Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes

Caramel Macchiatos are my favourite drink in Starbucks. So much so that on my last visit, I bought a bottle of the caramel drizzle sauce they use on top so that I can make my own imitation versions at home. However,  I've yet to master the milk frother on my coffee machine, as it turns out more like bath foam rather than the silky, thick stuff you can stand your spoon up in at Starbucks. As such, a little drizzle of caramel sauce just sinks to the bottom. Woe.

Anyway, I digress. Because of my homemade latte failure, I've been squirting on the sauce on just about anything else - pancakes, ice cream, my mouth.. and decided to have a play around with a cake recipe based on my favourite drink. It worked quite well! I think a marshmallow creme might work better to imitate the milky foam, rather than buttercream, maybe I'll try that next time!

Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes 

Makes 8 large cakes

125g of margarine
125g caster sugar
125g Doves Farm gluten free self-raising flour
2 eggs
2 tsp of coffee mixed with a tbsp of boiling water, left to cool
2 tsp caramel flavoured syrup (I used this)

Buttercream

150g Icing sugar
50g butter
splash of milk

Caramel Sauce to drizzle over cupcakes

Preheat oven to 190 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together in a bowl using an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add eggs and 25g of flour and whisk until combined. Add the rest of the flour, the coffee and the caramel syrup and whisk together for a couple more minutes. Evenly spoon mixture into cupcake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool and make the buttercream. Spread a thin layer over the top of the cakes, and then drizzle some caramel sauce over each cake.

Peanut Butter Brownies

These brownies really don't need much of an introduction. I have been craving peanut butter all week, and after a failed attempt at making peanut butter hot chocolate earlier in the week (bleurgh), these were exactly what I was looking for! Simple to make and with just a few ingredients, these make a very satisfying, rich brownie, with a lovely, light buttercream frosting full of peanut butter - perfect!

Peanut Butter Brownies

140g salted butter
220g sugar
80g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extra
2 large eggs
70g gluten free self-raising flour

For the frosting:
100g butter
185g smooth peanut butter
125g icing sugar

Preheat oven to 160 degrees and line and grease a brownie tin with greaseproof paper.

Put butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl and melt in the microwave in short, 15 second bursts til the mixture comes together and is just warm. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and add eggs, flour and vanilla extract. Beat until glossy and pour into lined tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer dipped into the brownie comes out clean. While the tray is cooling, prepare the frosting by mixing the butter, peanut butter and icing sugar with an electric whisk, until light and fluffy. When the brownie is completely cooled, spread the frosting over it and put it in the fridge for half an hour or so. Remove, and slice into 16 equal squares.

Spanish Tortilla

I love tapas. I love tapas because lots of them are gluten free, or easy to adapt so they are. One of our favourite restaurants is La Tasca because they have a fantastic gluten free menu and they also serve gluten free beer! Anyway, I digress. One of my favourite tapas dishes is tortilla, and up until Saturday I had never tried to make this myself. I had a look on the internet for a good recipe, but I wasn't sure which one would be nicest, so I asked my lovely Spanish friend, Patricia, who very kindly gave me her recipe and allowed me to share it on my blog. Her recipe mainly uses potato and egg and this in itself is tasty enough, however as Patricia says below, you can add anything you like. For mine I added onions, garlic and sliced chorizo (that's chor-ee-tho, not chor-eet-zo!) and for a first attempt I was really pleased with how it turned out. It was gorgeous and did breakfast for myself and my boyfriend for two days. I'll definitely be making this again soon!

Spanish Potato Omelette (Tortilla de patata)

2 medium-sized potatoes or 4 small ones (type depends on taste, I like to use baking spuds because I like them getting a bit crumbly, but choose waxy ones if you prefer a firmer potato)
4 eggs
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
You can add practically anything you want to this basic recipe: cheese, peas, tomato, peppers, onion, herbs, diced chorizo... I like to add a bit of dried powdered garlic and onion for flavour, but I prefer my tortilla plain and simple, they way it's eaten in most tapas bars in Spain.

Peel and slice the potatoes, not too thinly. Rinse under the tap and put them in a microwavable dish (ideally one of those contraptions with a basket that allows you to steam in the microwave).

Drizzle some oil over the sliced potatoes (approx. 2 tbsp), sprinkle a pinch of salt and cook at 100% for 5 minutes.

Remove, stir, cook for 5 min more. Prod the potatoes with a spatula or wooden spoon to make sure that they are done. Cook for another couple of minutes if necessary. The potatoes need to be cooked before the next step, as they will cook only very briefly as part of the tortilla.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Add the cooked potato slices, stir well so that all the potato is well covered in egg.

With regards to the frying pan, I use a 20 cm one. It's easier to make a tortilla that is small in diameter; if you use a larger pan you risk breaking it when you flip it over. Don't worry if the tortilla looks very thick, it will cook slowly so there will be no undercooked egg in the middle.

Put the frying pan over a high heat and add a slosh of olive oil to it. When it's hot, pour the egg-potato mixture in it, and lower the heat to medium-low. With your spatula/wooden spoon, gently stir the potatoes, letting the uncooked egg flow down to the bottom of the pan and set. Keep doing this for a couple of minutes, until there is little liquid egg left.

Now, the crucial bit: flipping the tortilla. Put a large plate over the frying pan, then place your open hand on it, and with your other hand grab the frying pan handle and flip the whole thing over. You'll have a half-cooked tortilla on your plate, with the top looking golden and done, the bottom a bit soggy. Quickly slide the tortilla back into the frying pan, pushing it with your spatula if you need. Cook for some 5-10 minutes over a low heat, to avoid the bottom getting burned or the inside undercooked.

This tortilla can be eaten warm, freshly made, although many people prefer it the next day (some prefer it cold, but it can be reheated in the microwave).

Chocolate Salami

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with many gorgeous gluten free goodies!

I am starting the year as I mean to go on with a blog post. I plan to keep this updated more often, but I think I've said that every year so far, so we'll see!

This is a great recipe to use up some of your leftover Christmas chocolate/biscuits/nuts. It can be kept in the fridge and sliced up as and when you want it. It would probably also freeze well. From this recipe, I made two large 'salamis' and gave one to my boyfriend's dad as we still have so much to get through!

I first saw chocolate salami on a Nigella Lawson programme and searched for the recipe afterwards. It would seem that most traditional recipes use raw eggs. I know this is perfectly safe, but I always feel a bit funny about raw eggs, so after researching a few more recipes and playing about with different combinations, I ended up with the one below. This recipe could be adapted in so many ways - try just milk chocolate if you don't want it to be so rich, use a flavoured syrup in place of alcohol, try different nuts, biscuits or even dried fruit to create a different texture. You can't really go wrong!

Chocolate Salami

100g good quality milk chocolate
100g good quality dark chocolate
150g unsalted butter
120g sugar
100g cocoa powder
100g hazelnuts, chopped
125-150g crushed gluten free biscuits (I used rich tea)
3 tbsp Cointreau or liqueur or your choice (optional)
Icing sugar to dust
String to 'wrap' the salami
Greaseproof paper

In a saucepan, melt the milk and dark chocolate with the butter, sugar and cocoa powder over a low heat. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and add the biscuits, nuts and Cointreau. Mix to combine it all and leave to cool for a while, before adding the white chocolate chips. Turn out onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and shape into a sausage. Use the paper to help you shape it smoothly and roll it up tightly, twisting each end. (You could also use the same method to create a few smaller sausages)

Store in the fridge until completely cooled. It should feel quite firm to the touch.

Remove the paper and dust the salami with icing sugar. Tie a long piece of string along the whole thing to look like a real salami (I just improvved this bit!). Use another piece of greaseproof paper to wrap it back up, or store it in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Spice Scones

Here's a lovely recipe for some scones that are perfect to have with a cup of tea on a cold wintry day like today! I like mine warmed up in the oven, topped with butter and cream cheese - yum! Canned pumpkin can be found in most supermarkets these days. I've seen it in Aldi and in the American section in Tesco. This recipe makes 8 scones. I've stored mine in a ziplock bag in the freezer. They can be put straight in the oven without defrosting.

Pumpkin Spice Scones with Maple Glaze

250g self-raising flour (gluten free of course)
70g light muscovado sugar
1/2 tsp of ground ginger
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
100g cold butter
50g raisins (optional, you could use a different fruit or nuts, or chocolate chips)
100ml milk
1/2 can of pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze: 100g icing sugar and enough maple syrup to make a thin drizzly icing!

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients - flour, sugar and spices. Chop the butter up and add to the bowl, mixing it loosely with your fingertips until it forms a crumbly texture then add your raisins/nuts if using them. In another bowl, mix the pumpkin, milk and vanilla extract and add to the flour mixture. Stir just until the mixture comes together. Tip the mixture out onto a clean, floured surface and pat into a circular shape, around an inch or so thick. Cut the circle into 8 triangles and carefully place onto the baking sheet with enough room to spread slightly (they do hold their shape fairly well though). Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or so.

Make up the mixture for the glaze and put in a ziplock bag. When the scones are cool, snip the edge of the bag and drizzle the glaze over the top. (Or use a piping bag if you're fancy)

Best enjoyed slightly warm with butter!

Chinese Supermarkets

Although I love all food, if I had to choose one cuisine, I'd say Chinese would be right up there. I really miss 'proper' chippy meals, even though they're full of MSG and other bad stuff! I've perfected fried rice, salt and pepper potatoes etc, recipes for which can be found here but there are other meals I really enjoy too.

I'm lucky that I live near Liverpool, which has its own Chinatown and a couple of big Chinese supermarkets. These places are great for fresh ingredients and everything you could possibly need to create your own Chinese banquet - right down to the plates to eat it from. I've also learnt that they're also great for coeliacs. You need quite a bit of time to wander round looking at everything to find things that are gluten free, but just take a look at the small selection below to see what I found today.

I won't lie, I was in there close to an hour today. Most of the products are imported and the ingredients are sometimes difficult to read or non-existent in English (obviously I avoided those, just in case)

I was made up to find Black Bean and Hoisin sauces that state 'gluten free' on them! The salt and pepper seasoning is gorgeous, we use that often for chicken wings and potatoes. I've also had the packet noodles before. They're not really that much like Supernoodles as they're made with rice so have a different texture, but they certainly do the job when you need a quick snack. These also state that they are gluten free on the packet. I picked up the cookies on a whim and found they were also safe. They're made from mung bean powder and almond flour. They have an 'interesting' chalky texture which might not appeal to everyone, but I quite liked them! 

If you have any Chinese supermarkets nearby, I would highly recommend taking a bit of time to go and see what you can find - I'm sure there's lots to be discovered. Do let me know if you find any gluten free sui mai!

We're going to have a little banquet on Saturday night. I think I'll make duck pancakes with hoisin sauce, fried rice, chicken in black bean sauce, prawn crackers and salt & pepper potatoes - can't wait! 

Viennese Whirls

Hello!

It's been a while since I posted a new blog. Truth is, I've been stuck in a bit of a baking rut. I always seem to make the same things, so yesterday as I was having a day in with my little girl, I decided to try something different. I also learnt that simply substituting a recipe with gluten free flour doesn't always work!

Pre-coeliac, I used to love these: 

I found a recipe for basic Viennese Fingers, swapped the flour in the recipe for gluten free, added 20g of cocoa powder and a dash of orange extract, carefully piped neat little fingers onto a baking tray and put them in the oven. The house smelled delicious and I checked on my biscuits after 10 minutes to find what can only be described as a heavenly-smelling cowpat. The biscuits had completely spread out into a very thin layer, spilling onto the bottom of the oven. Sigh! All is not lost however, as the crumbs I was left with have made for a very tasty base for a chocolate orange cheesecake. That's today's job!

Anyway, I was still hungry and bored so a few hours later I found another recipe and had another go! This time, Viennese Whirls. Following the recipe, the dough turned out a little too wet and I knew the same thing was going to happen, so I added an extra 50g of cornflour and they turned out perfectly. And just in time for the Great British Bake Off. 

Viennese Whirls

Biscuits

100g unsalted butter
50g icing sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
100g gluten free flour
50g cornflour
Strawberry jam

Buttercream

100g icing sugar
40g unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 170 degrees.

Cream the butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl. It's best to use an electric whisk for this so you can get the mixture light and fluffy. Fold in the flours and tip into a piping bag with a large star nozzle. Pipe flat circles of the dough onto a greased baking sheet (about 5cm diameter) and bake for 12 minutes or until golden.

Transfer biscuits to a wire rack to cool and prepare the buttercream by whisking everything together until light in colour and creamy in texture.

Shake a bit of icing sugar over the biscuits and place a small blob of jam on half of them. Put a spoon of buttercream on the other half and then sandwich together.

Try one or two, for testing purposes, and then store in an airtight container for a few days.