Allergy Awareness

Dairy Free Blackcurrant Rice Surprise

 

I've not made this recipe yet, hence the lack of photographs but I found it on Cook It Simply.com - as we are prone to a blackcurrant glut here every year it seemed that it would be worth a try!

Ingredients

serves 6

30 g (1 oz) 2 tablespoons of Dairy free margarine

300 ml (10 fl oz) 1 1/4 cups of coconut milk

300 ml (10 fl oz)1 1/4 cups of soya milk

300 ml (10 fl oz)1 1/4 cups of water

100 g/31/2 oz/1/2 cup of pudding rice

30 g (1 oz) 2 tablespoons of caster (superfine) sugar

255 g (9 oz) 1 3/4 cups of fresh or frozen trimmed blackcurrants

3 tablespoons of caster (superfine) sugar

3 large free-range eggs, separated

1 teaspoon of pure Madagascan vanilla extract

100 g (3 1/2 oz) 1/2 cup of caster (superfine) sugar

method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) gas 4

2. Melt the margarine with the coconut milk and soya milk in a non-stick saucepan over low heat.

3. Add the water, rice and 30 g (1 oz) 2 tablespoons of caster (superfine) sugar, and increase the heat to medium.

4. Bring the pan of rice to the boil, stirring occasionally, then simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes until just soft, thick and creamy.

5. Meanwhile, mix the fruit and 3 tablespoons of sugar together.

6. Once the rice is done, remove from the heat and stir in the egg yolks and vanilla extract.

7. Spoon the rice into a deep-sided, ovenproof dish big enough for six servings and level it off.

8. Spoon all the sweetened blackcurrants over the rice.

9. Make the meringue topping. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff, then fold in the 100 g (3 1/2 oz) 1/2 cup of caster (superfine) sugar.

10. Spread gently over the blackcurrants and bake for about 30 minutes, or until well browned.

11. Serve the pudding either hot or warm.

Dairy, Wheat, Egg Free Butterscotch Pie Filling

 

Many moons ago I worked at the Milk Marketing Board. They had a wonderous canteen and one of my favourite things on the menu was the Butterscotch Tart. Well, my friend and I, being Tart by nature, flirted a bit with the chef that was bringing out the latest batch of Heaven on a plate. He was so sweet (like the tarts! LOL) and wrote out the recipe for us both. The filling was just divine but contained butter, milk and wheat flour. I adapted it (way hay!) and tested it (woo hoo!) and it works (praise be!). So, here it is...

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Allowed Margarine	6oz
Soft Brown Sugar	6oz
Corn Flour	2 tbsp
Soya Milk	4 oz

Method

1. Melt the fat in a saucepan
2. Add the milk and sugar and heat gently until dissolved
   
3. Sieve the flour, and then, sieve it again into the sugar mixture, whisking continuously
4. Slowly bring to the boil and remove from the heat
   
5. Pour into a baked pastry case and leave to set
   

Okay, sometimes I can't be bothered to wait for it to set in a pastry case. It's really yummy served up warm in a bowl with a range of safe things to dunk. Yay for butterscotch fondue - bring it on!!! LOL

Simple Sesame Crunch Recipe

 

This delicious recipe is a cross between peanut brittle and sesame snaps. I either make it purely with sesame seeds or half sesame seeds & half coconut. Either way it's really tasty.

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Granulated Sugar	2 cups
Sesame Seeds	1 cup	or 2 cups if you leave out the coconut
Dessicated Coconut	1 cup
Allowed Margarine	1 tbsp	(I use vitalite)

Method

1. Put sugar and margarine in a pan and place over a low heat. Stir until the marg & sugar is mixed together. It should look a bit like this
   
2.  In a dry frying pan, toast the sesame seeds until light golden brown. Add the coconut and keep stirring until the coconut starts to turn golden too. Remove from the heat.
   
3. The sugar mix will start to melt and then clump up forming brown sugar lumps. Eventually it will melt into a smooth lumpless liquid.
   
4. Tip the Sesame Seeds & coconut into the melted sugar and stir it in quickly. Then tip it out onto Waxed Paper, flatten it with the back of the spoon or a fish slice.
   
5. When it has cooled enough to handle, snap the sesame snacks into bite sized pieces.

Gluten, Wheat, Dairy & Egg Free, Vegan Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

 

I had a lovely gluten-free chocolate cake recipe passed onto me from a friend a few years ago, unfortunately it contains eggs, vinegar and rasperry jam. All of which I am currently avoiding. With a little adaptation I came up with this delicious cupcake recipe. As I use Vitalite margaine and AlproSoya Original soya milk it is also suitable for Vegans, substituting the Soya milk for a rice or nut milk would also make it suitable for a soya-free diet.

The cakes do not rise up in the middle which means they are suitable for icing, and, as you can see below, the cake is soft & moist inside without being dense.

I make them in muffin cases (much larger than fairy cakes) and this recipe yields 24 cakes. I have never tried freezing them, but they have the potential to last for a few days if stored in an airtight tin.

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
rice flour	125g
cornflour	110g
cocoa	50g
sugar	275g
gluten free baking powder	2 tbsp
margarine	150g
soya milk	250ml
very ripe bananas	2 large or 3 small

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C (fan assisted)
2. Line muffin pan with paper cases.
3. Sift dry ingredients together (flours, sugar, cocoa, baking powder).
4. Add margarine and milk, then beat with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute.
5. Mash the bananas. Add them to the mixture and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
6. Half fill the paper cases with mixture and bake for 25 minutes.

When they have cooled you can ice them if you want but they don't need it!

Ginger Biscuits

 

I once borrowed a recipe book from the library called "Allergy-Free Food" by Tanya Wright and had a go at making the Millet & Rice Savoury Biscuits in them. Texture wise they were light and crumbly and not too bad. Unfortunately there was a bit of a bitter aftertaste which I assume was from the millet. So I adapted the recipe slightly to include ground ginger and some sugar in the hope it would disguise the taste. It was better, and the biscuits went rather nicely with banana smoothies at breakfast time.

This is the adapted recipe, it makes approximately 35 biscuits.

Ingredients

Ingredient	Metric
Millet Flour	125g
Rice Flour	125g
Salt	1/4 tsp
Gluten Free Baking Powder	2 tsps	I use Supercook Baking Powder with the white lid
sugar	75g
ground ginger	1 tbsp
Allowed Margarine	50g	I use Vitalite
Water	100ml

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180c.
2. Combine the dry ingredients together.
3. Rub in margarine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add water.
4. Mix together until thoroughly combined and the mixture resembles a soft dough.
5. Roll out to 1/2 cm thick, cut into circles and place on greased baking tray.
6. Bake for 10 minutes and then place on wire rack to cool.

Gluten, Wheat, Egg & Dairy Free Spiced Biscuits

 

These biscuits have a dry and crumbly texture making them perfect to have with a cup of tea or a smoothie. They are quite spicy and not too sweet, more for grown-ups than for children. This recipe makes approximately 20 large biscuits.

 

Ingredients

Ingredients	Metric
corn flour	150g
rice flour	150g
sugar	100g
gluten-free baking powder	2tsp
salt	large pinch
ground nutmeg	1 tsp
ground ginger	1 tsp
ground cinnamon	1 tsp
allowed margarine (I use vitalite)	75g
soya milk	200ml

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients into a bowl.
3. Rub in the margarine until crumbly.
4. Mix in the soya milk until you have a soft and ever so slightly sticky dough.
5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface (I use rice flour) and kneed slightly.
6. Roll the dough out to half cm thick and cut out into large rounds.
7. Place on a greased tray and bake in hot oven for 15 minutes.
8. When cooked gently lift onto a cooling rack.

Chocolate Pouring Sauce / Chocolate Spread Recipe

 

This is another accidental recipe that occured when I was trying to invent a home made dairy free chocolate spread.

It is gorgeous hot straight out of the pan (would be good for chocolate fondue) and can be kept in a tub in the fridge and used on ice-cream, in fact it tastes very similar to the chocolate ice-cream syrup that you can buy.

It is simple to make and if you double up on the cornflour you get chocolate spread, although this thickens up when chilled and can be awkward to spread straight from the fridge.

The quantities are very versatile as everything is measured by volume. Just make sure you use the same size measure for each ingredient. As a guide I find that if I use 1 quantity = 1 tablespoon and double up on the cornflour I have enough chocolate spread for a few rounds of sandwiches. If I use 1 quantity = 1/4 cup (60ml) then I have enough chocolate sauce for a fondue or a tub of ice-cream syrup in the fridge.

The sauce works beautifully on Vanilla Swedish Glace and Raspberries.

 

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Cornflour	1	Double quantity if you want chocolate spread
Cocoa Powder	1
Sugar	1
Icing Sugar	2
Soya Milk	2

Method

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a saucepan until well blended.
2. Add enough Soya milk to form a smooth paste and then add in the rest of the soya milk.
3. Place over a low heat and bring to the boil, stirring (or whisking) continuously.
4. Once it has thickened remove from the heat.
5. Either use as it is or leave to cool.
6. If cooling the sauce keep stirring it from time to time, or place it in a food mixer left running on low speed.
7. If making spread pour it into a clean, dry, warm jam jar.