Sugar, Egg, Gluten, Wheat and Dairy Free Christmas Cake

I succumbed to temptation this afternoon and dug a tiny mouse hole into my Christmas cake and secretly spirited away a tiny morsel to taste. It is divine, moist, sweet and soooo fruity and I nearly ate the whole cake there and then! The Pink Lovely as my daughter likes to be known, is very excited that we can ice it in a couple of weeks once I have laced it with a bit more brandy.
You will need a large non-stick, loose bottomed cake tin, lined with a circle of non-stick baking paper or Teflon liner.  You will also need to preheat the oven to 150C.
In a large saucepan melt 315g butter or  sunflower dairy free spread, 340ml cloudy apple juice, 200g dates, pitted and chopped,100g prunes, pitted and chopped until hot and then bubble for about 3-5 minutes on medium high heat. Remove from the heat.
295g peeled, cored and grated cooking apples or windfalls, 350g raisins, 315g sultanas should all be combined in a large mixing bowl.  Then sift 150g Doves Farm gluten free flour mix over the fruit. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda and then 150g ground almonds and gently mix together. Finally, season with plenty of freshly grated nutmeg and mixed spice powder.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and give it all a gentle and final mix.
Gently scrape the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the centre of the oven until the cake is dark brown but not burnt at the edges!  This will probably be a couple of hours but insert a skewer into the centre of the cake to check that it is cooked all the way through. All ovens are slightly different and so are the cake tins but 2 1/2 hrs should be enough for most scenarios.  Let the cake cool in the tin, wrap it in baking parchment when the cake is cold and wrap this yummy bundle carefully in foil. Keep in a cool place until ready to ice.

Christmas Cake Not in the Bin!

Scandalized by my Daily Mail this morning, rather than by my Daily Male, I was aghast to read that  out of 10 million people who attempt to bake a Christmas cake at home this year, only 3 million will succeed and the rest will go in the bin!
Sainsbury's has set up the first dedicated help line for victims of Christmas baking disasters on November 21st the traditional day to make the cake and pudding. Will they cater for gluten, wheat and dairy free? If not then I will try and answer any questions on the cake but admit to succumbing to ready-made puddings!
So, in the mood for Christmas food, I dig out my Christmas cake recipe from last year, it is free from the above mentioned allergens and so easy to make that it is done in a blink of an eye!
But ladies and gentlemen with festive calories lurking around the corner I have also made this scrummy fruit cake  without eggs or sugar which must surely make it almost sin-free!......and much cheaper of course!
I am just going to doctor it with a little brandy but you can use ginger wine or nothing at all and then wrap it up in baking parchment and foil and keep it in a cool place until the glorious moment of icing and decorating with my gorgeous girl aged 7!
Recipe to follow..

Damson Vodka for Breakfast

After an exhausting 10 minutes round trip for the school run this morning, we sped off to a coffee morning for no other reason than to taste some home made goodies and have a cup of coffee.  Naturally, I did without breakfast so that I could indulge but didn't expect the Danish Pastries to come with Plum Vodka and coffee.  Dream come true really!  This reminded me to check on my Damson Vodka which is due for a stir and a surreptitious dip and lick of finger! There is nothing better to my taste than the Shropshire damson and our lanes are surrounded by them.  My little tree that I planted 2 years ago has not yielded fruit but maybe I am supposed to do something?
I have made my damson vodka with a slight twist this year, I added half a bottle of cherry liqueur from Romania that was gathering dust on the larder shelf. Fine idea I thought and Wow it packs a punch! Lucky Guys coming to Sunday lunch this weekend!

Mellow Yellow Piccalilli

Much excitement as we start concocting our Gluten, Wheat and Dairy Free Piccalilli or as my 7yr old daughter called it "Picadilly"!  Not much in the line of recipes for green beans, courgettes and cauliflower except for this tasty pickle.  We have to wait 3-6 weeks before piling it on to our Rye Sour dough bread and sheep's cheese ploughman's but hey what is a few weeks for such culinary delights!

Find 2kg of peeled vegetables out of your fridge, larder, freezer or kitchen garden which must include
cauliflower, green beans, courgettes,carrots,peppers and spring or red onions but generally anything which wont totally collapse and dissolve into the sauce.
100g fine sea salt
60g cornflour
25g tumeric powder
25g English mustard powder
25g ground ginger
4 teaspoons cumin seeds
4 teaspoons coriander seeds
1.2 litres cider vinegar
300g unrefined granulated sugar
100g local honey

Cut all the vegetables into small bite size bits. Place in large colander over bowl and sprinkle vegetables with salt. Mix well and leave for 24hrs. Rinse with very cold water and leave to drain.
Blend all the other dry ingredients in a small bowl with a little of the vinegar. in a big pan put the remaining vinegar with the honey and bring to boil.  Mix in the paste and then combine until smooth. Add all the vegetables and bring it all to the boil and cook for about 5 minutes or until bubbling and thickened.  Pack the pickle into warm sterilized jars, seal and wait.....................YUM

Make room in the deep freeze for pheasants

The moment is here and space is needed for 10 large, plump pheasants to rest in peace until needed.  I always know when to ring up a certain friend and hint madly that we would be game on for something local and wild!  The roads are now no longer an obstacle course of  young and innocent birds tootling about and pecking at the luscious tractor mud.  Something has to come out of the freezer. What do I have? Mainly beans and courgettes! Not a tempting thought for lunch today, so a dash to the pile of torn out magazine recipes that are lurking in a dusty pile in my office!  I also have to bear in mind that only a cauliflower, some peppers,carrots and potatoes dwell in the fridge this morning.
Tricky but I will be back with the result later.

Fireworks and Hot Dogs

Actually we left the dogs behind but the hot dogs were served from a big van by the front porch. Inspired idea by our hosts and delicious way of not having to cook food for 60 guests and to enjoy their own mulled wine, bonfire and fireworks. Undoubtedly, I was the only gluten and wheat free guest and so the van did not stock any or more to the point, the best, gluten free burger buns/bread rolls around.  Check out Antoinette Savill Signature Series of bread rolls stocked in all Waitrose stores around the UK. for your next party. Sorry, had to get that in!
On returning home, more hot dogs............ two in fact, Coco and Lucy sprawled out in front of the log burning stove watching the flickering flames and listening to the crackles and pops. Sounds like our party so everyone has had a great evening.

Celebration day at Fox Barn!!!

Utterly amazed that we have survived 2 years today in the depths of the Goggin! Wild snowy winters, damp foggy autumns, soggy sunny springs and cold wet summers!!!