My Gluten Free Food Favourites :)

Hi Ladies,

I know this post isn't going to be relevant to everyone but I thought it might be helpful for any other coeliacs or gluten intolerant people out there :) I know gluten free shopping can be a total minefield and I have definitely wasted money on buying things only to find that they did not pass the taste test (at all!) so I thought I would share with you a few of the gluten free products which I really like and buy on a regular basis.

First up is two Amy's Kitchen products, I absolutely love these (although the mac and cheese is my personal fave), they are really tasty and super easy to make if you're in a hurry.

The only problem with these, is that as with pretty much all gluten free products they are a little on the pricey side however I have noticed that the do go on offer in tesco occasionally which is when I usually stock up!

Dietary specials is probably my favourite gluten free brand (I haven't included it in this post as I usually eat them as soon as I buy them so there is no time for pictures but I love their bonta d'italia pizza's!). I like to have these crispbreads with cream cheese and smoked salmon as a snack or as part of a light lunch. I'm very picky with gluten free bread and don't really tend to it it but when I do I always have these brown ciabatta rolls, they're lovely with soup!

Finally, my favourite treat - I love this time of year when mini eggs appear on the shelves!

I'm sure it goes without saying, but always check the label before buying anything I feature here as ingredients are always changing and being updated.

Let me know if this was helpful, and I will definitely do some of these posts again! :)

Gluten free halloween cupcakes! :)

Hi Ladies,

With halloween just round the corner, I decided to bake some spooky cupcakes for my friends and family. I decided to go for chocolate orange cupcakes, I like to experiment with my baking and try out my own flavour combinations so I basically adapted my basic gluten free cupcake recipe by adding the juice of one large orange and 100g of milk chocolate (to a mix for 12 cupcakes). The weren't quite as orangey as I would have liked and next time I will probably look at either using orange essence or a bit more juice, but they got lots of compliments and tasted delicious!

I piped the orange buttercream onto the buns with my piping bag which is from lakeland, and for the green buttercream I used a super easy technique which my friend taught me which is great if you don't have a piping back or are in a rush. You basically pop a spoonful of buttercream onto your cupcake and spread it into a cone like shape, then use a fork to mark the lines into the buttercream and swirl the fork up the cone creating a flick at the top. I will definitely be recreating this for some Christmas tree style cupcakes in december I think they will look fab!

I bought some spooky haribo jelly sweets for decorating, used some blue sherbet to decorate the green cupcakes et voila!

These were quickly eaten up by family and friends and no one seemed to be able to tell that they were gluten free :) For any other gluten free bakers out there, my top tip would be to make your mixture a little bit runnier. Gluten free flour seems to need a bit more liquid, and I always put 3-4 tablespoons of milk into my mixture which seems to work a treat. My favourite gluten free flour to use is doves farm self raising :)

Are you doing anything for halloween?

have a lovely weekend,