Barcelona By Day, 02

By day, La Rambla is very different. Instead of various dodgy characters offering beer and..services.. There are shops and buskers. Most of them Continue Reading…

Barcelona By Night, and Australia Day

We stayed at one of the Sant Jordi Hostels in Barcelona, and its pretty damn cool. Its quite cheap, enough space, free lockers and internet etc, and good lounge. Most of the staff are Brazilian and they organise parties almost every night of the week along with people from the other Sant Jordi Hostels!
Needless to say Joe and I joined them. Continue Reading…

Barcelona By Day, 01

After a 16hr mission from Killarney, I finally arrived to Sant Jordi Hostel in Barcelona! (FYI, 2hr Drive to Cork, flight to Dublin, flight to London, Flight to barcelona, 1hr Bus ride to town!) Continue Reading…

Ireland, Cork to Killarney and the Ring of Kerry

We stayed at Sheila’s hostel in Cork, mostly because of the name! After some expensive drinks in a kiwi bar and a local pub, we played some drinking games at the hostel and were up early to check out Blarney Castle, Continue Reading…

Ireland, from Dublin to Cork and Killarney

With verry last minute booking, I joined Elouise on a trip to Ireland. Continue Reading…

Darling, it’s your Birthday

Cat had her 24th21st birthday party and celebrated with a fancy dress theme: to come dressed as her, the one and only Catriona Taylor.

Ice Sculpting, London

Start of an Ice Sculpting competition in London, next to the Natural History Museum and the ice skating rink in South Kensington. 5 teams from various countries started on Friday with huge blocks of ice, using chainsaws and chisels to turn them into art!
They were doing free lessons over the weekend but not on the Friday so I missed out. And they weren’t going to let us use the chainsaws anyways.

Gluten-Free Vegan Coconut Apple Crumble Pie Thing

So my track record for baking desserts (or anything with flour really) isn’t great. But last week I tried making these macaroons. And they were pretty f’king good.

I realised coconut helps make a good gluten free base, so I decided to try and turn it into pie format. So here is my modified recipe for a Gluten-Free Vegan Coconut Apple Crumble Pie (thing). Measurements are a little rough as I was using glasses and old jars. But they’re close enough

2 Cups Dessicated Coconut
Base:
3/4 Cup Demarara/Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Plain Gluten-Free All purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Coconut Cream
2 Tbsp of Vanilla Essence
1 Tbsp Vegan Margarine (for greasing)

Filling:
5 Apples
3 Tbsp Demerara/Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Powdered Cinnamon

Peel the Apples and cut them into bite size pieces. Add to a pot of boiling water with 2tbsp of Sugar and cover with lid. Keep boiling on a low-med heat.

Use the Margarine to grease a small baking tray, around 20cm Diameter, and pre-heat oven to 180°C. Combine the Dessicated Coconut, Flour and Sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir the Vanilla Essence into the coconut cream, and add to the bowl. Mix it all together till you have a sticky, dough like consistency. Spread the mixture into the pan to make a thin base layer and edging, about an inch high, to form the pie crust.

Check the apples, and cook until they are beginning to soften. Drain most of the water out, and add the remaining sugar and all the Cinnamon. Keep stirring and cooking until all the Apple is soft and most of the liquid is gone.

Spread the stewed Apple mix into the Pie Crust evenly. The crust wall should be slightly higher than the filling, so use a spoon to fold the edges slightly over the filling. Place tray in oven for approx. 35min (my oven cooks slow).

Remove from oven when crust is golden-brown. Carefully remove from pan, and Voila! Vegan, Gluten-Free, Coconut Apple Crumble Pie (thing). Serve with vegan custard or ice cream!