She’s Baaaaaack!

It’s been a while since I wrote a ‘Sugar Free Pav’ post and I think it’s about time for a new one. In my absence* I have been baking up a refined-sugar-free storm and the Pav’s have well and truly firmed up some new family faves.

Here are The Pav Family’s Top 5 Sugar Free Faves

 

1. CHOCOLATE LOG CAKE
   Number one HAS to be The Sugar Breakup’s Chocolate Log Cake. This has been an absolute hit, even with our sugar-loving friends and family. So much so that I now make this every time I go somewhere (which means I get to eat something for dessert!) and every time we have guests over. It is decadent, rich without being sickening and oh so easy to make. I know I have mentioned The Sugar Breakup a number of times on the blog and they are featured regularly on my Instagram feed but seriously, get on to it people! Their recipes are easy to follow, work every time, are refined sugar free and taste so GOOD! The tip
   s and instructions they use, make their recipes fail proof and trust me, I have had many failures! The chocolate fudge ganache topping for this cake is heaven-sent and even though it is part of this cake recipe I think it is so versatile it deserves it’s own spot on the Top 5!
   
   
2. CHOCOLATE FUDGE GANACHE
   The Sugar Breakup’s Chocolate Fudge Ganache topping is delicious. I have discovered SO many uses for this fudgy goodness and I intend to keep discovering! The recipe uses dutch cocoa which is more processed than raw cacao or even regular cocoa but as I only eat it in small quantities I allow myself this little luxury. The recipe uses coconut oil which makes it #dairyfree as well and it is really good that way but I actually prefer it made with unsalted butter in place of the coconut oil.So far I have used it
   • As a ganache on the Chocolate Log Cake
   • As a topping for #refinedsugarfree Raspberry Chocolate Brownies
   • As a chocolate dip for strawberries (my fave)
   • As a flavouring for milkshakes (it does go a little solid but I don’t mind that and I also add a scoop of #refinedsugarfree chocolate ice-cream from the Sweet Poison Quit Plan)
   • Melted in milk to make a hot chocolate…OH MY!!!
   • As a hot fudge sauce on #refinedsugarfree vanilla ice-cream
     
     
3. MUFFINS
   Detoxinista’s grain-free muffins are ridiculously easy to make and I whip them up regularly to have in the pantry as a handy snack. I have changed the recipe a little by replacing the honey with rice malt syrup (as RMS is fructose-free) and I omit the chocolate chips. I sometimes use blueberries instead of raspberries but our favourite is banana where I omit the berries and add 2 mashed over-ripe bananas and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Sometimes I use vanilla powder instead of essence (depends what I have in the pantry) which changes the colour but not the flavour or texture. These muffins have become a lunchbox/guilt-free breakfast for Bob and I but I admit the kids are not huge fans. They will eat them straight out of the oven but popping them in the microwave for 20 seconds the next day obviously excludes them from the teenage menu, as that requires an added step to the teenage-friendly ‘pantry-to-mouth-in-one-go’ movement!
   
4. JAM
   I considered trying to mix it up a bit and finding another non-Sugar-Breakup favourite but the truth is I would have been doing it for the sake of mixing it up and not giving you our genuine top 5! We all love The Sugar Breakup’s jam and it has become a genuine staple in the Pav household.
5. GRANOLA
   Something that is ALWAYS in our pantry is I Quit Sugar’s Coco-Nutty Granola. It is a great-tasting, nutritious and filling breakfast, which we eat with natural yoghurt and berries or half a banana. I sometimes add 1 cup of rolled oats to the recipe when I make it, which I know removes it’s ‘grain-free’ status but I’m not too fussed about that at this stage and there are times when I just like to have oats! When I leave the rolled oats out I reduce the rice malt syrup and the coconut oil to 2 tablespoons each.
   
6. ICE CREAM
   I know I am meant to stop after 5 but I couldn’t resist adding this one in at number 6. The Sugar Breakup’s Vanilla Ice Cream. After a few disasters with my gorgeous new ice-cream machine I discovered this scrumptious recipe! Again, it is easy to follow, straightforward and delicious. ‘Nuff said.

*Now here is where I address the ‘elephant in the room’!

I have been absent from Planet Pav for a little while and I have been torn between trying to acknowledge and explain that absence as best I can and just getting on with a new post and pretending nothing has happened. Unfortunately (or fortunately for you, depending on how you look at it!) I am unable to share any details on here at the moment anyway so this is actually a little of both – a brief acknowledgement of my absence AND my getting on with a new post!

Another Top 5

 

Seaside daisies in my garden

I have found myself wanting new ‘things’ this week, a new frame for some art, an ice-cream maker, nail polish, make-up, clothes, books (can one ever really have too many books – me thinks not!), bed linen, crockery etc. It may be because I have a birthday coming up or it may be that I have wandered on to the path of materialism and for some reason think ‘things’ will make me happier. I’m not saying ‘things’ aren’t wonderful when they come my way but they certainly don’t define me or make me happy (not for longer than five minutes anyway!) Either way it is time for me to look at and be grateful for what I have not what I want.

The top 5 things (in no particular order) I am grateful for this week, are –

• My extraordinary children. They never fail to surprise me with their warmth, love, compassion, understanding, support and mature attitude to some very difficult situations.

• “Me time”. It is just that – time for me to do whatever I choose at that moment. Whether I choose to ‘do’ something like take myself out for a movie and a hot milk, or stay at home and read a book or potter around in the garden, “me time” never fails to rejuvenate and lift me up. This week “me time” has been spent baking, gardening and reading.

• Blog With Pip. I did the BWP October course (oh ok, I’m actually still doing the course even though it finished this week!) and I am so grateful for everything about it. I am thankful for everything I have learnt and still have to learn but most of all I am thankful for the wonderful new friends I have made. I must admit I did not think it possible to feel such a connection with people I met online but I do, I really do. I have met kindred spirits this month so thank-you Pip and thank-you everyone else who opened themselves up to the BWP experience, I’m hooked!

• Seaside daisies. Aren’t they just gorgeous? Every morning when I’m out walking I see them and they make me smile. Their petite pink and white flowers just brighten everything up and make even the ugliest brick wall look pretty or the most boring garden look alive. And they are so easy to grow – my kind of flower!

• The return of my baking mojo. I lost it for a while when I quit sugar, but now that I have my head around fructose-free alternatives she is back with a vengeance! I have been baking everything from muffins and cakes to chocolate, biscuits and pancakes and I have so many more delights to try. This is a whole new world and so very exciting!

Isn’t it interesting that so often the things we are grateful for are the people we love, the memories we have and the natural world we live in, not the ‘things’ we get xoxo

Choc-O-Yay!

Raspberry Choc-O-Yay

Following on from my post here on making my own chocolate, I thought I’d share my latest chocolate-making endeavours. And the results were stunning! No separation and they both tasted delicious hence the ‘yay’ part of Choc-O-Yay! I am very excited about making my own chocolate again and again and trying new variations too.

Today I used David Gillespie’s chocolate recipe from his awesome book The Sweet Poison Quit Plan Cookbook as a base to start from. Then I adjusted some ingredients and used my trusty stick blender to emulsify everything and created my own fructose-free chocolates!

I used dextrose syrup in the Raspberry Choc-O-Yay and rice malt syrup in the Fudgy Vanilla Choc-O-Yay just to see which one I preferred. I actually really like them both but I like the chewy consistency of the rice malt syrup best. However, I used more rice malt syrup than many recipes suggest so I may reduce the quantity next time…or not!

Raspberry Choc-O-Yay

Ingredients (same as The Sweet Poison Quit Plan Cookbook with the addition of raspberries)

80g Raw Cacao Butter
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup dextrose syrup (see notes below)
2/3 cup frozen raspberries, thawed and patted dry

Melt the cacao butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add cacao powder and dextrose syrup and blend using stick blender. It should only take a minute or two for the consistency to thicken then stir in the raspberries and freeze until set (at least an hour). I store mine wrapped in baking paper in the fridge.

* The raspberries were still frozen when I added them which started to set the chocolate immediately and made it very difficult to stir so I would let them thaw first next time. I also noticed that after a couple of hours in the fridge the chocolate had gone a bit soft. I think this may have been the moisture still in the raspberries so I will pat them dry next time too…but it tastes DE-lish

Fudgy Vanilla Choc-O-Yay

Fudgy Vanilla Choc-O-Yay

Ingredients

60g Raw Cacao Butter
20g Coconut Oil
1/3 cup raw cacao powder
1/4 cup rice malt syrup
1 tsp vanilla powder (Oh my gosh vanilla powder makes EVERYTHING taste better!)

The method is the same as for Raspberry Choc-O-Yay. I just added the vanilla powder in with the cacao powder. This one didn’t get as ‘fluffy’ when I used the stick blender but it still thickened and emulsified.

* I used a little bit of coconut oil simply because I had 20g left in the jar and wanted to empty it! There are many recipes that make chocolate using a combination of coconut oil and cacao butter. I don’t particularly like a strong coconut flavour in my chocolate, so I wouldn’t use more than 20g but the call is yours!

I know I’ve mentioned The Sugar Breakup before but I absolutely love this website and can’t stop referring to it! If you like to live fructose free I recommend you have a look around and gather some excellent tips and recipes.

Delivery from The Sugar Breakup

There are many raw chocolate recipes out there and as a novice I would never claim to have created anything from scratch, I have simply used the knowledge and inspiration gathered from reading fabulous people like David Gillespie, Sarah Wilson, The Merrymaker Sisters and The Sugar Breakup to make my own yummy fructose free treats.

Notes for dextrose syrup

Mix dextrose and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until combined and dextrose has dissolved. In this post The Sugar Breakup recommends heating it for about 10 mins until it has become a syrupy consistency but do not boil. I didn’t read this until after I’d made my syrup so mine was quite watery but it still worked ok. I will definitely try this tip next time though and report back 🙂

Sweet Success…Finally!

Gluten free, fructose free chocolate cookies

I had a big win in the kitchen today! It was my fourth attempt at making my own fructose free chocolate and to be honest I was going to give up if this one didn’t work. I have tried making chocolate using rice malt syrup and dextrose syrup (separately of course!) but every time I made it the sweetener separated from the chocolate leaving an ugly and bad-tasting mess.

Just when I thought home-made chocolate was over for me I remembered that wonderful thing we have called Google (duh)! And hey presto I found not only the solution to my problem but a fab new Australian website dedicated to the fructose free journey. I followed all the tips suggested and it worked a treat – no separating at all, just delicious sweet raw chocolate made by me. Today I used dextrose syrup as I still had some left from my last attempt but next time I will try rice malt syrup and report back.

For those of you attempting this yourselves I urge you to use a stick blender people. It will change your life I tell you (well it will change your chocolate-making results at least). And set it in the FREEZER – not the fridge. The results were long awaited and delicious (although a couple of sugar-loving taste testers disagreed and I’m okay with that – in fact I LOVE the honesty of my friend’s five year old daughter who spat it directly in the bin!!!) I was so carried away with the success I forgot to take photos – SORRY – but you can see the chunks in the cookie dough pic.

Gluten free, fructose free cookie dough

I then used the chocolate to make David Gillespie’s Double Choc Chip Cookies (recipe in The Sweet Poison Quit Plan Cookbook) and they were superb, I highly recommend them if you have the book (the mix seems a little dry but trust it – they come together beautifully). The only change I make is to use Spelt flour as it’s better for my guts but feel free to use whatever flour you like. Bob ate four and then announced they were a little rich (how ‘bout you stick to two next time?) and Bella said they tasted like they had real sugar in them and that was after an afternoon at the chocolate bar afternoon tea at the Langham! Even my sugar-loving son and his gf gave them the thumbs up so all in all I’m super happy with my sweet success.

* With permission I have published the recipe for these cookies on my Instagram feed. You can find the link in the sidebar.

Sugar Free Pav #2

My I Quit Sugar books

As promised last week, here is a little background info on my Sugar Free journey so far. In April this year Bob, Bella and I decided to quit the highly-addictive white stuff after much research, using Sarah Wilson’s I Quit Sugar (IQS) 8 week program. We all wanted to be healthier and Bob and I wanted to set a better example for the kids (I had a few minor health issues as well and figured it couldn’t hurt). As there were three of us undertaking the challenge together we decided to follow the book instead of doing the online program (and save some $$$) and for us it worked really well. Bob and Bella have definitely lowered their sugar intake. I have stuck to it more strictly than them and continue to have a very low-fructose diet. It has been a great lesson for me in accepting other people’s decisions and allowing them to have their own experiences.

I passionately believe that we have to listen to our own bodies and do what works for us where diet and exercise are concerned. And THIS works for me. I have had weight issues my entire adult life and have tried many different fads and diets and, for me, IQS is the only thing I have been able to stick to. It is also the only thing that doesn’t feel like a ‘thing’. Sarah Wilson has said that her book really could have been called I Quit Processed Food but that’s just not as sexy a title as I Quit Sugar. She is so right. The crux of this for me has been quitting processed foods. Sure, I went through the sugar withdrawal phase and have stayed away from sugar since April but for me it’s more about keeping away from all processed foods.

Don’t get me wrong, I am no saint. I should be eating far more greens and vegetables than I eat currently and so far a green smoothie has not passed these lips (although I do love a berry one!) There is just something about blended spinach and avocado that I can’t swallow yet (pun intended). But I may get there one day…

Chocolate Coco Nutty Granola Clusters with yoghurt and fruit

Even though there are improvements I still need to work on, I am okay with how far I’ve come to date and I know I will NEVER go back to the way I used to eat. I have made some major changes to the way I eat and the way I think about food. I plan ahead and will take something healthy with me rather than buy crap. I have learnt to really love plain yoghurt, almonds, pumpkin seeds and Sarah Wilson’s ‘Coco Nutty Granola’, none of which I ate until I started IQS (and yes I activate the nuts, go on groan, you know you want to and I won’t mind!) I haven’t bought or eaten biscuits, ice-cream, lollies, pickles or BBQ sauce since April (and I only buy the ‘no added sugar’ tomato sauce for the kids but I don’t eat it). I am learning to like avocado in small amounts and am also finding a new excitement for cooking healthy dinners full of vegetables (I’ve even started cooking vegies for lunch some days – unheard of six months ago).

So for now I will continue to explore this new found love of whole foods and hope you’ll come along for the ride.

Sugar Free Pav #1

 

My I Quit Sugar books

I have been procrastinating about the Sugar Free Pav page and I couldn’t work out why until I recently came across this fabulous post on myplanbproject. It really helped me reflect on why I have struggled with this page. One reason is that I have SO much to say about quitting sugar and processed food – far too much for one page – so I will be writing semi-regular posts about being a Sugar Free Pav. Also, I was concerned about boring people to death while I drone on about how wonderful not eating sugar is.

The truth is that it IS wonderful for me. I’m loving myself sick since I gave up sugar. I love the energy I have, the weight I’ve lost, the delicious new food options that have presented themselves to me, the money I have saved since I stopped buying crap and the general angst around food that just doesn’t happen for me anymore. But I know for some people this topic is just not interesting and that is okay. If you feel my sugar free journey is not for you then please feel free to skip these posts (not the regular posts though I hope!) These posts will simply be snippets of MY journey and if it helps, inspires or even entertains anyone else then all the better!

I imagine my Sugar Free posts will be quite varied. Sometimes I might write about a new recipe I have tried or an old favourite. I might write about some of my experiences with quitting sugar (good and bad) or a great blog that I’ve found. Or maybe a new Sugar-Free-friendly restaurant or café I tried. Who knows I might even write about an actual sugar free pav!

I think it is important to note that when I say I have quit sugar I mean I have stopped eating most fructose which makes up 50% of what we refer to as table sugar. I still eat fructose in fruit and I eat glucose in small amounts. If you would like more information on the health benefits of quitting sugar and seed oils I encourage you to check out the IQS website and David Gillespie’s website or read one of their books. There are many other people who have written about this but they are the two I follow most closely.

Some of my David Gillespie Books

More Sugar Free Pav posts coming soon! I’ll kick off next week with a little background info.