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

Went along to the Cyndi O’Meara and Thermomix presentation last night and was impressed. Cyndi is inspirational and the Thermomix amazing. I could eat most things prepared including some gluten free bread based on recipe from Cyndi’s book which was fantastic with the butter made in Thermomix – will try and post recipes as soon as mine gets delivered!

Looking forward to this so can learn more about healthy eating and cooking with a Thermomix very soon – watch this space for some healthy gluten free Thermomix recipes! Event is booked out but will post a blog after the event.

I was cleaning out the pantry and found a tin of apple pie filling and decided to make a crumble. I found this recipe in the Cyndi O’Meara “Changing Habits, Changing Lives” cookbook. I adapted it as cannot have the rolled oats!

1 tin of pie apple
3 cups roughly chopped rhubarb (cooked)
1/2 cup rapadura sugar
cinnamon
1/4 cup flaked almonds
1/4 cup sunflower/pumpkins seeds
1/4 cup grated coconut
1/4 cup hazelnut meal
1/4 gluten free plain flour
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup butter

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius fan forced.
2. Mix cooked rhubarb, apple, sugar and cinnamon in bottom of oven proof dish.
3. Mix almonds, seeds, coconut, hazelnut meal and flour in a bowl.
4. Mix honey and melted butter and combine with crumble mix.
5. Spread over apple, rhubarb mix and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
6. Serve with quality cream or ice-cream.

Yes truly I have gone crackers, work is very busy and no time to bake or blog. However I did get into Tastefully Yours and picked up some Mary’s Gone Crackers “N’Oatmeal Raisin Without Oats cookies. They are very yummy as well as healthy, nice chewy texture. I love the crackers as well and all have some fibre.

Yummy GF Cookies!

Once again another recipe from Belinda Jeffrey’s Mix & Bake. This cake is very rich so once again small serves! It is equally delicious cold from fridge or warmed up with vanilla bean ice-cream (my favourite is Weiss brand).

250g unsalted butter
250g good quality dark chocolate
85g sifted Dutch processed cocoa
200g roasted pecans
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
1/3 cup brandy
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

GF Rich Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Raspberries

1. Preheat over to 180 degrees c. Butter and line a spring-form cake tin.
2. Melt butter over double saucepan and add chocolate till melted. Take of the heat and add cocoa. Set aside to cool.
3. Meanwhile whiz the pecans in a food processor.
4. In large bowl whisk the eggs and sugar, then whisk in the warm chocolate mixture. Mix in vanilla and brandy. Finally stir in the ground pecans. Batter should be loose and runny.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake cake for 45 minutes or until the side is set but the middle of cake is still a bit wobbly.
6. Cool the cake completely in tin on a wire rack. Once cool release the side of the tin and invert cake onto a plate. Cover the cake with cling wrap and chill it in the fridge, will keep for at least a week.
7. When you are ready to eat cake serve dusted with pure icing sugar and serve with cream.

I have been making minestrone with cornbread but using a packet mix. I found this recipe in Belinda Jeffery’s Mix & Bake and decided to make it from scratch.

Pumpkin Cornbread & Minestrone

375g jap pumpkin cut into 3cm chunks
150g fine stone ground yellow polenta
1 1/2 tablespoons gluten free plain flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
45g unsalted butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg lightly beaten
pepitas for topping

1. Steam pumpkin until tender. Drain and leave it cool. Mash.
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees c. Put polenta, flour, baking powder, salt, bicarbonate of soda and nutmeg into a bowl and whisk them together.
3. Put butter in loaf tin and pop in oven to melt. Thoroughly stir the buttermilk and egg into the mashed pumpkin.
4. Remove tin from the oven and swirl around tin to coat. Tip excess butter into the pumpkin mixture and then pour into the dry ingredients. Mix together into a batter and scrape into tin, levelling batter and scatter top with pepitas.
5. Bake for about 25 minutes or until bread lightly golden and feels springy to the touch in the centre. Remove from the oven and cool bread in tin for 10 minutes and then turn onto wire rack to cool.
6. When ready to serve slice bread into chunks. Best warm or toasted and keeps well in fridge for up to 5 days.

Join us at Caf-Fez, Stephen Street, Bubury for a gluten free morning tea on Monday 11 October 2010 at 10am. A good chance to meet other Coeliac Society members and share tips and recipes. Call Nicky on 0450 604 521 for more information and to RSVP so I can book a big enough table and make sure have lots of gluten free options for us to eat!

This mousse is divine, so rich and decadent! Best in small serves!

1 envelope of unflavoured gelatine
1/4 cup cold water
1/3 cup boiling water
1 cup castor sugar
2/3 cup Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
2 cups cold whipping cream
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Sprinkle gelatine over cold water in small bowl and let stand 2 minutes to soften. Add boiling water, stir until gelatine is completely dissolved. Cool slightly.
2. Combine sugar and cocoa in large bowl, add whipping cream and vanilla. Beat on medium speed of mixer, scraping bottom of bowl occasionally until mixture is stiff. Pour in gelatine mixture, beat until well blended. Spoon into serving dishes.
3. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Garnish as desired. Makes 8 servings.

I was thrilled when walked past local health food store to discover they are now stocking Schar range of gluten free breads and other products. I tried the Ciabattina Rustica which are wholemeal and rich in fibre. They are part baked so just pop in the oven for 5 minutes and lovely crusty bread rolls just waiting for some organic butter to melt into them. These are the best gluten free bread products I have tasted! Check out the Schar website here.