This weeks blog comes to you a little late as I wanted to share with you the slice I’m making for an event supported by the amazing ogranisation Cake Angels. 
Cake Angels are a not-for-profit group who donate custom designed celebration cakes to children with serious medical challenges and /or other people going through unfortunate circumstances to help create treasured memories of their loved ones special day. 
Tomorrow is a special day for many sick children in Perth who will be attending a Christmas party put on by a number of children’s charities. For an event like this to be a success, it takes many a volunteer to provide either their time or skills to ensure things run smoothly. This is the first time I’ve become involved in such an event and I’m excited to be contributing some wholesome yummy treats for these children. 

So, in keeping with our month of healthy kids parties, I share with you a Choc Berry Coconut Slice. I also wanted to use this particular recipe to show you again just how easy it is to take a regular recipe, and with a few simple ingredient changes you can make a wholesome nourishing tasty treat. (The recipe below is from the latest Coles magazine with a changes to ingredients and quantities.)

CHOC BERRY COCONUT SLICE
200g butter, softened
2 cups golden caster sugar
6 eggs
2 cups white spelt flour
1 quantity of berry jam (see recipe below)
1 quantity of chocolate ganache (see recipe below)
700g pitted cherries, drained and halved
4 cups of desiccated coconut

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with baking paper (you can use 1 large or 2 small trays)
2. Place the butter and 1 cup of sugar into a mixer and beat until pale and creamy.
3. Add 2 eggs and beat to combine.
4. Add the flour and mix to combine.
5. Spoon the mixture into your baking tray(s) and spread evenly. (The mixture can be quite sticky so try wetting your hands to press into the tin if needed).
6. Place into the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden.
7. Spread the jam evenly over the base and cover with cherries.
8. Whisk another 4 eggs with a fork, add 1 cup of sugar and the coconut. Stir to combine.
9. Drizzle half the chocolate ganache over the cherries.
10. Sprinkle the egg/coconut mixture over the cherries and gently press with your hands.
11. Place into the oven for another 20-30 minutes or until golden.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin. Once cool, drizzle the remaining ganache over the slice.
13. Place into the fridge and allow to cool completely before removing from the tin and cutting into slices. 

Berry Jam
500g frozen organic mixed berries
4 generous tbsp pure maple syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup chia seeds

Place frozen berries into a saucepan with the maple syrup and 1/4 cup water. Bring to the boil then reduce to a low heat for about 15 minutes. Break up any large berries with a spoon. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Place berries into a food processor and blend until smooth. And add the chia seeds. Place in the fridge to cool completely and thicken. (This is best done the night before to give the chia seeds ample time to thicken the jam).

Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 tbsp organic cacao powder
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut cream

Melt the coconut oil then add the cacao powder and maple syrup. Stir to combine. Add the coconut cream. Stir all ingredients and place in the fridge to set slightly. You want the texture to be smooth but not too runny.  


If you would like to find out more about Cake Angels and what they do, you can check out the Cake Angels Facebook page.

Following on with our month of healthy parties, the next recipe I’m going to share with you is THE chocolate cake recipe. The cake that absolutely, hands down ALWAYS gets complimented. This is my ‘go to’ celebration cake recipe – much to my poor husbands disgust since he has a nut allergy so unfortunately cannot eat this cake. Unless he wants a trip to the emergency room…would be worth it he reckons!

The thing I want you to understand about whole food is that you can still enjoy the food you love. All you need to do is change a few key ingredients to make it healthier (unprocessed, additive free, as close to it’s natural state as possible) and not only will it be much better for you, it will also TASTE 100x more delicious.

Flour-less Chocolate Cake

Whole Food Kids Parties 

This month is all about parties. Delicious, fun, memorable, healthy kid’s parties. Over the next 4 weeks I’m going to share with you my favourite, super easy, nourishing kid’s party recipes that your whole family will LOVE!

The reason I’m sharing this with you is because I get quite anxious about party season. For me, it’s the tables loaded with refined white sugar and nasty fats, not to mention that  ‘goodie’ bag you get to take home filled with every food colour imaginable… You know, when it feels like every weekend is filled with yet another Frozen birthday party and you just know what lies ahead…the almighty, all powerful, impossible to avoid – ‘Post Party Meltdown’.

Now, this meltdown can last hours or even days and you know that once it hits, there’s nothing you can do about it except go into lockdown and ride it out. Are you with me or am I all alone in this?
And what is the cause of the almighty ‘Post Party Meltdown?’ Absolute, excessive refined sugar, food colour and additive overload.

I’m just going to throw it out there that many a birthday party tables looks something like this:

• Fairy bread. Hello food colour rainbow. (check!)
• Frankfurts (check!)
• Bowls of chips containing multiple flavourings and colours (check!)
• Mountains of lollies & chocolates (sugar, sugar, sugar!!!) (check!)
• Party pies and sausage rolls containing who knows how many highly processed fats, sugars and additives! (check!)

….. need I go on?

And while yes, this is the type of party most of us grew up on, that doesnt make it okay to continue such unhealthy traditions with our children. Why? Because we know better. We know how these foods affect our children (both physically and emotionally) yet we find ourselves unable to fight the pull of ‘well this is what we had in my day and it really is just a treat’. Is it though? Are we really ‘treating’ our children by filling them up with foods their little minds and bodies are unequipped to handle? Surely the treat is in the party itself? The fun times and memories to be made with their family and friends coming together to celebrate how special and loved they are? Do we need fairy bread to prove that love?

Having said that, I am a great believer in food bringing people together and helping to create special moments in our lives, but is it not just as easy to make foods that taste amazing AND nourish while we celebrate?

I’m going to show you over the next 4 weeks, just how easy it can be to create healthy food for your child’s next party by sharing with you my top 4 whole food kid’s party recipes.

Let’s start with something sweet and a little crunchy.

Crunchy Caramel Popcorn

1 cup popping corn
5 tbsp coconut oil
½ cup pure maple syrup
½ cup sunflower seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Place a large pot on medium heat and add the coconut oil.
3. Once the oil has melted, drop in 1 popping corn. Once the corn pops, the oil has reached the correct temperature and you can add the remaining popping corn. Cover with a lid.
4. Once the popcorn is done (this only takes a few minutes or so), turn off the heat.
5. Add the maple syrup and sunflower seeds to the popcorn and mix through.
6. Spread evenly over the baking tray and place in the oven for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
8. Once cooled, break apart the caramel popcorn chunks and enjoy!

* You can use any seed/nut you like for this recipe. Macadamias and peanuts are also delicious. I’ve used sunflower seeds due to nut allergies in our family.
* The longer you leave the popcorn to cool once it’s removed from the oven, the larger the delicious caramel chunks will be. 

This is a favourite in our house and it is so quick and easy to whip up. 
A delicious little treat for the whole family to enjoy, guilt free. To me, this is really what ‘whole food’ is all about. Enjoying the foods we love while nourishing our bodies. 

We also served this ice cream as a treat last summer in our child care centre. The kids AND the staff loved this summery treat. Just goes to show how easy it is to prepare and serve whole foods in our child care centres that the kids will absolutely love. 

Remember, if you want to see more nourishing food served in our child care centres, you can help by donating to our kickstarter project. Just click on the link below and make your pledge:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1919788787/nourished-beginnings-nutrition-in-child-care

Banana & Honey Ice Cream
Dairy Free

4 frozen bananas
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup coconut milk

Chop the bananas and place in a food processor with the honey. Add the coconut milk a little at a time until you get a nice smooth, creamy consistency. 
That’s it! 

Place in an airtight container and keep in the freezer for up to 1 week.

Makes 30 cookies
Cooking time 15 minutes

1 1/2 cups rapadura sugar
4 cups white spelt flour
200g butter
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 tsp natural vanilla extract
2 tsp bicarb soda
200g organic milk chocolate*, chopped into small pieces
3-5 tbsp coconut milk

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line trays with baking paper.
2. Mix flour and sugar in a large bowl and create a well in the centre.
3. Place butter, maple syrup and vanilla in a saucepan  over a medium heat. Once butter mixture is bubbling, take off the heat and add the bicarb, stirring to incorporate.
4. Pour the butter mixture into the well  of dry ingredients and stir to combine.  Add the coconut milk a little at a time until you get a dough consistency. Allow to cool slightly.
5. Once mixture has cooled, add the chocolate pieces and mix through.
6. Roll the cookies into rough golf ball sizes and place on baking tray (if you like a chunky cookie that is still slightly soft in the middle, do not flatten cookies.)
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until just golden (I prefer mine to be on the blonde side to ensure a nice soft gooey texture once cooled).
8. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in a sealed container for up to 5 days.

* I use Greens & Blacks organic milk chocolate for this recipe which you can buy from most supermarkets in the chocolate isle.