PRODUCT REVIEW: Tesco Dairy Free Ice Cream Strawberry And Vanilla Cones (Gluten Free Cornetto)

I have always loved Cornettos but being gluten free & Mark being dairy free means we just can’t have them. However, now we can thanks to Tesco Dairy Free Ice Cream Cones. The ice cream is completely dairy free, the cone is completely gluten free.. what a perfect combination!

I was extremely excited a few weeks ago when I came across a selection of new Tesco Free From products in their frozen section. Although, Tesco have a reasonable selection of Frozen Free From, in recent months it has started to look a little tired. I really wanted them to produce something different & exciting, that allows me to eat something I couldn’t otherwise.

So when I saw the Tesco Dairy Free Ice Cream Strawberry and Vanilla Cones, which essentially are a gluten and dairy free Cornetto, I was over the moon! I used to love Cornettos, and used to love having them on a summers day out. These looked incredibly similar to a Cornetto and I was definitely intrigued by them… we immediately bought a box!

Upon trying them we were pleasantly surprised that the box contained four full sized ‘Cornettos’, we were expecting the ice creams to be much smaller than usual. The ice cream is completely dairy free and is a mix of vanilla and strawberry with further strawberry ripples throughout. It tastes as good as the ice cream of a cornetto, and the strawberry ripples are definitely a great addition. The ice cream is plentiful and goes a decent way down the cone which is not always common in ice cream cones like these. The cone is waffle style which is my favourite type of cone. I was never a fan of the regular Flake 99 cones, they were very pappy; so to be able to eat a tasty waffle cone that is entirely gluten free was music to my ears. The gluten free waffle cone did not disappoint. It was crispy and flavoursome, which didn’t go soggy upon the ice cream touching it. However, what made the Tesco Dairy Free Ice Cream Cone the ultimate was that the Gluten Free Waffle Cone had chocolate inside it, right down to the bottom! Everyone loves chocolate in the bottom of their ice cream cone right?!

I would highly recommend giving the Tesco Dairy Free Ice Cream (Gluten Free too) a go… it is delicious and a perfect addition to any freezer this spring and summer. It would be great to be able to have these ice creams available at the ice cream van, but for now I am just incredibly grateful that Tesco have made something that Mark & I can really enjoy together!

Have you tried the strawberry and vanilla gluten free & dairy free ice cream cones from Tescos? Let me know if you have and what you think of them on Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks for reading,

Becky xxx

Incoming search terms:

• tutti frutti
• vitality show 2014
• vitality show earls court 2014
• bounce balls holland and barrett
• vitality show review

PRODUCT REVIEW: Tesco Dairy Free Ice Cream Strawberry And Vanilla Cones (Gluten Free Cornetto)

RECIPE - Super Healthy Banana Bread - Gluten Free, Dairy Free (No added Sugar, No Fat!)

A healthy banana bread recipe is one of those amazing things that tastes amazing & you can eat as much as you want! My recipe is gluten free, dairy free & basically fat & sugar free too! It’s perfect with a cuppa, as part of dessert or even to take out with you as a snack. This healthy banana bread is so simple – you’re going to love it!

So banana-ry!

So I love baking. I’d bake every day if I could. Similarly to so many folk I aspire to have my own little café one day… I can keep dreaming right?!

I have definitely enjoyed baking even more in the past 5 years since gluten has been off the menu for me and dairy has been rather unpleasant for Mark.

Walking past the likes of Patisserie Valerie and seeing such beautiful baked goods makes us drool, but we know we must never taste… or suffer the rotten consequences. Instead such delicious bakeries and cafes inspire us to make alternatives that we can actually eat.

Since moving to Manchester there have been so many amazing places we have got our dose of gluten free and/or dairy free cakes from.

I have only got the chance to write about a few of the places so far, such as the amazing Tea 42, but the likes of V Revolution, Teatime Collective, Fuel and Classic Cakes are a few other delicious finds of mine, check them out when you have a chance.

However, although finding gluten free and dairy free cakes is a seriously great experience, myself and Mark have a few other little issues to contend with. As you know, we both suffer with the ‘wonderful’ problem of IBS. What causes an IBS attack for both of us can sometimes be similar and sometimes be very different. For me I really struggle with too much sugar in foods, whether that is natural sugars from fruit or more refined sugars. Mark on the other hand struggles more with fatty foods, so too much butter, nuts and fattier cuts of meat are all massive triggers. This leaves a massive problem for the pair of us and means we can’t indulge in our favourite gluten and dairy free cakes as frequently as we might like.

Such a delicious, moist texture

Instead, a favourite of ours is a tasty, healthy banana bread recipe I recently came up with. I have seen many Healthy Banana Bread recipes over time and many of them seem very healthy, but I wanted to go one step further and make it entirely gluten free, dairy free and safe for our stomachs! That meant no additional sugar – the only sugar coming from the bananas and a very small amount of apple sauce. Also the recipe contains no signs of any butter, margarine or oil. It seemed the perfect cake for us.

It is a very versatile recipe too. We like cinnamon in ours but you don’t have to. You could add nuts if you wanted to as well. For us we keep it simple. It tastes great cold with a comforting cuppa tea or, I have to say, I like to warm it up in the microwave with a little custard. This healthy banana bread loaf keeps moist and fresh for plenty of time, especially when, I guarantee, it will be eaten incredibly quickly. The combination of tasty and healthy makes you eat slice after slice… after slice!

I guarantee this healthy banana bread recipe will go down well with those who are gluten free, dairy free or not at all. It is a delicious, healthy banana bread that we can’t live without on a rainy, cold Manchester day. I hope you get the chance to give this a go too.

Super Healthy Banana Bread - Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Fat Free, Sugar Free

2015-03-17 09:48:10

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Ingredients

1. • 4 Ripe Large Bananas
2. • 4 Table Spoons of Apple Sauce (You might choose to add less if you wish)
3. • 200g Gluten Free Plain Flour
4. • 1 ¼ Tea Spoons of Gluten Free Baking Powder
5. • ½ Teaspoon of Bicarbonate of Soda
6. • Teaspoon of Cinnamon (You can add more or less of this, to taste)
7. • 2 Egg Whites

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. Prepare a loaf tin (grease it or use baking parchment).
3. In a large bowl, mix together gluten free flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon.
4. Mash 4 ripe bananas. There is no need to make the bananas completely smooth, small chunks of banana give the bread a great texture.
5. Add the mashed bananas, egg whites and apple sauce to the dry mixture and stir thoroughly, just until combined.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes. Check the loaf is cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre of the loaf and making sure it comes out clean.
7. Turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool before eating. (It takes a while but it’s worth the wait!)
8. Enjoy!!

Gluten Free Cuppa Tea - by Free From Food Blogger, Becky, UK. http://glutenfreecuppatea.co.uk/

Let me know if you do try out the healthy banana bread!

Thanks for reading,

Becky xxx

RECIPE - Super Healthy Banana Bread - Gluten Free, Dairy Free (No added Sugar, No Fat!)

RECIPE: Tuna Pasta Bake - Gluten Free & Dairy Free

Did somebody say its Pasta Bake night? Tuna Pasta Bake has to be one of the easiest and tastiest meals on the planet & here is a gluten free & dairy free recipe that oozes cheesy deliciousness! 

Oozing delicious cheesy gluten & dairy free tuna pasta bake!

When I stopped being able to eat gluten in 2010 it was a pasta dish at a restaurant that confirmed what I was dreading about my gluten intolerance… I had quite an awful night! I found it hard to want to even try any pasta, even gluten free pasta after that. When I did eventually try gluten free pasta I wasn’t overly impressed. It seemed to get stuck together in clumps and just not do what pasta should do; plus it was a lot more expensive.

I ended up not eating pasta for a couple of years until myself and Mark tried to make our own gluten and dairy free Chicken Carbonara, the recipe for this is up on the blog so click here to view it! (It’s super tasty!) Other than the very occaional Carbonara I don’t think I have touched pasta since 2010 until I moved to Manchester. I’ve always craved having the standard, easy dinner of a tuna pasta bake and until September 2014 I had never even tried one. I will never look back now, tuna pasta bake is one of my favourite dishes. It is so simple to chuck in the oven after a long day at work and you will pretty much have all the ingredients in your cupboards all the time – I love tuna pasta bake!

I have to say I do use a pasta bake sauce from Homepride instead of making my own for our tuna pasta bake. We found one that contained no dairy which is rare as many contain cream, milk or cheese. I would attempt to make my own pasta bake sauce, but when it is for a simple meal like this and it tastes so good already… why change anything?! If you were wondering, we use the Tomato, Garlic and Chilli flavour.

We always put tuna into our pasta bakes but obviously you could just go for more veggies, chicken, turkey… or pretty much anything into it! It’s kind of like a pizza in that you can chuck whatever you have in the cupboard/fridge in and it’ll taste pretty epic. However, for ultimate ease and taste I personally would always recommend a tuna pasta bake!

We always use courgette as our main vegetable in a pasta bake. It really soaks up the flavours of the sauce well and cooks quickly. I have a few issues with eating onions and peppers otherwise we probably would include that in the bake too. Mushrooms would likely work well too. Basically any vegetable that you like would do the job.

I really feel like all gluten free pasta has improved somewhat. Since making pasta bakes I initially just used the brand Salute but I have since used Tesco and Sainsburys own brand gluten free Fusilli and liked it just as much.

The pasta bake is just a staple homely meal that everyone needs to have every once in a while. It is comforting and just makes you smile. Any dish with cheese in it always does, right?! (Especially when the you live with a dairy intolerant and you have delicious dairy free cheese!)

I would highly recommend this dish, so take a look at the recipe for my tuna pasta bake below and let me know what you think.

Tuna Pasta Bake - Gluten Free & Dairy Free

2015-03-04 15:22:26

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Ingredients

1. - 1 500g Jar of Homepride Tomato, Garlic and Chilli Pasta Bake Sauce
2. - 200g (You could easily put a bit more in, we always do!) Gluten Free Dried Pasta (Any shape.. we use Fusilli)
3. - 2 Large Tins of Tuna in Spring Water (Not the tiny sandwich sized tins or you"ll need 4!)
4. - 1/2 a courgette chopped up.
5. - 50g - 100g of Dairy Free Cheese (We have found that you don"t need as much cheese as you would imagine!)
6. - Black Pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 200°C / Gas Mark 6 / Fan 180°C.
2. Get out a large oven proof dish that you want to cook the pasta bake in.
3. Pour the Pasta Bake Sauce into the oven proof dish.
4. Fill the empty Pasta Bake jar to the top of the label with cold water and stir into the sauce.
5. Pour you dried pasta into the oven proof dish and thoroughly mix it into the sauce mix.
6. Place the dish into the preheated oven uncovered for about 25 minutes.
7. Whilst in the oven you can chop your courgette, get your tuna ready and grate your cheese.
8. After 25 minutes remove the oven proof dish from the oven and mix around the pasta and the sauce.
9. Mix into the pasta the tuna and the courgettes.
10. You can now sprinkle the cheese over the top of the pasta or if you prefer you can mix it in. Or... you can do a bit of both!
11. Season with some pepper if you wish and place the dish back into the oven for a further 20 minutes.
12. Remove from the oven once all the cheese has melted and is bubbling & golden! (it will be super hot!)
13. Serve up and enjoy!

Notes

1. In terms of dairy free cheese we often use a mix of Mozzarisella & Toffuti for a pasta bake... both are great and fairly easy to get hold of in the UK.

Gluten Free Cuppa Tea - by Free From Food Blogger, Becky, UK. http://glutenfreecuppatea.co.uk/

Thanks for reading,

Becky xxx

RECIPE: Tuna Pasta Bake - Gluten Free & Dairy Free

RECIPE: Blueberry Gluten Free Sponge Cake (Dairy Free)

A tasty sponge cake is perfect for any occasion, it is so versatile. What makes it even more perfect is when everyone can eat it.. heres my Blueberry Gluten Free Sponge!

I made this Blueberry Gluten Free Sponge Cake as a birthday cake but it is the perfect cake for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Easter or just a day with no occasion at all. Love cake!

Gluten Free & Dairy Free!

So it was Mark’s birthday yesterday and seeing as there are only a few amazing places where Mark can enjoy a cake, (due to his lactose intolerance) and even fewer where me and him can together enjoy a cake (gluten free and dairy free combined is so rare at cake shops!); I decided to get up early and bake a gluten free, dairy free birthday cake!

When I headed downstairs I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to make, some sort of sponge but that was as far as it went. Upon looking in the fridge I noticed we have a large punnet of fresh blueberries, one of Mark’s favourite fruit, and I decided they had to be involved in the celebrations!

I have never been the greatest fan of using gluten free flour to bake cakes with. If the cake is for an occasion in the past I have used regular flour and just opted out of eating it so that others can enjoy it. But not anymore; if I bake a cake… I want to eat cake too!

So basically to make the cake edible for me I opted for using Dove’s Gluten Free Self Raising Flour and some Xanthan Gum; and to make it edible for Mark I used Pure Soya Spread and a small amount of Almond Milk.

I’ll describe the gluten free sponge cake briefly before I put down the recipe… Essentially it was a classic all in one vanilla gluten free sponge cake which I then added fresh blueberries to before baking. I sandwiched the two layers together with a soya based buttercream and a thick helping of blueberry jam. The fresh blueberries stick out and look very attractive on top of the gluten free sponge cake so I then just dusted it with icing sugar.

As the cakes emerge from the oven!

I really was surprised at how tasty the gluten free sponge cake looked and smelt upon coming out of the oven. The cake had a lovely golden colour with swirls of purple oozing out of the visible blueberries. The use of the Xanthan Gum clearly did its job as the cake was incredibly sponge like and had no chance of crumbling as soon as it is touched.

The gluten free sponge cake was light, airy and flavoursome, and upon cutting a slice the fresh blueberries were visible throughout each piece. Using soya spread instead of butter in the cake really didn’t make any noticeable difference in my opinion and the few drops of almond milk I added for extra moisture worked perfectly instead of regular cows milk.

The buttercream was possibly better and tastier, in my opinion, from using the soya spread than it usually is. It came together just as easily and was a delight to liberally spread. I added a few drops of vanilla to the butter cream and the flavour went really well with the blueberry jam. I must say, if you haven’t ever had blueberry jam before, try it… it’s a great change from standard raspberry or strawberry I think!

Blueberry Gluten Free Sponge Cake (Dairy Free)

2015-03-13 12:04:18

Write a review

Save Recipe

Print

Ingredients

1. 6oz Doves Gluten Free Self Raising Flour
2. 6oz Caster sugar
3. 6oz Dairy Free Margarine (I used Pure Soya Spread, but any will do!)
4. 3 Large Eggs
5. Few drops of Vanilla Extract
6. 2 tbsp of Almond Milk (if deemed necessary)
7. 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
8. 1/4 tsp Xantham Gum
9. Fresh Blueberries (However many you wish as a guide I used about 150g)
10. 3oz Dairy Free Margarine
11. 6oz Icing Sugar
12. Few drops of Vanilla Extract
13. Blueberry Jam

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and thoroughly grease your baking tins.
2. In a mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, dairy free margarine, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder and xantham gum.
3. Using an electric whisk mix them all together until combined and light. (I found that by using the xantham gum, the mixture came together a lot more and thus sticking to the whisk quite a bit, don’t worry though the cake won’t crumble later as a result!)
4. Add a little almond milk to give a little extra liquid to the mixture and continue to mix till combined.
5. Evenly pour/spoon the cake mix into the greased tins and spread so its fairly level.
6. Lightly cover the fresh blueberries with a dusting of flour so that they don’t sink in the cake, and then as randomly or evenly as you like place the blueberries into the cake mix, gently pushing them in.
7. Place the cake tins in the centre of the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, the cakes should come out looking golden and risen.
8. After about a minute carefully turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack and leave to completely cool.
9. In the mean time, make the dairy free butter cream! Cream the dairy free margarine in a glass bowl.
10. Gradually add the icing sugar and drops of vanilla until all has been added.
11. Once the cakes are cool turn them over onto the plate/board/dome you wish to serve the cake from.
12. On the bottom layer liberally spread the butter cream and on the top layer liberally spread some blueberry jam.
13. Sandwich the two together and dust the top with a small amount of icing sugar.
14. Slice and enjoy ☺

Gluten Free Cuppa Tea - by Free From Food Blogger, Becky, UK. http://glutenfreecuppatea.co.uk/

 I was really pleased with the result seeing as I had never made a gluten free sponge cake exactly like this before. I hope if you give it a try you are equally as taken by it. Please feel free to give me any tips as to how I could improve the gluten free sponge cake or if you have any of your own recipes – I would love to try!

Thanks for reading,

Happy Birthday Mark!

 

Love Becky xxx

RECIPE: Blueberry Gluten Free Sponge Cake (Dairy Free)