Camden Stables Cafes

Went to Camden Town today. Enjoyed a lovely walk around all the unusual stalls and cafes. I came across two very different cafes one was a Moroccan restaurant where I had, aubergine, falafel, houmos, pitta, salad & mint tea. Then onto a Japanese green tea bar called "Keiko" http://keiko.de/_blog/A_Green_Tea_Blog  where I had a matcha green tea cupcake & matcha green tea latte. Very interesting. quite tasty.

New Agriculturist: Book reviews - The true history of tea

New Agriculturist: Book reviews - The true history of tea

I have started reading this book. Very interesting. "From ancient times to the present, from East to West."

Orange Polenta Cake

Gluten-free tea-time polenta cake!

Not being able to eat gluten should not mean that you can't enjoy cakes polenta (100% cornmeal and therefore with no gluten) can be used in a variety of ways but we particularly like this traditional Italian recipe for an orangey moist cake.

**Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease caused by intolerence to gluten which is found in wheat, barley and rye. 1 in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease for which there is no cure and they have to keep to a strict gluten-free diet for life

Orange and Polenta Cake

For an alternative try Chocolate Polenta Cake – leave out the juice and zest of the oranges and add 35g cocoa powder instead. Delicious! I recently made this cake. It was delicious and moist. I will try a lemon version of this too.

Ingredients
375g salted butter
375g caster sugar
360g ground almonds
5 large eggs
juice and finely-grated zest of four organic oranges
150g polenta

Method:

Line a deep cake tin with greaseproof baking paper and oil with butter. Cut the butter into small dice sized pieces and beat with the sugar in a large bowl. When the mixture is light and fluffy stir in the almonds. Beat the eggs together with the vanilla extract in a bowl and, stirring all the while, add the eggs to the butter mixture. Add the orange juice, orange zest, baking powder, polenta and a pinch of salt. Mix to a smooth batter.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin, tap to even it out. Put the tin in the centre of an oven pre-heated to 150 degC and cook for about 50 minutes until the cake has cooked through (you can check by putting a skewer through the middle of the cake when it comes out clean it should be cooked). Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

Polenta

Chocolate and Almond Cake

A delicious rich, moist wheat free cake, which can be served hot or cold with a generous dollop of mascarpone cheese. Adapted from a recipe from BBC good food.



Prep: 25 mins
Cooking 45-50 mins
Serves 10
Gluten Free

200g (7oz) salted butter
200g (7oz) luxury dark chocolate ( I adore Green & Blacks 75% cocoa)
250g (9oz) caster sugar
5 large eggs (separated)
200g (7oz) ground almonds
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Cocoa powder to dust

1. Preheat oven to 190oC/ 375oF/ Gas mark 5. Butter and flour the sides of a 9 inch spring release tine and place a piece of greaseproof paper in the base.
2. Place the butter and chocolate in a large bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until melted. Remove from the heat and beat in the sugar and egg yolks.
3. Whisk the egg whites until they reach soft peaks. Fold in ground almonds, orange zest and chocolate mixture into the egg whites and transfer to tin
4. Cook in the centre of the oven for 45-50 mins until risen and firm to the touch. Cool in the tin, transfer to a wire rack, cover with a clean tea towel until cold. Dust with cocoa powder and serve with mascarpone if desired.

Salty Sweet Oat Cookies

Salty Sweet Oats

2 cups (160 g) old-fashioned oats
4 ounces (113 g) crushed pretzels (I leave them in the bag and smack them with a rolling pin until they crumble. S’okay if a few bits remain a bit larger.)
1/4 cup (48 g) raw sugar
2 tablespoons (42 g) light agave nectar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons (30 ml) peanut oil
2 tablespoons (30 ml) water

Preheat oven to 325°F (170°C, or gas mark 3). (I never have issues with granola/oats sticking to sheets, but if you are accustomed to either lining them or coating them with any sort of grease, go for it.)
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, stirring to combine. Place evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet.
Bake for 8 minutes, stirring well. Bake for another 8 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on sheet before storing: this is important because while the oats may seem soft when out of the oven, they will harden as you let them cool on the sheet.

Yield: 4 cups (400 g)

Note: If you want to lower the amount of oil, go for it. If the oats are lacking in liquid though, replace up to half of the oil with water.

------------------Salty Sweet Oat Cookies

3 cups (300 g) Salty Sweet Oats
1 cup (120 g) whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup (73 g) packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (48 g) evaporated cane juice
1/2 cup (112 g) nondairy butter
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (66 g) mini semisweet chocolate chips (I use these)
Pinch fine sea salt
Nondairy milk, as needed

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas mark 4). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Using a mixer, combine sugar, cane juice, and butter. In a separate medium bowl, combine oats, flour, baking powder, chocolate chips and salt.
Add dry ingredients into wet and stir until combined. Add nondairy milk as needed until the dough holds together when pinched.
Using 1/2 cup (120 g) of dough, shape 6 cookies and flatten a bit as the cookies won’t spread out much while baking.
Bake for 16 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Let the cookies firm up on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool.

Yield: 6 large cookies

Note: If you want to make smaller cookies, then by all means…Just be sure to adjust baking time accordingly.

I found this wonderful blog with amazing recipes.

http://havecakewilltravel.com/

Miso Peanut Butter Cookies

 

A Japanese take on classic peanut butter cookies. The combination of sweet, savory, and spicy is pretty awesome :-) These decadent treats just happen to be dairy-free and gluten-free.

Ingredients / Directions:

Have all your ingredients at room temperature. Mix together by hand:

1 1/4c natural peanut butter
3 Tbsp white miso paste
1/4 c honey
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1 egg (lightly beaten)
2 Tbsp starch (tapioca or corn)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda

Roll generous teaspoons of batter into balls, place on parchment or silicone lined cookie sheet, and press with a fork. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 8-12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Wait a few minutes before transferring the cookies to a cooling rack.

I would love to try these with walnuts instead of peanuts. I shall give it a try and put it on the blog.

You can buy all the Japanese ingredients from: http://www.japanesefoodshop.co.uk

http://www.pattycake.ca/blog

Green Tea Cookies

Adapted from Apartment Therapy's Earl Grey Tea Cookies

Makes 2 dozen

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup powdered (confectioners') sugar
1 tablespoon green tea (matcha) powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon water
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chopped into small cubes
1/2 to 1 cup extra sugar for coating

Preheat oven to 375 F. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a food processor. Add vanilla, water, and butter. Pulse together until a dough forms. Roll the dough into a log onto a piece of wax or parchment paper. Wrap the paper around and shape the log until it is smooth (round or squarish, whichever your preference.) Chill for at least 30 minutes if you're planning on baking immediately, or freeze the dough until you're ready to bake.

When chilled, slice the log into 1/3 inch thick pieces. Sprinkle the top of each cookie with sugar, or dip each cookie in a bowl of sugar to coat all around. Place on baking sheets and bake until the edges are just brown, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks.

The dough will keep in freezer for a few months, so you can slice off just a few cookies to bake at a time.

http://www.mountfuji.co.uk/

Found this website for Japanese ingredients.