Gluten free orange cupcakes - thermomix

These are SO yummy, and despite using the skin and pith are not bitter at all.  I am really enjoying making these cakes at the moment.  If you don't have a thermomix you could try it with a food processor, but it may take a little longer to blitz/process.

Whole Orange cupcakes

1 whole orange cut into quarters (skin and all)
225g butter
3 eggs
1 cup [200g] sugar
2 cups [300g] gluten free flour blended with 2 tsp xanthan gum
2 teaspoons GF baking powder

Put the orange and butter into thermomix bowl. Blitz for 7 seconds [speed 8]. Scrape bowl and repeat.

Add eggs, sugar and flour. Mix for 20-30 seconds [speed 4].

Spoon into cupcake papers, bake at 170 C for 15-20 mins or until cooked. 


Dust with icing sugar or [my favourite] top with chocolate ganache.

HEALTHY "ICE CREAM"

My sister told me about an amazing health ice cream that is not ice cream.  You take a couple of frozen bananas and whip them in a food processor or blender with a tablespoon of cocoa until it's soft and creamy.  That's it.

I tried it and she was right - it works and it is amazing.  I added some chocolate chips after I took this photo. 

This is well worth a try if you have a couple of gross overripe bananas lying around.  Stick them in the freezer overnight and then make yourself this yummy dessert!!

Gluten free lemon meringue pie

Every year I make a lemon meringue pie for my mother instead of a birthday cake [it's her favourite].  Because two of my girls are coeliac it has to be gluten free, or course, so over the past six years I've been perfecting the GF lemon meringue pie.  It really isn't as time-consuming or difficult as you may think.  Well-worth giving it a try. 

Here is the recipe I use.  It is based on a Women's Weekly recipe from an old WW cookbook.

GLUTEN FREE LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Pastry:

1 1/2 cups GF flour

3 tsp icing sugar

1 tsp xanthan gum

140g butter

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

approx. 2 tbsp water

Mix pastry ingredients in a food processor until it forms a dough ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 mins while preparing lemon filling.

Lemon Filling:

1 cup corn flour

2 cups caster sugar

1 cup lemon juice

2 1/2 cups water

3-4 teaspoons grated lemon rind

6 egg yolks

120g butter

Combine cornflour, sugar, juice and water in saucepan [or thermomix] until smooth.  Stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens [it will be very thick].  Turn off heat.  Add rind, yolks, and butter and stir until butter is melted.  Cool while blind baking pastry shell.

Roll pastry out between two sheets of baking paper or cling wrap.  Use the paper/wrap to help you to lift the pastry into a pie dish.  Blind bake pastry shell at 180C for approx. 20 mins.

Pour lemon filling into pastry case and cool to room temperature.

Meringue:

6 egg whites

1 cup caster sugar

Beat egg whites in bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form.  Gradually add sugar, beating until dissolved. Gently spread meringue over the top of the lemon filling.  Bake in moderate oven for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.  Stand 5 minutes before serving.

The pastry and filling can be made up to 24 hours ahead, but don't make the meringue until just before serving, or you may find it will sweat and go soggy.



Gluten free lemon curd cake

I stumbled upon this cake recipe on a thermomix recipe forum when looking for an easy cake my girls could make for my birthday in the thermomix.  It is so delicious, and so easy, I have made it three times in the last fortnight.  If you don't have a thermomix, you can still make this yummy cake, I discovered it was originally posted on this blog. 

Lemon curd cake

Cake mixture
150 grams gluten free SR Flour
60 grams butter
110 grams sugar
1 egg
Lemon curd
60 grams lemon juice
60 grams butter
110 grams sugar
1 egg
  

To make cake mixture, place all ingredients into TM bowl and beat for 30 seconds on speed 5. Remove from bowl and set aside.

To make lemon curd, place all ingredients into TM bowl and cook at 100 degrees for 5 minutes on speed 4.

Grease and line a round cake tin.
Spread half the cake mixture into the base of the tin [the cake mixture will be quite thick].
Pour lemon curd over cake mixture [the lemon curd mixture will be quite runny].
Dollop 1/2 teaspoonfuls of remaining cake mixture over the top of the lemon curd [sometimes I roll it into balls to make it 'neater'].
Bake at 180C for half an hour.
Eat warm or cold.

My favourite savoury muffin recipe

This recipe is so easy I keep it in my head [it's the only one I can confidently say is in there].  SO easy and SO yummy.

QUICK 2 CUP CHEESE MUFFINS

Place in a bowl:
2 cups SR flour [can be gluten free or regular]
2 cups grated cheese
2 tablespoons chopped ham/cooked bacon

In a jug:
2 eggs
make up to 2 cups with milk
whisk in 2 tablespoons oil

Gently add the wet ingredients to the dry, DO NOT OVERMIX.  
Bake in a moderate oven 180C for 10-12 minutes for mini muffins, 18-20 minutes for regular muffins, 25 or so minutes for Texas maxi muffins.

GLUTEN FREE COOKIES

My standard cookie/biscuit recipe is super-easy.  They always work, and this recipe makes 60-90 biscuits depending on the size, so I can bake once and freeze some and have home made gluten free goodies for ages.

Gluten free cookies

500g butter

1 x 395g tin condensed milk

1 cup sugar

5 cups gluten free flour mix

5 teaspoons baking powder [sometimes I forget this and they still work ok]

Preheat oven to 180.  Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.  Beat in condensed milk.  Add the flour & baking powder and mix on low speed until smooth.   

Roll about 2 teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on baking paper-lined trays.  Press a couple of chocolate chunks into the top. 

Bake for 12-15 mins or until lightly golden.  Remove from oven and allow to cool on the trays.  Store in airtight containers.

gluten free Yorkshire puddings

These Yorkshire puddings are just delicious.  In fact they were so yummy we ate all 12 of them in one meal, and wished we had more.  I now understand why Yorkshire pudding is served with a roast.

115 g gluten-free self-raising flour

142 ml milk

142 ml water (half milk and half water)

1 pinch salt (optional)

1 medium egg

Preheat oven to 220C.  Pour 5mm of oil into each hole of a 12 hole muffin pan and put it in the oven to heat up.  Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer/food processor/stick blender/hand whisk until a smooth batter is formed.  When the oil is smoking pour a little batter in each muffin hole and bake for 20mins.  Serve immediately with your roast dinner.

Beautiful, quick and easy nut slice

This is another of my 'go-to' slices, for when I need a quick, yummy morning tea or supper.  It is delicious.  Some of you may remember a slice called "no-bowl slice".  This is a variation on that old favourite.

QUICK AND EASY BEAUTIFUL SLICE

·        125g butter, melted
·        125g crushed biscuits
·        1 cup coconut
·        ½ - 1 packet choc chips (dark)
·        1 can condensed milk
·        1 cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped [or a mixture of macadamias and pecans]

Preheat oven to 180^oC. Line a slice pan with baking paper.

Combine biscuits, coconut and melted butter. Press mixture into the prepared pan. Spread the chocolate bits over evenly; top with nuts; pour condensed milk over the whole lot.

Cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Set in the fridge before slicing.

GLUTEN FREE CHOC-CHIP COOKIES

This recipe makes dozens of cookies.  I mean dozens.  The best part is, you can freeze them.  So I can always have cookies on hand for those busy weeks when I can't bake.  They're so yummy.  I have also substituted the chocolate for nuts or pressed gluten-free smarties in the top of the plain dough [the kid's favourite].  It's a brilliant basic recipe.

500g butter

1 x 395g tin condensed milk
1 cup sugar
5 cups SR flour [I use my own blend, from Betty Hagman, with added baking powder]

2-3 blocks of chocolate [white, milk or dark] roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 180 C.  Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.  Beat in condensed milk.  Add the flour and mix until smooth.  Stir in the chocolate until well combined. 

Roll about 2 teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on baking paper-lined trays.  Bake for 12-15 mins or until lightly golden.  Remove from oven and cool on the trays.  Store in airtight containers.

Marbled chocolate cheesecake slice - gluten free

This is one of my quick stand-by recipes.  It's a very yummy slice that goes together very fast, but looks like you've gone to lots of effort.  If you don't need gluten free, just use regular wheat flour. 

MARBLED CHOCOLATE SLICE

·        185g butter
·        ¼ cup cocoa
·        1 cup sugar
·        2 eggs, lightly whisked
·        1 cup plain flour [gluten free]
·        250g cream cheese
·        1/3 cup sugar, extra
·        1tsp vanilla
·        1 egg, extra

Preheat oven to 180^oC. Grease and line a lamington pan (16cm x 26cm) with baking paper.

Melt butter with cocoa. Remove from heat, add sugar and whisk in eggs. Stir in sifted flour and beat until smooth. Pour mixture into the prepared pan.

Beat cheese, extra sugar and vanilla together, add the extra egg. Pour over the chocolate mixture; swirl through with a knife for a marbled effect.

Super healthy gluten free muffins

I read in a food magazine recently [which one I can't recall] an idea for a healthy muffin:
Just mix the dry ingredients from a chocolate cake packet mix [I used gluten free] with 2 cups of mashed pumpkin and bake as regular muffins.
That's it. Pretty amazing.

Home made laundry powder

For a long time now I've been wanting to make my own laundry powder. The more I read about the fillers and foaming agents that are added, the more I think I do not want those things in my clothes, and those of my family. So last week I had a go, and it really does work.
I just used my food processor to grate one bar of laundry soap, one bar of Sard wonder soap, 1 cup of borax, and 1 cup of washing soda. From my reading you don't need the Sard soap, but my kids are such grots I feel I need the extra stain removal powder. I made a batch up without it, and it washed okay, but didn't get the worst of Miss 1's shirts clean. This lot, with the extra soap, works brilliantly.

It doesn't suds up like store-bought powder, so it's fine to use in a front loader. You only need 2 teaspoons in a front loader, and 3 teaspoons in a top loader. This batch is going to last me ages. VERY economical.

4 YEAR OLD GLUTEN FREE TEA PARTY MENU

For her birthday this year Miss 4 had a tea party. We set the table with a tablecloth, put little espresso cups and saucers out [just the right size], serviettes, and a red tea pot filled with apple juice.


I decided that a tea party should have tiny finger food so on the table we put:

• tiny melting moments with pink icing


• pikelets [50c coin size] with jam and cream on top


• mini frankfurts from Aldi [they come in a jar and are truly adorable - they're so small]


• grapes

It worked really well. The kids loved it. There was also birthday cake of course,

and we played pass the parcel. The parents sat down and had a cuppa, and the kids played. All in all a perfect 4 year old birthday party.

MY WORLD FAMOUS BROWNIES

Yes, it sounds presumptuous, but I have been giving this recipe out for years as everyone who eats them asks for the recipe. It has ended up all over the world as it's shared with friends and family. So it IS world famous! And easy to make, which is always a bonus.
When you need a chocolate fix there's nothing better. Seriously.

SHELLE'S WORLD FAMOUS BROWNIES
125g butter
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup flour [gluten free or wheat, depending who you're baking for]
1 teaspoon baking powder
250g chocolate chips [I always use dark, but use whatever you prefer]

Melt butter in a medium saucepan or microwave jug. Stir in sugar, cocoa, salt, eggs and vanilla, mixing well.

Stir through flour and baking powder. Stir through chocolate chips/pieces. The mixture will be quite stiff. Line an 18 x 28cm slice tin with baking paper. Spread brownie mixture evenly in tin.

Bake in a moderate oven [180C] for 25-30 minutes. Brownies will seem quite soft, but will firm on cooling. Leave in tin to cool completely [I put it into the fridge in the tin and cut it later - you get neater cuts when it's less gooey]. Cut into squares.
Store in refrigerator.

Miss 4's birthday cakes

Here are the two cakes I made in the last 24 hours for Miss 4's birthday. The swimming pool was for her tea party with two friends from church. The koala was for her family dinner celebration. Just as I'd finished cutting the koala shape she asked me if I'd put a baby on the koala's back [I thought you'd better know in case you thought I was confused about koala anatomy].

I always use wacky cake as my base for kid's birthday cakes, because you often need a double or triple batch and they really only eat the icing anyway, which is expensive if you need lots of eggs and butter in your gluten free cake recipe. Wacky cake holds it's shape well when you cut it out, and if you make it chocolate tastes pretty good gluten free.

Now that I'm through the last 6 weeks of "3 kids' birthdays plus various other crazy life events" I will get back into some sort of routine and try to find photos of Miss 6 and Miss 8's cakes. When I find them I will post them here. If only posting photos here meant I was scrapbooking them as well. Sigh.

GIANT FRECKLES

I bake. A lot. More than I probably would but because two of my girls are coeliac I have to. Just for our family of 6 and the two bible study groups we host, I have to bake a 2-3 things a week. Usually it's just my standard easy and quick things like fruit cake, brownies, a slice. Occasionally I bake WITH my kids, which always takes three times as long as you expect AND then there's the clean-up. It's enough to put me off baking at all!

One day recently Miss 3 wanted to bake but I didn't want the mess so we compromised and made giant freckes:

Just melted chocolate poured into patty papers, and then she sprinkled the 100's and 1000's over the top. Pop them in the fridge and eat them when set. Yes, it was messy as 100's and 1000's go everywhere, but it was fun, she could do it all, and the clean up was still minimal.

PECAN PIE

Last night we had some bible study friends over for a meal. We shared the meal preparation [they did main, I did dessert] but I couldn't decide what to make, so I made lemon meringue pie, cupcakes, and pecan pie.

It's been ages since I made pecan pie, and I'd forgotten just how easy [and delicious] it is. Here is my recipe, modified from an Australian Women's Weekly cookbook recipe:

PECAN PIE

1 cup plain flour [I used gluten free - of course]
90g butter
2 tablespoons water, approximately

FILLING:
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup golden syrup or glucose syrup
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
30g butter, melted
1 1/2 cups [the whiole 185g packet] pecans

Put flour and butter in food processor and process till it resembles fine breadcrumbs [or rub in butter by hand]. Add enough water to make ingredients cling together. Press dough into a ball, knead gently on floured surface until smooth.

Roll dough until large enough to line your pie dish/flan tin. Lift pastry into greased tin, trim edge. Blind bake in moderately hot oven 10 minutes, remove paper and weights, bake a further 10 mins. Allow to cool while you make the filling.

Combine all filling ingredients in bowl, mixing well. Pour into pastry case.

Bake in moderately slow oven 55 mins or until set. Cool.


This pie is delicious served with dollop cream.

Microwave Playdough

I've been promising a few friends this recipe but keep forgetting to give it to them so I thought I'd post it here. WAY easier than stirring playdough on the stove!

MICROWAVE PLAYDOUGH

3 cups plain flour
1/2 cup salt
6 teaspoons cream of tartar
3 tablespoons oil
3 cups water
food colouring

Place all ingredients in large microwave safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 8-10 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time. Turn onto a hard surface and knead to finish.

QUICK GLUTEN FREE FRUIT CAKE

I stumbled upon this recipe on Sunday by accident, and seeing we had spontaneous guests for afternoon tea [and very little in the pantry], thought I'd try it out on them. Wow. We managed to eat half the cake in one sitting, because I only cut up half, otherwise we would have kept going. The last piece went in a lunchbox this morning. So I'm about to go and make another one to prove to myself how simply wonderful this cake is. You can find the original recipe here, to which I've made some minor changes to ingredients and method.

I'm being honest with you here: 5-10 mins to measure and mix the ingredients, 15 mins to cook in the microwave. That's it.

QUICK GLUTEN FREE FRUIT CAKE
1 kg mixed fruit
2 tablespoons whisky or other alcohol [or orange juice or essence]
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon mixed spice
125g [4 oz] butter
4 eggs, beaten
440g [14oz] tin unsweetened crushed pineapple
1 teaspoon xanthan gum OR guar gum
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 cup bought gluten free flour OR 1/2 cup soy, 1/4 cup rice & 1/4 cup potato flour

Cook the fruit and liqueur on HIGH for 5 mins in the microwave. I used the large deep base of my tupperware stack cooker and also cooked the cake in it.

Add the butter and spices, and stir together till butter melts. Tip this mixture into a large mixing bowl and stir in the rest of the ingredients.

Line the dish with baking paper, pour in the cake batter, cook on HIGH for 15 minutes, elevating the dish while cooking, by sitting it on a small upturned saucer/plate [or the stack cooker lid].

Test with a skewer.

Allow the cake to cool before removing from the container. You can remove the baking paper, put the cake back in the dish it was cooked in, put the lid on and pop it in the fridge. It can be stored like that too.


If you are on the lookout for gluten free recipes do check out the above link. Allan has some great recipes there.

Birthday cakes, and more birthday cakes!

So far this year I've make 6 cakes [or batches of cupcakes] and that's only two girls' birthdays down! I think I can make a gluten free cake without a recipe now!
I'm using a slight variation of the gluten free wacky cake recipe I posted on the blog last year:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour [I use the Bette Hagman flour blend with 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan or guar gum]
1 cup white sugar
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup water

The best thing about this recipe is that you DON'T NEED AN ELECTRIC MIXER so it's super fast to whip up with a bowl and wooden spoon, and also quick to clean up! The next best thing is HOW GOOD IT TASTES. I've had several people ask me for the recipe recently because it tasted so good.

I don't have photos of all the cakes - I should have taken a photo of the 60+ cupcakes I made last Monday, but alas, I forgot about my poor neglected blog. I've been spending a lot of time on Facebook since I discovered it just before moving. It's been fantastic to keep up with friends, and make contact with people I'd lost track of years ago. Bit of a time-waster, though.

I'm hoping to get back into my craft [and therefore my blog] in the coming weeks.