Vegan cupcakes recipes

I've finally located an agave-sweetened fairy cake recipe that works!* The resulting cakes are a little greasy, but fairly light and delicately flavoured. Just remember that using agave does result in a darker colour.

*I haven't yet attempted to candida diet-ise the icing.

Recipe: Djinn's AMAZING Instant Whip Fairy Cakes

This evening I've been doing a spot of experimental bakery. (I'd run out of butter and milk!)  I came up with a cake batter that tastes exactly like Chocolate Instant Whip!!!!  

I used this basic recipe as my guide.

These cakes have a very light texture, not too sweet, just chocolatey enough.  Enjoy!

Djinn's AMAZING Instant Whip Fairy Cakes

Makes six small cakes

25g gluten-free self-raising flour

25g cocoa power (I like Cadbury's Bournville)

50g corn oil

50g xylitol

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

2 tsps plain yoghurt

Preheat oven to 190 degrees C.  Line a muffin tin with bun cases.  In a mixing bowl beat the oil and  xylitol until pale and fluffy.  Add the beaten egg, a little at a time.  Whisk to incorporate with oil and xylitol mixture.  Beat in vanilla essence.  Sift flour into bowl and fold into mixture.  Add the yoghurt.  Sift in cocoa powder and fold until well combined.  Spoon into bun cases and cook for 12 minutes in the centre of the oven.  Remove and place on a cooling rack for a few mins. Tuck in!

An announcement!

Djinn is eating wedding cake. Djinn doesn't care. ;)

Recipe: Lemon Polenta Cake

By alasam

Anna has asked me to post the recipe for Lemon Polenta Cake. I don't normally reproduce recipes published elsewhere, but as this is an adaptation, I'll make an exception (suggested substitutes in brackets).

Lemon Polenta Cake

Serves 8

175 g butter (olivio)
175 g caster sugar (xylitol)
2 large eggs, beaten
150 g ground almonds
85 g polenta
1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
zest of 2 large lemons
2 tbsp lemon juice

For the lemon syrup:
85 g caster sugar (xylitol)
zest and juice of 1 large lemon

Preheat oven to 180 degrees c. Line the base of a 17 cm spring-release cake tin with non-stick parchment paper and lightly grease the sides.

Cream butter (olivio) and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in eggs. Fold in almonds, polenta, baking powder, lemon zest and juice, and mix thoroughly.

Spoon mixture into prepared tin and bake for 45-50 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

To make syrup, place sugar, lemon zest and juice, and 2 tbsps water in a small pan and heat until sugar (xylitol) dissolves. Simmer for 5 mins, then remove from the heat.

Remove cake from tin and transfer to serving plate. Using a cocktail stick, prick the cake in several places. Drizzle over with syrup.

I think I'm in love

...with Joseph's Sugar-free Pecan and Walnut Brownie bites! I think, when I'm old and grey, I'll define my life by the time before and after I discovered them in my local independent health food shop.* They are GREAT, and VERY more-ish; I managed to polish off a 312g packet in 24 hours ALL BY MYSELF!!!

The brownies are sweetened with maltitol, but a special formulation which (according to the company website) doesn't upset one's tummy. Plus, they appear to be fairly low in fat and calories. Even better!

* I haven't seen them stocked anywhere else in the UK sadly.

Lemon Polenta Cake: A triumph!

I made it - and it was good! Very good, in fact. Even though I managed to stick too much polenta and not enough lemon juice into the batter! A great gluten-free recipe.

I'm doing this Thing-A-Day project in February. My lemon polenta cake is my Day 1 contribution. See the link for a photo and a bit more information about the cake.

N.B. I replaced the caster sugar in the recipe with granulated xylitol.

Experiments with Xylitol: Banana Cakes

After picking up some granulated xylitol at Holland & Barrett the other day, I thought I'd experiment with a bit of baking. And, as I had several very ripe bananas hanging about the house, I decided to try making banana cake. And, even if I do say so I myself, it was a bit of a triumph!!!

Banana Cakes

Makes 24 small fairy cakes

3 large overripe bananas
2 large beaten eggs
6 oz granulated xylitol (brand name 'Perfect Sweet')
8 oz plain flour (I didn't use wholemeal this time)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp vanilla essence
walnut pieces
plenty of paper cake cases

Mash the bananas in a bowl. Add the beaten eggs and sugar. Sift the flour and bicarb into the bowl and beat all the ingredients together well (you could use an electric mixer, but I managed perfectly well by hand). Spoon into paper cases. Top with a piece of walnut. Place on a baking tray and bake in the centre of a preheated oven at 180 C for 12-15 mins, until the cakes are golden brown. Cool and then enjoy!

* * *

What I really like about these cakes is that they're really not too sweet, and the flavour of the banana really comes through. Yum!

.H's Candida Diet-friendly Choco Cake

Well, I made it (or rather my Mum did). Here are my thoughts.

• The mixture made a light sponge, though it didn't rise very much, and where it did it was quite uneven. This probably had more to do with the gluten-free flour we used (rice + several other grains) than the recipe.
• The cake is certainly very chocolaty - but bitter. The rice syrup takes the 'edge off', but doesn't provide a lot of sweetness. The jam (which sticks the sandwich together) helps.
• The cake improves considerably after 24 hours - which gives the flavours time to meld together nicely, and the sweetness of the jam (fructose-sweetened, black cherry jam, bty) to infuse the cake, leading to an altogether much more pleasant eating experience.

I'll certainly make it again. I'm not gluten-free, so I might try normal wholemeal flour next time, which will probably improve the texture, and maybe I'll be a little less stingy with the jam, which you definitely need to counteract the bitterness of the cocoa powder.

All in all I'd say the recipe is definitely worth the effort. It can't replicate the l0vely chocolaty-sweetness of a 'normal' chocolate cake, but it comes pretty damn close! Thanks for sharing .H!