Bake Off Bake Along: Week 5: Sugar-Free Spiced Sweet Potato Loaf

This week's challenges are most certainly that. Despite the number of 'healthy' baking books that are around, its not as simple as just picking one recipe and running with it. Not unless you're pretty healthy anyway and your cupboards are stocked up with everything that Whole Foods or Planet Organic stock.

Sugar is my kryptonite. Even when I'm being healthier, I eat tonnes of sugar laden fruit so was keen this week to make something entirely sugar-free.

Of course Gwyneth Paltrow comes up trumps with sugar-free recipes. I spotted this recipe for sweet potato muffins and mixed things up a little to make a loaf cake with what I already had in my cupboards. This mix is enough to make a dozen muffins or a 1lb loaf.

So if you fancy giving it a go, here's a few tips on substituting ingredients:

• Liquid sweeteners are a great substitute for sugar, just be careful of the ratios as volumes and weights always differ. This guide is a great help to give you an idea. In Gwynnie's recipe, rice malt syrup is used as its a complex sugar that slowly absorbs into the bloodstream. I don't have this and I've never seen it in my local supermarket so opted to use maple syrup instead.
• Stevia is also a good alternative. As a natural sweetener its preferable to other sweeteners you'll find in the baking aisle like aspartame. Although, as stevia is twice as sweet as sugar, you only need to use half the quantity.
• As sugar is hygroscopic, it adds moisture to baking. It also gives a different structure and taste when it caramelises which is why different sugars are suited to different recipes. You may want a short crumb in biscuits and pastry, but something moist and golden in brownies and cakes. This is also the case with sweeteners. Coconut sugar, honey or maple syrup are great alternatives for any type of brown sugar where you need a caramel taste. 
• As a general rule of thumb, natural sweeteners bake quicker than regular sugars, especially honey. If you're adapting a recipe, check on your bake 5-10 minutes before listed in the recipe.
• Another popular alternative is agave due to its low GI qualities, although as with honey, it is high in fructose so be careful with using too much. 

Mostly its a taste preference, we see cake and expect it to be sweet. Sweet potatoes are naturally sweet so in this recipe you can get away with only adding 2 tablespoons of maple syrup!

See how I got on with the previous week's challenges:

   

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Review: August Degustabox

I was so excited to receive August's Degustabox*, I think this is my favourite one yet. This is the final one I'll be reviewing so had high hopes of discovering some great new brands, and I did! 

Here's my round up and some tips on how to get the most out of the August box.

Dr. Oetker

I love mug cakes, I even have my very own mug with measurements inside for making them. Dr. Oetker has set out to make things even easier and now has a range of 3 flavours (lemon, chocolate and chocolate chip) where you just need to add milk and pop in the microwave. If you want to ramp up the flavour even more, I recommend adding a spoon of Nutella, peanut butter, chocolate chips, marshmallows, or my favourite, crushed Daim bars. Perfect for those moments where you have nothing in and you just need cake. 

Life Tonics

Fruity coconut water with added vitamins and no refined sugars or artificial sweeteners. I think I got the best flavour in my box, Dalandan Orange which is meant to be a little sour like lime and orange. Other flavours include coconut & mint and elderberry & juniper.

Ryvita

Ryvita used to remind me of diets but they've had a huge overhaul recently and their range of different snacks and crispbreads is huge. I'm a huge fan of their crispbreads due to the vast range in flavours and snack combinations with them are limitless. Their website is a great source of inspiration and even has a recipe selector that asks you exactly what you fancy. Recently I've been enjoying the sesame ones with cream cheese and marmite as a snack. Or for breakfast, I've layered some in a glass with fresh berries and my favourite yogurt. 

Bahlsen

I enjoyed Pick Up! biscuits so much, they remind me of Cadbury's LU biscuits. And you can't go wrong with Leibniz of any form. I spotted these again in my local supermarket so will definitely be stocking up again.

Barilla

Barilla takes pasta very seriously and have specially designed their Penne Rigate for optimum sauce holding. Lean and long, with angled ends and ridges on the outside, the arrabbiata sauce clings perfectly. 

Walkers

Is it me or do these remind you of hotels? Either way, biscuits of any sort are usually a winner for me. I'm just not too keen on these, their shortbreads aren't buttery enough and the other biscuits tend to be quite dry.

Primal Pantry

I've seen so much about these bars buzzing round the Internet so was very curious to try. Paleo, coldpressed bars free from nasties are meant to be a sweet and balanced snack. I just couldn't get on with them. I found them to be quite bitter and the flavours not so exciting.

Scheckters

I'm not a huge fan of energy drinks, I'd personally rather have strong coffee. Its a shame there's been a lot of negative press around them recently because there are a lot of good natural brands out there. In these Scheckters drinks, a blend of green coffee beans, green tea, guarana and ginseng is blended for an energy boost.

If you'd like to try Degustabox for yourself, shimmy on over here and pop in my discount code (98VWM) for £3 off your first box, valid until October.

Its been absolutely great receiving a box of treats every month and trying out some new things. Take a look at my round up of the previous boxes if you're tempted:

• June's box with a recipe for healthy coconut sugar brownies, here.
• July's box packed with snacks, here.
  

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Bake Off Bake Along: Week 4 - Espresso Crème Brûlée

Throughout the Bake Off Bake Along some of the biggest challenges have been photographing the bakes each week. Especially crème brûlée from desserts week. The Spanische windtorte and baked cheesecakes may now seem ages ago but you'll have to forgive me, I'm running a little behind.

So, in an attempt to catch up (and watch last weeks Bake Off!), here's my entry for dessert week, espresso crème brûlée...and yes I cheated by not grilling my sugar topping and instead opted for a kitchen torch, way more fun.

I used a Gordon Ramsay recipe which you can find, here.

In order to create the perfect wobble and crisp caramel topping, here are some pointers:

• my biggest mistake here was not using enough sugar to caramelise for the topping. I was in a little bit of a rush with these. But ideally all the sugar should melt into caramel. The recipe I used called for demerara which helps to give a nice toffee flavour but will not fully melt. For a smooth, glossy melt use caster sugar. 
• essentially you're making baked custard, so whilst different flavours are great, have a think of what goes with custard before getting too fancy! Earl grey would be great, as would orange and almond flavours. Unfortunately, as good as these espresso versions taste, they look a little brown and unappealing before adding a sugar topping.
• older crème brûlée recipes will be made entirely on the stove and heated until jelly-like and firm and cooled in the fridge. However, its must quicker and easier to make the custard and bake it for 30 minutes or so. The milk and cream is gently scalded in a pan before whisking into the eggs and sugar. The mixture is then poured into ramekins positioned in a large baking tray of water. By doing so the water will create steam and will also help to ensure that the crème brûlées are cooked evenly throughout. Once done they should become firm and have a slight wobble.
• some recipes call for buttering ramekins, but it seems pretty pointless, unlike panna cotta you don't need to remove them to serve.

With just a few elements, crème brûlée is surprisingly easy to make. Just not too appealing to photograph!

Fancy checking out how I got on with the rest of the Bake Off Bake Along challenges?

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National Burger Day Party

If you're under the impression that I like burgers, then I'm afraid you've got me all wrong. Hah! Who am I kidding? When it was announced that Mr Hyde would be bringing back National Burger Day and celebrating with a party again this year there was a lot of commotion on Twitter. Mostly between Flick, Lauren and myself.

Of course, to go to the party you needed to purchase a ticket and these tickets sold out quicker than it takes Flick to eat a whole crab with burger chaser. 

I woke up from my night shift slumber to find that I'd missed the boat and a ticket. We hatched a plan over Twitter that I'd stand on the other side of the fence and the girls would lob burgers over to me. Now, whilst this was all a joke, my sadness was not a joke. 

My lucky burger prayers were answered when our pleas were heard and a latecomers ticket was released just for me. Christmas had truly come early and I don't think I've ever Paypal'd my spondoolies over so quickly!

But enough of burger admin, and onto the only thing we all truly care about, the line up. A total of 18 special burgers and 2 desserts were on offer. And with each ticket, a pint of Kozel lager, a Jameson Pickleback and a Breddos Chilliback with Jose Cuervo. 

We hopped straight over to the bar, went for Kozel and Aperol spritzes to fuel our game plan. We heard early on that someone had managed 6 burgers. Even with their smaller special sizes for the evening (anything between 75g and 120g patties) that was some true dedication!

First up, Mother Flipper. Without a doubt The Candy Bacon Special stole the show. 

The patties (120g) are made from coarse mince, loaded with squirt of magical MF special sauce and American cheese. Topped with pickles, home-candied brown sugar bacon, shoestring fries to give a perfect crunch and gently squashed in a toasted brioche bun.

We then split to order our next choices, Le Bun for the girls after giving up on Burger Bear's worthy queue. For me, Lucky Chip and their Donald Trump Burger (as endorsed by Donald Trump, apparently)!

Aged beef patty (105g) drenched in bourbon and vanilla BBQ sauce, grilled onions, American cheese and huge hunks of pickles. Perhaps a little too sweet, but perfectly manageable in a small size like this. I'd have loved it even more with a squirt of mustard and some more crispy onions.

As pickle-fiends, Flick and I opted for a pickle party in our final burgers. Lauren went for Smokestak who's Brisket and smoked bone marrow burgers looked pretty damn impressive.

And the pickle choice of the night? PYT Burger's Pickleback Slider. Custom beef patty (85g) topped with applewood bacon, Jameson glazed and fried pickle chips. I could quite happily have a whole trough of fried pickle chips and they are glorious in a burger. With just a hint more Jameson and bacon, this burger would have been a good contender to knock Mother Flipper off the top spot.

Happy as clams (or pickles), the girls tuck into their patties.

As the night crept on, things got a lot darker. We negotiated our way back to the bar for a top up. Bypassing the offer of a Pickleback or Chilliback that came with our tickets (a shot followed by a chilli or pickle juice chaser!). 

At Scoopsy Daisy, we all shared The Fat Elvis. Peanut butter and banana ice cream topped with bacon dust. This was an unusual combination, even for a gal like Flick who mixes her condiments! I loved the ice cream, just perhaps not bacon dust with it, sorry Elvis.

And finally, a dessert made just for me (naturally) Crumbs & Doilies Filthy Burger Cupcake. Salted caramel butterscotch bun, PB&J brownie patty, Speculoos cheese, Biscoff mustard and Swiss meringue lettuce. Followed with a side of shortbread chips with Yuzu and Speculoos dips.

No other cupcake will be the same!

The National Burger Day party was amazing (even the part where Flick-penguin attacked us in a photobooth). I'm not sure I want to go to any other sort of party in future now.

Mr Hyde's own photos of the night are pretty good, here.

If you're planning a burger crawl or going to a food festival yourself, take wet wipes. Everyone will be your friend and you'll be able to eat more burgers, that's what we learnt!

Until next year, burger pals!

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Food in August

August has been a bit of a mixed month, in weather and in recipes. I've been baking less and eating out more, never a bad thing. But now seasons are changing, I'm excited for cooler days and to get my slow cooker out once again. I've been flicking through crisp new cookbooks and pinning away on Pinterest for inspiration.

So without further a do, here are some of my favourite things from the last few weeks.

As August is my birthday month, I always look forward to getting some new cookbooks. I did get a few and have excitedly flicked my way through each and bookmarked recipes I'd like to try. As always, I'm always looking to add more to my collection. What do you recommend?

I'm absolutely in love with Gizzi's newest book, its so well presented. Some of the meals may take extra time to make so will be saving that for days off and weekends. I also won Anna Mae's book on a Twitter competition, there's some great cheesy recipes but also sweets and pickles.

I never used to be too fond of Gin. I'd have cocktails with Gin in, but never a Gin and tonic. I don't know what happened but somewhere along the way I have now become almost too fond of it!

My favourite gin so far (other than Tanqueray, darling) is Half Hitch. Made in Camden Lock using a combination of traditional copper pots and modern day vacuum distillation, the guys at HH add black tea and bergamot to their gin, made in small batches for optimum results.

Here, I made my own version of a French 75 cocktail, a pink one! For these I eyeballed my measures, but something around 40ml gin, 15ml fresh lemon juice a dash of pomegranate syrup and topped up with your choice of fizz. I had some Lanson floating around and decided to use that, cava would work equally well.

New to the Fitzrovia area, Percy & Founders offer a great all-day menu. Tucked away round the corner from Goodge Street, there's space for 200 covers with a few different dining and lounge areas to tuck yourself into. I popped over there to check out their burger, naturally, and couldn't leave before trying their peanut butter parfait also.

I shall definitely be returning for more PB parfaits! I also really enjoyed their burger. Its one of those places you can take 'grown ups' and still have a burger yourself. I.e. parent friendly restaurants.

And that, my friends, pretty much sums up August. Short and sweet. September is already looking jam packed and I'm excited to get cracking on those recipes!

I'll also be loading up a brand new blog header from the super lovely Angie B Studio. I'm excited to finally finish the last step of updating my blog and have loved working with Angie, she just knew exactly what I wanted (even if I didn't know before!).

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Bake Off Bake Along: Week 3 - Soda Bread

I am thoroughly enjoying baking along with this series of the Great British Bake Off. Although I intend to try something different each week, I can't help but feel that things have been okay. So far, so good.

Of course, that's getting a little too carried away and week 3 marked bread week. The difference in making bread at home and making bread to be judged is vast. Who am I kidding?

I do make bread from time to time, but mostly nothing spectacular. I've had every result going from the perfect crust but no rise to free-form loaves that never hold their shape. Thing is, you can make toast or a sandwich from any shape of bread. I don't seem to be able to get the best of both: technically good and looks good.

Paul, if you'd like to show me the errors of my way, you'll have to eat a few less buns to fit in my tiny kitchen!

So, it may seem like a bit of a cop out going for the 'easiest' of the recipes from the week. Alas, I have work to do and burgers to eat so a bread sculpture isn't really going to happen. And, baguettes? They scare the life out of me, think I'll leave them to the French for now.

I've heard a lot of people saying that soda bread is easy, so perhaps I should have gone all out and added some moist fillings like cheese or fruit to make things a little more difficult.

But why overcomplicate things! I've never made soda bread before and the fact that its free-formed scares me enough. I used Justin Gellatly's recipe which can be found, here.

So here's my tips in making the easiest loaf ever (as proven by me)

• for dry ingredients, stick to the basics. Wholemeal bread flour, self raising flour, oatmeal, a dash of bicarbonate of soda, salt and brown sugar. Here there's no yeast so everything is much quicker, the self raising flour and bicarbonate of soda give act as the raising agent.
• for wet ingredients, all you need is water and buttermilk. Except I rarely have buttermilk in, and if you want to make a fancy pants loaf at the drop of a hat, then chances are neither do you. So here's where the Internet steps in and offers some buttermilk hacks, here on Epicurious. The easiest of options being to water down yogurt or sour cream, or to add lemon juice or cream of tartar to milk. I chose to whisk in cream of tartar to my milk, pretty nifty.
• for mixing and forming, there's no real knack. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry and you'll get a big sticky mess. Sprinkle with some more flour and then you should be able to flop it out onto your work surface. Get your hands stuck in and work on shaping it into a smooth ball. As previously my loaves haven't had any height to them and have just shrunk down, I ensured to make my dough as tall as possible.
• lovingly rub some oil over the top to ensure a nice crust, sprinkle with oatmeal and score a cross on the top. I always find it easier to use a large serrated knife for this. A bread knife perhaps! This will also allow a little air to escape from the shape you've just worked at. Don't fear, give it a few more prods and squidge in the sides again till it proudly sits a little taller again.

Here's some ideas of what to serve your soda bread with:

The Crafty Larder's pumpkin chutney; Little Sunny Kitchen's 10 minute strawberry jam; Fab Food 4 All's gooseberry and apple jam; Tin and Thyme's chocolate cashew nut spread; Supergolden Bakes' spicy yellow pepper jam; They Called It the Diamond Blog's blueberry jam; The Veg Space's morello cherry and raspberry jam; Its Not Easy Being Greedy's home-churned butter; Recipes from a Pantry's strawberry rhubarb and basil jam.

Take a look at how I got on with the rest of the challenges

Review: Kerb, Southbank

Donostia Social Club - seared scallops with pisto and green chilli sauce

When the sun is shining, one of my favourite places to be in London is near the river. Combine this with friends, food and a few drinks and it can't get much better.

For a few weekends this summer, Southbank is hosting Kerb and all 13 of their traders. The next weekend they will be around is 4-6th September, so get your appetites ready.

Donostia Social Club - goats cheese with balsamic and strawberry

To start, Persephone, Flick and I went for some tapas from Donostia Social Club. The aim was to start small and work our way through as many of the traders as we could.

I really do wish that the guys at Donostia could park their van up outside my flat and feed me all day long. Those seared scallops were incredible and anyone that's generous with cheese is a winner to me.

Next up, a round of Camden Hells and a Kamm & Sons Spritz for me.

Bill or Beak - chicken caesar burger

Unfortunately, my burger soulmate (Bleecker St) was closed for maintenance on the weekend we went, so I was forced to try another burger. 

Absolutely, hands down, without a doubt the best chicken burger I've had. Bill or Beak's chicken caesar bun with plenty of parmesan, tempura capers and the BEST brioche bun I've ever set my chops on. I did not want this to end!

Bill or Beak - shredded duck and pork burger

For research purposes, I coerced Flick into lending me a few bites of her shredded duck and pork burger - tempura shallots, spring onions, chilli and plenty of coriander. I wouldn't usually go for duck, but this is incredibly tender and I loved the crunch of the tempura shallots.

Bill or Beak - chicken caesar burger

We hadn't initially set out to complete the Ker-bingo challenge. But with so many different traders to try, we couldn't resist. The aim is to get 5 stamps from different traders in order to get a 6th meal or drink free. Alternatively, for a full house, you can bring 5 friends back to another Kerb weekend and you'll all get a free meal.

In order make some room for more food we set off for a stroll along the river...

...took plenty of photos and came to the conclusion we'd all been ultra savvy in choosing for outfits with lots of room for food!

Ice Kitchen - Mojito & raspberry and lime ice lollies

The sun was shining down on us, with not even a breeze coming in from the water. Ice Kitchen was the perfect palate cleanser. Perhaps not for Flick after I made her eat the lime wedge in the centre of her Mojito lolly. Persephone played it safe with raspberry and lime (to match her lipstick obv).

Anna Mae's - The Don Macaroni

Persephone well and truly passed her initiation (not really, anyone can come eat with us!) but was seriously impressed when she went full out for her final order of mac n cheese from Anna Mae's - The Don Macaroni, mac n pesto, crispy bacon and basil oil.

Born and Raised - pepperoni pizza

Flick and I shared our final meal, so I opted for a pepperoni pizza from Born and Raised, sourdough pizzas made in the back of a Land Rover on a wood-fired oven, pretty epic.

Slightly more messy to share, but so worth it, Flick chose a beef burrito from Kimchinary for us. Ain't no party like a kimchi fried rice party that's for sure.

Feeling a little like extras in Gossip Girl we sat on the steps and traded yogurt for carbs, digging into each others and getting covered in kimchi and cheese. Its a hard life.

And just because I cannot control myself and say not to food. On the way back to Waterloo I stopped in Yo! Sushi to try their latest YOLO, the Japple Pie. Hot apple and vanilla gyozas, black sesame ice cream, chocolate pocky, rapsberry crumble in a waffle cone with a miso salted caramel syringe. Incredible!

Kerb will be returning to Southbank 4 - 6th September, find out more here.