Egg free, nut free (optional: dairy & gluten free)
This so, so easy pancake recipe was given to me by the wonderful @ChubbaNia on Twitter, who I first came across when she was trading as Nia’s Foods, a one-woman free from baking outfit. Continue reading “Easy Egg Free Pancakes”
Dairy free, nut free, egg free
RIGHT – FIRST disclaimer is I have never in my entire life iced a sodding cake, so the results that you see here are (a) fluke and (b) disguised by the blurry Hipstamatic lighting, which fuzzes over the cracks and wrinkles.
That in mind, the actual vanilla sponge cake recipe itself – plundered from the very talented Gemma McFarlane’s book Gluten, Nut, Egg & Dairy Free Celebration Cakes – is a winner. What you do with the outside of it is your call.
But, even if I do say so myself, the end result was a pleasant surprise. I had left it so terribly late (the night before tot’s birthday party) to attempt to make a Peppa Pig cake, the relief was massive when I realised it had actually turned out OK. Continue reading “The “Peppa” cake”
Nut free, dairy free, egg free (optional: gluten and wheat free)
I CANNOT even begin to say how easy and amazing this allergy safe cake recipe is.
As usual, I left it until the last minute to get prepping for Sid’s birthday (how clearly I remember last year pledging to perfect all manner of sweet treats by the time he turned three. Ha!) and in a state of panic tweeted my worries about finding the right recipe.
Back came a link to something called ‘Wacky Cake’, an American concoction apparently created during the Depression era when fresh ingredients were rationed. It contains no egg, no dairy, no nuts and can be baked with gluten free flour, too. It uses vinegar or lemon to replace the egg and it works.
Wheat free, gluten free, egg free, nut free, soya free (optional: dairy free)
I RECENTLY posted about our fab stay at Higher Lank Farm, where the lovely Lucy became the first person outside our immediate family to cook for Sidney. Among the treats were her fruity fairy cakes – little sponge revelations where spoonfuls of stewed apple or apricot replaced egg.
I wish I’d had this recipe months ago. It’s so easy – barely more than half an hour from start to finish – and even the non-allergics love them.
When Lucy appeared with a pile of mini apple ones during our welcome ‘high tea’, Sidney wolfed down five. They keep brilliantly in the freezer, defrosting in just half an hour if you need them in a hurry. They’re delicious plain, or iced with a glacé cherry topping, or decorated with a thick layer of lemon buttercream and sprinkles.
Even better, Sid was able to help Mum make a batch of them last week and immensely proud of his efforts he was, too: it’s heart-warming to see him baking. I so want him to take delight in food and not (always) view it with fear.
The only tweak I’ve made here is to omit Lucy’s inclusion of xantham gum. For some reason my early efforts resulted in horribly chewing gum-textured cakes (whereas hers were fluffy and light) and there seems to be no downside to leaving it out. In any case, xantham is already in the Dove’s Farm flour blend.
Ingredients
4oz caster sugar (I use Billington’s unrefined)
4oz Dove’s Farm gluten free white self raising flour
4oz unsalted butter or Pure Dairy Free Sunflower Spread
1tspn baking powder (try Barkat)
2 heaped tablespooons of either stewed apple or stewed apricot
The juice of one lemon if using the apricot recipe
Method
Peel and chop the fruit and stew without water, constantly stirring, until softened to a pulp. Mash well.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Ideally, use a food processor to really whizz it up – not enough mixing can lead to a ‘granular’ sugary texture.
Add in the sieved flour and baking powder, and two heaped tablespoons of the fruit. Add the lemon juice for the apricot cakes. A tiny touch of milk for the apple cakes can also help, but isn’t vital.
Whizz the lot in a food processor until smooth. Using an ice cream scoop or a dessert spoon plop the mixture into little fairy cake cases in a baking tray (these ingredients will get you around 12 cakes) and cook in a non fan oven on 180.
Bake until golden brown, which depending on your oven can take anything from 15 to 25 minutes. Don’t ask me why, but if I ever try to double this recipe and batch bake more the cakes sink – yet when I stick to the amounts here and bake 12 at a time, they come out perfectly. I read somewhere once that doubling up gluten free baking recipes isn’t straightforward so maybe there’s something in it.
For plain icing I mix Tate & Lyle or Whitworths superfine with water (most other brands contain an ‘egg trace’ warning) while I followed this lemon buttercream recipe to dress the apricot cakes and added Dr Oetker sugar strands, which are wheat, nut and egg free.
Wheat free, gluten free, egg free, nut free
THIS Dove’s farm recipe is as quick and easy as it looks.The biscuits worked a treat on first attempt – a rare find, I find.
I’ve made them as recommended with lemon zest and juice, and again with a little less lemon, ditching the zest and throwing in a handful of chocolate drops. Next time I’m going to try substituting the lemon for orange. Then we’ll go for a coconut version, too, I think. Ooh, the possibilities… Continue reading “Easy peasy shortbreads”
Wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free
I CAN’T lay claim to this recipe – it was a happy discovery via a fellow allergy Mum and comes from Pippa Kendrick, author of the amazing ‘free from’ blog that is The Intolerant Gourmet.
Unlike so many gluten free baking recipes, these came out perfectly the very first time I made them – and were wolfed down fresh for lunch with tzatziki and cucumber sticks by a ravenous toddler. Then the remainder were polished off by me.
(Wheat free, gluten free, egg free, optional dairy free)
MY BID to recreate the chicken in matzo meal I loved as a child – minus the wheat and egg. Cut into goujons, chunky nuggets or a mini escalope it’s a great dish served warm and just as tasty doled out cold the next day for a picnic-style meal.
Ingredients
One pack chicken breast fillets
Orgran corn crispy crumbs (basically just baked maize breadcrumbs)
(Wheat free, gluten free, egg free, nut free, dairy free)
SUDDENLY Sidney’s second birthday was upon us and I realised that, nope, I hadn’t spent the entire past year transforming myself into the queen of allergy friendly baking after all. And I had no idea what cake I was going to make.
For his first we managed, after much effort, to create a decent Victoria-style sponge, but I didn’t want to churn out the same staple year after year. I needed a repertoire of treats. Plus we were now free to eat banana, Sid having outgrown that ridiculous allergy at 18 months… and banana can be a handy substitute for egg in cake recipes.
Wheat free, gluten free, egg free, nut free, dairy free
WITH AUTUMN’S crisp chill setting in, and Sid landing his first attack of the snuffles in months, I decided it was high time we concocted a good warming stew to see us through the winter.
To be frank, the only thing that gives this Moroccan-style stew its Moroccan style is the apricots and sultanas. Most genuine Moroccan recipes call for all manner of banned substances, from almonds to cumin seeds. Although I can’t be sure that cumin is out for us, given nuts and sesame are vetoed I’m erring on the side of caution and waiting to test all seeds at the hospital before adding them to our repertoire.
This recipe doesn’t need a huge amount of prep but it does require about an hour’s bubbling on the stove to give it proper depth and richness. I made up a huge batch to freeze in individual portions, thinking I’ll defrost them overnight as needed and then heat in a mini casserole dish in the oven before serving. Continue reading “Sort-of-Moroccan-style meaty lamb stew”
Wheat free, egg free, nut free (optional: dairy free)
SID’S Grandma (my husband’s Mum) is a master baker of lovely cakes – deliciously moist Victoria sponges, boozy sherry logs at Christmas, butterfly “buns” (as Yorkshire idiom would have ’em), coffee sponges, pies, meringues, crumbles…
Obviously, Sid has never been able to sample any of these concoctions although, luckily, he’s too young to know any different. But as he nears two and is starting to notice (and care) what other people are eating, I’m delighted to say that Grandma’s traditional flapjacks have been reinvented to fit his silly dietary demands – wheat free, egg free and, as ever, resolutely nut free. Continue reading “Grandma’s ridiculously quick & fruity flapjacks”
yesnobananas 