Afternoon Tea

Ok, this may not be one for the beginner to try, but it gives you an idea of what can still be achieved despite the restrictions! I've wanted to do a full on afternoon tea for a while and husbands birthday seemed the perfect excuse (probably wouldn't have done quite so many things if it hadn't been a special occasion). 

Ours was Milk, Egg, Wheat and Soya free (MEWS), but I will post some suggestions for just Milk, Egg and Soya (MES) if you can still have wheat. 

Bread for Sandwiches:

There are lots of MES free wholemeal and multigrain breads around, but somehow I think afternoon tea sandwiches are better with white bread. Since Marks and Spencer changed their labelling on their white crusty loaf to 'not suitable for milk allergy sufferers', I think the best option (other than homemade bread) is Waitrose White and Wholemeal loaf. There might be other options around, but that's the only one I can get locally.

For MEWS free, I love Bob's Red Mill Wonderful Bread Mix (adaptation for egg free here), which gives a great textured easy slice loaf. Unfortunately, Mini Monster can't eat this because of the Chickpea flour. Orgran Easy Bake Bread Mix, being yeast free is more like a soda bread, but would work well baked on the day (otherwise it may be a bit crumbly). I still haven't had a chance to try the fantastic looking Italian flour mixes I picked up at the allergy show, but will keep you posted.

My current favourite bread recipe is this one adapted from Iced Gem Bakes (sorry, it's not nut free). It holds together beautifully for a thin slice (even when a few days old) and is a great texture.

Follow the link, but instead of the egg, just add 60mls additional fluid (total fluid 420mls, I usually use a mixture of water and milk substitute).

I had to make two loaves to feed 5 adults and 2 children, so used double this quantity (Put cut off crusts in a labelled bag in the freezer to make into breadcrumbs. Or make into bread crumbs and freeze...).

Scones

For MEWS free scones I used this recipe from Coeliac UK. I only used 20g of Baking Powder (otherwise taste was unpleasant), and cooked them for 12 minutes. Instead of the milk powder and water, just use milk substitute (I might have another go with 1/2 milk substitute and 1/2 sparkling water, to help the rise, next time).

For MES free try any scone recipe, but use dairy and soya free spread instead of butter, and milk substitute with juice of 1/2 a lemon instead of buttermilk.

Trifle

I did mini trifles as there were so many other things, and used about half this recipe for 6.

If I wait until I've written up the fruit tart and cake recipes, I'll never get this post live, so I'll post the recipes for those at a later date.