Gluten Free White Chocolate Mudcake

I have posted my recipe for a regular White Chocolate Mudcake many times. 

I made it as the wedding cake at Saraid's wedding;

As the Grooms' cake at Julie's wedding;

And at many more baby showers than I remembered to post about too!

I wanted to have one of the cakes be gluten free at Madeleine's bunny Birthday party and so adapted my standard white chocolate mudcake recipe to use as the little cakes to accompany the main bunny rabbit butter cake. 

Carrot Cake Shots (Gluten Free)

There is something entirely charming about dessert in a shot glass isn't there.

I started doing it a few years ago, and can't seem to stop!

For Madeleine's Birthday Party a few weekends ago, there was a theme of Bunnies, and so I had lots of different "bunny-inspired" treats for the afternoon.

And well, what's more "bunny" than carrot cake?!

And what is the very best part of a carrot cake?

The cream cheese icing of course.

So, why not up the ratio of icing to cake with these adorable and delicious Carrot Cake Shots!

Macadamia Nut Brittle

A few weekends ago I attended a bloggers event for "Bake for Bumps". 

It was such a wonderful afternoon and I was so proud to be involved in such a worthy cause. 

AND well, there was some fairly spectacular baking produced!!!

Emma put together a little goodie bag for everyone as a little thank you for coming, with some traveller-inspired beauty products.

I wanted to contribute a little something to the goodie bags and so made some Macadamia Nut Brittle for everyone to chew/crunch on for the trip home. 

I haven't had Macadamia Nut Brittle in years, I had completely forgotten how amazing it is!!!

Raspberry & Lime Financiers (GF)

Ever since becoming gluten intolerant a year ago, Financiers have been my go-to cake. 

Made with almond meal they are dense and sweet, and I make mine with polenta for a little extra crunch! 

12 months ago I posted a recipe for Blueberry & Lavender Financiers, and today I wanted to share a new flavour combination, Raspberry and Lime. 

My friend Meeche is a coeliac and Saraidy makes her the Blueberry Financiers every time she wants to sneak some sweet baby cuddles, and so I thought I'd share a new flavour for you girls to enjoy!!

The ingredients and method are largely the same, but to refresh you...

How to Creme Caramel with Donna Hay

I hope you are having a great start to the Easter weekend! 

We are away for Easter this year but I thought I'd keep sharing some sweet treats that are perfect for Easter entertaining. 

Did you see yesterday's Maple Bacon Fudge? 

Today's sweet treat is Creme Caramel which I attempted for the first time last weekend when we had Uncle Luke over for dinner and thought this Australian recipe was so simple and so delicious that it is definitely worthy of an Easter dessert.

Donna Hay is an Australian cooking guru.

Gordon Ramsay Caramelised Figs : An Anniversary Treat

I've been trying so hard not to write another Gordon Ramsay recipe, but I just can't help it, these are too great to not share!

I love meals that look impressive, but that are actually really easy to make. It was my Husband and my anniversary this week and even though we didn't exchange presents, I did want to make him a special dessert. And as "fruit" is the traditional symbol of a 4th Anniversary, I knew that I wanted to make a fruity dessert. 

When I saw Gordon baking some figs on his Ultimate Cookery Course program I was intrigued. I knew I didn't like figs, but these looked delicious. To say that I don't like figs, is well, a stretch, considering I had never even had one. I am a texture person, and figs challenged my perspective on texture!! Its weird but true. But the seeds, the thick skin, the flesh, it was just all too texturally diverse!!

But I was curious enough with this recipe to give figs a go. When they look like this, its kind of hard to keep nattering on about texture!

Gordon Ramsay caramelised figs Gordon Ramsay caramelised figs Gordon Ramsay caramelised figs

So I made some caramel, baked for 10 minutes and then THOROUGHLY enjoyed my first (and second) fig! 

It is so easy to do, and looks so striking on the Rosemary stick. 

If you like figs (or if you too are scared of them) then you will love them baked, caramelised and on a rosemary skewer!

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 rosemary sprigs
12 fresh figs
4 tbsp icing sugar
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 tbsp caster sugar
30g butter, cubed

Method:

1. Make the caramel - - melt the sugar in a pan until it starts to colour, approximately 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and mix in the butter, 2 tablespoons for balsamic vinegar and a dash of water.

2. Remove most of the leaves from the rosemary, all but the end sprigs. Cut the woody end of the rosemary into a sharp point, and thread through the tops of each fig.

3. Sprinkle the icing sugar across the figs and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of balsamic.

4. Place the threaded figs in a baking dish and coat with the caramel.

5. Bake in a moderate oven for 10-15 minutes.

6. Serve immediately with ricotta cheese (or maple cream if you want a real sweet hit) and Gordon sprinkled some almonds over them too, which would be lovely, but I didn't have any on hand. 

There is the slightest hint of rosemary within the figs, which is perfectly balanced by the caramel. The balsamic vinegar in the caramel seems odd at first, but it totally worked. 

I paired the figs with a  maple cream, but it really should go with a dollop of ricotta, as the cream was too sweet. So that's what I will change for next time! 

The flesh is soft and sweet, the seeds crunchy, and the caramel is just divine. My caramel was a little chewy because I was taking photos before serving, but it didn't compromise the flavour, I was licking the bowl clean! 

I'm so happy that I finally gave figs a go, I can't wait to make them again, but this time with the ricotta! Am I the only one who has hesitated with figs??



Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

Favourite Baked Apples: Its All Good Recipe

Happy Tuesday! 

So my Tuesdays are a little new these days, its no longer primarily a #LoseDayTuesday in the sense of the Fast Diet, but is now unofficially #TrimTuesday. This is where I post about healthy recipes, fun workouts and the Fast Diet. I feel so much freerer (that's not a word!) with this format, and am excited to share more of the healthy food that I do actually cook! 

I often wonder if you are reading my blog and seeing indulgent desserts, lots of baking and lots of cheese and then read my LoseDayTuesday post and wonder how these kind of fit together! Its kind of true (a lot true) that I do the Fast Diet so that I can eat mostly what I want on the other 5 days, but what also is true is that I don't blog about the regular meals I make 80% of the time that ARE in good health, because, well they just aren't as much fun to write about!

In the spirit of #TrimTuesday and sharing some more simple and healthy delights, I wanted to share a recipe for Favourite Baked Apples from the It's All Good cookbook. It is a healthy and tasty dessert that is so simple it fits into the midweek dessert category!! (because all desserts need subcategorisation right?!). 

Favourite Baked Apples It's All Good Favourite Baked Apples Its All Good

I've made this one twice now, and used walnuts the first time, per the recipe, and pecans the second time. I have to say, I prefer the pecans! I just think that pecans and maple are soul mates. That's all.

Ingredients (for 6)

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 up chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

A pinch of fine sea salt

3 tablespoons maple syrup 

6 apples, cored

Method:

1. Combine the raisins, nuts, cinnamon, salt and maple syrup and mix well.

2. Place the apples in a baking dish and stuff each with equal amounts of the raisin/nut mixture. 

3. Bake in a moderate oven (180C/350F) for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of apple you are using. 

4. Spoon any of the juice in the baking dish over the apples and serve warm. 

I had mine alongside a spoon of ricotta, and served my Husband's with some forbidden ice-cream. Both looked good, and i'm sure not in Gwyneth's philosophy, but the apples did need a little dairy on the side if you ask me! 

PMI

Plus: Healthy, the maple/pecan/raisin/cinnamon mixture is so good you can eat it by the spoonful

Minus: Very apple-y (in that I would prefer the apple to nut ratio to be about 2:1 rather than 5:1

Interesting: I keep wanting to add things (like custard) that make it less healthy!!

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

Baked Ricotta Cheesecake with Caramel & Macadamia nuts (GF)

Baked Ricotta Cheesecakes, I've always knew that they existed out there, but never really wanted to stray away from my trusty New York Baked Cheesecake. But, in a bid to be a teeny bit of a healthier dessert option, I explored some cheesecake recipes until I found one that sounded divine. Lost are the health benefits when you add salted caramel sauce and caramelised macadamias, but hey, you can't win them all!!

I made this recipe on Friday when we had a good friend around for dinner and as my Husband said, I have to share this one straight away! It was so much lighter and less "tut tat" than a regular NY Baked. Tut tat is what I call the sensation of when the cheesecake sticks to the roof of your mouth, in case you were wondering!! 

I found this magnificent dessert on Yue's Handicrafts and its one for the books thats for sure. 

You could use any nut you like, but macadamias are by far my favourite nut and was one of the main reasons why I chose this recipe in the first place. There are a few steps involved in this cheesecake, and I plan to use the standard base recipe again and experiment with a citrus topping. 

I followed the recipe, all but for the base. I bought some gluten free cookies to use with melted butter to make the base, so that the entire dessert could be gluten free. I also ended up baking my cheesecake for an additional 15 minutes, for some reason it just seemed way under after 40 minutes. 

Here is the recipe, straight from Yue..

For the Crust160 g any dry/sweet biscuits
40 g unsalted butter, melted

Ricotta cheesecake filling400 g ricotta cheese
200 g cream cheese
120 g caster sugar
1/2 vanilla pod, split & seeded
4 eggs
75 g soured cream

Preparation
Preheat oven at 140C.
Line a parchment paper on the base & grease the side.
Whiz the biscuits into crumbs & mIx with butter, press into the prepared pan.

Method:
1. In large bowl, cream together the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, sugar & vanilla seeds.

2. Whisk in eggs, one at a time, followed by soured cream until smooth.

3. Pour into the prepared pan & bake for 40 min.

4. Turn off the heating, leave the cheesecake to cool inside the oven.

5. Remove from the oven & refrigerate for at least 2 h.

Butter caramel sauce160 g granulated sugar
65 g unsalted butter
100 ml whipping cream

1. In a saucepan, heat together the butter & sugar until amber brown.

2. Carefully add the whipping cream & stir until smooth.

3. Remove from heating & set aside for cooling.

Caramelised macadamia nuts200 g macadamia nuts
120 g granulated sugar

1. Roast the macadamia nuts at 140C for 15 min & line a tray with a parchment paper.

2. In a clean pan, heat sugar until it caramelises.

3. Add the nuts & mix gently until most nuts are coated in caramel,

4. Pour the nuts on the tray & leave to set.

5. Once set, chop roughly & use for decoration.

If you enjoy a cheesecake and are keen to try a slightly lighter version, give this one a try! Its a bit of a mess, but you'll enjoy cleaning it up!!!

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

Gluten Free Pear & Almond Cake (my version of Valentines Day!)

Happy Valentines Day to everyone out there who celebrates it! With my Birthday in February and our anniversary in March, we have more than enough Lovin' happening at this time of the year so are happy to sit this day out and leave Feb 14th to you!! 

Even though I don't officially celebrate the Feast of Saint Valentine on this one particular day each year, doesn't mean I that I don't express my love for my loves in my way, with food (and I don't miss out on all things heart-shaped either (glittery gold heart elbow pads and heart plasters)). 

I have always expressed love through food. It is how I care, comfort, celebrate and love.

It is kind of like a book of Maddie's (Hug Time, I've mentioned it before), in which the little cat tries to go around the whole world hugging everyone, and finishes with this...

"The world is so big...And yet so small, It's time that we embrace it all. That's something that we all can do. Start with the one who's closest to you"

And so I bake. And cook. And embrace the one's who are closest to me, by cooking and baking with all of my heart.

I wanted to share this recipe today because it is how I am loving on you for reading meg-made, commenting, emailing and supporting me. I express my appreciation and love with food, so this particular Valentines Day I share with you a new favourite and delicious sweet treat!

I have started really experimenting with my Gluten Free cakes lately, mostly using almond meal/flour as the base flour. The tried and tested Orange & Almond was always a winner, so next I tried a Carrot & Almond cake, and that too was a winner. So when I found a recipe for a GF Pear & Almond cake I knew I had to give that a try too. And it too, did not disappoint. 

The first clear sign that I was onto something good was the titled of the blog where I found it, Momma's Gotta Bake! I love it! The number of times I've said this to my husband in the past two years when I've been stressed out of my whits and needed to relax, "can you watch Maddie for a bit honey, Mama's gotta bake!!". It was where I went to when I needed my happy, quiet and therapeutic space. 

This recipe is directly from Mamma's Gotta Bake  the only change I made was that I only made half the recipe (big mistake that turned out to be!!). 

Ingredients

4 pears, any kind, 3 for batter 1 for topping

1 3/4 cups sugar plus additional 3 teaspoons

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 1/4 cups ground almond meal

8 large eggs, room temp

1 teaspoon, plus additional 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon neutral tasting oil (like canola or grape seed)

1/3 cup sliced almonds

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and place the rack in the center position. Spray a 10″ spring form pan with cooking spray. PAM original cooking spray is gluten free, however PAM Spray for Baking is not.  Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit on the bottom of the spring form pan.
2. For my cake, I used  Bartlett, Anjou and Bosc pears, but any firm ripe pear will work.  Peel and core the three pears and then roughly chop them. Place the chopped pears into a small saucepan and add the lemon juice and 3 teaspoons of sugar. Cook the pears over medium heat in the covered pan for 10 minutes. Let cool. When cooled, mash the pears with a fork into a coarse puree.
3. Place the almond meal and 1 3/4 cups sugar in the bowl of a large food processor, and give it 5-6 long pulses. (This makes a large quantity of batter, so you’ll need a large food processor, not the mini kind). Add the eggs one at a time, along with 1 teaspoon of vanilla and the pear puree. Pulse until all ingredients are incorporated. Alternately, if you don’t have a food processor, you can use an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Pour the batter into the spring form pan.
4. Next, peel and core the fourth pear and slice it into 1/4″ slices. In a medium skillet, heat the oil and the honey stirring until the mixture begins to bubble. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla. Add the pear slices and toss gently to coat.
5. Sprinkle the almonds over the top of the cake, and add the pear slices in a pinwheel shape. Spoon the remaining sauce in the pan over the top of the cake. Bake for 55-65 minutes until the cake begins to brown and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. As my cake was starting to brown too much, I placed some foil over the top for the last 10 minutes of baking. Keep in mind that all ovens are different so the baking time is an estimate. 

(Here's my little foil creation that I put around and on top of my cake to continue cooking the middle, without overcooking the outsides....)

  6. Let the cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes and then you can remove the sides. 

PMI

Plus = No GF floury taste, moist yet light, love the honey'd pear on top!

Minus = Only that I made 1/2 batch

Interesting = It's like an apple tea cake, but with pear!!

I wish you a happy Valentines Day today and hope you are embracing the one who's closest to you!

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!

Christmas: North vs South

It is nearly Christmas (today I have a case for stating the bleeding obvious it seems).

I am so excited for another Christmas in the North(ern hemisphere) but speaking to family this past week has had me feeling a little nostalgic about what Christmas was like back home in the South(ern hemisphere).

I was approached by a Travel Blog called Gogobot to add my thoughts about their recent article Warm vs White, and so rather than talk about the difference between a snowsuit and a swimsuit, I thought I would write about what I am most passionate about, food, and how it differs in the two climates!

The menu is vastly different for a Christmas in Australia versus a Christmas in England, and planning our 4th Christmas in the North(ern hemisphere) got me thinking about just how different it all is, but each with its charms!

Christmas in Australia

Growing up in Australia we would usually spend most Christmas's at my Gran's house in Byron Bay. It was hot, really hot (35C/95F). It was a very rare occasion that we would have a roast for Christmas day, because back in those days we didn't have air-conditioning and so the thought of putting the oven on was just not worth it!

So instead, whether it was in Byron Bay, Brisbane, Melbourne or wherever else we were that Christmas, we would always find the freshest seafood and buy a couple of kilo's of fresh prawns and we would sit and peel prawns and (when we were older) drink some cold beers and white wine.

If I were planning Christmas at home this year I would go for some fresh seafood without a doubt. It is the signature Australian Christmas feast and should be the focal point for a Christmas lunch!!! My mouth waters just looking at this photo! Mango season in Australia is just awesome! There's even  now a charity auction for the first tray of mangoes in Australia, which this September went for $68,500! Not sure I would (haha or could) pay that, but they are divine. 

Delicious Magazine Prawn & Mango Salad

The next item would be a ham, but not an oven baked, it would be barbecued of course. The glorious ham would then be used for the next few days on fresh white bread with hot chips at the beach, or to jazz up a salad.

Taste.com.au Sticky Orange Soy-Glased Ham

For dessert, there's so many great choices because so many desserts are served cold. But I found this frozen pudding that looked like so much fun! I love the idea of taking something traditional but reinventing it a little. 

Donna Hay Frozen Christmas Pudding 

I do love plum puddings, and even though it was hot, we always had one on Christmas Day growing up, but equally there was also always a pavlova too. A cute Christmas idea would be to make it into a wreath like so...

Cuisine Christmas Pavlova recipe

But a few months ago when I was home I experimented with a caramel pavlova, but it didn't quite work out, but I would be trying to perfect it because I just love the concept, so I would try out this recipe this Christmas.

From Taste.com.au

A few very Australian treats are also White Christmas (ironic no?)...

Exclusively Food White Christmas 

...and these Caramel Cookies made me gasp in disbelief that I had never thought to do this! You may have heard my rants about my love for Jersey Caramels and how much I miss them over in the UK (my Mum has been known to post me a pack costing three times in shipping than the value, but that would be the value to a regular person, to me they are priceless). Anyway, I'll be making these (gluten free) when my next delivery arrives!!

Donna Hay Caramel Cookies

Eggnog is multi-hemispherical, no matter where you are in the world there is always space for eggnog! I bloomin well love the stuff and just can't get enough. In Australia we would make it around lunch time to allow it plenty of time to chill completely before serving. Totally not necessary in the UK, it is actually quite lovely served warm, although I must say, it's still growing on me, I still prefer it with icicles floating amongst the nutmeg. 

Christmas in England

I can't believe this will be our 4th Christmas away from home! The first year was in Oxford, when we were lucky enough to have a very white Christmas living in the grounds of Magdalen College. All I wanted for Christmas was for it to be white, and as you can see, Santa was very good to me!

The next year was a very understated Christmas in London, just the two of us, me pregnant and sick in bed with a migraine, so we didn't really take many photos!

Then last year we had Christmas in Charlotte, North Carolina and had a traditional "Southern" Christmas complete with grits, hush puppies and many flavours of sweet pies for dessert. 

This year we are having my brother and his family up from Jersey to London to spend the Christmas week with us. We haven't had a Christmas together in 5 years and I am beyond excited to see our four little kiddies playing together in their little Christmas outfits on Christmas morning (shhh secret outfits). 

Planning a British Christmas feast is kind of fun. There are no limitations! The hotter the better!! The only issue really is oven capacity, so we may have to space out the 4kg gammon (ham) and the 5kg turkey (turkey). 

It is hard to go past "The Best Turkey in the World" curtesy of Jamie Oliver. This recipe stuffs flavoured butter under the skin before roasting, which really sounds pretty heavenly doesn't it?

Jamie Oliver The Best Turkey in the World

And if you have a buttery-skinned-turkey, you kind of have to have goose fat potatoes on the side don't you think?

BBC Good Food Goose Fat Potatoes

I have been looking for a range of other sides that are warm and slightly more healthy, and of course everything will be gluten free! I have found some yummy looking vegetables that just look so pretty!

Spring Vegetable Bundles

And for dessert this year, well, where to start?! My sister-in-law has found a mini Australian gluten free plum pudding for me, so I will be making a regular plum pudding for everyone else, from no other than Delia Smith.

Delia Smith Traditional Christmas Pudding

I know Plum Pudding isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoy mine with a generous helping of Brandy Butter and vanilla custard. Same goes for Mince Pies. They have to warm, dusted with icing sugar, and served with Brandy Butter and custard, or, ice cream.

Mince Pies made the cross-over to Australia, thank goodness, because I for one love them! My favourite memory though would have to be at our Oxfam Christmas Party in Oxford, when the Staff Health team put on a Christmas morning tea and served Mince Pies alongside syringes of brandy, for you to inject your own Mince Pie to your liking! Amazing! I make a batch or two each year but haven't attempted GF before, so will give this recipe a go this year.

Alex Stuart Gluten Free Fruit Mince Pies

I will also be making some gluten free gingerbread truffles. They are similar to regular rum balls, but instead of using a vanilla cookie to crumble, I will be using ginger stem cookies and rolling them in coconut. I'm really excited to try them, and will definitely post about them if they work out!

I wanted to make a cake as well, but given we will be having plum pudding, didn't want to make a traditional Christmas Fruit Cake as well. So I thought about a Gingerbread Cake. I think I might be a little too into my ginger this year, but I love the warmth of ginger and spices and so have found this recipe to make a gluten free cake based on these key flavours. 

A Girl Defloured Gingerbread Cake

I think that should be enough food for a few days for the four of us adults! I am so excited to be spending a few days huddled inside together playing games and cooking amazing food together. As much as I love Australia and will be missing our friends and family at this time, there is just something more Christmasy about a cold Christmas. It is what all the carols sing about (unless the "frightful" weather outside they are talking about is in fact 41 degrees celius with 97% humidity, it is possible) and it is what all snowy and white cards portray. 

If you have celebrated both a warm and white Christmas, which do you prefer? Do you prefer having your eggnog hot or cold?

Wherever you are going to be this Christmas, I hope you have a cracking menu planned to share with all of your loved ones (or as many as you happen to have in your hemisphere anyway!!).

Psst!! If you are looking for a little more meg-made, I'd LOVE for you to follow along!