Guilt-free Chocolate cake (with beetroot!)

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

You can’t beat a good chocolate cake and this is definitely a good chocolate cake! It’s totally vegan and totally yummy! This was inspired by a delicious cake my friend Vicky made so I thought I’d have a go at veganising and gluten-freeing it! 🙂

You will need:

250g cooked Beetroot

250g unrefined Raw sugar (coconut palm sugar etc)

190g self-raising gluten free Flour

60g raw Cacao powder

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

3 tbsp Chia seeds soaked in 9 tbsp water

180 ml Almond oil (or other non flavoured oil)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1 tsp Chocolate extract (or extra Vanilla if you don’t have this)

Preheat the oven to 170 C. Lightly grease a 23 cm diameter cake tine.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cacoa and bicarbonate of soda. Then stir in the sugar. Pop the cooked beetroot in to a food processor and blend until smooth. Place this in to a sieve over another bowl and push out any juices with the back of a spoon. You don’t need the juice for this recipe but don’t bin it – you can throw it in to a smoothie 🙂

Put the beetroot pulp back in to the processor and then turn on the motor and add the soaked chia seeds, vanilla and chocolate extract (if using) and then slowly pour in the oil.

Mix until well blended. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and add the beetroot mixture. Gently fold together with a large spoon. Pour the mixture in to the cake tin and place in the oven for 35 -40 mins (or until a skewer comes out clean). Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 – 10 mins in the tin, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool.

Then enjoy with a cup of tea (and maybe a cat)! 🙂

Chocolate hazelnut cherry loaves

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

Fresh out the oven!

Chocolate hazelnut cherry loaves – vegan and low in gluten (or gluten free if you want 🙂 ). I used the same recipe as my usual choc cherry loaves but used chunky hazelnut butter instead of almond butter and it’s divine!

Yum!

Blueberry and Lemon Curd with a surprise ingredient – dairy and egg free!

Posted on May 5, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

My lemon curd recipe (here) has gone down a storm so I thought I’d have a little go at some more curd! I’ve had some blueberries in my freezer for the last few months waiting to be used for something so I decided a blueberry and lemon curd was the one to try!

This curd is lovely! It’s especially yummy smothered on sourdough fruit toast 🙂

What’s this surprise ingredient then? Well it’s certainly not something you’d expect to find in a fruit curd! The problem with blueberries in baking is that they do tend to lose their flavour and I didn’t want to overpower them with the lemon. After a bit of research I discovered a nifty little trick to enhance the blueberry flavour; the addition of coriander seeds! Trust me you will not taste the coriander at all but it does bring out the blueberry flavour. This is because they both contain a similar compound so adding the coriander gives the blueberry flavour a real boost!

So you will need:

approx 400g Blueberries (don’t worry if you have a few more or less – it’s not critical)

1/2 cup Water

12 Coriander seeds ground (or a 1/4 tsp ready ground coriander)

Up to 1 cup of Lemon juice (see below) – I used 4 very large lemons

3/4 cup of unrefined raw Sugar (but adjust to taste)

10 tbsp Cornflour

zest of 2 – 3 Lemons

4 tbsp Dairy-free margarine

12 tbsp Coconut milk (or other non dairy milk – almond milk or soya milk will also work)

Pop the blueberries in to a saucepan with the water and heat gently until the blueberries are softened.

While the blueberries are softening you can juice and zest your lemons. You only need the zest from 2 – 3 lemons but it’s worth zesting all of them and keeping the remaining zest in the freezer to use in other recipes later.

Once the blueberries have softened add the ground coriander seed, stir well and heat for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and pass the blueberries through a sieve. Use a wooden spoon to push as much through the sieve as you can. You will be left with a small amount of skin and pulp. Save this and use it in a smoothie! 🙂

Measure your blueberry juice out – you need a total amount of liquid of 3 cups. The blueberry juice will be about 2 cups or so, so make it up to 3 cups with the lemon juice. Place it all in to a cold saucepan. Add the cornstarch and whisk to dissolve. Add half the sugar and turn on the heat. Continue to whisk as you bring the mixture to a boil slowly. Taste as you go and add more sugar until you get to a sweetness that suits you. Once boiling allow it to boil gently for one minute without stirring.

Add the rest of the ingredients, whisking the whole time, and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl or jars and allow to cool. Place in the fridge once cooled. Then enjoy! 🙂

Lemon curd thumb biscuits!

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

Having made a big batch of lemon curd (recipe is here). I thought I’d better find some yummy ways to use it!

Now I could just eat it straight from the jar (and actually I do!), or with yoghurt and fruit for brekkie….

… but… it’s also pretty delicious combined with almonds in these divine little biscuits.

They are super easy to make and take less than 30 mins.

To make about 12 biscuits you will need:

130g Ground almonds

1/4 tsp Baking powder

1/4 tsp Himalayan rock salt

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Zest from 1 – 2 lemons (you can use any left over zest that you froze after making the lemon curd)

2 1/2 tbsp Coconut oil

2 tbsp Maple syrup

1 tbsp Lemon juice (or 1/4 tsp Lemon extract)

1 – 2 tbsp Lemon curd (recipe here)

a handful of Dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 180 C

Place the ground almonds, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in a bowl and mix well. Add the vanilla extract, maple syrup and coconut oil and use your hands to mix into a dough.

Take tablespoon-sized portions of the dough and place on a greased baking sheet. Pat down and then use your thumb to make an indent in the center.

Place the tray in the oven and bake for 10 – 12 minutes. After 5 minutes check them and if the indents are starting to close just gently use your thumb to re-shape them. Bake until they are brown. If you like your biscuits a bit crunchier then bake a little longer.

Remove from the oven but leave the oven on. Fill the indents with lemon curd and place a dried cherry in the middle. Pop them back in the oven for 2 – 3 minutes.

Allow to cool.

They will be lovely and crunchy if eaten straight away. If left for the next day they become soft and macaroon-like – which is simply yummy! You can always pop them back in the oven to re-crisp if you fancy it 🙂

Oh My – Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie! Easy and dairy and gluten free! (vegan)

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

Yes, you read that right – this is a completely dairy and gluten free lemon meringue pie! Can you believe it? I’m not sure I can but I am ridiculously excited about it!

I’ve been obsessing about lemon meringue pie lately but really wanted to avoid the traditional gluten and dairy-filled pie recipes. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull this off but… oh my word – I definitely have! This is so yummy and really pretty easy too.

I gave a piece to my top taster and this was the result after only a few minutes… so I’m pretty sure she liked it too 😉

This recipe is in 3 parts – the pastry shell, the curd filling and the meringue. The curd is super easy and the recipe has been posted separately (here) but I’ll re-post it here for ease. The curd recipe will give you more than you need but that’s ok – you can save it for later (or make some extra mini pies too!). If you want a thicker meringue then simply double the meringue ingredients.

For the pastry:

100g Ground almonds
100g Flaked almonds
75g Rice flour(or other gluten free flour)
25g Golden raw Caster sugar (or other unrefined sugar)
50ml Almond oil
3 -4 tbsp cold almond or other non dairy milk
Pinch of Himalayan rock salt

For the filling:

1 1/4 cups of Lemon juice (I used 6 very large lemons)
Zest of half of the lemons used (freeze the rest of the zest for use later)
1/2 cup of Cold water
1 3/4 cups unrefined raw Sugar (adjust to taste)
5 tbsp Cornflour (corn starch)
2 tbsp non-dairy margarine
6 tbsp Almond milk (you could also use soya or coconut milk)

For the meringue:

6 tbsp Egg replacer (I used Orgran No-egg)
1/2 cup and 2 tbsp ice cold Water
1/2 cup unrefined raw Sugar (smaller granules work better)

Make your curd filling to start with (you can make the curd well in advance – it will keep for a few weeks in the fridge).

Juice and zest your lemons. You only need the zest from half of the lemons but it’s worth zesting them all and keeping the remaining zest in the freezer to use in other recipes later.

Place the lemon juice and water in a cold saucepan. Add the cornstarch and whisk to dissolve. Add the sugar and turn on the heat. Continue to whisk as you bring the mixture to a boil slowly. Once boiling allow it to boil gently for one minute without stirring.

Add the rest of the ingredients, whisking the whole time, and cook for 3 minutes. Have a little taste – if it’s not sweet enough for you then stir in some more sugar. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and allow to cool in the fridge. Place clingfilm over the bowl to avoid a skin forming.

While the curd cools you can make your pastry.

Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease a 20 cm flan or pie dish lightly with almond oil.

Put the ground and flaked almonds into a bowl with the flour and salt and stir to combine. Keep stirring and add in the olive oil gradually. Add 2 tablespoons of almond milk and keep stirring. The mixture should hold together when pressed, if it doesn’t then add some more almond milk, stirring all the time, until it does. At this point have a taste. If you want a sweeter pastry then add some more sugar until you get the desired flavour. Press in to the flan dish. You may well have some pastry left over – if so you can either make some mini-pies or you can create little flat biscuits with the leftovers (just bake until cooked!) .

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until set and barely golden. Remove from the oven and brush the pastry with a little almond oil and return to the oven for a few minutes to set then set aside to cool.

Once the pastry has cooled fill it with as much curd as you fancy and place in the fridge while you prepare the meringue.

Preheat the oven to 100 C.

Put the egg-replacer in to a large, clean, dry mixing bowl. Add a small amount of water and begin to whisk – ideally with an electric hand blender if you have one. It will form a sticky paste. Continue to mix and add a little water at a time, together with a little sugar. Whisk the whole time and add the water and sugar very gradually. You will see that the paste begins to rise. Whisk until you have stiff peaks and it is a marshmallowy consistency.

Remove the filled pie from the fridge and spread the meringue over the top. Allow to sit for 10 – 15 minutes so it begins to set. Then place in the oven for 30 minutes. If you want a browned finish to the meringue you can use a cooks blow torch to add that effect.

Allow to cool (if you can wait – I confess, I couldn’t!) and then enjoy!

Easy Lemon Curd – dairy and egg free (vegan)

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

I’ve been on a bit of a lemon obsession lately so decided I would have a go at making some homemade lemon curd. The curd you buy in the shops is full of refined sugars, dairy and eggs so this is a much healthier option. It was super easy to make too!

This is divine mixed with some natural soya yoghurt, or of course it will make the perfect filling for a lemon meringue pie (recipe here)!

You will need:

1 1/4 cups of Lemon juice (I used 6 very large lemons)

Zest of half of the lemons used (freeze the rest of the zest for use later)

1/2 cup of Cold water

1 3/4 cups unrefined raw Sugar (adjust to taste)

5 tbsp Cornflour (corn starch)

2 tbsp non-dairy margarine

6 tbsp Almond milk (you could also use soya or coconut milk)

Juice and zest your lemons. You only need the zest from half of the lemons but it’s worth zesting them all and keeping the remaining zest in the freezer to use in other recipes later.

Add the rest of the ingredients, whisking the whole time, and cook for 3 minutes. Have a little taste – if it’s not sweet enough for you then stir in some more sugar. Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl or jars and allow to cool. Place in the fridge once cooled. Then enjoy – right off the spoon! 🙂

Cherry and apple flapjack slice and a whole lot of love!

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

This oaty, fruity, flapjacky treat is simply lovely! You can make it with any fruit compote you choose and in any shape you choose! I was feeling the love so I whipped up one rectangular one and one in a little heart shape! 🙂

This is SO much better for you than traditional flapjack slices – it’s full of wholefoods and the addition of the chia seeds gives an added Omega boost too! You could use store bought compote but they tend to be full of sugar so have a go at making your own if you can – it’s so easy!

You will need:

1 cup Rice flour
1 cup Oats (or quinoa porridge flakes)
1/2 cup Desiccated coconut
1/4 cup Raw coconut sugar
1/4 cup Chia seeds
1 tsp ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Himalayan rock salt
110g Coconut oil (not melted)
3 Tbsp Maple syrup or Agave (or other liquid sweetener)
1 1/2 cup Cherry and apple compote

To make a quick cherry and apple compote take one punnet of cherries (pitted and roughly chopped in quarters) and approximately 3 – 4 Bramley apples (peeled, cored and chopped) and place in a bowl. Pop in the microwave and cook in short bursts until the apple has softened and the cherries are cooked through (can also be done in a saucepan on the hob). If required add a little unrefined sugar to sweeten (though I prefer it without sugar). Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 175 C.

Add the flour, oats, coconut, sugar, chia seeds, ginger and salt to a large bowl and mix well. Add the coconut oil and rub it in to the dry mixture using your hands to create a breadcrumb consistency. Add the liquid sweetener and mix in to form a crumble-type mixture.

Line a rectangular or square (or heart shaped!) baking dish with baking paper (ensure the baking paper comes up the sides so you can easily remove the flapjack from the tin later). Take just over half of the mixture and place in to a lined baking tin and flatten well. Bake in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes until it starts to brown.

Remove from the oven and spread the compote over the base. Put the remaining crumble mix over the top and lightly press down. Bake in the oven again for 20 – 25 mins or until it browns.

Take it out the oven and let it cool in the tin (or if you can’t wait for it to cool completely wait at least 15 mins!). Then remove, cut up and enjoy 🙂

Lemon and Chia Seed Cookies – Dairy and Gluten free!

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

I’ve seen quite a few recipes around using tapioca flour and finally my supermarket has started stocking it so I thought I’d have a go at making up some cookies with it!

These are simply divine – they’re light and crumbly and really melt in the mouth.

You will need:

1 cup Tapioca flour

1.5 cups raw Cashews

1/2 cup Coconut oil (melted)

1 Egg

1/4 cup Maple syrup

3 tbsp Chia seeds

Zest of 1 and 1/2 lemons

a pinch of Himalayan rock salt

For the icing:

100g unrefined Icing sugar

Zest of half a lemon

Juice of up to half a lemon

First pop the cashews in to a blender or food processor and blend until they form a fine flour. Combine the cashew flour and tapioca flour together in a large bowl. Grate the lemon zest in to the bowl and add the chia seeds and salt and mix well.

Create a well in the centre of the dry mixture and add the egg, maple syrup and coconut oil and mix really well to form a dough. You may find the mixture is a little too wet (depending on the size of your egg!) – if so add more tapioca flour until it forms a firmish dough (whilst the coconut oil is melted though it will still be quite a loose dough).

Wrap it in clingfilm and pop the dough in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 160 C.

Place the dough between two sheets of baking parchment and roll thin (few mm thick). Use whatever shaped cutters you like and then transfer the cookies to a lined baking tray. Bake in the oven for 20 – 25 mins or until golden (check after 15 mins).

Allow to cool and then mix the icing ingredients together. Add the lemon juice a little at a time until you have a consistency that you want. Then drizzle over the biscuits. Allow to set and then enjoy with a nice cup of tea! 🙂

Malt loaf muffins! Dairy and Gluten free!

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Dr Nancy P

After seeing a post of some delicious looking malt loaf muffins my friend Vicky made I decided I simply had to have a go at gluten and dairy-freeing them! I love the spicy richness of malt loaf so was sure these would be divine. These also super easy to make and make a great grab and go brekkie if you’re on the run. Thank you for the inspiration Vicky! 🙂

You will need:

1 2/3 cups gluten-free Oat bran (if you don’t need to go gluten free then go with wheat bran)

1 cup and 4 tsp Coconut sugar (or other raw, unrefined sugar)

2 tsp Rice malt syrup (or Agave)

2 cups Raisins and currants

2 tsp ground Cinnamon

2 tsp Allspice

1/8 tsp ground Cloves

1/8 tsp ground Nutmeg

pinch of Himalayan rock salt

2 cups of Almond or other non-dairy milk

2 cups of Gluten free flour (or Spelt flour)

2 tsp Baking powder

This mixture will make approx 12 medium sized muffins and 6 mini ones.

Pop all the ingredients apart from the flour and baking powder in to a large bowl and mix well. Allow to soak for a couple of hours so the bran absorbs the milk and forms a wet mush!

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Mix the flour and baking powder together really well and then add to the wet ingredients. Combine thoroughly and then pop in to muffin cases, sprinkle some coconut sugar over the top and bake for 20 – 25 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean.

These are delicious straight out the oven while still warm or will keep for a few days in an airtight container. You can also freeze them to eat later.

Christmas Hats! Black Pepper, Coconut Cream and Strawberry Festive Fun!

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Dr Nancy P

I love dressing up (as my friends well know…) .. so much in fact that even my bakes are getting in the act this year….. 🙂

These are a fun little festive treat to make for parties over the Christmas season. The biscuits themselves are very light, and not too sweet and so they go nicely with the sweetness of the strawberry and the rich coconut cream – the pepper adds a bite and make these a perfect bit of adult fun. If you want something a bit sweeter for the kids you can use my basic biscuit recipe for the bases instead – recipe here

You will need:

150g Spelt, rice or gluten-free flour blend

50g Dairy free margarine

50g raw Coconut sugar / unrefined dark sugar

1 egg (if you want to go egg-free then use a little oil instead – 1/4 cup olive or almond oil but add less of the mixture in (see below)

2 tbsp Maple syrup (or agave or rice syrup, or honey)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp fresh ground Black Pepper

1/8 tsp ground Cloves

1/8 tsp ground Nutmeg

A punnet strawberries

1 can of Coconut cream (milk – the canned milk, not the carton) (65 – 70% coconut extract – see below)

a little unrefined icing sugar (optional)

A few hours before you make these (or a day if you can) you need to set the coconut milk. I use this variety.

Pop the can in the fridge for a few hours or 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! 🙂

To make the biscuits:

Preheat the oven to 170 C.

Pop the flour, baking powder, spices and sugar in a food processor and blend briefly. Add the margarine and mix again for a minute or so.

While this is mixing break the egg in to a bowl and whisk the maple syrup in to it to form combine. Trickle a little of this mixture in to the processor bowl while it is running slowly. Keep adding until the mixture forms a firm dough (you may not need all of it).

Once it forms a dough use your hands to combine it and remove from the processor. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it’s about 3 – 5 mm thick and use a small round cutter to cut shapes. You will probably have more dough than you need but it can be wrapped in cling film and frozen for later 🙂

Pop the biscuits on to a lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 12 – 15 minutes or until they start to brown. Remove and allow to cool.

Coconut cream:

Take the solidified coconut cream and using electric or a hand whisk beat until fluffy. If you want a little sweetness add a little unrefined icing sugar in as you whip it.

Strawberries:

Remove the stem of the strawberries and cut the top off each to give a flat base.

Now you can assemble your biccies!

Pop the whipped coconut cream in to a piping bag. If you don’t have one (I don’t!) then put it in a plastic ziplock bag and just snip the corner of the bag off to use as a nozzle. Pipe a small amount of cream on to the centre of each biscuit. Pop a strawberry on top and then pipe around the base of the strawberry and add a little dot of cream to the top (for the bobble on the hat!). You could dust with a little icing sugar and a grind of black pepper if you wanted to. Serve as soon as possible. They will last overnight but the biscuits will go softer so wait to assemble until as close to serving time as possible. Any extra biscuits can be stored in an airtight container for a few days and they will stay crispy.

Have fun! 🙂

Pure and Simple Bakes

delicious, healthy, vegan friendly, low gluten bakes – have your cake and eat it!

Tag Archives: dairy free

Guilt-free Chocolate cake (with beetroot!)

Chocolate hazelnut cherry loaves

Blueberry and Lemon Curd with a surprise ingredient – dairy and egg free!

Lemon curd thumb biscuits!

Oh My – Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie! Easy and dairy and gluten free! (vegan)

Easy Lemon Curd – dairy and egg free (vegan)

Cherry and apple flapjack slice and a whole lot of love!

Lemon and Chia Seed Cookies – Dairy and Gluten free!

Malt loaf muffins! Dairy and Gluten free!

Christmas Hats! Black Pepper, Coconut Cream and Strawberry Festive Fun!

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