Fruity Medley Slice

I have always loved my mum's Fruit Medley Slice and since I can't have condensed milk, malt biscuits, malted milk powder, or the shop-bought packets of fruit medley (due to preservatives), which are all in her original recipe, I have been searching for a slice that will fill this craving. Finally I have found various recipes of which I can take bits and pieces from to form my own, healthier and more allergy-friendly slice!

Base
1 cup Spelt Flour
1/2 cup rapadura sugar
1/2 cup organic dessicated coconut
125g organic butter-melted

Preheat oven to 180C. Sift flour, add sugar and coconut and mix well. Stir in melted butter. Press well into a greased and lined slice tray. Bake 25-30 minutes until brown and crisp. Let this cool completely before adding fruit mixture.

Topping
1 cup chopped organic apricots
1 cup organic shredded coconut + extra for dusting
1 1/2 cups organic sultanas
4-5 Tablespoons Home-made Coconut Condensed Milk (see below)

Mix fruit together. Add 4 tablespoons of home-made coconut condensed milk and mix. Add extra if mixture has not all combined together and coated lightly. Spoon onto base and press down firm, but not too hard that the base breaks. Place in fridge for several hours before cutting into slices. Store in the fridge, or freeze and eat frozen if you find the slice is too chewy or the topping falls off the base. Lastly, ENJOY!!!

*for my coconut condensed milk recipe which I used successfully in this recipe, visit this page:
Dairy-free Coconut Condensed Milk

Dairy-Free Coconut Condensed Milk

After searching and searching through various recipes for a dairy-free alternative for condensed milk, that would be suitable to use in slices, and after testing various recipes, I have finally found one that is sufficient! Inspired by andloveittoo.com and www.beyondthepeel.net.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups home-made coconut milk or 1 can of coconut milk (I used home-made, this way there are definitely no preservatives or additives in it)
1/2 cup honey, agave, maple syrup or other sweetener of choice (I used honey)
1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Method:
Place ingredients into a saucepan (I used my non-stick) and place on a medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. When it begins to simmer, reduce to lowest heat possible. Let it simmer for 1-2 hours (it took mine at least 2 hours, don't worry if it's not your desired consistency after two hours, just be patient and let it continue to simmer) and continue to stir occasionally. Once mixture becomes a more brown and golden colour, test some by placing a small spoonful onto a plate and placing in the fridge or freezer. Once it has cooled, if it is desired consistency, let the rest of the mixture cool-not in the fridge or freezer-and then refrigerate. If it's not desired consistency, try this process again after about 10 or 15 minutes. Don't worry if there are bits in the mixture that haven't fully mixed in, this is normal.

*If you'd like to watch a brief video about the method, visit:
http://www.beyondthepeel.net/2012/11/sweetened-condensed-coconut-milk.html 

Thermomix Coconut Milk

You will need:

• 200g dried coconut (preferable preservative free and organic)
• 1200g water

1. First put all ingredients into your Thermomix and process for 8 minutes on 100 degrees, speed 4.
2. Next, blend for 30 seconds, speed 8.
3. Pour into a nutmilk bag or into a sieve lined with a cheesecloth that is sitting over a bowl.
4. Let the liquid cool and then squeeze/strain remaining liquid into bowl. Once all liquid has been squeezed out, place into a jug or airtight container and store in the fridge.
5. You now have one of 3 options:

• Throw the remaining coconut away
• Put the remaining coconut into a dehydrator and reuse later
• Put remaining coconut back into Thermomix and repeat above process again (however, I usually only add 40ml of water the second time). This is basically a 'free' extra milk that is slightly thinner than the first lot. It can be added to the first lot or kept separate.

***Once settled there will be a thick layer at the top of the milk. This can be used as coconut cream or shaken/stirred back into the rest of the liquid.

Tasty Toasted Muesli

90g butter

150g maple syrup

1½ tsp vanilla essence

2 cups puffed millet

2 cups puffed buckwheat

1 cup puffed rice

¼ cup amaranth puffs

1½ cups rice bran

½ cup quinoa flakes

¼ cup sunflower seeds

¼ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

1 cup shredded coconut

3 tblspns sesame seeds

1 tblspn linseed (flaxseed)

1 tblspn chia seeds

Selection of nuts (optional)

Place butter, maple syrup and vanilla in a saucepan and melt on low heat until melted, stirring occasionally. Combine other ingredients in a large bowl. Pour wet mixture over dry ingredients and continue to stir until evenly spread, and all ingredients are covered. Place mixture on large oven trays and bake for 10 minutes. Give mixture a stir, and cook for another 5-10 minutes. It will be ready when browned, crisp and slightly moist when stirred. Once cooled, add dried fruits of choice (e.g. sultanas, currants, goji berries, dried apricots, dried pears, dried apples and dried mango) that are preferable organic or at least have no added ingerdients (e.g. preservative and sulphites).

Great served with fresh fruit and almond, rice, coconut or other choice of milk!

Choc Chip Banana Muffins

This recipe is very similar to Nigella's Choc Chip Banana Muffins but has been changed a little to cater for some allergies as well as be a bit better for you.

Ingredients: 3 very ripe bananas, chopped 120g coconut oil (or vegetable oil) 2 eggs 250g spelt flour (can use plain if not making wheat-free, or try gluten free) 100g rapadura sugar (can use raw sugar if necessary) 1/2 tsp. bicarb soda 1 tsp. baking powder (make sure it's GF - most are) 150g choc bits, or 100g of Dark Chocolate cut into small choc-chip like size ***(see note at bottom of post) Directions: Preheat oven to 200°C and line muffin pans with 12 large muffin papers. Add chopped bananas into thermomix bowl, and mix for 4 seconds, speed 7. Scrape down sides.  Add the coconut or vegetable oil, and the 2 eggs and mix for 10 seconds, speed 4. Add the flour, sugar, bicarb soda and baking powder. Set to locked lid position, and set to interval speed   for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides, then add the choc bits (or whatever you decide to put in) to the mixture.  Mix on interval  speed  for another 30 seconds. Fill muffin papers to 3/4 full, and bake for 18-20 minutes, or when skewer comes out clean. Leave in tins for 2 minutes, then take out muffins and cool on wire rack. Recipe makes 12. *** To make dairy free, I used Lindt's 70% cocao chocolate. There are also other dark chocolate varieties which don't contain any dairy. Although these ones still have a bit of sugar, it's not too much and the rest of the ingredients are good. There are also dairy free choc chips available at some stores. Sweet William make them and they are very good, especially if you don't like dark chocolate, as it can get a bit strong at times!!! **If using the dark chocolate, make sure the chunks aren't too big as they can be too strong, but not too small that they melt and disappear when cooked. If you don't absolutely love dark chocolate, I would recommend using a little less than 100g too, and to make sure the chunks are evened out through the muffin cases when spooned in.  *It would also be possible to leave out the chocolate altogether and either substitute something like sultanas in, or just not put anything in to replace it.

Easy Thermomix Wheat-Free Puff-Pastry

Today I decided to create a meat pie. It took me all morning to try and find a recipe for wheat-free puff-pastry. I couldn't seem to find any I really liked, and decided to search for a normal thermomix pastry, that didn't contain lard. Once I found one, I began by cooking my mince and other ingredients for the inside of the pie. After that, I began on my pastry, and I must say, it has turned out terrific!!!
***Note, I would recommend watching the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVOloNVP2Po&list=UU3YoO0TMNCuwFv6HyzOxnow&index=2&feature=plcp as it explains how to do each part of this process. If using pastry for something other than vol-au-vents, then don't worry about the part onwards from rolling it into a rectangle. Now, I have used the same recipe from this site, but substituted spelt flour for plain flour. I have also used this pastry for a pie, but it would be suitable for any recipe requiring puff-pastry. You may also like to use plain flour as she has, or experiment with a gluten-free flour. If you do happen to try this out, please leave a comment to let us know how it goes.

Easy Thermomix Wheat-free Puff-Pastry

90g ice cubes

180g unsalted butter, frozen (I find it best to chop into small sticks that will fit into the thermomix before freezing)

200g spelt flour

1/2 teaspoon himalayan salt, or similar (can use normal salt if necessary)

2 Tbsp water

• Put ice cubes, butter, flour and salt into Thermomix in the order listed. Chop 7 seconds/speed 7. Mix 5 seconds/REVERSE/speed 5. Knead 3 min/intermittent dough speed while adding the water.
• Compress into a bundle. Wrap in silicone mat or parchment paper and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before proceeding.
• Preheat oven to 200°C and make sure it is at this temperature when you place the pastry into the oven. Then grease your pie dish with extra butter.
• After the 30 minutes, take the mixture out of the refrigerator and begin rolling out on your silicon mat as shown in the video, adding flour when necessary. (I found I had to add flour to my mat, and the top of the pastry after each turn until it became less moist, and more pastry-like. I continued to roll and fold it until it was no longer wet, but all dry-make sure it doesn't get too dry though, as it may crumble. I then rolled it out to a circle to fit my pie dish, with enough left to re-roll for the top of the pie.)
• If you're not making a pie, roll it out to the desired shape.
• I then filled my pie with my savoury mince, wet my fingers to dampen the pastry where I was going to join it and placed the top on, pressing down all around the edges of it to seal it. After this, I brushed some egg wash on the top so it would brown in the oven, cut about 5 slits in the top and placed it in the oven (you could probably use a milk wash or other substitute if you can't have eggs).
• Cook for 20 minutes @ 200°C, then turn the oven down to 180°C and continue cooking until pastry is crunchy and golden brown.