Dairy-Free Carrot, Cinnamon and Walnut Cake

This was a perfect dinner party dessert last week, a recipe that never fails! Sunflower oil is used instead of butter, which helps keep the cake moist and light. It's delicious served with a yoghurt topping, for those that can eat dairy, or simply dusted with icing sugar or cinnamon.

Ingredients (serves 8)

- 6oz (170g) caster or light brown sugar

- 6oz (170g) sunflower or vegetable oil

- 3 eggs

- 5.4oz (153g) plain flour

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 1/3 tsp baking powder

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 12oz (340g) grated carrot, roughly 2 1/2 large carrots

- 1oz (28g) walnut pieces (or more!) 

* I didn't use raisins this time, but you can add a handful if you feel like it *

1. Heat the oven to 170°c.

2. Mix the sugar and the oil in a bowl and then add the eggs one at a time. * Don't worry if the mixture curdles a bit *

3. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon into another bowl and mix well. Fold the flour mix into the egg mix and stir until combined.

4. Then stir in the grated carrots and walnuts into the cake mix (and raisins if using) and place in a suitable round cake tin with a removable base. 

5. Cook the cake at 170°c for 25 minutes and then turn the heat down to 160°c and cook for a further 20/25 minutes.

6. When the cake is ready, remove it from the oven and leave it to cool for around 10 minutes (otherwise it will deflate in size). Then gently scrape around the sides with a spatular to remove it from the edge. 

* Sieve some icing sugar or grated cinnamon on top for decoration *

Elderflower and Lemon Ice Cream

I made this ice cream (Belvoir Fruit Farms website) over the weekend and had to make it again today it was so delicious. It's very light and creamy, with a bit of zing; and tastes great with my carrot cake: http://ohuntingford.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/ive-made-this-cake-few-times-and-its.html

Ingredients (serves 6)

- 3 egg white

- 2 oz caster sugar

- 3 egg yolks

- 7 tbsp elderflower cordial

- zest or peel of one lemon

- 300ml double cream

1. Start by separating the eggs into two bowl (one with whites and one with yolks).

2. Beat the egg whites until fluffy and then gradually add the sugar.

3. Next, lightly beat the egg yolks (until they start to get thick) and then mix in the elderflower cordial and lemon peel.

4. To finish, whip up the cream and fold the egg mixtures into it. 

5. The ice cream can either be placed into a tupperware and popped in the freezer overnight, or poured into an ice cream maker until set. 

Easy Peasy Apple Tarte Tatin

I'm not sure where this recipe originated from, but I've been using it ever since I can remember. This time, I added one teaspoon of cinnamon and it definitely added something extra.

Ingredients (serves 8)

- 5 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced into half moon shapes

- 3 tbsp soft brown sugar

- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 50g unsalted butter, chopped into pieces
- 250g pack of puff pastry

1. Start by setting your oven to 180°c.

2. Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon into the bottom of a round medium-sized flan dish. Then add the chopped butter evenly on top it. 

3. Arrange your apple pieces beautifully, working from the outside in. Remember, the tart is going to be turned upside down once it's cooked, so make the first layer look pretty.

4. Once you have covered the dish with apples, place it in the oven for 5 minutes to soften up a little.

5. Meanwhile, you can roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured surface to roughly 1cm. Not too thick and not too thin. 

6. Remove the apples out of the oven and lay the pastry on the top of the dish. Cut around the top of the dish so that the pastry fits neatly on the apples. 

7. Place the tart in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry turns golden brown.

8. At this stage, you'll probably just want to tuck in, but you must wait a few minutes before turning the tart upside down. Scrape around the edges of the dish with a knife or spatula to unstick any excess pastry. Then place a large plate (bigger than the dish) over the pastry and turn the tart back onto the plate.

This pudding is best served hot, so either eat is straight away or bang it in the microwave to warm up for a minute. Don't over do it though, or it'll go soggy. Enjoy with yoghurt, ice cream or creme fraiche.

Extremely Light and Healthy - Gluten Free Lemon and Almond Cake

This one's an old favourite. Passed to me by a dear friend who is gluten intolerant, it always gets great feedback. I made it for my parents to take on a shooting weekend, hence the flying bird. Sadly there was none left for me...

Ingredients (serves 8-10)

for the cake -

- 6oz almonds, blitzed in a food processor to your required consistency (I like to leave them slightly crunchy and not like breadcrumbs) or ground almonds

- 5oz caster sugar

- 4oz butter

- 3 large eggs

- 1/2 tsp almond essence (pretty essential)

- zest of 2 lemons

for the icing -

- 3oz icing sugar

- juice of 1/2 a lemon

1. Heat the oven to 170°C.

2. Beat the butter and the sugar together in a bowl or food processor and then add the eggs one at a time. 

3. Finally, spoon in the ground almonds, lemon zest, and essence to form a good cake consistency.

4. Pour the mixture into a cake tin and bake in the oven at 170°C for 25-30 minutes, until it is cooked right through.

5. When the cake is cooked, take it out of the oven and leave it to cool for a few minutes. Place it onto a large plate, or straight into a cake tin and pour on the icing (juice of half a lemon added to the icing sugar) while the cake it still warm. 

6. Serve either cold or hot.

Dairy-Free Carrot Cake

I've made this cake a few times and it's super scrumptious. Usually I top it with a yoghurt glaze but I wanted my dairy-intolerant friend to be able to eat it. This is a tweaked version of a recipe my mum found.

Ingredients (serves 8-10)

for the cake -

- 6oz caster sugar

- 6oz vegetable oil

- 3 eggs

- 5.4 oz plain flour

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 1/3 tsp baking powder

- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

- 12oz grated carrot, roughly 3 large carrots

- 1oz walnuts (or more!)

for the icing - 

- half cup thick soya yoghurt or Total yoghurt for those that can eat dairy

- 2 tsp golden syrup

- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Heat the oven to 170°C.

2. Mix the sugar and the oil in a bowl and then add the eggs one at a time. 

3. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon into another bowl and mix well. Add the flour mix to the egg mix and stir until combined.

4. Then fold the grated carrots and walnuts into the cake mix and place in a suitable round cake tin. 

5. Cook the cake at 170°C for 25 minutes and then turn the heat down to 160°C and cook for a further 20/25 minutes.

6. This cake is delicious with or without icing, so it's up to you. If you're opting for icing, put the yoghurt, syrup and essence together and leave it in the fridge until the cake is ready and has completely cooled. It is important to leave the cake to cool, otherwise the yoghurt will melt on top of it.

7. Cover the cake with the icing and decorate with a sprinkle of cinnamon, walnuts or grated carrot.

It is however perfectly good without icing, and much healthier! The plain version would serve as a great tea accompaniment. 

Apple and Prune Crumble

There were some leftover tinned prunes that needed eating, and tonnes of windfall apples in the garden, so this crumble was a serious experiment. Having searched 'Apple and Prune Crumble' online, I wasn't successful. Therefore this might be the only recipe out there!

Ingredients (serves 8)

for the crumble base -

- 4 small/medium apples, peeled and chopped

- 7 tinned prunes, pitted

- 2tsp water

- 4 tsp prune juice from tin

- 1 dessert spoon golden syrup

- 1 tsp cinnamon

for the crumble topping - 

- 170g plain flour

- 75g demerara sugar

- 25g porridge oats

- 75g unsalted butter, softened

- 10g goji berry flaxseed (optional)

- 10g pumpkin seeds

- 1 tsp cinnamon

1. Start by pre heating the oven to 180°c. Choose a suitable dish and place the apples inside. Cover them with the water, prune juice and golden syrup, then stir. Finally, sprinkle over the cinnamon and place the prunes on the top.

2. Place all the ingredients for the crumble topping into a bowl and blend with your hands until the butter has broken into small bits and combined with the mixture. (Tip - Your fingers should be dirty and your palms should be clean. Lift the mixture up with your finger tips to let the air in).

3. Once the crumble topping is ready, pour it evenly over the crumble base.

4. Put the crumble in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes until golden. Serve how you wish - hot or cold.

Scrumptious September Blackberry Tray Bake

After a stinted start to September blackberries, a delicious bowl was finally picked. This is the best blackberry recipe I have made to date, and I wanted to share it's scrumptiousness with you all. Due to the fact that blackberries don't cost a penny, the apple was from our garden, the free-range eggs were bought down the road for next to nothing, and the rest of the ingredients equate to as little as £1, this is a highly economic and cheap cake! Unfortunately it is not my own creation, I nabbed it from the Tesco Mag website, the original recipe can be found here: http://img.tesco.com/todayattesco/cookbook/archive/apple_blackberry_tray_bake.shtml 

Ingredients (makes 12 pieces)

- 100g softened butter

- 175g self-raising flour

- 1tsp baking powder

- 170g caster sugar

- 2 eggs

- zest of one lemon

- 1 Cox apple, peeled, cored and diced (or as an alternative you can use tinned pears, around 4 pear halves)

- 150g blackberries, rinsed

1. Start by preheating the oven to 190°c and line a shallow 20cm square cake tin with baking parchment (I used a glass 20 x 15cm dish instead). 

2. Place all the ingredients, apart from the apple and blackberries, into a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until smooth.

3. Next, stir the apple and blackberries into the mixture and spread evenly into the prepared tin. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the centre is firm to touch and a knife comes out clean.

4. Remove the cake out of the tin by picking out the baking parchment, and leave to cool on a wire rack.

http://instagram.com/p/em3Mgyuks1/

Insanely Delicious Pavlova Berry Ice Cream

This is my mum's creation, what a gem!  It's the easiest and quickest ice cream you will ever make.

Ingredients (serves 6)

- 1 Coop Berry Pavlova (or a similar equivalent)

- 3 meringue nests

- 5 handfuls of frozen/fresh berries, currants, or summer fruits (I used black currents and damsons)

1. Start by whizzing up the pavlova for 10 seconds in a magimix.

2. Then add the fruit and extra meringue. Whizz up until a smooth mixture forms.

3. Add some more fruit if you feel it needs some. Either place the ice cream straight in the freezer, or keep it in the fridge until 4 hours before serving, then place in the freezer. This way, it will still be slightly soft and more like a sorbet. 

This ice cream is great served with my Chocolate and Amaretti Cake (see posts below for the recipe).

http://instagram.com/p/cJ5CsIukp9/

Stewed Rhubarb, Orange and Mint Smoothie with Homemade Flaxseed

 Ingredients (makes two small glasses)

- 1 banana, chopped

- 1 orange, peeled and chopped

- 2 tbsp stewed rhubarb (in water and a little sugar)

- 1 heaped tbsp homemade goji berry flaxseed (see recipe a few posts below)

- 5 mint leaves

- 1 cup apple or orange juice (optional)

- linseeds and yoghurt to serve (optional)

1. Start by making the stewed rhubarb. Cut up the rhubarb and boil up some water in a saucepan. Add the rhubarb to the pan and simmer on a medium heat until the rhubarb is soft. Strain the rhubarb and sprinkle a little sugar on top. Leave it to cool. (If you make more than you need you can eat it with yoghurt for breakfast or as a pudding. 

2. Place the banana, orange and rhubarb in a tall mixer and whizz up for a few minutes.

3. Add the flaxseed and the mint and mix until a thick paste forms. The rhubarb might be stringy so make sure it is fully mixed. 

4. This smoothie is quite thick so you might want to add some orange or apple juice. I put the glasses of smoothie in the fridge before serving (without juice), and ate them as a cold mousse pudding using a spoon. I also topped the smoothies with linseeds and yoghurt swirls. 

http://instagram.com/p/b3uWEwOkrA/

Dairy-free Carrot Cake

There's a first time for everything! One of my friends requested a carrot cake recipe, yet I had none to give her. In desperate need for a recipe, my mum acquired one for me - this is my 'tweaked' version.

Ingredients (makes 8 big slices)

for the cake - 

6oz caster sugar

6oz vegetable oil

3 eggs

5.4 oz plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/3 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

12oz grated carrot, roughly 3 carrots

1oz walnuts (I didn't have 3oz)

for the icing - 

half cup thick soya yoghurt or Total yoghurt for those that can eat dairy

2 tsp golden syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

or (the icing for the original recipe)

8oz philadelphia cheese

8oz icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Heat the oven to 170°C.

2. Mix the sugar and the oil and then add the eggs one at a time. 

3. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon in another bowl and mix well. Add the flour mix to the egg mix and stir well.

4. Then fold the grated carrots and walnuts into the cake mix and place in a suitable cake tin. 

5. Cook the cake at 170°C for 25 minutes and then turn the heat down to 160°C and cook for a further 20/25 minutes.

6. I didn't have the right ingredients for the icing so had to improvise. For the icing, put the yoghurt, syrup and essence together and leave it in the fridge until the cake is ready and has completely cooled. 

7. Cover the cake with the icing and decorate with walnuts of grated carrot.

Rocky Road - Delicious

Ingredients (For Twelve Large Slices)

200g dark chocolate (70% coco solid or higher)

2 tbsp golden syrup

135g butter

100g mini marshmallows

200g Rich Tea or Digestive biscuits

80g mixture of dried cranberries, raisins and dates

20g chopped hazelnuts or other nuts

1. Line small/medium sized baking tray with baking paper.

2. Bash up the biscuits with a rolling pin into medium pieces and put to one side.

3. In a saucepan melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup.

4. Take this off the heat and stir in all the remaining ingredients until the mixture is completely covered.

5. Place the rocky road in the fridge for at least 2 hours, until set, and then cut into pieces and serve with blueberries and ice cream.

Scrumptious!