Calcium-rich fig roll slices (gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan)

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Stack_of_gluten-free_dairy-free_vegan_calcium-rich_fig_roll_slices
Homemade calcium-rich fig roll slices. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. I hope you are keeping well and enjoying the season. I have another post for you this month in my series of calcium-rich recipes for gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan diets. This time it’s a sweet treat packed full of dried fruit and crunchy seeds and nuts. If you’ve missed my other 2 calcium-based recipes, here are the links to them: Calcium-rich pesto bean salad (gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan) | My Virtually Free-from Kitchen and Natural calcium booster for gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan diets. | My Virtually Free-from Kitchen

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Sweet and fruity calcium-rich slices. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

These delicious sweet treats are very easy to make and require no cooking at all, just a bit of blitzing in a blender or food processor and some fridge time to firm up the roll before you slice it. I used flax, sesame and poppy seeds combined with whole almonds, currants, dried figs and chopped mixed peel, all good sources of calcium.

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Calcium-rich fig roll ingredients. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

As with my previous posts, below is a table showing how much calcium is present in 100g of each ingredient in case you want to make your own version.

Whole almonds269mg/100g
Currants93mg/100g
Dried figs191mg/100g
Chopped mixed citrus peel130mg/100g
Sesame seeds670mg/100g
Flax seeds (linseed)255mg/100g
Poppy seeds1580mg/100g

Source: McCance and Widdowson’s: The Composition of Foods

Makes: 16 slices

Ingredients

  • 200g dried figs
  • 100g currants
  • 100g chopped mixed peel
  • 150g whole almonds
  • 25g each sesame, flax and poppy seeds
  • Vanilla extract, natural orange or lemon extract or ground cinnamon to flavour

1. Roughly chop the figs and put in a blender or food processor with the currants, peel and almonds. Pulse-grind a few times to help the ingredients blend together, then blitz in short bursts for a few seconds at a time until the mixture begins to clump together.

2. Add the seeds and any flavouring you are using, then pulse mix for a few seconds until well combined and sticking together.

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Blitzing the ingredients together. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

3. Pile on to a large sheet of waxed paper or baking parchment and shape into a 30cm roll. Wrap the paper over and twist the ends to compact together. Roll a few times to neaten, then chill for about 2 hours to firm up.

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The final consistency and shaping the roll. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

4. To serve, unwrap and place on a board, then slice into 16 equal portions. Store the bars in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze between layers of baking parchment in a freezer-proof container for up to 3 months.

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Cutting fig roll into slices and storing. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

One slice of the fig roll will provide 102mg calcium (135 calories). You can divide the mixture into smaller portions and make balls or bars but remember that the calcium content will be lower per portion if you make more than 16 pieces.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by 🙂

Spring baking: Buckwheat bread (gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan)

~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ 3 Comments
Homemade_gluten-free_dairy-free_vegan_buckwheat_bread
Freshly baked buckwheat bread. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. It’s been a while since I put a post together. I hope you are enjoying some signs of the new season wherever you are. Here in central Scotland, things are coming to life and the hedgerows and gardens are colouring up with spring flowers at long last. My springtime pride and joy, a Mimosa plant, is in full flower in the greenhouse just now. Such bright little tufty blooms and a subtle sweet scent guaranteed to brighten up the dullest of days.

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A few of the flowers in the garden this month. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
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Bright and beautiful. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

I’ve been doing a bit of baking recently and this month’s post is a result of my efforts. It’s a simple yet tasty bread recipe which makes 2 small loaves. The bread keeps for about 3 days in a bread container but it also freezes well for longer storage. I usually freeze my loaves ready sliced and then I can take out a slice at a time when required.

Makes: 2 x 500g loaves

Ingredients

  • 2tbsp finely ground flaxseed (linseeds)
  • 365g gluten free bread flour
  • 200g buckwheat flour plus extra to dust
  • 1/2tsp xanthan gum
  • 1tbsp caster sugar
  • 25g ground psyillium husk
  • 7g sachet instant dry yeast

1.Mix the ground flaxseed with 90ml cold water and leave aside to thicken slightly. Grease and flour 2 x 500g loaf tins.

2. Put the flours in a bowl with the remaining ingredients and mix well. Make a well in the centre and add the flax mixture. Gradually mix in about 425ml lukewarm water to make a sticky, soft consistency. Cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes, then mix again.

3. Divide between the tins and smooth the tops. Cover and leave to rise at a coolish room temperature, away from drafts, for about 2 hours until risen to the top of the tins.

4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C, 180°C Fan Oven, Gas 6. Put the loaf tins on a baking tray. Using a lame or sharp knife, slash each loaf about 1/2cm deep down the length and dust lightly with a little more buckwheat flour.

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Proving the dough. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

5. Bake the loaves for about 50 minutes until risen, crusty and lightly golden. The loaves should sound hollow when tapped underneath. Turn on to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Baking and cooling the loaves. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
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Jammed up and ready to eat. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Until next time, happy baking and thanks for stopping by 🙂

New year, new blooms

~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ Leave a comment
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Winter-flowering pink rhododendron. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

A very belated happy new year to you. The first month of 2026 has flown by. I hope you had a good festive break and I send you my best wishes for the year ahead.

We’ve had a mixed bag of weather since Christmas. A few cold, dry and bright days alongside some very wet and grey ones. Only a light dusting of snow mid month, although I’m sure there will be more to come.

There are quite a few signs of the garden emerging from hibernation. Lots of bulb foliage poking through the soil as well as some nice surprises like the primrose and periwinkle.

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Early January primrose. Image: Kathryn Hawkins
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January blues. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

And now the snowdrops are up and just about to bloom, it feels like there is a definite hint of spring in the air – fingers crossed. Until next time, thanks for stopping by 🙂

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First snowdrops of 2026. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Seasonal eatings – Shortbread snow folk (gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan)

~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ Leave a comment
Gluten-free_dairy-free_vegan_Shortbread_snowfolk
Happy Christmas 2025. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello there. I hope you are feeling festive and looking forward to Christmas. It’s such a busy time of the year, tying up lots of loose ends before the year is out as well as making all the preparations for the days ahead.

I have a simple, fun and very festive recipe for you this month, based around one of my favourite and most successful gluten-free and vegan bakes, shortbread.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you’ll have already seen a few variations on my shortbread recipe over the months. This recipe uses a plain mix to which you can add your own flavours if you wish. The snow folk figures are easy to make and assemble, and I’ll leave it up to you as to how creative you want to be when it comes to decorating them. The quantities below will be enough to make 2 basic figures.

Ingredients

  • 50g plant-based butter, softened
  • 30g caster sugar
  • 100g gluten-free plain flour plus extra for dusting
  • 1tsp vanilla extract or other flavouring of your choice
  • 150g white ready-to-roll icing
  • 25g icing sugar

1. Beat the butter and caster sugar together until creamy and well blended. Mix in the flour and vanilla until the ingredients start to come together, then bring the mix together with your hands to make a ball of dough.

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Mixing the shortbread base. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

2. Lightly dust the work top with a little more flour and gently knead the dough until smooth.

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Making and baking. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

3. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 0.5cm and cut out 4 x 6.5cm, 4 x 5cm and 4 x 3.5cm rounds, re-rolling the dough as necessary. Arrange on a baking tray, prick with a fork and chill for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan oven, gas 4, bake the shortbread rounds for about 15 minutes until lightly golden. Leave to cool on the baking tray.

5. When you are ready to decorate, roll out the white ready-to-roll icing thinly and use the same cutters to cut out 12 assorted rounds. Keep the trimmings for decorating. Mix the icing sugar with a little water to make a smooth, sticky paste.

6. Spread a little icing paste on each biscuit and stick a same size round on top. Smooth the icing round with your fingers to flatten and neaten, then stack the rounds on top of each other starting with the largest rounds at the bottom. To make them more stable, spread a little icing paste in between if liked.

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Icing and decorating. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

7. Use the trimmings to make arms and heads and stick in place with a little of the icing paste. Transfer to a serving plate or board.

For the finishing touches, use small amount of different coloured ready-to-roll icing to make scalves, hats, noses and buttons. A black piping icing tube is an easy way to pipe on the facial features, and I used tiny sugar flowers to make the buttons on one of the figures. Stick all the extras in place using a little of the icing paste.

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Decorated and ready to serve.

Sprinkle the serving plate with shredded coconut to resemble snow. Note: the shortbread will lose it’s crispness once iced but it tastes just as good 🙂

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See you next year! Image: Kathryn Hawkins

That’s me for another year. I hope you have a happy Christmas. With best wishes for the new year, thanks for stopping by.

Lemon and poppyseed microwave flapjack (gluten-free; dairy-free;vegan)

~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ Leave a comment
Gluten-free_dairy-free_and_vegan_Lemon_and_poppyseed_microwave_flapjacks
Zesty and crunchy, microwave flapjacks. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. I hope you are keeping well. Winter is upon us here in central Scotland with a sharp decline in the temperature and a light dusting of snow on the hills. This gives me the perfect excuse to do some comfort baking:)

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Just 5 basic ingredients. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

I’ve been using my microwave oven a lot more this year in an effort to reduce energy consumption and have been experimenting with some of my traditional baking recipes which I would usually cook in the big electric oven.

Whilst you won’t get the same caramelisation and rich golden colour by cooking flapjacks in a microwave, the texture is chewy and the flavour is pretty much the same. You only need 5 ingredients to make this recipe, plus some icing sugar if you want to add more lemony flavour with a drizzle icing. The timings are for a 900w microwave oven so you may need to adjust them if your machine has a different output. Here’s what to do……

Makes: 12 portions

Ingredients

  • 115g plant based butter
  • 115g golden syrup
  • 175g gluten-free oats (I used “jumbo” oats but porridge oats will work fine)
  • 30-40g poppyseeds
  • Finely grated rind and juice 1 lemon
  • 45g icing sugar
  • Yellow cake sprinkles if liked

1. Line a 20cm square (internal measurement) microwave-proof dish with baking parchment. Put the butter and syrup in a microwave-proof bowl, cover and cook on High for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until melted.

2. Stir in the oats, poppyseeds to taste and lemon rind along with all but 1½ teaspoons lemon juice and mix well.

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Making flapjacks in the microwave. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

3. Press into the prepared dish and flatten the surface with the back of a spoon. Cook in the microwave on Medium for 7 minutes. Mark into 12 pieces and leave to cool in the dish.

4. When completely cold, transfer the flapjack to a board and cut the pieces all the way through.

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Cooking, cooling and slicing flapjacks. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

5. Mix the icing sugar and reserved lemon juice together and drizzle over each piece. Scatter with sprinkles if liked.

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Finishing the flapjacks with lemon icing. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
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Lemon and poppyseed flapjack up close. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Store in an air tight container or freeze – for best results store or freeze uniced.

I hope to have something festive for you next month. In the meantime, enjoy the run up to Christmas. Take care and thanks for stopping by:)

Slow cooker curried apple chutney (naturally gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan)

~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ Leave a comment
Jar_of_homemade_slow_cooker_curried_apple_chutney
Sweet and spicy homemade chutney. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. I hope you are keeping well and enjoying the colours of Autumn. It’s remained quite dry here in central Scotland and the trees are looking very colourful around and about. Everywhere I look, it really has been a bumper year fruit especially plums and apples in my garden. The old apple tree produced yet another bountiful crop of some 70kg! Now that the harvest is in, it’s enjoying a well earned rest I’m sure.

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A tree full of apples. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
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Harvest gathered, this year’s bumper crop of cooking apples. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

We did a lot of the apples away this year as there were far too many to cook up or freeze down. But I still have a box full to work through and one of the first things to make was some apple chutney. I made this batch in the slow cooker. It’s very easy to make and tastes delicious. One slight difference to this slow cooker recipe is that it uses less vinegar and sugar than traditional recipe so the chutney does need to be stored in the fridge.

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Curried apple chutney ingredients. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Makes: approx. 1.2kg

Ingredients

  • 300g prepared red or white onions, chopped
  • 15g peeled root ginger, grated
  • 10g peeled garlic, grated
  • 750g prepared cooking apples, chopped
  • 125ml cider or white wine vinegar
  • 1tbsp medium curry powder
  • 100g sultanas
  • 200g Demerara sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

1. Put the onion, ginger, garlic and apples in the slow cooker. Pour over the vinegar, mix well, cover with the lid and cook on High for 4 hours.

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Apple chutney preparation. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

2. Stir in the remaining ingredients, cover and cook for 30 minutes longer to dissolve the sugar. After this time, remove the lid and if the mixture looks watery, leave the chutney to cook without the lid on for up to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until thick and jam-like.

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The 4 stages of slow cooker chutney. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

3. Leave to cool completely then pack into clean jars, seal tightly and store in the fridge for up to 3 months. It’s ready to eat immediately and doesn’t need to mature. Great news for the impatient preserve-makers amongst us 🙂

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A spoonful of homemade chutney. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

This chutney makes a great alternative to mango chutney with and Indian meal as well as a delicious finishing touch to a sandwich.

That’s me for another month. Enjoy the rest of the season and I’ll see you again next month when winter will be upon us. Until then, take care and thanks for stopping by.

Slow cooker tomato sauce (naturally gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan)

~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ Leave a comment
Slow-cooker_tomato_sauce
Easy to make, slow cooker tomato sauce. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. It’s that time of year when there is so much produce ready at the same time. My fridge is groaning with vegetables and fruit, and I really need to get down to some serious recipe/meal planning and freezing.

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Tomato glut. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

When life gets in the way and time is tight, I am thankful for the slow cooker. This marvellous gadget gets on with the cooking while I do something else. I used to always make batches of tomato sauce on the stove top – here’s a previous recipe post for this method Home-grown tomatoes – recipe for fresh tomato sauce, a salsa, plus other serving suggestions (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan) but this year I popped everything in the slow cooker and let the pot do the cooking.

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4 saucy steps. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

For a simple tomato sauce, put 1.5kg washed and chopped fresh tomatoes in the slow cooker with 2 peeled and sliced medium carrots. Add a peeled and chopped large onion and 4 peeled and halved garlic cloves. I seasoned the mix with 2 teaspoons celery salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 4 teaspoons caster sugar. Add a couple of bay leaves and drizzle over 3 tablespoons olive oil. Mix well, cover with the lid and switch to the High setting. Leave to cook for 4 to 5 hours, until completely soft.

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Blitz and freeze. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Discard the bay leaves and blitz with a hand blender then leave to cool before packing into freezer containers. This quantity will make around 1.75kg sauce. It will keep in the fridge for about 5 days, and in the freezer for 6 months or so.

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Reduced and thickened slow cooker tomato sauce. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

The sauce is quite thin which is fine for some recipes but if you want it thicker, transfer a few ladles of sauce to a deep frying pan, drizzle with a little olive oil, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is thickened to you liking.

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Using homemade tomato sauce. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Thinner sauce is perfect for soups and risotto stocks, whilst thicker sauce clings better to pasta shapes or can be used as a spread for tarts and pizza bases.

That’s all for this post. I hope you are enjoying some good weather and fine homegrown produce. Until next time, thanks for stopping by 🙂

Calcium-rich pesto bean salad (gluten-free; dairy-free; vegan)

~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ 1 Comment
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Bean salad flavoured with almond and poppy seed pesto. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello there. I hope you are enjoying some good weather this season. It’s been very hot here in the UK again, and so salads are very much still on my daily menu. To follow on from my post last month which you can read here , I have another recipe which can help towards increasing your calcium levels if you are on a gluten-free, dairy-free and/or vegan diet.

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Gorgeous greenhouse green beans. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
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Summery greenhouse basil. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

It’s been a bumper season for the green (French) beans (Cobra variety) in my greenhouse. The vines have been producing an abundance of beans for several weeks now, and the basil plant loves all the heat and sunshine as well. To my delight, I discovered that both green beans and basil offer useful amounts of calcium, and that’s how my recipe this month began.

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Calcium-rich salad ingredients. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Combined with some other calcium-rich ingredients, this tasty salad is delicious on its own or as a side dish. The table below gives you a breakdown of which ingredients contain the most calcium so that you can make up your own combinations.

Rocket216mg calcium/100g
Baby spinach119mg calcium/100g
Cooked cannellini beans93mg calcium/100g
Cooked green beans61mg calcium/100g
Green olives61mg calcium/100g
Fresh basil250mg calcium/100g
Whole almonds269mg calcium/100g
Poppy seeds1580mg calcium/100g
Garlic19mg calcium/100g

Source: McCance and Widdowson’s The Composition of Foods

For the pesto, put 20g fresh basil in a food processor with a peeled garlic clove and add 50g roughly chopped whole almonds, 20g poppy seeds and some salt. Pour over 60ml extra virgin olive oil and blitz until smooth.

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Making almond and poppy seed pesto. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

For the salad, I combined 240g canned cannellini beans with 100g chopped cooked green beans and half the pesto sauce above. I lined a salad bowl with 40g wild rocket and 20g baby spinach and piled the bean mixture on top. Serve with 100g pitted green olives and extra basil leaves, with the remaining pesto on the side.

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Assembling the salad. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

The salad serves 4, and each portion will provide 238mg calcium and 330 calories.

That’s me for another month. Hope to see you again soon. Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Natural calcium booster for gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan diets.

~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ 4 Comments
Chia_sesame_and_poppy_seeds_with_whole_almonds
My top 4 natural calcium boosters. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello again. I hope you are keeping well and enjoying the Summer season. My post is a little different this month but hopefully helpful to anyone whose diet contains no gluten, dairy or animal products.

I had a bit of a dietary come-uppance a few weeks ago. Having a background in food and nutrition, I know what I should be eating to keep me fit and healthy. It happened when I switched from my regular plant-milk to an organic version. After a few days I Happened to notice that the organic milk was not fortified. This raised my concern as fortified plant milk was one of the main sources of calcium in my diet. Once I had reviewed the other foods I regularly consume, I realised that my daily intake of this vital mineral was coming up short.

As part of my work as a recipe writer, I am used to working out the calories and other nutritional content of my recipes, and I have some comprehensive nutritional books and tables to help me do this. I studied the calcium content for lots of foods and worked out some useful dietary calcium boosters which are easy to include in my meals on a daily basis.

Poppy seeds1580mg calcium/100g
Sesame seeds670mg calcium/100g
Chia seeds631mg calcium/100g
Flax seeds255mg calcium/100g
Whole almonds269mg calcium/100g
Brazil nuts170mg calcium/100g

Source: McCance and Widdowson’s: The Composition of Foods

As you can see from the chart above, poppy seeds are by far the super-hero of the calcium world but like other small seeds, not necessarily the easiest of foods to eat, so I ground them up in my coffee grinder to make a fine “flour”.

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Grinding poppy seeds. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Combined with ground sesame seeds, chia seeds and unblanched almonds the resulting “flour” makes a perfect sprinkle over breakfast cereals and salads and as a nutrient-rich addition to smoothies and baking mixes.

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Sesame and chia seeds. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
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Chopped, unblanched, whole almonds. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
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A perfect calcium-rich sprinkle. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

The blend is made up with 50g poppy seeds, 25g each sesame and chia seeds plus 75g unblanched almonds to make 11-12 servings. One heaped tablespoon or 15g of this mix will give you a very useful 115mg calcium (81 calories). Don’t be tempted to make up too much in one go, it is better to consume the mix as fresh as possible; keep it in an airtight container, in the fridge for maximum freshness.

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Store in an airtight container, in the fridge. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

I have gone back to fortified plant milk (around 120mg calcium/100ml) for the time being, so with the smaller amounts of calcium in my breakfast cereal and some fresh berries (blackberries contain a useful 33mg calcium/100g) my breakfast now gives me over one third of my daily recommended intake (700mg) 🙂

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Calcium-rich breakfast. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

I’ll be making up some more calcium-boosting recipes in the future so watch this space if your interested. Thanks for stopping by and see you again next time.

June blooms

~ My virtually free-from kitchen ~ Leave a comment
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Sunshiny June garden. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

Hello there. What a glorious month to be outside in the garden. All the fine weather we had back in the spring has produced some fine garden blooms this year. Fortunately we have had some rain to revive everything and currently Mother Nature is providing us with a good balance of sunshine and showers which is helping keep everything fresh. The bank of blue geraniums and yellow day lilies is one of my favourite floral combinations at this time of year.

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The bees love them too. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
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Golden lilies. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

It’s been a great year for Campanulas. The wall variety is crammed with flowerheads and the taller varieties are popping up all over the garden.

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Cascading wall Campanulas. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
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Scottish blue Campanulas. Images: Kathryn Hawkins.

The old rambling rose in the back garden has been a victim of its own success this year. It has grown so tall and produced so many flower heads it is too heavy on top for its stems underneath and has to be tied back. The scent is as wonderful as ever.

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Rambling rose bush. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

More delicious scents in another part of the garden, from the peonies, also popular with our little winged friends.

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Perfect, petaly and perfumed. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

Amidst all the rainbow colours in the garden, these bright white Delphiniums are putting on a lovely show this year.

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Ice white Delphiniums. Images: Kathryn Hawkins

One of the more unusual plants in flower at the moment is the Phlomis with it’s tufty flower heads that remind me of tiny pineapples.

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Fabulous Phlomis. Images: Kathryn Hawkins
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My sunny Sunday garden. Image: Kathryn Hawkins

That’s all from me for now. I hope you have a great few days and are able to get out and about in the sunshine. Until next time, thanks as ever for stopping by 🙂