Chocolate Torte Dessert Thermomix recipe - Dairy free Gluten free

Delish!!!!
Not overly sweet, not overly rich, dairy free and gluten free..... WIN WIN WIN!!

As we're heavily reducing our dairy and gluten intake it's great to have a dish that satisfies those sweet naughty little cravings while keeping us on track with our dietary requirements.

My mum shared this recipe with me..... here's the Thermomix conversion:

DAIRY FREE GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE TORTE

Ingredients:
Base
60g cashew nuts
90g rice flour
45g rapadura sugar
pinch salt
75g butter

Filling
300 ml coconut milk
225g dark 70% or higher chocolate

Method:
Pop cashew nuts in TM bowl and blitz on speed 9 for 5-8 secs until finely chopped. Add rice flour, rapadura sugar and salt and mix on speed 5 until combined (about 3 secs). Add softened butter and mix on speed 5 for about 8 seconds or until fully combined and mixture is holding together. Press into lined and greased springform cake pan and bake in moderate oven for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Once base is cool and your TM bowl is cleaned and dried add chocolate and chop for 7 seconds on speed 8 then add your coconut milk and cook for 2 mins speed 2 at 50 degrees. Pour over base and leave in fridge overnight to set. Before serving sprinkle with desiccated coconut and enjoy!!


Would love to hear what you all think of this one, it's definitely one I'll be making over and over..... (we'll soon be sick of it here!)

Playdough recipe

It's that kind of day..... slightly cool, drizzly and all cozy feeling. Feels like a good day for play dough.

All you need is standard pantry supplies and a few minutes and the kids are away creating all sorts of creatures and play food.

Here's the recipe I've always used - the cooked method.

Add to saucepan:
1 cup white plain flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup cold water
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil
food colouring of your choice

*I also added some strawberry essence to the pink and peppermint essence to the green

Cook on med-high heat and stir stir stir until it begins to bind together.
Keep stirring till it's all in one big clump. That's it you're done.
When the kids have had enough you can be store this in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of months.

Who wants flat cake?

Who wants flat cake?.........I do! I want a flat cake!!!

It may sound strange and a waste of time to some, but for me baking my kids birthday cakes 3 a year,  year after year cutting the round top off my domed cakes to make them flat I wondered if the old wives tale I heard years ago actually worked???

Those old wives say to wet a tea towel, wrap it around the cake tin and secure it with a safety pin! 

Well finally I remembered in time, before popping it in the oven, to give it a go.
I couldn't believe it actually works!! The top did not rise a bit and was perfectly flat Yippee!!! No more *ahem crooked trimming for my kids birthday cakes and I can move straight on to decorating.

My only tip is to use an old tea towel and to find your longest one as several of mine were too short.
All you home bakers out there have got to give this a go, and let me know how you go.....

Cinnamon & Apple Scrolls

Here's a yummy scrummy in your tummy recipe for fluffy apple and cinnamon scrolls...
I used a thermomix recipe which can be found here.

APPLE AND CINNAMON SCROLLS (Recipe for no Thermomix)

Ingredients

100g castor sugar 

330g warm milk

2tsp dry yeast

80g softened butter

650g bakers flour

1tsp salt

1 egg

Cinnamon apple sprinkle

2/3 cup brown sugar (can use more if desired)

2 tsps of cinnamon (can use more if desired)

1 apple grated or finely chopped

Method

Place sugar, yeast and warm milk (I heat up in microwave for 1 min) in jug, stir then let sit for 10 mins in a warm area until frothy.

Place yeast mixture, butter, flour, salt and egg in TM bowl.  Mix well to combine. Knead for 10 mins.

Remove dough and let it rise for 60 minutes in bowl covered with clean tea towel, in a warm spot.

After dough has doubled in size, remove from bowl and divide into two.

Take one portion and roll it into a rectangular shape of 3mm thick.  Sprinkle 1/3 cup of brown sugar evenly over the dough (but leaving 1 to 2cm at the top of one long edge).  Sprinkle 1tsp cinnamon over the dough, then apple. 

Starting from one long edge roll the dough tightly to the other edge.  Press the dough together at the end to make sure it doesn't unravel.

With a sharp knife cut the dough on the cross section into 2 to 3cm scolls (depending on how fat you want your buns!)  Repeat with remaining portion of dough.

Place the scrolls spaced evenly apart into lined cake tins / oven trays 

Let rise again for 30 to 60 minutes to let them double in size.  You can leave them to prove longer than this if you have the time (it will make them fluffier!).  Bake in a hot oven at 200C for approximately 20 minutes until they are golden brown and delicious!

It's quite sad when a recipe takes half and day and then you over cook your second batch!!!

Making the most of strawberry season!

As I said......making the most of strawberry season!!!
I don't have exact ratios as I just tasted as I went.

Here's the ingredients:

Strawberries

Bacardi rum

Fresh mint

1/2 lemon

handful of ice

dash of castor sugar

enough water for desired consistency.

CHEERS:)

Creating in the kitchen

I've been feeling alot like kitchen time lately and baking some sweet treats for my family.

Our chooks are laying 7 eggs a day at the moment so we have excess of eggs. Whenever this happens it's pavlova time! I really love the step of placing the meringue mixture on the baking tray when making pavlova. It's such a pleasure to pile it high and feel the smoothness.
Strange I know but it really makes me smile.

It was then rascally boys job to decorate he loved it and made a pool of banana on top and filled it with passionfruit.

A delivery (of the postman kind)

Just the delivery I've been waiting for, I would have preferred a bit more of different fabrics, but hey I'm easily pleased and better than none right?

I can't remember the names of fabric I think the girly one was a hummingbird something. I just adore it, it's so sweet, I can imagine a strip of this down the front of some simple little girls dresses.

And this boyish cargo plane print is perfect for boys I see pockets on pants or I even thought an applique of a plane, woohoo cant wait. Now just for some time please!!!

I baked a chocolate chiffon cake yesterday, I'd been eyeing it off in the cookbook for ages and finally got the courage to give it a go for a friends birthday dinner. I'd never used gelatine before and was a bit scared, but it completely worked better than I thought, especially as I had no time to make (one of those rushed go go go days yesterday!)

I didn't get a photo of it cut but it worked and looked just right. Someone even said they thought it was bought! Good compliment!

Cooking is such a fun relaxing hobby for me just like sewing those two combined could fill any day of mine any time!!! Ah bliss!! But no hobby can beat big slobbery kisses from my kiddies!!!

Rag rug take 2

So I had finished my failed 1st rag rug which is now a bowl that holds my crochet doilies.

Failed? no nothing's ever failed just altered, though I was not satisfied with just my bowl when I really wanted a rug.

So if at first you don't succeed try try again. I did and my 2nd attempt at a rag rug is actually really working.....IT"S FLAT!!!!!!!!

I am so excited that it's not curling up. I'd been googling and worked out I had been doing too bigger stitches which then cause it to go tight and curl up so I add more knots on a loop and bingo no more bowls. I may just do another bowl though I really quite like the rustic look of them.

Here's a couple photos from our day in the garden.

A legless lizard


Some yummy fennel.

And I thought I'd throw in a really yummy curry pie my rascally husband made. It was devine!

Hope everyone had a blissful weekend!!

Introducing...

Thought I would introduce my little family just so you know who's talking & who I'm talking about.

This is us... These are the people surrounding me everyday who I just absolutely adore and can not live without. (uugghh I look so tired in this photo!)Here is Big Rascal, Medium Rascal and Little Rascal..... I guess I'm a rascal too otherwise I just wouldn't fit into our lovely family.... Hmmm

I'm really not sure about posting pictures of my kiddies if anyone has any advice on that topic I would really love to hear it. It can't be that bad can it?

Didn't get any craft in at all had a pretty lazy day really (I guess we need that every now and again hey) I watched Daddy play tiggy with medium rascal boy I really can't keep up with those two boys so I decided to lie under the tree and look up at the amazing canopy above so magical.

I did bake some yummy Cheesymite scrolls for lunch, Medium Rascal devoured them.

Well I better start organising some people, time has gotten away.