Dairy free vanilla cupcakes

My daughter is now at the age where she is invited to lots of kids parties. She is also at the age where she can get up on her tippy toes and reach up to any table to grab some food. Unfortunately because of her dairy and soy allergies, alot of the party food lurking on the tables is a no-no for her. So after alot of investigating and tweaking of recipes I think I am onto a winner, and I make a batch of these bad boys to take and have at arms reach for her. This way she doesn't feel like she is missing out.
Please don't think that they are a healthier options, because like most cupcakes, they are loaded with sugar, so don't blame me if your kids are bouncing off the walls after a couple.

These particular cup cakes were for a garden party to celebrate my neice' 1st birthday, so they are quite girly and were decorated with icing and fondant which were also dairy free.

The recipe will give you 24 cupcakes to enjoy.

3 1/4 cups of self-raising flour

2 cups of caster sugar

1 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of bicarb soda

1/4 tsp of salt

1 1/2 cups of oat milk

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

1 tbls of white vinegar

2 tsp of vanilla extract 

Preheat oven to at 160°C. Line two 12-hole cup cake trays.  

Sift flour, sugar, salt,  baking powder and  bicarb soda  into a large bowl. Don't be tempted to cheat and not sift, as sifting really is an integral part of the recipe. It unclumps your flour and also adds air to the mixture.

Make a well in centre of your dry ingredients.

Place oat milk into another smaller mixing bowl and add the oil and vinegar. Lightly whisk until just combined. 

Pour this mixture into well. Combine all the ingredients with a wooden spoon and then using an electric mixer, beat for a few minutes. Add the vanilla and then beat  for an additional minute or until the batter starts to look pale and creamy.

Spoon the mixture into each case filling them about 3/4 of the way up. 

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until cupcakes are cooked all the way through. Use the skewer test.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Decorate them whichever way you like, or don't they are tasty anyway.

Fondant recipe

3 tbls of warm water
5 tsp of unflavoured gelatin
1/2 cup of liquid glucose
6 cups of icing sugar

In a bowl, mix warm water with the gelatin until dissolved.
Add glucose and mix until dissolved, then set aside for a couple of minutes till the mixture has cooled.
Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl. Make sure you do this a couple of times in order to get rid of any lumps.
Make a well in the centre of the icing sugar and pour in glucose. Mix with a wooden spoon until it starts to combine.
Dust your hands and a clean and smooth work surface with some icing sugar and turn over the fondant mixture.
Knead the mixture the way you would bread dough.
Divide the fondant if you intend to colour it.
Put a couple of drops of food colourant onto the fondant and knead until it distributes evenly. Once you are happy with the result, wrap it in cling wrap so that it doesn't form a crust.
I pop it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so that it is easier to work with, but after that get creative.

Thank you

We have more than 200 nationalities living on our shores, and I would like to say thank you to all the migrants who have made Australian food great. Bringing with you not just your colourful culture and tradition, but for blessing and inspiring us with your unique foods, ingredients and recipes.

Through food I have learned to embrace and celebrate our cultural differences. I remember feeling embarrassed on my eighth birthday because I had the Chilean version of Thousand Layer cake. Other kids had sponge with icing, and I just wanted to fit in. Of course now I'm grateful because I know how long it takes to make a Mille-feuille, and also because I'll take caramel and puff pastry over store-bought sponge and cream any day.

To those adventurous early European settlers who brought with them beef and wheat, two Australian exports now revered around the world, I say thank you. To the Swiss and Germans, without whom Barossa and Yarra Valleys would not be synonymous with wine. Many an evening has improved with a glass of vino. Most have been remembered, some have fallen into the foggy drunken abyss and yet I thank you for what surely was a great night. Post-war, the doors opened and 800,000 more Europeans decided to make Australia their home. Without you, would we have enjoyed borscht, baklava, churros or chorizo, cannoli, cannelloni, spaghetti Bolognese, or the always-regretted-3am souvlaki or kebab? For all of these things, I thank you.   

I’m grateful to the Chinese, who during the gold rush brought with them rice, ginger and their amazing stir fry technique. In the 1970's, Vietnamese and Cambodians gave us lemongrass, lime leaves and chilli. These ingredients form part of my diet almost daily. My addiction to the fragrant Vietnamese soup called “phở “ is legendary, and when I gave birth to a four-kilo baby without drugs, my reward was a Vietnamese pork roll. The Indian community has taught me to value the mortar and pestle; reinforcing my love of spices. Your introduction of cardamom to the Australian table has made my life so much sweeter or more savoury, it just depends on where I use it. So, thank you my dear Asian friends for all the foods you have given us. (Exception: the infamously stinky durian fruit, that you may keep!).  

My ethnicity has been a blessing, and while most people go out and spend a fortune on quince paste, I'm in my kitchen making a huge batch for next to nothing. I will teach my daughter to do the same, and to be proud of being half-Chilean (we have ceviche) a quarter Italian, (they have pasta) and a quarter Scottish (they have deep fried mars bars). While we can travel the world in search of the exotic, thanks to multicultural Australia and our love of food, we have so much on offer right here at home.

St Ali

12/18 Yarra Pl
South Melbourne, 3205

(03) 9686 2990

St Ali has been called a coffee Mecca and is a must go for all those who truly like and appreciate their daily grind. Now, I love a good cup of coffee, but the truth is I'll easily drink a bad cup of coffee if that's all that's available. In other words I'm not an expert nor am I precious about my caffeine hits. On this day however, I was feeling a little sassy and thought I'd leave the nescafe at home, untouched, and headed to South Melbourne.

I was expecting a wait or at least a share table, but it turns out that just before lunchtime on Monday is the best time to go. We were quickly greeted, seated, given menus and coffee orders taken. Sweet. Approximately 45 seconds later the waiter returns to take our order. At this stage we hadn't even looked at the menus. We were told not to 'sweat it' and then proceeded to forget us. After about 20 minutes of endeavouring to make eye contact, I managed to get the attention of a cute little thing that was in a rush to avoid us.

 Coffee, it's what they are famous for. Here and now in London. Very well done in deed.

Ali Baa Baa Pizza     $18.50

Dutch Oven     $16.50

My Mexican Cousin     $17

I didn't get to do too much of my beloved people watching as our food arrived quickly. Maybe it was the universe's way of making it up to us for having to wait so long at the start. Whatever the reason, I was relieved and starving. The coffee was as expected, fantastic. Now it was time to check out the talent in the kitchen.

I've already admitted that I am not a Coffee expert, well I'm not a pizza expert either. I am pretty sure however that the Ali Baa Baa Pizza is not a pizza. And if walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's not a pizza it's a piadina. Now that I have renamed their Ali Baa Baa Piadina for them I will go on to tell you that it was really tasty and the yogurt dressing was tangy and a hit in my eyes. 

The Dutch Oven was a definite choice. 1- I like beans and 2- It's called the Dutch Oven, and fart jokes are always funny. Unfortunately the beans were a bit hard, so we didn't even finish it.

My Mexican Cousin was next up and it was OK. I think that I may have been expecting too much from this particular dish as I was overcome with Latina pride. I chose it because I felt that it was a nod to my Hispanic brothers and sisters, but also because I like corn and haloumi. So I figured the combination would be a winner. The fritters were nice, as were the eggs, but the haloumi was tasteless. Truth is it wasn't very mexicany at all, at least like nothing I tasted in Mexico anyway. Shame.

I realise the focus of St Ali is the Coffee, with it's menu of blends and methods. But for those of us who are more food based and who would never utter the words 'Syphoned Honduras', it would be nice to have a food menu that had the same passion and pride for it's ingredients that the coffee menu does.  It was varied however, so pick a region or a quirky name and see where the food takes you.

Don't feel threatened by the obscenely hip staff or the stereo typical overuse of the milk crate design features, all are welcomed here at St Ali, unless you have a pram. In which case there is a possibility you may not fit through the door way, so keep wheeling. This is from personal experience when I attempted to lunch there a few months prior(damn 3 wheeler).

Ratings out of 10
Food 4.5/10
Service 4/10

Atmosphere 7/10

Value 6.5/10

St Ali  5.5/10

Would I return? No

Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder

50 Bridge Rd
Richmond, 3121

(03) 9421 2808

The iconic Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder which opened it's doors in 1997, has seen many changes throughout its 14 years in operation. Different owners and different chefs have walked these legendary floors. The one thing that has never altered however, has been the high quality of food and produce that RHCL has always adhered to serve you. 2011 has been one of these years of change.

At the start of 2011 the Cafe was seamlessly taken over by Lou Daoud, an old hand in the hospitality industry, and appointed as Head Chef was Franco Caruso. Who is this Franco Caruso? I hear you ask. Well, he is rather new in the Australian food scene as he has only been here for 3 years. However he has a backlog of experience in his native Scotland and throughout the UK. Working at Michelin Star restaurants and taking out many awards, including the prestigious Young Scottish Chef of the Year, and being recommended for 3 Rosettes in the last restaurant he headed. He left the UK after falling madly in love with a gorgeous and talented Melburnian(me), and is now setting his sights on doing the best he can here in Australia. So the UK's loss has indeed been Melbourne's gain. You're welcome.

Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder's ethos has always been to use the best possible seasonal produce, which is why season after season the menu changes, allowing the chefs to give you food that is at its freshest and at its peak. On the 1st Friday of every month, this foodie haven gives you the chance to 'Celebrate the Seasons'. Offering their customers a dinner menu that has been especially designed with that month in mind, in order to showcase what beautiful produce Australia has to offer.

Holy Goat fromage fraise mousse, wild watercress panna cotta, toasted oatcake crumble and smoked almonds.

Ocean trout ceviche with white and green asparagus, shaved fennel and blood orange

New Seasons Rutherglen milk fed lamb loin with fresh peas, mint and salsa verde

Selection of September Cheeses from the award winning Cheese Room

Caramelised tart tatin with spiced sugar, szechuan pepper and lychee sorbet

Oh dear me, what a meal. The Holy Goat fromage fraise mousse and wild watercress panna cotta was unlike anything I have ever tasted or could have expected. It was light and perfect starter to the rest of my meal.  

Now, I am of Chilean decent, so I know my ceviche and I was really impressed by the Ocean trout. The  white and green asparagus with the shaved fennel were a great addition and the blood orange was beautiful, definitely not what we have done back in the old country but I think the folks back home could learn something from this.

Delicious melt in your mouth New Seasons Rutherglen milk fed lamb cooked 2 ways was next, along with fresh peas, mint and salsa verde. It was a perfect match.

Needless to say one of the courses was a cheese platter, its is Richmond Hill after all, and going to RHCL and not sampling the cheese would be like going to David Jones and not giving yourself a cheeky spritz at the perfume counters. It's just the done thing. Manchego and a washed rind were my choices.

Dessert? Yes please. Caramelised pineapple tart tatin, oh so good, and I never would have thought of putting szechuan pepper with lychee to make a brilliant sorbet. Clever.

Dining at RHCL has a very different feel to their usual day time ambiance. The food is equally as amazing of course and there is still the familiar brown aprons  and the comforting smell coming from the cheese room as you enter. However there isn't the hustle and bustle vibe that usually accompanies the day time visits.

If you've not eaten at RHCL then book yourselves in and see why even throughout the changes, they have still managed to maintain the reputation they have.

The next 'Celebrate the Seasons' will be held on Friday the 7th of October, 4th of November and so on. Bookings are essential. Considering last months feast, I can only imagine what goodies the boys will have for us. I can't wait.