Category Archives: Baking / Cakes / Desserts

Chocolate Tray Bake [Gluten & Dairy Free]

Considering I’m such a chocoholic I’m surprised that I haven’t blogged about any chocolate recipes for a while! So I thought it was about time I did!

The other day, while shopping in Asda, I was stuck in a never-ending queue for the checkout and to pass the time I decided to read their Asda Magazine, when I came across a section all about tray bakes!

Now my mum has been telling me to make a traybake ever since I started blogging student friendly, gluten free grub and so I thought it’d be the perfect time to finally make one when I saw the Chocolate Smartie Cake recipe!

So yesterday I got my baking hat on and used the recipe for inspiration to whisk up a gluten free and dairy free chocolate tray bake. I waited inpatiently for it bake, iced it and was just about to sprinkle it with a tube full of smarties when I thought, ‘hang on I’ll just check to see if it contains wheat/gluten’…. and ladies and G’s, look what I saw!

That’s right, about half way through the list it finally decided to mention ‘wheat flour’ in the ingredients list, which in my opinion should have been mentioned straight away or at least on the packaging stating ‘contains wheat and gluten’.

So if you fancy making yourself a ‘Smartie-less’ gluten free and dairy free chocolate cake, then follow my recipe!

Ingredients:

 

  • 200g Gluten Free Self Raising Flour [I used Doves as it contains Xanthan Gum]
  • 2 level teaspoons of Baking Powder
  • 50g Cocoa Powder
  • 4 Eggs
  • 225g Dairy Free Margarine [I used Vitalite Dairy Free Spread]
  • 220g Sugar
  • 4 tablespoons of Soya Milk

For the icing:

 

  • 300g Icing Sugar
  • 75g Diary Free Margarine
  • 2 level tablespoons of Golden Syrup
  • 2 level tablespoons of Cocoa Powder
  • 2 tablespoons of Soya Milk

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C /Gas mark 4
  2. In a bowl, add the Gluten Free Flour and Cocoa Powder and mix together 
  3. Now add the Eggs and mix together 
  4. Add the Dairy Free Margarine, Sugar and Soya Milk and stir until evenly mixed and creamy 
  5. Grease a shallow tin/tray or line with Greaseproof paper and carefully pour the mixture in, levelling the top and pop in the oven to bake for 35/40 minutes [mine took 37] 
  6. Carefully and gently take out of the oven and pop on a wire rack to cool down. 
  7. Now for the icing; in a bowl add the Icing Sugar and Cocoa Powder 
  8. In a small pan over medium flame, add the Dairy Free Margarine, Golden Syrup and Milk and heat until melted [DON’T let it boil!] 
  9. Pour the Margerine/Golden Syrup and Milk mix into the bowl with the Icing Sugar and Cocoa Powder and stir until smooth 
  10. Once the cake has cooled, carefully pour the icing mixture on top and spread to coat evenly. 
  11. Leave to set then cut into little squares and enjoy! 

 

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Gluten, Nut and Dairy Free Orange Flavoured Cupcakes

I love this time of year. Spring is just around the corner which means daffodils are in full bloom, there’s lambs about, Kiki gets spring fever and more importantly,  the clocks go forward which means we get more sunlight in the evening [woop!].

So when Caleigh from Gluten Free[k] asked if I wanted to be part of the ‘Spring Recipe Challenge‘ which is part of  ‘The Great Gluten Free Recipe Challenge‘ I knew I couldn’t resist, especially with the fun and success of the ‘Free From and Festive Challenge‘ last Christmas!

So what is this Spring Recipe Challenge I hear you say?

Well me and the other fabulous gluten free bloggers have had to come up with gluten free recipes, without using any dairy products or nuts but we must all use one main ingredient; Oranges.

Now what I’m about to tell you may shock some of you, but the problem is…. I just don’t like orange flavoured things. I know, I know, it’s weird considering I do actually quite like Orange Juice but anything else like orange flavoured chocolate or orange flavoured anything really, I just don’t like! So what does a girl make who doesn’t like orange flavoured things, oh that’s right, orange flavoured cupcakes!

Thing is, I wanted to make a recipe that would be pretty easy to make but that both Mike and ‘Wheat Pete’, my house-mates, would also like and I know they both love their cupcakes. Whenever I make a batch of gluten free cupcakes, they’ve all been devoured in a matter of minutes by them two!

I was also so worried about baking with Oranges because I’d never baked with Oranges before but I know they turned out really well because Mike and Pete had wolfed the lot down and kept telling me with a mouthful of orange flavoured cupcake that they were really good. So here is my easy peasy orange flavoured cupcake recipe!

Oh and before I start, the photo below is for my mother dearest, who has kindly insisted on reminding me every time I bake whether or not I’ve used her cupcake stand she bought me for Christmas. So because she has vowed to cripple me if I don’t use them when she next sees me … I have finally used the cupcake stand!

Ingredients:

  • 220g Gluten Free Plain Flour [I used Doves as it contains Xanthan Gum]
  • 150g Dairy Free Margarine [I used Vitalite]
  • 150g Sugar
  • 5 tablespoons of Soya Milk
  • 3 Eggs
  • Juice of 3 Medium Sized Oranges

Method:

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C
  2. In a bowl, mix together the Sugar and Dairy Free Margarine until nice and creamy 
  3. Now add the Milk, Juice of 3 Oranges and the Eggs and mix together with the Sugar and Margerine 
  4. Add the flour and give it a really big stir 
  5. Carefully pour into cupcake cases 3/4 full, pop in the pre-heated oven and bake for 10/15 minutes. Gently take the cupcakes out and cool them on a wire rack 
  6. Ice and decorate with the prettiest of icing flowers from Asda! 

Head over to Gluten Free[k] to see the other amazing gluten free/free from bloggers that have taken part!

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Happy Pancake Day!

Today is Shrove Tuesday, which pretty much means that everyone will be flipping those frying pans,  tossing pancakes in the air and making a dozen delicious pancakes or in our case; gorgeous gluten free pancakes!

Pancakes make excellent quick meals for students as they’re ‘cheap as chips’ and because they’re so quick, you can rustle up a few for breakfast before lectures! You can also make a dozen at night if you’re burning the midnight oil studying, plus if you find you make too many, they freeze really well!

I absolutely love pancakes and when I would go for dinner at my grandads house on a Sunday and he would make the most amazing pancakes ever! I’d have them with sugar, lemon or even gravy - if I was in the mood for something savoury!

So you can imagine when I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease that I was a wee bit nervous about pancake day because I was worried the gluten free pancakes weren’t going to taste like ‘normal’ wheat pancakes.

You see, when I was first diagnosed I remember taking a little trip to The Eighth Day Co-Op on Oxford Road, Manchester. It has everything from vegan food to gluten free pasta, bread and other delights. It was here that I saw a mix to make gluten free buckwheat pancakes. These buckwheat pancakes are very popular and well liked by other gluten free peeps but sadly, they weren’t for me. It may have something to do with how I made them or I did something wrong, but they tasted like a sugarless, flat sugar puff? [The cereal with the terrifying but adorable Honey Monster].

Which is why I needed to make some ‘normal’ tasting pancakes and pronto! So on the rare occasion I went home to see my parents, I asked my Dad if he’d help me make some gluten free pancakes. So using Dove’s gluten free plain flour, he whipped up a quick pancake batter mix and made me my first batch of gluten free pancakes, I took one bite and with a mouthful of pancake, all I could manage to say was:

“Om,ma,mod! May mase mi meal manmakes!” which translates to - “oh my god, they taste like real pancakes!” *cue fanfare music*

So here is my easy and tasty gluten free pancake recipe [if you fancy gluten free American style pancakes, try this recipe]

Ingredients:

  • 100g Gluten Free Plain Flour
  • 200g Milk
  • 50g Water
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 tablespoon of Butter

 

Method:

  1. In a bowl, add the flour and make a ‘well’ in the middle 
  2. Add the egg, and with a fork or whisk, mix together the egg and flour 
  3. In a jug, or separate bowl, mix together the Milk and Water then gradually add it with the egg and flour mixture. The pancake mix should look and be, the same consistency as like single cream 
  4. Now add the Butter to the frying pan over medium flame, move the pan around to spread the butter out 
  5. Add enough pancake mix to the frying pan and cook until it starts forming bubbles on top and is golden on the bottom 
  6. Now for the fun part, you can either flip it over using a spatula or using the frying pan itself but be careful not to get in stuck on the ceiling! 
  7. Cook on the other side until golden, then pop it on a plater and serve with your favourite gluten free topping! 

 

 

Gluten Free Toppings:

  • Lemon
  • Sugar
  • Nutella
  • Fruit; Bananas, chopped Strawberries, Blueberries
  • Peanut Butter

 

 

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