This Raw Chocolate Mousse is lusicous, creamy and a ‘guilt-free’ treat (though I don’t think any treats should induce guilt!). It doesn’t contain any sugar (other than those naturally present in the coconut ‘meat’) but is still really delicious!

Recipe: 2 Ingredient Raw Chocolate Mousse

Allergen info/recipe info: This recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free and sugar-free.

I found the mousse was sweet enough for my taste without any sugar added in it, as coconut cream I find naturally as a sweet taste. However if you find that is isn’t sweet enough for you, try adding

Makes: 1 serve

Ingredients:

•  1/2 – 1 C. coconut cream from a young coconut (Click here to learn how to make it)
• 1/2 – 1 Tbsp. cacao powder (or carob powder), sifted (I found about 1/2 Tbsp was good for me, but you may like a much stronger chocolately taste so feel free to increase it to your linking) or for those who are sensitive to caffeine try using carob powder
• optional extras: dried shredded coconut, cacao nibs, walnuts, pitted cherries, sliced strawberries etc.

How to:

1. Make the coconut cream (or use store bought coconut cream).
2. Mix in the cacao powder into the coconut cream until smooth and creamy (you can can blend it in a blender or food processor for a really creamy consistency).
3. Pour into a container and chill in the fridge until firm.
4. Add any optional extras on top of the mousse.
5. Enjoy!

Variations:

Raw Cherry Chocolate Mousse: At step 2 add in a few pitted cherries along with the cacao powder and coconut cream and blend in until smooth and creamy.

Raw Peppermint Chocolate Mousse: At step 2 add 2 or 3 fresh mint leaves along with the cacao powder and coconut cream and blend in until smooth and creamy. You might like to use Chocolate Mint leaves instead of regular mint varieties.

Raw Dark Chocolate Mousse: At step 2 add an extra tablespoon of cacao powder and follow the rest of the instructions above.

Raw Carob Mousse: Follow the directions as above and use carob powder instead of cacao powder.

Michelle

© Copyright: 2009-2012 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com. See the disclaimer here. Have a look at the recipe index for more health food lovin’ recipes. Join the Facebook page & follow Health Food Lover on twitter.

I love coconut! There are so many ways to use coconut in different recipes both sweet and savoury. If you have never used a young coconut have a little read about them.

Also if you’ve never opened a young coconut, here is the tutorial I wrote on how to do that (click the small picture below):

How To Open A Young Coconut

Here are other recipes that feature coconut:

How to make ‘Instant’ Coconut Ice

Recipe: Tropical Whole Fruit Juice + How To Make Juice In A Blender (Video & Recipe)

Homemade Bounty Bars (With Real Food Ingredients)

How to Make Dairy-Free Coconut Cream from a Young Thai Coconut

How to Make Dairy-Free Coconut Cream from a Young Thai Coconut

Allergen info/recipe info: This recipe is dairy-free, sugar-free , egg-free and gluten-free. Also no BPA (Bisphenol phosphate) as you would get from canned coconut cream!

This coconut cream freezes well.

Makes: about 1/2- 1 C. of coconut cream

Ingredients:

•  Coconut ‘meat’ from one young thai coconut
• 2 Tbsp. coconut water from the young thai coconut (or enough coconut water to make a creamy consistency)
• 1 tsp. lecithin granules (non-gm soy or sunflower lecithin granules) (optional- it makes it extra creamy)

How to:

Scrape out the coconut meat from a young coconut. Add it to a food processor or blender along with the coconut water. Add lecithin if using and blend until you get a thick coconut cream! Easy! Use however you may use coconut or a dairy-based cream.

You can use it on:

A fruit salad mixed with passion fruit

Michelle

© Copyright: 2009-2012 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com. See the disclaimer here. Have a look at the recipe index for more health food lovin’ recipes. Join the Facebook page & follow Health Food Lover on twitter.

Recipe: Healthier Homemade Cherry Ripe

Adapted from this recipe for my homemade bounty bars.

Recipe info/allergen info: This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free and refined sugar free.

Ingredients:

• 1 C. fresh cherries, washed, chopped and pits removed
• 1 C. macadamia nuts
• 1 C. medjool dates, chopped & pits removed
• 5 Tbs. shredded coconut (preservative-free)
• 3 Tbs. coconut oil, melted
• 300-400g dark chocolate* (you can look  for brands such as Cocolo which use rapadura sugar in their chocolate)

How to:

1. Slice each cherry open and discard the pips.
2. Put the cherries in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add the macadamia nuts and blend/process until you have a paste. It doesn’t have to be completely smooth.
3. Add the dates and blend until the dates have broken down. Stir in the shredded coconut and melted coconut oil until it has all mixed together.
4. Pour into a baking paper lined & coconut oil greased tin. Put the mixture into the fridge to chill until set. When they seem like they have set, cut them into small squares and place them in the freezer to harden.
5. When the squares have hardened, begin tempering the chocolate as below.

*you may need more or less depending on how small or big you make the squares: the smaller they are the more chocolate you will need; if they’re larger you’ll need less chocolate (as you will have less surface to cover).

Tempering Chocolate:

These steps are taken from my homemade bounty bar recipe. 

You Will Need:

• a metal bowl (wider than the saucepan)
• a smaller bowl, filled with water and ice
• a saucepan, filled with 3 cm of water
• a metal or plastic spoon (not wooden)
• a digital cooking thermometer (optional, but very helpful)
• the amount of chocolate you have decided to use (as in the main ingredient section)
• baking paper
• a flat board (to rest the chocolates on)

How to temper the chocolate:

1. In a small sauce pan place a few cms of water in the bottom. Get it to a boil and then turn down the heat to a simmer.
2. Place your metal bowl over the now hot water (and heat turned down to low) and add the dark chocolate. Stir the chocolate with your metal spoon until it melts. Put your thermometer in and make sure it doesn’t go above 48 degrees Celsius (118 F).
3. When it reaches 48 take it off the hot saucepan and put it in your ice water bowl. Keep stirring. Wait till it cools down to 26 degrees.
4. When it has cooled down, turn your saucepan on again and place your metal bowl over the saucepan, now with the heat on. Put the thermometer into the chocolate and wait till the temperature of the chocolate reaches 48. When it’s at that temperature, turn off the heat. Your chocolate is now ready to use!
5. Simply place your cherry squares into the chocolate with a fork and completely cover it. Tap your fork with the covered cherry square against the side of the bowl so excess chocolate comes off. Then place your chocolates on a lined tray until the chocolates harden!
6. Once they have hardened keep in the freezer to stay firm. Enjoy these treats!

Tips for tempering chocolate:

• Make sure you don’t get any water or steam in your chocolate at any stage while tempering. Water= chocolate death!
• Use only metal or plastic spoons to stir the chocolate.
• If you let your chocolate go over 48 degrees C then its gone- you can’t use it any more.
• It’s a good idea if you have one to use a thermometer to test the temperature when you’re heating a cooling the chocolate. I used a digital thermometer.
• Having said all that, you don’t really need to temper the chocolate- but it does help to coat the cherry ripe squares properly.

Michelle

© Copyright: 2012 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com. See the disclaimer here. Have a look at the recipe index for more health food lovin’ recipes. Join the Facebook page & follow Health Food Lover on twitter.

I hope you enjoy this bright, summery dessert!

Recipe: Chamomile, Ginger and Mango Sorbet

Allergen info/recipe info: This recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free, wheat-free and refined-sugar free (the mango gives the sorbet some sweetness).

Ingredients:

• flesh of 1 mango (pip and skin removed), chopped
• 1 cup of chamomile (Matricaria recutita) tea, chilled
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ginger (skin peeled off)
• water

How to:

In a jug add the mango, chamomile tea, fresh ginger and enough water for the whole mixture to equal a litre. Pour this into a blender or food processor and blend until completely smooth. Pour this into a ice cream maker and follow the manufactures directions.

or

You can pour this whole mixture into a shallow container (that will fit in your freezer). Put a lid on the container and every 40 minutes scrape the mixture to break down the ice crystals and keep doing this until the mixture freezes. Then scoop out and enjoy when frozen.

Caution: This recipe is not suitable for those who are allergic to chamomile or the Asteraceae family. Chamomile can reduce absorption of iron (so have iron supplements away from Chamomile). Ginger also may not be safe for those on medication and those who have reflux, peptic ulcers, gall stones and blood thinning medication. If you are unsure whether Chamomile or ginger is okay for you it’s best to seek advice from your qualified health professional and an experienced Naturopath or herbalist. When in doubt you can just take out the ginger and chamomile tea and replace it with the same amount of water.

Michelle

For more dessert recipes have a look at the recipe index.

© Copyright: 2011 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com . See the disclaimer here. Have a look at the recipe index for more health food lovin’ recipes. Join the Facebook page & follow Health Food Lover on twitter.

In the spirit of giving and all things Christmas, it’s time for another recipe for you all. When I think of christmas food I think of a lot of different flavours and foods. Maybe it’s because Christmas always seems to be a ridiculously huge feast! Some foods that come to mind (though of course not all in one meal or dish): seafood, fresh fruits (we’re in summer here now in Australia), gingerbread cookies, iced eggnog, and homemade ice cream, among other foods.  I’ve already made some fresh berry frangipane tarts and pastured egg nog, now I’ve conjured up a healthy almond and ginger cookie (sweetened with dates). I’ve been thinking of a few cookie recipes for a while now, but not until I made the frangipane tarts was I able to come up with the recipe. I have actually adapted the tarts base from this recipe to make these cookies.

And if you’ve ever wanted to know the history of gingerbread have a look at this link.

Recipe: Chewy Almond and Date Gingerbread Cookies

Makes: ~14 cookies (or more smaller cookies)

Allergen info/recipe info: These cookies are gluten-free and contain dairy-free options.

Ingredients:

• 255g (~2 C.) almond meal
• 1/4 tsp. bicarbonate of soda
• 200g (~2 C.) dates, pitted
• 2 tsp. cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp. all-spice
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 pastured eggs
• 2 Tbs. fresh gringer root
• 120g (~1/2 C.) grass-fed butter or coconut oil, melted

How to:

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C.
2. First prepare the almond meal by pulsing it in a food processor or blender a few times to remove all the lumps. Add the bicarbonate of soda to the food processor/blender and pulse again (do not pulse too much otherwise you will get almond butter which you don’t want!!).
3. Empty the almond meal-bicarbonate of soda mixture into a big bowl. Sift in the cinnamon powder, all-spice and ground ginger.
4. Now roughly chop the dates. Add them to the food processor/blender and process until they have broken down into tiny pieces. Add them to the bowl and with your hands mix the dates into the almond meal.
5. Go back to your blender and crack open the eggs and blend the eggs until they are thick and creamy. Add the ginger root and blend until it has broken down into the eggs and there are no lumps. Stir this into the almond mixture in your bowl.
6. Melt the butter or coconut oil in a double boiler. While stirring briskly, slowly pour the melted butter/oil into the almond mixture until it is all mixed together.
7. Prepare your baking tray: like the tray with a piece of greased parchement paper. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop some of the mixture and place it onto the parchement paper. Flatten out each cookie before you scoop more mixture onto the paper. Do this with all the cookie mixture (you may need two trays).
8. Bake in the oven at 160 degrees C (fan-forced) in the middle rack in the oven for 6-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Don’t let them brown too much as the can burn quite easily.

Enjoy with a glass of chilled pastured egg nog!

Happy Holidays,

Michelle

For more dessert recipes have a look at the recipe index.

© Copyright: 2011 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com . See the disclaimer here. Have a look at the recipe index for more health food lovin’ recipes. Join the Facebook page & follow Health Food Lover on twitter.

Last week when I was dreaming up christmasy recipes, I originally wanted to make some sort of fruit tart or pie. I thought about making a healthier version of fruit mince pies, but it seemed to wintery (and we’re currently in summer here) and it seemed a shame to not take advantage of the fresh summer fruit available at the moment. So I dreamed up these fresh berry frangipane custard tarts. I hope you enjoy it!

Recipe: Frangipane Custard Tarts with Fresh Summer Berries

Allergen/recipe info: This recipe contains almonds, dairy milk and eggs. You can substitute the almonds for another kind of nut or exclude them. The dairy milk can also be replaced with an alternative milk such as coconut or almond milk. You can also exclude the eggs and/or gelatin but you’ll need to increase the amount of thickener to help set the custard. The butter can be replaced with coconut butter/oil if need be.

This recipe is gluten free and refined-sugar free!

Makes: 6 tarts (top diameter: 8cm; height: 4cm) or more smaller tarts

To make these you need to first make and bake the tart shells and then make the frangipane custard filling.

You will need:

• tart shells (recipe below)
• frangipane custard
• seasonal fruit (I used blackberries and raspberries)

Tart shells:

Ingredients & Tools:

• 1.5 C. almonds (or to make it easier, almond meal)
• 1.5 C. dates, pitted and finely chopped
• 3-4 Tbs. butter, melted
• 6 patty pans
• A muffin tray
• butter, extra

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees.
2. In a coffee grinder (or a food processor), grind the almonds into a fine meal. Pit and chop the dates into small pieces, add to the coffee grinder (or food processor) and process until the dates have broken down and the almonds and dates have mixed together and are starting to form a dough.
3. Melt the butter, add it to the almond-date mixture and process again until the melted butter has been evenly mixed through.
4. Divide the mixture into 6 even pieces. Put each patty pan in each hole in the muffin tray. Press the mixture into each patty pans to form the tart shells making sure to not make any gaps and keeping the tart shells at an even thickness. Note: Make sure when you press the mixture into the patty pans that there are no gaps or spaces in the mixture. Otherwise the custard could fall through when you pour it in later on.
5. Cook on the middle shelf in the oven until lightly browned (around 10-20 minutes). You want to dry the tarts out and lightly brown them but not burn them. You could also use a dehydrator to do this, but that will take around 4-5 hours. Chill. Don’t take the tarts shells out of the oven until they have cooled.
6. Brush butter in the insides of the cooled tarts (to help prevent custard from soaking the tarts) and then keep the patty pans in the freezer until the frangipane custard is ready.

Frangipane custard

Ingredients:

• 3 C. full cream milk (best organic/biodynamic  from grass-fed cows)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 vanilla bean, spilt & scraped
• 2 Tbs. whole almonds
• 3/4 C. coconut sugar
• 1 Tbs. double cream
• 4 pastured egg yolks (you can freeze the egg whites in a zip-lock bag for another recipe)
• 1 tbs. corn flour or natural thickener such as agar-agar or kuzu
• 1 sheet of gelatin

Directions:

1. Soak the gelatin sheet in cold water.
2. In a double boiler heat the milk, vanilla bean or extract, almonds and coconut sugar. Heat and stir this mixture until the almonds have softened, the sugar has melted and the milk has taken on a vanilla flavour (do not boil). Discard the vanilla bean and then blend this almond-milk mixture until smooth.
3. In a separate large bowl,  beat the egg yolks with a whisk until thick. Add the double cream, thickener of your choice and whisk again.
4. Now it’s time to temper the eggs. While whisking the eggs, add a tablespoon of the almond-milk mixture until all the milk mixture has been incorporated into the egg yolks making sure to be whisking as you add the milk in (other wise the eggs can curdle).
5. Pour this mixture back into the double boiler on low-medium heat and keep whisking until the mixture thickens.
6. When you feel it’s thick enough (you want it to be the thickness of double cream) add the gelatine sheet (discarding the soak water) (if we added the gelatin earlier it can become ineffective) and continue until the sheet has dissolved. Leave to cool and then put the tarts together (as below)

Putting it all together:

Take out your chilled tarts from the freezer. Spoon the custard mixture into the tarts until they are full and all the tarts contain the custard. Put the tarts in the fridge until they set (a few hours or overnight). When you’re ready to serve, place the fresh berries on top of the tarts.

Enjoy & Happy Holidays Everyone!

For more dessert recipes have a look at the recipe index.

© Copyright: 2011 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com . See the disclaimer here. Have a look at the recipe index for more health food lovin’ recipes. Join the Facebook page & follow Health Food Lover on twitter.

I’ve finally finished exams for the year, so time for a treat!

Recipe: Chocolate & Walnut Essene Brownies (Sprouted Grain Brownies)

Allergen info/Recipe info:

• This recipe contains, eggs, dairy and gluten, so is not suitable for those sensitive to any of those.
• Carob is much less stimulating than cacao/cocoa (which contains caffeine) and is more suitable for children. Carob is free of caffeine.
• This recipe is not suitable for those on a weight-loss diet, calorie-controlled diet or those who are diabetic.
• This is definitely once-in-a-blue moon type treats, so I wouldn’t be having this every day. But there is nothing wrong with making a healthy treat every once in a while!

Serves: Makes around 6-8 pieces depending on size of brownie.

Ingredients:

• 90g dried sprouted grains (I used organic & biodynamic wheat grains) (how to sprout grains)
• 80g cacao/cocoa or carob, sifted 
• a pinch of salt
• 150g coconut sugar
• 4 eggs (best from free range chooks- i.e. not caged chickens)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 100g butter (best organic, from grass-fed cows) (or use ghee, or coconut oil)
• 100g organic dark or milk chocolate (I like Cocolo chocolate as it uses rapadura sugar!)
• ~80 or so of walnuts (or another nut, seed or dried fruit that you like)

How to:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150 degrees C. Prepare your baking pan (I just used a shallow-ish rectangle pan), by greasing a large piece of baking paper (larger than your baking pan) and then fit it into your tin.
2. Grind the sprouted dried grains until they resemble a very fine flour. I used a coffee grinder to get a really fine texture. Put this in a bowl.
3. Stir in the cocoa or carob powder and the salt.  Add to the bowl.
4. Whisk the eggs together until they are thick and well beaten.
5. Grind the coconut sugar until it is very fine (it can often be a bit grainy). Whisk the sugar into the the eggs. Add the vanilla.
6. Melt the butter and chocolate together over a double boiler (a larger bowl over a small pot of boiling water) until melted. Leave to cool for a few minutes.
7. Alternate quickly whisking the melted chocolate and the eggs into the dry ingredients until the ingredients are all in the bowl. Mix it until it is a smooth consistency.
8. Stir the walnuts or other any extra add-ins you would like in the brownies. Pour the mixture into the lined tin.
9. Bake these brownies (in the middle rack in the oven) at 150 C for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer or toothpick comes out clean.
10. Enjoy!

© Copyright: 2011 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com . See the disclaimer here. Have a look at the recipe index for more health food lovin’ recipes. Join the Facebook page & follow Health Food Lover on twitter.

Recipe: Creamy Cashew, Almond and Date Ice Cream

Serves: 4-5

Allergen info: This recipe is dairy-free, egg-free and refined sugar-free. It contains almonds and cashews so those with tree nut and seed allergies may wish to avoid this recipe. It contains quite a bit of fat from the cashews and almonds (though mostly unsaturated) and coconut oil, so those who have a poor tolerance for fats may wish to skip this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 350g raw cashews
• 50g raw almonds (peeled)
• 10 dates pitted, chopped or 3/4 C. maple syrup (or sweeten to your liking)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (or the seeds of 1 scraped vanilla bean)
• filtered water
• 2 Tb. coconut oil
• 1 Tb. lecithin (non-gm soy lecithin or sunflower lecithin granules)
• filtered water, extra
• ~5 dates, pitted, chopped into roughly 1cm x 1cm pieces

How to:

1. Add the cashews, almonds and 10 dates in a bowl  of filtered water to soak for a few hours (or overnight if you want to prepare this earlier)
2. Blend the coconut oil, lecithin and water until creamy and the lecithin and coconut oil have dissolved.
3. Add the cashews, almonds, 10 dates and vanilla extract to the blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Add more water if needed. Note: it should be the consistency of thin cream or yoghurt.
4. Pour into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturers directions. While it is churning add the chopped and pitted dates.
5. or
6. See this post for how to make ice cream without an ice cream maker.
7. Enjoy!

Want some more foodie ideas to beat the heat? Have a look at these recipes:

Quick and Easy Raspberry Ice Cream

Refreshing and Zesty Green Smoothie

Icey Whole Watermelon Juice

Chocolate Avocado Ice Cream

© Copyright: 2011 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com . See the disclaimer here.

Have a chocolate craving but still want something nutritious and delicious? Here is a healthy chocolate milkshake sure to fix your craving!

 Chia seeds soaking!

Recipe: Healthy Chocolate Chia Seed Milkshake

Serves: one

Allergen info: This recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free, and refined sugar free. Those with pollen allergies should avoid this recipe (or just skip the bee pollen in the recipe).

Ingredients:

• 1 Tb. of chia seeds (or the same amount of flaxseeds/linseeds)
• ~1- 1.5 C. water
• 1 tsp. bee pollen* (I used Eucaplytpus Bee Pollen from Raw Power) (optional)
• 1 tsp. lecithin granules (organic & non-gm) or 1 organic/pastured (i.e. grass fed) chicken’s egg yolk
• 1 tbs. almond butter
• 1/2 banana, sliced into rounds and frozen
• 1 heaped tsp. raw cacao powder (or choose naturally caffeine-free carob powder)
• ~1 tsp. raw organic honey (optional)
• cacao nibs (optional)

 How to:

1. Soak the chia seeds and bee pollen in the water and leave for ~ 1/2 hour to a few hours (or overnight). (Keep this covered in the fridge).
2. When ready to eat, blend the water/chia/bee pollen mixture together until the chia seeds and bee pollen has broken down in the water. Add the lecithin and blend again.
3. Add  the almond butter, frozen banana, cacao or carob powder, and honey (if using) and blend until the milkshake has completely blended together and is really smooth.
4. Top with cacao nibs if you like.

Enjoy!

Note: due to the caffeine in the cacao/cacao nibs it would be better to have this milkshake earlier in the day as the caffeine may distrupt your sleep.

*avoid if you have pollen/flower/asteraceae/compositae allergies.

If you would like to help sponsor this blog and get some goodies for yourself at the same time please click through to the link and purchase some fabulous raw foods for yourself (or as a gift for a friend) from Raw Power. Please note that I only link to products I personally use and recommend.

© Copyright: 2011 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com . See the disclaimer here.

Ahh Kefir. So many uses, so little time! Good thing for all those kefir-lover’s out there: I have a new recipe for you!

 

Last time I shared the recipe for Jaffa Kefir (below). If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend you do!

Now, here for you today is another colourful and delicious kefir recipe: a purple kefir smoothie!

This recipe brings together many of nature’s wonderful foods: kefir (which I hope by now you realise is an amazing food), chia, berries and coconut!

Purple Kefir Smoothie

Serves: 1

Recipe details: This recipe contains dairy. There is no gluten/wheat/grain products in this recipe.

Ingredients:

• a few tb. of kefired milk
• a few kefir grains (optional) (they look like this)
• a handful of blueberries/blackberries or other berries of your choice
• a few tsp. of chia seeds
• 1-2 teaspoons lecithin granules
• 1/2 C. coconut milk
• coconut milk, extra if needed
• nuts, extra chia seeds or fruit- to serve

How to:

1. Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend till smooth.
2. Add extra coconut or kefir if needed.
3. Enjoy over ice.

Enjoy plain…

…with your favourite nuts, seeds or extra fruit…

…or with a spoon!

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

© Copyright: 2011 Michelle Robson-Garth. Please ask permission first when using any text or images on healthfoodlover.com . See the disclaimer here.