Showing posts with label cakes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cakes. Show all posts

Monday, 21 January 2013

Gluten Free Recipes Galore!

This morning, over on Domestic Sluttery, we posted a list of our top ten gluten free recipes. From my very first recipe, Viennese fingers, to my most recent, rice cake, with recpes from the other very talented food writers (including the most amazing Daim Bar truffle cake from Hazel!) the treasure trove of exciting GF recipes is sure to grow. I love the challenge of finding new and interesting ways to present gluten free food to a new audience, many of whom have no food issues at all. I hope I've shown people that gluten free doesn't mean flavour free; I know that even some gluten-eaters have given my recipes a spin!


This Crunchie cheesecake is one of my favourites. A smooth baked cheesecake with honeycomb crunch and chocolatey goodness, this is a crowd-pleasing dessert (or a substantial meal for one!). Another sure-fire crowd-pleaser is the mango upside-down cake I made in May, you can happily use tinned mango when fresh aren't in season.


S'mores brownies are a rich, chewy and fudgy sweet treat that I made for Guy Fawkes Night, but they're perfect at any time of year! Ideal for eating over bonfires or barbecues, they seem to taste even better when they're gently melted, you could wrap them in foil and leave them next to the fireplace for 10 minutes if it's too cold to venture outside. If you're more of a savoury snack person, try my roasted cashew nuts or pretzel mix.


I've tackled some old favourites too. These crispy pancakes are brilliantly nostalgic and very flexible, you can fill them with whatever you fancy, cheese and ham, chicken - or go fancy and add brie and bacon or beef Bourguignon! Fish fingers, while easily available in the freefrom section of your freezer department are surprisingly quick and easy to make yourself, the same coating could be used for chicken nuggets or kievs.


I've got lunch covered as well! Rice noodles make a quick and easy salad and this chicken noodle salad is one of the quickest and easiest I know. You could use green bean noodles in this if you'd rather. My smoked salmon kedgeree was intended for Christmas morning, but it makes a pretty special lunch too.

What gluten free recipes would you like to see us cover? Do you have any old favourites that you'd like to make gluten free? Or is there a particular event you want a dish for? 

Let me know!

Wednesday, 1 August 2012

Angel Food Cake

Welcome to another Gluten Free Ratio Rally! If you're new to this particular baking challenge, have a look at Shauna's original post over at Gluten Free Girl and the Chef.


When I offered to host this month's Gluten Free Ratio Rally I was excited, I had never made angel food cake before; this would be fun! Or so I thought. I chose angel food cake because I love the idea of a cake raised with egg whites, leaving the choice of flour open to a wide range of opportunities. Having never seen or tasted angel food cake, I was at a disadvantage, I really didn't know where to start. So, I started with the ratio...

3:3:1

That's 3 parts egg white, 3 parts sugar and 1 part flour. Add a pinch of salt and some acidity to stabilise the egg whites, bake and you're all done. My first was a flop, literally! I took it out of the oven too soon and the whole cake fell. My next attempt welded itself to the cake tin, it was impossible to turn out! So, I decided to go smaller, and my star-shaped silicone moulds would help with the sticking issue, too.

When it did work, I was left with light, moist cakes with a sweet, slightly chewy crust. Success! Definitely a cake to make and enjoy time, and again.

I can't wait to see what heavenly delights the rest of the gang have come up with!

TR | No One Likes Crumbley Cookies Peach Angel Food Cake
Charissa | Zest Bakery Saffron Angel Food Cake
Caneel | Mama Me Gluten Free Angel Food Cake "Pudding" with Fresh Cherry Sauce  
Aunt Mae | Honey From Flinty Rocks Angel Food Cake with Lemon Glaze
Heather | Discovering the Extraordinary Coconut Lime Angel Food Cake Roll
Gretchen | kumquat Caramel Macchiato Angel Food Cake
Angela | Angela's Kitchen Grilled Lemon Angel Food Cake with Lemon Curd and Berries
Adina | Gluten Free Travelette Cacao Spice Angel Food Cake
Pete & Kelli | No Gluten, No Problem Caramel Peach Angel Food Cake
Mary Fran | FrannyCakes Gluten-free angel food cake with roasted cherries and earl grey
Jonathan | The Canary Files Lavender Angel Food Cupcakes



Almond Angel Food Stars
After all my attempts at this cake, I resorted to using cartons of egg whites! They are brilliant as you can weigh them out without waste and you're not left with a mountain of yolks to contend with later.

150g egg whites, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
50g ground almonds
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • Add half of the sugar to the ground almonds and mix with a whisk to aerate and break up lumps.
  • Whisk the egg whites until they are frothy, add the salt and cream of tartar and continue whisking until they are at stiff peaks.
  • Sprinkle the almond-sugar mixture over the whisked egg whites, a little at a time, and gently fold in. Be careful not to knock any of the air out by stirring.
  • Once well combined, spoon into silicone cupcake moulds and bake at 180°C for 10-15 minutes, until a skewer comes out cleanly.

Monday, 23 July 2012

Sticky Cardamon Cake

Some of the best discoveries happen by accident. I'm not claiming that this cake is anywhere near as life-changing as penicillin, but it is still pretty great! 

I was planning to make cardamon and rose water cakes, but I couldn't find my rose water anywhere so I resorted to using orange flower water instead. Cardamon has a lightly citrus scent anyway, so the orange flower water just enhances that, giving you a gently fragrant cake. The sticky bit happened because the Husband wanted to take the cake on a weekend road trip, so it had to stay moist for a few days. In the same way that lemon drizzle cake stays moist because of the lemon-y syrup poured over it, the honey meant that this cake was still good to eat four days after I baked it! 



Sticky Cardamon Cake

10 green cardamon pods
a pinch of salt
175g butter, softened
175g granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tbsp orange flower water
100ml runny honey

  • Remove the seeds from all but 2 of the cardamon pods. Grind the cardamon seeds and salt together with a mortar and pestle. (You don't need the salt, it just makes it easier to finely grind the cardamon seeds)
  • Beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat.
  • Pour in the orange flower water and combine. Sift in the flour mix and fold in, until smooth.
  • Pour into a 20cm x 20cm cake tin and bake in a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes, at 180°C.
  • Meanwhile, bruise the remaining cardamon pods and add them to the honey and warm gently. I find the best way to do this is to put the honey in a heat proof bowl and rest it in a pan of boiling water.
  • When the cake is lightly golden and springy to the touch, remove from the oven and prick all over with a fork. Drizzle the warm (now cardamon infused) honey all over the cake, allowing it to soak in.
  • Leave to cool completely in the tin before cutting into about 20-25 squares.

Thursday, 28 June 2012

Garden of England Loaf Cake

It's been a busy few weeks (aren't they all?) and I have neglected the blog as a result.  I'm ok, but all the activity in my life has left me exhausted.  I have to remember that I'm not even 6 months on from major surgery and that tiredness is to be expected.  The problem is, I'm just too impatient, I want all the energy I need, now!

I love recipe development.  I could spend all day experimenting in the kitchen (and often do) and I can only think of two drawbacks; washing up and wasting food when experiments fail.  Fortunately, the Husband is a bit of a human waste disposal unit and, assuming it's still edible, he'll often eat my failures anyway.  As for the washing up, I am growing to accept it as a necessary evil (and when I just can't face it, I throw everything in the dishwasher!).  From today, I am officially emerging from a work induced blog-hibernation.  If you count all the writing and recipe development I've been doing over the past few weeks, on top of my day job, I must be working about 100 hours a week!  Fortunately, I've found the time to have a wee break and, to celebrate this time off, I have baked a cake...



Spiced Apple and Pear Cake
I called this 'Garden of England Loaf Cake' in the title, because that's what this is, a celebration of the abundant produce that I am fortunate enough to find on my doorstep in Kent.  I realise that these fruits aren't quite in season yet, but there are some fanastic juice producers here whose juices are available year round.  I used Clearly Juice, but Moor Organic and Owl House Fruit Farm are also made in Kent, while many orchards make and sell their own juices in farm shops around the county.


125ml pressed apple juice
125ml pressed pear juice
1/2 cup golden caster sugar
1 tbsp molasses sugar, or molasses syrup
1 star anise
1/2 cinnamon stick
120g margarine
2 large eggs
115g natural yoghurt
240g gluten free plain flour mix
1 tsp baking powder

  • Pour the juices, caster sugar, molasses, star anise and cinnamon stick into a saucepan and bring to the boil, do not stir.  Allow to bubble gently until the sugar has dissolved, then boil rapidly for 5 minutes to reduce by about half.  Take off the heat and leave to cool.
  • Remove the star anise and cinnamon stick (or strain, if the spices have broken up) and measure 125ml of the cooled syrup and  pour into a large bowl.  
  • Add the margarine, eggs, yoghurt, gf flour mix and baking powder and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
  • Pour into a greased and lined 2lb/900g loaf tin, and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C, for 40 minutes, until a skewer come out of the middle cleanly.
  • Turn out and cool on a cake rack.

If you have any leftover syrup, it will keep for about 5 days in the fridge (or pour into an ice cube tray and freeze) and is great added to a hot toddy or ginger tea!

Monday, 28 May 2012

Mint - Another Gluten Free Recipe Challenge!

The Great Gluten Free Recipe Challenge returns!  If you haven't heard about the recipe challenge before, then have a look at my March challenge post to find out more.

This time, as well as being gluten free, the challenge specified that the recipes should also be egg free, and must use mint as the key ingredient.  As usual, my blogger friends have come up with a fantastic range of recipes for you to try.

Alex at Food Allergy and Intolerance Ink made Minted Peas and Quinoa
Annie at Annie's Supperclub made Pasta with Mint and Peas & a Pea, Mint and Feta Salad
Charissa at Zest Bakery made Melon Berry Mint Fruit Salad
Claire at The Gluten-Free Notebooks made Mint Triple-Choc-Chip Brownies
Debra and The Awkward Eater made Minty Lamb Burgers with Harissa
Hazel at Flicker of Fully Fun made Rhubarb with Quark Mint Creme
Mrs D at Adventures of a Gluten Free Globetrekker made Mint and Limoncello Granita
Saara at The Gluten Free Student Cookbook made Mint Lamb Burgers

As you can clearly see, mint is a brilliantly versatile ingredient!  You can find it being used in many cuisines, from Middle Eastern and North African, Asian, Arab and American to our own British (lamb and mint sauce, anyone?) as well as in teas and cocktails.  It is also an easy herb to grow, given that I have succeeded in growing it and I tend to have the touch of death around most plants.

Why egg free?  While egg allergies are more common in children than adults (as many people outgrow the allergy), some have egg intolerances that continue throughout adulthood.  Other people avoid eggs through choice, vegans and many vegetarians abstain from them for ethical reasons, and quite a few people just plain don't like them.


I decided to make a cake, since my previous efforts at egg free baking have ended in tears and I was determined to find a recipe that actually worked!  After trying a few, this recipe from Food.com  became the basis for my creation.

Mint and Strawberry Cake

200g gluten free self raising mix
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
50g icing sugar
300g sweetened condensed milk
100g butter, melted
90ml water
400g strawberries, hulled and halved
10g fresh mint, chopped
175g caster sugar
250ml double cream


  • Sieve the self raising flour mix, baking power, bicarbonate of soda and icing sugar together.    Add the condensed milk, melted butter and water and mix until smooth.
  • Divide the mixture into two greased and lined 20cm cake tins and bake for 8-10 minutes at 200°C, until the whole cake has risen, then turn the oven down to 160°C for a further 5 minutes.
  • Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for about 15 minutes before turning them out on to a cooling rack.
  • Put half of the strawberries in to a large sieve or colander over a bowl and sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar over them.  Leave to stand until the juices have come out of the strawberries and have collected in the bowl. 
  • Top the strawberry juice up to 250ml with water and pour into a saucepan with the rest of the caster sugar and the mint and bring to the boil.  Boil until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for about 5 minutes.  Strain and allow to cool.
  • Whisk the cream and fold in a few tablespoons of the mint and strawberry syrup - I also folded in the rest of the tin of condensed milk (about 90g).  Spread half over one of the sponge cakes and place the other on top.  
  • Spread the cake with the rest of the whipped cream and top with the remaining strawberries, glazed with syrup.

Oh, and you can use any leftover syrup to make a strawberry and mint mojito!








Wednesday, 18 April 2012

Gaelic Coffee Cakes

It's been quite a week...

I was at the BBC Good Food Show at Glow, Bluewater, on Friday.  The highlight was a fantastic live Masterchef cook-off between this year's champion, Shelina Permaloo and 2011 winner, Tim Anderson.  John and Gregg are far more entertaining in real life than they are on the TV show, funnier and less intense, and the two chefs cooked stunning dishes.  The competition was very close but, Tim's smoke filled mozzarella ballon was the clincher!  I came home laden with goodies, including smoked rapeseed oil and Anila's Spicy Korma Curry Sauce.  

On Saturday, I visited friends who have a new baby girl and a brilliantly energetic two-and-a-half year old.  We have been friends since our first year at university and they are such warm and funny people (who share my slightly weird sense of humour) that spending time with them is always enjoyable.  I took some of my White Chocolate Rocky Road, which their wee girl described as "too nice", probably the best compliment I could have hoped for!

Monday was the Husband's birthday so the day was filled with much food, including a homemade brunch and a dinner at Wagamama in Canterbury!

The FreeFrom Food Awards presentation took place yesterday (Tuesday).  The evening itself was spent catching up with fellow judges and bloggers, as well as meeting some of the shortlisted producers.  When I have had time to organise my thoughts I will write a post about the many well-deserving winners and more than a few exciting (and mouth-watering) discoveries I found along the way.  You can see a list of the winners, highly commended and commended entries on the FreeFrom Food Awards winners page.

Today, I returned to work for the first time since my surgery.  I was anxious about going back, I hadn't worked since the end on January and although I was keen to get back to normality, I felt like I had forgotten everything I knew about how to do my job.  My fears were unfounded and everyone was very welcoming, making me forget about the all the worrying I did before I got there! It feels like the final step towards normality, like I'm getting on with my life sans colon and it feels great.

Oh, and somewhere in all of the above, I baked many birthday cakes for the Husband and his colleagues!  



Gaelic Coffee Cakes
The cake part is actually the same as my Mocha Cupcakes but without the cocoa powder (just add 10g more flour instead).  The exciting bit is the Swiss meringue topping, you'll need a kitchen blow-torch to make these.

12 coffee cupcakes (see my mocha cupcake recipe)
30ml Drambuie (or other whisky liqueur)
3 egg whites
150g caster sugar

  • When the coffee cupcakes are still warm from the oven, poke a few holes in the tops of each.  Trickle 1/2 tsp Drambuie over each cake and let it soak into the cakes.  Leave to cool.
  • Put the egg whites and sugar into a heatproof bowl and place over a saucepan of just simmering water.  Do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the surface of the water.  Whisk the eggs and sugar together for 5-7 minutes, until the sugar dissolves and the egg whites warm up.  Remove from the heat and whisk until the mixture forms stiff peaks (if you have an electric hand-mixer it will save you a lot of arm ache).
  • When the cakes are cool, fill a piping bag with the meringue and pipe a blob of meringue on to each cake.  Brown the meringue tops with a blow-torch, taking care not to set fire to the paper cases, if used.  
  • (That final tip may, or may not, be down to personal experience.  I'd rather not confirm it either way.)



Saturday, 3 December 2011

Banoffee Cupcakes

There's a bit of a cake culture where I work.  Whenever someone brings cake into the office, a kind of party atmosphere descends and everyone gets very greedy.  It would be a competition, but our admin manager used to be a chef so when he brings cake, you know it's going to be amazing.  He made Nigella Lawson's Flourless Chocolate Orange Cake weeks ago and people are still talking about how good it was!  For me, taking cakes to work is based on mainly selfish reasons; firstly, if I bake them I know I can eat them (even the odd flourless cake that makes its way into the office is hit-or-miss depending on what baking powder has been used).  Secondly, I bake so often that I have to give some cakes away or else the Husband and I would quickly become obese!  

These banoffee cakes were a take-to-work bake that I'm quite proud of. Roasting the bananas gives a lovely sweet banana-y taste to the cakes, while filling them with dulce le leche (optional, and time consuming) adds decadence.  

Banoffee Cupcakes

For the cakes:
2 bananas
190g gluten free self-raising mix
190g margarine
190g light brown soft sugar
3 large eggs

For the icing (frosting):
100g dulce de leche 
75g butter or margarine, softened
175g icing sugar
dried banana chips, to decorate

Optional:
200g dulce de leche

  • Heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Place the bananas, unpeeled, on a baking tray and roast for 15 minutes.  Leave to cool, still in their skins.
  • Peel the bananas and chuck in a food processor and pulse a few times to mash. 
  • Add the self-raising mix, margarine, sugar and eggs and whizz up to a smooth batter.
  • Line a cupcake tin with paper cases and pour batter in each case, about two-thirds full.  You will get 12-15 cakes with this.
  • Bake for 17-20 minutes (at 180 degrees C), until a skewer comes out clean.
  • Leave to cool in the tin.
Optional:  Fill a piping bag attached with an eclair filling tip with 200g of dulce de leche.  Push a knife tip into the centre of each cupcake, about half-way down.  Pipe the dulce de leche into each cupcake until you see it reaching the top of the cake.
  • Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl.  Add the softened butter and the dulce de leche.  Whisk together until you have a fluffy icing (frosting).  (You can beat the dulche de leche and butter together first, then add the icing sugar, but I find that the icing is too soft when I do it that way.)
  • Fill a piping bag attached with a star tip with the icing and pipe on to each cake (or you can spread the icing over each cake - you won't need as much icing to do it that way).
  • Decorate each cupcake with a banana chip.
Actually, there is a third selfish reason -  I like watching other people enjoy my baking, it's a great ego boost!




Wednesday, 3 August 2011

White Chocolate Cupcakes


I turn thirty in just 11 days...The thought terrifies me somewhat - I'm not ready! I feel quite far from achieving my "things to do before I'm thirty" list thanks mostly to various Crohns surgeries that tended to put a dampener on adventure,  among other things.  That said, apparently, thirty is the new twenty and there is nothing I can do about the inevitability of time (I've looked into it), so I am consoling myself by baking practice cakes for my birthday party.

Rather fortuitously, the theme for this month's Gluten-Free Ratio Rally is cake!  Head over to host Kate at Gluten Free Gobsmacked for the round-up.  I intend to steal the most exciting ideas to use at my birthday party, a week on Sunday, so the timing could not be better for me.

The ratio (which could not be easier) is -  1:1:1:1.  Egg:fat:sugar:flour.

I have opted for cupcakes for two reasons.  I am a twin, my brother is normal (in so much as he can tolerate gluten), so our birthday cake with be a "normal" cake.  My Mum and I are baking gluten free cupcakes to accompany the main cake, so that I can eat something at my own party.  Secondly, pure impatience, cupcakes bake quicker than your average sandwich sponge and I am the sort of person that can't wait that long for my cake.

White Chocolate Cupcakes
The icing* highlights the vanilla taste of the white chocolate and adds a lovely, rich finishing touch.  I used a star nozzle on my piping bag and decorated it with some dark gold cake glitter and a chocolate star from Dr Oetker.


(For the cakes)
110g Self-Raising flour mix (if you don't already have a favourite, you could try mine)
110g Margarine
110g Caster sugar
2 Large eggs
60g Good quality white chocolate

(For the icing)
110g Butter, softened
220g Icing sugar
1tsp Vanilla extract

  • Melt the white chocolate, either in in bowl sat above a pan gently boiling water, or in the microwave (only microwave chocolate for 5-10 seconds at a time, it burns very quickly!)
  • In a large bowl, beat the margarine and sugar until it is pale and fluffy.  (An electric hand-whisk is the easiest way to do this.)
  • Add the eggs, one at a time and whisk to combine.  (If the mixture looks like it is splitting, add a tablespoon of the flour mix to bring it back together.)
  • Add the flour mix and continue to whisk until the mixture is smooth.
  • Slowly add the melted white chocolate, whisking all the time until it is combined.
  • Line a shallow bun tin with 12 paper or silicone cases and fill each one about 3/4 with the cake mixture.
  • Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.  Leave to cool in the tin as they will be quite soft straight from the oven.
  • To make the butter-cream icing: beat the butter in a bowl until it is pale and creamy, sift in the icing sugar and beat the two together.
  • Add the vanilla extract and combine well.
  • This is now ready to transfer to a piping bag to decorate your cakes.
*For all my US readers, for icing, read frosting!!

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