Belinda's Apple & Brandy Cake

We have been given very generously lots of cooking & eating apples - so another apple recipe from Belinda (www.pamperedchef.biz/belindawood) has really helped to reduce our bountiful supply of apples!

I slightly amended it to make it gluten and sugar free - we had some lovely friends over for a bbq and there was only one bit left! Definitely needs to be served slightly warm with custard or ice-cream!! Absolutely delicious

165g butter plus another 50g (room temp if possible)

165g Xylitol (or sugar) plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling

2 free range eggs

250g Brown Rice Flour

125g of apple sauce plus 5 more tablespoons (I made loads from cooking apples & lots of Xylitol)

3 tbsp brandy

2 tsp baking powder (gluten free)

4 eating apples

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Serve with Alpro custard or Booja Booja ice-cream

This recipe is so easy - I used my square baker and I lined it with greaseproof paper to make it easier to take out later.

Cut up the 50g of butter and sprinkle all over the base with a couple of tbsp of Xylitol. Peel the eating apples, core them, cut them into chunks and then decorate them over the bottom.

Put all the rest of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk together until smooth and quite runny - add more apple sauce if too stiff. (if you forget to take butter out of the fridge then cut into small chunks & then whisk alone until it becomes soft & smooth - then add all the other ingredients

Pour the mixture over the apples, smooth flat and pop into a preheated oven (180C) for 25 mins or until a knife comes out clean.

Now gently pop out onto a wire wrack, pull off the greaseproof paper & see your lovely design of apples! Cut it into squares, pile onto a plate once cooled a little and serve with dairy free custard and Booja Booja ice-cream (get from health food shops) - absolutely delicious!

What to do with lots of left over Potato Salad!

We had a lovely couple get married here last weekend - they gave us a huge bowl of delicious potato Salad. I thought of making a cottage pie, but I forgot to take the mince out the freezer! So this is what I made instead and incredibly even my very carnivorous husband loved it!

Shepherdless Pie with left over potato salad

Lots of sweet vegetables, such as peppers, carrots, swede and other vegetables you fancy!
Local cold pressed rapeseed oil
Onion
Garlic
Good quality Vegetable Bouillon stock & fresh herbs if you fancy
Left over potato salad
Cheese

Use a couple of pieces of veg per person. Pop them into a food processor with the S blade and whizz them up. Start with the onions, whizz and then pop them into a large frying pan with a good drizzle of rapeseed oil. Once softened add the rest of the whizzed up vegetables and garlic and gently stir fry for 5 - 10 minutes until softened.

Pour in the stock until the veg is just covered and then let it bubble away for 20 mins until the stock has mostly evaporated.

Pop into an oven proof dish, mash gently the potato salad until the whole potatoes are broken up. Spread across the top of the vegetable mixture and then grate lots of cheese ontop.

Put into a preheated oven about 180C for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is brown and bubbling.

Magic Quiche

I am a huge fan of Cyndi O'Meara, she is all about just natural foods & is quite inspiring!! This is one of her recipes.

I have always loved a beautifully homemade quiche with wonderful local ingredients - but let's face it - who really has time to make pastry, part bake it and everything else involved!!!!

Well - see what you think of this - I thought it was fab & you can choose any filling that you fancy! Not only is it quick but it magically creates a crust.

Magic Quiche

3 organic free-range eggs

1/2 cup of ricotta cheese

1 cup of rice milk or milk

1/2 cup gluten free flour (Dove's is great or Brown Rice flour)

1 tsp of gluten free baking powder

1 tbsp local cold pressed rapeseed oil

1/2 tsp of pink himalayan salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Filling

Smoked back bacon (cut into pieces & grilled)

Cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

Preheat oven to 180 C

Combine all ingredients and mix well

Pour into a glass dish and bake for 30-40 mins until cooked through. Let it cool for atleast 5-10 mins to make easier to remove from dish.

Death by Chocolate - delicious, easy & quick!

This is the easiest cake & the kids can help too - no whisk needed so less cake mix to remove from the ceiling! This is from Mary Berry with a few ingredient alterations!!

Death by Chocolate

275g Brown Rice Flour (or plain flour)

1 1/2 tsp bicarb of soda

1 1/1 tsp gluten free baking powder

215g of Xylitol or raw cane caster sugar

3 tbsp maple syrup or Golden syrup

3 eggs, beaten

225ml cold pressed rapeseed oil

225ml rice milk (or milk)

Icing

450g of good quality plain chocolate

200g butter

Grease two 8inch loose-bottomed sandwich tins

Preheat oven to 160C.

Sift into a bowl all dry ingredients and then add the sugar. Make a well in the middle and then add all the liquid ingredients.

With a wooden spoon, beat until well combined. Pour into the cake tins and pop into the oven for 35 mins. They are ready when they are well risen and jump back when pressed.

After 5 mins, remove from tins and cool in wire rack. Then with a bread knife cut both in half horizontally - so you have 4 thin round cakes.

Make the icing by breaking up the chocolate and cutting up the butter into chunks and pop into a bowl over boiling water - ensure you keep stirring.

Put a tray under the first thin round cake - pour some icing over and spread with a spatula. Lay on the next cake, pour some more icing and spread again. Keep repeating until all four are covered in icing - ensure you let it dribble all down the sides too.

If you can stop yourself from eating the run off in the tray, then pour that back over the cake! If it is really hope - it is an idea to leave this cake in the fridge!!!

Then with lots of red berries such as strawberries and raspberries - cover and eat - this is such a treat for a birthday cake or just a delicious afternoon treat!

Cheats Cauliflowers Cheese!!

As much as we love Cauliflower cheese, we do not always have the time to make a lump free delicious cheese sauce. So here is a very quick alternative that my kids love - I also take advantage of adding in vegetables that they like to this too!

Cheats Cauliflower Cheese (& Broccoli)

6 Cauliflower florets

6 Broccoli florets

250g tub of ricotta cheese

2 eggs

grated cheese

Pink Himalayan salt

Pepper

Cut the cauliflower and broccoli into florets and pop into boiling water for 5 mins. Pop into a baking tray, I am a huge fan of stone ware so I used the Pampered chef square baker.

Mix together the ricotta and eggs, beat with a hand whisk and season liberally with salt and pepper.

Drain the veg pop into the square baker and pour over the ricotta egg mix, toss until all veg is covered. Then grate cheese over the top, use as much as you want - I cover nice and thickly as kids really love it and makes it more cheesy!

Pop into a hot open for 15 mins or until bubbling and brown.

Serve immediately....yummy!

'Ave a Banana'! 2 uber quick puds for all

Bananas are only in our house for a few days at the beginning of the week, the kids just love them! So I always plan some early week banana puddings before they all go!

Here are 2 great recipes Quick Banana Ice-Cream and Quick Banana and Cinnamon Pud, both can literally be made in 5 mins! I have often already sat the kids down to their main course before embarking on the pud!

Quick Banana Ice-Cream

This recipe comes from Good Food Magazine and is soooooo easy

When you buy bananas remember to buy a few extra, peel them, break or chop into chunks and pop into the freezer.

4 bananas

Rice milk or cows milk

Xylitol/Agave Nectar or Unrefined Caster Sugar

Using a blender or Food processor, pop the chopped up frozen banana in with 4 tbsp of banana and tbsp of sweetener. Whizz and then taste and add more milk or sweetener to get the desired consistency and flavour. Then serve and pour over some chocolate sauce or toffee sauce. Any spare is popped into the freezer in a plastic tub and my boys love this for breakfast too!

Quick Banana and Cinnamon Pud

2 Bananas (I usually make 1 banana per child)

Knob of butter

handful of raisins or sultanas

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Into a saucepan or small frying pan, pop the butter on medium heat and throw in the bananas once the butter had melted. Gently cook for a few minutes and then add the fruit and cinnamon. Serve with custard, ice-cream or just on it's own.......yuuuummmmmy!

Please do let me know any of your banana recipes!

Fabulous pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

We are huge fans of pancakes in our family! I am now quite practised and can definitely make time for pancakes for breakfast, even in our very last minute family. Oscar was happy this morning as he managed to eat 6 pancakes!

If you are particular about your ingredients, pancakes can really be a really nutritious meal! What makes our pancakes completely delicious is the chocolate sauce.

The leftovers we have for pudding - a Pancake cake!

Chocolate Sauce

(I always make this 1st - very quick)

50g Butter

50g Xylitol or raw cane sugar

25g Cocoa powder

3 tbsp of Rice Milk

Chuck all ingredients into a little saucepan and gently heat and mix really well with wooden spoon (if like me, you do not sieve the powder then you may need a little hand whisk to bash out a few little lumps!).

All done, pop into a jug

Pancakes

250g Plain flour (I always use gluten free stone ground flours)pinch of pink Himalayan salt

2 free range eggs

500ml of milk (I use rice milk)

Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil

pop flour and salt into a mixing bowl - add the eggs and half the milk. Mix with an electric whisk, bringing all the flour in from the edges, then add the rest of the milk and make sure the mixture is well whizzed up.

Heat a good quality, non stick little frying pan (poor quality frying pans, see their death with pancakes!) with a little rapeseed oil - needs to be really hot - drain off any spare oil into a pot for use for other pancakes.

Pour half a ladle full of pancake mix into the frying pan, swirl around & immediately lift edges with spatula - and now for the fun bit - Toss Your Pancake! Or you can of course flip it with the spatula if you are feeling a scared! Look even Kate has given it a go!

Pop onto the plate of the best behaved child 1st and let them get messy with Chocolate Sauce, raisins and lemon juice (if they fancy). Be creative use any additions you fancy I also love maple syrup and banana!

With the leftovers, either save for tomorrows breakfast or even better make a Pancake Cake.

Pancake Cake

left over cooked Pancakes

left over Chocolate Sauce

Put first pancake on plate, spread Chocolate Sauce over it. Lay next pancake straight on top, spread Chocolate Sauce over it and so on and so on till all ingredients are used up. Pop into the fridge and take out when ready to eat.

Cut into cake slices and serve.......soooo delicious!

The Ultimate Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes!

My lovely friend had her birthday Sunday evening - I did not have a chance to get her present in time...aaaarrrggghh!
So a delicious baked pressie was my answer. I was also very limited on time, having had a friend staying for the weekend!

So I opted for cupcakes, as they cool really quickly! I think this made about 16 (a few disappeared very quickly - a perfect pudding for the kids!). But this recipe is great for a 7 inch sandwich sponge cake.

Ultimate Lemon Drizzle Cupcakes
(this is an award winning recipe by the way!)

Cupcakes
200g Butter
200g Raw cane caster sugar
200g Flour (I used Doves gluten free plain flour)
4 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
3 lemons
100g raw cane caster sugar

Butter Icing
75g Butter
175g Icing sugar
2 tbsp Lemon juice

Beat the butter and then slowly add the sugar and keep beating until it drops off a spoon - this can take up to 10 mins. The most important part of making a really good light cake is beating the living day lights out of the butter and sugar. Then beat in each egg, one at a time. Beat in until mixed, do not beat too much as can curdle (if it does curdle just add a spoonful of flour).

Finely grate one lemon and juice juice all the lemons.

Then add the flour, lemon zest and baking powder, and gently beat in. Finally add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and beat in gently.

Then half fill cupcake papers in a cupcake baking tray and pop into preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 mins, they are ready when they pop back when gently pressed. Take them out & put them on a cooling rack.

Mix the remainder of the lemon juice (saving 3 tbsp for icing) with the 100g sugar, then spoon a spoonful onto each cupcake - to give the cakes the delicious crispy drizzle topping!

They should cool pretty quick 10-20mins. So prepare the icing by beating the butter and then slowly add the sugar, finally add the lemon juice (I used 3 tbsp, but taste and add to your preference!) Pop into an icing bag and do your finest icing pattern - once the cakes have cooled!

Incredible Chicken Kebabs and Home-Baked Chips with Mini cupcakes for Pud

Hey if you are ever at a loss at what to do with a free range chicken - then try this lovely recipe. I marinade in one of Jamie Oliver's - they are so quick and easy and create fabulous flavours.

Incredible Chicken Kebabs

1 free range chicken
2 handfuls of fresh rosemary
2 lemons
6 garlic cloves
10 lugs of Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil
Pestle and Mortar (or bowl and end of a rolling pin)

Cut off the breasts and leg meat off the chicken (save the rest to make into a soup the next day).
Then cut into strips about a thumb width and pop into a bowl (not metal).

Peel garlic and crush roughly in pestle and mortar, put into chicken bowl. Then using a potato peeler peel the lemon peel into strips, then cut in half and squeeze juice squashing with hands over the chicken. Then I always pop the lemons into mortar to scrape up last remnants of garlic! Pop into the chicken bowl then add the Rosemary and cold pressed Rapeseed oil. Now get your hands messy and mix all the ingredients wells.

Leave to marinade for as long as possible. Then get kebab sticks - I used wooden ones and then thread the chicken onto sticks to make 8 kebabs. The weather was really poor so I popped them under the grill instead of on the BBQ & I always do it on tin foil to catch the delicious juices. Squeeze all the oil and flavour out of the marinade over the chicken kebabs.

Grill on high, turning every few minutes until cook through - about 10-15 minutes.

Once cooked, plate up and remember to pour over the juices caught in the tin foil!


Home-Baked Chips

I really never buy freezer chips, but what I do do is buy sacks of potatoes, so that we always have loads! Then I quickly peel the potatoes, and depending on how long I have cut them into chips.

Big hurry - very small squares
Mid hurry - very thin chips
Less hurry - big chunky chips

I then place them individually onto a stone baking tray (I am a big fan of pampered chef, but you can also use baking tray!). If your tray is not big enough then just pile them in. Drizzle with cold pressed Rapeseed oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper & other other herbs you might fancy. With the chicken I just used salt and pepper on chips.

Bake in hot oven for 15 mins - 30 mins depending on size of chips and strength of your oven! With a stone I do not turn over chips - however you may need to with a baking tray.

Serve your yummy chips with your kebabs and a cucumber and tomato salad.
We had a little boys over for tea and it was a full success!

Mini Cupcakes

Cake mix
200g Gluten free flour
200g Butter or dairy free marg
200g Unrefined caster sugar
4 eggs
2 tbsp milk/rice milk
1 tsp Vanilla essence

Butter icing
350g Icing sugar

160g butter
2 tbsp milk/rice milk
vanilla essence
red colouring

If using butter, beat butter until starts to become fluffy then slowly add sugar and keep beating until it literally starts to fall off the spoon. This is the most important stage, my butter was still a little cold so it took about 10 minutes to get to the right consistency - this is really the most important part of the cake!

Then beat in the eggs one by one and then slowly whisk in the flour. Add the 2 tbsp of milk and 1 tsp of vanilla essence, whisk in.

Pop a full teaspoon of cake mix into each well of a tray for mini muffins (mine has 24 muffin holes and this mix made about 36 cakes). Bake in oven at 180C for 7-10 mins, they are ready when they spring back to your touch.

After a few minutes turn them out onto a cooling rack. By the time you have made the icing the cakes should be cool.

Again if using butter, beat until starts to go fluffy then add a bit at a time the icing sugar. Then add the vanilla essence and milk.

Put half into piping bag and pipe onto mini cakes, then add a few drops of red colour to the rest of the icing and mix, repeat until you have a lovely pink colour and then pipe onto the rest of the cakes. Makes it look like you have make 2 different types of cakes. Any cakes where the piping has gone wrong, cover with sprinkles or chocolate gratings!

Watch out these are so delicious and so easy to pop into your mouth, they can disappear very quickly!

Very Quick Meatball Spaghetti and Banana for pud

I knew that I had a lot to squeeze in this afternoon when the kids were home, so this very quick meatball dish is ready to go into oven in 10 mins and leave for as long as you want really and then another few mins to cook the pasta - then just out of the oven and enjoy!

700-1kg lean good quality minced beef

(alternatively, most supermarkets make meatballs for you, just check ingredients)

Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil

2 tins of tomato

fresh or dried herbs

bay leaf

Water & some buillon stock powder

splash of Lea & Perrins

Sugar (I use Agave nectar)

Now for the messy play with the kids. To make the meatballs literally grab a bit of beef and squash really hard into balls - you choose the size! Pop balls into frying pan of warmed rapeseed oil - fry until balls are browned. Then put meatballs into casserole dish or I use pampered chef stoneware - throw in tomatoes, sprinkling of herbs about 1 & 1/2 tsp(I try to use fresh herbs, however sometimes dried have to be used!), bayleaf and add enough water with sprinkling of stock to loosen the mix and a good few lugs of Lea & Perrins.

Pop into the oven about 180C and leave to bubble away, when you take out of the oven taste the tomato sauce and you will probably need to add a tbsp of sugar or to taste. When you are ready to feed the family. Boil up some pasta/spaghetti - I used King Soba organic buckwheat noodles and steamed some peas!

Everyone loved this and the boys faces were a picture of tomato splashes and smears!

Banana and Custard for pudding

I try not to use pre-prepared foods, however there was just no time to make custard this evening - so I used Alpro Soya Custard, even my gluten and dairy loving husband loves this custard!

1 banana per person

1 carton of Alpro Soya Custard

Chop banana & pour over cold custard. Phew now get the kids into bed and put your feet up!!!

Night in with smoked haddock and Hugh's chocolate mousse!

Obviously on a chocolate mode.....no kids last night so hubbie and I made the most of an evening alone with delicious meal that I threw together in half an hour! We were quite unpc and had a delicious bottle of red with our fish, but helped to enjoy our chocolate mousse!Smoked Haddock on Leek Colcannon Mash






Potatoes (you choose how hungry you are!)
Leeks (I used one per person - for 1 of our 5 a day!)

Butter (unpasteurised if poss*)

Cold pressed rapeseed oil

Milk/Rice Milk (or water, but use bay leaf & peppercorns too)

Slab of Naturally Smoked Haddock

* I get mine from Winchelsea Farm Kitchen


Peel potatoes & cut up small to cook quickly - boil until soft. If you are having some veg - we had broccoli, put the steamer over the about 5 minutes before potatoes are ready.


Cut up the leeks into thin rings & fry very gently in cold pressed rapeseed oil until really soft & sweet.


Cut up haddock into big slabs, (depending on how refined you are!!) I also remove the skin as I am not a fan & pop into frying pan mostly cover with milk - if it is really quality naturally smoked haddock - then no need for any other flavourings. (if using milk, add a bay leaf and some peppercorn) Simmer gently for 10 Min's until delicious! Keep milk drained off for the mash and also the soup below.


Now it should all be starting to be ready - once potatoes are soft, drain water, add a big slab of

butter, lots of Himalayan pink salt (or sea salt), pepper and mash, then add a big lug of the fish milk. Then mix in the soft, sweet leeks.


Have some warm plates on hand (if like me you always forget, get them under the hot water tap for a minute or so till they are warm), pile a big dollop of mash in the middle of the plate & lay gently a couple of slabs of haddock on top. Then finish off with your veg. This really looks delicious and even better tastes fab......very filling so do not over fill your plate....leave room for some chocolate hit!


Hugh's Chocolate Mousse





I am going through a Hugh fan currently & while writing this blog, Jamie and I are eating the left overs from yesterday and we defo think this is the best choc mousse ever!!

200g really good quality dark choc (Hugh uses 100g dark, 100g milk)

75g butter

Vanilla extract, 2 capfuls

4 eggs straight from our chicken run!

25g sugar (I used xylitol)


melt choc and butter in bain marie (bowl over saucepan of gently boiling water).


whisk egg yolks with sugar until goes pale and thick.

whisk egg whites until makes soft peaks.

Mix egg yolk mix into choc and butter mix and then gently fold into egg whites. Either put into a pretty bowl or put into individual bowls. Pop into the fridge, if you can wait!

Beware this recipe is beyond delicious!!

Leek and Potato soup using leftover smoked haddock milk!

2 leeks

bunch of spring onions (can use onion, just needed to use up my spring onions!)

Extra virgin Coconut oil or Cold pressed local Rapeseed Oil

6 small to medium potatoes

small handful of freshly picked thyme (I used our lemon thyme purely because it looked so

lovely!)
Bouillon stock - good quality
Water

Pink Himalayan Salt

Pepper
Milk from cook haddock


Cut up leeks into thin rings, thinly slice and put into saucepan with coconut oil, put a lid on and let is sweet on a gently heat, stirring regularly. Peel and cut potatoes into small pieces and add to the saucepan with the thyme - let it cook for anther 10 mins (if you have time if not just a couple of minutes).

Add enough water to cover the veg plus an inch or 2 (depending on how thick you want your soup!). Add a good sprinkling of bouillon powder over the whole saucepan. Let us gently simmer until the potatoes are very soft.


Whizz up the soup with a handheld whizzer or whatever you use. Then add the remainder of the milk from your haddock.

The result is a delicious traditional Leek and Potato soup with an incredible twist of smoked haddock - must have been good even the children loved it!!

Hazelnut Torte - Gluten, wheat and dairy free

For something really decadent to impress your friend if they are over for supper or a bbq, try this old recipe that have been rattling around in our family for donkeys years!

Hazelnut Torte

Gluten free, Wheat free and Dairy free

100g Hazelnuts

4 free range eggs

125g raw cane caster sugar (fairtrade)

For filling:

50g dairy free margarine

50g icing sugar

25g 'free from' dark chocolate

For topping:

75g raw cane granulated sugar (fairtrade)

3 tbsp water

8 hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 180C, 350F, Gas Mark 4

Grease two, 7 inch sandwich tins - line the base and sides with grease proof paper. Grind the hazelnuts in a food processor or even a coffee grinder.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until thick and creamy. Whisk the egg whites until it forms stiff peaks and you can hold the bowl above your head (love doing this stunt with the kids!)

Fold in the ground nuts and eggs whites alternatively into the egg yolk mix. Divide the mixture between the two tins. Bake for 30 mins or until set, leave in the tin for 10 mins and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Cream the marg and beat in the icing sugar. Melt the choc in a basin over a pan of hot water. Beat into the butter and icing mix. Spread the filling on one of the cooled cakes and sandwich the other ontop.

Put the sugar and water into a small pan and hea gently until the sugar has melted. Then boil rapidly until a golden caramel is reached. Using an oiled knife, spread the caramel evenly over the top of the cake. While it is soft you can mark into portions and decorate with nuts!

How hungry does that make you feel - yummy! Wondering whether we should do some cupcakes with hazelnuts?

Tomato and Onion Tart let - Gluten, Wheat and Dairy free

Something I sometimes strangely miss is the quintessential quiche!


But I then make my lovely little tomato and onion tart lets and it all melts away. I actually prefer these to their dairy & wheat laden friends, as you are left feeling great after eating them rather than really heavy after lots of dairy!


Tomato and Onion Tart let
Gluten free, wheat free and dairy free


150g Rice flour
75g fine polenta
75g potato flour
1 tsp sea salt (optional)
1 heaped tsp xantham gum
150g Dairy free margarine
1 free range egg
2 tbsp water


filling
4 onions
24 baby or mini plum tomatoes halved
8 - 12 eggs
Local extra virgin rapeseed oil


Preheat oven to 180C

So sieve all dry ingredients into a bowl. Rub in the marg until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. then slowly mix in the gently whisked wet ingredients. Then squash into a ball & knead for a few minutes to really make the xantham gum, start to bind the dough. Pop into the fridge for half an hour.

Take an onion, chop in half & then into long strips & heat in local extra virgin rapeseed oil, slowly until the onions are really soft & sweet.


Then take eight, four inch lose bottomed tart tins and cut a little bit of pastry off & push the pastry into the tin. Make as thin as possible, without making holes! Split the cooked onion between all eight tarts and spread across the bottom. Pop one half of a tomato in the middle of one of the tart tins and then place another five halves around the edge. Crack an egg into a cup, whisk with a fork and pour into the tin. Repeat this process with the other 7 tins.


Pop them into the oven for 20 mins, the egg should have risen up and be golden brown. Let them rest for a few minutes and then remove them from the tins and let cool on a baking tray. Either eat them straight out of the oven, or I find the flavour of the tomato intensifies when cold - I especially love these as fast food instead of a sandwich - they are very easy to travel in some foil. What do you think - I just love them - can someone make them for me please!

Lemon Sponge Cake - Gluten, Wheat and Dairy free

Yum, yum my children are always asking for 'Lemon cake Mummy, Lemon cake'. For two four year old boys, our Lemon cake is the ultimate.

Give it a go:

Sponge
200g Dairy free margarine
200g Raw cane sugar (fair trade)
4 free range eggs
200g Dove's Self raising flour
1 Lemon - rind & juice

Icing
(for icing on top as well just double the amounts)
200g Icing sugar
80g Dairy free margarine
2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice (or to as per your taste preference)t4



Preheat oven to 180C
Pop Marg and sugar into a bowl and beat with a hand whisk until it literally falls off the spoon - it will take a long time so be patient and think of those arm muscle building up!
Then one at a time beat in each egg (better if you whisk it slightly first with a fork).
Then fold in the flour, followed by the zest of the lemon and 1 tablespoon of juice.
Split mixture between two greased 7inch sandwich sponge tins. Pop into the oven for 20 mins or until the sponge springs back when touched. Try not to over cook. Remove from the oven, allow to rest for a few minutes and then remove from the tins & cool on a wire rack.
For icing pop icing sugar and margarine in a bowl and mix thoroughly (slowly to start with otherwise the whole kitchen will be covered in an icing sugar cloud!) then add in the 2 table spoons of Lemon juice.
Once the sponge cakes have cooled, pile the icing mix into the middle, spread & then place the second sponge on top. Yum yum, afternoon tea or pudding whatever takes your fancy!

Asparagus, Chicken, Wild Garlic and Rhubarb Three course meal

For us at Pure Flavour, raising awareness of Coeliac disease is doing what we always do.... getting gluten eaters and non gluten eaters to eat gluten free food that tastes just like the real thing!

So as usual by using as much local and seasonal produce, this is what I have come up with today and it really is so deliciously yummy.

Asparagus with Hemp Oil

Serves 2 - Gluten, Wheat and dairy free

A very simple starter, for us who are lucky to have some asparagus growing in the veggie patch, we go with a sharp knife and cup some most evenings at the moment!

250g of Asparagus

Drizzle of Hemp Oil (or other Extra Virgin oils that you like)

Sea Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Snap off the end where the asparagus naturally lets you and you are left with the best bit! Place all the tips into a bamboo steamer (you can use other steamers, but I get on best with these). Pop over a quarter full saucepan of boiling water for 5 mins (or longer if large stalks).

Pop asparagus into a pile on a slightly warmed plate, drizzle with hemp oil and liberally season with salt and pepper.

Such a delicious, nutritious and healthy starter.

Wild garlic stuffed chicken

Serves 6 - Gluten, Wheat & can be dairy free

This recipe is adapted from Sarah Raven's Garden cookbook my take on 'Alastair Little's chicken with coriander pesto'. Fantastic for a spring evening and left overs are brilliant for a picnic the next day as the flavours intensify as the chicken sits in the wild garlic pesto.

1.5kg boned local free range chicken

2 free range chicken breasts

4 slices of local streaky bacon

Large bunch of tarragon

Sprig of lemon thyme

2 cloves of garlic

1 glass of dry white wine

Local Extra Virgin Rapeseed Oil

Seasoning

A slice of lemon to serve

Pesto

50g freshly picked basil

150g freshly picked wild garlic

3 cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons of pinenuts

8 tablespoons of extra virgin rapeseed oil

3 tablespoons of finely grated parmesan cheese (just leave out if dairy free)

Preheat over to 200C/Gas Mark 6.

To make the pesto, pop all the ingredients except the cheese into a food processor, until finely chopped. Then fold in the cheese.

Flatten the deboned chicken and spread half of the pesto all over the inside. Then wrap the chicken breasts in 2 of the bacon slices and place these in the middle of the chicken pesto. Spread the rest of the pesto all over the chicken breasts and wrap the whole chicken around the breasts. Either secure with soaked cocktail sticks or sow up wtih string and big needle.

Into an oven proof dish or loaf tin that the chicken will just fit into. Put the herbs and unpeeled garlic into it, pop the chicken in and pour over the wine. Drizzle some Rapeseed oil over the bird, season with sea salt and pepper and place the rest of the bacon over the top. Cover with tin foil.

Roast for an hour and a half, but keep basting after an hour and remove the tin foil. Once cooked remove from the tin and let it sit for 1omins to rest in the tin foil. Then cut big thick slices and serve with a slice of lemon.

Heated Rhubarb with Booja Booja Vanilla ice-cream

Serves 6 - Gluten, Wheat and Dairy free

600g Rhubarb

4 tablespoons to Xylitol (or sugar)

Juice and zest of 2 oranges

Chop the rhubarb into 3 cm lengths pop into a saucepan, cover the base of the pan with orange zest and juice and add the xylitol (adjust the amount to suit your taste). Cook for 10 minutes. Serve with a large scoop of Booja Booja Vanilla Ice-cream - utterly delicious

See how many restaurants could also serve this delicious meal for those of us wanting or having to go without gluten, wheat and dairy. Delicious home cooked local and seasonal food as simple as that!

Chocolate Cookies - (GF, WF & DF)

Well my lovely friend Amanda, emailed me a delicious cookie recipe which I have tweeked to be 'free from'. One of my boys decided he wanted to make them with me and we have a yummy success, after a huge amount of cookie dough splattered around the kitchen, the cooked cookies were so delicious that rather too many than needed have been consumed!

Chocolate cookies

350g Dairy free margarine

250g Raw cane caster sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp of vanilla extract (I thought this added a bit more depth to the flavour but not essential!)

375g Gluten free flour (I used Dove's Plain flour)

1 tsp of Xantham gum (this gave it a bit more strength but not totally essential)

50g Cocoa powder

Preheat oven o 190C/Gas 5.

Cream together margarine and sugar until it is really soft and nearly falls off the spoon.

Add egg, vanilla extract, flour, xantham gum and cocoa. Mix with the whisk on a low speed. Once all combined it should form a soft dough. If you are using a cookie press do not put into the fridge or it will become too firm.

Either make your cookies in a cookie press or roll into little balls and put onto a greased baking tray. Pop into the oven for 10-12 minutes

Cool on a wire rack - they will last in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

So what are you waiting for go get that kitchen covered in cookie dough!

Rhubarb Cake (Gluten, wheat & dairy free cake)

We have some delicious asparagus popping through the soil, luckily we have neighbours, Judy and Steve who have lots of Rhubarb so we have been swapping! How lovely it is - so I peeked into Sarah Raven's lovely 'Garden Cookbook' - which by the way I absolutely love if you are growing veg & suddenly have a glut and really need inspiration to make your way through the pile of delicious produce!

So I have made a few adjustments to the recipe and it is now Gluten, Wheat & Dairy free & my word - utterly delicious!

480g rhubarb
60g brown raw cane sugar
60g dairy free marg
Grated zest of 1 orange
125g dairy free marg
175g raw cane caster sugar
3 eggs
175g Self raising Gluten free flour (I used Dove's)
1 tablespoon of rice milk (am sure you could use soya too! or even water, but it can make it crusty)

Preheat oven to 180C or Gas mark 4

Cut rhubarb up in to 5cm blocks. Melt 60g butter & 60g sugar in pan, add orange zest & remove from the heat. In a oven proof dish pour butter mix & cover the base with rhubarb.

Cream the rest of the butter and marg until light & fluffy. Beat each egg and gradually add each egg while still beating the creamed butter. Sift in the flour and milk and beat quickly into the mixture. Spread the mixture over the rhubarb with a spatula.

Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 - 50 minutes (the recipe said 30 minutes, but mine took 50 mins until a knife came out clean).

Serve with some Booja Booja Vanilla ice-cream - so utterly delicious and totally moreish!

Do not forget to take a look at our website at our amazing bespoke celebration cakes all Gluten, wheat and dairy free.

Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil - How?

After some real interest in my ranting on how important it is to use locally produced Rapeseed Oil and how much better it is for you than Olive Oil (I do still love Olive Oil, but used in the correct way) - I thought you might be interested in how it is produced.

Our wonderful partners at Quex Park have given me some information for me to share with you!

Here goes, Quex Rapeseed Oil is cold pressed, simply pressed, filtered and bottled...delicious. They just squeeze the seed and the pure oil comes out, with all the natural nutrients still fully intact & unaffected, natural colour and of course fantastic flavour.

Industrial oil extraction, pre-heat the seeds and use chemicals - although this produces a larger yield of oil per seed it seriously lowers the quality and nutritional value of the oil.

Quex only press the seed once to give only the very best oil - know as Extra Virgin Oil, it is not refined - simply pressed, filtered and bottled.

So now about the real benefits of this oil. Cold pressed rapeseed oil has been shown to help reduce high cholesterol. with a high burning point, it is ideal for roasting, stir-frying or sauteing (we use in our Pure Flavour ready meals) - unlike olive oil which denatures at high temperatures. This means that the anti-oxidant properties of rapeseed oil are maintained at a higher cooking temperature.

Cold pressed rapeseed oil contain a natural balance of omega 3, 6, and 9 oils, making it a great source of these essential fatty acids. It also contains natural Vitamin E, a powerful anti-oxidant, used by the body to fight against the effects of free radicals (ageing toxins), keeping us fresh, and full of energy (maybe for those of us without young kids!).

When pressing rapeseed oil the 'cake' left as a residue is used as a highly nutritional protein feed for the Quex Cattle! We love this so no waste either and local, therefore significantly reducing the carbon footprint usually associated with oil production.

Hope you have found this interesting - please take it upon yourselves to search out for UK rapeseed oil or local rapeseed oil. At Pure Flavour, we are passionate about sourcing as much as possible locally!

Quex Foods

This month at Pure Flavour, we are looking forward to sharing information on Quex Foods. We use their delicious Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil in our ready made meals.

We love all our local producers and hope that you will enjoy finding out more about them too!

So most importantly let's introduce you to the people! The Farm on the Quex Park Estate is fun by Farm Manager Alistair Walmesley-Cotham together with his experienced team: Terry Endicott (here he is mending some machinery in the field!), Paul Gamlen and Adam.

They grow 3,000 tonnes of potatoes - now that sounds like an incredible amount of tats! Ensuring that it is all kept local they grade and pack the potatoes at a local pack house, run by St Nicholas Court Farm (SNCF), just 3 miles up the road from Quex Park. Along side other local potato producers they sell their Kent potatoes to Kent Tesco stores - now that is fantastic. The response from customers has been extremely positive, having genuine local products grown, packed and sold in Kent is definitely a winner!

More relevant to our delicious home-made ready meals are their cereals grown. With wheat grown for the bread market and Oilseed Rape (seen flowering in this picture) and Sunflowers (a Quex Park sunflower field - so pretty) for the cold pressed oils. Sheila and Terry Bellis and Margot Walmesley-Cotham are the ones who create the highly nutritious Cold pressed Oils in their processing unit - more about how they actually manage to create the oil next week!

And finally not forgetting Angie Curwin and Karen Botha who run all the marketing and operational sides of Quex park - they are certainly very busy people!

If you are interested in finding out more info and would like to comment please do let us know!

Seasonal Vegetable Curry

A Seasonal Veg Curry that I rustled up tonight!
(if you do not have time have a look at our Kent Lamb Nirah Masala with Seasonal Vegetable curry which we sell online!)

I opened the fridge & realised that there was very little to be creative with and then bingo - veg curry.
All our veg in the fridge came from our Brede Farmers Market (East Sussex) last Friday where Charlie the veg man always gives me his special Veg! We love charlie. I thought that the Quex Park Rapeseed Oil infused with Jalapeno peppers would add a little va va voom. You can of course use any seasonal vegetables that you have in your fridge. By the way use the main part of the broccoli if you like, but the kids love the broccoli trees, so I like to saved the tops for them & I think the trunk is delicious.
If you like a mild curry use a mild curry powder or use less for less kick - this really was very hot & I can still feel my mouth slightly burning!
I have used Millet Flour - I love using lots of different Gluten free flours to thicken sauces, this worked really well. Apparently Millet flour is an ancient grain consumed by over 1/3 or the world's population. Typically it is used in African countries for making porridge or flat bread. It is considered to be one of the least allergenic and most digestible grains. It is highly nutritious with nearly 15% protein, contains high amounts of fiber, B-complex vitamins including niacin, thiamin, and riboflavin, the essential amino acid methionine, lecithin and some vitamin E. Particularly high in minerals iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium. Well to me Millet sounds pretty darn good!

Ingredients - feeds 2 with leftovers
Splash of Quex Park Rapeseed oil infused with Jalapeno peppers
Medium Onion
2 sticks of celery
1 bit of garlic
2 carrots
1/2 butternut squash
trunk of broccoli
1 tbsp Vindaloo curry powder (if you can take it!)
2 tbsp Millet flour (or another flour if you do not have the very nutritious millet flour!)
Stock
Seasoning

Accompaniment
Brown Rice (should be 50g per person - we do 100g & then have some spare for lunch the next day!)
Water
Stock bouillon

Boil the water with stock & add the rice - cook until done.

Chop finely onions & celery, heat Rapeseed oil in large saucepan & cook onions & celery over medium heat until softened. Add garlic, (squashed & finely chopped with a big knife) & fry for a few minutes. Then add curry powder & flour, & mix well - make sure enough oil to absorb the powders - if not just add a bit more oil. Let cook for a few minutes & then add your hot stock (or I add water & a few spoonfuls of stock powder!) & all veg - add enough stock so that it covers the veg, but add slowly stirring all the time.
Let simmer for 20 minutes or until veg are cooked - remember to keep slowly adding stock as it reduces. End curry should be saucy & delicious

The great thing is that you should have a bit left over, I usually add this into a bowls worth of water & a spoonful of miso paste heated up for lunch - delicious!