This recipe uses rapadura sugar. It’s adapted from Jude Blereau’s book, Wholefood for Children.

Banana and Pineapple Cake with Coconut and Cream Cheese Icing 

Wheat free, can be dairy free without icing

Makes a large tray OR 1 x 22cm cake OR 12 muffin sized cupcakes.

Ingredients:

Cake

¾ cup white spelt flour
1¼ cup wholemeal spelt flour
½ – 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ cup desiccated coconut
2 large eggs (preferably organic)
¾ cup rapadura sugar
½ tsp stevia
½ cup melted butter or coconut oil
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas
½ cup pineapple, cut into small pieces
½ cup organic yoghurt (or coconut yoghurt)
Optional Icing

250 g cream cheese
120 g well chilled coconut milk – see note*
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract or vanilla paste
3 tablespoons maple syrup

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175 C. Grease and line the base of a 20x30cm baking tray.

2. Measure the flours, cinnamon, baking powder, coconut and macadamia nuts into a bowl, and whisk through to break up any lumps and distribute the ingredients evenly.

3. Mash the bananas roughly and add the pineapple.

4. Add the eggs, sugar and coconut oil to a medium sized bowl, and using electric beaters, mix well until lightened in colour and thick.

5. Add the vanilla, mashed bananas and pineapple and stir through.

6. Add the flour and yoghurt to the egg and sugar mix, and mix together gently until the flour is incorporated.

7. Pour or spoon into the prepared tin, and bake for 30 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 15 mins before inverting onto a cooling rack. When absolutely cool, use another wire rack to invert the cake back to its original state before icing.

8. To make the icing add all ingredients to a mixing bowl, and using electric beaters, beat until deliciously creamy. Cover and place in the fridge to firm a little before using, but take care not to leave it too long, or it will be too hard. If so, just leave out at room temperature until it reaches the desired consistency.

NOTE:

* To prepare the coconut milk for the icing, place a can of coconut milk in the fridge or freezer until the creamy part of the milk has firmed up – there will be a clear separation of solid milk/cream, and watery liquid. Spoon this solid portion from the can until you have 120gm. The remains can be kept and used for smoothies. The coconut milk must be full cream (not “light”) and not stabilised.

Adapted from a recipe on Om Mom Ally .com
Makes 20
½ cup melted organic butter (or grapeseed or coconut oil)
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup rapadura sugar
1/3 rice milk (or other non-dairy like almond milk) plus 2 tsp chia seeds – mixed together and left to stand for 5 minutes
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups spelt flour
½ cup rolled oats or spelt
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts
½ cup dried cranberries
1. Preheat oven to 160-170C. Stir together syrup, butter, milk/chia combo and vanilla in large bowl.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, macadamias, cranberries in another bowl.

3. Gradually add dry ingredients into wet until well incorporated. Add more milk to mixture if it’s too dry. Knead in cranberries and macadamias if necessary.

4. Roll tablespoon amounts of dough into balls, flatten on lined baking sheet. 5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, let cool on tray for minute then transfer to wire rack to cook completely.

To make them gluten free: substitute spelt flour with gluten-free plain flour, gluten-free pastry flour or white rice flour. Substitute rolled oats with rolled rice or quinoa flakes.

To make them nut free: substitute macadamias for seeds such as sunflower seeds or pepitas.

A gluten, wheat, dairy free, high protein, low GI treat.

Ingredients:

2 whole oranges
1 cup pure organic maple syrup
6 organic eggs
Pinch of sea salt
4 cups ground almonds
1 cup good quality dark cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 175 C. Grease and line baking tin.

Steam the oranges for about 30-40 minutes until soft. Allow to cool then chop them up and place into a food processor.

Process until smooth along with the maple syrup and salt, then add the eggs and process again.

Pour the mix into a bowl and fold in the almonds, cocoa and cinnamon.

Spoon into a baking tin lined with greaseproof paper and bake for about 50-60 minutes in a moderate (175 C) oven until cooked through. Test with a skewer to check.

The cake should be lovely and moist. Remove from the oven and cool completely then remove from the tin.
Store for 1 week covered in the fridge.

Enjoy, in moderation!

Ingredients

2 ½ cups wholemeal spelt flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
2 cups finely grated carrot, packed (3 – 4 medium carrots)
1 cup crushed pineapple, well drained (reserve juice)
3/4 cup dried unsweetened shredded coconut
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Optional: 1/2 cup raisins
1 cup soft organic butter (or ½ cup almond, macadamia or light olive oil)
1 cup rapadura sugar
4 eggs, well beaten
1/3 cup reserved pineapple juice
2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Get out the butter and eggs to warm up to room temperature
Preheat the oven to 180 C, oil a large metal cake pan, 10×13 inches or two smaller square pans and dust with flour or line with baking paper
Measure and combine the flour, spices, salt and baking powder in a bowl
Drain the pineapple and reserve the liquid
Combine the carrots, walnuts, pineapple and coconut
Using a large bowl, cream the butter or veggie sticks, add sugar and mix well, then stir in the beaten eggs
Stir in the combined carrot mixture
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients
Spread the mixture in the oiled pan(s), and bake for 45 minutes for a large cake, and about 1/2 hour for smaller pans, 20 – 25 minutes for muffins
Cool in pans on wire rack, for 10 minutes. Turn out on rack if necessary. Cool completely before frosting

Cream Cheese icing (optional)

115g cream cheese
¼ cup unsalted butter
Grated rind of 1/2 lemon
Juice of one lemon
4 cups golden icing sugar
Cream the cheese and butter together
Add the lemon zest and 1/2 the lemon juice
Gradually sift and mix in 1/2 the icing sugar
Add the rest of the lemon juice, then more icing sugar as needed
The icing should be pretty stiff, and should be chilled covered for 1/2 hour before spreading

• Spread icing on completely cooled cake

• Optional: sprinkle top with finely chopped walnuts or toasted coconut

Ingredients:

½ cup organic coconut flour
¾ tsp. baking powder
¼ cup oil (coconut oil, walnut, macadamia or use melted butter if dairy is okay)
¼ cup raw honey or alternative sweetener (rice malt syrup, maple syrup etc)
6 eggs
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ tsp. sea salt (optional)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (or a mix of blueberries and raspberries)

Method:

1. Blend together oil, eggs, honey, and vanilla.
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt, mixing together well until there are no lumps.
3. Fold in blueberries.
4. Grease muffin tins or line with muffin tin liners (to prevent sticking). Fill muffins tins about 3/4 full.
5. Bake in a 190-200 degree oven for 17-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. This easily made 12 muffins and it may make more depending on the size of your muffin tins.

Variations:

You can even add some shredded or desiccated coconut (preservative free) either as is or toasted off for a nuttier flavour. Or try adding some coconut essence to really play up the coconut flavour.

Ingredients:

1 quantity of lemon curd – See recipe below (Save extra zest for the base).
1 cup of raw almonds
1 cup of raw cashews
¼ cup xylitol
½ cup of melted virgin coconut oil
2 – 4 teaspoons lemon zest
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sea salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and make the lemon curd. Place the curd in the refrigerator to cool.
2. Place the almonds and the cashews in a food processor. Grind them into a medium fine “flour”. You don’t want to turn it into a nut paste, so don’t overdo it. There will still be little chunks here and there.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until combined.
4. Evenly spread the nut batter into a greased 20 x 20 cm pan. Place in the middle of the hot oven. It will take between 15 to 18 minutes to cook. It may puff up as it cooks, but don’t worry, it won’t stay that way once you take it out of the oven. When the top is lightly brown, and a toothpick comes out clean when stuck in the middle, it’s done.
5. Cool completely, then spread one quantity of lemon curd on top. Let set in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. When ready to serve, take them out and cut into squares and serve.

Note: you can decorate with shredded coconut, citrus zest or chopped nuts if desired.

Tangy Lemon Curd – Suitable to use as a pie filling

Ingredients:

4 large eggs (or 6 yolks for a super rich curd)
¼ -1/3 cup of xylitol
Grated zest of 1-2 lemons (a good tablespoon)
½ (full) cup of lemon juice
5 tablespoons virgin coconut oil (or you could use ghee or butter if dairy is okay).

Method:

1. In a medium stainless steel or enamel saucepan, whisk together the first three ingredients until lightly coloured.
2. Add the coconut oil, breaking it into small clumps as you drop it into the pot for even melting. Then add the lemon juice.
3. Cook, whisking over medium heat until the coconut oil is melted. Continue to cook until the mixture thickens and you start to see a few bubbles popping at the surface.
4. Remove from heat, and scrape into a fine sieve set over a bowl. Strain the curd, gently stirring if needed.
5. Refrigerate for several hours to thicken. Will keep about one week in the refrigerator.

Note: If using the curd as a tart filling I’ve found it’s best to cook this until the curd is just beginning to thicken (until it coats the back of a spoon) then pour into a blind-baked tart shell and finish it off in the oven. This helps set and hold the tart together when sliced.

Ingredients:

3 medium vanilla beans, or 1½ fat ones
1 cup vodka (or rum for richer flavour)

Method:

Have ready a 1-cup glass jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid. Pour boiling water into it,
let rest for 10 minutes to sterilize, and pour out the water.

Using a sharp knife, slice the beans open lengthwise to expose the seeds.
Tuck the beans in the jar and fill with liquor. Close the jar, shake it a few times, and
place it in a cool, dark cabinet. Let the jar rest in there for 8 weeks, shaking it again
once or twice a week, or whenever you remember to. The mixture will get darker
and darker over time.

You can start using your extract by the end of the eighth week. Use however much
you need, and when you notice that you’re running a little low — that you’ve used,
say, 20% of the extract — top it off with more liquor (preferably of the same type)
and shake again.

And every once in a while, when you’re using a fresh bean in a recipe,
you can add the empty pod (rinsed off and dried if it’s been steeped in milk or cream) to the jar**.

If you continue to “feed” it this way, the extract will keep forever; just remove some of the older beans if the jar becom
es too crowded.

** Remember that those empty pods can also be placed in your sugar jar, olive oil bottle, or tea tin to flavour them, too.

We stock organic vanilla beans in the clinic

Ingredients:

275ml milk or coconut milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup polenta (cornmeal)
1/2 cup xylitol or sugar substitute
1 orange, rind finely grated, juiced,

Orange syrup

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup xylitol

Method:

Preheat oven to 200’C fan forced. Lightly grease a muffin pan.
Combine milk, eggs, polenta, sugar, orange rind and juice in a medium saucepan. Whisk over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken. Spoon the mixture into prepared muffin pan so each hole is three- quarters full. Bake for 10 minutes or until set when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
To make syrup, combine the juice and xylitol in a small saucepan cook, stirring over low heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered for 3 mins until thickened slightly.
Turn warm polenta cakes onto a plate, drizzle with hot syrup.

The Filling:

1/4 cup macadamia nuts

1/4 cup organic coconut flakes

1/4 cup coconut oil (I use refined to minimise the coconut flavour)

1 tablespoon raw honey

1/4 tsp peppermint oil

The Chocolate:

100g cacao butter

1/3 cup cacao powder

1-2 tablespoons of your chosen liquid sweetener to taste (I use maple syrup)

1/4 tsp vanilla powder

Or 100g of a commercial chocolate you’re OK with ( I occasionally use Alter Eco’s 85% chocolate as it’s dairy and soy free)

Method:

Pop the macadamia nuts and coconut into your food processor and blend until finely ground. Add the remaining ingredients and process again til smooth.

Melt the cocoa butter in a small bowl over a water bath. Once melted, stir in the other ingredients and combine well. Pop it aside and allow it to cool a little- this will allow it to thicken a bit and you can then ensure the syrup is mixed through and not separate on the bottom. Once ready paint a layer of chocolate in your chocolate moulds of choice. Depending how thin or thick your mix is you may need to add several layers, popping them in the fridge to harden up between layers. If your chocolate mix begins to thicken too much you can pop it back over the water bath to warm up and thin out again.

Once you have a lovely shell of set chocolate ready, place in your peppermint filling leaving a little room for more chocolate to enclose it all. Place them in the fridge again to set the filling.

To finish top set peppermint creams with remaining chocolate until the moulds are completely full. Pop them back in the fridge and chill.

Last step- get them out of the moulds and in to your belly!