It is freezing in Skipton this week. The boys and I have been venturing out for short walks in the morning and spending the afternoon at home with the stove on. This afternoon Lachie and I baked these yummy muffins for a mid-afternoon snack. Don't be put off by the prunes - chopped up they are just like jumbo raisins!
Cinnamon muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free)
8oz gluten-free self raising flour (we use Dove Farm)
5oz light muscovado sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 banana, mashed
1/4 pint soya milk
6 tbsp sunflower oil
6oz prunes, chopped
Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl and beat the milk, oil and banana together in a jug. Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients and mix lightly. Stir in the chopped prunes. If the mixture seems a bit thick I add a drop more milk - maybe this depends on the banana?! Spoon the mixture into muffin cases in a tray. I can usually get at least 10 muffins out of this mixture. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes and cool on a wire rack.
Monday 29 December 2008
Friday 26 December 2008
A Chocolate Yule Log
The hardest aspect for me of Lachie's food allergies is that he doesn't understand. It's one thing telling a four year old that something will make them sick, but when you're two it is a hard concept to grasp. He wants to have whatever his big brother is having, especially if it's some sort of pudding. Nigella Lawson has a recipe in her book Feast for a Buche de Noel (chocolate log) which I thought looked like a lovely thing to make for the children to have on Christmas Day. This recipe uses a flourless sponge so is already gluten-free and is really easy to adapt for a dairy-free diet. But of course a flourless sponge is heavy on the egg so it was out of bounds for Lachie. I should say now that this recipe will either show my dedication to helping Lachie feel like part of the gang or reveal me to be crazy. Basically, I made Nigella's Buche de Noel, but added a two inch extension to the log made of our favourite gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free chocolate cake (see the snowflake cake), and an extra side branch, and then covered the whole thing in the same icing. It looked fab, the children loved it, and Lachie was convinced he was having what everybody else was having. We will definitely be making another one next year!
Chocolate Yule Log (gluten-free, dairy-free, and with an egg-free extension!)
For the sponge
6 eggs separated
150g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
50g cocoa
For the icing
175g dairy-free dark chocolate
250g icing sugar
225g dairy-free margarine (Nigella's recipe uses butter)
1 tsp vanilla extract (Nigella uses 1 tbsp)
For the egg-free extension
1 chocolate cake made to the recipe given in the Snowflake Chocolate Cake recipe
To make the sponge it helps to have two really big bowls. In one bowl whisk the egg whites, adding 50g of the sugar when they are foamy, and keeping whisking until they are forming soft peaks. In the other bowl whisk the yolks and the remaining sugar until they are pale. Fold in the sugar and vanilla extract. Fold into the yolk mixture a couple of spoons of egg white. Fold in the rest of the egg whites a third at a time. Pour the mixture into a swiss roll tin lined with greaseproof paper and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. After the cake has cooled a bit tip it out onto another sheet of greaseproof.
To make the icing first melt the chocolate and leave it to cool. Cream together the icing sugar and dairy-free margarine and mix in the chocolate and vanilla extract.
To assemble the log, spread icing onto the sponge and roll it up as tightly as you can. (If you want to trim the edges of the sponge you can use these pieces to make branches.) I then iced this cake completely before adding the egg-free extensions and branches (to ensure there was a layer of icing separating the two types of cake).
For the gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free extensions, cut pieces from the chocolate cake of the correct size to fit on the end of the log, or to make branches, and then cover these too in icing.) I found I had plenty of icing to do this following Nigella's quantities.
For a snow effect, dust the log with icing sugar. And we added Father Christmas on his sledge.
Chocolate Yule Log (gluten-free, dairy-free, and with an egg-free extension!)
For the sponge
6 eggs separated
150g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
50g cocoa
For the icing
175g dairy-free dark chocolate
250g icing sugar
225g dairy-free margarine (Nigella's recipe uses butter)
1 tsp vanilla extract (Nigella uses 1 tbsp)
For the egg-free extension
1 chocolate cake made to the recipe given in the Snowflake Chocolate Cake recipe
To make the sponge it helps to have two really big bowls. In one bowl whisk the egg whites, adding 50g of the sugar when they are foamy, and keeping whisking until they are forming soft peaks. In the other bowl whisk the yolks and the remaining sugar until they are pale. Fold in the sugar and vanilla extract. Fold into the yolk mixture a couple of spoons of egg white. Fold in the rest of the egg whites a third at a time. Pour the mixture into a swiss roll tin lined with greaseproof paper and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. After the cake has cooled a bit tip it out onto another sheet of greaseproof.
To make the icing first melt the chocolate and leave it to cool. Cream together the icing sugar and dairy-free margarine and mix in the chocolate and vanilla extract.
To assemble the log, spread icing onto the sponge and roll it up as tightly as you can. (If you want to trim the edges of the sponge you can use these pieces to make branches.) I then iced this cake completely before adding the egg-free extensions and branches (to ensure there was a layer of icing separating the two types of cake).
For the gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free extensions, cut pieces from the chocolate cake of the correct size to fit on the end of the log, or to make branches, and then cover these too in icing.) I found I had plenty of icing to do this following Nigella's quantities.
For a snow effect, dust the log with icing sugar. And we added Father Christmas on his sledge.
Monday 22 December 2008
Daily bread
Lachie is a bit of a toast monster - he could easily eat 3 or 4 slices for breakfast. So when Lachie went gluten-free we knew that a replacement for ordinary bread had to be found, and we thought we would make our own. It turns out that making gluten-free bread is really easy. Having said that, I don't actually make it, my husband does. Robert bakes 2 loaves a week for Lachie using the following recipe from the excellent How to Cook for Food Allergies by Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne. I havn't altered the recipe other than reducing the salt, but we always make the nut-free version. There is no need to let the bread rise (no gluten to hold the dough together after rising!), you just mix it and put it in the oven. You do need a bit of organisation however - all those different flours! We have made a few variations on the flour mixture when something runs out! Tapioca flour seems to be hard to come by at the moment, I don't know why. We buy a couple of bags when we see it in the health food shop. Rice flour, cornflour and now potato flour can all be bought in Tescos. Xanthum gum powder can be bought in health food shops.
Gluten-free bread (also dairy-free and egg-free)
6 oz potato flour
4 oz cornflour
2 oz tapioca flour
2 oz rice flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp soft dark brown sugar
2 tsp xanthum gum powder
2 sachets dried yeast
1 tbsp rice bran
2 tbsp sunflower oil
12 floz warm water
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and add the oil to the water. Add most of the liquid to the dry ingredients and start mixing. The mixture will be very gloopy but should suddenly come together. Add the rest of the liquid if you need to - you are aiming for a mix that will just drop off a spoon. Beat everything together well. We usually add all of the liquid - Robert thinks the amount of liquid required might vary according to the batch of cornflour.
Spoon the mixture into a greased 2 lb loaf tin and smooth flat. Bake for 45 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Cool the bread on a wire rack.
Lachie likes this bread as toast for breakfast cut into bite sized pieces with marmite and, strangely, a Dove Farm chocolate star on the top of each piece. At lunch time he just has it with houmus.
Edited to say that I think this needs a bit more liquid so that the batter is like a cake mix and really will drop off a spoon - see the post on 23rd January for the spectacular results!
Gluten-free bread (also dairy-free and egg-free)
6 oz potato flour
4 oz cornflour
2 oz tapioca flour
2 oz rice flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp soft dark brown sugar
2 tsp xanthum gum powder
2 sachets dried yeast
1 tbsp rice bran
2 tbsp sunflower oil
12 floz warm water
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl and add the oil to the water. Add most of the liquid to the dry ingredients and start mixing. The mixture will be very gloopy but should suddenly come together. Add the rest of the liquid if you need to - you are aiming for a mix that will just drop off a spoon. Beat everything together well. We usually add all of the liquid - Robert thinks the amount of liquid required might vary according to the batch of cornflour.
Spoon the mixture into a greased 2 lb loaf tin and smooth flat. Bake for 45 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Cool the bread on a wire rack.
Lachie likes this bread as toast for breakfast cut into bite sized pieces with marmite and, strangely, a Dove Farm chocolate star on the top of each piece. At lunch time he just has it with houmus.
Edited to say that I think this needs a bit more liquid so that the batter is like a cake mix and really will drop off a spoon - see the post on 23rd January for the spectacular results!
Sunday 21 December 2008
A Snowflake Chocolate Cake
This afternoon Lachie and Hamish helped me to make our favourite chocolate cake. I have adapted this recipe from when we were just egg- and dairy-free and works brilliantly with gluten-free flour. This cake is delicious and you would never guess what it didn't have in it!
Chocolate Cake (gluten-free, egg-free and dairy-free)
For the cake
10 oz gluten-free self raising flour (we have been using Dove Farm)
3 tbsp cocoa
6 oz caster sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 pint soya milk
5 oz dairy free margarine
3 tbsp golden syrup
Mix together the flour, cocoa and sugar and rub in the margarine until it looks like crumbs. Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the milk and pour over the crumbs along with the golden syrup. Beat all the ingredients together until you have a runny batter with lots of little lumps. Divide between two greased 8 inch cake tins and bake for 25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. I find that vegan cakes are best left to cool in the tin.
Icing
To ice the cake I make up a bowl of chocolate 'butter cream' icing. Cream icing sugar and cocoa into dairy free margarine. I don't measure this, I just keep adding and tasting until it looks and tastes right. I use the icing to sandwich the two cakes together and cover the top.
The snowflake
I was feeling festive this evening and decided to surprise the boys with a snowflake on the top of the cake. I used a paper snowflake we had make for the window, laid it over the cake and dusted with icing sugar. Take away the paper and there is your snowflake pattern. It made the boys smile!
Chocolate Cake (gluten-free, egg-free and dairy-free)
For the cake
10 oz gluten-free self raising flour (we have been using Dove Farm)
3 tbsp cocoa
6 oz caster sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 pint soya milk
5 oz dairy free margarine
3 tbsp golden syrup
Mix together the flour, cocoa and sugar and rub in the margarine until it looks like crumbs. Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the milk and pour over the crumbs along with the golden syrup. Beat all the ingredients together until you have a runny batter with lots of little lumps. Divide between two greased 8 inch cake tins and bake for 25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. I find that vegan cakes are best left to cool in the tin.
Icing
To ice the cake I make up a bowl of chocolate 'butter cream' icing. Cream icing sugar and cocoa into dairy free margarine. I don't measure this, I just keep adding and tasting until it looks and tastes right. I use the icing to sandwich the two cakes together and cover the top.
The snowflake
I was feeling festive this evening and decided to surprise the boys with a snowflake on the top of the cake. I used a paper snowflake we had make for the window, laid it over the cake and dusted with icing sugar. Take away the paper and there is your snowflake pattern. It made the boys smile!
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