Coconut nostalgia

I have had a bit of a break from baking as we have been away over the Easter holidays, but the need for lunchbox fillers has spurred me back into action.  So what's with the Gorse photo?  Well I was out running in the sunshine yesterday and came across a beautiful patch of gorse.  The flowers had such a strong small of toasted coconut that I came over all nostalgic.  As a child one of my favourite things to bake was 'Coconut buns', in fact I think it was pretty much the only thing I used to bake.  I still love the taste of coconut and so I devised a recipe containing desiccated coconut, coconut milk and coconut flour!  Dried sour cherries are another favourite and I thought they might make a good combination.

Coconut flour is a new discovery for me.  It recently appeared in the 'free from' section of my local supermarket (Booths) and I have also seen it for sale in a number of health food shops.  It is high fibre, gluten free and low in carbohydrates, only 21.7g per 100g.  The big snag is the price.  I paid nearly six pounds for a 500g bag which is pretty steep.  I bought it out of curiosity and I have been using it sparingly.  If you don't have any coconut flour then just substitute with a little more ground almonds and flour.

The following recipe only makes six largish buns.  I didn't make too many as they are best eaten fresh but you could easily double the ingredients for more.

Coconut and Cherry Buns (Gluten free and low sugar)

Ingredients - makes 6 largish buns

• 25g coconut flour
• 50g gluten free self raising flour (I used Doves farm)
• 1/2 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 25g ground almonds
• 50g butter or lower fat alternative
• 20g Tate & Lyle Light at Heart, a brown sugar and stevia blend
• 50g dried sour cherries (or substitute with 'Berries and Cherries' or sultanas)
• 20g desiccated coconut
• 1 egg, beaten
• 6 tbsp of coconut milk (approximately 1/2 a 165ml can), or substitute with milk
• 3-4 tsp 'no added sugar' cherry jam (I used St Dalfour black cherry)

1. Preheat the oven to 190C / Gas 5.  Grease a baking tray or line with non-stick silicone paper.
2. Sift the coconut flour, self raising flour and baking powder into a bowl, then add the ground almonds, breaking up any lumps.  Add the butter, cutting into small pieces, and rub in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  
3. Add the 'Light at Heart' sugar substitute, dried fruit and coconut and mix well.
4. Stir in the egg and coconut milk to bind, making a stiff mixture.
5. Place rough heaps of mixture on the baking tray, 5cm apart.  Using your thumb make a 'well' in the middle of each heap and fill this with about half a teaspoon of jam.  If necessary bring up the sides of each heap around the jam so that it doesn't leak out when cooking.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until pale brown.  Allow to cool for a few minutes on the tray, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

I estimated each bun had roughly 20g of carbs, but you may need to do your own calculations if you make any substitutions for the ingredients.

Not quite but almost

 

One of my favourite guilty food pleasures is a generous slice of McVities Jamaica ginger cake preferably with custard and preferably eaten outdoors as part of a camping tea.  I think it must be something to do with the close texture, the sticky top and the spicy taste.  Anyway I wondered if I could make something along similar lines, but without the sugar and gluten.  I rejigged a recipe for a date loaf, replacing the sugar with grated carrot and adding orange and allspice. Dates have such a natural sweetness that I hoped I could get away with zero added sugar.  They also break down to a pulp when cooked with a little water and I was hoping that would give me the texture I was after.  I made two small 1lb loaves but I guess you could also make a larger loaf and bake it for a little longer.  

Well I have to say we really enjoyed this cake, especially spread with a little butter or margarine.  It tasted really sweet and you wouldn't have guessed it had no sugar.  I can't vouch for how it tastes with custard or whilst camping but it kept really well, and got more sticky as the week went on.

Date, Carrot and orange spice loaf (Gluten free and No Added Sugar)

Ingredients - makes two 1lb loaves

• 225g dried dates, snipped into small pieces
• 125ml water
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 170g grated carrot, prepared weight
• 125g butter, or lower fat substitute
• grated zest of 1 small orange
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 egg, beaten
• 175g gluten free plain flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1 tsp ground allspice

1. Preheat the oven to 170C / Gas 3.  Grease and line two 1lb loaf tins.
2. Put the dates into a medium pan with the water and bring to the boil.  Remove from the heat, stir in the bicarbonate of soda, cover with a lid and leave for around 5 minutes.  The dates should absorb the water and become soft and pulpy.
3. Add the butter, orange zest and juice and stir until the butter has melted.  Allow to cool a little.
4. Using a blender, or hand held stick blender, puree the date mixture.
5. Add half the grated carrots and blend again until the carrots have a finer texture, then repeat with the rest of the grated carrot.
6. Add the beaten egg.
7. Sift together the flour, baking powder and allspice and add gradually to the date mixture together with the ground almonds.  Mix well until smoth.
8. Pour into the prepared tins and bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
9. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for around 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

I roughly calculated the carbs for a 1lb loaf cut into 8 slices.  Each slice would have around 18g of carbs.

Egg-stra special !

It's been a busy week with my lovely in-laws coming up to visit us for a few days.  Having visitors gave me a good excuse to try out a recipe I spotted in a library book recently.  The book was called 'Blood Sugar - The Family' by Michael Moore, a chef and also diabetic.  There were a number of interesting looking recipes but the 'Not so naughty chocolate cake' caught my eye especially as it claims to be low fat, low GI, high protein and low sugar!  I was curious to know whether it also tasted good.  My in-laws do not normally eat reduced sugar, gluten free cakes so I thought this would be a good test. 

Not so Naughty Chocolate Cake

 

I cannot claim this recipe as my own so I should point you in the direction of the following link www.mindfood.com/recipe/not-so-naughty-chocolate-cake/.  I only made a few minor alterations to the recipe, substituting gluten free ingredients where necessary i.e. flour, cocoa and chocolate.  I used frozen raspberries inside my layers and some gluten free mini chocolate eggs to decorate.  My daughter described my cake as looking 'rustic'.  I think I know what she means as I had a bit of trouble slicing my sponge into three layers.  Next time I'll do that bit before I start on the wine!  Still I think it looks okay and more importantly it did taste good!