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Posts Tagged ‘indulgent’

  1. Gluten-Free Primal Jaffa Cakes

    March 19, 2013 by Tali

    The other day I had a major hankering for some Jaffa cakes. The magical combination of light sponge, zesty orange jelly topped with a coating of dark chocolate.

    Biting into one is a true sensory experience – as you bite down, your teeth crack through the delicate snap of tempered dark chocolate into the squidgy Jaffa orange jelly, finishing off with a comforting bounce of delicate sponge cake.

    And the flavours…. well who can argue with the truly exquisite combination of orange and dark chocolate?

    No one I know!

    This snack item is quite deceptive. They are so light and moreish – before you know it – you’ve gobbled up half the pack. And so the only option is to destroy the evidence!

    There is another problem with the humble Jaffa Cake. It contains wheat flour (gluten – nasty stuff), refined sugars, and preservatives. We don’t need or want these things in our food. So I took it upon myself to re-invent the Jaffa Cake, making it gluten-free, refined sugar-free and preservative free!

    I bet you’re thinking ‘yeah, alright, but I bet it’s also taste-free too!’

    Well, you would be wrong!

    These babies are truly epic. You get the same flavour burst and texture combination that makes for a totally immense sensory experience – without any of that yucky business.

    How did you manage that? – you ask!?

    Well just take a wee look!

    Gluten-Free Primal Jaffa Cakes

    Makes: 12   Takes: 40mins

    Ingredients:
    2 large free range eggs
    50g(1.76oz) raw coconut palm sugar
    50g(1.76oz) ground almonds

    2 large oranges (preferably Jaffa)
    1 Tbsp orange marmalade (optional)
    1 (11g/0.38oz) sachet gelatine OR 4 leaves of gelatine sheets (soaked)

    150g (5.5oz) dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)

    Make the sponge

    • Pre-heat oven to 180 C/350 F. Grease a 12 hole cupcake/muffin tin
    • Place the eggs and coconut palm sugar in a heat resistant bowl. Place on top of a pan of simmering water making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water
    • Whisk the eggs and sugar (by hand or using an electric hand beater) until it reaches the ribbon stage. This should take 4-5 minutes with an electric beater, and 5-10 minutes by hand
    • Add the ground almonds and mix to combine
    • Divide the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin holes. I found it useful to use my medium sized scoop to portion these out evenly
    • Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 8-10mins. They should spring back when gently pressed
    • Gently remove out of the baking pan, and leave to cool on a wire rack

    While the sponge is baking, make the jelly

    • Line a square brownie tin with plastic wrap – allow excess over-hang
    • Zest 1 orange, and place the zest in a saucepan. Juice the 2 oranges (you should hopefully get around 150-200ml of juice – that’s just over 1/2 cup-3/4 cup) place this into the saucepan along with the (optional) tablespoon of marmalade
    • Heat the mixture up until the marmalade has dissolved. Make sure the mixture doesn’t boil
    • Once the mixture has heated up, sprinkle the gelatine onto the surface and whisk briskly until the gelatin is thoroughly dissolved and incorporated into the mix
    • Gently pour the liquid into the tin and fold over the excess plastic wrap to touch the surface
    • Allow this to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge to set properly.

    Putting the Jaffa cakes together and chocolate coating them

    • Take your jelly out the fridge, making sure it has set fully. Then cut 12 rounds slightly smaller than the tops of the sponge cakes
    • Place the jelly on top of the sponge
    • Chop your dark chocolate and put it into a microwavable bowl
    • Warm up your chocolate at half power in 30 second bursts mixing gently between each 30-second burst
    • Be patient and make sure not to over-heat your chocolate. You want to keep that chocolate tempered to ensure a nice crisp shell (for that full sensory experience!)
    • Once the chocolate is ready, using a silicone pastry brush – any of these will do – brush the chocolate over the top of the jelly allowing it to coat the sides and just onto the surface of the sponge
    • Leave them to set on a wire rack
    • Arrange them on a pretty plate and serve to guests – OR – devour and repeat recipe, then serve!

    The recipe does look long and a little overwhelming but it’s really not so difficult and it’s worth the effort! It may be wordy but I just wanted to make sure you get all the steps right!

    If you are just after the gluten-free (and aren’t so worried about the refined sugar) feel free to use the jelly recipe from here to fill your Jaffa cakes. I tested this recipe but actually found that the flavour of the orange jelly using the fresh orange juice produced a more authentic Jaffa cake taste.

    True story!


  2. Primal Ginger Cheesecake with Rhubarb Compote

    March 15, 2013 by Tali

    For the last few weeks I have had the craziest craving for cheesecake. Not unusual. I often get cravings for sweet things.

    As a way to control myself I try to make the foods that I’m craving. That way I appreciate them more, and more importantly, I can control what goes in them – which is pretty important when you’re trying to eat a Primal diet.

    Some people may argue over the true primal-ness of dairy – and whether it should be a part of our adult diet. I admit that I should cut back a little on my dairy consumption – but I find that I cope just fine with a little dairy in my diet.

    Do whatever works for you!

    I would recommend checking the ingredients list of the cream cheese you buy. I found that a brand like Philadelphia contains all kinds of additives, and my supermarket own brand soft cheese simply lists: milk. I like that! Or better yet – make your own cream cheese! But who has time for such things?!

    Cheesecake is not something I eat often and so I wanted to have something as close to the real deal as possible! Without all those additives, all that gluten and those refined sugars.

    It was only when the first crops of forced rhubarb hit the shelves that I thought it would be a brilliant idea to make a Rhubarb Cheesecake!

    AND whats goes brilliantly with rhubarb…. GINGER of course!

    There were so many ways in which I could have gone about putting this cheesecake together but in the end I decided to make a ginger cheesecake and use the rhubarb as a compote to accompany it.

    My recipe came to be with a little help from Adriana at Living Healthy with Chocolate.

    Primal Ginger Cheesecake with Rhubarb Compote

    Makes: 1 8-inch cake   Takes: 2.5hrs

    Crust
    Ingredients:

    1/2 cup pecans
    1 cup ground almonds/almond meal
    1 Tbsp Raw Honey
    1/2 tsp ground ginger
    6 Tbsp Butter/coconut oil (melted)

    • Preheat oven to 150 C/300 F
    • Place pecans in a food processor with blade attachment. Process until finely ground
    • Add ground almonds, honey, ground ginger and melted butter – process until it all comes together
    • Press into the base of a greased and lined 8 inch spring-form pan
    • Bake for 10-12mins. Set aside to cool

    Cheesecake Filling
    Ingredients:

    450g full fat cream cheese (at room temperature)
    1 cup full fat Greek yoghurt
    4 large eggs
    15g fresh stem ginger (grated)
    3 Tbsp raw coconut palm sugar

    • Turn oven temperature down to 110 C/230 F
    • Cream together the cream cheese, yoghurt and coconut palm sugar until light and fluffy
    • Add eggs to the mixture, one at a time
    • Finely grate the fresh ginger and fold it into the mix
    • Pour mixture on top of cooled base. Place in the oven and bake for about 1.5 hours. Start checking from 1 hour. You will notice that it will be wobbly in the centre. You want to bake this until it JUST stops wobbling. For me it took 1.5 hours in a fan assisted oven
    • Switch off oven leaving the door slightly a jar and let the cake cool with the oven. After 20-30mins, remove from oven and set aside to cool
    • Once the cheesecake is at room temperature, you can cover and place it into the fridge to chill until you are ready to serve

    Rhubarb Compote
    Ingredients:

    400g fresh rhubarb stems
    250ml water
    20g coconut palm sugar
    35g raw honey

    • Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F
    • Chop rhubarb stems into even pieces, lay them evenly in a shallow dish
    • Dissolve the coconut palm sugar and honey in the water, then pour over the rhubarb
    • Place dish in oven, and roast for 15mins, until the rhubarb is tender but still holds its shape.
    • Leave to cool

    When ready to serve, slice cheesecake (best done when cheesecake has been well chilled, preferably overnight) and top with a couple of spoons of rhubarb compote.

    I found that the ginger cheesecake on its own was was quite delightful – and that it didn’t really need the compote. Don’t get me wrong, the tart rhubarb compote was a welcome contrast to the creamy and gingery cheesecake – but if you were to skip the rhubarb this dessert will not disappoint!

    You could even serve this with another complimentary ingredient to ginger… chocolate for example. Ooo or a citrus curd, lemon OR lime would work great along-side the ginger. Or go exotic and pair the cheesecake with perfectly ripe mango slices. Oh, I could go on and on!

    Notes:
    I found the base to be a little on the soggy side – I guess this could be because it’s made with nuts. Next time I may try using coconut palm sugar instead of honey and maybe coconut oil instead of butter to see if that makes a difference.

    In a further attempt to rid the cheesecake base of moisture – I will attempt next time to drain the cream cheese and yoghurt of as much moisture as possible by straining it though some cheesecloth.

     


  3. Chocolate Torte

    June 18, 2012 by Tali

    Everyone needs to indulge in a little chocolate sometimes.

    What better way to enjoy the food of the gods than in rich, dense and powerful cake-like form?

    I say cake-like because this isn’t really a cake – not in the sense that I know of cake; to me a cake needs to be fluffy, light and, to be honest, have a little more height to it. This is not a pie or a tart either.  One could liken its texture to something like a brownie – it is dense, fudgey and intoxicating in its chocolatey-ness. I have decided to label this delicious baked good as a torte.

    This temptress of a dessert packs a real punch. There is A LOT of dark chocolate AND cocoa powder involved in this recipe. It is gluten, nut and (any kind of) flour free. This baby would be acceptable to a vast number of people – unless of course they don’t like chocolate; but let’s be realistic – anyone who doesn’t like chocolate needs their head checked!

    I came across this recipe a few weeks ago when looking for something that was both nut and gluten free. I was baking for a friend’s bridal shower/kitchen tea. The lady of the hour is allergic to nuts, and her sister is gluten intolerant so in an effort to please them both I searched for a recipe that could fulfil both their dietary requirements. It just so happened that it also allowed room to satisfy my requirements as a primal enthusiast.

    This recipe uses a short list of ingredients and an even shorter method – therefore this should please anyone who hates spending too much time in the kitchen.

    In short – This recipe pleases pretty much everyone!

    To make this more Primal-acceptable – I adapted the sweetener from the original recipe which I found here.

    By replacing the caster sugar with unrefined coconut palm sugar I made this an almost guilt-free treat. But believe me – this stuff is so good – you’ll think you’ve just sinned BIG TIME!

    I’d like to try this with honey at some point – it may make the texture even better. If you experiment with that – please let me know how it turns out!

    Primal Chocolate Torte
    Adapted from a recipe by Shana Hillman

    Makes: One 8 inch pan/tart dish  Takes: 45mins

    Ingredients:
    120g Dark Chocolate ( I used Lindt 70%)
    120g Unsalted Butter
    150g Coconut Palm Sugar
    80g Cocoa Powder
    3 Eggs (beaten)
    1 tsp Vanilla extract
    1 pinch Sea Salt

    • preheat oven to 150C/300F. Grease an 8/9 inch tart pan.
    • place the butter and chocolate in a bowl, over a double boiler and let it melt, very gently
    • meanwhile, beat your eggs then add vanilla extract
    • place all of your dry ingredients – coconut palm sugar, salt and cocoa powder (sifted) – into a bowl
    • when your butter and chocolate have melted, remove from heat
    • add egg, incorporating fully, then fold in the dry ingredients
    • once the mixture is combined, pour into tart pan and spread evenly
    • place in your preheated oven for 25-30mins
    • remove from the oven and cool

    Serve as a dessert – warm with cream/ice cream and some tart, fresh berries. Or let cool to room temperature and enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee – add the cream and berries for extra indulgence.

    You could amp up the decadence scale and top this with a luscious chocolate ganache to turn it into a seriously dangerous indulgent treat.


  4. Primal BBQ Chicken Wings

    March 12, 2012 by Tali

    Have you noticed how all fun foods are interactive?

    Fajita dinners, ‘make-your-own-pizzas’, ice cream factory, pretty much anything that requires the diner to interact with their food.

    I am a firm believer in this theory. This extends to great American foods like burgers & fries – you have to get in there. No forks, knives or spoons getting in the way. It’s one on one food to human contact.

    To me it makes the food taste better when you connect with it, and get down and dirty!

    One of the most enjoyable and messy of these types of enlightening foods are things like ribs, and chicken wings (which NEED to be smothered in some to-die-for BBQ sauce)

    Now, ribs are not something I’m likely to tackle any time soon – I’ll leave that for Mo to play around with when the weather picks up and he can make full use of the smoker he got for Chrismukkah.

    Me, I’m happy to work with the humble chicken wing. I discovered that chicken wings can be bought at quite a reasonable price, so this not only makes a delicious meal – but it also makes a super cheap one too!

    This dish came about one Sunday. My parents, myself and Mo were in the butcher looking for something to make for lunch, and there sitting in one of the chillers were masses of chicken wings! so we grabbed a few packs – overly excited by how cheap they were and went on our way to make some tasty wings!

    The recipe was a bit of a mixture from here and there. I left Mo to sort out a rub, and prep the wings (I don’t like to touch raw meat very much) while I got to work on some epic BBQ sauce!

    Mo quickly threw together his rub inspired by a recipe from Paleo Comfort Foods. As he was using whatever was available in our kitchen cupboard, his recipe went a little something like this:

    Mo’s chicken wing rub

    Makes: enough for a single wing recipe   Takes: 5 mins

    Ingredients:
    2 tsp paprika
    1 tsp cayenne pepper
    1 tsp garlic salt
    1 tsp onion powder
    1 tsp cumin
    1 tsp black pepper
    1 tsp rosemary
    1 tsp mustard powder

    • combine all ingredients
    • done!

    Epic Primal BBQ Sauce
    Adapted using a recipe from Jan’s Sushi Bar.

    Makes: about 1/2 litre  Takes: 20mins – 1.5hrs

    Ingredients:
    2 Tbsp coconut oil
    1 large onion
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1 1/2 cups passata (tomato sauce)
    1/2 cup tomato puree
    1/2 cup honey
    1/4 cup liquid aminos/low-sodium soy sauce
    1/2 teaspoon paprika
    10-12 drops tabasco sauce
    2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

    • Melt the coconut oil in a heavy-based saucepan on a medium heat
    • finely chop the onion and add it to the pan, cook off gently for about 7-8mins
    • add the minced garlic to the pan and cook for a further 1 minute
    • add remaining ingredients to the pan and bring to the boil
    • turn heat right down, and leave to simmer for 10 mins or longer, until you have reduced the sauce to your desired consistency

    [I tripled this recipe and bottled the left-overs]

    Making Primal BBQ Chicken Wings

    Makes: 36 pieces  Takes: 30-40mins

    Ingredients:
    18 chicken wings, jointed
    Mo’s chicken wing rub
    1 recipe Epic BBQ Sauce

    • preheat oven to 180 C/350 F
    • once the wings have been jointed, and rubbed in Mo’s rub, place them (neatly) onto baking sheets and then into the oven
    • bake for 10 mins, turn each piece and then bake for a further 10 mins
    • remove one tray from the oven, and using a silicone brush, coat one side of each wing joint with Epic BBQ Sauce
    • return the tray to the oven, and do the same with the other tray
    • after the sauced wings have been baking for about 3-4mins, remove from oven, turn each one and coat the other side with the delicious sauce
    • repeat with second tray
    • return to oven for 3-4mins to complete cooking and caramelize the sauce a little
    • place wings onto a warmed serving platter with some extra BBQ sauce on the side.
    • Enjoy with celery sticks and blue cheese dip OR a side salad

    Now, go ahead and make some for yourself, and JUST TRY come back and tell me that wasn’t fun to eat!

    Ohhhh YEAH!

    Finger lickin’ ding dong dang goodness!

    Mmmmmm Mmmmmm!

    These have just the perfect amount of kick (provided by the rub and sauce combined. If you like em HOT add more spice or Tabasco!

    Go crazy!