Archives for posts with tag: xylitol

20131103-152013.jpg

This is AMAZING!
I’ve just come up with this ‘bar’ which has turned out to be more like fudge than anything else. It’s sugar and grain free and very low carb.
Try it.
You will need
120g butter- I used Goats…
120g xylitol
5g Stevia – I used Pure Via
1 tsp vanilla extract
30g ground Almonds
50g whole shelled pistachio nuts
40g whole macadamia nuts
20g dark chocolate I used 70% green and blacks
2 heaped spoonfuls of unsweetened cocoa powder

Melt the butter and xylitol in a pan over a medium heat until it bubbles.
Remove from heat.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan and stir.
Pour into a small square tin and spread out.
Pop into the fridge for 1/2 an hour.

To serve, remove from fridge and cut into squares.
It is quite rich and yummy. Give it to your kids, serve it with coffee.
Do it today.
X

20131103-151959.jpg

IMG_2389

I make this cake whenever I have a glut of fruit.
It works well with Rhubarb but I did it with Plums this week which was pretty yumtious.

This one is made with Rhubarb, but use whatever you have, Bananas, apples, pears would be great too.

You will need:

A cake tin or frying pan that will also go in the oven – Use whatever you have and don't worry too much about the quantities filling it…It will either be ‘flan like’ and take a shorter time to cook if you use a wide pan/tin and longer for a taller/thicker sponge if you use a smaller pan/tin.

4 sticks of rhubarb or 4 apples/ 8 plums – or whatever you have…
100 g Xylitol and 5g Stevia
50g butter
For the sponge:
200g butter
200g ground almonds or 200g or gluten free flour (I use Dove’s Gluten Free Self Raising Flour blend)
1 tsp Gluten free baking powder
3 eggs
1tsp Vanilla Extract
100g Xylitol – (sugar replacement – you can find it in supermarkets these days in the sugar section. It looks like this IMG_2474
20g Stevia – it is very light in consistency. I use it as I find Xylitol has a sort of cold taste – this is slightly bitter and counters the Xylitol taste – it balances it really well. The pack I use looks like this:IMG_2902<
Pre heat your oven to around 170C.
1. Chop up your fruit to your liking and cover the bottom of your well buttered cake tin with them – make it neat – you will see this bit when it’s finished.
2. Pop the butter for the caramel into a pan and sprinkle the Xylitol sugar over it and heat it over a medium heat until it bubbles. Watch it like a hawk! When it turns a very slightly golden coour take it off the heat and add the Stevia reserved for the caramel. Stir in well and pour over the fruit in the tin. IMG_2898

3. To make the sponge, add the Xylitol and Stevia to the softened butter give it a good mix with a wooden spoon.
4. Add the eggs one at a time and mix after each addition.
5. Add the ground almonds, add the baking powder, mix carefully until just combined.Then the vanilla extract.
6. Spoon the sponge mix over the caramel and fruit.
7. Pop in the oven (around 170deg C) for around an 45mins. Keep checking your sponge. Have a listen to it once the time is about up, put your ear to it and if you hear it bubbling, put it back in the oven. If you find that the top is over-browning, make a lid with some foil. Cakes with fruit in can take a little longer to bake that other cakes.

Once baked, remove from the oven and turn out as soon as you can onto your cooling rack. Occasionally some fruit will stick to the tin. Carefully replace it back onto the top of your cake.

Serve with fresh custard (sweetened with Xylitol and Stevia to taste) or clotted cream.

20130123-165442.jpgThrough a huge amount of experimentation I have discovered some gems and some unbelievable disasters! Ok, well I could go into detail about me and stuff like that but I think I will christen this blog with a yumtious recipe that you can enjoy with absolutely no guilt.

If you are dairy free, then omit the butter and make with the same quantities of oil – you can even use a very mild olive oil but rapeseed or coconut oil are brilliant in this Choccy wonder.

So…I have given moist slices of this amazing cake to friends and family, only informing them later that it contains such minute morsel of sugar and absolutely no grain.

Do this today. It really is divine.

Goats Butter – 180g – you can also use cows butter. (or if you insist, coconut oil)

Xylitol 140g (you can get ‘Total Sweet’ from all UK supermarkets now.)

5g Pure Via Stevia (also available in all UK supermarkets)

(Optional) 40 g of dark muscovado sugar or dark molasses sugar

2 eggs (medium free range)

140g ground almonds

40g Cocoa powder

1 tsp Xanthium gum (powder)

1 tsp baking Powder

How to make this…

1. Pop on your oven set at 160-170 C

2. butter/oil a 6″ circular tin

3. Whip up a storm by combining very soft butter with the Xylitol and Truvia and the optional brown sugar until light and fluffy, (you can do this in a mixer or by hand with a wooden spoon).

4. Once fluffy, add the eggs 1 at a time whipping ferociously between each to ensure it stays as light as possible, don’t panic if it curdles, just carry on regardless (life’s too short).

5. Then add the ground almonds, the Xanthium gum and Cocoa powder (sieved) and Baking powder.

5. Place in a suitable well greased oven proof pyrex dish or a cake tin and bake on a low heat for what seems like an eternity…

It took mine a good hour, but keep the temperature fairly low around 160/170 degrees Centigrade as it will burn easily. you could pop a circle of greased baking paper (grease proof or similar) on top just to ensure this doesn’t happen. Be careful, keep checking.

Remove and check the middle with a skewer. If it doesn’t come out clean you’ll probably have to pop it back in for a bit.

Once cooked, leave it in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out very carefully and leaving to almost cool. (Almost, because this also tastes great just warm.)

Serve with cream or ice cream if you insist, or have it on its own with a nice cuppa. – Sooooooooo good.