Home Made Ice Cream Cones (GF, Organic, Vegan)

Look, I'm so very excited by these. I'm not kidding, of all the things I've been wanting to master, these have been in the top ten. It's not like we're ice cream fiends. In fact, my children polished off a box of cones last week that were left over from my son's first birthday party (he's three and a half). That in and of itself beggars belief. What the heck is used to make these things last so long without losing any of their crunch or crisp? Yikes. 

There's nothing uniform about how they look. But I guess that's part of the appeal. Plus, you can make them large for grown ups or tiny for kids, and all you have to do is change the quantity of batter you pour out. 

I used a frying pan first but then switched to a flat sandwich press which I found much better. 

The trick is not to get too much sugar - you can play around with the quantities to taste, but too much sugar will make them burn before they're cooked through, and not enough will make them not sticky enough. 

To get four small cones or two large ones:

Ingredients

1/3 cup spelt flour

1/3 cup raw organic caster sugar

between 1/3 and 1/2 filtered water

Combine the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined, then add the filtered water, stirring constantly. 

Once you have a batter than resembles a thin pancake batter, you are good to go. Heat your frying pan (and add a little oil or butter), or your sandwich press. Add about two tablespoons of batter and  leave to cook. If you're using a frying pan, keep the heat moderate and flip halfway through. If you're using a sandwich press, cook with the lid up for a couple of minutes then press lid down so that it's firmly pressed against the flattened out cone. 

The trickiest part of these is shaping them, and that's just because they're molten lava hot. I found that laying a clean tea towel out in front of the sandwich press or hot plate was essential. 

I used an egg flip to remove the 'pancake', then, pressing either a spoon or small rolling pin into one pinch point, I was able to clip the bottom (using the tea towel as a sort of glove between my skin and the cone).

 Shape it into a cone and depress for about thirty seconds along the seam until it feels firmly held. I then transferred mine to a small 7 oz beer glass to settle for a few more minutes (an egg cup is great, too). It's amazing how quickly these transform from flat pancakes to rock hard ice cream cones. And I think this must be similar to how fortune cookies are made. 

I served this with an ice cream stalwart - our mango and passionfruit. 

In the ice cream and the cone, there were SIX ingredients, and both components were made today in my own kitchen. As far as desserts go, this one feels pretty awesome. 

Hot Chocolate and Marshmallows on a Rainy Afternoon

After the hell-on-earth heatwave we've had for most of the last month, you can well imagine our jubilation at waking up to the sound of delightful rain! And rain it has, all day long.

The air is thick with the smell of it, and the sky is woolly and grey. A cool breeze is finally running through the house, trying to whisper relief into the heat fatigued timber and bricks. And my little people have finally been able to get back into the garden without sunscreen, hats and long sleeves. They've had a lovely morning playing in puddles and getting muddy, and now, as the day draws to a close, I'm giving them the perfect afternoon (in my opinion, anyway). Snow White, and hot chocolates with marshmallows. 

These are heavenly 'made from scratch', but if I'm completely honest, that had more to do with the ingredients I had to hand than any virtuousness on my behalf.

Homemade marshmallow is both easy and incomparably delicious - a wholly different creature to the powdery puffs you buy at the supermarket. Using organic raw caster sugar, gelatine and water (with two drops of naturally derived pink colouring) I made this marbled bloc of mallow. 

For the hot chocolate, I melted dark chocolate over low temperature, slowly whisking a full fat milk from a good quality and local dairy. 

As this was for small people, I then let the hot chocolate cool down a bit before serving with a scoop of the chilled marshmallow on top. 

I'll confess, I have puritan tastebuds when it comes to drink - I'll take my water in abundance with my poisons on the side (coffee, black, and wine, red). But one sip of this tempted me into the realm of impossible-to-resistness and I poured myself half a cup. 

Now, back to those sweet little dwarves of mine and the fabulous Snow White!

vegan and gluten free chocolate mousse.

I have read a great many recipes for this type of concoction, and I've been so sceptical as to how it would taste. 

It was amazing! 

In a food processor, I mixed a whole, ripe avocado with two bananas and 1/3 cup of carob powder (the recipe called for raw cacao but I am a carob fiend from way back and, as this was for my birthday, I indulged my own little tastebuds). I also added a tablespoon of manuka honey. Blitz it until it's really smooth and airy, set it in the fridge. Now, I topped it with this awesome organic yoghurt that is seriously just so creamy and rich (yet miraculously natural and low fat and low sugar), and some fresh strawberries. If you have kids coming for a party, this is such an excellent option for a treat. Next time I make it for my smalls, I'm going to whip through some peanut butter (keep in mind I'm trying to chub up my petite little miss sweet any way that I can). I will never again sceptically frown when I see avocado and banana parading as dessert substitutions. 

Honey and Peanut Butter ice cream

Bearing in mind that I'm engaged in Operation Fatten Up, I'm thrilled with this calorific creation. So are my little guys. 

Ingredients- 

200ml pure cream, full fat*

2 heaped tablespoons smooth organic peanut butter 

2 heaped tablespoons wild honey 

2 tablespoons full fat plain yoghurt. 

The method is a cinch- in my kitchenaid I whipped the ingredients all at once on a moderately high speed (7) for about 90 seconds. That is IT! 

I fully intended to add in some white chia seeds, LSA, for extra nutritional value, but I got so carried away with joy when I saw the awesome frothy mix that I just poured into my ice cream moulds and set it. 

This is divine. Absolute LOVE.

* a note on creams. Have you spent as much time as I have reading the ingredients of cream in the supermarket? Not just a humble dairy product, all but one product in my supermarket are laden with gelatine or vegetable gums as thickeners and I think we should, as consumers, push for it to be labelled something different altogether. Cream should be cream, full stop.

Strawberry and Chocolate Ganache Cake

I've had a few requests for this recipe and, truth be told, I've been meaning to blog it since July 19, when I made this as a birthday "cake" for my gluten intolerant MIL.

While it is rich, if you are using good quality ingredients, it's a delicious alternative to a more traditional "cake".

NB this is made in a 10cm spring form cake pan.

Ingredients-

About 1.5 Punnets of fresh strawberries

200g organic dark chocolate block

30g organic stick butter

30ml pure cream 

Grease and line the spring form pan as you would if baking a cake. Combine chocolate and butter in a bone dry bowl and microwave for two minutes or until completely melted. Stir with a bone dry spoon until combined then add cream and continue stirring until it becomes dark and glossy.

Slice strawberries into spring form tin and pour chocolate over. Set in fridge for an hour or so.

To serve, run a paring knife around tin and gently ease open then turn out. 

There are some great variations you can try, for example, other fruits and nuts, to get the perfect "cake" for you. Enjoy! 

Coconut Jelly with banana floats and vanilla yoghurt

Seriously, the best kid treat ever. Tip a tin of organic low fat coconut milk into a small saucepan, add a tablespoon of powdered gelatine, and simmer for five minutes, stirring all the while, until gelatine is dissolved. Pour into a small container and leave to set... Add any fruits you would like (we used bananas). They will set within two hours, and I served mine topped with organic vanilla yoghurt. Seriously delicious, easy and I promise, once you make friends with gelatine powder you will never buy supermarket jelly mixed again. Use any organic fruit or veggie juice or smoothie and boom! You have a delicious dessert that kids just love...

Almond Meal Pancakes for Shrove Tuesday

I don't need much of an excuse for pancakes. In fact, in my pregnancies I craved pancakes constantly, and would indulge in really thin crepes with lemon juice and sugar whenever I had the energy to make 'em. Oh yum! But on shrove Tuesday it's not even an excuse, it's a must. In a testament to true hedonism, I don't adhere to lent but I happily see those who do off with a pancakey bang!

We had a play date this afternoon with good friends and so, while my little babes were fast asleep, I made a batch of these pancakes that were tasty and kid-friendly to take along.

Ingredients

1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tablespoon butter, melted.


Put almond meal, sifted spelt flour, sugar and baking powder into a bowl and stir until combined. Make a well in the centre and add the egg.

Put a teaspoon of vinegar in with the milk - it may start to appear curdled, that's good! Then add the milk and melted butter to the batter. Stir until combined.

There's no need to leave the batter to sit, you can cook straight away. Use a non-stick frying pan and you won't need added fat. Put the heat on low and dollop teaspoons of batter, evenly spaced. Cook on one side and flip when they appear to lift. Remove from heat once done.

These don't need any condiments, but you could definitely stir through some cinnamon or blueberries, or coconut shavings or finely cubed apple if you are feeling adventurous.

They were gobbled up in short order by our little contingent of boys, so I would say they pass the taste test resoundingly!

By some twist of baking fate, we ended up with a sad face pancake and a happy face pancake. Couldn't do that again if I tried!!

Happy shrove Tuesday

What better thing to take to an afternoon play date today than almond meal and spelt pancakes? Recipe coming soon...