Gluten free mincemeat

I can tell its nearly Christmas, and it is not just the cold weather and beautiful fairy lights everywhere. No I mean that busy feeling as you try to get your to do list done before the holidays! I have many blog posts to write and barely have time to sit down for 20 minutes at a time.

Today I share my gluten free mincemeat with you, hopefully tomorrow I will share gluten and lactose fee mince pies with you, I know, I know, promises promises.

I have a mincemeat recipe already on the blog. It is not however gluten free, and I have tweaked the recipe to make it a tiny little less sweet so that the spices shine through, it is now also nut free. Feel free to have a look at both and chose the one that best suits your requirements. If you do not wish to add the brandy just add an extra 50ml of orange juice.

I found gluten free suet in a health food shop but my mum found some in Morrisons so its worth having a look in your local supermarket.

Mincemeat 

1 bramley apple
150g raisins
150g sultanas
80g stoned dates, chopped
100g  GF vegetarian suet
200g brown sugar
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
fresh grating of nutmeg
Zest and juice of a small lemon
Zest and juice of half an orange
50ml brandy (or extra orange juice)

Put the raisins, sultanas, dates, suet, sugar and spices into a bowl and mix. Peel and grate the apple then add this to the bowl along with the citrus juice, zest and brandy, Give the whole thing a good mix.

Leave overnight, giving a good stir every now and then. By morning it will be slightly darker and lovely and sticky.

 Pack into sterile jars and leave to mature for as long as possible, saying that if you use it almost immediately it will still be delicious. 

 

Dairy free pancakes

Just occasionally I can be tempted away from porridge. Especially on a lazy Saturday morning when I can have fluffy pancakes topped with banana and maple syrup. Yum.

Now most pancake recipes have dairy in so I have had to do  little searching and tweaking to make a recipe I am very very happy with.

It is a pancake flavoured with vanilla and cinnamon. It has apple and coconut in the batter, they do not contribute too much flavour but combined with the other ingredients offer the pancake sweetness. Especially as this recipe has no sugar, just some maple syrup in the batter.

I used a little spelt flour in the mix for a nutty more robust pancake. My other half declared them the yummiest ever so I guess I am on to a winner.

Dairy free pancakes

makes 8

110g plain flour
25g spelt flour
30g desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
175ml almond milk
100ml water
tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla paste/extract
1 apple

Preheat the oven to low about 50-80C. Mix the flours, coconut, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. 

Mix the almond milk, water maple syrup and vanilla the whisk into the dry ingredients until no lumps remain. You may need a tiny bit more water, I needed an extra tablespoon. Grate in the apple. 

Heat a little oil in a non stick frying pan. I used an american measuring 1/4 cup per pancake, if you do not have these it equates to 50-60 ml a pancake. You could put your mixture into a jug and pour into the pan .

Cook for a couple of minutes until the underside is golden and the top has little bubbles. Flip over and cook for a further minute. Transfer to a baking sheet and place in the oven to keep warm. Keep going until you have used all the batter.

One of my favourite toppings is sliced banana and maple syrup. The sweetness the two provide is just right with the pancakes. You may have your own favourite toppings. How about berries and honey. Or adding some blueberries to the batter instead of apple and topping the whole stack off with more blueberries and maple syrup. Let me know if you have any favourite ways to top your pancake!

Toffee apple cake

This cake is based on a delicious cake already on the blog, apple and almond cake, it is regularly requested by Mark. I adapted the recipe not because it is not already perfect but because I waned to utilise ingredients I had left over from the salted caramel and pecan cupcakes posted earlier.

Not that the cupcakes were not lovely but this was definitely a case where a recipe to use up leftovers was better than the original recipe the ingredients were called for.

Toffee Apple Cake

makes 1 cake

For the apples

3 dessert apples, I used gala
25g caramel (mine is from a tin on this occasion)

For the cake

150g butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
75g self raising flour
75g ground pecans (simply whiz pecan in a food processor)
100g ish caramel
Grease a 20cm springform tin and line the base with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 170C/150C FAN.

Core the apples and cut into 4, slice each quarter into 3 wedges. Put the caramel into a frying pan and warm gently. Add the apples and cook gently for about 5 minutes until starting to become lightly caramelised and tender. Put aside for a few minutes to cool. 

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add one egg and beat again. Add the second egg and a tablespoon of the flour and beat until fully incorporated. Add the remaining flour and the ground pecans and fold in with a spatula. 

Place 2/3 cake batter into the prepared cake tin and level with a spatula, drizzle over a layer of caramel, and smooth into an even layer with a spatula, carefully dollop on the remaining cake batter and smooth with a spatula Arrange the apple on top, adding a final drizzle of caramel if you still have some to spare. 

Place in the preheated oven and bake for ~45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before releasing and allowing to cool on a wire rack. 

This cake is best warm from the oven, with warm caramel throughout the cake and yummy amazing caramelised edges.

I am not suggesting of course that you eat the entire cake in one sitting. Instead keep the cake in an airtight tin and reheat slices in warm oven for 5 minutes before tucking in.  

Bake along with Bake Off- Date and apple crumble traybake

I love watching the biscuit week on bake off. This week certainly did not disappoint, traybakes, tuiles and biscuit towers.

Some of those towers were impressive, Christine's Bavarian clock tower in particular, my heart was in my mouth a couple of times though!

I decided to make a traybake, I love a traybake and took this as an opportunity to make one that I had not done before, with bake off standard flavours and textures. I have made orange tuiles before, the recipe is here

The date crumble traybake is already a popular traybake, I added mixed spice to the crumble and apple to the date centre to jazz it up a little.

Date and apple crumble traybake

200g dates
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
2 eating apples
200g porridge oats
130g light brown sugar
110g self raising flour
200g butter (I used lactofree spread to no ill affect)

Make the date and apple purée first. Put the dates into a saucepan with 120ml of water and the vanilla. Heat gently for up to 10 minutes until all the water as been absorbed by the dates and they are beginning to  break down.

Remove the dates from the heat, grate the apples and stir into the dates, set aside to cool. 

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN. Grease and line a 23 cm square tin (I used a silicon one that didn't need lining as I had run out of baking paper) 

Pulse the oats, ,flour, sugar and mixed spice. in a food processor (or mix by hand) add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumble and starts to come together (or alternatively rub in with your fingers).  

Press ~2/3 of the mixture into the prepared tin then top with the date purée.
Lightly crumble and press the remaining 1/3 of the crumble mix on top.

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. 

Leave to cool in the tin for 15-30 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before cutting into squares. 

Be careful these are dangerously addictive! The filling is sweet and sticky and goes fantastically with the lightly spiced crunchy topping.

I think Paul and Mary would have liked these providing I cut them into nice equal squares! They do keep well, but the topping will soften a little.

Apple breakfast bars

I mentioned a few posts back that I had made Nigella's breakfast bars with minor tweaks.

I loved these bars and thought they had real potential to be really modified to create some lovely new bars for breakfast and snacks.

These have a very English autumnal feeling with apples, raisins and hazelnuts. I also spiked the condensed milk with a little honey that pairs beautifully with the other flavours.

Apple breakfast bars

1 tin condensed milk (395g), light is absolutey fine
1 tablespoon honey
250g oats
75g dessicated coconut
60g mixed seeds
100g whole blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
80g dried apple, chopped
50g raisins

Preheat the oven to 120C/100C FAN and grease and line a brownie pan (or similar) with baking paper. 

Gently, so that it does not catch, warm the condensed milk and honey in a pan. It does not need to be boiling  just warmed through to loosen it a little. 

Meanwhile mix all the other ingredients in a large bowl. Tip the warm condensed milk and honey into the bowl and make sure everything is well combined.

Tip the whole lot into your prepared tin and level. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes. Keep an eye on it at the end of cooking time the honey in it means it can get a little too brown in a matter of minutes.

Leave to cool for 15 minutes then, using the baking paper to help you, remove from the pan and cut into bars. Do't leave it too long or they will be much harder to cut! Leave the cut bars on a wire rack to cool.

These bars take no time at all to whip up. keep for a week in a tin, and are the perfect on the go breakfast or snack, what's not to love?

Sticky maple apple tray bake

Here is a yummy tray bake from The Great British Bake off book, 'How to Bake'. I needed something non chocolatey that would quell my cake craving, this little lovely does just that, and with all the apple in it I can  feel a little virtuous when eating it.

I made a few tweaks, the main being to the frosting. The book says to use cream cheese, I had no cream cheese but had mascarpone, which is just Italian cream cheese, right? The result is luscious and I am going to find a way to put this frosting on a cupcake so I can get more of it in each bite. I suspect that if conventional cream cheese were used to frosting would be tangier and perhaps a tad looser.

Sticky maple apple traybake (Adapted from the Great British Bake off)

For the cake

400g (prepared weight) bramley apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1cm cubes
1tsp mixed spice
2 tsp maple syrup
150ml groundnut oil
125g light brown sugar
2 large eggs
275g plain flour
2 large egg whites

For the frosting

75g butter
50g light brown sugar
3 tablespoons maple syrup
175g mascarpone cheese

Grease and line a traybake tin. I used my brownie tin and it worked just fine. Preheat the oven to  180C/160C FAN.

Prepare the apple and mix with the mixed spice and maple syrup, set aside. Whisk the ground nut oil, sugar and whole eggs until thick and mousse-like. Add the apple and combine. Add the flour and fold in with a metal spoon. 

Whisk the two egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add a third of the whisked egg whites to the cake batter bowl and fold in with a metal spoon. Add the remaining egg white a third at a time and gently fold in. 

Tip the batter into the prepared tin and level with a spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 30 minutes then, using the lining paper to help, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy. Add the mascarpone cheese and maple syrup and beat to combine. Spread over the cooled cake and cut into generous chunks. 

Apple and mincemeat crumble

When the weather is cold you cannot bet old fashioned comfort food. One of the most comforting has to be crumble and custard.

I had a jar of home-made mincemeat lurking in the cupboard from Christmas and so decided to jazz up a plain apple crumble with it. Result? It was delicious.

Crumble may not necessarily be the prettiest thing to look at but who cares when it tastes this good.

Apple and mincemeat crumble

(serves 4-6)

300g of cooking apples, prepared weight
200g mincemeat
100g butter
110g plain flour
70g caster sugar
30g oats

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN. Prepare the crumble topping first. Rub the butter ito the flour until it ressembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar and oats. 

Peel, core and slice your apples, you will need 300g of prepared apples in total. Mix the apples and mincemeat together and place into you baking dish (I used a casserole dish) in an even layer. I like my crumbles quite tart and so did not add any sugar to my apples, considering the sweetness of this mincemeat, feel free to add extra sugar to cater to your own personal tastes.

Sprinkle the crumble mix over the top of the fruit in a nice even, deep layer. Press down lightly with your hands. 

Bake in the oven for 25-20 minutes util golden and piping hot.

Serve straight away with lashings of custard, cream or ice cream.

Any leftover crumble will keep till the next day. Let it cool completely then cover with foil and put in the fridge. Reheat in the oven for ~10 minutes. Interestingly I found the crumble topping even more crisp the next day.

Toffee apple cupcakes

Bonfire night makes me think about, among other things, toffee apples. I have not been to many bonfires, but I seem to remember toffee apple from the ones I have.

In honour of this I made toffee apple cupcakes. The exact recipe is in the love bakery cookbook.

It is an apple and cinnamon cupcake with a toffee frosting and a chunk of fudge on the top.

I will admit I had major issues with the frosting, my fudge did not really want to soften and the second it hit my frosting it solidified again and did not blend in.
So what I actually have is an apple cake with a vanilla frosting studded with chunks of fudge. Its not really the end of the world, it still tastes yummy.

If I were making this frosting again I would either use dulce de leche or find some softer fudge to begin with.

Very English apple cake

Autumn is definitely upon us, time for wrapping up warm and indulging in autumn time goodies. I don't know about you but some such autumn flavours are most definitely apples and spice!

With this in mind I knocked up a simple but absolutely delicious English autumnal apple cake.

Very English apple cake (From Peyton and Byrne)


3 medium or 4 small apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped
juice from one lemon 
1tsp mixed spice
125ml groundnut oil (or other vegetable oil)
125g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste (optional)
2 eggs
150g self raising flour
1/2 tsp mixed spice

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN, grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking parchment. 

Prepare the apple and toss them in the lemon juice and tsp of mixed spice.

Using a fork whisk the oil, sugar and vanilla (if using) together in a bowl until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk briefly until fully incorporated. 

Add in the apple and mix. Finally add in the flour and final mixed spice. Mix until combined then pour into the prepared tin. 

Bake for 40-50 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. 

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack. 

Sorry, not too many pictures of the method, I was too preoccupied with timing everything right, I was cooking tea at the time too!

Serve this cake warm with a dollop of Greek yoghurt, yum! It will keep in a tin for up to 5 days, I like to rewarm it through before I eat it.

Apple and almond cake

M had a bake sale at work last week and asked if I would make him some treats to take in, I of course said yes. I made white chocolate and pecan blondies, a chocolate orange cake and an apple cake. The problem with making cakes for a bake sale is that you do not get to try the fruits of your labour. Ok ok I had the trimming of the blondies but they NEEDED trimming, I could not send wonky blondies could I?

Anyway there is no way I could send the cakes with slices missing, so not only did I not get to eat my baking, I have no idea what they tasted like when I sent them off. And this worried me. A lot. However it transpires that I need not have worried. According to M the apple cake was the first to sell out and disappeared within minutes, followed shortly by my other stuff. He also had a piece and said it tasted amazing.

That did it I had to try a piece of this cake. So I made it again. A whole one ALL FOR ME. Well the two of us.

This cake is from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and I have stayed true to his recipe with only a couple of tweaks! I added a little vanilla paste to the cake mix, he suggests almond extract but I like my frangipane taste to be subtle and I also used all spice when I cooked the apples.

Apple and almond cake

makes 1 cake

For the apples

3 dessert apples, I used gala
25g butter
tablespoon of sugar
1/2 tsp mixed spice

For the cake

150g butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
75g self raising flour
75g ground almonds

Grease a 20cm springform tin and line the base with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 170C/150C FAN.

Core the apples and cut into 4, slice each quarter into 3 wedges. Put the butter into a frying pan and allow to bubble add the sugar. Add the apple and the mixed spice to the pan and cook gently for about 5 minutes until starting to become lightly caramelised and tender. Put aside for a few minutes to cool. 

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add one egg and beat again. Add the second egg and a tablespoon of the flour and beat until fully incorporated. Add the remaining flour and the ground almonds and fold in with a spatula. 

Place the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and level with a spatula, arrange the apple on top. Place in the preheated oven and bake for ~45 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before releasing and allowing to cool on a wire rack. 

Ok M was right, not that he is wrong often, this is a really nice cake. The texture of the cake itself is lovely and light but robust enough to stand up to the apples, which are soft and enhanced by the mixed spice.

Apple pancakes

I have to admit I am not a huge pancake fan. Sure I have them on pancake Tuesday but that is about it. However since a recent america trip I do sometimes find myself fancying the fluffy american style pancake.

The recipe below is quick and simple and produces very nice fluffy pancakes. The mixed spice and apple give a really great flavour.

Apple pancakes


makes 10 smallish pancakes


100g self raising
50g caster sugar
tsp mixed spice
1 egg yolk
100ml milk
1 apple grated


Mix the flour, sugar and mixed spice together. Combine the milk and egg together and then add into the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined then mix in the apple.


Heat a teaspoon of butter in a frying pan. Add tablespoons of pancake mix to the pan and cook for about a minute, flip over and cook for about another 30 seconds until both sides are golden brown. Keep warm in a low oven whilst you continue making pancakes until the batter is all used up.

These pancakes will definitely be making a reappearance on my breakfast table. I had them with sliced banana and maple syrup and they were just amazing.

Apple crumble loaf cake

Combining two lovely things, apple crumble and cake, it has to be a winning combination.
This particular recipe jumped out from the pages of this months good food magazine, from all the delicious looking recipes this one was positively screaming to be made first.

I did have to make a couple of slight tweaks. Firstly it had raisins in, now I like raisins, I like them by themselves, smothered in chocolate or yoghurt, with nuts and in biscuits but I am not a fan of them in cakes. Besides which, when is there ever raisins in apple crumble? So I took them out. I have included them in the recipe list should you wish to put them in yourselves.

Secondly I had just purchased mini loaf tins, have you noticed how everything small is cute, even if its larger counterpart is not so? Anyway I wanted to use them so halved the recipe to make 2 cute mini loafs.

The cake itself is a very easy to eat cake, there is no creamy icings or rich chocolate, it is a delicious but slightly less indulgent treat. The cake is very light but has a very soft texture, not dry at all, thanks to the apples I presume, and the crunchy topping with the hazelnuts is absolutely fantastic.

Apple crumble loaf cake


For the loaf:


140g butter
250g self raising flour
2 tsps mixed spice
140g light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 apples peeled and chopped
5 tbsps milk
100g raisins (optional)


For the crumble:


25g butter
25g plain flour
25g brown sugar
25g chopped hazelnuts


Grease and line a 2 litre loaf tin with baking parchment and preheat your oven to 160/fan 140. I always line the bottom of my cake tins no matter how "non stick" they are. If my tins are very non stick so I feel no need to line the sides, this has always worked so far for me.


I have to admit I have no idea if a 2 litre loaf tin is similar to a 1lb tin or a 2lb tin. I presume it is a 2lb tin but Google has failed me in this simple conversion. I halved the recipe and got two mini loafs.


Pop the butter, self raising flour and mixed spice into a food processor and pulse till it looks like breadcrumbs. Or you could put it in a bowl and beat it until it looks like breadcrumbs. 


If done in a food processor, transfer the mix to a bowl. Stir through the sugar and the raisins, if using. Mix the eggs, milk and apple in a jug and add to the bowl, stir to combine everything. Pour into the prepared loaf tin(s) and level the top.


Bake in a preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, until firm on top and a skewer comes out clean. I cooked my mini loafs for 40 minutes. 

Although I do love the simplicity of this cake it has given me inspiration for a indulgent apple crumble and custard cupcake... watch this space