Tag: cacao

Baking with Banana Flour

Todays post is about baking with banana flour.

After doing the research on banana flour last week, I thought I would find and trial an easy recipe. It appears that you can substitute banana flour directly for wheat flour in your baking. The flour has a texture similar to lighter wheat flours and requires about 25% less volume.

The flour has similar baking characteristics to wheat flour, but is 100% gluten free, which makes it a perfect choice for coeliacs, people with gluten intolerance or those trying to avoid wheat. It’s readily available in the health food section of the supermarket.

Due to the high resistant starch content of the flour, you tend to eat less of whatever you cook with it, as a small amount tends to be filling.

I baked 3 different cakes with the banana flour to determine which recipe to share with you. I chose the chocolate cake one as it has the least ingredients and is usually the most popular.

Banana Flour Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

1 cup Green Banana Flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons of cacao powder

½ cup maple syrup (or rice malt)

140 grams melted butter (or oil of your choice)

½ cup of milk (type of your choice)

½ cup water

2 eggs

Method
  • Preheat oven to 180’ C and prepare your baking tin (I used a 20cm loaf tin)
  • In a large mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder and cacao
  • Add melted butter, syrup, milk, water and eggs mixing well.
  • Pour batter into tin and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean (or slightly tacky for a moister cake).
  • Allow to cool completely before removing from tin.

** On my first attempt the cake was a little dry so for the second one I followed this tip I found. Very happy with the result.

Cooking Tip – Cook the cake for ½ of the time uncovered as usual and then cover with foil for the remaining time.

I hope you enjoy your baking experience.

Till the next post,

Live clean n Prosper

Cacao Paste, it’s healthy!

Todays post is about Cacao Paste.

In February last year I wrote about the benefits of Raw Chocolate and posted a recipe.

Yesterday I went to buy more ingredients for making my chocolate and I came across Cacao Paste. I talked to the store owner who informed me that is could be used in a number of ways. It is most popularly used for making chocolate.

So I decided to give it a try, as well as do a bit of research to find out a bit more about it.

 So, what is Cacao paste?

Cacao paste is created when whole cacao beans are fermented, sun dried and roasted at temperatures below 47°C. They are then ground into a paste or liquid, commonly called cacao liquor. This liquid quickly solidifies at room temperature and the result is cacao paste, which is then dried.

Because no heat is used in this process, cacao paste retains its natural properties. Cacao paste is naturally about 55% cacao butter and is an extremely smooth product. Cacao paste is 100% pure organic cacao. No additives, sweeteners or anything else.

 It’s healthy

Not only does cacao paste provide a delicious, chocolatey taste, but it’s also packed with health benefits. It contains more antioxidants than blueberries, black and green teas, and red wine. These antioxidants give cacao the power to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and risk of stroke.

A single cacao bean contains 54% fat (that’s the cacao butter), 31% carbohydrates (mainly fibre with a tiny amount of sugars), 11% protein (including arginine, glutamine and leucine), 3% polyphenols (flavonols and proanthocyanins) and less than 1% trace minerals including magnesium, iron, copper and phosphorus.

Cacao has been studied for its ability to reduce blood pressure and has been shown to produce “a small but statistically significant effect in lowering blood pressure by 2-3mm Hg in the short term”. It contains phenylethylamine, which controls pleasure and the feelings you get when you are in love. It also acts as a stimulant and can improve mental alertness. Cacao also contains serotonin and dopamine – which also stimulate good moods and ‘pleasure’ feelings.

Cacao also contains great levels of magnesium, which is an essential mineral during times of stress and helps you to feel more relaxed.

 How do you use it?

Cacao paste is recommended for use in several ways. It seems it can be used in any recipe that requires unsweetened chocolate.

Small chunks can be added to dried fruit and nuts to create your own trail mixes, or grate fine shavings over ice cream or sweet desserts. It is also suggested to use it to make a rich, European style ‘hot chocolate’.

I used it to make my Raw chocolate. It was recommended to use the paste instead of ½ of the cacao butter. I did this. The chocolate actually started to set at room temperature. It also gave the chocolate a very rich texture, however, I found that it started to melt a little quicker as I held it.

I think next time I will try making the recipe with 70grams cacao butter and 30 grams of the paste. Check out my recipe page for the recipe.

Enjoy,

Till the next post,

 Live clean n Prosper.

Red wine and Chocolate

Well, according to Saturdays Courier Mail, it’s official. Ladies, red wine and chocolate are healthy! Love it!

I have always said that these 2 items are good for us, as long as they are of good quality and consumed in moderation.

 The article states; ‘women are less likely to develop diabetes if they indulge in moderate amounts of red wine and dark chocolate.

A study of 64,000 women found that those who consumed more antioxidants slashed their chances of getting the disease by 27%. The participants consumed 15% of their antioxidants from red wine.’ ‘The study concluded the compounds in wine outweigh the damage of alcohol, provided women consume less than a glass a day.’

Healthy Chocolate

 At the beginning of the year I wrote about the many health benefits of raw cacao. One of those being, that Raw Organic Cacao has over 40 times the antioxidants of blueberries. Therefore, to get the most health benefits from chocolate, you have to consume a very dark and preferably ‘raw cacao’ product.

Your average chocolate bar from the service station probably won’t fit the criteria.

 Keep in mind that a good quality dark chocolate should contain very little sugar and additives. These ingredients will undo the benefits. I shared my healthy chocolate recipe in February.

Red wine

 Grapes are rich in many antioxidants. These include resveratrol, catechin, epicatechin and proanthocyanidins.

These antioxidants, especially resveratrol and proanthocyanidins, are believed to be responsible for the health benefits of red wine.

Proanthocyanidins may reduce oxidative damage in the body. They may also help prevent heart disease and cancer.

 Resveratrol is found in grape skin. This antioxidant has been linked with many health benefits, including fighting inflammation and blood clotting. Resveratrol has also been linked with reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer.

 Red wine was found to be particularly beneficial to lowering the risk of developing diabetes. The polyphenols in red wine actually help to manage blood sugar levels.

 Small amounts of red wine are linked to more health benefits than any other alcoholic beverage.

 People who drink approximately 150 ml of red wine a day seem to be at about a 32% lower risk of heart disease than non-drinkers.  However, a higher intake increases the risk of heart disease dramatically.

 Drinking small amounts of red wine may reduce the risk of heart disease by helping to retain the “good” HDL cholesterol in the blood. Oxidative damage and the oxidation of the “bad” LDL cholesterol may also be reduced by up to 50%

However, there is a fine line between moderate and excessive intake.

 Moderate intake of red wine is defined as 1-2 glasses (100 to 200 ml) per day. It is also recommended that you have at least 1–2 days a week without alcohol.

There are, of course, other sources of antioxidants, such as green tea, blueberries and other fruits and vegetables.

However you get your antioxidants, enjoy it.

Till the next post,

 Live clean n Prosper.