Ginger Treacle Loaf with Lemon Icing

dairy free egg free nut free vegan gluten free

This splendid loaf is an allergy-friendly triumph - a soft, light vegan cake using regular flour, which then translates beautifully to gluten free (as long as you incorporate the egg back in if you tolerate them.) Ok, so not a complete success - I'm still experimenting with a version for both gluten free and vegan - but still, the result from a commercial gluten-free flour mix was pretty impressive. Dead easy to make, this is now a market bake-stall favourite. Four tins ready for the oven in 10 minutes!

See both recipes below:

Gluten free & dairy free (using egg)

175g gluten-free plain flour mix

1 tbsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp soda bicarbonate

125g treacle

80ml vegetable oil

75g brown sugar

2 eggs 

100ml rice or soy milk

1 cup sifted icing sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 150 C and grease and line a small-to-medium loaf tin.

Sift the plain flour, ginger and bicarb into a bowl and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, mix together treacle, oil, brown sugar, egg and milk until combined. Bit by bit, pour the wet mixture in to the dry, and whisk very gently to ensure you combine it well without lumps forming. Don't pour it in all at once!

Pour batter into loaf tin and bake for approx 40-45 mins.

Cool in tin while you prepare the icing. Add lemon juice to sifted icing sugar and mix until a smooth glaze. Turn out onto wire rack and drizzle lemon icing over the cake. Zest some lemon and sprinkle on top.

Dairy free & egg free (using regular flour)

175g plain flour

1 tbsp ground ginger

3/4 tsp soda bicarbonate

125g treacle

80ml vegetable oil

75g brown sugar

1 egg replacer

100ml rice or soy milk

1 cup sifted icing sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 150 C and grease and line a small-to-medium loaf tin.

Sift the plain flour, ginger and bicarb into a bowl and stir to combine. In a separate bowl, mix together treacle, oil, brown sugar, egg replacer and milk until combined. Bit by bit, pour the wet mixture in to the dry, and whisk very gently to ensure you combine it well without lumps forming. Don't pour it in all at once!

Pour batter into loaf tin and bake for approx 40-45 mins.

Cool in tin while you prepare the icing. Add lemon juice to sifted icing sugar and mix until a smooth glaze. Turn out onto wire rack and drizzle lemon icing over the cake. Zest some lemon and sprinkle on top.

Moroccan Seafood Soup

dairy free egg free nut free gluten free

We enjoyed this heavenly soup the day after too - the left-over stock went gangbusters in a seafood risotto!

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil

1 red onion, finely sliced

1 celery stalk, sliced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tbs ground coriander

1 tbs harissa*

3 tbs chopped parsley

2 tomatoes, chopped

500ml water

1kg fish, firm such as snapper, cut into chunks

8 prawns, peeled and deveined

8 mussels, cleaned and de-bearded

juice of 1 lemon

*You can buy harissa paste or make your own by processing some roasted red peppers with garlic, chilli, salt, cumin and coriander.

Heat oil in a stockpot and sauté onion, celery and garlic until soft. Add ginger, both fresh & dried coriander, harissa and parsley and cook for a few minutes, stirring. Season generously with salt and pepper, then add tomatoes and cook for another few minutes. Add water and bring to boil, then lower heat and simmer on very low heat, lid on for around half an hour.

Add seafood and cook for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Squeeze lemon juice then ladle into bowls.