More soup

'Project bread', where I try to make a great gluten free loaf for less than a store bought one has not been going well. Aside from the Sun Dried Tomato Corn Cakes my bread has had a tendency to turn out like dwarf bread, a little short (or unrisen) and more like a weapon than a food stuff, Captain Carrot might have been pleased but I am not. (And it fails in my chosen criteria of being cheaper than the shop bought.) I am glum. What to do with lots of bread that has to be eaten quickly? The answer as always is make soup to dunk it in!

I've been experimenting with leek and potato soup. It was nice but without a a good few spoonfuls of dairy it lacked a certain something. So tried leek and sweet potato soup. To be honest the early ones  were not fab and again without a half pint of cream they were a bit flat. But I am pleased to announce that I have cracked it. A super creamy soup without a trace of dairy!

Who can eat it?

Vegans, vegetarians, coeliacs, wheat/gluten intolerant. It's egg free, nut free and yeast free.

Who can't eat it?

Some with IBS or Crohn's disease may find it a little fibrous and anyone allergic to alliums should steer clear.

Ingredients

About 300g of finely sliced leeks (use only the white stuff, no green)
About 400g of cooked sweet potato flesh
400g can of butter beans, rinsed
Olive oil
750ml water

Use enough olive oil to gently fry the leeks in. Do NOT fry on full blast, we are not after caramelised or even burn leeks, just really soft ones. Add the sweet potato flesh and the rinsed butter beans. Add 750ml of water and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat then blend in your chosen manner. I use a stick blender and keep going until all the large lumps have gone but it's not completely smooth. Add salt a pepper to taste.

This makes about 4 good sized portions.

It's soooo easy. No messing around trying to find the right stock, you can bake your sweet potato (I do mine in the microwave) while you are chopping the leeks and then rinsing them (a pesky bit of grit has spoilt many a leek dish) and your soup can be ready in next to no time.

So now I have fresh soup in the fridge to feed me lunch all this week and no one to share it with but Teddy.

Sundried tomato corn cakes

I love my soups. I pretty much live on soup every day for lunch. I think I may have been a Soup Dragon in a previous life (less Scottish alternative rock, more Clangers)
Soup is great on it's own but sometimes it's nice to have a bit of bread to dip in it. This recipe makes 6 beautifully sized corn cakes that are just right for dunking!

Who can eat them?

These are wheat, gluten, nut, yeast and egg free. They are also vegetarian.

Who can't eat them?

These are not suitable for vegans as they contain cheese, which means they are also not suitable for Coeliacs. Anyone allergic/intolerant to tomato should also avoid them.

Ingredients 

75g of cornmeal or instant polenta powder
50g of rice flour
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of gluten free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of xantham gum (now available in larger supermarkets in either the home baking isle or 'free-from' section)
1/2 teaspoon of castor sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 heaped tablespoon of sundried tomato purée (you could use regular tomato pure but it's not quite as rich or as sweet)
60g grated high quality cheddar cheese
110ml milk
20g butter
1 tablespoon of milled/ground flaxseed

Grease a backing tray and set your oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4

Sift together the cornmeal, rice flour, baking powder, xantham gum, sugar and salt.

Melt the butter and add to the milk, then whisk in the flax powder and the sun-dried tomato purée.

Reserve a little of the grated cheese for a garnish and add the rest to the dry mix, then gently beat in the wet mix until you have an even consistency.

My mixture is then usually dry enough to roll into 6 equally sized balls which I place on the baking sheet  and squash flat a little however sometimes the mixture is a little runny in which case I use a muffin tin.

Bake in the center of your pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes then add the reserved cheese on top and return to the oven for 5 more minutes. Allow to cool before scoffing with your soup of choice!

Spag Bol

My freezer had a defrost this week. It wasn't intentional, the door got left open over night. Fortunately the stuff I keep in my freezer isn't hugely expensive stuff, lets face it vegetables are heck of a lot cheaper than steak and meat isn't something I keep in there what with being veggie and all. What was defrosting was a lot of Quorn mince, so in the name of food safety I went into bulk cook mode and made 6 portions of spaghetti bolognese. (Except that I don't serve it with spaghetti, just twists and no one from Bologna would ever recognise it as their regional dish as it is meat free and has a tonne of vegetables in besides the tomato).

A quick word about Quorn and who can eat it. First off it contains egg so vegans or anyone with an egg allergy can't eat it. Secondly the mince does contain barley extract so coeliacs, this dish is not for you. Many with wheat intolerance will also find the barley extract an issue, luckily my husband is OK with it so long as we only have it once or twice a week. Finally it is a low fat food, great for those on a diet but not really suitable for the under-twos who need plenty of fat for brain development, this may also make it unsuitable for those with Crohns, ulcerative colitis and in some cases those with IBS as the fibre content is a bit high. This dish also contains onion, garlic and tomato which may be unsuitable for some. (You could just leave out the garlic).
It is perfectly possible to cook this with out the Quorn, it still tastes lovely but remember it wont make as many portions, it wont have the look and feel of a 'meaty' dish (which may be important to some diners who wouldn't normally eat veggie) and it will still be high fibre and low fat but now it will be low protein as well and you will need to catch that dietary requirement up later.

Who can eat it?

ME! The kids, hubby and most vegetarians.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 very large (or 2 regular sized) red onion, very finely chopped
about 1 finely chopped pepper, what ever colours are available, get a range if you can
2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
6 finely chopped mushrooms
about 800g of Quorn mince
3 tins of chopped tomatoes (if you have to deal with a sulphate allergy try Suma's own brand which is very nice and sulphate free)
1 small carrot, finely grated
1 cup of vegetarian, gluten free stock (I use Knorr)
2 tablespoons of sun dried tomato puree
1 teaspoon of oregano
a dash of vegetarian, gluten free 'worcestershire' sauce (like this one by Life)
a dash of Angostura Bitters if you have them.

You are going to need a very big wok or skillet. Gently fry the onion in the oil. Keeping the heat at medium rather than high will let the sweet flavours of the red onion out. When it goes soft and translucent (about 3 to 4 minutes) add the mushrooms and peppers. Keep the heat at medium, keep stirring and when these get soft (another 4 minutes or so) add the quorn. After stirring for one minute add the tins of chopped tomatoes and the grated carrot. (The carrot is here for two reasons, the first is to add sweetness and the second is to sneak more veg into the kids!) Now stir in all the other ingredients and leave to bubble gently for 20 minutes for the flavours to develop.

Serve with your gluten free pasta of choice or layer with lasagna sheets and and gluten free cheese sauce. OR do what I did and divide it into 6 family sized portions, allow to cool and then refreeze, while resolving to check the freezer door more often!!

Winter vegetable and lentil hotpot

After Christmas I often find I have a lot of left over vegetables. The thing is I find Christmas day dinner the most wonderful chance to have a whole host of different veg on offer, for example this year we had Brussels sprouts, swede, carrot, parsnip, roast potato, boiled potato, sweetcorn, roast pumpkin and braised red cabbage. Nine veg heaven and not bad for a girl who only made it out of bed from the flu the day before (I admit my darling husband was a GREAT help - love you honey!)  I always over-buy I just can't seem to help it so then I have this lovely selection of veg begging me to do something with it and this is that thing.

Ingredients

1tbsp olive oil (other vegetable oils work well too)
2 medium sized leeks finely sliced OR half an onion finely chopped and 5 shredded Brussels sprouts
4 sticks of celery finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 carrots diced
2 parsnips diced
1/4 of a swede diced
1 sweet potato, finely grate half and dice the other half
1/2 cup of red split lentils (washed)
1/2 cup of Puy lentils (the dark green ones, also washed)
About 800ml of vegetable gluten-free stock
1 tsp of marjoram (if you haven't got any you could sub in 1/4 oregano)
2 tomatoes cut into quarters (skin them only if you have time)

To be honest like most of my cooking the relative quantities of the veg are quite flexible, I tend to aim for one medium sized freezer bag jammed full of chopped vegetables which I prepare when making Sunday lunch and then hold in the fridge (or freezer) until I'm ready to use them.

There is also a variety of ways to cook it. I usually do it in a large pot on the hob, if I'm pushed for time I tend to use the pressure cooker, if I have plenty of time I do it in the oven (180ºC/Gas mark 4) and I've done it at other peoples houses in a slow cooker (I don't have one but if I go back to work ever then it will be the first thing on my shopping list, those things are so useful for the working mum!) However if you are using sprouts and not leeks then it makes most sense to do it on the hob.

Start by heating your oil in your chosen cooking device (BIG French hotpot in my case yesterday) add the onion or the leeks depending on what you are using (do NOT add the sprouts yet if you are using them) and the celery. Fry on a moderate heat for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for a moment then add all the other ingredients except the sprouts. Stir the mixture well and bring to a simmer. If you are using a pressure cooker make sure the liquid covers all the veg well (if it doesn't then add more) and put the lid on and cook for about 10 minutes. If you are just doing it in a hot pot like me it takes about half an hour but the smaller your bits of vegetable are the quicker it will cook. If you are cooking in the oven transfer it to a suitable dish. Pop it in at gas mark 4 or 180ºC and it will take about 50minutes. And in a slow cooker go away and forget about it, come back when you are hungry!

Agh - Almost forgot the sprouts!! Pop them in half way through cooking and take the chance to give everything a quick stir.

The grated sweet potato and the red lentils should make the liquid nice and thick but if yours is a little watery then take 1tsp of maize starch and in a cup add about 3tbspns of water. (This is called 'slaking') Stir until it forms an even, white fluid then add it to the hotpot. Stir well then return the whole lot to the heat until it gets close to a boil where upon it should have thickened.

Serve with some gluten free bread as this meal is much more fun if you get to soak up all the juices at the end with some moppers!

Who is it suitable for?

This dish is vegetarian, it's vegan, it's nut-free, it's egg-free, it's yeast free (but check the stock!) furthermore it is safe for coeliacs.  It's fine for a low calorie or reducing diet and if you keep the veg a little on the crunchy side it's even better because the energy inside all the plant cells will be harder for your body to reach.

Who can't eat it ?

If you are serving it to those who need a higher calorie intake then serve with lots of buttered g-f bread or even garlic bread. If anyone is allergic to alliums (onions, leeks and garlic) or tomatoes then leave them out (but take GREAT care choosing your stock to make sure that doesn't have any in). It will not be suitable for most people with Crohns or colitus as it is rather high in fibre.

What to do if you have any left overs? 

I have three suggestions
1) Soup!! You don't need to blend it unless you want to, just add a little more stock.
2) Pie. (When come back bring pie!) Using gluten free pastry of course. You might need to add a little more slaked maize starch to stop the pie being too runny and you might like to add a handful of plain Quorn pieces or even some chicken if it's acceptable to all who will be eating it.
3) Fry some onion, add some curry powder and then stir in the hotpot and hey presto - veggie curry! (OK it's a bit of a cheat and it may not be the worlds best ever curry but I've not had any complaints.)

Wonder which one I'll do for my lunch.....?

Pumpkin-a-go-go

This week I have mostly been eating pumpkin. It's all Aunty C's fault, she gave me a large edible pumpkin grown by her own fair hands in her organic garden. I forgot to weigh it before chopping it all up but given that it was bigger that my darling husband's head (and he needs a pretty big head for that clever brain of his!) I'd estimate that it was about 4.5kg.

I know it's an often used phrase but pumpkins really are one of natures wonder-foods. They are an excellent source of vitamin E (good for healthy skin and hair), thiamine, niacin, vitamin B6 and  folic acid (all part of the vitamin B group, great for feeling energised) as well as iron, magnesium and phosphorus. They are also a very good source of dietary fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, potassium, copper and manganese. In addition they are low in saturated fat, and very low in cholesterol and sodium. After taking off the top and scooping out the seeds my hands had absorbed lots of those lovely nutrients and were feeling very soft - shame my fingers were so orange it looked like I had a 60 a-day habit!


I decided straight off that I'd roast it first and decide what to do with the roasted chunks later. I could have steamed or boiled it but I love the flavour of it roasted so that was the way I was going. By the way, while pumpkins can very easily keep for 6 months from harvest before you eat them, once you pierce that skin the clock is ticking and even in the fridge you have only a couple of days before it goes off. You can keep the seeds, take all the skin off and roast them as well but I have a large bag of seeds already in the cupboard so I didn't bother.

So having taken off the top and de-seeded it (and taking a few moments out to admire my lovely soft hands!) I cut it into large sections, skinned it and chopped it again into bite size pieces. Again this was choice, you can easily roast the pumpkin whole (just stick it with a knife in a few places to let the steam out) or in large sections with the skin on (and then have the fun of eating it like melon!) My chopped pumpkin filled my two largest oven trays (9x13inches if you are interested), I gave them a little oil (about 1 tablespoon of good quality olive oil per tray) and stuck them in the oven at gas mark 5. I then promptly went out and forgot about them - well, there was a craft fair to go to! Don't worry, darling husband was left looking after them with the instruction to turn the pieces over (and swap the tray around on the shelves) in thirty minutes and turn the oven off after an hour.

When I came home the smell was delicious. To be honest I think they could have done with a little bit longer as the edges were only just starting to brown up but by then it was too late. So I popped the pumpkin into several plastic tubs with lids and stuck them in the fridge. I've done several things with them since, here come my best 3 recipes!

Hot Pumpkin Salad 

I'm not kidding, this was absolutely delicious and so simple. You will need a couple of hand fulls of rocket or spinach or (preferably) a mix of both. Don't take them straight out of the fridge or if you do give them chance to warm to room temperature. Pop this in an ovenproof bowl, on top of this add a few very finely cut slices of red onion (raw) and one cup of re-heated (or fresh) roasted pumpkin, on top of this crumble a large slice of Stilton cheese. Pop it under a low grill while quickly making croutons - toast your bread (gluten-free if necessary), rub one side with the cut surface of a clove of garlic, butter or brush with oil, toast again and chop into squares. Remove the salad from the grill just as the leaves start to wilt, dress with balsamic vinegar and lemon juice and garnish with the croutons. It was utterly delicious and I will be doing this one again. If you fancy changing it a bit try putting the salad in a warm pitta bread and leaving out the grilling and the croutons or swap the Stilton for Cheddar or a vegan cheese (follow this link to a great page on vegan cheese). Maybe a few chili flakes on top wouldn't go amiss either.

Roast Pumpkin Soup

The quick way is to take one portion of Simple Lentil Soup, add a cup of the roast pumpkin and blend. The less quick, lentil and tomato-free way is to gently fry in olive oil half a red onion, one clove of chopped garlic and a couple of slices of fresh ginger (finely chopped) until the onion goes very soft and glossy (3 or 4 minutes). Add 350ml of vegetable stock, 1 cup of the roasted pumpkin and a twist of pepper. Simmer for 5minutes then blend. Garnish with some finely chopped parsley, or chili flakes or sour cream, or like I did all 3!

Pumpkin and Pasta Bake.

I finely chopped one red onion and fried that in olive oil until it went soft and translucent. To this I added some finely chopped yellow and red peppers, 3 very finely chopped mushrooms (if the girls see mushroom they wont eat it so I tend to cut it so small they can't tell what it is!) and a good glug of sherry. Keep frying until all the pepper is soft. Then I added one family sized portion of slightly under-cooked gluten-free pasta (300g before cooking) 4 chopped Quorn frankfurters (watch out, while my gluten sensitive husband can tolerate them I'm not sure a true coelic could and these also contain egg, if it's a problem leave it out) and 2 cups of the roasted pumpkin and turned off the heat. 
Next I grated 250g of Cheshire cheese. I chose this over Cheddar for two very simple reasons, it's more lemony and I thought that would help the flavour and secondly because I couldn't see when else I was going to use it! You could use a strong Cheddar or vegan cheese instead. I added half of the cheese to the mix and after a gentle stir transferred the lot into an oven proof dish before covering with the rest of the cheese and what remained of the cream cheese from the fridge and then putting in a preheated oven at gas mark 6 for 30 minutes. I suggest serving it with a nice cold west country cider (though that is a glass of squash in the back-ground).

This is the only one of the three that's been family tested (you'll just have to take my word for it that the other two taste wonderful) and it passed with flying colours. Pretty astounding really because when I told my husband I was going to do this he pulled his "do we have to" worried face (where upon he was forced to practice his "a new dish? how exciting!" face to show the girls).  He didn't just go back for seconds, he had thirds as well! Both daughters proclaimed it delicious and big girl said she 'really liked that orange stuff', 'but pumpkin is yucky so please could I leave that out next time?' Which just goes to prove that like many kids her age it's the thought of eating something new (rather than the taste) that is the sticking point for her. And just in case you were wondering there was plenty left over, I could have fed another 2 adults from that lot so husband and I had it for lunch the next day too!

So there you have it. 4 recipes in one post - Roasted Pumpkin, Hot Pumpkin Salad, Pumpkin soup and Pasta and Pumpkin Bake. All vegetarian (and potentially vegan), all gluten free and all delicious. Now if you don't mind I'm off to admire the soft glowing skin all that vitamin E has given me!

More yummy cakes!

I'm a little bit cake obsessed at the moment (always?!) 

I love cake, chocolate cake, plain sponges, Christmas cake, apple cake - the list is endless. I want you to know that I selflessly test each and every recipe before I put it up and the whole family likes to give it a taste-test too! So I was a little disappointed when the cake my girls called 'the best cake EVER' wasn't actually one of my own.

OK I did bake it but it wasn't one of my recipes, it was a packet mix.

In general I don't like packet mixes. In my opinion you are just paying a whole lot of money for someone else to do the weighing for you and that's a job I think I'm actually quite good at, well I'd have to be, I'm a trained chemist (think laboratory not pharmacy) and used to have a job which involved selling high end balances. However I'm not so narrow minded not to realise that packet mixes do have their up sides, they are good if you are in a rush or if they contain an essential ingredient that you'd rather not have to buy in larger quantities. This second factor can really work in your favour if you are suddenly having to cater for an allergy that you don't normally have to worry about. If your family are more than happy eating gluten you probably don't want or need a box full of gluten free flours you are never going to use again. So for you lucky people a packet mix is possibly ideal when my family or someone equally intolerant comes to stay!

So where did this yummy packet cake mix come from? My local garden centre! I know, I went in there for some Christmas bulbs and suddenly I'm buying cake mix!! To be fair most garden centres have diversified in order to bring in more business and frankly my local one is so diversified it can be hard to find a really plant in the indoors bit. Next to the 'bird food' bit they have this lovely little bit selling dried fruits, nuts and dragées (which as far as I can tell is just a posh word for sweet). This section has it's self diversified and now has teas and a small range of gluten free foods (yippee!).

I was delighted when I picked this little packet up to read that I wasn't allergic to any of the ingredients. In fact I think this was possibly one of the most inclusive packets I have ever read! It was Gluten, Wheat, Dairy, Corn and Soya free and promised that it could be make with vegan margarine and egg replacement powder if so wished! In fact there were 3 similar mixes there, the girls rather predictably chose the chocolate flavour, so we added it to our basket and went home.

It was very quick and easy to do, though I was grateful my electric whisk was such high quality, I had been tempted to hand whisk to save on the washing up and that would never had worked, so thick was the mixture. Anyway we melted our butter, beat the eggs and whisked it all together, popped it in the lined tin and settled down to lick the bowl clean. 

Just so you know, as soon as I'd taken this shot she threw the bowl on the floor so she could see the photo. I now have one Mason Cash bowl less in my collection, luckily unconditional love means you can forgive your child for doing this. Delicious cake also helps to heal the pain.

By the time I'd cleaned up the mess the cake was more or less cooked (it said 25 minutes on gas mark 3 if you were doing it in one tin, in my opinion 35 minutes would have worked better, though I took it out at 30 and it sank a little).

It was very yummy.  "The best cake ever" apparently. A beautiful texture, so soft and moist and not a hint of grittiness or bitterness you can get with gluten free flours. 

Bet you'd like to know who made it wouldn't you? ME! No, I baked it. Glebe Farm made the mix. And it's not the only one they do. So far we've tried the carrot cake, to which I gave top marks (I even preferred it to the chocolate cake!)

And we've also got a ginger cake to make next.

Sadly this is all the mixes my local garden centre stock and I've not been able to find anyone else nearby who has them. I say 'sadly' because they have lots more to try including a scone mix. Luckily they have an on-line shop though with £5.99 p+p you might want to order quite a few in one go (though you don't have to limit yourself to the cake mixes they have many other things to buy).

Who is it suitable for?

Vegetarians, vegans, gluten intolerant and Coeliac, dairy intolerant, those with an egg allergy. Most people in fact.

Who is it not suitable for?

Those on a reducing diet (well it is cake!) and anyone sensitive to potatoes or sugar.

So there you go, a huge well done to Rebecca Rayner and her family for producing such scrumptious stuff !  By the way I don't know them, I've never met them and they are not paying me for this. I'm just letting you know about it because I like to share delicious inclusive food with you!

Chocolate cake inclusive style!!

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Just to prove I can do baking without the need to use diary or non-dairy margarine I thought I'd share the recipe I use for my chocolate cakes. 

The recipe originally came from my brilliant and talented cook of a sister-in-law as 'Never-fail Chocolate Cake'. It might have been 'never-fail' with wheat flour but let me tell you this has taken a fair bit of tweaking to get into a gluten-free cake that does rise and doesn't fall apart. It's my understanding that the original recipe comes from America and that explains why all the measurements are in cups and teaspoons. No weighing out? Suits me!! There's also no need to sieve the flour which is also a bonus.

Who's it suitable for?

Well it's egg free, it's nut free, it's yeast free, it's wheat free, it's vegetarian and also vegan and it's coeliac friendly. It's not high fibre but the high levels of cocoa may not be suitable for all sufferers of IBS and Crohns, best to check. And it does contain high levels of sugar and fat (oil) so it's not suitable for those on a reducing diet.

Ingredients:

3 Cups sugar, granulated will do but Castor works better.
3 Cups gluten free flour*

1/4 C cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons  sodium bicarbonate
1 Cup vegetable oil (Rape oil)
2 Cup cold water (from the fridge if possible)
1 1/2 teaspoons white (distilled) vinegar
3 teaspoons vanilla essence

*A word about the flour, the 'all purpose' blends I tried did not do well, although I suspect a 'bread blend' would. I use 2 cups rice flour, one cup maize starch (in the UK some, but NOT all 'cornflours' are maize starch). I also add 1 level teaspoon of xanthan gum powder. 

Rape oil - I've tried other oils, it did NOT go well, even sunflower oil was a bit off and olive oil was awful. Obviously I wont touch coconut oil with a barge pole because of the allergies but I do wonder if that wouldn't be a good flavour (though you will have to use warm water and reduce the sugar), I'd be interested to hear how you get on if anyone tries it.

Cocoa powder - take care which one you chose as many brands try to sneak wheat and milk in there. I use Green and Blacks Cocoa powder because it's organic and Fairtrade and most importantly it tastes nice!

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 175C or gas mark 3 to 4.

Get your cake tin ready. I tray bake this in a 9x13 inch tin but you could put it in two 8inch round sandwich tins. I always line the tins with greaseproof and grease the paper as well because as I've said before gluten free cakes stick and this inhibits rising.

Mix all dry ingredients well in large bowl, you don't need to sieve but do make sure they are well mixed, I just swizz it around with my hand whisk.  

In a separate jug mix all the liquids (I say mix, leave it one second and the oil will float to the top, it doesn't matter!)

Now remember that time is of the essence for the next bit so move with haste but not with speed or your cake wont rise. Add all liquids to dry mixture and mix thoroughly, mix it well but DO NOT beat.

Pour it quickly into the tins and slam it into the middle of your oven.

Bake for 40 minutes for 2 round tins, or 60 minutes for the large rectangular tin. You want the cake to 'bounce back' in the middle when it is ready, don’t over bake as it gets very bitter and don't open the oven in the first three quarters of the cooking time as a constant temperature is crucial to rising.

I'll be honest and say that this mix doesn't make the greatest fairy cakes, cup cakes or muffins, this is mostly because it doesn't support the weight of icing very well. However the large tray bake can cope with chocolate frosting and buttons on and because it is so large is super for kids parties.

So looking back at the previous post, how does this cake rise when it has just has oil and not solid fat? It's the sodium bicarbonate, reacting with the vinegar to produce nice little bubbles of carbon dioxide gas which will lift your cake up. You want to keep the reaction very slow until it gets cooking, hence using cold water from the refrigerator, once it starts getting hot the reaction goes full pelt but by then your cake is turning solid and the bubbles get stuck stopping your cake from being a solid lump. If you've got the chemistry all right all the vinegar eats up all the sodium bicarb, your cake is 'neutral' and delicious! If your cake does taste a little 'funny' try being more accurate with the measuring of the vinegar and bicarb or using a little less, also watch out that you haven't over baked it as burnt gluten-free flour is bitter. 

Over all this is the simplest cake I have ever made (now I've got the recipe sorted). It is so quick I can go from walking in the kitchen door to 'cake-in-the-oven-and-all-washed-up' in 15 minutes giving me at least three quarters of an hour to get on with other stuff before I have to take it out of the oven and fight the rest of the family off until it's cool enough to eat!

Hope you like it too. xxx

UPDATE!

It turns out that scaled down this works great as a microwave in the mug cake recipe.

1/4 of a cup of rice flour
1/4 of a cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of (diary and gluten free) coco-powder
a pinch of gluten free baking powder
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of oil
3 tablespoons of water
1 drip of vinegar (do not trust yourself to pour this out of the bottle, pop some on a spoon and from there add one drip!)

Add all the dry ingredients to the mug and mix, add all the wet ingredients, mix and pop in a microwave for about 2 minutes (mines a 700W, if yours is more powerful reduce the cooking time). And hey-presto one cake!! Eat from the mug while still warm, maybe add a blob of cream!