Turning a negative into a positive

As I had been cooking and baking since I was small, playing around with food was less of a challenge than many people find.  I am always messing around with recipes and coming up with different ways of solving problems, usually when I don't have the correct ingredient in the cupboard!!!

Luckily with Pasta and Flour mixes being available to me on prescription I had some basics to play with.

First off was an ordinary Victoria Sponge using the recipe below:

6oz Flour (Doves Farm Gluten Free Self Raising) or Juvela White Mix

6oz Sugar

6oz Margarine

3 eggs

(Juvela white mix only, add 1/2 teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda, and the same of Cream of Tartar, or 1 tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder.)

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix with an electric whisk until light and fluffy.  Split the mix between two sandwich tins and bake in the oven  Gas 4/160oC for 20mins until golden brown and when pressed will spring back.  Put on cooling rack.  When cool spread with Jam of your choice (mixed fruit works really well.)  

For a chocolate version replace 1oz of flour with 1oz of Green and Blacks hot chocolate powder (GF)

Fill with Buttercream:  Cream margarine in a small bowl and add icing sugar until you cannot taste the margarine, again if you want it chocolate add some chocolate powder.

The result was a Victoria Sponge that didn't taste any different to an ordinary one, and people had no idea it was Gluten Free.  Quick and Easy.