If you haven’t already heard of it yet, it’s called Mish’s Dishes. We first discovered each other through Facebook (as you do!) and have stayed in touch over the last couple of years, offering support, ideas and sharing recipes.

The following recipe is inspired by Mish and is a recipe she shared with me for one of my kid’s cooking classes. It is just so decadent and delicious that even my conservative mother-in-law and teen nephew inhaled them. What’s really special about them is not only do you get an extra burst of goodness by adding the zucchini and carrot, but they combine to produce the most wonderfully moist, rich texture. So they aren’t just in there for the ‘healthy factor’!

Who’ d have thought that combining chocolate and veggies in this way would be so delicious?

Try it and find out! (The recipe makes a lot, so you can also halve the recipe and make smaller muffins, just perhaps reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes).

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Rich and Delicious Chocolate Muffins (with Vegetables!)

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 275 grams butter room temperature
• 1 cup rapadura sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups spelt flour
• 1/2 cup cacao powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarb of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup yoghurt
• 1/2 cup milk optional, use if mixture is too dry
• 1 zucchini grated and squeeze out the moisture
• 1 carrot grated and squeeze out the moisture

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees celcius
• Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases
• In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and creamy
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
• Stir in the yoghurt and milk if using
• In a separate bowl combine the flour, cacao, baking powder, bicarb of soda and salt
• Pour into the creamed mixture and fold ingredients together until just combined
• Fold in zucchinis and carrots
• Fill the paper case until 2/3 full
• Bake for approximately 2o – 25 minutes or when toothpick comes out clean
• Cool in the tray for 10 minutes then turn out onto wire rack.

Whether you like you cakes raw, fancy, allergy-free, gluten-free, rich, indulgent or basic….I’ve got you covered.

Double Whammy Chocolate Cake according to Jo from Quirky Cooking is perfect for those fancy occasions.

And she reckons her Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake is a great for those semi-fancy occasions.

Double Chocolate Banana Slab Cake by me is an easy one for everyday and perfect for lunchboxes.

Magic Bean Chocolate Cake by Clevercook is a massively popular one.

Avocados in the Raw Chocolate Cake by Clevercook. Holy yummy richness!

Rich and Delicious Chocolate Muffins (which can easily be turned into a cake) by Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle

Best Ever Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free Chocolate Cake by 84th and 3rd

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes by Alexx Stuart which can also easily be turned into a cake.

Easy One Bowl Chocolate Raspberry Cake by Lisa Corduff. Chocolate and raspberries is on of my personal favourite combos.

Gluten-Free Brownie Cake by Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle

Chocolate Yoghurt Cake by Natural New Age Mum

Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Chocolate Chia Cake by Tania Hubbard

Hot Chocolate Cake by Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle

If you make any of these recipes please do take photos and send them to me.

If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life. 

And remember, if you haven’t already, grab your copy of my new Easy Wholefood Luncbboxes here.

Bren x

With all the goodness from the coconut oil and good quality eggs, and a bit of a pick-me-up with the cacao, and potassium and vitamins and minerals from the dates, I think these make a nice healthy lunchbox treat. Miss 8 has ordered hers with cream already!

I always hold my breath around the family taste test. After all, I’m using quality organic ingredients which are a bit of an investment, so there’s nothing worse than a recipe flop.

But this one got the family thumbs up, though apparently it’s more of a ‘Brownie Cake’ than a straight-out brownie.

It’s easy to make, lovely and moist, and is extra-delish served with fresh berries in season.

For more favourite healthy treats to create (and eat!) which are perfect for lunchboxes, my Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes recipe ebook is proof of this with family faves like Coconut Rough Cookies, Muesli Biscuits, and Strawberry Chia Jam Drops, to name a few.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Coconut Flour
Cacao Powder
Medjool Dates
Baking Powder
Coconut sugar or Rapadura sugar
Coconut oil
Coconut milk
Dark chocolate chips

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Brownie Cake

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup cacao powder
• 2/3 cup Medjool dates chopped
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar or rapadura sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unhomogenised milk or coconut milk if dairy free
• 1/4 cup dark chocolate-chips optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees C
• Lightly grease a 20cm square tin and line with baking paper
• Process all the dry ingredients and dates in food processor or Thermomix
• Add wet ingredients and continue to process until just combined (don't overmix)
• Stir through dark choc-chips
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin lined with unbleached baking paper, and bake for 20 minutes or until set
• Remove from oven and set aside to cool before cutting into squares
• Enjoy plain or with cream and raspberries

Do you bake with coconut flour? I love using it for the occasional healthy treat, but you need to remember that it doesn’t behave like other flour in baking. A small amount of coconut flour sucks up lots of liquid very quickly!

I hope you enjoy my Brownie Cake recipe!

If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek.

Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life.

Some other healthy lunchbox treats you might like are Raspberry Coconut Squares and Orange and Poppyseed Bars.

Image credit: A girl, a guy,furkids and food

But I could never go past the smooth, hard icing. I loved fondant (God help me the corn syrup!) and royal icing too, but my consistent No. 1 was the almond icing on wedding cakes (hello, sugar coma). Typically this was good news for me because nobody else liked it, and my husband is currently in my ear reaffirming that fact (and casting me a very strange look too). If only I’d known what was in it, I might’ve made less of a scene of myself, sitting and eating bowls of the stuff.

The funny thing is, I couldn’t even eat those icings now given what I know about them. My cakes are healthy, so it makes sense my icings are too, the proviso always being that they taste good! So, the recipes below are true to the ideals of health and taste, and contain none of the corn syrup, artificial flavours, or transfats found in packaged or commercial frostings. Rather, they incorporate beautiful, nourishing ingredients like butter, avocado, yoghurt, coconut cream and natural sweeteners like honey. You really don’t need highly refined icing sugar mixture, which usually has corn starch or wheat flour that are a no-go area for those who are gluten free.

See what you think and maybe spread them over the likes of my Double Chocolate Banana Slab Cake or my Hot Chocolate Cake or even my Rich and Delicious Chocolate Muffins.

10 Real Food Icing Recipes

I love my Notella spread over vanilla or chocolate cupcakes, muffins, cakes and biscuits! Top with shredded coconut and sliced strawberries for a taste sensation! Just adjust thickness by adding more or less coconut cream. So versatile, that Notella!

How about a dairy free, refined sugar-free, vegan Gooey Chocolate Icing, which Jo from Quirky Cooking suggests you spread thickly on your cake.? Ok Jo, if you insist!

Detoxinista shares a dairy free Creamy Cashew Icing which is full of healthy minerals.

If you are after a dairy free, nut free icing, then Sarah from Clever Cook has got you covered with her Coconut Frosting. Icing with a lemony tang always gets my vote!

Alexx Stuart has created a nourishing, mousse-like Simple Chocolate Icing, just perfect for chocolate cakes and cupcakes. It’s super simple too.

A Girl, A Guy, Fur Kids and Food shares this Paleo and Thermomix recipe for Coconut Cream Whip which they used to top their Strawberry Cake.

Check out this nutrient loaded Butter Frosting by The Healthy Home Economist.

Here’s a favourite type of icing for me, a Raw Chocolate Glaze by Tania at Gluten Free Grain Free. She recommends it as a topping for her beautiful Chocolate Chia Cake mix. Oh, alright!

Natural New Age Mum tops her ‘go-to’ Chocolate Yoghurt Cake with cream and strawberries. I wonder if anyone would protest if you mixed a little raw honey or maple syrup into the cream first? Another great tip she offers is mixing marscopone cheese with some pureed berries and honey to taste.

And here’s a super-simple recipe you can whip up in less than two minutes!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Coconut oil
Honey or rice malt syrup
Cacao powder
Vanilla bean powder

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Super Simple Ganache Icing

Prep Time 2 minutes

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 4 tbs coconut oil
• 2 tbs honey or rice malt syrup
• 2 tbs cacao powder
• 1 tbs boiling water if coconut oil isn't melted
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Instructions

• Mix all ingredients together until smooth and spread on cooled cake

Quick tip: if a recipe calls for dusting with icing sugar, coconut flour works well as a replacement.

Do you like icing or do you pick it off like my kids? Do have a favourite real food icing recipe you’d like to share. Feel free to pop it in the comments.

Bren x

For such an act of generosity, she dreamed up this sweet (yet savoury!), healthy (yet delicious!) cake as a tasty thank you.

To dress the cake, Julie used freshly harvested tumeric, which she acquired from both her green-thumb Mother, and Milkwood Permaculture Farm, where she was doing a course. I would never have thought of adding tumeric to a cake! But it makes sense when you think about the health benefits, and it adds the pizzazz that Julie is known for.

To introduce her cake, and introducing her cake instinct, here’s Julie:

“I made it with my cake instinct (no trademark, but you can use it), so please use your very own cake instinct when attempting to reproduce this uniquely flavoured and textured wonder.

I encourage using organic and biodynamic ingredients where possible. Whatever you can get your hands on, really. It’s open to experimentation!”

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Chocolate and Ginger Angel Mud Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups almond meal
1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
1 cup rapadura or coconut sugar
125 g melted butter
1 1/2 cups macadamia oil
6 or 7 eggs depending on the size
1 cup grated fresh ginger
1 cup cacao
1 tsp baking soda
a few tablespoons of milk to get the right consistency

Preparation:

Pre heat oven to 190 degrees C

Butter two cake tins and make two cakes (or you can make 1 large cake)

Bake for 40-45 mins for two cakes or approx an hour for 1 large cake ( you will know it’s ready when your kitchen smells like CAKE!!)

Test with a skewer

Let cool in tin then run knife round the edge and gently tip out onto wire rack

When totally cool scoop the caramel icing on, it should not be too runny and dress with the Crystallised Tumeric

Caramel Icing:

75g butter
1/4 cup rapadura or coconut sugar
2 tablespoon milk
Melt butter, add sugar and mix until dissolved. Add milk and mix until smooth, and to thicken, add a tablespoon or two of sifted spelt flour and stir out the lumps if any.

Crystallised Tumeric:

Pop a handful of peeled and grated fresh tumeric into a saucepan with a cup of sugar along with a wee bit of water and stir it up until it’s the consistency of jam.

Keep going until you are happy with the texture. Don’t let it dry out too much because its always good to retain a little bit of moisture. Dress the top of the cake with the Crytallised tumeric.

“Good luck everyone! Don’t forget to use your very own cake instinct and fiddle with the sweetness and consistency until you are confident. If it means using more or less oil, then don’t be afraid to adhere to the ‘more is better’ motto. Then again, ‘less is more’, as they say, so there you go – it’s fate, it’ll be perfect!

If you are using the best quality ingredients you are making actual food and not empty calorie confectionary.”

Happy Baking!

Bren x

Her vision is to identify healthy food choices for her clients and be the ultimate wingman on their journey.

The recipes Penni creates are just wonderful and I’m so pleased to be able to share with you this glorious cake full of goodness which she created.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Gluten free Chocolate, Apple and Chia Cake

Number of Serves: 20
Serve Weight: 77g

Ingredients

4 medium apples
1 cup of brown rice flour
3 tb of chia seeds
½ cup of cacao powder
2 tsp of baking powder
¼ cup of almond meal
4 eggs
175g of honey
½ cup of coconut oil
Vanilla pod scraped or essence

Icing

100g of Dates
1 tb of Cacao Powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 deg
Grease and line a 20×20 cm cake pan
Grate the apples into a mixing bowl
Add the dry ingredients, mixing through
Crack eggs into another bowl and add the honey, vanilla and oil, mixing together
Pour the egg mix into the flour mix and stir well to combine
Pour into the prepared cake pan and let the mixture stand for ten minutes before placing into the oven
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or till a skewer comes out clean
To prepare the icing, simmer dates in 100ml of water till soft, approx 10-15 minutes
Add more water if becoming dry
Cool briefly, then blend till smooth
Add the cocoa powder and mix through, again adding water if too thick
Ice the cooled cake

Tip: The ‘icing’ makes for a delish dip with fresh strawberries or with whole walnut sandwiches, especially if some orange zest is added

‘Penni operates A Method of Cookery, a nutrition and wellness consultancy with a vision of providing healthy food choices for the rising dietary concerns people face today. As a qualified chef she applies cookery theory to sound nutrition principals and develops recipes and menu plans for long term sustainable change. To support the daunting journey of dietary change, Penni also offers nutrition & wellness coaching. She is a mum to three small children (5,3 & 20mth) and fully understands the ‘what’s for dinner?’ dilemma, weight management concerns and all the guff that come with grown up life. This recipe was developed for the many clients facing gluten exclusion and to prove to her sceptical husband, that gluten free can be delicious’

Check out Penni’s website here and Facebook page here

Having had some issues with wheat and gluten intolerances in the past, I set about creating a gluten-free alternative that would be just as tasty as the popular versions of tart bases. A brief flirtation with trial and error that included different ingredients and measures, and I was there.

I now make several variations of the crust and filling. It’s really hard to go wrong!

The recipe below is one my whole family loves, and as soon as my husband discovers this post, I’ll be making some more I’d imagine!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Rolled oats or quinoa flakes
Raw almonds
Raw cashews
Maple syrup
Coconut oil
Ground cinnamon
Salt
Cacao powder
Honey or maple syrup
Vanilla powder

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Chocolate Mousse Tarts

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• TART BASE
• 1 cup rolled oats or quinoa flakes
• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablesppons coconut oil
• 1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• pinch of celtic sea salt
• CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
• 1/2 medium avocado
• 1/2 medium banana frozen if possible
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• 1/4 cup raw honey or maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch celtic sea salt

Instructions

• BAKED TART
• Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
• Grease a 12 hole muffin pan very well
• Blend the oats or quinoa flakes in food processor until they are fine and crumbly and then pour into a mixing bowl
• Add the almonds and cashews to the food procesor and blend until fine and crumbly
• Add the oats or quinoa flour back into the food processor along with all the remaining ingredients
• Blend until everything comes together, is sticky and holds together.
• Press 1 tablespoon of the dough into the greased hole and spread evenly & thinly around the base and sides
• Bake in a preheated oven for approx 10- 15 mins or until golden brown.
• Leave to completely cool down.
• CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
• Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth and spoon into the cooled baked tarts and serve.

Notes

Be sure to grease the muffin tins well.
I love these with a dollop of pure cream on the top, some raspberries, sliced strawberry or banana.
Leftover chocolate mousse can be stored in the fridge for two days and be added to leftover tarts when ready to serve.

Bren x

While my son’s friend gleefully munched on the chocolate, he explained how much he hated dark chocolate, even though he was eating dark chocolate right in front of our eyes!

What they don’t know won’t hurt them : )

This recipe was adapted from Sarah Wilson’s Sugar-Free Raspberry Ripe

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Ingredients:

1/4 – ½ cup Canadian maple syrup or organic honey

½ cup cacao

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

a few drops of vanilla

frozen raspberries, handful

shredded coconut, handful

Preparation:

Melt maple syrup or honey, cacoa, coconut oil and vanilla on stove until mixed together and smooth.

Place a piece of baking paper on a plate or small tray and scatter with raspberries and coconut then pour the chocolate on top and freeze for an hour.

Once hard, break into shards and keep stored in the freezer or fridge and eat to your hearts delight!

I reckon it would also be nice with flaked almonds, mmmmmm!

Bren x