There are many things that change when dealing with allergies, every day foods become very difficult to achieve, unless you’re like me, never giving up until you nail a recipe! The satisfaction you get when actually getting one you’ve been working on for ages to be a success is something else! I was brought up in a half French/ half English household, and I really missed out on some of the staple childhood foods because my mum, bless her, didn’t know them/ hated the stodginess of them and the fact that a large number would use stewed fruit and/or raisins. The French are a ‘funny’ breed! (sorry mum, and my French relatives, love you really!)

My English gran would make up for it every time we came to see her, trifle, crumble, jam roly poly, fruit cake, Christmas pudding, mince pies, you name it, she’d make it. And they were absolutely scrummy! Probably all the more so, because we rarely got to have them!

Where possible, I’ve tried to re-create these staples for Callum, making them dairy and egg free. The one that I’ve struggled a bit with has been the jam roly poly. It just didn’t seem to get the right level of stodginess versus fluffiness. Until now!

I give you, dairy free, egg free, jam roly poly!!!!

You will need:
• 8oz (225g) self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 5oz (140g) shredded suet
• 120ml dairy free milk
• ½ jar of your favourite jam (I used home-made blackberry and elderberry jam)

Method:
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder and stir well.

Then add the lemon zest and suet, and rub the mixture with your fingers (as if making pastry) until well combined and it looks like fine breadcrumbs. (This can be really therapeutic!)

Gently add the milk a little bit at a time, stirring well after each addition, and then really squeeze the mixture with your hands until everything is mixed together and you have a gooey dough like ball.

Wrap well in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Prep your workbench before removing the dough from the fridge. Cut a large piece of greaseproof paper, lay it out on your workbench, and sprinkle with a little self-raising flour. At the same time, sprinkle a little flour over your rolling pin to stop it sticking to the dough. Remove the dough, unwrap, and lay on the floured greaseproof paper.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle, roughly the size of a large roasting tin.

Spread over the jam, leaving an inch border all around the edge.

Brush the border with a little extra dairy free milk.

Using the greaseproof paper to help you, roll the dough at the shorter end, making sure your seem is on the top.

Brush a little extra milk to make sure it is sealed.

Twist and fold the edges under to ensure they are well sealed.
(It is really important to do both these steps well, so that the jam doesn’t seep out!)

Then wrap the roly poly loosely in greaseproof paper, repeat with foil, and use string to tie the ends tightly.

Then make yourself a little handle using extra string to tie the 2 bits of string at the ends together.

Steam the roly poly for around 2 hrs, and then enjoy!

I served it with dairy free, egg free custard!

Yummy!