Simple, surprising, Chocolate Mousse

Having spotted a recipe of Lorraine Pascale's that looked interesting, we decided to give it a go.

As is usual for us, we didn't have *quite* the right ingredients so made a couple of minor tweaks.  However the recipe remains gluten free, dairy free, added sugar free and egg free.  Plus, it's a one pot 'whiz up' mix which is an added bonus!

The ingredients we used were -

One ripe banana, peeled
One ripe avocado, peeled and stone removed
62g dates, with stones removed
42g unsweetened cocoa powder

(this made enough for three quite large servings)

The banana and dates were put in a food processor, they were whizzed to combine and then the avocado was also added.

Finally, the cocoa powder was added and mixed until all ingredients thoroughly combined.

Splitting the mousse between three serving dishes, they were then cooled until it was time to eat them.  Having a smooth texture, they were very chocolatey and not too rich.  A lovely end to our meal.  Really simple to make and not as bad for you as other chocolate puddings!

Sous Chef J has suggested adding coffee to them the next time we make them - the finely ground instant coffee beans type - and we think the addition of a teaspoon of this will create a lovely rich mocha dessert.

Lavender Shortbread Stars

 

When we heard that Sainsbury's would be stocking Lavender Sugar in their  Taste the Difference baking range, we knew immediately what recipe we'd be trying.  Sous Chef J adores the smell of lavender (it's a calming scent he uses when he is on a trip to London - more on that will be detailed on our sensory blog soon...) so when he saw some lavender shortbread on sale at the Allergy and Free From show last year, he was keen to try a piece.  He loved it.  So, that's the recipe we're going to try for ourselves.

We got a recipe off the BBC website and it turns out it's on their site as the Duchess of Cornwall tried some lavender shortbread at Grey Gables when she appeared on the Archers.






The ingredients are just 225g unsalted butter, 125g lavender sugar, 300g plain flour (we used Dove's Farm Gluten Free) and 50g ground rice (we used brown rice flour).

Having cubed the butter, we added it to a bowl which contained the sifted lavender sugar (this is done to preserve the flowers).  Once the butter was at room temperature, it was creamed with the sugar, using an electric hand mixer, until light and fluffy.

Next, the sifted flour was added to the creamed mix with the lavender flowers, and this was mixed with a wooden spoon.  Once a fine breadcrumb consistency was achieved, it was time to combine by hand until the dough started to come together and there was no mix left on the bowl's sides.

Placing the dough on some cling film, it was kneaded until smooth.  Then we rolled it into a sausage and halved it.  Half was put in a marked up plastic bag and placed in the freezer for use at a later date.  The remainder was flattened out and put in the fridge to chill for 10-15 minutes.

Whilst the dough was chilling, the oven was heated to 180ºC and the baking sheets were lined with silicone paper.

Having chilled, the dough was removed from the fridge and rolled to about a 5mm thickness between two sheets of cling film - this works well and means no additional flour is needed to stop the mix sticking.



The star shapes were cut out and the biscuits placed on the baking sheets, sprinkled with a little more lavender sugar and put back in the fridge to chill for another 15 minutes.

Once fully chilled, the biscuits were placed in the preheated oven and cooked for 12-15 minutes depending on their size/thickness... until they were beginning to go golden at the edges.

Leaving the biscuits to cool for 5 minutes on the sheet, they were then fully cooled on a wire rack.

We served our 'taste tester' shortbread rounds with some vanilla ice... and very tasty they were too!  No wonder the Duchess of Cornwall liked the shortbread she 'tried' on the Archers.

We made all these with half the dough using the amount of ingredients in the recipe... but don't think they'll last long.

Fruit and Nut Bar

Sous Chef J has been losing weight... not a good thing when you're "a growing lad" so, in conjunction with a trip to the dentist who said "don't eat sugar" and the GP who said "eat healthy fat and calorie containing foods" we needed ideas.  Calorie filled food, that's not bulky, has the 'right' texture and doesn't have too much (if any) sucrose within.  Nut bars came to mind... with fruit... and perhaps a drizzle of dark chocolate.

We assembled 200g mixed nuts, 100g mixed fruits, 75g dessicated coconut, 90ml apple juice, some pumpkin seeds and a sprinkling of sunflower seeds.

The nuts we used were pecans, walnuts, flaked almonds and hazelnuts.

It was a simple matter of putting all the dry ingredients in the food processor, pulsing til chopped and then adding half the apple juice and blending.  Once the mix was starting to come together, it was turned out into bowl and mixed, by hand, with the remaining apple juice.

A ready greased baking sheet was then covered with the mix, it was flattened out as evenly as possible, scattered with flaked almonds and sunflower seeds.  The bars were marked out into the mix before the tray was placed in a 180ºC oven to bake for 10-12 minutes.  The length of time it will take to bake depends on the size of tin used/thickness of your mix so you'll need to check.  If you add nothing more to than this to the bars then, when they come out of the oven, they make a good sugar free snack.

However, Sous Chef J liked the idea of drizzling chocolate over the top.  So he melted a handful of dark chocolate pieces in a bowl and then 'artfully' covered the top of the bars, whilst still on the baking tray, with the chocolate.  The bars were left to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before being moved to a cooling rack to cool completely.

YUM!

The cooled bars were stacked in an airtight container and will last for a few days - assuming Sous Chef J doesn't eat them all before then.

You can make these bars using your choice of nuts, fruits and liquid - you can use nut milk, coconut milk or other fruit juice to make the dough... it's up to you.  Have fun, try different mixes and see which you like the best. 

Lunar Cookies

Having seen big cookies on offer in the supermarket, Sous Chef J was inspired to make up a recipe to see if he could have big, Gluten Free cookies too. This is the result of his efforts. It's a simple recipe, with just a few ingredients and can also be sugar free too. He called it Lunar Cookies as it fitted in with the Solar System theme that we were learning about at the time.Here are the ingredients. And the recipe was hastily scrawled on a piece of paper...
Today, we made half the quantity and then split the 'base' mix into two... making big, lunar cookies by decorating with Gluten Free, Dairy Free chocolate beanies and then added a handful of sultanas to the rest to make 6 smaller, sugar free cookies.
The cookies were formed on non-stick baking trays by placing a spoonful on the tray then patting into shape by hand.

The big cookies had the beanies added at this point. The smaller, sultana cookies were placed about 4cm apart. Both sets of cookies were baked on non-stick metal trays.

The cookies were placed in a preheated oven (about 180ºC); the smaller ones were removed after 7 minutes and the large ones were cooked for 10 minutes. Once out of the oven, the cookies were cooled for 10 minutes on the baking tray before being transferred to a rack to cool.
As you can see... the cookies look very inviting and we never have them around for long! However, they do keep well in an airtight container and we have been told by non-GF kids that they think they are yummy too.

This is a great recipe for those on a Gluten Free regime, diabetics wanting to avoid sugar and those who need egg free treats too.