CHICOPEE Mass. (Mass Appeal) – Dark chocolate isn’t just delicious, it’s great for your heart. Leslie Cerier is a Chef and Educator and also known as The Organic Gourmet and she’s here to make a some delicious truffles with us.
Here’s the video of Leslie being interviewed on NBC affiliate Channel 22 in Chicopee, MA
Delicious Berry and Apple Pie with Maple Teff Pie Crust
You can make delicious pies with local, seasonal and organic fruits all year long. Simply mix and match and swap as you adapt the seasons. You can freeze the local berries in summer. Then add them to the fall apples and pears as I have done here. Even making a gluten-free pie crust is easy with teff flour. No need to roll or refrigerate the dough. Simply mix it up and press it in.
Have fun and eat well.
Leslie’s Gluten-Free Pie Crust
2 cups teff flour
1/2 cup melted Organic extra-virgin coconut oil or pasture raised Organic butter
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Lightly oil a 9-inch pie pan.
To make the crust, combine the teff flour, oil, maple syrup, and salt in a medium-size bowl and stir until well combined. Reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture to use as a crumb topping.
Transfer the dough to the prepared pie pan and use your fingers to press it out in an even layer over the bottom and sides of the pan. Poke a few holes in the dough with a fork. Bake for about 10 minutes, until it loses it shine.
Hope you are thriving and eating local, seasonal treats like this one:
Here is a recipe for Pumpkin Pecan Pie. I also taught this pie with a gluten-free pie crust recently when I taught a gluten-free cooking and baking class at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.
At the end of this post is also another gluten-free pie crust that you can mix and match with this pie filling or any pie filling you like. That is the fun of “Going Wild in the Kitchen” my cookbook and approach to cooking and baking: Creativity!
Now here’s the delicious recipe:
Reprinted from Going Wild in the Kitchen by Leslie Cerier
A cheese pumpkin is a cross between a butternut squash and a pumpkin. It is sweeter than a pumpkin, and almost as sweet as butternut squash. This pie is like 2 pies in one: pecan and pumpkin.
2 cups spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon canola oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla or ½ teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Pie filling
1 small cheese pumpkin (about 2 pounds) baked, peeled and seeded (becomes 2 cups)
¾ cup pecans
3 tablespoons maple sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse cheese pumpkin and bake on a baking dish for about an hour, or until tender.
2. Mix all the piecrust ingredients in a bowl except 1-teaspoon oil.
3. Lightly brush 9-inch pie pan with 1 teaspoon oil.
4. Press dough with your fingers into pie plate.
5. Poke holes in dough with a fork.
6. Bake for 10 minutes.
7. Put the pecans in a food processor and grind into a meal.
8. When the cheese pumpkin is ready, peel, seed it, and add 2 cups to the food processor with the pecans. Add maple sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and puree together.
9. Adjust the seasonings, if desired.
10. Pour the sweetened pumpkin filling into the baked pie crust.
11. Bake for 5 minutes. Turn off oven and let pie sit for 10 minutes before removing to blend flavors.
Variations
Replace the cheese pumpkin with 2 cups cooked pumpkin or butternut squash.
Here is a new piecrust recipe from my cookbook, Gluten-free Recipes for the Conscious Cook
1 1/2 cups raw hazelnuts
2 tablespoons hazelnut oil or melted coconut oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
To make the crust, put the hazelnuts in a food processor and blend until finely ground, like flour. Add the oil, maple syrup, and salt, and pulse to form the dough. Press into oiled pie crust and in above pie crust recipe.
Super easy and super good and this one is gluten-free. In the new cookbook, this is the crust for a Chocolate Mousse Pie.
For more recipes, cooking classes and lots more, please go to my website:
Here in New England the blueberries are coming in big time! I have 20 wild blueberry bushes and without covering the bushes, the birds and I are feasting! And I have frozen many quarts for winter sauces and have been enjoying blueberry pancakes and waffles, too.
Here are 2 delicious recipes with blueberries from my new cookbook, Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook: Berry Good Corn-Quinoa Pancakes; and the quick and easy “Blueberry-Coconut Breakfast Shake” which I also adapted to be featured in Prevention magazine’s August 2010 issue. In the recipe for Prevention magazine, I omitted the hemp seeds and also said OK to their request for using a lighter coconut milk. I hope you will enjoy either version because they are both delicious. Hemp seeds are a great source of protein and also a complete protein. Super for Vegans and everyone that likes delicious refreshing shakes for breakfasts or any time of day!
Also in this post, I will show you my video for how to make your own flavored blueberry vinegar, another treat that is fun and easy to make, and there are 2 links for my latest radio interviews, where I also talk about gluten-free cooking and baking.
Blueberry Coconut Breakfast Shake From Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook by Leslie Cerier
Blueberry-Coconut Breakfast Shake
Serves 2 to 4
This breakfast shake is so thick and delicious that it reminds me of the malteds I use to get when I was a kid. And between the blueberries, coconut milk, hempseeds, and almond butter, it’s a real nutritional powerhouse. You might find, as I do, that a couple of glasses will keep you going for most of the day, or for a great breakfast, have one glass with a Corn Muffin (page 00).
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
5 tablespoons almond butter
1/4 cup hempseeds
¼ cup water
3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Put all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve immediately.
Variation
For a creamy mousse, refrigerate overnight, and eat it with a spoon the next day!
Recipe from Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook by Leslie Cerier
Berry Good Corn-Quinoa Pancakes
Serves 4 to 6
The combination of fresh blueberries and strawberry nectar gives these pancakes a great flavor and an impressive array of phytonutrients. That said, you could use almost any fruit juice or dairy or nut milk in this recipe. Experiment with different flours, too. You could use all teff flour or a different combination of gluten-free flour. The one thing to watch out for is coconut flour. It absorbs more liquid, so if you add more than about a tablespoon of coconut flour, you’d need to add more liquid.
4 eggs
1 cup strawberry nectar or your favorite juice
1/2 cup melted extra-virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup corn flour
1 cup quinoa flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoons sea salt
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Whisk the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the strawberry nectar, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add the flours, baking powder, and salt and stir until well combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
Heat some coconut oil in a heavy skillet or griddle over medium heat and brush it over the surface when it melts. Ladle the batter onto the hot pan to make 3-inch pancakes. Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, until the tops are bubbly and the edges are dry. Turn the pancakes over and cook for about 1 more minute, until the bottoms are brown. Serve immediately.
Variations
• Blueberries not in season? No problem! Cut up strawberries or swap other berries for the blueberries.
• Swap 2 cups of teff flour for the corn and quinoa flour.
• Use other juices, such as peach, pear or apple juice.
• Swap any type of milk for the juice: soy, rice, almond, hazelnut, cow’s, or goat’s milk.
Also please have a listen to my latest radio interviews, which will give you seasonal cooking tips, inspiration for gluten-free cooking and baking, and lots more: please go to www.lesliecerier.com
Here is the link to my video on how to Make your Own Blueberry Vinegar with Edible Flowers
Have a joyful and nourishing summer!
And for more great videos, upcoming cooking classes, great recipes and lots more: please check out www.lesliecerier.com
These dark raw chocolates are delicious and easy to make. So, I thought I would share the yummyness
Also known as Cacao Maca Truffles with Hemp Seed
1 cup grated raw cacao butter
1 cup raw cacao powder
6 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Optional: ¼ teaspoon maca powder
Pinch of sea salt
¼ cup gogi berries or a combination of gogi berries, cacao nibs, chopped hazelnuts or shredded coconut.
Blend the cacao, cacao powder, maple syrup, vanilla, maca, if using and salt in food processor.
Taste and adjust the seasonings, if desired.
Shape into walnut sized balls.
Put the gogi berries, and/or ground hazelnuts, cacao nibs, or shredded coconut on a large flat plate and roll balls in them.
Eat immediately or store in a jar on the counter.
Makes 12-15 walnut size balls
Optional: for a creamier truffle add ¼ cup coconut oil.
copyright Leslie Cerier 2009 www.lesliecerier.com
Loved by vegans and non-vegans alike, this rich chocolate cake is the one I usually make for birthdays. Serve it plain, drizzled with Hot Fudge, or frosted with Vegan Chocolate Mousse.
Yield: 8 servings
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/2 tablespoons flaxseeds
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips* or 5.3-ounce dark chocolate (70 or 72%) broken into 1-inch pieces (1 ½ cups)
3/4 cup vanilla soymilk
* Fair Traded chocolate is strongly suggested.
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil a 9-inch cake or loaf pan and set aside.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
3. Place the flaxseeds in a blender and grind to a powder. Add the juice, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla, and blend well.
4. Heat the chocolate chips and soymilk in a 1-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir constantly about 3 minutes, or until the chocolate melts.
5. Add the melted chocolate and flaxseed mixture to the flour mixture and stir well to form a smooth batter.
6. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Let the cake cool 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Serve plain or frosted.
For a Change…
Omit the soymilk and use 1 ¼ cups juice. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a skillet over low flame stirring constantly.
Also, you can substitute other flours. If you like, use all spelt flour and substract 25% liquid from the recipe above. Or if you want to add more calcium and iron and use some teff flour, you may substitute up to 25% teff flour for the whole wheat pastry flour. Either way, this cake will please everyone.
