Stephanie's Test Kitchen

Treat 1- Coconut Mini Cheesecakes

Treat 2- White Christmas Coconut Fudge

I’m starting with a white Christmas, which is something us Aussies don’t get to experience unless we travel overseas. The first two treats of my 12 treats of Christmas series are coconut based which creates the perfect starting point for a white Christmas. Using pistachios, lime and raspberries add a touch of Christmas through the red and green.

Not having the time to go out to the country for locally grown raspberries and refusing to buy frozen raspberries that have been imported, I chose to use pitted cherries for the Christmas feel and because they’re similar in sweetness to raspberries too. Cherries are also in season in OZ and are a fave Christmas treat so I figured they’d make the perfect substitution for the two recipes.

The mini cheesecakes taste similar to the traditional tart cheesecakes, this may be due to the lime as well but it has a great cheesecake texture. If you have a major sweet tooth considering trying half honey and half rice malt syrup as they have the same consistency, but keep in mind that won’t keep it low in sugar. The cheesecakes are a treat I look forward to sharing with family at Christmas.

Ingredients

• 1 cup almonds, blitzed in food processor.
• 1/4 cup coconut flour.
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil.

• 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight drained and rinsed.
• 1/2 cup Pureharvest Coco Quench.
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted.
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice.
• 1 tablespoon lime zest, and a further 2 teaspoons for garnish.
• 3 tablespoons Pureharvest Rice Malt Syrup.
• 1/2 cup raspberries, chopped (frozen is fine).

Directions

Base

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and line a 12 cup muffin tin with patty pans.
2. Blitz almonds into a fine meal in a food processor, add coconut flour and melted coconut oil and blitz until the mixture comes together.
3. Spoon evenly into muffin pans and press down with the back of the spoon to flatten and bake for 15 mins until lightly golden. Set aside to cool while you make the filling.

Filling

1. Put drained cashews, Coco Quench, coconut oil, Rice Malt Syrup, lime juice and 1 tbsp of zest into a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth.
2. Place a couple of raspberry pieces in each muffin pan before pouring the filling evenly into all pans. Sprinkle each one with more raspberry pieces and the remaining lime zest.
3. Cover the muffin tray with a baking tray to stop the freezer burning the tops of the cakes, and put in freezer until firm, around 2 hours.
4. Remove from the freezer 20 mins before serving to allow them to soften. 

*Recipe tested from the IQuitSugar Website*

 

When I cut into the coconut fudge, the cross section reminded me of the nougat that starts popping up in store around this time of year. It turned out very coco-nutty so I suggest only having small pieces at a time and due to the healthy fat content it’s quite filling. It’s not super sweet either but still rich so I found I didn’t need much to keep me satisfied. Next time I might try a sweeter fruit like dried cranberries to give it a bit more bite and to balance out the nuts and coconut.

• 2 1/2 cups of coconut butter
• 1 1/4  cup of coconut milk
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 1 tablespoon of rice malt syrup
• 1/2 cup of desiccated coconut
• 1 cup of macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
• 1 cup of pistachios
• 1 cup of frozen raspberries (keep in the freezer until ready to use)

1. Line a 20cm square slice tin with baking paper. Melt the coconut butter in a bowl over hot water until it has completely turned to liquid.
2. Place the coconut butter in the food processor. Add the coconut milk, vanilla, syrup and coconut until well combined. It is important to work quickly here, because you do not want the coconut butter to start solidifying. It is easier to stir through the dry ingredients when it is still runny. Stir in  in the macadamia nuts and pistachios. Gently fold in the frozen raspberries.
3. Pour mixture into the prepared tin. Place the tray in the freezer for  3-4 hours.
4. Use the baking paper to lift the white Christmas out of the tin and slice into  squares (about 20). These are best stored in the freezer.

Note: You can eat them directly from the freezer or you can place  them in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving to allow the raspberries to soften a little.

*Recipe tested from the IQuitSugar website*