One more post after today then Maison Cupcake officially breaks up for summer. There are a couple of reasons for this, a) Ted is off pre-school so I have less free time on the computer, b) I want to finish my new WordPress site without the pressure to post new material at the same time.
I dare say I’ll end up posting brief things during August and I will still be my usual chatty self on Twitter and the new Maison Cupcake Facebook page (which you should “like” by the way if you haven’t already… I promise it won’t be a mere repetition of the material on here).
On the whole though I will be enjoying the pause to reflect on how to make sure the WordPress site is as good as it can be. A few changes are afoot.
Today I can share a couple of things, these peculiar looking fairy cakes are my rather odd contribution to Matcha Madness over at The Catty Life, and some pictures from a tea and chocolate tasting event I attended a couple of weeks ago. (Matcha = Green Tea, you see my logic here). I won’t win but then I’ve probably exhausted my winning dust with the holiday won at Cybermummy.
Said fairy cakes look so odd because they were my first attempt at gluten free, egg free baking. I’m not going to include the recipe here as I think it needs tweaking – consider this an appeal for help, where the hell did I go wrong?!
Take one standard fairy cake batter mix, substitute the flour with gluten free flour and the eggs with vegan egg replacer, replace butter with vegetable fat and this is what you get.
I added matcha and some Galaxy Counters to half of the batter, the rest was either studded with chopped apricots or whole cherries.
They don’t rise (no gluten I guess), they look a bit funny but actually were quite compelling to eat, dense and comforting, almost like fudge but not sweet. A case of, they taste better than they look. But that’s not a lot of help to a food blogger.
But why you cry?
Well erm… I have a genetic predisposition to sky high cholesterol levels that I’ve been in denial about. Certainly the low fat angle is one I’m going to have to take seriously in my own diet from now on even if I still blog about lots of stuff that I can’t eat myself. How long I can motivate myself to do that remains to be seen…
The gluten free experiment is inspired by my mother who recently cut wheat from her diet and looks fantastic. I may not manage to eliminate wheat completely but I can embrace my inner Gillian McKeith and seek out alternatives wherever practical.
So I need to look deeper into this gluten free, egg free lark, but certainly I promise not to darken my shiny new WordPress blog with any of it unless I get better looking results.
Onwards then to the Green and Black’s tea and chocolate tasting event which I recently attended at Tapped and Packed in the West End, before I promised my doctor I’d eat nothing but porridge and steamed fish for three months.
Truth be told, for me at least, an evening of tasting chocolate alongside varieties of tea and coffee was highly challenging, not least because of the heat that evening. It was flipping hot that night and I was gasping for a cold drink. I had a long wait!
After a couple of talks about tea and coffee production we were given five types of Green and Black’s chocolate to taste alongside five types of tea and then repeated the chocolate tasting alongside five types of coffee.
I don’t touch coffee. I could possibly pinch my nose and swallow black or green tea (no milk please, milky tea is the drink of the devil so far as I’m concerned), the only brown stuff you’ll find me drinking is fizzy and comes in a silver can with red lettering on it. But not at the moment.*
* My diet coke addiction is a serious matter although it’s generally met with hilarity when I try to explain it to people. I am currently ON the diet coke wagon as of three weeks ago but this has been an on off situation for around ten years. My longest period not drinking diet coke was 18 months. I do not take my current status as a non diet coke drinker for granted, were there support groups for people battling with diet coke addiction, I would be attending them, it’s that bad.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m out of my depth doing any kind of in depth taste analysis. My verdict on wine is generally restricted to “if it’s pink or fizzy I like it” and for chocolate the equivalent is “I prefer the milk one”.
We didn’t get to taste my favourite Green and Black’s chocolate, their creamy milk variety in the pale blue wrapper. I’m fully aware that this preference may be sacrilege to seasoned chocolate connoisseurs but well, I know what I like!
We tasted one yummy (and increasingly squidgy as the evening went on) milk chocolate containing caramel and then four dark ones. Personally I’m not wild about dark Green and Blacks unless it’s Maya Gold but there wasn’t any of this tonight either. The only tea I said I liked was the one everyone else said didn’t taste of anything.
The good news though is that Green and Black’s peanut flavour which is apparently incredibly popular in the states, is coming to the UK later this year. Well it’s good news to people who can eat chocolate and peanuts at least…
I was a good sport and tasted the cappuccino but instantly wished I hadn’t. Bleugh. I passed on the remaining four coffees.
Due to my newly faced up to health situation, I will not be eating my bag full of Green and Black’s chocolate. I will though be giving it all away to a lucky reader/friend/relative in the near future but you’ll no doubt agree this should wait until the temperatures dip some more. Melted chocolate through the post is not a good thing.
A very cliched food blogging picture of a cappuccino… it might love me but the feeling is not reciprocated!
nice healthy cupcakes oh I agree Ozoz is a star you lucky thing you got to meet her right? enjoy the break and all the best for the new site
Rebecca
Sarah, my sister had a Diet coke addiction and she gradually replaced it with sparkling mineral water mixed with juice. That might help perhaps? And aren't you nice experimenting for your mum? 🙂
Wow!! all those chocolates!! Actually i thought your cupcakes looks great..
Lovely, cute and Bumpy cup cakes. Like the wavy looks of the cup cakes. Good clicks.
Mmmhh, chocolate tasting! Lucky you!
Those cupcakes look delicious.
Have a great summer break!
Cheers,
Rosa
oh my…u are really one lucky food blogger..getting invited 2 loadsa events and getting goodies all the while..
i am so not the low fat, low sugar typa person as well..and i just dont understand why one needs 2 struggle and bake a cake without any of the fun stuff in it..just so u can look hot, and er maybe live a lil longer 🙂 ???
As long as you dont do it on a regular basis, i think it shud be fine, or so id like 2 believe 🙂
Enjoy the summer hols with ted.
I've not gotten into the gluten-free baking thing myself, but if you're looking for ideas/advice, Tartelette (http://www.mytartelette.com/) might be a good place to start – she has beautiful, often gluten-free baked goodies. Apologies if you already read her blog (I know she's quite popular) but I didn't see it on the blogroll so figured it couldn't hurt to mention it.
I absolutely LOVE diet coke too! That's so funny. I can't buy it otherwise drink nothing else. But occasionally I treat myself. I haven't attempted much gluten free, dairy free baking. I kind of wonder what the point is! But yes from a health perspective it would be better. And peanut chocolate from G&B – can't wait!Have a great summer break. I think August will be quiet for me to (at least in the blogging world!)
Oh egg free and gluten free is very difficult to achieve! You need one really to get any rise.
I don't have a precise solution, but in my attempts to bake for vegan friends before I've read a lot around the internet. I've frequently seen the suggestion to add extra bicarbonate of soda and then either white vinegar or lemon juice as the acid/alkaline reaction will help to lift the cakes. This is could also be achieved by adding buttermilk/0% fat yoghurt thinned with milk and extra bicarb, as again it's the same acid/alkaline reaction you need.
If you're just looking to cut out cholesterol though, surely you could still use the egg whites and just cut out the yokes? This way you'd still get the air bubbles trapped in the whites when you whisk the batter together and should get a much lighter result.
A good recipe I've found which uses these methods (although isn't vegan) is this Banana Blueberry Muffin recipe on BBC Good Food http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1572/banana-and-blueberry-muffins-
Bananas are also frequently used in vegan baking to replace eggs, although they act as more of a binding agent than to give any rise, and you have to want your end result to taste of banana. That being said I've made this banana chocolate loaf cake (again from BBC Good Food) http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3735/chocolate-and-banana-cake before replacing the eggs with a extra couple of bananas to make a vegan version to much success. The added banana flavour works well here and gives you a really dense chocolatey cake which would probably work with the gluten free switch too.
Finally I've also recently switched to using rapeseed oil in much of my cooking, as this supposedly has the lowest saturated fat content of any culinary oil, and certainly lower than olive oil. This could be a good one to use then if you choose to replace butter with oils when baking, as many vegan recipes do, and will cut the fat down even further than if you used olive or sunflower oil.
Hope some of that helps. I need to get my act together and buy myself some matcha as I really want to have a go at something for Catty's competition this month!
My gluten free egg free cakes were a diaster. Basically, they turned to mochi. Too much protein in gluten free flour I think. I didn't actually kill myself over it, but wanted too.
Enjoy the Summer break Sarah! 🙂
Hi everyone. I'm Sarahs mom, and the wheat free thing was my idea. Based really, not so much on the low fat angle to baking, ( which Ive had to pay attention to for years) but was as a result of someone at work having a "food intolerance test" . I went along to be tested, mainly to see if I really did get migraines from eating anything egg related. I was apparantly showing I have an intolerance to not only eggs, but also wheat and mustard ( !) I have found it relatively easy to cut out wheat, you just have to replace bread with wheat free, pasta with a wheat free version. Its quite enlightening to start reading on the pack, exactly what is in the food we eat. Within 3 days my headaches stopped and I am full of energy. I have lost weight , not from eating less but eating differently. From the times ( and there have been a few) that I have cheated, I have reached the conclusion that my energy levels are directly related to the amount of wheat I have consumed. It really is that noticible. It really does make you wonder , how many people would look and feel 200% better by changing their diet.
Very laudable efforts at healthy baking, and your little cakes still looked lovely! Those galaxy counters look yummy!
Oh Sarah, you made me laugh and smile with this post. Some day our gluten-free attempts will win awards….till then, we smile and get back to the drawing board! Have a great holiday – I'll miss you….LOL
Quite a few of my friends have similar diet coke afflictions… you should start a support group – you'd be over subscribed!
The feeling of torture in your post that you're restricting your diet is embodied in that curious photo at the chocolate tasting of that guy seemingly about to bash himself in the head. Everyone around him looks most concerned – what's that all about?! Had he just found out you didn't like hot drinks and couldn't eat the chocolate?!
Hi Sarah, oh I just got here and you're off for August? Just kidding! Go nad have a great time. I just wanted to add that I've tried the wheat free thingie too and found it really helped my IBS symptoms, I felt less bloated and I looked trimmer! Cool eh. I've fallen off the bandwagon now though because the replacement products are quite expensive and we're on a tight grocery budget, but I'd do it again in an instant! Oh and by the way my coeliacs came back negative but I still experience the symptoms of intolerance! Weird eh. x
Hilarious – I have a similar diet coke addiction – I repeat, I am not an addict, I am not an addict!
I really like to read Sunita's blog (did you meet her at the first FBC?) because it's mostly baking but also health conscious. She does a fair few eggless recipes and all the cakes use whole wheat flour and vegetable oil instead of butter. So they're not gluten free but they are significantly better for your body…. I think her two kids and husband eat up most of the stuff she makes so they are constantly eating baked goods. I can see why she tries to keep them healthy.
She doesn't talk about the health side of things… I find myself drooling over a photo and then read the recipe, which starts with whole wheat flour, and I'm always amazed that she gets such great results.
I hope you enjoy your extra time with Ted. Best wishes for the summer.
@chowandchatter Yes I met Ozoz! I'm her biggest fan!
@lorraine Yes diet lemonade then sparkling water is my methadone!
@faithy thanks! they could have looked worse!
@sanjeetaKK @rosas Thanks!
@anopenbook yes there has been some fun stuff lately. I do kind of have the motivation to to reduce the fat in my diet due to the increased likelihood of dying of a heartattack by the age of 50.
@sarah Yes I know Tartelette's blog well – that's where I learnt how to make macarons! I had forgotten she'd been doing gluten free stuff lately, I will have another look.
@heather Well I guess unless you have a reaction to the wheat or dairy you don't need to worry about it. Don't mention the DC word, I might go running to the shops to buy some
@Becca Thank you! Those are great suggestions.
@MrP Glad to hear it's not just me!
@Rose GREETINGS MOTHER 🙂
@crazydaisy LOL the Galaxy Counters were kind of the saving grace here yes!!!
@kitchenbutterfly I'm only a DM away!
@feedingboys Ha ha, I missed the shot of that guy pinching his nose to do some weird coffee thing or another. I have about as much interest in tea and coffee as I do pensions.
@vegemitevix Don't panic! There will be cupcake crumbs being posted! Yeah I doubt I'm full blown intolerant but I definitely notice a feeling of lightness when I eat less bread.
@gourmetchick You don't sound sure?!
@sarah Yes I do know Sunita's blog and yes I did meet her at FBC. You are right she does omit eggs and butter a lot although she does use cream so it's not always low fat. I must pay more attention!
I'm with you on not being a particularly low fat baker, but my suggestion would be, rather than to immediately start baking low fat AND GF AND vegan, is to try and perfect one at a time. First try and get the gluten-free bit right, then when you've got that recipe tweaked to perfection, work on cutting down the fat; then work the egg angle. Trying to change three major elements at once is heavy going on any recipe. Just my 10 cents worth! Love the chocolate bits in these and love your decision to take August off! Enjoy 🙂
Sarah, I love your frankness. Green and Blacks – the dark type, is a passion of mine. However, peanut butter got me curious. I shall lool out of it. i have a work colleague who is a chocaholic and every so often she brings new things in and shares them with me. I feel so flattered that she thinks that I am on the same level as she is. Today she gave me some swiss milk chocolate with pears. I have to admit that when she first told me of the flavours and said 'come over to taste some' i did think to myself – don't think so. however this morning I stopped being so ackward and i did try it. guess what? it was actually quite interesting. you could defo taste the pear, gentle flavour, but unmistakably pear-like. I have also been looking for gluten free recipes – just to expand my knowledgge. Early days.
OMG they're bringing the peanut version over? You just made my day Sarah! I've been wondering if they would as I've seen it being advertised everywhere.