Fructose Free Happy Birthday to me

Recently had a wonderful Birthday celebration and I am happy to tell you all that this year I felt about 10 years younger than the same time last year. 

In fact last year I felt so bad that my GP (unable to diagnose any illness) apart from mild depression had sent me off to a specialist armed with my blood tests (which were mostly within the normal range) and after a thorough assessment I was given a clean bill of health despite being very overweight. 

This exercise left me even more depressed. Technically, I was not ill but my body was aching, my mind was foggy and I was just going through the motions and not really embracing life at all.

Since I have stopped scoffing down sugar I am delighted to tell you that apart from losing 9kgs so far, I have also noticed a marked improvement in the health of my body and mind.

Enough about me. 

Lets talk about food!

My beautiful daughter Suzanne made me  the most magnificent birthday cake. 

A  Strawberry Crepe Layer Cake

The good news is that she cleverly managed to convert the recipe into a Fructose Free one (apart from whats in the strawberries) and is happy to share the recipe with you.

Ingredients

Crepes 

2 cups (300g) plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tbs dextrose powder,
 4 eggs, 450ml milk, 250 ml thickened cream, 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Filling

600ml thickened cream, 1 cup dextrose powder, 2 tsp grated orange zest,
1tsp vanilla essence,1 punnet of strawberries (thinly sliced)

Crepes

Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, pour into a jug and stand for 30 minutes at room temperature. Heat a 20cm crepe pan over medium heat and spray with oil. Add 1/4 cup of the crepe batter and swirl to coat the pan. Cook for 2 minutes on each side until just golden. Repeat with remaining batter spraying the pan with a little oil each time. Crepes can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Filling

Place the cream, dextrose powder, orange zest and vanilla in a bowl. Beat with electric beaters until stiff peaks form.

Assembly

Cut each of the crepes using a circle template as a guide (eg. saucepan lid). Layer the crepes spreading each with a thin layer of cream. Select a couple of layers to place some strawberries inside. Once assembled, spread the remaining cream over the entire cake and cover with sliced strawberries. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours. Serve dusted with a little dextrose powder.

The finished product was delicious but Suzanne mentioned that next time she makes it she would use more layers of strawberries (so that would mean you need to buy 2 punnets of strawberries) and that she would be a little more generous with the amount of cream in the layers. As it was assembled in the photos above she had cream leftover.

My creative Sister in law Geyle and her daughter Essie also made me (and my 18 year old nephew James who is (un)lucky enough to share my birthdate) a magnificent chocolate cake for the second and bigger Birthday celebration I had. Sadly for me, it was made with sugar and though it looked scrumptious I was not tempted to have a piece. I have a large extended family so that cake was enjoyed and appreciated by many.

I took along a version of "Franks Strawberry Ricotta Cake"
 for those of us on The Plan

http://www.howmuchsugar.com/resources/Documents/Franks%20ricotta%20cake.pdf

I was inspired by the silicone muffin trays that I was given as a present to make Muffin sized cakes. I had too much mixture for the 12 standard size muffin tray so I used the rest in a smaller bite sized version.

These were a real hit. I was told that one of Donna Hays' tips is to present things in individual serves because it looks better and is more practical when it comes to serving. Donna was right on the money!

I would not make these in regular muffin trays because they might be very difficult to remove from the tray but they were easy to manage in the silicone version. I adjusted the cooking time according to size and the small ones took about 20 minutes and the larger ones 30 minutes. They are moist and moorish and would make an ideal Christmas sweet.

I have also been busy making icecream and gelato using recipes from
The Sweet Poison Quit Plan.

 Pistachio Icecream!
I used the egg yolk only Vanilla Ice cream recipe and added (at the custard making stage) 3/4 cup of pistachios that I had soaked in water and removed the skins then pulverised with a stick mixer. Then added 1/2 cup chopped pistachios at the end of the churning stage.
I am thinking of serving this icecream in brandy baskets (see previous post for recipe) topped with a fresh raspberry sauce for my family on Christmas day.
 (All 30 or so of them!)
I better get churning fast!

Chocolate Gelato
A simple and inexpensive way to have a chocolate hit!

A word of caution for those of you who are trying to lose weight or have just started the plan. Remember not to eat these goodies until you have beaten your sugar addiction.

Once you are no longer addicted to sugar you will not crave sweet things as much and these treats should be eaten occasionally and not all the time. I cook a lot of things but I don't eat them all because my skinny husband Ed is a big help in the eating department.

Thanks Ed for your love and support.

Goodbye My Precious

It was love at first sight.

I will never forget the moment we first met.  My heart was racing in anticipation as my lips pressed against your silky smooth, hard, sweet outer layer.

In an instant I took all of you into my mouth and let my tongue gently swirl you gently amongst the eager wetness within.

Then, without warning, it happened. Your hard shell collapsed and its heavenly sweet, syrupy contents oozed to every corner of my mouth.

You had, in that moment, satisfied my most urgent craving within.

Over the years that followed I could rely on you to do it for me again and again but sadly, all good things must come to an end.

My Precious Lindt Lindor Ball. I don't know how to tell you this but I'm afraid our relationship is over.

Its hard to believe that our first meeting was more than 30 years ago.

You see, back then I was a naive girl that lived on the wrong side of town. By chance, I had a friend who was older, more sophisticated and happened to live on the right side of town and she was the one that introduced me to the lusciousness of Lindor Balls.

In the good old days Lindor Balls were an exclusively rare commodity and only came in the Milk Chocolate version which were wrapped seductively in red. One had to make a special trip to a  Speciality Chocolate Shop to secure a supply.

Over the years sadly, they have lost their exclusivity and have flirted their way into Supermarkets, Discount Stores and even, (gasp!) Petrol Station Counters.

More recently, thanks to the power that is commercialism, they have incredibly morphed themselves into assorted flavours and shapes other than the traditional round ball, dependant on the season.

I have managed, up until now, to turn a blind eye to all there was to dislike about what had become of my once exclusive, precious, Chocolate of Choice.

Thanks to my sugar detox I no longer have the urge to eat chocolate.

So take this, (stomp, stomp, squish). 

You imported ball of sugar, fat and cocoa.

I'm moving on without you.

Fructose Free Brandy Snaps for Christmas. Ho Ho Ho!

Brandy snaps are an old favourite and I have come up with a  Fructose Free Recipe and variations so that you can impress the guests at Christmas. Technically there is fructose in the 2 versions that have fruit included but if you are following the Sweet Poison Plan then you will realise that these fruits are OK to have in moderation.

 Good thing is the biscuits/cases can be made days in advance and the fillings can be put together hours before they are to be served.

A picture paints a thousand words so prepare yourself

 for three thousand and try not to drool!

Brandy Snap Basket with Festive Fruit and Whipped Cream

Brandy Snap Strawberry Christmas Tree

Classic Version....Perfect with Coffee

Ingredients
50g butter
1/4 cup dextrose

1/4 cup rice malt syrup
1/3 cup plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger

Approx 300ml Thickened Cream (depends on which version and how much cream you like)
Fruit to decorate. I used strawberries, blueberries and kiwi fruit

Preheat oven to 160c (note my oven is a bit hot so you might have to set it to 170 or 180c) and line 2 baking trays with baking paper. I reused the same trays and paper several times.

This is the Rice Malt Syrup I used. I bought it in the health food section of  Coles Supermarket
I think you could get the same results or perhaps even better using Glucose Syrup

Combine chopped butter, dextrose and rice malt syrup in a saucepan

Stir over medium heat for a few minutes until butter is melted and dextrose is dissolved.
Set pan aside to cool slightly 

Add sifted flour and ginger to mixture and stir to combine

To make the tubes

Drop Dessert Spoon amounts on to trays making sure there is room  for them to spread

Place in oven and cook for about 10 minutes and watch them bubble
Remove from oven when the biscuits are a golden/light brown colour

While still warm (but not hot) quickly roll each biscuit around the handle of a wooden spoon.
Cool and then pipe whipped cream into the tubes an hour or more before serving.






Mmmmmm. I have run out of room so I will continue the instructions on the next post.

Bear with me because I'm a bit new to all this.

Fructose Free Brandy Snaps continued

Continued from previous post.


To make the Brandy Snap Christmas Trees
Preheat oven to 160c

you will need to make biscuits in 3 different sizes.

You will need to make batches of each different size on

 separate trays because the cooking time will vary slightly.

To make 12 trees you will need to make 36 discs in total. (12 of each size)

Large size use 3/4 tsp of mix. Medium use 1/2 tsp. Small use 1/3 tsp.

 Cooking time will vary between 8 to 10 minutes.

To assemble pipe or spread cream on largest biscuit then layer with sliced strawberries. Place medium biscuit on top and repeat with a layer of cream and strawberries. Top with smallest biscuit and then pipe a small amount of cream and top with an upside down strawberry that has had its green bits chopped off.

Dust with dextrose sugar before serving.

To make the Brandy Snap Baskets


Preheat oven to 160c

Spoon 1 tablespoon of mix on to tray. I suggest that you cook them on trays of 2 at a time so that you allow for the spreading of the mixture and for the manipulation of the baskets when they are still warm.

When the biscuits are golden brown remove from oven and let cool slightly.

When still warm place over a small glass which is turned upside down 

(I actually used an upside down egg cup)

so that the sides drape down to form an upside down basket.

Allow to cool and decorate with whipped cream and fruit

Enjoy!

In the meantime I am thinking of working on a recipe for Pistachio Icecream.

I think it would be a perfect Christmas idea to serve Pistachio Icecream (which will be a bit green) inside a Brandy Snap Basket and topped with fresh Raspberries

Toughing it out in the Test Kitchen

I really have to take my hat off to Lizzie (David's wife) who has managed to come up with some wonderful recipes that are included in The Sweet Poison Quit Plan. Every one that I have tried so far has been a huge hit.
The instructions are very clear and easy to follow and what's more she mostly uses basic ingredients.

For the past couple of days I have been thinking of Lizzie while I have been cooking up an idea for a Christmas sweet treat. I thought about how many times she must have tried certain recipes in order to get them right and wondered how many disasters she had along the way.

One of my husbands favourite things to eat at the moment is the Anzac biscuits I make thanks to one of Lizzies recipes. When I first made them he commented (between mouthfuls) that they tasted a bit like Brandy Snaps.

This gave me an idea that at the time I thought was brilliant. Mmmmmm, I thought "Brandy snaps, cream and strawberries all shaped into something that represented Christmas".

and this is what I came up with

My Dextrose Dusted Strawberry and Cream Biscuit Creation

Now don't get too excited because whilst this creation may look good I've got to tell you it didn't taste as good as I thought it would and the texture was all wrong. So I am afraid it's back to the test kitchen for me. I am working on a version of the biscuit minus the rolled oats so that it is indeed just like a brandy snap.

Lizzies Anzac Biscuits

In the meantime you might want to bake some of these wonderful Anzac biscuits as per Lizzies recipe. I add the optional ginger and cinnamon as suggested to make them more like Ginger Nuts. They are very sweet and crunchy and  they keep well in an airtight container (for as long as I can hide them away from my husband that is!)

STOP PRESS
Great news! I am excited to tell you that I have done it! I have made brandy snaps using dextrose and I will be proudly presenting them in my next post which will be published soon (because I am so delighted with my results).

A peek into my Shopping Basket

Here are some of the things I bought at the Supermarket today

 that are on my list of 

Some of the foods you can eat as much of as you like

 and still lose weight

Amount of sugar per 100g

Chips .6g

Muffins 2.1g 

Yoghurt 5.2g (of which 4.7g is lactose which is OK)

Sparkling Mineral Water 0g

Bread 1.6g

Muesli 1.2g

Plain Rice Crackers .2g

If you want more info about what you can eat then
visit Simone's blog http://nofructose.wordpress.com/

Dextrose....This Stuff is to Sugar as Methadone is to Heroin

My name is Maree and I am a recovering addict. My drug of choice was sucrose which is commonly known as sugar. I have now successfully withdrawn from my addiction with the help of The Sweet Poison Quit Plan and have replaced regular sugar with the far less insidious white powder that is Dextrose.

Getting your hands on a kilo of Dextrose is not a simple as you might think. None of the supermarkets in my area stock it. When I first started using it I was able to buy it at my local K Mart.

Last week I made a special trip to K Mart to pick up some more Dextrose because my supply was running low. My heart started racing when I went to the part of the store where the Home Brew Supplies should have been but were now stocked with Christmas confectionery.

My panic subsided when I finally spotted the Home Brew section that had been shifted to a less conspicuous part of the store. A quick scan of the shelves and my anxiety sky rocketed even higher than before.

No dextrose on the shelves and no ticket indicating the spot where it should have been if it were in stock.

K Mart no longer stocks the precious powder that enables me to stay off sugar. I was shaken and devastated, but not for long.

I pulled myself together, went home and searched the Internet with the thought of perhaps ordering a bulk lot to be delivered to my house. My search revealed that it was available at a Brew Supply Shop near where my sister lives.

Lucky for me my sister is a Dextrose user just like me. She picked up a 5kg bag for me and we arranged for the exchange to take place over a meal at an Indian Restaurant near her house.

My sister chose to meet at this particular Indian restaurant because the food is amazing, the price is extremely low, the service wonderful and most importantly we (former sugar addicts) can happily eat most Indian dishes because they use spices (not sugar) to flavour the food

So here it is. My precious 5kg bag of Dextrose. I have used 1 and 1/4 cups of it to create a beautiful dessert that I am going to take to a dinner party at an unsuspecting sugar using friends place tonight.

Thanks to my  followers (all 4 of them..lol)

Make sure to look out for photos and instructions in which I will share the dessert I made in one of my future blogs.

It's very impressive if I do say so myself!