Rhubarb Cake

Rhubarb is such an odd fruit.  It's almost a twisted fact of nature that rhubarb is great at this time of year, just as we should be donning our suncream and sunglasses.  Then you have a spring like this one.  Days of dismal rain and almost tempted to switch on the central heating.So rhubarb suddenly has a strange purpose.  The joy, if you like, in the drizzled disappointment of British weather!After initial reluctance,...

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Weetabix Cake

Weetabix cake?  Am I serious?  Well I'd been trying different ways of using cereals quite a bit recently what with rice krispies with mackerel but I'd never found a way of using them in cakes like I had with bran loaf.  Shreddies seemed promising but were a bit of a failure when I gave them a go.  Who knew Weetabix would work?This tastes similar to my bran loaf, loads of fibre, sweet whilst being low in added sugar,...

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Chocolate Custard (low sugar)

Custard.  I never make it from scratch but I do make it from custard powder.  It occurred to me when making some custard from custard powder the other day that custard powder is simply cornflour (cornstarch) natural flavouring (vanilla) and colour (normally a natural colour like annatto).  I don't have much annatto floating around the house and there feels like something wrong about making white custard even though that's...

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Fruit Crumble Bars

I'd looked online for a fruit crumble bar recipe which I thought wasn't a load of faff.  I failed to find one so this is what I came up with.  It's simple and you could switch in whatever fruit you have in the fruit bowl looking past it's best.Although plums aren't seasonal in the UK at least, they are in South Africa and the UK are a major export market.  Irrespective of what you think of imported fruit and vegetables,...

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Fruit Cobbler

Cobbler.  It's such a long time since I've eaten one and I'd forgotten how lovely they can be.  Essentially it's stewed fruit topped with a scone like topping.  On a whim I decided to make this while making my Spanish style sausage and beans.  This fantastically tasty pudding then happily cooked away using heat in the oven and then was left cooling slightly while we ate our first course.This was also devised as a way...

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Best Pancake recipes

Pancakes; I'm a bit of a fan; in fact, one of my very early recipes was for a sugar free American style pancake recipe so I thought, with Shrove Tuesday (aka Pancake Day or Mardi Gras) looming on 4th March this year, I'd tell you about my favourites!The point of Shrove Tuesday was to use up all of the rich ingredients in the house like eggs and sugar before the traditional period of fasting and reflection of Lent.  Pancakes though...

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Sugar Free Apple Scones

I'm sorry, these must be the ugliest scones ever made but they do taste nice. My son used to have this huge thing about dried apple, then, overnight, with a huge bag left in the cupboard, he decided he didn't like it anymore.So I tried these for size and I think they're lovely (if extremely ugly!)Apple scones - makes approx 8 small sconesIngredients225g, 8 oz SR flour or plain (all purpose) flour with 2 tsp baking powder50g, 1.75oz Butter...

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Dairy Free Bran Loaf - great for the whole family

People who have been here from the start might recognise this recipe.   Well I've reviewed it, changed it slightly and photographed it.  It is a great one though, loads of fibre from the cereal and dried fruit and very low in sugar so I felt like it needed more prominence!Bran Loaf - makes one loafIngredients60g, 2oz, 1 cup All Bran cereal (the regular plain kind)180g, 6.5oz, 1 cup Sultanas (golden raisins)60g, 2oz, 1/3 cup Soft...

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Sugar Free Raspberry Mousse, great for babies and toddlers

It can be easy with toddlers to ease up too much on the 'naughty' snacks and treats.  I'm certainly more relaxed than I used to be but occasionally I try to challenge myself to cut back a bit on the sugar again so I made this mousse with all natural ingredients and no added sugar or sweeteners.  The result was creamy and gently sweetened.  My son said it was "fantastic".This would be great for all ages including babies.Apple...

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Baked Vanilla Custards - suitable for babies, children and adults

A very simple and not massively unhealthy pudding.  Less than 2 tsp sugar per serving.  Pretty thrifty ingredients too!Baked Vanilla Custards - makes 2Ingredients1 tbsp sugar2 Egg yolks150ml, 5 fl ounces, 2/3 cup Semi skimmed (2%) milk1/4 tsp Vanilla extract or pasteMethodPreheat the oven to 180oC / 350FMix all the ingredients together, pour into two ramekins.Put in a bain marie (a baking dish with water from the kettle in it...

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Baked Cherry Custard

This isn't a sugar free recipe but at only 2 tsp added sugar per portion and a step towards your five a day, it's not terrible!I started trying to think of a custard recipe, then thought "what fruit could I include" and before I knew it, it was almost a clafoutis except a gluten free one.  Best served warm or cold not hot.Baked Cherry Custard - Makes 3 puddingsIngredients150g, 5.5oz Frozen pitted cherries2 tbsp Sugar2 Egg yolks150ml,...

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Low Sugar Mini Cherry Tarts - Great for kids or grown ups

I'm showing my age now, the urge to type "damn fine cherry pies" was very strong. As I said in my last post, I promised to write up a recipe for the pastry leftovers.  Because I don't know how much pastry you might have, the quantities are per tart.  Please adjust for the number you have!This isn't sugar free.  Jam is laden with sugar but there is around 1-1.5 tsp jam per tart and only half of that is sugar, not massive...

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Gingerbread men

...or considering the time of year... Gingerbread Mummies!!!I posted a recipe for Gingerbread men a while back (or ninja bread men, I do like a play on words!)  This though is adapted to give a lighter result which is less dominated by anything other than the ginger flavour.  I found the treacle in the old recipe tended to drown out the spicy warmth.Gingerbread Men � Makes 8-20 depending on sizeIngredients60g, 2oz Butter...

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No Refined Sugar Breakfast Muffins; great for adults but also for kids

I have some 'cupcake' cases in the cupboard, bought in a moment when I actually needed fairy cake cases but picked up the wrong thing.  They were somewhere between a cupcake and a muffin in size, nearer a muffin so I decided to cook something more substantial to fill them.Ok, they may look 'parent sized' but my son has a large appetite so he still ate two.  No refined sugar though which can't be bad.  Sorry, just for over...

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My favourite apple recipes for kids

Apples aren't the most glamourous of fruits but they're one of the fruits we grow really well in the UK and they're great in sweet or savoury dishes.  Soon it's going to be apple season as we approach the autumn and I thought I'd share some of my favourite recipes.My wholemeal apple pancake recipe might be appearing in a magazine soon which is kind of exciting! I will keep you posted...With only a drizzle of honey (for over 1s) it's...

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Watermelon Ice Lollies Great for Toddlers

If I can encourage you to do one thing this summer, which is setting out to be a scorcher, is buy an ice lolly mould.  Ice lollies are so expensive to buy and often full of sugar, artificial food colourings and other stuff which isn't all that great for kids.Much better is to make your own lollies out of fruit or fruit juice with a little added sugar if needed.  Even if you do add something to make it sweeter, it's still far...

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Honey Digestive Biscuits - no refined sugar

I'd been thinking about making a simple, no nonsense, "no bad stuff" biscuit for a while and I'd had some attempts at making some sugar free.  If I'm honest though, I was never happy with them.  Unlike a cake, a sweet biscuit is very difficult to make without sugar.After a few attempts though I settled on this recipe.  Not strictly sugar free because it contains honey but no refined sugars and pretty low in sugar overall....

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