Berry Crumble Cake...

I know what you're thinking... she's so unbelievably selfless spending all this time baking to help us get through Christmas with some healthy treats... you're right! I am! But... thankfully since you'd never tell the difference between these recipes and their sugar-laden alternatives, I'm never short of people I can off-load food on!

The kettle is always being boiled over the festive period... people dropping in unannounced and it's nice to be able to offer them something home baked with their tea. The problem arises when you offer them Christmas cake or Mince Pies, but you don't eat one! They're going to think you're trying to poison them...

Oh wait... sugar actually is poison, so since you're a nice person and you'd like your friends & family to live long and healthy lives, make this sugar & grain free Berry Crumble Cake... :)

For the cake:

• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 tbsp raw organic honey
• 1 tsp baking soda
• zest of 1 large orange
• 45g coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 85g almond flour

For the crumble:

• 50g almond flour
• 40g flaked almonds
• 1 tbsp Keen almond butter

75g frozen berries

Preheat oven to 160d (fan). Line a 9 inch round tin with greaseproof paper. 

To make the crumble topping:

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and rub together with your fingers to combine. 

Set aside until needed.

To make the cake

Start by separating the eggs. To the egg whites, add 1 tbsp of honey. 

In the other bowl, whisk yolks, 1 tbsp honey, baking soda, zest, oil & vanilla until well mixed.

Whisk egg whites until they form stiff glossy peaks. 

Next add in 1/3 of the egg whites. Once you have fully incorporated the egg whites, you can add 1/3 of the almond flour. Repeat until everything has been added. Remember to fold in the egg whites & almond flour slowly to avoid knocking out all the air. 

To assemble:

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and spread evenly. 

Top with frozen berries (press them gently into the cake mixture). I used blackberries & raspberries. 

Finally sprinkle the crumble topping on the cake. Don't worry that not all the fruit is covered... this makes it look really nice when the cake is baked. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check on the cake after 20 minutes, if it seems like it's browning too much then place a sheet of tin foil over the cake and continue to bake until a skewer comes out clean. 

When baked, allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes & then either serve warm, or remove from the tin & leave to cool completely on a wire rack. 

This is a really nice cake. It's light and fruity but the crumble topping makes it extra special... Obviously there are a lot of nuts in this cake, so like all the cake/cookie recipes I post here, they're for treats only... I'd far prefer to treat myself to a piece of cake that contains no grains, sugar or dairy rather than a heavy slice of traditional fruit cake...

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Orange Chocolate Mousse..

I've never really understood why we eat Christmas pudding (the heaviest dessert in the world) after what is generally the biggest dinner of the year... Wouldn't it be nice to actually feel good after your Christmas dinner this year with the added bonus of knowing that your dessert hasn't set your progress back?

Instead of feeling like a Christmas pudding this year, why not try something different? Here's a great recipe for Orange Chocolate Mousse which just happens to be dairy & refined sugar free AND it tastes just like a Terry's chocolate orange bar :)

• 1 can full fat coconut milk (refrigerated overnight to help it solidify & separate from the water) 
• 2 tsp Keen almond butter*
• 1 tsp coconut oil (melted)
• zest of 1 large orange
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 egg whites
• 1 tbsp raw organic honey

Start by scooping out all the solidified coconut milk from the top of the can (you don't need the water, but it would be great added to a smoothie)

Add the almond butter, melted coconut oil, orange zest & cocoa powder to the coconut milk. Whisk all the ingredients together until they start to thicken (an electric whisk will be better for this but you can use a hand whisk if you're patient!) 

In a separate heatproof bowl set over simmering water, whisk the egg whites & honey together until you have stiff & glossy opaque peaks. You need to whisk this mixture constantly or you'll end up with scrambled eggs! 

Remove from the heat. 

Begin adding the egg whites to the coconut milk mixture, 1/3 at time. Adding the egg whites slowly makes it easier to incorporate fully & prevents over mixing which will leave you with a heavy mousse. 

Once you have full mixed in the egg whites, you can spoon into serving dishes. Garnish with flaked almonds. 

You can serve this straight away, or allow it to chill overnight. 

*I always use Keen almond butter because it's nice to support Irish businesses, I'm too lazy to make my own & a lot of the other popular brands have salt or palm oil added... I've no problem with the salt, but it doesn't usually work in sweet recipes..

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! :)