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.

Summer Vegetable Spaghetti Carbonara

I have been thinking all day about what I should cook as my first blog post. Should I do something exciting and original to start this off with a bang or maybe something wickedly decadent to pique people's interest? In the end I decided that I would turn to an old cupboard standby which has served me well and saved my bacon more than once when unexpected guests have arrived.  Mainly though, I just fancied a tasty supper of al dente pasta, smooth creamy pasta just waiting to be slurped up lady & the tramp style studded with sweet summery veg. Who could say no to such a simple and comforting dish!

As a teenager I used to make this dish with fake bacon but now I don't bother with fake meats and  frankly  this dish tastes better without it.  Most summer vegetables will work in this recipe so feel free to experiment with whatever is to hand or in season. Anything that will fry up and braise into a sweet nugget of vegetable heaven is a winner such as delicate asparagus spears, baby spinach, courgettes (zucchini), petite pois, young broad (fava) beans, leeks and tenderstem broccoli.

As my partner likes to eat meat , I normally make two portions of this and spilt it into two at the point of serving up by adding half the spaghetti and sauce to the fried bacon or pancetta pan and then stirring in all the bacony juices and fat to add flavour.