Dairy Free Tablet

If you haven't come across tablet before its a Scottish speciality.  Every bake sale and coffee morning, and particularly church sales, requires at least one of the local star bakers to make a batch, or there is a riot from disappointed members of the public! Its a bit like fudge but without the squish factor.  You expect a good snap from a piece of tablet rather than the softness of fudge, and I suppose it tastes a bit like toffee but its not chewy.  Hmmm its proving more difficult than I thought to explain!

Anyway, tablet is usually made traditionally with condensed milk, but my granny's recipe just used normal cows milk.  So I've experimented with it and substituted in other non-dairy milks to see how it works.  Well, I couldn't quite believe how well it works! My milk of choice is soya but feel free to use whatever you prefer.

Although this recipe is always well received by children, I wouldn't recommend them helping in the kitchen with this one as the sugar reaches a rolling boil and can cause severe burns if it lands on skin. Please be careful!

Dairy Free Tablet

Ingredients

900 g sugar (I like golden granulated but thats just my preference)
370ml milk of your choice
1 tablespoon golden syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp dairy free spread (I use Pure Sunflower)

Method

1. Put the sugar, milk, syrup and vanilla extract in a large, heavy based pan.  I use my jam pan as the sugar really increases in volume as it boils and needs lots of space.

2. Melt everything together slowly and once boiling, reduce to a simmer for 25 minutes, stirring all the time to prevent sticking and burning.

3. Once the mix has boiled for 25 minutes it should be a golden brown caramel colour.  Remove a teaspoonful from the pan and place it on a cold plate.  In about 30 seconds it should be thick and sticky and form a set of ridges when pushed with a finger. If not, boil for another few minutes and try again.

The tablet on the right is underboiled, not caramel coloured enough and will not set, but remain a bit wet.

4.  Remove from the heat and add in the teaspoon of Pure spread.  Now beat it like mad with a bamboo spoon for about ten minutes until the mixture moves from a smooth caramel texture to a cloudy, slightly grainy texture.  It is then ready to pour into a medium bar pan, lined with greaseproof paper.
(I did try it with an electric mixer too, and that works much more quickly and without the arm strain but them I didn't feel like I'd earned the privilege of eating it!)

5.  Let the tablet set for at least 30 minutes before cutting up and enjoying. Wrap it in greaseproof paper if you're sending it off into the world to your local bake sale.

Alternative Easter Treats - Hot Cross Cookies (Egg Free, Dairy Free, Vegan and can be Gluten Free)

My blog has been getting a massive amount of hits in the past few weeks with people popping in to have a look at my Hot Cross Bun recipe which I posted two years ago.  I love it to bits but I reckoned it was time for a change this year.  So I've made Hot Cross Cookies instead!  I spotted a recipe for them in Good Housekeeping magazine, but it was completely unsuitable for my family, being full of eggs and butter, so I had a go at inventing my own based on the Good Housekeeping recipe and my favourite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, and they worked out pretty well...

To make these gluten free simply substitute in your favourite gluten free flour mix.  I tend to use Dove's Farm but have recently tried Bob's Red Mill and loved the texture.

Hot Cross Cookies (Egg Free, Dairy Free, Vegan and can be Gluten Free)

Makes 30 cookies when using the small scoop

Ingredients
2/3 cup Pure Spread
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 small jar baby applesauce (unsweetened) or 1/4 cup applesauce, mashed to remove lumps
1 3/4 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 heaped tsp mixed spice
1/2 cup sultanas
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup mixed peel

Icing
3 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsp water

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C

2. In a classic batter bowl, mix together the Pure Spread, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla and applesauce with a mix 'n' scraper till smooth. I use a Measure all Cup to measure all of these ingredients out.

3. In a stainless mixing bowl combine the flour with the bicarbonate of soda, salt and mixed spice, measured using an adjustable measuring spoon, and whisk together with a stainless whisk.

4. Add mixtures together and combine until creamy. Stir in the raisins, sultanas and peel until well mixed.

5. Using a small scoop drop the dough onto flat stoneware such as the medium round stone, medium bar pan or rectangular stone.  Flatten each cookie slightly with the heel of your hand or a spoon dipped in a little water to stop it sticking. Make sure you leave spreading space between each cookie as they do like a bit of extra room!

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cook a tiny bit longer if you like your cookies on the crispy rather than chewy side.

7. Leave to cool on the stone for a few minutes before removing with a large serving spatula to a stackable cooling rack.

8. Once cooled, ice a small cross one each biscuit using water icing in a squeezy bottle with a small plain nozzle from the decorator bottle set.

Pancake day crêpes (egg free, dairy free and vegan)

Vegan crêpes

I wrote a post a few years ago about my go to pancake recipe which is one of the most popular on my blog and has again had a lot of interest this year as we head for pancake day or Shrove Tuesday tomorrow.  The lovely Pippa Kendrick tried out my recipe last week and used gluten free flour - it worked a treat!  You can see her creations on her blog The Intolerant Gourmet here:  http://www.theintolerantgourmet.com/journal/2014/2/25/maple-syrup-pancakes-gluten-free-dairy-free-egg-free-vegan.html

This year I've been experimenting with the idea of crêpes.  They are even more simple then the other pancakes and contain just four ingredients!

Vegan Crêpes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup non dairy milk
1 cup water
2 tbsp vegetable oil


Method

1.  Place all the ingredients in a small batter bowl and whisk until frothy.

2.  Lightly oil a small frying pan (I love my 20cm saute pan for crepes) and run a paper towel over it to remove excess oil.  Heat the pan until very hot.

3.  Pour in the batter and swirl the pan to coat the bottom of it evenly.  Cook until small bubbles pop all over the surface and the edges are beginning to curl slightly.

4. Flip over the crepe using a silicone scraper, and cook on the other side until lightly golden spots appear ( you have to check underneath it).

5. Slide onto a plate and repeat.  You can keep the cooked crêpes warm in the oven with greaseproof paper between the layers if you wish.

Serve with sweet or savoury fillings as required.

Have you decided on pudding for Christmas Dinner yet? It should definitely feature IceDelight!

I'm in my local Real Foods store in Edinburgh on a regular basis and a few weeks ago they asked if I would like to do another product review for them (I did one back in June which you can see here).  It was such fun last time I was delighted to have another go.  Boy am I glad I said yes! Would I review IceDelight for them?  Yes of course!

I went along to the store to collect my IceDelight which comes in tiny little 100ml tubs and larger 500mls.  I was expecting some little ones....what I got was the selection you see here and wow we have had fun trying out all sorts of things with these yummy treats.

IceDelight is made at Belhaven Fruit Farm by the lovely Mark Rennie who I had the pleasure of meeting several years ago at one of the food festivals in Edinburgh.  Belhaven Fruit Farm is just down the coast from us here in Edinburgh, near Dunbar where they grow fabulous fruits for pick your own, and sell their yummy treats in the shop.  (I can highly recommend them for strawberry picking next year!)

IceDelight itself is dairy free, egg free, gluten free and fat free, and made without artificial colours or flavours.  They taste great and even count towards your 5 a day! The five flavours are Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackcurrant, Gooseberry & Elderflower and Lemon.  In various taste tests with the family we had no outright winner.  I love the Raspberry for its straightforward flavour, Mr Robb liked the Gooseberry and Elderflower which we hadn't tasted before, our eldest enjoys Strawberry or Blackcurrant the most, and surprisingly the littlest loves the lemon, although couldn't make up her mind on her favourite.

We went a little bit Ice Delight wild here and I added it to puddings such as apple crumble, we had straightforward cones, dairy free knickerbocker glories, strawberry daiquiris, IceDelight tarts, ice cream cakes and more.

Brown sugar mini cupcakes (vegan) topped with Strawberry, Raspberry and Lemon flavour IceDelight

So what will we be having for pudding for Christmas Dinner this year? I still don't know, but it will feature a healthy helping of IceDelight!

Cheers! An awesome Strawberry daiquiri made with Rum and Strawberry IceDelight!

Apple Crumble (vegan, gluten free and nut free)

At this time of year my thoughts turn to comfort foods, and the use of seasonal staples such as apples and pears.

Apple Crumble and some amazing Raspberry IceDelight
(no colourings here - just naturally pink from the fresh raspberries!)

This week I've been playing with a wonderful selection of IceDelight flavours and I have plenty of other delights for you in the next few days along with a review of IceDelight for Real Foods. However, today I've been making Apple Crumble, one of the simplest and most comforting of desserts. I make mine completely plain, but you can add cinnamon for a bit of an apple pie style or any other autumnal fruit to boost the flavour.

I used wheat flour to make mine this time, but I have in the past used a plain gluten free flour mix and it has worked beautifully well, as it makes the topping lovely and short and light. I also didn't have enough Bramley apples so I used a selection of five from the fruit bowl today and no-one complained!

Apple Crumble

Ingredients

100g Solid Dairy Free Margarine (I use block Stork)
75g   Golden Sugar
175g Plain Flour (Wheat flour or Gluten Free)

3 to 4 cooking apples such as Bramley (or 5 eating apples)
Another teaspoon or two of sugar depending on how tat the apples are

Method

1. Put the margarine, sugar and flour in a Classic Batter Bowl.

2. Using a Pastry Blender, or your fingers, mix together until you have a sandy, fine textured crumb.

3. Peel and slice the apples and place in the bottom of a Mini Baker with a sprinkle of sugar.

4. Cover the apples with the crumble mix and give the surface some texture to give more crunch once baked.

5. Bake at 180°C for 40-50 mins until golden brown and crisp.

6. Serve with your favourite ice cream style dessert.  Our favourite at the moment is IceDelight from a farm just along the road at Belhaven in Dunbar. It complements the flavour of the apples beautifully and lifts the pudding into something really special.