The Loveliest Flat Place I know

I'm away at the moment - hence the lack of posts recently. Just now I'm at my father's house in Norfolk (the loveliest flat place I know). It is a wonderful place to be, warm and beautiful with woods for Fin to frolic in, gentle people to chat and wander with and the most amazing rambling house that my father has been tenderly restoring for the last twenty years and more. This place has heart and soul in spades, it grounds me in such a way that I can feel it soothing and healing my fragile etheric body and bringing it to rest back where it should be.

I'm not going to spend much time here today, I'll be back on Thursday with some delicious things to post. Before I went I made some cardamom and almond white chocolate and some moist and satisfying banana muffins. I'm perfecting my technique for nut milk and making some cracking soups. When we get back I plan to make a succulent garlicky beef burger cradled between two juicy grilled portobella mushrooms and accompanied by some sweet roast cherry tomatoes on the vine.....

Just now though, I'm going back to my family, to be cradled myself.

x x x

Something Pink (Go Ahead Honey its Gluten Free)

It's my birthday today and there will be cake. Even though I have a list as long as my arm of foods that have probably been sending me spinning every time I greedily chomped them, there are still a few left that can be coaxed into some tiny fragrant cakes to make a girl feel like she's still got treats.

This is not a post about cake though. it is my contribution for Go Ahead Honey Its Gluten Free, hosted this month by the lovely Linda at Make life sweeter. Yes, I know its a baking event, organised by me! But you know what I've been through recently and I know you'll give me a little room to move on this one. So I'm submitting some ice cream lollies that I'll bet most children would gobble up without a second thought.

I made these a few days ago when I had that gnawing feeling of lack from having taken out all the comforting stodge. I was at the grocers happily piling my basket with every kind of fruit and vegetable I could see and salivating a little as I pictured the soups and salads, the hot stewed apple and velvety smoothies to come. I popped some thick cream and yellow butter in the basket too, just in case anyone should be alarmed at the health of my shopping.

Whilst doing all this there was a little song chuntering along in the background of my thoughts. It went something like this; 'I want some cake, I want some cake, how am I gonna make it because there's nothing I can bake?'. Even though my basket was full of delicious produce I was excited about eating, I began to feel a little tearful and forlorn. I looked across the road at the artisan bakers shop with happy folk emerging, bread and cakes lovingly wrapped in crisp tissue and felt like crumpling with the weight of my challenges.

I took a moment to rally myself with some deep breaths and a mental slap on the cheek. All I needed was some pink ice cream. Just a little something treaty to look forward to. Something a little girl would love, my little girl with her nose pressed up at the cake shop window, something to soothe her a little. I had all the ingredients I needed already and the ice-cream bowl was nestled in the freezer aching to chill and churn up something creamy and cold.

I hastened home with a lighter heart and the wind behind me, a new song tripping around like an excited three year old, 'pink ice cream, pink ice cream, with vanilla and roses and honey and egg yolks, PINK ICE CREEEEEEM!'

You don't need to churn these ice lollies if you don't have an ice cream maker, they will just be a little denser, but still delicious.

Rose Pink Ice Cream Lollies

The rosewater in this delicate ice cream is hard to detect, but leave it out and the marshmallow roundness of the flavour will change.

360ml Double Cream
4 Large Egg Yolks
2 ½ oz Fruit Sugar (or enough honey to sweeten - about 4-5 heaped teaspoons)
300g Live Sheep's Yoghurt (or greek style yoghurt)
1 tsp Bourbon Vanilla Extract
6 tsp Rose water
a couple of slices of peeled raw beetroot

Put the egg yolks in a large bowl with the fruit sugar or honey and whiz with an electric whisk until they are pale and thick. You can do this by hand, but it will take a little longer.

Heat the cream to just below boiling point (steam will start to rise) and whisk it into the egg yolks in a thin stream. Wash out the pan and return the custard to a low heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon when you lift it out. Pour into a bowl and chill until cold.

When its cold grate the beetroot and stir it into the custard and leave to infuse for a few minutes. Strain out the bits through a sieve and admire the pinkness.

Into the chilled custard stir the vanilla, rose water, and yoghurt. Taste to check it is sweet enough – a really tart yoghurt might need more sugar/honey, but it shouldn't be a really sweet ice cream. You might want to add another teaspoon of vanilla too depending on the strength of your vanilla extract.

Pour into an ice cream maker and churn till frozen. Then scoop it into lolly molds or shot glasses that you then poke a wooden lolly stick into and pop in the freezer for a few hours till solid. You can buy lolly sticks in craft shops. If you aren't churning it then just pour into the molds and freeze until a nice thick skin has formed on the top of the ice cream, then poke the stick in and continue to freeze until solid - this way the stick will stay upright.

To unmold them just run hot water around the outside and pull them out. Voila!

The Slow Dawning of a Terrible Truth

Somewhere around the time of my last post, a little voice started piping up every time I ate something baked. I wasn't sure what it was trying to tell me, so faint was the chirping. Anyway, I didn't want to hear it and that was that.

I was growing less and less comfortable with the refined nature of food, especially gluten free offerings - so much starch and sugar. Even the gluten free items for sale in the health food shop were mostly comprised of potato starch, tapioca and white rice - horribly high GI and nutritionally devoid. So I did everything I could to wean us all off the sweet things we constantly craved to comfort and fill our tender bellies. As I baked and concocted, I was lovingly recording all these successes and failures for a baking book, a healthy gluten free baking book - it was going to be great! I knew so much about the alternative grains that contained no gluten and were brimming with nutrition and flavour. There was nothing else on the market like my book and I was so excited. I just loved to be in the steamy kitchen measuring and mixing, offering up my efforts to the magical alchemy of the oven.

Still, instead of rising each day full of life and hope, I was getting sicker. The joi de vie I should have felt was paper thin. My skin was so dry it peeled off my cheeks in sheets and numerous checks for head lice revealed that my itchy head was not caused by bugs. My bloated stomach ached and cramped and seemed to grow more sensitive daily, to everything I ate - gluten free or not. I was either visiting the toilet all day or wishing I could go. I kept getting colds and stomach bugs and anything else that floated in on the ether. Anxious, tearful, lacking in energy, and constantly craving for something sweet or carb laden - it was all wrong and I just didn't understand why. Why me? Here was I, a homeopath! I felt like a complete fraud. Physician, heal thyself.

I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong. Everything I baked sprang from a desire to make something full of goodness; bread rolls made with freshly ground sunflower seed meal and malty teff flour; some dark and moist chocolate and date fairy cakes for an Easter show, not a grain of refined sugar came near them and yet they were light, rich, and the kids cookie monstered them in seconds. I was even experimenting with raw chocolate and mesquite, creating bars of chocolate that were as deeply flavoured as a fine wine. I knew this stuff was great, but every time I ate it, I felt just awful.

One night I lay awake again, restlessly thoughtful in the deep quiet of the house. Listening to the slow in and out breaths of my sleeping family, that voice in my head started to sound as clear as a bell. It felt overwhelming, as these things do in the middle of the night. Tears streamed out of my unblinking eyes as I tried to put the pieces of this tricky puzzle together. Mourning the loss of all that work, that knowledge about grains, my chance to write a fantastic book that would change celiac's lives, my raison d'etre. I didn't like what that voice telling me one bit, but clarity felt like such a relief.

My nocturnal conclusion was that I had developed leaky gut syndrome somehow. Maybe it was the result of four stressful years swimming with our heads just above water, maybe it was damage I did some years ago when I lived entirely on coffee, cigarettes and biscotti during a period of intense stress? It could have been caused by candida, or parasites, or maybe it was just always there and this increase in baking activity had bought it to a head? All I really knew for sure was that I needed to cut out everything I wasn't digesting and allow my system to calm down long enough for it to start healing itself and stop letting proteins into my bloodstream to wreak havoc with an immune system on high alert for intruders.

You may have heard of the Specific Carbohydrate diet? I had read about it a while ago and dismissed it as one of those crazy fads for people who don't know how to eat properly. I'm no fan of the Atkins Diet and thought that low carb plans were unhealthy because they restricted a lot of the vegetables that are essential for good nutrition. But I did remember something about undigested carbohydrates causing leaky gut syndrome, so I swallowed my preconceptions and bought the book - Breaking the Vicious Cycle, by Elaine Gottschall. I read the book from cover to cover and this time, although I balked at the terms (some foods are illegal and others are legal!), it made sense when I applied it to myself - it was the carbs that were causing the problem. I prepared to clear out the cupboards and start again.

So this is it, the beginning of a new path for now. Of course I'm still gong to cook, I'm still going to bake - in fact I made some muffins this morning with a very ripe banana and some nut meal. The pages may change a little, but you are welcome to hang in here with me and see what turns up on the journey. I'm creative, I won't let restrictions hold me back from making food that is full of colour, life and flavour - it just won't be full of carbohydrates anymore.

As a gesture of respect and appreciation for all the support you have given me this far on my journey I would like to offer a gluten free flour lottery to one lucky UK resident: the contents of my lovingly curated flour collection boxed up and posted to one lucky recipient who can use them freely to bake some fantastic stuff. In the box will be: Sorghum flour, dark and light teff, arrowroot, tapioca starch, sweet potato flour, millet flour, various bean flours, rice flour, polenta and probably a few other bits that I don't remember! All you need to do is leave a comment saying that you would like the flour and I will pick a name out of a hat at the end of March and send you the flour. Don't put your address or email up - I'll contact you and we can sort it out that way. I know it will go to a good home!

Wish me luck! I'll be back soon with my new bag. I already feel a tiny bit better just knowing that you are there ready to cheer me on when I need it. Somehow that title up at the top of the page seems strangely prescient don't you think? Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried.....

Naomi x x x

Sugar Free Petit Pots de Chocolat

I was beaten by a recipe today. Something I was trying to convert to gluten free, dairy free, soy free, sugar free status. A daring baking attempt no less. Well - not to give any secrets away, because the daring bakers keep the recipe secret until the moment when we all post in unison, this recipe was just not going to work out.

I shed a single hot tear of frustration and threw my apron on the floor. For a moment I felt overwhelmed by my limitations and angry for the way fate had fallen against me, heavy as a sand bag dragging me down.

But these feelings don't last long with me. I don't want to eat those fluffy white bagels or that slice of meringue smothered angel cake. I really don't! I want to eat the food that sings loudly about life and love, of health and flavour. Food that reminds me how recently it was in the ground or ripening on a tree. Food that doesn't moan about the lack of gluten, creamy things that have never seen a cow and sweetness that comes not from a sugar cane, refined to a sort of purity in which nothing can live.

I went straight to the cupboard and got down my new babies; raw unsweetened cacao butter and raw unsweetened cacao liquor. When all else fails and you feel really frustrated at having baked all day with nothing to show for it, make some chocolate pots. These take about ten minutes tops to make and a few hours of chilling in the fridge later, you can be sinking your tiny spoon into something decadent, comforting and pleasingly grown-up all at the same time.

I used the raw stuff, but if you can only get really dark chocolate then use 85g of that in place of the cacao butter and liquor - at least 85% cocoa solids though. Add a little dribble of bourbon vanilla extract if you like.

Petit Pots de Chocolate
(makes 5 little espresso cups)

60g raw cacao liquor
15g raw cacao butter
125ml double cream (or coconut milk for dairy free)
50ml coconut milk
2 dessertspoons agave syrup
2 egg yolks (add the whites to an omelete)

Put the cream, coconut milk and agave into a little saucepan and heat gently until just below boiling point (steaming and a few bubbles rising - too hot for your finger).

Chop the cacao butter and liquor as finely as possible, or grate coarsely. Of the heat, stir into the cream and stir gently until it is smooth.

Plop the egg yolks in and beat or whisk immediately. The mixture will thicken as the heat cooks the egg yolks. Add vanilla if using and pour into little espresso cups or egg cups. Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight until set.

The Tale of a Spoonful of Tahini (and a date)

It was one of those suppers you throw together late when everyone is a little tired and narky, the cupboards depressingly bare and only a few limp vegetables languishing in the fridge. See, I can hardly remember what we ate, I think it was omelet and maybe baked beans? Hmm, maybe, not memorable though.

We did have some dark, purple sprouting broccoli and it took pride of place on the plate, eclipsing all other elements of the meal and rendering them just background, padding. The tip of the broccoli was a deep dark green, bitter and soft. The stems were tough, but once the tip had been nibbled off the skin peeled back to reveal sweet, soft flesh. Lending the eating of the broccoli a meditative air.

However, Finley was not in a meditative mood and expressed his dislike of the bitter broccoli in no uncertain terms. Declaring that if he ate it he would probably die or be sick, or more likely indulge in a hissy fit. Oh Finley, we were all so tired and my resistance was low. I just wanted to clear the plates and slide gently into the evening. If there had been a carrot in the fridge I would have peeled it willingly. I'm no Victorian parent and I understand that there are times when we just don't fancy something.

Just then a thought sprang up. Fin needed to see one of us eat something we didn't like, to inspire him to eat the broccoli. It had to be a bet though; Fin is only six and six year olds just ain't that noble. A challenge that would reassure Fin that one of us had undergone a ritual humiliation at the hands of a nasty foodstuff. The only problem being that, other than the foods I am intolerant to, there is nothing in our kitchen, however esoteric, that I don't mind eating.

Now you may remember that there are a few foods that Nick considers unholy; dates remind him of a moth chrysalis, molasses is just too dark and bitter, carob he considers an insult to chocolate and tahini is something he will only consume well diluted in hummus. Yes, dear readers, I guess you could call him a little faddy about foods that I consumed in great quantities as a child growing up with the hairy ones in the commune. Date and carob slice with sweet tahini sauce anyone? Yum!

'Finley', I announced with an air of authority, 'will you eat your broccoli if Nick will eat a date and a spoonful of tahini?'

A wicked smile spread slowly across Fin's face as he perceived the possibilities involved in watching his father consume those items. His eyes glittered with cruelty as he started to cram the broccoli into his mouth, all of it at once, chewing and laughing with glee. A hard gulp later, he rose from the table to fetch a teaspoon.

He handed Nick the date and proceeded to scoop up the largest amount of tahini the spoon would hold; thrust it towards Nick with a triumphant look and resumed his position across the table, to watch the ensuing carnage.

Nick popped in the date and started to chew. As he chewed, a look of surprise came over him and he declared the date to be quite nice, toffeeish even. 'Aha!' we said together, 'we told you dates were nice!'. Then in went the tahini and it was also pronounced not nearly as bad as he remembered.

We cleared away the plates joyfully, feeling like everyone had learnt a little something here. Fin felt pleasantly powerful and we felt proud of ourselves for having played our way out of a potential mine field. Must get some carob in stock for next time I need to help Fin eat his greens......

Dark Coconut Pitta Breads (Gluten Free)

This morning I dropped Fin at school and cycled back home against a hard wind, watching cars effortlessly pass as I struggled treacle tyred, up the hill back home. At the top of the hill I saw a bank of dark cloud drifting towards town and had just locked up and set the kettle on the hob when a drench of rain poured out of the sky, hitting the kitchen window like a handful of gravel. I had no patients to see and the shopping I had intended to do, well that could just wait. This was baking weather.

I went to the freezer and got out my new baby, coconut flour. I had been planning to try a coconut pitta with some dark treacly teff and because I knew I was going to be in the house, I thought I would double rise this dough, allowing the yeast to develop a richer flavour. This seems to work best with fresh yeast - fast acting yeast tends to create too much of a fermented gassy flavour if you double rise it with banana in the mix - I guess it's the fruit sugars?

The result was delicious! Not that pretty, as the dough had a rough texture to it, but the crust was chewy and crisp around the edges and the crumb was large and moist with little flecks of coconut apparent when the pitta was split. Teff has a slightly sourdough flavour to it when you mix it with yeast and here, the pudding flavours of coconut and banana are moderated by the depth and slight sourness of teff. If you can't find teff, try amaranth flour (rajagro flour in Indian food shops) which has a similar darkness to it.

These would make a fantastic banana pocket or a PB&J treat mid afternoon or you could stuff them full of leaves and pop a couple of fresh falafels and a nice dollop of tahini sauce inside. I like mine toasted, split and spread with butter and cashew nut butter (I know both are not necessary, but they are good!). I wonder how you will enjoy yours?

Dark Coconut Pitta Breads (makes 8)

1 small ripe fairtrade banana (3oz)
2tsp fresh yeast
150ml warm water (or milk)
4oz coconut flour
4oz dark teff
2oz tapioca flour
2oz millet flour
2tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp sea salt
1 large free range egg
50ml olive oil

If your flours are cold, or straight out of the freezer, turn on the oven for 10 minutes, then turn it off and put the weighed flours into it in a mixing bowl.

While the flours are warming mash the banana and mix it with the luke warm water and fresh yeast. Put into a warm place for 15 minutes to froth up.

When the flours are nice and warm add the xanthan gum and salt and whisk to combine all the flours together. Measure out 6oz of this mix and put it into another mixing bowl (warm it first by pouring in some boiling water and then tipping it out again) Whisk in the yeast mixture and egg until smooth and set aside in a warm place for an hour to rise.

After about an hour, but not much longer than that; beat the rest of the dry ingredients into the yeast mix, with the olive oil. Leave the dough for ten minutes in a warm place to firm up while the flours absorb liquid while you grease some baking trays.

Flour your work surface well. Pinch off large egg sized lumps of dough and roll them around in the flour to coat before rolling flat with a rolling pin. Make sure there is enough flour underneath so they don't stick; maybe turn over once whilst rolling to prevent sticking too. Slide your hand in under one side of the pitta and ease your free hand under the other side. Carry the pitta gently to your greased tray and lay it down like a sleeping baby. Repeat with the rest of the mixture and cover your trays lightly with a cloth or some cling film before putting them up to rise in a warm place for about an hour.

Preheat the oven about 20 minutes before the hour is up and place a shallow ovenproof tray of water in the bottom.

When the oven is up to temperature, sprinkle the pittas with water and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden and hopefully puffed up. Don't worry if they don't puff - you will still be able to split them easily. Repeat the process with any pittas that didn't fit in the oven first time. Cool on a rack and freeze any that you don't eat that day - defrost by grilling straight from frozen.

Stuffing A Grape - And Other Things That Make Nick Roll His Eyes

Well, today was officially simply gluten free day when I got to prowl my way through Carol's gluten free blog and pull out some morsels to try. You see, I adopted Carol through the 'adopt a gluten free blogger' scheme for motherless celiacs who wish to be gathered up and comforted by another blogger in this little old world of gluten free blogging.

I love Carol's enthusaism, she just gets on and does stuff you know? As you read her witty and informative posts you can sense the smile playing about the corners of her mouth and the crinkle of an eye smiling with pleasure.

Her recipes are so full of flavour, spiced mexican chocolate cake,tomato soup spiked with tequila(arriva! arriva!)andgreen pozole, all sang to me off the page.

However, I have had some week this week and although I had wanted to attempt the mocha macaroons, sugar is most definately off the agenda at the moment, so no, not those. I was going to try the pozole, but realised I didn't have some of the ingredients and so I settled on Spanish mushroom tapas and red grapes stuffed with goat cheese. The tapas I chose because I love, love, love Spanish food and have been wanting to try some grilled polenta; the cheese stuffed grapes - well I was intrigued, but maybe I did it to irritate Nick, who rolled his eye and said, 'who has time to stuff a grape?'. Well I guess I do, although I think mine look a little less finished than Carol's.....

I'm not going to give you recipes as you can find them on Carol's blog. The only changes I made were with the tapas which I made the polenta for myself as I've not really seen the pre-cooked kind. I also managed to forget parsley at the green grocers... I used smoked Spanish pimenton in the mushrooms and they were really delicious.

Go check out Carol's blog and see what you would like to make yourself.

Homage to Carol Kicinski - Aubergine Crostini

Carol of Simply Gluten free is my adoptee for this month and I had been planning to make something from her blog and write about it over the next weekend. However, today I pulled a shiny black aubergine out of the fridge and felt inspired to slice, grill and dress it up with some, tomato, home made pesto and goats cheese in homage to a similar recipe on Carol's blog.

I call it an homage, because although she was the muse, Carol lives in sunny California, while I am languishing in Dorset and wondering whether it is too soon to think about retiring my thickest winter coat for a slightly more spring-like garment. So, where Carol gives a light and summery raw onion and tomato salsa; I give you, home made pesto, tomato ragout and chevre cheese, grilled until rich and bubbling; for a rather more cold weather version to cosset and keep out the chill.

These little aubergine crostini still have the summer flavour of basil and that hopeful green of early spring. But if you live somewhere where the tomatoes are good and flavourful, the onions sweet and mild; then visit Carol for her bite of summer and think of us less fortunate souls, waiting for the clouds to part.

I give a rough recipe to feed two as a starter.



1 aubergine

sea salt

olive oil


Slice the aubergine into 1 cm thick discs and very lightly sprinkle both sides with salt. Leave them to drain for 30 minutes on kitchen paper. Then press the discs between two new sheets of paper to dry and absorb the salt, drizzle with olive oil and grill until bronzed and cooked through.

While the aubergine is salting, get on with the ragout

1 can of chopped plum tomatoes

1 onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 bay leaf

sprig of fresh thyme

stick of celery

black pepper

Chop the onion and celery finely and sweat in a pan until translucent, add finely chopped garlic and cook for a minute. Add the can of tomatoes, bay, thyme and some black pepper, place a tight fitting lid on the pan, bring up to a simmer and reduce the heat low. Cook covered, stirring occasionally until nearly all the water has absorbed and the sauce is sweet. Cook uncovered for a few minutes if it is too watery.

Pesto

Large handful of fresh basil

handful of pine nuts

couple of desert spoons of grated Parmesan

1 clove of garlic

olive oil

lemon juice

Whiz everything except olive oil and lemon juice in a blender. Add a good slug of olive oil and the good squeeze of lemon juice. Whiz again. Taste and add whichever you think it needs, salt, lemon juice or more oil - or all of them!

Spread the grilled aubergine slices with some pesto, a spoonful of ragout and top with a small piece of goat’s cheese. Grill (on a piece of tin foil) until the cheese and pesto are bubbling. Eat with handfuls of baby spinach leaves.

Thanks Carol!

Chocolate Coconut Tartelettes (Gluten Free)

I had been thinking about coconut and chocolate (picture Homer Simpson drooling with his face on the table and a thought bubble with said ingredients hovering over his head). Actually, I had a taste memory of a carob and coconut bar that we used to make at the commune that was delicious, despite the presence of scary-but-good-for-you carob. There was something about the chew of coconut and the depth of carob that made it both satisfying and decadent.

Now I'm not about to start bringing carob into the house, mostly because I love chocolate so much, but also for fear that my beloved Nick; who has already allowed dates and molasses shelf space, would find cause to site irreconcilable differences in the divorce courts if carob were to complete the trilogy of ingredients he runs from with his hands over his eyes.

It was as my ruminations were turning towards biscuits and crusts involving coconut that I got a comment from Annina of Ann's Food and visited her site to find a lovely post on coconut and chocolate tarts; as though a divine intervention had bought her straight to me with inspiration. She had also found the recipe on Marita Says and both looked just delicious. There was something of the bounty bar about these tarts, that combination of moist sweet coconut and dark chocolate, but turned on its head because the crisp coconut shell gave way to a soft dark chocolate ganache, rather than the reverse.

I didn't use their recipe, as I wanted to make something using coconut flour (not desiccated coconut) and agave syrup in place of refined sugar. However, this recipe is entirely inspired by them both. The results were really delicious; the crust is chewy, not that sweet and provides the light back ground for a very rich smooth ganache. I only filled a few of them with ganache, putting the rest in the freezer unfilled to pull out and spoon some cream and fruit into when I need a quick but deceptively fancy dessert at short notice.

Quantities are small, so double if you want more than 8 and double the ganache recipe if you want to fill them all. Use either metric or imperial measurements I have given, don't mix them.

Chocolate Coconut Tartelettes (makes 8)

Coconut Crust

2oz (60g) Ground Almonds

3oz (85g) Coconut Flour (or grind desiccated coconut till fine)

1oz (30g) Tapioca Flour

1 Large Egg White

1/3 cup (80ml) Agave Syrup

Few drops of lemon juice

Ganache Filling (fills four or five tarts)

1 1/2oz (45g) 70% Dark Fairtrade Chocolate

1/2 cup (125ml) Double (heavy) Cream

1 tbs (15ml) Agave Syrup

Preheat the oven to 165C fan assisted or 180C without. Generously butter 8 holes of a muffin tin and half fill the remaining spaces with water.

Measure all the ingredients into a bowl and beat together until a very sticky dough forms. Spoon it evenly into the 8 muffin tin holes that you buttered and press the mixture up the sides with your fingers to form little tart cases. Any thin bits, just squidge some of the mixture over to ensure you have evenish coverage. Bake them for about 8 minutes until the top edges are starting to turn golden brown. Leave in the tray for a few minutes once out of the oven and then gently remove to a cooling rack. When cold, either fill with ganache or fruit and cream, or freeze and then pack into a box when frozen.

To make the ganache simply chop the chocolate and heat the cream and agave syrup in a small pan until just below boiling point - steaming but no bubbles. Off the heat, add the chocolate and leave for a couple of minutes to melt, then stir until smooth and pour into the coconut cases. If you would like something more like a whipped truffle that you can pipe into the cases, just allow the ganache to cool and then beat with a hand held mixer until lighter in colour and buttercream consistency (don't over whip) before piping into the cases.

Announcing March, 'Go Ahead Honey, Its Gluten Free!'

Hey, all you gluten free bakers, bloggers and dabblers! Come on in and get your spring thinking cap on, because March's theme for,'Go Ahead Honey, Its Gluten Free!' is Birthday Baking for Children and it's hosted by Linda of Make Life Sweeter.

Now, you don't have to bake a big fancy birthday cake for this event - maybe you want to make pizza or garlic bread, ice-cream (inherantly gluten free!) or simply smear something (anything) in chocolate - always a winner with the under tens, and me of course.

Make your dish by March 24th, link to Linda's blog and write about it in the most delicious and inspiring way you know how. Email Linda your submission, with a photo if possible.

We'd love to come along to your party and know that there is something safe and tasty to eat - promise not to squabble over who blows out the candles.....

Adopt A Gluten Free Blogger

Us gluten free bloggers like to support each other in any way we can, reaching out across the net to give a virtual hug and a crinkly eyed look of shared understanding. Well now we've gone as far as to start adopting each other, a delightful gesture of appreciation that made me flush with pleasure to hear I had been adopted by By The Bay of Gluten Free Bay for the month of March. I instantly made my way to Seamaiden's blog; Book of Yum, and adopted me my own gluten free blogger; the unfailingly witty and creative Carol of Simply Gluten Free. I shall be re-creating one of her recipes this week and blogging about the experience and a little bit about Carol along the way.

I can't wait to see how By The Bay gets on and what she makes.....

A Little Gluten Free Something For The Weekend Sir?

February is officially the month of chocolate in our house (ok, the other months are quite friendly with it too). I guess it's something about the cold nights and wet days, the lack of seasonal fruit and a general need for comfort, that leads me straight back to cocoa.

Well we were going to visit Nick's Spanish teacher for lunch and she requested that I bring dessert as her head was already exploding with the challenge of feeding us without gluten. I thought about damp lemon and almond sponges or juicy fruit crumbles and even flirted with a pear tart, but there calling from the depth of my consciousness was a luscious chocolate cake - the kind nobody ever says no to.

Now although Fin will eat the darkest chocolate available - offering a cogent critique on the relative merits of Green and Black's 70% to their 85% bar - most kids are not as amenable to bitter, rich darkness. Hell even Finley was floored by Booja Booja! To make this cake an offering for less advanced chocolate connoisseurs, I thought I would tone down the darkness, lighten it up with some orange zest and smooth on a creamy ganache.

I had left it too late as usual, so we drove to lunch with a still warm cake balancing on its glass cake stand, held nervously on my lap along the bumpy track to the Spanish teacher's cottage. OOh! Cake! was the greeting we got as Fin and Jonah sized each other up for a minute and then ran off to dangle a slinky from a top floor window and terrorize the kittens. Lunch was long and leisurely, the children ate like gypsies on some abandoned furniture in the garden. Finally Fin's sixth sense bought him noiseless as a ninja to the table with Jonah following in his wake like a bisto kid.

The cake was moist and light, deeply chocolaty with a warm back note of oranges. The Spanish teacher was astonished that a cake such as this could be made without gluten, Fin and Jonah ate two slices each and the rest of us just wished for a second slice. When we left, the remains of the cake were gladly accepted, although Fin had to be reassured that I had recorded the recipe and would be able to recreate it again, soon.

'What should I call this cake?' I mused generally on the way home, 'maybe weekend cake?'
'Weekend cake?' laughed Nick incredulously; 'you make cake every weekend, you can't call it that!'

I suddenly remembered having a luscious chocolate cake at a friend's when I was a child. I asked her mum about the recipe and she told me it was always a winner - she hadn't ever had anyone turn it down. 'I call it Yes Cake', she said with a twinkle, 'because everybody always says yes to a piece'.

So Yes Cake it was; a gentle slice of positive affirmation, a shared yes, a chocolate embrace. A cake that says yes to smarties and candles or agrees to some Cointreau in place of some of the juice, a cake that wouldn't mind if you wanted to add some cinnamon or introduce it to some caramelised oranges. A gentle, friendly chocolate cake to say yes to......



Yes Cake (gluten free 8-10 slices)

2 oz dark fairtrade chocolate (use milk if you want a lighter flavour)
6 oz butter
3 medium free range eggs
4 oz fruit sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs date syrup (or 1 tbs molasses & 1 tbs agave syrup)
3 tbs agave syrup (you could substitute golden syrup if you're not bothered about blood sugar)

4 oz ground almonds
2 oz cocoa
2 oz tapioca starch (or arrowroot/corn starch)
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
pinch of salt
zest and juice of an orange

Preheat oven to 150C fan assisted or 170C if not. Butter and line a deep sided 8" loose bottom or springform cake tin.

Melt butter and off the heat add the chocolate, broken into pieces - leave aside to melt and cool for a few minutes.

Into a mixing bowl sift the ground almonds, cocoa, tapioca starch and xanthan gum. Set aside.

Separate the eggs, setting the whites aside in a spotlessly clean bowl. Beat the yolks one at a time into the butter mixture. Then beat in the fruit sugar, vanilla, date syrup, agave syrup and bicarbonate of soda. Set aside while you beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and the cream of tartar until stiff, but not dry - soft peaks.

remove the zest from the orange and juice it. Stir butter mixture, orange zest and juice into the dry ingredients until just combined.

With a metal spoon fold one large spoonful of egg whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen it and then fold the rest in gently, just until no white is visible - trying to keep as much air in it as possible.

Scrape gently into the tin and level the surface. bake for 45-55 minutes, until a cake probe comes out cleanish, with crumbs rather than raw mixture on it. The top will crack, but that's just fine. Cool in the tin for a little while and then unmold and cool completely on a rack (unless you are rushing to lunch!)

Top with a creamy ganache or buttercream.

Chocolate Ganache

3 1/2 oz good dark fairtrade chocolate
4 1/2 fluid oz (130ml) double cream
1 tbs agave syrup (or golden syrup)

Chop the chocolate as finely as possible. Heat the cream and agave syrup gently until just under boiling - when it starts to steam but no bubbles are visible. off the heat, add the chocolate to the pan and leave for a minute to melt before stirring gently until smooth. Leave until luke warm and spoon onto the cake. It can be cooled completely and then whipped and piped or spread onto the cake, for something less shiny and more like a truffly buttercream in appearance.