Dairy-free Chocolate Fudge Cake

My brother-in-law came to stay a couple of weeks ago and we noticed that it was his birthday over the weekend he was with us. Now, when you reach your mid-fifties you tend not to make such a fuss about birthdays anymore, so we thought we'd make him a surprise cake. Even the 3-year-old managed to keep it a surprise and only referred to a 'special pudding' and at the end of dinner we duly turned off the lights, lit a few candles on the top of the cake and sang Happy Birthday to him. He was properly surprised, and and texted later to say he was really pleased we made the effort - which just illustrates the point that you're never too old for a birthday cake.

For my part, I was really pleased with the cake itself. I adapted it from my grandmother's recipe (which I will I'm sure blog about at some point - it is the family's chocolate cake of choice) to make it dairy-free and I have to say that I think this version may even beat the original.

Ingredients (cake)

8oz self-raising flour

3 oz sunflower spread

7 oz caster sugar

2 tbsp golden syrup

1 cup (250ml) almond milk

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

4 tbsp cocoa

Ingredients (icing)

12 oz icing sugar

2 tbsp cocoa

2 oz sunflower spread

a little hot water

Method (cake)

Cream the sunflower spread and sugar, add the eggs and mix well. Then stir in the (sieved) flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Finally mix in the golden syrup and almond mixture. It will seem very runny - that's how it's supposed to look.

Makes enough for 2 8" sandwich tins or 2 7" sandwich tins and about 4 cupcakes.

Bake at 190 C for 20-25 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean. The cupcakes will take 8-10 mins.

Turn onto a rack and ice when completely cool.

Method (icing)

Beat the sunflower spread well, then stir in the (sieved) icing sugar and cocoa, using a little hot water to bring it all together. You shouldn't need more than a couple of tablespoons of water. Makes enough icing to sandwich the two cakes together and ice the top (as in my photo). If you want to cover the sides as well you'll need to make half as much again.

Hints

Keeps in the fridge for at least 4 days. If you don't like cold cake then I can heartily recommend popping a slice in the microwave for 20 secs or so - with amazing results.

I have used soya milk instead of almond milk with good results, but the taste and texture are superior with almond milk.

Dairy-free Pancakes

I experimented with a few dairy-free pancake mixtures until I found the best one - so I thought I'd share it here. They are thick and fluffy, and extremely moreish, and I can honestly say that I enjoy them just as much as my previous efforts with cow's milk.

They are perfect with maple syrup and streaky bacon - both the 3-year-old and the 1-year-old love them and ask for them every weekend without fail. They also work with blueberries in them - scatter a handful of blueberries over the pancake before you flip it for the first time.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour

1 cup soya milk

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

Method

Whisk together until the batter is smooth, with no lumps. Cook in a griddle or frying pan with a small amount of vegetable oil in it. Serves 2 hungry adults or 4 dieting ones.

Hints

They are best made straight after mixing the batter - if it is left to rest for longer than a few minutes it goes a bit grey and thick (although still tastes ok when cooked)

Recipe Evolution

I must credit this website here - the mixture I started with before tweaking it to my taste.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread

I can't remember ever making shortbread before, as I'm not normally a fan, but I'm very proud of how well my first attempt turned out. I was inspired to make it at the weekend for two reasons - one is that I was saw by this recipe on the Baking Bar blog, and the other is that the partner had mentioned that shortbread was a particular favourite of hers.

It was dead easy to make, and due to the partner's request for plain shortbread I put about a fifth of the plain mixture in the tin before folding the chocolate chips into the rest of the mixture.

I was really pleased with the results - it is indeed rich and buttery, and had a great texture. The 3-year-old was very excited throughout the baking process, and attacked the first piece I gave him with enthusiasm. By the second piece, however, I noticed that he was just picking out the chocolate chips, and thereafter he asked for chocolate chips on their own, which was a little disappointing. The partner loved the plain version and has requested I make it again soon.

It just so happened that we were going to a picnic the next day, so I duly packed a box of the chocolate chip version (as was under strict instructions to leave all the plain at home for the partner to eat during the week) and it was a big hit - with children and adults alike. In fact I had to hide the box from one 3-year-old after I saw him reaching for a fourth piece...

Verdit - I would definitely make this again, although I might try with dark chocolate chips next time.

Spotty Cakes

I made these cakes at the weekend at the request from the 3-year-old. They are based on some he saw in an article in a cbeebies magazine - the Mr Tumble themed issue. (for those who don't know who Mr Tumble is - he's a character in a current children's TV programme called Something Special, and pretty much everything in his show is spotty).

I used my dairy-free version of Marguerite Patten's sponge cake recipe: weigh the eggs, then use equal amounts of Pure sunflower spread, flour and caster sugar. I also added 1 tsp of vanilla essence per egg. The spots in the picture are mini-smarties, so I made the 1-year-old some 'starry' cakes, with fruit stars instead of smarties.

The 3-year-old and 1-year-old were very happy with them, even if they mainly licked off the icing and the spots/stars. As for me and the partner - we weren't as impressed unfortunately - vanilla fairy cakes just don't taste the same without butter. They looked good though, and made the kids very happy.

I've been experimenting with dairy-free cooking for well over a year now but I've not yet made any recipes simultaneously with butter and an alternative, so I've resolved to do just that the next time I do some baking.

Brownies

Some friends of ours had a baby a few weeks ago and I wanted to make them some brownies to help them celebrate the happy occasion. The ones I ended up making were based on those that Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall wrote about in the Guardian this month. However, I wanted to make them dairy-free, so that the 1-year-old could eat them, so I replaced the butter with sunflower spread.

They were comparatively easy to make and worked equally well in the brownie tin and in cupcake cases (where I put the extra mixture that wouldn't fit in the brownie tin, and baked for only 10 minutes). We had plenty to give to our friends and for us to eat at home, without any need to double the mixture.

The 3-year-old and the 1-year-old loved them and would cheerfully have eaten the whole tin. The partner was less impressed and felt they were "too chocolate-ey". I have to say that I agreed with the kids, and would definitely make these again - although I'd be tempted to add walnuts instead of chocolate chunks at the end.