Apple Crumble (Gluten Free)

I do love a good crumble, I can pretty much make a crumble mixture by eye these days but just for you I’ve measured out the quantities (I’m good to you aren’t I?).

Crumbles are the ultimate comfort food and served with custard can make many a grown man, or woman, weep with pleasure.  It’s a simple recipe and just as easy to make gluten free, if you aren’t a coeliac then just substitute gluten free flour for the ‘normal’ stuff.

I’ve made an apple one here because I’ve been popping down to my local market of late and getting the bargain of all bargains on big fat juicy Braeburns of 10 for a pound, can’t say fairer than that can you, but one can only eat so many apples a day in their raw form, so a crumble was in the offing from the moment those apples hit the bag.  You could use any fruit you like with this recipe, a bit of forced rhubarb would be nice or if you are making this at the end of the summer a few hedge picked blackberries in with the apples would go down a treat.  Right, enough waffling and onto the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz gluten free plain flour (I used Dove’s Farm)
• 2 oz of butter
• 1 1/2 oz of sugar
• 5 big apples
• a handful of sultanas
• 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• A squirt of agave syrup
• A baking dish about 25 cm long or whatever you;ve got

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees.  Peel and chop the apples roughly then stew in a pan with the sultanas, cinnamon, agave syrup and a splash of water until tender.  Pour apples into dish.  Rub the butter into the flour until you have crumbs.  Add the sugar and stir.  Then sprinkle the crumble mixture on top and shake to settle.  Bake in the oven for a bout 30/35 min until starting to turn a light golden and the apples bubbling up from the bottom.

Serve with custard, make your own if you can be bothered, it is much better that way but don’t feel guilty if you just peel open a tub from the cupboard. I didn’t…

Banana, Cinnamon and Sultana Cakes (Gluten Free) and the Fairy Cake Revolution

This is becoming a bit of a regular slot on here, they are just so easy to make and each week I seem to have a new ingredient that needs eating or cooking with before it goes to waste so here we have it another use for those spotty bananas at the bottom of the bowl, or if you’re looking for an alternative try this or this.

I do kinda like the idea of championing these little cakes, they seem to have disappeared in the whole cupcake phenomenon that has swept the world, it’s like a little fairy cake revolution!  All hail the humble fairy cake, whipped up easily by everybody, without the need for half a tonne of butter cream icing and designer names and price tags.  So this my friends is a little shout out to my  fairy cakes, I still love you!

Makes about 20

Ingredients:

• 150g butter
• 100g sugar
• 150g gluten free self raising flour (I used Dove’s)
• 3 eggs
• 3 bananas, mashed
• A big handful of sultanas
• 1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees (fan).  Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one by one. Add the mashed banana, sultanas and cinnamon and stir.  Mix in the flour and then spoon into cases, ab0ut 2/3rds full.

Bake for about 15 min or until golden and cooked through.  Leave to cool then share, spreading the word, the revolution is here, LONG LIVE THE FAIRY CAKE!!!

Baked Apples

This is my attempt to sate my crumble craving (this is all your blinking fault MathildeheartManech, your crumble muffins and links to beautiful crumble making blogs!).  This is not a crumble in any way but, in my diet addled brain, it seems to sit well as a lighter alternative that although lacking in the crumble still has that warm, spiced, sticky apple content that somehow fits so well in the beginning of Autumn.  Serve this with rich, creamy vanilla ice cream or  if like me that isn’t really an option, perhaps a crappy low fat version or some greek yoghurt spiked with vanilla and syrup.

Baked apples are something I often forget about then remember and become addicted once more.  This is the perfect time, British apples in season, temperatures cooling and leaves tumbling from the trees.  Wrap up, stick the oven on and relax with a bowl of baked apple and ice cream.

Baked Apples

Ingredients:

For 3 apples:

3 Apples

6 teaspoons of butter

half a teaspoon of cinnamon

2 teaspoons (? i just squirted) agave syrup (or brown sugar, golden syrup any sweet sticky goodness you have to hand)

A tablespoon of sultanas

Method:

Pre heat the oven to about 180 degrees.

Mix the butter, syrup, cinnamon and sultanas together. Core your apples and score a line with a sharp knife round the middle (i think this stops them exploding and also allows them to puff up like souffles as they cook).  Stuff the butter and sultana mix into the centres and place on a baking tray.  Cook in the oven for about 30/40 min or until golden, puffed and sticky.

Cardamom and Cinnamon Kulfi Lollies

As promised, here is that lovely Kulfi recipe I mentioned a few days ago.  This recipe was very kindly donated to me by my friend Reshma’s mother.  I used some pretty nifty little rocket lolly moulds from the legendary Poundland! This amount of mixture made enough to make 12 mini lollies.

Ingredients:

1 small tub of double cream

1/2 tin of evaporated milk

1/2 pint of milk

6 cardamom pods, crushed

1 stick of cinnamon

Sugar to taste

Method:

Heat the milk and cream together in a saucepan with the spices.  When it comes up to the simmer, take off the heat and add sugar, probably about 3 tablespoons.  Stir and leave to cool.  Then pour into lolly moulds and freeze.

Pancakes!

Well it is Pancake Day isn’t it?

Right I won’t bore you with a recipe for a pancake batter, if you’ve made it this far I think you either a.  know how to make it or b. can operate a computer well enough to search for a decent recipe on the t’internet.  I thought I’d just share my pancake dinner with you and share my ideas.

I was a little concerned for the potential lack of veg in a traditional pancake supper and seeing as I was cooking for me and my lil lady I thought I would attempt to include a good few of our five a day. So for pancake dinner tonight I made some cheese and vegetable pancakes, that sounds a little dull doesn’t it but I can’t think of a snazzy title right now and they were yummy honest.  Then for dessert we ate pancakes with cinnamon apples and ice cream. 

For the veggie pancakes:

I added a good shake or two of smoked paprika and some garlic salt to the batter ( i made gf but i’m sure you have your own fav recipes).

For the filling I softened some onions, added some grated carrot, a chubby clove of garlic (chopped) and fried in a pan.  Then at the last minute flung in two great big handfuls of spinach and set aside in a bowl.  I then grated some cheese and stirred it into the veg mix,  fried off my pancake on one side, flipped, added stuffing and rolled up in the pan.  You can pop the rolled pancakes into the oven to keep warm whilst you make the rest. 

For pancake pudding, I added a little sugar and some vanilla to a basic batter mix then fried off some apples with sugar, butter and cinnamon and filled the pancakes with them.  I served them up with a squeeze of agave syrup and some vanilla ice cream.

What did you do with yours?

Curry Goat

I have been meaning to make a deep, dark lamb curry for ages but I couldn’t decide on how to approach it or what recipe to choose and then I remembered this recipe from a great little community publication Urban Feast.  The book was created by a bunch of local Croydonites and students from a local school.  I think it was orignally a free book given out from the library and an old colleague of mine passed on several copies of it to use with my students as reading actvities.  I have used it several times and it has a great dvd accompaniment that shows each dish being made and sourced round Croydon. 

Anyway I marinaded the meat last night and left it in the fridge until mid morning today then cooked it off.  The recipe can be found here http://www.croydon.gov.uk/contents/departments/leisure/pdf/urbanfeast in an electronic copy of the book.  Please have a look as it is a really interesting read full of wonderful recipes ranging from traditional Pie and Mash to the delicious Curry Goat.

This worked out really well, it’s an intensely spiced, dark and flavourful curry.  I chickened out and omitted the Scotch Bonnet Chilli, and it still tasted amazing.  I might even temper the left overs with a little coconut milk and serve it up to my two year old later for dinner.  Do try this and don’t forget to check out the book….

Gluten Free Banana and Cinnamon Pancakes

After having a very healthy lunch of some lovely curried pea soup (see below for recipe).  I decided to make a little treat for pudding.  This recipe is gluten free but I’m sure it is just as tasty made with wheat flour.

This makes about 6 pancakes.

Ingredients:

1 heaped tablespoon of gluten free flour

1/2 a teaspoon of gluten free baking powder

Half a mashed banana

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

A teaspoon of agave syrup or sugar

Milk

Method:

Whisk the egg then add all the other  dry ingredients.  Add enough milk to loosen the mixture, I guess it should be rougly thick double cream consistency.

Ideally I think you should set the mixture aside for about half an hour but i didn’t bother. 

Heat up a pan, grease with oil.

Spoon in mixture to make little scotch pancake sizeed pools.

Wait until little air bubbles start to prink through the top then flip.

Serve warm with syrup and fruit.  I had some lovely English raspberries with mine.  Yum, yum…