back to baking

After a good while with no posts here and a whole month holiday in Brasil (my dear dear home) I come back with some really good gluten free cake recipes. 

After a whole week suffering from a terrible jet lag, at this time of year there is a 4 hours difference between here and Brasil, I have finally had a good night sleep and woke up in the mood for some baking and although what's in the oven at the moment are the chocolate chips cupcakes (that I've posted here before, only this time they have white chocolate chips and I'll be eating them as muffins, so no icing) today's post if of an amazing butternut squash chocolate cake with icing an all that I first made in June this year and had to repeat the recipe every single  weekend until we went on holiday in the beginning of July...yap...it is that good!!!

I would recommend to replace aaaaaaaany chocolate cake you are addicted to AND have doubled the recipe for a very very large birthday cake on for mum’s surprise party!!!

Light Chocolate Cake 

(from Harry Eastwood’s Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache)

You will need

3 medium free-range eggs

160g caster sugar

200g peeled and grated butternut squash

120g white rice flour

3 tbsp good-quality cocoa powder

80g ground almonds

1tsp baking powder

1tsb bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp salt

125ml buttermilk

for icing

50g unsalted butter, softened

200g icing sugar, sieved

50g mascarpone

4tsp cocoa powder

small pinch of salt

preheat the oven to 180 Celsius, line two 18cm diameter x 5cm-deep loose bottomed tins (I only used round tins on the first time, after that I used a regular rectangular one and cut the cake in half to make a square one, I liked better that way) with parchment and brush a little vegetable oil over the base and sides.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl for a full 4 minutes until pale and fluffy. Beat in the grated butternut squash, followed by the flour, cocoa powder, ground almonds, baking powder, bicarb of soda and salt. Add the buttermilk before beating again one last time to make sure all the ingredients are well introduced to one another!!!

Pour the mixture evenly into the tins (if using 2 tins) and bake it for 30min.

Once cooked remove the cake from the oven, unmould and peel of the parchment, leave it to cool completely on a wire rack.

For the icing, using the back of a wooden spoon beat the butter with 100g of the sugar in a large mixing bowl. It will look wrong at the beginning but trust us, it does work!! Once your mix becomes a paste beat vigorously for 10 seconds to loosen the butter even further. Add the mascarpone, cocoa powder, salt and remaining sugar, beat again to combine. Refrigerate for 15 minutes before using for better texture, then spread in the middle and top of the cake. Do not use the icing while the cake still warm or it will run.

Well…that is it!!! Amazing cake and super healthy! To make it 100% gluten free just change your baking powder for a no gluten one!!!

After baking 12 muffins and 1 large carrot cake in less than an hour I have to say, I missed my kitchen!!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH

I know it was meant to be spring already but in London is can never get warm early enough, so here to say goodbye to the cold weather one of my favorites soup recipes...its veeeery very simple to make, cheap and makes you feel warm inside...and it is of course, deliciooouuussss

Roasted butternut squash soup cut the butternut squash until chunks, theres no need to peal it but do remove the seeds. You can just make it with the squash or can also have some sweet potatoes and red onions, Sprinkle some cinnamon, cumin and nutmeg on the top, spray it with olive oil a couple of times and let it roast in a mild oven for 40 to 60 minutes (until its tender enough to go on the blender). O)n this recipe I have also used some chestnuts, because those pics were taken on Christmas time LOL but the main thing is that with butternut squash you can make many different combinations.

When the veggies are tender enough blend them with hot vegetable stock and season to taste, it's ready to serve. For extra creaminess you can add some mascarpone or goat's cheese.

while the oven still hot slice some half bakes ciabatta or white rolls, sprinkle some olive oil, powdered garlic, shredded cheese and oregano plus some cracked black pepper to taste, bake it for about 8 minutes or until its nice and golden...ENJOY IT!!!

Ginger Millies - guilt-free cakes

Just as I decided to talk about food here at the Cosmic I spoke about these Ginger Millies; they are cheeky little cakes well worth a try. With less than 100 calories each is the perfect treat to have in your freezer. Freeze the cakes without the icing and take it out of the freezer from 30 minutes to an hour before attacking it!!! Oh yea…they are also a lot of fun to make!!!
1 medium egg
50g caster sugar
100g butternut squash (peeled and finely grated)
Finely grated zest of ½ unwaxed lemon
25g white rice flour
50g ground almond
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger (i also used a bit of freshly grated ginger to give it a bite!)
Small pinch of salt

Pre heat the oven to 160C and line 2 trays of baby muffins (the recipe if for those tiny little liners but I used the fairy cake so of course I ended up with 12 cakes rather than 24).
In a large mixing bowl whisk together eggs and sugar for a couple until you get a fluffy and pale mix. Add the butternut squash and lemon zest, beat again until fully incorporated.
Add flour, ground almonds, baking powder, ground ginger and salt (if using) and mix it well for a minute or so to combine everything that is in the bowl. With the help of 2 small spoons pour the batter until the liners leaving dry about 0.5cm of the paper. Once the cases a filled give them a nice bang on the surface, do it 4 to 5 time, that will settle the dough and help making the top a bit more flat. Bake it for 15 to 20 minutes.

ICING
125g icing sugar, sieved
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp water
Pink food colouring paste

One of the easiest icings I have ever tried!!! Just combine the sugar. Lemons juice and water with a fork until smooth, it takes a bit of a work out but that you go, today you can spend a bit less time at the Gym!!! In the recipe she recommends colouring the icing but really there’s no need, still if you decide to give it some different colour you can run a little colouring paste on it as indicated of just add a couple of drops of food colouring but no more than that. If you aren’t using the icing until later then place clean film direct on the top of it to avoid drying out. This icing is very light and tasty and a thin layer on the top of your cake should do. A good tip to spread the icing is to use the back of a teaspoon and a glass of water, dip the spoon on the water and that will help you frosting your cupcake!!!