Recipe No. 301 Lemon Drizzle Cake
Healthy Food Guide Recipe Feb 2014
Serves 16
Marie's rating 
150g Low Fat Butter
180g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
200g Ground Almonds
250g Mashed potato (w/o milk or butter)
Zest of 3 lemons + extra for decoration
2 tsp GF Baking Powder
2 tsp Icing Sugar to dust
For Lemon drizzle
4 tbsp Caster Sugar
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180°C / fan oven 160°C.
Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper. Using an electric hand mixer cream the low fat butter and sugar together in the mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, then fold in the ground almonds, mashed potatoes, zest of 3 lemons and baking powder.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, then bake for 40-45 mins until lightly golden and firm to touch. Cool in tin for 5 mins then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile make the lemon drizzle: put the sugar, lemon zest and juice in a small pan. Cook, stirring, over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. continue cooking for further 3 min until slightly thickened.
Prick the top of the cooled cake all over with a skewer. Drizzle over the syrup, then set aside for 1 hour.
To serve, lightly dust the cake with the icing sugar, decorate with remaining lemon zest, then cut into 16 slices
TIP
2 Medium/Large baking potatoes around (460g before cooking) should be about right for this recipe. Scrub and prick them all over,
then microwave for 7 min then bake 30min until tender before removing skins and ricing
Recipe No. 302 Poached Pears and Butterscotch
These lightly poached pears take on a hint of lemon which cuts through the richness of the butterscotch sauce.
ProPoints Value | 3
Servings | 2
Preparation Time | 10 min
Cooking Time | 15 min
Level of Difficulty | Moderate
Marie's rating
2 pears
2 teaspoons sugar
2 lemon zest strips, pith removed
For the sauce:
25g (1oz) low fat spread
25g (1oz) soft brown sugar
15g (½ oz) low fat soft cheese
You will need a corer or small sharp knife
Peel the pears, leaving the stalk in place, and cut a thin slice from the bottom so that they stand upright. Bore into the base with a corer or small, sharp knife and remove the core, to about three-quarters of the way up.
Place the sugar in a small lidded pan, big enough to hold both pears with 200ml (7fl oz) water and the lemon zest.
Bring to the boil and stir to dissolve the sugar.
Add the pears cover and simmer gently for 10 minutes or until soft
(this will depend on the ripeness of the pears). Remove from the heat.
In another pan, melt the low fat spread with the brown sugar and let it boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and whisk in the soft cheese.
Drain the pears, discarding the juice and serve a pear each, with the sauce drizzled over.
Recipe No. 303 Sticky Toffee Pudding
My ultimate GF sticky toffee pudding
ProPoints Value | 23
Servings | 4
Preparation Time | 1hr
Cooking Time | 20 min
Level of Difficulty | Moderate
Marie's rating
Served with Ben & Jerry's Greek Yoghurt and Honey Ice Cream
75g Low Fat Butter + 25g for tins
6 Medjool Dates roughly chopped
100ml boiling water
80g Dark Brown Muscovado Sugar
1 Egg
100g Ground Almonds
100g Mashed potato (w/o milk or butter)
1 tsp GF Baking Powder
Dash of Vanilla Extract
25g Low Fat Butter
1tbsp GF Plain Flour
75g Light Brown Muscovado Sugar
150ml Milk (or Cream)
1.25tbsp Brandy (or Whisky)
Dash of Vanilla Extract
Stone and chop the dates quite small, put them in a bowl,
then pour the boiling water over. Leave for about 30 mins until cool and well-soaked,
then mash a bit with a fork. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Butter and flour four mini pudding tins (each about 175ml/6fl oz) and sit them on a baking sheet.
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 / 180°C / fan oven 160°C.
While the dates are soaking, make the puddings.
Using an electric hand mixer cream the low fat butter and sugar together in the mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs beating well between additions, then fold in the ground almonds, mashed potato and baking powder
then Stir the soaked dates into the pudding batter with a wooden spoon.
The mix may look a little curdled at this point and will be like a soft, thick batter. Spoon it evenly between the tins and bake for 20-25 mins, until risen and firm.
Meanwhile make the sauce, Melt butter in a small saucepan set over medium heat, sift in the flour and stir in sugar. Stir in milk/cream until smooth. Cook, whisking frequently, until thickened and smooth, about 5 minutes. Stir in brandy (or whisky) and vanilla. Remove from heat.
Remove the puddings from the oven. Leave in the tins for a few mins, then loosen them well from the sides of the tins with a small palette knife before turning them out. Pour over the pudding portions or into jug to serve them now with the sauce drizzled over.
They will be even stickier if left for a day or two coated in the sauce.
To do this, pour about half the sauce into one or two ovenproof serving dishes.
Sit the upturned puddings on the sauce, then pour the rest of the sauce over them.
Cover with a loose tent of foil so that the sauce doesn’t smudge (no need to chill).
When ready to serve, heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
Warm the puddings through, still covered, for 10 to 15 mins or until the sauce is bubbling.
Serve them on their own, or with the Ice cream or custard.
Recipe No. 304 Panforte
A chocolate panforte treat from Gino’s Italian Escape: A Taste of the Sun that captures the flavours of Siena.
Servings | 8
Preparation Time | 1hr
Cooking Time | 0 min
Level of Difficulty | Easy
Marie's rating
Served with Clotted Cream
Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, ensuring that the base of the bowl does not touch the water
Lightly whisk the egg whites in a large clean bowl for 2 minutes – you just want to break them up rather than whisk them to a peak. Add the honey and whisk once more to incorporate.
Fold in the ground almonds with a large metal spoon and mix to a paste, then fold in the hazelnuts and walnuts. Stir in the mixed peel, Amaretto and icing sugar before very gently folding in the melted chocolate.
Line a circular flan dish measuring about 18cm across and 3cm deep with clingfilm. Pour the mixture into the tin, fold the cling film over the mixture and press everything down until smooth. Set aside in the fridge for 2 hours.
To make the topping, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, ensuring that the base of the bowl does not touch the water
Melt the icing sugar and 2 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan over a low heat. Stir to check the sugar has melted, then add the chocolate to make a syrup
Turn out the cake onto a plate and peel off the cling film. Use a spatula to cover the surface with the chocolate syrup. Set aside for 1 hour until the chocolate has hardened, then sprinkle with white chocolate stars or sugar crystals.
Serve in slices, as a pudding or with a cup of your favourite tea.
Recipe No. 305 Chocolate and Avocado Cake
A free from chocolate cake treat from BBC Good Food guide with a twist, as it has Avocado to give it fudginess, a quality I quite like in a cake
Serves 12 to 16
For the cake
a little a little dairy-free sunflower spread, for greasing
1 large, ripe avocado (about 150g)
300g light muscovado sugar
350g gluten-free plain flour
50g good quality cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
400ml unsweetened soya milk
150ml vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
For the frosting
85g ripe avocados flesh, mashed
85g dairy-free sunflower spreads
200g dairy-free chocolate, 70% cocoa, broken into chunks
25g cocoa powder
125ml unsweetened soya milk
200g icing sugar, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease 2 x 20cm sandwich tins, then line the bases with baking parchment. Put the avocado and the sugar in a food processor and whizz until smooth. Add the rest of the cake ingredients to the bowl with 1/2 tsp fine salt and process again to a velvety, liquid batter. Divide between the tins and bake for 25 mins or until fully risen and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
Cool in the tins for 5 mins, then turn the cakes onto a rack to cool completely. While you wait, start preparing the frosting. Beat together the avocado and sunflower spread with electric beaters until creamy and smooth. Pass through a sieve and set aside.
Melt the chocolate, either over a bowl of water or in the microwave, then let it cool for a few mins. Sift the cocoa into a large bowl. Bring the soya milk to a simmer, then gradually beat into the cocoa until smooth. Cool for a few mins. Tip in the avocado mix, icing sugar, melted chocolate and vanilla, and keep mixing to make a shiny, thick frosting. Use this to sandwich and top the cake. Cover with sprinkles or your own decoration, then leave to set for 10 mins before slicing. Can be made 2 days ahead.
Recipe No. 306 Ginger Cake
My perfect free from gluten sticky ginger cake treat recipe, "stolen" from Becky Excell aka glutenfreecuppatea.co.uk
link to sourceSticky-gluten-free-gingerbread-loaf-cake-recipe
Serves 6
100g golden syrup
100g black treacle
75g baking butter spread
75g light soft brown sugar
150g gluten-free plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground all spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
75ml milk
1 lemon, zest
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water)
90g preserved stem ginger in syrup, (drained and finely chopped)
(Reserve some chopped ginger for topping cake)
Preheat oven to 170C /150C fan/gas 3. Line a 2lb loaf tin (standard size) with greaseproof/baking parchment. Measure out your black treacle, dairy free spread, golden syrup and sugar into a saucepan. Heat gently until the butter has melted and all is combined. Put to one side to cool down slightly.
Sift all of your dry ingredients (gluten free flour, ginger, all spice, cinnamon) into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre of your dry ingredients and pour in your beaten egg, cooled syrup mixture, dairy free milk and lemon zest. Beat well by hand using a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth.
Add 1 tbsp of hot water to your bicarbonate of soda and add to the mixture alongside most of your finely chopped stem ginger. Pour your mixture into your prepared loaf tin and bake for around 50 - 55 minutes. The cake should be a little firmer than most cakes when they come out of the oven. (Check with a skewer that it is cooked through).
Cool in the tins for 5 to 10 mins, then remove onto a rack to cool completely.
Sprinkle reserved chopped ginger on top and Drizzle a little syrup over cake.
You should wait a few days before tucking in as the flavour develops and makes the cake even better over time. But it is soooooo difficult to wait for something this good!
