It was a busy morning for me. First stop swimming followed by pilates. I enjoy swimming as it is one of the only times I am able to truly switch off, maybe it’s the rhythmical pace gliding up and down the lanes or maybe it’s the submersion and notion of feeling ‘in your own little bubble’. It is also the time when I often feel most creative, my mind is quiet and thoughts come flooding in….

…. It can also be the most frustrating time to be creative, inspired thoughts in the middle of a pool with no way to write anything down is, well, rather annoying at times!

After my swim and a quick sauna, the pilates session is a nice compliment to round off the morning’s activities. I’m a bit of a pilates newbie but I’m finding I actually quite enjoy it. My usual activities involve more hard core cardio or flinging myself about- i.e around a squash court or a pole… (I teach pole dance classes), I was recently advised to take up pilates as I have had problems with my hips due to the fact my joints are hypermobile, and actually I think it may be helping. It also gives me an opportunity to sloooow down, something which I am notoriously very bad at! Thus, my Friday mornings have become a time to revive my mind and set me up for a productive weekend.

Once home I was in need of food and lots of it.…. The mug cakes were calling!!

The recipe for my first ever chocolate mug cake post was based on one large mug or two ramekins. Whilst that’s great for sharing (or if you are in need of a major cake hit!), I often simply want a little treat just for me, and a mug is too much. So here I have reworked the recipe amounts to create a ‘single serving ramekin’ aka the ‘rame-cake’ and believe me this is more than enough to hit the spot!

In putting together this recipe I was also keen to experiment with a GF version... um, so then one 'ramecake' became two... shhhh!  I have noted my GF alterations below, and in my opinion this version was perfectly yummy with barely a hint of any graininess so often typical with GF flours.  I did notice a slight difference in texture as I sampled each cake one after the other, but had this not been the case then I don't think I would have 'noticed' I was eating a GF sponge. 

 Recipe: Raspberry cheesecake single serve ‘rame-cake’

Ingredients:

• 2 tbs white spelt flour
• (see GF version below)
• 2 tsp rapadura 
• Tiny pinch salt
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• (increase to a heaped 1/4 tsp for GF)
• 2 tbs soy milk
• (add 1 extra tsp for GF)
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp yoghurt
• Few drops vanilla extract
• Small handful of frozen raspberries broken up (I use frozen as they are easier to break, don’t colour the batter and are available all year round)
• 1 tsp vegan cream cheese, 1tsp soy milk, tiny amount of agave (or any liquid sweetener) to make the ‘cheesecake’ (omit this if you just want a fruity sponge!)

Method:

Mix the ‘cheesecake’ ingredients- cream cheese, soy milk and agave together and set aside. Place coconut oil, vanilla and soy milk up in a small bowl and melt together until the coconut is melted.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix and keep mixing until there are no lumps or dry patches of unmixed flour. Lightly mix through the raspberry pieces and spoon the batter into a ramekin or mini bowl. Top the batter with the ‘cheesecake’ mix and mix in slightly with a toothpick if desired.

Cook on full power (based on 900W) in microwave for 30 seconds. Check with a cocktail stick until it comes out almost clean. Cook for up 20 seconds more if necessary until cooked.

NOTE: For the GF version I used GF flours to the equivalent of 2 tbs.  I used 1 tbs of Doves Farm GF mix (this is a UK brand consisting of rice, potato, tapicoca and buckwheat flours) plus 2 tsp almond meal.  I think the addition of nut meal really helps to prevent the sponge from becoming grainy or dry. I imagine any type of GF flour mix would be quite flexible for those that have their favourite combos.  Also note the slight increase to baking powder as I found that with a level 1/4 tsp the cake did not rise to the same degree as the spelt version so was a little more dense. I also added slightly more soy milk as in my experience GF flours are dryer.

Please let me know how you get on and any changes you make!

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