I miss cake. I miss making cake. Some of my earliest memories are making fairy cakes and victoria sponges with my mum. I still know that recipe by heart, 4442, 4 each ounces of sugar, butter and self raising flour mixed with two eggs, a teaspoon of baking powder and a teaspoon of vanilla essence. Mix, pour into tins and enjoy. I could make that cake in my sleep. I will make that cake with my children.
When my great uncle Harold went into a nursing home, I made him an old school victoria sponge. Cut strawberries and mountains of whipped cream in the centre, covered in caster sugar. A nightmare for his diabetes, but he was 95, and he loved cake. (seriously, don't worry, the nursing home controlled his diabetes with insulin, and you could never part Harold from cake.) Harold was a lifelong recluse, and in the nursing home had achieved a stand off with the other inhabitants of the convent. He would tolerate being around people, even wheeling his chair up to groups of residents talking, as long as he didn't have to participate in the conversation. This made for some hilarious family visits.
So we get to the nursing home, plonk this beautiful monstrosity of a cake in front of Harold, turn around to find a knife to cut it, turn back and both the cake and Harold are *poof* gone.
He was eventually found wheeling himself back to his room with the cake stuffed up his jumper so he wouldn't have to share.
In university I was famous for my brownies, stuffed with either white chocolate that would melt in your mouth as you bit into them, or walnuts and sultanas for a more savoury taste. I would bake them for the whole dorm and then go door to door to see if anyone was hungry. (Not through any altruistic bent mind you, I just needed them gone so I didn't down the entire plate myself.) Later I discovered that if I brought a batch of freshly made brownies to a night out, people would buy you drinks to say thank you. Saved my broke student arse more than once. Plus it turns out that I was much better at baking than I was a drinking. But that's another story.
The point is, I think, that I have a weakness for sweetness. And baking. So when I took on a restrictive diet, the idea of being able to create sweet treats was extremely important to me.
Deliciously Ella was helpful with this (I'm going to write up a run down of my favourite free-from-foodie blogs soon, trust me Ella tops the list. I would be lost without her.) But it was Olivia Wallenberg of Livia's Kitchen who really saved me on the sweetness front. Suddenly I could curb all my cravings, and my baking habit was back in full swing. Her avocado chocolate icing recipe (which I got from her book but which can also be found here) is a lifesaver, and I use it for the following recipe. Without these wonderful women inspiring me, I wouldn't have found the confidence to start playing around with ingredients in my kitchen.
So, recipe time!
Chocolate Courgette Cake
I mentioned in a previous post that my parents have a glut of courgettes at the moment. Well I couldn't escape their house without a bucketful, and I have had to find creative ways to use them up, particularly because my other half will not eat courgettes unless coerced. I recommend getting veg-hesitaters to try first before you tell them exactly what's in this cake...
Ingredients:
350g Grated Courgettes
300g Doves Farm gf Plain Flour
100g Coconut Sugar
100ml Maple Syrup
100g Melted Coconut Oil
2 tbsp Chia Seeds
2 tbsp Cacao Powder
2 tbsp Cacao Nibs
1/2 tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Xanthum Gum
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla Powder
1 portion of Livias Kitchen Avocado Chocolate Icing
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/GM 4.
Grease and line an 18cm loose bottom cake tin with coconut oil.
Mix the chia seeds with 6tbsp of water and leave to set until it looks kind of like frogspawn. This is called a "chia egg" and believe me, even if it looks gross, it is the key to the whole recipe.
Stir everything together in a bowl until well mixed. (Or, if like me and you're lazy, grate the courgettes using a food processor and then mix everything else in using the whisk attachment. I love my food processor.)
Bake for 55 minutes. Cover with foil for the last ten or so minutes to stop the top from burning.
And: Cake! Just leave it to cool completely before slathering on the avocado icing.
When my great uncle Harold went into a nursing home, I made him an old school victoria sponge. Cut strawberries and mountains of whipped cream in the centre, covered in caster sugar. A nightmare for his diabetes, but he was 95, and he loved cake. (seriously, don't worry, the nursing home controlled his diabetes with insulin, and you could never part Harold from cake.) Harold was a lifelong recluse, and in the nursing home had achieved a stand off with the other inhabitants of the convent. He would tolerate being around people, even wheeling his chair up to groups of residents talking, as long as he didn't have to participate in the conversation. This made for some hilarious family visits.
So we get to the nursing home, plonk this beautiful monstrosity of a cake in front of Harold, turn around to find a knife to cut it, turn back and both the cake and Harold are *poof* gone.
He was eventually found wheeling himself back to his room with the cake stuffed up his jumper so he wouldn't have to share.
In university I was famous for my brownies, stuffed with either white chocolate that would melt in your mouth as you bit into them, or walnuts and sultanas for a more savoury taste. I would bake them for the whole dorm and then go door to door to see if anyone was hungry. (Not through any altruistic bent mind you, I just needed them gone so I didn't down the entire plate myself.) Later I discovered that if I brought a batch of freshly made brownies to a night out, people would buy you drinks to say thank you. Saved my broke student arse more than once. Plus it turns out that I was much better at baking than I was a drinking. But that's another story.
The point is, I think, that I have a weakness for sweetness. And baking. So when I took on a restrictive diet, the idea of being able to create sweet treats was extremely important to me.
Deliciously Ella was helpful with this (I'm going to write up a run down of my favourite free-from-foodie blogs soon, trust me Ella tops the list. I would be lost without her.) But it was Olivia Wallenberg of Livia's Kitchen who really saved me on the sweetness front. Suddenly I could curb all my cravings, and my baking habit was back in full swing. Her avocado chocolate icing recipe (which I got from her book but which can also be found here) is a lifesaver, and I use it for the following recipe. Without these wonderful women inspiring me, I wouldn't have found the confidence to start playing around with ingredients in my kitchen.
So, recipe time!
Chocolate Courgette Cake
I mentioned in a previous post that my parents have a glut of courgettes at the moment. Well I couldn't escape their house without a bucketful, and I have had to find creative ways to use them up, particularly because my other half will not eat courgettes unless coerced. I recommend getting veg-hesitaters to try first before you tell them exactly what's in this cake...
Ingredients:
350g Grated Courgettes
300g Doves Farm gf Plain Flour
100g Coconut Sugar
100ml Maple Syrup
100g Melted Coconut Oil
2 tbsp Chia Seeds
2 tbsp Cacao Powder
2 tbsp Cacao Nibs
1/2 tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Xanthum Gum
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla Powder
1 portion of Livias Kitchen Avocado Chocolate Icing
 |
| That's great Alice, just put the HIGHLY FLAMMABLE book made of PAPER on the PLACE WHICH MAKES FIRE. |
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/GM 4.
Grease and line an 18cm loose bottom cake tin with coconut oil.
Mix the chia seeds with 6tbsp of water and leave to set until it looks kind of like frogspawn. This is called a "chia egg" and believe me, even if it looks gross, it is the key to the whole recipe.
 |
| mmmm, frogspawn |
Bake for 55 minutes. Cover with foil for the last ten or so minutes to stop the top from burning.
And: Cake! Just leave it to cool completely before slathering on the avocado icing.
 |
| Drool.... |
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