Stollen

I've wanted to make this for ages. I quite like a good piece of stollen, and I'm always looking for fun new recipes to make. This was fun! Feeding the yeast, kneading the dough, letting it rest and all the rest of the enjoyment that is bread making. The only thing that was missing was marzipan, and even then it wasn't really necessary. It was lovely with a cup of tea after a long week at work and a lovely way to herald in the Christmas food season.

Just remember to leave yourself enough time to make it.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoon white sugar, plus 1/3 cup
2/3 cup milk - I used almond milk - lukewarm
3 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
100 g butter, melted - I used dairy free spread
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup mixed peel
1/2 cup slivered almonds - I used almond meal
Icing sugar to dust

Combine milk, yeast and sugar and sit until frothy (10 mins). Mix the flour, sugar and spice together and make a well. Add the wet ingredients and the yeast mix. Combine into a dough, then knead for 10 minutes until dough is elastic and smooth. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm area and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Roll dough out to 2 cm and then sprinkle with fruit and almond mix. Lightly knead to combine. Roll out in an oval shape and then roll into a log. This is where I would spread it with marzipan next time. Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees or until sounds hollow when tapped. Spring kle with icing sugar and serve.

Merry Christmas!
Xxx

Hummingbird cake

Yummy yum yum yum.
I've just finished scoffing this piece :-) I couldn't help it!

It is also gluten free and dairy free, and it is made of so much fruit it has to be healthy, right???
Next time you're looking for a classy tea-time treat and want to venture off the chocolate pathway (shock!) give this a try. You won't be sorry***


***unless you do not like or are allergic to bananas, pineapple or walnuts, then, you may be :-)

Gluten free, dairy free Hummingbird cake

Ingredients

250g gluten free flour (SRF or plain)
(2 teaspoons GF baking powder if using plain flour like I did)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (yes, I know, I was surprised too)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
270g brown sugar
440g crushed pineapple, drained
50g dessicated coconut
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 eggs
250ml (1 cup) oil (I used rice bran oil)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a round cake tin.
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the pineapple, bananas, walnuts, eggs and oil and combine.
Pour into pre-greased tin and bake until golden brown and skewer comes out clean (original recipe recommends 40 minutes; mine oven took 60 minutes).
Cool and then enjoy how you wish - I like mine as is with a mug of Japanese cherry green tea. You can ice it with cream cheese icing if you would prefer it dairy-fied.

(1 tub philadelphia cream cheese, icing sugar (GF), lemon juice - I did not measure any quantities, just mix in little bits of each until it tastes as you like it. I prefer mine less sweet so I don't add tons of icing sugar (maybe 1/2 cup??) and two (minimally enthusiastic) squeezes of a lemon half. But go mad...experiment!)

Enjoy!

xxx