Dessert ideas

[robyn]

Hi all,

I find trying to 'treat' my daughter with dessert-type foods one of the hardest things to navigate- especially when her younger brother has a sweet tooth and is allowed things regularly!- I hate to make her miss out.

Some of the 'treats' we trot out are:

Rice pudding (white rice and milk baked slowly in a low heat oven)
Pastry and cream in a variety of ways ( puff pastry- something we have in Australia, not sure if you have it in America, although you Can make it from scratch- with unsweetened whipped cream. This is a great birthday cake alternative if I make it in a 'stack' and stick candles in it. I also bake sticks of pastry that my daughter dips into the cream)
Unsweetened plain yoghurt.
Homemade ice blocks made with plain milk.
Cereal with cream (rice bubbles, oatmeal and shredded wheat are her favourites)

But I would love to know what other kinds of treats you all have.

[tummyache]

I make "Cloud Bites" = Whipped egg white with a hint of dextrose + flavoring like vanilla, mint or almond drops. Baked at 350 degrees F for about 12 minutes or so, on a silicone lined cookie sheet, until toast golden on top. Yum!

[rysmom14]

I have made cookies before kind of like a short bread with no sugar.

Its just butter, flour and water. I sometimes make them and put the whipped cream in the middle to make "gobs" I used them for my sons second birthday.

If you wouldn't mind sharing the pastry recipe, Maybe I can try a napoleon with the pastry and the whipped cream for is birthday this weekend. I think the pastry dippers is a really cute idea too and great for kids!

[robyn]

You can buy ready made puff pastry here in Australia- not sure if you can too in America? But if not, here is a recipe- www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/06/fast-easy-short-cut-blitz-puff-pastry-recipe.html

[antonia]

Our version of cake has always been to make a sugar free muffin batter, or any kind of quick bread you like, bake in cake pans for "cake" or muffin tin for "cupcakes". Frost with plain whipping cream. There are lots of cute non food cake toppers or cupcake rings to decorate with.

Plain yogurt popsicles are a staple in our house too. Tons of cute, colorful molds to choose from.

Sugar free ice cream if you want to invest in an ice cream maker. Without sugar, try a a mix with eggs or egg yolk as well as some nonfat milk powder to prevent ice crystals from forming or becoming gritty in texture.

I make sugar free oatmeal cookies as well as butter cookies (like Rysmom mentioned above). Can also make ice cream sandwiches with these. Or, French toast ice cream sandwiches. Make sugar free French toast, cool and cut the toast with cookie cutters into cute shapes and fill with ice cream. I suppose you could also fill with Greek yogurt if you don't have safe ice cream. Or just layer the toast with whipped cream in between.

Pie crust pastries or pinwheels: Roll out safe pie crust, spread with butter or cinnamon infused butter or sprinkle with ground cinnamon, roll the crust into a log (like a cinnamon roll) and slice into pastries of desired thickness. Bake until golden brown, sprinkle with a little sea salt.

I think it's pretty easy to make cream puff batter without sugar too? Always wanted to try this but haven't gotten around to it.

[tummyache]

Just found this and thought it would work for some of us...could be modified, maybe flavor wise, for kids somehow?

COFFEE ALMOND GUMMY SQUARES
www.sarahwilson.com/2014/10/coffee-almond-gummy-squares-recipe/
MAKES: about 12 squares
• 3 Tbsp gelatin
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 1 Tbsp dextrose {I modified this as it said Rice malt syrup, I think a NO}
• 1/2 cup pre-made black coffee
• 1/2 cup almond milk (or any kind of milk will do the job)
Mix the gelatin and water in a small cup. It will firm immediately, so stir quickly to blend. Then let it sit for 5 minutes to get really firm – like a rubber ball.
Stir the dextrose into the milk until well blended. Heat the [syrup], coffee and milk in a small saucepan until it’s medium-hot but not boiling, then add the gelatin blob (it will come out of the cup pretty easily). Stir as it melts (at low heat) and then use a stick blender to complete the blending. Do it all in the small saucepan.
Pour into a small glass container (about 20cm x 20cm). Chill for an hour to set; then cut into slices. The slices pull out easily. Store in the fridge for up to 5-7 days. 3-4 are good for breakfast.
Variations:
• Turn them into gummy bears… by pouring into silicon moulds (you may want to add an extra tablespoon of gelatin if so).
• Make it faster…and use a coffee almond milk (I use this one).
• Make it more protein-y...and add a tablespoon of protein powder or 1/2 tablespoon of chia seeds, plus an extra 1/4 cup of liquid.
• Add some cacao nibs…just sprinkle on top before refrigerating.
• Don’t add sweetener… I didn’t…I try to minimise sweetener wherever I can.

[rysmom14]

Grandma came through last night for a family birthday party. She made the homemade whipping cream and then froze it. since we all had cake and icecream, it looked like Ryan had vanilla icecream. He actually ate a good bit of it. I think he also liked that it was cold, and that's not really something he has had before.

[annemarie]

Does anyone know if arrowroot powder is HFI safe?  I can't seem to find the info with by using the search engine but I am pretty sure I have seen some posts in the past.

Thanks

[antonia]

I did a little googling and couldn't find the nutrient breakdown on arrowroot starch. But I did find something that stated it is comprised mostly of amylopectin (80 percent) and amylose (20 percent) which are basically glucose based starches and polysaccharides. This falls in line with other refined starches like corn, potato and tapioca. I would gather it's safe, but this is just googled info, always nice if you can find an HFIer who's had experience with it and can tell you for sure.

[hfimomof3]

i have never tried arrowroot powder. I have made cream puffs without sugar and they are delicious! A lot of work though.

[annemarie]

Mar 26, 2017 19:22:54 GMT -5 antonia said:

I did a little googling and couldn't find the nutrient breakdown on arrowroot starch. But I did find something that stated it is comprised mostly of amylopectin (80 percent) and amylose (20 percent) which are basically glucose based starches and polysaccharides. This falls in line with other refined starches like corn, potato and tapioca. I would gather it's safe, but this is just googled info, always nice if you can find an HFIer who's had experience with it and can tell you for sure.

[annemarie]

Thank you for the information!

[ukbill]

I eat Shredded wheat in the UK because it has no added sugar.. however in Australia it has added sugar. yet weetabix is the other way around it is sweetened in the UK but sugar free in Australia..

[ukbill]

How about doughnuts?

Make some white bread dough as normal but when ready for 2nd proving roll pieces of dough in your hands to make very small golf ball sized dough balls.

Let them rise a bit (they still need to be handleable) and deep fry them in sunflower or Groundnut oil that is hot but not too hot. They want to cook in about 5 min.

This will let them cook through.

Remover from the oil when they are golden brown all over (you have to turn them over part way through cooking)

Then drop them onto kitchen roll to let them dry and cool, then inject them with fresh whipped cream..

No need for Dextrose or any sugar at all (unless a little is used as a yeast starter)

They can also be injected with artificially flavoured custard or Blancmange.

Enjoy!

[ukbill]

If you make smaller pieces they can me made into a pile like profiteroles and covered in custard or fresh cream.

For something special make Choux pastry ..
www.deliaonline.com/how-to-cook/baking/how-to-make-choux-pastry

Make eclair buns, slice them open and fill with whipped cream coat the top with flavoured Blancmange and allow to cool..

Make Small balls of the dough and cook to make genuine profiteroles..

etc etc.. Only leave the Dextrose etc in the cupboard please!

Its not needed!

[colormist]

Oh! My mom wanted ideas of what she could send my brother while he being deployed. She was trying out some recipes on me using dextrose. The recipes were fine (no reaction here), but they were SO SWEET that I physically had difficulty forcing myself to eat even one whole cookie.

The other day I remembered how much my brother loooooved that bread (the one I posted a photo of a while back) that my mom made off of a recipe I found. He ate half the loaf and would not stop talking about how much he loved it. I suggested mom make him some bread and send that instead of cookies. Homemade bread is worth the effort now and again.

[ukbill]

Particularly when you can make doughnuts out of it!

Yes there is little to beat fresh homemade bread, butter and real coffee.. That is a breakfast smell to make anyone hungry if not starving..

Only problem is the bread has to be cool before you eat it.. otherwise I get horrible indigestion.. and I'm not alone with that apparently but the wait is more painful! So hot it is

[ukbill]

I recently tried to make some Damson Gin using Dextrose instead of Sugar (a bottle for me to try)

It was NASTY! with a sharp acid tang to the flavour.. the unsweetened version was much prefered by everyone who has tried them.

Although all the "normals" prefered the sweetened with sugar version better still.. Oh well so much for trying.

[antonia]

This morning I made a rhubarb and oat crumb topping for my buttermilk oat muffins (posted in recipe section). Mixed together flour and oats, pressed cold butter into it and stirred in some finely chopped rhubarb. Sprinkled over the muffins and baked as usual. Big hit. Palmera ate two this morning and another before bed. Would have eaten more if I let her. If you're missing berries (ehem, Colormist), try rhubarb! So delicious and beautiful color too.