bloglovin

Read more »

Dairy Free Restaurant Review: Zizzi's

Since becoming dairy free, I have struggled with trying to find places to eat out where I can eat something other than a salad. So we are going to be starting a series (if not a little sporadic, who has the dollar to eat out all the time?!) reviewing restaurants in the UK for dairy free options on 'normal' foods! There is nothing more irritating or embarrassing then when dining out with friends, having to be a fussy bugger and avoiding Pizza Hut like the plague so we along this ride will try and help you all out!

Sofia Pizza
I was out for dinner with 2 of my friends from my old job, we tried to book many other tables but ended up on Zizzi's, as it was the Saturday just after Christmas! I knew from previous visits that I could get a decent, dairy free meal here and my friends like Zizzi's too. Our table was booked for 8.15 and I was eager to sit down and eat! We all ordered cocktails, and we all chose the 'Berry Bella', which is a mixture of amaretto, vodka, berry juices and soda water. I have to say this was delicious. I was slightly wary of the amaretto aspect but it blended in really well and made for a grown up cocktail, far away from my usual go to option of Sex on the Beach! The cocktail was £5.95 which is a little pricey, but I found it well worth the money.

Berry Bella Cocktail

Next came the choice of starters. Now, whenever I see Calamari on a menu I cannot resist, it's like a little Calamari gremlin in my head! There was a little bit of a wait on this but what I got in return could not disappoint. Some of the nicest Calamari I've eaten have been at Zizzi's restaurants previously and I was thoroughly satisfied here. The Calamari comes in small or large sizes and as tempting as large is, I can't quite justify that to myself! That still doesn't diminish the sadness I feel when I reach the bottom of the pile. The Calamari is served with garlic and basil aioli dip which I'm not sure if there is dairy in it or not, but I haven't had any adverse reactions to this. The Calamari was £5.95 for the small portion, there was a good amount of Calamari here for the price.

Calamari <3

Then came the mains. I adore pizza like it is going out of fashion and the fact that Zizzi's has Bufala mozzarella was like all of my pizza dreams coming true all at once! When ordering my pizza, I asked if I could have buffalo instead of normal mozzarella and the waiter and chef were absolutely fine with this as I explained I couldn't have the normal version. Bufala is perfectly fine with me as my intolerance is only to cows but you might want to check your own intolerances out before hand! I ordered the 'Sofia' pizza, which is part of the 'rustica' range of the pizzas, where they are stretched out thinner and longer than the normal pizza. The pizza comprises of mozzarella, spicy chicken and sausage, chillis, and pepperoni. The pizza was really delicious. I always struggle with having to cut slices of the pizza off myself and the rectangular shape meant I could fold it up and make it easier to eat. The chilli on the pizza is hot stuff, especially when you manage to get it stuck to the end of your tongue! I was really impressed with this pizza and I was absolutely stuffed at the end! The pizza cost £11.95 which I found was a good price for the size!
The pizza is huge!
The bill totalled £23.85 for myself, which I found was ok for a once in a while treat and catch up with friends, but I would not be able to afford this regularly. The bill was easily split between the 3 of us on different cards and then there was an option to give £0.25 to charity which I did. The food is mainly Italian influenced which I really enjoy and having the option to eat pizza just makes me feel just that little bit normal again. The pizza bases all come with a gluten free option too! Overall I was really impressed and will be visiting any of their chain again next year!
Hev
xoxox

Read more »
Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

12 Cakes of Christmas Day 9: Chocolate Fudge

Day 9 has arrived and what better way to indulge yourself than some dairy free fudge? this fudge is soft set and can double up as fondant on top of a chocolate cake! 
Enjoy!



Ingredients:
-1/2 cup of milk (we used soya)-
-50g dairy free margarine-
-4 cups of icing sugar-
-1/2 cup of cocoa powder-
-2 packets of chocolate chips/ chunks-
-1 teaspoon of your flavouring (we used vanilla-

Method:
1) Sieve out your icing sugar, cocoa powder into a large bowl and then add your chocolate chips.
2) Melt your milk and butter together and bring to the boil.
3) Mix the milk and butter into your dry mix, beat well until the chocolate is nearly melted and everything is smooth, then pour into whatever container you would like to store this in! Pop in the fridge for a few hours or overnight until set.

Scoop out in tiny slices and devour!



Happy Baking!

xoxox

Read more »
Labels: ,

12 Cakes of Christmas Day 10: Chocolate Log

Today marks day 10, only 2 days to go! We are bringing you our chocolate log recipe, perfect for Christmas day or Boxing day after dinner! The log can be filled and decorated however you require but we have chosen an icing based middle!
Hope you enjoy!
you will need:
- 3 egg whites-
- 150g caster sugar-
- 120g plain flour-
- 15g cocoa powder-

1) Preheat your oven to 180 and place a baking sheet on a baking tray.

2) Measure your egg whites and sugar into a bowl and whisk until the mixture is thick and holds its shape for at least 5 seconds when dripped off of the whisk.

3) Sift and in your flour and cocoa, ensuring to fold them in slowly and gently, so as to not knock out any air bubbles in the mix.

4) Once finished, pour your mixture on to the lined baking tray and spread evenly. Make sure your mix has been spread into the corners of the tray so that the chocolate log cooks evenly.

5) Bake for 8 minutes and pre-roll tightly, keeping the baking paper on the sponge.

6) When still slightly warm, unroll, and liberally spread on your filling of choice on to the roll. Reroll and cover in icing or whipped soya cream!
Cut a slice off (the ends are the best bits!) and enjoy!
Happy Baking!
xoxox
Read more »
Labels: , ,

12 Cakes of Christmas Day 8: Chocolate Truffles

How are we here at day 8 already? Madness! Today we have some gloriously dark chocolate truffles for you. These really are crazily dark and are perfect to be eaten along side a steaming mug of sugary black coffee! Add whatever flavourings you want to these truffles, we only used the basics as I am taking them to work for our Christmas brunch but you can add any alcohol or flavouring you could possibly wish for to these! They take around 2 hours to set in the fridge and then its time to get your hands messy! Makes about 25 truffles so please go ahead and enjoy!


Ingredients:
- 175g dark chocolate (we used Green and Blacks but maybe next time Lindt as it is slightly less bitter)-
- 125g dairy free margarine-
- 2 teaspoons of water-
- sugar for if the mix is too dark for you-
- liquor of your choice in the volume of your choice!-
- icing sugar for coating-
Method:
1) Melt the chocolate and the water together until thick and just melted.
2) Add in the butter and stir until fully melted in.
3) Add your sugar and liquor if you require and mix well.
4) Pop in the fridge for around 2 hours until mostly set but still quite pliable, use a teaspoon to scoop out an amount of truffle mixture, form in your hands until resembling a ball and roll in your icing sugar until fully coated! Put back in the fridge until set completely.
Take one of your truffles, bite in and enjoy!
Happy Baking!!
xoxox
Read more »
Labels: ,

12 Cakes of Christmas Day 7: Profiterole Pyramid

 It's day 7 of 12 cakes of Christmas and today we have scrummy profiteroles for you! These are suprisingly easy to make but you will need strong arm for beating the choux pastry though! You can use this recipe to make eclairs as well! We used Soyatoo cream for the filling which you can order off the internet and it has the same texture and taste as normal cream! If you use the squirty can version make sure you go back and refill the profiteroles when the air dissapates! Top the profiteroles with dark chocolate and you're good to go! The pastry makes about 25 profiteroles, you can probably strech this a bit more if you use a piping bag instead of a spoon like we did! The pyramid is sure to impress anyone at Christmas time!
Enjoy!

Ingredients:

-150ml water-
-50g dairy free margarine-
-60g plain flour-
-2 eggs, beaten-
-dairy free whipped cream (we used Soyatoo)-
-dark chocolate for melting-

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 190°C. Melt the butter in the water and then bring to the boil. When boiled, take off the heat completely, add the flour and beat like crazy until the dough forms a nice ball and barely sticks to your pan. 


2) When the dough is shiny and not sticking to the sides slowly beat in your 2 eggs. The pastry should be very supple and shiny after this.


3) Pour your pastry into a piping bag or just use a spoon (piping bag will get you even sizes) pop dollops of the pastry onto a sheet of greaseproof paper on a bakng tray, keeping a distance of at least 1cm so they don't try and stick together! Pop in the oven for 30 minutes until puffed up and golden brown.

4) When the profiteroles are out of the oven, Pierce a hole about 1cm round into one of the ends of the pastry balls to let all the steam out and stop them deflating. Fill the ball with whipped cream, and if using a squirty can wait for a few minutes then refill!

5) Dip the top of the profiteroles in the dark chocolate (you can cover as much or as little as you want!) and then pop in the fridge to set.

When set, take the profiteroles out of the fridge and stack into a pyramid shape and serve!

 Happy Baking!

xoxox
Read more »
Labels: , ,

12 Cakes of Christmas Day 6: Christmas Chocolates

Day 6 of our 12 Cakes of Christmas has arrived! These are not exactly cakes but they do make a great gift for any chocoholic who is missing proper chocolate after leaving dairy behind! We just melted the chocolate down normally, but if you have more time (and the skills) in your hands you can temper the chocolate to make them gloriously shiny! We used a chocolate mould that we brought from Lakeland but there are many alternatives floating around supermarkets and bake shops! If you fancy being more creative you can melt some dairy free white chocolate down and create two toned chocolates!
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Bar of 70% cocoa and above dark chocolate (we used lindt)
Method:
1)In the microwave or in a bowl over some simmering water, melt the chocolate slowly to avoid burning the chocolate.

2)Pour the freshly melted chocolates into the moulds until filled to the top. Tap the moulds onto a flat surface to remove the air bubbles that may have caught in the chocolate. Pop the chocolate in the fridge and leave to set until completely hard. Not tempering the chocolate may leave slightly lighter specks on the chocolate where the chocolate becomes cold but this is both fine and entirely normal.

3) When set, pop out the chocolates carefully with cold hands and onto a clean surface. Now you can wrap the chocolates or keep in the fridge until required at Christmas! 


Happy Baking!

xoxox
Read more »
Labels: ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)