Lemon Loaf Cake DF EF GF WF SF NF

This is my variation on a gingerbread loaf recipe in Pippa Kendrick's "Free From Food for Family and Friends".  It's a fabulous recipe, rises well and is so simple and quick to make.

Ingredients

• 275g Gluten-free self-raising flour (I use Doves Farm)
• 1tbsp Mixed Spice
• 1tsp additional gluten-free baking powder
• 200g soft light brown sugar
• 100ml sunflower oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice 
• 1tsp lemon flavouring
• 170ml water

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) then lightly grease a large loaf tin and line with baking parchment.(Tip, I buy the ready formed loaf tin liners from Lakeland!)
• Sift flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a large mixing bowl.
• Pour over the lemon juice, sunflower oil and lemon flavouring plus 170ml water and mix until you have a smooth batter.
• Tip the mixture into the prepared loaf tin, levelling the top with the back of a spoon.
• Bake for 30-35 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Leave to cool for ten minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  DO NOT CUT until full cool.

Freezes really well in slices ready for last minute treats, packed lunches and days out!

Devonshire Apple Cake - #EF #DF #SF #WF #GF

Unbelievably, my twins turned twelve yesterday. TWELVE!!! Scarcely seems possible. And yet, in so many ways they are proving extremely mature and sensible beyond their years. 

Well, sometimes. 

Their birthdays are always a little bittersweet. Usually when the children reach a milestone, or celebrate a birthday we think back on their early years, and I invariably fish out an older photo (or two) to post on social media. How cute they were! Except with the twins. They were so, so unwell for weeks - months - that their early photos bring pain and sadness, and not a little anger. 

Despite a strong family history of reflux, despite suffering myself, my father also, despite knowing EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT when I took them to the GP at 3 weeks old, *nothing* was done for SIX MONTHS. Nothing. Just weekly weights, the odd blood test, the usual fobbing off - and the ward social worker visiting me to see "how she could help me" and "what I could change" to help feed them more/help them gain weight. Because of course, it had to be my fault - how could I be so naive to try and continue breastfeeding twins?!

But it stands to reason if you regurgitate every feed until it's time for the next one, you are not going to gain much weight. And if you are in awful discomfort from burning acid reflux which is so bad you develop a hoarse cry and torticolis, go rigid and display symptoms of Sandifer's that you may very well not want to feed. Because it HURTS. 

Eventually, we had to go private, and the twins were given medication. We had tried an elemental feed but it was so thin that until the inflammation had been reduced, and their reflux slightly improved it wasn't going to stay down. So I embarked on a strict maternal exclusion diet and breastfed them, on new medications until such time as they were well enough to take the formula as a top up - and guess what. They started gaining weight. 

It's really not rocket science.

And yet this is what happens all over the NHS. Twenty years after I dealt with this with my eldest son the NHS STILL blames parents - mothers - first, and thinks outside the box second. And using private healthcare brands you a diagnosis-seeking,  desperate-for-intervention type of parent. Not a good image at a time when 20% of ALL under 5s are referred to Social Services and MBP or FII referrals are sky high. But I would do it again in a heartbeat, and no baby should be left to suffer months on end like they did.

Anyway... this birthday was all about CAKE! Both twins wanted a unique cake, to fit with their current favourite flavours. K loves apples and apple muffins. My Mum has always made a Cranks Apple Cake, from her recipe book dating back almost 40 years. Wheat and Gluten free is easy, as is dairy free, but egg free - and she had no egg replacer - is more of a challenge. The result was so successful that I thought I must share - particularly since some of my readers have children who cannot tolerate egg replacer!

Chickpea and courgettes fritters

This is a bit of a reworking of a previous recipe - to be honest this works with almost any veg combination although wet vegetables tend to make a sloppy mix that needs a lot of flour and they can end up quite dry. Sweetcorn is a favourite here, but this time I needed to use up some courgettes!

I baked two large potatoes in the microwave, peeled and roughly diced them once cool, part cooked the courgettes (so they were not too sloppy) and added them to a 400g can of drained chickpeas in my food processor. I added mixed herbs, salt and pepper to taste and whizzed them all together - but not so it was too smooth, just enough to combine.

Then roll large balls in gram flour and shallow fry as patties to look as above!

TIP: Don't worry if the mixture does end up a little sloppy, you can stiffen it up stirring in/mixing in some gram flour before making patties. 

Chocolate Mug Cake - gluten, dairy, soya, nut and egg free!

This utterly brilliant recipe came from our Facebook group, so I can't take the credit! It is absolutely perfect for visiting friends, relatives or events where your child will not want to miss out, all the location requires is a microwave and a mug! Even most village halls have both these days, so I could have used this for countless parties and events when my children were small.

We tested it yesterday - huge success!

The ingredients below are sufficient for approx ten small bags of cake mix. My digital scales are not great for weighing to exactly the right total in grams, 60g is actually very difficult to achieve! it didn't seem to matter.

Dry Ingredients

• 285g gluten free SELF RAISING flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• 255g caster sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder

Method

• Weigh out the above in a bowl, then mix WELL.
• Transfer to a freezer food bag, clip tight and shake together further.
• Weigh out portion of 60g into separate smaller bags and tie closed. 

Tip : sit each small bag in a mug, zero the scales and start weighing so tie bag doesn't collapse as you pour!!

You now have ten portable cake mixture bags - for a fraction of the cost of supermarket alternatives!

To bake

• Melt 1 tbsp "Pure" or other safe margarine
• and 2 tbsp water
• Mix well in a mug
• Microwave for around a minute - my 1000w microwave needed only 50 seconds.

Tip add chocolate chips for a decadent touch!

Free From Doughnuts!

Desperate to discover recipe for free from doughnuts that was really viable, Ann from our Facebook group adapted a gluten free recipe from Beth Hilson's article on "Gluten Free and More".

MAKES 24  DOUGHNUTS

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups Dove's Farm bread flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 7/8 cup potato starch 
• ½ cup tapioca starch 
• ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon gram flour  
• 4 teaspoons xanthan gum 
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder 
• 7 ½ teaspoons instant dry yeast 
• 1 ¼ cups warm coconut or rice milk of choice (or water) 
• 170g Pure Sunflower margarine, melted 
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten OR Organ egg replacer for two eggs or pear puree for one
• 4 cups vegetable oil (or more)  
• Extra sugar, powdered sugar or cinnamon, optional

Method

• Place flours, granulated sugar, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder and dry yeast in a bowl of a stand mixer. Beat briefly to combine.
• Add milk alternative, margarine and eggs/replacement to dry ingredients. Beat for 5 minutes at medium speed.
• Let dough rest for 20 minutes in a warm, draught free area.
• Pipe onto tin foil and leave to prove in a warm place. (Airing cupboard is ideal!)
• Using either a deep fryer or deep frying pan fry for 2-3 minutes.
• Whilst still warm sprinkle with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.

TIP :- To help form the donuts, shape them with plastic wrap that’s sprayed with vegetable oil.

You could also bake these but they might need icing instead of coating in sugar as the coating will not stick.

Pulsetta on the BBC

The Recipe Resource reviewed Pulsetta Crumbs at the end of last year and today heard that the company will be featured on a BBC programme this evening on the history of bread making in northern Scotland.

Pulsetta crumbs are unique in that they are made from pulses, so contain protein, no grains are therefore free from most major allergens, without gluten, milk, diary, or egg. This means Pulsetta can be enjoyed by vegetarians, vegans, and coeliacs. 

Check out BBC Alba tonight at 9pm  and thereafter on BBC iPlayer and the BBC website. 

Carrot and Coriander Muffins

Since it's Easter Weekend I wanted to make the kids something a little more exciting than sandwiches for tea, plus we might go out tomorrow if the weather's nice. I'm also trying to be brave and bake egg free more often too!

So these are wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soya free and depending which flour you use could be corn and potato free too. (I know many of our readers have problems with those two flours)

"Free from" Sausage Rolls

With a boy who would live on sausage meat if he could, who detests sandwiches and would happily avoid eating lunch I have had to become inventive. This recipe has been the most successful by far for us, it's portable, freezable and so quick and easy to make.

I've learned a few tips and tricks along the way to make it easier too! If you cannot get Juvela Harvest Whits mix (we get it on prescription, it's soya free but requires and egg or egg replacer) then Genius have just brought out their own pastry range which would make these even quicker and easier to make!

These contain pork sausagement from a local butcher which is gluten free. I order in bulk as they prefer to sell it that way. Alternatively you could use gluten free sausages uncooked end-to-end.

Hedgehog Pie (Shepherd's pie) Dairy, Soya, Wheat and Gluten free.

This is my variation on Shepherd's Pie. My youngest son does not like mince and seriously does not like mashed potato.... but such is his desire for crisps that putting a few on the top and calling this "Hedgehog Pie" worked a treat!! It's 99% psychology with kids....

I make a large quantity and freeze half.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• crushed garlic (1/4 bulb)
• herbs to taste - basil?
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 lb of lean lamb mince or beef if preferred
• 1 1/2 lbs potatoes
• Pure Margarine or olive/sunflower oil to mash
• Packet of plain crisps * CHECK ingredients, not all are gluten free.

Method

Mince mixture:-

• Dice and fry an onion with the crushed (or dried) garlic in a little oil.
• Add the mince and cook until brown
• Mix half pint water with some stock - CHECK the ingredients, Anthony Worral-Thompson has put his name to a range which are ok and Knorr cubes. I use 2 cubes.
• Add a tiny amount of this to mix with 1 tbsp cornflour. Mix to a paste, add a little more of the stock until dissolved and add to the pan with the rest of the stock.
• Leave to simmer for 20 mins (- I have a fantastic deep pan which I can transfer to the oven at this point!)
• Transfer to a large dish (or two smaller dishes).

Then for topping:-

• Boil 1 1/2 lbs potatoes until soft, drain and mash with Pure Sunflower Margarine or olive oil depending on preference. I usually add a little Oatly milk too.
• Spread across the surface of the mince in the dish - TIP start around the outside first.
• Add crisps for Hedgehog "quills" across the top and back at 180 C for 20 mins if it is to be eaten straight away, or freeze at this point once cool.