Vegan, Paleo, Gluten-Free ChoCoconut Tart

Whoa..

Quite a mouthful of title isn't it?

Today I decided to make something fancy that anyone can eat. After all, it is my birthday and birthday equals indulgence. I actually did not plan to make anything because I already planned a night out with my friends. But alas, something came up. My brother and sister in law have to go out of town and then I end up with 3 kiddos.

No complaints here, they're adorable and being the only child, Amiko always love to play with her cousins. The problem is, one of her cousin has a severe dairy, egg, and gluten allergy. A bit of of those would give the poor child red rashes and unbearable itchiness all over his body. So, no eggs, no dairy, no gluten, hmm.. Almonds to the rescue.

This recipe is adapted from Bakerita.com

Ingredients:

For the crust

190 gr blanched or sliced almonds

40 gr dried unsweetened coconut

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbs coconut oil

2 tbs maple syrup

For the ganache

220 ml boxed coconut milk, I use Kara

250 gr good quality dark chocolate, chopped

1 tsp vanilla essence

For the topping

1/4 of whole coconut, peeled

Directions:

-Simply put the almonds, coconut, and salt in your blender and blend into a fine meal.

-Mix the meal with coconut oil and maple syrup to form a dough.

-Transfer the dough into a greased 9 inch removable bottom pan and bake for 20 minutes on 175C. Cool completely.

-Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, just peel the coconut from the side so you will get coconut ribbons. Bake them together with the crust though it will take longer for them to brown and crisp. Cool and store in an airtight container.

-To make the ganache, simply boil the coconut milk then pour over your chopped chocolate to melt it then add the vanilla essence.

-Pour the ganache in the crust and refrigerate until it sets.

-Once it sets, top it with your crispy coconut ribbons.

DELISH!

I honestly believe that food has gotta be made to please us but at the same time we should honor our body by eating food that nourish our body. This tart is the perfect example of love on a plate.

I cannot get a pic of the sliced ones because once I cut it, there's no stopping everyone from eating it. An important note though, Each brand of coconut milk has different thickness. So since Kara is the brand of boxed coconut milk that most of my friends use, and I think the most delicious one, using the original recipe gives me rather thin ganache and it didn't set as fast as I hoped. Though the tart was still absolutely yummo. So I guess a bit of experimenting by making the ganache would be better. Just put the ganache in the cup and you have beautiful midnight snack, right?

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

Cheers,

Amy

Submitting this recipe to NCC Chocolate Week

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Flax Seeded Quick Dinner Rolls

It has been almost a month since the last time I posted anything here.

I do have an arsenal of killer true and tested recipes but haven’t found the right time to put it together into a readable post. I even find it hard to just sit in front of the computer to just have fun and browse. I’m still trying to get used to the new rhythm of homeschooling my daughter. Her dad and I have decided that she would benefit more from being homeschooled. Fortunately, Kak Seto Homeschool has an outing every month, all the monthly tests are done at school, there are tutors at school for challenging subjects, so basically she goes to school one time a week. That leaves her plenty of time to pursue whatever she wants to do. She was so brokenhearted when she couldn’t play violin again two years ago because 7am-3pm school time really took all of her energy and happiness.

But all good things come with a price. It takes a lot of energy to teach her at home and I am also wrapped up in my study. Boy, it takes a whoolllle lot of getting used to and if someone is selling patience by the bucket I would buy ten containers every week. I am becoming more nocturnal and my coffee consumption is doubled because apparently teaching her by the day doesn’t go so well with me studying for my exam. So I prefer to study after she sleeps, if I’m not tempted to watch any lame show that doesn’t require my brain to digest any information. But overall, we’re good.

I sadly have to admit that we mostly buy take outs for lunch for the past month and survive dinner with white bread from the nearest 711. Argh! I’m so ashamed to have a bread blog but I do those things to my family. Ironic!

So today, I said to myself, “Enough is enough.”

Poorly made bread with I dunno what’s inside ingredients is harming our body, and our wallet. I may not have the time to make fancy bread. But I sure have the time to make bread that will nourish our body and please my palate. I choose Big Batch Quick Dinner Rolls recipe from my favorite site, King Arthur Flour. But I oomph it with crazy amount of wheat bran for the fiber and golden flaxseed for the Omega-3 benefit. 

Oh, let’s not forget Bonnie who gives the rolls a pleasant sourdough tang.

Let the kneading begin!

Makes 12 rolls

Ingredients:

350 gr All purpose flour

25 gr wheat bran

4 tbs Golden Flaxseed

10g sugar

1/2 tbs salt

1 tbs instant yeast

50 gr warm water

225 gr warm milk

1 1/2 tbs butter

3 tbs madre, if using

Butter for slathering

Directions:

-Heat the milk with the butter until it feels warm enough when you put your finger inside, pour the water in, set aside.

-Mix the flour, bran, yeast, sugar, and salt. 

-Pour the warm milk mixture into the flour, add your madre, if using, stir.

-Put your dough on the table. Toss in the flax. I actually put a handful here without measuring :p But please don't do so with other ingredients.

-Knead until the dough develops medium gluten and doesn't stick to your hands.

-Oil a bowl and proof for 20 minutes is your kitchen is hot. I usually put the bowl near my rice cooker.

-Transfer the dough onto an oiled work space. Form a rough rectangle with a 1cm thickness.

-Cut into 12 pieces, make a roll out of each, cover loosely with oiled plastic wrap, and let the rolls rest for another 15-20 minutes. Don't let them rest too long or you'll overproof.

-Preheat the oven to 175C. bake for 20 minutes.

-Brush the hot rolls right away with melted butter.

VOILA!

I have to give this 5 stars. One of the tastiest bread I've ever made. The fact that it doesn't contain egg and it's done in less than two hours are just.. RADICAL! 

These rolls are so cotton-like. Extremely soft. 

If you can't find golden flax seeds, feel free to substitute it with sesame seeds. The black ones would be cool to give any bread a dramatic effect. My only advice is to not skip the melted butter spread. It truly gives a wonderful flavor to these rolls.

Even though it's already delicious to be eaten just as it is, it would be wonderful to serve these rolls with soup or gravy.. along with a turkey feast..

But since I own no such things in my house today, a dollop of whole grain mustard and a hefty spread of sinfully sweet nutella are enough to make the three of us happy.

Cheers,

Amy

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