Ginger Cake & Other Tasty Gluten Free Finds

I’m not usually one to go out and buy cakes, preferring to make them myself, but every so often it’s nice to let someone else do the work and buy something tasty for afternoon tea. Since starting my gluten free diet, this has been less of an option for me. Grated there are now quite a few gluten free products around, but none that I’ve been particularly impressed with.

However, all that changed on a recent visit to Waitrose. I was browsing down the bread isle, tormenting myself with all their gorgeous fresh breads (I know I shouldn’t but I can’t help but look) and when I’d come to the end I turned a corner and found myself in their gluten free section. Amongst the products was a ginger cake by The Village Bakery. This is a brand I instantly recognised as I used to love their rye breads. I had no idea they did gluten free things too, but seeing the name I decided to give the ginger cake a try and I have to say I was very impressed.

The cake comes in a stylish card tray which instantly made me feel like it was an artisan product I might have bought from a market stall or posh bakery. Another plus was the cake actually looked as good as the picture on the box. Cutting into it, I found it had a lovely thick sugary top crust, and was moist and fluffy underneath. I adore the flavour of ginger and so was pleased to see the slice speckled with pieces of real ginger, which added a great warming spiciness when bitten into.

I was also impressed that the cake was quite moist and didn’t crumble on touch, but was able to be cut into generous slices. It was also nice to see something a bit different to the usual gluten free cake options, which usually revolve around chocolate, under the basis that chocolate makes anything taste good (not true!) So if your short of time or need a cake for a gluten free friend then I recommend giving the ginger cake a try. It’s sold only in Waitrose as far as I can tell.

Other gluten free finds which get the thumbs up from me are:
Eat Naturals Gluten Free Toasted Muesli with Buckwheat – gorgeously crisp and crunchy with a dash of cinnamon, coconut and seeds and no oats – hurrah!

Thai Sweet n Spicy Organic Tortilla Chips with Flaxseeds – these really pack a chilli hit, but are also a little sweet and tangy. Great crunch and the flax makes you think their healthy.

Munchy Seeds – pots of mixed seeds with different flavours or coatings. These are addictive and so easy to munch on. I love the chilli ones for their spicy kick, but the sweet vanilla pumpkin seeds are amazing and so unique.

Does anyone else have any new tasty foodie finds?

Egg-cellent Easter Eggs from Hotel Chocolat & A Giveaway!

Easter is just a few weeks away and this year my birthday happens to fall on Easter Sunday. So when Hotel Chocolat asked if I’d like to review one of their Easter eggs I was more than happy to accept – a yummy early Easter/birthday present combined!

They offered me their Milk Chocolate Giant Ostrich Egg – which comes with two egg-xtra thick shells of milk chocolate, studded with cookie pieces, crispies and white chocolate chunks, all accompanied by a selection of their chocolates, a rocky road and caramel slab and a cute chocolate bunny lolly. Sounds egg-tremely divine yes? Unfortunately for me, I had to turn them down as the cookie studded egg and some of the chocolates contained gluten.

After explaining why, they immediately said they would send me their chocolate mini egg selection box known as The Sleekster. 30 chocolates eggs in 10 assorted flavours in a selection of white, milk and dark chocolate – all gluten free! Ohhh yes please!

However, I think there was a bit of confusion somewhere as they first delivered me the Giant Ostrich Egg originally planned, before sending me The Sleekster egg selection!! All my family and friends were egg-ceptionally quick to volunteer their services as taste testers for the Ostrich cookie egg so rest assured, they were very much appreciated.

Everyone was amazed at how thick the shell of the ostrich egg was and commented that the crispie bits and white chocolate chunks were great at making each bite fun and different, although, some said this made it far too easy to eat! It was described as rich and milky. The chocolates were fought over with the Feuilletine Frenzy (hazelnut praline) and Macadamia Crunch (macadamia praline) being particular favourites.

From the first impression of The Sleekster egg selection I knew I was going to be in for a special treat. The box itself is dark, glossy and stylish and the dainty rows of perfect chocolate eggs inside, in varying shades of creamy white to dark mahogany brown only heightened my expectations.

Unlike some chocolates, these stunningly streaked eggs more than lived up to their attractive appearance in both quality and flavour. The chocolate is rich, smooth and creamy, and melts in the mouth, flooding your senses with intense chocolate flavour that lingers on for several minutes even after you have finished it. Pure chocolate indulgence.

The Sleekster eggs are filled with an assortment of pralines, truffles, caramels and ganaches, encased in thick white, 40-50% milk, milk caramel or 70% dark chocolate shells.

With so much choice it was hard to know where to start. I first selected the Blueberry Egg. A thick white chocolate shell filled with a blueberry infused white chocolate ganache. The blueberry ganache was amazing and so intensly flavoured, that there was no mistaking the blueberry. It was creamy and sweet, but not at all sickly.

Next I tried the Vanilla Custard Egg. This was a vanilla ganche inside a creamy milk chocolate shell. Simple flavours, but well matched. Delicious.

My surprise favourite of the range was the Caramel Egg. I’m not normally a caramel fan, often finding it too sweet, but this little egg was amazing. A 50% dark milk shell with a thick liquid caramel centre. I’m sure the caramel contained sea salt too, as it had a lingering saltiness that offset the sweetness and balanced perfectly with the darker milk chocolate. Wow. It danced with my taste buds – sweet, salty, smooth, creamy, bitter. Divine.

I’ll let you in on a secret, I’m normally a dark chocolate or nothing kind of girl. I have often treated myself to some of Hotel Chocolat’s dark chocolates in the past, but They’ve now changed my whole perspective to all chocolate types. These were some seriously good chocolates. The white chocolate is smooth and creamy rather than sweet and sickly and the milks are creamy with a rich chocolate flavour and you can actually taste the difference between the varying cocoa contents. The darker milks and 70% dark chocolate are rich intense chocolate flavour, lingering on the right side of smoky bitterness.

Now for the egg-cellent news – Hotel Chocolat have allowed me to offer one lucky person the chance to win a box of The Sleekster Egg Box Selection themselves! They’re gluten free and the range of white, milk and dark chocolates means there is bound to be something to please everyone. (Two do contain alcohol)

Plus, I’m running my own small giveaway. Seeing as I was lucky enough to also receive the Ostrich Egg I am personally going to send one other winner the Caramel Road Slab and Chocolate Bunny lolly (I’m afraid the rest of the egg got munched by the willing taste testers rather quickly!)

As it’s also my birthday over Easter, to win, simply visit Hotel Chocolat’s site and tell me which of their yummy chocolate selections would be your ideal birthday gift and leave a comment below. Open to UK residents only. Please put (UK) in brackets with your comment and some way of contacting you. Competition open until midnight Monday 21^st March. The two lucky winners will be chosen at random and contacted soon after for their addresses.

Total Greek Yoghurt Split Pots: A Review

I have said many times that I love yoghurt so when I was recently asked if I would like to trial some of Total’s new Greek yoghurt pots the answer was of course ‘yes please!’

Total are well known for their thick natural Greek yoghurt pots that come in whole milk, 0% and 2% fat varieties. Their new split pots are based on the increasingly popular fruit and yoghurt portion pots idea, teaming their 0% Greek yoghurt with a choice of three fruit compotes (blueberry, strawberry & tropical fruits) or runny honey.

Upon receiving my samples I was instantly drawn to the blueberry one. I don’t know what it is about blueberries that always attract me to them, maybe their unique dark moody purple colour, either way this was the first one for the taste test. The yoghurt was thick, smooth and very creamy, not something you might associate with a fat free yoghurt, which can be rather thin and watery. Not so with this yoghurt, it almost had the consistency of lightly whipped cream and tasted very clean and fresh. Checking the ingredients list I was pleased to see that it contained skimmed milk and a live yoghurt culture. Nothing else. No added stabilisers, thickeners, sweeteners or sugar. Just simple straightforward yoghurt.

The blueberry compote was glossy and a fabulous purple colour. On first inspection it looked smooth, but it was scattered with tiny whole dried blueberries which really enhanced and boosted the blueberry flavour. I found the compote a little sweet on its own but paired with the unsweetened yoghurt they balanced each other perfectly.

The strawberry version smelt amazing also contained small slices of real strawberry which is always good to see. I thought the compote was just a bit too jam-like for me though. This was fine when eating the yoghurt as a dessert, but a bit too much for breakfast. The tropical fruits pot was the black horse of the bunch. I put off trying it for a while as it contained kiwi which I don’t like and am slightly allergic to if eaten raw. However, when I did taste it I was amazed at how fruity and…for want of a better word, ‘tropical’ it was. It wasn’t sour of sharp and tasted strongly of passion fruit – delicious! There were little black seeds from the kiwi speckled throughout mixed with chewy pieces of papaya. This made it look very attractive and tasted great with the thick yoghurt.

Greek yoghurt and honey are a classic combination and when eating this pot I could see why. The sticky, sweet, golden honey was the perfect contrast to the thick Greek yoghurt. The flavour of the honey wafted up my nose the minute I peeled back and lid and intensified its flavour when I took a spoonful.

In summary all the split pots were delicious, with the blueberry and honey varieties being my favourites. I thought the fruit compotes were a little on the sweet side, but I absolutely loved that the Greek yoghurt was so lusciously thick, creamy and unsweetened. Too many companies seem to think they have to throw tons of sugar at yoghurts in order to get people to eat them. I for one am saying ‘no’ I love the natural, milky, ever so slightly sour taste of yoghurt and I applaud Total for not falling into this trap. This also makes them perfect for breakfast – on their own or added to your morning cereal or porridge, whilst still being indulgent enough to be enjoyed as a mid afternoon snack or dessert. Plus, they’re fat free! I even spooned some of mine onto some plain cake instead of cream, not quite so naughty, but oh so nice.

Heritage Beetroot & Goats Cheese Bruschetta (GF)

Beetroot. What springs to mind when you hear that word? I’d wager it’s a round rooty vegetable with a deep purple colour – be it raw, sliced, diced or picked, the colour purple is often what we imagine. Now think bright gold, striped blushing pink and pearly whites. Think Sainsbury’s Heritage Beetroot.

I love beetroot. I never ate it growing up. I was never forced to eat the sharp pickled variety which seems to have put a lot of people off beetroot for life. I came to beetroot later, raw or roasted in salads and instantly loved its earthy flavour and finger staining purple colour. I’ve seen other colours and varieties of beetroot used on tv, but never actually seen any to buy or taste myself, so I was delighted to be offered the chance to sample some of Sainsbury’s new Heritage Beetroot bunch – complete with three stunning varieties of differently coloured beets.

They looked attractive even before I cut into them, but once sliced open they positively glowed with rich vibrant colours. I dithered over how to taste them and eventually decided to simply roast them and serve them on some toast (gluten free) with some goat’s cheese – bruschetta style.

As they roasted, the outer surface became slightly duller in colour, but once bitten into the full force of their colours were once again apparent. If anything I found this to be more exciting, as it was so attractive to take a bite and be rewarded by such a beautiful vibrant colour. If you want to keep the beetroots full colour for presentation too, then I would suggest roasting them whole before cutting into wedges.

I toasted some Genius fresh brown gluten free bread (I’m so impressed by this brand compared to others I’ve tried – it really is quite Genius!) and rubbed the toast with a cut clove of garlic before piling on the roasted beets and crumbling over some young soft goats cheese. The combination of the soft creamy cheese with the sweet earthy beetroots and nutty bread was delicious and made for a very tasty lunch.

The beetroots themselves had subtle differences in flavour. The golden variety was the sweetest and closest to the traditional purple kind, while I thought the white variety the most subtle. All of them had a great flavour and weren’t as earthy as traditional beetroot, so might appeal to normal beetroot haters. I was delighted to get the chance to taste them and I am so happy at the prospect of being able to have regular access to them. At only £2 a mixed bunch they are worth it to add a little sunshine to your meal.

Heritage Beetroot & Goats Cheese Bruschetta (GF)

Ingredients
1 bunch Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Heritage Beetroot (4 beetroot)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
60g young soft goats cheese
1 clove garlic
4 slices gluten free bread (or normal)
Salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C. Top and tail the beetroot, wash them well in warm water and remove any wispy roots but leave the skin on (its so paper thin you can eat it after roasting)
Cut the beetroot in half and then slice each half into quarters. Arrange the beetroot on a foil lined tray, drizzle with the olive oil and scatter over the thyme.
Roast in the oven for 30 minutes until softened.
Once roasted, toast your bread of choice before rubbing gently with a cut clove of garlic. Crumble over the soft goats cheese and arrange a mixed assortment of roasted beetroot slices on top. Season with a little salt and pepper and enjoy.
Serves 2 as a light lunch or 4 as a starter.

TOTAL Overload of Greek Yoghurt

I love yoghurt, it’s probably my main source of dairy intake. I eat it almost every day – on my cereal, with fruit and served with desserts instead of cream. So, when I was asked if I would like to try some free samples of TOTAL Greek Yoghurt I was more than happy to accept. I was expecting 1 or 2 pots to turn up and so it was a great surprise to open the door a few days later and be presented with two bulging bags full of yoghurts, I couldn’t believe it.

The yoghurts are all Greek yoghurts but they are available in different levels of fat content – normal/full fat, 2% fat and 0% fat. They come in either 500g tubs or 170-200g individual pots and I had been sent two pots of each variety - talk about generous! There were also some nifty little honey and yoghurt combo snack pots which I thought were a great idea as Greek yoghurt drizzled with a little honey is a lovely combination.

After my excitement and some military style fridge rearrangement, I started off with a simple tasting of each of the different varieties to compare flavours and textures between the full fat, 2% and 0% fat varieties.

Full Fat – Very thick and creamy in appearance with a set texture. It held its shape well on the spoon and had the lusciously thick texture of clotted cream. When tasting, it was thick and dense and coated your tongue. The initial taste was slightly sharp and sour but this quickly turned to a very clean and fresh milky taste. It had a very good creamy aftertaste which lasted a long time. Very indulgent.

2% Fat – Quite thick and creamy in appearance, but slightly looser/wetter texture. It held its shape well but a little liquid gathered on the spoon. It had a lighter texture in the mouth, still creamy but it dissolved pleasantly on the tongue. Less sour than the full fat version, with a very fresh milky flavour. A creamy aftertaste although less sensation left in the mouth.

0% Fat – Wetter and softer in appearance, although it still held its shape on the spoon. A little liquid gathered on the spoon, although no more than the 2% variety. It had a very light and creamy texture, similar to fromage frais. There was no sour taste but it was still very fresh and milky. It didn’t really coat the tongue but still left a milky clean aftertaste. Soft in texture, almost whipped. Would be good for stirring into cereals.

After the enjoyment of tasting, I began to get worried about what I could do with so much yoghurt. I soon decided to do what I always do whenever I have an excess of something – to cook with it. TOTAL had also sent me a little selection of recipes and I decided to try one of theirs and then create some of my own.

Whenever I’m not eating cereal for breakfast, I often have porridge and so the recipe for porridge made with yoghurt instead of milk caught my eye and was the first recipe I decided to try.

You make the porridge using water instead of milk and cook it in the same way. Then, towards the end you stir in 1-2tbsp of the yoghurt of your choice, heat again briefly and serve. I would never have thought of doing this, but it turned out to be delicious and produced such a creamy flavour and texture that it made standard porridge seem very indulgent. I used the 2% fat variety and if I hadn’t made it myself I would have thought it had been made with cream, it was great to know it was so healthy. There was a slightly sticky texture to the oats, which I assume comes from heating the yoghurt, but I like my porridge quite thick so this suited me. It didn’t taste yoghurty at all, just milky and creamy. I topped it with a handful of blackcurrants that I had heated briefly to make them release their juices and it made for a very tasty breakfast. I’ve made this again on several mornings this week and it works well with all sorts of toppings.

Next I decided to experiment with the yoghurts in baking. I was thinking of possibly trying to make some kind of soda bread, but as I was flicking through a recipe book I came to a section on scones and settled on those instead. I started off with a plain scone recipe and then adapted it to suit the qualities of the 2% fat yoghurt as well as adding some of my favourite flavours. I ended up with these Cinnamon Choc Chip Greek Yoghurt Scones which were so light and tender – delicious. (Recipe to follow)

Finally I decided to make a dessert using TOTAL’s full fat Greek yoghurt variety. Its texture was so thick and creamy that I had even been spreading it on bread like cream cheese and it got me wondering whether it would be possible to use it in a recipe like cream cheese too. It was a bit of a gamble as I wasn’t sure it would work, but if this cheesecake is anything to go by then I can safely say – ‘yes it can!’ Here we have a Caramel Banana Cheese-less Greek Yoghurt Cheesecake!! The taste and texture of normal cheesecake only with a lot less fat – it was gorgeous. (Recipe to follow)

I had such a lot of fun tasting and experimenting with all the yoghurt – thank you TOTAL for being so generous and for enabling me to explore the greater uses of Greek Yoghurt.

Feeling Fruity? – Jordans Cereals New Frusli Bar

I was recently asked if I would like to sample the new Frusli bar from Jordans and upon hearing that it was apple, sultana and cinnamon flavour – some of my all time favourite things (see name of blog!) I was only too eager to accept.

The box arrived yesterday, a little battered but the bars inside had come to no harm. I liked the bright green packaging which instantly made me think of green apples and grapes.

Once unwrapped, the use of whole oats is instantly apparent. As were the sultanas and thin slivers of apple, complete with their red skin. There were also little gooey dark brown blobs which turned out to be pureed apple flavoured with cinnamon.

So how did it taste? It was very fruity and the apple and cinnamon flavours although quite subtle at first, developed as you ate. I would have liked the cinnamon to be used throughout the whole bar rather than just in the gummy pieces, but this is just because I’m a cinnamon fanatic. It reminded me a bit of a caramel apple pie, only with honeyed oats instead of pastry. However, the bar itself was very sweet, chewy and sticky – almost too sweet for my liking. This isn’t necessarily down to too much added sugar, as they also use honey and the concentrated apple puree for sweetness, which is good, but still resulted in a really sweet taste and about half way through I found I could no longer appreciate the actual fruit flavours which was a shame.

I loved the texture the raw oats added to the bar. As you chewed they released a creamy oatiness that helped combat some of the sweetness and I was pleased to read they were British oats.

Overall I’m undecided by these bars.
Good bits – Loved the British oats, real apple slivers, cinnamon flavour and high fruit content.
Not so good bits – overly sweet which overpowered the fruit flavours.

Jordans make plenty of other products which I adore, so maybe my excitement at an apple and cinnamon bar rose my expectations too high. It’s probably best to try these bars yourself and make up your own minds.

Day Trip to London Chinatown

I have been wanting to visit London’s Chinatown for several months but somehow it is just one of those things I never got around to arranging. Then this week I was contacted by an old uni friend who lives in London. She is doing a teacher training course and was on school holls for Easter and suggested we meet up. After a quick discussion we decided to go and explore the delights of London’s Chinatown – hurrah!

Hidden away down a side street in the heart of Leicester Square, you suddenly turn a corner and find yourself standing underneath a big gate archway at the top of a street lined by small Chinese shops and restaurants, all presenting a very Chinese outlook. We wandered down the street gazing at restaurant windows full of whole roasted ducks, buffets of dim sum and ornately typed menus. It wasn’t quite time for lunch so we did a bit of shopping in the two Chinese supermarkets situated opposite each other in the middle of the street. They look deceptively small from the outside but they were both crammed full of exciting and unusual vegetables, spices, jars of sauces, Chinese cookies and sweets that ranged over three floors. I couldn’t resist picking up a few intriguing items including some strips of dried candied sweet potato that look like extra long strips of dried apricot and a jar of a dark sticky looking substance that was labelled as Sweet Coconut Spread.

The dried sweet potato strips were chewy in the same way as dried mango but their flavour was distinctively that of sweet potato but with a touch of sweetness. It was such an unexpected flavour sensation but I really liked it.

Once home, I couldn’t wait to try the sweet coconut spread. It looked dark and very sticky with the aroma of coconut milk. It had the consistency of Dulce de leche caramel and as the ingredients list comprised of only coconut milk and sugar, I’m not surprised it was so similar. The flavour was wonderful. Very sweet but with a deeper flavour than standard caramel, it was more like toffee enhanced with the subtle flavour of coconut. I think it would be delicious drizzled over ice cream, yogurt or as a filling for two sandwich cookies.

By far the most exciting part of visiting Chinatown, and one of my main reasons of wanting to go there, was to visit a Chinese bakery. There are actually three Chinese bakeries hidden around Chinatown but the one that we hunted out, and seemed to have the best reviews online, was Kowloon. As we approached it the golden letters seemed to shine out to me, beckoning me to come and indulge in all its delicacies. I suggested we take a peak inside and maybe try a pastry – trying to act as though I didn’t want to go and try one of everything! I haven’t tasted a Chinese pastry since leaving Sheffield nearly a year ago and was longing to eat them again.

We took a few moments to take in the shop window before actually going in. They do savoury pork buns too, which I know some people drool over – but these are of no interest to me! It’s their coconut, red bean, sesame, peanut, sweet melon, custard, pandan and lotus buns and pastries that appealed to me! I then spent about 3 minutes agonising and drooling over all the buns and pastries before making my choices. Oh it was hard, but in the end I was very restrained…really I was…I limited myself to FIVE! I did share them all with my family too.

I got a sesame peanut pastry roll, a red bean bun (round one), a pandan roll (green roll) and two coconut custard buns (long ones) one for me and one for my mum as I have had these before and know how utterly delicious they are. Don’t they all look so delicious and exciting different to normal pastries?

Once home I couldn’t wait to taste them all. First up was the pandan roll. This was the one I was most intrigued by. I have heard talk about pandan rolls on blogs, but never seen nor tasted one for myself. I wasn’t even sure what pandan was, but according to Wikipedia pandan cake is made with “juice of Pandanus amaryllifolius leaves. The cakes are light green in tone due to the chlorophyll in the leaf juice” The roll itself was incredibly light, soft and springy in texture, quite different to sponge. It had a thin spreading of buttercream and together tasted faintly of coconut and a pleasant sweet flavour I hadn’t encountered before. Overall very tasty.

Next was the red bean bun. I have had red bean in other things before and love the sweet earthy flavour and the thick smooth texture of it. This bun didn’t disappoint and was very generously filled with the paste. I love the texture and flavour of the bread bun too, it’s similar to a brioche, yet more substantial, very buttery, soft and light.

The sesame peanut bun looked delicious but was actually very disappointing. Once cut into, the middle was quite bland and a little dry. All the nuts and sesame seeds seemed to have disappeared and it tasted like a big wedge of baked puff pastry, flaky but dull and boring.

Finally there was the coconut custard bun (often called cocktail buns too). I was so hoping this bun was as good as I remembered it and I’m delighted to say it was. Mmm, one bite of this bun and you’ll be in heaven. The dough is sweet and soft and the filling was generous, sweet, coconutty and creamy. With hints of vanilla and lots of coconut yet without being gritty, it was just divine. If you ever get the opportunity you simply must try one!

After we had lunch we travelled further afield and did a bit of retail therapy, shopping in a new shopping centre that had some really nice but very expensive shops. Some of which were so posh that we didn’t even dare to enter the doors. One of the things that shocked me the most was the discovery of a well known cupcake company having a stall right in the heart of the centre. This on its own is not shocking, in fact it’s quite exciting. The shocking part wasn’t even the prices – we were in London afer all, no the truly shocking thing was this monstrosity!

It’s (meant to be) a giant cupcake but it looks as though its been decorated by someone who was either colour blind or in a very dark room and then dropped on the floor, partially melted but decided to be sold anyway. It’s awful! I can’t believe they were trying to sell it!

So a very enjoyable and food filled day out – just the kind I like. Chinatown was actually smaller than I expected, but they certainly managed to fit a lot into the street and I’d go back to get another coconut custard bun any day!