NUTTY MONTHLY MOUTHFUL

It's only a little bit late: first there was (is) the up and coming Asian book, Christmas stuff, then something huge that we can't tell you about yet, but watch this space. We are also still soldiering on with rewrites of the Everyday Cookbook, and now we are upgrading the Lunch Box booklet to be a real book! But more about that later.

It wasn't hard to pick the outstanding recipes that came flooding into the recipes@thermomix in box. (You are clearly glad Monthly Mouthful is back!) The brief was recipes containing nuts and of course, we chose both sweet and savory, though the savory selection was limited.
So here you go; drum roll please....

This is quick and tasty, both of which rate highly in my book! (Figuratively speaking...)

Cashew Parmesan and Spinach Dip

Ingredients
100g roasted and salted cashews
100g Parmesan cheese, cubed
Handful baby spinach or rocket leaves
20g lemon juice (or olive oil)
Pepper to taste

Method
Place all ingredients into TM bowl and blend for 6 seconds on speed 8.
Serve with vegie sticks or your favorite TM crackers.
Recipe contributed by Sally Adair, consultant SA

So folks, that was it; the only savory entry that came in...but we won't get all upset about it, but pull your socks up next time OK?

On to the sweets. Now these were a big hit at the office on a day when a lot of testing was done; which usually means they receive a lower rating than normal, so that is a good indicator of the Yum Factor on this recipe. A little fiddly, but sooo worth the end result, and Gluten Free!

Black Forest Cupcakes
yields 24 cupcakes

Ingredients
Cake;
50g rice
250g almonds or hazelnuts (or combo)
250g dark chocolate in pieces
1tsp GF baking powder
150g butter (softened)
6 eggs
1tbsp cocoa powder
150g raw sugar
Syrup;
170-200g syrup drained from tin or jar of cherries
1tbsp cornflour
Filling;
250g cream cheese
1tbsp raw sugar
1 egg
Few cherries from drained tin or jar
Ganache/Icing;
130g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
100g cream
Or; 50g cream and 50g cherry syrup

Method
Preheat oven to 160ºC. Line a muffin tin with patty pan papers and set aside.
Place rice into TM bowl and mill for 1 minute on speed 9.
Add nuts and mill for 10 seconds on speed 6. Set aside.
Place chocolate into TM bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 6. Add to nuts.
Place remaining cake ingredients into TM bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat.
Add nuts and chocolate and mix for a further 10 seconds on speed 6. Set aside.
To make syrup place liquid into clean TM bowl with cornflour and cook for 5 minutes at 90ºC on speed 3 with MC off. Set aside.
Place filling ingredients into TM bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.
Assembly;
Dollop some mix in the bottom of each patty pan - approx 2tbsp per cake.
Top with 1 teaspoon cream cheese mixture, 2-3 cherries and 1 teaspoon of cherry syrup.
Cover with remaining cake mixture. Bake for 20 minutes, remove and cool before topping with ganache.

Ganache/Icing
Place chocolate and cream into TM bowl and melt for 4 minutes at 50ºC on speed 1. Allow to cool. Add remaining syrup (which will also be cool by now) and blend for 1 minute on speed 4. Spread on cooled cakes.

Recipe contributed by Myfanwy Zrinski customer WA

Last but not least...

Nut Butter Swirl Brownies

Ingredients
Nut Batter;
150g roasted nuts of choice
50g macadamia oil
75g rapadura or raw sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
20g spelt flour
Pinch each baking powder and sea salt
20-30g rice/nut milk
Chocolate Batter;
60g macadamia oil
90g organic coconut oil
100g rapadura or raw sugar
Few drops Stevia juice or pinch Stevia powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
70g spelt flour
30g cacao powder
Pinch each baking powder and sea salt

Method
Preheat oven to 180ºC and line 20cm square baking tin with paper that comes up above the sides for easy removal.
To make Nut Batter, place nuts into TM bowl and mill for 1 minute on speed 6, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. The oil must be released from the nuts and will form a paste.
Add all remaining Nut Batter ingredients and mix for 10 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.
Without cleaning bowl, make Chocolate Batter by placing oils, sugar, Stevia, vanilla and eggs into TM bowl and blending for 20 seconds on speed 6.
Add remaining ingredients and mix for a further 10 seconds on speed 5.
Pour chocolate batter into prepared pan and spread evenly with the spatula.
Place dollops of nut batter evenly across the pan and marble with a skewer or fork.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, and cool in pan. Remove and cut into squares. Serve warm (and gooey!)
Recipe contributed by Jo Whitton, consultant, QLD

So there you go kids, time to Thermomix, eat and comment...Monthly Mouthful is back and we need your votes. Waiting....waiting....(still waiting...hurry up!)

And while we still have your attention, we are vetting recipes for our Lunch Box book as we write. Please forward lunch box friendly, kid friendly, low sugar, easy and quick to make to add to our booklet that is becoming all grown up and going to be a real book! Either send to recipes@thermomix.com.au or to Tenina@thermomix.com.au by the end of November. Please clearly mark them as such. Should your recipe be included in the book, you will receive a copy of the book after it has been published.

(Oh, and still waiting!)