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red velvet cupcakes

Gluten free Red velvet cupcakes with Bailey’s frosting

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

When I first started cooking and baking, the first recipe I perfected was a red velvet cupcake one, it was so good that I often received requests from friends to make these. However, as time passed and I started exploring other recipes I just stopped making these. In fact I have never made these amazing cupcakes for my hubby so I decided to remedy that this Valentine’s Day!

The moist red velvet cake is so light and fluffy but the best part if the boozy cream cheese and Bailey’s frosting!

Let’s get cooking…

Start by creaming together the sugar and eggs until pale, add in the remainder of the liquid ingredients and mix to combine. in a sepearte bowl sift together the dry ingredients and gently incorporate into the wet, careful not to overmix.

Spoon into a lined muffin tray and bake at 180C for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool.

While the cupcakes cool, mix together the frosting, using a spatula, gently smear each cupcake with frosting, top with dried rose petals to make these extra special. You can also pipe over the frosting if you prefer.

Swaps…

I have used gluten free flour and normal cake flour to make these without changing the ratios and they both turn out beautifully soft.

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Gluten free Red velvet cupcakes with Bailey’s frosting

Servings

24

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

25

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups castor sugar

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

  • 1 cup buttermilk

  • 1 tblsp red food colour

  • 1 tsp vanilla

  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda

  • 1 tsp vinegar

  • 2 1/2 cups flour

  • 2 tblsp cocoa

  • 3/4 tsp salt

  • Icing

  • 125g unsalted butter

  • 125 cream cheese

  • 500g icing sugar (you can reduce this if you prefer something less sweet)

  • 1 tblsp Bailey’s liquer

Directions

  • Cream together eggs and sugar until pale
  • Add in the remainder of the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly
  • Sift the dry ingredients and combine with wet
  • Scoop into a lined muffin tin
  • Bake at 180C for 20-25 minutes
  • Allow to cool.
  • While the cupcakes cool, mix together the frosting
  • Using a spatula, gently smear each cupcake with frosting, top with dried rose petals to make these extra special. You can also pipe over the frosting if you prefer.

Simplebutsplendid

Salmon wellington

Salmon wellington, deliciously soft and falky
Salmon wellington

Fish is an incredible source of lean protein and any fat that it does contain is actually very good for us. However, I have found that we definitely do not eat enough of it so it has been my aim to develop new, fun recipes that are easy to incorporate into our weekly dinner rotation.

Obviously weeknight meals need to be as effortless and quick as possible so that we do not default back to take out. This dish satisfies all of those criteria which makes it a no brainer. The cherry on top is that it is utterly delicious!

I first had a very expensive, gourmet, store bought salmon wellington a few years ago. That dish was so good it has stayed with me ever since and I have been wanting to recreate at home and finally got the chance to do so.

The availability of gluten free puff pastry in the UK makes this a PCOS friendly meal which is just another added bonus!

Let’s get cooking…

To start you need to thoroughly thaw out your puff pastry and fish fillets if you are using items that you have in your freezer already, this is a step that I needed to do. The fish tends to have quite a lot of moisture after being defrosted so it needs to be dried thoroughly using paper towels for easy clean up.

Next make the spinach and mushroom mixture, I used frozen spinach so it was already quite finely chopped but if yours is fresh then chop the spinach, finely chop the mushrooms as well and saute with onion, garlic, spinach and seasonings. Allow the mixture to dry out fully during cooking. Once cooked, set aside to cool down.

If you are using fillets that still have the skin on, you would need to remove this as well. Do not fret if this is not something you have done before, it is relatively easy to do and I will walk you through the steps. First make a small incision on the shortest end of your fillet between the fish and skin, you should now be able to grip the skin with one hand and glide the knife between the skin and the fish with the other hand. Your knife needs to be properly sharpened before you start so that this is as easy as possible.

Once you have removed the skins, season the fish well on both sides and set aside. Roll open a sheet of readymade puff pastry and measure and cut out how much you would need to fully encase your salmon fillets. I made individual portions but you could also use a whole side of salmon.

Salmon with spinach and mushrooms

Lay out your pastry, spoon a small amount of the spinach and mushroom mixture in the middle and place the salmon on top, then spoon more spinach and mushroom on top of the salmon. Carefully fold over and seal the pastry all around, crimp the edges with a fork. Use a knife and score the pastry to allow the steam to evaporate during cooking.

Bake until golden and serve with crisp broccoli or a leafy side salad.

Salmon wellington
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Salmon wellington

Servings

2

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

Ingredients

  • 2 portions of salmon, skin removed

  • 2 handfuls of spinach, chopped or use frozen

  • ½ punnet of mushrooms, diced

  • ½ onion, diced

  • 1 roll of puff pastry, I used store bought

  • 1 lemon, zested

  • 1 tsp chilli flakes

  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed

  • 1 tblsp parmesan

  • 2 tblsp olive oil

  • Salt

  • Pepper

Directions

  • Saute onion and garlic until soft
  • Add spinach, mushrooms, lemon zest, salt, pepper and chilli flakes to taste
  • Cook until wilted and dry, add parmesan. Allow to cool
  • Cut puff pastry sheet in half, layer spinach mixture in the centre, place salmon on top and dust with salt and pepper, top with more spinach
  • Fold over the pastry and crimp all the edges, score the top
  • Refrigerate for 15 minutes
  • Bake at 180 for 40-45 minutes
  • Serve with a lemon wedge and a fresh side

Simplebutsplendid