Sticky Ginger Cake

This is a really good recipe for a gluten and dairy free cake, which is really moist. The cake mix before putting it in the oven is liquid like a batter, and I've found that any cake which contains a lot of liquid or fruit is ideal for baking gluten free, as it keeps the cake nice and moist. This is a lovely dark, sticky cake which improves with age, and is adapted from the BBC Good Food recipe http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1462/sticky-stem-ginger-cake-with-lemon-icing

I substituted the flour with gluten free self raising, dairy free margarine in place of the butter, and soya milk.

Definitely one to add to the repertoire!

The lovely Leon

Not something I've baked this time, but I was so impressed with the cake selection (and food in general) at Leon, which we stumbled across in Spitalfields Market on a recent trip to London, that I thought I'd write about it. Their healthy fast food menu notes which items are gluten, wheat, dairy free, vegetarian etc, so it made choosing pretty easy! I was most impressed when we came to choose something for dessert, and I discovered that not one, but almost all of the lovely cakes on display were wheat and gluten free! I usually go for the one choice that there is, but this day I was able to not just stare longingly at the cakes, but to have my cake and eat it (and some of James' too!)

Chocolate tart and pecan pie - both with amazing gluten free pastry. I think this will be a new favourite place when visiting London!

Chocolate Courgette Cake

Due to a glut of rather large courgettes from the allotment, James suggested it was about time I turned one of them into a cake. After finding a variety of recipes online, I took inspiration from a few, and came up with the following.

12 oz (350g) Gluten and Wheat Free self raising flour

2 oz (50g) cocoa powder

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp mixed spice

11 oz (325g) caster sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

200ml sunflower oil

500ml peeled and grated courgette (measured in a measuring jug)

For the icing

1 ½ oz (40g) cocoa powder

4 oz (110g) icing sugar

Water to mix

1.    Mix the flour, xanthan gum, mixed spice, cocoa and sugar together in a large bowl or food mixer.

2.    Add the eggs, vanilla extract, oil and grated courgette and mix well until combined.

3.    Transfer to a 20cm round greased and lined cake tin.

4.   Bake at 160Cfan/180C/gas 4 for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. If the grated courgettes are very moist, then it may take a little longer.

5.    Leave in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool.

6.    For the icing, sieve the cocoa powder and icing sugar together in a bowl. Gradually add a few drops of water at a time, mixing in between each addition. Pour over cooled cake. Leave to set.

I did add some GF baking powder as well just to make sure it rose, but it really wasn't necessary! The cake mix could easily take some more sugar and cocoa, so I would probably up the quantities of both by a few ounces next time.