Plum Galette

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Plum GaletteSummer fruits are out! Plums, nectarines, grapes, mangoes, etc. Bright red plums caught my eyes at the shops today. It is of course yummy eating by itself, but this tart stone fruit gets incredibly sweet when used in baking. This plum galette is perfect for light summer dessert and is super quick to make.

Nutritional benefits of juicy plums
– full of antioxidants (beta carotenes and anthocyanins) preventing you from cell damage and different types of cancers
– rich dietary fibre helps in digestion and alleviates constipation
– minerals such as potassium, fluoride and iron are good for your heart and blood pressure
– vitamin A for healthy eyes and good vision

Ingredients

For the crust
50g buckwheat flour
50g raw cashew nuts
5 medjool dates or dried dates
a teaspoon of cinnamon powder
a pinch of salt
cold water

For the filling
1 red plum sliced
a teaspoon of brown sugara teaspoon of cinnamon powder

Put all ingredients for the crust in the food processor. Blend all up and add cold water a little by little until you get a dough consistency. Knead the dough and rest in the fridge for about 15 minutes so that it is not crumbly. This technique, I learnt from one of the people who work at Creamsta. Then roll out the dough on the baking paper. Put slices of red plum with sugar and cinnamon powder in a ring form. Fold the edges around the fruit. Bake in the preheated oven (180) for about 30 minutes until crust is golden and crispy. Let it cool slightly before cutting up. Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or yogurt on top.Plum Galette2

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

Raw Apple Tart

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Raw apple tart

An apple a day keeps the doctor away! As well as being crunchy and tasty, apples are packed with vitamin C great for your immune system and prevent you from heart disease, cancers, bad cholesterol and tooth decay. The quercetin content in the apple skin helps to reduce inflammation. Cinnamon also reduces inflammation and balances blood sugar. Apple and cinnamon is a match made in heaven! It sounds like a yummy dessert, right? But it is more like breakfast or morning snack. I will explain why…

Have you had a hotel buffet breakfast before? Yes.
Did you go for bacon, eggs, bread, etc before fruits? Did you feel tired after eating? Maybe yes.  Oh no. I bet your stomach was not that happy 🙁
If you’ve had no problems before, then lucky you! you have super strong stomach.

You need to have fruit only in the morning, not after midday. The reason being is your liver that works hard to eliminate all waste from your body is most active between midnight and midday. Fresh fruits don’t require the liver function that much and get digested pretty quickly within 30 minutes. So ideally you have fruits until midday to let your liver work. I don’t follow this rule to be honest, but I do eat fruits alone before having other foods because if you have starches and protein with or before fruits, the fruits get caught in the stomach and start fermenting, which makes acid and indigestion. I hope it makes sense. So big No No to fruit dessert! If you want fruits for dessert, have desserts before main! better for your stomach. Digestion requires quite a bit of energy. So if you stuff up, there is no wonder why you feel more tired after eating.

Raw apple tart

My first attempt to make raw apple tart. Simple ingredients, no oven required, real quick, fool-proof and delicious!

For the base
I used 150g of blanched raw almonds, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder, 1 teaspoon of tahini and a pinch of Himalayan sea salt. Put all ingredients in a food processor and whiz up until it gets paste consistency (it might take a while, be patient!). Spread well with back of the spoon or your fingers at the bottom of baking tin. Keep in the fridge while you are making fillings.

For the filling
Thinly slice 6 small granny smith apples. Mix with maple syrup, coconut vinegar, cinnamon powder, ground nutmeg in a big bowl and sit aside for 30minutes. Then put the mixture in a food processor. I like to have still big chunks in mine, but you can blend really fine if you like. Spread mixture on top of the base. Put it in the freezer for 30 mins to 1 hour until the tart feels firm to touch. Slice them up squares or triangles (sharp knife in hot runny water should help if you struggle to cut). Serve cold with thick Greek yogurt and a drizzle of honey on the side.

Variations: you can add pitted dates in the base to make it sweeter and easily bind together. You can also add apple puree in the tart filling between the layers of apples. Top with granola, coconut chips, raisins, etc to decorate.

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

Raw Vegan Berry Cheesecake

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I’m a huge fan of berries. They are such a delicious little treat and also full of antioxidants. Antioxidants neutralise free radicals, slow oxidation process and prevent the free radical damage. Free radicals are nasty guys that come from both metabolism and environment such as pollution, radiation and cigarette smoke. These free radicals are very unstable attacking normal cells in our body, which have been linked to heart disease and certain cancers. The damage also accumulates with age. A little scary? Don’t worry! Our body has a defense system of antioxidants to prevent free radical damage. Plant foods are rich sources of antioxidants, most abundant in fruits and vegetables as well as other foods including nuts and whole grains. There is a huge range of antioxidants supplements out there, but not as good as naturally occurring antioxidants in foods. So whole foods, fruits and vegetables do the trick!

Just in case you are wondering, examples of dietary antioxidants are
– orange or yellow pigmented fruits and vegetables: carrots, sweet potatoes, apricot, rock melon
– dark coloured fruits and berries- citrus fruits
– garlic and onions
– broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts
– soy products and other legumes
– tea and red wine

My favorite on the list is berries. I don’t know if you’ve heard of Maqui berries. It’s a dark purple berry wild harvested in Southern Chile and considered the highest oxidant fruit on the planet. You can purchase certified organic freeze dried Maqui berry at the local health food store or on-line. If you don’t have powder, just use any berries either fresh or frozen. I know “Superfood” is a big trend at the moment, but I believe that as long as you have a well-balanced diet including whole foods, fruits and vegetables, you don’t need to spend fortune on supplements just because everyone does it.

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It has been so hot in Perth. Almost 40 degrees everyday this week! I know we all feel like a bowl of cool ice cream or something naughty for dessert in this heat. I think I’ve found a perfect hot weather dessert to substitute that. Simple ingredients, no oven required and very little time to put together! Perfect!

To make two little raw berry cheesecakes

50g soaked raw cashew nuts
half block of tofu
sweetener of your choice – agave syrup, honey, maple syrup, etc anything you have in your pantry
a teaspoon of vanilla extract
a table spoon of coconut oil
a teaspoon of Maqui berry powder – use fresh or frozen berries if you don’t have it
blanched almonds and handful of dates to make a base
two food rings to mold the cakes

Blend blanched almonds and dates until it becomes a paste (it might take about 5-10 minutes, natural fat comes out of almonds and it gets nut butter texture). Press down firmly at the bottom of food rings to make a base. To make filling, blend all ingredients until it gets soft. Put the mixture on the almond base. Keep in the fridge for a few hours to set. Take the cakes out of the rings, garnish with berries on top and enjoy every mouthful:)

Posted in: Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian \ Tagged: , ,

No-Bake Mint Choc Tofu Cake

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Food blog3

Tofu is one of my favorite foods although my hubby hates it. Maybe because I grew up with it ever since I was born. Korean pronunciation is more like “duboo”. We have so many dishes using tofu in Korea e.g. boiled tofu with Kimchi, tofu stir-fry, pan-fried tofu steak, tofu dumplings, tofu soup, list goes on and on. Tofu is made from cuddled soybean milk. It contains a good source of protein, iron, calcium, vitamin E, isoflavons that reduce bad cholesterol. I’ve seen on TV a while ago back home. Since people have become more health-conscious and care what they eat even sweets, organic Korean cafes started using tofu in desserts. I guess it does have quite neutral flavour and pudding-like consistency making it right for the use of dessert. So I’ve decided to make one for myself and my friend who is coming over this morning.

I blended one block of semi-firm tofu (about 200g), 50g coconut powder, two teaspoons of cacao powder, 15g chia seeds, a splash of peppermint extract, one peppermint tea bag and maple syrup for sweetness. I then firmly packed in a small cake tin and put it in the fridge to set. Garnished with more cacao powder and goji berries. It smells amazing! moist, chocolatey and minty. You wouldn’t know there is tofu in it. Seriously good:)

 

Posted in: Dessert, Gluten Free, My recipes, Snack, Vegetarian \ Tagged:

Nut Butter Cups

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Nut butter cups

Mmmm…I love chocolate! Who doesn’t? It’s a comfort food for me and definitely calms me down when I have mood swings. Not only does it tastes good but also a moderate amount of right type of chocolate actually is beneficial to your body. Dark chocolate contains full of antioxidants, high vitamins and minerals such as potassium, copper, magnesium and iron. It increases blood flow to your brain as well as your heart improving cognitive and heart function. It is a great snack between the meals when you have fluctuating blood sugar. So a small bite of dark chocolate a few times a week actually is good for you.

I prefer dark chocolate truffles over store bought packaged ones. Home-made ones are even better! I made nut butter cups with buckwheat today. A chocolate mixture is made with cacao powder, coconut butter, coconut oil and vanilla extract. Carefully fill a mixture at the bottom of the wrapper and refrigerate for 5 minutes . Then put a small teaspoon of nut butter into the discs and pour the rest of chocolate mixture over. Sprinkle the tops with raw buckwheat for extra crunch. Chill again in the fridge until it’s all set. You can be creative here adding chilli, peppermint extract, berries, sea salt, etc whatever you fancy!

I had to (?) lick the bowl while making these and again had to (?) try one to see if it tastes right. It was hard to put the lid back on and put it away. It’s not too sweet because I used cacao powder and no sugar. Creaminess from nut butter and crunchy buckwheat just makes it perfect.

Posted in: Dessert, My recipes, Snack