Little Nutty Cupcakes

These little cupcakes have complimenting textures of the nut butter and the ground almonds with cocoa and dark chocolate pieces to add flavour. If you want a crunchier texture use chunky peanut butter instead of the smoother almond nut butter. They are quick to prepare and brilliant for satisfying a sweet craving. They don't have much fat (in my book fat from nuts is good for you and so doesn't count!), they are sugar-free and low carb so you can eat away without feeling guilty.

Ingredients
¾oz butter
1½ tablespoons almond nut butter
1 egg, beaten
½ teaspoon baking powder
2oz ground almonds
2 teaspoons cocoa
1½ teaspoons stevia or other sweetener
2 tablespoons whole milk
¾oz dark, sugar-free chocolate (Sainsbury's do one which is good for baking with)

Asparagus Quiche

I watched the Great British Bake Off on Tuesday and their quiche making inspired me. My quiche is slightly unusual as I had puff pastry that needed using (quiches are normally made with shortcrust pastry). As I didn't make the pastry it's a bit of a cheat - but it still tastes good! I can't eat cheese, but if you can try mixing some grated Parmesan with the eggs or sprinkle some grated Cheddar cheese over the top.

Ingredients
100g puff pastry
2 large eggs, beaten
asparagus tops, steamed

J is for... Jumbles

Jumble time! I'd never heard of these biscuits but I really struggled to find any recipes beginning with J! So here you go - Jumbles - the Mary Berry way (sort of). The traditional shape is an 's' but I made them for my family so I used their initials.

Ingredients
75g butter, softened
75g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small egg, beaten
175g plain gluten-free flour
clear honey, for glazing
demerera sugar, for dusting

Almond and Lemon Cupcakes

These low-carb cupcakes have a lovely texture, as the ground almonds makes them light and moist. Even though they don't contain sugar they have a great cakey texture. The best fake cakes yet I think! Plus they are very quick and easy to make, you can easily whip up a batch if you have a sweet craving.

Ingredients (to make 6)
1oz butter, softened
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 egg
finely grated rind of ½ lemon
2¼oz ground almonds
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Stevia or other sweetener

Chocolate Courgette Cupcakes

Courgette is a great vegetable to put into cakes as it is bland in taste but moist in texture and helps make cakes light and airy. I made my cupcakes dairy-free, gluten-free and sugar-free. This may sound like all you're left with is an egg but read on...

Ingredients
3 tablespoons sunflower spread
¾ cup courgette, peeled and grated
½ banana mashed
6g Stevia (if you can't get hold of Stevia use a different sweetener such as xylitol) 1g of Stevia is equivalent to 2 teaspoons of regular sugar 
1 egg, beaten
1 cup ground almonds
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅓ cup mixed chopped nuts

Chocolate Fakes

Nope it's not a typo...these are fake cakes. They could be called cakes, but they aren't full of sugar or fat (and don't taste as good) so I have decided to call them Fakes...

To make about 8 Chocolate Fakes you will need:
1oz butter, softened
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 egg
1 tablespoon fruit puree (I used the pots for babies, Apple and Blueberry)
3oz ground almonds
2 teaspoons cocoa
½ teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons stevia or xylitol (or sugar to taste if you can have it)
½oz mixed chopped nuts

Rhubarb Cobbler

This is a Rose Elliot crumble recipe, however it doesn't have the same consistency as crumble, and is much more like a cobbler.

Crumbles are far from an exact science, they aren't like cakes where measurements are crucial (as they don't have eggs) and can be changed according to taste. Try adding rolled oats to your topping, or mix some cooking apples (chopped into small pieces), with the simmering rhubarb.

Ingredients

350g rhubarb, sweetened to taste

85g ground almonds

25g butter

pinch of cinnamon

I is for... Iced Lemon Biscuits

It's week 9 in Baking the Alphabet, and did you know there aren't many recipes beginning with 'I'? Tiny, little confession: I have made iced lemon biscuits before, and blogged about them here. BUT I have never put soft cheese in biscuits and I was intrigued to see how they would taste. Plus I wanted to try out a recipe from this brand new book Great British Bake Off: How to Bake, it is published by Ebury (where I work) and is beautiful! I didn't quite follow the recipe to the letter so you'd better go and buy the book if you want to...

Iced Lemon Biscuits

Ingredients (to make 20)
80g unsalted butter, softened
50g caster sugar
finely grated zest of ½ lemon (save the juice)
40g light soft cheese
150g gluten-free flour
pinch of salt
pinch baking powder
50g icing sugar

Biggest Potato Ever?

Creamy Vegetable Pie

Savoury Sunday time...here is a recipe for a creamy vegetable pie. Change the flavour to suit your taste by adding a stronger chilli, more garlic or chopped basil. Don't worry about the specific measurements, it's intended just as a guide, and feel free to substitute with your favourite vegetables!

Ingredients (to serve 2)
1 teaspoon sunflower oil
½ green chilli pepper (15g), finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 small carrot (20g), diced
1 small green pepper (50g), deseeded and chopped
½ medium courgette (80g), chopped
1 large tomato (100g), diced
50g black beans
¼ vegetable stock cube
2 tablespoons (30ml) double cream
50g baby spinach
60g puff pastry
1 egg yolk (optional)

Jazzy Biscuits

I called these biscuits 'Jazzy Biscuits' because they remind me of those white chocolate jazzies off of pick 'n' mix.I used half rye flour for these which gives them a wholemeal look (and slightly digestive-like taste, ironically they taste more like Digestive Biscuits than the ones I made here).

You will need (to make 30):
125g rye flour
125g plain white gluten-free flour (plus extra for rolling)
85g sugar
175g unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g Milkybar (or white chocolate)
small bar Dairy Milk (or milk chocolate)
assorted sprinkles

Cheese Scones

I would say these are more 'alternative' cheese scones as they don't have the same ingredients, however they do tasty sconey. The original recipe makes a loaf of bread so I was expecting bread rolls, but these are tasty!

Ingredients (to serve 4)
100g ground almonds
⅓ teaspoon baking powder
20g butter, softened
1 egg
50g Cheddar cheese, grated

Victoria Sponge Cupcakes

I love Victoria Sponge, sweet light cake with a generous layer of strawberry jam and cream in the middle. I saw a picture of mini victoria sponges a while ago (I can't remember where) so I gave them a go myself. I made them for my sisters who aren't fans of cream so I just put jam in the middle of mine. If you do like cream, whip up a couple of tablespoons until it holds its shape and spread it on after the jam.

Ingredients
4oz (125g) butter, softened
4oz (125g) sugar
2 eggs, beaten
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4oz (125g) plain gluten-free flour, sifted
1 level teaspoon baking powder
approx. 2 tablespoons strawberry jam

Chocolate and Coconut Brownies

Happy Saturday! Today is the perfect day for baking, I have plenty of time, it's a bit rainy outside and I just spent £20 on ingredients (whoops...).

If you regularly read my blog you might have noticed that I often omit certain ingredients for a little while, I've done sugar-free, low-fibre, wheat-free, gluten- free, dairy-free, egg-free, even apple-free! This constant changing is as a result of long-term health problems which I won't bore you with. My current situation is low-carb (i.e. no sugar or flour), this also rules out most fruits as they are high in natural sugar.  However, I must bake!

I have been looking to Rose Elliot for help, and she had a great recipe for low-carb brownies. But they needed sweeter (artificial or Stevia), which I didn't have. So after doing a bit of research and some imaginative thinking I came up with these brownies. The 'sweetness' comes from coconut virgin oil (available from health-food shops), dark chocolate and double cream.

H is for... Halloumi and Vegetable Herbed Kebabs

I'm well aware that barbecued food doesn't really fall into the 'baked' genre. BUT it's hot outside and I don't feel like baking. So, my slightly cheating, 'H' in Baking the Alphabet is halloumi and vegetable herbed kebabs. The perfect barbecue vegetarian alternative to burgers or sausages. My friend tells me that a barbecue is called a Braai in South Africa, and they have them a lot, although apparently they are full of meat so I'm not sure where my kebabs would fit in...

Ingredients
1 pack light halloumi (225g)
1 green pepper, deseeded
½ aubergine
10 cherry tomatoes
3 mushrooms, sliced in half

for the herbed marinade

juice of ½ lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

a handful of chopped herbs, I used thyme, rosemary, coriander and mint (use whatever you have to hand)

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon olive paste (optional)