Maple Chestnut Cheesecake Mousse

This recipe is inspired by some of the gourmet ingredients I recieved from Qualifirst to review. Namely, the chestnut purée and the maple sugar; both ingredients I had never used before. I thought long and hard about what to make with these ingredients. I turned to google and pinterest, hoping to find something that was gluten free, delicious and didn't require too many difficult techniques. I found chocolate chestnut mousse, pavlova cake, chestnut cheesecake and more, great inspiration but not exactly what I was looking for. I finally realized I would need to create my own recipe. Combining aspects of many recipes I found, I came up with a Maple Chestnut Cheesecake Mousse.

I served it to my family for our Mother's Day dessert and I was surprised at how good it was! I've never had anything like it. It was so much better than the sum of its parts (I think chestnut tastes kinda weird on its own). It's no bake, comes together in 20 mins or less and best of all, naturally gluten free. Everyone adored it! I hope you do too.

*If you can only find sweetened chestnut purée, omit some of the sugar in the recipe. 

Makes 6 good sized servings

Ingredients 

1 1/4 cup Heavy Cream 

     1/4 cup Icing Sugar 

     1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2/3 cup Chestnut Purée (unsweetened)

1/4 cup Maple Syrup (can sub any other natural liquid sweetener- honey, agave, etc)

1/4 cup Icing Sugar (can be omitted or reduced for less sweetness)

1 tsp Maple Extract

1 block Cream Cheese at (or close to) room temp

3 Tbsp Maple Sugar (can substitute other toppings - cookie crumble, skor bits, etc) 

Directions

*Use mixer or hand mixer.

Whip cream, 1/4 cup icing sugar and vanilla to stiff peaks. Set aside in a separate bowl. 

Beat chestnut purée for 20 seconds to break it up.

Add maple syrup, 1/4 cup icing sugar and extract and beat until smooth.

Add in cream cheese and beat until smooth (a couple minutes).

With a rubber spatula, carefully fold in all but roughly 1/2 cup whipped cream into chestnut mixture. 

Spoon mousse into ramekins or cups. Garnish with remaining whipped cream and sprinkle 1/2 Tbsp maple sugar on each serving.

Serve immediately or let chill in fridge for a couple hours before serving.  

Whip cream to stiff peaks

Beat chestnut purée 20 seconds

Add in syrup, maple extract and icing sugar, beat until smooth

Beat in room temp cream cheese until smooth

Fold in whipped cream (reserve 1/2 cup for garnish)

Gently fold until completely combined

Spoon into ramekins or cups and garnish

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

gluten free carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing

I made these cupcakes last weekend for my dad's birthday. It's actually December 24th, but we like to celebrate it on November 24th to give some separation from Christmas. We like to refer to it as his "un-birthday" (-Alice in Wonderland) Carrot cake is his favourite and he hasn't had much since he's been gluten free. The cupcake part is delicious, but nothing can compete with cream cheese icing... mmmm.

Something tells me it's your unbirthday too!

makes 18 cupcakes
Ingredients

2 cups my GF light flour blend recipe
1 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
1 tsp guar gum
2/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups shredded carrots
½ cup crushed pineapple with juice
¼ cup of coconut

Icing
1 package cream cheese at room temp
1/4 cup butter or margarine at room temp
1 1/2 cups icing sugar (more if you need it)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Directions

Peel and grate carrots.
Mix together wet (oil, eggs, vanilla, carrots, pineapple and coconut) and dry ingredients in separate bowls.
Stir all ingredients together until no lumps remain.
Pour into cupcake papers.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
Let cool completely on rack.

Icing

In an electric mixer, beat together margarine and cream cheese until smooth.
Add vanilla and beat.
Add icing sugar, 1/3-1/2 cup at a time, beating for 1 minute in between additions.
Spread icing with a knife or put in plastic bags or decorating bags to apply. (make sure cupcakes are completely cooled before icing)

before baking

just out of the oven

let cool completely

cream cheese icing

makes 18

Freeze any leftovers in plastic containers and let thaw at room temperature before eating.

Mini Cheesecakes with Blueberry Sauce

Gluten Free Mini Cheesecakes with Blueberry Sauce

I love cheesecake. It is probably my favourite dessert. Even better when topped with homemade blueberry sauce...mmm. Because it's just the two of us around here, making a full sized cheesecake would be kind of ridiculous... I have no doubt we would eat it, but that's just the problem. For our anniversary this year, I decided to try a more sizable version of that delicious cake. It turned out amazing... and we finished all six mini cheesecakes within a day. Oops!

Delicious!

Last weekend we were invited to spend some time at a friends cabin a few hours north of Saskatoon. We had an amazing time fishing, swimming, trying out some water sports, and hot tubbing! Unfortunately, my attempt at a sort of wake boarding was a bit of a failure. When I fell the rope tightened around my arm and I ended up dragging behind the boat for a ways. No broken bones, but some serious rope burn and crazy bruising. Because I had that pulmonary embolism awhile back, I am on blood thinners which didn't really help with the bruising. As you can see, it's very pretty. I am getting good at using my left hand, but hoping to regain use of that arm fairly soon!

2 days after it happened... it's even more bruised now if you can believe it!

Ok, enough show and tell for now, on to the recipe.

This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to feed more people. Also, you can change up the toppings however you like - fresh fruit, whipped cream, crushed up candy bar, etc.

(Makes 6 Mini Cheesecakes)
Ingredients

For Crust:
1/3 cup GF Graham Cracker Crumbs (or any cookie crumbs)
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Melted Margarine

For Cheesecake:
1 8oz Package of Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Egg

For Blueberry Sauce:
about 1 cup Blueberries
3-4 Tbsp Sugar
Just enough water to almost cover blueberries in a saucepan
1 tsp Lemon Juice (optional)

Directions

Crust:
Crush graham crackers in a ziplock bag and mix with margarine and sugar. (you could also use other types of gf cookies)
Grease 6 muffin tin holes and press mixture into the bottom.
Bake at 325 for 5 minutes. Let cool.

Cake:
Beat together cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla until smooth. (Use a hand mixer or stand mixer).
Mix in egg until just combined.
Pour batter into prepare crusts and bake at 325 for 25-35 minutes (until centre feels somewhat firm)
Let cool completely before removing from pan.
Chill cheesecakes in fridge until ready to serve.

For Blueberry Sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Let simmer 5-10 minutes, until it just barely starts to thicken.
It will thicken more as it cools.
Spoon over cheesecakes when serving.

graham cracker crust

mixing the batter

pour batter on top of prepared crusts

after baking

once cool, chill in the fridge

serve with blueberry sauce or topping of choice