There are two sorts of people in this world. Those who believe the only cheesecake is a baked cheesecake... and the rest of us. I had FINALLY been converted to baked cheesecake, via an incredible recipe from Rose Berenbaum's Cake Bible, when I got the winter vomiting bug. At 7 months pregnant. I have never been so ill. Needless to say I will NEVER eat a baked cheesecake again.
But no bake cheesecake, AKA proper cheesecake... is still just fine by me!
This is a decadent dessert that requires no baking. Perfect for entertaining over the holiday season. I can be ready to eat in 1 1/2 hours and has most ingredients that you'd have to hand (bar the raspberries).
8 inch loose bottom tin
Base
250g crushed digestives/ graham crackers
120g butter melted
Topping
180g white chocolate
250 ml double cream
200g soft cheese (Philadelphia)
60g icing sugar sifted
1 tsp vanilla
1 punnet raspberries
Line the base of the tin with a circle of baking parchment. Bash or blitz the biscuits to crumbs, stir in the melted butter. Pour into the tin, spread evenly and press down firmly. Put into the freeze for 20-30 mins to firm up.
Meanwhile get on with the topping.
In a bain marie melt the white chocolate gently, stirring and being sure not to overheat. Take off the heat and leave to cool slightly.
Whip the cream till stiff with an electric whisk, but don't overwhip. Add the icing sugar, vanilla and cream cheese, whisking for just a few seconds to incorporate. Fold in the white chocolate. Taste for sweetness, add a little more sugar if required.
Tip onto the base, smooth over, cover with cling film and put in the fridge to set. Decorate with the raspberries just before serving.
Friday, December 11, 2015
Friday, November 6, 2015
Buttermilk Donuts
I have a real thing for hot donuts - can you tell? I've shared several recipes over the years - Little Pieces of Heaven and No Fry Instant Donuts I have yet to attempt them gluten free... so these are full fat, gluten-loaded... and well worth the belly ache. I may sometimes even make them for breakfast!
These are my new big love, I've adapted them from Ruby Tandoh of Great British Bake Off fame, from her Guardian column mine are much softer and less cakey than hers. The nutmeg and vanilla in these give a lovely snickerdoodle kind of feel to them.
Makes 6
Oil for deep frying
150g plain flour
40g caster sugar
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
Small grating of nutmeg
1 medium egg
120 ml buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Heat oil in a deep fat fryer or deep pan to 190C/350F.
While the oil heats, prepare the dough. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix briefly. Whisk the egg, buttermilk and vanilla together in a jug and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir together to get a thick batter which drops slowly off your spoon.
Drop into boiling oil - a heaped tablespoon for each one. Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, turn over and cook for just under a minute on the second side. They need to be mid golden to be sure they're cooked through.
Once cooked, put onto a piece of kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil, then, while they’re still warm, then put into a dish and sprinkle over a few teaspoons of caster sugar.
Eat warm!
These are my new big love, I've adapted them from Ruby Tandoh of Great British Bake Off fame, from her Guardian column mine are much softer and less cakey than hers. The nutmeg and vanilla in these give a lovely snickerdoodle kind of feel to them.
Makes 6
Oil for deep frying
150g plain flour
40g caster sugar
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
Small grating of nutmeg
1 medium egg
120 ml buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
Heat oil in a deep fat fryer or deep pan to 190C/350F.
While the oil heats, prepare the dough. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix briefly. Whisk the egg, buttermilk and vanilla together in a jug and pour into the dry ingredients. Stir together to get a thick batter which drops slowly off your spoon.
Drop into boiling oil - a heaped tablespoon for each one. Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side, turn over and cook for just under a minute on the second side. They need to be mid golden to be sure they're cooked through.
Once cooked, put onto a piece of kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil, then, while they’re still warm, then put into a dish and sprinkle over a few teaspoons of caster sugar.
Eat warm!
Friday, October 30, 2015
Raspberry and Lemon Shortbread Rounds (Gluten free, dairy free, sugar free)
When the lovely Lucy here put out a call for "free-from" recipes I just knew I had to jump in. Not simply because I consider myself (in all modesty) a bit of an expert in the field of free-from baking (more on that later), but quite honestly, I have no other outlet just now for my creations (except my tummy). It's only fair to warn you, expert or no, that I have always been a haphazard baker. When I was about four I watched my Dad make drop scones without measuring any of the ingredients, and from there I never looked back.
Now, the only reason I measure when baking is:
1. If I'm using a mixture of ingredients I'm unfamiliar with, and
2. In retrospect when creating new recipes, in order to vaguely remember the formula for next time. There: you have been duly warned
I came to free-from baking in a long, roundabout way. I have always experimented with different ingredients that entice and excite me. But like most, it has also been an enforced health journey for me. I first gave up dairy, and instantly cured many congestive complaints. Then I gave up wheat, and finally gluten altogether - curing me of chronic fatigue and digestive upsets.
More recently I have experimented with giving up sugar (of all kinds) in a bid to kill a chronic candida overgrowth (terrifyingly common in today's culture of refined foods, and basely responsible for most chronic illnesses). Suffice to say most of my bakes and creations these days are dairy, gluten AND sugar-free, and often vegan too (beat that GBBO!). This makes them no less tasty (I am particular on that front!) and above all they are QUICK and EASY, because I like pretty instant results.
I created with the help of my 4 and 6 year-olds this weekend! Unusually for it doesn't contain chocolate (sorry about that) but I do use cacao butter. If you can't source cacao butter easily, feel free to substitute as you see fit
Ingredients:
Cookies
3/4 cup whole almonds
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1 tbsp whole flaxseed
1/4 cup buckwheat (or other GF) flour
1 tbsp freeze dried raspberry powder (or other flavouring)
1/4 tsp GF baking powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp honey or syrup
Zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
Icing:
1/3 cup cacao butter
1 tbsp freeze dried raspberry powder
1tsp honey/syrup
Few drops vanilla extract
To Make:
Grind together the almonds, coconut and flaxseed to form a flour. Mix with rest of dried ingredients for biscuit dough. Gently melt the oils, almond butter and honey/syrup together over a bowl of hot water, then add in the lemon juice and zest. Pour over the dried ingredients and mix well to a dough.
Take spoonfuls of the dough and roll into balls, place on a nonstick baking tray (or greaseproof paper) and flatten out evenly into discs about 1/2cm thick.
Bake at 180C for about 10 minutes, until the biscuits begin to brown.
Cool on a wire rack and make the icing by gently melting together the cacao butter, honey/syrup, vanilla and raspberry. Allow to cool and thicken slightly before dribbling over biscuits. Enjoy!
If you liked these recipes do try out Zoe's first ebook, Real Food Raw, which contains lots of fun, quick and easy wholefood recipes especially created for a free-from diet. There's also lots of great tips and help in there to support you in transitioning between food habits, and how you can make it easy for yourself.
Zoë Foster is a Life Energy Alchemist at LifeEnergyAlchemy.com, where she helps soul-driven women balance their natural energetic highs and lows and find their own rhythm - one that maximises both creative output AND self-care on a whole-person level. Zoë is also a writer and yoga teacher and lives on the edge of magical Dartmoor in Devon, UK with her young family.
You can connect with Zoë on Facebook, Instagram, Periscope, Pinterest and Twitter at @ZoeKMFoster.
Now, the only reason I measure when baking is:
1. If I'm using a mixture of ingredients I'm unfamiliar with, and
2. In retrospect when creating new recipes, in order to vaguely remember the formula for next time. There: you have been duly warned
I came to free-from baking in a long, roundabout way. I have always experimented with different ingredients that entice and excite me. But like most, it has also been an enforced health journey for me. I first gave up dairy, and instantly cured many congestive complaints. Then I gave up wheat, and finally gluten altogether - curing me of chronic fatigue and digestive upsets.
More recently I have experimented with giving up sugar (of all kinds) in a bid to kill a chronic candida overgrowth (terrifyingly common in today's culture of refined foods, and basely responsible for most chronic illnesses). Suffice to say most of my bakes and creations these days are dairy, gluten AND sugar-free, and often vegan too (beat that GBBO!). This makes them no less tasty (I am particular on that front!) and above all they are QUICK and EASY, because I like pretty instant results.
I created with the help of my 4 and 6 year-olds this weekend! Unusually for it doesn't contain chocolate (sorry about that) but I do use cacao butter. If you can't source cacao butter easily, feel free to substitute as you see fit
Ingredients:
Cookies
3/4 cup whole almonds
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1 tbsp whole flaxseed
1/4 cup buckwheat (or other GF) flour
1 tbsp freeze dried raspberry powder (or other flavouring)
1/4 tsp GF baking powder
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp honey or syrup
Zest & juice of 1/2 lemon
Icing:
1/3 cup cacao butter
1 tbsp freeze dried raspberry powder
1tsp honey/syrup
Few drops vanilla extract
To Make:
Grind together the almonds, coconut and flaxseed to form a flour. Mix with rest of dried ingredients for biscuit dough. Gently melt the oils, almond butter and honey/syrup together over a bowl of hot water, then add in the lemon juice and zest. Pour over the dried ingredients and mix well to a dough.
Take spoonfuls of the dough and roll into balls, place on a nonstick baking tray (or greaseproof paper) and flatten out evenly into discs about 1/2cm thick.
Bake at 180C for about 10 minutes, until the biscuits begin to brown.
Cool on a wire rack and make the icing by gently melting together the cacao butter, honey/syrup, vanilla and raspberry. Allow to cool and thicken slightly before dribbling over biscuits. Enjoy!
If you liked these recipes do try out Zoe's first ebook, Real Food Raw, which contains lots of fun, quick and easy wholefood recipes especially created for a free-from diet. There's also lots of great tips and help in there to support you in transitioning between food habits, and how you can make it easy for yourself.
Zoë Foster is a Life Energy Alchemist at LifeEnergyAlchemy.com, where she helps soul-driven women balance their natural energetic highs and lows and find their own rhythm - one that maximises both creative output AND self-care on a whole-person level. Zoë is also a writer and yoga teacher and lives on the edge of magical Dartmoor in Devon, UK with her young family.
You can connect with Zoë on Facebook, Instagram, Periscope, Pinterest and Twitter at @ZoeKMFoster.
Friday, October 16, 2015
Chewy Triple Ginger Cookies
These are for the ginger lovers in the house.
My older girl had been on to me to make hideous looking goblin biscuits, AKA green gingerbread men, for Halloween last year. The recipe came from her hideous (IMHO) Rainbow Fairies Annual. I was going to use my fail-safe ginger bread recipe, which I've shared here before, but decided she'd enjoy the whole thing more if she read the recipe aloud from the book as we went.
So the kiddies had their lurid green goblins, and I adapted the other half of the mix to be adult-friendly, by upping the ginger and adding stem ginger chunks - and shaping as proper cookies.
Rather than bake a big batch, what I recommend is to make up the dough, and keep it wrapped in the fridge in cling film (saran wrap) and bake a fresh batch every couple of days as they go quite soggy on the day after they're cooked. Fresh from the oven they are crisp and chewy and very moreish
Preheat oven to 180C Fan
My older girl had been on to me to make hideous looking goblin biscuits, AKA green gingerbread men, for Halloween last year. The recipe came from her hideous (IMHO) Rainbow Fairies Annual. I was going to use my fail-safe ginger bread recipe, which I've shared here before, but decided she'd enjoy the whole thing more if she read the recipe aloud from the book as we went.
So the kiddies had their lurid green goblins, and I adapted the other half of the mix to be adult-friendly, by upping the ginger and adding stem ginger chunks - and shaping as proper cookies.
Rather than bake a big batch, what I recommend is to make up the dough, and keep it wrapped in the fridge in cling film (saran wrap) and bake a fresh batch every couple of days as they go quite soggy on the day after they're cooked. Fresh from the oven they are crisp and chewy and very moreish
120g butter (melted)
1 egg (beaten)
270g plain flour
270g plain flour
2 tsp dried ground ginger
8-12 lumps of preserved stem ginger in syrup chopped into small chunks - depending on size and your love of ginger!
2 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp syrup from the ginger jar
1 tsp baking soda (sieved)
170g light brown soft sugar
Mix the butter, sugar, ground ginger and syrups together well. Add half the flour, then the beaten egg, and the other half of the flour. Add the chopped ginger. Mix to combine, knead for a minute with your hands. Form into a log, the diametre you want your cookies.
Slice into 1 cm thick slices, place on a lined baking tray - do not over crowd - squash them slightly thinner with your hands.
Bake for 10 mins until rich golden, be sure the edges don't go dark brown or they will be bitter. Cool for 2-3 mins on the tray to harden slightly, then remove and cool on a wire rack. Best eaten warm!
Friday, October 2, 2015
Marmalade Cupcakes (Gluten Free)
Adapted from the Breakfast of Champions column in the Saturday Guardian magazine. I loved the look of these prima ballerina's favourite breakfast muffins, but wanted to make them gluten free... and decrease the sugar load by quite a bit. They are light and fluffy, more cupcake than muffin texture, with a rich, tangy marmalade flavour. Paddington would most definintely approve!
80g cornflour
70g ground almonds
15g brown rice flour
5g potato flour (if you don't have it just use 5g more of cornflour)
1 tablespoon baking power
60g caster sugar
75g cooled melted butter
1 large egg
Zest and juice of one orange
75ml milk
130g marmalade
Makes 9
Heat the oven to 170C fan and put muffin cases in 9 holes of a 12-hole muffin tray.
Combine the dry ingredients, crumbling them together with your fingers, getting rid of any lumps.
Briefly whisk the wet ingredients together to combine, pour into the dry along with the marmalade, and mix briefly by hand until just combined (over-mixing makes for tough, dense muffins).
Fill the cases two-thirds full, and bake for 15-20 minutes until a tooth pick comes out clean.
These are DIVINE warm... they are quite grainy and dry the next day.
80g cornflour
70g ground almonds
15g brown rice flour
5g potato flour (if you don't have it just use 5g more of cornflour)
1 tablespoon baking power
60g caster sugar
75g cooled melted butter
1 large egg
Zest and juice of one orange
75ml milk
130g marmalade
Makes 9
Heat the oven to 170C fan and put muffin cases in 9 holes of a 12-hole muffin tray.
Combine the dry ingredients, crumbling them together with your fingers, getting rid of any lumps.
Briefly whisk the wet ingredients together to combine, pour into the dry along with the marmalade, and mix briefly by hand until just combined (over-mixing makes for tough, dense muffins).
Fill the cases two-thirds full, and bake for 15-20 minutes until a tooth pick comes out clean.
These are DIVINE warm... they are quite grainy and dry the next day.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Snickerdoodle Apple cake
I love the flavours of snickerdoodles - a classic American cookie which I first discovered thanks to Nigella Lawson's How to Be a Domestic Goddess. For the non-US readers in the house, these have nothing to do with Snickers bars, there is not a peanut or chocolate in sight. Instead a simple, rather old fashioned mix of some of my favourite spices: vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. And they're all flavours that go superbly well with apples... so a new recipe idea was formed!
We are really lucky that my father in law is an incredible grower of produce... but often that means that at this time of year we have a bags of produce that we can't eat, that need turning into something when they're a little past their best. Apples are one of those - our kids love crisp juicy apples, but after a couple of weeks home grown apples are soft and a little fluffy. Or are starting to get brown bits here and there.
We are really lucky that my father in law is an incredible grower of produce... but often that means that at this time of year we have a bags of produce that we can't eat, that need turning into something when they're a little past their best. Apples are one of those - our kids love crisp juicy apples, but after a couple of weeks home grown apples are soft and a little fluffy. Or are starting to get brown bits here and there.
This recipe is great for using up eating apples that have gone this way in, and almost everyone in the family loves it. My kids don't like cinnamon, so this is a way I can make a cake that both adults and kids love - you can just slice the spice top off for fussy eaters.
Ingredients
150g soft butter
170g caster sugar
200g plain flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
3 lg eggs
2 tbsp full fat milk
3 med eating apples, peeled, cored, brown bits cut out, and sliced into 1 inch chunks.
170g caster sugar
200g plain flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
3 lg eggs
2 tbsp full fat milk
3 med eating apples, peeled, cored, brown bits cut out, and sliced into 1 inch chunks.
Preheat oven to 180C (170 fan)
Cream the butter and sugar with an electric whisk. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the apple) whisk till light and well combined. Stir through the apple with a spatula or wooden spoon.
Line a large loaf pan or 9 inch, deep cake tin. Tip in the mixture, Smooth it off.
Cook for 15 mins, then cover with foil, and cook for an extra 20-30 mins - check after the second 20 mins with a skewer - to see if it's done, if not return with foil still on. Any wobbly or wet mix coming out on the skewer and it's not done.
When cooked remove from tin and sprinkle with 2 tbsp demerara or caster sugar or a mix. 5 gratings nutmeg and 1/2 - 1 tsp ground cinnamon depending on how much you like it.
Eat warm with ice cream. Or cold. Keeps 3-4 days well.
(Gluten Free Note: I have made this with my gluten free flour mix - see here - it's fine... but much nicer not GF, as it needs quite a long bake, which doesn't work so well for GF flours.)
(Gluten Free Note: I have made this with my gluten free flour mix - see here - it's fine... but much nicer not GF, as it needs quite a long bake, which doesn't work so well for GF flours.)
Friday, September 18, 2015
Raw Lemon and Cardamom Oat Cookies (Gluten free, dairy free, sugar free)
When the lovely Lucy here put out a call for "free-from" recipes I just knew I had to jump in. Not simply because I consider myself (in all modesty) a bit of an expert in the field of free-from baking (more on that later), but quite honestly, I have no other outlet just now for my creations (except my tummy).
It's only fair to warn you, expert or no, that I have always been a haphazard baker. When I was about four I watched my Dad make drop scones without measuring any of the ingredients, and from there I never looked back.
Now, the only reason I measure when baking is:
1. If I'm using a mixture of ingredients I'm unfamiliar with, and
2. In retrospect when creating new recipes, in order to vaguely remember the formula for next time. There: you have been duly warned
I came to free-from baking in a long, roundabout way. I have always experimented with different ingredients that entice and excite me. But like most, it has also been an enforced health journey for me. I first gave up dairy, and instantly cured many congestive complaints. Then I gave up wheat, and finally gluten altogether - curing me of chronic fatigue and digestive upsets.
More recently I have experimented with giving up sugar (of all kinds) in a bid to kill a chronic candida overgrowth (terrifyingly common in today's culture of refined foods, and basely responsible for most chronic illnesses). Suffice to say most of my bakes and creations these days are dairy, gluten AND sugar-free, and often vegan too (beat that GBBO!). This makes them no less tasty (I am particular on that front!) and above all they are QUICK and EASY, because I like pretty instant results.
I'm going to share two biscuit recipes over the next month - because what's more British than a biscuit? One is raw (and a favourite of Lucy's!) and the other is a bake I just created this week. Unusually for me, neither contains chocolate (sorry about that) but I do use cacao butter. If you can't source cacao butter easily, feel free to substitute as you see fit.
RAW LEMON & CARDAMOM OAT COOKIES
(Just like a posher version of the oaty biscuits in an orange packet)
Ingredients:
1/3 cup GF whole oat groats/ flakes
1/3 cup whole almonds
1/3 cup dessicated coconut
1 cardamom pod (or more if you're feeling brave/in need of more zing)
1 tbsp honey or favourite syrup
1 tbsp sultanas
1/4 cup cacao butter (Lucy's note: this gives me migraines so I use half white choc and half coconut oil instead).
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Pinch crystal sea salt
To Make:
Split open the cardamom pod and extract the seeds for use then grind together the oats, almonds, cardamom seeds and salt to a rough flour (not too fine).
Melt the honey/syrup and cacao butter together over a bowl of hot water then add in the lemon rind. Mix everything together to form a dough. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and shape the dough into little cookies.
Freeze or chill until firm, then enjoy with your favourite hot beverage. These are particularly good dunked in my decadent Morning Macaccino.
If you liked this recipe, do try out my first ebook, Real Food Raw, which contains lots of fun, quick and easy wholefood recipes especially created for a free-from diet. There's also lots of great tips and help in there to support you in transitioning between food habits, and how you can make it easy for yourself.
Zoë Foster is a Life Energy Alchemist at LifeEnergyAlchemy.com, where she helps soul-driven women balance their natural energetic highs and lows and find their own rhythm - one that maximises both creative output AND self-care on a whole-person level. Zoë is also a writer and yoga teacher and lives on the edge of magical Dartmoor in Devon, UK with her young family.
You can connect with Zoë on Facebook, Instagram, Periscope, Pinterest and Twitter at @ZoeKMFoster.
Now, the only reason I measure when baking is:
1. If I'm using a mixture of ingredients I'm unfamiliar with, and
2. In retrospect when creating new recipes, in order to vaguely remember the formula for next time. There: you have been duly warned
I came to free-from baking in a long, roundabout way. I have always experimented with different ingredients that entice and excite me. But like most, it has also been an enforced health journey for me. I first gave up dairy, and instantly cured many congestive complaints. Then I gave up wheat, and finally gluten altogether - curing me of chronic fatigue and digestive upsets.
More recently I have experimented with giving up sugar (of all kinds) in a bid to kill a chronic candida overgrowth (terrifyingly common in today's culture of refined foods, and basely responsible for most chronic illnesses). Suffice to say most of my bakes and creations these days are dairy, gluten AND sugar-free, and often vegan too (beat that GBBO!). This makes them no less tasty (I am particular on that front!) and above all they are QUICK and EASY, because I like pretty instant results.
I'm going to share two biscuit recipes over the next month - because what's more British than a biscuit? One is raw (and a favourite of Lucy's!) and the other is a bake I just created this week. Unusually for me, neither contains chocolate (sorry about that) but I do use cacao butter. If you can't source cacao butter easily, feel free to substitute as you see fit.
RAW LEMON & CARDAMOM OAT COOKIES
(Just like a posher version of the oaty biscuits in an orange packet)
Ingredients:
1/3 cup GF whole oat groats/ flakes
1/3 cup whole almonds
1/3 cup dessicated coconut
1 cardamom pod (or more if you're feeling brave/in need of more zing)
1 tbsp honey or favourite syrup
1 tbsp sultanas
1/4 cup cacao butter (Lucy's note: this gives me migraines so I use half white choc and half coconut oil instead).
Zest of 1/2 lemon
Pinch crystal sea salt
To Make:
Split open the cardamom pod and extract the seeds for use then grind together the oats, almonds, cardamom seeds and salt to a rough flour (not too fine).
Melt the honey/syrup and cacao butter together over a bowl of hot water then add in the lemon rind. Mix everything together to form a dough. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and shape the dough into little cookies.
Freeze or chill until firm, then enjoy with your favourite hot beverage. These are particularly good dunked in my decadent Morning Macaccino.
If you liked this recipe, do try out my first ebook, Real Food Raw, which contains lots of fun, quick and easy wholefood recipes especially created for a free-from diet. There's also lots of great tips and help in there to support you in transitioning between food habits, and how you can make it easy for yourself.
Zoë Foster is a Life Energy Alchemist at LifeEnergyAlchemy.com, where she helps soul-driven women balance their natural energetic highs and lows and find their own rhythm - one that maximises both creative output AND self-care on a whole-person level. Zoë is also a writer and yoga teacher and lives on the edge of magical Dartmoor in Devon, UK with her young family.
You can connect with Zoë on Facebook, Instagram, Periscope, Pinterest and Twitter at @ZoeKMFoster.
Friday, September 11, 2015
Italian Almond Delights - Ricciarelli (Gluten free, dairy free)
These are my go to, GF baking indulgence. Super fast, from first craving to in your mouth in under half an hour, these little Italian confections use ingredients that I tend to always have in my store cupboard, make the kitchen smell divine and give you a great homemade sugar hit... and last for days.
Perfect for dainty afternoon teas, as a mid-morning coffee biscuit or an after dinner petit fours, they are grown up treats of understated elegance. I am not a fan of marzipan, but these, these... oh my. The vanilla and the lemon zest cut the almondy-ness... I have decreased the almond essence hugely... but if you hate marzipan, then leave it out altogether.
This is my version of Nigella Lawson's recipe from her How to Be a Domestic Goddess. She recommends leaving them to dry for 24 hours before baking. That has NEVER happened in our house.
2 large egg whites
225g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond essence
250g ground almonds (have an extra 50g on standby just in case the mix is too soggy)
icing sugar, for dusting
225g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond essence
250g ground almonds (have an extra 50g on standby just in case the mix is too soggy)
icing sugar, for dusting
Line a baking sheet with baking paper.
With an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until they are stiff and
then gradually whisk in the sugar. It will end up a bit like marshmallow fluff. Add the lemon zest, vanilla and
almond essences. Then add the ground almonds, folding in with a spatula - it will become quite a dense
mixture. If it is too wet to shape (see below) then add the remaining 50 g of ground almonds.
Shape tablespoonfuls into diamond shapes and place (evenly spaced) on
the tray. It is a sticky mixture, and Nigella suggests dusting your
hands periodically with icing sugar while you are shaping. Roll them in sieved icing sugar before putting on the baking tray.
Heat the oven 140C (slightly lower if yours is a fan oven), and cook for 20 minutes. They'll be pale and a
little cracked when done. Check and see, if they are still very soft you will need to pop them back in for a little longer. Under done they are a moist and lightly chewy, the more they cook, the harder and chewier they become.
Cool and then dust with more icing sugar if you wish. They keep really well for several few days in an airtight container, but good luck getting them to last
that long!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Friday, August 28, 2015
Lemon Drizzle Cake (Gluten free)
So... my first recipe... back in the saddle. I feel I should be charging for this. Or set up production.
It is my own creation... and you REALLY cannot tell that it is not PROPER cake... rather than gluten free.
It is golden, with a soft crumb, moist, bouncy, crumbly. JUST LIKE PROPER CAKE.
And best of all it's super flexible. I have used it as an all-purpose sponge mix for making:
It is my own creation... and you REALLY cannot tell that it is not PROPER cake... rather than gluten free.
It is golden, with a soft crumb, moist, bouncy, crumbly. JUST LIKE PROPER CAKE.
And best of all it's super flexible. I have used it as an all-purpose sponge mix for making:
- Vanilla Cupcakes
- Banana Muffins
- Upside Down Plum Cake
- Speedy Steamed Sponge Pudding
- And our favourite... Lemon Drizzle Cake
In fact you can replace this flour mix in pretty much any standard sponge cake recipe. And it works!
Every person who eats it cannot believe it's not real cake... and asks for the recipe.
So here it is:
Weigh your eggs (in their shells) - as with a Victoria Sponge. We will go on the average of 45 grams an egg.
So your flour mix for a four egg recipe - which is what we use for our Lemon Drizzle Squares.
70g cornflour
70g ground almonds
15g brown rice flour
15g tapioca flour
10g potato flour
Lemon Drizzle Squares
180g butter
170g sugar
180g of magic GF flour (above)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
zest of one lemon finely grated
Cream butter and sugar with electric whisk, add other ingredients and beat. put into small roasting tray - 30x20cm. Bake for 20 mins at 180 C till golden, and a toothpick comes out clean.
When out, leave in tin, sprinkle over 2 tablespoons of caster sugar and pour over the juice of the lemon. Cut into squares.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
I'm BACK and baking!
Hi folks!
I'm back. Two things coincided - my writing career taking off... four books in two years... suddenly I went from hobby blogger, to professional writer, and needed to focus my time on my other blogs... and books. I was having to write all the time, for everything, I didn't have the time to bake, take pics, and WRITE. ONE. MORE. BLOG.
Another factor feeding into me not baking was discovering that I had a wheat intolerance. And cutting sugar right back. Suddenly the love of my life cake... and baking... was no more. For months I was in mourning. If I couldn't bake proper cake, then I wouldn't bake anything.
Next came months of experimentation with gritty, nasty, gooey, YUCK, gluten free recipes.
And now here I am... mainly wheat-free - except for the odd gluten loaded, I'll risk the consequences recipes of sheer delight.
And I missed this place. I missed food writing. Sharing recipes.
Teaching food blogging the past couple of years at the Ballymaloe Cookery School I felt a bit of a fake... because though I started off food blogging I had let the Queen of Puddings go. Sure I was Darina's blogging consultant - I get to live my food writing dreams vicariously through my work with her.
But MY CAKES... I miss sharing them.
It took my best friend ( a TOTALLY impartial critic) to tell me a few weeks back that she was just starting to work her way through my recipes here, and "oh, what a treasure trove of goodies you have there."
So I'm back. To share my recipes... and make this world a little better through my love of good cake. Don't set your watch by me... Don't count on perfect photos.
But the recipes.
You know you can trust them!
I'm back. Two things coincided - my writing career taking off... four books in two years... suddenly I went from hobby blogger, to professional writer, and needed to focus my time on my other blogs... and books. I was having to write all the time, for everything, I didn't have the time to bake, take pics, and WRITE. ONE. MORE. BLOG.
Another factor feeding into me not baking was discovering that I had a wheat intolerance. And cutting sugar right back. Suddenly the love of my life cake... and baking... was no more. For months I was in mourning. If I couldn't bake proper cake, then I wouldn't bake anything.
Next came months of experimentation with gritty, nasty, gooey, YUCK, gluten free recipes.
And now here I am... mainly wheat-free - except for the odd gluten loaded, I'll risk the consequences recipes of sheer delight.
And I missed this place. I missed food writing. Sharing recipes.
Teaching food blogging the past couple of years at the Ballymaloe Cookery School I felt a bit of a fake... because though I started off food blogging I had let the Queen of Puddings go. Sure I was Darina's blogging consultant - I get to live my food writing dreams vicariously through my work with her.
But MY CAKES... I miss sharing them.
It took my best friend ( a TOTALLY impartial critic) to tell me a few weeks back that she was just starting to work her way through my recipes here, and "oh, what a treasure trove of goodies you have there."
So I'm back. To share my recipes... and make this world a little better through my love of good cake. Don't set your watch by me... Don't count on perfect photos.
But the recipes.
You know you can trust them!
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