Apple, Parsnip and Ginger Beer Cake

This is both a birthday cake to myself and a blog anniversary cake albeit a slightly late one. Thanks to everyone who has visited this site and taken the time to post comments (not that being a lurker is a bad thing- I am a natural lurker myself).

I am hoping that as my commuting time is about to halve that I will soon be back to blogging again on a regular basis. For the time being though here is a lovely cake that is adapted from Harry Eastwood's Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache. It is gluten free, dairy free and virtually fat free but serve it to guests and they will never guess. This is what I class as a pudding cake in that it can also be used as a dessert with soya custard or cream. The original recipe calls for cider but I switched this for ginger beer as it is something that I definitely associate with summer days plus almost everybody in my family is a bit of a ginger fiend. Although this picture makes the cake look elegant it also managed to carry off the animal shaped candles I had later in the day!

Calm Down London- Gluten Free Camomile & Courgette Cake

Well, it has been a crazy month but we are now back in London just in time for some riots and looting! No one here can quite believe the anarchy that our beloved city descended into. Not sure what the future holds for the UK at the moment but we definitely know that we are not in safe and comfortable Singapore anymore. I am definitely regretting my occasional rants that Singapore didn't have enough edge to it. Now London has so much edge that people are hurting themselves and others.

With so much stress and angst I thought it might be nice to make Harry Eastwood's Courgette and Camomile cupcakes from her Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache book. What could be more summery and calming than these little lovelies. Unfortunately, as we are staying in temporary accommodation with a lovely but not well equipped kitchen, I have no muffin or cupcake tins. I thought that I would break one of Harry's cardinal sins and make the recipe as a cake instead as I figured that even if the texture wasn't as good as her cupcakes, a half decent cake is better than no cake at all! And the texture was great, well risen and moist but I guess the cupcakes would be even lighter and fluffier. You could do either I guess but the book advises that this recipe makes 12 cupcakes. I have only given weight measurements rather than cups to ensure a good texture as this isn't your normal kind of cake recipe as it has no oil or margarine in it which makes it more important to get measurements right.

I am proud of all the Londoners out there who came together to help clean up the mess left and who are trying to work together help protect their communities. So lets all sit back, make a cup of tea and enjoy these soothing little cakes and for hope for a return to little normality in the world.

Raspberry & Almond Sponge Cake and other ideas for using up almond meal

This recipe is otherwise known as- what to do with all the almond meal that you have left over after making almond milk. This recipe is supposedly from a country living magazine but I cannot find the official recipe. This recipe was made for my mum by the owner of Huntinghall when my parents stayed in their eco-friendly self catering cottages and the recipe has since been passed around. If you ever need somewhere to stay in Northumberland you couldn't pick a better place. 

This recipe makes a kind of fluffy gluten free victoria sponge cake. The recipe is for a 20cm cake but I decided to make miniature versions. Unfortunately as you can see from the photos these did not turn out so well as they refused to come out of the muffin tins cleanly. I would recommend making this in a greased and lined cake tin instead or in individual muffin/cupcake cases.  I almost didn't post these cakes as they were decidedly unphotogenic but as they taste pretty good I thought I should show some love to they little uglies. As Eeyore says "Weeds are flowers too once you get to know them." The cake has a bad habit of sinking a little in the middle. If this happens don't despair just fill the dip with fresh fruit and no one will be any the wiser! If you want to make a larger cake for entertaining, double the ingredients, split between two 20cm cake tins and use the filling between the two cakes.

What else have I been using my almond meal for? Here are some ideas, some my own and some which I have found and linked to. The almond meal freezes well in sealed freezer bags and can be defrosted before use so there is no panic on using it up. If you are not freezing make sure to keep sealed and labeled in the refrigerator.  You can add a spoonful to smoothies, add to banana bread and cakes, use as a topping for baked pasta dishes instead of breadcrumbs, use in a gluten free bakewell tart, as a body or face scrub,  add it to curries such as this korma recipe, make into cereal or pancakes or use when making pesto. Hopefully this gives you some ideas as to what to do with all the fluffy goodness that get left after making almond milk.

Lemon Drizzle Cake

I am posting two recipes here. One is your classic crunchy sugar topped light sponge made with wheat flour and the other is a gluten free lemon drizzle cake with an interesting ingredient. The wheat sponge is a slightly adapted version of Mary Berry's lemon drizzle from her book Ultimate Cakes which is an excellent book if you want to start baking classic teatime cakes. You can buy the book from Amazon or most book stores seem to stock her as she is such a prolific writer not to mention domestic godess. If I ever want to bake a cake I look up her recipe first.

The gluten free recipe comes from BBC GoodFood and despite having mashed potatoes in it makes a really wonderful cake. It is dense and moist and could be served as a dessert. If you prefer to follow the recipe on the bbc the link is here although in my recipe I use more lemons as a prefer a zestier cake. The photos here are of the wheat flour lemon cake but the link has an accurate photo of what the gluten free cake looks like. My advice with this cake is to not tell people what the unusual ingredient is until after they have tasted it.

Both of these recipes make a pretty lemony cake so reduce the lemon juice in the drizzle if you prefer a less zesty cake.  

Orange & Cardamon Polenta cake

I miss smile inducing mediteranean and middle eastern food with simple flavours that pack a punch. Don't get me wrong, Singapore has an amazing variety of food and a diversity of ingredients that isn't always avaliable in the UK but sometimes I just fancy something different. Couple this with a few perfectly ripe oranges soon to be a squashy fuzzy mess and I found myself looking for a orange polenta cake recipe. This cake really does brighten up overcast days with its cheerful golden insides. It is gluten free and makes a moist dense cake that really can be served as warm as a pudding or cold as a cake. Its texture is a little bit different with a crust that has a bit of crunch.

Gluten Free Lemon Curd Cupcakes

I recently bought my mum the Harry Eastwood Book - Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache as it has lots of gluten free recipes. It also uses vegetables instead of the fat such as courgettes and this sounded perfect for getting rid of a vegetable garden glut in a delicious way.

Here I have used the sponge recipe for her Strawberry & Cream Cupcakes but used lemon curd instead of jam and didn't add a buttercream top as these little cakes were rich enough. I really recommend her book which is quirky and fun with lots of lovely photos and you get to freak out your friends and family when you tell them what vegetable they have just been eating unbeknownst to them!

My cupcakes tasted really good being moist and tasty and coming out of the paper case easily - you really cannot tell that these are gluten free. However, they were really not particularly pretty and would look much better with a butter cream topping with a dollop of lemon curd added. As my OH and I both liked them as they were then all the pictures show them "naked" and like the best of us not looking their best.

You could make these little cakes dairy free if you need to by using good quality jam instead of lemon curd which is normally made with butter.