0 Chestnut maple snowflakes

For quite a while I  have been wanting to experiment with chestnut flour, I think this stems from a holiday memory in idyllic Tuscany, when we stayed in a house over looking a chestnut grove and in it was the cutest rustic drying house. I was fascinated with the gnarly trees, the nuts and the recipes they were used in, chestnut flour is used in Italy to make pasta, pancakes and cakes amongst other things.

Chestnut flour is naturally gluten free and is something you will need to seek out if you want to bake with it as its not routinely stocked in most health food shops, this is possibly due to a shortish shelf life but you can obtain it easily by mail order and most shops will happily order it in for you. If you are baking for a coeliac ensure the flour is truly gluten free.

Chestnuts are synonymous with the festive season so I decided to come up with a biscuit recipe which uses this lovely flour, combining it with maple syrup to give a lovely smoky earthy flavour and use my lovely snowflake cutters to give a seasonal twist to this bake. 

This recipe makes about 12 to 15 cookies, depending on the size of the cutters you use. These would make a lovely gift wrapped in cellophane and lovely festive ribbon or a parchment package. Don't expect a crunchy biscuit these are more tender, the snowflakes aren't overtly sweet either.

What you need

• 12 tbsp chestnut flour (I used Shipton Mill) and little extra for rolling out purposes
• 3 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 egg 
• Icing sugar for sprinkling purposes

What you do

• Mix all the ingredients in a food processor
• Tip out on to a floured piece of baking parchment, roll out to just a little thinner than a pound coin and using a cutter to cut out the snowflakes.
• Place on a baking tray (I use a silicon sheet to ensure they don't stick) 
• Bake in a pre heated oven at 180c for 10 -15 minutes until just turning golden
• Cool on wire rack, they firm up more on cooling
• Sprinkle with icing sugar or ice with glace icing if you like.
• Store in a tin

This month we are linking up with Treat Petite created by Cakeyboi and hosted this month by The Baking Explorer, the theme this month being Christmas. 

                                                             

                                                              

We are also linking up to Family Foodies hosted by Bangers n Mash and Eat your Veg, the theme being festive foodie traditions, as these snowflakes are liable to become a new tradition in this household as they are delicious and ideal to baked as a gift particularly for adults.

                                      

And lastly December's Teat time treats hosted by Karen over at Lavender and Lovage and Jane at Hedgecombers. This months theme is Glitter, sprinkles, candles and shiny stuff, this bake I think qualifies as it has lots of sprinkled icing sugar and the staging includes candles.

                                         

                                                                

Detail: Chestnut maple snowflakes

0 Date sweetened gluten free brownies

These are amazing, trust me they are, purely fruit sweetened, naturally gluten free and very easy to make ( well as long as you have a decent food processor). I first spotted this recipe when it was shared by Jamie Oliver on Facebook, intrigued I popped over to the website only to find that the recipe originated from Elana Amsterdam  of Elana's pantry, one of my favourite American bloggers.

                   

In the last couple of weeks since discovering this recipe I must have made them at least half a dozen times, whipped up in about 45 minutes start to finish they are great and make a fabulous addition to any lunch box. I have now taken to bulk buying dates so I always have the ingredients in so I can whip up a batch if the mood so takes me, the recipe is rich in fibre, antioxidants and low in fat too.

I also a little bit addicted to using coconut oil in baking and this recipe being paleo in origin uses this ingredient too, you can't taste it but it seems to make your bakes more bouncy, its pricy but well worth the investment. Also please ensure you use a good quality dark chocolate so that you get the best antioxidant boost possible from your bake.

What you need

• 200g Dark chocolate (a good % of cocoa solids), broken up into squares
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 200g dates (whole stoned or chopped)
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil - melted
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

A square cake tin, lined approximately 8" by 8"

What you do 

• Pre heat the oven to 180c
• Blitz the chocolate and bicarbonate of soda in your food processor until its the texture of coarse sand
• Next add the dates and continue to blitz until you are back to the coarse sand texture
• Add the eggs, coconut oil and vanilla to the procesor and pulse until incorporated
• Tip into your preprepared tin and smooth level in the tin
• Bake for 30 -35 minutes until risen and cooked through
• Cool initially in the tin and then on a wire rack
• Store in an airtight tin

I am entering this post in JibberJabberUK Love Cake campaign as this month's theme is "Giving Up" so as this brownie has no flour, no artifical sugar and is low fat its an appropraite entry.

                                               

And also We Should Cocoa created by Choclette and hosted this month by I'd much rather bake than..., the  theme this month being Coconut, well this recipe includes chocolate and coconut oil so I hope it qualifies.

                                                       

Detail: Date sweetened gluten free brownies

0 Keralan King prawn curry

Now that finally we have some warm weather I have a craving for a creamy fishy curry, this Keralan inspired curry is aromatic rather than hot hot spicy and is wonderful with any white fish or king prawns, using coconut oil and coconut cream or milk it tastes tropical and is ideal served on a warm summers evening in the garden. Quick to pull together and mostly from store cupboard ingredients it's a favourite in this household. The recipe is inspired both by a Nigella recipe and also Anjum Anand's Spice Tailor coconut curry.

Ingredients

• Firm white fish (hake or similar) or raw king prawns (1 large fillet or about 20 prawns)
• 2 tsp curry powder or tumeric ( I prefer curry powder)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 large onion, sliced very finely into half rings
• 1 large fresh red chilli - de seeded and very finely sliced
• small piece of fresh ginger - peeled and grated
• Good pinch of freshly ground cumin
• Coconut milk or coconut cream ( I have used both and both work fine ) - 1 tin
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste (I got mine from Foxs Herb and Spices)
• Fish stock powder - about 1 good tsp ( I use Essential cuisine)
• Fresh coriander leaves to finish
• Sea salt
• Lemon or basmati rice to serve with

Method

• Firstly chop your fish into chunks if using and then marinate in some of the curry powder
• Melt your coconut oil in large frying pan and gently cook without colouring (tip sprinkle with a little salt as this makes the onions sweat rather than browning) until softened.
• Once the onions are softened add the finely chopped red chilli and the grated ginger, cook for a few minutes, then add the remaining curry powder, cumin and tamarind paste and cook for a few more minutes.
• Now add the coconut milk or cream to the pan and fish stock powder, if necessary add a little water to get your desired consistency of sauce, stir and simmer , taste for seasoning.
• Add the fish to the sauce and cook for a few minutes until cooked or your prawns are pink , do not over cook your fish, it only takes a few minutes to cook.
• Serve with rice and roti and serve sprinkled with fresh coriander.

Check out an earlier post for a roti recipe 

Detail: Keralan King prawn curry

0 Another banana loaf

A while ago as part of a blog post I was sent some coconut oil, the jar has sat in the cupboard doing nothing, every time I go in that cupboard it waves at me and I think I must come up with a recipe that uses the ingredient.

My coconut oil was from The Groovy Food Company , Coconut oil is a source of lauric acid which is good for your cardo vascular system and despite being a saturated fat assists in regulating your cholesterol levels and boosting your immune system, it tastes from the jar like a coco-nutty wax, not unpleasant and faintly tropical tasting.

Coconut oil can be used like other oils  and in a warm kitchen will turn runny, I had an idea that the faintly tropical flavour would combine well with banana in a loaf cake, one of the staples in my kitchen.

The resultant loaf cake was deliciously aromatic and faintly tropical flavour as I hoped, moist too, it would may be benefit from a cream cheese buttercream icing if you wanted to take it towards a passion cake. Talking of additions you could also may be add blueberries or pineapple or mango if you wanted to up the fruitiness further.

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas - peeled and mashed
• 2 tbsp low fat plain yogurt
• 2 large eggs - free range please
• 1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of coconut oil - melted
• 1/4 cup soft light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp nutmeg

Method

• Pre heat the oven to 180c
• Line 2 x 2lb loaf tins ,I use the ready made ones (i buy them from the £1 shop)
• In a bowl whisk the eggs, coconut oil, yogurt, sugar and vanilla paste until well incorporated.
• Now sieve in the flour, nutmeg, baking powder and soda, mix gentle and then stir in the crushed banana
• Pour the batter into the lined tins and bake for about 40 -45 minutes until tested cooked with a skewer
• Cool initially in the tin and then on a wire rack
• Stores well wrapped in foil or alternatively freezes beautifully.

Detail: Another banana loaf