Triple nut brownies

Lovely and gooey, perfect warm with some Booja Booja vanilla ice cream!

You will need:
21cm square tin
225g 85% dark chocolate
225g cashew nut butter
200g coconut palm sugar
2 tsp good vanilla essence
3 large eggs
150g ground almonds
100g chopped pecans
16 raspberries

Prepare your tin and heat oven to 170 degrees C.
Gently melt chocolate and nut butter over a low heat then turn off the heat and stir in the sugar and essence.
Beat in the eggs and then the ground almonds and chopped pecans.
Pour into your tin. Evenly place the raps erries in the middle of what will be each brownie.  Bake for 25-35 min until the top is set but the main part is still gooey. Leave to cool slightly in the tin on a wire rack then cut into 16 squares.
Serve immediately with ice cream or they are equally delicious one their own. If you are going to store them, leave to cool completely then store in an airtight container.

Chocolate and Cinnamon Pecan Pie

On Saturday I bumped into a few friends in the gym and an impromptu supper was formed for the following evening. We all decided to bring a dish or two and so we bid each other farewell and went our separate ways. Mad Ellie had run to the gym - 7 miles - done the pump class then cycled home again. Very Mad Ellie! 

Ellie had mad three amazing curries, onion bhajis, jasmine rice, minty yoghurt, curried potatoes and the list goes on. My friend Milla had brought her delicious lentil dahl and the best spinach saag aloo I have ever had. Lots of other people brought scrummy things and soon the table was groaning with a feast. After first, second and third helpings (guilty - the fish curry was mouthgasmic) it was time to clear away and start again on the puddings. Cue yet more delicious platefuls with about 7 or 8 different things to choose from. It really was a spectacular sight! 

I decided to make this pie as I thought it would go down well with those not accustomed to sugar or dairy free options. The base is a variation of the one I use for my Raw Chocolate Truffle tart and is a really excellent tart or pie case. I cannot tell you how amazingly delicious this is. I am always quite nervous feeding 'clean' puddings to other people as I never know what they will make of them. Some were sceptical pre-tasting but the response was truly overwhelming. Everyone who tried it said it was delicious and were intrigued as to how to make the gooey middle and the crumbly pastry-like base, One girl said it was the best pudding that night - there were a fair few wonderful creations so I was very pleased to hear that. I managed to sneak the last piece home and this morning I had it for breakfast outside in the glorious Spring sunshine. There was a cheeky little whippet who tried to get in on the action but I was not going to let anyone near my last segment of food heaven. 

You will need:

A loose bottomed tart tin

a food processor

For the base:

11/2 cups (175g) ground almonds 

1/4 cup (25g) cocoa nibs

1/4 cup (25g) broken up pecans

3 medjool dates, roughly chopped

1/4 cup (80ml) melted coconut oil

2 tsp cinnamon

For the middle:

1 cup (125g) pecans

1/4 cup (80ml) water

1 jar (170g) smooth almond butter

12 medjool dates, finely chopped

4 tbsp pure maple syrup

2 heaped tsp raw cacao powder

For the topping:

2 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup (125g) pecan halves

First make the base. Measure out all the ingredients and add them to the food processor. Pulse for 30 seconds to break up the nibs and pecans. Then blend for a further minute until the mixture sticks together when pinched.

Tip the mixture out into your tin. Using your finger tips press the mixture evenly and firmly in and around the tin. Pop this into the fridge for at least 15 minutes until you are ready to assemble the pie.

Next, make the middle. Tip the pecans into the food processor and whizz until just between the flour and butter stage, then spoon n the nut butter and blend. Add your maple syrup, cacao powder and chopped dates and blend, gradually adding the water a little at a time. You want the texture to be spreadable but not sloppy. 

When you have the desired consistency, scrape into a bowl and pop this into the fridge until you are ready to put it all together. (Have a sneaky teaspoonful of this glorious gooeyness whilst you think about life).

To make the topping, pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees C. Line a small baking tray and scatter your pecans. Sprinkle the cnnamon over the top and drizzle the maple syrup. Place into the oven for 3 minutes, stir and coat them with the sauce and pop back in for a further 2 minutes - be careful not to burn your nuts!! Whn ready take out of the oven, coat again and take off the baking sheet. 

To assemble, spread the middle evenly into your tart case with a palette knife. Add the glazed pecans in any way you like. Pop back into the ridge for 1 hour or until you are ready to serve. Take it out of the fridge about 10-15 minutes before serving to your lucky guests or just for you for breakfast...lunch...and supper. 

The pudding feast!  

Having my heavenly breakfast amongst the bluebells.

A hopeful whippet trying his best 'look-how-beautiful-I-am-surely-that-deserves-a-taste-of-whatever-is-going-on-up-there' face. Try harder next time.

Moroccan Lemon Chicken Casserole

Mothering Sunday was this last Sunday in the UK - it falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent. I asked my Mummy to come over for lunch a while ago and was excited to cook for her. Food is a big thing in our family. And that's GOOD food. We talk about it constantly and love cooking for each other. But not just any old thing. I think we all like to impress the others and enjoy looking at satisfied faces at the end of a meal. My boyfriend and I are obsessed with food. We don't eat out that often simply because we think (quite big-headed of us!) that we can cook it better than your average restaurant. Usually I do the baking, he does the main courses. Team work but it also means we can't interfere with what's being prepared. At the moment said boy is away - STILL - so the main course was down to me for Mothering Sunday. Quite by accident the entire meal had a Middle Eastern feel - we had nibbles first which included my Courgette and Avocado Houmous, then this deliciously wonderful casserole and finished with my Pistachio, Almond and Carrot cake. Yum yum yum. Packed full of flavours and warmth, which was just as well because it was freezing on Sunday. So much for Spring. I promptly lit the fire and soon the house was cosy and the dogs were happy. Thank goodness for that! 

This dish is definitely better if you can marinade the chicken AT LEAST 6 hours beforehand. I marinaded mine the night before and popped it in the fridge for the flavours to develop. I serve it with cauliflower purée with masses of olive oil, cumin and coriander whizzed up with it. Serves 3-6 depending on how much cake you want afterwards. 

You will need:

6 large free range and organic chicken thighs -skin on and bone in.

2 large red onions

1 unwaxed lemon

handful of pitted green olives - drain and rinse thoroughly

handful of fresh coriander

500 ml good chicken stock

1 tsp turmeric

1 heaped tsp smoked paprika

1 heaped tsp cumin seed

2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped

good olive oil

For the cauliflower purée:

1 large cauliflower

1-2 tsp heaped ground cumin

fruity olive oil

salt

pepper

small handful fresh coriander

The night before you want to make this, prepare the marinade. Crush the garlic with a pestle and mortar. Add the smoked paprika, turmeric and cumin seeds and grind to a paste. Add enough olive oil to make it runny enough to coat the chicken.

In a dish place the chicken and rub the marinade all over, making sure it is fully coated. Cover with  lid or cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. 

When you are ready to cook, pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees centigrade and heat a little olive oil in an oven proof dish and fry off the onions until they are soft. Add the chicken thighs skin side down and brown off. Turn over and brown the other side. Add the sliced lemon slices on top and some salt and pepper and enough chicken stock to just cover the meat. Cover with the lid and bring to a boil for about 1 minute. Place into the oven for 40 minutes until the meat is tender and almost falling off the bone. Whilst the casserole is cooking, make your cauliflower purée. Remove the centre of the cauliflower and roughly chop up the remainder. Boil for 3-4 minutes until tender. Transfer to a food processor and add a good glug of olive oil, salt and pepper. Whizz for about 30 seconds then add your ground cumin and more oil if necessary. Scrape down the sides and then finally add the coriander. Whizz again until smooth. Transfer to a dish and keep warm until you are ready to serve. 

When the chicken is done, add the coriander and olives and return to the oven for 5 minutes to warm the olives through. 

To serve I used a round cutter to plate up the purée and added a little extra coriander to garnish. Spoon out 1-2 thighs per person and a couple of olives and plenty of the fragrant onion and juices. 

Pistachio, Almond and Carrot Cake

Today was Mothering Sunday in the UK  and my Mummy came over for lunch and bubbles and cake! After a delicious lunch a  perfect afternoon was had. Fire roaring, five dogs snoozing and us curled up on the sofa with cups of tea and....more cake. So cosy and snugly! 

Mummy and I love carrot cake and I thought I would try and make a gluten free, dairy free and refined sugar free one without losing any of the glorious moistness and flavour of a perfect carrot cake. This is packed with nuts - pistachio and almonds - coconut and carrots. It is sweetened with the seeds of one vanilla pod, a couple of dates and pure maple syrup. The texture is sticky and nutty and full of flavour. I decorated it with more sliced pistachios and dried rose petals. If you don't like the taste of rose, don't add them! The glaze added gives the nuts something to stick to and adds a nice finish to the top. Enjoy with a cup of tea or a glass of bubbles. I recommend making it a day before you want to eat it so that the flavours have time to develop and the cake becomes even better. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. This is my new favourite cake to make...and eat. Just wonderful. 

You will need:

23 cm spring form cake tin, lined and lightly greased with melted coconut oil

200g ground almonds

150g pistachios, roughly chopped

100g dessicated coconut

3 large free-range organic eggs

2/3 cup (170ml) maple syrup 

1 vanilla pod 

200g carrots, peeled and roughly grated

2 tsp cinnamon

2/3 cup (170ml) melted coconut oil

2 medjool dates, chopped

To decorate:

large handful of sliced pistachios

sprinkle of dried rose petals

1.5 tsp organic raw honey

1.5 tbsp coconut oil

Pre-heat your oven to 140 degrees centigrade. Prepare your tin and all the ingredients. Slice the vanilla pod lengthways and with a sharp knife scrape out all of the seeds. 

In a food processor with blade attachment, whizz up the pistachios until roughly chopped and broken up.

In a large mixing bowl, using a hand-whisk, whizz up the eggs, maple syrup and the seeds from the vanilla pod until frothy. Add the almond flour, cinnamon and coconut and stir before adding the oil and mixing thoroughly again.

Add your grated carrot, pistachios and dates and mix again until fully combined. Pour into the prepared tin and pop into the oven. Bake for 45-55 minutes but check after 40 minutes to make sure it is cooking evenly. You may need to turn it round or cover loosely with foil to stop it from browning too much.

When the cake is baked - it should be springy and a skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean - place onto a wire rack to cool. Keep in the tin cooling for 30 minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely - preferably overnight. 

To make the syrup, melt the honey and coconut oil together over a high heat and then pour over the cake. Use a pastry brush or palette knife to smooth over the cake. Scatter the sliced pistachios and rose petals. A perfect 'love cake'. 

I need another slice....NOW!

Paleo Courgette and Avocado Houmous

I used to be a houmous junkie. Just couldn't get enough of it. Since turning to the paleo way of eating - 80% of the time - I have seriously cut down and have only had it a few times since Christmas. I do miss it and so this is how this little gem of a recipe came to be born. It satisfies the cravings for the real thing without laving me bloated and without a 'heavy' feeling. This is quite garlic-y so if you don't like a strong garlic taste, just use half the amount. I used half lemon and half lime juice but you could just use all lemon if you prefer. Try adding coriander for an added note of flavour. It goes very well with a toasted piece of my caveman bread or some vegetable batons.,,,and a glass of bubbles.

You will need:

a food processor with blade attachment 

1 medium courgette - about 200g peeled and chopped

1 small OR half of a medium avocado

2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

juice of 1 lemon

juice of 1 1/2 limes

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup tahini

salt and pepper to taste

paprika to serve

pumpkin seeds to serve

extra oil to serve

Place the juice of the lemons and limes - should make about 1/4 cup - into the whizzer along with the tahini. Blend for about 30 seconds until smooth. 

Add in the chopped courgette, avocado, oil, cumin, garlic and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. You may need to stop and scrape the sides then blend again. Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired.

Pour into a bowl and garnish with paprika, pumpkin seeds and a little more olive oil. Cover and place in the fridge for an hour until ready to serve. This will keep for a couple of days if kept covered and refrigerated. 

Warming Carrot and Coconut Soup

I love soup! I could eat soup every night of the week and be perfectly satisfied. There are so many flavour combinations, so many ingredients that the possibilities are almost endless. As it is nearly March and there are signs of Spring in Devon (my absolute favourite time of the year) I was inspired to make a bright and cheerful soup to warm me up on a blustery evening. School is pretty hectic as usual and with only 5 weeks of this half of term I am beginning to feel rising panic! Our year group is being moderated this year and with parents' evening next week I needed a bit of cooking-therapy. This soup was thrown together as a little trial but it came out so wonderfully well that I thought I should share. It is a Paleo friendly recipe and completely vegan, gluten free, dairy free and grain free. I hope you enjoy it!

Serves 4-6

You will need:

Blender

a little coconut oil or olive oil to fry off the vegetables

700ml -1l of home-made or good quality vegetable stock (check it has no hidden sugar, gluten etc)

1 red onion, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, diced

2 large leeks, trimmed and cut into semi-circle coins

600g carrots, cut into coins

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger (take off skin first)

1 heaped tsp turmeric

3 cardamom pods

1 cup full fat coconut milk plus a little extra to serve

handful of coriander - about 2 tbsp - roughly chopped plus extra to serve

salt and pepper 

Chop all the vegetables and prepare the stock and keep it warm. Warm the coconut oil or olive oil in a deep pan. Gently fry off the onion, garlic and leeks until soft and beginning to brown. Add the carrots and grated ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes. 

Whilst this is happening prepare the cardamom. Break open the pods, pick out the seeds and discard the cases. Grind the seeds and then add this, as well as the turmeric, to the vegetables. Add a little salt and pepper - add more after blending if needs be.

Stir the mixture until all the vegetables are coated in the spices and the aromas develop. Add the stock and bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the carrots are fork tender. At this point add the coconut milk and the chopped coriander.

Transfer to a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer back to a clean pot and warm through. Taste and then add salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle into big bowls and garnish with finely chopped coriander and a little extra coconut milk. Enjoy with a piece of my Caveman Paleo Bread. Springtime in a bowl!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

For me, cooking is a release, it is my own sanctuary and a little bit of daily therapy. There are days when I cannot wait to get home and start cooking, even if it is just a poached egg. I have had a pretty busy week at work and had a soup (this soup) lined up to cook on Wednesday. I got home too late and so had a quick supper of avocado on my caveman bread, rocket salad with tahini and lime dressing and some smoked salmon. Pretty tasty but not quite what I had been looking forward to. The same happened on Thursday, so I finally made this delicious and wholesome soup on Friday. I so enjoyed the process and soon the stress and troubles of the week flowed out of me. It was like having a massage. My muscles released, my brow smoothed again. Does anyone else get this kind of feeling from cooking, or am I just a tiny bit crazy? 

Anyway, angst removed and feathers smoothed I dived into this glorious bowl of nourishing and tasty soup. I added a little honey to the roasting of the squash but you don't have to if you don't want to. It does had a richness to the final taste and the amount is not a lot. This serves 2 as a main course or 4 smaller portions. Serve with a slice or two of thinly sliced and toasted Caveman bread.

You will need:

1 large butternut squash or 2 small, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into discs

600-700 ml good vegetable or chicken stock

1 heaped tsp smoked paprika

1 large red onion, peeled and diced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and diced

300g leeks, top and tailed and chopped into semi-circles

1-2 tsp organic runny honey

300ml coconut milk

juice of half a lime

salt

pepper

olive oil/coconut oil

pumpkin seeds to garnish

Re-heat your oven to 190 degrees C and put your prepared squash onto a tray with a generous glug of olive oil, then drizzle over the honey and salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes, shaking them up halfway through.

Whilst the squash is roasting, prepare all the other vegetables. Fry off the onions and garlic until soft and browning, add the carrots and leeks and fry off until the leeks soften. Add the paprika and stir so all the vegetables are covered. Add the hot stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Add in your squash, lime juice and another twist of pepper. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth. Put back into a clean pot over a medium heat and stir in the coconut milk. Warm through for a minute or so and serve immediately. Garnish with some pumpkin seeds or a little swirl of coconut milk. You can keep this in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze on the day of making for up to 3 months. 

Paleo Pizza with Goat Cheese, Wild Rocket and Prosciutto

Just so you understand, I LOVE PIZZA. Always have. And now thanks to this little beauty of a recipe I always will. I tried a cauliflower version but I'm afraid we didn't agree with one another! This is so delicious, crisp and tasty that I can safely say it satisfies my pizza craving and doesn't leave me bloated or feeling guilty. It is also super easy and quick to make. The base is completely gluten, dairy and grain free. The top is too except for the organic goat cheese, so you can skip that it you like. If you are going to use cheese - of any kind - and follow a Paleo diet use organic and grass fed as a minimum. If possible you need unpasteurised but that is sometimes quite difficult to get a hold of. Even if you don't follow a Paleo lifestyle, it is important to source the best ingredients you are able to as this really does improve the flavours and the quality of food you are eating. Goat cheese obviously has no lactose and is therefore perfectly fine for those with a lactose intolerance. I now follow a Paleo diet most of the time but occasionally I dip into the so-called Lacto-Paleo world and have organic, grass fed butter or a little goat cheese or mozzarella. Sometimes I use capers and anchovies instead of the cheese and prosciutto as a topping and they also go really well with wild rocket. 

You will need:

Baking parchment

Baking sheet

Oven to 180 degrees centigrade

Food processor

For the base:

3 eggs

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 cup full fat coconut milk

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp basil or oregano

2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped

For the tomato sauce:

1 cup passata - check the ingredients to make sure no added sugar or nasties!

6 baby plum tomatoes, cut in half

1 tsp oregano

pepper

For the toppings:

50 g full fat, organic and grass fed goats' cheese

3 slices of prosciutto 

few olives - check no added sugar, if there is rinse in boiling water before using

5 or 6 sun dried tomatoes - again check no added sugar, rinse in boiling water if needed

1 tbsp toasted pine nuts - be careful not to over do them!

large handful of wild rocket

olive oil to drizzle

To make the base, heat your oven to 180 and place the baking sheet in to warm up. Scrunch up the baking parchment and then smooth out again and drizzle a little olive oil over. Leave this to one side.

Place all your ingredients except the coconut milk into a food processor and add half of the coconut milk. Start mixing the ingredients and add more milk as needed. You want the mixture to form a smooth paste. You need to be a bit careful about the liquid content as it won't cook properly if it is too wet.

Take out the baking sheet and pop the greased parchment on top. Use a spatula to smooth the 'dough' into whatever shape you desire! You want it fairly thin so you get a nice crisp base. Place into the oven for 12-15 minutes but check after 10 to make sure it isn't burning. 

Whilst the base is cooking you can make the sauce. Into a pan, pour the passata and drop in the halved plum tomatoes, a little pepper and the oregano. Bring to a simmer for 5-10 minutes until you have reduced by a third and you have a thicker consistency. Carefully toast your pine nuts in a small frying pan (no extra oil needed), but be really careful not to burn them. 

When the base is slightly golden, take it out of the oven but don't turn it off and spread the tomato sauce on top, crumble over the cheese and then add the olives, sun dried tomatoes and prosciutto. Put back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes. 

To serve scatter the wild rocket on top, followed by the toasted pine nuts and a little drizzle of olive oil. Happy eating!

Sweet potato and chicken curry

My boyfriend is an amazing cook. He creates these incredible meals with scraps and not much more but they always come out tasting insanely good. He has a gift. Sadly he is away travelling for work a lot so I have taken to trying to recreate his dishes with a Paleo twist. The following is his original recipe but with some additions and maybe one ingredient which some Paleo purists will disagree with. The humble pea. When I originally transferred to eating the Paleo way, I thought all legumes were off limits. I accepted this and carried on cooking without out them. Quite by accident I came across several articles which said that peas could be enjoyed as part of a Paleo diet, so long as you didn't make them a staple. They have much less of the nasty phytates and the lecithins aren't as toxic or as numerous as with other legumes. I read a piece in the Paleo Magazine which helped to make things slightly clearer. It seems if they are fresh and not dried and you eat them occasionally then they are ok. Phew, justification over, let's get back to the serious matter of cooking. You'll need a good spice selection but a pestle and mortar is not obligatory! 

Serves 2 very hungry/greedy people or 4 normal ones!

You will need:

4 - 6 chicken things, preferable free range/organic, take the skin off

1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks

Plenty of fresh coriander

500 ml of good chicken stock (you may need a little more to add in the cooking process)

2 large white onions

2-3 garlic cloves

1/3 cup coconut milk

1 tsp coconut oil

1 cup fresh peas

pinch sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

5 cardamom pods

few sprigs of thyme

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cumin seed

1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp fenugreek 

1/2 tsp coriander seed

1/2 tsp ginger

Pop all the spices and the thyme into a pestle and mortar (or small bowl and handle of wooden spoon) and mix them up. Gently and only slightly crush the cardamom pods.

Gently melt the coconut oil over a medium heat in a deep pan. Brown the chicken thighs on both sides. Add the spices, thyme, salt and pepper and stir so that the mix covers the meat. Continue cooking for 1 minute. Take a moment to enjoy the aromas being released. Add the onions and garlic and fry off until the onions begin to soften. 

Add the sweet potatoes and the stock, bring to the boil then turn down and simmer for about 40 minutes (you may need to add a little more stock depending of how thick you want it to be) until the potatoes can be squashed against the side of the pan. Add the peas and a handful of freshly chopped coriander and stir through. Finally add your coconut milk and simmer gently for 30 seconds. 

Serve in bowls with a little extra coriander sprinkled on top. A delicious and nutritious dish that is packed full of flavour and goodness. Enjoy!

Coconut and berry breakfast pot

I slept really badly last night. Woke up in the small hours thinking about what I could be doing instead of wasting time sleeping. I curled up and forced my eyes shut for about half an hour. Then I made a terrible mistake. I looked at my phone. Cue the next hour fiddling around and not really doing much apart from feeding my social media addiction. When I eventually got back to sleep, I woke up feeling groggy and not at all rested. I craved something fresh to try and wipe away the taste of my dalliance with a night-time spent flicking through my Pinterest board, and hoping someone would like a picture from my Instagram. Sad but true and in the end I really did waste time.

My little breakfast pots are quick and easy to make and I find them very restorative after a bad night's sleep. You could use normal yoghurt if you'd rather but the coconut flavour and creaminess of coyo is heavenly. I sometimes sweeten mine with a little date syrup (see earlier post) or add cocoa nibs with the pumpkin seeds. Whatever you do I promise you won't be disappointed and on the plus side this is a hit with children too!

          

Serves 1 hungry, groggy soul

You will need: 

small jam jar or bowl

handful of raspberries

handful of blueberries

1 tsp almond butter

1 tsp pumpkin seeds

1 small pot of coyo

1/4 tsp raw cacao powder

                                                       

Mix the cacao in with the coyo and stir until all combined. Make sure you incorporate all the powder as it will not be a nice surprise if you find a dry bit of cacao when you eat it. Carefully layer the yoghurt and then fruit. Top with your almond butter, seeds and one more raspberry. Not only is this very quick but it is so pretty too! You'll have a smile on your face for that reason alone. 

Raw Chocolate Truffle Almond Tart

Like many of you I have been embarking on a fresh start to 2015 and gave up gluten, alcohol and refined sugar in the hopes I would be reborn into a new 'me'. In some ways this has happened, although not in some miraculous I-now-have-a-six-pack-and-am-living-in-a-grass-hut-making-my-own-clothes way (which is a brilliant way of life and I am totally envious), but I do feel 100 times better than I did in the run up to New Year. Being a teacher, there are always children bringing in all sorts of bugs and coughs and sneezes so we are bound to get ill. However, I felt that the entire Autumn term I was barely getting over one illness before something else hit me. I was exhausted (as I have been most of my adolescent and adult life - my boyfriend was always telling me to 'get it checked out'). I had blood tests but they seemed normal and my blood pressure, although fairly low, was considered healthy. I have often suffered with a sudden plummeting of blood sugar resulting in cold sweats, shaking and dizziness, sometimes fainting. In the last 3 weeks I have only had one such 'episode' which was in the supermarket after having been to the gym and not having had time for breakfast - silly me. I have been dabbling in the gluten free world off and on for a couple of years but never really stuck to it. This year is different, I can feel it in my bones! I am really trying to avoid refined sugars and gluten as much as I can (with the exception of when others cook for me as I don't want to be THAT person just yet). I can feel my energy levels up and I am not constantly hungry, tired and bloated.

                            

My biggest inspiration has come from an old friend who has an amazing blog called 'Paleo with Mrs P'. She converted to this way of eating for a pre-wedding diet but it has transformed her health and well-being and the recipes she posts are truly wonderful - she's an incredible photographer too! I have been following her recipes for the last three weeks and this weekend I tried out my own recipe to see how it went. My friend was having a few of us over for supper and we offered to bring puddings. Enter the Raw Dark Chocolate Tart! Another guest made an amazing cake made from pistachios, carrot and hazelnuts which I must admit I had a sneaky morsel from even though it contained refined sugar....it was heavenly - watch this space for a recipe soon. Anyway...back to the tart...the original recipe is taken from 'Bareroot Girl' but I have altered some of the ingredients and method to my tastes. It is so deliciously chocolatey and delicious without a smidge of gluten, dairy or refined sugar near it. Most of the guests thought it was really tasty (it didn't go down well with one of the children!), with some not believing me when I said there was no dairy in it at all. For those used to a sweeter pud this is probably not for you but for the chocoholics it is a must. It has a smooth truffle-like texture in the middle and a nutty, crunchy base. The different flavours hit you at intervals and are quite spectacular. This is definitely a new favourite of mine and one I will be making again and again and again.....and again. 

No oven required, simple ingredients

You will need:

9inch/23cm loose bottomed tart tin

food processor

blender (if making your own date paste)

For the base:

1.5 cups almond flour

half cup raw cocoa nibs (I use naturya)

3 medjool dates, roughly chopped

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

pinch salt

For the filling:

1 cup coconut oil

1 cup full fat coconut milk (from a can)

1 cup date paste (see below)

1 cup raw cacao powder (I used The Raw Chocolate Company's)

1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

For the date paste - this yields 2 cups:

15 dates, chopped 

1 1/2 cups chilled water

Soak the dates in hot water for 10 minutes then drain and put into the blender with the chilled water for 1-2 minutes until smooth. This will produce quite a runny paste but you can add less water if you want a spreadable consistency.

To make the base put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse for 30 seconds to roughly break up the nibs. Then blend for 1 minute until the mixture sticks together when pinched. The mixture will still be quite chunky but should be all mixed.

Tip the mixture into your tin and press it down and around to cover the base and sides. Don't worry if it doesn't quite reach the top of the sides of the tin, but make sure it is firmly pressed into the edges and sides. Pop this into the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up.

To make the filling put all the ingredients in the order shown into a food processor. It s important that you do it like this because if the cacao is at the bottom it will not mix properly. 

Mix for 1-2 minutes until it is smooth and glossy.

Pour into the chilled case, smooth the top with a warm palette knife and pop back into the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.

You will need to bring it out of the fridge about 10 minutes before serving so that the oils melt slightly and you can gently push the bottom through. Scatter the top with berries of your choice, I chose raspberries as I think there is no better union than chocolate and these little berries of delight. 

Cut into slices and serve immediately. This tart should be covered and kept in the fridge and will keep (if you can restrain yourself) for up to a week. 

Enjoy every flavour hit and bathe in the pleasure and knowledge that it is doing you oh so much good. 

Empty plates, happy faces!