Victoria Sponge Cake, Grain Free & SCD

I wanted, nay, needed, to have a nice economical Victoria Sponge Cake, and so developed this recipe.

2 Layer Victoria Sponge Cake

Gluten-Free Grain-Free SCD

         
6 Eggs, lightly whisked
1/2 cup Yogurt (If subbing Sugar for Honey, increase Yogurt to 1 cup.)

1/2 cup Safflower Oil

1/2 cup Honey

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tsp Vanilla

1 cup Coconut Flour, sifted

1 cup Almond Flour (blanched, or white)

2 Tbsp plain unsweetened Gelatin

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ginger


   
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Grease 2 round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment
Do the measuring and mixing - dry ingredients sifted into one bowl, wet ingredients whisked in another, then mix them together - and plop it into the pans
Pop in 350 F oven and bake 15 minutes
Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees F and bake up to another 15 minutes until done
If the cake isn't finished after this additional 15 minutes, reduce heat again down to 300 degrees F and continue to bake until done
Cake is finished when toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean
When cake is done, remove from oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes
Turn cake out of pans and allow to finish cooling on rack
   
The recipe can be halved to make a single layer cake.
    
Peach Jam Cake Filling
    
3/4 cup Peach Jam (SCD  legal)

Honey if needed, to adjust sweetness to taste

2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger  

Topping

2 Tbsp Almond Flour

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ginger

   

    
This time I cut the layers in half to make 4 layer cake, and for a "filling" used 3/4 cup of peach jam (1/4 cup between each layer, honey sweetened freezer jam I made last year with peaches from our tree). The jam was a little tart so I added just enough honey to make it slightly sweet and added 2 tsp Cinnamon and 1 tsp Ginger. I also changed the spice in the cake to the same 2 tsp Cinnamon and 1 tsp Ginger. I was out of yogurt so replaced it with the last of some kefir and a litte milk to make up the amount needed; peach juice or puree would have been good if I'd had it. I also replaced the honey with sugar - see below. With milk and sugar my cake is no longer SCD legal. You can make whatever changes you like so long as the conform to any dietary restrictions you need to adhere to.

I don't always use Sugar instead of Honey, but when I do... Honey has gotten so expensive and our budget so dour that I cannot use half a cup or more of the liquid gold in a single recipe, especially if the bulk of what I'm making is destined to be consumed by Normies who can and do eat anything with impunity. So I do admit to using Sugar instead of Honey these days. I don't always use Sugar instead of Honey, but when I do I use the best sugar I can afford and not highly refined white stuff. I replace the honey with an equal amount of Sugar (1/2 cup), mix the Sugar in with the dry ingredients, AND increase the Yogurt by the amount of honey being replaced (1 cup) (in any recipe using Coconut Flour, another liquid must be increased to make up for exchanging liquid honey for dry sugar).

Any liquid or puree can be used instead of yogurt.
Likewise, any oil you like may be used including melted butter or coconut oil.
Any vinegar or citrus juice can replace the apple cider vinegar.

Recipe Proportions for

Single Layer Victoria Sponge Cake

        
3 Eggs, lightly whisked
1/4 cup Yogurt

1/4 cup Safflower Oil

1/4 cup Honey

1 1/2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tsp Vanilla

  

1/2 cup Coconut Flour, sifted

1/2 cup Almond Flour (blanched, or white)

1 Tbsp plain unsweetened Gelatin

1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Ginger

LEMON VICTORIA SPONGE

Make as above, but for two pan recipe replace Apple Cider Vinegar with 1/4 cup Lemon Juice and Oil with equal amount of Melted Butter, and to the flours add 1 Tbsp Lemon Zest. Make Lemon Curd Filling.
 4 eggs
1 Tbsp Lemon Zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup butter in thin slices
Blend lemon zest & lemon juice, or mince zest as fine as possible.
Beat eggs. Add honey and lemon juice & zest, beat.
Heat on medium low, using heat diffuser, stirring, until thickened & coats back of wooden spoon.
Stir in butter.
Meanwhile boil water & sterilize 2 small jars & lids.
Pour into hot jars & cover.

Rich Berry "Ice Cream"

Instant "Ice Cream" made in a VitaMix or blender, no ice cream maker required.

Quick, easy, rich, creamy, decadent, delicious, and nutritious too.

 

  

3/4 cup Raw Cashews (or other high-fat nuts)

3 oz plain Yogurt (made with half & half or cream is best, or greek or dripped yogurt would be good too . . . 3 oz = 3/8 cup, or 6 Tbsp, or 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp)

3 Tbsp Honey or Maple Syrup

1 oz Coconut Water (or other liquid, more as needed to make it blend . . .  1 oz = 2 Tbsp)

3 Frozen Bananas

3/4 cup Frozen Berries (raspberries are good!)

optional 1/2 oz Dark Chocolate

6 cubes Ice

 

Place the Cashews (only!) in the blender and blend until smooth

Add the remaining ingredients in the order given

To be SCD legal, use Honey and homemade SCD yogurt, and do NOT add any chocolate.

Start blender on lowest speed and work up to highest speed (don't take long or you'll melt it too much!)

If needed to make it blend, add more Coconut Water 1 Tbsp at a time

Blend just until smooth. It should be the consistency of good soft-serve ice cream

Serve immediately (or prepare shortly before serving and pop into the freezer for a few minutes)

 
 

This recipe makes 4 small servings or 2 large servings - it is very rich so a little goes a long way!

  
If you can have it, it's really worth adding the dark chocolate!

  
It really whips up easily in my VitaMix, and a !/3 size batch in my Magic Bullet comes out decently; other people make similar "ice cream" in regular blenders, but I do not know whether every blender will give a satisfactory smooth and creamy result.
 
Today is HOT, which is something we are not accustomed to as hot weather is most unusual here in our ultra-temperate little micro-climate. The grandchildren are at their father's for the weekend, and we three adults needed something to eat but did not want to cook and didn't feel like having much, so I made a batch of this "ice cream" for our dinner and it hit the spot! It's starting to cool off a little now so we're off to have an evening stroll. Perhaps we'll have a light supper later, but this was refreshing and filling enough for us for now. Usually, though, we'd have this "ice cream" for dessert.

(mild) BUFFALO WING HOT SAUCE

(mild) BUFFALO WING HOT SAUCE

For use on chicken wings or whatever you like

    

4 Tbsp Butter (1/2 stick)

2 Tbsp Honey 

3 ounces Louisiana Hot Sauce (I use Crystal, it is SCD legal) 

2 Tbsp Vinegar (White for classic taste; usually I use Apple Cider Vinegar) 

1/8 tsp salt 

1 tsp Lecithin* (certifiied GMO free)

    

In a small saucepan melt the butter over low heat

Whisk in the remaining ingredients

Your hot sauce is ready ~

Toss your wings in the sauce and serve with celery and blue cheese dressing/dip, or use the sauce in a recipe, and

Enjoy!

    

Alter proportions according to taste

Best used warm or room temperature as the butter will congeal

    

*Lecithin is optional, it is added as an emulsifier and to promote adhesion.

Domestic Buffalo are generally de-winged

Simple Lentils

Simple Lentils

3 cups cooked Lentils

1 tsp Salt

1 Tbsp dried Parsley (or 1/4 cup or more fresh chopped)

1/2 tsp dried Oregano (or 1 Tbsp or more fresh chopped)

1/2 tsp Turmeric

1/4 tsp ground Coriander

1/8 tsp Cumin
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

If available, add chopped fresh herbs and tomatoes (or sundried tomatoes, or, if serving hot, tinned tomatoes).

BBQ Sauce

BBQ Sauce

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 1/2 tsp Pepper

1 1/2 tsp Dry Mustard

1 Tbsp ground Thyme

1 Tbsp ground Basil

1 Tbsp ground Cumin

Could be useful!

1 Tbsp Sweet Paprika

1 1/2 tsp Salt

3 large Onions, minced

12 large cloves Garlic, pressed

6 cups Tomato Juice (or 1 large can [46 oz]; just tomatoes & salt, check ingredients!)

3/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

3/4 cup Honey - SCDers, use the darkest honey available to compensate for lack of molasses

1/2 tsp Liquid Smoke

optional - 1/4 cup Molasses (NOT for SCDers!!!)

Cranberry Sauce

The constant pi, denoted , is a real number defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference C to its diameter d=2r,

It is equal to 3.14159265358...ad infinitum

The Greek letter (pi) was chosen as the letter to represent the number because it stands for 'perimeter'.

Pi is infinite, irrational, and transcendental. 

Making your own cranberry sauce is far from infinite or irrational. In-fact it is an eminently simple, quick, and utterly sensible undertaking which rewards one with a cranberry sauce that transcends the store-bought tinned stuff.  So much easier than pi. 

Cranberry Sauce

Tasty SCD style:

1 bag fresh Cranberries (12 oz)

1 cup Honey

1 cup Orange Juice (freshly squeezed for SCD)

If squeezing fresh orange juice, zest the oranges before cutting and juicing them and add the zest in too.

COCONUT FLOUR BREADS

  "Where'd you get the coconut?"

    "We found them."
  "Found them? In Mercia? The coconut's tropical!"
    "What do you mean?"
  "Well, this is a temperate zone"
    "The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land?"
  "Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?"
    "Not at all. They could be carried."
  "What? A swallow carrying a coconut?"
    "It could grip it by the husk!"

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Scroll down to find:

    Plain Basic Coconut Flour Bread 

The Basics of Variations
A Short Ramble
Some Coconut Flour Bread Variations:

    All Out Coconut "Pound Cake"

    Savory
    Carmelized Onion
    Herb

    Sweet

    Cinnamon Apple

    Cinnamon Raisin-Nut

Something Completely Different

Summertime Eggplant Tomato Parmesan

“One must maintain a little bittle of summer,

even in the middle of winter.” 

Henry David Thoreau

Summertime Eggplant Tomato Parmesan

No breading, frying, or sauce making.  Just fresh and easy delicious summery goodness.

Ingredients:

1 large heavy firm Eggplant

1 lb ripe Tomatoes

    (may sub tinned & add 1 tsp honey)
 1/4 cup chopped fresh Basil

4 cloves Roasted
    (or 2 of crushed) Garlic

1 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Coconut Flour 
1/4 cup Almond Flour/Meal (blanched)1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1/8 teaspoon Pepper

Eat (or drink) Your Breakfast!

An Easy Way to Start the Day

 
"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper."

Old adage; alternate versions include lunch like a queen and dinner like a peasant. The kingly breakfast thing, however, always remains.

Breakfast, so they say, is the most important meal of the day. And for some of us it is the hardest to get into our bellies. A very sensible thing Dr. Oz says (I don't know how sensible what he says on the whole is or is not, but this tidbit is sensible) is that it is a good idea to "automate" your breakfast.  In other words, decide on a good breakfast for yourself so you can eat the same thing every morning and keep the ingredients stocked. Of course that's not some sort of immutable law; on any given morning you can have whatever fancy may take you or go out for an arterial disaster of a breakfast with a friend (or non-friend as the case may be, I hear that happens too).  But on other mornings, if, like me, you stand about the kitchen knowing you need to furnish your body and mind with some sort of nutritious fuel but with no inspiration nor even interest in finding something to do so with, you will still be able feed yourself and get your day going.

This is what I've concocted to meet my personal criteria, with a couple of extra options for those that can have them: