Gluten Free Apple Cake

Been a while since my last post, sorry! Been a bit frantic with sorting out my new classroom *does little excited dance* and having been away to sunny Norfolk! The plan is to resume normal service for a bit now though, although I may need poking with a pointy stick to keep me from forgetting from time to time!

As the more observant amongst you may have noticed, this is my second recent gluten free post. Recently I've been told I may have coeliacs, and I'm part way through the diagnosis route (blood tests then biopsy for those who don't know). Anyway, after a bit of a panic over the things I potentially may have to stop eating, I thought the only sensible thing to do was to have a go at a bit of gluten free baking! I'm hoping that those non gf readers who've made it this far aren't put off though, the recipes can usually be made with wheat flour, and actually are every bit as delicious as 'normal' baking (And no, I'm not just saying that)!

Anyway, here is my recipe for super scrummy apple loaf cake

Ingredients
190g gluten free self raising flour
150g soft butter
175g sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
2 apples (1 and a half chopped into little cubes, half in thin slices)

• Preheat the oven to 170C
• Grease a standard loaf tin
• Using an electric whisk, mix together all ingredients, excluding the thinly sliced apple. If the mixture does not easily drop off a spoon, add a little apple juice or milk.
• Pour into the greased loaf tin
• Decorate with the slices of apple (and a little soft brown sugar if desired)
• Bake for 10 mins, then cover with foil and return to the oven for another 30 mins, or until a cocktail stick inserted into the middle comes out clean

I baked this for my mum's birthday, and I must say it went down a treat. It's also a relatively adaptable recipe, try with ginger for a lovely fiery cake!

Super Summer Cupcakes

So eventually it's time for the first post actually about cakes! Super summer cupcakes at that! I looked at the weather this morning and was over the moon to see the sun shining, hardly a cloud in the sky and the wind a bit less gusty than it has been. All this made me feel incredibly summery, so I put on a pretty summer dress and got to work on some summery looking cupcakes to enjoy in the garden this afternoon with a cup of tea from my lovely new teapot.

First off, I think it's really important to have a good recipe for cupcakes. You can put what you like on the top, but if the cake itself isn't up to scratch it's going to be a bit depressing. I always use the same recipe for my cupcakes, and it's an adaptation from a Delia recipe.It's quick and simple, makes 12, and they are always deliciously soft and sweet and airy. Unless you forget the baking powder, which I of course have never done *ahem*.

90g self raising flour
90g sugar
90g very soft butter (or margerine)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla essence

• Preheat the oven to 170c and place cake cases into a bun tray
• Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix using an electric mixer
• Spoon into baking cases
• Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden
• Cool on a wire rack

As I said, a piece of cake. Literally. If you follow this, you should end up with 12 cakes which look something like the picture below (don't know what's happened to that huge green one at the back, but bagsy it's mine!).

To make them into super summer cupcakes (and because I happened to have a tray of mixed berries in my fridge) I swirled on some buttercream and topped them off with halved strawberries or a few blueberries like so...

Perfect for a summer picnic or afternoon treat, if only someone would make me a cup of tea to go with it!