Today my lovely friend Steph (@imcountingufoz) and I got our bake on. It is our lovely friend Dee’s (@TheDeeRussell) birthday very soon and she threw an epic birthday party the other weekend, so today was her turn. Unfortunately at the last moment we found out that Dee was not feeling very well at all and so couldn’t make it,  and I must say it really wasn’t the same without her 🙁  We missed you Dee.

Steph had done an epic job baking cheese straws, gingerbread stars and cupcakes with crystallised rose petals on – literally amazing. This lady is a genius and a I agree with her biog on her blog, she is a pretty excellent cook.

Here was my contribution – chocolate brownies, lemon squares and chocolate dipped strawberries. All gluten free, all very naughty but a lovely treat.

I was really pleased with the chocolate dipped strawberries which are likely to become a regular feature when I’m asked to make something sweet….. they took about 10 minutes to prepare and then just had to set in the fridge.

The lemon squares were a new recipe inspired by this one by “Gluten free on a shoe string” thanks Nicola! I wasn’t convinced I’d got the custard mixture right when making these but they came out of the oven nicely set (phew). These are one of those recipes that actually don’t taste their best straight from the oven….instead chilling them really improves the custard.

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries:

• Melt 50g dark chocolate either over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave – check it after 30 seconds and heat again.
• Make sure the chocolate just melt and doesn’t burn.
• Hold strawberries by their stalk and dip in the chocolate.
• Place on greaseproof paper on a plate or baking tray and pop in the fridge.

Lemon Squares:

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 4/350F. Grease and line an 8- or 9-inch baking tray or  ovenproof dish.
2. Mix the flour and xanthan gum. Measure out 65g of the flour mix and set it aside. To the remaining flour add the sugar and mix. Add the melted, cooled butter and mix with a fork until crumbly but moist.  Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, in the centre of the oven until uniformly pale golden.
4. Meanwhile make the custard, whisk the eggs,  sugar, baking powder and lemon juice together, then add the remaining flour and conrflour. Whisk for a few minutes.
5. Allow the crust to cool for a few minutes after baking. Then, pour the custard into the baked crust. Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes until the custard is set.
6. Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then dust with icing sugar.
7.  Cool in the fridge – I cooled for about 1 hour.
8. Carefully remove from the dish and cut into 9-12 squares.
9. Serve chilled.