I have discovered I love nougat and they can often be gluten free, of course always check the ingredients.   Two of my favourites are Nougat Limar and Rochelle Adonis nougat.   Over Christmas I bought some Rochelle Adonis Rose Petal Barberry Pistachio and Dark Chocolate Macadamia Orange Ginger and they are beautifully presented in their boxes and look exquisite  – almost too good to eat!   While they had good flavour I found them a little dry and crumbly and too sweet but still were very nice with a short black!

GF Nougat Selection!

I definitely prefer the Nougat Limar and my favourite is the Cherry Cranberry Pistachio but I was given a gift from work of the Chocolate Pistachio and it was also delicious.   The nougat is a creamy french-style soft nougat and is less sweet than most nougat and also low in saturated fat and crammed with nuts mainly almonds or pistachios.

Both nougats can be bought locally in Bunbury at Tastefully Yours.

Thank you to my Mum’s friend Sue from the UK for my Lewis & Cooper Hand Made Gluten Free Plum Pudding, check out the website here. Aubrey and I shared it and was very rich and moist with the Hennessy Cognac. I served it with Raspberry sauce and Grand Marnier Chocolate sauce topped with King Island Cream.

We had a second Christmas Day at my Mum’s in Collie and she made a gluten free trifle checking her jelly and custard powder were gluten free. For the sponge I suggested a GF sponge recipe found here and it worked very well and was almost too good to use in a trifle.   I am going to try baking it to just serve with cream and fresh berries next time!

Had a week holiday down south in the lovely town of Denmark, WA. We stayed at the Denmark River Mouth Caravan Park and had a relaxing time with some kayaking, bike riding and snorkelling. Had lunch a couple of times at the Bibblumun Cafe that does very nice coffee with the Five Senses blend. They also do a range of gluten free offerings including a polenta slice.

Kyle loves GF chocolate mud cake!

We visited The Toffee Factory and lots of the products including range of toffees are gluten free. They also make Elephant Rocks cider which is also gluten free. Called in to Ducketts Mill Wines and discovered Denmark Farmhouse that had great range of cheeses and also some gluten free fudge.

Hot Choc Cuddle Cup!

By far our favourite place, we visited twice, was Denmark Chocolate Company that had a range of gluten free ganache filled dark chocolates and also offered divine real hot chocolates. Kyle loved whisking in and melting his dark chocolate in the frothed milk in the gorgeous red ‘cuddle cup”. Denmark Tavern were able to offer gluten free main meals and I had the Amelia Park lamb which was very tender and tasty.

Lovely GF Denmark Chocolates

Thanks to the fantastic WBC I have also been able to try out the bircher muesli. I have been searching for a good oat free bircher muesli since I went gluten free. I did try some uncontaminated oats imported from USA but still found I had a reaction to the so I am oat free these days. The breakfast I miss the most is bircher.

I make up my own muesli mix with nuts, seeds, cranberries, sultanas etc and add grated apple. This is all soaked in apple juice overnight and then I stir in some gluten free greek yoghurt in the morning and top wit fresh fruit like strawberries, blueberries and banana. I am thrilled I can have my own bircher muesli again! Thanks WBC and hope you get a Western Australia distributor soon to make buying the cereal more affordable cause as we all know good quality gluten free food is not cheap.

WBC Bircher

Thank you to Worlds Best Cereal (WBC) for the chance to taste test their cereal. I sampled their gluten free cereal in the black packet. Keen to try the bircher as well in orange packet as well. Check out WBC here

I made myself a bowl of fruit salad with banana, kiwi fruit, blueberries and strawberries and topped with lovely creamy greek yoghurt. Used the WBC as a crunchy topping and added a sprinkle of cinnamon. It was delicious – tasty yet healthy as my other favourite GF muesli is toasted so much higher in saturated fat. Only down side is cost of postage so hope will be able to buy in more places in Western Australia.

WBC - gluten free cereal

Had a great time at my 40th birthday lunch at the Old Coast Road Brewery at Myalup. They don’t do GF beer but have great wine and good food, I had a couple of gluten free options including grilled steak with jacket potato and salad. Aubrey ordered me some yummy gluten free chocolate cupcakes the same as we had at our wedding in February from Cupcake Cottage.

GF Chocolate Cupcakes

Made Apricot Chicken in TM from the recipe in the Everyday Cookbook. It turned out fantastic, lovely colour as well as taste and texture.

Apricot Chicken

I made my own hollandaise sauce today using the amazing Thermomix! Never would have attempted this otherwise. It turned out fantastic, lovely hint of lemon, creamy and almost mousse like. Tasted lovely on eggs benedict with salmon and baby spinach. Used a Bodhi Bread gluten free bun which take the place of a toasted english muffin well.

4 egg yolks
130g unsalted butter
Juice 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to tast

Insert butterfly in TM bowl and place all ingredients into TM bowl.
Cook for 8 minutes at 90 degrees celsius on speed 3.

Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise Sauce

Thanks Lorelle for the amazing Thermomix home demo tonight and thanks to Faye and Jen who came along to sample the great food! I cannot wait until mine arrives. Loved the fruit sorbet, dips, beetroot salad, pasta and lemon custard! Thermomix even publish a gluten/wheat free cookbook I will be trialling some of these recipes very soon and posting the results.

Lorelle doing Thermomix home demo!

If you would like to see Thermomix in action and how it can make healthy, gluten and additive free cooking easy contact Lorelle, Thermomix consultant on 0439 420 693 or dlrafferty@westnet.com.au

Kyle is on school holidays and has discovered Junior Masterchef. He helped me to bake a flourless chocolate cake today made with Green & Blacks Organic 70% Dark Chocolate. Served with King Island Cream and Raspberry Couli.

Queen of Sheba Chocolate Cake