Author: cozebakes

Cheese Straws – Gluten Free option

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Cheese Straws are such a great recipe to go with any type of drinks you’re having. Whether it’s prosecco or a beer, they just work so well and can be serve on their own or as part of a platter with dips and other nibbles. Just two ingredients and you have it sorted!

You can make them as big or small as you like and as you can now buy Gluten Free Puff Pastry from Jus Rol, everyone can enjoy them. I prefer to make them with puff pastry as it gives a nice few layers to them but if you don’t or can’t get it, then use shortcrust pastry.

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Mincemeat Cake

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My love for mincemeat tends to go on as long as I can possibly stretch it …. and as I make my own mincemeat, it means I can use it any time of the year … oh along with the fact that I buy fresh cranberries in December and I freeze them for use throughout the year 🙂 – up here for thinking, down there for dancing!

So back to this recipe which is from The Cycling Cook; I adapted it a little and of course, reduced the sugar content. It’s such a delicious and flavour packed cake that it needs very little other than a sprinkling of icing sugar on top.

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Mincemeat Muffins

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I absolutely love Mincemeat. I make my own as I like the bite of fresh cranberries but whatever works for you is always good. I have put a few suggestions to just lift up some good quality shop bought Mincemeat below.  I freeze punnets of fresh cranberries and use them through the year. They are just fantastic little jewels of loveliness.

You would think these Mincemeat Muffins would be rich and heavy but they are amazingly light and fluffy and absolutely packed full of flavour. They last well in an airtight container and were really popular. In fact, several times there were 2 eaten at a sitting!

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Gluten Free Biscuits

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These delicious biscuits are perfect for cutting out using your favourite cutters and can be made at Christmas, Halloween or just because. They work well to different flavour additions and bake up in no time.

I used an embossed rolling pin to get a pattern on the dough and then decorated them with royal icing.

This recipe is free from soya, nuts and is vegetarian also 🙂

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Lemon Shortbread – Regular and Gluten Free

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This is a recipe for Lemon Shortbread which I converted to gluten free and it worked out well. It’s very short so can be quite crumbly. It needs time to sit both before baking (in the fridge) and after baking, in an airtight container. I found the gluten free version more sturdy the next day but once you follow the steps, it will be irresistible!

I used Lemon Extract to give the biscuits an extra zing of lemon but don’t worry if you don’t have any. The recipe calls for a tsp of lemon zest and you can add a little extra if not using the extract.

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Date & Apple Cake / Traybake

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I first sampled this delicious cake at a Neff Cooking Demonstration to help me understand my new cooker better and not use just 3 settings! After tasting it I asked for the recipe and the ladies very kindly gave it to me.

I made it in an 8″ / 20cm round tin but ideally if you want it to do the same, you need to use a 9″ / 23cm tin or as a traybake, use a 30cm x 20cm rectangular tin. You can serve up to 16 people so it’s a great crowd pleaser.

Don’t worry at all if you don’t like dates; one of my friends is not a fan so I blitzed the dates in a blender before adding them but you can of course just mush them with a fork or potato masher.  Continue reading →

Celebration Fruit & Christmas Cake – Gluten Free

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If you’re looking for a traditional style fruit cake to decorate for a special occasion and one that’s gluten free, then this will be your “go to” recipe. It’s rich and dark and holds really well for fondant or other icing and decorating. It’s perfect for Christmas!

This recipe makes an 8″ round cake. If you double the quantities, you will get a 10″ cake for greater numbers.

I’ve adapted it a little to give it a bit of depth and it’s worked really well. The recipe is originally from a gluten free magazine.

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Gluten Free Spiced Apple Muffins

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I love baking with apples and adding different spices to the recipe always makes them so irresistible and always a big hit. So I had a recipe for cupcakes with a streusel topping but as these were requested to be gluten free, I changed the recipe a bit and it worked really well.

They were made to go into the freezer so I couldn’t add any icing drizzle on top but if you would like to do this, then add apple juice and a touch of cinnamon to sieved icing sugar and mix well until you get the right drizzle consistency. (Approximate quantities in the method below)

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Apple & Blackberry Cake

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Originally, this recipe was made in a large traybake but I wanted to change it up a little. I feel it’s better served in slices than squares and decorated really nicely for any occasion, or just for a Sunday!

I used a mix of defrosted blackberries and fresh ones. I had collected some a while ago and froze them and then couldn’t resist collecting some more as they were so sweet.

There’s one cooking apple in the recipe and it’s best to grate it as you get a softer result with your bake rather than chopping it up. I made up an icing with water and a teaspoon of almond extract which I felt worked so well with the apple and blackberries. Of course you can serve this delicious cake with fresh cream if you prefer.

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Butter Biscuits with Orange Cream Filling

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These delicious biscuits come from the kitchen of Vanessa Greenwood and they are full of a wonderful buttery flavour which is only enhanced by the fabulous orange cream centres.

They are really simple to make and other than 10 minutes in the fridge before baking, it’s very straightforward with only a few ingredients and just a mixer. Now Vanessa is a better woman than me as she used a wooden spoon, even though you need the butter to be very soft, I still opted for an easier way 😉

If you were having a kid’s party or a pretty Afternoon Tea, you could dye portions of the orange cream in different colours for a really striking display – pastel for the adults and bright and bold for the kids.

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Cherry Muffins

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This is a quick and easy recipe which results in gorgeous muffins with a lovely hint of almond flavour. It’s a combination that goes so well together. I love the fact you need nothing other than two bowls and spoon to make them.

Most muffin recipes are made the same way – you mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another and gently mix. Muffins are very easy to make but notorious for turning out dense instead of light and fluffy. The main reason for this is over mixing so go gently!

There’s no butter in the recipe which is handy for different people; vegetable oil is used in it’s place. I’ve also reduced the sugar quantity so you do what works best for you. It’s just an option.

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Spiced Banana Bread

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We all regularly have bananas that no one will eat as they’ve gone black and soft and all sorts of faces are pulled when you suggest it’s taken! So the only thing to do is make Banana Bread. I’ve a few recipes here already including a great gluten free one : https://www.cozebakes.com/2017/02/03/gluten-free-dairy-free-healthy-banana-loaf/ 

but there are so many recipes out there that it’s great to find a new one to try and this originally came from Sarson’s (yes the vinegar people) and was published in the Baking Heaven magazine.  It has a very fancy frosting which this time I left off as I just wanted a tasty Banana Bread to have with a cup of tea; you know sometimes, you just want something not too sweet or full of icing at hand and this works beautifully for both. I’ll give the Frosting details at the end and if you want, it can be boozy (it keeps getting better) !

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