Gorgeous & Gluten-Free!

Anything gluten-free sells really well, I've discovered. There seem to be more & more people who have serious problems with gluten...whether they are actually suffering from coeliac disease, or just wheat-intolerant. I have many friends to whom this applies (hi to Janie, Joann & my Mum to name but three!) and for this reason I've decided to increase my repertoire of recipes...especially on the Farmer's Market stall.

As it's 'beginning to look a lot like Christmas...' I thought I'd share a seasonal delight that I currently bake for a local restaurant - they serve it warm with cream for pudding, but it would be equally good cold with a hot cup of tea, I think! Actually, I'd eat it for breakfast - but that's just me!

Fresh Apple Cranberry Cake

1 & 1/2 cups (225g) gluten -free all purpose/plain flour

(at home I always use ....
Doves Farm flours

but while in the US I bought & brought back some Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Flour

which is a very similar blend & would work just the same!)

1 tsp baking soda
1 & 1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder (or Doves Farm make a self-raising G-F flour which you could use & omit this)
1 tsp ground allspice (or cinnamon)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (125g) butter
3/4 cup (160g) light soft brown sugar
2 eggs
3 tbsps apple cider (cloudy apple juice)
1 large tart cooking apple (I use Bramleys), peeled & cored
3/4 cup (150g) fresh cranberries
1 small cooking apple, peeled & cored

Preheat oven to 375f/180c
Line a 9" (23cm) square pan with baking parchment (or butter a glass dish if making as a dessert)

Sift flour, raising agents, spice & salt and set aside. In a large bowl (I use my stand mixer) beat butter and sugar together until lighter in colour and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating in well between each addition. Beat in vanilla extract and apple cider. The mixture will be quite wet & batter-like (this is because gluten-free flour absorbs more moisture)

It should look like this! Grate or finely chop cooking apple, and chop cranberries roughly too. I do this in a food processor - chop the apple first, then add cranberries and pulse a few times. You don't want a puree - it should be quite rough still...

Scrape fruit into batter and fold in well using a metal spoon or spatula. Pour into the prepared pan and top with thin slices of eating apple. I also shake over a little more ground cinnamon & spice at this point. Bake for around 45 minutes until well browned and firm on top (it will spring back when pushed gently with a finger!)

Cool in the tin then eat & enjoy! You can also wrap well and freeze for up to a month, making this an ideal recipe for Christmas.

This morning has seen the first real winter frosts...it's cosy in my kitchen, though! I'm baking Apricot, Rum & Orange Cakes today...made with spelt flour, they will keep well as an alternative to the heavy dark traditional Christmas Cake. Totally gorgeous!

Have a great weekend - have you started any festive baking yet? xo
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A cake mountain....!

 It's been too long since my last post...a combination of being really busy & having my sister and her children visiting from Australia....but I've been taking photos along the way, so it's time for a bit of a catch up! These Blackberry & Apple Crumble Slices were on the menu at The Coffee Tree in mid-September...while the weather was autumnal (it's been in the 80's for the past week....although cooler today)

and then I devised some Caramel Walnut Shortbread Bars...

I halved the sugar in the shortbread part, to offset the gooey sweetness of the caramel...yum!

Another old favourite was on the cake stand last weekend - my most requested cake, Mango & Coconut...

it's the one that everyone remembers....I think maybe because the cake is white & soft & very coconutty...and it contrasts so beautifully with the vivid orange of the mango puree. Whatever it is, it's always greeted with 'oohs' & 'aahs'....which is the sound you grow to love when delivering cakes!

At the end of September, our local council holds a Breast Cancer Awareness day in the town....and for the past two years, I've supplied 100+ pink-iced cupcakes which are given away in the street during the morning. Luckily, my beloved sister Esther was around this year and took over the decorating duties - anything goes, as long as it's pink!

Thanks Est!

Some of the muffins I've made recently were the Plum & Almond delights that I've posted many times before, taken from Ottolenghi's first cookbook (always gorgeous, especially at this time when the plums are at their peak) I also baked these...

Peach & Raspberry Muffins, to use up the last of the late summer fruits. Ripe peaches bake beautifully, I think...

and so I also use them in this Blueberry Peach Bakewell Pudding, which I make as a dessert for a local pub, The Crown

it's gluten-free,too, which I find is becoming an essential option on menus and the market stall these days...so many people have a gluten or wheat allergy or intolerance. This dessert is delicate & delicious...so no one will feel they've missed out!

I was sorely tempted by this Hazelnut Chocolate Shortbread...made with ground hazelnuts and topped with a dark chocolate ganache. (Almost) irresistible - it's lucky that it was for an order. A hole in the middle of the tray is a big giveaway...!

While my sister was busy decorating the pink cupcakes, I was fully occupied too...wrapping 200 Double Chocolate Brownies in cellophane and tying with silver & pale blue ribbons. These were a special order for a wedding...our friends, Olly & Claire were married on September 25th...and these were to be take home gifts for their guests...

they glittered with silver & pastel blue too (it doesn't photograph well, for some reason) Paul & I delivered them in London, in two enormous boxes...200 brownies are incredibly heavy! But the wedding went beautifully, I'm very happy to say...and Claire told me that the brownies helped to make it a wonderful day!

Banana Cake is always a favourite. My niece & nephews adore bananas, which are currently incredibly expensive in Australia (they are grown there in the Northern Territory & the crop has been badly affected by weather this year) So while they were here, they ate as many as they could! I was left with some overripe ones in the fruitbowl...and this was the result...

frosted with cream cheese. Lovely.

Chocolate & orange is such a classic combination (although one of the customers on my market stall was eager to tell me that 'they don't go together, love'!!) and I put them together again for this gorgeous cake...

that didn't last long at The Coffee Tree!

Last Tuesday was Farmer's Market day...I had two fabulous helpers in the shape of my niece, Scout & my oldest nephew, Kip...they did brilliantly, taking the money & sending everyone off with a cheery 'enjoy your cake!' My brownie of the month for September was...

Toasted Pecan & Caramel. It was VERY popular! I even tried a little myself (almost unprecedented!)

I adore pecans (actually all nuts) but one of my other very favourite cake flavours is lemon....

and this was a lemon & poppyseed layer cake, filled with fresh lemon curd...

and finished with a lemon glace frosting. Oh. My. Goodness.!

Almost the end now!! This was a fabulous creation (though I say so myself....ahem)

Coffee Caramel Cake. Coffee sponge, with espresso buttercream and a homemade caramel spread that dripped artistically...

and looked, I think, very enticing!

So that's it - a potted history of the past month. Of course, I baked lots more...but mostly trays & trays of brownies, flapjacks & carmelita bars...not very interesting to post. Let's call these the highlights!

I'll finish with a tribute to my beautiful 9 year old niece, Scout. She was so helpful during the time she was here...usually awake first and always eager to lend a hand with deliveries. She also illustrated some of the labels to go with the Coffee Tree cakes for me...

I created Australia Slice for her, and for her brothers. Delightful children. I miss them so very much now that they are, once again, 12,000 miles and 24 hours away.

But life goes on...and so does the baking!

Happy week to everyone...it's great to be back xx