Baking with Baby 11 - The Chocolate One

Well, as you may know, the other week it was The Parents wedding anniversary - the big golden five-oh!

It having fallen to me to make the cake (being the 'awkward' one - with food allergy/intolerance/whatever) I decided to go for a cake with two layers. The bottom one was to be fruit and the top chocolate - for those who aren't that keen on fruit (like 'Baby').

Having leaped right out of my comfort zone, with the fruit cake (see previous post), I must admit I was really tempted to play safe and opt for a cake mix. Usually, I love Hale & Hearty's cake mixes but even though I was running short of time, I opted to do it the hard way and bake from scratch.

I have to say that it could have been a whole lot simpler if I could have managed to bake it without 'Baby' - who these days, being a bit older, is much too vocal and determined for her own good! I had been puzzling over why I hadn't baked much with her recently... setting to work, I soon realised why!

After a fairly extensive search, looking at various gluten and dairyfree recipes, I decided to use a recipe which wasn't either of those. Just by chance, it happened to be another recipe from Delicious Mag, see here.

The main reason I went for it was because it looked simple and I like simple! It was simple - in that pretty much all have to do is just bung all the ingredients in one bowl and mix. Like so:

Don't worry - we didn't do it all by hand!

It was also simple in that it was easy to substitute the dairy products with non-dairy alternatives. We used Pure sunflower margarine instead of butter (which worked well, as it is quite a lot softer than Stork, so was easier to beat), almond milk instead of milk and Hotel Chocolat dark chocolate buttons for the chocolate. Not having the vinegar in the recipe, I just used some white vinegar that I had in the cupboard. 

The other thing I liked about the recipe was that it also involved chocolate - real chocolate! This involved melting. Now, of course, 'Baby' loves chocolate too, and the best way to keep her quiet, I discovered, was to give her a bowl to lick - the one in which I'd melted the chocolate. And she did lick it too - quite literally!

This is not a carefully staged photo - this is what she actually did!

So what did I learn from this one?

Make sure your tin is the right size, before you start (mine wasn't tall enough, so I just made sure the grease proof paper stood taller round the edge of the tin. Which sort of worked.

Looks alright here!

Except this happened:

Oops! Nothing a little judicious trimming can't solve!

Yes... It cracked and burned baby, cracked and burned! So obviously I had to hack the top of the cake off altogether. But the cake needed slicing in half anyway, so this tutorial really came in handy. Only SHE makes it look so smooth, so easy. It aint!! 

Apparently, it's a good idea to leave a cake overnight before trying this - any crusty bits go soft - much easier to cut through! Only I couldn't, 'cos I was strapped for time. Oh, well now I know!

Another thing I discovered was that covering sponge cakes in fondant is a whole lot harder than covering a fruit cake! The fruit cake is a lot more firm, which really helps! Sponge cake moves all over the place. It was a good job I watched this tutorial. Covering the cake with buttercream first definitely helped - hold it together that is! I used Betty Crocker's Buttercream Style icing - it's good stuff! See here!

So, who knew (hands up)? You should always knead regal icing really well to soften it, or it will crack, when you try to lift it it,to place it on the cake. Which happened to me - as you can see in this picture:

The gold colour couldn't cover the cracks!

To be fair, this was going on whilst I was trying to cook dinner and manage a toddler!

I would have lifted the icing off and re-kneaded it... except for the fact that it was now covered in chocolate crumbs and buttercream! I had hoped the icing polisher would do the trick, but it was beyond even its capabilities. So I decided to spray the whole thing gold and hope it would cover the damage, but no! The icing was still cracked - albeit now a fetching shade of gold! 

Loved these products! *

I have to admit, I was bitterly bitterly disappointed!

Instead of following my original plan for decoration (white hearts on gold background) I tried to cover the cake with as much hastily whipped up decoration as I could (with a bit of 'help' from 'Baby'), but still the cracks showed through.

At this stage, I was tempted to ditch the whole chocolate layer altogether, and just stick with the somewhat more classy-looking fruit layer, but... I didn't. I knew the kiddies just wouldn't touch the fruit cake. So I took it anyway, thinking they really wouldn't care if the icing was cracked - they'd be just happy with the chocolate. And, you know I'm glad I did. You see, Family can be ever so forgiving. The Parents were thrilled with the cakes - both of them! Sister Number Two thought I had bought the cakes (what was she thinking???) and the cake which disappeared the fastest?? Yep, the chocolate one!!

Moral of the story: Never underestimate a cracked cake... especially if it's made with chocolate!!

More dairy free baking adventures can be found by following the links on this page.

*I'm not paid, sponsored, endorsed etc. by anyone - all views concerning products are completely and honestly my own!

Baked to Taste Pies and Cakes

One of my 'Holy Grails' (you know, the things you've missed since going dairy/gluten free, that are usually the preserves of a gluten and dairy-filled diet) for some time now, has been pastry. 

I've run a bit scared of making it myself, as I'm no expert in the kitchen anyway and don't want to end up with a dreaded 'soggy bottom' (one for the fans of The Great British Bake-Off there). I know I ought to give it a go. I even have a few cheats up my sleeve, such as a Mrs Crimble's packet mix, but that's not seen the light of day for a while (hope it's not gone out of date)!

Partly, it's because 'Baby' is a fussy chick. There's nothing worse than slaving over a hot stove, or oven, or whatever, to make something you think she'll like, only to  have her reject it. At times like these, if she's decided she doesn't want it, then it doesn't matter what you do, she won't touch it and you can't always just whip another option out of thin air.

The other reason I haven't touched pastry is that so many pastry recipes involve desserts and we don't really do desserts in our house. 

However, there are times when I've secretly craved something carboholic and pastry covered. SO, what to do? 

Well, I've finally found a way of having my pastry and eating it - dairy and gluten free. They're by a small company, based in Devon, called 'Baked to Taste'.

I first came across their wares at a local garden centre a few months ago - there were just a few cakey type things, nothing that screamed 'pastry' at me. Then, at Celiac's Fayre, one lunchtime, when I felt like departing from 'my usual' and it was suggested that I might like to try a pie. I could hardly believe it when I heard that they were both dairy and gluten free, as I've come across pastries that are either gluten or dairy free, but none that are both! I had to examine the packages for myself, to make sure, and yep, there it was in black and white, so I went for it! 

That day I had the chicken pie, and it was so good that I ended up buying some more 'Baked to Taste' products and taking them home, to store in my freezer - including a steak pie, an apple pie, (which I ate cold and was yum) and a vegetarian pie, made with butternut squash and cannellini beans! 

Since then I've tried the steak pie too. All were good but I think the steak pie was particularly so. Not only was the pastry 'right' (just what I'd been hankering for and nothing like the supermarket Free From pastry products), but the quality of the steak in the pie was amazing - no horrid gristly or fatty bits, but really good meat in a lovely rich gravy.

The steak pie

A few weeks later, when I made my way down to Deli Divine, I picked up a few more 'Baked to Taste' products, to try. I already knew that they did a few cakey/cookie type things, but this Lemon Drizzle cake (mentioned in another post) really is amazing! The sponge soft, the topping tangy. I really couldn't fault it. It didn't taste 'free from' in anyway whatsoever!

A lemon drizzle to die for!

Another 'Baked to Taste' find, was a packet of ready made pastry, which I've yet to try, but I've stored in my freezer, for the right moment. I'm not sure when that will be, but now that the summer's gone, I quite fancy making a treacle tart, served with some yummy warming custard.

So, you've heard a bit about the products, but how do you get your hands on them? Well, the good news, is, that if you can't make the journey to Celiac's Fayre or Deli Divine, you don't have to go without. You can buy them online from Deli Divine, or, if you have enough room in your freezer, 'Baked to Taste' sell their products online from their own website, however you have to buy in bulk (boxes of twelve). 

Be warned not all their products are dairy free - their quiches, for example, are made with 'normal' cheese and quite a few of their cakes are too. Neither (for those of us who can't have soya) are they all soya free. The sausage roll is made with soya. 

Well, I've had my say, now it's over to you, to give 'Baked to Taste' a try and see if you agree that they are, as their packaging states, 'Filled with Imagination.'

'Filled with imagination?'

Related Posts:
Celiac's Fayre Gluten Free Cafe
Deli Divine - The Deli with a Difference

Baking With Baby 9 - Dairy Free Lamingtons

It seems that Saturday, being 26th January, is Australia Day. Suddenly, Lamington's have become a topic of conversation, on Twitter - all on account of Dan Lepard of the Guardian posting his recipe for these revered bites, which are apparently favoured by many Antipodeans. 

Have you heard of Lamington's before? I have to admit, neither had I, until recently. Basically, they're small squares of cake, dipped in chocolate icing, and rolled in desiccated coconut. Here's ours:

As made by baby and me!

Apparently they're named after some Lord (Lamington) who had some surprise guests and asked his chef to come up with something quick. Personally, I very much doubt the 'quick' as the recipe takes two days - unless of course the chef had some day-old cake and just shoved some chocolate on it to hide the fact. Now THAT I could believe, as a layer of chocolate could quite possibly hide a multitude, so to speak!

Somehow my journeying 'Down Under,' about ten years ago, which lasted all of three weeks, did not bring me into contact with said little cakeys. I was in New Zealand, mind you, but it seems the recipe for Lamington's is a hotly debated issue between Aussie's and Kiwi's - just like Pavlova's. If you ever want to create a diversion in a room which contains Aussies and Kiwi's, just start up a conversation about where the recipe came from - *KA-BOOM* I can assure you that one will run and run!!

SO, just how did they come to my attention? My lil' sis' just so happens to be married to an Aussie (our family is a bit like the United Nations) and posted Dan's recipe on Face Book, the other day. 

Intrigued, I hunted a bit further and found an allergy-free version of the same, on another blog (this site looks really beautiful, take a look), BUT once I discovered that chocolate Lamington's were not considered the genuine article, I hunted a little further, to find one that was. I then came across a recipe, posted by Queen Bee Allergy Free, which looks excellent for anyone who's Vegan or allergic to eggs. As she's Australian, I'm guessing it must be the genuine article!

The recipe I've chosen to follow, however, is a completely un-allergy-friendly recipe. I chose it on purpose partly because it looked authentic, - although, I must admit, it does come from a UK website!! However, it also looked 'doable' (simple, if you prefer) - using weights and measures with which I'm familiar - and it looked as though I could use my normal dairy and gluten free baking substitutes. I don't believe in complicating matters and do believe that with good dairy free and gluten free ingredients, you can achieve pretty decent results (although gluten free flour sometimes requires a bit of extra help). In this case, I've used Dove's gluten free Plain Flour, Pure Sunflower Margarine and Kara Coconut Milk - all available in decent UK supermarkets.

There are two things to note, if you decide to make these yourself: first, you need an awful lot of icing sugar (450g/1lb according to this recipe, although we had a bit left over) and dessicated coconut (two 200g bags this recipe says but we used only one - with plenty left to spare), and second, you really need two days to make Lamingtons. Once you've made the cake, it is then left for a day, before being iced (otherwise it's too soft).

I have to admit, this bit worried me slightly, as Baby tends to like things to happen immediately, so I had to make sure that I explained this to her first. This is because now that 'Baby' is really a full-blown toddler, baking with her is not so simple as it used to be! 'I want to do it!' is a cry frequently heard in our house. Full tact and diplomacy are required, as are patience and a sense of humour (beginning to sound like the job description for a teacher here). 

All explained and ingredients prepared, out came her little pink spatula (blagged off the MIL, when we stayed at hers after Christmas), and off we set, on our Lamington adventure!!

Watch out! Baby at work!

The recipe itself, was fairly straightforward... to begin with. Despite the power tussles, all seemed to be going well, until we got to the actual baking part. Baby wandered off to watch the telly, leaving me to clear up the inevitable mess, left in her wake. I put the tray in the oven and started the washing up, only to discover some minutes later, that I had neglected to set my trusty timer. 

At this point I wanted to obey the slogan on my new cake tin, BUT I'm trying to be 'good' at the mo, so I resorted to watching the cake instead.

I watched the bake like a hawk, not daring to open the door until at least what I imagined must be twenty minutes later (I've heard you shouldn't open the door for at least the first fifteen to twenty minutes). But it took several stabs with the cake tester and several prods of the finger, until I dared to believe it was fully baked. Hence my poor cake looked a little worse for wear, once it finally DID come out of the oven!!

Oh dear! Far from perfect!

As you can see, it was also burnt, in places. I'm not dismayed by such things, oh no! I have shaved many a cake in the past, but I must admit, at this point I was glad I'd watched the Comic Relief Great British Bake Off, the other night, and witnessed one contestant shave the burnt bits off his cake quite successfully, with a fine grater (beats sawing at it with a bread knife, which can cause further damage).

Next day, we duly got prepared to ice the cake. This takes a little preparation. One tip I picked up from another recipe was to place some grease proof paper under a wire tray, to allow for drips! It was definitely worth doing!! As, preparation over, it all got a bit interesting (think fondant fancies, in the last season of the Great British Bake-Off)!! It's all rather messy (I'm still picking up stray bits of coconut from the floor), but Baby LOVED it!

Baby's job was to chuck the chunks of cake into the chocolate icing mix. Mine was to cover the cake in chocolate with a spatula, before fishing it out with a pair of chopsticks (you could use forks). 

You can tell when we've been at work!

At this point, it is advisable (in my humble opinion) to allow the chunk to drip for a few seconds, and place it on the wire tray for a bit, before transferring it to the bowl of coconut, otherwise you may see the coconut coating drip off with the excess chocolate icing. After it's beginning to set, just slightly, place it in the coconut and shower it a bit, with more, until it's coated a bit. Then it's ready to be rolled around, to finish off.

All done!

After you've placed them back on the tray, you leave them to set, which really didn't take that long. Well, Baby never waits for long anyway, so she ate this one just before it was really ready!

The taste test

Now, I am very well aware that our cakes look a little rough around the edges - far from the perfect-looking specimens on other people's recipe pages, but in my defense, I was baking with Baby! And surely, it's the taste test that counts!!

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Baking with Baby 6 - Chocolate and Beetroot

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Baking with Baby 6 - Chocolate & Beetroot

Before I went dairy and gluten free, I really don't think I'd have tried this recipe. I mean chocolate yes, but beetroot? Seriously??

I think I've mentioned before that I have a bit of a tendency to be a 'glass half-empty' sort of person, so, it's a bit bizarre to find myself saying this, but looking back over recent times, I've come to a somewhat surprising conclusion. That is, that as much as I may dislike Baby's intolerance to milk and mine to various other foods, there is good that has come out of it. 

What do I mean? Well, prior to all this, I made baking and cooking much less of a priority. I bought stuff rather than baked it. I still do, to some extent (where I can) but I have been forced to push the boat out a little bit, in terms of my comfort zone, and try new things. As a result, my somewhat rusty baking skills have been sharpened up a bit, I've attempted new recipes and also we're eating less foods with strange additives and preservatives in them which, as far as I'm concerned, can only be a good thing! One of the recipes, that was new to me, came to me via my one of my sisters.

Not so long ago, my sister had a bit of what's commonly known in the world of employment as 'gardening leave.' Making herself busy, she came across a recipe that she passed on to me and which has turned out to be a bit of a God send. It's a chocolate cake recipe that is made with beetroot and is intended for muffins. I have to admit, I loved the sound of the chocolate, but wasn't so keen on the beetroot - until I gave it a go! 

Chocolate & beetroot muffins, all dressed up for Christmas!

The original recipe used wheat flour, but the good thing is, that it is so moist that it helps to keep gluten free flour from drying out the cake. We've used it time and again, not just for muffins, but also for various birthday cakes and with Baby it is a firm favourite. It has an additional benefit - when Baby is a little bit 'clogged up,' it helps her go!!

Here are some of the cakes we've made:

Baby's birthday cake. Don't be too impressed - the iced animals were bought!

Baby's birthday party cake

A cake for an Australian friend!                     Check out all those dairy free chocolate buttons!

The recipe originated from a Hummingbird Bakery book called Cake Days, which is heavily bound by copy write, so I won't be sharing it here, but I have found this recipe online that is quite similar to the one that we have used. There are heaps of other recipes online, but the reason that I've chosen this one is because, like the one we use, the only fat used is vegetable oil.

The next thing you need to know, is that (unusually, for any recipe chosen by me) it can be a bit of a faff to make - it was the main reason why I invested in a food processor!

So having turned the oven on, to warm-up, and prepared the muffin cases or cake tin, out comes the food processor. I'm a bit of a rebel. All the recipes seem to start with the dry ingredients, but not I! I start with the bit that I really want to get out of the way - puréeing the beetroot. 

We buy the beetroot vacumn packed from the supermarket, but you can always start from fresh and boil it, if you wish. The thing is, you don't want beetroot that has been pickled - take it from me - it leaves a very nasty after taste! Having emptied the beetroot into the food processor and securely fastened the lid, it's Baby's turn. I lift her up, so that she can turn the knob and watch the beetroot get blitzed into tiny pieces. Strangely enough, for a Baby who used to scream when the vacumn cleaner was used and who is still very sensitive to noise, she is somehow unphased by the hideous noise of the food processor!!


The eggs come next. No blitzing between each one for me - Baby just doesn't have the patience! They all go in and are whizzed together, followed by the oil (we use sunflower) and the vanilla essence. Sometimes we add a tablespoon of water (you could always use a milk substitute) to add extra moisture - my sister prefers to do this, when using gluten free flour, but I tend to do without.


Finally, I plonk Baby into her high chair, put the scales and an appropriate bowl in front of her, hand her a spoon and let her mix the dry ingredients together, as I weigh, measure and add them into the bowl. Then they're tipped straight into the food processor, before Baby gets one last go at turning the knob on the front of the machine.


Then it's just a case of negotiating how we empty the mixture into the waiting receptacles. Baby always wants a go and I have to try and hold back my impatience, whilst guiding her little hand on the spoon. Well, I say spoon, really we use a little ladle. It's the best thing, as by now the cake mixture, which is an interesting shade of dusky pink, is disconcertingly rather more like a batter.

Initially, the muffins go into the oven for 15-20 minutes but it usually takes about 25 in total. My sister prefers 12 minutes, but I try to strike the balance. I really don't like my cakes uncooked in the middle and am prepared to risk them getting a little bit dry. If I'm cooking a cake, as opposed to muffins, then I've found that it takes about 40-45 minutes, but it's not an exact science and very much depends on the oven.


If baking a cake, I always try to ensure that a little bit is left over for a few muffins - after all, you've got to reward the workers :)

The Hub's birthday cake - amazing what you can do with ready made icing, food dye and a few candles!

Once out of the oven and cooled on a wire rack, the next decision is how to top the cake. The Hummingbird Bakery option is not for us - it involves cream cheese! However, usually, I make a chocolate fudge type icing - dairy free margarine, icing sugar, cocoa powder, and little water, blended together with a spatula. I'm afraid I don't do amounts - I just make it up as I go along - and add a bit more if it looks like I've not made enough.

Alternatively, if I can't be bothered or am short of time, out comes my favourite little baking cheat - good old Betty Crocker!

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