More ingredients = better free from cake

The search continues as the deadline fast approaches for an egg, dairy and gluten free birthday cake. My second attempt has also surprised me. It's long daunting list of ingredients, actually had a simple recipe, as most of the free from cakes seem to do. Mix wet ingredients with dry. Bake.

Today's blueberry & orange cake is from the Chopra Centre Cookbook by Indian health guru Deepak Chopra, although as ever I have amended the ingredients according to what I have in the cupboard. Within reason. I chose this recipe over many others I have found purely because my little boy loves blueberries. He pops them like sweeties, will do anything for them and his very kind grandmother - also known as Janma - sent the whole crop from her only bush through the post as a present for him! He loves them that much.

This healthy, quick to make and bake recipe has resulted in a well risen cake that hasn't sunk on cooling. It's a little chewy on the surface, but I think this is because my oven temperature was too low to start with. It has a really good, cakey texture and even when made with gluten free flour is remarkably cake like. It has quite a strong spice flavour which I may dabble with, but overall I thought it was pretty good. I still don't really believe how good these recipes are (although I must wait for a normal cake eater to give the verdict too since I only eat GF cake now which is not the same).

So this is a very strong contender. I am currently researching vegan frostings for the decoration with fresh blueberries and a candle, but will continue with the shortlist so as to find the best for my boy! And to help me in this research I have also discovered there is a vegan cupcake shop, also in Brixton, home of the free from bakeries. And they always have a gluten free one on offer!

Blueberry Orange Cake


Ingredients
300g gluten free flour (Doves)
120g unrefined caster sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp flavourless oil (vegetable)
120g fruit puree (I used pear, but mango, banana, apple all work)
120ml orange juice
1 tbsp orange zest
Half cup rice or soya milk
Few drops of vanilla essence for taste
80g maple syrup
150g blueberries, thawed if frozen (I used frozen fruits of the forest mix which works well)

Recipe
Preheat oven to 180degrees centigrade and grease a 20cm square non stick cake tin
Combine all the dry ingredients together and whisk to thoroughly mix.
In a large bowl whisk all the wet ingredients, except the blueberries.
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and gently mix with a rubber spatular.
Add the blueberries and combine briefly.
Pour mixture into the tin and bake for 30-40mins, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave cake to cool in tin.

Bash it about gluten free pastry

I am a competent cook, but I have never had the skill or patience to make pastry. The only times I have made it, it has strunk, cracked and crumbled (I was clearly destined for life with gluten free pastry) and to be honest I blame my hot hands. I think there is a real art to pastry making and when I was in Paris before Christmas I gazed in admiration at the Patisserie windows brimming with thin, delicate buttery pastry. It is a skill that I lack.

But it is also a skill I no longer need. Living on a gluten free diet I wholeheartedly embrace the essential skill of problem solving to navigate my foodie desires. It has to be said that there are times when I crave a little pastry case enveloping a thick chocolate ganache, especially the case in Paris. But the time I crave pastry most is at Christmas.

I know this is the most unseasonal of blog posts, however I had such fun using up all my Christmas-y leftovers and such a result with the pastry that I wanted to share it with you now. After all, you can eat pastry all year, especially as quiches which I love and this savoury almost cheesy (without any cheese in) recipe can be found in a new eagerly awaited recipe book in the Coeliac world.

To be honest, I wasn’t waiting for this one. I have one very good gluten free book, but find much more inspiration in my growing and varied normal collection. However having been on the telly with him, and tasted not one but two of the recipes in the book on live tv (thanks for the warning Fern – not!) I thought it would make a nice little memento. To be honest, I was also curious as to what it would contain as he told me on the show how he’d been working on it for more than two years. So my lovely mother bought it for me for 

Christmas.

But Christmas came and went and the leftover icing and mincemeat glared at me every time I entered the kitchen waiting to be made into something delicious... mince pies. I no longer get the chance to overindulge in mince pies at Christmas since the gluten free ones are so expensive. But this easy to make pastry provided the flaky base and was perfect for my hot hands and lack of pastry skills. You don’t even have to roll it out... just bash it into the tin.

Based on Gluten Free Pastry in Seriously Good Gluten Free Cooking, by Phil Vickery

Ingredients

110g rice flour

70g cornmeal

45g corn flour

100g butter

1 tsp xanthan gum

Pinch of salt

1 medium egg

Oil or butter for greasing

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C and grease a 23cm round tin

Put all the ingredients except the egg into the food processor and blend into fine breadcrumbs

Add the egg and pulse until the mixture begins to come together. You may need to add a few drops of cold water

Tip out onto the surface and knead into a smooth dough

Shape the dough into a long shape and cut 1 cm thick circles and press into the base of the tin, joining up the circles by pressing them together and up the sides of the tin. Be sure to press it to about ½ cm thick and no thinner and get seamless seals in the pastry as on cooking it can crack and leave holes that leak filling.

Bake the pastry blind for about 15minutes and leave to cool, then use for sweet or savoury fillings.

I used sweet mincemeat and a thin layer of icing for indulgent mince pies and also for a leek and mascarpone tart.

Quick to cook gluten free flat bread

I don't tend to buy the gluten free breads on offer, and certainly don't indulge in the replacements available on prescription. To my mind, once you have tasted real, naturally leavened wholesome bread made with local stoneground flour, there is no point in trying to compensate a gluten free diet with the alternatives on offer. However I am intrigued by the "Genius" bread that is now on salt in the supermarkets that has got people on the Coeliac forums raving. Maybe I will try this in the name of research since those in the know say it is incredibly close to the real thing and is free from the usual toxic mixture of additives. 

But I must admit there are times when you want to mop up your poached egg yolk, dunk something into home-made soup or just to spread some salty English butter on bread. At the top of my master list of Recipes I Want To Cook sits Maggie Beers Chick pea flat bread. Before Christmas I finally got round to making it. And have made it half a dozen times since including on Christmas Day as part of the wheat, gluten, egg, dairy and nut free lunch and it was gobbled up before my eyes.

As with pressure cooking and some gluten free recipes, you do have to think ahead a little and mix the gram flour with water and leave it to ferment overnight. But the benefit of this preparation is the end result. Soft, delicious, and spiked with aromatic rosemary leaves balancing the strong flavour of the  gram flour, its the quickest and tastiest bread I have made. Have a go...as its also dairy, wheat, yeast and egg free, and extremely straight forward.

In the meantime, I will venture out into the snow in search of this Genius bread... Do you think its worth it, do you make your own or use mixes? 

Chickpea flatbread

Ingredients

250g gram flours (chick pea flour)

500ml water

Sprig of rosemary (optional)

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 tsp salt

Method

In a large bowl, mix the chick pea flour with about 500ml of water (you may not need all of it to get it to a double cream consistency). Add half the rosemary and leave overnight.

Next day preheat the oven to 230degrees c. Remove any scum from the surface of the mixture and fish out the rosemary sprigs, then add the salt, olive oil and chopped remaining rosemary if using and stir to form a batter.

Pour the batter onto a baking tray lined with baking paper or a pizza stone and bake for up to 10mins. It should brown a little on the top and be fully cooked.

I have a wonky oven so mine often ends up uneven, but the thin bits are as good as the thicker bits. Also, I have found that the batter sticks rather a lot, so I cook mine on a silacone baking sheet which works really well.

Can you ever have too many cookery books?

When I was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease nearly three years ago, I sorted through all my foodie books weeding out the ones that would be unable to inspire my new restricted diet. Never one for baking bread, making pasta or pies my collection was surprisingly, positively brimming with gluten free recipes, although I made enough room for a couple of specific gluten free cookbooks... it is an addiction I am allowed to indulge after all.

But in doing this I did notice how I indulge much more in the researching and buying of food books than using them. Only a few are splattered with sauces and splodged with butter, as I tend to use the books for a reference to the principles of a dish I wish to cook, rather than cook a recipe step by step. And I free style much more after being in India without ANY cookbooks to rely on.

For example, one of my best friends gave me Maggie Beers' cook book last Christmas and as another festive season approaches, I realised I have not cooked a single recipe from it. I have read it from cover to cover propped up on my knees in bed, after which I dreamt of my own living in my own veranda wrapped house surrounded by a heaving diverse orchard....So with more time on my hands these days I decided to start a list - recipes I want to cook, detailing the books, recipe and pages it can be found to make it all the easier to put into action:

Chickepea flatbread

Fig Cake

Italian Christmas cake

Gluten free BBQ sauce

Almond macaroons

Gluten free choux pastry

Slow roasted shoulder of pork

Plum cake

Celeriac remoulade and much much more...

And as a testament to the power of lists, I have cooked the chickpea flat bread twice, tried my alternative Italian Christmas cake, made BBQ sauce, slow roasted a shoulder of pork... and the celeriac is lurking in the fridge. I think I need to add more recipes to my list as Ihaven'tcooked a familiar recipe all week! And the beauty of this is, I keep finding more and more naturally gluten free recipes hidden in all these undiscovered cookbooks.

You may also enjoy reading:

Gluten Free Girl

Andrew Whitely uses his gluten free loaf

Andrew Whitely uses his loaf...

Andrew Whitley has written Bread Matters all about natural, traditionally made breads. Browsing through the chapters, I happened upon a whole chapter dedicated to gluten free baking and was immeadiately inspired.

He comprehensively explains Coeliac Disease and the issues we face, highlighting, as I have in previous posts, the chemical laden alternatives provided by the food industry who make "overprocessed ingredients into superfically attractive products". I love how Andrew says "Perhaps people with a sensitivity to gluten deserve better than to be fobbed off with highly processed chemical additives". This was inspiring enough stuff to attempt making my own gluten free bread.

I am taking part in a sourdough challenge over at FoodScoop where I am making my sourdough from scratch making a leven based on Andrew Whitelys gluten free recipe using brown rice flour, naturally abundant with wild yeasts.

Dispensing further good advice, Andrew also talks about adapting to a gluten free diet, and not replacing like for like, an approach I too have adopted. Gluten free bread is never going to be like a real, freshly baked, loaf with a light and airy centre but I am looking forward to seeing how the potato and quinoa bread made using my sourdough leven will turn out. I know it won't be the same, but hopefully it will be a delicious product in it's own

My gluten free sourdough leven - Day 2

For me, this experience is about embracing the opportunties out there for a more varied, natural and delicous gluten free diet - such as discovering potato bread - perfect for mopping up free range fried eggs.

To watch the progress of both the rye and gluten free sourdoughs - click here, or why not start your own. Have you made GF bread before? Any tips to share with this first timer?

Silver Spoon - Gluten Free Cake and Pudding Recipes

One of my best friends - Mrs Burger - gave me the most wonderful gift of the cookery book Silver Spoon - an encyclopedic collection of Italian recipes, with stacks of naturally gluten free recipes. Out of over 2,000 recipes I was pleasantly surprised to find a wealth of naturally gluten free cakes and puddings - Almond Pudding, Easy Ring Cake (using potato flour), Chestnut cake (using chestnut flour) and a Splendid Maria-Cake... to name a few.

So first of all I am off to track down some unusual flours, then its tea and cake all round.

A recipe perfect for this blog...

I am off for a fresh air fix this weekend - to breathe in the clean sussex air and walk in the woods. When visiting my mother I usually decend on her with the aim of cooking something gluten free that I have never attempted before. In the past it has included gluten free almond biscuits, polenta cake and this weekend I am going to make Fig and Walnut Cake - perfect for this blog, and 2 of my favourite ingredients.

Being down at mums, I also get plenty of willing tasters as my dear brother also decends for a periodic wholesome meal... with or without gluten.

The recipe comes from fellow gluten free blog Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried and will post the results...

oooooooooooooo Ottolenghi

En route home last night I jumped off the bus in South Kensington to browse the shops for a couple of gifts. That search was rather unsuccessful, however I was fortunate to discover Ottolenghi instead.

There has been a lot of buzz about the London based cafe and recently published cookbook and I have kept an eye on their column in the Saturday Guardian as naturally gluten free recipes have often been featured. So, walking through down Kensington Church street, I saw the subtle sign for the cafe and decided to pop in for a browse.

A browse turned into a purchase. A cake purchase - a gluten free cake purchase. Actually, I need to be specific here; the cake was a dense rich flour less chocolate cake, made with that indispensible coelaic favourite - ground almonds. Talking with the delightful staff member, we decided that it was naturally gluten free, and I decided to risk it.

Actually, risk is probably the wrong word. I only really take the chance when I trust the producers and have discussed at length ingredients used. Ottolenghi is a natural and high end operation, and I trust them when they say there is no gluten present. After much deliberation over dense chocolate macaroons, monstrous raspberry meringues, gooey chocolate torte, I opted for the flour less chocolate bun...

On getting it home I have to admit it looked a little dry...but my oh my, it was moist, chocolate-y, dense, rich and not too sweet. It was so good that I decided to save half of it for pudding today! I can't wait.

Ottolenghi dealing with natural and gluten free products with pure elegance which has inspired me to order their book - however my main motivation for yet another cookery book purchase is their recipe for the polenta cake!

Bonne vaccance

Something is looming. Some find it terrifying, others pretend that it's not really coming. Me, I can't wait. It's the perfect excuse for a big blow out trip somewhere I've been dreaming of. My 30th birthday is coming!!

Birthdays in this urban top floor flat, are an excuse to indulge each other, usually with a trip somewhere we both fancy exploring, essentially because we don't like a lot of public birthday fuss. Of course the excuse to plan a trip, such as New York last year for J's birthday is the excuse every girl needs.

With my birthday on the horizon, there have been earnest discussions about where to go, and we initially decided on San Francisco. This decision was largely based on my "special needs" to eat gluten free with ease, especially whilst on holiday. Last year we descended on the Big Apple just a month after I was diagnosed with coeliac disease. Considering how distraught I was at the thought missing out on those quintessential stacks of pancakes drenched in maple syrup, all American cheesey burgers and the New York hot dog on a street corner, I had the best time, ate safely the whole trip (in fact J got food poisoning - not me!) and I actually ate like a King. Therefore this largely influenced our decision to explore the west coast of America - home of the US coffee culture and Californian cuisine.

Food, as most of my family will confirm is my largest motivation to explore a place. I love how it gives a sense of place and just a peep into the way of life of its people. No more is this food culture more abundant and diverse than on our doorstep in Europe. More and more frequent trips to family in Umbria at the heart of Italys' only land locked region, have developed an increasing confidence in safely eating gluten free on the continent. Coupled with my continued interest , some say obsession with local food and markets and in true "against the grain" style, I announced that I no longer wanted to celebrate my third decade in the US, when there was so much of Europe to discover, and a smaller carbon emission to boot.

Every time we have been to Italy, we have talked of doing the "road trip" across France and down to Italy - thinking of the bounty we could return home with. Driving through vineyard covered French hills, stopping off for an impromptu picnic assembled from local smelly cheeses and aged charcuterie bought from the little market in the last town...this is what my dream are made of...

So, I am currently devouring a stack of books on the first stage of the trip that will be France, to get a taste of what's to come:

My Life in France - Julia Child

Tarragon and Truffles - Anne Gregg



Hot Sun, Cool Shadow - Angela Murrils



So, you could say I was studying french food in order to aid my decisions when devouring the menu in cute little french bistros, sipping vin rouge...

...meanwhile does anyone know how to say in french "I have coeliac disease and cannot eat gluten"? Crucial phrase really!!

Bonne vaccance....en Septembre! (a little while to wait...quel domage!)

LEON labels gluten free meals...!

Yum yum pigs bum...No idea where that saying comes from, but it’s what I said on finishing my treat of a lunch today. Nipping to Oxford St in my lunch hour – it can be done, just – dashing through the new John Lewis food hall to escape the leisurely paced shoppers of Oxford St, I suddenly realised I was near one of my most favourite restaurants.

When I was working for Burger King in product development, I was convinced there was a huge gap in the market for healthy fast food. Ironically, it was through my market research for the fast food giant that I came across this “new concept”. Leon takes the principles of American style fast food, with quick service, but offers a more European style menu, that makes naturally fast food. One of my firm favourites, particularly since being diagnosed with coeliac disease, I just had to ditch the home made lunch - just this once.

Leon was set up by Allegra McEvedy, who I think can be called celebrity chef these days, and provides lucky Londoners with Mediterranean inspired soups, salads, flatbreads plus their signature bigger dishes such as Moroccan meatballs and the Leon Gobi (sweet potato and cauliflower curry). A growing empire, which now stands at ten outlets since 2003 serves up breakfast, lunch, and anything in between, and some of the locations now serve dinner complete with proper plates.

The best thing about Leon, for me anyway, is that they label all their foods with wheat free or gluten free logos. On this particular lunchtime visit there were only 6 items on the menu that I couldn’t eat. Spoilt for choice I eventually opted for the Leon Original Superfood Salad, with a side of open-sesame slaw, which I just love. Like a bear in the woods, overwhelmed by such unprecedented choice, I also picked up a Lemon & Ginger Crunch cake, but only after debating whether to have the brownie instead, and just before I spotted the “ooo” inducing rosewater rice pudding. Bank that for my next visit I think.

Leaving before I bought enough for supper as well, I headed back to the office, eagerly anticipating my lunch, and boy, it was gooooood. The Superfood Salad was an interesting mix of sweet peas, feta, blanched bright green broccoli, quinoa, toasted seeds and a zingy lemon and olive oil dressing; perfectly balanced, really more-ish and completely gluten free. As I write this, I am eyeing up my cake, wondering if I can hold out till afternoon tea time…nope, too late. Its delicious, and you wouldn’t know it's “gluten free”.

A far as I am concerned, Leon is the future of fast food. The fact that the Regent St branch was opposite an old Burger King site, is testament to this. And if you can’t get there, then check out Allegra’s regular column for the Guardian in G2, or her season inspired cookery book. All I can say is…. I can't wait for my next visit.

Going against the grain

It’s nearly a year since I was diagnosed with coeliac disease. I can’t quite believe it has been that long, but similarly it feels like I have always lived gluten free (GF). Initially, I utterly refused to be defined by my condition, not wanting to be labelled as a fussy eater. But, as the year gently passed, I have come to understand and accept my lot and see it as an opportunity.

I have to acknowledge that I did not do this alone. After diagnosis, I applied my usual tenacity to the problem, searching for inspiration in any form. In all honesty, I was pretty disappointed. Having developed a passion for natural, organic and local food over the years, I was looking for more than the recommendations and free samples for awful, chemical heavy mass manufactured gluten free breads and cakes.

Over the next few months, and after wobbles where I wondered why I was trying to go against convention, I came across stacks of American resources and blogs on the internet, but one sang out to me – Gluten Free Girl.

Shauna James Ahern, who has been writing her blog about living gluten free since 2005 approached the condition with such a positive and passionate energy, that it lit up my life. Despite the title of her blog, she is not defined by her condition, and so many of the posts are just about how much she is enjoying life - inspiration to anyone. Meanwhile, I was refusing to compromise on my well established food principles of eating local, seasonal organic foods, but with the majority of manufactured gluten free foods laden with salt, sugar and chemicals - that can’t even be classed as food - I felt I was truly going against the grain.

Reading the Gluten Free Girl blog entries encouraged me to see I could do it differently and to stick to my guns.


Putting her book on my amazon wishlist, my partner hastily ordered it for me, knowing that it would provide further guidance and inspiration for eating naturally gluten free, away from the computer and in the kitchen. Thankyou for that Jack. Now my mother is reading it. My aunt had coeliac disease from childhood in the 50's when the condition was barely recognised and lived off a monotonous diet, with 'cake bread' as we called it a feature in every meal. I refused to believe that I had to eat a boring diet, and took on the challenge to find the thousand of things I could eat.

The other day, when waiting for another home baked GF cake to come out of the oven, searching for naturally GF recipes in my piles of recipes books, it dawned on me that getting diagnosed with coeliac disease was biggest blessing in disguise. Having this disease has given me the confidence and reason to reconnect with food again, placing me firmly back in the kitchen. Granted, I have always been in the kitchen since generating ideas for our suppers always falls to me – not that I am complaining - but now I am always peeking in the oven, searching through my stacks of books for naturally GF recipes, and even adapting recipes that aren’t.

I have realised that I am happiest when thinking about food.

I don’t know if I would have got to this place of acceptance and enjoyment so quickly if I hadn’t found Gluten Free Girl. So thank you Shauna. You helped me see I could still eat amazing food and you continue to be a source of inspiration, with great recipes and wonderful heartfelt tales.

Also, I would just like to thank those of you who have supported me over this past year, especially Jack - for apologising every time a waiter delivers delicious looking bread, and no longer eating such things at home. Also, to my mum for her dedicated xantham gum search party …oh and the meringues!

So, take a look at GlutenFreeGirl for a lovely story or a new recipe - that happens to be gluten free. Recommend it to those with wheat intolerances, coeliac disease...in fact anyone. Enjoy it for the pure inspiration that shows you can always do things differently.