Macmillan Coffee Morning

So chuffed to be able to get involved with such a great cause which is very close to my heart. And of course, its lovely to know that anybody who has to follow a gluten free diet will be able to have a cake at the coffee morning too!!

When I was thinking of what to bake I decided to go for individual cakes in their own little cases as felt it would reduce the risk of cross contamination, as no cutting required!! And, although I thought about making something a bit different, I ended up going for the basic sponge cake and really chocolatey muffin recipes, as they are nice and easy to pop together, and you get great results every time!

I love the Juvela Gluten free White Mix for my cakes, as the results are always fabulous!

In case you are avoiding other ingredients in addition to gluten, Juvela also have the Gluten free Harvest Mix, which is suitable for anyone following a wheat and milk free diet.

Really Chocolatey Muffins

(This recipe below will make 12 large muffins. But I halved the recipe on this occasion as I wanted room to add the chocolate fudge icing)

• 200 g (8oz) butter
• 200 g (8oz) *dark chocolate
• 200 g (8oz) Juvela Gluten free White Mix
• 1 tsp *baking powder
• 2 tbsp good quality *cocoa powder
• 150g (6oz) caster sugar
• 125 ml (5fl oz) milk
• 3 medium eggs

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC/Fan 160ºc/350ºF/Gas Mark 4
2. Pop the cases in the muffin tray.
3. In a large bowl, melt the butter and chocolate (either in a microwave or over a pan of simmering water), stirring occasionally. Allow to cool slightly. 
4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the Mix, baking powder, cocoa and sugar. Whisk together the eggs and milk and add to the dry ingredients, along with the melted chocolate mixture. 
5. Beat together until thoroughly combined.
6. Spoon mixture into muffin cases (I have this great pot jug that’s big enough to whisk in and I can then pour the mixture into the cases) and bake in a preheated oven about 15-20 minutes until well risen and firm to touch. 
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
8. I wanted to decorate the muffins on this occasion. So once cold I topped with a swirl of Betty Crocker *Chocolate fudge icing (indicates gf on back of the tub) and a giant *Cadburys chocolate button!!
9. This is a fabulous recipe and can be used in so many other ways.  And all sorts of other ingredients, like chocolate *chunks or *nuts can be added if you wish!

Basic Sponge Cake  (Makes 12 cupcakes)

• 175 (6oz) Juvela Gluten free White Mix
• 1 tsp *baking powder
• 175g (6oz) caster sugar 
• 175g (6oz) Lurpak spreadable butter - not low fat (you can also use margarine providing the fat content is higher than 70%)
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• ½ teaspoon on *vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C/Fan 170°c/375°F/Gas Mark 5.
2. Pop the cases in the muffin tray.
3. Now for the easy bit – pop all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk with an electric hand whisk until the mixture becomes light and creamy.
4. Divide the mixture between the muffin cases and pop in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes – will be soft and springy to touch when cooked.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Again, good old Betty Crocker helped me out with their delicious *vanilla buttercream style icing (indicates gf on tub). It’s a really good product and the perfect texture to pipe with – and teamed up with the disposal piping bags (which I recently discovered, and love) can create quite a professional looking finish with no mess!!

I found these great *sprinkles that are gluten free and little *sugared animals to top of my cupcakes and thought they looked rather jolly!

So, there we go, that’s me with my cakes, all ready for Neil to take into work for the World’s biggest coffee morning…hope it raises lots of pennies!!!!!

Thank you, Macmillan Nurses, for everything you do. You are Amazing❤️

Liz x

*Check this product out to ensure no gluten containing ingredients or ‘may contain’ warnings. If in doubt leave it out!