Since being gifted a new food mixer I have desperately wanted to try baking a loaf of bread using it! So I dug out the Delicious Alchemy brown bread mix from my packet mix box and thought I would give it go. Being a fan of their white bread I baked previously, I thought that this would be the best one to try it with as previously I was mixing them by hand and I wanted to see the difference!

For this mix you only need vegetable oil and water, so things that are in everyones cupboards really! For this recipe all you do is pop the mix, oil and water in the mixer and put it on a medium speed for 2.5 minutes. Then use a spatula to remove from edges and then mix again for 2.5 minutes on a medium speed.

Once that has been done, pop in a loaf tin and prove for 20 minutes. Bake for 80 minutes and you're done!

This pack retails at £2.49 and created a reasonable size crispy loaf. I tend to find that freshly baked bread always tastes better than a pre bought loaf, so although after adding the other ingredients and cooking this mix is on the pricier side for gluten free bread, I find that fresh baked taste cannot be beaten!

Although the loaf doesn't create huge slices, texturally it's fantastic, it holds together well and doesn't fall apart as you cut it. I find that sometimes a loaf you have to cut can be a bit more crumbly so I'm glad this one wasn't as I hate ending up with a pile of crumbs! Two slices were only around 110 calories too!

My favourite meal I created with this bread was avocado on toast with smoked salmon, although it was very basic this bread is perfect for this! All I do is toast the bread, smash avocado, black pepper, salt and chilli fakes on the top, add salmon and add a bit more pepper on top! Simple quick healthy brunch!

I would love to know if you have tried this mix and what you thought of it!

Hannah x

Christmas was made for baking! I love baking all year round but I find at Christmas it feels a little more fun and I also find I have more people to feed my bakes to!

I wanted to make these Delicious Alchemy ginger breads quite a while ago, but as my oven decided against it, we have only just made them this weekend! My best friend, Rosie, came over on Saturday and with prosecco and Christmas films in hand we decided to have a festive day!

This recipe is super simple like all DA's mixes and only takes a few minutes to mix together! After mixing, we rolled out the dough. Using some festive mini cutters we cut out a variety of shapes and popped them in the oven, just until they were golden. We managed to make about 30 mini cookies, which would be great for a buffet or share around an office!

Once out of the oven and cooled we decided to ice the cookies,at which point we realised icing biscuits is not our forte! But we had a few successful ones! We managed to salvage some candy canes and mittens from our awful icing!

Flavour wise, these gingerbreads are lovely with spicy and warm notes. There is a hit of sweetness from the golden syrup and I found that these biscuits have a good snap but aren't too hard.  This simple baking mix results in very successful biscuits and Rosie, who is not gluten free, really enjoyed them too!

This pack retails on the Delicious Alchemy website for £2.00 so is a very inexpensive way of catering this Christmas. ASDA sell pre-made gingerbread men, which comparatively are more expensive and not half as fun to make!

I'd love to know what you like baking at Christmas! I am hoping to make the stuffing from DA over the coming week!

Hannah x

On Sunday my brother headed over to the Excel centre to take part in the Magic card game show. As he was leaving he saw the cake and bake show was on too, so he popped in and picked me up a few gluten free goodies!

He knows I love Delicious Alchemy a great deal and I had bored his ears off at work that week about their new gingerbread mix! So as they had their normal three for £5 deal he picked me up a pack of the gingerbread mix, the stuffing mix and another brownie mix as I had used my last one for a coffee corner at a craft fair I organised earlier last week.

He also got me a pack of the christmas cake mix as I missed out on this one last year. However this was not in the deal, but was still only £4 and the bag is huge! As I will hopefully be in our new home for Christmas I can't wait to bake this and have friends round to watch the Christmas specials of Vicar of Dibley and Gavin and Stacey whilst tucking into cake and mulled wine!

Of course when I bake these I will let you know the outcome, I am intending to make the fudge with the brownie mix for Christmas too, so we will see how that goes!

Hannah x

I look forward to the Allergy and Free From Show every year. I love seeing all my favourite brands as well as finding new companies and products that become firm favourites. This year was no exception!

If you have never been to the show before, I would really recommend you pop along next year, the tickets are free and there are so many traders, samples to try and some great deals on a lot of products. Held in the Olympia, London, this show has very good public transport links so there is no fear of getting lost or stranded in London!

As usual I have really stocked up on bits so here is what I got!

Genius
Genius are one of my staple brands, they never seem to let me down and have a good range of products to try, from frozen pies to white loafs, they pretty much have you covered! They had a show deal which included 4 products and a tote bag for £10. Now I have a million totes but a Genius one was not one in my collection, so obviously I needed it! In the tote deal I also got their pittas as I had been searching for these for a while, plain bagels, lemon and poppyseed muffins (which may already be gone) and some vegetable quiches. Unfortunately my quiches had an accident so I can't try those but I recovered the rest, except the tote! We also all got a free pack of the cupcakes, which is always welcome!

BFree
Finding BFree at the show is always one of my priorities as finding their products in my local stores can be a nightmare. It is just easier to stock up at the show. They had released some sweet potato wraps, so I couldn't resist getting some to give them a go, as they had the 4 items for £8 I also got the chia wraps I loved from last year, the amazing pitas and their bagels, as bagels in general are my favourite!  The fajita kits were also £3 and as they are a staple in the cupboard for James and I, we picked one up!

WOW cake Company
Being a company I'd never heard, WOWcake make the nicest packaged packet mixes I have seen in the free from market, with all their mixes in little tins, which is so cute! The people behind the brand were fabulous too so I thought I would give the carrot cake a go as this is not a mix I have found in the free from market before! For £5.50 I felt this was quite reasonable for a small company with smaller buying power of ingredients.

Eat Real
If you have never had the Hummus chips from Eat Real, you should really try them, as they are hands down the best snack style crisps around. They had a pretty good deal at the show of two big bags for £2 so I got two of the tomato and basil as they are my favourite, the taste is so good and very authentic Italian seasoning!

Feel Free
Finally I found the large doughnuts! For £2 I picked up a 4 pack of large doughnuts. I love their small ones but nothing can beat a real sized doughnut!

Goodie Bag
As well as coupons and the normal leaflets, the goodie bag was very impressive this year, with a box of nutribix, a bottle of lime Zeo and an orange choc shot each! There was also rice dream available  but as I don't drink it I didn't take it!

Isabel's
After trying their dough balls on holiday, I knew I wanted to try more, so when we found their packets were 2 for £3 and the pizza mix was 2 for £5 I decided that the offer had to be taken! James and I love pizza so they will cover a couple of our fake-away pizza nights. Packet wise, of course I picked up the doughnut mix, in a bid to make my sorely missed jam doughnuts. I also found chocolate pudding pots which will be a lovely weekend treat!

Make it Gluten Free Ltd
We heard that Make it Gluten Free Ltd were going to be there this year on twitter, so we made it our mission to locate them too as we loved the Simple Mills mixes and wanted to try the cookies in particular. As these mixes are natural and free from so many things they are perfect for so many people. We got the chocolate muffin mix and of course the chocolate chip cookies! The guys at Make it Gluten Free have so many recipes online using their products and are super friendly with really good customer service, so if you have yet to try their products, I would recommend them!

Warburton's
Warburton's have a new and improved recipe for their sandwich thins, and I have to admit they are about a million times softer, which is great! They are currently on offer for £2 in the supermarkets too so even better for those of you who didn't get any or weren't at the show! I have got the white, seeded and raisin and orange ones to try! I loved the old ones so these can only be better!

Delicious Alchemy 
Delicious Alchemy is my favourite company for fail proof cake mixes. I find they are fab to have in the cupboard so I always have something ready incase somebody pops round for tea and cake. The team working there were lovely too.They had their normal 3 for £5 deal so I picked up the brownie mix, the Victoria sponge mix and the brown bread mix, which I have yet to try, but the white one was great so we thought we would change things up!

I would love to know what you picked up!

Hannah *

*Some products were given to me to try, all opinions are my own

We have a new product from Delicious Alchemy to try! My love for Delicious Alchemy is something I don't think could ever be broken. Although they do not have loads of product lines like other gluten free brands, Delicious Alchemy products I feel are always developed to the point of perfection before anything new is released. Because of this, DA's products are always exceptional and everything I have tried has been fantastic, remember how well my vanilla sponge was received by gluten eaters!

So when Delicious Alchemy reached out to me with a new product release, I was most certainly not going to turn down an opportunity to try this great product, as Delicious Alchemy is hard to find in my local stores and only stock a couple of their products.

So here's what I received:

Wonderfully Nutty Granola 
Let's start with Delicious Alchemy's new product. This rather chunky nutty granola contains almonds, hazelnuts and raisins. How truly scrumptious does that sound!?!?! A 50g portion contains 230 calories, 9.9g fat (I assume from the nuts) 29.3g of carbs and 3.1g of fibre. This sounds nutritionally quite a well rounded granola and what you would expect, and as the granola only contains natural ingredients that I can read, I know exactly what I am eating. I find this hugely important at the minute as I am being more conscious of eating whole, natural, clean foods for other health reasons, rest assured though, I am still having my sweet treats! Retailing at £3 online and seeing them for £2.85 in Sainsbury's, this is very comparable to competitors in the same market gram for gram, which is great!

Purely Oaty Fruity Muesli 
This is one product I have yet to see in person, although I know has been around for a while and just never got around to ordering it online, so it is great to now have a bag! Again this product is full of natural oats, seeds and dried fruits and again I can read every ingredient and all seems rather nutritious. Perfect start to the day. Retailing at £2.99, this is fantastic value as although you could make your own muesli easily, this contains a good amount for the price, and you're not left with a 1kg bag full of sultanas as it was the only size in the shop, let's face it we've all been there! These are also dairy free too, bonus!

I will try both of these and let you know what I think, I am tempted to hold onto the granola (if my willpower lets me) and take it on holiday which is only 10 days away, eek! As I think this bag looks about the right size to last the whole holiday without any left overs!

If you have tried the new granola from Delicious Alchemy, let me know, I have no doubt about loving it if their other products can be used to base my opinion on!

Hannah x

*These products were sent to me to try, all opinions are my own

I noticed that for the whole of last week I took pictures of my breakfast, so I thought that I would share what I make in a typical working week, as I don't have much time!


Monday - Udis vanilla and almond granola with M&S blackcurrant and blueberry yoghurt

Tuesday - Delicious Alchemy porridge with banana, mixed raisins and syrup.

Wednesday - Natural yoghurt, Udis vanilla and almond granola and syrup with a banana

 Thursday - Tesco seeded gluten free toast with peanut butter and banana

Friday - As it was so good on Thursday I had the Tesco seeded gluten free toast with peanut butter and banana again!

Saturday - Udis vanilla and almond granola with milk

I'd love to know what you like to eat for breakfast!

Hannah x

Oh Delicious Alchemy... You have never let me down and this product is no exception. I tweeted a few days ago about fancying making the vanilla cake mix but I couldn't decide to leave it plain, add chocolate chips, or mini fudge pieces. Delicious Alchemy tweeted back with why not both, so that is exactly what I did!

I didn't add many mind, so it was more of a hunt the chips, as I didn't want to ruin the texture, seeing as this is the first time I have tried this mix and I didn't want to affect the review. To create the cake, all you need is 180g of butter and three large eggs. If you buy a 250g block of butter I found the left overs was the perfect amount for the butter icing I made!

I opened the mix and added it to the mixer, the consistency was almost as finely milled as icing sugar and was very white too, which I found interesting and different to most mixes I have seen. To this I added the butter and creamed together. Once that was done I beat in the eggs, choc chips and fudge. I had the mixture run for a few minutes, I have found the key to gluten free cooking is to fill the mixture with as much air as you can. This way you don't end up with a pancake!

These were then popped in the oven for 20-25 minutes at 180. The timing on this was perfect. I tend to have to add a couple of minutes to my gas cooker but using the electric one I did seemed to be more on time. I guess it just depends on where you live and the type of oven you have!

Straight out of the oven, the sponges looked just like the gluten filled Victoria sponge my gran makes, so this was a good sign, evenly domed and golden! Once cooled I sandwiched the cake with some basic butter icing.

Cutting into the cake the texture looked perfect, great aeration and soft to the touch. Nothing crumbled away and I have since found it travels well too, as I have been bringing bits to my office! The flavour is second to none, I gave a piece to my mum and she had to ask me three times if it was a gluten free cake and she thought it tastes just like any cake she would normally eat! In her words 'there is no dry bicarbonate powderiness you get with a lot, I honestly don't believe it! It tastes like your Grans'. If you have ever been lucky enough to try my Gran's Victoria spoke, you know this is high praise! The moisture, texture, flavour and presentation of this cake was perfect.

The mix retails at £2.99 on their website and £3.50 at most retailers. I added around £1.80 of butter and eggs. So for one cake, depending on the supermarkets you use for your eggs and butter you can make a cake for under £5. This cake is a similar size to the M&S birthday cake I reviewed earlier in the week and is half the price, of course that was decorated but you could decorate this cake too, more than likely for less than £5, which makes this a good budget option when considering birthdays and celebrations, as you can also personalise it too.

I would certainly be buying this mix again. I think I would love to try to create a 'cream tea' style cake with clotted cream and jam in the centre!

I would love to see if you have used this mix as a base for any baking creations or even just as a Victoria sponge!

Hannah x

*This product was sent to me to try, all opinions are my own.

For the last few weeks I have been baking on either a Saturday or Sunday. I have really been enjoying this new found weekend tradition James and I have, so we have been trying to keep it up!

Again this week we have decided to use a packet mix. As A, it barely ever goes wrong and B, I have a lot in the cupboard at the minute and it would be a waste not to use them. For a change this week we decided on a savoury bake, I needed some bread anyway so we took a look through my bread mixes to see which ones I had all the ingredients for.

The Delicious Alchemy mix for their soft white bread required 325ml water and 2tbs vegetable oil. I had the oil in the cupboard so I went for this option and all my others needed yeast, which I don't tend to have on hand, as I only buy the packs as and when I need them.

To make this loaf, add the mix to a bowl and pour the tepid water and oil over. If you are using an electric mixer mix for one and a half minutes on low, then medium for the next minute and a half. My mixer is not the best so I decided to do it by hand.

Once incorporated, the mix is thick and a little sticky. Place the mix in a loaf tin. I lined mine with baking parchment, smooth it out and let it prove for 40 minutes. It will not rise all that much, but once this is done, it is ready to go in the oven at gas mark 4/5 for 90 minutes.

Out of the oven, the bread rises nice and even and there is a good tap to the top of the loaf. Browned perfectly, this loaf comes out golden and domed, as if it needs to be in a 1950's advert!

Once cut, the bread has a lovely soft texture, I think if you used a handheld mixer or Kitchenaid it would be a lot lighter. The taste is what you'd expect to find in a free from bread. The last bread mix I did turned out awfully and tasted horrible, so I am glad this one wasn't like that!

So far I have tried this bread toasted, as it is with butter and as a toastie, all three were fantastic. I will be doing a second post of eats of the week using this bread to see all the ways we can use it and how it turns out!

Hannah x

*This product was sent to me to try, all thoughts and opinions are my own

Saturday, we decided to head for a picnic. Being inspired by The Great British Bake off, I wanted to bake a cake fast. I went through my baking cupboard and picked out my Delicious Alchemy brownie mix, firstly because I love brownies, but secondly as it only requires 2 eggs and 100g butter, which were in my fridge already.

With this mix, all you have to do is melt the butter and add it to the dry mix. Once incorporated, this turns into a paste. At this point the whisked eggs are added, making the mixture into a much smoother texture. Then all you do is pour this into a cake tin and smooth out. The recipe says that this brownie will take around 20 minutes at 180 (gas mark 4) but I found it took a little while longer.

Once baked, you can see that a good crispy top developed, which once you cut into the brownie masked a soft and slightly gooey centre, as you can see as I took some of the top away in the picture to reveal the inside. Perfectly baked brownie! As I was in a rush I didn't get chance to film this bake for you, but I do have a second packet of this mix, which I will certainly bake soon as it was so good!

The taste and texture of this brownie is perfect and I think I may experiment by adding some nuts and white chocolate chunks to the next batch to see how it turns out. The mix does have milk choc chips already but being the chocoholic I am I think adding some extra chunks, which will leave chocolate pockets would really enhance this cake! That's the fantastic thing about packet mixes. They can be used as a good foundation to adapt upon!

So keep an eye out for my next batch of Delicious Alchemy brownies, hopefully with a successful twist! I have also got hold of some raspberry flavoured icing sugar. I have a Delicious Alchemy vanilla sponge mix too, I think this is going to be a perfect paring!

Anybody else been inspired to raid their cupboard since GBBO has started? I know packet mixes aren't from scratch, but it's all the fun, with half the mess!

Hannah x

The friendly people at Delicious Alchemy have sent me some goodies to try! I love baking and trying all things new so when I opened the box to find so many products I was ecstatic!

Let's take a look at what I got!

Chocolate Brownie Mix 
This mix is not only gluten but dairy free too. To make this mix all you need is 2 large eggs and 100g of unsalted butter or a dairy free alternative. I can feel what seems to be chocolate chips in this brownie mix which I am looking forward to as they will ooze a little bit and add decadence to the brownie.

Vanilla Sponge Mix
Possibly one of the most versatile mixes on the market! I have yet to find a basic free from sponge mix in the shops. With this I can make many types of cake, from Victoria sponge to butterfly cakes. This too is dairy as well as gluten free and only needs 3 large eggs and 180g of butter or dairy free alternative.

White Bread Mix
A scary product for me here. I used to be fantastic at baking bread, but gluten free bread is a whole different kettle of fish! There is obviously no kneading as there is no gluten but at the same time I find the bread mixes get very thick and the middle of the ones I've previously baked became a bit dense and stodgy. I am hoping with a mix the ingredients are right so I will have a good loaf rather than guessing as I go along. All you need is 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil and 325ml of tepid water.

Rice Flake Porridge
I have never tried rice porridge before, and considering the amount of porridge I eat, this is quite surprising! They look very see through but I imagine that it will be quite soft and almost fluffy when cooked. The cooking process is the same as regular porridge, so we will have to wait and see!

Oats
Another very versatile product in the box. Not only can this be used for porridge making, this is just pure gluten free oats so will be great to incorporate into many recipes. Like every other one of their products this will be free from dairy too depending on how you use it. These would be fantastic to make a rhubarb crumble, seeing as I have so much of it growing in the garden at the minute!

I can't believe how generous Delicious Alchemy have been! I can't wait to get baking!

Hannah x

Yesterday James and I took a trip into London to the Olympia to visit the BBC Good Food Eat Well Show. James had brought us some tickets after I was interested in going. This show wasn't how I imagined as it was much more representative of the craft shows I go to as at the other free from and food shows I've been to the stall holders tend to have large displays and 'props' to represent their brand. Although this wasn't the case it was still a very enjoyable show!

And what's a food show without a bit of shopping! I was actually quite reserved this time as I know I still have a ton of things to get through from Christmas, Valentines and my Birthday and I don't want to waste anything!

The first stall I purchased from was Delicious Alchemy. They specialise in packet mixes and as you know I love cooking and baking but don't always have the time, so I think these are a great alternative  for when you are short on time but still want to get in the kitchen. Also the samples were so good I couldn't leave without them! As they were on offer for 3 for £6, I picked up one of each baking mix.

YU! Fruit was my next stop. As I have mentioned many times before I am a professional snacker! So I really enjoy things that come packaged like crisps but are better for me, otherwise I would just eat crisps all day long! Not all their products are gluten free as some have cereal in them but their regular fruit pieces and yoghurt coated fruit pieces are, so we can eat them to our hearts content! These too were on offer 3 for £6 so I picked up two yoghurt coated packs, one in apple and one in mango and then just the regular mango stars. These packs have five mini packs in, which I believe have around 90 calories, which makes them great for throwing in your handbag.

Following on the theme of 3 for £6 we then came across Seed and Bean, which I have never actually seen before and now I don't think I will be able to live life without them! There is no gluten containing ingredients in this chocolate but does have a warning on the pack. I tried many samples and was completely fine but as I have said before 'may contain' labels have never been an issue for me so far. After much deliberation James and I finally settled for extra dark chocolate mint, rich milk chocolate tangerine and rich milk chocolate cornish sea salt and lime. All the flavours were amazing and well worth a look!

Stur stall was next. They produce a product very much like the pocket squashes that I keep in my desk at work. However these ones contain no or very little calories and are sweetened with stevia. Although I like to drink my water plain as much as possible I like  adding these types of products to my sparkling water sometimes to turn it into a fizzy drink. I brought this product mainly based on its flavour rather than its low calorie content, although that is a great feature of this product. I personally found I preferred the flavours of this drink to some of the more sickly squashes. I went for the mango orange flavour as this I felt was the most unique.

Lastly we found the beond stall. I compare these to the nakd bars but with some more unique fruity flavours. I picked up the organic blueberry bar and a mini baobab pineapple bite. These bars are organic and low GI, free of the main allergens and suitable for vegans too!

Overall I really enjoyed the show and it is nice to do something a bit different for the day! Not only are these shows a great day out but I have also found some new products to try and share with you, I will try and film my progress with the packet mixes too!

If there is any of these products you're interested in me reviewing first, just let me know!

Hannah x