Sharabelle bakes

Rolled Oat Macaroons  Another rainy day in Scotland, bah humbug. Not surprising that the news is reporting this has been one of the wetest summers on record.  So apart from making a big pot of corn and potato soup to keep me warm, I decided to bake today.  A while ago I found a recipe for a traditional Scottish recipe called Rolled Oat Macaroons.  Basically its the Scottish version of a Oat cookie.  It's one of my favourite to make, i like to make them small so I can eat more than one at a time.   Iv modified the recipe slightly to make it dairy free,  iv also added raisins and spice.  These are great with a mug of hot chocolate on a rainy day. Rolled Oat Macaroons 3 oz vegan Marg - softened 2 oz sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 oz self raising flour or 4 oz  plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder 4 oz rolled oats 1 tbsp golden syrup 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1tsp ground cinnamon 2 oz raisins Soya Milk to mix Pre-heat the oven too 180 C or 350 F Crea

Raspberry pavlova Iv been lucky enough to start work experience, on Thursdays at a factory canteen called the Pantry.  Lucky  because due to their healthy living ethos, they make nearly everything from scratch.  I'm loving it .   Today I made my first meringue.  Or I should say the first one that is edible, looks like a one and can't be used as a door stop.  I've tried in the past, I don't care how easy Nigella or the barefoot contessa says they are to make,  there not!!!   Baking is about the feel of the batter when you mix it and knowing when to stop so you don't  over mix it.  Getting the oven temp right and judging the correct time to take it out of the oven.  Sometimes the only way is for someone to teach you.  I have great childhood memories of my mum and grandma teaching me how to cook and bake.  I've done my share of teaching with friends and niece's and nephew.  The "are you mad look" you get when touching the top of a ca

The wonders of Date syrup I'v been experimenting with different sugars in my baking.  Having IBS i can't use sweetners as a substitute as its a trigger.  I found adding banana's and dried fruit allows me to reduce the amount of beet/cane sugar I use.  But you end up getting fed up of everything tasting of banana!!!   Agave syrup makes a great substitute but its really expensive, so I like to keep it for more fancy baking. While searching the web, i found several recipes for date syrup.  I'v tried them all and came up with my own personal method. Date Syrup    Makes 1/2 cup 6-8 pitted dates - diced 1/2 cup boiling water 1tsp lemon juice I pour 1/2 cup of boiling water over the chopped dates and leave it for 30 mins to soften.  Once soft I transfer to my blender and pulse till the mix is smooth.  (Add lemon juice only if you don't plan to use it the same day) Leave to cool before keeping in an airtight container in the fridge or using t

Chocolate Orange cake Monthly Book Club tonight at my local library.  A night where a group of women meet  to talk (mostly) about a book we (should) all have read. It just so happens it also involves, wine and edible goodies.  Thanks to IBS my drinking days are over, so I use the night as an excuse to test recipes. After reading the book we were given for this month I really needed to bake.  What can I say baking relaxes me and cheers me up.  I definitely needed it after this book.  If your into apocalyptic end of the world fiction then this is the book for you.  Personally I found it really Bleak.....  Why are these type of books always set in America?  I can't see America being the only target during a nuclear war!!!  Worse still it was a world with out cake's or cookies....  I made it my personal duty to make sure we had a chocolate boost after discussing this book. Adding orange zest and the juice into a vegan chocolate cake recipe worked wonders.   The cak

BAKING DIARY I can't make up my mind if I'm just really organised or just forgetful....  After giving up dairy, I've tested a lot of recipes  to find ones suitable for my intolerance's.  I tried shopping as normal, but got depressed reading all the labels to find out if the products were something I could safely eat.  I thought just making sure items were suitable for vegans would be enough, however yeast seems to be added to lots of vegan products as a flavouring. The Solution: =  make my own if I could.  Having a baking diary  helps me keep track of what works and what doesn't.  And I can safely say Iv figured out lots of ways that don't work.  e.g my fritter failure. I'm the type of friend that likes to show my appreciation by the giving of baked goods.  So I have a couple of friends who are recipe taste testers for goodies I can't taste test for myself.  In fact, my friends and family are  brutally honest with their comments

Made Courgette fritters for my dinner last night, this being my second attempt.  My first attempt I tried to use Soy flour which led to a strange tasting result.  So when I found another recipe for them on   http://ethicalchef.co.uk/  site yesterday, I thought why not give it another go.  It should just be like making vegan pancakes, how hard can this be....... Too embarrassed to even take a picture of the final product.  I ended up with a well browned, okay burnt outside and a scrambled egg like textured inside.  Id even put them in the oven to try and firm them up. I can make pancakes, even made courgette muffins why can't I make fritters.  Iv decided their my veggie kriptonite.  Well the skin is green...............

Dairy free spiced pumpkin cake with home made liners I felt like baking today but i'd used all the muffin liners yesterday.  I had plenty grease proof paper, so why not make some myself.  On one hand I felt pretty smug for figuring this out and on the other hand I felt stupid that it had taken me this long to think of it!  All I needed was a ruler and a pair of scissors, cut the paper into 5 inch squares then place in the muffin pan. Allowing the paper to fold over to fit the tin.  Dohh, I'm Scottish so the amount of money that I'm going to save on making my own over wins over my feeling of stupidity. 

My Any Berry Muffin recipe.                   Preheat oven too 190 oc       Bake for 23-25 mins 2 Cups Flour 3/4 Cup Caster Sugar 1 tbsp Baking powder 1/2 tsp Salt 1/2 Cup Soya Yogurt 1/2 Cup Soya Milk 1/2 Cup Veg Oil 2 Cups Frozen/Fresh Blueberries 1 Lemon - zest Only Since having to give up dairy due to the wonders of being lactose intolerant, iv had to totally re-think the way I bake.  Iv had a lot of failures, but this recipe is not one of them. Even my full dairy eating mum loves them xx I combined the Flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and give it a whisk to loosen.  I have the Food network to thank for this tip, saves me having to sift the flour. In a separate jug I measure out my soya yogurt, milk and oil.  Give it a good mix together, then stir in the Lemon zest.  I added the Wet mix to the dry and mixed till just combined.  I then folded in the fruit and quickly spoon into my lined muffin pan and get in the oven.  My first dairy free cupcakes