A bread boast...

This is not a recipe, just a boast. Well, Robert usually makes Lachie's bread for him. This morning though he was halfway through making a loaf when he realised there wasn't enough yeast. So Robert went off to work leaving me to get the yeast after dropping Hamish off at school, and to finish the loaf in time for Lachie's lunch. Which I did, and look at the result! What a massive loaf! And not a big air hole in sight! And it is so soft! I'll keep quiet now in case I get put on bread making detail, but as a hint I added a bit more water than the standard recipe.

A delicious chocolate pudding

As previously mentioned puddings are the order of the day in our house! We are trying to fatten up Lachie's big brother Hamish who seems to have become very skinny (not Lachie though who has quite a tum). This recipe is one I used when we were only dairy- and egg-free and I have just changed the flour to make an exceedingly good gluten-free version. It is one of those brilliant puddings where the sponge appears above a chocolate sauce. I think it is especially yummy if you use Green and Black's Maya Gold chocolate for a subtle orangey spiciness!


Lachie's Self-Saucing Chocolate Sponge Pudding (free from gluten, dairy and eggs too)

For the sponge
2 oz dark chocolate (dairy-free)
1/2 oz dairy-free margarine
1/4 pint soya milk
6oz sugar
4oz gluten-free self raising flour (eg Dove Farm)

For the sauce
2oz soft brown sugar
3oz caster sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
8floz water

Melt the chocolate, margarine and milk together in a pan on a low heat. Stir into the flour and sugar and beat together to a cake mix consistency - add a bit more milk if it is too stiff. Pour the mixture into a small casserole. Put the sauce ingredients straight on top of the sponge - there is no need to mix them together. Pour over the water and bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 1 hour. Leave to cool a little bit before serving.

I must say that I think this recipe is too much for 2 adults and two children under five, however it always gets finished. I don't know where they put it.

Just because they're dairy-free doesn't mean they can't be cow shaped

Now that Lachie is on his gluten-free diet as well as being egg- and dairy-free, his talking has really come on. He has been really extrememly vocal today and his two most commonly used words are 'cake!' and 'biscuits!' which he always says with an exclamation mark. Today he has added a new word in response to my telling him there were no biscuits, which is 'bake!' So bake we did, some gingerbread men and Lachie's personal favourite, gingerbread cows. As Robert said this afternoon, 'just because they're dairy-free doesn't mean they can't be cow-shaped'.
When I started gluten-free baking I steered clear of flour blends and was mixing various flours as we do for our bread. But I am now a convert to Dove Farm flour blends which just seem to be brilliant. For these biscuits I use the self-raising version as the original recipe included bicarbonate of soda, and it seems to work really well.

Gingerbread cows (Gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free)

2oz dairy-free margarine
2oz soft light brown sugar
2oz syrup
7oz gluten-free self-raising flour
1 tsp ground ginger

Cream together the margarine and sugar until it turns light and soft. Mix in the remaining ingredients until they form a dough - this is hard work and everything goes worryingly crumbly for a while. Pop the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Roll out the cooled dough on a gluten-free floured surface to about 4mm (I always have to remember to flour the rolling pin too or the rolling pin picks up the dough!) and cut out whatever shapes you would like. We favour cows and men. Arrange the biscuits on a greased baking tray and bake for 7 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Our cows are usually just turning brown around the ankles at this stage. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy eating your herd.

Lachie took some of these biscuits to share with Hamish when we picked him up from school.

Fruit Crumble

Both my boys have been ill and I am trying to feed them up, meaning puddings at tea time are essential. Our most frequent pudding is fruit crumble, the favourite being blackberry and apple. We have both of these growing in our garden and I freeze them away in the autumn to keep us going through the winter. Sadly we have now run out so I'm now using frozen summer fruits from the supermarket which are very nice but don't give you that satisfied feeling of knowing they came from just outside the back door. Crumble is a brilliant gluten-free pudding and I find that there is really no difference in taste or texture simply substituting rice flour for wheat flour.

Fruit Crumble (gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free)

4 1/2oz rice flour
3oz dairy free margarine
3oz demarara sugar
enough fruit to give a good covering on the bottom of your dish

Rub the margaine into the flour until it goes to crumbs, stir in the sugar and spoon on top of the fruit. Very easy. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes.

On the rare occaision that there is any left over, Lachie likes to have cold crumble for breakfast the next day!