GF 80s Marble Cake

I was asked to do this post featuring a favourite cake or desert from the 1980s. I love the 80s, it was the decade I was born in, although it supports some of the most horrendous fashion trends, some of the best and most fun sing along party tunes originated from this decade!

My mind went wild with ideas, but I was restricted to a 20cm cake tin, which Baker's Secret kindly sent me. I was transported to my childhood and my mind went to marble cakes, the amazing three colour swirl cake, which fit with the Neapolitan ice cream. In the 80s in Australia, the ice cream choice was pretty much restricted to vanilla and Neapolitans, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla, well that's what our parents led us to believe was available at the supermarkets. chocolate and vanilla were always the favourite and strawberry was left high up in the container!

Marble cake was made with the same flavours, it's a plain cake, divided into 3 bowls, one bowl you add 1 tablespoon of cocoa, the other a few drops of pink food colouring, the third bowl is left as the vanilla mixture. The trick is when you put in in the greased and baking paper lined tin, is you spoon tablespoons of each flavour into the tin and alternate until the mixture is all in the tin, swirl the mixture in and bang the tin on a hard surface to mix together.

Although marble cake was a hit in the 80s, it is still a hit now and I think will continue being a hit, children will still be marvelled at the blend of colours and flavours, something which takes a little extra time but is certainly worth the results.

The marble cake my mum made wasn't gluten free and there weren't many people diagnosed with coeliac disease in the 80s, I have provided you with a gf recipe. As soon as you get this cake out of the oven, turn in onto a cooling rack and cover with a tea towel, as gf cakes have a tendency to collapse I'm the middle, a handy hint to know when making future cakes.

I hope you have as much fun making your marble cake as I did making mine! Happy baking!

GF Marble Cake

Ingredients200g butter (softened)
1 cup caster sugar
4 large eggs
x2 3/4 cup gf self raising flour
2/3 cup rice flour
2/3 cup f corn flour
2 teaspoons gf baking powder
6 tablespoons lukewarm milk
2 tablespoons vanilla essence
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 drops pink food colouring
Icing:
1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup icing sugar
1/2 tablespoon cocoa

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. With electric mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth and light. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating well. Sift the flours and baking powder into the butter mixture and mix, add milk to make a smooth, moist batter. Spoon the mixture evenly into three bowls, add cocoa to one bowl and pink food colouring to the other bowl, leave the third bowl as is. Grease a 20cm tin and line with baking paper. Spoon tablespoons of each mixture into the bowl, taking turns at each flavour to ensure and even colour mix. Swirl the mixture at the end and bang down on the bench. Bake in the over for 30-40 minutes (check with a skewer in the centre after 30 minutes), you may need the 40 minutes depending on your oven. To make the icing add the ingredients to a bowl and mix well, if the ingredients is too wet, add some more icing sugar and if the mixture is too thick, add more milk. Ice the top of the cake with the icing, leave the icing for at least 20 minutes allowing it to set.

If you would like additional information about Bakers Secret who where the brains behind this marvellous challenge here is there website www.worldkitchen.com.au/brands/brands-bakerssecret.html
Thank you to these lovely people for giving me the opportunity to participate in this challenge.

GF Caramel Strawberry Delight Pie

When I first heard of the Pie guideline for the #SABH blog hop, my original thought was a Banoffee Pie, but there are plenty of other people who had the same idea. I was still sticking to the delicious homemade caramel sauce and my eye was caught by some delicious strawberries sitting there whispering my name. I soon changed my mind and went from a Banoffee pie to a Caramel and Strawberry and Cream Pie. It looks simply devine!


http://www.thekitchencrusader.com/

The base is a biscuit and butter base, you simply blend the plain (I used arrowroot biscuits 205g) and melt the butter, mix together and push together in a pie dish and place in the fridge. This is the tastiest GF base I have ever tried and the best, so simple.

The caramel mixture is the most complicated step in this pie, it is my mum's special caramel pie recipe. I know you can buy caramel in a can but take the time and your taste buds will be rewarded! You first cream the butter brown sugar and flour, then add milk and two egg yolks, that's when it can become a bit tiresome; you pour the mixture into a saucepan on low heat and stir, stir, stir, stir, until it thickens and starts to bubble (make sure it is quite thick), then add vanilla and pour into the pie base.

If decorating is your forte then this step you will love cut the top off each strawberry and cut into quarters, place in a formation around the outside of the pie. I will pass on a tip I heard, prior to whipping cream place the bowl and beaters into the fridge, it makes the whipping process easier and quicker. Again an old family tradition is to add icing sugar and vanilla essence to the cream, it makes it that bit sweeter! Yummy! Carefully place the whipped cream in the centre of the pie, not over the strawberries (don't pile the cream up too high though) the caramel is very rich and you will make the pie too overwhelming.

I hope you enjoy this new creation of mine as much as myself and my family has. Although the washing up isn't the fun part!

GF Caramel Strawberry Delight Pie

Ingredients

1 packet arrowroot GF biscuits
120g melted butter
1 large cup brown sugar
2 heaped tablespoons of rice flour
60g butter
1 cup milk
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cartoon of thickened cream
2-3 tablespoons of icing sugar
Few drops of vanilla essence
Several strawberries

Method
Break biscuits in half and place in blender until mixed into a fine powder. Melt the butter Arne add to the bisuit mixture, place in a pie dish and push down evenly and place in the fridge. Cream the butter and sugar add flour. Mix milk and egg yolk together add butter and sugar. Cook in saucepan until very thick (about 10-15mins), add vanilla. Stir contanstantly, place in the pie base, leave in fridge to set. Place thickened cream, bowl and beaters in the fridge until cold, whip cream, add icing sugar and vanilla, beat again. Cut strawberries into quarters and place around the outside of the pie, decorate the centre of the pie with the whipped cream, return to fridge to set. Cut into wedges and serve.

Competition thank you's

My 1st Birthday competition is now over and the four wonderful winners have been drawn! I'm pleased to announce that the winners spread throughout this wonderful country with 1st prize being awarded to an amazing lady in Brisbane Queensland. 2nd prize was awarded to another fantastic women, this time a fellow New South Wales women. 3rd prize was awarded to yet another wonderful women in Victoria. Finally 4th prize was awarded to a great women who lives in Perth. The last three winners are fellow bloggers', I will first seek permission from these women, who all write wonderful blogs, to publish a direct link to their blogs here, and on my soon to be established blog roll.

There weren't only women who entered the competition, many men entered the competition, as did many others. I would like to thank you all for your support, particularly to the readers overseas who RT on Twitter even though they couldn't enter the competition, just to help me out! An extra big thanks to you, this shows how much support I have.

Without the wonderful sponsors this great competition would not have been possible. Once again I will give you the websites of the sponsors, so that you do can see what great products they have to offer. A big thank you to Mamee , Basco , Candy Brokers , Bounce Bars , The lost cereal Amarantha and quinoa , Tasty Bites .

Even if you didn't win any of the prizes, have a good look at the websites provided and try some of the products next time you go shopping. I give full credit to the companies for making gluten free products tasty and not bland and boring. I actually went out and brought a GF Basco Mac and Cheese the other night and from memory it tasted a thousand times better then the traditional gluten filled packet mix pasta. It's nice to know that we can have quick alternative meals on hand that are tasty and easy to make.

I have some delightful winter warming recipes coming up and brilliant reviews of the best takeaway and byo pizza restaurant I have been too. Keep your eyes peeled for these latest additions to my blog. The best thing about this pizza place is they actually make their very own GF dough on the spot! It's delicious and I've never ever had a reaction! I won't tempt you anymore I will save it for the review complete with pictures and all, we just need smell a vision!

Have a great and safe weekend. xx