Michelle Koen » gluten free

Coconut crepes, with banana cream and blueberries

Michelle — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:54:47 +0000

After losing the photos I'd taken for Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day from my camera I was a little frustrated but posted a link to these cauliflower pancakes. From this I was asked about crepes. You see, it's quite easy to make fluffy pancakes, but much harder to get soft delicate crepes without the magic binding properties of gluten. Somewhere in the deep dark recesses of my mind I recalled I had cracked the code. Trawling through old notebooks I finally found a recipe for a very low-carb crepe using pea protein. It sounded like the perfect afternoon snack with a little ABC (almond, brazil, cashew) nut butter spread. These were really very good, but the request had been for one using quinoa or coconut flour. Again, this morning I got out my crepe pan (the pan that no one else is allowed to use for anything else) mixed up a few ingredients and like magic crepes appeared. The lovely thing about crepe batter is that it's so thin that making a batch is quick enough that the first few don't get too cold. Inspired by the coconut milk in the batter, I felt the filling needed to be banana-y. Unfortunately, I was out of bananas, but a client had given me some banana flavoured whey to try. Combined with the tanginess of the blueberries and a little sprinkle of coconut it felt like a very lavish Thursday morning breakfast! I will give both the pea protein and quinoa flour versions of the recipe. Both work exceptionally well, without cracking or falling apart. I was even able to 'flip' a few in the pan! Serves: 1 small (either protein or quinoa crepes) Prep-Time: 7 minutes Cooking times: 13 minutes Crepe: Lower-carb version

20g/ ¾ scoop Rice or Pea protein powder
1 whole egg, beaten
2 egg white
160ml/ 2/3 cup light coconut milk (or unsweetened almond milk)

Crepe: Quinoa Flour Version

35g/3 heaped Tbsp Quinoa flour
1 whole egg, beaten
2 egg white
160ml/ 2/3 cup light coconut milk (or unsweetened almond milk)

Banana Cream

15g / ½ scoop banana flavoured protein powder (or 1 small mashed banana)
40g /2 Tbsp light ricotta
a splash light coconut milk

Cooking oil for spraying/brushing
100g Blueberries
1 tsp shredded coconut, to serve.

Place the protein powder or quinoa flour in a large bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, stirring to combine thoroughly between each addition. Gradually add the coconut milk to form a batter the consistency of runny cream. Preheat a small frying pan to a medium heat. Meanwhile mix the ingredients for the banana cream to form a smooth, yet thick consistency. Set aside. Lightly grease the pan.Pour a quarter cup of the crepe batter in to the pan and swirl to thinly coat the base. Wait for about a minute, until the edges become firm, then slide a spatula around the edges to loosen before flipping and cooking for a further 30 seconds. Repeat with the remaining mixture to make approximately 5 crepes. Fill each crepe with a dollop of banana cream and blueberries. Roll or fold, and top with a sprinkle of shredded coconut. Protein crepes 259 kCalories, 31.6g Protein, 1.7g Carbs, 0.5g fibre, 13.7g Fat Roll or fold, and top with a sprinkle of shredded coconut. Quinoa crepes 318 kCalories, 19.4g Protein, 23.7g Carbs, 2.5g fibre, 15.6g Fat Banana Cream with blueberries 167 kCalories, 15.6g Protein, 15.7g Carbs, 1.8g fibre, 4.2g Fat

Nice Brown Rice?

Michelle — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 04:31:48 +0000

For the next few posts it's back to basics. Up first I tackle the seemingly impossible task of cooking brown rice. Sure, I've cooked brown rice many times before, but very few times have I enjoyed the texture. My favourite brown rice has always been the repeatable pouches from the supermarket, but no way am I paying for someone else to cook and vacuum pack my rice. I decided the only way to get to the bottom of this was to have a side-by-side rice cook-off. I asked on Facebook whether anyone had a favourite method to share. There were a few votes for rice cookers, a lot of votes for 'blergh, brown rice' and a few votes for the pressure cooker method. For my side by side comparison, all the rice came from the same packet and was rinsed several times before cooking.

Pressure cooker

The pressure cooker has been my favourite method for brown rice cooking as it cuts the time in half. Rice to Water ratio: 1 cup: 2 cups Cooking Time: 20 minutes Method: Place rice and water in a pressure cooker. Bring to pressure over a medium heat and cook for 15 minutes. Release pressure slowly, fluff and serve. Results: Nutty and dense. This is what I've always thought brown rice tastes like. Not a real fan.

Microwave

My mum swears by cooking her rice in the microwave, for me it's never quite worked. However, when I saw this video from the Hong Kong Health Department for microwave brown rice, I figured it was worth a shot. The problem with microwave instructions is that microwaves come in a variety of strengths. Mines a whopping 1100watts which doesn't make much difference over a few minutes, but over 30 minutes I was a little worried. Rice to water ratio: 1 cup: 3 cups Cooking Time: 30 minutes Method: Place washed rice and water in a microwave safe glass dish. Cook on high for 20 minutes, stir and cook for a further 10 minutes. Results: Crispy and dried out. This was not edible. Luckily I have a dog who'll eat almost anything!

Oven

The idea of cooking brown rice in the oven was what started this whole adventure for me. I love cooking basmati rice, oats and quinoa in the oven as I've never had it go 'wrong'. My biggest question with this was getting the rice to water ratio correct. I'd seen various suggestions from 1:2, 1:2.5 and 1:3. I opted for the most water, figuring I could always drain the rice at the end. Rice to water ratio: 1 cup: 3 cups Cooking times: 65 minutes (doing time 4 minutes) Method: Pre-heat oven to 190ºC/375ºF Bring water to the boil in the kettle. Place the rice in an ovenproof dish with a tight fitting lid (no lid, use foil). Pour the water over the rice, cover and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and rest, covered for 5 minutes. Results: Fluffy, slightly sticky. Soft! All signs of nuttiness gone.

Rice cooker

Due to the number of people suggesting using a rice cooker on Facebook, I figured I'd give it another go. I swear by my rice cooker for basmatti and jasmine rice, brown has always been a bit rubbery. Rice to water ratio: 1 cup: 2 cups (this seemed to be the popular ratio on Facebook) Cooking time: about 40 minutes Method: I placed rinsed rice and filtered tap water in the rice cooker. Switched it on and had a shower. Results: Rubbery and nutty. Very similar to the pressure cooker, but took twice as long.

The winner is….Oven Method!

Taste/texture: fluffy Equipment: Almost everyone has access to an oven and a ovenproof pot. Ease of preparation: Set and forget. You could even bake chicken breast and roast sweet potatoes and all your other veggies for the week while this cooks. Too easy! Time: this is the only problem. Good news is, brown rice freezes really well. Allow to cool and freeze in single serve packages. Steam in a steamer or the microwave for a few minutes to bring back to life.

Bonus cooking tips:

Instead of water, use chicken or vegetable stock. Kate rice cooking tip: "add ginger slivers, tied pandan leaf and a clove of bruised garlic. Equal amounts of water and coconut milk .... Remove garlic, giner and pandan before serving. Add flaked roast chicken, egg and some fried peanuts. Perfect nasi lemak. *drool*" How do you cook your rice?

Asparagus and Scallops- Quick Eats

Michelle — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:44:20 +0000

This time of year it's hot, I've eaten more rich food than usual and the shops are open sporadically. All this leads to a general feeling of not wanting to be in the kitchen too long. If I can get a meal on the table in under ten minutes it's a winner in my eyes. I think the Thai's must suffer this heat lethargy all year round, other than their laborious spice paste, most of their cuisine is so quick to prepare. This beautifully simple stir fry is inspired by a recipe in David Thompson's 'Thai Street Food'. The list of ingredients are glaringly simple, yet the combination of flavours are much more than their individual parts. I'm not one to include a lot of pepper in my food, but this is the secret to the success of this dish. In David's book, he suggests switching different greens and different seafood or poultry in this recipe. I had some frozen scallops in my freezer, which I quickly defrosted in the microwave, and a few bunches of asparagus to get through and that was all I needed.

Asparagus and Scallops

Serves 1 large or 2 small

2 tsp coconut oil
2 bunches asparagus, woody bases trimmed and cut into 4cm length
350g scallops, thawed if frozen
2 cloves garlic, sliced/chopped (not crushed- it will burn!)
1 Tbsp light soy sauce (tamari for gluten free)
2 Tbsp chicken stock or water
½ tsp freshly ground pepper

Heat a wok until very hot. Add the coconut oil and heat until shimmering.
Add the asparagus and scallops and stir-fry for 3 or 4 minutes, until the scallops begin to loose their translucent quality.
Add the garlic and cook for a further minute.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 2 minutes.
Taste and add more pepper if desired

A lighter Tiramisu

Michelle — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 03:00:41 +0000

Every December 23rd I make a tiramisu for my husband Stephen's birthday. It's dead easy, but we don't make many desserts, so it only comes out once a year. Traditionally mascarpone, a super thick Italian cream cheese is used, making this dish sugar and fat personified. However, with a few simple switches the calories, fat and sugar can sliced without missing a beat. As an extra special bonus, for all you protein junkies and/or gluten free folk, I've included a recipe to make your own sponge fingers. If you don't have time, just use the store bought variety.

3 eggs, separated
¾ cup sweetener (I used ½ cup native, ¼ cup raw castor sugar)
¼ cup arrowroot powder or vanilla casein protein powder
250g light soft ricotta (I used perfect italiano light)
100g low-fat quark or cream cheese
90ml (3 shots) espresso coffee
60ml (¼ cup) marsala or brandy
3 fresh egg whites
40g 85% dark chocolate
24 italian sponge finger biscuits OR

2 whole eggs, separated
6 egg whites
2 tsp sweetener
¾ cup coconut flour
¾ cup vanilla casein protein powder OR ¾ cup almond meal

To make the sponge finger biscuits: Preheat an oven to 180ºC/350ºF Beat the egg yolks until they change colour, add the sweetener. Set aside. In a clean bowl with a clean, dry whisk, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold in the egg yolk mixture and the remaining flours/protein powders. Switch to a wooden spoon and form into a dough. Divide the dough into 24 pieces and form into fingers using your hand (clean hands or gloves for hygiene, please!). Line a flat baking tray with baking paper, and place the fingers on the tray. Bake the fingers for 15–20 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool and preferably rest for at least a few hours before using. To make the tiramisu: Beat the egg yolks with the sweetener in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add in the ricotta and quark and stir until combined. Place the arrowroot or casein in a small bowl. Add a quarter of the cheese mixture and blend until free of lumps. Return the thickened mixture to the larger bowl of cheese mix and stir until combined and evenly distributed. Set aside. Prepare the coffee and combine with the marsala in a wide bottomed dish. Dunk the sponge finger biscuits in the coffee and and pack in a layer across the bottom of a large (about 30cm) square dish. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold through the cheese mixture until evenly combined. Pour over the coffee soaked sponge fingers. Grate the chocolate over the top. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours, preferably overnight, to allow the flavours to fully spread.

Hazelnut and Choc-Hazelnut Macaroons (sugar-free/gluten-free/dairy-free)

Michelle — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 08:32:24 +0000

By making these biscuits I could bring the downfall of Christmas in my family. Chocolate, the downfall of Christmas? I know…. It's a risk I'm willing to take.

Introducing anything new to our family's Christmas is risky. I got weird looks with these stuffed eggs last year; but everyone loved them. This year, I mentioned to my mum I'd seen Viv's Gianduiotti, and that I wanted to try a making chocolate Haselnussmakronen. There were serious murmurs about ruining Christmas! Chocolate, ruin christmas? Bah! Plain hazelnut macaroons are steeped in family history. Originally Haselnussmakronen, traditional German macaroons from my grandmother's recipe. These have always been my favourite Christmas biscuit ever since I was young. When the Christmas baking was handed down to me, I saw how easy it would be to lower the carbohydrates in these. No one even noticed. We now have several diabetics in our Christmas party and the low-carb approach is really appreciated. To placate everyone, and satisfy my curiosity, I prepared both. If the family don't get into them, the woman I bought the hazelnuts from will happily take them off my hands. I hope that these make your Christmas extra special. xo

Gianduja and Haselnuss Macaroons for Christmas

To make 15 of each

300g (18oz) hazelnuts, plus 30 extra
150g 85% dark chocolate or cocoa farm sugar free chocolate
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch
salt
a pinches cinnamon
1 cup granular sweetener, or 200g castor sugar
4 fresh egg whites, at room temperature

Place your oven racks near the centre of the oven, allowing for a little room for the air to flow. Preheat an oven to 120ºC/250ºF. Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Place the hazelnuts, reserving the 30 extra, in a food processor and grind until they are a fine powder. Set aside in a large mixing bowl. Break the chocolate into squares and place in the food processor, process until fine crumbs are formed. Place in a second mixing bowl.
Add the vanilla, salt and cinnamon to the ground nuts, and mix until combined. Place a third of the nut mixture (about 100g) in the chocolate bowl. Divide the sweetener equally amongst each bowl, half a cup in each. Stir both bowls to combine the mixtures.
In a large clean, dry mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold half the egg whites through the non-chocolate mixture until evenly blended through to form a sticky, slightly crumbly dough. Repeat with the chocolate hazelnut mixture.
Using your clean hands (for extra hygiene wear gloves), form each mixture into balls the size of walnuts and place on the prepared trays. Gently press a hazelnut into the top of each one.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the door ajar for a further 20 minutes before cooling on a wire rack or elevating the trays on bowls to allow air to flow under them.

Substitutes and Alterations:

If you don't have a food processor, purchase ready ground hazelnut meal from the supermarket and grate the chocolate with a cheese grater.
Raw castor sugar, natvia or spenda would all make suitable sweeteners in this recipe

This time last year I shared with your my family's Christmas Cinnamon Stars

Cashew Finger Cookies

Michelle — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 03:55:39 +0000

Crispy, golden buttery cookies made from all natural ingredients; without the butter, sugar or flour. I've been playing around with a few little ideas for Christmas and asked what everyone was after over on my Facebook page. Shortbread was one suggestion. These aren't quite shortbread but they fill the house with the sweet smell of baking, all the same. Even better, because they don't contain any butter, they'll keep for much longer, making them the perfect sugar-free gift to tuck inside a Christmas card.

Cashew Finger Cookies

90g (¾ cup) cashews
2 egg whites, from fresh eggs
¼ tsp cream of tartare
⅓ cup sweetener (I used Natvia, you could use raw castor sugar, Splenda. Xylitol doesn't work in my experience)

Makes 12 cookies

Preheat an oven to 120ºC/250ºF. Line a large, flat baking tray with baking paper.
Place the cashews in a food processor or blender and grind to a powder. Set aside.
Place the egg whites and cream of tartare in a clean dry bowl. Whisk to form stiff peaks. Fold in the sweetener and the ground cashews.
Fit a 5mm nozzle to a piping bag. Fill with mixture. Pipe the mixture in 4cm/1.5in lengths onto the baking tray. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove once golden.
When you remove the the cookies from the oven, they will still be soft. Don't fret! Let them sit for about 20 minutes and they'll be beautifully crispy.

Chocolate Chilli Mango Pudding (for breakfast)

Michelle — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:59:24 +0000

Now that Summer is on the way and there is so much fantastic fresh fruit around, I'm looking for interesting ways I can incorporate all this deliciousness into my breakfast. I've set the omelet pan aside and discovered chia seeds. Chia seeds are rich in omega-3's and fibre, both good things which we're all told we don't eat enough of. Additionally, those tiny little seeds have some amazing super powers, being able to hold up to 9 times their volume in liquid! I've also learned they are a great egg replacer. Look out for some interesting experiments, or should that be egg-less-speriments (sorry), in the near future. I've had chia seeds in my pantry for about a year now. Occasionally i will sprinkle them on oats or into baked goods, but it wasn't until recently I discovered their amazing gelling properties. Chia pudding is hardly a secret in the raw/vegan community, but for me it's been an exciting new discovery. I've been eating chia pudding for breakfast the last few weeks with either almond milk or coconut milk and mangoes. This is all part of pretending I'm on a tropical holiday somewhere. While making my breakfast the other day, I was on the phone to my friend/client/massage therapist, Carly, and the conversation landed on Chocolate. Don't all good conversations at 7.30am? By the time we hung up, my chia had gelled and I had the idea that chocolate was a perfectly normal (and antioxidant rich) breakfast food. Once I had chocolate and mango all ready to go, I couldn't leave chilli out. Vivienne might not have forgiven me. She's promised me that they're a perfect combination. And they were. The chia gel was smooth and cooling along with the mango, the coconut milk sweet, the cacoa powder earthy and a little bitter. The bitterness going perfectly with the occasional zing of chilli. It all summed up my tropical island fantasy breakfast perfectly. 2 Tbsp chia seeds 1/2 cup water 1 1/2 tsp cocoa powder 2 Tbs coconut milk 1 ts sweetener (I used natvia) a sprinkle of chilli flakes (if you're brave) 1 mango, diced Mix the everything except the mango in a bowl. Leave to sit for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally while you drink your morning cuppa. Top with the mango and eat. Preparation and Storage: This whole recipe can be prepared up to 3 days in advance and kept refrigerated in an air tight jar. Substitutes and Alternatives: For a smoother texture place the chia seeds in a food processor or coffee grinder before mixing. To boost the protein content I sometimes sprinkle hulled hemp seeds on top of mine.

Raw Carrot Salad with Sesame, Soy and Lime Dressing

Michelle — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 03:30:42 +0000

Summer's nearly here. Which means it's time for some fun salads. Continuing on with the Asian flavours, is this bright and crunchy carrot salad. Traditionally carrot salad is popular in many cultures, the most well know are those from the middle-east. However, this salad is a spin-off from an Asian noodle salad I used to cook back in my vegetarian days. As it is, it's raw/vegan, but you could add egg noodles, rice noodles or even low carb konnyaku noodles to this if you want to make it a bigger meal. I'm keeping a big tub of it in the fridge and using it in wraps or just grabbing it for a quick snack. The herbs may get a little soggy but I'll allow that because as the bright flavours of the dressing soaks through the crunchy carrot the flavours just become better and better.

Carrot Salad with Sesame, Soy and Lime Dressing

4-5 carrots, grated (to make 2 cups)
1 large (170g) red capsicum, shredded
200g (2 cups) snow peas, shredded
1 big handful mint, shredded
½ bunch coriander leaves

Dressing

4 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce (sugar-free optional)
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce (or Braggs Aminos/Tamari for soy/wheat-free)
1 Tbsp kecap manis
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sesame seeds

Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl.
In a small bowl combine the dressing.
Toss the dressing through the salad.

Makes 4 large serves. Nutrition per serve (using sugar-free sweet chilli): 114 Calories 5.4g Fat, 0.9g Saturated, 0mg Cholesterol 2.9g Protein 10.7g Carbohydrates, 4.5g Fibre 914.2mg Sodium

Rye, raisin, carraway and molasses bread

Michelle — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 01:13:34 +0000

Food shared with good friends always seems to taste better. Just over a year ago I was in London sharing this bread with my dear friend Carolyn. We'd jumped on the tube and trekked across town to the Islington Farmers Market not knowing quite what we'd find when we came across Flour Power City. Their selection of sourdough bread caught our eye. We've both had our moments of obsession with trying to grow our own sour dough starters and resolved that it's something best left to experts. Carolyn picked the Dark Rye Bread with Caraway and Raisins. I was sceptical, I'm not a fan of sweet and savoury combined. I don't like fruit with my cheese or pineapple on my pizza. So, would this work? At breakfast the next morning all expectations were surpassed. The sharpness of the 100% rye flour combined with caraway, fennel and the sweetness of raisins, honey a molasses. It was rich, just sweet enough and densely filling. A single thick wedge was enough to keep me full for most of my morning rambling around Hyde Park. A year later and the molasses jar has been creeping to the front of my pantry. A tiny drizzle in my morning quinoa adding an extra dimension. Somewhere a food memory was triggered. I wonder if I could make a rye bread with a hint of molasses in it? I found these instructions on making a rye sourdough starter. They seemed much easier than past efforts for wheat sourdough. This gave me a lead time of 3 or so days to figure out the next step. Tabs started to span across the top of my browser as I compared notes from different baking website. It was clear I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. The Fresh Loaf was a huge help. Especially this recipe on 100% sourdough ratios. The terminology of bread baking and all of the technical bits and bobs are still lost on me. And I'm sure I still don't know what I'm doing, but I am really enjoying this bread. Plus, I'm no longer convinced bread making is for 'someone else'. You will need: a little less than 1kg rye flour a little less than 1 Litre filtered water ½ cup raisins 14g salt 2 tsp fennel seeds 1 Tbsp caraway seeds 1 Tbsp molasses 1 tsp honey (Thursday) Morning- Day 1 Place 50g of flour and 50g of filtered water in a large, clean, glass jar. Stir with a chopstick until combined. Cover with a lid and place somewhere warmish (25ºC or so), such as a window sill. (Thursday) Evening- Day 1 Add another 50g of flour and 50g of water to the jar. Stir, cover, put back on the window sill. (Friday) Morning- Day 2 Small air bubble should be starting to form today. Stir in another 50g of flour and 50g of filtered water. Use a whiteboard marker to mark where the slop fills the jar to. Cover and leave in your warm place. (Friday) Evening- Day 2 Your started should have risen a bit and have bigger bubbles. 50g of water, 50g of flour, stir. Mark jar with marker. Rest. (Saturday) Morning- Day 3 Hopefully your starter will have nearly doubled in size overnight. Their should be nice big air bubbles in the mixture at around 5mm in size. If it's not ready yet, repeat the 'feeding' process for another day. In a large mixing bowl combine 150g of your starter 525g of water. Mix until the starter has mostly dissolved. Then add 625g rye flour. Mix using wet hands and a wet spoon until combined. Cover and rest for about an hour. Place the raisins in a large bowl and cover with boiling water to soak. Add in the salt, spices, molasses and honey and mix again with a wet spoon and wet hands. Place in a greased ovenproof saucepan. Cover and allow to rise for 2-4 hours, or until nearly double in size. Adjust your oven racks so there is at least 40cm height on the middle shelf. Heat your oven to 200ºC. Your bread will still need plenty of room in the saucepan, if it doesn't have nearly double the height still left in the pan, remove the lid and use a second saucepan or bent foil tray as the cover for the pan. Having this height will allow steam from your dough to get trapped and help with the moistness of the bread. Place the saucepan(s) in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, reduce the heat to 180ºC and bake for another 75 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and rest for about 15 minutes. The bread should come away from the edges of the pan and be easy to tip out. Rest on a wire cooling rack until cool. For the first day, or two, the bread will be quite cake-like and soft. A good rye bread should be left un-cut for at least 24 hours. However, you're a stronger willed person than me if you can resist that long. Over the next few days the bread will develop a sourer taste and a firmer texture even if you have cut it. Leftover Starter You will have a bit of sour dough starter leftover. Feed it another 50g of flour and 50g of water and after 8hr pop it in the fridge. The (Friday) night before baking day take it out from the fridge, feed it again with 50g of water, 50g of starter and you're ready to begin (Saturday) baking day the next morning. A note on saucepans- The first time I made this I used my large, oval cast iron Le Crueset pan and didn't need a second saucepan. The bread came out not as tall and more oval shaped. The second time I made this I used 2 20cm Circulon saucepans stacked on top of each other. The bread was the height of a regular loaf and would have been better for toasting, if I hadn't decided to eat it 'naked and raw'.

Flourless Coconut and Mango Cake

Michelle — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:55:03 +0000

Lately I've been dreaming of a return visit to Thailand. Silly really considering half the country is under water right now. To compensate I've been going a little crazy for all the amazing tropical fruit which is coming into season at the moment. Especially, pineapples, papayas. And finally, mangoes were under $2 each at my rather pricey fruit and vegetable shop. I could hardly contain my excitement. The plan was to have them for breakfast with some homemade yoghurt and oats. However, I got chatting to Viviane from 'Chocolate, Chilli, Mango on Facebook and was persuaded to do some baking. I don't bake very often. I'm not a sweet tooth, but Viviane's recipe for Flourless Mango Cake' caught my eye because of it's lack of processed ingredients. Her recipe called for coconut sugar and coconut oil, However, my curiosity about coconut flour has been brewing and this was all I needed to have a play.

Flourless Coconut and Mango Cake

: Makes 1 x 20cm round cake

35g (2 discs) palm sugar
250g shredded dried coconut (or coconut flour)
1 ripe banana, peeled
1 large mango, peeled and pitted
3 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup macadamia oil
1 tsp baking powder
icing
15g (½ disc) palm sugar, extra
30ml (1 shot) Cointreau, triple sec or orange juice
½ cup water
20g shredded dried coconut, extra

Pre-heat an oven to 180ºC. Line a 20cm round baking tin with baking paper.
Place the palm sugar in a food processor and crush to a powder. Set aside. Repeat with the shredded coconut until a fine flour is formed. You may need to do this in batches. Add to the palm sugar and set aside.
Place the banana and mango in the food processor and puree to a paste. Add the remaining ingredients, except the egg whites and the coconut flour mixture and process until combined.
In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed. Thoroughly fold ⅓ of egg whites into the batter from the food processor. Add the remaining egg whites and lightly fold until combined.
Gently transfer the mixture to the baking tin and bake for 35–40 minutes or until golden.
Remove from the oven and rest on a rack for 10 minutes.
Mean while combine the remaining palm sugar, Cointreau and water in a small saucepan and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the liquid has reduced to a syrup. Use a pastry brush to brush the syrup over the cake. Sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

Preparation time: 15 minute(s) Cooking time: 40 minute(s)

Diet tags: Reduced carbohydrate, Gluten free

Number of servings (yield): 12