GF Beetroot Chocolate Cake

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Beetroot cacao cakeRoots are amazing nutrition-dense vegetables. Beets, turnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, radish, yam, ginger, artichoke, celeriac, etc. They grow under ground which means they absorb good nutrition from the soil, full of antioxidants, vitamins and iron. Root veggies also have a slow-burning carbohydrates and fibre, which leaves you full longer and regulates blood sugar level.

Red sexy beets are available all year around, but best from summer to autumn. They’re full of beta-carotene and betalains, which are antioxidants and anti-inflammatory. I love using beetroots for its earthy and sweet flavour, great when roasted, pickled, grilled or even raw. Beets go really well with citrus fruits, berries, goat cheese, cumin, nuts and tahini.

I made this decadent chocolate cake using grated raw beetroot, cacao powder and almond meal. It is gluten-free, refined sugar-free and guilt-free. Beautiful rustic texture, moist and chocolatey! It will be also nice to add a shot of espresso or ground coffee for the dark and intense flavour next time.

Ingredients

1 cup of grated beetroot
20g of flaxseed meal
20g chia seeds
2 eggs
50g almond meal
50g buckwheat flour
50g raw cacao powder
1 tsp of grated ginger
1/2 cup of maple syrup
1 tbsp of coconut oil
a pinch of salt
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of baking powder
50g water

Add flaxseed meal, chia seeds and water into a bowl and let it sit for 10-15 minutes until it’s set. Add eggs and maple syrup in and whisk gently. Then add other ingredients and combine well with a spatula. Pour the mixture into a prepared baking tin and bake in the preheated oven (180) for 40 minutes or until cooked. Put a dollop of cream cheese frosting on top to serve.

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian

GF Berry Crumble

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As the temperature drops down, I am craving for more warm, sweet and tasty breakfast. I don’t normally eat or make crumbles but felt like making one this morning out of the blue. I know it is more of a summery dessert with cream or ice cream on top, but mine is healthier, tastier and I think it is perfect for cold mornings. To top it off, I added a drizzle of Canadian pure maple syrup that my brother-in-law got me after his awesome trip to Canada. Beautiful caramel-like yet light sweetness goes really well with berries.

Coconut flour is made by drying and grinding the meat of a coconut. It is full of fibre and protein, leaving you full for longer and stable blood sugar level. It is also naturally gluten free, giving you no inflammatory allergy reaction to your body. It can be a bit tricky though because if you replace normal flour with coconut flour 100%, it will be crumbly and dense. I’ve been there and don’t want to be there again >.< I also find different brands have different texture and water content. So you need to experiment, control the amount of the liquid going into the batter and mix with other flours like almond flour, oat flour, buckwheat flour, etc.
Berry CrumbleIngredients

500g of mixed berries
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp of cardamom powder
1 tsp of vanilla bean powder
1 tbsp of maple syrup
a squeeze of lemon

For crumble
1 cup of rolled oats
1 tbsp of coconut flour
1 tbsp of almond meal
2 tbsp of coconut oil
a pinch of salt

Toss berries in spices and maple syrup in a large bowl. Transfer to a baking dish. Mix all crumble ingredients and make a crumbly dough with your hands. Pour the mixture over the fruits and bake in the preheated oven (200) for 20-30 minutes or until golden on top. Serve warm with thick natural yogurt and maple syrup.

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian

Chocolate Granola

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Chocolate GranolaAfter making home-made granola last time, it’s Chocolate Granola today. It is a healthy and guilt free way to indulge in some early morning chocolate. Never early for chocolate right? Well..a good kind of chocolate! It is naturally sweetened with a small amount honey and is high in fiber and protein from oats, nuts and seeds. The raw cacao powder is full of antioxidants and it is naturally vegan, dairy free and gluten free. It is delicious in a bowl with nut milk or yogurt. You can also sprinkle over a your smoothie or fruit salad. I make homemade granola about every month or so. But, if you are a busy mum or have no time standing by the oven, then make a batch and keep in the freezer, where it keeps fresh for months. It just takes 5 minutes for the dried fruit to soften up out of the fridge. Feel free to put more cacao powder or even add melted dark chocolate if you are a chocolate lover x

Ingredients

500g rolled oats
1/2 cup of raw cacao powder
1/4 cup of coconut sugar
1/4 cup of honey or maple syrup
3 tbsp of peanut butter, melted
1 tbsp of cinnamon powder
1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
1 tsp of fine sea salt

Add-ins: Linseed, coconut chips, almonds, apricots, pepitas, sultanas, sunflower seeds

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and combine well. Spread mixture out in an even layer on a lined baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven (170) for 40-50 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes. Take it out of the oven, cool it down and mix with add-ins. Cool completely before storing in a glass jar.

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, My recipes, Vegetarian

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

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Lemon poppyseed cakeWhen I caught up with my dearest friend from Singapore, she told me that it is illegal to take poppy seeds to their country. I was so surprised. Why??? The reason being is that every gram of seeds has about 33 micrograms of morphine and 14 micrograms of codeine. So…they are happy seeds? 🙂 That’s not enough to cause any ill effects from their use in baked goods, but it is enough to show up as a false positive result in drug tests. These seeds contain several vital minerals like zinc, calcium, magnesium, which is essential for the functioning of your body. They are an excellent source of carbs for energy and omega-3 fatty acids for healthy heart as well.

I just like looking at this cake – little dots of poppy seeds, moist inside and nicely browned outside of the loaf. Plus, it has the nuttiness, the crunchiness and the very distinct flavour from poppy seeds. Toasting these guys creates a nutty and sweet flavour. I think it needs more zingy lemon flavour and sweetness though. So if you have a sweet tooth, definitely add more sweetener or drizzle lemony icing on top. I packed a half of the loaf for my friend to take home. I’ve done so much baking recently and they are not disappearing quickly enough. Cakes, anyone? 🙂

Ingredients

200g self-raising flour
6 eggs
50g brown sugar
1 tbsp of honey
50g olive oil
1 lemon zest and juice
50g of poppy seeds
a pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a loaf pan with a baking paper. Toast poppy seeds in a pan for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Take it off the heat and set aside. Lightly beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add all ingredients in and stir to combine. Then pour the mixture into the pan and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or until cooked or a skewer comes out clean. Turn onto a wire rack to cool.

Posted in: Baking, Breakfast, Dessert, My recipes, Snack

Mini Vegetable Rice Casserole

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I ask Daniel “what do you feel like for dinner?” His usual answer is “nothing off the top of my head” which really doesn’t help me come up with menu plans. But this time he actually told me “maybe vegetarian tonight?” He actually had naughty(?) foods for a couple of days in a row over the weekend. He and his mate watched footy at the pub on Friday, which means pizza and beer. We got invited to my friend’s barbeque next day, which means more meat for him. I also cooked some chicken for lunch today. Yep, time for veggies! I didn’t plan what to cook for dinner so I was glad he said “vegetarian!”. I pulled out little cute Le Creuset pots out of the drawer and filled up with lots of veggies and rice, topped with nutritional yeast and baked in the oven. Za’atar flat bread is so flavoursome even just by itself. If you can make fresh za’atar spice blend and top with a good quality of olive oil, it is so divine. Make this flat bread when you have a dinner party next time and serve with some humus, olives and cheese. Yum! heaps better than normal Turkish bread. Your guests will be impressed.

Veggie Rice CasserolMini Veggie Rice Casserole

Ingredients

1/2 cup of cooked glutenous wild rice
1 tsp of coconut oil
2 grated carrots
1/2 grated zucchini
1 sliced onion cooked
1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms
1 cup of chopped spinach
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
1 tsp of minced garlic
1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
2 tsp of nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

Rinse and cook the rice in a boiling water for 20-25 minutes until cooked al dente. Preheat a pan and cook all vegetables with coconut oil. Season with salt and pepper. Combine cooked rice and vegetables in a large bowl. Add garlic, mustard, paprika and nutritional yeast into the bowl and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into two ramekins, sprinkle more nutritional yeast on top and put in the preheated oven (180) for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Za’atar Flat Bread

Ingredients

200g flour
1 tsp of dried yeast
1/2 tsp of brown sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of za’atar spice blend (4tbsp toasted sesame seeds, 3tbsp dried thyme, 2 tbsp sumac, 1 tsp sea salt)
1 cup warm water

Place half of the flour, dry yeast and brown sugar in a large bowl. Add warm water in and stir with a wooden spoon. Let it stand for 10 minutes. Then add the rest of the flour and stir to get a sticky dough. Turn out the dough onto floured surface and knead gently until soft. Sprinkle more flour if too wet or add more water if too dry. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand until doubled in size. Gently knock it down and roll out the dough to about 1/2-1 cm thick. Use your fingertips, make dimples onto the dough. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle a generous amount of za’atar all over. Bake on the middle shelf in the preheated oven (200) for 15-20 minutes until golden. Serve it warm right out of the oven.

 

Posted in: Baking, Dinner, Lunch, My recipes, Vegetarian