chocolate – Cut The Mustard

Light Chocolate Cake- serves 12

March 13, 2015Leave a comment

February and March is birthday season in our family, which means the obligatory birthday cake or 2, or in the case of my eldest daughter, 4! – Well she was 16!
On this occasion, some of the cakes didn’t need to be gluten free, but one did, and that is where my gluten free cake ‘bible’, ‘Red Velvet & Chocolate Heartache’ by Harry Eastwood came in again. It is one of those special books, that has dog-eared pages, splattered with cake mix. The really interesting thing about the recipes is that they all include vegetables in their ingredients.
Handy if you’ve got a glut of anything or just vegetables about to ‘turn’. The other thing is that the vegetables are interchangeable, for example sweet potato instead of butternut squash (lets face it, they’re easier to peel!).
Chocolate cake is a popular choice and this one always goes down well. Continue reading “Light Chocolate Cake- serves 12” →

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies- makes about 30

February 20, 2014Leave a comment

I made these delicious cookies, by adapting a recipe from Food for Living, by Rachel Allen, so that they were gluten free. They lasted long enough to take the photos- and then they were gone!

100g crunchy peanut butter
100g butter, softened
125g light muscovado sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
125g plain chocolate, chopped
175g gluten free plain flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 180c
Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
In a large bowl beat the peanut butter, softened butter, sugar and vanilla extract until soft and creamy.
Gradually beat in the egg and then add the chocolate.
Stir in the flour, xanthan gum bicarbonate of soda and salt until well mixed.
Using wet hands roll the mixture into balls about the size of a walnut, and then place them spaced well apart on a baking tray.
Bake for 12-16 minutes until lightly golden.
Carefully place the cookies on a wire rack to cool.

Peanut Butter Brownies- makes 16 squares

February 3, 2014Leave a comment

These are very delicious and so easy to make. They can we made with wheat flour, in which case, leave out the xanthan gum.

225g crunchy Peanut Butter
200g dark chocolate- broken into pieces
280g soft light brown sugar
3 medium eggs, at room temperature
100g gluten free self-raising flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum

Preheat oven to 160C fan/180C/ gas 4
Line a square baking tin with baking parchment.
Set aside 50g each of the peanut butter and chocolate and gently melt the remaining peanut butter, chocolate and the sugar in a pan, stirring occasionally. This can also be done very gently in the microwave (approx. 30 second bursts).
Continue until the sugar has melted.
Take off the heat and beat in the eggs one at a time.
Stir in the flour and xanthan gum, and then pour into the tin.
Melt reserved peanut butter in the microwave for 45 seconds or in a pan until runny.
Drizzle over the brownie.
Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until it has formed a crust but the middle appears slightly undercooked.
Melt the remaining chocolate, and drizzle over the Brownie. Cool in the tin, before cutting into squares.