The First Post - Pandan Commiseration Cake
It is tough being different. This is the inspiration for this blog. It is inspired by a few things. Firstly, it is inspired by my wife and soulmate (one and the same person!), who shall go by the name of Mrs. NMFS who gives me the kind encouragement to put something out there to share tales of our journey together.
Secondly, it is inspired by our gluten-free, lactose intolerant, occasionally sugar-free, pescetarian (a pseudo-vegetarian seafood only diet not to be confused with something religious) diet which takes inspiration from our mix of influences including European, Mauritian, Asian, Indian, South American (my wife's favourite for some reason...), Caribbean and all things sweet. It is a diet which has proven tough for some to cater for hence the title of this blog! We grew tired of the number of times on a recent trip to the Lake District that we were offered fruit salad as a dessert alternative to the lovely temptations offered at the hotels or restaurants that we frequented. Even back home in the supposedly cosmopolitan and modern London town, fruit salad has been offered to us seemingly without thought that despite our diet we still crave something more tempting especially during the cold months.
Thirdly, it is inspired by The King's Speech. 'Why?' I hear you ask? Does this blogger have royal connections or is he just a film buff? No, it is something more personal. I am a stammerer who wants to have a voice in the same way that those with 'free from' diets sometimes lack a times. The ability to say 'No more fruit salad!' We love fruit but there is always a time and place and there are times when you want something a bit more tempting. This blog wants to articulate the wish that one day when you go to have afternoon tea at some swanky place, a gluten free option does not mean that you do without. Having the stammer makes one less confident at times to say that just because you are different, does not have to mean that you do without just because it might be tougher to make something gluten free. This blog will share some of the gluten free delights that I have learnt to create for myself and Mrs. NMFS and also reviews of books and restaurants.
Why create the blog today? It seems apt on the day that The King's Speech won so many Oscars to post the first blog. To commemorate the film which put stammering out there in a fab way so that fellow stammerers can feel slightly less stigmatised.
Whilst today should be a celebration with the launch of my blog, it is also tinged with sadness as my beloved Arsenal transpired to lose the Carling Cup final yesterday in freakishly frustrating circumstances. I decided to console Mrs. NMFS and I with a pandan cake chosen for its green shades which was intended to copy the green grass of Wembley stadium but which now seems strangely calming and fitting as a commiseration cake...
No product placement intended with the Starbucks mugs by the way, just thought the green logo went well with the cake. The recipe was inspired by The Little Teochew blog but with a few minor alterations a la Nigella:
Ingredients:
80g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp honey
100g butter melted
30g coconut cream
Pandan juice made from blending 4 pandan leaves with 200ml of water and strained through a sieve
220g gluten free plain flour
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
The method:
Preheat the oven to 170C and grease and line a medium sized cake tin. Mix the eggs, sugar, caster sugar and honey in a large mixing bowl. With an electric mixer, whisk together for a few minutes until you get a mousse like mixture full of bubbles. In a measuring jug combine the melted butter, coconut cream and pandan juice and mix together briefly. In a bowl combine the flour and baking powder. Fold in a third of the flour mix to the bubbly eggs. Add half of the pandan mix and stir in. Add another third of the flour and fold and stir in the last half of the pandan mix. Lastly add the last third of the flour and fold in gently. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a knife poked in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Take out of the oven and and leave in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Enjoy and commiserate at will.
Pandan leaves might be a bit hard to locate but can be sourced at most Asian grocery stores. It needs to be kept in the fridge and when blended smells like grass but lends a nice taste and shade to cakes.More pandan recipes might follow this week if only because I bought a big bunch of leaves and hate to waste.
So please let know what you think of my blog and what you would do with pandan leaves? For fellow Arsenal fans out there a snapshot of the Emirates stadium from my back garden...
