Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Category: Baking & Preserving

  • Souped Up!

    IP - The Week of Soup

    It’s hard keeping the troops fed. Especially when they come home from school, starving. All that learning sure does burn calories! 

    I’m not sure about them but I know that I get bored with making the same things so I took a little time the other day to go through my recipe books and find some tasty recipes.

    My two favourite cookbooks at the moment are both by Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall of River Cottage fame. They have incredibly naff covers but Hugh’s Three Good Things…On a Plate and Light & Easy are both fantastic cookbooks.

    I must be craving warmth because every recipe I flagged was soup! White bean soup, barley soup, lentil and bacon soup, chickpea soup, eggplant soup and fennel soup to be precise. I figured why not have a crack at making them all and so I did.

    The biggest hit was the lentil and bacon soup followed by the white bean soup. I also quite liked the fennel soup with its preserved lemons. The chickpea soup tasted a lot like a hot, runny, hummus! 

    It felt great to be back in the kitchen, making something new. And so wonderful to be a eating so many new flavourful soups!

  • Gluten and Dairy Free Oat Scones

    Gluten and Dairy Free Oat Scones 1

    The oven is doing double time round here. Cooking dinners and baking tasty treats. My latest creation is gluten and dairy free savoury scones based on this recipe. I switched out the wheat flour for oat and used soda water instead of the lemonade to turn it from savoury to sweet. It was so simple that I can't believe I haven't made scones before.

    I ate these with some red chilli tapenade the Lovely G scored at the supermarket. The kids had theirs with butter and jam. Mmmmmm, tasty!

    Gluten and Dairy Free Oat Scones 2

    Gluten and Dairy Free Oat Scones

    3 1/2 cups oat flour, sifted

    1 cup coconut cream, runny

    1 cup soda (or carbonated) water

    1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

    pinch of salt

     

    Pre heat oven to 210 C (190 C fan forced).

    Line a baking tray.

     

    Sift the flour into a large bowl.

    Make a well in the centre and add the water, coconut cream and apple cider vinegar.

    With a butter knife, mix it into a rough dough.

     

    Spoon the dough out on to the tray (it’s going to be super sticky).

    Flatten the tops a little with wet fingers.

     

    Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

     

  • Coconut and Raspberry Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing

    IP - Coconut Raspberry Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing 1

    I have a confession to make. I have started eating sugar again. I just couldn't help it.

    We've been streaming baking shows recently. Is It Cake? is a firm family favourite and we are eagerly awaiting season two's arrival at the end of the month. Seeing all that fondant, modelling chocolate, ganache and cake batter was just way too much temptation. The artistry of the bakers is impressive and it got me heading into the kitchen to find my mixing bowl and whisk. This recipe is the result of that journey into oven land. It's not a sculptural masterpiece but it is pretty tasty!

    You know me, I like to experiment and create gluten free and dairy free recipes with real ingredients and whole foods. This time with added sugar! (Although it is slightly healthy as I haven't used refined sugar). I've used buckwheat for the flour, coconut sugar for the sweetener, cacao powder for the chocolate hit and olive oil instead butter.

    When this cake first came out of the oven it was super soft, airy and light. After some time in the fridge it became more like a chewy brownie or a biscuit. Either way it was tasty! And the dark, decadent icing on the top was heavenly. This is a grown ups cake – it was too rich for the kids. Not that I'm complaining. After all, more cake is good cake!

     

    Coconut and Raspberry Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing

    IP - Coconut Raspberry Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Icing 2

    Cake Ingredients

    2 cups buckwheat flour

    4 tbsp cacao powder

    2 tsp baking powder

    1 cup coconut sugar

    1 cup coconut flakes, shredded

    1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

    4 eggs, whisked

    1/2 tsp vanilla essence/seeds

     

    Preheat the oven to 190 C (170 C fan forced).

    Grease and line a round baking tin.

     

    In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together (buckwheat four, cacao powder, baking powder, coconut sugar, coconut flakes).

    In a small bowl, mix the wet ingredients together (coconut oil, eggs, vanilla). If the coconut oil is solid, melt it in the microwave or on the stove over a low heat.

    Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.

    Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

     

    Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked all the way through.

    Take out of the oven and let the cake cool in the tin.

    When completely cold, take out of the tin and ice (see below).

     

    Icing Ingredients

    20 tsp coconut cream, chilled

    10 tsp coconut sugar

    2.5tsp cacao powder (extra for dusting)

    1 punnet fresh raspberries (for decorating)

     

    In a small bowl, mix the coconut cream (you want it to be solid), sugar and cacao until well combined.

    Once the cake is completely cooled, spread the icing on top.

    Use a small sieve to dust the extra cacao powder over the icing.

    Decorate with raspberries.

     

    Devour at once or store it in the fridge (especially in summer) so the icing doesn't melt.

    TIP: heat your knife under running hot water from the tap to make the cake easier to slice.

            (I learnt this one from Bake Squad. Thanks guys! They use a portable blowtorch though which would be way more fun!)

     

     

  • Rosemary and Olive Buckwheat Muffins

    IP - Rosemary and Olive Buckwheat Muffins

    It’s baking season and time to fire up the oven! 

    I’ve been baking these muffins for a few years now but when I went to find the recipe this morning, I realised I hadn’t posted it here. I haven’t baked these since last winter and I couldn't remember the quantities. A brief panic ensued while I searched for the recipe which luckily I eventually found.

    Now I'm posting it here so you can share in the goodness of these simple and scrumptious buckwheat muffins and I won't ever have to worry about forgetting the recipe.

    Wheat is not the only grain. If you can’t eat gluten, I highly recommend buckwheat. You can use it to make pancakes as well as bake bread and muffins. Even if you do eat gluten, it’s nice to mix things up a little and broaden your food intake and grain choice. 

    As usual, this recipe is dairy free, gluten free and also sugar free. It also contains eggs which are a great source of protein.

     

    Rosemary and Olive Buckwheat Muffins (makes 36)

    300g buckwheat

    2 large eggs

    500ml filtered water

    1 tsp salt

    black olives, pitted and cut in half

    fresh rosemary, chopped

     

    Pre heat your oven to 180°C (357 F).

    Grease a muffin tray with olive oil. I like to use the mini, shallow trays for these muffins.

    For this recipe you will need three trays or bake the muffins in rounds.

     

    Grind the buckwheat into flour using a spice/coffee grinder.

    Add it to a large mixing bowl with the salt.

     

    Crack an egg into the measuring jug and add half the filtered water. 

    Whisk until combined. Gradually whisk the egg mixture into the flour in the bowl.

    Repeat for the second egg and the remaining water.

    Add the chopped rosemary and stir well.

     

    Pour the muffin batter (it will be quite runny) into the prepared muffin trays.

    Add olives to each muffin.

     

    Bake for 15-20 minutes.

    Serve with homemade hummus.

     

  • Double Choc Bliss Bombs

    IP -Double Choc Bliss Bombs 1

    IP -Double Choc Bliss Bombs 2 IP -Double Choc Bliss Bombs 3

    Still sugar free and still loving it. Especially when I can manage to concoct something as scrumptious as these double choc bliss bombs. Mmmmm.

    Think rich and velvety with crunchy nuggets of cacao nibs and bursts of dried cranberries. Rum balls without the rum (or sugar). Vegan, dairy and gluten free. What more could you want really? (Apart from world peace and an end to the climate emergency of course). In the meantime, eat cake, I mean, bliss bombs.

     

    Double Choc Bliss Bombs

    2 cups of pitted dates

    ¼ cup dried cranberries

    ¾ cup of desiccated coconut

    ¼ cacao nibs

    ¼ cup cacao powder

    extra desiccated coconut for dusting

     

    Soak the dates in boiling water for at least 30 minutes to make them soft and squishy. Skip this step if you're using fresh dates – just remember to remove the pips!

    Drain the dates and squeeze out the excess moisture.

    Throw the dates and dried cranberries (make sure to buy the ones sweetened with apple juice not sugar) into a food processor and blitz.

    Once they've become a paste, add in the coconut, cacao powder and cacao nibs.

    Blitz again until it all comes together.

     

    Sprinkle the extra coconut on to a plate.

    Dip your hands in cold water (this reduces the amount of mixture that sticks to your hands).

    Spoon out some mixture and roll it between your palms to make it into balls.

    Roll the ball in the extra coconut and then put it on a plate.

    Repeat for the rest of the mixture.

     

    Refrigerate for an hour or two before devouring.

     

  • Easy Peasy Sugar Free Banana Biscuits

    IP - Easy Peasy Sugar Free Banana Biscuits

    My go-to baking treat of recent times has been this Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Only problem is, it contains sugar and the girls and l have gone sugar free.

    The good news is once you haven't eaten sugar for a while, you start to appreciate the sweetness in everyday food like peas or corn. And then of course, there's fruit. Who needs sugar when you've got fruit?

    These biscuits use bananas as the sweetener and as well as being sugar free, they're also dairy free, gluten free and vegan. That's right there's no flour, no butter and no eggs. Even better, there's only three ingredients so they're super easy to bake.

     

    Easy Peasy Sugar Free Banana Biscuits

    3 large bananas

    1 ½ cups of oats

    1 cup peanut butter (whichever way you like it – crunchy or smooth)

     

    Preheat the oven to 180 C.

    Line a tray with baking paper.

     

    Mash the bananas in a large bowl.

    Stir in the oats and then the peanut butter.

    Dollop spoonfuls on to the tray.

    Wet your fingers and flatten the surface of your bikkies.

    Pop in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

    When done, cool on a wire rack.

     

    Do you best not to devour them all in an afternoon!

     

  • Let The Feasting Commence!

    IP - Let the feasting commence

    Did someone say homemade pizza for dinner? Oh go on then, I'll have a slice.

    I don't usually indulge in grains, bread or pizza but what the heck, it's the silly season and time to let my hair down a little.

    I made this pizza using an organic rye base and artichoke paste. It's got barbecued eggplant, marinated artichoke hearts, mushrooms, red onion, green capsicum, kalamatta olives and slices of prosciutto. It was soooo good!

    Good thing it's the holidays so I can go and have a nap when the food coma hits 🙂

     

  • Gingerbread

     

    IP - Gingerbread 1

    IP - Gingerbread 2

    IP - Gingerbread 3

    IP - Gingerbread 4

    One of my favourite things about the festive season is all the baking of yummy treats. This year we're not going to Canberra to spend Christmas with my parents and my youngest daughter is very sad about not seeing her Nana and Seeya. She's been missing them dreadfully. She's determined to make Christmas at home as much as fun as it is with them. We've been decorating our place and she wanted to make a gingerbread house like the one Nana makes. A whole house felt a little beyond my abilities (and hello, witch?) so we compromised on these little guys.

    I was feeling pretty tired the day we made these but Miss P insisted we all sit down together after dinner and ice them. She didn't want to be sensible (and let's face it, boring) and wait until the next day. Oh no, she was excited and full of joy and wanted to do it now! So we did.

    And I am glad she insisted because it was so much fun to sit around our kitchen table, decorating gingerbread shapes. It's funny, I've been missing all the spontaneity and excitement that very small children bring and then when one of mine does, I get all resistant! Note to self- remember to follow the joy!

    What holidays do you celebrate and what are your family traditions?

     

  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

    IP - Peanut Butter Cookies

    I was reading a Ruby Redfort book by Lauren Child which I borrowed from my daughter. I'm not sure which one it was. Either Pick Your Poison or Blink and You're Dead. In it Ruby was eating peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. She's always drinking banana milk (which incidentally was my absolute fave when I was a teen) and eating cookies.

    I'm highly suggestible at times and this was one of those times. As soon as I read that she was eating peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, I just had to have some. Right now! So it was off to the kitchen to check out the state of the pantry and then online to find a recipe.

    I started with this recipe because it only had three ingredients (what's not to like about that?) and no flour which is amazing for someone like me who tries to avoid flour. Of course they didn't have choc chips so I added them in. The batter tasted amazing (everyone knows the batter is the best bit right?) and the cookies weren't too bad either. 

    When I was searching for recipes I also came across this one which used oatmeal. Oats is one of the grains I do eat (quinoa and buckwheat are the others although I think buckwheat is technically a grass) and I thought it could be cool to include them and make the cookies even better.

    So here's my recipe. Sorry there aren't any pictures of the finished cookies, they were all eaten before I could take a picture!

     

    Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

    1 cup oatmeal or quick oats

    1 ¼ cups rapadrua sugar

    1 cup salted peanut butter

    2 eggs

    2-3 tbsp chocolate chips

     

    Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.

    Line a baking tray with baking paper.

     

    Mix together the sugar and oats in a large bowl.

    In a small bowl, whisk the eggs then whisk in the peanut butter a bit at a time.

    Put the peanut butter mixture into the large bowl and combine with a wooden spoon.

    Then add the chocolate chips.

    Place spoonfuls on to the baking tray.

    With wet fingers, flatten the top of each cookie.

     

    Bake 8-10 minutes or until done.

    Cool on a wire tray.

     

    Notes: to make this recipe grain free (makes 24 cookies):

    2 cups sugar

    2 cups peanut butter

    3 eggs

    4 tablespoons chocolate chips

     

    And follow the above steps.

     

  • Food, Glorious Food

    IP - Food Glorious Food 1

    IP - Food Glorious Food 3

    I've been back in the kitchen getting creative and it feels so good. The weather is nippy so it's the perfect time to crank up the oven and get back to baking. Shelter in place has given me time to play with ingredients and potter about with pots and pans.

    These days I don't bake sweet treats (trying to stay off the sugar) but I still love baked goods of the savoury kind. I've been devouring kale chips drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with nutritional yeast. Peeling chestnuts hot from the oven. And making rosemary and thyme flavoured mini muffins with buckwheat flour. Flours often make me crash but this recipe has egg in it and the protein seems to balance out the flour.

    I love sitting at the table with my family to eat all the goodies when they're hot, straight out of the oven. The simple things really are the best.