I've not been able to bake for a few days... So what am I baking today?

You see, I couldn't use the kitchen as I normally would, we had a bit of a leaking pipe and that just got fixed yesterday Woohoo!

Do you get withdrawal symptoms when you can't get into the kitchen to bake?

I did! Its so strange isn't it. That not being able to bake, as I didn't have the facilities to wash up numerous bowls as I create, was really tough.

So here I share what I'm going to bakem and also share a few childhood memories too.

Enjoy this weeks Podcast and catch up very soon

Angela xx

What am I going to bake today?

It's gluten-free.

Angela here and I've had a few days when I haven't been able to get in

the kitchen and I thought I'd share with you what I am going to bake.

The reason why I haven't been able to bake is because we haven't had

running water for a little while.

We've only been able to switch it on sporadically over the last few days.

And you know what it's like when you start to bake.

You have to wash up so much and so today is the day and I thought, let

me just go and see what needs to be used and I've got three things

that I know I'm gonna bake already.

So what's your go to inspiration?

Do you love thinking, What can I create?

So, hey, I opened the fridge and I found some cream cheese that needs

using up, so I thought that's perfect.

I can bake a cheesecake, however, will that cheesecake be savory or sweet?

Who knows?

It depends what I fancy creating.

Do you like the savory cheesecakes, which are, are really rather

nice with, certainly with a little bit of blue cheese in.

But somehow I think I'm gonna be making a sweet cheesecake.

And, and I really, really, really want to, to implore to you go back to all

of those recipes that you used to love before you had to give up gluten, you

know, your perfect recipe that you always used to make your, your cheesecake from.

And a lot of the baked cheesecakes don't require any any wheat in them.

whatsoever.

and even a lot of the Unbaked cheesecakes don't either.

So these are recipes that you'd be quite excited to know.

You can adapt quite easily.

Let's have a look at the base.

So the base tends to be.

A little bit of broken biscuit, a little bit of butter, and then

possibly something else in there.

But if you would just strip it back.

One thing that you will notice is that our biscuits tend to be a lot,

lot dryer than when we had wheat.

So that means that you've got to reduce the amount of butter

or, or whatever you are using.

just because it's not gonna absorb as much.

So you need to melt that butter

. and then just combine it

I'm going to be using, I've got some beautiful, beautiful ginger biscuits.

But as I said, they don't absorb like others, so I am going to

use about half the amount of butter that I normally would.

And then what do we need on top?

Well, we are talking about lovely cream.

We're talking about the, the beautiful cream cheese.

, Do you like fruit on it?

Do you like not like fruit on it?

You know me, I love my Tonka , so this is gonna be a really,

really simple cheesecake.

But I think on top of it, what I'm gonna do, which will be glorious, is I actually

have some of the sour cherries, the frozen sour cherries that I've defrosted, and

I'm gonna put some of those on the top.

I will love it because it will be, Sour so tart with that beautiful,

delicious, creamy filling that just needs a little bit of sugar to sweeten it.

And, and by sugar I tend to use the, the the powdered sugar, the icing sugar.

But just keep it simple.

A little bit of lemon or lime zest will help to just give it that extra dimension

because we don't want everything sweet in there, do we?

So I'm gonna be making a lovely, lovely, lovely cheesecake, and I'm not

gonna use all of those sour cherries.

I'm actually going to make a beautiful cake and.

, and it's quite a simple cake.

I e it isn't in layers, but this simple cake just has so much taste to it.

And if you've ever had pistachios and ground almonds sitting around

and some, some dried sour cherries and some fresh frozen sour

cherries, what to do with this?

Well, look in your spice cupboard and see if you've got any mahleb or a sweet.

Cake type herb and spice . And that's what I'm gonna be using.

So I'm gonna be making this beautiful thing with pistachios,

with ground almonds, with who knows what other nuts I will come across.

And there's all these.

Beautiful intense flavors.

And then over the top, I'm going to sprinkle some of the lovely sour

cherries and then I will drizzle some of the juice over the top.

And if you want to put anything else in there you can do.

If you'd like some orange blossom water in there to enhance the flavor, you can do.

But this needs nothing else with it.

It's just intense.

Flavorful and delicious.

You can even use, you know, if you don't have anything like sour cherries, you

can, you can put things on top, like look and see what tinned fruits you've got.

Have you got some a tin apricot apricots or some tinned peaches?

We forget how sweet and delicious they are, just when you take them out.

Get rid of the juice that's on the outside.

You might want to pat them slightly and stick them on top of the cake.

You would be surprised at how delicious they are.

So that's another thing that I'm gonna do, and you, something I haven't had in

so, so long, is my homemade granola and I have some gluten-free porridge oats.

They're an apple flavor and.

I'm not that enamored, but you know what?

I'm not gonna waste them because I'm gonna make my beautiful granola.

And this granola is so crispy.

It's got honey, it's got a whole host of different spices in it.

Lots and lots of cinnamon, lots of whole almonds.

It's just beautiful.

It's not that shall we say bland?

Type, It's more like a, a fruit.

A fruit nut, brittle . It's incredible.

So I need to I've just managed to open empty one of my beautiful big jars, you

know, those kilner jars, and they're perfect for putting Lovely, lovely.

Granola in, so I've actually got two of them free.

So who, who knows how much I'm gonna make, but it's one that you combine

all of those oats with seeds, with honey, with apple sauce or grated.

Apples in there.

Lots of cinnamon, and I am actually gonna put some of these mixed spices in that are

there for making cakes with, So there's so many different spices in this spice mix.

It's amazing.

It's from my favorite deli down in London.

So once I've used it all, I'll need to go and get some more.

But what, you know, it's been days since I've been able to create, so

I, I decided that I need a perfusion of cakes there for us to just taste,

for us to go and grab, for us to eat.

And also in this whole world, for me, there is just something

special about creating cakes and being able to give cakes away.

So when I make a big cake, I know it's too much for our little household,

but if I keep a quarter, then that means I can gift three quarters to

friends, to neighbours, to other people.

And at this time of the year, it's, we're in the beginning of November, remember?

And in my beautiful village, we have a little.

Table where if you have things going to spare, you can put things on there.

And it is Apple season.

So I have all of these apples that I've been able to get from my

neighbors orchards and I have been thinking about the past and when

I was young and some of the things that I used to buy when I was young.

And we used to have this wonderful, wonderful.

Bakery in the north of England and it was called Thurston's.

Now if you are in the uk or if you've been to the uk, you will have seen

something called Gregs on every corner.

And don't bother going in there cuz you're gluten free.

because it's all gluten.

Well, they may have one or two things.

Hey ho.

So when I was younger, this is pre gluten free days.

I used to, on my way home from school, me and my friends used to pop into

our village Thurston's, and I always remember what I used to buy from there.

Other people bought other things.

And some people have said they loved the the, the, the little

finger buns with icing on top and you know, donuts and other things.

But for me it was always the one thing that I loved.

And this thing was called an Apple Charlotte, but it was nothing

like an apple Charlotte that you would see in a recipe book.

This apple Charlotte was thurston's and it was quite a deep pie.

type bun.

So the pastry was about two inches thick on an individual pie.

Serving in one of those silver little pie dishes, you know, the aluminum type.

And then on the bottom there was this apple compote.

It was chunks, little squares of apples that were quite tart.

And then there, there was this sweet sauce as well.

So that was lovely.

And then on top of that, they had the most amazing thick custard, which was lovely.

And I always remember when you looked at it, the top of it was shiny.

It was so, so shiny.

And then there was a big circle of whipped cream.

And then on top, Whipped cream.

There were tiny little green speckles of of something.

And as you bit into this little individual pie, it wasn't little at all.

It was, it looked rather big as far as I was concerned, but you had pastry

that had no sugar in it whatsoever.

So that was beautiful.

And then you had this sweet.

And tart apple compote.

And then you had this luxurious, well, it seemed luxurious when I was younger.

Beautiful, not overly sweet custard.

. And then on top of that, you had the cream, and then you had these crunchy

little green things on top, and it was just incredible and nowhere else in the

world have I come across this little apple and custard and cream tart, that

thurston's called an apple charlotte

so it made me think a little while ago.

Why do you know often what has absolutely enthused us to be the bakers, to be

the cooks, to be chefs to, to just enjoy food and creating one or two

recipes, if that's what you do, But what actually drew us into loving baking.

I realized that some of the, you know, that is what something that

I used to really, really enjoy.

So why don't I recreate it?

So I'm going to, I'm going to recreate it.

I've spoken about this before, but I am going to do it now that I have

a kitchen that I can get into and cook in and clean up afterwards.

So anyway.

, that's what I thought I would do.

I'd do my granola, I'd do this beautiful large cake and gift

some away, make a cheesecake.

I don't actually happen to have any blue cheese in, so I think

it's going to be a sweet cheesecake rather than the savory cheesecake.

And just being able to have granola in the morning, my beautiful granola,

which you don't actually need to eat it, like granola, you can

eat it as a snack, as a you know, instead of sweets instead of a cake.

It, it's so good.

And to put that in those beautiful kilner jars and something like

that, I do believe should be out.

For everyone to admire and for to remind us that we've

created these beautiful things.

So yeah, and that's what I'm going to be baking.

So after a few days without being able to bake in my kitchen, I

can't wait to get back to it.

And something else I started to think about was what.

What does baking evoke in our minds for us?

And, and, and something that I always put with baking and, and

let me just, I dunno about you.

I just shut your eyes for a moment and I want you to think back to when

you were younger and I want you to think about walking into that kitchen.

And I dunno whether that's in your home or whether that's in somebody else's kitchen.

It could, could be grandparents' kitchens or a neighbor's

kitchen or you know, wherever.

And toddling over to the cake Tin.

Do you remember the cake Tin?

There were always like metal and they had some form of design on the outside

and some form of design on the top.

And with you, they were probably a little bit battered.

But what you would do is you would grab hold of that big cake tin and you

would wrap one arm around the bottom of it, and then you'd bring your other

hand over the top and you would pull the top of that cake tin off, and the

smell of that beautiful baked goods that were inside would then hit you.

And that may be a chocolate cake.

It may be those coconut tarts.

It may be a Madeira cake.

It could be lemon tarts, jam tarts, It could be a battenberg cake.

Whatever we created back then went into that all important set of metal cake tins.

and I just remembered, do you know what the excitement of going to my

grandma's to see what was there?

I knew what was there because she baked the same every single week.

But out of the tins that I would open, would it be just the chocolate cake?

Would it be the sausage rolls?

Would it be the jam tarts and coconut Gem tarts and lemon curd tarts?

Or would it be the coconut tarts?

Who knew I would grab one of them and whatever it.

I would just be hit by this home baked aroma that made me smile, and

I hope that you have some similar thoughts as well, and memories.

And it, it made me think that why don't I use mine more often, which

is what I'm actually going to do.

So I, I've come in to, to get more of my tens, my cake tens, because, They

keep things really well in there and when you open them, just the intense

smell that comes out and the want in, I love opening is the coconut

tin, what whatever is in there.

And so there's all these things from when I was young that.

Bring such beautiful memories that is walking home from school and popping

into ths and getting that apple Charlotte that isn't like an apple Charlotte.

Cuz Apple, Charlottes, when you look at them in a book will have some form

of sponge fingers on the outside and that's certainly not what they will like.

It was pastry.

So we know that we can create gluten-free pastry.

As I keep saying, let's not be snobbish.

Let's go out and buy Roger made good pastry.

I've told you.

Get into your local wardrobe or a avocado and get that so pastry cuz it is so,

so good to just take that out of the freezer and use rather than making pastry.

Although I do make pa I do make my own pastry and, and the skill.

Rather the hack to it is, it's much, much better if you're going

to be adding eggs into your pastry.

Just something happens, it makes the gluten-free pastry better.

So, so that's what I do.

I always make sure that it's a recipe with eggs in and having a cake.

Just, just a prepared cake that you've just brought out for the oven and

just like cool down a little bit.

But I Are you like, When you take that out of the oven, it's crazy, isn't it?

You can never let the thing call properly before you cut the

piece, or a slice or just a little corner off, and I always think.

Am I allowed to cut it before it's properly of kilt and do you know what?

I can do what I want with that cake.

But yeah.

So these are things I'm gonna be baking today.

So my oven is going to be going, my oven is gonna be so

happy that we are baking again.

And I don't know about you, but it, it's something that I just love.

I, you know, there are times when I will buy things that are.

They tend to be more independent places, so that's good.

But I just love baking in my own home and.

I've always loved baking and really it's around the sweetness, the cakes, the, the

tarts, the, the pies, the pastries, all of those I absolutely love to, to make, and

I know it's a challenge when, when we have to give up gluten, but there are ways that

a lot of cakes out there can be converted and, and for me, rather than rather.

Going to try and use what can be some quite unusual ingredients.

And honestly, I have read recipes and I've really struggled to source

some of them from strange rice flour's to certo in certain things.

And I just like being able to.

Things that work time and time and time again in the comfort of my own home.

So that as people walk in, they know that I've been baking,

they can smell it in the air.

And it's just beautiful.

And that's what I think as bakers we love, don't we?

So that's what I'm getting into the kitchen to bake today.

What about you?

What are you creating?

So I hope, I really, really hope that you've got some good ideas.

So is it a cheesecake?

Because do you know what cheesecake recipes?

Most of them we can still make, just as I said, do the

adaptations that I've suggested.

I've let you know which pies you can make and I'm gonna create my own

gluten-free Angela's equivalent of the Apple Charlotte from Thurstons, Circa

of the 1980s, and sometimes it is good to look back at what we had in the

past and see, can we recreate that?

Was it beautiful?

And if it was, then why not try that again.

And I think when I, when I was young, I always remember you know, if, if

my parents had people coming around for, for a little bit of a, you know,

dinner, et cetera, I always used to think, Please, please, please, please,

please, please, I hope I can stay up.

And it was always great when it was somebody who had children as well,

cuz their children would come along.

So we would always be up until the parents went home late, late, late.

And, and that meant I could always.

That beautiful slice of, What am I gonna say?

What was my favorite when I was younger?

Well, let me tell you, shall I?

It was the good old Schwarzwalder kirschtorte Yes, Black forest

Gateaux, homemade by my mom.

What happened to that?

What happened to that in the, you know, it, it was so popular

in the 1970s and the 1980s.

We know what happened.

It became a frozen dessert that was in every freezer and the, the

ingredients were cheapened, shall we say, and it just, everybody ate it.

But when my mom created that dessert,

These were thin, luscious layers of chocolate, dark, dark, dark chocolate

cake with beautiful whipped cream, with beautiful cherries in there with

little bits of dark chocolate as well.

And these were layered up with, I don't know whether we had Kirche in the UK back

then, but there was certainly some form.

Alcohol liqueur type thing put on the top.

It could very well have been cherry brandy, who knows?

But if there's one dessert that I always, always, always wanted a piece

of, it was that black forest gateaux, that homemade black forest gateaux.

And it is a, it is a gateaux that deserves to be served in its

pride of place and that is in the.

Of an array of food on a table.

And I always remember seeing that black forest gateaux and the cherries on

top always had the cherry stalk there.

And I just wanted a piece, the swirl of cream and a cherry

with the stalk on, stuck on.

Now that is not one that I'm going to make today, but it, I think that

could feature coming up to, let's face it, with coming up to Christmas.

All of these beautiful, luscious, intense, decadent, dark, exciting

flavors really deserve to be on our gluten free list, don't they?

So maybe I'll, I'll recreate that recipe pretty soon as well.

So have I.

Inspired you to go and have a little bit of a bake today.

Let me know what you've created.

I'd love to know

it doesn't take much to create a beautiful cake.

Whatever idea you have in your mind, it is possible to go and create that.

So please, please, please have the confidence to do so.

And we are getting ready for the new bake.

For gluten free Angela's Bake Club, where for six weeks, you are going

to get a great video of me and how I create my bakes at home, and you're

gonna be able to bake along with that prerecorded video and understand how I

convert so many different recipes and you're gonna have them in your own home.

If you'd like to increase your confidence, your prowess, and your ability to

create beautiful creations at home.

I know there's one in there that everybody always loves, and

it's the pimms the clock cake.

And people look at it and just go, Wow, , It looks like Pimms on top of a cake.

And it's actually within the cake as well.

It, . It's a bit crazy, but it's beautiful.

I love that cake.

I really do.

And there's never anything left.

Whenever you cr serve a pins the clock cake, everybody wants

their biggest piece possible.

There's so much fruit on top of it.

There's so much pins on it as well.

It, it is just lovely and it just goes so quickly.

So if there's one Christmas day or New Year's Day or Wimbledon,

cake that you should create.

It is the Pimms O'Clock Cake, and I have got video of that and

how I create it coming in that gluten free Angela Bay Club.

So anyway, today has all been about what I can get in and create.

So I'm gonna do that very shortly and I'll have some photos that

I'll share at some point too.

So I hope you've enjoyed spending the last half.

Thinking about cake tins, different things to bake, and I'll be with

you, but I'll be with you again soon.

You take care.

This is Angela from Gluten-Free, Angela, see you soon.

Happy baking.