Dairy/Soya-free Chocolate and Black Cherry Sponge Pudding

Dairy-free, Soya-free

Serves: 10 people

Calories per serving: 500

 

Chocolate sponge pudding is my ultimate favourite dessert. As soon as I smell it I'm instantly transported back to primary school, where chocolate sponge pudding with custard was the best dessert they served. When they served it at my old job (in a hospital) I could smell it the minute the kitchen door opened, and I always had to go in a pinch a little. I find it irresistible! But, apparently it's really hard to find a perfect one. Over the last few weeks I've bought chocolate sponge puddings from three different brands, and none of them were quite right. Too little chocolate sauce, pudding too stodgy or worse, too dry... never quite right. So I resolved to make one at home... my ultimate perfect sponge pudding!

The nicest sponge pudding I've ever eaten is made in the bakers shop where my mum has worked for many years. When I was a kid my mum would bring me a big slab of this cake, smothered in ganache, and I would either eat it cold with black cherry yoghurt, or heat it up and have it with custard. The ganache would melt into the custard and oh... it was amazing! I don't know quite how I tripped over the black cherry yoghurt and chocolate cake combination, but it works. So for my ultimate favourite chocolate pudding I had to pair it with black cherries!

So yeh, this is it. It is fantastic! I've also discovered that dairy-free chocolate ganache is about a hundred times easier to make than ganache made with cream (which I've always struggled to get quite right) and just as nice. I'll never make ganache with cream again! Credit for the ganache recipe has to go to this site. 

I made this recipe in a loaf tin, as I wanted to make it easy to cut into slices and then microwave, but you could make it in a square tin.

Ingredients:

 

Sponge pudding:

• 50g cocoa powder
• 6 tbsp boiling water
• 100ml vegetable oil
• 3 medium eggs
• 4 tbsp almond milk
• 175g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 300g caster sugar
• 1 x 400g tin black cherry filling (I used Princes) 

Chocolate ganache:

• 200ml almond milk
• 300g dairy-free plain chocolate (broken into pieces)

Method:

 

Sponge pudding:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C fan/ Gas Mark 4. Grease and line a 2kg loaf tin or 16-18cm square cake tin.
• In a large bowl, mix the cocoa powder with the boiling water to make a paste.
• Add the remaining ingredients (except the black cherry filling) and beat well until combined. 
• Place the black cherry filling into the bottom of the tin, then pour the cake mix on top. Bake in the oven for around 45 minutes. (You want the cake to be cooked all the way through, but don't worry if it's ever so slightly too wet - that will add to the puddingy texture).
• Leave to cool in the tin.

Chocolate ganache:

• Once the cake is completely cool make the ganache by gently heating the almond milk in a saucepan. Once hot, remove from the heat and stir in the pieces of chocolate until entirely melted. 
• Pour over the cake immediately and leave to set.

To serve:

• Cut the cake into slices as required and heat in the microwave for about a minute until the chocolate ganache begins to melt and the cake is hot. Serve with custard.
• Alternatively eat cold with dairy-free ice-cream. Yum! 

 

Dairy/Soya/Egg-free Fruit and Nut Soda Bread

Dairy-free, Soya-free, Egg-free

Serves: 10 people

Calories per serving: 350

 

I love soda bread. When I discovered it years and years ago it was a revelation to me! Here was a bread that required no kneading, took minutes to throw together with very cheap ingredients, and actually tasted delicious! I could eat it every morning for breakfast smothered in butter and sometimes jam. It's just wonderful, and so healthy.

Over the years I've had a couple of soda bread recipes that I've made regularly. One is a plain soda bread made with milk and oats; the other is a fruit and nut soda bread made with apple juice and ground walnuts. Both are delicious. For this recipe I've amalgamated the two, made a few changes, and made the whole thing dairy/soya-free. I'm really pleased with the result. This might be my new favourite soda bread recipe.

Ingredients: 

• 250g plain flour
• 250g plain wholemeal flour
• 100g rough oats
• 100g walnut pieces
• 200g sultanas
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 400ml almond milk
• 25g non-dairy, non-soya spread
• 1 tbsp lemon juice 

Method:

• Mix together the almond milk and lemon juice and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas Mark 4. Scatter some flour onto a large baking tray.
• Place the flours, salt, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and oats into a large bowl. Rub in the spread until it's dispersed.
• Stir in the sultanas and walnuts.
• Make a well in the centre and add the almond milk. Stir together and then turn out on a floured board and knead for literally seconds until the mix comes together into a rough dough. (It doesn't matter if it's a little sticky).
• Place onto the floured baking tray and cut a large cross into the dough, almost all the way to the bottom.
• Place in the oven and bake for around 45 minutes. The bread will sound hollow when tapped underneath when it's cooked. 
• To give it an extra crispy outside place a clean, damp tea towel over the top as it cools.

Dairy/Soya/Egg-free Fruit and Veg' Muffins

Dairy-free, Soya-free, Egg-free

Makes: 9 muffins

Calories per muffin: 315

 

I'm back. I had a lovely Christmas and New Year, and hope everyone else did too. And now the kitchen is finally almost devoid of baked-goods I've started experimenting and baking again...

So as part of some Christmas hampers I made for friends and family, I made some delicious carrot and brandy jam. But apparently I made far too much carrot puree, so froze it to use at some later date. Then when I was trying to think up recipes, I figured I'd make something that could use up a substantial amount of this puree. Muffins! I thought. Carrot muffins. In my attempt to make these egg-free I inadvertantly made them super-healthy, and as I was on that path I tried to make them as super-duper healthy as possible, using as little oil as I could get away with and using agave nectar in place of sugar. What I've ended up with are some delicious muffins that include four different kinds of fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds. And did I mention they're delicious?

If you don't have carrot puree, that's fine. Grated carrots will work just as well. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 70g seedless raisins
• zest of 1 orange
• juice of 1 orange (plus any pulp that ends up in the bowl)
• 1 cup carrot puree (or about 200g grated carrots)
• 100ml vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp ground linseeds
• 1 banana
• 200g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 85g walnuts (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 5 tbsp agave nectar

Method:

• Place the raisins into a bowl with the orange juice and zest and leave to soak whilst you make the rest of the mixture.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/Gas Mark 4. Place 9 muffin cases into a muffin tin.
• In a large bowl place the carrot puree/grated carrots, vegetable oil, ground linseeds and banana, then blend using a hand-blender (or place into a food processor and do it that way).
• Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into another bowl. Add the spices. Fold this mixture into the wet mixture. Add the walnuts and agave nectar and mix gently, then fold in the raisins and any leftover juice.
• Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake for 30-40 minutes. (You might find the centre is still a bit sticky. If that's the case bake for another 5-10 minutes.)
• Cool on a wire rack.

Dairy/Soya-free Mincemeat Pie

Dairy-free, Soya-free

Serves: 8 people

So I'm all done with moving house (which was unbelievably stressful, let me tell you!), and I'm back to baking. Christmas is a busy time for me. I make homemade Christmas hampers as presents for family, full of jams and sweeties, each year. I've just spent the last two days making fudge and pectin stock for jam, and there's much more to come. So I won't get much time for any dairy-free baking. However, I have managed one recipe, and it's a good, Christmassy one.

Mince pies. My mum makes the best mince pies! It's all in the pastry! I can't abide the sweet pastry pies you buy in shops. It's just wrong! Mince pies should have a short, buttery, savoury pastry to compliment the very sweet mincemeat. If my mum doesn't bake any, then I make some myself. I very rarely buy them in the shops.

This year I wanted to go one step further and make my own mincemeat, making it as luscious and boozy as possible. I found a recipe, tweaked it a little, and made it into a huge mincemeat pie to get the maximum amount of filling as possible in there. Served warm with custard it was just amazing!

Here is the recipe for the mincemeat I worked from: http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/boozy-mincemeat.html. I made a few changes because I couldn't get hold of any dried pears, used raisins rather than sultanas, and didn't have quite enough raisins in the cupboard. It worked out really well! I have three jars of mincemeat left waiting to be used for mince pies (you should really jar it up and keep it for a couple of weeks before using it, to let the flavour develop, but I made this recipe two days after making the mincemeat).

Ingredients:

Mincemeat:

• 1 large cooking apple (peeled, cored and grated)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 110g dried apricots (chopped)
• 100g dried papaya (finely chopped)
• 110g dried figs (chopped)
• 110g dried dates (chopped)
• 120g glace cherries (chopped)
• juice and grated zest of 3/4 of an orange
• 375g raisins
• 4tbsp bitter orange Marmalade
• 175g light soft brown sugar
• 175g demerara sugar
• 3tsp ground mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 140ml dark rum
• 130ml brandy

Pastry:

• 225g plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 120g non-dairy, non-soya spread
• cold water
• 1 egg (beaten) - optional

Method:

Mincemeat:

• Toss the grated apples in the lemon juice and set aside.
• Place all the remaining ingredients into a large bowl and mix well. Add the grated apples and mix.
• Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for two days, stirring occasionally.
• You can now use the mincemeat, but it's better if you pot it into sterilised jars and leave it for two weeks.

Pastry:

• Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Rub in the spread using your fingers until the mix resembles breadcrumbs.
• Add the water a tiny bit at a time, stirring, until the mix comes together into a dough (make sure you don't add too much water!). Place the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before using.
• Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas Mark 5. Grease and line a 20cm tart tin.
• Roll the dough out on a floured board and place into the tin, cutting off the trimmings to reserve for later. Blind bake the pie case for 15-20 minutes.
• Add enough mincemeat to the pie to completely fill the case (the more the better!).
• Roll out the pastry trimmings and cut into 2cm strips to form a lattice. (This is a bit tricky to get the hang of, but I managed to do it the first time after seeing it done many times on Masterchef). Stick the strips to the pie case using water.
• Brush the pie with beaten egg and place into the oven for around 30 minutes until the pastry is golden.
• Serve warm with custard, or leave to cool and eat cold with some boozy cream. Yum yum!

Dairy/Soya-free Spiced Apple Tart

Dairy-free, Soya-free

Serves: 6 people

Calories per serving: 240

Someone who works with my mum keeps kindly giving me surplus fruit that she's grown in her garden. Last week she gave me a huge bag of cooking apples. I didn't have a clue what to do with them, but then I had a pie case left over after making a couple of pumpkin pies and figured I'd try my hand at a spiced apple tart.

This tart is very quick and simple... it's one of the simplest recipes I've posted to this blog. The most time-consuming part is peeling and slicing all the apples. It's also very delicious, especially served warm with some icecream or custard (I prefer the custard!).

Ingredients:

Pastry:

• 95g plain flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 30g caster sugar
• 35g non-dairy, non-soya spread
• 1 small egg (beaten)

Filling:

• 4 large cooking apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
• 30g non-dairy, non-soya spread
• 75g granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp demerara sugar

Method:

Pastry:

• Make the pastry a few hours beforehand.
• In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and spices. Rub in the spread until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Pour in the egg a little at a time and stir with a butter knife to combine. There should be enough with one egg to bring the dough together into a ball, but if there isn't add a little more. (If you accidentally add to much egg and it's wet, add a touch more flour, but don't worry too much. It doesn't particularly matter for this recipe).
• Once you have a ball of dough place it into an 18cm pie dish. Press the dough into the case using your fingertips, pushing it out to the sides and spreading it evenly. (This can be a bit time-consuming but I found this dough a little difficult to roll out with a rolling-pin and this was easier).
• Place the pie case in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C, 180C fan, Gas Mark 6. Blind bake the tart case for 20 minutes until just browned, then set aside to cool.

Filling:

• Preheat the oven to 180C, 160C fan, Gas Mark 5.
• In a large frying pan, melt 15g of the spread and stir in 40g of the sugar, the lemon zest and 1/4 tsp cinnamon. Add the apples and gently cook for around 10 minutes until the apples are soft and have started to break apart. Mash them until they almost form a puree, then set them aside.

• Heat the remaining spread, sugar and cinnamon in the frying pan and add the remaining apples. Cook for about 5 minutes until the apples are just starting to soften.
• Spoon the apple puree mixture into the tart case. Then arrange the second lot of apples on top. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake for about 30 minutes until the apples are soft and the tart case is crispy.

Dairy/Soya/Gluten/Egg-free Pumpkin Polenta Pancakes

Dairy-free, Soya-free, Gluten/Wheat-free, Egg-free, Nut-free

Serves: 2 people

Calories per serving: 350

 

Smothered in strawberry jam!

 

Pumpkin season is upon us. Pumpkin isn't something eaten much in the UK unfortunately. Thankfully I discovered how wonderful it is some years ago as a student with my first exploration of pumpkin pie. This recipe is a perfect autumnal affair!

It actually came about as part of some experimentation. Some time ago I had a huge bag of cornmeal that needed using up, after making some cornbread, not really liking it, and not knowing what to do with the rest. I googled some recipes, found a recipe for polenta pancakes, tried it and instantly fell in love! I mean, seriously! These were one of the most amazing things I have ever tasted! So of course I needed to come up with my own, allergen-free, version. 

It took a lot of experimentation! The crucial thing was replacing the egg. I tried a few different replacements, none of which worked, before finally trying pumpkin purée and gram flour. And they were heaven! I just needed to improve the consistency, which took a little more experimentation, and I finally came up with the perfect recipe! Honestly, these are AMAZING! If you have some leftover pumpkin this autumn you just HAVE to make them!

Ingredients:

• 55g gram flour (sieved)
• 45g fine cornmeal (polenta, maize flour)
• 65g pumpkin purée
• 35g non-dairy, non-soya spread (melted)
• 100ml almond milk
• 15g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder

Method:

• Combine the cornmeal and almond milk in a large bowl. Whisk in the spread, gram flour, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and baking powder.
• Stir in the pumpkin purée.
• Heat some oil in a large frying pan. Ladel four drops of the mixture into the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden.
• These taste really delicious spread with strawberry jam. Enjoy!

Dairy/Soya/Gluten/Egg-free Coconut Ice Fudge

Dairy-free, Soya-free, Gluten-free, Egg-free

Makes: 25 pieces

Calories per piece: 158

Ever since I started this allergen-free culinary journey, I've wanted to try making fudge. I love fudge making. I think it's because I enjoy eating fudge and always figured it would be really really difficult, but then one day I had a go and discovered it's not difficult at all! I've made it lots of times since then, but was always a bit concerned about how dairy/soya-free spread would work in place of butter, given it can be a bit watery and greasy. I was also unsure of the milk. Most fudge recipes use evaporated milk, but I have made it with whole cows milk before... you just have to up the sugar. I figured coconut milk, with its high fat content, might make a good substitute.

Anyway, this week I had some coconut milk on the shelf, and not much else by the way of ingredients, so figured it was the perfect time to have a go. I pulled out a few fudge recipes I have around, read them, and then improvised. I used slightly less spread than I'd use butter, as I was worried about the watery-ness, and had to up the sugar content half way through because it wasn't thickening properly. In the end I've ended up with quite a delicious-tasting product. It's not as "fudgy" as conventional fudge, and with a consistency that resembles coconut ice... but it sure is scrummy!

As an aside, honestly, don't be scared of trying to make fudge! It's not difficult. There are a couple of ways you can mess it up, but I'll take you through the steps. Even if you do mess up, it's so quick and cheap to make you can always try again, and the "mess up" will still taste delicious to eat yourself!

Ingredients:

• 90g non-dairy, non-soya spread
• 650g granulated sugar
• 300ml full-fat coconut milk
• the zest of 1 lime
• 50g toasted dessicated coconut

Method:

• Grease a 20cm square cake tin.
• Place the spread, sugar and coconut milk into a large pan. (I use a jam-making pan for this. The bigger the pan, the quicker the fudge cooks.)

• Heat gently, stirring, until the spread has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
• Continue to heat, stirring occasionally, as the mixture bubbles and turns over. Don't have the heat too high or it will burn. It should look like this:

• Now, there are two ways to check when it's ready. You can use a sugar thermometer, and take it to "soft ball stage", but I prefer the bowl of water method. Fill a bowl with water, and after 10-15 minutes drop a small amount of the mixture into the water. Try to roll it into a ball with your fingers. If it falls apart, cook the mixture for another 5 minutes before trying again. If it comes together into a slightly sticky ball it's ready. Simple!
• When the fudge is ready, remove it from the heat, stir in the lime zest and dessicated coconut, and then leave to cool for 5 minutes! This is where you can mess up your fudge. If you leave it too long it will start to set and the consistency will be all wrong. 5 minutes! And if you notice it start to set, and when you stir it it cracks, you've left it too long.

• After 5 minutes you need to vigorously beat the mixture. Beat the crap out of it! You're breaking up the crystals and creating the consistency. Once the mixture starts to thicken and lose it's shine, it's ready. Don't worry, you can't really over-beat it. Just pay attention to the change and use your instinct. It should take about 5 minutes.

• Pour the fudge into the prepared cake tin as quickly as possible. It will start setting immediately.

• Then leave it to cool. Once coolish, mark out 25 squares with a knife. And once completely cool and set, cut the fudge into its pieces and store in the fridge.
• See! Easy peasy!