free-from-bakes

[free-from-bakes]

Food recommendation I have been buying freefrom products to try and review. To let others know whether they are nice and worth buying or whether they are not worth the money because they aren’t as great as they look. This was a Genius brand steak pie. The filling of the pie is very rich in flavour and something I would associate with something homemade (or close to). You get a lot of meaty chunks that are cooked well and not chewy in the slightest. The gravy is in perfect proportion, with good consistency and was full of flavour. The only thing that lets it down is the top part of the pastry. The top was a firm piece of pastry, a little dry but it was alright eating it with the rest of the pie/dinner. The taste and texture wise the bottom of the pie was like any other pie I have tried in the past. Cooked well, slightly soft due to the centre of the pie. It was more fragile than normal pastry and was hard to get out of the metal tin it came it, and was easily split. Would buy again, but also tempted to try and make my own to try and improve it.

[free-from-bakes]

Restaurant review and recommendation. I had to find a place to go out to eat for a birthday meal, as it was my birthday recently. I am a lover of Italian food but obviously the past 6 months I haven't been able to enjoy it. So thought I wouldn't have much luck!!! Fortunately, after lots of searching and comparing gluten free and dairy free menu's, I decided to go to ask Italian. They offer a lot of gluten free choices and they also use vegan cheese, which is perfect for dairy free people. :) Very happy with the choices and that I finally got to enjoy a pizza! :) Would recommend Ask Italian to freefrom people looking for a nice meal. The only down side is that there aren't many options for dessert.

[free-from-bakes]

A great place to start: My FreeFrom Coconut Slices. (Dairy and gluten free). A new absolute favourite of mine, hits the spot if your fancying something sweet. Only down side it leaves you wanting more!

It probably wouldn’t have been my first choice in cake if I were given the choice a week or so ago, but it certainly would be now!

I was looking in the local supermarket at the free from range, just having a look at what cakes and biscuits were available that I am able to eat. I did come across a pack of coconut slices; which was a pack of five slices, each slice roughly being 2cm x 8cm in size. For the amount that was in the pack and the size of them I thought the price was too much, and thought it would be cheaper and more rewarding to make my own. So that’s exactly what I have done!! :)

I researched a few recipes before starting and combined a few to get the result I wanted.

This is the recipe I used:

Coconut slices

Serves: 15 slices approx. (Depends how generous your slices are!)

Prep: 15-25minutes

Oven temp: 180*C fan oven

Overall oven time: 40-45minutes

Equipment needed: Cake tin. ( I used a rectangle tin that was 11 inches (28cm) by 8 ¾ inches (22cm) approximately). Greaseproof paper Mixing bowl Scales Spoon Palette knife Knife

Ingredients:

BASE INGREDIENTS 250g Dairy free butter. (I used Pure Olive oil spread). 200g Caster sugar. 300g Self-raising gluten free flour. ( I used freee by doves farm free from flour, found this in Morrisons supermarket). 3-4 Tbsp desiccated coconut 2 Egg Yolks.

1/4 tsp and another 1/8tsp so just half full the 1/4 spoon of xantham gum

TOP INGREDIENTS 240g Caster sugar 2 whole eggs 200g Desiccated coconut

MIDDLE ½ - ¾ Jar of Strawberry Jam

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180C. 2. Line and grease your baking tray. ( I line it with one/ two whole pieces. One that goes from one long side to the other, leaving excess paper at both side to allow me to use it to lift the cake out once cooled. Then you can either do the same in the other direction or cut two smaller pieces out to cover the bare sides. Please see photo of cooked cake in tin to see what I mean). 3. In your mixing bowl, put your butter, sugar, flour, xantham gum and coconut, that is required for the base. Mix them together until they are combined completely. 4. Separate the egg yolks from the whites, then add the yolks to the mixture, and stir until its totally mixed in. 5. Pour into your lined tin, making sure you spread the mix evenly. 6. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until it goes slightly golden. 7. Once cooked, take out of the oven and allow to cool. (I left it the amount of time it took me to measure the top ingredients out and mixed them all together). 8. While waiting for the base to cool, combine the top ingredients together. Set aside. 9. Stir your jar of Jam with a spoon, so it’s not so coagulated (thick). This will make it easier to spread over the base. 10. With a teaspoon, evenly drop spoonfuls of Jam over the base. (So maybe do three rows of five teaspoons). Spread with a palette knife, and you should have a nice layer on the cake. (It’s okay to be able to see the cake through it, but we don’t want bare cake showing. And too much jam will spill out the sides and make the top possibly slide off). 11. Once the jam is on, spread the coconut top over the top evenly. I flattened the top down nice and smooth to give it a nice finish. (With the size tin I used it does fill it to the top but don’t worry it won’t rise anymore and it won’t go over the top). 12. Put in the over for approximately 25minutes, keeping an eye on it in the last five. It should be golden brown across the top. 13. Take out of oven, leave in tin and allow to cool completely. ( If you attempt to take it out whilst it is still hot it will break! Yes, I learnt the hard way the first time!) 14. Once cooled lift out using the grease proof paper or however you feel happiest. 15. Cut in three long lengths and 5 short columns to create your 15 slices. ( I am happy with this portion size but if you want to adjust this you are more than welcome).

You can now enjoy! Goes down well with a nice cup of tea :)

I have tried this with family and friends, most of them don’t have intolerances but they loved it just the same.

If you wanted to do it as a pudding, don’t allow the cake to cool, cut it into portions in the tin and serve hot with custard or ice cream. (You can get dairy free of both from a supermarket. I will post my preferences to both of these later in my blog).

One last thing; it is a fluffy cake and can sometimes be a bit crumbly so you might need a plate :)

[free-from-bakes]

Introduction ⭐️

Hi

I have never blogged before but I thought this would be a great opportunity to start!

I have been intolerant to dairy for years and have easily been able to manage this myself, knowing my limits and the repercussions. However, recently I have had to be more strict and cut it out completely including products that contain it. It took me a little while to adjust to this but I got used to it and I have actually started to prefer it.

But the past couple of weeks I have been told to be strict with cutting out gluten as well in my diet! Slightly harder than dairy and with the both it’s very hard to find things to eat as they are either dairy free or gluten free not always both.

I miss having a nice biscuit or cake and things that I used to eat. I have looked at the free from cakes in the shop but the price of a small pack of free from cakes are extortionate compared to the normal. So I thought I would start baking using free from products to create old favourites that I would really enjoy and so that I didn’t feel I was missing out. Firstly, it works out cheaper in the long run and secondly, home bakes cakes always taste better! A few of my bakes so far have turned out really well, I have even given them to non free from people and they have said it’s better than the usual!

So here I am starting a blog so that I can share my recipes for free from bakes, so that others can start to enjoy them too!

I will also blog any good free from products and any places that cater for free from people.

Let me know what you think, and I hope you enjoy! :)