Frozen Rocky Road (LF)

Frozen Rocky Road is a recipe I made up as a quick dairy free dessert for Christmas this year. Having moved away from where our families live, we always have to travel to be with them for Christmas so when my sister suggested I make a dessert to contribute to the Christmas feast I said "sure" and quickly put my thoughts into what I could easily make in my mum's not so well equipped kitchen on short notice. Then 'BOOM!'  Frozen Rocky Road was born. It's chocolate frozen goodness with chewy dried fruit, crunchy hokey pokey(honeycomb) chunks and nutty nuts. Delicious!

Frozen Rocky Road

INGREDIENTS:
5 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda
200 g dairy-free chocolate
90g blanched almonds
90g shelled pistachios
150g margarine
85g dried cranberries
100g dried apricots


METHOD:
Lay a silicon mat onto a cookie sheet and brush with vegetable oil.
Melt sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan over low heat.
When sugar mix is 115 degrees celcius or is a caramel gold colour turn the heat up to high.
Quickly whisk in the baking soda and pour mixture onto prepared silicon mat.
 

Hokey Pokey (Honeycomb)

 Let it cool for 30 minutes, remove the hokey pokey from the tray and chop into chunk sized pieces.

Hokey Pokey Chunks

Line a loaf tin with at least 4 layers of cling film, ensuring it overhangs the sides of the tin enough to cover over the mix when it's full.
Chop up the almonds and pistachios then mix together with cranberries and apricots. Set aside.

Dried Fruit

Chopped Almonds

Break up the chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water.
Add margarine to chocolate and stir together until melted together.

Chocolate & Margarine Mix

 
Take off the heat and add the chopped nuts and dried fruit.

Rocky Road Mix

Spoon and press into prepared loaf tin.
Fold overhanging cling film over the rocky road mix.

Rocky Road Mix Set in Loaf Tin

Freeze overnight or at least 6 hours.
Remove frozen rocky road from tin, unwrap cling film and cut into slices.
Serve with fresh summer fruit like strawberries and raspberries.

Enjoy!

Tips and Tricks:
- Work quickly once you add the baking soda to the sugar mix when making the hokey pokey otherwise you may end up with a sticky claggy mess in your pot to clean up.

-If you do end up with a sticky hard goo in your pot or on your utensils just rinse it hot water and the mix will dissolve off.

-Keep a large glass of hot water handy whilst making the hokey pokey so you can easily dissolve the sugar mix off your thermometer in between measuring and stirring.

-Make sure your silicon mat is brushed well with vegetable oil so the hokey pokey easily slides off. Baking paper is not a good alternative.

-Once the frozen rocky road is set; the slices can be kept in the fridge sif you prefer the slices to be firm but nit rock hard.

Bakewell Tart (LF)

Bakewell Tart is an english classic with a frangipane-like filling encased in buttery pastry. It's been a long time between desserts and when we were invited to a flat warming over the christmas holidays I just couldn't resist the urge to bake something. This is despite being in the middle of moving house with all my bakeware packed away in boxes!!! I ended up making one large tart for the masses as well as two smaller lactose free versions (pictured) for my partner. The following recipe can be made lactose free by substituting the butter for margarine.

Bakewell Tart

INGREDIENTS:

For the pastry:
2/3 cup flour
10 tbsp butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp cold water


For the filling:
125g butter
125g caster sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract
125g ground almonds
150g raspberry jam
25g flaked almonds


METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.

For the pastry:
Put flour, salt,butter and sugar into a bowl.
Rub together until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Mix in egg yolk, vanilla essence and water.
Knead together to form a soft dough.
Wrap in pastic wrap and refrigerated for at least 15 minutes.
Roll out to about 3 mm thick and use to line a 20 cm loose bottom tart tin.
Bake blind for 15 minutes.
Remove baking blind material and bake for a further 2 minutes.

For the filling:
Cream butter and sugar.
Beat in eggs abd almond extract.
Fold in ground almonds. Should be a thick paste.

For the tart:
Spread jam over the base of the tart.
Spread filling over the top.
Top off with flaked almonds
Bake for 40 minutes or until golden.
Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Remove from tin and dust with icing sugar.



Serve with custard, cream and fresh fruit.

Enjoy!

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Lemon Polenta Cake (LF) (GF)

Lemon Polenta Cake is Gluten free and lactose free aswell as moist and delicious. Containing a bunch of lemon zest and being soaked in lemon syrup this is definitely packed full of natural lemon essence. I'm not usually a big fan of the testure polenta creates but the addition of almond meal seemed to have made for quite a nice surprise; just make sure the cornmeal you use is not too coarse otherwise you'll be enduring bits of grain stuck in your teeth!

Lemon Polenta Cake

INGREDIENTS:

175g margarine
175g caster sugar
3 size 6 eggs, beaten
75g coarse cornmeal
175g almond meal
zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
1tsp gluten-free baking powder

25g caster sugar
2 lemons, juiced

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius.
Grease and line a 23cm springform loose botton cake tin.
Cream margarine and first measure of sugar together.
Whisk in eggs a little at a time.
Fold in polenta and almond meal.
Fold in lemon zest and baking powder.
Spoon mixture into prepared tin and smooth off the surface.
Bake cake for 50-60 minutes until springy and a skewer comes out clean.
Leave in tin for a few minutes before placing onto a wire rack - baked side up.
Heat lemon juice and second measure of sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.
Poke holes in the top of the cake whilst warm.
Pour hot lemon syrup over the top surface of the cake, a little at a time. Waiting for the syrup to soak into the cake before adding more.
Once cooled serve at room temperature with a sprinkle of lemon zest and if you like it, a spoonful of cream.

Enjoy!

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Chocolate Mousse Cake Recipe (GF) (LF)

Chocolate Mousse Cake is yummy but a bit different. Similar in texture to cheesecake, you'll love this one if you're lactose-intolerant. Again, amazingly it's also gluten-free and vegan - no animal products here. I used 4 mini-springform pans here but a single 20-24cm springform pan can be used. 

Chocolate Mousse Cake

INGREDIENTS:

For Base:
2 cup ground almonds
1/2 cup ground toasted pecans
1/2 cup almond meal
4 tbsp melted margarine
1/2 tsp baking soda

For Filling:
1 pkt (~320g) silken tofu
2 cups (~340g) vegan chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla essence

For Garnish:
Berries such as blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries etc

METHOD:

For Base:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Lightly oil 4 mini-springform pans [or a single 20-24cm springform pan]
Combine almond and pecan ingredients into a bowl.
Mix in baking soda.
Stir in melted margarine.
Press into springform pan(s) using the back of a spoon.

Pressing in the base...

Bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and leave to cool.

For Filling:
Place tofu and vanilla essence into a blender (or food processor with an 's' blade).
Over a double boiler, melt chocolate.
Add melted chocolate to blender and quickly start whizzing the mixture until smooth.
Spoon into cooled bases in the springform pans and level off with a spatula.

Adding the Filling

Place into fridge for at least 2 hours or until set.

All filled, levelled off and now in the fridge to set

To remove, gently warm the outside of the tin before removing outer ring of the pan.
Serve with a mixture of berries.

Quick Tips:
- I don't have a double boiler so to melt the chocolate I use a glass or metal bowl on top of a saucepan of boiling water - just need to be careful of the steam, I often wear an oven glove on the hand holding the bowl.
 - You can also use a microwave to melt the chocolate by microwaving in stints of no more than 20 seconds at a time (often much less once heated through), stirring in between each stint.
 - Make sure you start whizzing the filling mixture as soon as the melted chocolate has been added because the chocolate will start cooling and solidifying as soon as you add it.
- If you don't have berries, fresh oranges can be used; this is more than just garnish, it helps to cut through the richness of the chocolate filling by giving a refreshing fruity burst.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Almond Torte Recipe (GF)

This Chocolate Almond Torte is a gluten free, moist and irresistable dessert. Served cold with cream it's perfect to accompany a great cup of coffee with friends. For a more decadant dessert, create a Sachertorte by brushing the surface with 2 tablespoons of apricot or raspberry jam then a generous spread of chocolate icing. To ensure it is gluten free be sure to check that the chocolate you use does not use gluten flours as a thickener.

Chocolate and Almond Torte

INGREDIENTS:
310g dark chocolate
115g margarine
100g caster sugar
100g ground almonds
5 eggs (size 6), separated
55g corn bread crumbs

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius.
Melt chocolate in microwave until just melting; stir until smooth.
Cream margarine and sugar together until well combined.
Mix in egg yolks, ground almonds and bread crumbs.
Fold into mixture the melted chocolate.
Whisk egg whites until dry.
Fold egg whites into mixture.
Pour mixture into and greased and baking paper lined 23cm springform tin.
Bake for 40 minutes.
Remove from oven and leave to cool for 45 minutes.
Remove from tin and dust with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

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