Choices Chocolate Buttons

Nom nom nom I love these big time! They're very nice though a bit pricey like all dairy free chocolates. Is rice flour & coconut oil really that much more expensive than milk?

It's def nice to have some quality tasting "milk" chocolate rather than just the really dark stuff. The choc orange ones are subtley flavoured an are reminiscent of a chocolate orange - though it's been quite a while since I've had one.

I've mentioned choices before I think - they do some brilliant "milk" chocolate caramel cups.

The buttons I got from Ocado, the caramels I've had from Waitrose, Ocado, Sainsburys & Tesco.

Chocolate & Cupboard Stuff Ice Nohm

Sometimes you've shopped & planned, sometimes you just want something and make do! I've got some gluten free cones from ocado and wanted some ice cream to go in them. Chocolate I had the ingredients for but I like my ice cream Ben & Jerry style with bits so I raided the cupboard. I made double quantities as I wanted a scoopable amount; this made a small ice cream tub full.

2 Tins of coconut milk
Carton of coconut cream
1/2 cup sugar (I prefer golden caster sugar) 
1/2 cup good cocoa powder
Big pinch of salt
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Tsp xanthan gum

Handful of chocolate chunks (more would have been better)
Glace Cherries (half a tub)
Couple of big tablespoons of fluff

I mixed the icecream then put it in the machine til it got to soft set stage. I stirred through the bits & swirled in the fluff before slopping it into a tub & putting it into the freezer to firm up (not for long enough - it was still a bit sloppy to scoop). Sometimes winging it really works. 

Shopping: Walters Chocolate Honey Nougat (4 points)

These are beyond good, beyond good and into special private moment territory. Light fluffy nougat, almost milky way fluffy, with a thin coating of dark chocolate.  I love them and after circa 50 of them that love has not waned!

The joy I felt when I discovered they were only 4 points on weight watchers cannot be expressed in words!

So far I have only got them online from ocado (where I first made the discovery & immediately regretted only ordering one) and amazon where you can get a box of 20 (nearly finished the second box!) I check everywhere though!

Picture is of an empty wrapper coz I couldn't wait!

Chocolate Almond Promise Ice Nohm

Almonds are a symbol of promise, hence the name. The picture I think may get gold in the worst ever food photo though!

If you can't get the Almond Lindt*, any similar chocolate would work or some plain chocolate & toasted almonds.
Tin of coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp xantham gum
Bar of Lindt roasted almond chocolate*
Mix together all the ingredients except the Lindt and put in your ice.cream maker. Once it is at Mr Whippy stage, break up the chocolate & stir it in.
Yum!


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Pink & Fluffy Dotty Choccy Ice Nohm

Otherwise known as double choc 'ice cream' with a raspberry marshmallow swirl.

I  decided that I needed a new name for my 'ice cream' recipes and helped by my tweeps and google I am calling them Ice Nohm. The ice bit is obvious but the Nohm comes from the Thai for coconut milk - nohm gkati - I did say google was involved! When I saw the word Nohm I knew it had to be involved! I tend to use coconut milk, as it has a creamyness that rice milk for example doesn't and doesnt taste coconutty if you have other flavours in.

This recipe came about because my friend Sarah came round for tea last night & when I got home I realised I didn't have anything for pudding. I keep the bowl part of my ice-cream maker in the freezer so thought I would knock up some Ice Nohm (not that I had named it that then!). The basic Ice Nohm recipe is easy and I just added what I had in the cupboard & thought would go! 

When I first started making Ice Nohm I thought it was the Coconut Cream which made it creamy but it is the Xantham Gum I think. The Coconut Cream mainly adds calories! I will go back tio my previous recipes and take it out I think - and change them to Ice Nohm! Generally ice cream made from 1 tin of coconut milk will make enough for 2-3 people depending on the bits you put in!

I must credit Sarah in part for the name, it took us a while of bouncing ideas to come up with one we liked! The photo's a bit rubbish & I must have taken it from a pink side as it was actually mainly chocolate with a pink ribbon through it. Bad dishing up maybe!

Choc Ice Nohm mix
Tin of coconut milk
1/4 cup sugar (you can swap this for the sweetner of your choice such as agave which I use sometimes but the fluff is so full of sugar it is not worth worrying!)
1/4 cup good cocoa powder
Pinch of salt

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Extra Bits
Chocolate Chips (I used a pack of Dr Oetkers which are 100g but anywhere around that amount is fine!)
2 big tbsp Raspberry Fluff (Fluff is an american marshmallow spread which you can get in places like Selfridges or online in the UK. It has no nutritional value whatsoever but I don't care coz I like it. The original white one with chocolate spread on a crumpet <insert Homer Simpson noise here>)

Obviously you need to take into account your ice cream makers instructions as well here.

• whish together the mix ingredients, this is especially important with the choc one as the cocoa can go a bit lumpy. You want a smooth consistency.
• Once it is mixed tip it into the ice cream maker.
• When it is still soft, like Mr Whippy consistency, stop the machine and with a spatula stir in the chocolate chips and then swirl in the fluff. You are aiming for a ribbon of fluff through the chocolate which is admittedly not very clear on my pic, so you dont want to mix it in nor do you want 1 big blob.
• At this point you can put it in the freezer in a tub to firm it up or eat it - it depends how sloppy you like your ice cream!
• I served this in dark chocolate cups (which kinda look like chocolate cupcake cases) which I admittedly bought from sainsburys rather than made! They are an easy way to posh-up ice cream!

Violet Velvet Cake

This comes out a brilliant lurid aubergine type colour and will be my halloween cake of choice this year! If you don't tell them most people won't guess the secret ingredient is beetroot! As well as giving it a slightly odd colour it make the cake moist and also gives it added health benefits! Beetroot is a superfood and this is a tasty (and easy) way to add some to your diet!

50g Cocoa Powder

180g Doves Farm Gluten Free Plain Flour

1.5 tsp Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

250g Caster Sugar

300g Cooked Fresh Beetroot (you can do this yourself or M&S handily do a pack this size.

3 Eggs

200ml Corn Oil

1 tsp Vanilla Extract 

Preheat the oven to 180c and 'butter' and flour, use a liner etc a cake tin.

1. Sift & mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
2. In a food processor blitz the beetroot until it is a fine puree then add the eggs one at a time, then the corn oil and vanilla, blitzing all the while until well mixed and smooth.
3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the beetroot mixture, folding in from the sides with a rubber spatula.
4. Pour into the cake tin an bake for 40 mins. It won't rise much and will prob crack a bit so dopn't worry! Do the usual skewer test in the middle. Allow to cool in the tim for a bit before putting onto a wire rack.    

REMEMBER - BEETROOT STAINS! KEEP IT AWAY FROM ANYTHING YOU LOVE, DON'T WEAR A WHITE TOP AND DON'T GET BARE FINGER NAILS IN IT (unless you are going for a goth look).

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Whoopie Pies

The recipe for these will follow shortly, but they are going down a storm at work! They are traditionally made with vegetable shortning rather than butter so were dairy free to start with just the gluten side to work on. There are a number of gluten free recipes online but they are too complicated or contain hard to get flours. Just waiting on a delivery of marshmallow fluff (major ingredient of the filling) and another batch should perfect things!

Apparently Amish mums would put these in their kids lunch boxes and the kids would cry 'whoopie' when they found them, hence the name! The use of fluff in the filling (rather than egg whites) makes them New England rather than Amish Whoopie Pies apparently!

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Shopping: Lazy Day Foods Chocolate Chip Shortbread

Tasty! Could be a bit crumblier for my tastes but the flavour is spot on and anything with chocolate chips is all good in my mind!

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Serving Suggestion: Chocolate & Strawberry 'Cream' Cakes

Basically I cut a chocolate cupcake in half, added some strawberries and a generous squirt of the rice whipped 'cream' mentioned previously - nom nom nom!

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Chocolate Cupcakes

These are very yummy; light, moist and chocolatey and people who aren't on special diets will want them too so think carefully before you take them to work! My receptionist loves these, especially with chocolate frosting. They don't taste coconutty at all.

Makes 10 - 12 cupcakes depending on the case size. They rise a LOT more than you think; you have be warned! I normally fill cases just over 2/3.

6 tbsp coconut butter/oil
1/2 cup sifted coconut flour
1/4 cup coconut cream
1/2 cup cocoa
6 eggs
1 cup & 2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 175c.

• Mix together the melted coconut butter and the cocoa.
• In a bowl whisk together the eggs, coconut cream, sugar, salt and vanilla.
• Stir in the cocoa mixture.
• Combine the flour & baking powder then whisk in until there are no lumps.
• Spoon into cupcake cases, it may look to thin to start with but you will see it thickening even as you scoop.
• Bake in an oven for around 20 minutes until a skewer in the centre comes out clean.
• Let cool on a rack, though the cook obviously deserves one still warm out of the oven.
• Great frosted, I'll post some recipes soon!

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Shopping: It's nearly a crunchie but all grown up

Mr Simms do the usual range of chocolate I can't eat but they do a few dark things which include dark chocolate drops, which I put in my brownies sometimes, and Cinder Crunch. It is dark chocolate with bits of what is very like the inside of crunchies in - kind of like an accident in a crunchie factory where they were trying to make a grown up version. I have only 3 words - nom nom nom. As you can see I couldn't even wait until I'd taken the picture.

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Shopping: Vanilla, Chocolate & Caramel Dessert Pots

I had the vanilla flavour for the first time today and it was very nice. The caramel and chocolate flavours I already know I like! They are quite set and pudding like in consistency, don't need to be kept in the fridge (although nicer chilled)  and are ideal tor packed lunches. Click on the title to be taken to the page at Pure Nature.

Shopping: Lazy Day Foods

I have tried their Tiffin (just had a bit after my salad for lunch actually, well I did have salad!) and they not only have an online oredering facility but in their (quite small but perfectly formed) range they have MILLIONAIRES SHORTBREAD! Expect some more reviews of their food soon!

Amazingly I have the tech skills to make the title of this post a link to their site!

Shopping: Chocolate Tiffin from Waitrose

Another tasty & naughty treat from my recent shopping trip to Waitrose, if there was one in Derby I would be waving goodbye to size 12 forever I think! Chocolatey, biscuity and raisiny nom!

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Shopping: M&S Chocolate Muffins

Finally, M&S enter the free from arena! Not a very wide range and quite a few contain butter but it's a start! First thing tried are the chocolate muffins (if that's a surprise to anyone you haven't been paying attention!) and they get the thumbs up! They are moist, light and chocolately - exactly what you'd expect of M&S cakes. Have some bread rolls to try too- watch this space!
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Rocky Road (Chocolate Refrigerator Cake)

This is all kinds of bad but is soooo good, and brilliant for a girls night in - it gets requested often! No cooking and ridiculously easy - a version of this is what any guide or brownie was taught to make! I was a guilde for about ten minutes, I think this and how to tie a reef know were the only things I learnt! I'm sure you could make this healthier but I like it naughty!

road:
150g dark chocolate
3 tbsp golden syrup
100g margarine (I use Pure spread)
Pinch of salt

rocks: (you can be fairly creative with this once you know what the mix should look like!)
90g mini marshmallows (or big ones cut up)
60g raisins or other dried fruit
150g biscuits (something crumbly and fairly plain is good)

1. Put the road ingredients in a bowl and melt together in the microwave - it doesn't take long at all so do it by minutes with a stir inbetween!
2. Bash the biscuits so they are in bits then stir them into the road mix followed by the other rock ingredients.
3. Line a tin or dish with clingfilm (trust me - you'll regret it if you don't) and tip the chocolatey mess in. Fold the clingfilm over.
4. Pop in the fridge for about 4 hours - go out! - when it's set tip it out the tray, peel off the cling film and slice into chunks. Serve and tell everyone it was much harder work!

Sarahs Chocolate Orange Cake

This cake isn't really anything to do with my friend Sarah but she loves it so much I had to include her! Here she is with a little frosted one just for her to eat on her birthday. It is not designed to be 'special', it is based on a middle eastern recipe I believe, but with no flour and no butter it is ideal for those of us on 'special' diets and decadently chocolatey!

1 whole orange
125g caster sugar
200g dark chocolate, melted
100g ground almonds
3 eggs, seperated
1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Put the orange in a microwaveable bowl, add 250ml water, cover with clingfilm and microwave on high for 20 mins, turning half way through. It doesn't explde - honest! It goes a bit like a shrunken head! Leave to cool, still covered.
2. Preheat oven to 180c. Line a 20cm springform tin with baking paper.
3. Cut the orange in half and remove the pips, put it in the food processor with 5 tbsp of the orangey water and blitz to a puree. Yes, the peel and all!
4. Add the sugar, melted chocolate, almonds, egg yolks and baking powder and whizz again. Pop it into a large bowl.
5. Whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry and gently fold then into the chocolate mixture - you want to keep as much air in as you can.
6. Spoon into the tin, put on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for an hour, putting a piece of baking paper or tinfoil on the top half way through to stop the top burning. Cool in the tin.

This suits a dessert cake for a dinner party or as a tea time cake. I must admit I have had a piece for breakfast before! I will post frosting recipes soon!

Shopping: Chocolate Dessert

Again from Pure Nature, tastes like the chocolate bit of rolo desserts! Doesn't have to be kept in the fridge and makes a good lunch box treat. They do vanilla (haven't tried yet) and caramel (yum) flavours too.
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Shopping; Chocolate & Hazlenut Spread

Just had a Pure Nature order delivered, with some new stuff - I'll post when I've tried them - as well as some I know are lovely. Having been missing my Nutella big time since starting the diet this Italian spread was a gift from the gods and I shed a little tear when I finish the jar.
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Shopping: Waitrose Chocolate Chip Cookies

Need I say more? nom nom nom ...
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