Gluten Free Yorkshire Pudding

Yorkshire Pudding. It's one of those things I always saw in recipe books and on menus and assumed I would never be able to eat it. For the uninitiated it's a savoury bready thing that is served with a roast dinner and is the pudding part of the Brittish classic "Toad in a Hole" (the toad being a sausage...)

So it turns out to actually be really easy to make as a gluten free version. If you swapped the milk for say, soy milk you would have a gluten and dairy free version.
My kids think they are fantastic and they are very quick and very easy to make. Bonus.

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
100g plain gf flour mix
100ml milk
oil to grease the pan.

You need a mini muffin tin or small cupcake pan. At least, that is what I use to make individual serves. Traditionally it's made in a single tin so a loaf tin or square tin would do too.

Preheat your oven to whatever the highest temperature is that you are able. It needs to be very hot.

Whatever tin you are using, grease it thoroughly and pop it into your very hot oven to preheat.
Meanwhile throw all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl and beat them. You need it to form a smooth batter., scrape down the sides a couple of times to make sure it is all mixed in evenly.

Jamie Oliver says you should let your oil start smoking when making yorkshire pudding, my firefighter husband says not to do that under any circumstances. When the oil is obviously hot but not smoking, very carefully remove the tin from the oven and pour/spoon the batter into the tin. Try to do this fairly quickly so you don't loose too much heat.

Return the tin to the oven for about 10-12 minutes. Don't open the oven during the cooking time. The yorkies will puff up dramatically and bronze off. Remove the cooked puddings from the oven and serve hot. Excellent for sopping up gravy.

For a bit of variety you can add things to the batter. My kids love me to add grated cheese. Chopped chives were good too. Feel free to experiment.

Gluten Free Toblerone Cheesecake

This is another recipe I made to take to Easter lunch. It is also very rich. Unfortunately I don't have many photos because I got a bit time pressured and distracted (my in-laws were visiting) but I think you can get the basic idea from this. The original recipe came from family friends Robyn and Steve Holland but I don't know how closely it resembles theirs anymore.
Depending on the biscuits and chocolate you use (remember, substitution is the key to successful special diet cooking) this can be soy, egg and nut free but obviously not dairy free.

For the base:
1 cup gluten free chocolate biscuit crumbs (use whatever you like but try for choc coated ones, I used some that resembled a g/f version of Tim Tams) pulverise the biscuits in a food processor.
80g melted butter
1/4 cup ground almonds

For the filling
500g cream cheese, softened.
1/2 cup caster sugar
200g Toblerone melted or grated
1/2 cup thickened cream

For the topping
200g Toblerone, grated or shaved into curls

Method:

Lightly grease a 22cm round springform cake tin
Combine biscuit crumbs, butter and almonds and press the mixture into the base of the prepared tin, chill.
Beat cream cheese until smooth, add sugar, cream and chocolate. Continue beating until well combined.
Pour filling into the tin on top of the base. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight (you can't turn it out until it is really set).

If you melt the Toblerone you will get a very smooth, sweet cheesecake that is very child friendly. If you grate it you get a much sharper, more adult dinner-party type cheesecake. I prefer the grated version.

To serve, remove the tin from the fridge, allow it to warm up a little to make removing the sides easier (wiping the outside of the tin with a warmed tea towel may help). Release the hinge and gently ease the side away from the cream cheese, if necessary you can run a knife between the side of the cheesecake and the tin but be careful not to take chunks out of it. To remove the base of the tin you will almost certainly need to use a blunt knife to ease it away from the biscuit crumb base, be careful and try to handle the actual cheesecake as little as possible. The chilled cheesecake base is strong enough to support the whole thing as you remove the tin, slide the knife between the tin and the cheesecake and as the gap gets bigger, slide your hand into the space. That probably sounds harder than it actually is.

Transfer the cheesecake to your serving platter and dust liberally with chocolate shavings.
Serve with whipped cream to cut through the richness a bit.
Serves 10-12

Easter Egg Nest Cake (gluten free)

Now I know I've been slack. I've been meaning to come online and actually post the recipes I've photographed over the last few months and just never quite got around to it... not having internet connection on at the house anymore makes it slightly less convenient but not really all that difficult. Truth is I don't really have an excuse.

Anyway I made this cake to take to an Easter Sunday lunch.
It's a Nigella Lawson recipe, brilliant for being a recipe that is actually gluten free without me having to do any fiddling at all. It is rich.
Actually it would be hard to overstate that. Nigella is the queen of rich, decadent desserts and this cake is exactly that. I have actually been accosted in the supermarket by people who had a sliver of this cake at that lunch. It evidently made an impression.

If you are looking for something very rich and decadent to serve and don't mind being known as the "lady who made that incredibly rich chocolate cake" then this is the one for you.

The leftovers (there were some) spent the night in the fridge and actually were much nicer the next day although the eggs didn't look so good by then. I'm not sure why that was but my darling husband agreed so it wasn't just my imagination. If I were to make this again I'd probably leave it in the fridge overnight and serve chilled the next day for something akin to an amazing chocolate cheesecake. It wouldn't be so pretty but it would be divine.
It serves 8-10. Nigella says she would make it if there were only 4 of them to feed, I think you could easily stretch it to 12 or even 16. You really don't need much.

For the cake:
250g best quality dark eating chocolate, chopped
125g unsalted softened butter
6 eggs: 2 whole, 4 separated
175g caster sugar: 75g for the yolk mixture; 100g for the whites
1tsp real vanilla extract

For the topping:
125g best quality dark eating chocolate, chopped
250ml double cream
1tsp real vanilla extract
1-2 packets of small sugar coated easter eggs as desired (check the ingredients list to make sure they are actually gluten free, you could substitute with foil wrapped ones if necessary)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Line the bottom of a 23cm round springform cake tin with baking paper. Do not grease the sides of the tin.

Melt the 250g chocolate together with the butter. Nigella recommends a double boiler or microwave but I just throw them into a non-stick saucepan and stir, the butter protects the chocolate a bit as it melts so you can get away with it. Set it aside to cool slightly.

Whisk the 4 egg whites until firm, then gradually add the 100g of sugar and whisk until the whites are holding their own shape and peak gleamingly - but not stiff.

In another bowl whisk the 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks with the 75g sugar and the vanilla extract, then gently fold in the chocolate mixture. Lighten the mixture with some of the egg whites - just dollop a large spoonfull in and stir briskly - and then fold in the rest of the whisked whites gently, in about 3 goes.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 35-40mins or until the cake is risen and cracked and the centre is no longer wobbly on the surface.

Cool the cake in it's tin on a wire rack; the middle will sink as it cools and the sides splinter. You want this to look like a cake with a crater in the middle, so do not panic at the vision of imperfection in front of you. That's one of the reasons this cake is so unstressful to make. (I love that bit!)

To finish the cake, carefully remove it from the tin and place it on a plate or cake stand, not worrying if bits fall off here and there. Put them back in a loose fashion.

Melt the chocolate for the topping and leave it to cool a little. Whip the cream until it is firming up and aerated but still soft, and then add the vanilla and fold in the melted chocolate. Fill the crater of the cake with the chocolatey cream, easing it out gently towards the edges of the cake with a rubber spatula, and then arranging the little easter eggs on top.

Ours was served with whipped cream with some vanilla bean through it and that was perfect.

I have to admit that as I was assembling it I was thinking how everyone would assume I had messed it up and tried to hide it with the cream... I kept telling people that it had turned out exactly like the one in the book. Nigella Lawson is possibly the only person on the planet who could whip up a "crater cake", serve it at a dinner party and then publish it in a recipe book complete with instructions to stay calm as it collapses and not feed it to the dog and serve something else. She is an incredible woman.

"Aunty Di's" Gluten Free Buttermilk Scones

I haven't posted anything recently because we have all been absolutely flattened by a nasty virus with a follow-up of chest infections all round. That was not much fun.


I made these scones (and photographed them) a couple of weeks ago but never made it onto the computer for long enough to blog them. Now there is a lot I could say about gluten free scones. I actually have a scar on the first finger of my left hand from an early attempt at baking them using a "scone mix". Let's just say that you should always break scones open rather than cutting them and if for some reason you can't break them open easily it is not a good idea to try to cut them open to get a look at the inside. You won't be able to eat it anyway. My fellow orchestra members were quite fascinated by the special dressings I had for the injury but that is another story.

So this recipe actually does work. It works really, really well. My gluten eating husband loves them which I take to be a sign that they are pretty authentic.
It is a recipe from a very lovely lady called Dianne Boyle who I knew as "Aunty Di" and who was an incredible gluten free cook back when good gluten free products were very hard to find. I have very happy memories of days spent at her house together with her grand-daughters and the lunches and treats she would make. I know that she would have been very happy for this recipe to be shared far and wide so here it is, just as she wrote it down.

Scones- Plain or Raisin

Ingredients:
2 cups gluten free bread mix (Di used Orgran)
2 cups potato flour
1/2 cup pure icing sugar
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 Tb gluten free baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
pinch of salt
80g butter or margarine, melted
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (approx)
flour for kneading (potato or corn)
reserve 1Tb of buttermilk for glazing

note: you can't substitute the buttermilk for ordinary milk but Di did leave a note that you can use dairy free milk if you need to. I have never tested that.

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 210C-220C.
Now here I have to interject and say that Di baked these scones as one big slice in a cake tin and broke them up into individual serves later. If you want to do that you will need to line a 20cm square tin with paper.
If you want to make scones by cutting them out with a floured glass and placing them on a tray then line a tray with baking paper.

1. Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl.

2. Add eggs to melted butter and whisk, add to dry ingredients and cut through with a knife (or use a dough hook on a stand mixer at a very low speed).

3. Stir in the buttermilk a little at a time until you get a soft, slightly sticky dough (you will probably not need the whole cup). This can also be done with the dough hook but be careful not to overmix.

4. Knead on a lightly floured board (do not over knead).

5. Form your scones. If you are using Di's method, place the dough in the tin and using your fingers to press it out to fit evenly. Use a butterknife to cut the dough into 12 even rectangles in the tin. 3 cuts in one direction and 4 in the other. This will make it easier to break the scones apart later.

If you are using the alternative method, roll the dough to about 5cm thick between 2 sheets of baking paper and cut out circles using an upended glass making sure you have adequate flour on the rim of the glass to allow the scones to come away and place these close together on a baking tray. Continue re-rolling the remaining dough until you have only enough to form the last scone. Either way you will get 12 scones.


If you like you can make jam scrolls by rolling some of the dough out much thinner (1-2cm) and spreading it with strawberry jam, then rolling it up firmly and cutting it into about 5cm lengths. Place these on their end on the tray to bake.

6. Glaze with reserved buttermilk

7. Bake for 15-18 min or until golden and risen.

note: cooked scones, even gluten-free ones should sound hollow when tapped on the top.

For Raisin Scones- add 1/2 cup raisins before forming up the scones.

Note: Scones should be separated and halved by breaking, not cutting. Wrap in a clean tea-towel if not serving immediately. These freeze and thaw incredibly well.

Lasagne

Gluten free.

I'm not actually intending on giving a recipe for lasagne as such but I suppose I will probably end up basically typing one up anyway. Suffice to say that if you can make a bolognaise sauce and a white (or bechamel) sauce you can make a lasagne. Start with these:

We've had a week of family drama which has translated to me falling back on the tried and true easy meals that I've been trying to avoid. Such is life. I'm hoping to get back on board tomorrow.

Back to lasagne. This is a dish I don't often cook. For a start it is very difficult to make it dairy free and until very recently my son couldn't eat any dairy. The other thing about it is that it's pretty time consuming because first you have to make the bolognaise sauce and the white sauce and then assemble the thing and bake it. Years ago I used to make lasagne probably once every week or 2 because it was my husband's favourite dish (apparently he now prefers curry). For some reason my mother-in-law always rang either on the night we were having lasagne or the next day so I think that she thought we lived on the stuff.
Lasagne, and indeed bolognaise are very useful dishes for hiding vegetables in. I grate carrot and zucchini into mine and this one also had a tin of corn because my 2yo requested it.

So the basics are as follows. First make yourself a bolognaise sauce. Mine tends to contain:
1 large onion, diced
1tsp crushed garlic
about 3 rashers of bacon diced
500g of beef mince
1 carrot, grated
1 zucchini, grated
2x 400g tins diced tomato
1tsp beef stock powder (massel is a good safe brand) or 1 stock cube, crumbled
some herbs

and my method is basically to brown the things that need browning (onion, garlic, bacon, mince, mushrooms if I happen to have any to add etc) and then add everything else and let the whole lot simmer away until I think it is cooked. This is a very wet sauce. You can thicken it with cornflour (dissolve it in water first to avoid lumps) but I leave it as is because I think the pasta sheets need the extra liquid.

Then you need a white sauce. You can get as fancy as you like with this. All I do is pour as much milk as I think I'll need into a non-stick saucepan (makes clean up easier), heat it on the stove, dissolve a couple of tablespoons of cornflour in some more milk and stir that through the heated milk, whisking it to prevent lumps forming. If it doesn't seem to be thickening after a couple of minutes or seems at risk of burning without thickening I dissolve some more cornflour in some more milk and add it, stirring well and usually that will do the trick.
I add wholegrain mustard and grated cheese to that to make a really nice cheese sauce to serve with corned beef or make cauliflower cheese. For lasagne I use it plain. Perhaps one day I will try to make it properly.


The method is simple. Some people like their lasagne to have 1 layer of each ingredient. Around here we will take as many layers as we can get into the dish. Alternately lay down your bolognaise, pasta sheets, white sauce and cheese as many times as you like or can fit. Bake for the time recommended on the box of pasta sheets. I leave the final layer of cheese off until about 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time, then spread it liberally over the top and return the lasagne to the oven. This way you end up with a nicely melted and slightly browned cheese layer rather than a burned one.

It's not exactly a beautifully presented meal but it is appreciated.

Gluten Free Pizza Base

Gluten, dairy, soy, egg free

Pizza is one of those foods that most people really miss when they can't have wheat or gluten anymore. I know I did and over the past 15 years I've tried just about everything. Recipes from books and from the internet. I've mixed flours with varied results but never anything I was really happy with. Finally I hit upon a simple, easy recipe that literally takes just a few minutes to put together, can be kneaded like the real thing and makes a thin pizza crust that really does the job. My gluten eating husband who still eats "real" pizza from the various little takeaways around town says that it is a "convincing thin crust"

I don't have a pizza stone (it's on the wish list) or even pizza trays so I just make do with what I have available to me and it does the job. The dough is probably enough to do a couple of "family sized" thin crust pizzas but I make individual serve sized bases and we all "decorate" them ourselves according to our tastes. It makes 6 of these.


Ingredients:
500g gluten free plain flour (I use 1 box of Orgran gf plain flour)
2 sachets dried yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4cup olive oil

Method:

Add the yeast to the warm water and stir, let it sit for a couple of minutes to activate and froth.
Pour the flour into a large bowl, add the yeasty water and oil and mix. I use the paddle beater on my Kitchenaid and turn it on to a low speed.
Mix for a few minutes. The flour will form into a soft, sticky dough. If it still resembles breadcrumbs, add more warm water a little at a time.
Once you have a convincing dough, remove it from the mixer and knead by hand until smooth. Cover with a tea towel and sit the bowl in a warm place to let the yeast rise for about an hour or so.

When you come back, preheat your oven to 250C

Knead your dough again.

Roll out dough between 2 sheets of baking paper in the sizes you require (this is a really handy technique that stops dough sticking to the bench or rolling pin without incorporating extra flour).

Transfer to your baking tray of choice. I use oiled baking trays.
Lightly spray oil over the tops of your crusts and bake them for a few minutes.

Your crusts are ready to use.
Top as desired and cook again until the toppings are heated through and whatever cheese you have used is melted and hot.

Any leftover crusts can be frozen, just allow them to sit on the bench for a few minutes before topping and cooking them.

Simple Tasty Pasta Sauce

Gluten, dairy, soy, egg, nut, sugar free, vegetarian, vegan...

I have to thank Jamie Oliver for this one. It started life as his "Quick Sausage Meatballs with a tomato and basil sauce, spaghetti and sweet raw peas" from the book Jamie at Home. I realised just how simple it was to make a pasta sauce for myself using things I have in the cupboard all the time and I haven't looked back. I have changed things and dropped whole parts of that recipe, as you do when you start making something from memory and using only what is to hand. When you check back you usually realise it has evolved somewhat. If you have access to the book you should really give the real one a try too.

I also have Jamie to thank for my slowly increasing potted herb garden. I'm sure you could make a nice sauce following this formula using dried herbs but fresh herbs really are a revelation. Since starting with the basil for this I've added oregano for my pizza sauce and thyme. I also have 2 different types of chives which I usually add to scrambled eggs and the like but it's also great for potato salad or anything else that needs a mild onion flavour. I have dreams of one day having a proper herb garden.

Ingredients:
1x 400g tin of crushed or diced tomatoes (be sure to read the tin to check for thickeners and the like)
1tsp crushed garlic
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
a small handful of fresh basil leaves (as many as you can bear to remove from your plant)

Method:
In a small saucepan brown the crushed garlic in a little oil (be aware that it will spit) quickly add the tinned tomato once it has started browning off (which will stop it from spitting any more).
Add a splash of balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper and stir in the basil leaves. Allow it to heat through stirring occassionaly. The whole process will only take a few minutes.

It is finished.
This is quite a liquid sauce. If you prefer something thicker you could try dissolving about 1 heaped tsp pure cornflour in 1/3 cup of water and stirring that through the sauce to thicken it.
It is perfect for pasta but I also love it over green veg with a little sour cream. Enjoy!