Courgette and Carrot cake - the tray bake!

Apart from eating fondue I spent last week messing around with more carrots and courgettes to see if I could 'big-up' my mug cake into a tray bake. I'm pleased to say it worked and after inflicting the results on various friends and a few of my husband's work colleagues I now have a recipe for you!

Who can eat it?

This recipe is gluten and wheat free, dairy free, egg free and nut free. It is suitable for vegetarians, vegans and coeliacs and anyone in need of a tray bake!

Who can't eat it?

It's cake and therefor not suitable for those needing a reducing diet however I have tried to keep the sugar content low and I think it would probably work OK if some of the sugar was substituted with a powdered sugar substitute. This recipe is rather high in fibre so it may not be suitable for those with Crohn's, colitis or IBS but it will depend on their condition at the time.

You will need a 9inch by 13 inch tray, fully lined and brushed with oil. Gluten free cake sticks like crazy and with out oiling the paper it wont rise and will fall apart when you try to take the paper off.

Ingredients

Dry mix
2 cups of rice flour
1 cup of sugar (white or light brown)
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of mixed spice (or pumpkin pie spice if you are in the US)
2 teaspoons of GLUTEN FREE baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda/sodium bicarbonate
1 teaspoon of salt

Wet mix

2 large carrots and 2 medium sized courgettes, finely grated. Together this should make 2 cups if you compact it (don't lose any juice, it's tasty!)  
1/3 of a cup of ground flax powder (yes I know this is technically dry but bare with me!)
2/3rds of a cup of sunflower oil 2 teaspoons of natural vanilla essence   
2 teaspoons of cider vinegar (or 'white vinegar' if you don't have this)
Some water, between 1/2 and 1 cup full.
2/3rds of a cup of raisins - remember raisins are often coated with palm or coconut oil (which I'm allergic to) to make them shiny so if you are making this for me you'd better get organic ones unglazed of glazed in sunflower oil.

Heat your oven to gas mark 5 or 190 C

Sorry if the next bit sounds a little familiar....

Prepare your dry mix and stir well. 
Grate your carrot and courgette really finely into another bowl. Add the flax and other wet mix ingredients and stir well. The flax powder is now absorbing the moisture and will act like an egg. I chose to use flax because its vegan, I have plenty in the fridge and its has some outstanding health benefits.
Now tip the wet mix into the dry mix and combine quickly to an even consistency then add the raisins. Now you'll have to look at the mix and decide how much water to put in. If your veg were really juicy you might only need half a cup, if they were dry you may need the whole cup. You are aiming for a consistency that's a bit like wet mud, not runny but not like the sandbox on a damp day either.
Give it one more quick stir and quick as a flash tip the whole lot into pre-lined and greased tin. Now pop it in the oven for about 40minutes. After the 40 minute mark keep checking the cake, gluten free flour goes from under-baked to burnt more quickly than regular flour so if you are not used to it check every 2 minutes or so, when it has risen, changed colour and has lost it's stickiness on top it is done! Over all this cake takes around 50 minutes in my gas oven.

Testers for trial cake 1 will have noticed it had icing on the top, this is just a large scoop of butter with a squirt of maple syrup and as much icing sugar as I had in the cupboard whisked together. This is because I forgot to pop in the raisins which made the whole cake under sweet (I blame my parents who phoned at a crucial point it it's construction!)

Shopping tips

I don't like to plug particular supermarkets but my local 'big 3' have stopped selling ground flax. This is a shame BUT I have found it in Aldi at a reduced price. Aldi also had raisins glazed in sunflower oil.
If you don't have a baking tray 9inches by 13 inches don't panic, I don't either. I have been using an old grill pan with the handle taken off! So before you go and buy one check if you can do the same. Alternatively two 8inch sandwich tins will give you two good sized cakes but make sure you can fit both in the oven at the same time.


No photos yet but I'm sure I'll be making it again soon, so keep your eyes peeled on the facebook page. Enjoy!! 

West-Country Fondue

Until quite recently my lovely sister was living in Switzerland. Trips to see her are always a joy, not just for her wonderful company but also for her brilliant cooking. One dish she served us last time we were there was fondue and my girls were so impressed with 'Aunty Mandy's Cheese Soup' that I resolved to make it for them at home. This is not her recipe, I forgot to take it and to be honest this really isn't a Swiss fondue, it is a West Country fondue. Why West Country? Because it contains one of my all time favourite cheeses - Ilchester Applewood.  It's a lightly smoked farmhouse cheddar from Somerset. It's quite soft and 'bendy' as Cheddar goes but it is packed full of flavour and my family love it. Most importantly this cheese likes to go stringy when heated!

Who can eat this?

Children, this fondue contains no alcohol (but under constant supervision as a naked flame is involved). Wheat and gluten intolerant but not all coeliacs as it is so high in dairy. It has no egg, no cream and no nuts. It's also vegetarian.

Who can't eat this?

Anyone dairy intolerant (which includes some coeliacs - ask first!), it's not for vegans, or for anyone on a low calorie diet.

Before we go any further...

Before you make the fondue you will need to think about what you are going to put on the ends of those little forks. Applewood goes really well with fruit: grapes, chunks of apples (I find really tart ones best) even pineapple pieces work well. Many vegetables also work nicely if they are lightly steamed: cauliflower  and broccoli florets, chunks of carrot, sweet potato or just regular potato. Pickled onions and gherkins can also be nice but watch the ingredients and steer clear of malt vinegar. We obviously don't use wheat bread as that be very bad for my husband and we tend not to use gluten free bread either as otherwise we wont get any fruit or vegetables into the girls.

Ingredients for the fondue

2 x 185g packets of Ilchester Applewood
190g of Swiss Gruyere
6 teaspoons of maize starch (often sold as cornflour though in the UK 'cornflour' can contain wheat so check your ingredients).
approximately 300mls of unsweetened apple juice
1 tablespoon of cider vinegar (or white/distilled vinegar if you don't have this)
2 cloves of garlic (optional)

Start by grating your cheese into a large bowl. Every half -packet stop and add a teaspoon of maize starch, and give a gentle mix so that every bit of cheese is coated in the fine flour. Mix it all well at the end so there are no clumps and the Gruyere is evenly spread through.
Now in a large saucepan start heating your apple juice, cider vinegar and garlic (if you are using it).  Don't skip the vinegar it's the acidity that makes the fondue stringy.
As it starts to boil drop in a handful of the cheese mixture and stir like crazy until it has all melted. Reduce the heat to a point where the mixture is simmering but no so hot as to 'catch' on the bottom of the pan and keep adding the cheese a handful at a time. If the mixture gets too stiff add more apple juice.
When all the cheese has melted transfer the mixture to your favourite fondue pot and light the fuel.
Serve with your chosen fruit and vegetables and a nice glass of chilled cider if required!

We love this dish. It's so tangy and smokey and it's great fun to eat. In fact it's so much fun and so exciting that I keep forgetting to take pictures so all I can show you is the empty pot - sorry!

Carrot and Courgette Cake-in-a-mug

I had an over supply of carrots and an over supply of courgette but what I wanted was cake and fast too. 
So what's a girl to do but invent a new 'microwave in your mug' 10 minute cake? 

I admit I had to eat several samples before I got the recipe right but as none of them tasted too bad (mostly they were just soggy) it was no hard work.

This is the first one I got right but I had to make it again to be sure. Of course then I had to eat that too and this may possibly be why I've lost no weight this week. 

Who can eat it?

This recipe is gluten and wheat free, dairy free, egg free and nut free. It is suitable for vegetarians, vegans and coeliacs and anyone in need of a fast cake!

Who can't eat it?

It's cake and therefor not suitable for those needing a reducing diet however I have tried to keep the sugar content low and I think it would probably work OK with a powdered sugar substitute (to be honest most of the trial runs went wrong because I was trying to be clever with natural liquid sweeteners but I think a powder would work). This recipe is also rather high in fibre so it may not be suitable for those with Crohn's, colitis or IBS but it will depend on their condition at the time.

Ingredients

Dry mix
1/4 cup of rice flour
2 tablespoons of sugar (white or light brown)
1/8th teaspoon of cinnamon 
1/8th teaspoon of mixed spice (or pumpkin pie spice if you are in the US)
1/4er teaspoon of GLUTEN FREE baking powder
1/8th baking soda/sodium bicarbonate
1 large pinch of salt

Wet mix

Half a small, finely grated carrot and half a small, finely grated courgette which together should make 1/4 of a cup if you compact it (don't lose any juice, it's tasty!)
2 teaspoons of ground flax powder (yes I know this is technically dry but bare with me!)
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of sunflower oil
1/4 teaspoon of natural vanilla essence 
1/4 teaspoon of cider vinegar (or 'white vinegar' if you don't have this)

Some water, about 1 tablespoon.

1 handful of raisins - remember raisins are often coated with palm or coconut oil (which I'm allergic to) to make them shiny, I use one small treat-sized box of Sunmaid raisins because I know they don't coat them with anything and they are just the right size.

You will also need a mug suitable for the microwave and either a couple of small mixing bowls or one small bowl and a half pint mug.

Method

Prepare your dry mix and stir well. 
Grate your carrot and courgette really finely into another bowl. Add the flax and other wet mix ingredients and stir well. The flax powder is now absorbing the moisture and will act like an egg. I chose to use flax because a) I have plenty in the fridge and b) it's keeps the recipe vegan and c) I don't like using half an egg and wondering what to do with the rest!
Now tip the wet mix into the dry mix and combine quickly to an even consistency then add the raisins. Now you'll have to look at the mix and decide how much water to put in. If your veg were really juicy you might only need 5ml, if they were dry you may need 20ml. You are aiming for a consistency that's a bit like wet mud, not runny but not like the sandbox on a damp day either.
Give it one more quick stir and quick as a flash tip the whole lot into your microwavable mug and pop it in! 
My microwave is 700W and at that setting this cake takes 2 minutes. 1000W will probably take about one and a half minutes. When it comes out the cake should have risen and will no longer look damp in the middle.

The really tricky bit is waiting for it to cool, running a knife around the edge and getting it out in one piece, I have to be honest and say I failed at this, both the first time I got it right and the second and the third. (I'll keep trying ;D) 

This cake was really, really easy. So easy my girls did it themselves and we still had cake in about 15 minutes. Please prepare yourself for cute shots of their little hands now!

 

And of course they had to lick the bowl clean! 

On this occasion we made double quantities and split the mixture between 4 little glass ramekins. We doubled the time in the microwave and when they we ready we ate them with a nice blob of half-fat creme fraiche on top! 

Everyone was very happy. The End.