Sharabelle bakes

Bananas about bananas This is a re-post of an older blog. I had committed myself to year long mission to experiment making as many recipes as possible with my favourite fruit the banana. Why?....... It all started with as a joke during a conversation with a friend, who noted I seemed to add Banana to a lot of my recipes. I had just become totally Lactose Intolerant to the point that I have to read ingredients labels on foods and prescription pills to make sure they don't contain any milk derivatives. (Some pharmaceutical companies use lactose to bulk out pills, since its cheap) I went back to my research roots and started surfing the net looking for dairy free recipes. What I discovered was the wonderful world of vegan baking, Where I learnt that it was possible to bake dairy and egg free.  Banana's make a great substitute for eggs in some recipes. Perhaps it's because I'm Scottish but baking without eggs is pretty appealing, since it costs less money since I ...

If you can make your own, then why buy?????? I've been road testing dairy free and vegan baked recipes for over a year now, since having to go totally dairy free due to being lactose intolerant.  What Iv discovered is that there are 5 main base recipes that I use the most.  Adjusting the ingredients and flavours to fit the season or occasion.   1. QUICK BREAD Beetroot Soda Bread Scones Basic Soda Bread Recipe 8 oz  Self Raising Flour 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda 200 ml Dairy free milk 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar Pinch of Salt Pre-heat your oven to 230 Celsius Measure and dry ingredients, flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl.  Whisk to mix in the ingredients. Make a well in the centre and pour in 200 ml milk & vinegar Use a knife to bring the dough together.  If you still have some flour at the bottom of the bowl, add a little more dairy free milk.  Use your hands to knead the dough in the bowl t...

The Banana Project To make as many recipes using Banana's in a year and updating my blog once a week.   My first recipe this week is for Banana tea loaf.  Most traditional tea loaf recipes are dairy free but aren't vegan as they require an egg.  However it bakes just as well without one.  This time I decided to use a mashed banana as a replacement.  I also reduced the amount of raisins so they wouldn't overshadow the taste of the banana's.   Banana Tea loaf To bump up the taste even more, I soaked the fruit in banana tea. Banana tea:  Place 1 banana peel into a mug, fill with boiling water and cover.  Leave for 5-10 Min's then remove the peel.   This makes a lovely soothing cup of tea.   Who would have thunk it..... it worked.  It's a hybrid between a tea loaf and a banana loaf and tastes great.  Perfect toasted and covered in a dairy free spread.   Banana Coconut Curry...

Chia Tea Loaf  I'd bought Chai Tea last week at Real Foods to give it a try and found I didn't like it.  Not a total waste of time, because unless you try something you'll never know.  Now I know to stick to my Starbucks Chai Tea lattes.  But this still left me with the box of tea..... I hate anything going to waste, whenever I get a food gift I can't eat, due to my intolerance's, I always find someone to pass it onto.  Just for the life of me couldn't think of anyone that drank Chai Tea.  So in that wonderful way my brain works.  Chai Tea made me think of Tea Loaf,  which reminded me that Tea Loaf is a dairy free recipe.  So Why couldn't I use the Chai Tea in place of normal Tea bags? I found a Simon Rimmer Tea loaf recipe in one of my old cook books and simplified it.  Being a Budget baker I don't have the money to buy three different types of dried fruit, when I can easily buy one.    I've a...