Gingerbread Boys

This easy recipe for gingerbread men has been renamed Gingerbread boys by Zach, for obvious reasons.  All sorts of shapes can be used for this delicious recipe.  Add a ribbon and they even become Christmas decorations to hang on the tree or gifts for your favourite people.  For the creatively challenged of you, a word of warning.....I tried to add a ribbon after they were baked but found that drilling a hole in their heads with scissors didn't work.  So remember to put a add that hole before you bake!

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 350g (12oz) plain flour, plus extra for rolling out

• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 125g (4½oz) sunflower margarine
  175g (6oz) light soft brown sugar
  1 tbsp Ener-G egg replacer
• Splash of dairy free milk
• 4 tbsp golden syrup

 

To decorate:

•  writing icing
• cake decorations

What to do: 

• Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon.
• Pour into the bowl of a food processor. 
• Add the butter and blend until the mix looks like breadcrumbs. 
• Stir in the sugar.
• With a small whisk combine the egg replacer with a splash of milk until it is a thick consistency without lumps.
• Add the egg replacer mix and and golden syrup to the food processor and pulse until the mixture clumps together. 
• Remove the dough, wrap in clingfim and leave in the fridge for 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180C (350F, Gas mark 4) and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.
  
• Roll the dough out to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness on a lightly floured surface.  Using cutters, cut out the gingerbread men shapes and place on the baking tray, leaving a gap between them.  Use something with a rounded pointy end (I used the end of a whisk!) to carve eyes, a smile and A HOLE where you would like to thread a ribbon.
  
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown. Leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to finish cooling. When cooled decorate with the writing icing and cake decorations.
• Pile them together and tie with a ribbon, or thread your ribbon through the hole and hang on your tree!

  

  Cheeky!

 

Enjoy!

 

Charlotte x

Sofia, the red rabbit and the tutu

 

The party season is upon us!!  Now I wish it was me inundated with party invites to brighten up this dreary November, but no!  It’s not just Christmas around the corner, but Zach has a multitude of toddler birthdays on the horizon spreading from yesterday to the end of February!

So yesterday was the birthday of beautiful Sofia who was 3 and this was how it went. 

Sofia and Zach go back to the bump stage where her mum Rachel and I met on what can only be described as a pregnancy blind date.  It was arranged through a random NHS work night out.  Rachel was on maternity leave and I was new in town, we were both physios and that was that!  She texted ‘Ill be the fat one by Waterstones’ and I texted back ‘No, Ill be fatter!’.  We met and off we went for cake!

Anyway since then we’ve shared stuff together including, in detail, labour stories, (for which I am forever grateful- I had NO shocks during mine!) and all our worries and joys about being mums.  'Fia' as Zach calls her is a firm favourite friend of Zach's, although I'm not sure the feeling's mutual as he is a boy and she is very much a girly girl!

Sofia as a rabbit and Zach as a cat.

So anyway, back to the party.  It was only the second party we had been to where it was majority little girls and it’s a bit of a shocker to the mum of a boy.  We arrived and it was all Disney princesses, sparkly shoes and ballet from the start.  Zach went a bit shy and then whispered to me that he needed something special to wear.  Now to be honest I agree.  I think boys clothes are rubbish!  Where are all the bright colours, stripes and stars for boys? Who wants to wear brown dinosaurs and blue cars all their lives?!  So, Sofia obliged and Zach quickly looked the part in colourful tutu and cat facemask – it was a beautiful thing!!

Here comes the important bit.  Rachel had spent a long time leading up to yesterday insisting that the party be allergy free.  I don’t know why, she just insisted and it was amazing.  Fishfingers, smiley faces and beans all round and then instead of the tear-inducing (for the allergy Mum) cake arrival, there was a RED JELLY RABBIT ON GREEN JELLY GRASS!!! I've put that in capitals because I was THAT excited!  It was a proper old school rabbit mould and everything.

Tadaaaaa! Look closely and you can see the very lovely Rachel!

It made me think….why is cake so important?  Why is it that the first time I met Zach’s allergist, after months of waiting and he asked me what I would most like, my answer was for Zach to be able to eat his birthday cake!  The thought of it still makes me want to cry! However it's not because cake tastes that good, although sometimes it does, but it's all about inclusion.  No one wants to see their child left out anywhere, ever.  For children with allergies, exclusion or feeling different will just be a necessary part of life, as for many other children.  However I think there's a time for everything and when you are 3 all you want more than anything is to be involved in the fun and that’s what Rachel and Sofia (and Leon) did.  So it did matter that the party was allergy free, it mattered hugely.  Thank you to people like Rachel who will go out of their way to include my son – from tutus to red rabbits – he had the time of his life!  Happy birthday Sofia x

Children in Need

Preschool is a success.  The staff have been really supportive and have cooked allergy free biscuits and flapjack to accommodate Zach.  I'm finding that I don't spend my time worrying about him either which must mean that I trust the staff to take care of him - a pretty big step!  I'm finding the 3 hours a huge amount of time and am managing to cram in a whole world of activities including continuing to write an allergy weaning book.  All in all we are loving are new stage in life.

So Children in Need is here and Zach and I made and decorated cupcakes for toddler group.  The icing was too runny but good for making a mess.  The egg and dairy free cupcake was the best recipe to date, if I do say so myself....!

I'll add the recipe ASAP and in the meantime if you would be interested in sharing your allergy story, please get in touch.

Thank you

Charlotte x