Cake challenge 4 - The Keto success?

So sir decided to go high fat low carb diet for his exercise at the gym so this meant exploring completely new territory for me! Research on the internet revealed the main flours suitable for a Keto diet; Almond flour (not ground almonds), Coconut flour, and Flax flour.

Almond flour is usually made from almonds with dark brown skin removed and is pretty pale in colour.

I was tasked with making two different flavors and two different colours of biscuits.

Recipe 1

Blanched Almond flour - 2 cups

Baking powder - 2 tsp

Butter - 1/3 cup

2 large eggs

Salt 1/2 tspn

Vanilla Essence 1 tspn

• Set the oven to 350F / 177 C / Gas mark 4.

• Line a flat tray with baking or greaseproof paper.

• Melt the butter and dissolve the sugar.

• Combine all the dry ingredients.

• Let the butter cool and add along with the beaten eggs.

• Combine all the ingredients.

I found the almond flour to be quite gritty and not terribly absorbent so the mixture needs to be scooped or spooned out onto the paper and modeled into round shapes.

Bake for around 15 minutes or until firm and golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Verdict. Not half bad! Tasty and soft centre.

Recipe 2

Coconut Flour Cookies

Warning Coconut flour has a magical or devilish property of absorbing liquid with no obvious effect. It would be great for a land reclamation scheme in that it soaks up fluid and stays exactly the same!

Foolishly I tried the same recipe as above and even two cups of flour ended expanding to fill the bowl as I added more and more liquid. Some recipes suggest blending flax flour in as it is more absorbent. Or four eggs for three-quarters of a cup of coconut flour.

Also, I added purple food colouring (Sir's favorite colour) which was not one of my better ideas as they ended up looking moldy and gangrenous!

Verdict. Complete disaster!

Sir's verdict.

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Mister Smith Comments.

I set this task as I was trying the Keto diet with low carbs. For future reference it was hell and I don't recommend such a satanic diet. However, I tasked him with making me some biscuit type snacks that could be carb-free or at least very low in carbohydrates. I gave a few variables one of which I wanted some coloured just to add to the fun.

I arranged for us to meet at our regular coffee establishment. A little rustic place in a small town of Lancashire full of quirky wooden tables reclaimed iron for chairs and an atmosphere which I thought did indeed suit the idea behind these cookies.

So first look opinion. Hopeful and looking good. They have a large rocky type texture appearance. The glass jar has the almond cookies and the plastic container has the coconut ones. I notice an attempt at adding food colouring which I have been assured is the result of the moldy-looking texture not the quality of the bake.

It is pretty custom for us to have coffee and cake at this establishment and I would be rude not to, especially if bringing some nibbles of our own. I offered out the almond cookies to the staff for their own opinion and I had a munch on one after we discussed the process of how they were made and any complications.

The almond cookies tasted pretty good. They were fairly dense and certainly required a drink with them. I would put this down to the natural nut being very moisture absorbent. They were virtually carbohydrate free other than a few fats from the butter and minimal sugar. A very large difference compared to using grain flour or rice/potato flour which are common with gluten free.

I was fairly impressed with the attempt at this cookie type snack and would eat them again give the chance. center. The only downside to them was the need for a drink with them. If I did not have a coffee to hand Id of struggled to finish one-off. The establishment staff also considered them to be tasty and asked how he made them out of general interest.

And then I come to the coconut flour cookies. First impressions I thought I might die, little did I know how close to the truth I was already thinking. The purple was indeed a bad idea it seems, as mentioned the coconut did not like absorbing liquids, in this case, it looked a few months old, not a day.

I was informed he had tried these and therefore I did. The best way to describe the horror which I was chewing would be to put it this way. It was like mixing stale cheese with lemon and then adding vinegar to it. The taste was terrible. I videoed myself eating it and the paly back was hideous. He then mentioned es they didn't taste too good and wondered what my opinion would be. I hear coconut four can taste good but in this circumstance never again and it's on the banned list.

The ratings.

Almond flour cookies ill give an 8/10 due for effort, taste pretty good however seemed a little dense/big. Perhaps flatter and smaller to reduce the need for a drink. Maybe suited as a type of cake rather than a biscuit.

Coconut flour cookies ill give 2/10.

And the 2 is purely for the effort of trying.

These shall be wiped from memory.

In case it's not clear. Coconut flour.