I have spent all weekend baking and have produced 8 different afternoon tea foods - muffins, cakes, tarts, brownies and slices, including the custard fruit tarts you see here. The others you won't see just yet because I am preparing an e-book of afternoon tea foods which are grain, dairy, nut and refined sugar-free. I have a target of 50 recipes, the majority of which you will never see on this blog. I am having such fun doing this but it is damned hard work and the fridge and cake tins end up very full - not that my family are complaining. It is certainly a challenge to create the traditional fare but with no grain, dairy, nuts or refined sugar. It is a learning curve but only the successful recipes will find their way into the book so you can feel confident that if you attempt one of the recipes, it will work. Meanwhile this fruit tart is a sample of what will be in the book. The pie crust has been adapted from the one Carol uses in her book, Indulge, which you can purchase on her … [Read more...] about Custard Fruit Tarts – grain, nut, dairy and refined sugar-free and an announcement
coconut flour
Low Fodmap & Gluten-free Bread Rolls
Here is my fabulous grain-free and dairy-free bread. This is the second time I have made it and it was just as good this time. I even used it as burger buns. When you are making it, it is all rather foreign feeling because the flours behave quite differently from wheat flour but persist because it will work out. The dough holds together brilliantly but looks more transparent than ordinary dough. It is more gel-like. The rolls take quite a while to cook but brown up nicely. They do taste different but I really like the texture and so do Adriano and Dario. Give them a try. The rest of the burgers were made up of beef mince, water cress, homemade mayonnaise and roasted tomatoes. I roasted them according to instructions I found on a blog I visit often, That Skinny Chick Can Bake. Check it out for the roasted tomato recipe and for many more wonderful recipes. Oh, and her photos are great. N.B. This recipe can also be used as a pizza base. 5.0 from 2 reviews Low Fodmap & … [Read more...] about Low Fodmap & Gluten-free Bread Rolls
Chocolate Banana Tart – grain, dairy and refined sugar-free
A few days back I made this tart using the base I found in Carol Lovett's e-book, Indulge, which I mentioned in my last post. I have been looking for a good grain and nut-free pie crust which didn't fall apart and this is it. It was so easy to make - I actually used a food processor and it all came together like a dream. I didn't attempt to roll it out but just pushed it into the pie dishes and that worked well. This is the second recipe I have made from Carol's book and I am very pleased with it. If you are interested in the book, Click here to visit Ditch The Wheat and scroll to the bottom of the page to buy it. I filled it with the simplest of dairy and sugar-free fillings - uncooked banana, cocoa and coconut oil. Even out of the fridge it holds its shape well and the filling stays firm. I would say this was a triumph and the tarts look so pretty. I actually had all the ingredients in the house and it was all done and dusted in very little time. This would be a great dessert … [Read more...] about Chocolate Banana Tart – grain, dairy and refined sugar-free
Classic Vanilla Cake – grain, dairy and refined sugar-free
I belong to a Facebook group of wonderful women with food blogs and one of them, Carol Lovett, has written an e-book of grain-free desserts called Indulge. I offered to try a couple of recipes and this is the first one. I couldn't be more pleased with the result. It was easy to prepare and even easier to eat. It is light and a great basic for various different flavours and desserts. This could be the cake part of a trifle for example or the base of lamingtons. I decided to frost it with the coconut topping I have used before on my Banana Strawberry Muffins. Coconut cream whips up exactly like whipped cream and can be used as a substitute. Coconut is a healthy fat as long as it has not been hydrogenated but don't buy it in a can because BPA (Bisphenol-A) is used in the can lining. BPA especially leaches into canned foods that are acidic, salty or fatty, such as coconut milk, tomatoes, soup, and vegetables. BPA is not a good thing to have running around in your body so buy all … [Read more...] about Classic Vanilla Cake – grain, dairy and refined sugar-free
Coconut, Cranberry Cookies – grain, nut and sugar-free
I am ecstatic over my last baking effort. When I started going grain-free, I knew things might get worse before they got better. Because most of the grain westerners eat is refined, it doesn’t provide a lot of quality fibre. When I dropped it all from my diet, I had to replace it with something else or I would have starved to death so I upped the quantity of vegetables I ate. They have heaps of fibre and our bodies don’t like to suddenly get an overload. Our systems take a while to adjust to more fibre as it kicks the digestive system into top gear after being sluggish for so long. In fact, I had a rough few days and was very glad to be on a two-week break from work. But I stuck to it. One of the bonuses of changing the way I eat while on holiday is that I have the time to be aware of the effect of everything I eat. The fibre issue has settled down but what I have found is that nuts seem to be an irritant for me. Now this is a bit of a problem because grain-free diets like the paleo … [Read more...] about Coconut, Cranberry Cookies – grain, nut and sugar-free