Paleo Salted Caramel Slice

It's time for a change of pace, and today, I have a paleo recipe from Michelle Bridges' new book, Food for Life.  I have tried a few recipes, both sweet and savoury, from Michelle's book, and I'd be lying if I said that I loved them.  However, if the super healthy diet is your thing, then Michelle's book could be for you.

One of the recipes that I tried is Michelle's Salted Caramel Slice from p308 of the book.  Now don't get too excited - while this recipe has the word "caramel" in it and it looks not unlike the real deal, it tastes nothing like it.  Unlike other paleo caramel slice recipes that I have seen, this one does not use dates for sweetness, and it ends up being more on the salty side.  I made it while I was on secondment at a government agency where a lot of the other lawyers were vegetarian and/or into alternative diets, so this went down a treat with them.  However, if you don't have such an audience, be prepared for at least some disappointment when your guests bite into this slice.

Michelle warns that this slice is fairly calorie dense, and that would be correct, as it contains lots of coconut oil, nuts and nut products.  The pieces are tiny but pack 250 calories per serve.

If you would like to give this recipe a burl, here goes:

1 cup raw macadamias
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup softened coconut oil

Caramel

1/2 cup softened coconut oil
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons coconut milk
3 tablespoons almond spread
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes

Topping

1/2 cup coconut oil
3 tablespoons raw cacao powder
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.
Put the macadamias, coconut and coconut oil into a food processor and process until well combined.  Press into the base of the prepared tin, and freeze for 20 minutes.

Put all of the caramel ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour over the prepared base in the tin and freeze for 30 minutes.

Put all of the toping ingredients into  a bowl and whisk until smooth, then pour over the salted caramel in the tin.  Freeze for 20 minutes.

Remove the slice from the tin and leave out for 5 minutes to soften slightly.  Cut it into 20 pieces (ie 1cm square).  Serve chilled, sprinkled with a little extra sea salt if you like (I skipped it - it's already quite salty).

TWD - Peanut Butter Change-Ups

There is a new Tuesday with Dorie group baking from Dorie's Cookies, her latest book.  I only found out about this group by accident, so I am posting today instead of on Tuesday.  Luckily, the first month's recipes are on the Web, as the book was only released at the end of October.  It is quite appalling how much more we have to pay for books in Australia - this book costs $20 on Amazon, but the cheapest Australian source was nearly $50.   I have paid $41 Australian dollars to get this book from Amazon after postage, whereas US postage from Amazon is free.  I do not understand it, but if we want certain books here, we have to just suck it up. 

I chose to make the Peanut Butter Change-Ups from the two choices.  The recipe is online here.

These cookies were delish. I left out the extra peanuts because I didn't have any, and I left the sugar off the top because I didn't think that it needed it.  The cookies are soft and cake-like, but are still very much cookies.  I only made a half recipe because I didn't ant the 54 cookies that Dorie stated were in the full batch, but I only got 22 cookies out of the batch.  That's fine with me - I ate two already and don't need the temptation.

To see what the other Dorie cookie bakers made, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.  

EwE - Maple Squash Mash - Fall Harvest

Unsurprisingly, fall is a prominent theme for Eating with Ellie at the moment, and Margaret has continued on with this theme with her choice of Fall Harvest (Fall Veggies).  Although it is spring here, I am quite partial to whatever autumnal vegetables that are available, and this week, I chose squash (butternut pumpkin).

My recipe was Ellie's Maple Squash Mash from So Easy.  This one doesn't break any new ground - combine cooked mashed squash with butter, salt and maple syrup.  It's simple, but tasty. I have never seen frozen "squash" here, so I just boiled up some fresh squash. It was a tasty side.

To see what other autumnal veggie treats the others cooked up, visit the LYL section of the EwE website.

Nigella's Apricot and Almond Cake with Rosewater and Cardamom

Last year, I was given Simply Nigella for my birthday.  I have made quite a few recipes out of it now, and they are all winners in my eyes.

Most recently, I made Nigella's Apricot and Almond Cake with Rosewater and Cardamom:

This cake was really good  - moistness from the apricots, crunch from the pistachios, and just a whiff of gentle floral from the rosewater.

I liked this cake and would make it again. It is a little bit different from your average vanilla cake, and makes a nice change for morning tea.

Runya's Rooms, Melbourne

For my birthday, my old work chums and I went to Runya's Rooms in the new St Collins Lane shopping complex in the Melbourne CBD.  You can book in for a high tea at Runya's, and there are some beautiful cakes and pastries displayed in the window:

However, we were there for lunch, so something a little more substantial was called for.

Greg went for the minute steak sandwich with onion jam, gruyere, tomato, lettuce aioli and relish ($19) - it was hearty and tasty:

Justine went for the selection of sandwiches, which are the same as those served at high tea ($16):

Swee went for the mini lamb sliders with babaganoush, cucumber and tahini yoghurt ($15):

And I went for the magnificent looking hot smoked salmon, poached eggs, toasted rye, beetroot relish and dill hollandaise ($17):

Everyone was happy with their choice.  Service was efficient.

I would like to go back and try the high tea.

Runya's Rooms

Shop rg03 St Collins Lane

260 Collins St

Melbourne VIC 3000

Phone: (03) 9663 4780

EwE - Rosemary Potatoes - This Spud's For You

It's autumn (fall) in the US, so Kayte has chosen the seasonally appropriate theme of "This Spud's For You" for Eating with Ellie. Of course, potatoes are good at any time of the year, and in cool Melbourne, I am not dreaming of icecreams and seafood on the beach yet.

I made Ellie's Rosemary Potatoes from So Easy.  These potatoes are so easy to make - just chop red potatoes in half, spray with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and rosemary, and et voila - a beautiful side dish is created.

To see what the others made this week, visit the LYL section of the EwE website.

TWD - Pear Tart with Crunchy Almond Topping

The second recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie this month is Pear Tart with Crunchy Almond Topping.

This tart had a few components but was not hard to make.  First, you made a fully baked pie crust.  Next you cooked some pears for the filling and placed them in the tart.  This was a little time consuming because you had to peel, core and dice the pears first. Finally, the pie was topped with a topping of egg whites and sliced almonds, before being baked.  And lo, isn't it glorious:

This was one where the effort paid off.  This tart was glorious, and well worth making again:

To see what the other TWD bakers made this week, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.