Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

Thursday, 7 August 2014

Salted Caramel Blondies


I have three words for you. Salted. Caramel. Blondies. Yes, really. This is the sort of treat you bake for someone else then wish you'd doubled the recipe so you'd have some yourself. Sweet, salty and deliciously fudgy, you will bake them again and again. 

I bake a lot of brownies and blondies. They're virtually foolproof, use only one pan and they're brilliantly transportable - what's not to love?! It's also easily to convert a recipe to gluten free, as I've done here with Smitten Kitchen's recipe (she's right, they are infinitely adaptable!) Seriously, what's stopping you? Bake some of these, today!

Salted Caramel Blondies
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

225g butter
300g soft brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
50ml bourbon (optional, but it does add a lovely flavour)
2 eggs
265g rice flour (I use Dove's Farm)
1 tsp flaked sea salt
100g dark chocolate chips
150g butterscotch chips or caramel pieces (if not, add 100g more chocolate chips instead)

  • Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the sugars. Stir until dissolved.
  • Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla and bourbon. Stir to combine and cool the mixture slightly.
  • Add the eggs, one at a time and mix well.
  • Fold in the flour and salt.
  • Add the chocolate and butterscotch chips and gently stir in.
  • Pour into a traybake pan and bake at 180°C for 35 minutes, or until a skewer comes out the middle sticky, but not covered in batter.
  • Leave to cool before cutting into squares.

Saturday, 28 September 2013

Gluten Free for 99p

Well, £1 or less per portion, actually!


That was my challenge to a bunch of gluten free bloggers a few weeks ago, and the reaction was, "let's do it!" Eating gluten free on a budget isn't easy, free from food is far from cheap, so it seemed like an appropriate challenge to come up with some thrifty recipes to share. The task was simple (in theory); come up with a recipe that's gluten free, but costs less than £1 each. In reality, it turned out to be a much trickier thing to do than the initial enthusiasm suggested! Two brave souls finally joined me in creating cheap-but-delicious dishes, and here they are.


Carly: over on Gluten Free B, is annoyed that most budget recipes are a bit insubstantial, dull and take forever to make. To deal with this, she has a brilliant frugal frittata that's perfect for using up any vegetables you've got in the fridge. She rather cunningly uses leftover rice in her frittata, something I had never thought of before! This is the sort of recipe that you can make time and again, varying the ingredients so you'll never get bored.



Alex: has come up with a great leek and tomato quinoa dish that's both filling and nutritious, over on Food Allergy and Intolerance Ink. It's good to know that even those gluten free grains that we perceive to be a bit pricier can actually be used in budget dishes. Let's stop discounting ingredients because we think they're too expensive (or too posh)!

Me: I wanted to come up with a dish that you could serve for Sunday lunch, or as a dinner party meal with friends. Just because cash is tight, it doesn't mean you can't still be sociable. Get your friends to bring the booze, or a dessert and you can entertain with change from a fiver! This dish was inspired by a recipe on Domestic Sluttery last year. The rolled herby lamb breast, by Hazel (my food guru), made me give lamb breast another go after a disastrous first try. It also showed me that tasty stuffing needn't be full of breadcrumbs.


Cheap cuts of meat are often regarded with suspicion, but they're often some of the tastiest cuts, if you know how to cook them. Oxtail makes the most unctuous stews, pork shoulder is perfect for barbecue-style pulled pork and chicken wings make the greatest stock ever! If you can, chat to your butcher, they have so much knowledge to share and will tell you the very best ways to cook your meat, and how to get the most from each cut. (Same goes for your greengrocer, they'll know what seasonal fruit and vegetables are best, cheapest and tastiest.)



Lamb Breast with Boulangerie Potatoes
(Inspired by Hazel Paterson's Rolled Herby Lamb Breast)
You can buy boned lamb breast from most supermarkets, but if you chat to your butcher you'll be able to get him to prepare it and even throw in the ribs for you. Use the bones as a trivet to roast the lamb, then simmer it with some vegetables to make a fantastic stock for soup. This recipe serves four for just under £4.

a large lamb breast (£2.99)
1/2 pack of mint, chopped (35p)
3 cloves garlic, chopped (10p-ish)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vinegar (red wine vinegar if you've got it, otherwise white wine or cider vinegar works too)
400g-ish white potatoes, thinly sliced (the supermarket value/smart price/economy ranges of potatoes are great in this dish) (34p)
1 onion, finely sliced (21p)
salt and pepper
  • Preheat your oven to 230°C (or as hot as it'll go).
  • Spread your lamb breast on a chopping board and trim any bits of sinew and thick pieces of fat. If you ask your butcher, he'll do that for you.
  • Mix the chopped mint, garlic, vegetable oil and vinegar in a bowl. Season well with salt and pepper - it's seaoning the meat too.
  • Spread the mint stuffing over one side of the lamb and roll it up. Tie securely with string. If you don't have string, I've used cocktail sticks with some sucsess before!
  • Put the lamb in a roasting tin and pop in the oven for 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, layer the potatoes and onion slices in an ovenproof dish, seasoning as you go. Pour water over the potatoes until it just reaches the top layer.
  • After 30 minutes are up, turn the oven down to 160°C and put the potatoes in too. Cook for a further 2 hours.
  • When the 2 hours are up, remove the lamb from the oven and let it rest for about 15 minutes before slicing. If the potaoes need to crisp up a little, leave them in the oven for a bit longer.
You can vary the herbs in the stuffing to suit whatever herbs you happen to have, parsley and rosemary work well too. Likewise, if you'd rather use leeks instead of onions in the boulangerie potatoes, they'd be great!


What are your go-to thrifty foods? Share your hints and tips below.

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

Gluten Free on a Budget

Cooking on a tight budget is something I've been wanting to write about for a while, ever since I received an email from a reader who was struggling to eat a gluten free diet and feed her children. It's been on my mind, and now that celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver have waded into the debate, I've decided it's time to broach the topic, too.

Falafel (about 89p per person)

In the past, I lived on a very tight budget. I was working, but the cost of rent, bills and travel expenses meant that I was left with under £5 a week for food. I was lucky, my church stepped in to help me out, and I found a second job to pay the bills a bit more easily. I didn't have any hungry mouths to feed, apart from mine. At that stage, I wasn't Coeliac, so could buy cheap bread and pasta to fill me up. Eventually, I moved into cheaper accommodation and things worked themselves out, but it was tough to eat (full stop, let alone eat well) for such a small amount of money.

Squash Stuffed Turkey (about £1.50 per person)

We all know that gluten free food is expensive, so buying bread, pasta and flour isn't cheap when you're Coeliac. Jamie Oliver might know a Sicilian street cleaner who can but mussels, tomatoes and pasta for 60p, but a pack of gluten free spaghetti is closer to £2 before you even add the molluscs and veggies! Mockney Mr Oliver thinks we should use stale bread to give our cheap meat "great texture". It's something that processed food manufacturers do to bulk out products, and as a consequence make them a no-go for us Coeliac folk. On a budget, it makes sense to avoid it (unless you can get it on prescription) and focus instead on naturally gluten free foods like potatoes and rice. If you've got time to shop and cook, you can eat well for not-very-much, but when you're working two jobs it's not so easy.

Eggs in Tomato Sauce (about £1.10 per person)

In my experience, a well stocked store cupboard is the difference between eating the same sad meal every day for a week and eating a varied diet. It has made me a bit of a hoarder as a result, I feel like I'm saving up in case I find myself struggling for money again. Jacket potatoes with cheese and beans, spicy lentil daal, eggs in tomato sauce, or poached chicken (if a whole chicken is too costly, try chicken wings - they make a delicious stock, although it takes more effort to strip the meat off the bones later) with rice cooked in the resulting stock, are all possible, if you have a ready supply of spices, dried lentils and rice. None of the dishes pictured in this post were designed to be 'budget' meals, but they give you an idea of how naturally gluten free food can be inexpensive.

No, this doesn't really help if you have a tight budget right now and your cupboards are bare, and I don't have a solution if that's you. It's one of the reasons why this is such a contentious issue, no-one actually has the right answer to the problem of food poverty. If you're in the happy situation of knowing exactly where your next meal is coming from, why not get in touch with The Trussell Trust and donate to your nearest food bank? I've been in contact with my local food bank so that, if someone with gluten intolerance comes to them, I can supply them with GF pasta, cereal and tinned goods when they need it. 

Chicken Rice (about £1.30 per person)

Save with Jamie: Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less has an RRP of £26, just over two months of my old food budget, and I think that's why the man himself has come under so much criticism for his comments. (Although, let's not be so naive to forget that this publicity will do Jamie's book sales and TV ratings a real favour.) It's hard to take budgeting advice from a man whose name itself is a franchise. I'd rather read A Girl Called Jack's blog, or invest in a copy of her book, due out next year. I also rate the advice given by Allegra McEvedy and Paul Merrit in Economy Gastronomy, and was an avid follower of their 2009 TV series. (I wonder if the BBC would bring it back?) Whilst not really written for people in dire straits, the principles behind River Cottage Every Day will help you make the most of every scrap of food in your kitchen and avoid waste.


So, sorry Jamie. I know you mean well, and I'm sure your new TV series and accompanying book will be full of useful hints and tips for eating on a budget, but until you get your foot out of your mouth we can't hear any wisdom that might be in there.

Friday, 24 May 2013

Bourbon Biscuits and Lime Pie


Last week, I decided to rectify the fact that I hadn't eaten a chocolate Bourbon for six years by baking some myself. The resulting Bourbon biscuits were so good that I ate most of the first batch before they'd even cooled down! As wonderful as the biscuits were, I couldn't eat all of them. (When you're testing a recipe, you end up making at least two, sometimes many more, batches in order to perfect the recipe.) The lime meringue pie was born from a need to use the rest of the Bourbons before they went stale.


The biscuits form the base of what is basically a Key lime pie – except that you shouldn't really call it 'Key lime' unless you use limes from the Florida Keys - with meringue on top. I have a habit of separating eggs to use just the yolks or whites in a recipe and leaving the other part in the fridge to be rediscovered when it's too late to use them. That's why there's meringue on my lime pie – I could use the whole egg this way (and it looks great, too).



Chocolate and lime work so well together that it's a shame more desserts don't use them. The smoothness of the chocolate mellows the sharpness of the lime, while the slight bitter edge to both add a sophisticated touch. I've made a lot of lime meringue pies in my time, from now on, I'll always use a chocolate base.

If you fancy making your own lime meringue pie this weekend, head over to Domestic Sluttery for the full recipe.


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!

Monday, 17 December 2012

Free From & Festive: Christmas Future

In just one week it will be Christmas eve! It's all very exciting, but what if you don't like the traditional Christmas fare? If you're bored by Brussels sprouts or fed up with fruit cake, is the appeal of mountains of festive food all that appealing? 

Worry no longer! We have some great ideas to re-work some old not-so-favourites into wonderful morsels that everyone will fight over (in a harmonious, festive, kind of way).


Gluten Free Notebooks food hero, Claire has taken gingerbread and mellowed the fiery ginger taste with chocolate in her gluten-free double-chocolate-chip gingerbread cake with brandy buttercream icing. Who needs Christmas cake when this is on the menu?! 


If cakes doesn't tickle your festive fancy any more than dried fruit and marzipan, why not try Hazel's Christmas Tickler at Chatty Daisy Days? Bursting with cranberry and orange, this dessert is a wonderful alternative for rich and stodgy puddings.


Sickened by sprouts? Not for long! Debra at The Awkward Eater has come up with a recipe for sprout bhajis that is sure to convert even the most dyed-in-the-wool sprout sceptic. Turning these much-maligned vegetables into a spicy, crunch bhaji is a master stroke that we should all salute, come Boxing Day.


Am I the only one who can't stand parsnips? Their sweetly starchy qualities failed to win me over until I paired them with chestnuts over on Domestic Sluttery. The smokiness of the chestnuts seem to temper the too-sweet nature of the parsnip to leave you with a silky smooth starter that is Christmas in a bowl.

We hope that our Free From & Festive series has solved your Christmas dilemmas past, present and future and that you all have a very merry and gluten free time next week.

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Free From & Festive: Christmas Presents

I'm a firm believer in the power of a homemade gift. It says, "not only do I care enough about you to give you this gift but, I put in the effort and made it myself." More the the sum of its ingredients, a homemade gift is time and loving care and, for me, that's extra special. Even more special, is when someone makes a gift that suits your dietary requirements.

We might be stretching the past/present/future theme a little with this one, but this week we're making gluten free foodie gifts! Now is the perfect time to start whipping up your presents, so we've got a few to share with you.


Carly at Gluten Free B has made a delicious mulling syrup that's sure to please everyone. It's not Christmas until you've had a warm cup of something mulled, so this gift is a festive must!


Anyone who loves coffee will appreciate this white chocolate, orange and pistachio biscottini from Claire at The Gluten Free Notebooks. She has used delicate, but definitely Christmassy, flavours to make these rather luxury little biscotti.


I love to give cranberry sauce as a Christmas gift, after all it's something that most people use over the season! I've tried many variations over the years, but I always come back to this one.

Cranberry Sauce with Clementines

a net of clementines, about 650g
300g frozen cranberries
100g caster sugar

  • Zest half of the clementines and juice them all.
  • Put the clementine juice, zest, cranberries and sugar into a saucepan and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring all the time.
  • Leave the mixture to simmer until the sauce thickens, it'll take about 10 minutes. Taste (very carefully, it's hot!!) and add more sugar if needed. 
  • Transfer into sterilised jars whist the sauce is still hot. This will keep for a couple of months in the fridge.
Whatever gifts you give this year, we'd love to hear about them so do get in touch. 

Next week, we're putting a modern twist on old favourites. If you don't like mince pies, fruit cake or turkey, now's your chance to put your own spin on them! 

Monday, 3 December 2012

Free From & Festive: Christmas Past

Free From & Festive is back! Well, it is December and Christmas is looming at an excessive rate. This week, we're concentrating on traditional recipes, those foods that make it feel like it's really Christmas; mince pies, Christmas pudding, mulled wine. It's time to dust off our Granny's recipe cards and whip up an old favourite.


Claire at The Gluten Free Notebooks has dug out her mum's low fat mince pies recipe and given them the gluten free treatment. This really is two recipes in one, a delicious mincemeat and a light sounding citrus shortcrust pastry.


Nothing says Christmas to me like trifle for breakfast and Carly at Gluten Free B has channelled her inner 80's goddess to bring this retro offering. She's even included a brilliant recipe video for your enjoyment which is Wham-tastic!



Over on Domestic Sluttery, I have made a traditional Scottish Clootie Dumpling. It's probably more traditionally eaten at Hogmanay, but many Scottish families eat it instead of Christmas pudding on the big day itself.

So what are your favourite Christmas recipes? We'd love to know what you'll be making in the run-up to the 25th.


Next week, we're sharing our gluten free foodie gift recipes and if you want to join in you can email me for details.

Sunday, 4 November 2012

Bangers for Bonfire Night


Yes, it really has been more than a whole month since I last popped up on your blogroll. I'm a little ashamed at the neglect of this blog and of you, my wonderful readers, I'm sorry. Hopefully you have been following my antics over at Domestic Sluttery and you know that I'm still here! When I went back to work, six months ago, after my colectomy operation I was put into a new department - pharmacy - and as a result I've spent the time since working on a qualification that is a legal requirement for a job I didn't really want to do. Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot, which I love, and my colleagues are brilliant company, but I'm just not that passionate about what I do. Add that that to the fact the this qualiciation has been so time-consuming that it has kept me from doing more of what I truly love, writing. I have managed to write an article, featured in November's Your Wellness Magazine (keep reading, there are five recipes that follow the piece) about eating well with Crohn's Disease, but I haven't done half of what I planned to do.


I sat the final test for my pharmacy course last week and to celebrate, I have a recipe for you! Since tomorrow is Guy Fawkes' Night and there are fireworks displays happening all over the country for the next few days, I thought I'd share my favourite way to eat sausages on a breezy and cold night outside. I use the Black Farmer's Daughter's chipolata sausages in most of my sausagey cooking these days, they are so juicy and tasty, a far cry from those oddly sponge-like gluten free sausages from days of old. Of course, good old M&S are an excellent place to buy GF bangers, too. 

Honey Mustard Bangers
This is super easy and pretty quick to make, ideal for whipping up before dashing out to your local bonfire night celebrations. Pop the bread in the oven for the last 5 minutes of cooking and you'll have deliciously soft rolls that keep your sausages warm for longer.

2 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp grain mustard (most are gluten free, but always check the label)
1 pack of gluten free sausages
  • In a roasting tin, mix the honey and mustard together. Add a drop of water to loosen the mixture if needed.
  • Toss the sausages in the honey mustard mix and cook for 25-30 minutes at 180°C, turning a couple of times.

I like to serve these in a roll, either Fria's Korvbrod rolls or Sainsbury's Freefrom part baked baguettes are good choices.

If you have a flask and some paper cups, I would highly recommend making a pot of sweet potato and sweetcorn soup to take with you, or if you don't like the sound of that, try some pumpkin soup instead!

Wednesday, 29 August 2012

Chinese Food Recipe Round-Up

I've said it before, I miss Chinese food. All the soy sauce and wheat-y noodles and sauces make it a no-go area for most Coeliacs, especially since the risk of cross contamination in restaurant kitchens is pretty high. So, I tend to opt for making my own. Here are my favourite recipes to hopefully inspire you.


Pot stickers (and steamed dumplings): It's easier than you think to make dumpling wrappers and, once you've got the knack the world is your oyster! You can use the same recipe to make wontons, pot stickers, spring rolls and even pancakes to go with duck!

Photo from glutendairyfree.co.uk

Pak Choi-Wrapped Fish: Grace at Gluten Dairy Free shares this beautifully versatile recipe that has all the flavour you'd expect from Chinese food. It's a light and fresh dish that you'll make again and again.

Fortune Cookies: I've mentioned this recipe before and I'll probably do it again because I love it so much! Saara at The Gluten Free Student Cookbook came up with a recipe for gluten free fortune cookies, perfect for when you have friends over for a Chinese feast.

Photo from jenncuisine.com

Spring Rolls: Jenn at Jenn Cuisine uses rice paper wrappers to make her spring rolls and the result is both stunning to look at and fantastic to eat. You'll find rice paper wrappers in some suoermarkets (I've bought them in Morrison's) and Chinese supermarkets.

Tempura Prawns: Technically this is Japanese, but the this batter recipe would be equally as good as banana or pineapple fritters. To make the caramel sauce just put 1 cup of caster sugar, 1/4 cup of water and 2 tbsp sesame seeds in a saucepan and bring to the boil without stirring. Leave to simmer until you have lightly golden syrup and dip your cooked fritters in just before serving.


Hot and Sour Soup: Super quick and easy to make, it's satisfying and delicious and a bit of a staple in my house.

If you don't have a Chinese supermarket near you (I don't, and there's only so much I can transport back from Glasgow when I visit my parents!) then Asian Cookshop is a fabulous resource and they'll deliver orders over £24.99 for free.

So, what are your favourite Chinese food recipes? I'd love to 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.

Friday, 13 July 2012

Rhubarb Upside-down Cake

It looks as though anaemia has lazily raised its head and decided, since it's too knackered to go anywhere else, to stay. I'm exhausted! While living on the border of two different health authorities has its benefits - two stoma nurses, for example - it causes problems with blood tests. I had my blood tests done through my GP surgery who send the samples to a hospital in one Trust for testing, but my consultant is based at a hospital in the other Trust!! Needless to say, I'm still waiting to find out if I'm anaemic enough to need more iron injections. In the meantime, I'm feeling rather sleepy!

I'm trying to keep up with everything that's been going on in my life, but (yet again) it is you, my patient readers, who are neglected. I'm sorry. To make up for it, I have baked you a cake, so good that I ate most of it before remembering that I needed to photograph it for you! (I've got to keep my energy levels up somehow...)


After cream tea at the Oad Street Craft Centre a couple of weeks ago, I bought some rhubarb from a local grower with the intention of making rhubarb and strawberry jam. Instead, I ate all the strawberries and made this upside-down cake.

Rhubarb and Almond Upside-down Cake
Almond is a great taste combination with rhubarb and it keeps the cake moist but if you can't eat them, replace them with the same weight of  gluten free flour, or polenta instead.

300g rhubarb, peeled and cut into 7.5cm pieces
4 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tbsp butter, for greasing the tin
100g margarine (I have also used that new Stork baking liquid, which works, too)
100g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
75g ground almonds
50g gluten free plain flour mix
1/2 rounded tsp baking powder

  • Put the rhubarb in a sauce pan with 3 tbsp light brown sugar and about 3 tbsp water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes until just tender. Allow to cool.
  • Grease a 20cm cake tin with the butter and sprinkle with the remaining light brown sugar. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  • Cream the margarine and caster sugar together until light and add the eggs, one at a time, whisking all the time.
  • Fold in the ground almonds, gluten free flour and baking powder until smooth.
  • Arrange the now cool pieces of rhubarb over the base of the cake tin and spoon cake batter over the top.
  • Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown and spring to the touch.
  • Allow to cool in the tin until the cake pulls away rom the edges of the tin, then turn out on to a cooling rack.
This is delicious served still warm with cream or custard.

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!

Saturday, 9 June 2012

Gluten Free Pasta Round-up

I've been asked about gluten free pasta quite a lot recently, so I thought I'd do a wee round-up of my favourite pastas.  There are a great range of pastas available now - certainly, when you compare the variety to what we used to have, even just five years ago, you'll agree that things are pretty good for the Coeliac pasta fan!  Where we used to glad for anything resembling pasta, now we can find many more shapes, beyond the standard fusilli, penne, lasagne sheets and spaghetti.

Doves Farm Organics have expanded their range over the last year to include ditalini (perfect for soups and salads) and macaroni. I'm a mac 'n' cheese fiend, so this has made me very happy indeed.  I haven't seen these pastas in any supermarkets yet, but you can buy them from the website.

Farabella pastas are available online from Drossa Ltd and have a fantastic range of some more unusal pasta shapes (and gnocchi!).  Their acini de pepe won this year's pasta category at the FreeFrom Food Awards; it is a brilliant cous cous subtitute and ideal for summer salads and winter stews.  Their orecchiette, chitarrine and cannelloni are also definitely worth a try.  Drossa stock some brilliant gluten free breads and baking ingredients, too, so the website is one to check out!

Le Veneziane corn pasta, from Molino di Ferro is available from health food shops and online here.  They have a good range with great pastini and spaghetti.  Ask at your local health food shop, it is a delicious pasta.

I never cook gluten free pasta for as long as it says on the packet, I have found that the recommended time is usually a couple of minutes too long for an al dente pasta.  Corn pasta in particular tends to make the cooking water very starchy and yellow, so if you're using the pasta in soups or stews, I would suggest cooking it separately and rinse well before you add it to the rest of the meal.  

If you need a bit of inspiration for what to eat with all that pasta, here are a few of my favourites.

Ino's Greek Octopus Stew is a delicious way to use a rather intimidating creature.  Tender and rich, this is a real celebration dish. 
photo taken from www.kitchen22.co.uk

This lemon spaghetti from Domestic Sluttery is seriously tasty but ridiculously simple to make.
photo taken from www.domesticsluttery.com

My new favourite pasta dish is this bacon pasta from Elizabeth at Rosalilium.  It's easily made gluten free by swapping the soya sauce for gf tamari.
photo taken from www.rosalilium.com

I love my fennel frond pesto stirred into pasta.  Top tip: keep a bit of the cooking water to loosen it a bit, if needed.
Fennel Frond Pasta, by Gluten Free[k]

You can't go wrong with good old spag bol and Kate over at A Girls Guide to Gluten Free Baking hass a great one to keep up your sleeve.  Head over there and be inspired!

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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, 2 May 2012

Bagels - Gluten Free!

Bagel related injuries account for around 2,000 visits to the emergency room in the USA, every year. Admittedly, the incidents are usually due to the act of slicing them, not making them - but that didn't stop me from approaching this month's Gluten Free Ration Rally with caution!




I'm not really a bagel person and even before going gluten free I only ate them occasionally.  Fortunately, Morri (our host for this Ratio Rally) sent us a link for a great article and recipe from Bruce Ezzel which demystified the process somewhat. I'm not experienced in what constitutes a great bagel - what with living about 3500 miles from my nearest New York deli -  but, I still had fun making them and I was pleasantly surprised by the results.  For bagel-purists, this is not quite a classic recipe, however, I love the combination of orange and caraway and I'm sure you will, too.


The bagel starts life as a sponge base, this is water, flour and yeast combined and left to prove.  The ratio for this worked out as 7:5 - 7 parts water to 5 parts flour.

Orange and Caraway Bagels (Adapted from a recipe by Bruce Ezzel)

For the sponge
1tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tbsp just boiled water
25g psyllium husk powder
225g gluten free bread flour mix (I use Doves Farm)
350g water 

  • Mix the flaxseed and boiled water together to make a slurry, set aside to cool.
  • Weigh the psyllium husk powder and bread flour mix into a large bowl and stir with a whisk to mix.  Pour in the water, stirring as you do so, and combine well.
  • Cover the bowl with a clean tea-towel and leave at room temperature for at least 4 hours

To make the bagels
1 tsp salt
18g honey
1 tsp orange extract
225g gluten free bread flour mix
1 tbsp caraway seeds
  • Add the salt, honey, orange extract and flour (flour last) to the sponge.  Mix with your hands until you have a smooth, slightly wet - but not sticky - dough.  
  • Oil your worktop and hands and turn the dough out on to the worktop.  
  • Divide the dough into 6-8 pieces and mould each piece into a ball.  Use your thumb to make a hole in the centre of each and flatten each slighltly to make your bagels
  • Preheat your oven to 230°C and 3/4 fill a large pan (a wok or deep frying pan would be best) water.  Bring the water to boil (some recipes call for baking soda to be added to the water, but Kent water is pretty hard so I didn't feel the need to make it more alkaline!).
  • Drop the bagels into the water 3-4 at a time and simmer for about a minute on each side.
  • Remove the bagels from the water and place on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle caraway seeds over the bagels and bake for 15-20 minutes.





For more bagel ideas, check out the rest of the Rally-ers:

Morri at Meals with Morri made Blueberry Oat Bagels
Jenn at Jenn Cuisine  made Sundried Tomato Parmesan Bagels
Mary Fran at FrannyCakes made Cinnamon Raisin Bagels
Adina at Gluten Free Travelette made Garlic Egg Bagels
Heather at Discovering the Extraordinary made Gluten-Free Bagels, with variations
gretchen at kumquat made Cinnamon Raisin Teff Bagels
Jean Layton at GFDoctorRecipes made Gluten-Free Sourdough Bagels
Meaghan at The Wicked Good Vegan made Vegan Gluten-Free Bagels
Meg at Gluten-Free Boulangerie made Classic Poppyseed Bagels (Vegan/Food Allergy-Safe)
TR at No One Likes Crumbley Cookies made Classic Gluten-Free Bagels
Angela at Angela's Kitchen made Gluten Free Bagels with variations
Caneel at Mama Me Gluten Free made Just Plain Bagels
Pete and Kelli at No Gluten, No Problem made Faux Pumpernickel Bagels