Gluten Free Overnight Almond Pancakes

It would appear that gluten intolerance is the new black…and our family is no exception. My daughter has some weird reactions to eating gluten, so although not crazily seeking every gluten free option available, I am finding that breakfast is the meal with the most challenges for her…so just like our Instant Chia Hot Cereal Mix, this is pretty quick, we can all eat it without feeling deprived (really!!!) and we don’t need to eat something different. (This mother does not do a different dish per family member in the same meal!)

Again, I am all about convenience, and this couldn’t be simpler…you just have to think about it as you head off to bed…well at least a minute or two before you head off to bed. The sitting overnight just softens up the almond meal and will help with the texture of the pancakes…Bon Appetit…

NEED:

150g almonds (blanched or not!)

130g yoghurt or kefir

2 eggs

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

2 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

2 tsp bicarb soda

Additional yoghurt and berries or fruit to serve

Butter for frying

DO:

Just before going to bed;

Place almonds into Thermo bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Add yoghurt, eggs, salt, vanilla and blend 10 sec/speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl and place in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, heat a fry pan on Induction 6 for at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile remove Thermo bowl from fridge and add bicarb. Blend 6 sec/speed 6.

Melt a little butter in heated frypan. Pour a small amount of the batter into the centre of the fry pan and allow to cook until bubbles come through…this may take longer than traditional pancakes and if you have used unblanched almonds the pancakes will look a little darker than what you are used to. Carefully flip and cook on both sides. They are a little more delicate than normal pancakes as well, so be gentle.

Serve immediately with hot berry sauce, a little yoghurt or cream and a dusting of icing sugar.

This mixture could easily be doubled and in my house certainly will be next time around…we had these eaten in no time flat.

Pretty in Pink Cupcakes

Pretty in Pink….and white…I have an issue with cupcakes….well, not with eating them of course, but rather with taking pics of them. And so it was that I put a shout out on Facebook for suggestions…shooting suggestions if you will, on cupcakery!! What do you know?? There are experts out there, most of whom will give you their honest opinion for a cupcake….and one who came and actually took pics and gave me a very quick lesson on the finer points of my own camera, for the princely sum of two cupcakes! Fantastic….(thanks Mark) so now…who took which pic??? That is the question. I took pics as well, so if you can tell whose is whose, I will send you a cupcake. (Actually, I will not, but you can have this perfectly good cupcake recipe and make a whole dozen for yourself!)

Getting stuffed….with homemade raspberry jam…recipe coming

Cupcakery….

Cakes;

NEED:

100g butter

150g brown sugar

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

45g maple syrup

2 eggs

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

170g flour

1/2 tsp each baking powder and baking soda

DO:

Preheat oven to 180ºC and line 12 hole muffin tin with silicone cupcake liners.

Place butter into saucepan and cook until it becomes buerre noisette on Induction 10, stirring constantly. Pour into Thermo bowl and add sugar, vanilla and maple syrup. Blend 5 sec/speed 5. Scrape down and allow to cool slightly.

Add eggs and blend 10 sec/speed 6. Add remaining ingredients and fold 12 sec/Interval. Scrape down sides of bowl to incorporate last little bits of flour. Divide equally in prepared tin. Bake 20-25 minutes or until springing back when touched with a finger. Cool completely.

Optionally, cut out the centre piece of each cake and fill with 1 tsp raspberry jam and place the piece of cake you removed back into place before continuing with frosting.

Raspberry Puree;

NEED:

150g raspberries

Juice 1 lime

DO:

Place berries and juice into Thermo bowl and cook 6 min/100ºC/speed 2. Strain through fine sieve and cool completely before using.

Frosting;

NEED:

400g fine icing sugar

50g butter

As much Raspberry Puree as needed to reach colour you are happy with!

DO:

Place sugar and butter into Thermo bowl and blend 6 sec/speed 6.

Whip 30 sec/speed 4/butterfly.

Remove butterfly and add raspberry puree a little at a time blending 3-4 sec/speed 6 between additions until you have the desired colour.

Remove frosting from bowl and place in fridge for an hour or so before piping onto cupcakes.

Happy Mothers (and might I add Grandmother’s) Day….to you all!

The layering process begins!

Smorgastarta Up Close and Personal!

Okey, so if you are on board with me here….this is what you are waiting for to finish off this creation. It really is impressive and a lot of fun to serve. There are a lot of ideas for decorating, I went with Swedish (sort of) but for lots of other ideas head on over to this The Kitchn post. There were mixed reactions at the most expected Grand child in history’s baby shower, some people were disappointed it wasn’t sweet, others were so taken by the idea that is was savoury, they couldn’t wait to dig in. Slicing it is the trick, so be brave, but use a serrated edge to get through all the layers and serve in thin wedges if possible. We loved the left overs more the day after the Baby Shower, and I think it was because all the flavours had melded together. Therefore, this is a perfect party food to do ahead…way ahead.

Hope you post pics over on Facebook if you do this…go on…you know you want to!

Fillings;

NEED:

4 hard boiled egg yolks

100g mayonnaise (For Foods Sake has some amazing Mayo options, and I did use a home made garlic, spring onion and lime option)

100g pickled gherkins

60g red onion

250g cream cheese

100g smoked salmon

Juice 1 lime

Murray River pink salt flakes to taste

DO:

Place egg yolks, and mayonnaise into Thermo bowl and blend 4 sec/speed 6. Add gherkins and onion and chop 3 sec/speed 4. Add remaining filling ingredients and blend 6 sec/speed 6. Remove from bowl and set aside. Clean bowl if you want a white ‘frosting’.

Frosting;

NEED:

500g sour cream

500g cream cheese

DO:

Place sour cream and cream cheese into Thermo bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 7. Insert butterfly and whip for 30 sec/speed 4. It should be fluffy and aerated. Remove from bowl and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

Sliced cucumber

Sliced chicken breast fillet, ham or other cold meats of choice

Caviar

Sliced hardboiled eggs

Butter

Sliced onions

Beetroot

Stuffed olives, black olives

Parsley leaves to garnish

Cherry tomatoes to garnish

Other garnishes of choice

You must have sparkling mineral water to brush the bread layers with.

ASSEMBLY:

Remove the crusts from all the loaf, including the top, leaving only the bottom crust.

Slice the bread loaf into 3 or 4 layers horizontally.

Spread a little of the frosting onto the serving plate you will use. Stick the bottom layer of loaf onto this plate.

Brush this layer with a generous amount of mineral water. Butter it and then spread with some of the filling. Top with other meats, cheeses, vegetables of choice. Top with next layer and repeat, until all layers of bread are used. Do not overfill the layers between the sandwich as it will make it difficult to cut.

Completely brush the whole sandwich cake with mineral water. Frost it using all the frosting you have and pipe rosettes on the top like you would a cake around the outside circumference. Decorate the top with as many garnishes as you would like.

Arrange individual parsley leaves on the outside of the cake. Garnish the base with cherry tomatoes, and add any other garnishes of choice. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.

The mineral water helps the consistency become easier to cut and more cake like.

I am missing a few accents in the title, this Swedish sandwich cake is actually spelt, Smörgåstårta and is of course a salute to all things sandwich…and so pretty! Which is why it appealed to me in the first place. I have (as some of you know) reached the ripe old and mature age of Grandy hood…and so there has been a baby shower and as we are expecting a little girl to be welcomed into the Holder family, the baby shower had to be appropriately pretty and this fit the bill exactly! Rather than fiddle around with patching loaves together to fit the round cake that I was after, I decided to make my own bread, so this is part one of Smörgåstårta, (cue the drum roll….) The Loaf!

NEED:

60g fresh yeast

200g brewed Crio Bru liquid

200g water

3 tbsp malt powder  as found in For Foods Sake

2 tbsp honey

400g wholemeal flour

400g bakers flour

3 tbsp Crio Bru dry granules (As opposed to reserved wet granules from your morning cuppa)

Pinch salt

DO:

Place yeast, Crio Bru liquid, water, malt powder and honey into Thermo bowl and warm 2 min/37ºC/speed 1.

Add half each of the flours and all the Crio Bru granules. Blend 15 sec/speed 6.

Add remaining flour a little at a time, kneading 1 min/Interval after each addition, to a total of 4 minutes. If your machine is struggling, remove half the dough, knead 2 min/Interval. Remove from bowl, repeat with remaining dough and knead the two amounts together by hand on a Silpat mat. Wrap tightly and allow to prove.

Line the base of a 23cm spring form tin with baking paper and grease the sides.  Shape dough into a large round and place into tin to rise. Preheat oven to 220ºC. Bake 20-25 minutes or until well risen, golden and sounding hollow when tapped. Cool completely before cutting into 3-4 layers. (This will depend on how much rise you managed to achieve!!)

I actually made this loaf the day before and then filled it and frosted it on the day of serving. I would definitely do it that way again and recommend you do the same if possible. OH, and the bread would be perfectly fine as just plain old bread…I confess I ate the crusts (which are removed for  Smörgåstårta and I smothered them in fresh butter, as I hi-hoed into making the sandwich!!) 

Part two, which consists of basic method of construction, fillings, and frosting is coming soon…stay tuned.

Frying Roti

Rolled Roti with honey

You know I need to knead…and as I am developing a ‘Thai Thai Again’ advanced cooking class, I have been playing around with breads and flatbreads that may or may not be eaten in Thailand. I have to say, in traditional Thai cuisine, you will not find a lot of bread. SO: Disclaimer is thus….I have seen these served on the street with condensed milk AND sugar AND banana, and they are delicious. Full of carbs, and fat, so not for the diet conscious…but when has that ever been my mantra anyway?? Perfect for a hungry crowd with the sweet stuff or as an accompaniment to a great curry. The trick is in the pulling and folding, so go and watch a few videos with the technique. Once you get it, it is quite easy though I confess I must stick to square roti…I get the thinnest result that way. (And as mentioned…I am all about thin!!)

NEED:

500g bakers flour

200g water

35g milk

Good pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

2 tbsp sugar

1 egg

Oil and butter as needed

DO:

Place all ingredients except oil and butter into Thermo bowl and mix 15 sec/speed 6. Knead 2 min/Interval.

Leave in bowl for 20 minutes. Knead again 2 min/Interval.

Place onto oiled Silpat mat and divide into 16 pieces using your trusty SuperKitchenMachine spatula. (Don’t have one yet? Head on over to the store and order immediately!!) Roll into balls and drizzle generously with oil. Cover and rest again.

Heat a large flat pan on Induction 6 for at least 10 minutes.

Roll one ball at a time into a circle with a rolling pin. Slap the flat bread onto the mat and pull, turn, slap and pull again. It should catch on the mat and so pull the dough thinner and thinner without breaking. If it doesn’t stick, just use a very little oil on the mat and it should work. Pull it into a circle or square and then oil your hot pan. Fry each side, adding some butter once the bread has puffed up.

Remove, drizzle with honey, condensed milk, sprinkle with sugar, whatever takes your fancy…or serve with an amazing curry to mop up all those juices…

Lime and Raspberry Flan

Seriously I cannot go past the combo of Lime and Raspberries. Be it a dessert or a drink, count me in. My darling sis has a gorgeous lime tree that is laden with fruit right now, so lucky me! I get the fruits of her hard labours….of course she gets a little in return, like a slice of this (just one!)…I believe in Fair Trade, and this is exactly how it works!

Should you be looking for more Limey, Raspberry, Citrussy recipes, you can’t go past some of the desserts in the most excellent For Food’s Sake, which I am hoping you all have a copy of…if not, WHY am I here??? (Just asking!)

NEED:

Shortcrust;
260g plain flour
2 tbsp caster sugar
130g cold butter cubed
1 egg yolk
60g sour cream
1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

Filling; 
Zest and juice 3 limes
200g sugar
3 eggs
130g sour cream
20g cornflour
200g frozen or fresh raspberries

DO:

Pastry;

Place flour, sugar and butter into Thermo bowl and mix 5 sec/speed 5.

Add remaining ingredients and mix 10 sec/speed 5.

Tip out onto floured Silpat mat and press into a disc.

Roll out to fit a 18-20cm flan tin with removable base. Do not trim edges. Place in
freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180ºC and blind bake for 20 minutes. Remove baking beans. Trim edges neatly to
the rim of the flan tin. Reduce oven temperature to 160ºC.

Filling;

Place zest and sugar into Thermo bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Add remaining ingredients except raspberries and mix 10 sec/speed 5.

Pour filling into pastry shell. Bake for 40 minutes or until custard is just wobbly in centre.

Garnish with raspberries and dust with icing sugar and cool completely before serving with ice cream or whipped
cream.

Choc Molten Pots uncookedOozing Choc Molten Puddingsssss

Oozing Choc Molten Puddingsssss

Not kidding…these have truffles in the center…so if you are on a diet, don’t read any further. You will just be tormenting yourself. Yes, just call me the devil.

You don’t have to make the truffles, but you may want to…they add such a chocolatey hit to this already amazing dessert. You will never go back to boring old chocolate cake again…at least not on my watch! In the process of doing a desserts book (you did read that correctly) I have had many many desserts that I felt were wrong for the project, but not wrong in any other way. When I say ‘wrong’ I mean, too long, too complicated, too hard to write without the benefit of pics to explain…etc. Our new little project will be up and running soon, so stay tuned for all the versions of dessert you ever wished for, in one handy location! In the meantime, be getting on with this hey?

NEED:

1 pre made batch Crio Bru Truffles (well you only need 6 actually, so that’s the upside…you also get truffles at the end of it!)

Enough butter to grease 6 small ramekins

Enough premium cocoa to dust 6 small ramekins

150g sugar

50g butter

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

4 eggs

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

50g plain flour

350g dark chocolate, melted

DO:

Preheat oven to 200ºC and butter each ramekin very well. Dust generously with cocoa. Set ramekins aside on a baking tray.

Place sugar into Thermo bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Add butter and blend 10 sec/speed 4.

Add vanilla, eggs, salt and flour. Blend 10 sec/speed 5.

Add melted chocolate that has been slightly cooled. (I used microwave, but induction cooktop is excellent for melting chocolate as well. Of course it can be done in your Thermo, but it can be quite slow and you would need to do this first.)

Blend 10 sec/speed 4. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat.

Divide mixture between the prepared ramekins. Push a truffle (without any nuts or other coating FYI) into the centre of each and cover with pudding batter.

Bake 10-12 minutes until still springy to  touch.

Use a knife to loosen outer edges of cake and turn upside down to serve.

Serve with cream, mascarpone or ice cream to taste. Dust with additional cocoa if desired. You can refrigerate these fully assembled, but uncooked until ready to serve. It is best to eat them hot, straight from the oven. They may take a little longer if being cooked straight from the fridge.

EVOO, Lime and Yoghurt Cake

My sister has blessed me with an enormous bag of limes…without a doubt my favourite citrus of all…and I have already done a Lime and Raspberry Tart with them today. It is Easter Sunday and we have a boating trip planned for tomorrow and boating with us has come to mean that I provide the feast. SO, tarts don’t travel well (just ask me) and so a cake was the best thing, a moist Lime Cake…and just like a pair of sensible shoes, not that attractive, but really do the job when required.

I have no butter, I made yoghurt on Friday, and so this was the natural progression. Hoping you love…hoping we love, as we skip across an azure sea tomorrow….

NEED:

240g sugar

zest 2 limes, finely grated

280g Greek yoghurt (home made if possible)

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

60g  Fini EVOO

35g fresh lime juice

2 eggs

200g flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

GARNISH:

40g icing sugar

Zest 1 lime, finely grated

DO:

Preheat oven to 180ºC and oil a loaf tin with EVOO. Set aside.

Place sugar and zest into Thermo bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Add yoghurt, vanilla, EVOO, lime juice and eggs. Blend 10 sec/speed 6.

Add remaining ingredients except garnish and blend 12 sec/Interval.

Scrape into prepared tin and bake 40-45 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Leave in tin for boating travel, or turn out after 10 minutes before dusting with icing sugar and garnishing with lime zest.

Serve in big chunks appropriate for sensible appetites..nothing dainty here!

A bunch of Yoghurt cake recipes were the inspiration for this…and can be found here at Smitten Kitchen, or Chocolate and Zucchini, or our very own Aussie blogger, Souvlaki for the Soul.

Chorizo Crepes…bring on the fried egg!

I keep telling you all to make Umami…this recipe will work without it…but is doubly nice with it! (SO go ahead, make my Umami!!) It was a busy day, the boy (17 and 6 feet something or other) was hungry…I was tired, I had a few ingredients in the fridge, one of which was umami, and the other was chorizo…and I always have eggs. What to do?? Growing lads need actual food, not a salad with an egg…starch, carbs, grunt!! So, this was the result. Too dark for a great pic, so once again Instagram came to the rescue. Bless you Instagram, and bless you Umami…I mean really. This was outstanding. (And in no time flat!!)

NEED:

1 batch Savoury Crepes from Spin-A-Dinner or Dinner Spinner

50g Parmesan, cubed

50g Havarti cheese, cubed

2 cloves garlic

Handful Italian parsley

110g chorizo sausage, cut into pieces

100g brown onion, cut into pieces

200g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp Umami paste

1 fried egg per pancake

DO:

Make pancakes and set aside.

Place cheeses, garlic and parsley into clean and dry Thermomix bowl and mill 8 sec/speed 8. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Place chorizo and onion into Thermomix bowl and chop 5 sec/speed 7. Scrape down sides of bowl and add mushrooms and umami paste. Saute 10 min/Varoma/Reverse/speed 2.

Fry eggs to order as your pancakes are eaten.

ASSEMBLE:

Place a pancake on serving plate, sprinkle with cheese mixture, then top with chorizo mixture. Top with a fried egg and add a few fresh snippets of parsley. Wrap each edge of the pancake into the centre and eat hot. An easy, easy dinner, that kids will love…if you use a mild chorizo!

Crio Bru Easter Eggs with Pistachio Almond Paste Filling

You knew this had to be coming didn’t you? Really…it was only a matter of timing. And wait for it…if you blink you may miss it…Easter is upon us. I know, I know, I was just posting Christmas recipes but a moment ago, but here we are, the big pink bunny is on his way, camping trips, school holidays, over indulgence in all things chocolate…so this recipe is healthy. NOT KIDDING…totally healthy, just don’t eat it all at once. You too may be bouncing all over more than any bunny I’ve ever come across. Full of natural energy, go read about Crio Bru’s amazing benefits HERE and then proceed with confidence. Any flavour of the Bru will Do! Enjoy these Eggcellent eggs…oh and Hoppy Easter! (Sorry…please eggcuse me!)

NEED:

100g Crio Bru dry granules

100g Rapadura sugar

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

65g cacao butter

Pinch Murray River pink salt

Paste Filling;

100g pistachios, shelled

40g almonds

50g Rapdura sugar

10g cacao butter

Pinch Murray River pink salt

Additional almonds and pistachios to garnish

Easter egg mould or other mould of choice

DO:

To make chocolate shells, place Crio Bru granules and sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 20 sec/speed 10.

Add vanilla bean paste, cacao butter and salt and blend 10-15 sec/speed 6 until a chocolate paste forms. Spread into moulds of choice and place into fridge.

Without cleaning bowl, make paste by placing pistachios, almonds, and sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10. Add cacao butter and salt and blend 20 sec/speed 8, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Fill each shell with the filling, placing a few of the additional nuts into the centres as desired. Finish off with additional nuts, making sure that you press them into the filling so that they will set into the egg.

Refrigerate.

Remove from moulds. Wrap and gift…or slice it to eat, or, well, put it on a plate and do a Seinfeld and get the knife and fork out! (But remember, it is very, very dark and rich and full of antioxidants and energy!)