Pumpkin Macaroni Cheese

After making the pumpkin doughnuts last week I had some pumpkin puree leftover. I ate a bit of it spread on toast (delicious with a pinch of cinnamon) but decided to use the rest to make something warm and comforting for dinner. What could be more warm and comforting than macaroni cheese? Only this macaroni cheese was given an extra autumnal twist from the earthy sweet pumpkin puree.

The sauce became a lovely golden orange colour when I added the pumpkin puree and produced an enticing roasted veg aroma. I grated in some freshly grated nutmeg which seemed to enhance the sweet nuttiness of the pumpkin. The puree itself somehow transformed the sauce from being delicious to something spectacular. It was so rich, creamy and velvety smooth that it tasted as though it had been made with cream, amazing considering the base was mainly vegetable puree.

Some people may be wondering what those little green speckles are in the macaroni cheese… they’re peas. I know adding peas to macaroni cheese is highly unconventional, but I love peas and think having a little freshness and pop from the peas, in contrast to the rich and creamy sauce is a welcome change, plus its colourful too. I’ve just thought, what with the sauce being pumpkin based and the addition of the peas, this macaroni cheese could almost be classed as healthy – not something you usually hear associated with macaroni cheese!

To serve, I spooned the pasta into deep bowls, topped with more cheese and gave them a quick bake in the oven. This created a golden and crisp top which I think is one of the best bits. It also adds another texture against the creamy stodgy (in a good way) sauce and pasta combo. The textures from crisp golden top, thick and creamy sauce and a little pop from the peas is delicious combination. The pumpkin had a wonderful flavour making the whole dish feel warming, autumnal and very comforting. This is perfect meal to enjoy curled up on the sofa as the rain lashes the windows outside.

Pumpkin Macaroni Cheese

Ingredients

20g butter

1 tbsp cornflour

130g pumpkin puree

300ml milk

2 handfuls grated cheddar cheese

100g frozen peas

Salt & pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg

Gluten free macaroni pasta for 2 people

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C

Cook some gluten free macaroni, enough for 2 people, in boiling water until it is al-dente.

Meanwhile, add the butter to a large saucepan and heat until melted. Add the cornflour and whisk until smooth and a paste is starting to form. Add the pumpkin puree and mix to combine.

Slowly whisk in the milk and allow to come to a simmer, stirring occasionally. It should start to thicken into a thick and creamy sauce.

Add a generous grating of fresh nutmeg and some salt and pepper.

Once the sauce is thickened and creamy, stir in the frozen peas and three-quarters of the grated cheese. Stir until combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the drained gluten free pasta to the sauce and stir to coat.

Spoon into two deep bowls or one larger dish and scatter over the remaining cheese and a little extra nutmeg.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden and crisp on top.

Eat and enjoy.

Baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Doughnuts

Tis the season for pumpkin and spice and all things nice. In the UK we have never really got into pumpkin based desserts like they have in America and most of the pumpkins sold in UK supermarkets around Halloween are grown purely for the purpose of carving into lanterns and are far too bland and watery for eating. Luckily it is now possible to buy tins of densely packed pumpkin puree which is rich in both colour and flavour and perfect for baking.

With that in mind, I decided to try my hand at making baked pumpkin doughnuts. Seeing as it’s been National Chocolate Week this last week (how did I miss that?!) I also included a few dark chocolate chips in the batter.

Pumpkin loves spices and so I used a mix of freshly grated nutmeg and mixed spice in the pumpkin batter as well as generously coating my still warm doughnuts in cinnamon sugar. The raw batter had the taste and aroma of a spiced gingerbread, only slightly more earthy. The pumpkin lent its own special mysterious sweet earthy flavour which was only enhanced by the spices.

Baked doughnuts are sturdier and a little more cakey than their yeasted, fried counterparts but when eaten warm, with their spiced sugar coating and little pockets of gooey melted chocolate chips they were fabulous. I loved the bright golden glow from the pumpkin and they were light and moist, reminiscent of a good carrot cake.

I discovered, like scones, they are best eaten on the day of baking or else freezing. I kept a few overnight and the next day they were denser and the cinnamon sugar has dissolved into the doughnut. They were still very moist and tasty, but needed a short blast in the microwave to refresh them. So I’d recommend either freezing them or else eat them all on the day you bake them – what a hardship!

What’s your favourite way to eat pumpkin? Oh and if you can’t find tinned pumpkin puree, a cooked and mashed sweet potato would be just as good, just don’t mash it with butter or milk!

Baked Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Doughnuts with Cinnamon Sugar

(Recipe adapted from The BiteSized Baker blog)

Pumpkin Doughnuts

150g brown rice flour

25g tapioca starch

15g potato starch or white cornflour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp mixed spice

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

75ml sunflower oil

100g soft light brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g (½ can) canned pumpkin puree (or mashed sweet potato)

110ml milk

40g dark chocolate chips

Cinnamon Sugar

50g caster sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 175C. Grease two 6 holed doughnut pans and set aside.

For the cinnamon topping, combine the sugar and cinnamon together on a plate and set aside for use later.

For the doughnuts, in a medium bowl mix together the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spices and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and stir with a spatula until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips, do not over mix the batter.

Using a piping bag, fill each doughnut ring with the batter, until it reaches nearly to the rim.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the doughnuts are lightly golden and look set. They should have a little spring when pressed. Leave to cool for 2 minutes before running a small knife around the edge and carefully lifting out of the pan. They will be a little fragile when still warm so be careful.

Toss the still hot doughnuts in the cinnamon sugar and place on a cooling rack. Alternatively leave until cool before topping with the glaze of your choice.

Delicious eaten when still warm. For best results, eat or freeze on day of baking.

Makes 10-11 doughnuts

Spicy Sweetcorn Soup

Autumn has definitely arrived. The leaves are turning red and golden, falling from the trees to be crunched underfoot. The nights are drawing in and the weather is turning cold and blustery. This weekend (so far) it has rained constantly and an icy wind is whistling past my windows. In weather like this it is the perfect time to stay snugly indoors and lock yourself away in the kitchen. I normally resort to baking but in such wet and windy weather I was craving a big bowlful of soup. There is no other food that is so comforting and warming on a cold day than soup. It seems to warm you from the inside out.

Root vegetable soups are one of my favourites, but it’s not quite cold enough yet for parsnips and other winter veg, so I decided to make use of a big bag of frozen sweetcorn and make sweetcorn soup. I’ve seen this on a few blogs in the past but ever attempted one myself. To give my soup an extra warming kick I spiced it up with a couple of green chillies, which lent a slow warming heat that lingered pleasantly rather than being a fiery heat.

I like my soups to be thick and smooth, but I also wanted a little texture and hit upon the idea of reserving some of the sweetcorn, chilli and red pepper to use as a topping. I fried it until it became toasted and bronzed and sprinkled it on the soup when serving. This worked well and I loved the look of the red, green and yellow colours together.

The soup was thick, creamy and comforting. The sweetcorn added a wonderful natural sweetness, while still being savoury. It’s so creamy you would almost suspect it had some cream stirred in at the end. Why not hug a big bowlful of this and snuggle up on the sofa for a lazy weekend? There are some perks to the rain.

Spicy Sweetcorn Soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp, plus 1 tsp oil

1 large onion

1 clove garlic

1 small potato

2 green chillies

1 red pepper

1½ pints vegetable stock

600g frozen sweetcorn

Salt and pepper

Method

Start by reserving ½ green chilli, ¼ red pepper and 100g sweetcorn and set aside for toppings later.

Heat the 1 tbsp oil in a large pan. Peel and roughly chop the onion and garlic and add to the pan. Place the lid on and leave to sweat gently for a few minutes.

Peel and dice the potato. Cut the remaining 1½ green chillies into chunks (you can remove the seeds or leave them in for an extra kick). Add to the pan, stirring to ensure nothing is sticking to the base and cover with the lid once more.

Roughly chop the remaining ¾ red pepper and add to the pan and leave everything to cook for 10 minutes.

Stir in the vegetable stock and bring to the boil, before reducing to a simmer and then leaving to cook for 15-20 minutes, with the lid only slightly on the pan, until all the veg is softened.

Stir in the remaining 500g of sweetcorn and leave to cook for 5 minutes more.

Remove from the heat and blitz with a hand blender or in a liquidizer until smooth.

Return the soup to the pan over a low heat to keep warm while you make the topping.

Very finely dice the reserved green chilli and red pepper. Heat 1 tsp oil in a saucepan and add the chilli, red pepper and reserved 100g sweetcorn. Fry over a high heat until the sweetcorn is lightly bronzed and going golden at the edges. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into warm bowls and top each bowl with 1-2 tbsp of the toasted sweetcorn mix. Eat and enjoy.

Serves 4 generously

Chocolate Almond Brownie Bites

I was craving something chocolaty and fancied brownies but also fancied cookies too. In the end I decided to try and adapt a brownie recipe to make cookie shaped brownie bites.

I decided to make teeny tiny, bite sized brownie bites using a melon ball scoop to shape the cookies. To accommodate the smaller size, I halved the recipe and still ended up with 30 cookies! The original recipe used plain flour, but I replaced this with ground almonds and some cornflour to make them gluten free. I think this helped make them extra soft and fudgy, as they stayed wonderfully gooey.

Brownie batter does not naturally lend itself to being shaped into cookies, so after making the batter I chilled it in the fridge until firm, shaped it into balls, chilled again and then baked them with my fingers crossed. The intense chocolate aroma as they baked was intoxicating. They did spread out in the oven, but due to their teeny tiny size the top crust firmed up quickly enough to stop them oozing into a gooey mess, resulting in some seriously cute mini cookies.

They were far too soft to handle when straight out the oven, but just like brownies they firmed up on cooling and were just about sturdy enough to handle. They remained very soft but this made every gooey, rich chocolaty bite taste every bit as good as the fudgy middle of a brownie.

These are some intensely rich and chocolaty brownie bites, especially as they are studded with extra white chocolate chips for good measure. I loved their tiny size. They were so indulgent that I only needed 1 or 2 to satisfy my chocolate craving. I shared most of them with my boyfriend and the following day I received a text asking for another batch. They also taste amazing mushed into some soft vanilla ice cream!

Chocolate Almond Brownie Bites

Ingredients

50g ground almonds

15g cornflour

15g cocoa powder

½ tsp baking powder

100g dark chocolate

50g butter

50g caster sugar

25g light soft brown sugar

1 egg

100g white chocolate chips

Method

Break the dark chocolate into pieces and cut the butter into small cubes. Place the chocolate and butter in the base of a large saucepan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally until the butter and chocolate has melted and combined.

Remove from heat and beat in the caster and brown sugar, followed by the egg.

Weigh out the ground almonds, cornflour, cocoa powder and baking powder and add to the pan. Beat until combined.

Pour the batter into a clean bowl before quickly folding in the white chocolate chips. Don’t do this too long or the chips will melt into the batter.

Place the bowl into the fridge to firm up for 30 minutes.

Once chilled, scoop out small balls of dough using a melon baller/scoop and place onto a cling film lined tray. Alternatively use a level teaspoon of mix and roll into a small ball. Cover the surface with clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill for 20-30minutes until firm.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C and line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Place half the cookie mounds onto one of the trays, one inch apart. Gently flatten the surfaces so they are level, but still remain very thick.

Bake for 6-7 minutes, they will still look soft and unbaked. Allow to cool on the tray until completely cold or else they will be too soft to handle. Once one tray is baked, repeat with the remaining brownie bites on the second tray.

Makes 30 mini brownie bite cookies

Waffles with Greek Honey & Blackberries

After watching my sister enjoy scrumptious looking waffles while we were holidaying in Greece together, I returned home craving waffles. Thankfully I am one of those people who can’t resist buying kitchen gadgets and so own a waffle machine, meaning it wasn’t long before I could satisfy my craving.

This is a very quick waffle recipe that makes just two waffles, which is perfect for one person. I gave a slight nod to my holiday by using some Greek runny honey I’d bought back with me, both in the batter itself and drizzled on top. This gave it a subtle sweetness and a lovely faint floral flavour that honey can add.

As blackberries are in bountiful supply at the moment, I topped my waffles with some honey sweetened cream cheese and a handful of lightly cooked blackberries that I’d foraged from nearby hedgerows. I love their dark glossy purple colour and they went so well with the cream cheese and honey.

Even though I made two waffles, there is only one in the photos as I decided to eat them separately as the blackberries released quite a lot of juice and I didn’t want the second waffle to go soggy. I simply left it on the waffle grill (switched off) which kept it lovely and toasty warm for me.

These were so quick and easy to make but really satisfied my waffle craving. I love how the dips and grooves of the waffle captured the glossy juices of the berries. Each bite formed into its own little square.

Waffles with Greek Honey & Blackberries

Ingredients

60g gluten free self raising flour

1 egg

60ml milk

2 tsp sunflower oil

1 tsp Greek honey

¼ tsp almond extract

¼ tsp baking powder

To Serve

Blackberries

2 tbsp cream cheese

Greek runny honey

Method

Preheat your waffle machine and spray or brush the plates with a little oil. Meanwhile, mix the flour and baking powder together in a bowl.

In a jug, measure out the milk and then beat in the egg, oil, almond extract and honey.

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mix while whisking gently until you get a smooth batter. Allow to stand for 2-3 minutes to thicken slightly.

Pour the batter into the waffles machine and cook according to the machines instruction, until crisp and golden.

While the waffles are cooking, heat a large handful of blackberries until they are warm and just beginning to release their juice, but are not fully broken down.

Mix the cream cheese with a little runny honey and whisk until creamy (a spoon works fine).

Place one cooked waffle onto a plate, spread with half the cream cheese mixture and top with the warmed blackberries.

Drizzle with a little extra honey and enjoy. Repeat with the remaining waffle (I like to eat them separately so the second one doesn’t go soggy).

Makes 2 waffles

Courgette Fritters with Griddled Halloumi

The weekends are my favourite time to allow myself to relax, take a little time and prepare something different and tasty for at least one of the meals during the day. Looking for lunch inspiration my fridge revealed a block of halloumi cheese and a courgette. A short while later courgette fritters with griddled lemon & chili halloumi was created.

For the fritters I used gram/chickpea flour which has a very savoury beany flavour that I think always works well in savoury fritters. It can be a little bland on its own, so I added some lemon zest and oregano to pep it up a bit. I decided not to add salt to the mix, as halloumi cheese is incredibly salty, and as I planned to eat them together I thought this would be enough seasoning.

 

Halloumi cheese is very firm and salty. You have to eat it fried or heated in some way otherwise it’s tough and squeaky. As I was planning ahead, I added some lemon, oregano and chili flakes to my halloumi and left it to marinate for 2 hours before cooking it. This added an extra flavour dimension, but you could probably get away with griddling it straight away. I don’t have a griddle pan so instead used my panini press and just didn’t close the lid, which worked really well and, even if I do say so myself, was quite a genius idea.

 

Halloumi cheese is best eaten straight after cooking, so make sure you cook the fritters first and leave them warming in the oven while you quickly cook the halloumi. Then it’s all hot and ready to go at once.

While the fritters were keeping warm in the oven I also added a few halved tomatoes. They didn’t really cook, as the heat was only low, but they warmed though enough to help enhance their natural juicy sweetness.

 

A little drizzle of sweet chili sauce and lunch was served. The pancakes were lightly crisp on the outside and still soft and tender in the centre. The courgette adds more of a colour and texture than any actual flavour, but everything eaten together produced a lovely combination of tastes and texture. Soft fritters, firm salty cheese, juicy tomatoes and a little heat from the chili. I wish Saturdays came round more than once a week!

 

And now for something completely different…

I’m off to a tiny Greek island with my sister next week so it may be quiet on here for a while. I hope to return having experiences some of the tastes and delights Greece has to offer. I’m longing to try the thick Greek yoghurt, honey, nuts, fresh fruit, feta cheese etc. Anyone got any gluten free Greek dishes they could recommend?

Courgette Fritters with Griddled Halloumi

Fritters

150g (1 large) courgette

30g gram/chickpea flour

1 egg

1 tsp lemon zest

¼ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp baking powder

½ tbsp oil

Halloumi

Zest of ½ lemon

½ tsp dried chili flakes

¼ tsp dried oregano

Halloumi cheese

To Serve

Cherry tomatoes

Sweet chili sauce

Method

Cut the halloumi into ½cm slices and lay on a plate in a single layer.

Sprinkle over the lemon, chili and oregano. Cover in cling film and leave to marinate for as long as possible – up to 24 hours.

For the fritters, wash and coarsely grate the courgette. Place onto some sheets of sturdy kitchen roll or a tea towel and wring most of the liquid out. It can be damp, but you don’t want it soggy.

Place into a large bowl and add the chickpea flour, lemon, oregano and baking powder. Toss until all the courgette is coated in the flour. Add the egg and mix until combined into a batter. It should be quite soft but still hold its shape when spooned into the pan. The more you stir, the more liquid will come out of the courgettes.

Add a little milk if your batter is too thick, or another 1-2 tsp of chickpea flour if too runny.

Warm your oven to around 100C. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place on a baking tray and leave to warm in the oven. Also place a plate with a sheet of kitchen roll on into the oven to warm gently.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and drop tablespoonfuls of the batter into the pan. Allow to cook for 1 minute before flipping over the cooking for a further 30 seconds. They should be lightly golden.

Remove the fritters from the pan and transfer to the warm plate with kitchen roll to keep warm while you cook the rest.

Repeat until all the batter is used up. Leave the fritters to keep warm in the oven while you cook the halloumi

Heat a dry griddle or frying pan (I used my Panini press!) and place the slices of marinated halloumi onto the grills. Allow to cook for 30 seconds without touching them, then flip over and cook for further 30 seconds. They will release some oil as they cook. They should be softened and nicely griddled when done.

To serve, remove the fritters and tomatoes from the oven. Arrange 3-4 fritters in a stack in the middle of the warmed plate. Place 2-3 slices of halloumi on top and arrange some of the warmed tomatoes around the edge. Drizzle with a little sweet chili sauce.

Eat immediately. Makes 7-8 fritters

Baba Ghanoush

What do you do when you’ve been tempted by some offers in the reduced section of the supermarket and come home with a bag of 4 aubergines that you snaffled for 80p? I ate half of one in a stir fry and used the rest to make baba ghanoush.

I’ve only tasted baba ghanoush once before, but loved its smoky mysterious flavour and have often considered making it myself. As I suddenly had a big bag of aubergines at my disposal, now seemed the ideal time to try it out.

There is a minefield of recipes and variations out there, but after a quick hunt I went with a recipe by Nigel Slater, whose recipes I trust. The only substitution I made was to use sesame seed oil in place of the tahini and olive oil called for, as I didn’t have any tahini. The recipe instructs you to char the aubergines over a lit gas ring, but I decided to roast my aubergines in a really hot oven until the skins were blackened. I live in a flat with a very sensitive smoke alarm and I don’t think the neighbours would have been too happy if I’d set them off from attempting to roast veg over the flames. I think roasting is a better idea anyway, as my aubergines released some liquid during their roasting, which otherwise would have spilled out over the oven top creating a terrible mess.

Once roasted and withered the aubergines smelt lovely. Slightly earthy yet also surprisingly sweet and slightly smoky. Aubergines can be a bit spongy and slimy if not cooked well, but after roasting I slit the skins and the flesh inside was so soft and silky I could scoop it out with a spoon!

I made a slight mistake of blitzing the aubergine with the garlic and oil rather than chopping it, meaning my baba ghanoush was more of a dip/paste than chunky but this didn’t stop it being delicious. It also meant it was far easier to dip crudités into and as a tasty and different sandwich filling.

The flavour of the aubergine was surprisingly good. Sweet with a slight roasted flavour from the blackened aubergine skin, not used in the dip but it did impart some flavour. It was also surprisingly creamy with a good strong kick of garlic, tangy fresh lemon and then a mellow nuttiness from the sesame oil. I loved eating it with falafel. I’ve often said I’m not a fan of aubergine, but this has changed my mind. A long roast until the aubergines are soft and yielding is clearly the way to eat them.

Baba Ghanoush

Recipe adapted from Nigel Slater

Ingredients

3-4 large aubergines

2 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp sesame oil

Juice of ½ lemon

Small handful fresh parsley

Salt and pepper to season

Method

Preheat the oven to 250C.

Wash the aubgergines and prick their skins all over with a sharp knife. Place onto a baking tray and roasted for 45 minutes until they are beginning to whither and soften. Remove from the oven, flip the aubergines over and roasted for a further 15 minutes. They should be soft and collapsed. Leave to cool slightly.

Roughly chop the garlic and add to a small food processor. Add the oils and lemon juice and blitz until the garlic is in small pieces.

Scoop out the flesh from the aubergines, discarding the skins. Add to the food processor along with the parsley and pulse until combined but still a little chunky. (I did mine too long and got a smoother paste).

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Gluten Free Afternoon Tea at The Rubens At The Palace, London

I was recently the lucky recipient of an afternoon tea for two gift experience at the prestigious Ruben’s Hotel in London. Apart from the occasional scone and pot of tea on coastal holidays, I have never had a proper traditional afternoon tea. One of my best friends from ‘back home’ and I have been saying for years that we must treat ourselves to a fancy afternoon tea in London but never got round to organising it. When I was given the Tea for Two experience organised by Experience Days I knew exactly who was coming with me.

The Ruben’s Hotel is situated in Victoria, very close to Buckingham Palace and just across the road from the Royal Mews, so you couldn’t get a more perfect location for an English afternoon tea. I was particularly excited as they said they were able to offer a gluten free menu, which seemed just as delicious as the regular menu, which other places I’ve looked at do not. At the time of booking I informed them I was coeliac and so would need a gluten free menu and was assured this wouldn’t be a problem.

Upon arrival my friend and I were greeted by the concierge, who smartly dressed in a full back suit, opened the door for us and led us to the dining room. From here we were shown to our table by our waitress. The dining room was plush and elegant yet quite understated.  The furniture was dark wood and the fabric in tranquil shades of gold, bronze and brown giving a very relaxed feel to the place. Grand chairs or long comfy benches were set either side of the table which was positioned quite low down, level with your knees rather than waist height. This proved to be a brilliant arrangement as it meant you could still see your dining partner over the top of the tiered afternoon tea stand when it arrived and it made for easy viewing and reaching of the pastries on the top layer of the stand.

The tables were all pre-set with linen napkins, china plates and traditional pink and white floral tea cups with matching sugar bowl and tongs. Settling into our comfy chairs and browsing the tea menu we both felt we were in for a treat. We both chose the Rubens Afternoon Tea which consisted of a selection of finger sandwiches, scones and then a selection of cakes and pastries. I again confirmed my need for gluten free.

We both ordered lavender and blackcurrant tea to drink and when the waitress bought it over she poured it for us, holding our tea cups on a tray and pouring the tea through an ornate tea strainer into our cups in turn. We then both got a full teapot full of tea for us to top up our cups as we wished. The lavender and blackcurrant tea was a fabulous glossy ruby maroon colour and only lightly floral. It made with loose leaf tea and little pips of lavender were poured out and caught by the tea strainer as we topped up our cups. Feeling very elegant we sipped our tea and waited for the food to arrive. We sat talking to each other in whispered voices, feeling almost as though we were in a library amongst the hushed quiet elegance.

After 20 minutes we noticed several other tables being presented with their food and yet we still hadn’t received ours. I assured my friend it was probably my gluten free food that was holding things up and it would arrive soon. After 25 minutes we were getting quite hungry as it was nearly 2:30pm at this point and we had obviously skipped lunch to ensure we were hungry for the tea. After 30 minutes I purposely looked at my watch and glanced at a waitress who was serving another couple hoping to pass on a hint. A few minutes later the concierge appeared and apologized for the delay but explained there had been a problem in the kitchen. I asked if it was because I needed the gluten free menu and he said yes. He offered us both a free glass on Champagne but as neither my friend nor I really drink and we both had empty stomachs we thanked him but declined. He offered us instead a strawberry and basil sorbet which we greatfully accepted.

When he returned with our sorbet it was a lovely looking scoop of a deep red sorbet, flecked with green and sitting in…a wafer biscuit. As he set it own in front of me I looked at it incredulously and said “You’ve just told me the delay is because I need gluten free food and now you’ve given me a wheaty wafer, I can’t eat it” He looked a little flustered, apologized and then said he would bring us our food straight away and dashed off. I rolled my eyes at my friend who was happily demolishing her own sorbet with moans of delight. She proclaimed it the best sorbet she had ever eaten, which it lovely except it only made me hungrier.

Shortly the waitress appeared bearing two three-tiered cake stands of our food. We had been waiting for 40 minutes by now, so we were delighted to see it. She explained what was on each of the tiers. A base layer of cucumber & cream cheese, smoked salmon and egg & watercress finger sandwiches on gluten free bread for me, crusts off obviously. My friend had the same only on wheat based bread. She had fewer sandwiches than me and was assured a chicken and another ham roll was also due her, which they would bring when they were ready. She cleared the sorbet plates and left.

On the middle layer we both had two warm scones which had been wrapped in a napkin to keep them warm. Two gluten free sultana scones for me and a plain and sultana scone for my friend. This was accompanied by a dish containing two scoops of clotted cream and a dish of strawberry jam to share.

Both our top tiers of assorted mini cakes and pastries looked fantastic. My friend had strawberry cheesecake, lemon and lavender cupcake, honey and walnut financier, rose macaroon and a violet dark chocolate ganache!

I had the rose macaroon, violet ganache, orange & almond cake, strawberry jelly, berry meringue and some slices of mocha syrup cake! Wow! As I had more treats than my friend I gave her my strawberry jelly as she adores strawberries.

We both started to eat and I was impressed with my egg & watercress sandwiches. The bread was soft and light and held together well. We noticed we hadn’t been given any plates, our first ones having been removed with the sorbet plates. I managed to ask our waitress for some who apologised and promptly bought us some replacements. My friend finished her sandwiches and as there was no waitress in sight we decided not to wait for her extra sandwiches and to start on the scones.

It was then I realised that they expected us to share the jam and cream. This was not an issue for the cream as we could both take one of the scoops onto our own plates but the jam was in one single dish. This would be fine if you were both eating normal scones, but as mine were gluten free I didn’t want to risk cross contamination of eating one scone and then having my friend dip her knife back into the dish to eat her second and transfer wheaty crumbs into the jam. Not good planning by the food staff. Thankfully as I’d had a fruit tea I hadn’t used my tea spoon so we used the spoon to drop blobs of jam onto our scones without letting it touch the scone.

I was really impressed with my scones. I’ve had a gluten free scones once before and it was dry, crumbled and was so dense you could have knocked someone out with it. Thankfully not the case here. These were flakey, buttery and studded with juicy sultanas. They were still a little heavy, being more like a cross between a croissant and a pantone, but so soft, moist and buttery they were delicious! The clotted cream was incredibly smooth and creamy and the jam nicely fruited. So good.

We both then turned out attention to the pastries. My orange and almond cake was fantastic. Really moist and soft with a delicious fresh orange flavour and nice damp texture from the almonds. I was impressed.

The dinky rose macaroon was packed full of floral rose flavour and nicely chewy in the centre. Again, the best macaroon I’ve tasted, although I wasn’t so sure about the thick white chocolate flower on top which seemed a bit clunky after the delicate mini macaroon.

My meringue nest was ok. I’m not really a meringue fan, but I found the meringue to be completely crisp and very sweet. It almost tasted shop bought, but the fresh berries, cream and fruit coulis hiding in the base were good.

The slices of mocha cake were also delicious. They had a sticky moist syrupy top layer, soaked into a strongly flavoured chocolate coffee cake. Look how fudgy and yummy it looks.

I’d given the strawberry jelly to my friend who is a strawberry fanatic and had saved the violet ganache for last. This proved to be a good idea as it was rich, not too sweet with a sophisticated delicate violet flavour. This gave a nice contrast to the other sweet treats I’d enjoyed. The texture of the ganche was amazing. There was no hard chocolate shell, it was just pure truffly ganache. Smooth, creamy and so perfectly soft it started to melt the minute you took a bite. The violet flavour is not one I’ve had often but it was so delicate that it worked brilliantly with the chocolate.

We both had a fabulous time and it felt such a treat to sit in beautiful surroundings enjoy tea and cake, but overall a mixed experience. Definitely mostly good and I would certainly recommend it and go back myself, but there were a few things I felt they could certainly improve on. However, I suspect most of these are because I needed gluten free food, which although doesn’t excuse things, does mean most people shouldn’t have a problem.

Areas that let it down

• Took 40 minutes for our food to arrive when we had pre-booked
• The complimentary sorbet by way of apology arrived on a wheat wafer despite having moments before talked about my needing gluten free food – more staff training/awareness
• My friends extra ham and chicken sandwiches never arrived
• We had to ask for serving plates
• Having a single dish of cream and jam to share is not a good idea if one of the guests is coeliac due to cross contamination – more training/awareness
• Lack of waitress around, no one checked it we were ok until right near the end when we decided not to ask about the missing sandwiches as my friend was full.

Things that would make me go back

• All staff were very polite and courteous
• The surroundings were elegant and very comfortable
• We felt like we were getting a treat and that we were sophisticated ladies enjoying our afternoon tea
• The china and traditional elegance
• The choice and quality of the gluten free food
• The food overall was of a very high standard and consisted of some different innovative cakes and pastries, not just your bog standard menu.
• Those gluten free scones!