Tag Archives: a cake recipe

Peppermint Triple Chocolate Candy Cane Brownies – gluten and dairy-free

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I’m a bit late posting this but hey, what can I say – it’s been christmas and all that 😉

I actually re-made this over this weekend so thought it was about time I posted the recipe.

This was a birthday creation for myself, to be shared with my favourite cake-eating friend 🙂 We are both fans of chocolate and peppermint so what better than this delicious minty chocolatey combo! The crunch of the peppermint candy canes on top really make this something special (you can use any hard mint candy for this).

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You will need:

1/4 cup Rice flour

1/2 cup Ground almonds

1 cup unrefined Raw sugar (golden caster sugar, coconut sugar etc)

1/2 cup almond oil (or coconut oil)

1/4 cup raw Cacoa powder

2 eggs (or 2 tbsp chia seeds soaked in 6 tbsp water)

1/2 tsp Himalayan rock salt

1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1/8 Tsp Pure peppermint extract

Milk, white and dark chocolate chunks (optional)

For Icing

100g Dairy free chocolate

200 – 300g Unrefined icing sugar (adjust quantity to depending how runny you want your icing)

drop of Pure peppermint extract

a dash of warm water

Hard mints or candy canes, silver balls, any other decorations

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Preheat the oven to 170C and grease a 20 x 20cm square baking pan with parchment paper.

Mix the ground almonds, flour, cacao powder, sugar, salt and bicarbonate of soda together in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl beat the eggs (or if using chia seeds instead then soak them in the water). Make a well in the center and add the beaten egg (or soaked chia seeds), vanilla extract, peppermint extract and oil. Whisk together using a hand mixer until well mixed. It should be thick and glossy when mixed.

If you are the chocolate chunks stir them in now. Pour in to the baking tin and place in the oven for 20 – 25 mins until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack

Take the hard mints (or candy cane) and bash with a rolling pin in to small pieces.

Then prepare the icing. Melt the chocolate and then stir in the icing sugar and peppermint extract.

Use enough icing sugar to get the consistency of icing you want (if it’s too thick add a little water). Spread quickly on to the brownies and sprinkle the crushed mint and any other decorations you want to use on to the top! Then enjoy (with a big old candle if it’s your birthday 😉 )

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and in case you’re wondering if they taste good… well this is all that’s left of this weekend’s creation!
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Plum cake – gluten, dairy and egg free!

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When I posted my recipe for my plum and almond cake I promised I would post a recipe for plum cake that was also egg free, so here it is! 🙂

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This cake uses fine cornmeal or polenta and so does have a little bit of a nutty texture to it around the edges but it is moist and soft in the middle.
It also uses coconut milk but not the kind you get in a carton – the canned kind, often called coconut cream. For this to work you need one with a high coconut fat content so you’re looking for one with 65 – 70% coconut extract. You will need to prep the coconut cream the day before.

This one works well:

coconut creamPop the can in the fridge overnight and try not to move it. The coconut fat solidifies and separates at the top, leaving clear liquid at the bottom. When you are ready to make the cake remove the can carefully from the fridge and turn the can upside down in one move (i.e. no shaking!). Then open the can at the bottom – yes – trust me, open the bottom! You should find that the fat has solidified and you will see a few cm’s of clear liquid. Pour this off (don’t throw it away – you can pop it in a smoothie!) and then you are left with the coconut cream to use! 🙂

So for the cake you will need:

1/2 cup fine Polenta

1/2 cup Rice flour

1/2 cup Raw coconut sugar

1 tsp Baking powder

1 cup minus 1 tbsp of the coconut milk/cream

1/2 cup of apple puree (recipe here)

6 – 8 English plums (less if you’re using the bigger imported plums!)

Preheat the oven to 180 C and line and grease a 20 x 20 cm baking pan.

Put all the dry ingredients in to a bowl and mix well. Add the coconut cream and apple puree and mix together well. Allow this to rest for 15 minutes so the polenta can start to absorb the moisture.

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Cut the plums in to halves (or quarters if large). Pour the batter in to the baking pan and use a spatula or the back of a spoon to smooth it out evenly. Then place the plum halves into the top of the batter, spacing them evenly across (I managed to get 3 rows of 4 in mine!). Press in lightly.

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Then place in the oven and bake for 25 – 30 mins. Start checking it at 25 mins and remove when the top is golden and a skewer comes out clean.

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Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for at least an hour. Then cut in to squares and serve!

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Plum and Almond Cake – Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free

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English plums are in season right now so it’s an ideal time to use them for something yummy! This cake definitely qualifies! I was really unsure how this would turn out but it’s actually amazing! If you are a fan of almond macaroons or frangipanes you will absolutely love this. I had the pleasure of getting some English plums from Riverford Organic so I thought I’d better put them to good use!

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This went down really well with my husband and even George the cat was curious about it 😉 so it must be a winner!

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This is gluten and dairy free but does contain eggs. I’ve got an egg-free plum cake coming up soon so never fear!

If you are using the small English plums you will probably only need 6 – 8, if using larger ones you will need no more than 4 at the most.

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You will need:

125g unrefined Raw sugar or Coconut palm sugar

200g Ground almonds

2 Eggs

100 ml Almond oil (you can use mild Olive oil if you prefer

1/4 tsp Vanilla extract

1/8 tsp Almond extract (if you have it)

Plums 4 -8 depending on size

Ground cinnamon (for dusting)

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C and line and grease a 20cm cake tin – if you have a springform tin then use that as it makes it easier to get it out without it breaking. If not a loose bottom tin is the best option.

Add the oil and sugar to a bowl and use a hand mixer to beat together (you can do it by hand with a fork if not). Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then add in the extracts and mix well. Fold in the ground almonds with a metal spoon. Once mixed pour in to the tin.

Half (or quarter if they’re big) the plums, remove the stone, and place in to the batter. Push them down a little bit so they’re well bedded in there. Sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon.

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Pop in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes. It is worth starting to check it at about 20 minutes. Once a skewer comes out clean then it’s done.

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Let it cool for 10 minutes in the tin and then carefully remove it and allow it to cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy! 🙂

Blackberry and Apple Tray Bake!

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Now obviously with all those yummy blackberries I had to make something cake-based too… so I had a go at a blackberry and apple tray bake. It’s topped with meringue so isn’t egg-free, though it is dairy-free. For the cake itself you can either use eggs or an egg replacement (see below). This is super sweet and super moist and siuper yummy! It’s a perfect Autumn afternoon snack.

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You will need:

140g dairy-free Margarine

140g Coconut sugar

1 egg and 2 egg yolks beaten together (or 3 tbsp Chia seeds soakes in 9 Tbsps water)

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

100g white Spelt flour and 1 tsp Baking powder (OR 100g self-raising gluten-free flour mix)

100g ground Almonds

1 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon

pinch of Himalayan rock salt

1 large Bramley Apple, sliced (approx 140g once peeled and cored)

125g Blackberries

For the Meringue topping:

25g Blackberries

100g unrefined Golden caster sugar

2 Egg whites

1 tsp Lemon juice

pinch of Himalayan rock salt

2 tbsp toasted Almond flakes

Pre-heat oven to 160 C or 140 C (fan oven) and grease and line a square tin (approx 23cm).

Beat the margarine and coconut sugar together until pale and creamy. Then beat in the egg and yolks (or chia seeds), and the vanilla. If you are using a self-raising gluten-free flour mix then sieve that in together with the baking powder and spices and salt. If you are using spelt flour sieve the baking powder (both measures of baking powder) and spices in to the spelt flour and then sieve it in to the butter mix. Next add in the ground almonds and fold it all together to form a thick batter.

IMG_0081Chop the apple up in to small chunks or slices (whatever you prefer) and fold in to the mix. Pour the batter in to the tin and then scatter with the blackberries. Poke the blackberries down a bit so they are well bedded in to the batter.

IMG_0084Pop in the oven and bake for 40 – 45 mins until a skewer comes out clean. Once you remove the cake leave the oven on.

IMG_0085While it is baking you can prepare the blackberry sauce for the meringue. If you are not using meringue this sauce can be drizzled over the cake 🙂

Put the remaining blackberries and 1 tsp sugar in a bowl and cover with cling film. Pop in the microwave for 30 secs and then mash until saucy! 🙂 You can also do this in a saucepan over a low heat. Set aside to cool.

Take the 2 egg whites and whisk with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks – and if you’re brave do the whole “holding the bowl upside down above your head” test to see if they’re stiff enough! Add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time and whisk in well. Add the blackberry sauce and ripple through with spoon. Then spoon the mixture in to a piping bag or in to a plastic freezer bag and snip off the corner.

Pipe the meringue on to the cake – I aimed for one meringue per piece so it was about 16 little meringues but you can do whatever pattern you like! Scatter the almonds over the top and place the cake back in the oven for 10 – 12 minutes until the meringues are set.

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Then remove and allow to cool in the tin for 30 mins. Cut in to little squares and enjoy!

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Bananarama! Banana bread recipes :)

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A glut of over-ripe bananas led to a bit of banana bread making so I thought I would re-post these two recipes. I’ve had a bit of fun with banana bread recently and a very good friend and I have done a blind banana bread tasting – 4 banana breads (hers and mine) so I’ll be posting the results of that soon! In the meantime though here are my two recipes 🙂

The first recipe is a dairy free, low gluten (spelt) banana bread and the second one is a modification of my  friend Colette’s mum’s recipe (modified to replace butter with oil and a few other little additions of my own) which does contain eggs (but these could be substituted out for apple puree).  Either of these recipes could have nuts added to them – walnuts would work particularly well, and if you’re feeling naughty you could throw in some dark chocolate chunks too!

Dairy free Banana Bread:

2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1 cup coconut palm (or any unrefined) sugar
1/4 cup and 2 tbsps almond oil or olive oil
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup soya milk mixed with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp himalayan rock salt

Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Line and grease a small loaf tin (approximately 8 inches x 4 inches).

Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix the oil and sugar together until well combined. Add the mashed bananas and the soya milk (to which vinegar has been added) and the vanilla extract. Add this mix to the flour mixture and stir well. Pour into the loaf tin and place in the oven for an hour, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once cooked remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Colette’s mum’s modified banana bread:

2 cups white spelt flour
1 cup coconut palm (or any unrefined) sugar
1/4 cup and 2 tbsps almond oil or olive oil
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking soda                                                                                                                      1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp himalayan rock salt

Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Line and grease a small loaf tin (approximately 8 inches x 4 inches).

In a large bowl mix the oil and sugar together until well combined, then add the mashed bananas and vanila extract. In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt together.  Add half of this mix to the wet ingredients and mix well. Then add one egg and mix until combined. Add the rest of the flour mixture, stir well and add the final egg. Mix until well combined. Mix the bicarbonate of soda in 1/4 cup of hot water and stir in to the mixture. Pour into the loaf tin, sprinkle some unrefined coconut sugar over the top and place in the oven for an hour, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once cooked remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

 

Brownie Love Bites

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I was asked recently if I had a recipe for vegan brownies… well I do… and so I thought I’d re-post it to make it a little easier to find! 🙂 These were originally made for Valentine’s day, hence the heart shapes, but I kinda like them like this anyway! 🙂

Enjoy!

Brownie love bites

 

165g Silken tofu

100g white spelt flour

65g Whole-wheat spelt flour

70g Cocoa powder

6 tbsp Water

8 tbsp Agave syrup  AND 2 tbsp Date syrup

200g unrefined raw sugar/ coconut palm sugar

A handful of chopped pecans and dried cherries

2 tsp Vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp Ground brown linseed

1.5 tbsp Hot water

1/4 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp Salt

Mix the ground linseeds with the 1 1/2 tablespoons of hot water and set aside to thicken.  Preheat the oven to 180 C  and then line an 8-inch x 8-inch x 2-inch baking tin with greaseproof paper and lightly oil.

Blend the tofu, water, agave syrup, date syrup, cocoa powder, linseed mixture, and vanilla extract until completely smooth. Place the remaining ingredients, except the pecans and cherries, in a mixing bowl and stir until they are well combined. Then pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir well. Finally, gently fold in the pecans and cherries.  Pour the mix into the tin and place in the oven for 30 mins, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then cool on a wire rack. Whilst still warm use a small heart cutter (2 – 3 cm) to cut out heart shaped brownie bites. You should get 12 – 15 out of one tray of brownie (and you get to eat all the little off cuts!) :)

IT’s CHRISTTTTTMAAAAASSSS! :) A rich tasting christmas cake that’s gluten and fat free!

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Well I had a special request to see if I could come up with a gluten free christmas cake. The big challenge was not only making it gluten free but also dairy free without turning to processed soya margarine… so I had little play around this week and I think I’ve got a winner here.  At first I wasn’t too sure about it, I was worried it was more of a bread pudding or tea loaf than a christmas cake. It’s now been tested by a good friend and christmas cake connoisseur and she gave it the thumbs up so I think it’s ready to be posted here!

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Gluten free flour blend:
65g Gram flour and 105g Rice flour
3/4 tsp Xantham gum
1 tsp Baking powder

or 170g White spelt flour for a low gluten option

For the rest of the cake:

85g Raw coconut sugar (or dark muscovado)
85g Currants
85g Sultanas
70g Raisins
25g Dried cherries– chopped
25g Dried cranberries
140ml Soya milk (or oat milk, rice milk, or coconut milk)
85g Ground linseed (just pop whole linseeds in a coffee grinder and whizz until powdery)
enough water to cover well.
Grated rind of 1/2 – 1 lemon
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate soda
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Ground cloves
1/2 tsp Mixed spice
pinch Himalayan rock salt
45ml Brandy (optional)

Sieve the gluten free flour blend (gram and rice flour, xantham gum and baking powder) (or spelt flour) together with the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and mixed spice in to a large mixing bowl. Put the ground linseed into a small bowl and cover with water. Allow the linseed to soak up the water, then add a bit more, you want a gelatinous consistency. Stir it in to the flour mix. It will be quite hard to mix, add a little water if necessary, but not too much.

Stir in the sugar and dried fruit. Add the lemon rind and give it a good but gentle stir. Then add all but 2 tbsp of the soya milk and mix gently again. Gently warm the 2 tbsp of soya milk in a microwave or on the hob – don’t let it boil, just warm it (you should be able to put your finger in it without it burning!). Add the bicarbonate of soda to the warm milk and then add to the cake mixture amd stir gently until combined.

Pour the mixture into a lined 7 inch cake tin.  Smooth the top and make a small hollow in the centre. Bake at 180 C for one hour, then turn the oven down to 160 C and bake for a further 30 – 45 mins (or until a skewer insered in the middle comes out clean). Keep an eye on it while it’s baking.

Before you bake it you can add blanched almonds to the top. If you do this then make sure you check the cake regularly and when they start to brown cover the cake with foil for the rest of the baking time.

Once the cake is cooked remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the cake tin. Allow to cool.

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If you are going to use the brandy then once the cake is cool prick it with a cocktail stick or a small skewer  and feed with a third of the brandy. Then wrap the cake in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight container. You can pour the rest of the brandy over the cake at weekly intervals. With the Brandy in it it will keep for up to a year (apparently!), without it will last 4 weeks if stored properly.

Obviously you can then add marzipan and royal icing to this. I am going to have a go at creating some dairy and gluten free marzipan and royal icing so watch this space!

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Chocolate banana bread! Omg!

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So I have had some very ripe bananas hanging about in my kitchen for the past few days and decided I just had to do something with them… and it just had to be banana bread! But… I was in need of a chocolate fix….. and boy, is this a good chocolate fix!

I used my original non-dairy banana bread recipe with just a couple of additions:

2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
couple of handfuls of chopped non-dairy dark chocolate of your choice
1 cup coconut palm (or any unrefined) sugar
1/4 cup and 2 tbsps almond oil or olive oil
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup soya milk mixed with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp himalayan rock salt

Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Line and grease a small loaf tin (approximately 8 inches x 4 inches) or 6 mini loaf tins.

Mix the flour, baking soda, raw cacao, cinnamon, allspice and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix the oil and sugar together until well combined. Add the mashed bananas and the soya milk (to which vinegar has been added) and the vanilla extract. Add this mix to the flour mixture and stir well. Finally stir in the chopped chocolate. Pour into the loaf tin and place in the oven for an hour, or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once cooked remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 mins then transfer to a wire rack to cool. And then eat…. quickly.. while it’s still warm and the chocolate is still melted! yum!!

 

 

Kiwi loaf – dairy and gluten free and helps you sleep!

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It’s been a busy couple of months since I got back from my trip to Indonesia and in that time as well as having loads on at work, we’ve had our kitchen re-done and a load of building work at home. As a result, not only have I not been able to do any baking, but I’ve found living in a building site has been impacting on my sleep! So I did some research and discovered that there’s pretty good evidence that kiwi’s (the fruit!) can help improve the quality and quantity of sleep you get (you can read my article about it here). That got me thinking about creative things to do with kiwi’s other than fruit salads! Lots of the research also suggests that a carb-based snack will also aid restful sleep so I thought I’d try combining the two. I stumbled across a recipe for kiwi bread some time ago so now that the kitchen is finally finished I decided to adapt it and give it a go. I wasn’t sure exactly how it would turn out but it’s actually really good and rather like banana bread. It’s not too sweet but you get lovely flavours from the spices which really complement the slightly tangy kiwi flavour – delish, especially warm!

1/4 cup Agave nectar or sweet freedom (or you could use honey or any liquid sweetner)

1/3 cup Almond oil (or other neutral oil)

1 tbsp Ground flaxseed (linseed) in 3 tbsp warm water (or you could use 1 egg)

1 and 1/2 cups gluten-free flour

1 cup kiwi pulp (approx 4 kiwi’s)

1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts and almonds as it’s what I had in the cupboard!)

1 cup Raisins

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tbsp Ground cloves

1/4 tsp Himlayan Rock Salt

1 tsp Baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees CPut the ground flaxseed in the warm water and allow to thicken, then beat with the agave and oil until well mixed. Sieve in the flour, baking powder, salt and spices and combine. Then add the kiwi, raisins and nuts stirring gently. Transfer to a greased loaf tin and place in the oven for 40 – 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit before slicing (or it will crumble – as I discovered as I just couldn’t wait! 🙂 ). Enjoy slightly warm in the evening (or at any time of day to be honest!). Sweet dreams! 🙂

Honeybuns – delicious gluten free cakes

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Although I’m definitely a fan of making my own cakes sometimes it’s just not possible, so if you’re out and about and need a cake then I think I’ve found the perfect solution.

Honeybuns are a Dorset-based company that specialise in gluten-free (and some dairy-free) cakes, cookies, brownies and a whole range of other baked goods. I love this company – it’s what I aspire to become! The founder,  Emma Goss-Custard, started off cycling around town delivering her home-made cakes to local deli’s and cafés. Now it’s a thriving small-scale business, but still makes its cakes by hand using locally sourced ingredients where possible.

They very kindly sent me some samples to try so I thought I’d let you know what I thought of them.

I got to try:

Almond moon

Milk chocolate brownie

Snowy hills

Amondi

Sconeybun

Gosh, where to start! Think I’ll just make a cuppa…… 😉

Almond Moon

This is a polenta, cranberry and almond slice and oh my it’s good! As I’ve said before on here I am a massive fan of almond-based cakes so this was always going to be a winner with me! It’s lovely and moist with just the right amount of crunch in the base. The fruit is perfect and offsets the sweetness of the cake brilliantly. The texture is lovely too!

Milk Chocolate Brownie

This is possibly the best gluten-free, bought, brownie I’ve ever had. Too often they are overly sweet and too moist but this is just perfect. It’s dense but not too dense, moist but not too gooey and it tastes divine. It contains real coffee so there is a delicious hint of coffee flavour throughout which I love and naturally it goes brilliantly with a cup of the black stuff!

Snowy Hills

Wow, they just get better and better! This is a ginger and polenta shortbread with a lemon sponge topping and it is seriously good. The shortbread is lovely and crispy with  hint of ginger but it’s not overpowering. The sponge is fantastic – sweet, moist and just lemony enough! This is really really good!

Amondi

Another almond treat! This is like a macaroon but denser and moister and really very very nice indeed! It’s not light like an almond macaroon but I like that – you really feel like you’re getting plenty of cake for your money! It’s crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside just like it should be and it tastes fab! It’s also dairy free as well as gluten free.

Sconeybun

This is probably my least favourite of the 5 to be honest, but then it would be hard to follow all those wonderful flavours! The sconeybun is basically a cross between a bun and a scone and this one is dairy free as well as gluten free. It does what it says on the tin! It’s basically a dense, cakey bun. It’s nice but after the other 4 cakes I felt it was lacking flavour a bit, but then again I think toasted with some jam it would be just perfect! Plus if you’re looking for something  a little less sweet then this is definitely for you!

The best thing about all of these cakes is that you wouldn’t know they were gluten free (or dairy free) at all – they taste simply amazing and just like “normal” cakes.

So which is my favourite? hmmmm I’m not sure…it’s so hard to decide! I think if I had to choose it would probably be the Snowy Hills lemon cake or maybe the Almond Moon… or maybe the brownie …. oh I can’t decide – they’re all just too good!

Do check them out – they’re available at various cafe’s and shops but they also do an online mail order service too  – just take a look at their website 🙂