Raspberry and Lemon Shortbread Rounds (Gluten free, dairy free, sugar free)

When the lovely Lucy here put out a call for "free-from" recipes I just knew I had to jump in. Not simply because I consider myself (in all modesty) a bit of an expert in the field of free-from baking (more on that later), but quite honestly, I have no other outlet just now for my creations (except my tummy). It's only fair to warn you, expert or no, that I have always been a haphazard baker. When I was about four I watched my Dad make drop scones without measuring any of the ingredients, and from there I never looked back.

Now, the only reason I measure when baking is:
1. If I'm using a mixture of ingredients I'm unfamiliar with, and
2. In retrospect when creating new recipes, in order to vaguely remember the formula for next time. There: you have been duly warned

I came to free-from baking in a long, roundabout way. I have always experimented with different ingredients that entice and excite me. But like most, it has also been an enforced health journey for me. I first gave up dairy, and instantly cured many congestive complaints. Then I gave up wheat, and finally gluten altogether - curing me of chronic fatigue and digestive upsets.

More recently I have experimented with giving up sugar (of all kinds) in a bid to kill a chronic candida overgrowth (terrifyingly common in today's culture of refined foods, and basely responsible for most chronic illnesses). Suffice to say most of my bakes and creations these days are dairy, gluten AND sugar-free, and often vegan too (beat that GBBO!). This makes them no less tasty (I am particular on that front!) and above all they are QUICK and EASY, because I like pretty instant results.

I created with the help of my 4 and 6 year-olds this weekend! Unusually for it doesn't contain chocolate (sorry about that) but I do use cacao butter. If you can't source cacao butter easily, feel free to substitute as you see fit

Ingredients:
Cookies
3/4 cup whole almonds
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1 tbsp whole flaxseed
1/4 cup buckwheat (or other GF) flour
1 tbsp freeze dried raspberry powder (or other flavouring)
1/4 tsp GF baking powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp honey or syrup
Zest & juice of 1/2 lemon

Icing:
1/3 cup cacao butter
1 tbsp freeze dried raspberry powder
1tsp honey/syrup
Few drops vanilla extract

To Make: 

Grind together the almonds, coconut and flaxseed to form a flour. Mix with rest of dried ingredients for biscuit dough. Gently melt the oils, almond butter and honey/syrup together over a bowl of hot water, then add in the lemon juice and zest. Pour over the dried ingredients and mix well to a dough.

Take spoonfuls of the dough and roll into balls, place on a nonstick baking tray (or greaseproof paper) and flatten out evenly into discs about 1/2cm thick.

Bake at 180C for about 10 minutes, until the biscuits begin to brown.

Cool on a wire rack and make the icing by gently melting together the cacao butter, honey/syrup, vanilla and raspberry. Allow to cool and thicken slightly before dribbling over biscuits. Enjoy!

If you liked these recipes do try out Zoe's first ebook, Real Food Raw, which contains lots of fun, quick and easy wholefood recipes especially created for a free-from diet. There's also lots of great tips and help in there to support you in transitioning between food habits, and how you can make it easy for yourself.

 Zoë Foster is a Life Energy Alchemist at LifeEnergyAlchemy.com, where she helps soul-driven women balance their natural energetic highs and lows and find their own rhythm - one that maximises both creative output AND self-care on a whole-person level. Zoë is also a writer and yoga teacher and lives on the edge of magical Dartmoor in Devon, UK with her young family.

 You can connect with Zoë on Facebook, Instagram, Periscope, Pinterest and Twitter at @ZoeKMFoster.

Raw Lemon and Cardamom Oat Cookies (Gluten free, dairy free, sugar free)

When the lovely Lucy here put out a call for "free-from" recipes I just knew I had to jump in. Not simply because I consider myself (in all modesty) a bit of an expert in the field of free-from baking (more on that later), but quite honestly, I have no other outlet just now for my creations (except my tummy). It's only fair to warn you, expert or no, that I have always been a haphazard baker. When I was about four I watched my Dad make drop scones without measuring any of the ingredients, and from there I never looked back.

Now, the only reason I measure when baking is:
1. If I'm using a mixture of ingredients I'm unfamiliar with, and
2. In retrospect when creating new recipes, in order to vaguely remember the formula for next time. There: you have been duly warned

I came to free-from baking in a long, roundabout way. I have always experimented with different ingredients that entice and excite me. But like most, it has also been an enforced health journey for me. I first gave up dairy, and instantly cured many congestive complaints. Then I gave up wheat, and finally gluten altogether - curing me of chronic fatigue and digestive upsets.

More recently I have experimented with giving up sugar (of all kinds) in a bid to kill a chronic candida overgrowth (terrifyingly common in today's culture of refined foods, and basely responsible for most chronic illnesses). Suffice to say most of my bakes and creations these days are dairy, gluten AND sugar-free, and often vegan too (beat that GBBO!). This makes them no less tasty (I am particular on that front!) and above all they are QUICK and EASY, because I like pretty instant results.

I'm going to share two biscuit recipes over the next month - because what's more British than a biscuit? One is raw (and a favourite of Lucy's!) and the other is a bake I just created this week. Unusually for me, neither contains chocolate (sorry about that) but I do use cacao butter. If you can't source cacao butter easily, feel free to substitute as you see fit.

 RAW LEMON & CARDAMOM OAT COOKIES
(Just like a posher version of the oaty biscuits in an orange packet)

 Ingredients:

1/3 cup GF whole oat groats/ flakes
1/3 cup whole almonds
1/3 cup dessicated coconut
1 cardamom pod (or more if you're feeling brave/in need of more zing)
1 tbsp honey or favourite syrup
1 tbsp sultanas
1/4 cup cacao butter (Lucy's note: this gives me migraines so I use half white choc and half coconut oil instead).
 Zest of 1/2 lemon
Pinch crystal sea salt

To Make:

Split open the cardamom pod and extract the seeds for use then grind together the oats, almonds, cardamom seeds and salt to a rough flour (not too fine).

Melt the honey/syrup and cacao butter together over a bowl of hot water then add in the lemon rind. Mix everything together to form a dough. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and shape the dough into little cookies.

Freeze or chill until firm, then enjoy with your favourite hot beverage. These are particularly good dunked in my decadent Morning Macaccino.


If you liked this recipe, do try out my first ebook, Real Food Raw, which contains lots of fun, quick and easy wholefood recipes especially created for a free-from diet. There's also lots of great tips and help in there to support you in transitioning between food habits, and how you can make it easy for yourself.

 Zoë Foster is a Life Energy Alchemist at LifeEnergyAlchemy.com, where she helps soul-driven women balance their natural energetic highs and lows and find their own rhythm - one that maximises both creative output AND self-care on a whole-person level. Zoë is also a writer and yoga teacher and lives on the edge of magical Dartmoor in Devon, UK with her young family.

 You can connect with Zoë on Facebook, Instagram, Periscope, Pinterest and Twitter at @ZoeKMFoster.

Banana Coconut Cake

This cake originated from a Pinterest find from Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body. Just the idea of banana and coconut milk together sent me back to my days (pre-kids) of travelling round South East Asia where bananas and coconut milk were a staple dessert - either with tapioca, or as fritters or pancakes.

I loved the idea of the recipe, but the original one didn't quite work for me with the jarring note of almond essence. So this version I have created takes me back to South East Asia - with the soft brown sugar to remind me of the jaggery, so often used in Thai cooking - helping to add an even fudgier texture. I am going to try it next time with the grated zest of a lime in to up the tropical feel one more level!

Preheat oven to 160C (fan)
Line a 2 lb (large) loaf tin with a baking parchment liner.

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas mashed
1 cup full fat coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup soft brown sugar
1/2 cup sunflower oil
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup dessicated coconut (unsweetened)


Mash the bananas well and mix in the coconut milk and vanilla. Mix together the oil and sugar with a non electric whisk, add in the eggs, and the dry ingredients, then pour over the banana mix. Mix until combined (it will be quite a runny batter).

Pour in the tin and bake for 50 mins - 1 hour. Check after 25 mins, if it is browning too fast then cover with some foil. It is ready when a skewer comes out clean.

Coconut kisses

So with the taste of the coconut mice in my mouth and half a tin of condensed milk in the fridge needing to be used up, I decided I needed an adult version.

So if you like coconut, you might just want to kiss me now! Hence the name! These are the real deal, a million times better than Bounty bars... humble, moi, not a chance!

Makes about 30

120g icing (confectioner's ) sugar
100g condensed milk
85g desiccated coconut


To coat
40g desiccated coconut
70g dark or milk chocolate

Sift icing sugar into a bowl, add condensed milk, stir until you have a paste.

Add in the coconut and stir to combine, it will be very thick now.

Roll into large marble sized balls. Then take your pick of coatings... you can do just one, or a selection of three.


Toasted coconut
Take a clean, dry frying pan and add the 40g of coconut. Put on a medium-high heat and WATCH IT LIKE A HAWK! Coconut goes from white to burnt FAST. You want a mix of white and golden shavings, NOT golden and black. Once it has reached the right level empty it immediately onto a plate to cool. 

Melted chocolate
Take 2/3 of the chocolate and break it into a bowl, and melt over a pan of simmer water. Watch and stir. DO NOT let the water touch the bottom of the bowl. When 2/3 of it is melted remove the bowl and keep stirring until totally melted. Then stir in the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate. It should start to thicken a little. This is called tempering (it is a simplified version) and should help to keep your chocolate shiny and professional looking, rather than developing a mottled look.

So now you have three choice...you can
1) Roll the kisses in toasted coconut.
2) Dip them in the melted chocolate. Put them in one by one, spoon a little extra over the top. Slip a fork underneath to remove them, letting any excess chocolate drip down, and leave to dry on some baking parchment.
3) Roll these chocolate dipped kisses in the toasted coconut.

Can keep in or out of the fridge. They won't last long... because they'll be eaten! There's nothing really to go off in them so I'm guessing they would keep happily for a few weeks.

Coconut (m)ice

Nice and easy to make with kiddies. And rather yummy to eat...but VERY sweet!

120g icing (confectioner's ) sugar
100g condensed milk
85g desiccated coconut
1 drop red food colouring
silver decorating balls for eyes
flaked almonds or white chocolate buttons for ears
strawberry laces for tails

Sift icing sugar into a bowl, add condensed milk, stir until you have a paste.

Add 1 drop of food colour and stir. Add in the coconut and stir to combine.

Have a cup of warm water ready, dip a teaspoon into it, let it drip dry, then mould a mouse shape into it. Put it onto a board or plate covered in cling film (saran wrap)

Use balls for eyes and half buttons or almond flakes for ears and laces for tails.

Lucy Loves...

What a lot of yumminess this week...

I have just discovered Food Gawker for the very best food pics in the blogosphere - be warned, you will be drooling all over your computer! I have set myself a challenge to get onto this!

My Chocolate Almond cake has been getting a lot of traffic- (and eaters!) this week.

This toasted cream coconut pie caught my eye when it popped up on my blog list this week....

Or how about a chocolate fudge ice cream pie? Whilst you're there have a good look around - wow what an archive of deliciousness! Looking good Jamie!