Ginger biscuits and lots of rain.

To say I got wet today is an understatement.  I headed out to collect daughter number one from school with the sky looking grey and a bit threatening, so I put daughter number two in the buggy with the raincover, changed out of sandals into something sturdier and put on my raincoat.  By the time I had managed to get half way along the road the heavens had opened, rivers ran across the pavements, drains bubbled, water fell off roofs in great sheets, and I was soaked to the skin!

Then the hail and thunder and lightening started.....by that time I was laughing and splashing through the huge puddles like a mad woman, while the streets emptied and others huddled in doorways.

I got to the school gates dripping wet, collected my daughter and then headed to the pool for her swimming lesson.  A comedy ten minutes ensued while the little one tried to dry my trousers with a hairdryer.  I gave up and steamed gently through the rest of the lesson!

When we finally got home I changed, dispensed warm drinks and toast and then went into the kitchen looking for solace.  I found it in the shape of these biscuits which remind me of childhood and have been in my mum's recipe folder forever.  I've recently added the stem ginger to these and find it gives a lovely additional layer of flavour.

Ginger Fairlings

Feel free to use any gluten free flour for these as it works pretty well.  They are a little crumbly but you could add a little xanthan gum to help prevent that (about 1/2 tsp is enough).  If you use Dove's Farm it already has this added in the self raising flour anyway so don't add any.

Ginger Fairlings (dairy and egg free/vegan)

Ingredients

4oz (1/2 cup) Vegan Margarine or butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
3oz (1/3 cup) sugar
6oz (1 1/4 cups) self raising flour
1 tsp ground ginger
pinch of bicarbonate of soda
2 pieces of stem ginger

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C
2. Melt the margarine and syrup in a large saucepan over a medium heat.
3. Remove from the heat and add the sugar.  Stir well with a bamboo spoon.
4. Chop the stem ginger finely with a utility knife on a cutting board and add to the pan.
5. Add in the flour, ground ginger and bicarbonate of soda and stir well to mix everything to a dough.
6. Using the small scoop, scoop out balls and roll them lightly in your hands to make them smooth.  Place on a flat stone such as a medium round stone or medium bar pan.
7. I like to squash them down with a fork to make the pattern on the top but you could just give them a squish with the palm of your hand.
8. Cook for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. (Mine usually take precisely 12 mins!)
9. Leave to cool for a few minutes on the stone before removing to a cooling rack with a mini-serving spatula to cool.
10. Enjoy with a well deserved cuppa!

A nice cuppa and some vegan ginger fairlings  - ahhhh!

Caramel icing on chocolate cupcakes.....

I had a serious chocolate craving this evening and decided I was going to make some of the wonderful cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes take over the World.  Once they were baked I couldn't work out what kind of icing I wanted.  Hubby voted for mint, which was a good idea but there was no mint extract in the house so that was out.  Instead, I went flipping through my cookbooks for inspiration, and found....Caramel Buttercream Icing!  This got me so excited - its gorgeous and easily made dairy free too.

Caramel Buttercream Icing on Chocolate Cupcakes

So here it is; Caramel Buttercream Icing from The Primrose Bakery Book which is supposed to be for a triple layer cake (it would be amazing on my triple layer cake too) but I reduced the amount and used it to ice my cupcakes.  I've halved the recipe here for you to use on the cupcakes, so if you want to use it on a layer cake, just double it.

Caramel Buttercream Icing

Ingredients

45g butter (I used Pure Spread, vegetable)
4 1/2 tbsp semi-skimmed milk (I used soya milk)
165g light, soft brown sugar
180g icing sugar, sifted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


Method

1. Combine the butter, milk and brown sugar in a heavy based saucepan and put on a high heat.
 
2.  Stir constantly with a bamboo spoon till melted and boiling. 

3. Boil for one minute, then remove from the heat and stir in half the icing sugar.

4. Allow the mixture to cool then add the rest of the icing sugar and vanilla extract.  Beat until smooth.

5.  Ice the cakes using a small spreader.  If the icing thickens too much as you are spreading it on the cakes, simply warm a little and beat again.

Apparently this keeps in the fridge for up to a week, so put any leftovers into a prep bowl and put a lid on it. (Not in our fridge - I'd have it eaten direct from the bowl well before the week was up.)

To use just warm a little and beat till smooth.