Gingerbread Skeletons (Egg Free) with Video!

About two or so years ago, a friend of mine came to visit me around Halloween time, and she brought to me a small gingerbread man with a skeleton iced onto it; it was branded as a "Jack the Skeleton" biscuit, which made me chuckle. Ever since then, I've been curious about making some myself, but have had difficulty finding a gingerbread recipe that mimicked the soft, chewiness of the Jack the Skeleton biscuit.

This recipe, unlike the usual recipe I use, has a high ratio of sugar and syrup to flour, which renders the need to use egg as a binder redundant. Also, if you replace the butter with some good ol' margarine this recipe can be completely vegan! The icing is a very simple mix of butter, icing sugar, and water, so this doesn't use the traditional royal icing decoration. 

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DIFFICULTY

Requires mixing, rolling out, and cutting shapes

TIME

About 3 hours

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

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INGREDIMENTS

Makes six 3 inch gingerbread men

4 ounces (115 grammes) white spelt flour

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ginger

1 teaspoon mixed spice

One pinch to a ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, to taste

2 ounce (55 grammes) unsalted butter, or margarine

2 ounces (55 grammes) golden syrup

2ounces (55 grammes) dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

To decorate

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) melted unsalted butter, or margarine
2 ounces (55 grammes) icing sugar, sieved
Water, to mix

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FREE FROM

Eggs, nuts, wheat

CONTAINS

Spelt, dairy (italics show alternatives), refined sugar

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METHOD

First, make the biscuits

• In a jug or bowl, heat the butter, syrup, and sugar in the microwave at 50% power for a minute at a time until the butter has melted and the syrup is runny. Mix well.
• Sieve the flour, salt, spices, and baking soda into a mixing bowl, make a well in the centre, and pour in the melted butter and syrup mixture. Mix with a spatula or spoon until you have a very soft dough.
• Pour the dough out onto a piece of cling film, and wrap it up. Pop it into the fridge for an hour, or until firm.
• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4), and line one or two flat baking trays with non-stick paper.
• Roll the dough out on a floured surface to a quarter inch (5 millimetres) thick, and cut into gingerbread man shapes. Re-roll the scraps, trying not to mix in too much of the flour dusting.
• Lie the gingerbread men out on the tray(s), and chill for about 10 minutes before baking on the centre shelf of the oven for only 6 to 7 minutes for soft chewy biscuits, or up to 9 minutes for crispy biscuits.
• After the biscuits are baked, remove the tray(s) from the oven and cool the biscuits on the tray for about 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate

• Mix the icing sugar and melted butter together in a small bowl, adding only enough water to make a thickly flowing icing.
• Make a small baking paper piping cone, and fill halfway with icing. Snip off the end, and pipe on the skeleton bodies.
• Allow to set for about 30 minutes before serving.

STORAGE

These keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container at room temperature.

Success, at Last! Hazelnut Ice Cream (No Churn, Egg Free)

Mögen Sie Haselnuss-Eis? Ich mag!

I'm sure throughout the four years that I have been blogging, and you have all been reading and supporting, I have mentioned my trips to Germany often. In 2008 and 2012, I visited North and East Germany, travelling to Lübeck, Ratzeburg, Magdeburg, Hamburg, Leipzig, Berlin, Bernburg, and many other villages in the mountains whose names I never knew. Both times were to visit my good friend who I met in secondary school, whom I've known ever since.

I will admit it has been way, way, way too long since I was in Germany, and I often find myself missing it dearly. My companion and I hope to go over this year for the Christmas markets in Berlin, and I want to promise myself that from hereon in I'll go at least once every two years. Hell, if I could afford to, I'd divide my year between living in Ireland and living in Germany.

There are many flavours of Germany I miss—from their delicious meat dishes, like hamburgers and sausages, to their incredible doughnuts and cream cakes—but of all of them it's the ice cream I miss the most.

When I was last in Germany, I was in Berlin on what was possibly one of the worst holidays I've ever had: I went with my companion at the time, and our relationship was cracking. It wasn't long after we returned that our partnership dissolved. We both wanted very different things out of life, and we especially wanted very different things from that holiday!

The only thing that made that holiday bearable was the ice-cream: at pretty much every corner in Berlin was an ice-cream stand that sold scoopable ice-cream of many flavours. Not only was it delicious, but it was also very cheap: even in the capital, which was more expensive on the whole, a cone with a scoop of ice-cream was €1.50, and each additional scoop ranged between 80c and €1. Here in Ireland, ice-cream parlours charge a hefty €2.60 per scoop!

When I was there, I always got any nut flavoured ice-cream—hazelnut and pistachio are particularly tasty—or coconut; and also a German speciality, Waldmeister!

Since then, I have tried to recreate some of my favourite flavours, but to no avail. Nut flavoured ice-cream always alluded me, until now! This is my take on a no-churn hazelnut flavoured ice-cream, that isn't Nutella.

I still have to work on getting my Waldmeister ice-cream right. Keep your eye out for any upcoming attempts!

INGREDIMENTS

Makes about 2 UK pints (1 litre) of ice cream

• 16 UK fluid ounces (455 millilitres) whipping cream, about 35% fat, plus extra if needed
• 12 UK fluid ounces (340 millilitres) condensed milk, cold
• 3 to 6 ounces (85 to 170 grammes) hazelnuts, to taste
• 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) vanilla essence
• Generous pinch of salt
• Roughly chopped hazelnuts, to decorate

METHOD

• In a food processor, or with a large plastic bag and a rolling pin, crush the hazelnuts to a fine powder. 3 ounces (85 grammes) will give you a mild nutty flavour, whereas the full 6 ounces (170 grammes) will produce an intense nutty flavour. Grind as much as you think you'd like.
• In a dry frying pan, gently toast the ground hazelnuts over medium heat. Cook only until the nuts become fragrant and take a little bit of colour. Be careful, because nuts burn easily.
• Pour the hazelnuts into a medium saucepan, and add the whipping cream and salt. Place the saucepan over medium low heat, and bring to boiling point. Once it begins to boil, remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before chilling for at least 2 hours to steep. The cream needs to be good and properly cold.
• Strain the cream through a fine sieve to remove the ground hazelnuts; discard the ground hazelnuts. In the process of straining, you may lose some cream, as such you might need to top the cream level back up to 16 fluid ounces (455 millilitres).
• In a large bowl, beat the infused cream, condensed milk, and vanilla essence together until it becomes light and moussey.
• Pour into a 2 pint (1 litre) container and decorate the top with hazelnuts, if you like. Freeze overnight.

THIS TIME IN 2013: Jammie Dodgers (or Linzer Biscuits) (Wheat Free)

No blogs on this day in 2014, 2015, nor 2016.

American Style Cookie Dough Ice-Cream (No Churn, No Cook, Egg Free)

It's May, which means in Ireland it's finally summer! And nothing says summer like some lovely, rich, ice-cream!

I was inspired to make some cookie dough ice-cream because I've been trying out some American style stuff recently, and also my brother and sister really like it. But, I had some challenges. (And also, I've been feeling quite sorry for myself over the past few days, as this time last year was a time where my companion and I were enjoying his birthday, so I wanted something to challenge me and take my mind off it.)

The thing is raw cookie dough is pretty, well, raw tasting. There is a very distinctive taste off raw flour: it's quite acidic, and burns a little bit; raw bicarbonate of soda tastes like soap; and raw egg is a bit of a no-no in frozen things. So, I did some research about how to make edible 'raw' cookie dough, that's actually been cooked.

After looking around a few blogs, I was particularly inspired by Ann Reardon's approach to making a roux-style cookie dough. So, I cooked the dough in a saucepan to get rid of the raw taste, but I used my own recipe, just scaling it down.

So here is the final thing! It's pretty much just my go-to ice-cream base with some 'raw' cookie dough in it. But it's pretty tasty!

FREE FROM
☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Gluten
☑ Wheat
☑ Eggs
☑ Nuts

CONTAINS
☒ Dairy
☒ Refined sugar products
☒ Cocoa (yes, I thought I'd contain it because I was allergic to cocoa for a time)

INGREDIMENTS

For the ice cream base.

• 8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres, 1 US cup) whipping cream, 35%-40% fat content, well chilled
• 6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres, ¾ US cup) condensed milk, well chilled
• 1 vanilla pod or 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
• Pinch of salt

For the cookie dough,

• 2 ounces (55 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) light brown sugar
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) butter
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) milk
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
• 3½ ounces (100 grammes) milk chocolate chips, or milk chocolate cut into small pieces

HOW-TO
First, make the cookie dough:

• Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper, or use a silicone tray.
• Mix the milk, sugar, butter, and vanilla essence together in a small saucepan. Heat together over low heat until the butter and sugar have melted, but don't boil.
• Remove from the heat and add the flour all at once. Stir until completely mixed with no lumps of flour remaining.
• Return to medium heat and cook until it becomes a thick paste. While still hot, thinly spread out on the tray and allow to cool completely.
• When the dough is cool, mix with the chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate) to make a cookie dough. Congratulations! You now have edible raw cookie dough.

Then, make the ice-cream:

• Using an electric hand mixer, beat the cream and condensed milk together until light and a soft-peak consistency. It wants to look like a soft whipped cream. For best results, put the bowl and the beaters in the freezer for about 15 minutes beforehand.
• Pour a third of the mixture into a 2 pint (560 millilitre; 2½ US cup) container, then break up about a third of the cookie dough over the top. Mix a little to distribute the dough chunks.
• Repeat with the remaining two thirds of ice-cream and dough, finishing with a sprinkle of dough.
• Cover with the container's lid -- or clingfilm, directly touching the ice-cream's surface -- and freeze for 4 to 6 hours.
• Allow to temper for about 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serve as a sundae with syrups, sprinkles and other nice things, on its own, or with cake.

THIS TIME IN 2015: Battenberg Birthday Cake (Wheat and Dairy Free)
THIS TIME IN 2014: Minty Mint Brownies of Mintiness, with Marbled Glaze (Wheat Free)
THIS TIME IN 2013: How to Use and Abuse Royal Icing, and Wholemeal Gingerbread (Wheat Free)

Egg-Free Marzipan

One of my all-time favourite bakery and sugar craft staples, and something I have touched on surprisingly seldom in my blog, is marzipan! I forget about it all year, and then Christmas comes around and I'm marzipan mad.

Marzipan is one of my most favourite things: I could eat blocks of marzipan until I felt very ill, and still like it. When I was in school, I had a good German friend who one year got a solid marzipan Easter egg from her father back home in Germany. She gave me some, and it was some of the nicest marzipan I had tasted; she told me it was by a company called Niederegger, and that the factory shop was in Lübeck, which was a town close to her own home. I visited her home in 2008 (my first foreign holiday) and asked her to take me to the shop, where I bought a nice amount of the delicious marzipan to nibble on and bring home.

Despite my love of marzipan, I'd never tried to make it before this year. In May, I made a circular Battenberg layer cake, which was my first attempt at making it. I never realised it was so easy! It is a little fragile because it lacks those good egg white proteins, but it's easily moulded like clay and sets quickly.

FREE FROM

☑ Soya
☑ Yeast
☑ Dairy
☑ Gluten
☑ Eggs

CONTAINS
☒ Nuts
☒ Refined sugar products

INGREDIMENTS:

• 7 ounces (200 grammes) ground nuts of your choice: almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, etc.
• 7 ounces (200 grammes) icing sugar
• ¼ teaspoon (2 millilitres) almond essence, or to taste
• Cold water, to bind
• Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon juice
• Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon zest
• Icing sugar, for dusting

HOW-TO:

• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground nuts and icing sugar until well combined. Add in the almond essence (and lemon juice and zest if using), and stir with the tip of a knife.
• Continuing to mix with the knife, add in water a teaspoon (5 millilitres) at a time until it comes together in a soft dough.
• Dust the work surface with a little icing sugar, and turn out the marzipan. Knead and squash the dough together very gently until smooth; if you over knead it, it becomes oily and unworkable.
• You can use the marzipan straightaway, or wrap it in cling film and keep in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.

Marzipan is used very often in Northern European bakery and sweet-making: Denmark, Holland, and Germany all produce a lot of almond based delights. I will be exploring all of these things in the New Year.

Vegan Banana Bread (Wheat-, Dairy-, and Egg Free)

Sometimes I get the sudden urge to bake things and then I discover that I'm missing some fairly critical ingredients: either late at night, early in the morning, or when I've run out of money for the week and have to rely only on the things in the house. The other day I wanted to get rid of some bananas that were slowly turning an upsetting shade of brown, and then I discovered that I had no eggs... and eggs are pretty vital when it comes to baking most things.

However, I put two and two together in my mind: I don't have eggs => who else doesn't have eggs? => vegans don't eat eggs => find a vegan recipe. So I did.

Luckily for me, I found this recipe online and adapted it for use with spelt flour and it worked a treat! Through my research I learnt that in a lot of vegan cookery eggs are replaced either with bananas or applesauce, which was ideal given that I needed to make egg-free banana bread.

I will note that, unlike cakes and biscuits where one can get away with replacing some of the flour with cornflour, one must use all spelt flour in tea bread, otherwise the texture is compromised. A tea bread needs to be firm enough to be cut into slices, and the addition of cornflour makes the crumb too fine, leading to breakage when you attempt to cut it. That's just my experience, anyway.

INGREDIMENTS
This will yield one 8x4 inch (21x10 centimeter) loaf.

• 8 ounces (230 grammes) white or wholemeal spelt flour
• 1 rounded tablespoon baking powder (yes, that's a lot. It's needed to compensate for the lack of air incorporated into the beaten eggs; it doesn't affect the flavour)
• 2 to 3 teaspoons cinnamon, or mixed spice for added interest
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) soft brown sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 3 large overripe bananas
• 3 fluid ounces (85 millilitres) sunflower oil
• Optional: 2 ounces (55 grammes) dried fruit or nuts

HOW-TO

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4, or moderate). Grease and flour a loaf pan.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, and spice into a large mixing bowl. If you are using dried fruit or nuts, mix them into the dry ingredients to coat; set aside.
• In another bowl or large jug, mash the bananas with the sugar, oil and salt until smooth and runny.
• Then, make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the banana mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon only until combined. You don't need to beat it, as the texture will be tough if you do.
• Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes. Test the loaf with a cocktail stick, and if it's still sticky in the middle, bake for a further 5 minutes. Repeat this process if needed. Baking this bread is not an exact science: every banana will be slightly different in size, therefore every time you make this the cooking time will slightly change.
• Remove from the oven once baked and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Consume in swathes in lashings of butter, raspberry jam or peanut butter; that is not a serving suggestion, that is an order...