Blood Orange / Mandarin & Hazelnut Cake GF

28^th September 2017, Gumboot Girls at mine

I used very thin skinned, deep orange mandarins, with skins so tight they were impossible to peel. This made them perfect for slicing and juicing, for this recipe.

300 gm butter, softened

400 gm caster sugar

Finely grated rind and juice of 2 lemons and 2 blood oranges

255 gm hazelnut meal

165 gm fine polenta

6 eggs

125 gm yoghurt, plus extra to serve

1 cup buckwheat  flour 

Blood orange topping

1 cup caster sugar

½ cup blood orange juice

2 blood oranges, unpeeled, thinly sliced, seeds discarded

• 01
• For blood orange topping, stir sugar and blood orange juice in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves, add blood oranges slices and simmer until tender (10-15 minutes).
• Set aside to cool, then drain, reserving syrup, and arrange orange slices in the base of a buttered 23cm diameter cake tin lined with baking paper.
• Pour 100ml of the syrup over and set aside.

• 02
• Preheat oven to 180C.
• Beat butter, sugar in an electric mixer until pale (2-3 minutes).
• Combine hazelnut meal and polenta and rinds  in a bowl, add half to the butter mixture and mix on low speed to combine.
• Add eggs one at a time, mixing to combine and scraping down sides of bowl between each addition.
• Add remaining hazelnut meal mixture, juices, yoghurt and flour, and stir gently to combine.
• Carefully spoon mixture into cake tin over oranges and syrup and spread gently to cover evenly, smooth top, then bake until golden and a skewer inserted withdraws clean (50 minutes to 1 hour; cover with foil if cake colours too quickly).
• Set aside to cool briefly (10 minutes), then turn out carefully onto a plate to cool to room temperature.
• Serve with remaining syrup, warmed, and extra yoghurt. It will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Carrot and Chickpea Tagine

First cooked 14/7/16

4 Tbls olive oil	1 Tbl dark, runny honey
1 onion, finely chopped	4 medium carrots, sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed & chopped	2 cups sprouted and blanched chickpeas or equivalent
1 tsp best ground turmeric	Salt to taste
2 tsp cumin seeds	1 – 2 Tbls rosewater
1 tsp ground cinnamon	1 bunch coriander, finely chopped
plenty of pepper (+ chilli if you like)	1 lemon, cut in wedges

Gently heat the tagine then add the oil.

Add onion and garlic and sauté gently with the lid on, until soft.

Add the spices + the honey + the carrots. Stir and cook briefly until the spices are fragrant.

Pour in about 1/2 cup water  and cook gently 10 minutes.

Toss in the chickpeas, add a little water if necessary, replace the lid and cook gently another 10 minutes.

Season with salt, sprinkle the rosewater and coriander leaves over and serve with the lemon wedges.

Banana Cake with Salted Honey Pecans

A fabulously delicious recipe from Sally Port. Made for GG’s in Feb. 2017

Ingredients

• 3 large overripe bananas
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tsp heaped baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 175 g Almond Meal/Flour
• 75 g Hazelnut Meal/Flour
• 220 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

SALTED HONEY ROASTED PECANS:

• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp boiling water

CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

• 250 g cream cheese at room temperature,
• 50 g butter at room temperature,
• 100 g icing sugar sifted
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Grease a 20cm/7 inch springform pan and preheat the oven to 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).

2. Place the bananas in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the remaining cake ingredients and process to combine. Pour the batter into the springform pan and bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour. Check the cake after 30 minutes as you may need to cover it with foil to prevent burning before the cake is cooked through. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool completely in the tin before removing.

3. While the cake is cooling keep the oven on at 180 celsius and make the honey roasted pecans. Combine the pecans, honey, sea salt and boiling water in a bowl and mix to combine. Place on a tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15 minutes, stirring about half way through to make sure they are evenly cooked. Remove the tray from the oven and set aside to cool.

4. To make the frosting combine the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the icing sugar and cinnamon and beat for another 5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy.

5. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and top with chopped roasted pecans.

Sally's Seed Crackers

Ingredients

• 200g sunflower seeds
• 60g flax seeds
• 100g sesame seeds
• 2 Tbsp. Psyllium Husk
• 500ml water
• 1 tsp. Himalayan sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Line 2 baking sheets with lightly oiled parchment paper or a silicone sheet.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and leave the mixture to stand until thick and pliable (about 10 minutes).
3. Spread the mixture as thinly as possible on the lined baking sheet (may require 2). The mixture should have no holes or gaps.
4. Bake for 1 hour, turning trays after 30 minutes if browning more on one side. They may need another 15 to 20 minutes until they are nice and really crispy.
5. Remove from oven and leave to cool.
6. Once cool, break into any size you like and store in an airtight container.

Erika's Roomstruif

Ingredients

3 stiffened egg whites

5/8 cup of plain flour

3 egg yolks

 salt

4 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoons of melted butter

3/4 cup of milk

Method

Beat egg yolks, sugar, salt, milk and butter.

Add flour and beat until smooth.

Fold in stiffened egg whites.

Warm a large frying pan, add small dollop of butter/oil.

When butter has melted, pour in large ladle of mixture.

Cook pancake until air bubbles appear and start to pop.

Remove pancake from frying pan and place on an oven- proof

plate with the cooked side on the plate.

Place in a warm oven.

Melt another dollop of butter/oil.

Cook another pancake in the same manner, cooking only one side.

( it is best if pancakes are not over cooked, it is much tastier if it is moist.)

Place second pancake on top of the first, again cooked side on the first pancake.

Continue cooking pancakes until the mixture is finished, placing the last pancake

with the uncooked side on top of the last one i.e. cooked side right on top.

Remove the plate from the oven, sprinkle some icing sugar over the top and serve.

Roomstruif is best when quite moist and served as soon as it has been cooked. But not unpleasant when cold either.

Serves 3-4 adults.

Sally's Cardamom + Sea Salt Ganache Tart, GF

This Cardamom + Sea Salt Ganache Tart is a stunning celebration dessert and proves just how EASY making a fructose-free ganache can be!

Ingredients

• 270 ml coconut cream.
• 2 tablespoons cardamom pods, lightly crushed with a flat blade until the outer husks crack.
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
• 100 g (85-90% cocoa) chocolate, chopped.
• pinch of sea salt, plus coarse sea salt, to garnish.
• berries, edible petals, activiated buckwheat, to garnish.

Crust

• 1/3 cup coconut oil.
• 1/4 cup rice malt syrup.
• 2 cups shredded coconut.
• 1 tablespoon raw cacao powder.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4.

2. To make the crust, melt the coconut oil and rice malt syrup in a saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the shredded coconut and cacao powder and mix well. Press the mixture into the base and up the side of the quiche or tart tin - no need to grease it - so that the mixture's approximately 5 mm thick all over. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool and firm up.

3. Meanwhile, heat the coconut cream, cardamom pods and vanilla in a saucepan to a simmer, then turn off the heat and cover with a lid. Allow to steep for 10 minutes.

4. Strain the coconut cream mixture into a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup in the pan for emergency use later, if needed. Discard the cardamom pods (or save to spice up chai tea). Add the chocolate and salt to the bowl, whisking it through until silky and melted. If the fats separate and your ganache develops a chocolatey cottage-cheese appearance, just add the reserved coconut cream, whisking swiftly to bring it all back together.

5. Once silky, pour into the tart shell and refrigerate until the ganache sets (at least 2 hours). Garnish with a pinch of coarse sea salt and berries, petals and activated buckwheat, if desired.

Peach and Strawberry Cobbler

6 med. peaches, peeled and sliced or/ equivalent amount of lightly stewed rhubarb a good handful of ripe strawberries, halved 1 capful rose water 3 Tbl. lemon juice 1 level Tbl. honey

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (for gluten free, use 1/2 almond meal + 1/2 buckwheat flour) 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 4 Tbl. butter 1/2 cup milk 1/3 cup honey

Preheat fan forced oven to 180C

Cut fruit into a pyrex dish. Add lemon and honey and rose water. Stir into fruit.

To prepare topping :

Stir together dry ingredients. 

Add butter and rub in to coarse crumbs.

Combine milk and honey and stir into flour mixture.

Cover the fruit with the topping.

Bake 30 - 35 minutes.

ZUCCHINI AND MUSHROOM LASAGNE

  2 tsp chopped rosemary

pepper

organic lasagne sheets 

750g pasta sauce
     1kg zucchini, thinly sliced on diagonal
     250g mushrooms, thinly sliced

250g grated tasty cheese

125g parmesan cheese

Brown the sliced zucchini in a pan.

Smear the bottom of a lasagne dish with a bit of the pasta sauce. Lay 1/2 the zucchini slices over, smear on more sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the combined cheeses. Place on a layer of lasagne sheets, then more sauce then all the mushrooms and the rosemary, then 1/3 of the rest of the cheese.

Place on another lasagne sheet, then sauce then the rest of the zuccini, the pepper and 1/2 the rest of the cheese.

Place on the last lasagne sheet then the rest of the sauce and the cheese, adding extra parmesan if necessary to fill the gaps.

(If using instant lasagne sheets, now pour 1/2 cup water in around the edges.)

Bake 190C for 10 mins.

Reduce to 170C for 20 - 30 mins until well browned.

If possible, let rest 10 mins before serving or even until next day.