk.
Beat the egg whites till they form soft peaks. Mix 1/3 of egg whites into the chocolate mixture and then fold in the rest of the egg whites.
Pour into cake tin and cook for about 1 hour – check that the top is not burning. Allow to cool in oven in cake tin.
Banana muffins (makes 24 little muffins or patty cakes)
These muffins are very easy to make and you experiment with varying the ingredients to your liking, e.g. if you like more moist, add more oil and/or water. Add more or less fruit/nuts.
Heat the oven to 190C.
1 ¾ cup brown rice flour or other wholemeal flour (preferably non wheat)
½ cup xylitol.
½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda.
2 teaspoons baking powder.
2 teaspoons cinnamon – or more if you like.
1 cup walnuts – put in a bag and lightly crush with a mallet, or break into smaller pieces with your hand.
Mix all dry ingredients.
3 bananas – mashed.
2 eggs – beat with a fork.
2/3 cup olive oil.
1/3 cup soy or rice milk.
Mix all wet ingredients and add to dry ingredients and mix well.
Grease little muffin tins or patty cake tins with oil.
If using wheat flour, mix lightly – no need to be sure all dry ingredients are wet – makes for more rubbery muffins if mixed too much.
If using rice flour (my recommendation), just mix with wet ingredients to your satisfaction.
Fill the muffin or patty cake tins and bake for around 20 minutes or till golden on top.
These are most delicious fresh – you can experiment with these muffins easily. They will always turn out good. You can use other fruit instead of banana (while on the diet, do not use excessively sweet fruits like dates or sultanas etc.)– put dried fruit in water and heat till soft, use about 1 ½ cups more or less and cook in a lamington tray instead of muffin tins, if you like and cut into squares when cooked.
Apple oatmeal muffins
1 cup medium shredded raw apple
1 ½ cups rolled oats
¼ cup cold pressed oil
½ cup chopped raisins
¼ cup pecan nuts or walnuts
Combine ingredients, let stand a few minutes to absorb moisture.
Spoon into small oiled muffin pans, filling pans well and rounding nicely.
Bake at 190 degrees C for 25 minutes.
Buckwheat pancakes – you can use other flour if you like or a mix.
1 cup buckwheat flour and a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
2 tablespoon olive oil
Enough soy or rice milk to make a thick batter.
Mix well and then beat for 2-3 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Grease a small pan with ghee (clarified butter – you can buy in supermarket or may be Mick’s nuts). Heat pan and pour enough batter in to make the thickness you like. When bubbles appear all over the top, flip the pancake and cook other side.
Spread with tahina and top with stewed apple and a little pure maple syrup.
You can use soaked pureed prunes, figs or apricots instead of apple.
Delicious dessert that can also be a meal
Pumpkin pie
300g Tofu, drained
2 cups cooked mashed pumpkin – Jap or Kent pumpkin are sweetest – try and cook all the liquid out of it (be careful and watch the pot while drying the liquid), it tastes better if you do that.
¼ cup soy milk
¾ tsp ginger
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup honey or pure maple syrup or xylitol.
Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
Pour into shell and bake 45 minutes or until done.
You may use shortcrust pastry made with spelt as a shell if you prefer. I like the recipe below as a shell, it is wheat free, tastes delicious and is easy to make.
Oat meal crust
1 cup whole grain rolled oats.
¼ cup brown rice flour
½ Tbsp cold-pressed oil.
½ cup hot water
Mix oats and water and bring to boil, stirring until thickened.
Cool well. Add other ingredients and press into pie dish.
The pumpkin pie is nutrient dense, it is high in B vitamins, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Alpha and Beta carotene, calcium, silica, iron, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and copper. It is high in phytoestrogens and for regulating estrogens levels, inhibits estrogens dependant cancers, high in fibre, regulates blood sugar levels, lowers LDL cholesterol, nourishes and restores nervous function and helps to bind and expel toxins.
It is a complete source of protein and contains ginger which is good for breaking down protein, increasing the circulation and tonifying digestion.
You can use most of the grains I mention as puffs bought from the health food section of the supermarket – millet puffs, rice puffs etc. Add 1 tablespoon linseeds and ½ banana – Delicious. Do not use banana often while trying to loose weight.
Always chew food very well, especially starches as the digestion of starch starts in your mouth, food should be liquid and totally masticated before swallowing. This practice alone will lead you towards much better health.