Friday, June 22, 2012

Gluten Free, Flour-less carrot cake

The white staffs are bad, white flour, white sugar, white rice, white bread.... Not just bad for diabetic people, but if we all eat like a diabetic people we will not have diseases in the first place.
White staff are mere starch and calories with minimal vitamins and nutrients. I quit baking for a while after deciding to be healthy, but i miss the fun of baking, how to bake without flour, sugar and butter?
Thanks to various recipe online and I found some amazing flour-less recipe that open up a new baking world to me.
This recipe uses 100% quinoa grain. Quinoa is high in essential amino acid and great source of protein compared to normal cereal and its gluten free. Iti is called the mother-of-all-grain by the Incas people.
To make 'flour' out of it, I simply pulverize it with Thermomix. The thermy did such a good job that I can even sift the gounded quinoa!
The carrot cake turn out to be so spongy moist and soft, you can't tell it has NO FLOUR! It remain soft and moist the next day!

-Quinoa flour 1c (pulverize from quinoa grain)
-Brown Sugar 1/3c(reduced)
-Carrot 1-1/2c
-Olive oil 1/2c
-Baking soda 1tsp
-Baking powder 1tsp
-Cinnamon powder 1tsp,
-Nutmeg powder 1/4tsp
-SeaSalt pinch
-Egg 2
-Pineapple jam(homemade)1tbsp
-Raisin 1/2c, some walnut, pineapple chucks.

1.Sift all dry ingredient in a seperate bowl
2.Mix sugar, oil together well, add in egg one at a time.
3.Fold in dry ingredient
4.Add in carrot, raisin n walnuts
5.Bake at 170 for 15-18min


Wholemeal Bread with Nuts and Raisin



I have made this bread 3 times since I had my thermomix, it has rekindled my love to bread making again. I used to have a bread maker but it took up too much countertop space in the kitchen and the low bread consumption rate do not quite justified the effort, since the thermomix come with kneading function, why not? so all my homemade jams and nutella has something to spread on!
There are plenty of recipe that make soft fluffy bread, but I like healthier, rustic, heavy loft, they are best toasted!



Ingredients:
Wholemeal flour 1c
Bread flour 1 c
Warm water 1/2 c (120g)
Olive oil 2tbsp (20g)
Yeast 1-1/2 tsp (10g)
Honey 2tbsp (20g)
Salt 1/4tsp
Nut n raisin (120g)
(add 1small egg to have a softer texture) optional


Methods:
1. Put all ingredient into the TM bowl
2. Mix at speed4 for 30sec
3. Knead for 4min and leave in TM bowl to rise 40-50min or till double
4. Take out to shape and leave it to rise again in the oven with a glass of hot water at the bottom
5. bake at 170 for 20min

Eat fresh or store in fridge up to a month, toast it whenever you feel like having a slice!