One of the lectures at CNM for the Vegan Natural Chef course was how to make Vegan ‘cheese’. Our lecturer was the talented Sharon and we made loads of different types of cheeses in one day – and we got to take them all home! Yummy! For our assignment we had to make a cheese… Continue reading Vegan Nut Ricotta
Tag: dairy-free
Glutenfreevegan – my new journey begins!
It’s amazing how little we know about what’s going on in the world and right under our noses, or is it because we would rather not know. Or is it what ‘they’ would rather us not know? I have just begun the transition to veganism. I have to admit I went off red meat a… Continue reading Glutenfreevegan – my new journey begins!
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Cakes for birthday pressies!
Tomorrow it’s one of my colleague’s birthday. He will be 60 years old, although he doesn’t look or act like 60! He’s having a little shindig and as I have no idea what to buy him I decided to make it personal and make him a cake. This cake is one of my favourites and I’ve been making it for years, it’s called ‘Venetian carrot cake’ and it’s from the book ‘Kitchen’ by Nigella Lawson. The great thing about this cake is that it is naturally gluten free and dairy free, although Nigella does suggest you accompany a slice with a dollop of mascarpone cream, which is yummy! So Happy Birthday Dave, here’s looking at you kid!
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Mother & Daughter time in London
This weekend, my daughter and I spent the weekend in London. We packed in as much as humanly possible in the two days that we were there. … Continue reading
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Breakfast Banana Muffins
I have been making these banana muffins for years, but only just recently have I taken to having them hot out of the oven for a breakfast treat. The original recipe waits until they are cool and then add cinnamon frosting on top, but they never last long enough to get to this stage anymore!
I often bake them on a Sunday as a breakfast treat after a nice and well deserved lie in. I also like to bake them when we have guests staying over, it’s amazing how the delicious aroma of freshly baked banana muffins gets them out of bed. ♥
I now bake these little wonders directly in the tin and not in paper muffin cases. I came about this one day when I didn’t have any cases and so just I greased the muffin tin well and cut little round discs from parchment paper to put at the bottom. The reason I do this all the time now is that: 1- I found that the muffin stuck a bit to the paper when you peeled it off and 2- the sides cook nice and crispy and adds to the breakfast muffin experience 🙂
To make them you will need: … Continue reading
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American Sweetcorn Pancakes
These naturally gluten free and dairy free pancakes are amazing and great for breakfast or brunch. We had them with scrambled egg and a few mushrooms, but my husband suggested that next time they would taste even better with a few rashers of bacon on top! I must admit, I added a squeeze of tomato ketchup on top of mine.
Here is the recipe – you will need: … Continue reading
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Almond Macaroons
These are my most favourite treats to bake, they take no time at all and only have four ingredients. They are naturally gluten free and dairy free too! Everyone who has them can’t stop eating them, they are very much a favourite. My hubby reckons they remind of him of Farleys Rusks, and come to think of it, I do too. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do….. … Continue reading
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Sausage Nut Stuffing Cake
At the weekend I did a practice Christmas dinner instead of a Sunday lunch. I have a fairly new oven so I wanted to make sure that everything cooked OK for the big day. I have seven coming for Christmas lunch this year, not as many as I have done in the past, but it’s a nice number. This sausage nut stuffing cake is delicious, I found the recipe years ago on the web and I have converted it to be gluten free. It can be made dairy free too, just use dairy free spread instead of butter. I must apologise for the lack of pictures of the finished cake, but I was so intent on dishing up dinner before it got cold that I forgot to take a picture of it when it came out of the oven, it wasn’t till it was on my plate did I remember! … Continue reading
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Mini Coconut and Cranberry Munchies
This morning I fancied making something quick and sweet for a special treat to have with our cuppa. I like to have homemade goodies readily available rather than shop bought biscuits and cakes for several reasons:
- they are tastier and healthier – homemade cakes are additive-free and made with natural ingredients
- they are of course always gluten free, so I can indulge too
- I know what’s in them – with all the chemicals shop-bought cakes have in them, the ingredient lists read more like a science experiment than a food item!
- and because it’s so much nicer to offer homemade treats when friends pop in
This recipe is naturally gluten free and dairy free and for that matter grain free too. It makes about 18 -20 little bite sized morsels. These little fun bites can be stored up to a week in an airtight container, although in this house they are usually gone by day two!
You will need:
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Baked Syrup Sponges
This is another recipe that is in my favourites list from the book ‘Totally Flour-Free Baking’ by Dinah Wilson. These are so tasty, they are so sweet and syrupy and the sponge is so light, they only have five ingredients, all of which are easily bought from your local supermarket. They really remind me of and old fashioned steamed pud and are so easy to make. Have them with custard or ice-cream or maybe on their own with more syrup poured over. Yummy.
You will need:
- 5 dstsp golden syrup
- 120g ground almonds
- 80g icing sugar
- 3 medium eggs – separated
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- 5 oven proof cups – about 200ml in size – well buttered/greased
Next:
- Turn oven on to 170C/325F/Gas mark 3 or if you are like me and have a fan oven then 150C works well.
- Spoon one level desert spoon of the golden syrup into the base of each of the well buttered cups
- Sift the ground almonds and icing sugar together two times.
- Beat the eggs yolks together with the vanilla essence, I just use a wire whisk
- Beat the eggs whites until very stiff, I use my Kitchen Aid for this, then pour the egg yolk mixture onto the egg whites and stir thoroughly with a wire whisk
- Now sprinkle the almond/icing sugar mix over the top of the egg mix and fold in gently using a large metal spoon. At this point I find a last mix with a rubber spatula collects all the mixture on the sides and gives it a final proper mix in.
- Spoon the fluffy mixture on top of the syrup in the cups and level out carefully. The mixture will rise up and then sink back as it cooks, so be careful not to overfill the cups.
- Now put the cups on a baking bray and cook in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. The centres should be just firm and the sponge a golden colour. Mine took 30 minutes but yours make take less depending on what oven you have.
- When they are ready, pop them out of the oven and then run a knife around the edges to loosen and turn out onto your desert plate. Enjoy on their own or add your favourite custard/icecream.
Now, if you are able to resist and not eat them all at once, then they are fine to keep in their cups and turn out the next day for a lunch treat, eat them cold on their own or with custard or if you want them hot, nuke them in a microwave for about 20 seconds, be careful as the syrup will be hotter than the sponge.
GlutenfreeSally 