Banana and Date Bread (gluten and refined sugar free)

For me a baked good is a treat with butter, sugar, chocolate, etc – if it tastes good I want it in there. However I’m not unaware of the move to healthier baking and cutting out refined sugar and making gluten free versions of favourite bakes is becoming increasingly popular.

 

There are lots of alternatives to refined sugar but in this I’ve just gone for the natural sugars in fruit to sweeten this banana bread. A girl I work with has inspired me as she has launched a site with her friend all about healthy eating, MT Real – check it out here. She eats the most amazing array of food and is constantly coming in with delicious bakes that are gluten and refined sugar free. So here is my contribution to celebrate her site launch.

Ingredients

175g ground almonds

2 tsp gluten free baking powder

½ tsp bicarb of soda

½ tsp salt

125g butter, melted

150g dried dates

2 large eggs

400g ripe bananas

60g chopped walnuts

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C/GM 3.
2. Add the baking powder, bicarb and salt to the almonds and mix. Set to one side.
3. Take half the dates and put in a food processor with the bananas and whizz up until smooth.
4. Chop the remaining dates. Add 1 tbsp of almonds to this and mix to that the sticky edges of the chopped dates are covered. This keeps them separate and also helps them not drop once added to the mixture.
5. Whisk the eggs into the melted butter in a bowl.
6. Add the banana and date mixture, along with the vanilla extract and cinnamon, and mix again.
7. Add the ground almond mix and whisk until it’s all mixed well.
8. Pop in the chopped dates and walnuts and mix again.
9. Put into a lined loaf tin and bake for about an hour. It might need 10-15 mins longer.



Enthusiasm Flapjacks

Sometimes I need to clear out stuff from my baking shelves so flapjacks are an ideal way to use up ingredients. The quantities below are a guide so feel free to experiment. 

The name comes from the most wonderful Lorna who, when I lived with her, used to make Enthusiasm Soup. So called because you put everything you've got into it.   

Ingredients

250g butter

200g brown sugar (or any sugar)

Good dollop of golden syrup or honey

200-300g mixture of dried fruit, nuts, seeds
400-500g oats 

1.    Preheat the oven to 180°C/GM4.

2.    Melt the butter in a large saucepan. While melting add the sugar and syrup/honey. Mix it all together.

3.    Take off the heat and add the fruit/nut/seed mixture and stir well. Then add the oats, stirring again. You don't want a wet mixture at the end just enough to coat everything to create a sticky mess.

4.    Line a large tin and tip the mixture in, smoothing out before putting in the oven for 20 minutes.

5.    Cool and cut into desired sized pieces. Let it cool properly as the butter need to solidify a bit at bind it all together.

 

Granola Bars

I may have a slight allergy to gluten. Obviously this is a nightmare for someone who bakes but I can't really deny anymore that I feel much better by cutting gluten out. Damn you gluten!!!!! The Thew is going to be beside himself with the news as he eats ridiculously well and avoids gluten whenever possible, telling me to do the same so I will feel better. He has this annoying habit of being right about things that I don't want him to be right about. Of course sometimes I'm right but have promised not to gloat about that latest incident so putting on my blog would contravene that. 

The Thew used to love the Pret Power Bars they used to do years ago and for some reason I thought I would take it upon myself to recreate them at home rather than just let him buy them. They turned out really well but I didn’t make them for a while (I think because he gave up gluten and this was before gluten free oats were widely available) and lost my recipe. So this week I decided to give it another go. I have used gluten free oats so these bad boys are 'healthy' for a given value when you consider the sugar and butter content. Oh yes! 

The ingredients below are a bit of a guide. The moisture adding ingreidents are needed but you can up the honey or syrup depending on what you like, the same goes for additional fruit and seeds (or nuts if you like those – I’m funny about the food I like nuts to infiltrate). Use what you like best. I always found this a great way to use up any leftover packets of random ingredients. If you have some nuts or odds and sods of dried fruit just whack them in. You can add desiccated coconut, flaked almonds - whatever. Up the oats and reduce the fruit if you want something more flap jack like and less granola bar. The oats are the base for you to customise – just make sure the mixture remains damp. 

Ingredients

250g butter

100g sugar (I use dark or light brown but use what you have)

100g golden syrup

100g honey

300g oats

100g seeds (I had pumpkin, sesame and sunflower but whatever you like. You could use nuts instead)

100g raisins or sultanas

200g other dried fruit (I used cranberries and blueberries but apricots, apple, whatever) 

1.    Preheat oven to 180°C/GM 4 and line a large tin with baking paper. I use a big roasting tin.

2.    Put the butter, sugar, syrup and honey in a saucepan. Heat gently until it's all melted and mixed together.

3.    Chuck all the other ingredients in and mix well.

4.    Turn out into the tin, even out and cook for 20 to 25 minutes (be careful as the fruit can burn on top).

5.    Cool and cut into pieces.

Peanut and Hazelnut Brittle (or Any Excuse to Use a Hammer in the Kitchen)

Remember, remember the fifth of November

Gumpower, treason and plot

I see no reason, why gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot 

I have two very good reasons to not forget the 5^th November. It’s my sisters' birthday and also my sister-in-laws. All a bit random and strange but it helps keep the date front of mind. My sister didn’t really like fireworks when she was little, as many children don’t, which made it a little awkward but she seems to have grown out of it. I adore fireworks (along with balloons and stars) so am very upset that my local park doesn’t do a fireworks display anymore as it got too good and too many people came. I have to be content with pressing my face to my spare bedroom window and watching the sky light up across London. 

When thinking about what to do this week I did entertain the idea of making toffee apples but I couldn’t find any sticks that would stand up to the task. I’ve tried it before with wooden skewers and they are just too weak. However the idea of something that uses harden melted sugar appealed as it felt that it would evoke being by a bonfire. Therefore the idea of making nut brittle formed in my head (I was also passing a Holland and Barrett which made the purchase of nuts fairly easy). 

So below is my version. You can add vanilla extract but I think that distracts from the nuts and a little butter goes a long way to flavour and enhance the sugar mixture. Always be careful around molten sugar as it not only burns but sticks to you while it does it. Don’t lick a spoon, don’t put your finger in during a moment of distraction – it will hurt! I did two brittles with different nuts. I think you can use any but these smaller ones give a good consistency and reduce big bulges of brittle.  I’ve given measurements in cup and weight as I’m nice to you like that. 

Ingredients

1 cup/245g sugar

½ cup/145g golden syrup (tip - whatever touches the golden syrup should have a light coating of oil. So the spoon, container, cup as it comes off easier)

½ cup/125ml water

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp butter

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 ½ cups/250g peanuts (I used salted) or 1 ½ cups/200g hazelnuts 

1.    Line a baking tray with foil and give it a light coating of oil.

2.    Put the sugar, syrup, water and salt in a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil. A medium heat will do as this means you panic less about burning it. Let it boil gently for about 15 minutes when it will start to turn a darker brown.

3.    I have no idea about sugar thermometers so the following method tells you easily when the mixture is hot enough. Have a jug or cup of cold water ready with some teaspoons. Once the mixture is golden brown dip a spoon in it and then transfer to the water. Leave for about 10 seconds. If the mixture has hardened on the spoon then it's ready, if it hadn't then it's not. It won't get rock solid, as it's not pure sugar, but it will get close.

4.    Once your mixture is hot enough, turn off the heat and then add the butter, bicarb and nuts. The mixture will foam up so make sure you use a decent sized saucepan – don’t worry it doesn’t go mad. Stir until it calms down.

5.    Pour on to the foil quickly and smooth into a thin layer using a spatula or metal spoon lightly coated in oil. Then leave to set in the fridge.

6.    Now the fun part. Once set, remove the brittle from the tin foil. Hold over a wooden board at an angle and whack it with a hammer (you could use the back of a heavy knife or a rolling pin but why would you when a hammer can be used?) Keep whacking bits until you get the size pieces you want.

7.    Store in a tin with greased foil between layers or in a jar so people can see how amazing you are at making brittle. 

N.B. You can serve it as a big slab with a hammer next to it for people to make their own piece or it works as a gift wrapped in see through plastic. You could add a toffee hammer as well if you can find such a thing.

 

Coffee and Walnut Cake with White Chocolate Frosting

I was asked to make a birthday cake for a friend this week and I was more than happy to do so - especially as I was being given dinner as part of the deal. The brief was chocolate or coffee and walnut. I went one better and made a cake using all three! This is a 'proper' cake - grown up, not too sweet and perfect in civilised company. We ate it with wine while watching dubious Harlem Shake videos but it could be grown up if you wanted it to be.

The icing and filling is amazing. Nigella's blonde icing is truly a thing of amazingness. Just make sure you use a very good white chocolate as the cheaper stuff can be too sweet. Tesco have just brought out a cooks chocolate range which I think it very good.

Ingredients
450g butter
225g caster sugar
4 large eggs
200ml strong fresh coffee, cooled
4 tsp cocoa powder
225g self-raising flour
175g chopped walnuts (plus extra to decorate)
200g white chocolate (good quality)
50g butter
200ml crème fraiche (the original recipe says 220ml but it comes in 200ml tubs so that's what went in)
100g icing sugar

1.    Preheat the oven to 190°/GM5.

2.    Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs in one at a time making sure you whisk well each time.

3.    Add the coffee and then the flour with the cocoa sifted in on top. Whisk well but don’t panic if it looks a little bit like scrambled eggs as this may curdle but it won’t matter once it’s baked.

4.    Fold in the walnuts and divide the mixture between two shallow tins that have been well greased – ideally put some baking paper on the bottom.

5.    Bake for 25 minutes. Now this makes quite a delicate cake so I’d suggest cooling completely in the tins. I made mine the day before they were needed and by the time I turned them out it made become more robust and didn’t break when turning out or sandwiching together. However you’re going to cover this in frosting so if it breaks just weld it together with that.

6.    Melt the chocolate with the butter in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

7.    Cool a little once melted, mix in the crème fraiche and the sift the icing sugar on top and mix in as well.

8.    Leave in the fridge for about 20 minutes and then use half to sandwich the two cakes together and use the other half to ice the top (you could do the sides but I was in a rush due to coming home late because the Central line was on the blink). Decorate with walnuts if you like and serve.