Orange and Chocolate Drizzle Tart

My boys love looking through my BBC Good Food Magazine  and were particularly excited by the cover photo when this month's copy came through the door (subscription is a present from my lovely big brother). I still live in hope that one day they will stop at one of the savoury recipes and ask me to make that... Fortunately, there is always something in there that's easy to adapt to suit our milk, egg, wheat and soya free need.

My version on top of the magazine picture

This is basically just a tweak on the custard tart recipe, but, oh, so worth the effort. It was light and refreshing and very very tasty. There was enough pastry left over to make animal biscuits to restock the sadly neglected biscuit tin too. Both boys particularly liked the filling, so I plan to make more for packed lunch pots (orange panna cotta…). 

Pastry

25g White Veg Shortening (Trex/Cookeen)

100g Dairy and Soya Free Spread ('Pure' Sunflower/Vitalite)

80g Sugar

20g Golden Syrup 

60ml Dairy and Soya Free Cream (Oat/Almond/Rice)

210g Wheat Free Plain Flour (or Plain flour if don't need to be wheat free)

45g Cocoa Powder

35g Wheat Free Self Raising Flour

Filling

1 tbsp Custard Powder (can use all corn flour, but will be lighter in colour)

3 tbsp  Corn Flour

Juice and zest of 2 oranges (or 200mls fresh orange juice)

1tsp orange flower water (optional)

2 tbsp sugar

200mls Dairy and Soya Free Cream (Oat/Almond/Rice)

300mls Milk Substitute

4 leaves gelatine (or equivalent veggie gel - follow instructions on pack)

Sauce

45g Dairy and Soya Free Chocolate (I use Mortimer's powder as dissolves easily)

1 tbsp Golden Syrup

50-100mls Dairy and Soya Free Cream (Oat/Almond/Rice)

I used a round 20cm loose bottom tin to make this in. The deepness of the filling was good, but the straight edges of the tin make it difficult to line with pastry. One with sloped sides would probably be easier with fragile wheat free pastry, but fortunately, even with patching up and cracking in the oven (as you can see in the picture), the filling is thick enough not to leak out.

Pastry:

Put the shortening, spread, sugar, 'cream' and syrup in a bowl .

Whisk until light and fluffy.

Add the cocoa powder and flour.

Fold in the flour with a spatula or wooden spoon until mostly combined.

Kneed lightly until smooth.

Roll out to about 3-5mm (depending how thick you want your pastry). Doing it under cling film means it doesn't stick and reduces risk of cross contamination from rolling pin.

Line your tart tin with the pastry.

Patch up any gaps or tears.

Trim the top using the back of a knife.

Blind bake for about 10 mins at 200ºC to stop the base puffing up (wet a piece of greaseproof paper and scrunch it up, put it in the pie crust and fill with baking beans/rice/dry beans etc).

Remove greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake for a further 15mins, or until dried out (Don't worry if it cracks).

Leave to cool while you make the filling.

Filling:
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 10 mins, or until soft.

Meanwhile, put the orange juice and milk substitute in a pan and heat gently.

Mix the cornflour, custard powder, sugar and a little water to form a smooth paste.

Add to the warmed liquid, mixing well all the time.

Continue to heat, mixing constantly, until boiled and thick.

Remove the softened gelatine from the water and stir into the hot orange custard until dissolved.

Add the zest and 'cream' (and orange flower water, if using) and mix well.

Pour into the pie crust and leave to set (I left mine in the fridge overnight).

Sauce:

Bring the 'cream' and syrup to a boil (I used a microwave).

Stir in the chocolate until dissolved and well combined.

Drizzle some onto the top of the tart and serve the rest warmed in a jug to pour over.

Lemon and White Chocolate Cookies

I'll be the first to admit I have a biscuit habit. My children have also inherited the biscuit gene… I don't have a favourite and I'm always on the lookout for something new. This gave a fresh, tangy change to the usual dark chocolate cookie.

 

For anyone not yet familiar with Mortimer Chocolate Company, check out their website here. The perfect chocolate for baking and they even do a milk and soya free white chocolate version! 

80g Dairy and Soya Free Spread (e.g. Pure Sunflower/Vitalite)

80g Caster Sugar

Zest of an Unwaxed Lemon (or well washed clementine)*

3tbsp/45mls Juice from the Lemon (or Clementine)

50g Mortimer's White Couverture Powder (chocolate)

140g Wheat Free Self Raising Flour

*I'd run out of lemons when we did a second 'test' batch, this flavour was lovely too!

Whisk the spread and sugar until pale.

Add the zest and slowly whisk in the juice until well combined.

Whisk in the white 'chocolate' powder.

Whisk or fold in the flour.

Put tablespoon size balls (these were made using a cookie scoop) onto a tray lined with greased proof paper.

Bake for 15 minutes at 180ºC.

Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.

For flatter biscuits, flatten the balls with the back of a wet spoon before baking and reduce time to 12 minutes.

     

Crumpets

Pre-school have now banned nuts, so the only bread Mini Monster will eat as a sandwich (from Iced Gem Bakes) is no longer an option. I wouldn't mind, I'm pretty tolerant of allergies, but 1. the child with nut allergies doesn't stay for lunch, and 2. they didn't ban milk and eggs last year when they had a child with anaphylaxis to those… 

Being a working mum, I need things I can prep in advance, shove in the freezer, and get out in the morning. Waffles always go down well with some sliced meat and salad/veg so needed another stand alone 'bread' option. Big brother loves crumpets and it's always nice to do a similar free from option.

I think this made about 8 or 9, but it was a while ago so I can't remember.

250g wheat free bread flour

2tsp dried yeast

475mls milk substitute/water (350mls cold milk substitute plus 125mls boiling water gives 'hand hot' temperature needed for yeast - make sure you stir it so there are no hot spots though)

2tsp sugar

(pinch of salt - optional)

1tsp baking powder

1tbsp oil

Put milk substitute and water in a bowl and mix well (any hot spots will kill the yeast).

Add the yeast and stir.

Leave to rest until the yeast begins to foam (will take 5-20mins depending on temperature of mix/room) - don't be tempted to keep stirring while you are waiting.

Put flour and sugar (and salt if using) in a bowl.

Beat in the yeast mixture, using a balloon whisk, until all lumps are gone.

Set aside until bubbles begin to appear on the surface.

Add the oil and baking powder and mix again.

Grease the inside of 3 rings (or however many fit in your pan) and place on a medium hot griddle (or frying pan).

Half fill the rings with the batter and cook gently until bubbles have risen to the surface and the tops are beginning to set.

Turn over and push through to brown the tops.

Repeat until all the mixture is used up.

Herby Oatcakes

For Wendy.

I made these for the family Christmas hampers I did this year (along with ginger fudge, marshmallows, gingerbread, caramelised clementines and sloe gin...). The recipe was adapted from one in Tesco Food Magazine and, as well as being delicious, they were very easy to make. They'd also be great popped in to a packed lunch with some leftover cooked meat, humus, fish, ham, etc and some chopped veg (am I allowed to admit having them with cheese…?).

225g Oats

60g Oat Flour (or other wheat free or plain flour)

60mls Olive Oil

180mls Hot water

1tsp Caster Sugar

1/2tsp Salt (optional)

1-2tsp finely chopped dried herbs* 

*I used a mixture of sage and rosemary from the garden, and a little crushed black pepper and mustard seeds, but you can use whatever you like, or omit it altogether to make plain ones.

Put dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Add olive oil and hot water and mix together with a knife.

It will be sticky at this stage, but leave it to rest for a couple of minutes and the excess water will be absorbed.

Knead well and roll out to about 5mm thick (roll over cling film to stop it sticking).

Cut into 7cm rounds.

Bake at 190ºC for 25 minutes, turn over and bake for another 10minutes to dry out underneath.

Banana Flapjack

Yet again I have over ripe bananas left in the fruit bowl. Thought I'd google a recipe for banana flapjacks, then at least they can be used in packed lunch treat this week. I found a lovely recipe using peanut butter and apple too, but alas, the kids go to nut free school, so that was a no go (I do have a jar of FreeNut Butter from Eskal, but I can't guarantee I didn't contaminate it with peanut or almond nut butter when I was finishing the dregs of some jars for cookies a few weeks ago!). Pinched this from Nigella though.

The problem I have making flapjacks is that the mix always looks too wet, so I add extra oats and then it's more like granola when it comes out of the oven. I tried really hard not to this time, I did add an extra 20g, but it was still much wetter than I would normally do. I even got round to weighing out the 'cups' as I was doing it!

First go came out quite porridgy, put it back in the oven a couple of times to dry out, boys kept testing them, suddenly not much left…

Second go, reduced the sugar, increased the oats, cooked for longer, et voila, banana flapjack fingers ready for packed lunch:

100g Dairy and Soya Free Spread (works with 80g)

20g Soft Brown Sugar (or any other kind - or don't bother with it, I've stopped adding it)

100g Golden Syrup (works with 80g)

240g Rolled Oats 

1 Large (or 2 small) Mashed Ripe Banana (we quite like 1 banana and a grated apple)

Melt sugar, syrup and spread in a pan or microwave.

Add oats and banana and mix well.

Pour into a tin.

Smooth out with the back of a spoon.

Bake at 180ºC for 20 minutes.

Use a sharp knife to cut into 12 fingers or 18 squares.

Put back in oven at 160ºC for 15 minutes.

Leave to cool in tin. If you prefer them crispier, put them on a cooling rack and leave in the oven to dry out a bit longer.

Oaty Plum Gingerbread Slice

The post New Year tidy hit our house this week, which meant I rediscovered the 2014 Calendar from a BBC Good Food Magazine. What better than a nice warm spiced treat as a reward after taking down the Christmas tree? This was very popular and even warranted a thank you cuddle from Mini Monster. Didn't last very long though...

For Cake 

140g Dairy and Soya Free Spread

80g Dark Soft Brown Sugar

80g Golden Syrup

140g Wheat Free Plain Flour (or plain flour if don't need wheat free)

85g Rolled Oats (not Jumbo)

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1tsp Ground Ginger

2tsp Egg Replacer

100mls Milk Substitute

1 heaped tsp Grated Stem Ginger

250g Plums (6 small 2-3 big)

For Topping

25g Wheat Free Plain Flour

25g Rolled Oats (not Jumbo)

2 Heaped tsp Grated or Chopped Stem Ginger

Grease and line a 17x23cm cake tin (Small tray bake size).

Cut plums into 2cm cubes and set aside.

Melt sugar, syrup and dairy/soya free spread in a pan or microwave.

Add the milk substitute.

Put flour, baking powder, egg replacer, ginger and oats in a bowl and stir to combine.

Add the liquid and beat until smooth.

In another bowl, add the topping ingredients and 2 tbsp of the cake batter and mix so it looks like crumbled flapjack.

Pour cake batter into prepared tin.

Top with plums and sprinkle over topping.

Bake at 180ºC for 30 mins.

Cool in tin and cut into 12 squares.

Lovely warm (try topped with suitable custard, cream, ice cream or yogurt), or cold (great packed lunch treat).