- Very healthy recipes from the kitchen to the table in minutes

Black Forest Cake (BFC) is the most sought after cake among my nieces and nephews.In the past I have baked them the cake for their birthda...

Flourless Black Forest Cake : A Gluten Free & Sugar Free Birthday Cake

Black Forest Cake (BFC) is the most sought after cake among my nieces and nephews.In the past I have baked them the cake for their birthdays or otherwise. It was my nephew's11th birthday last week. I called him to wish him a happy birthday and asked him what he would like for his birthday. As usual, he said that he would love the black forest cake. Recently it was found that he was allergic to gluten and apart from that he had to stay away from sugar, yeast or anything that increased candida in the body. So making this cake with regular flour or sugar was out of the picture. I felt a little sad that I could not make him the cake. But then I remembered watching a cooking show where they made mini cakes with no flour.Using the recipe from the cooking show I decided to make him the cake. The recipe required honey which I could not use.. I was looking for a sugar substitutes and was informed that Xylitol was great for people with candida as mentioned here. So using xylitol in the recipe I was able to come up with a perfect flour less and sugar less birthday cake.

Judgement: I loved the cake. Without the icing it tasted like a brownie. With the whipped cream topping it tasted pretty good. It was dense but moist and had a pie/ ice cream cake like feel. For all those who have diet challenges here is one from my kitchen.



Gadgets:

Food Processor
Electric Hand Mixer
Bowls
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Spatula
9 inch Spring Form Baking Pan
Pressure Cooker

Ingredients:


Sweet Potato Medium Size - 3 pressure cooked
Banana - 1/2 ripe
Chocolate with Maltol - 2 bars ( from Trader Joes ) plus 1 piece
Eggs - 4
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Vanilla Essence - 2 tsp
Butter - 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp for melting chocolate
Xylitol - 3/4 cup

Icing:

Cherries - 1 bottle
Heavy Whipping Cream - 1 pint
Xylitol - 1/4 cup


Preparation:

1. Separate 3 eggs and add only the whites in a bowl. Add the yellow into a food processor. Whisk the whites until it forms a peak.

 2. Add the cooked sweet potatoes( without skin), banana, vanilla essence, baking soda, baking powder, egg, xylitol and blend. Transfer this puree into a bowl.

3. Place the chocolate pieces along with butter into a bowl. Melt them in a microwave for a minute or two.

4. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

5. Add the melted chocolate to the puree. Mix well. Add a little of the egg whites and mix evenly. Then add the rest to it and fold in.

6. Bake in a parchment lined baking pan for 1 hour or until the it comes out clean when a tooth pick is inserted.

7. Allow this cake to sit for 10 minutes. Then remove it from the pan and allow it to cool.

8. Place the bowl and electrical whisk in the freezer for an hour. Add the whipping cream to the bowl and whisk it half way through and then add xylitol . Whisk until peaks form.

9. Cut the cherries into half and place on the cake. Add the whipped cream and spread them evenly. Place some cherries and then spread the shaved chocolate on top.




17 Comments:

By now most of you must have understood that I love to cook with quinoa. I have now started substituting it for APF ( maida).Another ingre...

Quinoa Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Muffin: A Gluten Free Muffin.

By now most of you must have understood that I love to cook with quinoa. I have now started substituting it for APF ( maida).Another ingredient that I have been using  is raisins in place of regular sugar. For people who can consume almost everything and are allergy free it is very easy. Most of the kids these days have some form of allergies. Then it becomes very challenging for parents.They have to not only be super careful about feeding them the right food, but at times also help them indulge in treats that they miss out on. I also think regular sugar makes the kids crave for more of it, but substituting them with banana's and raisins in baked goodies satisfies them and takes the craving out. This weekend my little helper and I created this muffin and got double thumbs up. So here is a muffin for all those who have gluten issues. 


Gadgets:

Bowls
Saucepan
Muffin Trays
Cupcake Liners
Measuring cups and spoons
Oven
Potato Masher

Ingredients:( Makes 12)


Oats- 1 cup
Quinoa Flakes - 1 cup
All Spice Powder - 1 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Baking Soda- 1/2 tsp
Kosher Salt - 1/8tsp
Butter - 1/2 cup
Banana - 1 ripe
Raisins - 1 cup
Craisins - 1/4 cup
Silvered Almonds - 1/2 cup
Apple Sauce - 1/4 cup
Eggs - 2
Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
Orange/ grape fruit zest - 1/2 tsp
Lime Juice - 1 tsp
Brown Sugar - 1 tbsp
Blueberry Preserve ( optional) - 1 tbsp

Preparation:


1. In a sauce pan melt the butter.

2. Set the oven to 375 degrees F.

4. In a bowl, add banana's and mash well, and then add vanilla, melted  butter, raisins, craisins,lime juice, apple sauce and mash well. Add the 2 eggs, almonds, grape fruit zest and mix well.

5. In another bowl mix oats, quinoa flakes, baking powder,baking soda and all spice powder. Using your fingers crush the oats and quinoa flakes.

7. Mix dry with the wet and spoon out into the muffin pans lined with cupcake liners.Sprinkle a little brown sugar for crunch on top and bake for 20 minutes or until it comes cleans on the tooth pick test. 

14 Comments:

Researching a lot on acidic food on the Internet, I realized that over 75% of my diet was very acidic. With the need to change all that an...

Crunchy Kamut Mixture : For An Alkaline Diet Snack

Researching a lot on acidic food on the Internet, I realized that over 75% of my diet was very acidic. With the need to change all that and choose a healthy way of living, I have been in pursuit of alternative snacks that are good for the body. Crunchy texture is something my family loves to have in some form. When potato or tortilla chips are not in the list of good eats, then its natural that we have to look for healthier alternatives. These days most supermarkets carry various grains in puffed form for cereal. At Sprouts I found puffed kamut and thought I could make something crunchy with it. Kamut is one grain that is good for the body. It resembles wheat and has great benefits. It resembles puffed rice and tastes similar too. The Kamut mixture had a savory and sweet combination and was got the stamp of approval from my panel of tasters. 


Gadgets:

Heavy Wok
Spatula
Measuring Cups and Spoons


Ingredients:

Puffed Kamut - 3 cups
Raisins - 1/2 cup
Silvered Almonds - 1/2 cup
Garlic Powder - 1 tsp
Salt
Pepper - 1/2 tsp ( add more for spice)
Curry Leaves - a few
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Cayenne Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp
Olive/ Coconut Oil - 2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp


Preparation:

1. Heat the wok on medium high. Add oil and ghee.

2. Add the curry leaves, garlic, turmeric, pepper and cayenne powder.and mix well for a few seconds.

3. Add Almonds and raisins and toast it.

4. Add salt and puffed kamut. Mix well and remove the wok from heat.

5. Store after the mixture cools in a air tight container ( preferably in a tin or stainless steal container)

6 Comments: