Earlier this year I was diagnosed with an auto immune disease. I feel like I've totally lucked it with the help of an excellent neurologist, who has started me on some monthly treatment and it's going great. This is a round about introduction to say its been a bit of a journey of more change. Diet is probably the biggest factor I've managed so far. Gluten free and almost dairy free (well sometimes I get weak for a great cheese). I couldn’t say I’m trying for paleo but working towards a ketogenic diet (being organised is a massive factor).
As a baker this does have a big impact. I’ve stopped trying to make wheat sourdough bread again. I know right now I need a break from wheat and it is just too tempting to bake for the rest of the house. It may not be forever but it's where I’m now. If you follow Singing Magpie on one of our social media pages (Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest) you would've noticed a change in the type of recipes I have posted, hopefully this post explains a bit more why.
Below I have posted a few cake options that focus on gluten free, no artificial sugars, using our figs to provide this sweetness and minimal dairy (or no dairy if you leave off the icing).
NEW ADDITION TO THIS BLOG 25 Sept 2018
Flourless Banana, Chocolate, Fig Doughnuts
WARNING these are very very good, Frankie even approves.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups of very ripe bananas
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tbspn white sugar or sweetener
2 cups freshly ground almond meal thanks to the great Almondco Australia Ltd almonds
1/2 cup chocolate couverture pellets
1/2 cup White Smyrna sun dried figs chopped
1 teaspoon Murray River Salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Chocolate Ganache
Pellets of chocolate couverture with thickened cream (play with the ratio you like but in this one I went 2:1 chocolate to cream) slowly melted over a saucepan of boiling water but you could omit this to keep them dairy free. Topped with coconut flakes or desiccated coconut
METHOD
Cut or break the bananas into quarters and place in a food processor or blender with the figs. Puree until they are smooth. Then add the eggs, vanilla, sugar, almond meal and salt, blend until thoroughly mixed. Add the chocolate chips, baking powder and baking soda, and blend again quickly so it’s all mixed in.
Pour batter into a doughnut tin (I greased with ghee), and bake 45 minutes, or until cake is set and a toothpick comes clean (watch this though you don't want the donuts to be too tough). Let cool in pan for 15 minutes before taking the cakes out. Ice with the chocolate ganache and sprinkle over the coconut flakes.
Made 12 doughnuts.
Fig, Tahini, Chocolate, Almond mini bundt cakes
So this was my birthday baking. The original recipe for these bundt cakes (and there is also another on the socials) was from Kalejunkie but I’ve made a fair few changes along the way.
INGREDIENTS⠀
⠀
1 cup Bob's Red Mill amaranth gluten free flour⠀
1 1/4 cup almond meal (I used local almonds from my friends and ground them just before using, I like the almond meal to be super fresh). You can replace with GF flour if you need this to be nut free.
2 tsp bicarb soda⠀
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon⠀
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 tblspns of tahini
6 dates (I used Riverland Date Garden neimishi dates, if you haven’t tried them, there is no going back afterwards)
6 semi sun dried White Smyrna figs
A handful of dark chocolate bibs or pellets (I used Callebaut couverture here)
2 tbspn of sticky quince sauce, which I make but you can substitute with maple syrup.
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut milk ⠀
2 eggs⠀
⠀
Icing - chocolate couverture with thickened cream melted over a saucepan of boiling water but you could omit this to keep them dairy free.
METHOD⠀
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius. ⠀
In one bowl mix the dry ingredients - gluten free flour, almond meal, bicarb soda, salt, and cinnamon. In the blender blend the tahini, dark chocolate, dates and dried figs until a thick paste. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, quince syrup, sugar, and milk. Next add the fig mix to the bowl of wet ingredients, and pour into the bowl of dry ingredients. ⠀
Mix everything together. I did do this in the mixer but not for too long, you don’t want to over mix. ⠀
Line muffin pan with liners or use a bundt cake tray like I did which I sprayed with oil. Spoon the batter and bake for 18-20 minutes (watch this if you leave it too long the cake will also become alittle tough). Once these had cooled you can add the chocolate ganache over the top if you are using this.
Made 14 mini bundt cakes.
Flourless Chocolate Orange Fig Cake
WARNING these are very very good. I made both bundt and a whole birthday cake with batches on this recipe.
I started out with the intention of making up large batches of glaced blood orange (think chocolate dipped). I slowly brewed my mountains of sliced blood oranges from The Arnold's Orchard & Fruit stall. Well first round was a resounding FLOP. This left me with a very tasty orangey mush. I slowly boiled down the liquid to a very intense orange syrup and then strained the orange and made three batches of this DELICIOUS cake. I used a variation of Always Order Dessert by Alejandra Ramos version of Nigella Lawson recipe.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups of orange mush I had already cooked (alternatively use 2 oranges) I used seedless blood oranges. I do think the flavour is quite distinct but really use what is local for you. If they have pips you do need to remove these before blending.
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup white sugar or sweetener (I reduced the sugar from 1 cup it still worked fine. I think you could almost get rid of the sugar given I added the white figs).
2 cups freshly ground almond meal thanks to the great Almondco Australia Ltd almonds
1/2 cup cacao
1/2 cup chocolate couverture pellets
1/2 cup White Smyrna sun dried figs chopped
1 teaspoon Murray River Salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
METHOD
If you don’t have the orange mush I started with then:
Place the oranges in a large pot and cover with water by at least 5cms. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours, or until the oranges are soft. Remove from water, chop into quarters and place in a food processor or blender.
Add the eggs, vanilla, sugar, almond meal, figs, cacao, chocolate chips, and salt to the food processor or blender, and puree until very smooth (about 1-2 min). Add the baking powder and baking soda, and puree again quickly so it’s all mixed in.
Pour batter into bundt tin ( I sprayed with coconut oil), and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cake is set and a toothpick comes clean.
Let cool in pan for 15 minutes before taking the cakes out. The icing was a simple buttercream with fresh strawberry puree.
Made 12 bundt cakes or one regular size whole cake.
Christina, I hope you love the recipes. I have another one you too – Banana, fig and almond. A total winner even approval from Frankie our 6 yr old.