Almond truffles..

So since it's Christmas, we all like to treat ourselves... there are tins of Roses & Quality Streets everywhere, and we tend to overindulge mainly due to snacking on empty calories. 

A quick search yields the following nutritional information for 1 Roses chocolate: 48 calories, 3g fat, 6g carbs (5g from sugar) & 0 protein. Now that's not very nutritious! Who eats one chocolate??? C'mon... be honest... 

So wouldn't it be great to find an alternative... a chocolate that is rich & chocolatey, not overly sweet and actually provides some real nutrition...(AND contains less calories per sweet than a Rose!.... ok it's 1 calorie less... and no, I didn't plan that!)... Not possible right?? Wrong.... 

I give you my healthy (Paleo & Primal friendly) almond truffles :) 

• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 3 tbsp Keen almond butter
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp raw organic honey (if you prefer a sweeter chocolate)
• 15 whole almonds

Add coconut oil, almond butter, cocoa powder & honey to a heatproof glass bowl over gently simmering water. 

Stir constantly until you have a smooth glossy chocolate. 

Remove from the heat carefully. Make sure you don't allow any moisture into the mixture or the chocolate will seize and become grainy. 

Pour into silicone chocolate moulds (you can pick these up in Dunnes or TK Maxx for very little... a silicone ice cube tray works just as well) 

Drop 1 whole almond into each chocolate (this recipe makes 15). 

Allow to set in the fridge for 2-3 hours before carefully removing from the moulds. 

Nutritional Info: 

• Calories: 47
• Fat: 4.6g 
• Carbs: 1.6g (1.2g from sugar)
• Protein: 0.8g

Lower sugar & calories, lots of healthy fat and a tiny bit of protein... best of all, you know exactly what's in them.... no nasty chemicals for me over Christmas :) 

These are quite rich too so you're not going to be tempted to eat near as many as you would if it was a tin of Roses! 

YUM! :) 

Chocolate... Paleo friendly :)

I'm always wary of putting 'dairy/sugar/gluten free' in my post titles... I've lots of sarcastic friends who use it as an excuse to throw in 'taste free' when they comment on my posts! Mind you, I'm slowly but surely converting them, and making them realise that food doesn't need to be laced with sugar to taste good. I can't help but laugh when they call the food I cook 'fake food'... somewhat ironic given the fact that it's actually 'real' food...

*May not be entirely accurate

One ingredient I've struggled with for clean dessert recipes has been chocolate. Yes, you can use chocolate with a high cocoa content which lowers the sugar content, but I still wasn't happy. I try not to compromise what I'm trying to achieve, by adding sugar and artificial ingredients into my cooking. It's all too easy to take short cuts, and totally undermine your efforts to eat clean... before you know it, you're part of the 'IIFYM (If it fits your macros)' crowd, and you're having a breakfast roll with a side order of toast for breakfast! I've said repeatedly, that dessert and cake recipes I post here are for treats only... even though they're using quality ingredients, they shouldn't be forming the basis of your daily food intake! 

Chocolate is pretty amazing... so I decided to make my own. I hereby declare myself Willy Wonka :) 

I don't claim to have created this myself... it's a recipe that seems to be a Paleo favourite online, with a few amendments to suit my own preferences. Selfless as always, I've tried this out a couple of times, and promise it not only works, but it tastes great too... 

For the chocolate:

• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp almond butter
• 8 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (I've substituted in peppermint/orange blossom extract....YUM!)
• 2 tbsp organic raw honey

Place all ingredients in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. (Don't do this in the microwave... yes it's quicker, but your chocolate will seize, separate and burn!) 

Keep mixing as all the ingredients melt to create a glossy chocolate sauce. Don't allow it to stick and form lumps in the base of the bowl so seriously...keep stirring. 

Once you have a smooth, glossy chocolate sauce, pour into an 8"x8" tin lined with greaseproof paper. 

Allow to cool and set in a cool, dry place. 

If you place it in the fridge, you'll end up with a dull coloured chocolate.... it still tastes great so it won't really matter. (This may have been the case in my photo above!) 

Once set, you can cut into bars, use as chocolate chunks for cookies or paleo trail mix.... It's pretty damn good regardless of how you choose to use it :) 

Spongy chocolate cake (Grain & refined sugar free)

We all LOVE brownies.. they're gorgeous, rich and made of chocolate.. I need to find a man like that!

BUT...

Sometimes, it's nice to have a light cake... a nice sponge, or just something a little less decadent than a fudgy brownie. Since we're all in agreement that chocolate is amazing.. I threw together this simple grain & refined sugar free chocolate sponge... after all, you can never have enough chocolate cake recipes :)

• 2oz coconut oil
• 2 tbsp raw organic honey
• 1 small banana, mashed well
• 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs 
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• pinch of salt
• 1oz almond flour
• 1oz unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 160d (fan) and line an 8" square tin with greaseproof paper. 

Start by beating coconut oil and honey together until combined. 

Separate eggs, adding one egg yolk at a time to the oil & honey mixture. (Place whites in bowl of your stand mixer) Beat well between each addition. 

Next mix in mashed banana, yoghurt and vanilla. 

Add sieved almond flour, cocoa & baking soda to this mixture, and mix well. 

Using the whisk attachment on your stand mixer/food processor (you can do this using a hand whisk too, it'll just take a little longer) whisk the egg whites with 1 tsp of lemon juice until you have stiff peaks. 

Next using a spatula/large plastic spoon (don't use a wooden or metal spoon as they'll knock out all the air you've just added) add the egg white a little at a time, folding the mixture gently to incorporate the egg white. Be patient... you want a light, spongy texture to this cake. 

Pour mixture into lined tin, and bake for 20 minutes until springy to touch & a skewer comes out of the centre of the cake clean. 

Cool on a wire rack. You could serve this cake as it is, or add some fresh raspberries as a garnish. It's amazing with coconut and raspberry ice cream (dairy & sugar free)... That reminds me, I must make some so I can post the recipe :) 

I make a quick chocolate almond ganache to drizzle on the top...

Ganache:

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1tsp almond butter 
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Pop all the ingredients into a heat proof bowl and microwave for 15 seconds at a time until melted and smooth. Make sure to stir after each 15 seconds, or the mixture will burn, seize and turn into oily burnt chocolate (believe me... I know! And for the love of God don't taste it to see if you can work with it... you'll most likely need to wash your mouth out with industrial strength mouthwash and you'll still taste burnt chocolate for the next hour!) 

Anyway, I digress... leave the ganache aside for 5 minutes to cool and thicken slightly. 

Drizzle over cake and cut into slices.