Gluten free chocolate joy - Queen of Sheba cake, Reine de Saba

So chocolate lovers, this cake is for you.
Intense chocolate flavour
in a gluten free cake and a brilliant name. Give it a go

You may have noticed that there isn't a lot of flour on the shelves in many supermarkets. Is everyone baking? Since I'm not walking around the whole area I can't smell the results, and there's no biscuits baking smell wafting over from the McVities factory at the moment either.

I finally got some flour actually, at the Co-op in Cricklewood, thank you Co-op. And I got a bar of basic dark chocolate (43% for those who want detail). And it's my lovely daughter's birthday.. and she loves chocolate. At the same time I found a recipe in Elizabeth David was being shared by a BBC London Radio listener on facebook and since it's called the Queen of Sheba and my daughter is a special person, definitely got some regal stuff going on, I decided to give it a go.

Queen of Sheba cake

Ingredients

the cake dusted
with icing sugar

125g butter

125g sugar

125g dark chocolate

100 g ground almonds 

3 eggs, separated
1 tbsp coffee and spirit if you like

Set your oven to 160C

Method

• separate the eggs, into yolks and whites 
• melt chocolate (in bain marie, microwave or oven)
• add butter to melted chocolate, beating it until smooth
• add in the egg yolks one by one, beating to combine, following with the sugar and ground almonds, beating until everything is properly combined
• whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks
• fold the fluffy egg whites through the chocolate mixture, in cutting motions to keep as much air as possible
• pour mixture into prepared 8"/20cm lined tin
• bake for 45m

allow to cool before removing from the tin - be careful, it's fragile cake, dust with cocoa or icing sugar to servev.

You need a strong arm or an electric whisk or equivalent. I use an old fashioned hand held electric whisk. I don't have a big machine, just a lot of bowls. I realised that I would need a gadget garage to fit one in the kitchen, or it would have to sit on the side and I don't find it very attractive, so I got the hand held whisk. There's no flour or baking powder, the raising agent is beaten egg whites. 

20cm tin prepped
with butter and cocoa

melt the chocolate

stir the butter into the melted chocolate
 then stir in the yolks, sugar and ground almonds

beat together and leave to cool

whisk the egg whites
until they make soft peaks

stir the whites through the chocolate
mixture until combined

you can see a bit of unstirred
egg white

reverse crumble chocolate dessert

Raymond Blanc’s reverse crumble chocolate dessert is something I've come across while cruising the interweb for chocolate cake recipes, because who doesn't? It looks pretty good. Overnight chill needed, and not much flour, so the current shortage of the stuff might not put you off, so long as you can get cream, butter, milk and eggs.

If you substitute gluten free flour in the crumble, you have a gluten free dessert. 

Method

Grease an 8”/20cm cake ring, line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and sit the ring on it

Set the oven to 160 fan oven 170 normal oven

For crumble

35g butter unsalted, cold

35g sugar demerera

pinch of salt

30g flour (gf if you like)

1/5 tsp cocoa powder

Combine to a breadcrumb texture to make a crumble and bake in oven 170 for 10-12m

for choc cream

90ml whipping cream

150ml full fat milk

155g 70% choc broken into pieces

1 egg

• heat the milk and cream together to almost boiling
• start beating the egg gently then slowly pour hot milk into the beaten egg continue beating to combine.
• add the chocolate to the hot egg/milk mixture and keep beating slowly until the chocolate has melted completely, which may take a few minutes.
• allow the mixture to cool then pour over the crumble base and leave to chill in the fridge overnight

Just before serving

• slip the cake onto a plate
• loosen the edge of the cake with a hot knife and remove the ring before serving

Vegan nut roast

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Vegan nut roast

this is all that was left...

I like nut roast and I especially like it with texture and some nuts that crunch. 

I made a vegan version this year, which was also gluten free, so no-one had any excuse for not eating it. In fact a lot of family had it alongside roast beef. We're a broad church - I'm not a vegetarian

Vegan nut roast

Equipment

large mixing bowl

knife and board

saucepan

2lb bread tin

Set oven to 180 degrees

INGREDIENTS 

Most of a butternut squash (I used the seeded end)

1 carrot

2 medium onions

1 heaped cup of mixed nuts (150g)

2 small cloves garlic

Salt and pepper

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp mixed herbs

1 cup cooked lentils

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup whole chestnuts chopped

2 eggs/egg replacement mix

METHOD 

Scoop out the seeds if necessary, peel and dice the squash, peel the carrots and finely dice onion

Fry all the veg gently in large pan, in one spoonful of olive oil until translucent - I put them on a low heat, put a lid on and let them stew

While veg are frying, chop nuts coarsely make sure you leave some whole

In a large bowl stir together chopped herbs, cooked lentils and breadcrumbs along with chopped chestnuts, chopped nuts and stir to mix

add your egg/egg replacement mix and stir until well combined

put into lined bread tin and pat down to compress

bake for 45 minutes uncovered -  the top will be golden brown

let your nut roast sit for a moment, turn out carefully, don’t tap it, and peel off the lining paper, use a very sharp knife to cut into slices

Serve with onion gravy or other veggie gravy

Onion gravy

ingredients

Two large onions, sliced

blob of butter or other fat

low salt veggie stock

pepper and salt to taste

equipment

saucepan

stick blender

wooden spoon

METHOD

fry onions over low heat until rich golden brown, stirring as you go

add vegetable stock

blend to a very smooth liquid, like single cream 

tip: if it isn't as dark as you want add soy sauce or marmite, checking salt level, or use very strong breakfast tea to make the veggie stock

serve with nut roast 

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Easy orange almond cake - gluten free

Delicious and highly scented, this cake is gluten free and very easy to make.

made with almond meal, the almonds are ground with the skins on

I first cooked this wonderful cake using Claudia Roden's recipe, and I was joining a large group since lots of people include it in their repertoire, for good reason. It is delicious and gluten free. I love the intense orange flavour, the fact that it keeps well, and that it is a very easy cake to make. Also the whole house smells of oranges when I make it. If you have only got clementines or lemons, go with it, all citrus fruit works.

The only fat in the cake comes from the almonds. I have used shop bought ground almonds, I've ground my own both with and without skins. It's called almond meal if you include the skins, and almond flour if you don't, apparently. The difference between home ground and shop bought is in taste, which is all that matters really. You don't get more almond flavour, the almond seems to hold the citrus flavour better. The consistency may not be as smooth, but I prefer that. I can't see the difference between including the skins or not, apart from peeling almonds is no fun at all, and of course the colour is slightly darker.  

Some people include orange flower water, but I like the flavour as it is, bold and gutsy.

This cake also looks great on a plate, the outside cooks to a beautiful tan brown and the inside remains golden orange. It is chic.

If you haven’t got oranges you can substitute them with lemons, tangerines or any other orange citrus fruit. I haven’t tried lime or grapefruit, yet.

If you want to go old school you can use a sieve instead of a blender to pulp the cooked oranges.

Ingredients

• 2 large oranges
• 6 free-range eggs
• 250g/9oz ground almonds
• 250g/9oz caster sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder

Preparation method

• Wash the oranges thoroughly.
• Put the washed oranges into a large saucepan of water and bring them to the boil.
• Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for two hours – making sure that the water doesn’t boil away.
• Preheat the oven to 175C/325F/Gas 3.
• Butter and flour a 23cm/9in cake tin – keep it gluten free and use some ground almonds.
• Leave the oranges to cool, before slicing in quarters. Remove the pips.
• Pulp the oranges in a food processor – make sure it is smooth.
• Beat the eggs in a large bowl and gradually stir in all the remaining ingredients, including the puréed oranges. Mix well. The batter will be a beautiful orange colour.
• Pour the mixture into the cake tin and cook for about an hour, until the cake is a lovely tan colour and has risen.
• Transfer to a wire cooling rack, keeping the cake in the tin. It is likely to break if you take it out too soon.
• When the cake has cooled, carefully remove from the tin.
• Serve as you like – I usually cut into slices. It is lovely with creme fraiche.

cantuccini - gluten free

I'm cooking a batch of cantuccini to give as presents, with port. I couldn't decide on a pudding wine, so fell back on port. My memory of dipping these hard biscuits in alcohol is a fond, and slightly bleary one. I've made them wheat free, using Dove's Farm plain gluten free flour. I hope they turn out really hard. There is no fat in this recipe, apart from what is in the nuts.

Tasters trying this recipe part way through are mmm mmm-ing like mad. Cutting the biscuits half way through, I can see that the dough is much more crumbly than its wheat-packed compadre. The smell is great. I’m cooking the sliced dough at a slightly lower temperature. Pics follow

Here's a reminder of the recipe

Cantuccini

RECIPE

Ingredients:

325g (12oz) plain gluten free flour

300g (11oz) caster sugar

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

200g (12oz) whole unpeeled almonds

125g ground almonds

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Around 1 coffee cup/1/2 small glass alcohol amaretto or brandy

Method:

Set your oven to Gas Mark 4 (180°C/350°F).

Prepare two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Roughly crush about a third of the almonds or chop them a bit

Mix the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and almonds.

Whisk the eggs and vanilla together and stir them into the dry ingredients, working it into a stiff dough (I use a fork). Add the alcohol bit by bit, by the end if it’s not all sticking together add a few drops of water.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and divide into two.

Roll each half into a sausage and divide again into two, so you have four pieces. I do this because it fits on my baking tray, and makes slightly smaller biscotti.

Put the sausage shaped dough on the lined trays and flatten a little – they will spread a bit, so keep them well spaced.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the logs are well risen and have almost doubled in size.

Leave the oven on.

Cut into slices about 1cm thick. Some people say they should be smaller, but I can’t cut them that small. Don’t worry about leaving space between the slices.

Put the sliced dough back and cook for around 20 minutes more, until they are lightly toasted. Let them cool before storing (or eating).

Makes lots and lots.

 

Gluten free Christmas

I'm making a new stuffing this year, gluten free for simplicity in the family catering. I've got chicken, pork, beef and bacon, sitting and waiting for me to crack on. I'm intending to make extra as sausages for another meal. Gluten-free toad in the hole perhaps.

I will also make some parsley and sage stuffing, also gluten free. I'm not doing bread sauce, because the potential heart attack on a plate, that is the Christmas meal, doesn't need any help. More later...

plum cake

I am thoroughly enjoying the plums, which when eaten fresh off the tree are wonderfully sweet. At the optimum ripeness the stone falls out once the plum is cut. The raw flesh is a soft green, and the skin is purpley black, with a dusty bloom. The skin lends a light bitterness, which is a welcome contrast  to the sweet pulpy flesh. I like to cook the plums for just a minute, adding a few spoonfuls of water and the same amount of sugar. Demerera.  This makes a beautiful ruby red syrup, and, lightly poached, the plums keep their shape. The bitter tang of the skin is slightly more pronounced in the cooking, balanced nicely with the sweetness of the syrup.

The winner of the plum recipes so far has been this cake. The plums sit on top of the mixture, which is flavoured with lemon zest backed by the lightest addition of mixed spice. I wanted to take a picture of the whole cake, but before I had a chance the eating had begun. It seems it's an all times of day cake. It certainly goes very well with a cup of tea, and coffee and, apparently, works very well as a follow-on course for a full breakfast.

I cut the plums into quarters, and I don't worry which way up they are. Reckless, I know. So the top of the cake looks a bit random, but it works. Also I won't give a fixed weight of plums, expect to use at least half a pound of plums per cake, you may prefer more. Enjoy yourself.

Recipe

Butter an 9"/23cm cake tin with a removable base

Ingredients

185g butter or marg

zest from 1 lemon

1/2 tsp of mixed spice (or cinnamon if you don't have the mixed stuff)

2/3 cup (150g) caster sugar

3 eggs

1 cup (150g) self-raising flour

1/2 cup plain flour

3 tbsp milk

1/2 lb plums

3 tbsp demerera sugar

set oven to 180C

cut your plums in half and remove the stones, then cut into quarters

mix flours together with spices and stir or sift - in a separate bowl

beat the butter, rind and sugar together (easier if fat is not straight out of the fridge) - use an electric mixer or a stick whisk if you've got it - until light and fluffy

beat in the eggs one at a time, until combined

add half the sifted flour and a tablespoonful of milk and stir to combine

repeat with the rest of the flour and stir until completely combined

spread the mixture into the tin, smoothing until it's level
scatter the quartered plums over the cake mixture until you can see nothing but plums
sprinkle the demerera sugar over the top, as evenly as possible

bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean

allow the cake to cool a bit before removing from tin

I prefer this cake cold, but it goes well with ice cream or cream when warm

If you can keep this cake a couple of days I think it improves, but I've only evidence of this from tiny residual slices.

Alternatives
you can use tinned fruit, but it will be wetter and less sharp, so reduce the milk and demerera

subsitute almond flour for the plain flour, and use gluten free s.r. flour to make this cake gluten free - it will need an extra 1/2 tsp of baking powder, and will be a bit more crumbly, but very very tasty

Horchata - from Chow

spotted this on the Chow website, I haven't tried it yet but I will, especially for my dairy free friends. It's still got sugar... but looks tasty. With rum it might be fatal.

Horchata

By Amy Wisniewski
A common drink found alongside aquas frescas in Mexican taquerias, horchata is a milky-looking, yet dairy-free, libation. Made with ground-up rice, toasted almonds, a bit of cinnamon, and some lime, it’s a perfect summertime refreshment and is even tastier when spiked.


Game plan: Start this recipe a day ahead, as the ground ingredients need to soak overnight.
TIME/SERVINGS
Total Time: 10 mins, plus soaking time
Makes: 4 to 6 drinks (1 quart)

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups long-grain white rice
2 (1/2-inch) cinnamon sticks
1 cup blanched, sliced almonds, toasted and cooled
4 cups water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 (2-inch-long) lime zest strip, removed with a vegetable peeler
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice


INSTRUCTIONS

Pulverize the rice and cinnamon in a spice grinder in batches until the mixture resembles a fine powder. Place in a 2-quart container with a tightfitting lid. Next, pulverize the almonds in the spice grinder until finely ground but not a paste. Add the almond powder to the rice-cinnamon mixture, pour in the water, and stir to combine. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 12 hours.

Add the sugar and zest to the mixture and, using a blender, blend in batches on high until smooth. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer placed over a bowl. Using a rubber spatula, press on the solids to extract all of the liquid, then discard the solids.

Stir the lime juice into the horchata, then transfer the beverage to a pitcher and chill in the refrigerator. Serve over ice.

Worth a go?

not christmas dinner - vietnamese style spicy rice noodles

It's Christmas Eve, and I'm cooking the Christmas meal today. So last night the last thing I wanted was anything heavy. I'd had a luxurious day, fretting about last minute presents and going to the theatre. 


Actually I went to two theatres, at the Barbican I saw Flyboy is alone again this Christmas, a delightfully dark series of tales, performed with a rich musical accompaniment. I was with my own delightful troupe, beautiful daughters of mine, three beautiful daughters of others and handsome husband. Daughter three got over her worries of abandonment, provided the artiste with sweets and won a glow-in-the-dark badge, competitive and Christmas spirit intact and endorsed at the age of 15. The show enchanted all of us - if your'e interested there's info about Flyboy's creator here.


At the Cambridge Theatre I snuck around the back and got some illicit wares from a man wearing much more alluring make up than me. Definitely the better woman. Emerging from Covent Garden tube into Christmas mayhem had made my head spin, but once I had carrier bag accompaniment it all made sense, especially carrying something wonderful from Denise and Dudley.


Back to food. I find chopping calms me down. I was just catering for two, as all the daughters had dispersed. A glass of wine at hand and I set to. 


I love the lightness of Vietnamese cooking. I think I may have become addicted to lime juice. The most complicated thing about this recipe is the chopping, and the result is filling and still light. I used prawn and chicken, but you can use any combination of meat, just don't use too much. I substituted white cabbage for bean sprouts, both because it was what I had at hand and I like cabbage. I didn't have any spring onions, so I did without... but they would have been good, so I've left them in the recipe.


Chicken and Prawn Spicy Rice Noodles


Ingredients
Two nests wide rice noodles
1 chicken breast
10 large prawns
1/3 small white cabbage
1 medium carrot
handful of raw peanuts
3 spring onions
3 spoonfuls chopped coriander 
1 lime
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsps fish sauce
2 tsps sugar


corn or peanut oil


Method

• Soak the noodles in boiling water while you chop the meat and veg.

• Prepare the ingredients as follows, setting each one aside, ready for last minute assembly:
• Finely slice the chicken breast.
• Devein prawns if necessary - I use frozen raw prawns that have been deveined, so I just make sure they are thawed, otherwise they add too much liquid to the dish.
• Finely slice cabbage.
• Peel the carrot and grate on the coarsest bit of the grater.
• Get the coriander ready - chopped as fine as you fancy.
• Peel and chop the garlic, peel and grate the ginger.
• Squeeze the lime and mix the lime juice with the fish sauce and sugar. 
• Chop up the peanuts a bit.

• Drain the noodles, which should be soft, but not pappy. 

• Heat a wok or large frying pan, when it's hot add a few swirls of oil.
• Quickly cook the chicken and prawns, for about a minute. They should colour up.
• Add garlic, ginger and lime juice mixture to the pan and cook for another minute.
• Add all the other ingredients and cook for two minutes, stirring to mix up, but not breaking up the noodles.

Sprinkle with spring onion and serve. Delicious


Tips
If you don't have fish sauce you can use soy sauce, or an anchovy fillet mixed up with the lime juice and a spoonful of water.
You can make a veggie version, using tofu or just substituting the meat with more sliced veg, and adding more peanuts.
If you don't have penauts to hand, use a spoonful of peanut butter, but make sure it breaks up in the cooking, coming across lumps is just unpleasant.

Easy, delicious, gluten free pork, lemon and thyme stuffing

You would think there was a big market for gluten free food, especially at Christmas. Yet all I could find in the local supermarket was gluten free chocolate macaroons. But what I need is stuffing. So I bought some pork and bacon and set to making my own.


My local butcher does do gluten free sausagemeat, however I wanted to make some without any imitations of flour or bread in it. So I bought some loin chops and some unsmoked bacon to put together with rice and herbs. 

In this stuffing the lemony tang is nicely balanced with the sweetness of the pork. It is a good match for the richness of roast chicken and potatoes. It's also a  As usual the dilemma is how to avoid overeating. 


By the way, there's no egg in this stuffing either, all the sticking together is done by stirring and the rice.

pork loin

Pork, thyme, lemon and parsley stuffing

ingredients

330g pork loin (that's two large chops, with fat)

160g unsmoked back bacon

2 onions

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp dried thyme (or half tbsp of fresh thyme)

zest and juice of one lemon

1/2 mug rice

2 handfuls flaked rice

two healthy pinches of Maldon sea salt

2tsp mixed peppercorns (red, green, black)

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

method

• Cook the rice, stir in zest of lemon and pepper - it'll look like it's covered in ash, but the smell is delicious. Set aside.
• Mince or finely chop the pork and bacon.
• Finely chop onion and garlic, and fry on low heat until translucent, then stir in herbs.
• Mix all ingredients together.



diced pork and bacon ready for mincing 

• Roll into balls and chill for several hours before cooking.

Cook on oiled baking tin for 30m, or until brown at 375°F/190°C/Gas mark 6.

Makes 14 balls, could be 15.

These balls can be made ahead and frozen - add 10m to cooking time if you are cooking from frozen. 

mince old style or with a food processor

notes

• The fat of the pork and bacon keeps the balls moist while cooking. If you think the port is lean, drizzle with olive oil or put a dab of butter on them before cooking. 
• Wrap the balls in bacon if you like, that keeps them moist too.
• the rice flakes make the balls nice and sticky, but you can just use a bit more cooked rice and blitz it with the meat.

This stuffing goes well with roast chicken, such as best roast chicken.


I'm going to try them in a tomato sauce soon.


Aha! in tomato sauce they are great, with rice and a sprinkling of parmesan. Extra pepper.