Easter Bunny Cupcakes

Hoppy Easter! There’s not much cuter than a fun animal themed cupcakes, especially if it’s Easter bunny themed!

What could be more fun than some joyously decorated easter cupcakes, and these Easter bunnies borrowing into their cupcake burrows are sure to bring a smile to anyone who is lucky enough to be given one. I got the idea from a picture I saw online (sadly I can’t take full credit for the cute look) but have adapted this BBC Good Food idea into a Lucy’s Friendly Foods version. I hope you and your loved ones enjoy this cute addition to Easter.

As it’s Easter, it’s almost obligatory for chocolate to feature so the base of these cupcakes is a delicious rich and moist chocolate sponge – besides, in my opinion the chocolate makes it resemble a rabbit borrow, just a little bit!

I’ve made my Easter bunnies white, for some reason that seemed right, and so it’s vanilla heavy buttercream mounds garnished with fondant icing bunny feet and tails. You just need about ¼ of a pack of white fondant (Sainsbury’s own brand is may contain nuts but not peanuts, or Beau brand you can buy from Nutfree Marketplace is good for everyone)

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, seam-free, vegetarian and vegan)

Makes 6-8 cupcakes

150ml dairy-free milk

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

60g dairy-free margarine, melted

140g self-raising flour

3 tbsp cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

100g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners.
In a jug combine the milk, lemon juice, vanilla (if using) and bicarb. Set aside.
Melt the dairy-free margarine, set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa and salt. Stir in the sugar.
Pour the melted margarine into the milk mixture and give it a good stir. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together to form a smooth batter.
2/3^rds fill each cupcake liner and bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and a knife comes out clean.
Remove from the tray and cool on a wire rack.

White Vanilla Buttercream

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan)

enough to generously cover the 6-8 cupcakes in the recipe above

75g dairy-free butter or margarine

275g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla paste

½ tbsp dairy-free milk

Plus about ¼ pack fondant icing and a few drop of pink food colour

Whisk the margarine until it is light and fluffy
Add the icing sugar, vanilla paste and dairy-free milk and whisk until you have a light buttercream.
Pipe or spread a generous amount onto the top of each cooled cupcake

To decorate: pipe or spread a mound of white buttercream onto the middle of each cupcakes. Smooth well so it could look like a bunny bottom. Secure on two back feet (with pink toe beans for added cuteness) and a bunny tail, both of which are moulded out of fondant icing.

Pain Perdu aka French Toast

Pain perdu, French toast, gypsy toast, eggy bread – whatever you call it, this dish is a brilliant one to have in your repertoire. Basically, it’s a batter soaked stale bread made into a sweet or savoury dish, perfect for a quick breakfast, brunch, lunch, pudding or snack. Plus it’s a great way to use up some state bread, you can’t argue with a recipe that does that!

I’ve been attending a plant-based patisserie course to extend my knowledge and I’ve learnt so much, it’s been just brilliant and it’s really going to enhance my recipes 😊

Last week we made brioche with no butter or eggs – I’ve made a brioche before but the techniques I’ve recently learnt give a much improved rich, but light result and it was the perfect bread to turn into a platter of pain perdu. Like many home baked breads, it went stale fast – making it the perfect vehicle for this new improved recipe.

Don’t worry if you don’t have homemade plant-based brioche on hand (I’m sure not many people will!), any slightly stale sliced bread will do. You’d think you might miss the eggs in an ‘eggy bread’ recipe, but as the principle is soaking the bread in a batter (and pancakes work pretty well being egg-free), this recipe is equally successful. In fact, this recipe just uses some leftovers (stale bread) plus a few store cupboard essentials to combine to make a rather superior dish. If you don’t have any stale bread, just cut some slices an hour or so early and leave out to air dry and you’re good to go.

I’ve flavoured my batter with cinnamon but you don’t have to if you’d rather no spice, or vanilla would be rather lovely too. Serve your pain perdu with berries, a sprinkle of icing sugar and a squeeze of honey or syrup for a delightful quick and easy sweet treat.

Pain Perdu

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

30g flour

20g cornflour

30g caster sugar

½ tsp cinnamon (optional)

Pinch of salt

120g dairy-free milk

6-8 slices of slightly stale bread

Sift the flour and cornflour into a shallow bowl, stir in the sugar, salt and cinnamon (if using).
Pour in 1/3^rd of the milk whisking together to make a paste, then add the rest in two further additions. This helps avoid lumps forming in the batter – you can of course add the milk in one go if you’re not so bothered about a few small lumps! Let the batter rest for at least 20 minutes.
Place a frying pan on the heat to warm up.
Place the bread slices in the batter, letting them soak up the batter for a couple of minutes before turning over and making sure both sides are drenched in batter.
Melt a knob of vegan butter or 1 tsp of oil in the pan. Drop in a drip of the batter, if it sizzles then you’re ready to add the batter soaked bread
Fry the slices until golden on each side.
Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar and drizzled with syrup. A garnish of berries is also rather nice.

Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies (with or without a chocolate cream filling)

Yay, it’s Spring at last. Suddenly there’s light, warmth and colour popping up all over the place. If feels like a new start and I have this urge to add colour and flavour to my bakes.

I’ve got some exciting ideas with raspberry and lemon, but first up are these fun, extremely happy and colourful vanilla sprinkle cookies. How could a batch of these not make you smile and improve your day? Great as they are on their own, and they really are delicious, you can always make them even better with a wonderfully chocolate cream filling. Surely a filling improves any cookie, and with the sprinkle decoration and the chocolate heavy centre you’ve got a match made in heaven. These cookies do spread out quite a bit in the baking so mine are large, if you want to make small versions make the balls of dough olive sized and reduce the baking to around 8 minutes

Vanilla Sprinkle Cookies (with or without a chocolate cream filling)

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

Makes 10-12

112g dairy-free margarine

100g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla paste

155g plain flour

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

¼ tsp salt

Quite a lot of sprinkles – I used half a tube!

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade
Line a cookie sheet with parchment
In a large bowl cream together the margarine, sugar and vanilla until well combined and lighter in colour.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt and mix to form a soft dough.
Break off walnut sized pieces and roll in a bowl of sprinkles until totally covered
Place well-spaced apart on the lined baking sheet
Bake for 10-12 minutes until starting to turn golden.
Let firm up on the baking tray and then move to a wire rack to fully cool
Eat as they are or fill with the delicious chocolate cream (recipe below)

Chocolate Cream

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

60g dairy-free margarine

200g icing sugar

1 tsp dairy-free milk (if needed)

25g melted dairy-free chocolate

Whisk the margarine with the icing sugar until it is all incorporated, adding the milk if the mixture is too stiff.
Stir in the melted chocolate.

Chocolate tiffin mousse cake – my Platinum Pudding worthy of The Queen

Have you tried my magic four ingredient chocolate mousse cake. if you haven’t you really should because it’s a fantastic showstopper made with just a few ingredients. Everyone i’ve ever served it to has loved it! So i thought I’d make a luxury version for my entry to The Platinum Pudding Competition. I was convinced it would be special enough to celebrate the Queen’s special year.

Well, sadly Fortnum’s didn’t think the same and I haven’t made it to the final. To be honest, I think they’re missing the trick, because the beauty of this recipe is that it works with any ingredients, free-from or not, and they can be bought in virtually any shop in nearly every corner of the globe. I even made it with dairy-cream and chocolate to test it out! That involved making it when no-one was home and then thoroughly sanitising the kitchen! Now that was dedication to the cause!

What could be a better, more inclusive celebratory pudding than one anyone can make, that everyone should easily be able to buy the ingredients for, and that can cater for everyone despite any dietary restrictions, and is delicious and celebratory? Well, The Queen might not benefit from this delicious pudding, but you all can. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

The basic premise is a chocolate tiffin (allegedly one of The Queen’s favourite puddings) topped with a light mousse-like chocolate cream and then decorated with some white chocolate and glitter. In my opinion, it’s a definitely pudding fit for The Queen.

Chocolate Tiffin Mousse Cake

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, can be soya-free, can be gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan)

Makes one 18-20cm cake

85g dairy-free chocolate

60g dairy-free margarine or butter

2 tbsp golden syrup, honey or maple syrup

8 biscuits, roughly broken (such as digestives, ginger nuts or rich tea)

200ml (one pack) dairy-free whipping cream , I used Oatly whippable

150g dairy-free dark chocolate or 175g dairy-free milk chocolate

Grease and line a springform cake tin
Melt together the 85g chocolate, margarine and syrup.
Roughly break the biscuits and add to the chocolate mix, stir well so they are well covered. Press into the base of the cake tin and place in the fridge to set.
Whip the whipping cream on high speed for at least two minutes, or until light and fluffy.
In a microwave or a Bain Marie melt the chocolate, let cool a little.
Gently stir the chocolate into the cream until well combined.
Pour onto the biscuit base and level off the top.
Place in the fridge to set.
Remove from the tin and decorate as desired.

Browns Brasserie

I’d always imagined that brasserie style restaurants would be no-go’s in the UK. This probably stems from a disastrous meal in a Brasserie Blanc when the girls were tiny and the allegedly safe meal came with a pile of buttered green beans sitting on top! That was an experience that scarred us!

Anyway, Browns Brasserie had been recommended by a fellow allergy mum and as we were having a day out in Oxford it seemed like the perfect opportunity to be brave and give somewhere new a go. Well, we were pleasantly surprised and will definitely return for another visit sometime.

The waiter was exceptionally good – as soon as we mentioned allergies he brought out the allergen menu and didn’t seem at all phased. He also confirmed that anything grilled would be cooked in a separate pan to ensure there was no cross contamination – this came from him, not from us asking. It was really impressive service.

The allergen info is on the glass onion app so it’s easy to peruse at home, and also simple to categorise via allergen. We’d spent a long time checking it out at home (as is often our way!) and discovered that while the menu was more limited for Little S, she could still have a variety of dishes (she avoids milk, eggs, peanuts and sesame seeds). Out of the adult mains she could have had a steak, a couple of fish dishes or a vegan curry or salad. On the children’s menu there was grilled chicken breast or tomato pasta. She opted for the grilled chicken, plus chips and peas. Big S (allergic to milk only) had the burger with no cheese.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the experience, the food was tasty and well presented and it felt a little bit more special than one of the usual allergy-safe destinations. I would definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a nice meal out.

The only downside was that there weren’t so many choice for me (the vegetarian) but that’s a small price to pay for a safe allergy-friendly, family-friendly meal out. A big allergy-applause to browns Brasserie from us. 😊

Sensational Scones

You’ve got to love scones; light, fluffy, just sweet enough and the perfect carrier for a delicious topping. No proper afternoon tea is right without a batch of warm scones, and this recipe always goes down a storm. You can even freeze them, defrost, pop into the oven for a couple of minutes and then you can have an elegant afternoon tea in a flash.

When we had our stressful tea at Pan Pacific we met Cherish Finden and she said that scones were the most difficult thing to recreate free-from. Now these aren’t gluten-free (but I know others who make them gluten-free), but I can assure you that these are just as good as a traditional scone. Go on, give them a go and let me know what you think?

The most crucial part of scone making is a light touch – you must add air whilst rubbing in the margarine and definitely no kneading! Just very lightly bring together the dough and you’ll have some sensational scones. Just add some jam and dairy-free whipped cream and you can have a sensational tea at home.

Sensational Scones

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 10-12
- 450g plain flour
- 3 tsps baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 75g dairy-free margarine
- 70g soft brown sugar
- 300ml dairy-free milk
- 1 tsp vanilla essence (optional)
- 2 tbsp Demerara or granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade/Gas mark 6
Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the salt. Stir in the sugar.
With your fingertips, gently rub in the dairy-free margarine until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
Make a well in the centre and pour in the dairy-free milk and vanilla essence (if using).
Bring together to a very soft, sticky dough. Turn onto a floured surface and very gently bring together to a soft, smooth dough.
Pat out with your fingers until 3 cm thick.– Cut out with a well-floured 6cm cookie cutter (or whatever size you choose)
Place on an oiled and floured baking sheet. Brush the tops with dairy-free milk and sprinkle with Demerara or granulated sugar.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden on top.– Cool on a wire rack.

Tropical Granola Bars

There’s something so handy about a cereal or granola bar, the can fit into so many situations – breakfast on the run, a quick pre-lunch snack, a picnic staple, or a post-workout refuel. As people are heading back into offices, these could be the perfect accompaniment to a sandwich in a packed lunch.

When I used to go into an office regularly I always felt super pleased if I had a homemade packed lunch addition, rather than an additive filled less superior shop bought bar; hopefully these will make you just as pleased too 😊

This recipe is loosely based upon Yotam Ottolenghi’s Granola Bar recipe form the original ‘The Cookbook’, so you know they have good pedigree, and they have to taste delicious.

Tropical Granola Bars

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan, can be gluten-free if use gluten-free oats)

Makes 8 large bars

22g dried cranberries or sultanas

22g dried mango, chopped

22g dried pineapple, chopped

120g oats

22g sunflower seeds

15g desiccated coconut

50g dairy-free margarine

50g golden syrup or honey

50g demerara sugar

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

Place the dried fruits into a bowl, cover with hot water and leave to soften for ten minutes. Then drain.
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade
Line a 2lb loaf tin with parchment
In a bowl, mix together the oats, sunflower seeds, drained dried fruit and coconut and set aside.
In a large saucepan melt together the margarine, syrup and sugar until the sugar has totally dissolved.
Fold in the oat and fruit mixture, adding the salt and cinnamon. Make sure the mixture is well combined.
Tip the mixture into the lined loaf tin, press down and level off.
Bake for 22 minutes until starting to turn golden around the edges.
Remove from the tin and cool completely before cutting into bars.
These bars keep well for up to a week if placed in an airtight container.

The Very Best Chocolate Cupcakes

These are not just any cupcakes, these are the very best chocolate cupcakes. A deep chocolate flavoured light and fluffy sponge, topped with a rich and intense chocolate buttercream, even Marks & Spencer’s would market these as the best! If you’re stuck a home today due to the massive storm, you might want to make these (you’ll likely have all the ingredients in) and cheer everyone up.

I’ve got out of the habit of making cupcakes; I’m not sure why, maybe it’s because I don’t so often cook for whole classes of children anymore. I used to bake a sweet treat for the girls classes every Friday when they were in junior school, now it’s more like once a term and cookies often trump cupcakes because they’re so much easier to transport. But there is nothing like a good cupcake, and these double chocolate delights are a class above.

This recipe serves 6 or so, just the right amount for a houseful on a Friday night after school, but you could easily multiply the recipe if you have more to feed – after all, no-one would want to miss one of these!

The Very Best Chocolate Cupcakes

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, soya-free, vegetarian and vegan)

Makes 6-8 cupcakes

150ml dairy-free milk

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

60g dairy-free margarine, melted

140g self-raising flour

3 tbsp cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

100g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners.
In a jug combine the milk, lemon juice, vanilla (if using) and bicarb. Set aside.
Melt the dairy-free margarine, set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa and salt. Stir in the sugar
Pour the melted margarine into the milk mixture and give it a good stir. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix together to form a smooth batter.
2/3^rds fill each cupcake liner and bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and a knife comes out clean.
Remove from the tray and cool on a wire rack.

For the chocolate buttercream:

enough to generously cover the 6-8 cupcakes in the recipe above

75g dairy-free margarine

250g icing sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

½ tbsp dairy-free milk

Whisk the margarine until it is light and fluffy
Add the icing sugar, cocoa powder and dairy-free milk and whisk until you have a light buttercream.
Pipe or spread a generous amount onto the top of each cooled cupcake

Iced Buns

Here we have another updated recipe. I rarely make Iced Buns but this has been another recipe that has gathered a lot of great comments and likes over the years, so it needed revisiting, updating and embellishing with some shiny new photos! (Although I have kept one of the previous photos just for my own nostalgia – haven’t cameras improved over the past years!)

Iced buns, viewed in the window of any English bakery, are a must for a collection of comfort food. For some reason they make me think of roaring fires and cosy knitwear – odd I know! Apparently some iced buns found in supermarkets are dairy-free, but I’ve never found any that are also nut-free – if you know of any safe brands please let me know?

Anyway, these iced buns are the perfect tea time treat, and this recipe will give you authentic but friendly buns to please your friends and family. They certainly go down a treat in this house 🙂

Iced Buns

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 6

150ml dairy-free milk
50g dairy-free margarine
260g strong bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
3g or 1 tsp dried yeast
50g caster sugar

for the icing:

175g icing sugar
1 to 2 tbsp water

– Melt the margarine into the milk (don’t make it more than tepid though)
– Place the flour, salt, yeast and caster sugar in a bowl and pour in the warmed milk and margarine mixture.
– Bring to a dough and knead until smooth and bounces back when you press a finger onto the surface.
– Place in an oiled bowl, cover and leave to double in size in a warm place.
– Divide into 6 even sized pieces and form into balls, then roll out to sausage shapes, trying to make them nice and even.
– Place about 1cm apart on a lined baking sheet, cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes
– Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade/180 degrees fan, or gas mark 4
– Bake for 15 minutes until golden, risen and they sound hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.

– Meanwhile, make the icing by mixing together the icing sugar and water to form a very thick, smooth icing. Start by adding 1 tbsp of water and gradually add more as required.
– Once the buns are cool top with the thick water icing.

Caramelised Roasted Banana and Chocolate Loaf

A good banana loaf recipe is a winning addition to any baking repertoire, and this update of a 2013 recipe, it’s one you definitely need in your life. I have others, but this loaf is a cut above the rest with the additions of Lotus Caramelised spread (you could use peanut butter), roasted bananas and large chunks of rich, dark chocolate. By all means use nuts or dried fruit instead of the chocolate, or even just leave them out, it will still work nicely, but make sure you roast the bananas for that extra special banana flavour. That’s the key to this one.

This is a beautiful loaf just plain, but if you want a bit of pizazz then i’d recommend either a water icing drizzle, or the extra special biscoff drizzle.

Caramelised Roasted Banana and Chocolate Loaf (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 1 2lb loaf

100ml or 1/2 cup oat milk
1 tsp lemon juice
125g or 1 cup plain flour
85g or 3/4 cup soft brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp flourless oil, I use sunflower
2 medium roasted bananas, mashed
75g or 1/3 cup Lotus caramelised spread
50 g or 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate (optional)
glaze: icing sugar and water, or 1 tbsp biscoff spread, 3 tbsp icing sugar and 1 tbsp water whisked til smooth

– Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade/Gas Mark 4

– Halve the bananas lengthways and roast for 20-30 minutes. Mash and cool.

– Line or grease a 2 lb loaf tin

– Add the lemon juice to the oat milk and set aside.

– Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar.

– Add the bananas, caramelised spread and oil to the oat milk mix. Stir well

– Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently mix until all the ingredients are well combined. Add the chopped chocolate (if using) and gently stir to make sure they’re evenly distributed.

– Fill the loaf tin with the mix.

– Bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden and a knife comes out clean.

– Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

– Drizzle with a simple water icing.