Free From Apple Crumble Cake

This week was free from week on the Bake Off. I actually struggled with this one (believe it or not!) There were sugar free cakes (okay, refined sugar free cakes!) gluten free breads and a dairy free ice cream cake. I'm having to try and go with the bake that would be the cheapest on our food budget and this week proved hard. I couldn't afford the alternatives for the sugar I always put in cakes. I tried honey but I thought, yuck! I shoved in the sugar and made a sponge instead!

So this week I went with gluten and dairy free sponge cake with a topping of gluten free oats and crumble mix.

Recipe

Free From Apple Crumble Cake

A gluten and dairy free sponge cake with apples and a crumble topping. Perfect for autumn! (And when you can't chose between cake and crumble!)

Ingredients

• 150g Dairy free spread
• 150g Caster sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla essence
• 2 Eggs
• 150g Doves Farm Self Raising Flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Doves Farm Plain Flour
• Gluten Free Oats
• Dairy free spread
• Apples (enough for your chosen dish)

Instructions

First make a sponge cake how you normally would by mixing all your ingredients together making sure there are no lumps

Pour the sponge mix into your chosen dish (I used a long dish for pies!)

Slice your apples and place them on top of the sponge mix

In another bowl, add some flour and butter. Using your hands, make a crumble. I didn't measure this bit, I just judged how big my dish was. Make sure there's not more spread than flour.

Scatter your crumble mix over the apples and sponge, covering entirely just like you would an ordinary apple crumble

I used 2 handfuls of gluten free oats and some more sugar on top of the crumble to give it that crunch.

Cook time: 35 mins at 180'C 

My Dairy Free Windtorte

So I decided to make life difficult for myself this week for The Great Bloggers Bake Off by baking a Spanische Windtorte for dessert week. I wasn't going to go near a dairy free creme brûlée no matter how much I wanted to and I didn't want to do the cheesecakes because finding a recipe was driving me nuts. Some how searching the recipes I could only really find the words 'raw', 'healthy', 'sin free', 'guilt free' am I the only person who doesn't give a fig about the guilt!? I felt like it! Besides, I baked a vegan and gluten free cheesecake in a previous Bake Off challenge so I was only left with the 1 option really!

Gluten & Dairy Free Madeira Cake

The Bake Off is back and that means so is The Great Bloggers Bake Off! Im a little apprehensive about adding my bakes this year because I've seen so many fellow bloggers bakes already this week and the standard is very high! Of course this is all good fun and it's lovely to be inspired to bake again. I have missed the link up because I've been busy and under the weather but I thought I'd share my cake week bake anyway. I'll probably miss a few link ups because i'm going on holiday too!

Last week we had the best (and in my opinion the easiest ) week: cake week. I decided to go with a gluten and dairy free Madeira cake which is the first cake I ever learnt to bake as a little girl in my mums orange kitchen. 

You Will Need

150g Butter (I use Stork or Vitalite)

150 g Caster Sugar

Generous amount of vanilla extract

3 Eggs

150g Doves Farm Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour

1/2 tsp gluten free baking powder

I mixed the butter and sugar together then added the eggs plus a little flour to stop the buttery lumps forming. I then added the flour mixing well. Lastly, Midge added the vanilla plus a little gluten free baking powder.

The overall look of the cake is very nice but if I lined the cake tin properly it would not have been so misshapen. Taste wise this cake was eaten in about 25 minutes so I'm taking that as a seal of approval! I was really happy with the inside, it was slightly fluffy but still firm which I like. It probably could've used 5 more minutes in the oven but I'm happy with my first bake.

This week is biscuit week which should be interesting depending on what I go with! Next week is bread week which I feel slightly less optimistic about! Are you joining in the Great Bloggers Bake Off 2015? Or are you baking along as and when you feel like it like i'll have to do until i'm back from holiday? Perhaps you've been inspired by the show, if so I'd love to see your bakes!

Cupcake Mumma

Check Out Astonish Grease Lifter Cleaning Tablets!

Now the time has come for us all to get inspired by the Great British Bake Off I can guarantee we will all be going under in a tide of dirty saucepans and baking tins, I mean it's pretty unavoidable isn't it? Perhaps you're super good at tin lining but fancy giving your pots and pans a good once over before getting down to baking some delicious food stuffs for the family (I know I am waiting to feel a bit better so I can get on and bake a lovely Madeira cake!) 

My pans need some TLC before they go anywhere near some cake batter and what I really wanted to try my free Astonish Cleaning Tablets on for this review was my grill pan! Granted, not used for baking but as you'll see below my pan is a test for any cleaning product that claims to remove grease, leaving me with shiny looking cooking equipment. 

As you can see we are one of those families that use the grill for sausages or bacon and don't wash it immediately, instead  using it again again until eventually we have no choice but to face the grease. I wasn't so bothered this time. I followed the instructions and added boiled water to my sink and added one tablet (I was prepared to add an extra as instructed to do so if the grease was particularly stubborn!) I added my pans into the water once the tablet was dissolved and 30 minutes later (on the instructions they say 20 minutes but I've always been one for leaving a little more time for these things)  I returned and was very, very pleased with the results!

I also left a small frying pan and a glass bowl in a freshly made sink-full of water but as is common for me I forgot about them and they ended up sitting there for hours. I was incredibly happy to see my glass bowl I've used for years as a rice pudding dish was really, really clear! I've scrubbed that glass within an inch of its life and never managed to lift the burnt on milk from those pesky edges. Of course it's been used for pies and what not too so I can officially say Astonish is my new favourite kitchen must have for my cooking equipment. It removes layers of grease, is so simple to use, is very cheap at only £3.99 per box which contains 10 tablets and as you can see above, removes stubborn over cooked marks too! It's also cruelty free which is a massive bonus. Try it yourself! Available in supermarkets!

Watch this video for how to use your Astonish Grease Lifter tablets!