Category Archives: dessert

Lemon-blueberry individual baked cheesecakes

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Serves 4

300g fresh ricotta*
170g tub of Chobani Lemon flavoured Greek yoghurt
1 egg
1 egg white
1 tbs honey**
100g blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 180C. Place all ingredients except blueberries in a bowl and with an electric mixer, beat on low speed until well combined. Increase speed to high and beat for a further minute or so until quite smooth. You can use a food processor if you prefer.

Gently stir blueberries through with a spoon. If you’re using frozen berries, defrost them first and then drain off any liquid before adding them. Divide the mixture evenly between four ovenproof ramekins or individual soufflé dishes. Place the dishes into a baking dish and carefully pour in enough water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes.

Bake for 25-30 minutes –they should be beginning to brown slightly on top and be firm to touch in the centre. Allow to cool in the baking dish, then refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.

Serve in the dishes with extra blueberries on top and some honeyed Greek yoghurt in a small dish on the side.

You can oil the ramekins first and attempt to turn the cheesecakes out onto plates, but I find that sometimes it works, and sometimes I end up with a disaster…so I don’t bother any more.

*I used full fat ricotta because I prefer the texture and taste, but you could switch in low-fat if you’d rather.
**If you prefer, you could use a couple of teaspoons of Natvia or other sweetener in place of the honey. It won’t taste the same though.

Nutrition stats per serve:
Calories 192
Protein 11.5g
Carbs 15.1
Fat 9.6

I’m participating in screen-free week, so I’m not really here (shh…). All of my posts this week have been written in advance and set to publish each day for your information and entertainment. ;o)

 

Choc-raspberry chia pudding

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This protein-packed dessert is light on calories, and so simple to make. Best of all, it’s not only packed with healthy ingredients, it’s really delicious.

It does take quite a while for the chia seeds to absorb the liquid, so allow plenty of time for that part of the process.

Serves 2-3

1 cup milk, any kind you like – skim, almond, coconut, whatever
2 tsp raw cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
40g chocolate or vanilla whey powder
4 tbs chia seeds – I used black but white would be fine too
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (defrosted)
Extra 1/2 cup of raspberries to decorate

In a bowl, whisk milk, cocoa, vanilla and whey together until well mixed. Add chia seeds, stirring with a spoon for a minute or two until the seeds are well and truly moistened. Place the bowl in the fridge and give it a stir every 15 minutes or so for the first hour, breaking up any clumps, then leave it for a few hours or overnight to absorb the liquid.

Just before serving, stir the raspberries through the mixture, then spoon the pudding into serving glasses or bowls. Arrange the extra raspberries on top.

You can add extra toppings – try chopped toasted almonds, shredded coconut, or a little chopped dark chocolate (or all three!).

If you have an extra-sweet tooth, you could add some maple or agave syrup or your choice of sweetener to the milk mixture. Personally, I find the sweetener in my whey powder is enough, and I like the tart contrast of the raspberries. Play around with the recipe and make it suit you, though. :)

Nutrition info
I made mine with 99% fat free milk, and the stats for one-third of the recipe (with no extra toppings added) worked out to:

Calories                     193
Protein                       15.8g
Carbohydrate             9.2g
Fat                              7.9g

 

Edit: I’ve discovered that different chia seeds take different amounts of time to soak up the liquid in a recipe. It may also depend on the type of liquid you use and/or on other ingredients included in the recipe.

Since I made this pudding, using black chia seeds, I’ve created another, using the white kind (and a different brand – not sure if that has any impact?) – and those took very little time to suck up the coconut milk I added.

So you may have to experiment a bit to get your puddings perfect. That’s OK – you only have to add more chia seeds or more liquid; you’re unlikely to ruin your pudding.

Super Chocolate Truffles

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If you love a chocolate treat at Easter but were thinking of abstaining because you don’t want to eat a lot of unhealthy crud, fear not! These superfood truffles will save the day. They’re vegan, gluten-free, grain-free and contain a good proportion of omega-3s.

Makes 12

4 medjool dates
Half a vanilla bean*
3 tbs raw cacao powder*
4 tbs shredded coconut
1 tbs chia seeds
1/2 an avocado
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cardamom*
1 tsp coconut oil
Extra cacao powder and/or shredded coconut for decoration

Remove the seeds from your dates and chop them into quarters. Split your vanilla bean lengthwise and place it in a small heatproof bowl with the dates. Cover with boiling water and set a timer for 10 minutes. Measure out all the other ingredients and place into the bowl of a food processor. If the coconut oil is solid, melt it before adding. Drain the dates and vanilla bean and pat dry with paper towel or a clean tea towel. Toss the dates into the food processor and using the point of a small sharp knife, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean in as well, then discard the bean pod.

Pulse for a few seconds and then give the mixture a good whirl until it is quite smooth in texture. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.

Sprinkle a teaspoon or so extra cacao powder on a piece of baking paper. Take a small amount of the mixture and roll into a ball with your fingers – about the size of a walnut. Ish. Then roll it in the cacao to coat. Repeat with the remaining mixture. If you prefer, you can roll in coconut instead – or do as I did and use half and half.

Refrigerate for half an hour or so and they’re good to go.

*Notes
1. You can substitute 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract or paste for the vanilla bean if you like, but as both contain sugar and alcohol, they didn’t suit my needs at the moment.
2. You can use any kind of cocoa powder you like, but the raw stuff just has a more intense flavour in my opinion.
3. The cardamom is optional. I like the extra depth of flavour it adds, but leave it out if you’re not a fan. You could also add chilli powder if you’re adventurous. ;)

A word of caution: Whilst these little beauties are packed full of good stuff – omega-3s, amino acids and fibre, among other things – they still pack a calorie punch. Just one truffle will provide the following:

Calories – 60
Fat – 4.6g
Protein – 1.1g
carbohydrate – 3.2g

This is not a sponsored post, but I did receive some lovely new products to try. Thanks to Cheap Superfoods for providing me with the raw organic cacao powder and organic chia seeds.

Chia seeds, cacao

Coconut pancakes

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I’m having a little love affair with coconut at the moment. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that summer fruits like mango are amazing when paired with coconut. Whatever, these are super-easy to make and I find them just the ticket for breakfast or a snack.

Coconut flour is readily available from health food stores. The rest of the ingredients can be found on the supermarket shelves.


1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup rice flour (you can substitute plain flour, spelt flour or some other kind if you prefer. I don’t recommend buckwheat – the flavour is too overpowering)
A scoop of vanilla whey powder – about 30g
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
2 egg whites
1/2 cup coconut water
1/2 cup coconut yoghurt*

Throw all the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and whiz for a few seconds to mix. Add the remaining ingredients and process for about a minute until well blended. You can use a mixer or just a wooden spoon if you like, but I’m loving my spanking new food processor at the moment. :)

Cook pancakes in a non-stick pan with a little coconut oil. I used a bit less than quarter of a cup of mixture per pancake and ended up with eight in total. Serve with sliced banana, mango or any fruit you fancy. If calories aren’t an issue, melt some extra coconut oil over the warm pancakes as well.  

*If you’re unable to find coconut yoghurt, you can make your own really easily. If that doesn’t appeal, you can substitute natural yoghurt, but you’ll lose a little of the coconut flavour.

Blueberry-buckwheat pancakes

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This is one my earliest recipes that for some reason, didn’t make it across when I switched from Blogger to WordPress. I have a number of recipe posts sitting over there in limbo, and I intend to progressively add them manually…when I get time.

healthy pancakes, protein pancakes

Serves 3-4

1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbs oat bran
1 scoop vanilla whey protein
2 tbs Splenda or Xylitol
2 egg whites
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup natural yoghurt
Skim milk
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Place remaining ingredients except skim milk into a blender or food processor and blend till smooth. Add to the flour mixture and mix well. If the mixture is too stiff, add a little skim milk. Beat for about 1 minute then add the blueberries and gently mix through.

Cook batches of the mixture in a non-stick pan, sprayed with a little cooking spray. You should get 6-8 pancakes out of this quantity of batter.

Serve with natural yoghurt and any kind of syrup you like (some people like sugar-free syrup but I’d rather use a little maple or agave). If you prefer, you can omit the blueberries from the mixture and serve the pancakes with fresh berries of any kind.

You can also use ordinary old plain flour instead of the rice flour – I just prefer to keep my wheat consumption to a minimum. Wheat and I are not good friends….

Apple & Blueberry Danish

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This is a light version of a classic sweet treat, quick and simple to make. It uses ingredients that you’re likely to have on hand, so it’s perfect for afternoon tea or dessert when unexpected guests drop in.

Serves 4

1 sheet good quality frozen puff pastry
1 Granny Smith apple
½ cup frozen blueberries
1 tbs St Dalfour blueberry jam (or other no-added-sugar brand)

Set the pastry aside to thaw. Defrost the blueberries and pour off any liquid. Peel, core and quarter the apple, then slice each quarter fairly thinly. Once pastry is thawed, cut it into four squares and place them on an ovenproof tray lined with baking paper. Place one teaspoon of jam in the centre of each square. Arrange the apple slices on top, then add one quarter of the blueberries.

Lift two diagonally opposite corners of the pastry and fold them into the centre, over the filling, slightly overlapping them. Bake at 200C for 15 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Serve warm on their own, with natural yoghurt or vanilla ice cream. You can sift a little icing sugar over the top if you like.

Each serve contains about 160 Calories (not including yoghurt or anything you might serve with it).

Banana-passionfruit blondies

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For those Aussies who don’t know what a “blondie” is, it’s a brownie made with white chocolate instead of the dark stuff. This isn’t strictly a traditional blondie, being flavoured with banana and passionfruit – I added the fruit to give it sweetness without resorting to the use of extra sugar or artificial sweeteners – but it does taste great.

Serves 16

3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large banana
Pulp of 2 passionfruit
3 tbs almond butter
2 egg whites plus 1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
100g white chocolate buttons (chop them if they’re the large kind)

Preheat oven to 170C. Sift flour, baking power and salt into a large bowl. Add the chopped chocolate and mix well. Smoosh the banana and almond butter in a food processor until smooth. Add the egg, egg whites, vanilla and apple sauce and process until they’re well mixed. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir until combined. Line a non-stick lamington pan with baking paper and pour in the mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through, then allow to cool before cutting into 16 pieces.

I’m going to experiment a bit more with this recipe as they turn out a bit flatter and not as light as I’d like. They’re perfectly acceptable; delicious, in fact. I just think I can improve on them.

Mango-coconut ice cream

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A spate of seriously hot summer weather this week sent me scurrying to find my trusty old ice cream maker. Not strictly an ice cream, but not really a sorbet either, this frozen treat satisfies your sweet tooth without adding to your waistline. The mango gives it a creamy texture, and the coconut complements it beautifully.

Serves 4

2 large ripe mangoes
165g can of “Lite” coconut milk
1 tbs sweetener of choice (artificial or natural)
1 egg white
About 1/4 cup shredded coconut

Peel mangoes, chop flesh and process to a puree in a blender or food processor. Place in a bowl with all other ingredients except the shredded coconut and mix well with an electric mixer. Place the bowl in the fridge for an hour to chill, then churn in an ice cream maker, following the instructions for your machine and serve with the shredded coconut sprinkled on top.

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you’re going to have to be patient… Freeze the mixture in a shallow metal tray for about 3 hours until almost frozen. Transfer to a food processor and process until smooth, then return to the freezer straight away. After another hour, you should be good to go.

Made using Xylitol as the sweetener, the stats per serve came out to:

Calories: 143
Fat: 3.2g
Protein: 2.8g
Carbohydrate: 25.8g

Choc Brownies revisited

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I thought I’d post a little update on my super choc brownie recipe, because I’ve managed to improve it. I know! I didn’t think it was possible either… ;o)

Choc brownie

Extra-super choc brownie

They’re only small tweaks, but here’s what I did:

1. I chucked the walnuts in with the dry ingredients instead of sprinkling them on top. I found they had a tendency to burn a little, so adding them to the mix solves that problem.

2. Instead of sprinkling chopped chocolate over the top during the final baking, I simply nuked it and dribbled it over the finished product with a spoon. You could fuss around with a piping bag, but this was easier.

3. I was out of almond butter, so used natural peanut butter instead. Oh. My. GOD.

4. I threw a handful (carefully measured) of crushed raw cacao beans into the mix. Not essential, and not everyone would like the slight crunch, but I’m partial to them.

Give the “new and improved” version a try.

Super-choc brownies

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I’ve been promising this for a while, but first there was a bit of experimenting to get the recipe right and then, just when I had it perfected, I went off on holidays and had no time to post it. It’s a healthied-up version of the traditional chocolate brownie, so not actually deadly to the waistline…as long as you don’t eat the entire batch in one go, that is. Try to resist, OK?

These are even better served warm!

STOP THE PRESSES! I’ve made this even better! Here’s the update.

Makes 16 serves

1/2 cup wholemeal, buckwheat or rice flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup roughly chopped fresh dates
3 tbs almond butter or natural peanut butter
2 egg whites plus 1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tbs agave syrup (you could use maple syrup or honey if you prefer)
100g 85% dark chocolate, chopped
About 1/2 cup of roughly chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 180C. Sift flour, cocoa, baking power and salt into a large bowl. Add half the chopped chocolate and the walnuts and mix well. Smoosh the dates and almond butter in a food processor until smooth. Add the egg, egg whites, vanilla, syrup and apple sauce and process until they’re well mixed. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the date mixture. Stir until combined. Line a non-stick lamington pan with baking paper and pour in the mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through, then allow to cool. Melt the remaining chocolate and drizzle over the top, then leave to set before cutting into 16 pieces.

This has roughly the following nutritional content per serve:

Calories 126
Fat 8.4g
Protein 3.9g
Carbohydrate 7g
Sodium 22mg