Watermelon Cake

This watermelon cake looks like a great idea for summer birthdays, or something light to add to the Xmas Day menu...

http://livingfruity.blogspot.com/2009/02/how-to-make-watermelon-cake.html

GAPS friendly Boiled Christmas Cake

Over the years I've made various different Xmas cakes recipes, but it all got a lot easier a couple of years ago. I watched Nigella's Christmas and was inspired to find her recipe for a boiled Xmas cake which looked so easy.

Have a read of her original recipe here (I'm sure we can all relate to her description of the busyness of Xmas!), and then come back for the GAPS version.

The first year, I made a few slight tweaks:

• Gluten free - ground almonds, rice flour, arrowroot PLUS pectin, xantham or guar gum
• Unrefined sugar (eg rapadura, shakkar or muscavado) instead of brown sugar
• "Ruby Red" cooking wine instead of rum - just because that's what I happened to have lurking in the back of the fridge
• and no chestnut puree because I couldn't find any

It was a fantastic cake. And I didn't have to make it months ahead. You can make it and eat it on the same day, and it's still delicious.

The second year we were starch and sugar free, so a few more tweaks:

• Coconut flour instead of rice flour and arrowroot
• I could have used honey or stevia, but decided to try it with no sugar

and it was still great. By now, it was still Nigella's recipe in spirit, but she probably wouldn't have recognised it! To see the recipe at this stage, see where I posted it on her website.

2009 and we're 100% GAPS, so a couple more tweaks:

• No pectin or gum
• No baking soda

This is the version I'm sharing with you today. (See egg free and nut free notes at the end).

• 900g dried fruit
• 170g butter, ghee or coconut oil
• Zest of one orange and one lemon
• Juice of one orange
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup extra fruit juice, or extra water (I just used water)
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 3 large or 4 small eggs
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1/2 cup coconut flour

First, prepare your fruit. This is the lengthy part of the process, so have some favourite music playing, or something else to listen to. Or get the whole family helping, which will make it much quicker. I like to make up my own mixture from raisins, sultanas, dates, prunes, figs, apricots or whatever is to hand - this year I even added some goji berries as I didn't have enough other stuff. If you are salicylate sensitive, choose mango, papaya, apple and pear.

I'm rather particular about not having raisins stalks in there, so I always give my raisins, sultanas and currants a good stir first, turning them over and looking for stalks, turning them over and looking for stalks, and so on. That probably takes 5 minutes. Then chop everything else up and mix together. I use kitchen scissors which is much easier than using a knife.

Put the next 7 ingredients into a large pan, and melt them all together. Stir the fruit in, bring to a simmer, and simmer for about 10 minutes. All the liquid will have been absorbed, though you may have a bit of the oil that doesn't soak in. Leave to cool for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk up your eggs and put them to one side. And mix together the two flours and set them aside. Then prepare your tins.

The full recipe fills an 8” x 8” (20cm x 20cm) square tin. Line tin with a double layer of brown paper, which comes to about double the height of the tin. Then line with a double layer of baking paper. Or you can make a selection of different sizes. 1/3 of the mixture will fill a mini loaf tin or you can make star shaped cakes (as per the photo), muffin sized or bite sized mini muffins. With the stars and muffins, you'll probably only be able to line the bottom.

When the mixture is about room temperature, stir through the beaten eggs and mix well. Then stir through the flours. It should be thick and hard to stir. If it's too runny, add some extra flour. Fill your tin, smooth the top, and bake at 150C or 300F for 1.75 to 2 hours. Use the usual skewer test to see if it's done, or listen - if it's still sizzling, it's not quite ready. Towards the end, you may need to cover the top loosely with extra brown paper or tin foil to stop it browning too much.

If you use smaller tins, approx cooking times are:

• 1/2 mix in a loaf tin - 1.5 to 1.75 hours
• 1/3 mix in a small loaf tin - 1 hour
• star - 45 to 60 minutes
• muffin - 40 to 50 minutes
• mini muffin - 30 to 35 minutes

Troubleshooting - if it doesn't cook properly - it doesn't matter!! Ground almonds and coconut flour are perfectly safe to eat raw, so call it Xmas pudding and serve with some whipped cream or custard (coconut custard for dairy free).

Let it cool at room temperature. Then take it out of the tin, wrap in baking or greaseproof paper, then a tea towel and refrigerate. It can be a bit crumbly, so it;s best to store it in the fridge, cut it cold, and then let it get to room temp before eating it. If you can wait that long!

I've also tried it without egg, as I need to cater for an EGG FREE person this Xmas. My first trial, I just missed the eggs out. I made a 1/3 quantity and baked in a small loaf tin. I pressed the mixture down well as I put it in the pan. I let it cool completely, and then refrigerated it. I made it with coconut oil, which I think was what held it together well once it was cold. It sliced easily when cut straight from the fridge and didn't fall apart. Though a large size cake might not hold up as well. You could also try replacing the eggs with 1 Tbs gelatine dissolved in 6 Tbs to replace each 1-2 eggs.

If you need to be NUT FREE, replace the ground almonds with half that amount of coconut flour. Then just keep adding coconut flour 1 Tbs at a time till you get the right consistency. I haven't tried it, but it should work fine with the version that includes eggs. I'm not sure that just coconut flour would work as well egg free, so with that combination I would definitely try the gelatine. If anyone tries it nut free, please report back.

Crackers

I've been investigating a few GAPS friendly cracker recipes based on nuts. This recipe from Elana's pantry is particularly good, though I used coconut oil instead of grapeseed.

It seems you can make them using eggs, egg whites or even egg free. Different combinations of nuts and seeds also work. So here's a "mix and match" type recipe you can adjust to your own specific needs.

This amount will make two trayfuls of crackers.

• 4 cups of nuts of your choice, eg: 1/3 each almonds, pecans and walnuts OR all the same nut OR all ground almonds OR 3/4 ground almonds & 1/4 sesame seeds (my favourite)
• 1 tsp sea salt or Himalayan salt ( a bit less for a sweet biscuit)
• 1-2 tsp herbs & spices of your choice, eg: I like basil or oregano with paprika OR cinnamon for a sweet cracker OR ginger and spices to make gingerbread. You can also add cheese or peanut butter for different flavours
• 2 Tbs melted coconut oil, butter, ghee or duck fat
• 2 eggs, beaten till frothy OR 4 egg whites OR an extra 2 Tbs fat
• Water to bind if needed

Preheat the oven to 325F or 165C.

If you're using whole nuts, grind them up in your food processor till they're pea sized or smaller. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse till well mixed. If you're using ground almonds and maybe sesame seeds, you don't need a food processor, you can mix it all up in a bowl. Mix the dry ingredients first, then the wet. If it's too dry to hold together, add a little water drop by drop, till it all binds into a ball of dough.

Divide the dough into two halves. Cut three pieces of baking paper that are the same size as your baking tray. Put one piece of dough on one of the sheets of paper, with a second piece on top. Roll the dough out to as thin as you can get it. Carefully peel the top layer of paper off and place it on your baking tray, with the greasy side up.

If you've got spare time and cookie cutters, you can cut your crackers into nice shapes. But if you're in a hurry like I usually am, just cut them into squares. (And even my squares aren't as beautiful as Elana's, but they still taste great).

Lay them on the tray and bake for 10-15 minutes till they are golden but not brown. Set a timer for 10 minutes, because it really is important not to let them cook too long. If some are ready before others, take them out, and put the rest back in. Meanwhile, prepare the second batch.

Cool on a wire rack, and once cold, store in an airtight container.

GAPS Baked Beans

This recipe is an alternative to the Baked Beans recipe in the GAPs book. They can used as a breakfast dish with eggs or sausages, a side dish, or added to other casseroles.

The Tomato version is aimed to be similar to NZ baked beans in a can.

Basic recipe

• 500g haricot / navy / white beans
• 2 Tbs whey, lemon juice or cider vinegar
• Stock or water (but preferably stock)
• Sea salt

Soak the beans for 12-24 hours in warm water with the whey, lemon juice or cider vinegar added. Drain and rinse. Put in the crockpot with enough stock to cover the beans. Simmer for about 8 hours, till the beans are soft. Periodically check that there is enough liquid covering the beans. Add more stock or water and stir if needed. When they’re soft, stir through sea salt to taste.

These are a basic bean that can be served as a side dish or added to other dishes, such as mince, stews or casseroles. Or stir through some sliced meat or poultry before serving.

~Tomato baked beans ~ Also add to the crockpot at the start:

• Chopped tomatoes, or tomato puree with no additives
• Herbs to taste

~Mediterranean beans ~ Also add to the crockpot at the start:

• Chopped tomatoes, or tomato puree with no additives
• Chopped red and green capsicum
• Herbs to taste

About half way through cooking, add:

• Chopped zucchini

~Baked beans and sausages ~ Near the end of the cooking time, slice up some all-meat sausages, fry then up in some duck fat, ghee or other fat of your choice. Add them to Tomato or Mediterranean beans.