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!

Running for Gt Ormond Street Children's Charity!

On May 13th our eldest son is running to raise money for GOSH Children's Charity, and specifically to raise funds for the new Gastro Research Project.

He has always loved Athletics and currently runs with a local club, enjoying a very successful 2011/2012 season so far! Several members of our family suffer with Gastrointestinal Disease and associated conditions. Josh's youngest siblings are treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital and we as a family are incredibly grateful for the support and treatment we receive from there. The twins' Consultant has recently climbed Kilimanjaro to raise funds for new gastro research and treatment so Josh decided to do his bit! Climbing mountains was a bit ambitious, so instead he is running 5K in Suffolk on 13th May at Alton Water, in Suffolk.

Josh regularly runs between 2 and 7 K, competing several years above his age group. He too has suffered gastro issues as a young child and joint problems since and really hopes GOSH can help make a difference for others.

We and so many others would be incredibly grateful if you felt able to sponsor him, our JustGiving Page is here.

Oven Baked Rissotto

Free from Dairy (IF THE CHEESE IS EXCLUDED) , Soya, Wheat, Gluten, Egg and Corn.

You need:

• 250g smoked bacon chopped into small pieces
• 1 onion chopped
• 1oz Pure Sunflower or similar
• 10 oz Arborio rice
• 150g cherry tomatoes (I often replace this with 300g mushrooms)
• 700ml chicken stock 
• 2 oz grated parmesan (leave out or substitute if dairy free)

Instructions

• Heat oven to 180 degrees
• Fry bacon pieces in casserole dish (dry fry) for 3-5 minutes until golden and crisp. Dish need to be able to go on hob.
• Stir in onion and butter and cook for 3-4 mins until soft
• Pour in rice and mix well until all rice is coated in juice from onions
• Pour in wine and cook until all liquid absorbed
• Add cherry tomatoes, hot stock and give quick stir
• Cover with lid, put in oven and cook for 18 mins stirring occasionally (I did it twice).
• Stir in parmesan and stir until melted
• Serve and sprinkle with extra parmesan

Free From Chocolate Muffins

This recipe has corn and eggs in it, you can easily swap the eggs out with egg replacer though.

Ingredients

• 1 x 100g dark chocolate
• 3 1/2 oz (95g) instant polenta
• 1 x 100g pack blanched (ground almonds are fine too) almonds
• 3 1/2 oz (95g) butter or margarine
• 3 1/2 oz (95g) icing sugar
• 2 level tablespoons cocoa
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 -2 dessertspoons of milk (of your choice - almond?)

Method

• Whizz the polenta and almonds to a fine powder in a food processor.
• Melt the chocolate and margarine.
• Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and beat the egg whites till stiff.
• Pour the chocolate mix into the dry ingredients and then stir together.
• Fold in the egg whites divide into muffin tins (the mix should fill the tins) bake for 16 -20 minutes at 200C or gm 6 until they are firm to the touch.

Clay Dough - wheat and gluten free modelling dough

Wheat and gluten fee "Play doh" ;)

This dough dries nicely and is perfectly white. You can paint your creations after it dries.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (125g) white rice flour
• 1 cup (290g) salt
• 3/4 cup water

Method

• Mix all ingredients into a bowl. Roll the dough into a firm ball. If the mixture is too crumbly add more water 1 teaspoon at a time.
• Let the children make their creations. Line a baking tray with tinfoil and leave to dry overnight.
• Alternatively bake the clay dough at 200F/93C for 30 minutes and allow to cool before painting.
• Send me pictures of your models to post on the Resource!

Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients

• 15oz can black beans (drained & rinsed well)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp strong coffee (or 1 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water)
• 1 tsp baking powder (gluten free)
• 2 tbsp canola or olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla

Method

• Preheat oven to 350*F. 
• Prepare an 8x8 baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray.
• Mix all ingredients in a food processor or blender. 
• Add the beans last and make sure you blend VERY well. 
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before slicing. 
• Brownies are approx. 2"x2" in size.

Number of Servings: 16

Orange Syrup Cake

Wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, soya free, and corn free

Makes one large cake in an 8" round tin, or a sandwich cake in 2 tins - approx 12 slices or kill two birds with one stone as I did, and make a 6" cake and 10 small cupcakes for the freezer!

Ingredients

175g (6oz) "Pure" Sunflower Margarine or equiv. alternative
225g (6oz) caster sugar
2 medium eggs, beaten
200g (7oz) rice flour
3 oz ground almonds (optional)
1 tsp Xantham Gum
1 tsp baking powder
grated zest and juice of one large orange

Beat together sugar and margarine. Add in beaten eggs and stir in dry ingredients.
The mixture should be a soft dropping consistency.

Bake in the oven for 40 minutes at 180C (15-20 mins for cupcakes)

Ideas for serving:-

Heat 200mls orange juice and 5 oz caster sugar to create a syrup and pour over the top.

If you made 2 cakes for a sandwich then spread marmalade in between the layers.

Make butter icing (equal parts icing sugar to margarine) with a little orange juice (you might need more icing sugar) and either spread over the top of the large cake, or make butterfly cupcakes. to do this, cut a cone shape out of the top, fill with icing and cut the cone shape piece in half to form two "wings" which you place back on the top.