Raw Chocolate Cheesecake with Berries (Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

As much as I enjoy cooking, one of the best bits about Mother's Day at our place is that I don't have to cook! Bliss!

I always get something yummy for breakfast with a cup of tea and then a special dinner and dessert made by my hubby with the help of the kids.

If your family needs a hint as to what you'd like for your Mother's Day dessert then I have the perfect recipe for you.

This chocolate cheesecake was luscious, creamy and just plain delicious. It is free from both gluten and dairy and no baking required so it's a great one to get the kids involved with.

I actually made this last month for Easter Sunday but I think it would be just as perfect for Mother's Day!

You could also make some fun variations with the flavours.

Maybe leave out the berries and add some peppermint oil to the filling, or perhaps leave the cocoa out of the filling add some citrus. The possibilities are endless and I consider it my duty to test them all out for you over the next few months! You're welcome :)

Make sure you give it a solid 30 minutes out of the freezer before serving, otherwise it will crack a little like you can see in the photo above. Another 10 minutes and it would have been luscious, creamy perfection as it was in my bowl when I was eating it!

Oh and remember you will need to start this the day before so the cashews can soak overnight! You can cover them with boiling water for an hour or so if you get absolutely stuck but the end result won't be quite as smooth and creamy.

Raw Chocolate Cheesecake with Smashed Berries

Base
1 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup dates
1ts vanilla
1/2 ts salt
1 heaped tbs coconut oil

Filling
2 cups raw cashews (soaked for at least 6 hrs or overnight and drained well)
1 can Ayam coconut cream
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup raw cacao
100-120g raw honey (adjust to taste)
2 ts vanilla extract
Pinch salt

1 1/2 cups mixed berries, divided
1tbs raw honey, extra
3 drops Wild Orange essential oil (optional)

Grease a 20cm springform pan and line the base with baking paper.

To make the base, place all ingredients into food processor or Thermomix and process until the mixture sticks together. Press into the base of the prepared pan. Scatter over 1/2 cup of the berries and place in the freeezer while you prepare the filling.

To make the filling, place all ingredients into same food processor or Thermomix bowl (no need to wash it) and process for 2 minutes until completely smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides halfway through. Pour the mixture over the berries on the base and place back in the freezer until ready to serve.

To make the berry sauce, just before serving place the remaining 1 cup of berries and extra honey into a bowl (and orange oil if you are using it) and smash with a fork until you have a chunky sauce.

Remove the cheesecake from the freezer 30 minutes before serving. Top each serve with berry sauce. Enjoy!

Do you have any special Mother's Day traditions or recipes at your place?

Let me know! x

Citrus Gummies

While we love chocolate in this house we don't go crazy with it at Easter.

My boys each receive a Lindt dark chocolate Gold Bunny from the Easter Bunny (one of the lowest sugar options around and palm-oil free), and I usually make a chocolate dessert for our Easter lunch but that's usually pretty much it!

You can make nearly anything Easter-y with a little imagination, so I decided to dig out some silicone moulds and make some Easter themed gummies for the boys to snack on over the long weekend.

Aren't they cute??

I've shared before just how good for you homemade jellies are. This is a tweaked version using some of my favourite essential oils to boost the citrus flavour.

The boys went nuts for them (as they always do) without any idea they were having something so nutritious and good for their tummies!

If you don't have any silicone moulds, you can just pour the mixture into a glass dish and slice it into squares once it has set.

When it comes to removing them from the moulds or container, just press around the edges of the gummies lightly with your fingertips, pulling it away from the edges. They should then just pop out.

Citrus Gummies

1 cup orange juice
1 cup coconut water
2-4 tbs organic raw honey (I used 2)
3 tbs grass-fed gelatin (I use Great Lakes in the orange container)
6 drops doTERRA Lemon Essential Oil
2 drops doTERRA Wild Orange or Grapefruit Essential oil

Place all the liquid ingredients into a small pot. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and leave to bloom for a minute or so.

Turn the heat onto low and using a whisk, stir together until the honey and gelatin have dissolved.

Tip into a jug then pour into moulds.

Place in the fridge to set (only takes about 15 minutes).

Remove from the moulds and store in the fridge in an air-tight container.

You can read more about the essential oils I personally use and recommend here, and be sure to get in touch if you would like to try some for yourself!

Have you experimented with gelatin yet?

Do you have a favourite healthy jelly recipe?

Let me know below! x

3 Ingredient Peppermint Chocolate Crackles

If you're looking for something easy and tasty to make with the kids this Easter, then look no further!

Not only are they a 3-ingredient, 1-bowl wonder, there's no yucky copha in sight.

3 Ingredient Peppermint Chocolate Crackles

200g dairy free dark chocolate (Lindt 70% for the kids or 85% for the adults)
3 cups gluten-free rice bubbles
3-5 drops doTERRA Peppermint Essential Oil*

Roughly chop the chocolate and place it in a large glass bowl over a pot of simmering water.

Once the chocolate is melted, add the peppermint oil and stir through.

Add the rice bubbles and fold through until well coated.

Spoon the mixture into paper or silicone cupcake wrappers.

Place in the fridge to set. Try not to eat them all at once.

I got 15 from this batch but it depends how much you fill each case.

* Don't like peppermint? The only limit is your imagination! Wild Orange, Grapefruit, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Lime ... go crazy and experiment with your favourite flavours! For more information about how to purchase the oils I use please read this!

My boys went nuts for these and they pretty much made them all by themselves.

Do you have any Easter treats you make with your kids?

Gluten-free Hot Cross Bun Muffins

While I've been dairy free for years, this is my first completely gluten free Easter, which makes hot cross buns a little tricky.

And it just wouldn't feel like Easter to me without hot cross buns!

Here in Australia we all seem to be obsessed with them and they are available in stores from the day after Christmas. That seems a little crazy to me and I refuse to make them out of principle until the Easter school holidays when I just can't get enough of them.

I really wasn't impressed with the first gluten-free recipe I tried. They were very dense and oddly chewy and we couldn't even finish them.

For my next attempt I adapted a paleo hot cross bun recipe and it was a total winner! They are a cross between a bun and a muffin and have a great flavour and texture.

These were meant just for me as the kids had some spelt ones, but they were so good the kids scoffed half of them.

I've given the Thermomix instructions below but if you are using almond meal and buckwheat flour you can just mix them by hand.

Gluten-free Hot Cross Bun Muffins (Buffins)
Adapted from The 4 Blades

100g raw almonds (or almond meal)
100g buckwheat groats (or buckwheat flour)
170g arrowroot flour
1 ts cinnamon
1/2 ts ginger
1/2 ts allspice
1/4 ts cloves
2 ts baking powder
pinch salt
125g coconut oil, melted
3 eggs at room temperature
2 tbs coconut milk
90g rice malt syrup
80g organic mixed dried fruit or sultanas

Crosses
1 tbs arrowroot flour
2 ts water

Place ingredients into a small ziplock bag, seal and mix by pressing together with your fingers. It may take a few goes to get the consistency right. If you need more water add it a drop at a time. If it's too runny, add another teaspoon of arrowroot flour.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Line a muffin tray with paper cases or use silicone muffin moulds.

Grind the almonds and buckwheat groats together until fine (10 secs / SP 9).

Add remaining dry ingredients (except dried fruit) and mix to combine (6 secs / SP 4).

Add coconut oil, eggs, milk and syrup and mix until smooth (20 secs / SP 5).

Add dried fruit and mix until just combined (5 secs / SP 4 / REVERSE).

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray.

Snip the corner off the bag with the cross mixture and pipe crosses onto the buns (some of the crosses looked a bit wonky after baking but that was part of their charm!)

Bake for 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

Like most gluten free things they are best on the day they are made BUT I froze some of these and they thawed well without getting too crumbly.

I'm making another batch today to stash in the freezer so I can enjoy them for the next few weeks. If they last that long!

Do you have any dietary requirements to think about this Easter?

Let me know below x

Hot Cross Bun and Butter Pudding

I am a huge fan of bread and butter pudding, it's the ultimate in comfort food. Making it with hot cross buns really takes it up another level though with the spice and sultanas.

In the interest of full disclosure I have to admit I actually made this batch of hot cross buns especially to make this pudding. Because there is zero chance I would ever get to make it because we never have leftover hot cross buns!

I used home made hot cross buns for this but of course any would do. Just make sure they are at least a day or so old so they soak up all the delicious custard.

And with that we say goodbye to hot cross buns for another year.

My Hot Cross Bun and Butter Pudding

6 leftover hot cross buns
1 cup coconut cream*
2 cups rice milk*
2 ts vanilla extract
1 tbs coconut sugar
3 eggs
6 ts marmalade*

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees / 160 degrees fan-forced.

In a jug beat together the coconut cream, milk, vanilla, coconut sugar and eggs until well combined.

Slice the hot cross buns through the middle and place the bottom halves in a greased deep baking dish. Spread each one with a teaspoon of marmalade.

Pour over half of the milk mixture, replace the tops of the buns and pour over the remaining mixture.

Leave to rest, covered, for at least 30 minutes to allow the buns to absorb about 1/2 the liquid.

Bake in a preheated oven for about 35 minutes or until golden brown and the custard is only just set in the middle (it should still have a wobble).

Stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 6

* if not dairy free you can replace with regular cream, milk and butter for a more traditional bread and butter pudding.

Do you ever have leftover hot cross buns? Or are you more likely to have a stash of Easter eggs hidden somewhere?

Dutch Easter Bunny Bread (SRC)

This month's Secret Recipe Club has given me one of my most favourite baking projects in years. I was delighted to be assigned Tara's Multicultural Table by, you guessed it, Tara. She has 2 young children and a beautiful blog themed by country, meaning she has cooked and baked her way around the world and back again!

Being Australian I of course had to first check whether she had any recipes from my region and loved that she has baked Sausage Rolls and Pikelets, both of which are quintessentially Aussie.

Tara has dozens of recipes which caught my eye but to be honest, once I saw this one for Dutch Easter Bunny Bread I knew I didn't have to look any further. The fact that reveal is the day after Easter seemed like it was meant to be!

Paashaasjes (Easter bunnies in Dutch) are a basic bread rolled and shaped into bunnies with raisins or chocolate chips for eyes and holding an egg which becomes perfectly hardboiled when cooked with the bread.

While mine are nowhere near as neat as Tara's, the boys and I had a great time rolling, shaping and decorating these little bunnies and they certainly loved eating them too.

Dutch Easter Bunny Bread
Adapted for Thermomix from Tara's Multicultural Table

250g water
1 1/2 ts instant yeast
1 ts raw honey
500g plain flour
120g buttermilk
1/2 ts salt

Decoration:
6 eggs, at room temperature, washed and dried
18 chocolate chips or sultanas
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbs water

Place the water, yeast and honey into the bowl and heat for 3 mins / 37 degrees / SP 1.

Add the flour, buttermilk and salt and knead for 3 mins / closed lid.

Shape into a ball and placed in a greased bowl. Cover and allow to rest for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius / 170 degrees fan-forced. Line 2 trays with baking paper and set aside.

Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Shape one ball of dough at a time and leave the rest covered until ready to use. Roll the dough out into an oval approximately 7 inches tall. Cut as per the pictures below to form the bunny shape.

Lift the dough shape onto the prepared tray. Place an egg into the middle lower third of the dough then fold over the arms. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and leave to rest for 20-30 minutes until puffed.

Place 3 chocolate chips on each for the eyes and nose of the rabbit. Use a toothpick to draw whiskers and mark the paws. Brush with beaten egg. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 6

Aren't they gorgeous?

Thanks for a great month Tara! I loved making these with my boys and I think we have now found a new Easter tradition.

An InLinkz Link-up

Our Easter Round-up

This year our Easter was the closest to 100% homemade as we've gotten!

For the first time ever we didn't buy a single hot cross bun from the shops, instead I baked up a storm for nearly the whole of March, trying and refining hot cross bun recipes to find the one that we love. Which we did - using white spelt flour, rice malt syrup, loads of spice and a good handful of organic sultanas. Delicious!

If you've ever looked at the ingredients on supermarket hot cross buns you were likely as horrified as I was - vegetable oil, loads of sugar, emuslifiers and preservatives. Let me tell you it does not have to be that way! Making your own hot cross buns is easier than you might think and a great activity to get the kids involved with (my recipe is scrawled in a notebook but I will get it on the blog when I can, hopefully sometime before next Easter!).

The Easter Bunny brought our boys some lovely winter pyjamas and a single dark chocolate Lindt Bunny. This was the only commercial chocolate the boys received as we had requested non-choc gifts from relatives. Everyone awesomely obliged and boys were gifted board games, books and some rabbit ornaments. We also did an Easter Egg hunt this morning with the boys searching for plastic eggs with little chickens inside and I love that they loved the experience of the hunt so much they didn't notice there was no chocolate involved!

Our junk food philosophy can be summed up as 'party food is for parties' (borrowed from Sweet Poison by David Gillespie) meaning we don't stop the boys eating anything but we clearly treat it as sometimes food and we don't have it in the pantry.

The boys all wanted to eat their chocolate for breakfast but unlike the other two, Mr 5 scoffed the lot before 7am and then felt so sick for most of the day that he has refused all other chocolate and can't even stand the smell of it. He usually doesn't have an off-switch when it comes to sweets so perhaps this has been an effective lesson for him! I'm interested to see how long the aversion will last and whether it will affect how much chocolate he eats on other occasions.

We also didn't purchase any chocolates for each other or for family but instead experimented with some homemade treats. Our homemade chocolates were made using Quirky Jo's dairy-free raw chocolate, Alexx Stuart's real marshmallow and Against All Grain's mandarin truffles. This was my first time using cacao butter to make real wholefood chocolate and I was so impressed with how easy it was to use and how delicious the results were. The marshmallow was out of this world and although obviously it contains sugar (rice malt syrup) it's so much cleaner than the bought stuff. I will be playing around with different flavours and ingredients for Christmas gifts too.

I have such fond memories of making chocolates with praline, nougat, marshmallow and cream fillings for Easter and Christmas with my mum. I still have all these moulds and loved digging them out to use with my boys. Making memories and delicious food like this really is at the heart of what My Wholefood Family is all about.

I hope you and your family have enjoyed a wonderful Easter. What are your traditions - do you go camping? enjoy a seafood feast? what special treats did you bake, make or create? Let me know below ...

Lemon and Blueberry Roulade

Happy Easter!!!

We are off to my mother in law's place for lunch today and I (of course) offered to bring dessert. I figured we wouldn't need anymore chocolate and instead opted for something a little lighter. While it is more suited to a Springtime Easter, I think it works just fine here. You really can't go wrong with the combination of lemon and blueberry and it just looks so pretty with that swirl of purple.

A roulade or swiss roll is often filled with jam but here I have used a light cheesecake style filling flavoured with lemon and studded with bluberries. Just delightful.

The recipe called for a 23cm x 32cm tin but I have actually never been able to find one. This is despite that size seeming to be the most standard size. Perhaps they are just always sold out. I had to make do with a 20cm x 30cm tin so my sponge is a little thicker than it should be and I added an extra minute to the cooking time.

I hope wherever you are, that you're having a lovely Easter weekend with your families. Don't eat too much chocolate!

Lemon and Blueberry Roulade
Sponge recipe from The Australian Woman's Weekly, filling by me

For the sponge:
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 tbs hot milk
3/4 cup self-raising flour, triple sifted
1/4 cup caster sugar extra

For the filling:
125g cream cheese, at room temperature
125ml thickened cream
1 tbs sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup frozen blueberries, thawed

To make the sponge, preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius  /180 degrees fan-forced. Grease and line the base and 2 sides of a 23cm x 32cm swiss roll pan, allowing the paper to extend about 5cm over the sides.

Place the egg whites in a large bowl and beat with an electric beater until soft peaks form. Gradually add in the sugar, continuing to beat until the sugar has dissolved. (You can test this by taking a dab of the meringue and rubbing it between 2 fingers. If there is any graininess continue to beat).

With the beaters running add the egg yolks one at a time, and beat until the mixture is thick and pale, about 10 minutes (mine took far less).

Working quickly, pour the hot milk down the side of bowl, tip in the flour and gently fold them through the egg mixture. Don't over-mix, just make sure there are no pockets of flour left.

Bake the sponge for 8 minutes or until golden brown and just cooked. If the sponge is overcooked it will crack when it is rolled.

Meanwhile, place a clean tea towel on the bench and sprinkle over the extra sugar roughly the same size as the sponge. As soon as a the sponge is cooked, flip in on the the sugared towel and gently peel off the baking paper. Starting on a short edge, turn the tea towel up over the sponge and roll up the sponge and tea towel together. (There is a great post here on Joe Pastry about how to make a swiss roll which includes pictures of this step).

Leave the cake to cool like this for approx 15 minutes, or until ready to fill

To make the filling, beat the cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest until smooth then add the cream a little at a time, continuing to beat until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth.

To assemble, unroll the sponge and spread with the cream cheese mixture, leaving a 1-2cm border around the edges. Sprinkle with the blueberries. Carefully re-roll the sponge taking care not to squish the filling too much. Place seam side down on the serving plate. Chill before serving (I made mine a day ahead and kept in the fridge). Serves 8.