Gluten-free Blueberry Sponge Pudding

At this time of year, when the weather's cold and windy, and the nights are drawing in, there's no better treat than a sponge pudding.
I use this basic recipe where I've substituted gluten-free flour:
2 oz margarine
2 oz caster sugar
1 egg
3 oz Doves Farm Gluten-free Self-raising Flour
3 tbsp milk

This serves 4 people; any leftovers can be frozen.



Mix all the ingredients together with a spoon, electric whisk or food processor, until well mixed and a smooth dropping consistency.
You can also add:

2 tbsp jam to the bottom of the basin

2 tbsp lemon curd to bottom of the basin + grated rind of a lemon to mixture

2 tbsp Golden Syrup to bottom of the basin (the one in a squeezy bottle is easiest)

1 tbsp cocoa to mixture

Or a handful of blueberries (as you can see here) and pour into a greased 1 pint basin. Cover with greaseproof paper with a pleat in the middle to allow for rising, and tie with string.
You can then cook in a slow cooker for about 3 hours, or a pressure cooker for 50 minutes (according to the manufacturer's instructions) or do what I do, and simply pop it in the microwave for 5 minutes whilst I make the custard.

For basic custard you need:
1 tbsp custard powder
1 tbsp sugar
½ pint of milk

Mix the powder and sugar with a little of the milk, then add to the rest in a saucepan and, stirring all the time, bring to the boil.
You can also ring the changes by using cornflour instead of custard powder, and adding 1tbsp of cocoa to make a chocolate sauce, delicious with the chocolate pudding.
Any custard or cornflour should be gluten-free, the only problem arising when it is made on the same production line as gluten products. If you want to be sure, you can buy Doves Farm Organic Corn Flour which is gluten-free, and add the contents of  ½ a vanilla pod, or a few drops of vanilla essence.

I hope that you like this pudding. It is really quick and easy to make when visitors turn up unexpectedly, and of course, it's one that everyone can eat!

Gluten-free Chocolate Butterfly Cakes

Ok, I'll start with these delicious gluten-free chocolate butterfly cakes. They look just like ones made with ordinary flour, don't they? They taste the same too; it's really hard to tell the difference.
Recipes using Imperial measures would use 3 eggs, 6oz of self-raising flour, 6oz caster sugar and 6oz butter or margarine. These are based on ratios between the quantities, which means 2oz of each ingredient to each egg.
Metric quantities vary. If you look up the equivalent of 6oz in grams you get anything from 170 to 175 grams, so how can you expect to get the recipe to work?
Therefore, I stick with Imperial measurements, but feel free to use what works for you.

In this recipe, I substituted Doves Farm Gluten-free Self-raising Flour. The flour from this company is very good and I have used the Plain flour as well as the Bread flour. I added two tablespoons of cocoa powder. This gives a better flavour than drinking chocolate which has a high sugar content. I also added the secret ingredient of 5 generous tablespoons of milk; a little bit more because of the cocoa. This is because gluten-free flour tends to make cakes etc very dry, so extra liquid in the form of milk gives a moister result.
Then, just mix it as normal, with a spoon, a mixer, or a food processor. I like the mixer or food processor best because you don't have to cream the sugar and butter or margarine first before adding in the eggs and folding the flour and cocoa. Much quicker!
Spoon into the paper cases and cook for 20 minutes on Gas Mark 5, 190° Celsius or 160° Fan oven.
When cooled, scoop out the centre with a teaspoon and cut in half.  Fill with chocolate butter cream, made with 2oz butter or margarine, 3oz icing sugar and a tablespoon of cocoa, and replace the tops, edge on, like butterfly wings, and enjoy!
Let me know how you get on.