Mini Crumble Pots!

I'm rather pleased with this! Using the wonderful Clearspring Organic Puree pots, I have created mini Crumble Desserts for my two.

These little pots are individually sized, and unlike some of the "baby" versions we have relied on in the past they are not at all watery and make perfect desserts on their own, in baked goods or in a pudding.

Method

• To make these I used the Apple and Blueberry purees as October is #AppleMonth . I scooped one teaspoon out of each pot (yum yum!) as without this the pot would become too full and bubble over in the oven.
• I then sprinkled on a little of my crumble mixture, which I tend to keep a bag of in my freezer. (You could just as easily crumble a flapjack over the top instead.)
• Bake in the oven at 180C for 5 minutes!

For the Crumble Mixture

Ingredients

• 6 oz Dove's Farm flour 
•  2 oz gluten free oats 
• 2 oz sugar (soft brown for a warmer, nutty taste) 
•  4 oz Pure sunflower.

They were a big success here today!

Egg alternatives/substitutes

At the time this post was written, I was rather lax in investigating egg alternatives as we were not egg free. All that changed about six years ago and my daughter and I are now experienced #eggfree bakers! There is another post here with lots of easy alternatives. Free from baking should always be a little wetter than regular batters and mixes, it takes a bit of getting used to. It can be frustrating and the ingredients are not cheap (eg chia seeds) but the results can be really good - it's worth persevering. Free from sweet items in the supermarkets are all too often full of cheap fillers and a great deal of sugar (to hide the lack of flavour due to removal of proteins) so if you can possible bake your own, it's incredibly worthwhile.

A friend posted this chart elsewhere, it is an invaluable resource for those trying to exclude egg in cooking so I thought I would share it here.

Chocolate and Pear Muffins!

Sound different? Unusual? They are delicious!

We were a little tired of the delicious Banana Muffins...

and I had rather too many squashy conference pears in my fridge... so decided to get inventive.

I peeled and cored four small pears. Chopped and microwaved them until cooked. Then substituted the bananas in this recipe for pears, and substituted 1 oz of the flour for 2 oz cocoa powder. (Pear is a little wetter than banana so needed more dry ingredients.)

I have also substituted apple and blackberries in the same way before, but strained the excess juice out first and added an ounce of oats to soak up the moisture. Not all of you can have oats I know (and I don't know if gluten free oats would work as well) but worth a try if you can!

Bake as before, and Voila!

Apple and cinnamon fairy cakes

Serves: 12-14
Free from - Wheat, gluten, milk, egg, soya, nut, peanut


Ingredients

• 175g (6 oz) milk/soya free margarine 
• 175g (6 oz) light brown sugar or caster sugar 
• 175g (6 oz) buckwheat flour 
• ½ tsp Xanthan gum 1½ tsp wheat free baking powder 
• 115g (4 oz) grated apple Egg replacer to be equivalent to 3 eggs (3tsp Orgran egg replacer mixed with 6 tbsp water was used) 
• 1 tsp cinnamon 

Method 

• Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4. 
• Line bun tin with paper cases 
• Sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon and Xanthan gum into mixing bowl. 
• Add the sugar and margarine and mix thoroughly. 
• Add the egg replacer and beat well for several minutes to form smooth texture. 
• Mix in grated apple. 
• Turn into paper cases 
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until warm skewer inserted into centre comes out clean. 
• Leave to cool. 

Tip: Add a little water if mixture seems too thick. Should drop off spoon easily but not be runny. Serving suggestions: Sprinkle with sieved icing sugar.