Gluten and Dairy Free Lemon, Poppy-Seed and Cardamon Spiced cupcakes with a Lemon Drizzle

When it comes to baking, I'm more of a biscuit/fruit cake type person, and only really dig out the muffin cases if I'm making breakfast muffins. But tomorrow my work is having their summer party and as part of the whole "Summer Fete" theme, there's going to be a cupcake baking competition, with a few ladies from the Women's Institute judging.

So, for something very last minute (I wasn't going to enter in all honesty), and vaguely British Rajish I have made (gluten-free and dairy-free) Lemon, Poppy-Seed and Cardamon Spiced cupcakes with a Lemon Drizzle. So wish me luck tomorrow!

Lemon, Poppy-Seed and Cardamon Spiced cupcakes with a Lemon Drizzle
Makes 12 cup cakes

Ingredients:

For the cakes:

100g Gluten-free plain flour (as mentioned previously, I find Doves Farm the best)
1 tsp baking powder
100g golden caster sugar
50g dairy free magarine, softened
2 large free range eggs
2 tbsp soy milk
juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
4 green cardamon pods, seeds removed and ground to a fine powder
2 tbsp poppy seeds
a few drops of yellow food colouring (optional)

For the lemon drizzle:

50g icing sugar
1/2 tbsp golden caster sugar
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Method (for the cupcakes):

1. Line a muffin tray with paper muffin cases and preheat the fan forced oven to 190 degrees celsius.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cardamon and sugar.

3. Add the margarine, eggs, milk, lemon juice and zest and food colouring (if adding), whisk together until creamy, then fold in the poppy seeds.

4. Divide the mixture between the paper muffin cases and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until they're golden coloured and firm to the touch. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack.


Method (for the lemon drizzle):

1. In a small bowl, sift the icing sugar and caster sugar together.

2. Mix in the lemon juice until it forms a paste.


Method (to finish off):

1. While the cupcakes are still warm, prick a few small holes on top with a cocktail stick.

2. Drizzle the icing over the top of the cupcakes with a spoon and leave to finish cooling and for the icing to set.

Gluten-free yoghurt, pistachio, cranberry and orange blossom water cakes

Well, I say cakes, but these are half way between a cake and a scone - a bit of an experiment thanks to the yoghurt that the lovely people over at Total and Traffic Partners had sent me, if you remember from this post.

They're lovely on their own, but even better with a dollop of cream or some jam. I've used the full fat yoghurt for these, but I'm sure it would work with the 0% fat yoghurt too.

Obviously it doesn't have to be gluten-free, you can use normal flour if you want, but if you do, cut down the yoghurt amount by 2 tablespoons.

Gluten-free yoghurt, pistachio, cranberry and orange blossom water cakes

Makes roughly 16 cakes depending on the size of cutter you use (I used a tumbler glass).

Ingredients:
225g Gluten-free flour (I find the Doves Farm stuff to be the best)
1 tbsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground clove
60g unsalted butter
30g brown sugar
30g honey
40g chopped, unsalted pistachios
40g cranberries
2 tbsp orange blossom water
1 large egg
8 tbsp yoghurt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius, and lightly grease a baking tray with butter.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.

3. Rub the butter into the flour mixture, until it has the texture of small breadcrumbs.

4. Mix in the spices, pistachios, sugar, honey, orange blossom water and cranberries.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and yoghurt, quickly mix this into the cake mix – it should become a slightly wet dough.

6. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until cracks and bubbles disappear. Roll out so it is about a 1.5cm thick.

7. With your cookie cutter (or in my case a tumbler), press out rounds in the dough. Roll up the excess dough, roll out again and continue making rounds until there is no dough left.

8. Place the tray in the hot oven for a couple of minutes to melt the butter a little, take it out and lay your rounds out on it, sprinkling them with a little flour.

9. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

10. Let them cool a little, then serve with cream and jam.

Bigilla (Maltese Broad Bean Dip)

With my trip back home to the old country last week my taste for Bigilla, a traditional Maltese broad bean dip, was reawakened. It's incredibly tasty and a great alternative to hummus, usually served with Maltese water crackers called Galletti or on toasted sour dough bread. In Malta, people will either make their own or buy it by weight from markets – though these days you'll find them in ready made up tubs in the local shops.

Bigilla usually has red chilli added to it for a fiery kick, though some prefer to leave the chilli out, while others will add Tabasco for extra heat. Here, I'm giving the recipe my mother gave me, her recipe calls for the tyoe of dried broad bean that has skins, but unfortunately I could only get the skinless ones. If you can get a hold of them with the skins, it will give the Bigilla the authentic brown colour rather the "white" colour of the version I have made here. Both are equally tasty, though there is an earthy depth to the skin-on version.

With this recipe you can make it in advance and serve it cold (it will keep in the fridge for a few days, just add a little extra oil to preserve it), or eat it warm.

Take note that the beans are soaked overnight, please allow time for this. As well as a cooking time of about 1.5 hours.

Bigilla (Maltese Broad Bean Dip)

Ingredients:
250g Dried Broad Beans (available in most Middle Eastern shops)
2 – 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper
finely chopped chilli (optional, but highly recommended)

1. In a medium sized pan, soak the broad beans in cold water overnight.

2. Drain the broad beans and just cover with clean, fresh cold water and bring to boil over a medium heat.

3. Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and simmer for 1 - 1.5 hours. When the beans start going soft, mash with the back of a fork, keeping an eye on the water level, it shouldn't be sloppy, but a nice thick paste with a bit of texture from the broken up broad beans. Don't let it dry out!



4. Once all the broad beans have softened and mashed, gradually add the oil a tablespoon at a time, mixing in as you go. You want it to be smooth – too little oil will make it dry and floury, too much and you'll get a slick mess.

I was very lucky to receive a gift of Maltese olive oil made from
the remaining indigenous olives grown in Malta and have used it in my Bigilla.

5. Stir in the parsley and garlic, gradually add salt and pepper, tasting as you go. That's the key thing with Bigilla, is taste, taste, taste.

6. If you're adding chillis, again, do it gradually and taste as you go. In this version I have only added a heaped teaspoon worth of chilli to give it a little kick but keeping it mild. If I didn't have guests eating it, personally would have added another heaped teaspoon.



7. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of parsley on top – don't forget the crackers!

That warm fuzzy feeling

Massive thanks to Gary from Roast Potato who made my Maltese roast potato recipe and blogged about it here: http://roastpotato.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/maltese-roast-potatoes/

Also others on Facebook and such who have been using my recipes, thank you, it really is appreciated.

What to do with a month's supply of yoghurt...

This just turned up at my work today, thanks to the lovely people over at Total and Traffic Partners.


Though a couple have been bagged by a couple of work mates already! Now what to do with them? Yoghurt, rose and pistachio cake? A curry? A dark chocolate mousse (Thanks to my good friend Beth for the recipe)? Scoff the lot over breakfast...?

Ah the possibilities...

Braġjoli – Maltese Beef Olives

Beef olives are found all over Europe, the Maltese have their own variation called Braġjoli which is either baked or braised in a wine or tomato sauce. I made these last week and served them with the Patata fil Forn from my last post. It went down a treat with a very good friend asking if he could have the leftovers for his lunch (I have the Maltese tendency of cooking too much!).

My preferred way of cooking them is to brown them, then braise them in a wine, garlic and tomato sauce with lots of bay leaves and marjoram. They go fantastically well with Patata fil Forn and steamed veg (I served them with thickly cut carrots and broccoli florets here), as well as creamy mashed potato. You can prepare the beef olives ahead of time as they do need quite a bit of time to cook – this is very much a slow food dish.

Braġjoli – Maltese Beef Olives

Serves 4 - 6 (About 270 cal per beef olive)

Ingredients:

For the braġjoli:

30g breadcrumbs
100g lean bacon or thick cut ham, chopped into small pieces
200g extra lean beef mince
2 medium hard boiled eggs, chopped into small pieces
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp each of salt and pepper
500g lean topside beef, cut into 8 thin slices (any cut with too much fat marbling won't stand up to being flattened out as it will tend to collapse)

For the sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion
3 cloves garlic
150ml red wine (the stronger, the better)
1 beef stock bullion, dissolved in 100ml boiled water
400g chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon marjoram (dried is fine)
4 large bay leaves
1 tbsp chopped parsley
season to taste

Method for the Braġjoli:


1. In a large bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, bacon, mince, eggs, garlic, onion, parsley and seasoning, mixing thoroughly.



2. On a protected surface, take a slice of the topside and flatten out further by beating it out with a meat mallet (or a rolling pin) until it's about 3mm thick.



3. Take 1-2 heaped tablespoons of the stuffing and spoon onto the centre of the flattened out "steak". Roll up tightly by tucking the sides over the stuffing and rolling up. Secure with cocktail sticks.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the other slices. Set aside. If preparing ahead, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate.

Method for the sauce:


1. In a large casserole dish or heavy-based saucepan, heat the oil over a medium heat and brown the braġjoli all over with the bay leaves, you may need to do this in a couple of batches. Set aside.



2. In the same oil, brown the onions and garlic. If it sticks, add a little of the wine to get at the crispy bits.


3. Pour in the rest of the wine, add the chopped tomatoes, stock and marjoram, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and carefully add the braġjoli, making sure they are well covered by the sauce.

4. Cover and simmer over a low heat for about an hour and a half to two hours, checking the moisture level. If need be, add a little water now and then.


5. Stir through the rest of the parsley at the end of cooking, check the seasoning and remove all the cocktail sticks before serving – this can be a little bit of a messy job, so take out the braġjoli first and do it on a separate plate before spooning over the sauce.

N.B. Any left over stuffing can be made into patties by beating an egg through it and dipping into breadcrumbs. Fry in a little olive oil in a non-stick frying pan until golden brown.

Patata fil Forn - Maltese Roast Potatoes

Maltese Roast Potatoes are quite different from the usual Sunday "roasties" we get here in the UK. For a start, the potatoes aren't par-boiled in large chunks, but sliced finely. These are incredibly popular and in our family we almost have to fight to the death for the last crunchy. Most of the time slices of thickly cut meat or chicken pieces will be laid underneath so that they poach along with the potatoes. Normally a lot of salt and pepper is used along with a little curry powder, but my mother's variation uses powdered vegetable stock, so I have omitted the salt here.

Patata fil Forn (Maltese Roast Potatoes) - Serves 4 large portions

Ingredients:

1 large onion, sliced in to rings
4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced, lengthways into 5mm rounds
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons powdered vegetable stock
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespoons of oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.

2. Layer the base of a baking dish with a layer of half the onions, over this layer half the potatoes. Sprinkle with half the garlic, stock, pepper, curry powder and drizzle a tablespoon of oil over the top.


3. Repeat with the second layer.

4. Slowly pour in some water to just come up with the bottom layer of the potatoes (about 5 - 10 mm).

5. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes until the top layer is golden brown and most of the water has evaporated. Serve with your usual roast, stews, or even between a couple of slices of bread with your favourite chutney (great for when you have left overs!)