Delicious Alchemy - Gluten Free Food

A few days ago I received a really yummy package through the mail by Delicious Alchemy. The minute they emailed me I could not wait to jump on the opportunity. Looking through there website there were so many gluten free and also dairy free options. So when the box arrived I was so excited to see some of my must-haves were in there.

The thing I was most looking forward to trying has to be the Brownie Mix. Its one of there Dairy Free items and honestly tastes so much better than any brownie I have ever tasted. Let me tell you why: it melts in the mouth as well as being gooey.  Its such a delicate little brownie packed full of flavour.

To make up the mix you just need to add two eggs and 100g of butter, I chose to make it with Vitalife to keep it diary free. Its such a simple process, melt the butter and mix it with the powder, then crack in two eggs and give it a good stir. From there you pop it in the oven for 18-20 minutes at 180 and hey presto some yummy scrummy Brownies. They never rose very much but the flavour more than made up for that.

I know that I would 100% buy this again, the brownies didn't make it to the end of the day because between my partner, toddler and me they vanished to quickly. This packet retails at £2.99.

The white bread didn't impress me taste wise. Over all it looked like a fantastic loaf of bread, it has a great rise and visually would be hard to tell apart, however that's where the similarity stop. When creating the thick dough its clear that this is Rice based with the sweet smell of rice pudding. Once cooked it has a sort of 'vinegar' smell which I wouldn't expect from bread at all. Though the crust is lovely and hard and the insides soft once eaten it takes on a glue like texture which to me is not pleasant. The taste is also somewhat lacking, though leaves a lingering after taste. 

Whether this is the norm for gluten free (and dairy) bread I'm unsure but it doesn't make me eager to try any further breads. I was also given the brown bread version of this to try, this also doesn't do anything for me. I think I will stick to the gluten free cakes.

The 'Oaty Cookie' Mix made some delicious flap jack tasting cookies. With both crunch and crumble this little cookie went down a treat with my toddler and myself. At first I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out, the dough felt far to wet to roll and landed up spooning it onto the baking tray and patting them flat. I'm not sure if this was due to using 'vitelife' which is quite a liquidly soft dairy free butter.  However I was pleased to see that they did form into something more solid even if it was a little more delicate.

Would I buy them again? For a sales price I definitely would, however I'm not sure if I would go out my way to pick these up unlike the brownies above which I would travel miles for. They are really nice just a bit messy to bake. 

The sponge mix is really easy to follow and makes a lovely risen cake. The sponge is light and fluffy and with a little bounce when pressed. It tastes wonderful and I would buy this again.
I was a bit uncertain when i first poured out the mixture into the tins as i wasn't sure if it would rise like the bread or hardly rise at all like the brownies. Happily it did rise as seen above. I made up some butter icing for the middle and it has a wonderful complimentary taste.

Have you ever tried any Gluten Free breads or cakes? Let me know down below what you recommend.

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PS:The Items were sent by Delicious Alchemy for review purposes, however like always this will never affect my overall opinion of a product. Every item ever sent is always reviewed as if I had purchased it with my own money.

 
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5 Minute Fudge

 Christmas time is treat time. Today I bring to you a very simple recipe that only has 2 basic, easy to get ingredients. The best bit is it can be made as complicated or easy as you like and takes only 5 minutes to make. So get stuck in and tuck in to any amazing tasty bit of soft fudge.

What you will need:

Ingredients

1 can (400g approx) of Condensed Milk

400g of chocolate (any)

Equipment

Microwave

Fridge

Heat-proof bowl

Spoon

Non Stick or Silicone Setting dish OR paper cases

Cooking and prep time 5 minutes. Approx Total time 1hour 30minutes.

Method

1. Into your heat-proof bowl pour all the condensed milk and crumble through all the chocolate.
2. Give it a stir then pop into the microwave for 2minutes.
3. Stopping every 30 seconds, give the liquidly goodness a stir. This is just to make sure it is all warmed through and the chocolates melted.
4. Once the mixture has cooked for the 2 minutes, make sure it is all melted through and uniform in colour. 
   
   
   
5. Transfer the mixture carefully as it will be very hot into either paper cases or a setting dish.
6. Refrigerate the fudge and let it cool down for about an hour before tucking in, if you have used a setting dish leave for 2 hours minimum to make sure it can be cut with ease.

The fudge can be left in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks. Ours however are always gone within a few days because they are just so additively yummy. Make sure to always keep it inside the fridge so it holds its shape – which is due to the solidness of chocolate. 

The best bit about this recipe is how you can experiment with lots of different chocolates and flavours. Pictured above is Milk Chocolate Toblerone, White Chocolate Toblerone and hazelnut chocolate. The limit really is your imagination.

Will you be making some fudge?
Let me know down below and with what flavours.

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Easy Bake - Snowmen Cupcakes

With Christmas fast approaching iv started to get into the baking mood. However I'm not great at baking or decorating at all so I'm all about the simple quick recipes. 

This really is a kid friendly recipe and the charm of the cakes is the messiness of it. No snowman is perfect so why should the cakes be, well that's my excuse anyway. These make the perfect little gifts for a lunch box treat or to give to loved ones (if they look much nicer than mine!).

This recipe is enough for 24 cupcakes or 12 cupcakes and one big snowman cake. What you will need:

Cake Mixture

250g self raising Flower

250g of unsalted Butter

250g of caster sugar

4 Eggs

4 table spoons of Milk

TSB of Vanilla Extract

Topping

I have left the amounts up to yourself, make as little or as much butter icing as you want. Make sure to use 1:1 for the butter and sugar.

Icing Sugar

Butter

Red Food colouring 2/3 drops

Chocolate Cones for eyes and mouth

Other

Cupcake cases (12 or 24)

Cake Tin (optional)

Electric Whisk

Mixing Bowl

Icing Bowl

Teaspoon x2

Piping bag (optional)

Pre-heat your oven to about 180.

Start by putting all the cake mixture into a large bowl and whisk with an electric whisk for speed. If you find the mixture is to thick for your liking add a little bit of milk drop by drop so you get your correct consistency. If you like doing it the traditional way cream your butter first and slowly introduce the ingredients with milk being last.

Using your teaspoon place the mixture into the cupcake cases then pop into your heated oven for 15-20 minutes. When the cakes are golden at the top pierce with a cocktail stick. Come out clean? Your cupcakes are done, if not return to the oven for a few more minutes keeping a close eye.

To make a large cake follow the same instructions however cooking times will vary on the size of tin you have used. Keep checking in 5 minute intervals using the cocktail stick trick, you don't want to overcook the cake.

Let the cooked cakes cool for 20-30 minutes before decorating. Warm cakes make the butter icing melt which makes the decorating a harder process. Once they are cooled the fun bit can begin.

Whipping up the uncoloured butter icing begin covering the top of the cakes. Using the inside of the spoon to smooth the icing makes it easier. Rotate the cake around the spoon to get an even layer. Try not to use all of the icing, otherwise you will have to whip up a new bath for the nose. With what's left add a few drops of the red colouring to turn it a pinky orange for the carrot nose. Place to one side.

Place two chocolate cones for the eyes at the top of the cupcake, then one down the bottom to make a triangle which will form the start of the mouth. Place the outer smile cones and fill in the gaps with the rest. Using the pre-coloured icing use your teaspoon to gently place it in the centre of the cupcake. The best way to do this without a piping bag is to use another teaspoon and scrap the icing off the first.

Set aside to harden and then your done. Super simple fun cupcakes are now ready to eat.

Will you be making festive treats this year? Let me know down below. Make Sure to tag me if you have a go at these (@umber_phoenix on IG and Twitter) as i would love to see what your turned out like, they cant be any worse than mine. 

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Aqualert - Water App

 Water is such a key part of life, but quite often we are just not getting enough of it. I came across Aqualert when I was looking into ways to help me loose weight and improve my skin. Again and again I was hitting the information about making sure my water intake was high enough. Now i'm the sorta girl who could be told something a thousand times but then forget. So setting myself a mission on chugging back the water this app has been my must have.

From the get go this has proved a very easy to use tool that's easily adaptable to any life style. Most people have a phone on them at all times so having something to track water is fantastic. No more remembering or jotting down on paper.

What I especially like about it is the fact it has such a simple display. A customisable colour display at that, but I have kept with its original blue. At a glance you can tell how much is left of the daily target. With easy to use scroll buttons to select how much you are drinking, there is no reason not to use it. I hate when an app is overcomplicated with so many options that never get used. The simplicity of it makes using the app such a smooth process.

 

When you first download Aqualert you are prompted to enter your details so a more accurate amount can be calculated for you. I really like that there is a 'pregnant' option, because I know when I was pregnant I really didn't drink as much as I should have – even if I was going through peach diluting juice like it was going out of fashion. There is also the options of inputting your activity level – a handy thing depending on your job. There is even a grid so you can look back and compare if your hitting your water targets so you can notice any patterns.

My only downfall to this app is that it can not be synced up to 'My Fitness Pal' which would have made things a little easier across the weight loss bored; MFP has the option of adding a cup at a time. I couldn't tell you how much ml is in a cup, but I can read a bottle and input it in Aqualert. This doesnt effect the app at all if you dont use MFP, but with everything becoming connected app wise it would have been a nice added bonus.

However the best bit of the app: The reminders.

I have it set to buzz me every hour to tell me to drink something. When im running after my toddler a drink is often the last thing im thinking about, but the prompt makes sure im staying on target throughout the day. Its always better to sip than chug a large quantity at a time. There is only so much your kidneys can process an hour.
 

Overall I really enjoy having this app on my phone. Its a functional app that was the first thing to be downloaded onto my new phone.

It is available on both Apple and Android so no excuse to not have it.

Actually want to know the best part about this app? Its free. Yep that's right, it doesn't cost a dime. It is available on both Apple and Android so there's no excuse to not have it.

How do you make sure you drink enough? Will you be downloading this?
Let me know down below in the comments.

PS If you are intrested in green tea or weightloss check out my review on Twinings Green Tea. 

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Top Twinnings Green tea

When I started on my journey for loosing a bit of my jiggle the first things that came up on google was green tea. There is so much on google about its benefits from physical to mental health. It seems like such an easy option to loose weight right? Drink some tea and sit back and watch it drop off.

I didn't like tea, I still don't like a cup of earl grey, but over time my palette has became used to the taste of the stuff. I gulped back the first few cups believing that it was a miracle cure but what I actually found out was that it wasn't the green tea making such a huge change. It was actually water consumption. 

 

Once I realised that I started to enjoy my green tea. It no longer seemed like a chore to drink it and I came across some amazing flavours. I used to be terrible for drinking, I didn't drink often and when I did it was fizzy. Now I drink so much more than I did and enjoy my morning tea to waken my day. My favourite flavours have to be from Twinings. They make amazing tastes that spice up your drinking time. A flavour for every mood and every taste bud.

The first green tea I tried was the peach and cherry blossom. I had such cravings for peach flavoured things when I was pregnant and thought why not give this a shot, after all I had quite library of peach to compare to. I was pleasantly surprised that you could really taste the flavours through it. From there my love of green tea grew to trying all the other flavours.    
 

I just adore the caramelised apple one. Its perfect for hitting that sweet craving spot and smells just divine. Salter Caramel also just smells heavenly. They are overly powerful flavours but I do think the scent really helps. Nobody wants to drink something that smells awful right? The fruit ones are fantastic too, really scentful and just as delicious to drink.

My favourite of all has to be the pomegranate green tea. Its sweet, has an amazing scent that really makes me feel all happy. When im stressed I reach for a cup of this and sit with a good book and relax.  

I buy my green tea's from tesco but they are available from Twiningsown website and most supermarkets.

There is also a selection pack available on amazon so you can try all the amazing flavours. 

What's you favourite hot drink? Why don't you let me know down below.

Much Love,

Umber x   

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