Dairy-free Desserts

Lemon and Coconut Cake

lifemakeoverldn — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:59:00 +0100

Tonight I have some friends coming over and I thought I’d make them a cake. As today is the first day without rain this month I was feeling a bit tropical and so I decided on lemon and coconut cake.

I weighed out some plain flour, caster sugar, salt and baking powder into a medium sized bowl and mixed them together. I then separated the eggs, beating the yolks and adding them to some oil, vanilla and lemon oil. I added the wet ingredients to the dry ones and combined them thoroughly.

In a large bowl I beat the egg whites together with cream of tartar until they formed stiff peaks. To loosen the egg yolk mixture I added a couple of spoonfuls of the egg white to the mix, folding it in carefully. Then I gradually added the egg yolk mixture to the egg white, folding it in with care between each addition.

Finally, I folded in the coconut, and poured the batter into a large tube pan and baked it for fifty minutes on a low heat.

The cake was done when it was well risen and a skewer inserted came out clean. When the cake came out of the oven I let it cool in the pan upside down until completely cold.

I iced the cake with glacé icing which was made by adding water to icing (confectioners) sugar. This I drizzled over the top of the cake, and then while it was still wet I scattered over some shredded coconut.

Crispy, crumbly Anzacs

lifemakeoverldn — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:03:19 +0100

These biscuits turned out a little crispier and crumblier than traditional Anzac biscuits which may have been due to the substitution of light and mild olive oil or it may have been because I used gluten free oats.

They were rated as 8 out of 10 for appearance, 7 for texture and 8 for taste - giving them an overall score of 7.5.

Anzacs are made with oats, which are a great source of beta glucans, a type of fibre that is believed to help lower LDL cholesterol levels. They are also a whole grain that is associated with blood sugar balancing effects.

The coconut in these cookies has healthy fats in and is also held to have benefits for thyroid health.

Golden Syrup is slightly healthier than sugar as it still has some of its natural B vitamins in, which help blood sugar balancing.

Anzac Biscuits

lifemakeoverldn — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:49:51 +0100

Today is Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand, so I thought that I would make some Anzac biscuits to commemorate it.

This is a really simple recipe that uses a mixture of plain flour, caster sugar, desiccated coconut and oats. Added to this is a mixture of oil and golden syrup melted together and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) that has been dissolved in boiling water.

The whole thing is mixed well until combined and then dessert spoonfuls of the mixture are placed on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and baked at 180°c for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Apple Sharlotka

lifemakeoverldn — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:22:27 +0100

As I have asked for recipes from around the world, today I am making one from Russia that was donated by my friend Elena.

This dessert is like a cross between a clafoutis and a basic sponge recipe and is made with apples. As such, it can be enjoyed either cold as a cake or warm as a pudding.

I 4 used tart (not sweet) eating apples for this peeled, cored and chopped into 1cm dice. I mixed these with a little caster sugar.

In I separate bowl I then beat the rest of the sugar and the eggs together until they were thickened and foamy and then carefully folded in a mixture of plain flour and baking powder. The I mixed in the apples and spooned the mixture into a parchment lined 23cm round cake pan and baked it for 55 minutes at 180°C.

"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by..."

lifemakeoverldn — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:15:23 +0100

“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past and the wisdom of cookbook writers.”

- Laurie Colwin

"Crumbly and delicious flapjacks"

lifemakeoverldn — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:07:55 +0100

These flapjacks (US -granola bars) had a very home made look about them which I wasn’t a fan of but others liked. This was partly because of their crumbly texture, which made it difficult to cut them to look more professionally made - I would never get away with pretending that they were neat tidy factory made ones.

They had a lovely oat and chocolatey flavour and were plenty sweet enough. I had changed them quite appreciably from the original recipe, including taking out the sugar altogether but leaving in the honey. I had also doubled the amount of oil in them and them were still pretty crumbly, but now they at least they crumbled when they were bitten rather than in the hand.

So, the scores for these flapjacks were 6 for appearance, 7.5 for both taste and texture - giving an overall score of 7 out of 10.

I also doubled the amount of chocolate from the recipe to give them added health benefit of being high in antioxidants. I used 85% cocoa solids dark chocolate that didn’t make them too sweet.

Oats contain beta-glucans which both help to normalise cholesterol and helps blood sugar balance.

The honey that I used was locally sourced which can have beneficial effects for hay fever sufferers (pollen allergy).

The shredded coconut contains a type of fat that is readily used for energy and any excess is not deposited under the skin, making it a very healthy fat. It is also associated with thyroid health - the thyroid gland governs our energy intake and output.

Chocolate Chip Flapjacks (US - Granola Bars)

lifemakeoverldn — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:48:30 +0100

As a Nutritionist I am always being asked for ideas for healthy snacks, and sometimes some that bridge the gap between extremely healthy and sinfully enjoyable.

So today I made some chocolate chip flapjacks for my clients to snack on between meals.

For this recipe I put in a bowl some oats (I used gluten free, but any whole oats will do), plain flour (again, I used gluten free), shredded coconut and dark chocolate chips (I used 85% cocoa solids for its antioxidant content). I mixed them together and then added a mixture of mild and light olive oil (any vegetable oil will do for this) and honey.

I mixed up the whole thing together until it was thoroughly combined and baked it in a parchment lined rectangular pan for 40 minutes.

Banana and Spice Cake

lifemakeoverldn — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:45:08 +0000

As I am away for the weekend, the gannets were complaining that I was leaving them high and dry with no baked goods. So I whipped up a quick all-in-one banana and spice cake.

I used 5 super-ripe bananas, four eggs, some light and mild olive oil, soft brown sugar, self raising flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice (mixed spice), extra cinnamon and vanilla.

All of the ingredients were put in a bowl together and mixed thoroughly until they were well combined and lightened in colour and then they were poured into a 23cm square baking pan and baked for 75minutes at 140°C.

I cooled it in the pan and iced it with glace icing made with icing sugar and water, then scattered it with slivered almonds.

This cake is 23cm² so is sized to share.

Bananas are a source of potassium and magnesium and vitamins B6 and C, they have benefits for blood sugar balancing and have a glycaemic load of just 18. Spices including cinnamon, ginger and cloves have health benefits for the digestion and help control inflammation.

This cake contains four eggs which are a good source of blood sugar balancing protein and vitamin D which is many parts of the world is in short supply at the moment due to the relative lack of sunshine.

"Super chocolatey and moist" GF Chocolate Cake

lifemakeoverldn — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:31:20 +0000

This cake went down well with everyone who tried it, most of whom didn’t even know that it was gluten-free or dairy-free. Our resident gluten sensitive person when asked if I could leave a piece for the cleaning woman, refused in the strongest terms to share!

For a special occasion you could add a little edible gold leaf on the top.

Those who are making this because of the lack of flour rather than of dairy may wish to serve it with some crème frâiche.

This recipe contains almonds which provide protein to help slow down the release of sugars from the cake into the bloodstream, which helps you stay fuller for longer. They are also a good source of vitamin E and essential fats. The eggs are also a fantastic source of complete protein.

The dark chocolate is a great source of antioxidants - aim for one with over 70% cocoa solids. I used Green and Blacks 85% which also contains no soya lecithin, as many people that are sensitive to dairy are also sensitive to soya. Antioxidants help your immune system as well as being key in retaining youthful verve and energy, focus and skin condition.

Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat, you could also use any vegetable oil except for flax or sunflower oils. Most vegetable oils are rich in omega six fatty acids, olive oil is rich in omega nine fats.

I used Godiva dark chocolate liqueur in this recipe, but you could use any (or no) liqueur.

Gluten-free Chocolate Cake

lifemakeoverldn — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 19:35:00 +0000

My last recipe was vegan, well this one is gluten-free as well as being dairy-free.

Today I am making a chocolate cake using ground almonds instead of flour.

First I melted the chocolate with the oil and left that to cool for a few minutes. Then I separated the eggs and beat the egg yolks and added them to the chocolate mixture along with chocolate liqueur (you could use dark rum instead), and ground almonds and mixed well until they were thoroughly combined.

In a separate bowl I whisked the egg whites with a little cream of tartar until they formed soft peaks, and then added some sugar a little at a time, continuing to beat until the sugar was used up and the eggs stood in stiff peaks. Taking great care not to squash the air out, I gradually folded the egg white into the chocolate mixture.

I baked this in a 23cm round tin lined with parchment at 160°C for forty minutes.

"Crunchy and cinnamon-y cookies"

lifemakeoverldn — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:34:00 +0000

As soon as these cookies came out of the oven the gannets began to circle. One taking three of the still-cooling biscuits with them!

These were rated at 8 for appearance, 7 for texture and 8 for taste. They were called ‘seriously crunchy’ and ‘deliciously cinnamon-y’.

They were very quick and easy to make and only needed ten minutes in the oven, and are vegan.

Cinnamon contains antioxidant compounds and is well-known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Olive oil is a mono-unsaturated oil and is great for baking - but be sure to use light and mild as the extra virgin oil has too strong a flavour. Other oils work just as well in this recipe, especially coconut oil.

Cinnamon Sugar Biscuits (cookies)

lifemakeoverldn — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:03:03 +0000

It’s Monday again, and I thought that I would start the week with a bit of dairy-free baking. A friend of mine told me last week that her daughter has just become vegan so this inspired me to make some Cinnamon Sugar Biscuits.

These just use a vegetable oil such as light olive oil (but not flax or sunflower oil, as these polyunsaturated fats can become damaged at high temperatures) heated in a saucepan together with golden syrup, dark brown soft sugar and caster sugar until the sugars melt. Then I added some self raising flour and about three teaspoons of cinnamon and mixed it into a thick dough.

I rolled teaspoons of the dough into balls and place them onto two lined baking trays, flattened them with a fork and sprinkled them with a mixture of cinnamon and granulated sugar. I baked the cookies at 220°C(200C° fan oven)/gas mark 6/400°F for ten minutes.

My top tip for measuring out golden syrup is to use a warmed spoon - I just do this over a gas flame on the stove for about ten seconds - the syrup just slides right off.

"Super-chocolatey meringues"

lifemakeoverldn — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:12:00 +0000

Well the consensus was that these meringues were ‘super-chocolately’ and ‘luxurious’.

Everyone loved the double chocolate richness of them.

Once the chocolate had set, I dipped them a second time to give a thicker layer of the lovely bitter dark chocolate, which offsets the sweetness of the meringue for a lovely well-balanced taste. The thick chocolate also gives a great counter-point to the crispness of the meringue.

So the scores on the doors - appearance they got an 8.5, texture a 9, and flavour also a 9. So these were definitely a success, and I’ll include them in my book.

Quite a few of my tasters are tasting the desserts that I make ‘blind’ in the sense that they do not realise that they are dairy-free.

The meringues are also gluten-free.

Or should I say ‘were’ gluten free, as they have completely disappeared now!

Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants and is thought to be beneficial to those suffering with CFS or ME. The greater the percentage of cocoa solids, the better - I used 85%. Do check that it contains no dairy though, as some brands sneak some milk in there!

Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Meringues

lifemakeoverldn — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:02:05 +0000

Today I have to make the result of my baking stretch between one group of friends tonight, another tomorrow afternoon, and a third friend - the one who inspired this dairy free desserts project, tomorrow evening.

So I thought I’d make a batch of chocolate dipped chocolate meringues.

The recipe is simple - you just need to beat 3 egg whites to the point of soft peaks, then add 100g caster sugar and beat to the point of stiff glossy peaks, fold in 10g cocoa. Then spoon onto baking trays lined with baking parchment and bake in a preheated oven at 140°C/gas mark 1 for 40 minutes. Melt 200g dark and half dip each meringue after they are cooked and cooled. I dipped mine a second time for a thicker layer of chocolate.

This recipe makes about 20 meringues.

My tip for this recipe is to rub lemon juice around the bowl before you put the egg whites in as this ensures that they will whip up properly. If there is any residual fat in the bowl the egg whites won’t trap the air bubbles as they are being beaten.

"Heavenly" Sweet Potato Pudding

lifemakeoverldn — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:25:00 +0000

While the pudding was baking, the entire house was filled with a sweet spicy aroma that made it really difficult to wait the full hour until it was ready.

People kept coming into the kitchen - following their noses - wondering whether it was going to be ready soon. I had seen that look before, usually around the time of the sales, it looked like steely determination to me.

I served it with home made dairy-free ice cream…

Everyone who tried it pronounced it to be ‘heavenly’. You won’t be surprised to hear that it got an 8 for appearance, 9 for texture and 9 for taste, and it was hard not to go back for second helpings!

Sweet potatoes are rich in beta carotene (vitamin A) and vitamin B6 along with iron and calcium. Coconut is a source of lauric acid which promotes a healthy balanced immune system, and may also benefit the thyroid gland. Mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice contains cinnamon which has anti-inflammatory properties, along with nutmeg and cloves which are also rich sources of antioxidants. Eggs are one of the few dietary sources of vitamin D and so are beneficial during the winter in particular.

Sweet Potato Pudding

lifemakeoverldn — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:00:00 +0000

I had some sweet potatoes that I didn’t use up over the weekend, so I thought that I would make a sweet potato pudding today.

This is made with peeled and grated sweet potato combined with muscovado sugar, pumpkin pie spice (or mixed spice), flour and a pinch of salt, and then added to a mixture of oil, coconut milk, egg, vanilla, and dried mango and dried pineapple soaked in lime juice and dark rum.

The whole lot goes into a cake pan that is thoroughly greased - NOT lined with baking parchment as I did (see picture). Then shredded coconut is scattered over it liberally so that when it is baked it gets a crispy top.

I put on some Bob Marley while making this as it always puts me in a great mood for baking. I think that you can tell the mood of the cook when you are eating the fruits of their labour, so I always listen to something that makes me feel relaxed and happy. So hopefully my friends will taste the love in my food.

"The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star."

lifemakeoverldn — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:55:41 +0000

“The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star.”

- Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Marshmallow Rocks

lifemakeoverldn — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 08:53:51 +0000

I didn’t have much time last night, so I decided to make something very quick and easy and that I could take to my course easily.

So I decided to make some marshmallow rocks using 100g melted marshmallows mixed with 40g shredded coconut, 20g icing sugar and 100g rice krispies, made into balls and then rolled in another 20g shredded coconut.

As I said, I thought this would be quick and easy, however it wasn’t either. The melted marshmallows set again in seconds and act like a kind of glue sticking everything to everything else and making mixing the ingredients together really difficult. Also as the mixture sets, the marshmallows stop sticking to the coconut.

So I pronounced that they were dreadful and would never end up in my recipe book. I even originally scored them as a 3 for appearance as I put them into the fridge to set properly.

However, this morning when I got them out of the fridge they didn’t look as bad as I had remembered from last night, and when I tried one I found that it was delicious! So in light of that I have regraded them to a 5 for appearance, and given them a 7 for texture and an 8 for taste. So 6 for an overall score.

These are dairy free and can be gluten free depending of which brand of puffed rice you use, and can be vegan depending on which brand of marshmallows you use, and are low in fat but high in sugar.

So the choice is yours, they are delicious although not nutritious, and they are annoying to make.

Dairy-free berry muffins - fab or flop?

lifemakeoverldn — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:56:04 +0000

Fab!

These muffins went down very well with my friends last night, as well as being great revision fuel for me.

These muffins had a great texture being very slightly crispy on the top due to the toasted coconut and were soft and melt-in-the-mouth inside. While they were cooling some of them settled slightly as the fruit had gone soft during cooking - to prevent this in future I will cut up the strawberries and raspberries into smaller pieces.

But what they lost in appearance due to the soft fruit, they gained in flavour and texture.

So they were rated as 7 for appearance, 8 for texture and 8 for taste - overall 7 3/4.

The strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are rich in vitamin C with is needed for a healthy immune system and the coconut contains healthy fats and also micronutrients in coconut fats are believed to benefit the thyroid.

Mixed Berry Coconut Muffins

lifemakeoverldn — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:51:21 +0000

Today I thought I’d make some muffins to eat while revising. As a nutritionist I knew that they had to be tasty and healthy-ish so I whipped up a batch of mixed berry muffins.

I used coconut milk instead of cows’ milk as I was using shredded coconut in the recipe, but you could use any kind of milk substitute.

For these muffins I put in a combination of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries, but dried tropical fruits also goes well with the coconut.

Any vegetable oil is OK for these, but I wouldn’t use either sunflower oil or flax oil as these are cooked at 200°C, and polyunsaturated fats can become unhealthy trans fats around that sort of temperature. If you use olive oil though, use light or mild varieties as extra virgin has too strong a flavour and will overpower the other ingredients.

It was a pretty easy recipe once I had worked out the oil and coconut milk quantities - just mix together the dry ingredients and separately whisk together the wet ingredients and then gradually add them to the dry ones. Put in the fruit and cook for 15 minutes in a greased muffin pan.

Tonight I will test them out on my friends - watch this space…