Apple and Walnut Crumble Loaf

I love baking. Love it. When friends come to stay I make an effort to ensure they wake up to the delicious aromas of home cooking, like this moist teacake.

Apple and Walnut Crumble Loaf

Crumble Topping

3/4 cup walnuts
1 Tbs raw sugar
1 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Moist Loaf

1 large Granny Smith apple (approximately 180g)
120g unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup raw caster sugar
2 large free range eggs
3/4 cup gluten free self raising flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup gluten free cornflour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
3/4 cup organic full cream milk
1 1/2 Tbs Calvados apple brandy

Grease a standard (23 x 13 x 7 cm) loaf tin, line with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).

For the crumble: Roughly chop the walnuts, stir in the sugars and spices and set aside. If you have a food processor or Magic Bullet, pulse the crumble taking care not to make it too fine.

For the moist cake: Peel, core and grate the apple into a small bowl. In an electric mixer (helloooo beautiful red Kitchen Aid!), cream the softened butter with the raw caster sugar (I use a Magic Bullet blender to turn raw sugar into caster sugar). Once thick and creamy, add one egg and beat, scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the second egg and beat until incorporated.
In a separate bowl, sift the flours, cinnamon and baking powder together. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter with 1/4 cup of the milk, beat until just incorporated taking care not to over beat the mixture. Fold in the grated apple and brandy (brandy is optional). If the batter is stiff, add milk a 1/4 cup at a time.

Pour half of the batter into the loaf tin, sprinkle evenly with half of the crumble then pour over the rest of the batter. Sprinkle loaf with the remaining crumble and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the loaf tin for several minutes before carefully turning out onto a wire rack to cool.

This delicious loaf will rouse your guests from their slumber; expect to see them float sleepily to the breakfast table, led by their inquisitive noses. Serve thick, warm slices of this moist cake with or without a smear of creamy butter.

Gluten free, delicious, and worth savouring every mouthful over a hot cup of tea as you plan your day.

Love Bella xx

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Breakfast Muffins by the Sea

Have you ever had one of those days where you have a sweet craving, but you don't want to scoff some processed rubbish in a colourful plastic wrapper only to feel the inevitable guilt after consuming something so dangerously unhealthy?

I had one such day this week. It was early in the morning, Byron lay upstairs in our giant comfy bed snoozing off a late night work shift and I stood staring blankly into the refrigerator searching for some inspiration. For quite some time I stood there holding the door ajar, almost day dreaming until my eyes fell upon a small neglected bunch of bananas that had passed their prime. What to do with over-ripe, sweet, bananas that were too soft to peel and bite into?

Why I was going to mash them of course! Hello gluten free breakfast crumble muffins!

Almond, Banana and Carrot Crumble Muffins
Makes approximately 12 regular muffins, or 8 large ones

Crumble

1 Tbs gluten free plain (all purpose) flour
1 1/2 Tbs unsalted butter
1 Tbs almond kernels
1 Tbs lightly packed light brown sugar or raw sugar
1 Tbs gluten free cereal (I used GF corn flakes)
2 tsp almond meal
1 Tbs shredded coconut


Muffin Batter

3/4 cup gluten free self-raising flour
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp finely grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/8 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds
1/4 cup lightly pack light brown sugar
1/2 cup macadamia oil
2 over ripe bananas, peeled and mashed with a fork
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
3 eggs
2-3 Tbs of thick Greek or natural yoghurt (I use Dairy Farmers Bornhoffen natural yoghurt)

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius (approximately 370 degrees Fahrenheit), grease a 12 cup muffin tin (regular size) or a large 6-8 cup muffin tin. If making large muffins, this recipe should yield about 8 large muffins.

For the crumble, place all crumble ingredients, with the exception of the coconut into a food processor and pulse until you have a coarse crumbly texture. Pour the crumble into a bowl and stir through the shredded coconut.

For the muffin batter, sift the flours, baking powder, spices, bicarb soda and xanthan gum into a bowl. Stir in the chopped almonds and light brown sugar. In a separate bowl, combine the macadamia oil, mashed bananas, carrot and eggs with a fork. Fold into the flour mixture and add the Greek or natural yoghurt one tablespoon at a time if the mixture is too dry.

Spoon mixture into muffin tin, filling cups to three quarters full, press a large pinch of crumble into the top of each and bake for 25-30 minutes.

These gorgeous breakfast muffins are cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Serve warm by themselves, or alternatively with either a smear of butter, or a blob of Mum's homemade plum jam. Yum.

By the time the muffins had baked to golden perfection the aromas must have wafted upstairs to our bedroom loft and caused Byron's stomach to grumble because he called out, 'Good morning Honey! What are you making? Is that breakfast?'

To which I proudly replied, 'Crumble muffins with almonds, mashed banana and grated carrot. Yes it's breakfast, why? Do you want some?'

No answer, he just appeared out of nowhere, stretching slowly before drawing me into a warm cuddle.

In the next few minutes I really woke Byron up because I noisily blended fresh seedless watermelon with another ripe banana, freshly squeezed orange juice and ice cubes to make a thick, cool, sweet pink smoothie for us to enjoy with our crunchy topped muffins on the front deck. Freshly baked muffins, a fruit smoothie, a coffee table book on beach houses with glossy pages filled with mansions.

Byron looked over my shoulder at the book and echoed what I was already thinking. We don't need a giant expensive seaside mansion when we live in a modest two storey bungalow with our very own view of the glistening blue sea. What happy little lives we currently enjoy. Consider the lifestyle and dietary sweet cravings satisfied.

Bella xx

The book is: 'Beach Houses Down Under' by Stephen Craft

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Peach and Blueberry Crumble

A while ago I baked golden gluten free amaretti biscuits. You can find the recipe here and to remind you, they looked like this:

Well the good news is that I saved some of the amaretti for this recipe (in all honesty I baked the amaretti for the purpose of creating a delicious crumble!).

Peach and Blueberry Crumble (Gluten Free)
Serves 4 to 6 hungry people

For The Baked Fruit

6 large peaches, halved, stones removed and flesh cut into wedges
3/4 cup of blueberries (frozen or fresh depending on the season)
1 large orange, juice only
1 Tbs Agave nectar

For the Crumble

2 Tbs almonds
2 Tbs shredded coconut
2 Tbs raw sugar
4 gluten free amaretti biscuits
1 slice gluten free fruit bread, torn into pieces (available at most large supermarkets, or make your own)
2 Tbs white rice flour
2 Tbs unsalted butter

Additional Ingredients
+1 Tbs slivered almonds
+1 Tbs shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (approximately 350 degrees Fahrenheit).

Grease a large ovenproof dish, glass is preferred so you can present the crumble at the dinner table, displaying the vivid pink and violet hues of the baked fruit under the delicious golden crumble.

Place peach wedges and blueberries into a large glass baking dish. In a separate bowl, mix orange juice with agave nectar, then pour evenly over fruit.

Place all crumble ingredients into a food processor (I used a Thermochef) and pulse until you have a crumbly texture (not too fine).

Pour crumble into a bowl, add additional slivered almonds and shredded coconut, then mix with a spoon to give your crumble a more crunchy texture.

Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the top of the fruit and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the crumble is golden.

Served hot or warm, this delightfully sweet peach and blueberry crumble is gorgeous by itself or served with a drizzle of your favourite vanilla bean custard.

We enjoyed our crumble by itself the night I baked it and had leftovers the next morning after a run on the beach, served warm in crystal glasses with a dollop of natural yoghurt.

There's nothing quite like having enough delicious baked dessert to savour the next day and it doesn't feel so naughty after exercising on a gorgeous Summer morning in the cool early light on a vast, deserted beach. I will miss the early daylight hours when Winter slowly creeps upon us and Summer goes to vacation with our friends in the northern reaches of the globe. It's not all bad though, because Winter brings the frost and the cold southern wind. On nights when this wind arrives to chill our bones, a peach and blueberry crumble will delight the soul.

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P.S What a wonderful response to the GIVEAWAY. Good luck to all of my new friends and don't forget if you haven't entered yet, there's still plenty of time.

Click here and follow the instructions, entry is easy!

Bella xx

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