Spiced Snozzcumber Cake (gluten free and lacto/dairy free - or not!)

A seriously delicious and moist cake that no-one will guess the secret ingredient to!

OK, don't worry, you don't have to get hold of 'snozzcumbers' to make this - large courgettes or marrow will do the job! Why 'Snozzcumber Cake'? Well, it was World Book Day and I went to work dressed as the BFG (complete with big ears, cape, dream blower, a bottle of Frobscottle, and of course some 'snozzcumbers' - which were extremely large courgettes) and decided to make a cake from said snozzcumbers to take into work for the rest of the staff to enjoy.

If you like carrot cake, I think you'll love this, as I use similar spicing to that I use in my carrot cakes, but use pecan nuts instead of walnuts, and a maple flavoured cream cheese frosting to complement the flavours. As my daughter has to have a gluten free diet, it is gluten free - but you'd never know as it is so delicious and moist! If you're not on a gluten free diet, feel free to use normal plain flour instead. Either way it will be seriously delicious!

Makes a 9 inch square cake (so up to 16 portions depending on how you want to cut it!). 

Cherry Bakewell Flapjack Bars - Gluten Free

Delicious, moist, flapjacks with the flavours of a cherry bakewell tart!

Since my daughter had to go on a gluten free diet, we've tried a fair few sweet and savoury snacks - some quite tasty, some... well... let's just say we didn't try them more than once!

If you're gluten free, you're probably aware of how horrendously expensive gluten free products are, with even just the basics often costing in excess of four times their gluten-y equivalent! So, it makes sense to make your own food from scratch, where you can, as it makes the cost a lot more manageable. Even when buying gluten free oats from the supermarket costs four times more than normal oats, you're still making a huge saving on baking your own treats with them - just imagine how much more it costs to buy the finished baked goods gluten free!

Anyway, I digress. There was a nice Bakewell-style slice that my children both liked, and so I came up with a home-made alternative - which I have made using predominantly oats, with plenty of almonds so it's more filling, and a bit healthier than just a cakey slice on top of pastry - plus who wants to make pastry, right?!

Makes 40 bars at 169 calories each (or cut these in half to make mini squares for lunchboxes / treats at 84 calories each, so they're under the 100 calorie mark!) - although if you want to cook fewer / use a smaller tin, you can easily halve this quantity, and just cook for about ten minutes or so less.

Gluten Free Luxury Hot Cross Buns

Why not have a go at making your own gluten free hot cross buns?

It's actually not that difficult - and even easier making gluten free ones than making 'normal' wheat flour buns as there's no kneading involved. I adapted the ingredients from my sourdough hot cross buns recipe to get the same flavours from a gluten free mix this year and they're pretty tasty gluten free too!

I've included plenty of tips in the method to help you get the best (and least messy!) results, but feel free to do things like proving the buns your own way, if you'd rather cover them in oiled clingfilm and stick them in the airing cupboard, or whatever! 

The spices give the option to use the lower amount for more subtle spicing, or vice versa if you like a nicely spiced hot cross bun full of flavour. I hope you enjoy making and eating these buns - please leave me a comment below and let me know what you think!

Makes 8

Mia's Easy Gluten Free Swiss Roll

A gluten free cake that's easy to make, and turns out beautifully.

I say easy to make, because this one was made by my 12 year old daughter, Mia, and with a little tweak to make it gluten free so she could eat it, the sponge turned out beautifully light and fluffy!

Because she made it gluten free, and it turned out so well, I wanted to record and save the recipe so that she can make it again, and also to share with anyone else who has to cater for gluten free diets and wants an easy recipe.

Serves 8 to 10 slices (above is just under half of what was left, when I realised I ought to take a photo!).

Orange and Almond Cake with Goldenberries and Cardamom (Gluten and Grain Free)

A moist, decadent almond cake with a hint of the exotic.

As ever, I was on the quest to create delicious cakes that can be enjoyed without gluten (for my daughter) without any of the dryness or grittiness that can sometimes be a downfall of gluten free cakes.

As this one is naturally gluten free because it is made with ground almonds, there is none of that - just a delicious moist and tasty cake that everyone will enjoy. In fact, it turned out so delicious that I didn't actually want to share it with the children!! (But I did, of course, because sharing is caring!!). This is based on a traditional Italian orange and almond cake, so if you can't get hold of goldenberries, you don't have to add them - or you could substitute some dried fruit of your choice (e.g. sultanas or chopped apricots). Cardamom is also an addition of mine, which is a spice I love to pair with oranges, so if you're not a fan, don't add it - although I think it's delicious!

It's very rich, and I think once it has had its dusting of icing sugar, with the complex flavours it is easily sophisticated enough to serve at a dinner party (and probably too posh for lunchboxes)! Either way, I highly recommend it, even though you might suspect me to be biased. I'd say there are at least 12 servings, given the richness.

Healthy Banana and Blueberry Muffins - Grain Free and Refined Sugar Free

Moist and delicious blueberry muffins without the guilt of refined sugar and flour!

I do like to pick up a bargain when out shopping (you might have already noticed this), and a bunch of very ripe bananas together with a punnet of blueberries picked up at the end of the day will give you a nice batch of muffins for the week (plus enough to freeze the extras!).

On top of this, I've been playing with different ways to bake tasty treats for my children without using wheat flour, as we found out not-so-long-ago that my daughter can no longer eat it. Plus, there's no harm in anyone cutting refined sugar out of their diets! There are of course natural sugars in the fruit, and the honey, so it's not a sugar free treat, therefore they are healthy compared with conventional muffins, and still to be eaten in moderation!

However, because of the high protein content in these muffins from the eggs and nuts, they are satisfyingly filling, so just one will keep you going for a while! 

Makes approximately 30 muffins. 140 calories per muffin (extra for optional crunchy topping, calories in square brackets).

Mincemeat Stars (including Gluten Free alternatives)

A delicious alternative to traditional mince pies at Christmas time!

Several years ago, I saw these beautiful little traditional Finnish Christmas tarts called 'joulutorttu', which are traditionally filled with prune jam, that I thought would work wonderfully as a mince pie alternative filled with mincemeat instead.

I played around with them, trying different ways of making sure they didn't burst or come apart during baking, and looked pretty, and this is what I came up with.

You could make your own mincemeat and my easy (gluten free) puff pastry (Thermomix methods for both), or you can simply use a pack of pre-rolled puff pastry and a (411g) jar of mincemeat if you're pushed for time and want the easy alternative. Either way they'll have a lovely home-made look, keep well, and are perfect to offer to unexpected guests that drop by over the festive period, so make a nice little stash as they're very more-ish!

Makes either 20 mini mincemeat stars (my preference), or you could make eight large ones.

Gingerbread Men / Christmas Gingerbread Shapes (includes Thermomix method)

For many people gingerbread is synonymous with the festive period, and it's also pretty easy to make and fun to decorate!

As well as being delicious, it also keeps well, so makes wonderful gifts and even decorations for your tree (providing you haven't got any sneaky snackers in your household!).

Gingerbread my son made for his friends - see, it's that easy a child can make it!

With the icing sugar, if you're making these for anyone who has a compromised immune system, is pregnant or elderly etc., you can either purchase cartons of pasteurised egg white from most supermarkets, or buy powdered egg white in packets to make up, as an alternative to using a raw white egg white.

Gingerbread drizzled with white chocolate and shortbread drizzled with dark chocolate.

As an alternative they are also nice drizzled with white or dark chocolate. I've made them drizzled with white chocolate before, and packaged up with shortbread drizzled with dark chocolate, which made a really pretty contrast.

My son rolling out his final tray of gingerbread, there were three trays altogether.

This yields three baking sheets of biscuits - so approximately 30 larger shapes, or 60 small and medium mixed shapes.

Apple and Blackberry Flapjack Crumble with Custard (includes Thermomix method)

Now that autumn is here, apples and blackberries are plentiful and often free, if you know where to look!

And what better pudding to warm you up on a chilly evening and share with the family (or not!). Best of all, you can make plenty and freeze once assembled for a ready-to-cook dessert, or if you prefer freeze leftovers once you've cooked it.

If you're not a huge fan of blackberries, you can use another berry or fruit of your choice to the same weight, or simply add a couple of extra apples. I like to use a mixture of cooking apples (Bramley) and eating apples (Gala / Cox / Braeburn or similar) for contrasting textures and flavours. Really, you can substitute pretty much any autumn fruits you like - you don't have to use apples - just moderate the sugar to your taste, cover in crumble and bake until bubbling around the edges and golden on top!

Not so long ago, I had a crumble which had a custard layer between the fruit and the crumble - and I have to say it was a very pleasant experience, which I think stops the fruit from making the bottom of the crumble a big soggy lump - so I have included a method for making your own custard to do the same - you don't have to do this, you can just serve custard on the side - or, of course, you can cheat and buy a couple of cartons of good quality thick custard, and use those in instead! Either way, it's optional (but very nice, so I do recommend giving it a go!).

Makes two crumbles which serve six generous portions each, but you could easily half this to make just one (I make one to bake, and then split the rest between small containers to freeze in double portions). Sorry, but I just don't think this is one to count calories on, for a change!!

Mia's Luscious Little Lemon Cakes (includes Thermomix method)

It's not often I'm this naughty, but it was for a good cause so it's allowed, right?

My daughter wanted to make some little cakes to sell at school to raise money recently, and we wanted to make something simple, and universally appealing.

Fairly cakes seemed like a simple solution, so we made this lemony version, and iced them with a little lemon-flavoured buttercream, and they turned out absolutely delicious! If you want to make plain / vanilla fairy cakes, simply swap the lemon for 2 tsp vanilla extract.

Makes 24 cakes, and plenty of lemon buttercream to pipe on top! We only put a small amount on, which meant we had the same amount again left, so you could easily cover the cakes with it - whether you pipe it in with a small nozzle, or swirl on with the back of a spoon (much easier!).

Luxury Sourdough Hot Cross Buns (incudes Thermomix tips)

Using a sourdough starter instead of commercial yeast makes these hot cross buns much easier on your digestive system, and gives them a lovely depth of flavour.

It hasn't become that apparent on my blog yet, but I've become an avid fan of sourdough baking. I've just posted how to get your own simple sourdough starter off the ground in four days, so that now I can share some of the things I've been baking - you can find the instructions here - and there's no special equipment needed, you'll be glad to know, just (rye) flour and water!

You can, of course, 'cheat' and beg, borrow or buy a sourdough starter rather than getting your own going, but it's easy enough to do, and I think more satisfying! So, it took a little experimentation to get the spicing levels and amount of dried fruit to my tastes, and I've given you the option to include some wholemeal flour in the final dough if you want, which is more absorbent and gives you a firmer dough which is a little easier to work with, and has a little more depth to it - but they're delicious either way!

One Minute Banana, Date and Buckwheat Loaf (includes Thermomix instructions)

A deliciously moist and filling fruit loaf, perfect with a mug of tea, or in packed lunches for a wheat free, gluten free refined sugar free treat.

So, recently I've been trying to come up with filling yet healthy savoury and sweet snacks that I can make, bake and freeze in portions to add to my childrens' lunchboxes to sustain them throughout the day at school. Of course, that's not to say that this isn't also a great treat for grown-ups too... (It is, it is!!)

I'm not the world's biggest fan of bananas or dates on their own, but this was really tasty with the addition of a couple of spices - and also, most people would be hard pressed to guess that it wasn't made from wheat (there's no reason you can't substitute wheat flour, or spelt if you're not cooking gluten free and you want to, you may just need to slightly adjust the amount of liquid added. If cooking gluten free, ensure your buckwheat flour is certified gluten free).

Having an abundance of dried fruit in the cupboards, and several bags of buckwheat flour (which I'd put into a cheese and vegetable quiche/flan-type thing that had turned out nicely the day before - recipe to follow, of course), when I noticed three bananas starting to go a bit freckly, I decided to wing it, and see if I could actually bring them all together in cakey unity - and as luck would have it, it turns out I could so I'm sharing the recipe with you too! (And also so I can make it again - or even better, give the recipe to someone else not a million miles away to make, when we run out!).

So, without further ado, the recipe. If you're using a normal food processor, just blitz all the ingredients (except for the raisins) together until combined with the dates being relatively finely chopped, and then fold in the raisins by hand until evenly distributed throughout the mix. It will probably just take a bit longer than 30 seconds to combine and chop everything for the first stage.

Makes 12-16 slices (I cut each slice into two halves for lunchboxes, to give 24+ portions - I might even work out the calories later to see how it lies in the land of treats!)

Easy Gluten Free Puff Pastry - (Method for Thermomix or Vitamix or food processor)

There's absolutely no need to dread making pastry (you're not alone, I have for many years!), you just need a fail-safe recipe and you can whip up a batch in minutes, and it's deceptively easy too!

This makes a fantastically light and flaky, (rough) puff pastry, perfect for sausage rolls, pie lids, savoury or sweet tarts or tartlets etc. and you would never even guess it was gluten free. It will rise even more when it's not wrapped around fillings, too!

          

I’m not sure whether a normal food processor will cope with the ice cubes and frozen butter for the pastry (see the paragraph below in italics if you want to have a go with a normal food processor), you will need something high-powered that can cope with frozen food specifically (e.g. Thermomix, Vitamix or similar etc.). 

If you don't have a high-powered food processor, you could make it using super-chilled butter, and iced water instead of ice cubes (add ice-cubes to 65ml of water, and drain off the iced water and measure again when you're ready to use it), but you will need to tweak the technique a little to suit you and your machine.

And if you like the look of these delicious meat-free, gluten free, nut free sausage rolls, click here for the recipe!

Deliciously Dark Chocolate Jaffa Cakes - Gluten, Dairy, Nut and Grain Free with Natural Orange Jelly (includes Thermomix method)

Think Jaffa cakes - but with a rich dark base instead of a light sponge, and an orange filling made from fresh orange juice and zest, topped with delicious dark chocolate...

These started out as a pleasant accident with coconut flour chocolate cookies (i.e. they turned out more like cakes than cookies!) - which I decided would be great as a base for dark chocolate Jaffa-style cakes, but with a natural orangey filling. I'd seen a handful of recipes for 'normal' sponge-based Jaffa-style cakes in the past (i.e. wheat flour, sugar and butter), but these all had a suggestion of using a packet of orange flavoured jelly melted with less water than usual - and to be honest, I never really liked the flavour of artificial tasting packet-jelly even as a child.

So I plotted and I schemed, and I decided that reducing down some freshly squeezed orange juice, along with the grated zest would have a much nicer taste (and far fewer colourings and flavourings!) as the orange filling, and given that the chocolate 'cake' part was made with coconut oil rather than butter, putting dark chocolate on the top would keep it dairy free.

If you're not looking to make the GF DF variety, and just want normal cake bottoms, you could make plain or chocolate cake batter, and just put a tbsp or so in the bottom of muffin tins instead - or, you could make Jaffa muffins by using the orange and melted chocolate toppings on top of muffins - or even better, on top of chocolate Magic Bean Cake muffins, for a really delicious twist! See here for MBC recipe.

This recipe makes 16 dark chocolate Jaffa style cakes at 137 calories each (if you're counting) [calories in square brackets].

Coconut and Lemon Magic Bean Cake (includes Thermomix method)

So, travelling beyond the original dark and decadent chocolate 'Magic Bean Cake', here is a more summery version...

Moist and zingy, with little crunches from the coconut and a slightly crumbly texture - if you love lemon cakes, you will love this and you'll have fun getting people trying to guess what the 'secret ingredient is'! (They won't).

Another great bonus of this cake, is that it's gluten free, grain free and nut free (coconuts are seeds, see here for more information regarding allergies and make sure you check with anyone with a nut allergy), and you can also make it dairy free if you want, by using coconut oil (the solid white variety, preferably extra virgin) instead of butter!

I find that because the cake is so rich and moist, you don't need much - between four of us, we only managed to demolish a quarter at the first sitting, having a couple of modest slices each. It's gorgeous served with fresh raspberries, blackberries or strawberries and a dollop of Greek yoghurt, whipped cream or creme fraiche - maybe with a little lemon curd swirled in if you're being naughty!

I'd say this serves 16, if you cook in a ring tin and cut into slices about 1.5 to 2cm (as in photo) and have a couple or so per serving. 188 calories for a 16th of the cake serving on this basis. Or if you just want a little treat, have the one small slice instead of two, for 94 calories! Alternatively, bake as individual little cupcakes / muffins and reduce the cooking time to around 20 minutes - you could even push a few raspberries into each muffin before baking, and sprinkle with a little extra dessicated coconut. [Calories in square brackets below]

Chocolate Buttercream / Icing / Frosting (includes Thermomix method)

Rich, chocolatey and best reserved for special occasions!

This will easily cover a cake up to 30cm / 12inches, and is delicious on fairy cakes / cupcakes etc. too. You can also use to sandwich a cake together - it should do two layers if you don't spread it too thickly. The cake won't need to be refrigerated, although you can do if you wish, and the icing will become firm if you do.

It's very quick to whip up and easy to spread or pipe. Here it's been spread rather generously on a chocolate 'Magic Bean Cake' (recipe here).

Magic Bean Cake

So, the mysterious and legendary 'Magic Bean Cake' has landed...

Dark and decadent, rich, moist and deeply chocolate-y, if you love chocolate, you will love this. It's a real keeper, and you'll have fun getting people trying to guess what the 'secret ingredient is'! (They won't).

This cake is a bit of a sensation - there are versions everywhere now. I originally started off with a version from the Australian Thermomix recipe community (there's even more than one there!) and wanted to convert it and share my version with my friends who don't have a Thermomix or similar (this method also includes the Thermomix instructions in italics - ignore anything in italics if you're not using a Thermomix).

I find that because the cake is so rich and moist, you don't need much - between four of us, we only managed to demolish a quarter, having a couple of modest slices each. It's gorgeous served with raspberries, blackberries or strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream, creme fraiche or thick and creamy yoghurt (we had it with home-made yoghurt made with creamy milk from Jersey cows and little wild strawberries picked from the back garden - yum!), and would be to-die-for with some dark cherries, especially if just simmered down a little with some of their juice and a little sugar... the possibilities are endless (see tips for more ideas and flavours for cooking the cake)!

I'd say this serves 16, if you cook in a ring tin and cut into slices about 1.5 to 2cm (as in photo), and have a couple or so per serving. 160 calories for a 16th of the cake serving on this basis. Or if you just want a little treat, have the one small slice instead of two, for 80 calories! [Calories in square brackets below]

Orange, Pistachio and Cardamom Cake (including Thermomix method)

My little twist on a traditional Greek orange cake...

Very easy to make in that it can't really go far wrong as it's one of those 'throw-it-all-in-and-blend' cakes, so if you're wary of baking then this is a great cake to have a go at! Rises magnificently (as you can see from the photo below, it more than doubled in size) and comes out with a light, moist and fluffy centre, and a thin, crisp, golden crust.

I served it with fresh orange segments (pith removed, by peeling the whole orange with a sharp knife then cutting out the segments) and some Greek yoghurt (or you could whip up some cream) with a little orange zest and honey whipped into it, scattered with chopped pistachios.

Serves 12-16, 353 calories per serving for a sixteenth of the cake (not including yoghurt, cream, extra nuts etc.). [Calories in square brackets, for enquiring minds who like to know these things]

Chocolate Brownies with a Twist

Oh, these are naughty, very, VERY naughty - there is no expense spared here, and not a calorie saved! 

Well, they're chocolate brownies, and I'm a chocoholic, so what else would you expect? There is NO compromising where chocolate is concerned in this house!

However, if you're trying to be good, and want a leetle, leetle there is the option to cut them into little baby brownies and 'reduce' the calories that way. But be careful, they are DANGEROUSLY more-ish...