Supper club lowdown

Eating out can be a challenging experience when you're a sensitive eater. It's great that more and more restaurants are recognising the demand for dairy and gluten free meals or plant based options, but that's not the end of the potential problems.
For a start, most what's on offer can be a bit dull and boring to be perfectly honest; ordering is easy as there's no choice involved, just the one option! And even in a vegetarian or vegan restaurant, many dishes are deep fried and contain refined or fermented products, so I can still leave feeling rather yuck.

Jane's Place, Hove

I still love going out to eat, though. I'm always hopeful that the choice I order will be super tasty, and won't come back to haunt me later. It's such a pleasure to end the evening feeling satisfied and well - unfortunately  a rarity. It doesn't stop me though, I just suffer the consequences!
My supper clubs, however, are designed with the sensitive eater in mind; everything is 100% plant based, so dairy free for sure, gluten free and yeast free, plus mainly whole food with limited refined sugar and oil, and not a deep fried item in sight! Every dish is infused with natural flavours and I use real produce, not 'fake' foods. I spend hours thinking up exciting dishes that you wouldn't generally find in a restaurant, then trying them out to make sure they taste great. I'm not a professional chef, so the presentation is a bit 'rustic' at times, but that doesn't seem to bother anyone, as the plates always come back empty. Dessert is always particularly popular - conversation pauses for a few moments whilst the first spoonfuls are savoured!
It's not just sensitive eaters that come along, we're open to anyone who wants a good night out! Some guests come as they already eat plant based, some just like good healthy food, others are

curious about vegan food and some are dragged along by their partners (but leave with happy tummies!).If you like eating out and you've never been to a supper club, do try one. Most of mine are held at a lovely atmospheric venue in West Hove called Jane's Place, with a wonderfully friendly host called, unsurprisingly, Jane. Her room can seat up to 12 and she makes everyone feel welcome, whether it's someone new or a regular diner. And it's an eclectic mix of people who come either alone or with a companion to keep them company.

As my passion is sharing the wonderful benefits of the food being eaten, I share a little bit of information about each course. I like to nourish the mind as well as the body! And if anyone is particularly bowled over by one of the dishes, I will share the recipe afterwards, as dining out menus are not well featured in most plant based cookery books.
If you like the sound of a great night out with good food, interesting company in a warm and friendly atmosphere, then my supper club will be right up your alley. Keep an eye on my Facebook page or follow this link to my website for the latest dates and menu - the next one is on 3rd February, so there's still time to book! http://www.thesensitivefoodiekitchen.com/supper-clubs2.html

New Year, new Eating - the whole issue

So, what are your resolutions for 2017? Most people tend to say eat better and exercise - both positive actions, often short lived though! Making changes can be hard, especially if you are doing it on your own. With social media, however, you never need be alone now, and there are campaigns throughout the year you can join in with to help keep you going on your well-being mission.

There's been a huge rise in eating a more natural plant based diet and the Veganuary campaign during January has played a big part in this (see www.veganuary.com for more information). It's easy to access, with lots of information, ideas and recipes to keep you interested throughout the month, and hopefully feeling keen and enthusiastic to make lasting changes to the way you eat as well as your health.

Big campaigns that raise awareness are great, and as customer demands increase, so does supply of products - you only need to see the expansion of 'free from' ranges in the supermarkets to note how animal-free is becoming mainstream. But that's where my word of warning comes in - just because something is 'vegan' doesn't automatically give it 'healthy' status. Chips (as a rule) are vegan after all!

Essentially, the way I look at it from a nutrition, and therefore health, side of things is that processed and refined food is still generally junk, whether it's animal or plant derived. Once the 'whole' has been taken out of 'food' and chemicals and extras added in the nutritional content goes down and the negative impact on us, and the environmental cost, goes up.

As a sensitive eater, vegan processed food is often still a no-go area, with yeasts added in all over the place, whether as yeast extract or 'natural' flavourings and preservatives. And you'll often still find a high amount of refined sugars in varying forms as well as highly refined oils.

So what to do? The best way is to eat as close to a food's natural form as possible most of the time and enjoy it in all it's lovely gloriousness, and add in a few plant based extras in every now and then. Then you will get all the amazing benefits of going plant based, and will feel so good and energised that Veganuary will slip into February, then March........see where it will take you!

So if you're taking the plant based plunge for New Year - enjoy!  Don't forget there's loads of easy, tasty recipes for you to try on this blog. And if you want to know more, then why not check out my Eat Well, Live Well course that starts again at the end of the month? You will gain loads of essential information about eating whole food and plant based plus a whole bunch of amazing recipes, meet some great people and dine on dishes made by me. What more could you want to really get 2017 off to a great start? Check out http://www.thesensitivefoodiekitchen.com/courses.html

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year!

Celebrating life on the veg

Today is World Vegan Day, a celebration of eating everything that plants have to offer. In fact, eating plant based is so awesome, the whole of November has been designated as World Vegan Month!
Veganism has become the fastest growing lifestyle movement in the UK - there are over 500,000 vegans, 3 1/2 times more than in 2006. Campaigns such as Veganuary and Meatless Monday have raised awareness and as more research reveals the damage caused by our Western diet, many are deciding to go and live life on the veg.
So what are the main reasons for this change in lifestyle?

1) Health - as the world gets fatter and sicker, many have looked to take control of their dietary choices and gone plant based. Of course, being vegan does not automatically mean healthy, as there are many highly processed, nutrient poor vegan options! That's why I always harp on about eating whole food and plant based - that's the healthy bit; and there's loads of research out there that backs it up. After all, what we put in our bodies breaks down into chemical reactions at cellular level - whole foods maximise the nutrients for these reactions. So putting more of the good stuff in lessens the bad effects like heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Which leads me to number two......

2) Weight loss - when I went dairy free, I lost weight. When I went mainly plant based, I lost more, even though I was eating, and enjoying, loads. I went from always being on a diet, to never having to think about weight gain. Nice! And I'm not alone. Research revealed that people who went on a vegan diet lost 5kg more than any other form of diet. But that's as long as junk is taken out. No wonder it's becoming popular with Beyonce and the like!

3) Animal welfare - traditionally one of the most important tenets of veganism, factory farms and poor treatment turns many off being meat eaters and on to the veg. Documentaries like Cowspiracy and Earthlings have had a major impact on it's viewers. Short films showing the conditions and treatment of animals in industrial slaughter houses is enough to make that steak look less appealing. Even though my journey to eating mainly plant based was motivated by my food sensitivities, the things I have learnt about the meat industry has definitely changed my view point.

4) Environment - going plant based is the single most direct effect a person can have on the environment. Producing food from animals is so costly to the planet, using up massive amounts of land and water, and contributing more green house gases than transport. That's why campaigns like Meatless Monday are important for our world - less contributes so much more!

Everyone has their own reason for going more plant based; the internet has really opened up the debate and this increase in numbers is making it more mainstream. We delve into this topic in more detail in my Eat Well Live Well course, starting again in the New Year if you're interested in finding out more.

So why not have your own little celebration, raise a glass of (vegan) wine and enjoy living life on the veg!

Holiday season!

Summer is here and we’re off on our hols! We booked our trip some time ago after checking out things like weather, accommodation and things to do. There’s also one more thing we have to check out – food options.

Having food allergies or sensitivities, or choosing to eat a plant based diet for health or ethical reasons, eating away from home can prove to be challenging at times. Eating out, particularly overseas, has the potential to be stressful when you should be relaxing. And if you accidently eat something that you shouldn’t, you could end up feeling unwell – or worse – during your time away.

I started eating a plant based diet for health reasons whilst actually living overseas, and had many opportunities to travel to different countries. At first, I found it really difficult to find things to eat – simple sandwiches are not even an option for me. Over time, I developed various strategies to make sure I found some good grub without making myself ill; fortunately, increasing awareness is making it easier to be able to have a great time without the worry.

So if you are off on your travels but are worried about your food, here are my top tips for happy holidays.

Do your research. You can spend hours and hours searching for the perfect hotel, apartment or yurt, comparing prices for flights and checking out the best beaches. So add eating options onto your list of things to check. There are some great websites to help – www.happycow.net is a great resource if you’re looking for vegan or vegetarian food (they have an app too) and www.canieathere.co.uk helps you check out restaurants closer to home if you have food allergies or sensitivities (the US version is www.canieatthere.com). Trip Advisor has filter options so you can search for a gluten free restaurant or vegan hotel. Lonely Planet or Time Out have really helpful guides too.

Be prepared. If you know there are certain things you eat but may have difficulty finding, add them to your packing. As I don’t eat bread, I always carry rice cakes or oatcakes with me so that I know that breakfasts or snacks will be ok. If you are flying short haul, don’t expect to find anything you can eat on the plane, so take your own snacks with you. Fortunately, in the UK, most larger airports have some takeaway options at their flight-side kiosks. Don’t expect that at other locations though (she says from bitter experience!). Most long haul carries provide meals for dietary requirements but need booking in advance, so don’t forget! The advantage to ordering a special meal is that you tend to get served first, but always check the label to make sure you have the right meal.

Don’t be afraid to ask. For many people, it’s difficult to ask, or ‘make a fuss’ about what to order, especially if you are with people who don’t have the same problem or get embarrassed easily! But I have found that most places worth going to are more than happy to answer queries and to find a dish that’s right for you. Fortunately, many restaurants and cafes have their menus on line, so you can check them out before hand. If you’re not sure if you can eat there, call them up and ask – I’ve been really surprised quite how accommodating places can be, as long as you ask nicely of course!  Naturally, language can be a real problem overseas; although English is spoken in so many places, you can’t expect it. If you want to eat purely plant based then download this vegan passport to help you communicate your needs – http://issuu.com/vegan_society/docs/vegan_passport_2010 or check out this website to help you find translation cards for food allergies http://travelstore.glutenfreepassport.com/collections/dining-translation-cards

What’s local? Some of the best plant based food I’ve eaten has been local specialities, so don’t be afraid to try new dishes, particularly if you’re visiting more exotic countries. I discovered some amazing plant based dishes whilst living in South India, which are both tasty and healthy, rich and spicy Chakalaka in Cape Town and the most amazingly beautiful Mediterranean grilled vegetable platter in Croatia, the flavours developed by the sun. Try out local fruits and vegetables too, especially ones that are difficult to get hold of at home, as they taste so much better freshly picked.

Specialist holidays. If you feel it just won’t be a holiday if you don’t get the right food, then why not try out a specialist holiday company? Or look to go for a spa holiday or yoga retreat? I even saw an advert for a vegetarian yoga cruise along the Danube recently; there are lots of options out there. In fact, we’re planning a Sensitive Foodie Kitchen escape where you can eat, learn and relax at the same time – maybe that’s the holiday the ticks all the boxes?

So there you have it. With a bit of research and planning, and a willingness to think creatively, you can still have an amazingly happy and healthy holiday. Enjoy!

Tasty tapas tasting!

For someone who loves lots of different flavours, and wants to try everything on the menu, tapas is perfect for me! But when you have to avoid dairy and (now) gluten, and chose to eat plant based, the choices in a restaurant are often limited to one, if I'm lucky.

So you can imagine my delight to discover that Iydea, one of may favourite eating places in Brighton, was opening a restaurant offering vegetarian and vegan tapas. And even more delighted when I managed to get my hands on two free passes to be trial tasters of their dishes. Yummy food for free - who could resist?

If you've not come across Iydea, then I urge you to go. Even if you're not plant based, the food is delicious and healthy, plus very reasonably priced. They have two sites, one in Kensington Gardens in the North Laines, the other in Western Road. Service is canteen style and the atmosphere friendly and relaxed, with the menu changing daily. They have a wonderful array of salads, and you can choose a hot main with two sides and two toppings, and not want to eat for the rest of the day! The Western Road site has more space and includes an upstairs seating area - this is the location for the tapas bar, rootcandi.

As it stands. this is the only vegetarian tapas bar in the UK, and only one of two in Europe, the other being in Barcelona. So it's a pretty unique set up. There's a large choice on the menu; you can order just one or two single dishes or the set menu, designed for two people. And going more upmarket, rootcandi is full table service and licenced (I had an amazing vodka cocktail!).

The set menus offer you slightly better value than ordering individually, and are separated into three helpful categories. There's 'Preston', which was vegetarian, 'Stanmer' was vegan and 'Queens'  was gluten free, so all food choices were covered. Having said that, talking to Steve the owner, they were aiming to go completely plant based, so the menu items may well get updated. We went for 'Queens', although I was eyeing up the 'Stanmer' on the next table! The choices on the menu are eclectic, ranging from crisp courgette tempura (yum!), to a sharp tomato salad and rich roasted aubergine to a gorgeous lentil cake. All the flavours were there and a little spice too. Everything is presented on a specially designed rotating dish stand and whilst we easily ate everything up, it was plenty and I felt contentedly full afterwards.

Not full enough to avoid pudding though! These are not included as part of the tapas menu but, hey, it's pudding and where there's vegan and gluten free options, they just have to be tried! I had this gorgeous poached pear with a lovely dairy free ice cream, and Steve (my husband not the owner!) went for a trio of fruity sorbets - delicious!

Rootcandi is open Tuesday to Saturday evenings from 6pm and Sunday from 12 onwards. We will definitely be going down again soon - probably this week now, as my appetite has been whetted again just writing this! Do go along, and try this unique dining experience for yourself and see how tasty plant based food can be.

The ultimate, triple layered chocolate cake

It may have been noted that I am rather partial to a bit of cake. Always have been, probably always will be. And although I have definitely cut down on my processed sugar intake in recent years, particularly since adopting a whole food plant based diet, I do still like a decadent sweet treat every now and then.

And one of my biggest concerns when going dairy free was how was I ever going to get a decent cake again? Adding on egg free as well to make it free from any animal products, seemed even more challenging. Fortunately, there are a huge amount of free from recipes out on the internet and in specialist cookery books. And what's more, it's actually easier to make a deliciously light and fluffy vegan cake than your standard one. 

Following the clear guidelines set out by MsCupcake (check out http://www.mscupcake.co.uk/books/ for her recipe book), there are three key elements to making a great vegan cake:

1) Mix dry and wet ingredients separately to start

2) Combine swiftly, do not over mix 

3) Tap the bowl and tin to release the air

My son has definitely inherited my love of cake, along with my intolerance to dairy. It was his 16th birthday just before Christmas, and so to celebrate I decided to make him a huge, sumptuous dairy free birthday cake. And as he loves a bit of chocolate, it turned into the ultimate triple layer chocolate delight.

Consisting of three cake layers - a chocolate chip sponge sandwiched between two chocolate sponges - and covered with a rich chocolate cream, finished with a garnish of chocolate strands, it was enormous! Being dairy free, it was not over rich but still gave great chocolate satisfaction.

I adapted this recipe from MsCupcakes Neapolitan sponge cake and it worked really well. It can be made gluten free by using non-wheat flour (make sure your baking powder is gluten free too). And remember this cake is huge, so it provides a good amount of servings - unless it's for a group of giant-boy 16 year olds, then it disappears extremely fast! 

Triple layer chocolate cake

For the chocolate chip layer:

200g self raising flour/gluten free SR flour

100g caster sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

200mls non-dairy milk

80mls flavourless oil (I use organic rapeseed)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

50g non-dairy chocolate chips

For the chocolate layers:

340g self raising flour/gluten free SR flour

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

200g caster sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

400mls non-dairy milk

160mls oil 

2 tablespoons vanilla or 1 each of vanilla and chocolate extract

To finish, chocolate buttercream (see below) and chocolate strands

First, you will need three round cake 23cm cake tins, greased and base lined with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 180oC.

Make the chocolate chip layer first. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and chocolate chips into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the oil, milk and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir together until just combined. Do not over mix - there should be a few lumps still. Tap the bowl on the work surface (this stops the raising agents working too quickly). Pour the mix into one of the prepared tins, and then tap the tin on the work top.

Repeat the same process for the chocolate layers, mixing the dry and wet separately then combining the two quickly and pouring into the other two tins. Try to make sure you distribute evenly and remember to tap your tins.

Bake the layers for 18-22 minutes, but check after 15 if you have a fan oven as they can cook quite fiercely. Pop a toothpick into the centre of each layer - once it comes out clean then the layer is ready. Some layers may take longer than others depending on their position in the oven. Once you are happy the layer is cooked, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then tip out onto a cooling tray and leave to cool completely.

Dairy free chocolate buttercream

To finish off your mighty fine cake, you will need to make up a quantity of chocolate buttercream. Even though it contains no butter, this cream is still seriously rich and sweet, the perfect accompaniment to this super chocolate cake.

5 tablespoons of non-dairy spread (I used Vitalite)

5 tablespoons of vegetable fat (I used Trex)

500g icing sugar

100g cocoa powder

Up to 100mls non-dairy milk

1 tablespoon of chocolate extract if you have it, if not vanilla.

Put the non-dairy spread, vegetable fat and extract into a large bowl and whisk with an electric hand whisk until well combined and creamy. Add the cocoa powder, half the icing sugar and half of the non-dairy milk. Mix together, slowly at first otherwise you will get an icing sugar cloud! Once well combined, add the remaining icing sugar and enough non-dairy milk to get the consistency you want. It needs to be thick enough to spread and stay on the side of the cake, but not so thick you can't spread it around easily.

Place your three cakes next to each other, base side up. Spread a good dollop of chocolate butter cream on one of the chocolate layers and place the chocolate chip layer on top of it. Put a good dollop of buttercream on this layer, then place the other chocolate layer on top. Finally, put another good dollop of the icing on top of the chocolate layer and spread it out so you have a thick coating, then use the rest to coat to fully cover the sides. Very carefully, transfer the cake onto it's serving plate, and sprinkle with chocolate strands and decorations as required. 

Enjoy your celebration, as well as your seriously chocolatey cake. It's so delicious, unless you tell anyone, they won't know it's dairy free and vegan!

Cupcakes - no other title is needed!

I have a great belief that there's always a time and a place for cake! I've always had a sweet tooth, and cake to me is the ultimate comfort food. Any type is good (except coffee cake - yuck!), but I do have a particular penchant for a might fine cupcake.
Cupcakes have really been in fashion over the last few years, and it's not difficult to see why - the recipes tend to be simpler than a whole cake, take less time to cook and you can have variety and creative fun with one batch of mixture. A phenomena originating in the States, cupcakes have actually been around since the end of the 18th century, although their popularity really kicked in at the beginning of the 21st. There's two theories about the name - that they were originally baked in cups, or because the ingredients were measured in cups as opposed to weight. Either way, cupcakes are definitely superior to our little fairy cakes!
Of course, eating a plant based diet means no eggs, one key ingredient to the standard cupcake recipe. But does this mean then end to cupcake delights? Thankfully not!

We have a baking guru in our house - Ms Cupcake! She has the most delicious recipes, along with other larger cakes, that never fail to produce gorgeously light, melt in the mouth cupcakes. And I have to say that my daughter makes much better cupcakes than I do - or maybe cake just tastes better when someone else has made them!
Vegan cupcakes are actually much simpler to make than standard ones - it's just a matter of mixing up your dry ingredients, then your wet and finally combining them together in one big whoosh. There's no creaming or delicate stirring - in fact, over stirring is a definite no no as it overworks the gluten in the flour, making the cake heavy and dense. A lightly stirred batter results in light, fluffy cakes, no need for the leavening action of eggs.
Eggs also act as a binding agent; curdled milk also works well, that's dairy free milk of course! Most of Ms Cupcakes recipes use cider vinegar to sour the milk; that doesn't work for me unfortunately as due to my yeast sensitivity, I have to avoid fermented items. Lemon juice works as well, and gives a slightly tart contrast to the super sweet cakey flavour.
My daughter is often found whipping up a batch of these chocolate cupcakes and I have to say they are amazingly light and delicious, so much so I bet you might even prefer them to the standard cholesterol laden butter version. The recipe is pretty much the same as Ms Cupcake with a couple of slight alterations, but still completely dairy free and seriously delicious - give them a go and see what your tastebuds think. And just a little thought to leave you with - there's a mint choc chip cupcake which is just amazing…..
Chocolate cupcake (enough for 12 large cupcakes)

200ml non dairy milk
4 teaspoon cider vinegar/lemon juice
170g self raising flour
30g cocoa powder
200g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
80mls organic rapeseed oil
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
Buttercream icing
75g dairy free margarine (e.g. Pure, vitalite)
1teaspoon vanilla essence
375g icing sugar
20-30mls dairy free milk
Preheat your oven to 180oC and get your muffin tins lined with cupcake wrappers. In a small bowl, mix the non-dairy milk and vinegar/lemon juice together and put to one side for 10 minutes to let it curdle a bit. In the meantime, get a large bowl and mix all the dry ingredients together until well combined. Add the curdled non-dairy milk oil and vanilla and mix together with a metal spoon really quickly (about 10 seconds) until just combined - it will be a bit lumpy.
Tap the bowl on the worktop to release the bubbles and stop the raising agents working too quickly then dollop the mixture into the cupcake cases, distributing equally. Pop the trays in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or so. Remove from oven and lay on a cooling tray until they are completely cold.
In another bowl, whisk the margarine and vanilla essence together until creamy then add half the icing sugar. Once well mixed, add the second half and mix well, adding a little dairy free milk to soften if too stiff. Decorate the cupcake tops with the icing and sprinkles of your choice.

Just what I needed - lemon drizzle cake

I had a real craving for lemon drizzle cake tonight. No idea why, or what even made me think of it, but once I had, it had to be made.
Researching and trying out new recipes and ideas is great, but it  does take time - and sometimes it's just an excuse not to be doing something else as I'm very easily distracted, which in tonight's case was write some posts for this blog. So to appease my conscious, I've decided to share the cake with you (virtually that is - shame you can't taste it as well, it's gorgeous!).

Unfortunately, I can't claim that this cake is free from refined sugar and oil, because it's definitely not! But it is dairy free and egg free, and easy to swap to gluten free flour if needed, so it meets a whole variety of 'free from' needs. Making cakes without egg is always a challenge, as the protein in the egg binds the other ingredients together.
A great alternative is some ground flaxseed soaked in a little water for a few minutes. It swells and goes really gloopy, great for sticking everything together. However, I've found that for many cakes, you just need to whisk the wet ingredients together really well before you add them to the dry, and use an extra shaking of baking powder to make sure it rises and becomes light and fluffy.  It can be a bit hit and miss, as sometimes the mix is just too lose and light, and collapses as you take it out of the tin. Tonight was a lucky night though, and the cake stayed together beautifully whilst being incredibly light - no regrets about leaving out the flax.
One other great thing about flaxseed is that it is a fabulous source of omega 3 fatty acids. There's not many plant foods which provide such good amounts, so it's worth adding in to your cooking where ever you can.
Having already confessed that this cake is not free from refined sugars and oils, I feel the need to make a quick comment on agave syrup. Although it's marketed as a healthier sugar alternative, it's not. Apparently it has a higher fructose content than high fructose corn syrup, which is thought to be one of the major contributors to the obesity problem as it appears in a large amount of processed foods.  The agave syrup we buy is not a natural sap from the blue agave plant (a type of yucca plant - tequila is made from it too!) but a commercially produced highly processed, highly calorific sweet gloop. The problem with processed fructose is that it doesn't get broken down and digested in the gut like simple sugars; rather it goes straight to the liver where it's processed into fat, completely by-passing the energy producing molecule stage.
The fructose in these syrups is not the same as natural fructose, the sugar that's found in whole fruits. This type is ok, partly because it's accompanied by so many goodies like vitamins and fibre. It's the processing that creates the bad stuff.
So if it's so bad, why have I not just used normal sugar? It's still all nutrient-empty calories. For this cake, it's to help bind everything together. Plus there's not much of it - apparently, it becomes metabolically significant if you eat more than 25g of fructose a day*. So if you've been an eating angel all day, you can get away with it. Or, as I look at it, I only eat it on occasion so it's ok to use it now and then.
If I've put you off the agave, omit it and just add a little more sugar. Or replace the agave with flaxseed as mentioned above; can't say how it will come out though (that's my disclaimer!).
But if you just want to make a gorgeously light and tasty lemon drizzle cake that's vegan and 'free from' then do give this a try - it's worth it!
Lemon drizzle cake

250g self raising flour/gluten free flour

1 extra teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
170g unrefined caster sugar
2 tablespoons agave syrup
85mls organic rapeseed oil
1 cup non-dairy milk
zest of a lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
For the topping:
juice of a lemon
2 tablespoons demarera sugar
Grab a loaf tin, grease it and line with baking paper. Pre-heat the oven to 170oC. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Put the sugar, agave, oil, milk and lemon juice into a separate bowl and mix together well with a whisk. Add the lemon zest, stir well.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together well. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 35 minutes or so until a toothpick comes out clean. Take out the the oven, but leave in the tin.
Mix the topping lemon juice and sugar together. Prick lots of holes into the cake with the toothpick and pour the mixture evenly over the top. Leave in the tin to cool for at least half an hour - it becomes easier to handle once it's cool.
Enjoy!

* http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/agave-this-sweetener-is-f_b_537936.html

Milk in wine - surely not?

The more I find out about food and drink, the more I’m amazed at exactly what is contained in the every day products we so readily consume. One of the best things about have a food intolerance is gaining knowledge – you need to be informed of exactly what is used to create your favourite dish.

I am constantly amazed, and often dismayed, to find milk or some form of dairy in the most seemingly innocuous products. Crisps are a regular offender (chilli and lime flavor – where’s the need for milk in that?), as is any form of ready meal or processed food product. It hides in different forms – skimmed milk powder is easy to recognise, but then there’s whey, casein and lactose (check out medicines for that one!). But it doesn’t stop there; whey appears in many forms, including gelling and stabilising agents like lactalbumin and lactoglobulin. And as for casein, the milk protein that is my problem, it appears in a multitude of guises as an emulsifier and binding agent (gets processed foods to stick together!). So watch out for anything that has ‘caseinate’ in it, such as sodium caseinate or calcium caseinate, casein hydrolysate (that just doesn’t sound good full stop!) or paracasein.

My daughter became a vegetarian at the age of 12 after finding out that marshmallows contained gelatin – or rather that gelatin was made from crushed animal bones. She was flabbergasted and has never eaten a piece of meat since (and she was a real steak and roast meat eater before). It was a real ‘OMG’ moment for her. Mine came after I read an article about wine; it often contains some form of milk! 

I love wine, but it really does not love me!! Having a yeast intolerance as well as milk has meant that wine has been a real no no over the last few years. Previously, if I’ve had wine to drink, I was so ill the next day. Spirits just don’t effect me in the same way therefore I had always assumed it was the yeast. Now I realise it's a double allergen whammy; it explains so much!!!

Apparently, a multitude of odd products are used by wine makers, and brewers, either directly to add flavour, or in the filtration process. These include casein, egg white, honey, sea shells and isinglass (fish bladders) to name a few. Casein is often used for fining, a process that removes particles and soluble substances that achieves clarity quicker and more economically than leaving wine to mature over months, or years.

I can’t believe I didn’t know this before; I even had a previous boyfriend with a degree in wine making, but I only remember him going on about sulphates and tanins. Oh, and drinking lots of wine……

So what to do? One option is to not drink wine! But, if you don’t have a yeast intolerance, then why? There are vegan wines available on the market; check out websites such as www.barnivore.com or www.vegans.frommars.org that provide pretty comprehensive lists. The wines listed will not contain any animal product, covering a huge range of allergens, which is really handy!

The government is making it easier too – at least in the UK. All wines with a 2012 vintage onwards must state on the label whether milk or egg derivatives are used in the manufacturing process, along with sulphur dioxide levels greater than 10mg/litre.  This will make it easier to buy wines at the supermarket, but not sure how a snobby sommelier will react!!

Thankfully, for me there are always spirits to enjoy, although not all of these products are unadulterated so care is still needed! And of course, I have to say, any alcohol must be consumed sensibly and in moderation. Hangovers cannot be blamed on additives alone!