Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Lavender Marbled Meringues

These luscious small meringues are so easy to make and so very much tastier than the bland ones you can buy. The lovely lavender flavour echoes the soft lilac coloured swirls of the meringues. What's more, if you want to keep them a while these beauties can be wrapped in cling film and frozen in freezer bags until you're ready to use them. I plan on defrosting a batch of these for the upcoming virtual Mad Tea Party on 28th July, I really can't wait.

Recipe
My own

Makes approx 8 smallish meringues


3 large eggs, whites only, room temperature
150g caster sugar
1 tablespoon of lavender florets, which have been chopped small or ground in a pestle and mortar
food paste colouring - I used SugarFlair paste in Grape Violet


1. Turn the oven to 150C (130C fan), and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Beat the egg whites in a large bowl for a couple of minutes until stiff. You'll need to use an electic whisk or mixer to beat the whites hard enough.

3. Gradually add the sugar, a  tablespoon at a time, beating between each addition. Add the lavender. Beat until well combined and glossy and smooth. The mixture should be stiff enough that it stands up in stiff peaks.

4. Add a pin prick or 2 of colour paste, gently and briefly swirling it into the meringue with a metal spoon or skewer.

5. Spoon the meringue in smallish circles onto the parchment paper. Leave enough room between them to allow the meringues to expand, I fitted 4 or 5 on each baking tray. If you want to turn them into nests just make a well in the centre of each.

6. As soon as the meringues go in the oven turn the heat down to 120C (100C fan) and bake for 2 hours.

7. When the time is up, turn off the oven and leave the meringues in it to cool for half an hour or so. After this time you can place them on a wire rack if they need to cool further.

8. Once cool, serve with whipped cream and perhaps some berries.

These meringues were idly baked while listening to Charlie Mingus play Mingus Ah Um

Winter Orange & Cinnamon Salad

This lovely refreshing aromatic dessert is simplicity itself. A morrocan style fruit salad, it is something to savour and enjoy while feeling smug about how healthy we've become. I'm going to make the most of this feeling while I can - as February rears its head, tis not too long now before January's healthy eating resolutions fade far away....

Recipe

Serves 4

3 oranges

1 handful demerara sugar

3 drops orange blossom water

handful of fine gratings cinnamon stick

1. Peel and slice the oranges laterally into thin slices.

2. Place one layer of the orange slices on a plate, and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon gratings.

3. Add a couple of drops of orange blossom water.

4. Layer the rest of the orange slices ontop, and sprinkle with more sugar, cinnamon, and another drop of orange blossom water.

This winter salad was made while listening to the Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man album 'Out Of Season'

Guilt Free: Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free Chocolate Mousse

Let me tell you, I have found this most wonderful recipe by Rachel de Thample for the healthiest EVER chocolate mousse, and I can't wait to share it! All you need is some cocoa powder, a few avocados, a little honey, spice and water.  The days of fattening egg and cream chocolate mousse are officially over. This tastes sweetly fantastic and even counts as 1 of your 5 a day.

Recipe
By Rachel de Thample, taken from her brilliant cookery book Less Meat More Veg. Everyone interested in eating healthily and enviromentally wisely should have this book. Buy the book on Amazon here.

Serves 2

1 and a half ripe avocados
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons honey
1-2 tablespoons cold water
half a pinch of cinnamon


1. Scoop the avocado flesh out and place it in a food processor or food mixer.

2. Throw in the honey, cocoa powder, water and cinnamon. Blend until combined. Personally I didn't bother to make mine very smooth as I don't have a blender and prefer the rustic look.

3. When smooth enough, taste the mixture and add more cocoa, water and/or honey if you think necessary.

4. Spoon the mousse into 2 glasses or cups, and then chill for an hour.

5. When ready to eat, serve with blueberries or other berries.

This mousse was idly made while listening to The Food Programme on BBC Radio 4.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Christmas Fruit Cake: Murrambidgee Cake

I have a confession to make: I hate Christmas cake. Can't stand the stuff. The dense claggy crumb, the overly sweet marzipan and royal icing, it's just never done it for me. Not to mention all that hoopla with baking the cake a month in advance, soaking the fruit and rolling the marzipan and cutting pristine holly leaves out of ready to roll icing. It's a cake to be baked by a perfectionist baker, not an idle one.

So instead I've been searching my cookery books to find the perfect festive fruit cake, one that's quick and easy to make and scrumptious and subtle to taste. This wonderful recipe by Sophie Grigson is ideal, a family favourite created by her mother the great food writer Jane Grigson, which tastes gorgeous whether made on Christmas Eve or a week before. It's surprisingly healthy, consisting more of fruit and nut than cake. I've turned it gluten free and made a few other adaptations to use up our store cupboard glace fruit and nuts, but this is still very much the Murrambidgee cake of the Grigson family fame.

Recipe
Adapted from the recipe in Sophie Grigson's book The Country Kitchen. Buy the book on Amazon here

Serves 10-12

150g walnut halves
50g whole almonds
50g whole hazelnuts
50g pistachio nuts, shelled
50g pine nuts
250g stoned halved dates, or 100g sultanas & 150g dried peach halves
175g glace cherries
100g seedless raisins
100g chopped candied peel
finely grated zest of 1 lemon or lime
100g gluten free flour mix (Dove's Farm or M&S)
half a teaspoon baking powder
half a teaspoon salt
150g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
half a tablespoon thin honey
brandy or rum

1. Turn the oven to 150C (130C fan ovens). Grease and line a round 20cm baking tin.

2. Roast the hazels, almonds and pistachios for 10 minutes in the oven, then leave to cool before rubbing the skins off the hazels.

3. Chop the nuts and dates or peaches in half.

4. In a large bowl, mix all the nuts, candied peel, lemon zest and fruit together. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt on top.

5. In a second bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla extract together.


6. Add the beaten egg and vanilla, and stir until well combined.

7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.

8. Bake in the oven for 1 and a half or 2 hours. You'll know it's done when a skewer comes out clean.

9. When baked, leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes before running a knife inside the edges to lever the cake carefully out onto a wire rack.

10. Place the cake on a clean cloth, before piercing a few holes with the skewer into the top of the cake, and pouring the alcohol in.

for the optional topping:

apricot jam
2 teaspoons lemon juice
60ml water
walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachio nuts
glace cherries
glace ginger
candied peel
marron glaces
anything else you fancy

11. Heat the apricot jam, lemon juice and water in a saucepan over a medium heat. Boil for 10-15 minutes, before forcing through a sieve or wire strainer. Brush the liquid glaze over the top and side of the cake.

12. Place the topping fruit and nuts over the top of the cake, press down firmly before brushing with more glaze. Leave to cool and set.


13. Carefully wrap the cake in greaseproof paper, and then in cling film or kitchen foil. Store in an airtight cake tin.

This cake was idly baked while listening to Arcade Fire's album The Suburbs.

Gluten Free, Nut Free: Salted Caramel Meringue Kisses

These are the first meringues I've ever made, and quite frankly they are a doddle. If you've a working electric whisk then half the battle is won. Dinky, sweet and tasty, they make great presents to give for Christmas. I've frozen them, unfilled, to defrost on Christmas Eve and then spread with salted caramel or lemon curd. The great thing about these meringues for anyone with allergies is that they're naturally flour and nut free. If you'd like to make them dairy free too then you could replace the salted caramel with raspberry jam.

Adapted from the meringue recipe by Joanne Wheatley on the BBC Food Website. See her recipe here

Makes about 40 mini meringues, so 20 filled kisses


3 egg whites, room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon juice
150g caster sugar

1. Turn the oven low, to 110C (90C fan ovens).

2. Line baking sheets or trays with non stick baking paper (you may need to do this in shifts if you only have one baking sheet or tray). Lightly brush the baking paper with vegetable oil.

3. Whisk the egg whites and lemon juice in a large bowl until they form stiff peaks.

4. Next add one third of the caster sugar, and whisk again until smooth and glossy.

5. Fold in the rest of the sugar.

6. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a small fluted or plain round nozzle, and pipe small rounds onto the baking paper, allowing space between each one.

7. Bake in the oven for approx 2 hours, then take out and leave to cool totally on a wire rack.

8. Store in an airtight container until needed, or wrap carefully in clingfilm and freeze in freezer bags, removing from the freezer 2 hours before filling and serving.


For the kiss filling: 
shop bought jar of salted caramel

9. To serve, spread the flat side of half the meringues with about a teaspoon of salted caramel, then sandwich together. If you prefer you could spread them with lemon curd and whipped cream instead.

10. To give these meringue kisses as presents, present them in mini cupcake cases, in pretty boxes or bags.

These meringue kisses were idly baked to the soundtrack of the film Broken Flowers.

Dairy Free Summer Berry Bundt Cake

This bundt cake is a great cake to bake when you need to feed lots of people, and looks thoroughly celebratory filled with a riot of bright summer berries. It's called a bundt cake because it's baked in a special ring shaped tin, which is a sort of decorative mould with fluted sides. This dairy free recipe can also be made gluten free if you simply swop the plain flour for a gluten free one, and use gluten free baking powder instead of the cream of tartar. The lightness of this lovely recipe is mirrored by the delicate marbling of yellow and white in its crumb, and the sweet taste allows the tangy berries to take centre stage. A beautiful cake to make in the last sunny days before summer's end.

Recipe

Serves 12

Adapted from Sophie Grigson's great seasonal cookery book, Country Kitchen. Buy the book on Amazon here.

9 large egg whites

4 large egg yolks

1 tsp cream of tartar

150g plain flour

250g caster sugar

2 pinches salt

2 tsps vanilla extract

3 tsps finely grated lemon zest

1. Turn the oven 190C (170C fan ovens), and grease and flour a 25cm bunt tin or ring mould. Grigson says to leave it ungreased and unfloured, but trust me, after all the faff, prodding and elbow grease it took for me to prise this baked cake out of the bundt tin, you will want to prep it to avoid it sticking as it did with me! Perhaps a springform ring mould would be an easier baking option.

2. Put out 4 large mixing bowls. Sift the flour at least four times, using 2 of those bowls. In the third bowl, whisk the 9 egg whites and the cream of tartar and salt together until they form soft peaks.

3. Add most of the sugar to the egg white mixture, leaving aside just 2 tablespoons of sugar for later. Pour in the vanilla extract and whisk until the mixture is thick and shiny.

4. Fold in a third of the sifted flour to the egg whites, gently mixing it in until combined, then add the second part of it, mixing well, then the third part, until all the flour is stirred in.

5. In the fourth large bowl, beat the egg yolks and the reserved 2 tablespoond of sugar until yellow and thickened.

6. To the thickened egg yolk, stir in a third of the egg white mixture, and the lemon zest. 

7. Using a large spoon, place dollops of the egg white mixture into the prepared bundt tin, alternating it with dollops of the egg yolk mixture, so that the two nestle side by side and ontop of eachother in the tin.

8. Once all the egg white and the egg yolk mixtures are in the tin, place it in the oven for approx 35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

9. When the cake is done, gently turn the tin upside down and leave it to cool in the tin on a wire rack. Once totally cool, use a spatula or a fork to gently prise the cake away from the tin sides. This is where I had difficulty, hence the scuff marks you can see at the bottom of my cake where it stuck to the tin.

for the icing:

approx 250g icing sugar

2 tbsps lemon juice

1 or 2 punnets of mixed berries: raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries, all washed

10. For the icing, just mix the lemon juice into the icing sugar and beat with a fork until well combined and the consistency you want.

11. Pour the icing over the cake, and then fill the hole in the centre of the cake with berries, layering them also over the top if you like. Dust the berries with a little icing sugar and let the icing dry for half an hour before serving.

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of Karen Elson's album The Ghost Who Walks

Gluten Free Rose & Lemon cupcakes

This simple recipe is my own creation, and I'm very pleased with it. The rose and lemon evoke turkish delight in delicate cupcake form. I should say that cupcakes satisfy the girly, romantic side of me, there's something so wonderfully, enjoyably frivolous about them. They're very quick to make and lots of fun to eat, just watch out for the sugar rush as you take your first mouthful of the cream cheese icing! These are both gluten free and nut free. If you'd like to go a step further and make them dairy free as well, then replace the butter in the cake batter with a dairy free margarine, and leave out the cream cheese icing, opting for a simple drizzle made from icing sugar and a few tablespoons of rose water or lemon juice instead.

Recipe
Makes 12 medium muffin-sized cupcakes

125g gluten free self raising flour (Dove's Farm recommended)
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder (Barkart recommended)
125g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
125g caster sugar
finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
1 tablespoon rose water

1. Turn the oven to 180 (160 fan) and place large cupcake cases in a 12 muffin baking tray. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl, until smooth and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs one at a time and beat in. Then pour in the lemon zest and tablespoon of rose water, stirring well.

3. Next sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture, stirring gently until the batter is combined.

4. Spoon the batter into each cupcake case, until they are approximately two-thirds full (you want to leave enough room for the cakes to rise).

5. Place in the oven for 20 minutes. You'll know the cakes are done if a skewer comes out clean.

6. Take out of the oven and leave for a few minutes, before moving the cupcakes in their cases to a wire rack or plate to cool.

for the icing:

1 or 2 teaspoons of rose water

100g butter

100g cream cheese

410g icing sugar

food colouring tint pastes (I used Dusky Pink and Grape Violet, both by Sugarflair)

7. Combine the butter and cream cheese. Stir in the teaspoon or 2 of rose water and mix together. 

8. Sift half the icing sugar into the mixture, and stir thoroughly, before adding the other half and continuing to stir until it is a thick paste. Take care stirring the icing sugar, as this is a bit messy, I tend to wear an apron as I've been known to accidentally drench myself in it when stirring too vigorously!

9. When the icing is combined, the only thing left to do is to colour it. If you're making more than 1 colour icing as I was, then divide the icing into 2 bowls and colour each accordingly. With colour tint pastes you only need to add a pin prick amount before stirring it in to give the icing a beautiful pastel colour.

10. Get a pint glass (or 2 if you're icing 2 different colours, in which case just follow the same method for each individual colour). Place a piping bag with a nozzle inside the glass, so that the nozzle is on the bottom of the glass. Fold the piping bag edges over the glass rim. Spoon the paste into the piping bag, then carefully take the bag out of the glass and twist the end of the bag so that the icing is well contained.

11. Pipe the icing over the cupcakes and add any sprinkles or sugar flowers you fancy to decorate. To pipe a rose, you start piping in the middle of the cupcake and work outwards. To pipe a classic swirl, you start piping at the outer edge of the cupcake and work inwards.

These cupcakes were idly baked to the sounds of David Bowie's Singles Collection, the Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust years.

The Idle Cheat's Blackcurrant Coulis Icecream

Ok, so this shouldn't strictly be included in my idle baking journal as there's neither cake nor oven in sight, but the weather is beautiful, the living is (relatively) easy, and the first of our blackcurrants have been picked from the fruit patch. We only started the fruit and herb patches this January, so you can imagine my excitement this week when it came to picking our first ever produce. I decided there was nothing for it but to make my first ice cream as well, featuring the blackcurrants as the stars of the show.

But I hadn't counted on how quickly they would age. Even with refrigeration, the blackcurrants only lasted 3 days before they were about to turn bad. So, without the right ingredients in the house to make the icecream I had planned, I turned to plan B: a blackcurrant coulis. That way I could cook up the berries quickly and then integrate the sauce into the shop bought icecream that was already in the freezer. Voila the idle cheat's Blackcurrant Coulis Icecream. A lot less work than actually making icecream, and delicious to boot.

Recipe

Serves 4

Inspired by Nigel Slater's recipe at BBC Food Website

1 bowl of blackcurrants or another berry fruit

3 tbsps water

2 tbsps caster sugar

450ml or 500ml tub of vanilla icecream (or a dairy free alternative, such as Worthenshaw's Freedom dessert range)

small carton of single cream to serve, plus extra blackcurrants, both optional

1. Take the icecream out of the freezer and leave it in its tub, with a plate underneath, to start melting.

2. To make the coulis, first wash the blackcurrants and pull the stems off them.

3. In a small saucepan over a high heat, bring the blackcurrants, sugar and water to the boil.  Then simmer for 5 minutes. Once the blackcurrants are bursting their juices, bring the pan to a boil for another 2 minutes.

4. Next take the saucepan off the heat and leave it to cool.

5. When the icecream has almost melted, spoon it carefully into a large mixing bowl.

6. Pour two thirds of the blackcurrant coulis into the icecream, and stir them together, which will turn the mixture a lovely marbled pink colour.

7.  Spoon the pink coulis icecream back into the icecream tub. Then pour the remainder of the coulis on top of the mixture, before stirring it in gently.

8. Put the lid back on the icecream tub and place back into the freezer. Use within 1 month.

9. Serve with extra blackcurrants, and some single cream if you're that way inclined.

If you'd like an even quicker dessert, just make the coulis, leave it to cool, and then drizzle it over the shop bought icecream scoops when you come to serve them, perhaps with some fresh berries and madeleines.

This coulis icecream was idly made to the sounds of PJ Harvey's album Let England Shake

Harry Eastwood's Dairy & Gluten Free Chocolate Heartache Cake

This gorgeous dairy and gluten-free recipe was devised by the very talented Harry Eastwood, who specialises in inventing cakes from unassuming vegetables. It makes a cake that I believe tastes just as good when you're happy as when you're sad. And if you're sad when you make it you'll be happy by the time you taste it. Who'd have thought something so sweet could be made from aubergine!

Recipe
Adapted from Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache by Harry Eastwood
Buy the book on Amazon
Serves 8-10

2 whole aubergines (weighing roughly 400g)
300g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids essential, broken into squares) I used Green & Blacks cooking chocolate - or use a dairy free chocolate
50g good quality cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting (Green & Blacks again)
60g ground almonds
3 medium or large free-range eggs
200g clear honey
2tsp baking powder (gluten free if necessary)
quarter tsp salt
1 tbsp good brandy
a handful of sweet local strawberries

1. Turn the oven to 180C (or 160C if using a fan oven like me). Line a 23cm x 7cm loose bottomed tin with baking parchment, grease and flour it so that the cake won't stick.

2. Randomly puncture the aubergines' skins erratically with a skewer, then place them in a bowl covered with cling film. Microwave on high for 8 minutes until the vegetables are cooked. Get rid of any water left over. Place the aubergines in a bowl.
Alternatively, if you don't have a microwave, peel the aubergines with a potato peeler or knife, and cut them into small cubes and cook them with a tablespoon or so of water. That's what I did and it worked well. Once they're soft tip any leftover water out.

3. Then puree the aubergines in the blender. Once the warm aubergine is soft and smooth, add the chocolate, which will mingle and melt slowly. Set aside, covered once again in cling film, until all the chocolate has melted.
Or if like me you don't have a blender then mash the cooked aubergine with a potato masher until smooth. Add the chocolate chunks to the warm aubergine and stir/mash until all has melted.

4. Next stir all the other ingredients in a bowl until they're well mixed. Pour the melted chocolate and aubergine into the bowl with all the other ingredients.

5. Pour the mixture into the greased and lined tin and place it in the bottom of the oven for 30 minutes.
An idle note: for some reason when I made it the cake cooked so slowly it took more like 50 minutes to bake, and that was with the cake on the middle shelf - I suggest you check it after 30 minutes and then every 5 minutes or so.

6. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for at least a quarter of an hour before very carefully placing it out on a wire rack. It may be a bit cracked, accept that as part of it's charm. Sieving cocoa powder over the top once the cake is cooled hides all the cracks and adds to the dark dense chocolate flavour, and some fresh strawberries on top contrast with the bitter grownup taste of the cake delightfully. This cake keeps best in the fridge, and is a delicious torte when eaten cold with or without cream. Enjoy!

 

This cake was idly baked to the sounds of Kate Bush's album The Red Shoes