Gluten, dairy & sugar free chocolate cake

Ingredients 150ml coconut or olive oil, 50g raw cocoa powder 100ml boiling water, 2 tsp vanilla extract, 150g ground almonds, ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/4 tsp salt, 200g coconut palm sugar, 3 large eggs.

Serves: (whoever you love enough to share it with) Preparation: 1 hour

Whether we like it or not, food intolerancy is a thing. A very big thing. Whether you believe that it's through years and years of poisoning our bodies with chemicalised and processed foods or some sort of voodoo, we all know far more people these days who have to be careful about what they eat.  
This recipe is adapted from a gluten and dairy free Nigella cake to make it sugar free and a little less moist than her slightly flabby flourless cake. It is absolutely DELICIOUS and the texture is FABULOUS. For any gluten free person who has made you eat a polenta cake or some other mad textured cake, do share this and tell them to put down the xantham gum because all is not lost.

1) Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3 (170 degrees) and grease a 9 or 10 inch springform tin with a little oil. I have also made this split into two mini 4 inch cake tins and it works perfectly.

2) Sift the cocoa powder into a bowl and whisk the boiling water and vanilla extract in until you have a smooth chocolate paste. Try not to eat it immediately, you get to lick the bowl after...

3) Measure out the ground almonds, bicarb of soda and salt into one bowl and the sugar, oil and eggs into another, then whisk the latter thoroughly for 3-4 minutes until you have a thickened, aerated and emulsified liquid.

4) Add the cocoa and vanilla paste and beat thoroughly, then add the almond mixture a little at a time.

5) Don't panic about the consistency, this is a liquid batter. Make sure your cake tin base is in the right way round (we've all done it but this cake is considerably less delicious when eaten off the floor of your oven...) and pour in the batter. Bake for 45 minutes or until the sides are set and the very centre, on top, has a bit of a wobble to it. I usually give the oven door a bit of a kick and if it wibbles alarmingly, give it another ten minutes or so. When you stick a skewer in it should come out with a few sticky crumbs clinging to it rather than a smear of batter but be warned, this cake rises up beautifully and then sinks back a bit so if you skewer it before it's ready, it's going to sink faster than the Titanic! The good news is that this cake is FABULOUS eaten hot with ice-cream, or leave it to cool in the tin until you're ready to scoff it.

Baby flapjacks

Ingredients 50ml coconut oil, 1 banana, 150g oats, 75g mixed seeds (I like pumpkin, linseed, poppyseed, sunflower and flax seeds) 1 tsp vanilla essence, 50g dried fruit (I like cranberries & apricots but figs, raisins & dates are also great.)

Makes: 12 Preparation: 45 minutes

I adore flapjacks and granola for the same reason - the smell and flavour of those gorgeous toasted oats. Absolutely mouthwatering.
As a follow on from my baby breakfast muffins, which are sugar free and very low in fat, these flapjacks are also baby friendly in that unlike traditional flapjacks which are full of butter and syrup, these are bound by banana and coconut oil and stuffed full of glorious seeds and dried fruit instead of things that will make your kids hyper and unhealthy. So if you or your kidlets fancy a sweet treat that travels well then these will not disappoint.

1) Culinary coconut oil is usually solid at room temperature, so melt it gently in a pan to return it to liquid form and stir in the vanilla essence.

2) Mash the banana with a fork, or puree in a food processor and whisk into the oil until it has been fully incorporated. If you have an extra sweet tooth you can add a little honey too but it really doesn't need it if your banana is ripe.

3) Stir in the oats, dried fruit and seeds and allow to rest whilst the oven pre-heats to gas mark 5.

4) Rub a little of the coconut oil around your baking tray to grease it, then press the mixture firmly into the tray ensuring that it is packed as tightly as possible to allow it to bind fully in the oven and not fall apart when cut into bars.

5) Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown, then carefully turn out onto a cooling rack (it should just slide off the tray but if you've used a deep one, try putting the cooling rack over the top and just flipping it over) and slice into bars whilst still warm. Once cool they can be eaten or stored for up to a week.

Kirschwasser

Ingredients 1lb cherries, 1/2 cup caster sugar, 1 cup alcohol (beer, brandy or red wine, are traditional) 1/2 tsp vanilla essence, 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

Preparation: 20 minutes

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Germany. Kirsch is a glorious, heady cold fruit soup consisting of essentially booze and whole, pitted cherries. In researching this recipe I found so many variations from those using milk or soured cream to those using beer or red wine. In the end, I went with a mixture of sloe gin and brandy simply because that was what I had in my cupboard and I can assure you that it is a knockout combination!

1) Pit the cherries, discarding the stones and add the fruit to a milk pan

2) Measure in the sugar, cinnamon and vanilla essence, top up with the booze and either 1/2 cup water or the excess cherry juice if you are using canned cherries (I used fresh fruit so I topped this up with a little apple juice).

3) Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Revel in the utterly divine smell. REVEL I SAY.

4) Chill and serve! I tried this with a blob of soured cream and also with sweet dumplings and I'll be honest I preferred it just on its own!

Pastel de nata

Ingredients Custard: 3 tbsps plain flour, 1 ¼ cups milk, 1 ⅓ cups caster sugar, ½ tsp vanilla essence, 6 egg yolks, 1 tsp cinnamon.

Dough: 220g plain flour, 7g yeast, 160ml milk, 2 1/2 tsp caster sugar, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbs vegetable oil, 150g butter.

Serves: 9 Preparation: 2 hours (plus overnight)

As part of the World Cup Food Challenge 2014, this recipe represents a traditional meal of Portugal. Pastel de nata are stunning little cinnamon custard tarts, with a gorgeous flaky croissanty crust that has to be tasted to be believed. It's a LOT of work to make these, but they're well worth it and they freeze well.

1) To make the dough for the pastry case, please see up to step 5 of my croissant recipe.

2) To make the custard, bring the sugar and cinnamon to the boil in a pan with 2/3 cup of cold water until a syrup forms- don't stir it!

3) Separate the milk with 1/4 in a bowl and 1 cup in a pan. Whisk the flour in with the bowl of milk until smooth and set aside. Meanwhile, scald the milk in the pan, then whisk in the flour-milk mixture.

4) Add the cinnamon sugar syrup into the hot milk and flour whilst whisking furiously (you might want to ask someone to help!) then take off the heat once it is a smooth, just pourable consistency. Stir in the vanilla and set aside.

5) When the mixture has cooled just enough for you to comfortably touch it without swearing (about the temperature of a cup of tea if that helps!) whisk in the egg yolks and set aside to cool.

6) Pre-heat the oven to 290 degrees celcius and grab your pastry from the fridge. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1cm thickness and cut it into squares the approximate size of your chosen muffin tin dimples. Wet your fingers and press the dough into the muffin tin, moulding with your fingers until you've created a "lip" about 1/2cm above the muffin tin surface and pour in the custard.

7) Bake until the edges of the pastry are brown and the custard has a good wobble on. Serve warm, sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon.

Baby Breakfast Muffins

Ingredients 75g butter/oil, 125ml orange/apple juice, 1 tbsp cinnamon, 2 bananas, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp honey (or agave syrup), 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 250g self-raising flour, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 100g dried cranberries, 100g mixed seeds.

Makes: 16 Preparation: 45 minutes

OK, so this is not a baby recipe. Shaddap, it's not. It's NOT OK. It's a recipe for muffins which are sugar free and if you want them to be, dairy free. Healthy seeded breakfast muffins that are totally delicious and I just happen to feed to my twelve month old son... 

1) Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190 degrees and add the cranberries to the orange/apple juice.

2) Add the bananas, vanilla essence and honey to a blender and puree thoroughly. Add the eggs and melted butter/oil and pulse again until completely combined

3) Sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and bicarb of soda, then mix in the seeds.

4) Pour the puree in with the dry ingredients, add the juice and cranberries and mix roughly.

5) Spoon into muffin cases and add to a muffin tin, sprinkling some extra seeds onto the top. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the tops begin to colour and a skewer inserted to the middle cupcake comes out clean.

Peanut butter & honey fudge

Ingredients 100g butter, 475g muscovado sugar 125ml milk, 200g peanut butter (I used Whole Earth 3 nut butter), 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 400g icing sugar, 3 tbsp honey.

Serves: like, an army Preparation: 10 minutes plus chilling time

Fudge is just one of those things which is good in small doses... yet in order to make it one must make an awful lot of it. Even with the addition of peanut butter to cut the intense sweetness, this is still awfully rich. Therefore in the run up to Christmas - why not make some treats for the people that you love?

1) Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the muscovado sugar. Once it has melted completely, add the milk and bring to a rolling boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

2) Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter, vanilla essence and honey.

3) Fill a bowl with the icing sugar and pour in the fudge mixture. Beat until all of the icing sugar has melted, then pour into a baking dish and chill in the fridge until firm before cutting into squares.

Blueberry cheesecake scones

Ingredients 225g self raising flour, 50g butter, 50g sugar, 50g cream cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/4 tsp vanilla essence, milk

Serves: 10 Preparation: 30 minutes

The sweet burst of blueberries, the rich tang of cream cheese and vanilla - unlike the dense texture of cheesecake, this scone is so light and fluffy that the flavour almost doesn't make sense. They're seriously moreish.

1) Sift the flour and sugar together, then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Pour in the blueberries.

3) Whisk a little milk and vanilla essence with the cream cheese to make it more liquid and mix with the dry ingredients until a dough has formed. It's best to work scones with cool hands so if yours are warm, run them under the cold tap first (and dry them) before working it.

4) Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and then fold it in half and roll again. Cut out rounds of pastry with a scalloped cutter and brush with a little milk to help the surface colour.

5) Bake at 200 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Lavender madeleines

Ingredients 105g flour, 70g butter, 1 tsp lavender, 2 eggs, 65g sugar, 1 tbsp honey (I used lavender honey), 1 tsp vanilla essence,½ tsp baking powder

Makes: 12 preparation: 2 - 4 hours

It's no secret that lavender is one of my favourite ingredients - whether used in sweet or savoury cooking it never fails to impress. Madeleines are a best beloved treat from my childhood - summers in France with these elegant little shells melting in the mouth. I have always loved to make them and especially loved to eat them. Adding lavender adds a more exotic twist to bring out the vanilla in these perfect, sweet sponges.

1) Add the lavender and butter to a milk pan, allowing it to melt slowly and infuse the butter with the maximum flavour. Add in the honey and stir through.

2) Whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla for 2-4 minutes until the mixture is pale and just beginning to stiffen.

3) Sift together the flour and baking powder, then fold with a spatula into the eggs. Once combined add in the flavoured butter.

4) Put the mixture into the fridge to rest for an absolute minimum of one hour. For best results leave for 3 hours, but this can be kept overnight if you are preparing for guests.

5) Rub a light layer of butter onto your madeleine pan, then using a tablespoon scoop a quenelle sized portion of batter into each shell dip. Some people recommend to use a piping bag - personally I feel that madeleine batter shouldn't be handled any more than you can help, otherwise they lose the lightness so I would advise using a spoon.

6) Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 12 minutes. If you're able to watch them bake through the oven door this will help you to learn whether your batter has been over handled or the moulds have been overfilled. The heat will initially cause the batter to settle into the mould but it should never spill out at the sides enough for the madeleines to touch. It should quickly bubble up into the classic "humped" shape without the centre breaking the bump like a volcano.

The madeleines should slide straight out of the mould and have a light, springy texture with slightly crispy edges. They're best eaten immediately, otherwise the sponge becomes denser.

Sailor Jerrys Egg Nog

Ingredients3 eggs, 1 pint whole milk, 50g caster sugar, vanilla, 100ml Sailor Jerry's rum (or brandy if you prefer), nutmeg for dusting.

Serves: 4 Preparation: 20 minutes

Christmas is coming and this food blogger is getting fat. (And probably gout to boot with all of these indulgent puddings and boozy treats) Egg nog is nothing if not the most indulgent Christmas booze - essentially it's an alcoholic custard that you drink warm or cold and then wonder why you're waking up on a traffic island wearing your pants on your head come Christmas morning... (no? just me?)

1) Put a pan on a low-to medium heat - for this recipe you do not want to allow the mixture to boil otherwise you'll end up with scrambled egg, it must be warmed gently.

2) Whisk the eggs and whisk in the milk and sugar, transferring to the pan and allowing to warm through, stirring gently until the mixture just coats the back of your spoon. I like to add just a splash (1/4tsp) of vanilla essence to bring out the sweetness but Sailor Jerrys already contains vanilla so adding a vanilla pod like traditional egg nog would be far far too much!

3) Stir through the Sailor Jerrys rum and then serve warm, dusted with freshly grated nutmeg or cold. This mixture will thicken up a little as it cools so don't be alarmed

Baked donuts

Ingredients 1/2 pint milk, 7g yeast,  85g sugar, 2 eggs, 600g plain white flour, 1 tsp salt, 65g butter 1/4 tsp vanilla essence, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp icing sugar, cranberry & orange curd.

Serves: X Preparation: 2 hours


I'm not a big fan of fried food, mostly finding it too greasy and unhealthy - I'd rather save those extra calories and fat grams for cheese quite frankly! I recently made a batch of cranberry & orange curd though and thought that it would be fabulous in baked donuts. Even better than vanilla custard. They're so fluffy and scrumptious and you get to make a big mess in the kitchen too!


1) Warm up the milk and dissolve the yeast into it. Allow it to rest for 2 minutes before stirring in the melted butter, sugar and vanilla essence.


2) Beat together the two eggs and stir into the milk which should by now be room temperature.


3) Pour the mixture into a blender and using your dough hook setting combine it with the flour and salt, bit by bit until a bread-like batter has formed. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl easily but be a bit sticky.


4) Oil a bowl and pour in the batter, leaving it to rise in a warm place for an hour (I put it on top of the oven whilst the oven pre-heats)


5) Punch down the dough and roll it out to about half an inch thickness. Cut out circles of dough and allow them to rise for another 45 minutes.


6) Using a teaspoon poke a hole in the side and fill with the curd. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 190 and dust with a mixture of cinnamon and icing sugar.


They're best eaten fresh so invite lots of people round to share them!

Apple & cinnamon French Toast

Ingredients Wholemeal bread flour, cinnamon,   baking soda, eggs, vegetable oil,    apple sauce, muscovado sugar, vanilla essence, icing sugar, maple syrup, butter

Serves: 1 Preparation: 10 minutes

After making my apple & cinnamon bread I knew there was only one way to serve this... and it turned out to be one of my more perfect recipes.


1) Slice the apple & cinnamon loaf to about 1.5 cm thickness and dip in whisked egg.


2) Melt half a teaspoon of butter in a frying pan and drop the slice of bread into the pan.


3) Toast the bread, turning frequently. When you notice the steam puffing out the bread a little you will have achieved the fluffy yet crispy texture that makes French toast so glorious.


4) Serve dusted with icing sugar and drizzled with maple syrup

Apple & cinnamon bread

Ingredients    1½ cups wholemeal bread flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon   baking soda, 2 eggs, ¼ cup vegetable oil, 2 cups apple sauce, 2   tablespoons muscovado sugar.

Serves: 10 Preparation: 1 hour

I'm not a great baker - my skills lie in making bread, pastry, pasta, dumplings... cakes and biscuits are always risky experiments for me but I do continue to try until I get it right! This recipe was inspired by some apple and raisin toast that a friend of mine enjoyed recently and turned out to be a lovely combination of flavours.

1) Sift together the flour and baking soda in a bowl.


2) Whisk the 2 eggs, muscovado sugar and cinnamon in a seperate bowl, then gradually add the flour and baking soda, whisking in the vegetable oil to ensure the mixture does not become too dry.


3) To make the apple sauce: peel, core and dice the apples and cook in a pan with 2 tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Allow to cool and whisk the apple sauce in with the bread mixture and transfer to a loaf tin.


4) I like to caramelise the top of the loaf so mixed a teaspoon of cinnamon with a teaspoon of muscovado sugar and half a teaspoon of vanilla essence, then crumbled this mixture over the top of the bread batter.


5) Bake for 50 minutes at 200 degrees, or until a skewer comes out clean and leave to cool. For a great serving suggestion, check out my French toast recipe!

Banana & walnut cake

Ingredients    3/4 cup butter (127g), 2 ripe   bananas, 3 cups plain flour (681g), 1  1/12 tsp baking soda, 2 cups sugar     (454g), 3 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla    essence, 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (339g), walnuts.

1) Sift the flour and baking powder with a pinch of salt and set aside


2) Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla essence together and beat in the eggs one at a time


3) Whisk in the flour a cup at a time, alternating with the buttermilk


4) Mash the ripe bananas and whisk into the rest, stirring a handful of finely chopped walnuts at the last minute


5) Pour into a cake tin (this quantity fills one large cake tin or 2 loaf tins) and bake for 1 hour, or until a skewer comes out clean. Put immediately into the freezer for 10 minutes - this will stop the steam from rising and make the cake incredibly moist.


6) Once cool, cream equal parts of icing sugar, butter and cream cheese together and slather onto the top. I had some leftover caramel from making my caramel apple pie so I swirled that over too!

Caramel apple Charlotte

Ingredients 3 apples, sultanas, bread, butter, sugar, double cream, 3 eggs, milk, vanilla essence.

When I made the Caramel apple pie I had some caramel left over which I allowed to almost set in the fridge. It's perfect for this meltingly gorgeous pudding.


1) Remove the crusts from 3 slices of bread and cut one of them in half. Press the bread with your hand or a rolling pin and then butter one side of each.


2) Press the first piece butter side down into your oven-proof pudding bowl, line the two half pieces butter side out around the edges, ensuring that they are pressed into the base enough for them to form a seal for the filling. Set aside the final piece.


3) Peel and dice 3 apples. Using a warm tablespoon, put a layer of caramel into the bottom of the bread case. Add apples and sultanas then continue to layer with apples and sultanas and more caramel. Add the last piece of bread butter side up and ensure it's pressed firmly against the edges.


4) Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.


5) To make the custard, simmer 200ml milk with a teaspoon of vanilla essence on a low heat. Add 20g caster sugar and whisk through. Add 3 egg yolks and continue to whisk on a low heat until the custard is thick enough to coat a spoon.

Caramel apple pie

Ingredients For the pastry: 250g butter, 100g sugar, 500g plain flour, 2 eggs, milk. For the glaze: 1 egg white, 1/2 tsp  vanilla essence, 1 tsp ground cinnamon. For the filling: 75g caster sugar, 75ml double cream, 3 apples, 50g butter.

1) Sift the flour and sugar and add small cubes of the cold butter into your blender and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add two beaten eggs and a splash of milk and pulse until a dough ball forms. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge to cool for an hour.


2) Roll out the pastry and press into a pie dish. Blind bake for 8 minutes and set aside to cool. Save the remaining pastry to make the lattice lid.


3) To make the caramel; put a frying pan to heat on the hob. When a drop of water "rolls" upon being dropped on the pan it is hot enough. Pour the sugar into the pan and stir continually with a wooden spoon until it liquifies and turns amber. Add the butter and stir through - be careful as this will cause the sugar to froth up to almost double the volume. Take from the heat once the sugar has been integrated and stir through the cream.


4) Peel and slice the apples and layer onto the pastry base. Spoon the caramel sauce over the apples and lay strips of pastry over the top. Brush with the egg white, cinnamon and vanilla glaze and bake for 15 minutes. Serve hot or cold.