From SS Quarantine #6

I know, I know.  I said I wasn't going to do this.  But Freyja drew my attention to this: Rosie and Ralph's Vegan and Gluten Free Chocolate cake

I realise that my Coeliac cousins are unlikely to come a-calling any time soon and my Vegans are equally unlikely to come visiting in the immediate future.  But I had all the ingredients to hand. You can't have too many vegan and/or gluten free recipes in your repertoire.

I decided to give it a go.  Rampant food experimentation in the Quarantine Kitchen.  To make it even worse, I messed about with the ingredients. 350g of sugar seemed a ridiculously high amount of sugar.  I reduced it to 250g which still seemed a lot but I thought I shouldn't mess with the recipe too much.  I also didn't use oat or rice milk. I didn't have any. I could have made some but I didn't have any lurking vegans and I do have some tins of evaporated milk which are past their best before dates loitering in my pantry.

I baked it in two cake tins. It didn't rise much and makes a dense, moist cake, much like a mud cake

Result?  It's much, much, much too sweet.  Much less sugar next time.

Grinding rice into rice flour was a revelation.  I had no idea you could make rice flour simply by blending rice until it forms a powder.  I think I didn't grind it quite enough.  It was a bit gritty, which didn't bother me but got stuck under Jim's dental plate. Also, I have rice flour so I could have used that.  And, I actually do have wheat flour so I could have used that.  I'll have a play around next time I am minded to bake cake.

There is absolutely no need to add raspberry jam. Nor a runny chocolate ganache to the top.  It would benefit from cream or custard I think.

I need more cocoa before I can do it again.

Otherwise, we carried on with Quarantine Life as normal.  Jim has carried on hoeing along the fence line and along the side of the house.  I haven't yet sorted out the cold frame for winter seeds but I will.  Apparently the garden centres, DIY stores and supermarkets have had their veg seed and seedling supplies ransacked.  People have decided to Grow Their Own.  I think they think it's easier than it sometimes can be and I suspect they don't realise quite how long it takes before you can harvest anything.  Fortunately, I have the seeds I need for winter and spring. Hopefully by the time I want summer seeds things will have calmed down a bit.

Time is passing quickly.  It's a week today since we got back.

And the sun continues to rise each morning - a bit later than before we went away, but it does come up