Blood Orange and Ginger Drizzle Cake

It’s a food fact that if you want to find what’s best in season, head towards the markets.  Whether it’s an organic, bio-dynamic, re-mortgage your house to afford it style farmer’s market or just the local greengrocer and his striped awning.  If you shop from the markets, you will see the seasons as they change and develop, the colours of your purchases satisfyingly ebbing and flowing with the weather.  Right now, blood oranges are having their time again.  Or, as I was recently informed, blush oranges.  The connotation of blood clearly being too much for some shoppers!  Rich ruby red with swirls of amber, these tarter, more intense versions of an orange are utterly delicious and as pleasing to look at as they are to eat.  I’m currently favouring a simple salad made from cooked beetroot, poached chicken and slices of blood orange, lightly dressed in oil and scattered with fresh coriander.  It’s a great combination and one I hope to show you later in the month.  In the meantime, I made this cake from a whim.  I do so love a lemon drizzle and thought that the tartness of the blood oranges would suit the overall feel.  The ginger is a warming addition and a nod to the drop in temperature in recent days.  You’re left with a light and zesty cake, soaked in sweet/sharp nectar and topped with a fine gauze of scented sugar crust.  It’s a winner and a rather lovely treat on a cold afternoon.

To my mind, blood oranges are best.  But I’m sure that if you use regular oranges for this recipe, it will work just as well.  In fact, I’m positive it would be lovely.

BLOOD ORANGE AND GINGER DRIZZLE CAKE

You will need a 2lb loaf tin for this recipe

For the cake

225g/8oz butter replacement - Pure Sunflower Spread

225g/8oz golden caster sugar

4 eggs – 4 tsp Orgran Egg Replacer whisked together with 8 tbsp water

225g/8oz Doves Farm Gluten Free Self Raising Flour

1 heaped tsp ground ginger

1tbsp rice milk

1tsp xanthan gum

The zest of 2 blood oranges

For the drizzle

The juice of 1 blood orange

85g/3oz golden caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180c (160c Fan) and grease and line your loaf tin.  Cream together the butter replacement and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the egg replacement mixture, a bit at a time, slowly stirring them through until fully incorporated. 

Sift in the flour, ginger and xanthan gum then add the grated orange zest and rice milk, mix well until fully combined and then spoon in to the lined loaf tin, levelling the top of the cake with the back of your spoon.

Bake in the oven for 45 – 50 minutes until cooked through and a thin skewer or cocktail stick inserted in to the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Allow the cake to cool a little in its tin while you mix together the remaining caster sugar and orange juice.  Pierce the warm cake all over using the skewer or a fork and then pour over the drizzle – the juice will be absorbed into the cake and will dry to form a sugary crust on the cake’s surface.  Leave the cake in its tin until completely cool and then cut into slices and serve.

You can also find this recipe at Cybele Pascal's Allergy Free Cuisine

My Book and Apricot Bakewell Tarts

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THE INTOLERANT GOURMET, delicious allergy-friendly home cooking for everyone

And so it’s here (or very nearly so), my much longed for work of passion, The Intolerant Gourmet cook book.  Finally I can point you to it and show you the beauty that is my book.  I think I can say that, as immodest as it may sound, as this labour of love wasn’t created solely by me.  I’ve had an incredible team of people help me create it, the photography, styling and editing processes have been a joy to behold and it is such a pleasure to share it with you all.  I say that, because over the last year I’ve learnt an awful lot.  It’s been a brilliant and inspirational time and I hope that my book will convey that, as well as a serious amount of delicious recipes for all to eat!  I’ve spoken before about the process of feeling inspired, and if I could take only one thing from the past twelve months it is this: when you are surrounded (and indeed, surround yourself) with people that are incredibly talented and innovative at what they do, it can only lead to one thing - inspiration.  When those very same people are also lovely to boot then you know that they are truly doing what they love and it can propel you forward, driven by a want to equal and emulate, or put simply, it makes you want to be the best at what you do too.  Or, at the very least, try to be.

Now all this motivation can make a person hungry, and what better way to sustain you in times of productivity than a delicious sweet Bakewell Tart made perfectly and precisely just for you.  These individual treats are based on my original Bakewell Tart, the likes of which you can find in my book.  Here, I’ve used a good quality apricot jam for ease and flavour and the balance is just right: golden jam, light and fluffy topping and a delicate short pastry case.  It’s the sort of thing to celebrate with and give to all those people that you admire.

Merry Christmas and see you all in the New Year.

APRICOT BAKEWELL TARTS

Makes approximately 24 little tarts

You will need a 3 inch round cutter and two 12 holed tart tins for this recipe

For the pastry

230g/8oz Doves Farm gluten free plain flour

60g/2oz dairy-free margarine – I recommend Pure Sunflower Spread

60g/2oz vegetable shortening

½ tsp xanthan gum

2 – 3 tbsp cold water

For the filling

150g/5½oz dairy-free margarine -  I recommend Pure Sunflower Spread

150g/5½oz golden caster sugar

200g/7oz ground almonds

100g/3½ oz ground rice

2 eggs – 2 heaped tsp Orgran Egg Replacer whisked with 4 tbsp water

A few drops of almond extract

A handful of flaked almonds

8 tbsp apricot jam

Preheat the oven to 190c (170c Fan).  Place the flour, xantham gum, margarine and vegetable fat in the food processor and blitz until the mixture is of a breadcrumb like consistency.  Tip in the cold water, tablespoon by tablespoon, blending as you go, until the mixture begins to pull together.  Turn the mixture in to a large mixing bowl and, using the tips of your fingers, pull together into a ball of dough.  Knead for around 2 minutes, until smooth and elastic to your touch.  Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and set aside while you prepare the filling.

Use a wooden spoon to mix the margarine and sugar together until light and incorporated.  Add the egg replacement, bit by bit, stirring as you go until fully combined.  Stir in the ground rice, ground almonds and almond extract.

Remove the pastry from the fridge, shape with your hands in to an even ball and lay the pastry between two large layers of clingfilm.  Roll the pastry out– aim to get roll to about 4mm thickness- peel off the uppermost layer of clingfilm and use your cutter to cut out as many tart bases as you can, ball up any remaining dough, roll out again and repeat.  Gently press the pastry circles into the tart tin, gently filling in any cracks or gaps that may appear with extra pastry, patted flat with your fingertips.  Spread the base with a heaped teaspoon of apricot jam and then carefully cover the jam with the almond filling – I recommend spooning it onto the jam and gently pressing it together with the flat of your hand to fill any cracks or gaps.  Scatter over the flaked almonds and bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden and fragrant.  Tranfer to a wire rack to cool before serving.