Apple Slice

Hi Everyone,
SURPRISE!!! I'm back after more than 12 months. I'm not sure for how long or if I'll be very consisted but I'm here for now. I do post a lot on Facebook and Instagram as I like those forums because I don't have to think so much about writing, which I've mentioned before is not my forte. So it might be a case of if I've got a lot to share at once I'll post here and let you know on Facebook and Instagram.
 What has prompted this post, is this recipe. I felt like making something sweet but healthy and this slice came to mind. I couldn't find my print out of it so I came looking on the blog, knowing I'd written a post about it. When I came to find it, I discovered it was only a draft and apparently I hadn't published it at all. I could have sworn I had but I can't find on the blog, so I'm here to remedy that situation.

So remembering this was originally written in March last year, here we go. 

Being Autumn here in my part of the world, it is the season for apples. I have a few small apple trees that have produced more than enough apples for us (and the birds). One tree, I planted when we first moved here 16 years ago, has produced fruit for the first time this year. I can't even remember what sort of apple it is but the apples are quite sweet so they are lovely to stew and eat without having to add sugar. They also hold their shape and don't turn to mush which I like as well.
A couple of weeks ago I adapted my Jam Slice recipe and made a healthy Apple Slice to take to Garden Group for morning tea. Although it was a bit crumbly it was quite a hit so I have since made it again and solved the crumbly problem. Now it's ready to share with you.

APPLE SLICE

Base

100g almond meal (about 1 cup)

½ cup rice flour (or coconut flour)

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup honey

1 egg

1 teas vanilla

Filling

3 large sweet apples, peeled, sliced & cooked

Topping

2 eggs

¼ cup honey

2 cups desiccated coconut

Set oven on 180C (160C fan) & grease (with olive oil) and line a 22cm cake tin.

Mix all the base ingredients together and spread into the cake tin (this can be a bit fiddly as the mixture is sticky)

Bake for 15 mins or until cooked.

Remove from the oven and spread the apple on the base.

Wait until you have done this before making the topping as the coconut will absorb moisture and the topping is too crumbly when cooked.

Using a mixer beat the eggs until they are very light and fluffy.

Drizzle in the honey while the mixer is going & beat until combined.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the coconut.

Spread over the apple.(see NOTE)

Bake for 15-20 mins or until golden brown.

Allow to cool completely for cutting.

NOTE: Smooth coconut mixture down with the back of a spoon then lightly rough it up with a fork, this helps it stick together when cooked and not be too crumbly.
NOTE 2: You can use tinned unsweetened apple for convenience. It is also delicious with a sprinkling of blueberries, fresh or thawed frozen, with the apple.
PRINT RECIPE

Looking at the picture of the apples reminds of when we were kids, and apples didn't come all waxed and shiny. We would have competitions at lunch time to see who could get their apple the shiniest. Did you do that too?

Hope you've enjoyed the catch up

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

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Apple Sultana Walnut Cake - Gluten Free

Hi Everyone,

I'm back with a quick post. You may recall I shared a recipe for Apple Sultana and Walnut cake back HERE.

I have a couple of relatives who are gluten intolerant so I had a fiddle with the recipe and made a healthier version that is gluten, dairy and sugar free and topped it with a vanilla cashew cream.
I posted the following picture on Facebook and had a few requests for the recipe.

So I decided I would share it here just in case anyone else might be interested.

APPLE SULTANA WALNUT CAKE–Gluten Free

1 cup chopped dates

Water (enough to just cover the dates)

½ cup mild tasting oil

3 eggs (lightly beaten)

1 teasp vanilla

2 cups almond meal

½ cup rice flour

½ teasp bicarb soda

1 teasp baking powder(gluten free)

2 teasp mixed spice

150g (5oz) sultanas

60g (2oz) chopped walnuts

2 apples (peeled & diced)

Cover dates with water and allow to soak overnight or until dates are very soft.

Set oven on 180C and grease (with oil) a 20cm cake tin, line the base and dust the sides with almond meal or rice flour.

Blend together the soaked dates, oil, eggs and vanilla until smooth.

In a large bowl combine all the dry ingredients, sultanas, apple and walnuts.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.

Put mixture in prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 40-50minutes or until done when tested with a skewer. (It may take longer depending on the moisture in the fruit)

Allow to cool for 5-10minutes before removing from the tin.

 

Vanilla Cashew Cream

85g raw cashews

¼ cup chopped dates

½ cup water

1 teasp vanilla

20g cacao butter(melted in a bowl over hot water)

Soak the cashews and dates in the water with the vanilla overnight.

Blend together until smooth and creamy then add cacao butter and blend until thoroughly mixed.

Spread on the cooled cake and sprinkle with extra walnuts.

PRINT RECIPE

You will notice I have included a link to a printable version of the recipe. I am hoping over the next couple of weeks to update all my previous recipe posts to include printable recipes. That will make your life easier if you want to try any of them.

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

 

 

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird

Happy Birthday

To Me

Hi Everyone,

Well it was happy birthday to me a couple of weeks ago but this post is really about the cake I made myself not my birthday. I posted a picture of it on Facebook and had a request to share it here. I hadn't planned on blogging about it so I didn't take an photos of the process but there is no rule that says that I have to so I'm going to share it anyway.
It's not very often I have to make my own Birthday cake, usually one of the kids does it but they weren't home and baking is not Ross' forte, so it was up to me.
Originally I was going to make a wheat free version of this experiment that Heidi and I made a couple of weeks ago, Caramelised Pear Cake with custard cream.

Yes, I know, not the most elegant looking cake (the components needed to be well chilled before assembly hence the oozing custard cream) but it did taste REEEEEEALLY good. I was a bit pushed for time on my birthday so I didn't have time for chilling things so I decided to do another experiment instead. The challenge was to make a healthy cake that tasted decadent and naughty.
I already had some tried and trued healthy recipes that I thought, when they were combined, might just fit the bill. I started off with my 'Innocent Chocolate Cake', a perfectly yummy guilt free cake. I did a post on it a couple of months ago and you can find it HERE.

For the filling I took my inspiration from the recipe for this chocolate tart that we made in a raw food workshop with Cat Cannizzaro. I changed it so that the flavours blended better with the cake. (If you want the recipe for this tart, which is to die for, it will be available for purchase at Wild Raw soon)

And I  made an orange cashew cream that I used on some muffins a little while ago. I also love hazelnuts and I thought they would go nicely as well.

This is what I came up with,
TA DAH!!
Innocent Jaffa Hazelnut Cake.

Looks pretty good, don't you think? It tasted pretty good too. It certainly fulfilled the brief. In fact tasted so good I almost felt guilty eating it, even though it's perfectly healthy.

INNOCENT JAFFA HAZELNUT CAKE

INNOCENT CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 cup chopped dates (cover with water & soak until soft)
1 teasp vanilla
1/4 olive oil
3 eggs (separated)
1/2 teasp bicarb soda
1/2 teasp baking powder
200g almond meal (approx. 2cups)
1/3 cup cacao powder (or cocoa)
Set oven to 180C & grease and line a 20cm cake tin. Puree dates, vanilla, oil & egg yolks until smooth and  add to the dry ingredients, mix well. Beat egg whites to soft peaks and mix 1/3 into the rest of the mixture then gently fold through the remaining egg whites. Pour into the cake tin and bake for approximately 30 mins or until done when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin.
NB: While the cake is cooking roast 1/2 cup of hazelnuts for 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and roll them in a tea towel to remove most of the skins and chop roughly.
FILLING
Chocolate Cashew Cream
11/2cups chopped raw cashews
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 teasp vanilla
30g cacao powder
40g cacao butter (melted in a bowl over hot water)
Soak the cashews and dates in the water overnight. Blend the cashews, dates, vanilla and cacao powder until really smooth. Add a little more water as needed to achieve a smooth result but it doesn't want to be  runny. Finally blend in the cacao butter until well combined. The chocolate cashew cream will firm up a bit as it cools down so it best to fill the cooled cake straight away while it's still easy to spread.
TOPPING
Orange Cashew Cream
11/4 cups chopped raw cashews
Juice of 2 orange
Grated rind of one orange
5 teasp agave syrup
20g cacao butter (melted in a bowl over hot water)
Soak the cashews in the orange juice overnight. Blend all the ingredients except cacao butter until really smooth (add a little water if needed). Add the cacao butter and blend until well combined. This also will firm a little as it cools so best to use straight away.
ASSEMBLY
When the cake is cold slice in two. Spread one half with the chocolate cashew cream and sprinkle with half the hazelnuts. Place the second half on top and spread some of the orange cashew cream on top, sprinkle with the rest of the hazelnuts and some orange zest and pipe around the edge if desired.

PRINT RECIPE

I hope you give Innocent Jaffa Hazelnut Cake a try and let me know what you think.

Thanks for popping by and until next time 

TOODLES

 

 

I would love your feedback.

You can either comment here or on Facebook 

or

You can follow me on

Facebook or Instagram @oneearlybird