In with the dairy, out with the gluten…
Al and I made it through our dairy free week without too much difficulty – or any midnight cheese raids! I think that it has shown us how often we add butter or cheese to dishes out of habit, rather than because a dish needs it and actually leaving it out often lets the flavours of other ingredients, such as vegetables, really speak for themselves. One of the main issues I faced was that I couldn’t find a single completely dairy free spread in any of the supermarkets in the local Morzine area– all of the vegetable oil based spreads had some form of milk in them somewhere. I couldn’t even track down any goat butter which, considering there is an actual “goat village” not far from the AliKats’ chalet, is pretty disappointing. I’m sure that I will be able to source some better products in one of the larger towns nearby.
Our next dietary challenge is to be wheat and gluten free for a week, so I have ordered some products fromDoves Farm who specialise in organic flours and have an excellent range of wheat and gluten free baking products.
I also ordered a fantastic book called Cake Angels: Gluten, Wheat & Dairy Free Cakes by Julia Thomas which has tons of delicious recipes that I can’t wait to try out to see which ones will make the grade as part of afternoon tea in the chalet this winter. My first attempt was the spiced courgette cupcakes – they sound a little bit eccentric but are completely delicious and quite healthy! I chose them because they are the perfect cross-over recipe between these two weeks of dietary restrictions, being dairy free but also wheat and gluten free. I did have to cheat slightly with the recipe as my non-dairy spread was not completely dairy free but I’m confident I will have found some good products by the start of the season – here is the recipe so you can try them for yourselves:
Spiced courgette cupcakes with orange glacé icing
Makes: 12 cupcakes
preparation: 30 minutes
cooling: 35 minutes
freeze: yes
For the cupcake mixture
45g walnuts
215g wheat & gluten free self-raising flour
1 tsp xanthum gum
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp gluten-free baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
160g soft light brown sugar
100ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
325g courgettes, finely grated
For the orange glacé mixture
100g icing sugar
1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180 degrees centigrade or 160 if it’s a fan oven. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin cases
- Toast the walnuts by spreading them out on a baking sheet and placing them in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes. Once toasted and cooled, finely chop and put to one side.
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the flour, xanthum gum, bicarbonate of soda, gluten-free baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Sift into another mixing bowl.
- Gradually fold in the flour mixture and chopped nuts using a large metal spoon until just combined.
- Divide the mixture evenly among the muffin cases. Use a level ice-cream scoop of mixture, which ensures an equal amount in each cup. Level the mixture with the back of a teaspoon.
- Bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until a metal skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. If necessary, rotate the tins and finish baking for a further couple of minutes.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes, then remove from the tins and transfer to a metal cooling rack.
- Make the glacé icing by mixing the icing sugar and orange juice together, then spoon onto the cooled cupcakes and level with a round bladed knife.
- Store in an airtight container for 3 days but don’t store in the fridge.
AliKats takes gold in global sustainability award
Yesterday (12th July) saw AliKats Mountain Holidays announced as winners in the virtual awards ceremony for the 2023 Global Good Awards. The awards recognise organisations and leaders who are achieving practical, real-world impact for people and planet that is both scalable and replicable – and who have inspiring stories to tell. We are delighted…
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