Lemon "Cheesecake" with Berry Topping

I'm actually quite excited with this recipe. I made this for our wedding anniversary back in April (I know! Very late in posting this!) and it was a hit for hubby and myself.

It is only recently that I am onto the band wagon of making raw desserts. It's just to increase my repertoire of creating desserts at home I guess. I love the idea of having a cheesecake without the heavy feeling in my tummy. There is NOTHING wrong with enjoying a cheesecake from time to time of course, but hey, if I could re create something at home that is healthy and nutritious, I'm in.

This require a little planning with the soaking of cashews. It is a very nutrient dense recipe- and very high in calories as well with the amount of cashews in it. Still a treat food for sure.

I am still using my trusty ken wood food processor but lately, been wondering if it is worth investing in a Vitamix or Thermomix? oh first world problems. Nevertheless, I have promise myself that I will not have another appliance unless one breaks down.

As I'm typing this, I just remembered I have a few more slices in the freezer. Oopies! I guess I know what I'm having for dessert tonight.

What do you use? Food processor? Thermomix? Or a high powered blender like Vitamix?

Lemon "Cheesecake" with Berry Topping (12 servings)

Base
150 grams almond meal
100 grams of desiccated coconut
3 medjool dates soaked in water
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

"Cheesecake"
500 grams of cashews soaked in water overnight
1 cup of lemon juice
zest of whole lemon
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 tablespoon of honey
1/4 cup of coconut oil melted

Berry topping
1 cup of berries
1/4 cup water
1 tsp honey
1/4 tsp of gelatine powder (mix with 1 tablespoon of water)

Make the base first.
Blitz everything up till it comes together. Press into a 9 inch lined cake tin. Fridge it while you make the "cheesecake".

Blitz all the ingredients together. Make sure it becomes like a smooth paste- not lumpy. Pour into base and freeze for around 30 mins to an hour.

Place berry topping except gelatine into sauce pan. Cook till it becomes soft. Cool and add the gelatine mixture. Pour berry topping onto cheesecake topping and freeze for a further 3-4 hours.

Defrost cake in fridge for 2 hours before serving.

Raw Almond Chocolate Fudge

There are times where chocolate just hits a good spot. There are some pantry staples that I always stock up. The are almond butter, coconut oil, nuts and definitely chocolate.

An offer came up recently with Mayver's super spread nut butter. It's a mix of peanut, chia and almond. There were going for half price! What a treat. So I grabbed 2 bottles to give treats a go.

Mixing them up with some coconut oil and more nuts plus cacao powder, I placed it in the fridge and tadah, a protein enriched chocolate treat that is refined sugar free and good for us. They are freezer friendly as well which gives it a gorgeous crunch when you are ready to bite into them.

Raw Almond Chocolate Fudge (24 small pieces)
1/4 cup of coconut oil
1/2 cup of nut butter
1/3 cup of cacao powder
1 tsp of vanilla paste
1 tablespoon of honey
1/3 cup of silvered almonds

Beat or mix oil and butter together. Mix through vanilla, honey and cacao powder till smooth. Lastly add nuts. Pour into a lined brownie tray and freeze it for 2 hours. Slice and eat!

Salted Almond Butter Ice Cream

The other day, I came across this blog post. It struck a cord with me because from time to time, hubby and I discuss how our marriage changed since the arrival of Asher.  I'm a very lucky woman because I have the world's best hubby in so many ways. He is a hands on daddy, in love with me and is absolutely supportive in my fitness, health, work, family and food goals.

That does not mean though that we do not struggle from time to time. Like most families, we can fall into a rut if we are not careful. Because of his early morning starts, more often than none, he gets easily tired. For me, I'm a perfectionist in some ways and like to make things "right". With our focus on Asher, it's easy to start the morning with a text message and we may not even have a decent chat till 2 days later!

With tiredness and busyness means we say things we do not mean (or think), we forget appointments and neglected to check in with one another. It comes in with impatience and annoyance. I felt unappreciated, and he felt unheard. It could easily spiral into a downward mess.

I'm writing this to remind myself that I'm very very lucky even though sometimes I don't feel that way. Because counting my blessings makes me realise that the world is not bleak. My husband isn't the world's most unthoughtful person or mean. He is a human and humans can tire and make mistakes. So this is my list to remind myself.

1) He wakes up early every morning so that he can be with us earlier in the day
2) He brushes his teeth in the guest's bathroom so he doesn't wake us up.
3) He never complains with whatever I cook.
4) He plays with Asher every single day. He change his nappies when needed and feed him most dinners.
5) He budgets and make sure our household gets taken care of
6) He says "I love you" daily to me
7) I have been obese, skinny and pregnant and he stood by me
8) He stayed close to me when Granny was seriously ill and passed on.
9) He welcomed my family into our lives and even like them staying with us.
10) He adored my granny and attempted/learned cantonese with her.
11) Also attempted to speak mandarin to my dad
12) Taste and eat every single dish I made and bake AND gave me honest thoughts.
13) Never once did he complained about my gym schedule. He change his work schedule so I can head to the gym to have me time 4 times a week.
14) Totally embraced eating clean.
15) Does the laundry
16) Remembers rubbish and bin collection days
17) Trusts me completely with shopping and budgeting
18) Always on the lookout for cheap flights
19) Appears to know every city and transport system around the world.
20) Cooks me breakfasts occasionally
21) If I forget an ingredient in the midst of baking, he would go out and buy it straight away.
22) Often think about our future
23) Share our love for travelling
24) Endure my occasional need to "get it right!" (and then having to taste countless tarts, ice cream or roasts)
25) He is in love with Asher.
26) Some evenings, make me a cup of chai tea with warmed up almond milk.
27) Want to spend time with us. He doesn't stay long for work functions or meet up with friends for a beer at night.
28) Always keep me updated on his work, what's been bothering him or finances
29) Calms me down when I feel upset or panic.
30) Pray with me and for us.

I'm sure there are more and i'm sure I can add to it as time goes on.

So for my hubby, this salted almond butter ice cream is for you. (Just because I know how much you love ice cream!)

Salted Almond Butter Ice-Cream (serves 2)
2 frozen bananas
2 tablespoons of almond butter
pinch of salt

place everything in a food processor and blitz till it becomes ice cream! Drizzle with your favourite topping.

Chocolate Vanilla Slice

I have my bad and good days. Some days, I really really miss my grandmother. Grief is a throbbing pain in your heart that doesn't seem to go away. It becomes slightly duller but it aches. The image of her smiling face, the twinkle in her eyes and her old fashioned styled hair with heaps of hair spray stays with me.

Last year this time, there was so much excitement. I was heavily pregnant. My family was planning their big trip to stay with us for 12 weeks. An pending new arrival to the family brought a buzz. Who would have thought the past year would be filled with so many memories- both happy, troubled, happy and sad?

We are planning Asher's first birthday and then it hit me that granny won't be here physically to celebrate with us. I'm holding on though, to the memories of our family waking up together and looking forward to seeing Asher in those early days when he arrived. The laughs during his full month celebration and cooking lessons that grandmother gave me (yam cake and chill). The precious cuddles they shared.

Of course, we had our trips back where grandmother spent mornings and days seeing Asher play at my parents flat, or helped entertained Asher while I do a quick workout at the exercise park.

And the worrying times where Gran rebelled against death and came back from heart failure and her stint at ICU in February.

The sadder times when we lost her.

I was browsing photos of treats and bakes I made when this caught my eye again. This was made for a family gathering. At that lunch, we spoke about grandmother's likes and dislikes, and how the whole family became closer together (extended family included) this year. That is what my grandmother would have love to know. She would have love to take an adventurous bite of these small chocolate vanilla slices and give me her two cents about how it's not sweet enough, or it's too hard, or that it's "ok".  But she would eat it with a smile anyway.

Chocolate Vanilla Slice (makes 24 mini ones) Adapted from Spunky Coconut.
Base
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup cacao powder
2 tablespoons of linseed meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup of almond butter
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of vanilla paste

"Vanilla"
1 cup of coconut butter
1/4 cup of water
2 tablespoons of honey
2 tsp of vanilla paste

Chocolate Ganache
100 grams of dark chocolate
1/2 cup of coconut milk

Pre heat oven to 180C. Line a 8x8 square dish.

To make the base- mix the wet ingredients using a mixer. Then fold in dry ingredients. Press it to the pan and bake for 30 minutes or so. Cool.

To make the Vanilla- Mix everything in a mixer. Spread frosting over the base.

Chocolate Ganache- In a saucepan, melt chocolate in coconut milk. Pour ganache over the frosting. Fridge it over night.

Cut into small pieces and enjoy.

Walnut Chocolate Brownies

They say friendships change when you become a parent. For me, its an opportunity to meet more new friends who are parents. Asher have been attending gymbaroo since he was around 8 weeks young. From there, I met a few other mums whom I click with. One of them is also from Singapore and her husband is from Malaysia!

Our sons are only born 2 weeks apart. We started meeting fortnightly for play dates and hosting lunches at respective homes. It's so cute to see the boys watching one another and playing with toys. Of course, they are not at an age where they would play with each other but they appeared to be curious about each other's presence.

I made Elana's Pantry's Walnut Chocolate Brownies for this lovely mother. By the way, she cooks such nourishing lunches for me after knowing how I eat (think pan fried salmon with asparagus with corn, pumpkin soup, and a grilled chicken tenderloin with a side pumpkin and goats cheese salad). That said, she said these brownies were a hit with her family and can't believe it has no gluten and minimal refined sugar in it.

Walnut Chocolate Brownies (I cut it to 24 small bites)
100 grams of dark chocolate chopped roughly (I used lindt)
1/4 cup of coconut flour
2 eggs
pinch of sea salt
1/4 cup of coconut oil
2 tablespoon of honey
1/3 cup of crushed walnuts
handful of chopped dark chocolate

Preheat Oven to 180C. Line a brownie tray with baking paper.
Using a food processor, pulsed dark chocolate. Add in all other dry ingredients first. Pulse till it is well mixed. Then add in all other wet ingredients except the walnuts and handful of dark chocolate.
Pour mixture into pan. Sprinkle crushed walnuts and chocolate over the mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

OMGPaleo's Berries and Lemon Cake with Coconut Frosting

I'm so excited! I'm hosting a baby shower for a dear friend and I'm in charge of... FOOD! The best thing is, she loves clean eating and wants me to create a menu of paleo/clean eating food for herself and guests.

Cooking for a party of 20+ people means I have to cater to different dietary requirements. But I think the most nerve wrecking thing is whether or not people will keep an open mind when they see the food. Savoury- I'm not too concerned.  Sweets however, the texture and taste is different from normal bakes. Especially because my tastebuds has changed and I'm used to very little sugar if not none now.

I tried these blueberry lemon mini cakes and YUP! They are going on the menu. I did a few changes but I really believe they are out of these world. The frosting especially is so easy to make and just provide a richness to the cakes.

Also, don't you think they look pretty?

OMGPaleo's Berries and Lemon Cake with Coconut Frosting (I made 14)
1/2 cup coconut flour
5 eggs
1/3 cup of almond milk
2 tablespoon of raw honey
2 tsp vanilla paste
2 lemons- juice and zest
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup of frozen berries
pinch of salt

Frosting
1/2 cup of coconut butter
2 tablespoon of water
juice of another lemon
1 tablespoon of honey

Line muffin tins with paper or if you are like me, just use little cupcake wrappers on a cookie baking tray.

Preheat Oven at 180C. Whisk dry ingredients together. Then in a jug, combine eggs, milk, honey vanilla, baking soda and salt. Pour wet to dry folding in berries last. Spoon into baking cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool.

To make the frosting- melt the coconut butter. Whisk it with water, lemon juice and honey. Dollop it on cool cakes.

Chocolate Almond Coconut Slab Cake

If you come to my house any given day, open my fridge and you will find that I have been baking and experimenting with slices and muffins. I whipped this slice quickly the other day as we were going to a friend's house for lunch. I thought, better to give it away than to store it in our fridge! Hubby never mind though as that means he can just grab and go with whatever he fancies to work. He also said he could eat without the guilt that it is not nourishing his body.

Friends asked me how do I control myself given that I have baked goods in my fridge frequently? I was puzzled by that question. I never see that as a self control thing. Rather, it's a "what does my body feel like having". Most of the time, it's water or yogurt with some of my granola. When I bake, I bake to share and to make sure my husband, family and friends eat well. I do tastes my bakes, but I rarely finished everything by myself. I guess I taste and I'm satisfied by it.

This recipe comes from Elana Pantry. I think I didn't do it justice because I changed the ingredients amounts. Hence it became more cake and slice like rather than the chewy texture that Elana posted on her blog. Nevertheless, we enjoyed this little cake and it's good for a weekend afternoon treat with coffee.

Chocolate Almond Coconut Slab Cake 
4 eggs
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup of coconut flour
3 tablespoon of honey
pinch of salt
1 tsp of bicarb soda
1/2 cup of shredded coconut + extra
1/2 cup of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180C. Line baking slice tray with baking paper.
In a jug, whisk coconut milk, honey and eggs together. Then put almond meal, flour, salt, bicarb, coconut and some chocolate chips in a bowl. Pour wet to dry and fold. Spoon into tray and top it with the remaining choc chips and shredded coconut. Bake for 30 minutes.

Frozen Bananas Berries Ice Cream

Oh my goodness! Have I just discovered like the best healthy ice cream ever? Have I been living under a stone? Who would have thought that frozen berries and bananas blitzing it together will create like amazing ice cream?

Totally. In. Awe.

It must be some sort of food science. Too bad science (except for biology) was never my strong subject. Looking at a few health food blogs and instagram, people were commenting how lovely it is to blitz up frozen banana. I always have some frozen bananas in my freezer- it's my quick snack. A little with almond butter goes a long way. Sometimes, I throw them into smoothies. And now, it can be ice-cream! I also love the colour of the ice cream from the berries.

Surely I can have this up my sleeve in the future for an "ice cream" when Asher discovers the world of sweets?

PS- Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary! I will write more in my next post. But today is officially 5 years since we signed the papers.

PPS- Happy 9 months Asher.  Nine months of you in our life. We love being your parents.

Frozen Banana Berries "Ice Cream" (serves 2-3)
2 frozen bananas
1frozen cup of mixed berries

Blitz everything up. It will look like granita at first, keep going and it will turn into a creamy texture. DIG IN!

Mocha Coconut Slab Cake

It only took me a few years, but I'm really excited when friends and family finally understands why I eat the way we believe in. It's not a fad, it's not a diet. I'm no longer wanting to lose weight. All I want is to be strong and healthy. Man, I'm not even looking at being an athlete or look like I have muscles bulging out. Being slim, toned and moving functionally is good for me.

As I persists on, people do not try to talk me out of eating the way I do anymore. In fact, I often think it's strange that we have grown to rely on sugar and processed food over the years and think of that as normal. Why is it not ok to eat food that comes from farms and not factories?

How do I know? We get invited to lunches over at friends and they cook clean for us! We receive invites from our lovely friends and families saying that they want us to eat clean and healthy in their kitchen too. In some ways, I felt a little bad that people are bending over backwards to serve us food that we love. But in other ways, I realised... hey, that's healthy food for them too! It's fuelling their bodies better. We had a lovely salad with green goddness dressing and the hosts tried their hands in making spelt pizza (still not completely clean BUT better than dominos), and then we were invited to another place where I had grilled chicken tenderloins with a pumpkin and feta salad. Oh, how about another lunch where we had grilled chicken winglets, meat balls, kebabs, and beetroot salad to boot. Seriously. They all tastes fantastic and we had a great time.

I'm in awe of people like OMGPaleo, or TheSpunkyCoconut. They make real food tastes even better. I adapted these little babies from Spunky Coconut to bring to my friends of course. They are more like mocha cakes- I wouldn't call them brownies at all. But still a good little treat.

Mocha Coconut Slab Cake 
1 cup of Almond Butter
1/2 cup of nepresso coffee
1 egg
1/4 cup coconut flour
3 tablespoon of cacao powder
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tsp of vanilla paste
1 tsp of baking powder
pinch of salt
Handful of shredded coconut

Pre heat oven to 180C

Put everything in the mixer. Whisk it. Then spoon into lined 8by8 baking pan! Sprinkle coconut on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Done!

Chai Vanilla Almond Panna Cotta

Boy am I excited to share this recipe with you. I have discovered the beauty of gelatine! Our family mainly follow a paleo and/or eating clean menu plan (made by me! ha!). I believe in eating clean most days of the week, and then if I'm out or spotted a treat I really like, I eat without guilt. It's about fuelling my body the best way ever 80-90% of the time but enjoying treats when I like as well.

Many of my friends, especially close family members asked me- but won't I miss the fantastic food like pastas, hawker delights like chicken rice and fried prawn noodles? The answer to me is... no.

I was surprised myself. I think the reason is because I do not deny myself those food completely. It's about being sensible. Hubby had some chicken rice when we were in Singapore, and I happily tucked into his food (he ate my grilled fish and sambal vegetables too!). Besides, who says rice is a bad food? It's really not that bad. It's just that we tend to overdose ourselves on it.

 Oh how about desserts? Those on my instagram would probably remember that I tucked into some beautiful cakes and desserts in Canele Singapore, Antoinette and even at TWG. Not to mention, I asked a friend to baked us some gorgeous matcha opera cakes.

At home though, hubby and I eat clean pretty much most of the time. That's why I like to bake clean treats at home. Reading a few paleo recipe books, I came across the magic of gelatine powder. One evening, I heated up some almond milk with 2 chai tea bags and vanilla paste. Then I dissolved some gelatine powder with hot water, whisk it through the milk, spoon into glasses and placed it in the fridge.

The result? A lovely light "panna cotta" ready for us to eat when Asher is asleep.  In fact, it's a little like the soy bean curd dessert I used to have back home! Certainly something for me to experiment further for sure.


Chai Vanilla Almond Panna Cotta (serves 4)
2 cups of almond milk
1 tablespoon of honey if using unsweetened almond milk
2 chai tea bags
1 tsp of vanilla paste (you can also use vanilla bean- scrap the seeds but also throw in the pod in the milk to let it infuse further)

1/2 tsp of gelatine powder
2 tablespoon of hot water

Infuse tea bags with milk and vanilla on stove top. Let it simmer for around 5 minutes or so. As it cool slightly, dissolve gelatine powder with hot water. Strain the almond milk mixture.

Whisk gelatine into the almond milk mixture. Spoon mixture into separate glasses or ramekins. Serve with some chia seed pudding or like me- with some raspberries and dark chocolate flakes.

Salted Coconut Chocolate Bark

This must be one of the most addictive chocolate snacks ever! I certainly do love my chocolate- I have a weakness for dark varieties. Pairing it with coconut butter though, it create this creamy chocolate chips that I have to will myself to stop eating. 

I mentioned before that I generally follow the paleo way of eating. PaleoOMG is probably one of my favourite bloggers who posts such gorgeous treats that I'm tempted all the time. She posted this for Christmas and I knew I had to make it.

And I'm not sure if it was the best thing to do or was it a mistake. I had to ration portions and give them away as gifts together with some of my bliss balls. I placed peppermint essence to the coconut butter instead of chocolate as I find that it seizes the chocolate a little.

Oh well, at least they are clean. ;)

Salted Coconut Chocolate Bark
1 cup of coconut butter
100 grams of dark chocolate
pinch of salt
2 tsp of peppermint essence

Melt coconut butter and add peppermint essence. In a separate jug, melt chocolate too. Line baking paper on a cookie tray, spread coconut butter on the tray. Drizzle and spread dark chocolate on it, swirling along. Sprinkle salt to it.

Banana Yogurt Chocolate Slice

As usual, I'm late in preparing for Chinese New Year!! This year though, I have a good reason :) I'm drooling with all the lovely bakes in blogs in preparation for CNY.

I did however spring clean the house and kitchen. I'm so proud of myself! I cleared the kitchen of old plates and bowls that we never use anymore. I even wiped down all the cupboards! Yes! time for more pretty plates and bowls no? (I can see hubby shake his head).

Over summer though, we did clear the house of things we realised we have never used for some time. We have shifted in our home for 1.5 years now and there were items given to us by friends who moved overseas in our garage. Upon sorting those out, we realised that those items plus others were things we do not need to use or will use. Yes, they were donated to good causes.

I have also cleared my wardrobe of pregnancy/maternity clothes. Wow. I'm glad I could fit into some of my pre-pregnancy clothes although I'm supplementing it with nursing items as well. It felt like yesterday when Asher was in me and I was walking waddling to work. Again, a clean wardrobe means newer clothes right? After all it is CNY! (this time, I can really see hubby shaking his head).

I was experimenting with slices and made this one up. A pregnant friend of mine who eat cleans is struggling with her cravings with sugar. I know how that feels because I went carb-o-lic in my pregnancy with Asher. I thought this might cheer her up. It was so good, we ended up eating half of the batch ourselves! oops. This is certainly a good snack box item for hubby for work as well.

Banana Yogurt Chocolate Slices (25 bite slices)
2 bananas
1/2 cup Almond Butter
1/2 cup of Coconut Flour
1/4 cup of greek yogurt
1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips
1 tsp of vanilla paste
1/4 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of baking powder
1 generous tablespoon of cinnamon.

Line brownie tray with baking paper. Preheat Oven 180C. Blitz everything but chocolate chips in a food processor. Fold most of the chocolate chips into the batter and spoon it into the tray. Sprinkle rest of the choc chips on top. Bake for 35 minutes.

Wishing you a healthy and prosperous  Lunar Chinese New Year!