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Chocolate Cherry Tart (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

December 8, 2016 · 6 Comments

Chocolate Cherry Tart - gluten free, grain free, dairy free, vegan, raw

 

We don’t eat a lot of desserts or sweets but every year for Christmas Eve, I make up something special for dinner.

This year I was thinking about chocolate and cherries because, you know …… yum!

Mandy from Crio Bru Australia kindly sent me some Vega Real flavour and I turbo-chocolated this tart with it.

 

Without sounding too food-wanky, the Crio Bru gives it a whole new delicious depth of chocolatey flavour.  Vega Real is my favourite flavour but you could use any of the blends (probably not Mint or Mojito though).

What is Crio Bru? It’s ground cocoa beans that you can use in cooking or brew up to make a delicious hot or cold drink. It has loads of health benefits and the perfect substitute for coffee!

You only need a small piece of this tart – it’s rich and filling but I haven’t made it overly sweet. The best thing is you don’t even need to turn on the oven.

I really hope you enjoy it. If you make it for Christmas or any time, send me a photo!

 

Chocolate Cherry Tart

(Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

 

Vital Stats: gluten free, grain free, dairy free, vegan, raw

This is what you need:

Base:

1 cup almonds, soaked

1 tablespoon cacao

1/2 cup medjool dates

1/4 cup Crio Bru

Filling:

2 cups cashews, soaked

1 cup medjool dates

1 cup coconut cream (get one in a BPA free can)

2 tablespoons Crio Bru

1/2 cup cacao

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt

2 scraped vanilla pods or 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

200g fresh cherries

Garnish:

Extra Crio Bru
Extra cherries

 

This is how you do it:

Soak the almonds and cashews for a few hours or overnight. This just softens them down and makes them easier to work with and digest.

Process the base ingredients until smooth.

Press into a 20cm baking paper lined flan dish or springform pan. I use the back of a soup spoon to get it nice and smooth.

Place in the freezer until firm.

Meanwhile, infuse the coconut cream with the Crio Bru in a saucepan on a low heat for ten to fifteen minutes. Let cool completely, don’t strain. The whole lot will go into the filling.

Whizz up all the filling ingredients except the cherries. Keep going until it’s nice and smooth.

I like to test it now to check the flavour. If you like really sweet things you may need to add in a drizzle of maple syrup or if you want it really dark and chocolatey, go another tablespoon of cacao.

Pit the cherries (I got a kid to do this!! but you can buy cherry pitters)  and place cut side down on the base.

Whack in the filling and smooth the top out.

Cover and refrigerate until set.

Decorate with fresh cherries and sprinkle over some more Crio Bru. 

Store in the fridge and bring out just before serving.

You could also use frozen cherries or fresh or frozen raspberries.

 

Want some more Crio Bru recipes?

 

Choc Hazel Bliss Balls

Crio Bru Christmas Cake

Crio Mac

Double Chocolate and Berry Biscuits

Homemade Chocolate Chai Syrup

 

 


(this post is sponsored)

Filed In: FOOD / Tagged: cheesecake, cherry, chocolate, chocolate tart, christmas dessert, raw cheesecake, raw dessert, tart

A (Mostly) Healthy BBQ for 12

November 12, 2012 · 27 Comments

table

Last weekend, I had all my family at my house for my Mum’s 60th birthday.

I decided to go with a healthy BBQ with a bit of a gourmet twist and a few treats thrown in. Most of it was homemade, but there were a few shortcuts. Hey, a girl has to be realistic!

We decorated and catered on a budget. It was so lovely and relaxing to have it at home. Later in the night, when all the candles were on, it was magical sitting out on the deck.

My photos are not that great as I was running around like a chook with my head cut off! So, please excuse them!

I hope you enjoy the recipes. Most of these are our favourite things to eat.

First though, I will tell you a little bit about our decorations.

I had been stalking Pinterest for ages looking for some good ideas. They didn’t all come together exactly how I wanted them and I ran out of time to iron the tablecloth, but I was still happy.

Plain white tablecloths. Branches off the gum trees (was going to be hessian but Spotlight had run out!). Silver platters from the opshop topped with rocks and candles. Assorted natural looking things I already had. Loads of tealights in glass holders from Ikea. Glass vases and white flowers. Crochet doilies from the opshop. Hanging glass bubbles with tealights. Paper doilies with place names handwritten.

Now, let me tell you what we ate.

pear forks

Pear, Brie and Prosciutto Forks. This is one of our favourite appetisers to eat, but we don’t eat it much anymore because of the prosciutto. It’s a rare treat and we thoroughly enjoyed it! I got the idea of putting it on forks for presentation from a Home Beautiful magazine. So this is how you do it: Cut a pear into thin slices and rub with lemon juice. Place a small wedge of brie (Jindi triple cream brie is sublime) and a small smear of Maggie Beer’s quince paste on the pear. Wrap a thin piece of prosciutto around the pear and spear onto a fork. Make as many as you need, arrange attractively on a platter and scatter with some fresh thyme.

healthy salads

Caprese Salad. So simple. Just layer roma tomato slices with bocconcini slices, sprinkle with fresh basil, drizzle with some good quality virgin, organic olive oil and some cracked pepper. Always make and serve at room temperature for the best flavour.

Beetroot, Lime and Apple Salad. Thermomix owners will be familiar with this one – but I change it up a bit! For those without a thermy, get a couple of fresh, peeled beetroot and a couple of green apples. Grate coarsely. Add 1/4 to 1/2 a finely chopped red onion. Add salt and pepper, good quality virgin, organic olive oil and lime juice to taste. I make this all the time. Love it.

Green Salad. I just made this one up. I wanted a green salad, but with a bit of colour. So, it’s a mix of rocket, spinach and tatsoi to which I added snow-pea sprouts, cucumber, radish slices and macadamias. We just served a simple vinaigrette with this made from apple cider vinegar, chia oil, mustard and salt and pepper.

Lemony Asparagus. Simple fresh, organic asparagus, with lots of lemon juice, salt and pepper quickly cooked on the BBQ.

healthy bbq meats

Fresh prawns. You can’t be a Queenslander and not love prawns! We actually had these as an entree, in two large serving bowls on ice with some snowpea sprouts to decorate. I had warm water in finger bowls, lots of lemon wedges and two dipping sauces. Both sauces were based on my mayo recipe. To one, I added lime juice, garlic and lime zest to make lime aioli and the other I added organic tomato sauce and cayenne pepper to make a spicy thousand island sauce.

Crispy potatoes. These were going to be something more elaborate. But in the end, I just got some organic baby potatoes, tossed them in coconut oil, added pink salt and ground pepper and cooked in the oven on a high temperature for about 30 minutes. The leftovers were nice the next day, cut up cold with some of the lime aioli and tzatziki as a dressing.

Lime, Coconut and Chilli Chicken. This is a really yummy recipe I adapted from this one at taste.com.au. Blitz in your thermomix or food processor, the rind and juice of two limes, 1 green chilli, 3 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup coconut oil, 1/2 cup coriander leaves and 1/4 cup mint leaves.  Rub well into 800g organic chicken thighs, cubed. Marinate 20 mins in the fridge (I don’t think you can do it for too much longer as the lime juice will ‘cook’ the chicken). Thread onto pre-soaked bamboo skewers. Cook on the BBQ 5 minutes each side. We served it with some tzatziki on the side, fresh coriander leaves and lime wedges.

Spicy Lamb Steaks. This is also a really delicious recipe. I adapted it from a cookbook I have called, Easy Mediterranean. Using 24 small lamb rump steaks, I marinated them overnight in a mix of eight crushed garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of sweet paprika, 6 tablespoons of grapeseed oil, salt and pepper and 8 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves. I served it with a jarred vegetable relish, Ajvar (love this stuff). Everyone loved the lamb best!

healthy bbq desserts

Fresh Fruit Platter. What could be healthier or easier? It’s always very popular! Just select a range of seasonal fruit, find yourself a platter, cut and arrange artistically. I like to put the big pieces of fruit on the bottom (there was also pineapple hiding in there) and then add smaller pieces and then decorate with strawberries and grapes. Try to get a mix of colours for the best look.

Raw Mango Cheesecake. This was a variation of my berry cheesecake. The base was 2 cups organic almonds, 1 cup dates, 1 cup organic turkish apricots, 1/2 cup shredded coconut, 2 tspns vanilla and 2 tspns cinnamon. The filling was 3 cups organic cashews, 2 cups of chopped mango, 4 passionfruit, 1 cup coconut oil, 1/2 cup lemon juice and 3/4 cup xylitol. Please see the link for how to put it together. I took it out of the freezer a few hours before serving and topped it with some more chopped mango, passionfruit and mint leaves. It’s so yummy.

Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes. Okay, I confess, this recipe (from a Home Beautiful magazine) is not healthy. But it looked so yummy, I couldn’t resist making it for the ‘birthday cake’. My theory is that a few treats are good for the soul.  I will give you the recipe because some of you on Facebook asked me for it. I used all organic ingredients, except for the champers! Cream 160g butter with 3/4 cup caster sugar. Add 3 eggs, beating after each addition. Sift 2 cups SR flour over, add 3/4 cup pink champagne and stir. Put into 24 cupcake papers (I got mine here) and bake in a moderate oven for 25-30 minutes.

Now, the original recipe called for butter icing mixed with champers, food colouring and flavouring, but I just couldn’t go that far! What I did was mix up a tub of marscapone cheese with a punnet of pureed strawberries and a good splash of the champers. Instead of cachous, I topped them with fresh strawberry halves. The little stars on wire were purchased from The Cheesecake Shop. The tower was easy to put together – you just get two plates, one smaller than the other and use an upside down bowl in between. Some fresh flowers tucked in between the cupcakes finished it off.

Okay, so that was our birthday BBQ! It was more than enough for 12 people and we had a few leftovers for lunch the next day – winner. Best of all, we all had a lovely time together as a family. We don’t often all get together in the one place, so it was pretty special.

 

What sort of things do you like to serve at a BBQ? Do you have big family get togethers?

 

Filed In: FOOD / Tagged: bbq, chicken, dinner, gourmet bbq, healthy bbq, lamb, raw cheesecake, raw desserts, salads, thermomix, vegetarian

Healthy Father’s Day Food !

August 27, 2012 · 4 Comments

I love Father’s Day. It’s a chance to acknowledge and appreciate our dads and spend some quality family time together.

We never spend lots of money, instead it’s all about brekky in bed, home-made cards, hanging out together and a little something special.

Check out my Natural and New Age Father’s Day Gift Guides  if you need some inspiration for gifts!

But what are we going to feed Dad? Keep it healthy and keep it tasty! Here are some ideas from the blog:

Breakfast in bed is a perfect start to the day (along with plenty of cuddles and kids in bed).

Green Pancakes

Green pancakes with blueberries and yoghurt

Family lunch. Home-made pizza and a salad.

2 ingredient pizza base

                     Healthy Pizza                                  

Roasted Vegetable Pizza (with a gluten-free base)

Afternoon tea. Hot drink and a biscuit – healthy of course!

Healthy Homemade Milo

Homemade hot milo

Really Healthy Anzac Biscuits

Healthy Anzac Biccies

Dinner and Dessert. Mexican Chicken and a Healthy Brownie.

Mexican Roasted Chicken with Corn Couscous Salad

Mexican Roasted Chicken with Corn Couscous Salad

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Beetroot and Strawberry Brownies

For more recipes, you might like to check out my new Recipe Index!

What are you cooking Dad for Father’s Day? Give us some more ideas!

Filed In: FOOD / Tagged: anzacs, breakfast in bed, Father's day, homemade milo, pizza, raw cheesecake, soup

Berry Coconuty Cheesecake – so healthy!

April 30, 2012 · 29 Comments

 Berry coconuty raw cheesecake

I have had a life-long love affair with cheesecake. My mum used to make an awesome mango cheesecake, sweet and rich! Unfortunately, all that sugar, dairy and wheat just doesn’t love me anymore.

Recently, I started hearing about all these healthy people making ‘raw’ cheesecakes. Now to be honest, when someone said ‘raw food’, I wasn’t exactly that excited. It just didn’t really appeal to me. It sounded weird – hippy food! Until I tried it – if this is what raw food tastes like, count me in!

I have made a few different ‘cheesecakes’ now, but this one I made up at Easter time, inspired by this recipe, is my favourite. It’s so darn healthy, I would serve it up to my kids for breakfast!

It’s raw, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, high protein, low carb. The best bit though……. it tastes flipping amazing!!

Try it, tell me what you think.

♥ Berry Coconuty Cheesecake ♥

So, this is what you need: 

2 cups organic almonds, soaked overnight*

2 cups dates

1/2 cup organic cacao powder, (not cocoa)

1 teaspoon organic cinnamon

3 cups organic cashews, soaked overnight*

1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries, defrosted a little

3/4 cup sweetener of your choice – honey, maple syrup, rice malt syrup

1 cup virgin, organic coconut oil

1/2 cup organic lemon juice

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (not essence)

1/2 cup filtered water (if needed)

* Why would you soak your nuts? Good question. Not only does it make the nuts softer and easier to process, soaking makes nuts easier to digest. Read more here. If you can’t manage overnight, at least do a couple of hours of soaking. Use filtered water.

 

Berry Coconuty Cheesecake

Okay, so this is how you do it:

Drain the almonds well and place in your thermomix (or food processor) with the dates, cacao powder and cinnamon.

Blitz until it forms a crumb and is sticking together a little. Add a touch of filtered water if needed.

Place a piece of baking paper into a large, spring form pan or two glass pie dishes. (That’s what I did – one for later!)

Press the cheesecake base into the dish, smoothing it with the back of a wet spoon. Place in the fridge.

Now, fling the rest of your ingredients into the thermomix or food processor and blitz!

It should be very smooth and creamy. Keep going until it’s a nice texture! Use the water if it’s looking a bit too thick.

Pour this mix onto the base. Put some cling wrap over it and chuck into the freezer.

Leave it overnight or at least six hours.

To serve, take it out of the freezer for about ten minutes and cut into slices.

You could serve it with some fresh berries or even make a berry sauce with some more berries and honey, thickened with cornflour.

I find you only need a small serve. The nuts in this ‘cheesecake’ make it really filling.

~yum~

 

Now, if you are keen to get into this ‘raw cheesecake’ craze, you could also try this recipe from the beautiful girls at Like Chocolate for Women. Or try my mango version of this recipe.

 

I love comments. Do you have a recipe for a raw cheesecake? Do you love raw cheesecakes? Talk to me.

Changing Habits Coconut Oil

Filed In: FOOD / Tagged: berries, coconut oil, dairy-free, dessert, gluten-free, raw cheesecake, sugar-free, thermomix, vegetarian

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