When we were asked if we wanted to take part in the Holland & Barratt bake off challenge, we didn’t hesitate to say yes!
Many of the people who took part created beautiful bakes, and showcased them with some stunning photography.
We decided to do things a little bit differently here.
Yes, I could have created some lovely photos as well, but actually, I wanted to send out an important message!
One that all allergy sufferers, especially little peeps need to hear.
Callum was the best way of depicting that message.
It doesn’t matter that you have allergies!
It’s not important that you can’t eat what others take for granted!
Truly, it’s not!
What is important is that you are empowered by what you eat, that you’re not scared of it, that you trust it, and that you don’t feel that you need to miss out.
Callum suffered with very bad food aversion throughout the weaning process and beyond. It’s a time where exploring food should be full of fun. Instead, for him, it was a time of being violently sick every single time after eating, of not trusting any food, and ultimately refusing to eat anything, and losing a lot of weight in the process.
The only way we were able to overcome this was to literally let him cook his own food.
He could see for himself what was going into it.
He had full control over what was being mixed together.
Slowly, but surely, he started to trust it, because he was the one doing it. He was able to understand that the ingredients weren’t ones that would make him ill.
He questioned everything, so that he could tell you what the ingredients were, and why they were going into a recipe.
Now, he loves to cook and bake with me, and without question, it’s one of his most favourite things to do!
Callum decided which recipe to make for the baking challenge, and he chose it, as it is one of his favourites. It was a great choice, as it’s also fairly healthy, and I know that he’s getting one of his 5-a-day into him too.
Happy days!
Callum did brilliantly in the first round, and won his part of the challenge!
We thought you might want to create his delicious cake too, so here are the details.
You will need:
- 200g gluten-free self-raising flour
- 250g golden caster sugar
- 100g molasses
- 2tsp baking powder
- 3 tsp mixed spice
- 100g raisins
- 50g porridge oats
- 300ml vegetable oil/ melted coconut oil
- 250g peeled and grated carrots
- X4 egg replacer
- 125ml dairy-free milk
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180c/356f/ Gas 4 and grease and line 2 loaf tins.
In a large bowl, add the self-raising flour, sugar, porridge oats, baking powder and mixed spice and stir until well combined.
In a separate bowl, add the oil, milk and molasses and stir well (splashing not necessary, but will induce giggling fits!)
Pour the wet mix into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Add the raisins and carrot and stir again until combined.
Pour into the prepared tins and place in the oven to bake for around 45-50 minutes, or until springy to touch and the edges have come away slightly from the edges.
Carefully remove from the oven and leave to cool before slicing and eating.
Enjoy!