nut Archives - Sugar et al

Raw Berry Cheesecake

17|05|2016

Let me tell you at the beginning that I am not vegan or following any sort of diet. I have only recently stepped into the world of raw desserts and I am hooked. If you haven’t eaten a raw dessert or new to the term, these are basically desserts made out of raw, unprocessed ingredients like nuts, fruits and dried fruits. They are mostly vegan, gluten free and do not require baking. Sugar is replaced by natural sweeteners so they are extremely healthy.Yes, you would need to arm your pantry with a few ingredients which are pretty much standard for these kind of treats but I would say they are worth it. So does a raw cheesecake (which is basically without the cream cheese) taste like a regular cheesecake? My honest answer is no! Not to me, a big fan of baked and no-bake cheesecakes. But they taste great! The use of wonderful ingredients would obviously create something delicious. I especially love the textural quality of what a handful of raw ingredients create together. These raw berry cheesecakes are pretty easy to whip up. Plus I made them in little glass jars so they made for a lovely treat on the go.

In other news, my horrid tooth is out. Hurray! A visit to the dentist had always seemed daunting to me even since I was a child. My Mum has horror stories to share with my children about how much I hated the whole experience. But this time, I obviously had no choice. I had put up with that painful wisdom tooth for a very long time and what a relief it was when the wonderful surgeon announced to me that it was gone. Gone and done away with for good! Actually he was amazing! He made me laugh during the entire procedure with his terrible jokes. This experience was like a lesson to me in believing that most of our fears are in our head. They may not even exist or seem as bad when you gather up the courage to face them. You just need to take the first few steps. The rest will follow.

You know what is the best part? I can eat raw cheesecakes and all kinds of nutty things without worry of triggering off that pain in my mouth.
My edible pansies and violas were in full bloom so I had to show them off as well. So many reasons to celebrate! Without feeling guilty:-)

Raw Berry Cheesecakes
Serves 6

For the crust
1 cup almonds
4 dates, pitted
2 tbsp coconut oil, liquified
pinch of salt

For the cheesecake filling
2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water for 4-6 hours (preferably overnight)
1 cup frozen mixed berries (if you do not like the seeds in raspberries or blackberries, go for only blueberries and/or strawberries)
juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup coconut oil, liquified
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/3 cup coconut cream (or milk)

For the coconut cream
1 can coconut cream
2 tbsp pure maple syrup (or as per desired sweetness)

To make the crust: process all the ingredients together until the nuts have become crumbs and the mixture sticks together when you press it. Press into the bottom of 6 serving glasses or jars and place in the fridge.

To make the cheesecake filling : Blend all he ingredients in your high speed blender or food processor and blend until very smooth. Spoon the filling uniformly between the 6 serving glasses on top of the nut-date crust. Place in the refrigerator to set.

To make the whipped coconut cream, use this link. The process is explained really well.

No Churn Ferrero Rocher and Raspberry Ice Cream

19|02|2016

Ferrero Rocher Ice cream that is made without an ice cream machine (no churn) with chopped ferrero rocher chocolatess and a raspberry swirl to make an easy, simple frozen treat.

No churn ice creams have been all over the Internet in recent times. While they yield mostly similar results which is a delightful sweet frozen treat, the process used and ingredients vary from one another. There is the hugely popular frozen fruit and sugar instant ice cream, the whipped egg white version, the semifreddos, and this one with condensed milk and super simple to make. While some argue that this is not real ice cream, I would say that ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating thereof’! What you enjoy eating while making at the convenience of your own home and is a great substitute to store bought food is always a great option in my books.

I take no credit for this recipe. The flavour additions are mine but the basic recipe has been made over and over again by many. It’s a tried and tested ice cream using condensed milk and cream. Condensed milk gives the ice cream it’s smooth silky texture whilst preventing it from becoming grainy. And of course, there is no end to the add-in options in this 2 ingredient wonder. The only difference I found was that you need to soften it a little bit before serving.

To decorate the cones, I dipped the tops in melted chocolate and rolled them on a plate of red sprinkles.

So go ahead and enjoy summer with a cone in your hand. There is no excuse to not make ice cream at home!

No Churn Ferrero Rocher and Raspberry Ice Cream
Serves 8

1/2 a 397 g can of sweetened condensed milk
600 ml heavy/thickened/double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup frozen raspberries, crushed gently with the back of a spoon
6-7 Ferrero Rocher chocolates, crushed in a zip lock bag

Put the condensed milk, cream and vanilla into a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until thick and quite stiff, a bit like clotted cream. Add the raspberries and chocolates. Gently fold in. Scrape into a freezer container or a large loaf tin, cover with cling film and freeze until solid.
Soften slightly before serving.

Cauliflower Steaks With Chilli, Lemon And Nut Salsa

4|11|2014

We are quite fortunate to be able to cook with cauliflower all year round in Sydney. This was not the case where I grew up. Cauliflower was seasonal and even though one would find them in bigger markets, they would not taste great. My mother would want to buy the ones that were sold on the roadside, straight off the fields and she seemed very pleased if she could get her hands on them. We knew what we would be eating that night. They would be turned into a curry or a stir-fry with plenty of spices. I always loved cauliflower, whatever the dish. It was much later that I discovered that it tasted delicious even when it was cooked in the oven. And a lot healthier.

This dish is as simple as it looks. Take a whole cauliflower head and slice it into steaks. I love that word…steak! Makes dinner sound very exciting. Brown them slightly on a pan and roast them. Then you can go with a salsa, dressing or a sauce of your choice. I chose to make a salsa as I came across a wonderful assortment of roasted nuts that I reviewed recently (that will be published next on the blog). I wanted the cauliflower and nuts to shine in the recipe so I kept the flavours simple. But they really go well together and make the dish a wonderful side to be served to family and friends.

I had a chaotic morning today as my site went down completely. If you were one of those trying to access my posts, I apologise for the inconvenience. Initially I had no clue what went wrong. I was performing a normal update operation when the screen went white. After that neither could I login nor view any of my content. I don’t take pride in the fact that I have very little technical expertise in such matters so like always I called up my husband, my backbone. Hubby is not an expert either but he enjoys a few challenges. It was a busy day for him as well, yet he managed to quickly send me a few trouble shooting links. I did not get much from those but I realised that I had to resolve this. Alone. My blog…my beloved blog had to be up and running again. I was almost terrified at the thought of losing my content. Finally, I googled up help topics,watched a few videos and contacted Bluehost, (where I host my website). After what seemed like a lot of exchange of messages the blog came back to life. Apparently it was an issue with a plug-in. They had to deactivate all my plug-ins to restore the site. It was a huge relief even though I knew I would have to manage all my plug-ins and widgets all over again. The only reason I am sharing this is so it could help someone in a similar situation.

I hope you all are having a fabulous week. Two days hence, we have Orientation Day for our boys in their new school. I am excited but also a little sad.
Motherhood is amazing….it is so much about self-discovery as much as it is about nurturing minds and bodies.

Cauliflower Steaks with Chilli, Lemon and Nut Salsa
Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large cauliflower head , cut cross-ways into four 1.5 cm-thick pieces
salt and pepper. to season
1/2 cup roasted nuts (I used a mix of almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts)
2 cloves garlic
2 red chillies
1/4 cup green olives
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh continental parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a large baking trays with foil. Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 cauliflower pieces to the pan. Cook, turning, for 4-5 minutes or until golden. Transfer to a prepared tray. Season. Repeat with the remaining olive oil and cauliflower pieces. Roast cauliflower for 12-15 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, combine the nuts, garlic, chillies, olives, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, parsley, oregano in the bowl of your food processor and process till the ingredients are roughly chopped (not a fine paste).

Transfer the cauliflower to a platter. Top with the chilli, lemon and nut salsa..

Upside Down Chocolate Trail-Mix Cake

9|10|2014

Life is not always magical and not all days are the same. There are days when you will run out of brown sugar by as little as a quarter of a cup when you have every other ingredient to make your favourite chocolate cake. You will then make your way to the shops to get some as the cake has to be made that day and you don’t want to compromise. (Please don’t tell me that you will substitute with castor sugar…that doesn’t make me happy!) Then just when you think that everything is going well, the cake sinks in the centre leaving you wondering where you went wrong.. There are days when you will swear that your bathrooms scales are inaccurate and your mobile network will tell you ‘you are not connected’ when you so want to see the response to your latest post on Facebook. There are days when you will splurge for a little ‘feel good’ and end up regretting every purchase you made. Everyone has these days. Perhaps changing perspective helps or even better a bar of chocolate. Then why not cake! Yes, cake all the way for me.. So here is a cake to turn your frown upside down. An upside down chocolate cake!

There are no fresh fruits in this cake unlike the usual upside down cakes. But there are dried ones along with nuts. You can pick any nut of your choice or leave out the dried fruits. I found it very easy to use Trail mix as the assortment is prepped, mixed and ready to pour into the cake pan. Mine had whole almonds, hazelnuts, macadamia, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, cranberries and raisins. I experimented with this cake without cocoa, the first time. My family liked it and I took photos. But for some reason, the urge was too strong to give it another shot for a chocolate version.

I love the simplicity of this cake. So delicious like a good chocolate nut cake. Fabulous texture, rich chocolate flavour and a caramelised nutty topping. Coming to think of it, you can achieve the same look my topping a regular chocolate cake with trail mix. But there is a difference. The toffee sauce in the bottom of the cake pan gives the nuts a luscious caramel like flavour and much of the sauce is soaked up by the raisins and cranberries that become plump with toffee.
Making the cake is a breeze but you will need to ensure the cake is thoroughly cooked at the bottom and centre before turning it upside down.

Upside Down Chocolate Trail Mix Cake
Serves 8

For the topping
75 g butter
1/3 firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup trail mix (or nuts and dried fruits of your choice)

For the cake
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
2 tablespoons plain flour, sifted
1 1/3 cups, firmly packed) brown sugar
3/4 cup milk
125 g butter, cubed
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, sifted
3 eggs, lightly whisked

Preheat oven to 160 degree C. Grease the base and sides of a 18 cm round cake pan and line the base with non stick baking paper. Heat the butter and brown sugar over low heat in a small saucepan till mixture is smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle trail mix over the mixture to evenly cover the base of the pan.

Place the two flours together in a bowl. Place the sugar, milk and butter in a large saucepan. Add the cocoa and bicarbonate of soda into the pan. Place the pan over medium-low heat and use a whisk to stir until the mixture is smooth (don’t boil the mixture). Remove the pan from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Add the flour mixture in slow additions gradually whisking to mix. Add the eggs and continue to mix till well combined. Pour slowly on top of the trail-mix mixture in the prepared pan. Smooth surface with the back of a spoon. Bake in the oven for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Set aside for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on the side..