Cinnamon rolls

This is a recipe adapted from the Wheat Free Market. 

Cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting

Cinnamon raisin walnut bread (2)

Tweaking the original recipe from a year ago, I made a loaf of cinnamon raisin walnut bread to take to my in-laws over the holidays. 

Cinnamon raisin walnut bread

Torta di mele (Apple cake)

One of the complaints Husband has of my wheat-free, grain-free cakes is that they often have a grainy texture. Though he tries to soften the blow by stating that it's only a minor criticism and in all fairness, I don't think any wheat substitute can ever achieve the wheat result, I still want to find a way to improve upon the texture.

With that in mind, coupled with the feeling that my relationship with my new kitchen has evolved from casual acquaintance to devoted friend, I decided to try out a new apple cake recipe last week.

Torta di mele

Courgette loaf (2)

It dawned on me recently that even though I like courgette bread, I've only made it a couple of times and never without grain flour (the previous ones were with spelt). So I thought it would be fun to experiment with a wheat-free, grain-free loaf. 

Courgette loaf

All-purpose baking mix (wheat free, grain free )

A useful baking mix recipe from Dr William Davis's 'Wheat Belly 30-Minute (Or Less!) Cookbook'. This mix is meant for creating a variety of different bread and baked goods: loaf breads, flatbreads, rolls, scones, muffins, and cookies. Keeping a supply of this mix on hand will help save time.

All-purpose baking mix

Fluffy brownies (2)

The first batch of fluffy brownies turned out well. As per usual, I tweaked the recipe slightly just to see what it would be like. 

Fluffy brownie

Fluffy brownies (1)

I had some ripened avocados in the fridge and decided to use them before they turned. The last few batches of brownies I made were more fudgy and dense. This time, I thought I'd try a lighter, fluffier variety. 

Fluffy brownie

Spiced apple galette

It had been a while since I made a cake or pie, so when I got some sweet, tangy, juicy Granny Smith and Jazz apples, I immediately got to making a spiced apple galette. 

Slice of spiced apple galette

Spiced cranberry bread

Here's another variation of the basic bread with sweet mixed spices (coriander, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, fennel, cloves, and cardamon) and dried cranberries.

Spiced cranberry bread

Cinnamon raisin walnut bread (1)

Ever since I made the basic walnut bread, I'd been itching to try making a variation using cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts. And after a trip to Holland & Barrett to pick up a few missing ingredients, I got to working.

Cinnamon raisin walnut bread

Pizza with courgette crust

I've been flat out with work for the last few weeks. That and also it's been rather warm, I've been doing a lot of salads and fish for dinner. When I wrapped up a case yesterday afternoon, I decided to take a breather and head out to get the necessary ingredients to make pizza at home.

Pizza with courgette crust, topped with ventricina salami, chorizo, roasted red peppers, chestnut mushroom, red onion marmalade, goat cheese, and baby spinach 

Maple pecan scones

I'm not a great fan of the quintessential afternoon tea accompaniment on this side of the pond, namely scones and clotted cream. So even after I went wheat-free, I didn't miss scones one bit. I do, however, miss having a nibble with tea. So I decided to attempt making wheat-free scones. 

Maple pecan scones with maple syrup glaze

Mini 'hamburgers'

Mini 'hamburger'

Earl Grey tea biscuits

Earl Grey is my favourite black tea, and I've had much success using it in chocolate desserts (see my pots de créme au chocolat and chocolate truffle cake). This time I decided to try using it without chocolate and to make biscuits instead. 

Earl Grey tea biscuits

Decadent chocolate walnut torte

As my mini chopper successfully blitzed cauliflower for rice, I felt more confident that it could handle grinding walnuts well. And seeing as it'd been a while since I made any chocolate desserts, I reached for the bag of top quality antioxidant, non-alkalised cocoa that I bought a good while ago and my trusty Green & Black's dark chocolate bars to make this decadent chocolate walnut torte. 

Beef & kale cauliflower rice bowl

I get beef mince quite often as it always seems to be on a special deal. The organic round steak mince from Tesco is quite good, flavoursome and lean, and is my choice of beef mince. I've made several tasty dishes using mince, such as chilli con carne, meatballs, barbecue beef stir-fry, and beef in lettuce cups. But I thought it was time to try a new dish using steak mince. And following my success at making cauliflower rice, I went ahead and mixed beef and kale together for this dish.

Beef & kale cauliflower rice bowl

Cauliflower rice

I got a mini chopper a while ago but had been apprehensive about using it to chop anything other than onions and garlic cloves. But the lure of grinding my own nuts was such that I decided to take the plunge. Tonight for dinner, I made a beef & kale cauliflower rice bowl. For the cauliflower rice, I blitzed a whole head of raw cauliflower. Of course I had to did this in batches (about 5) as my mini chopper wouldn't be able to handle a lot. Still, I was delighted with the way it turned out. 

Cauliflower rice sautéed