Showing posts with label gluten-free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gluten-free. Show all posts
3 - 2 - 1 cookies!
Biscuit recipes don't get any easier than this, with just 3 ingredients you can't go wrong. The added bonus is that these biscuits make a fantastic base recipe. You can change them by icing them, adding cocoa or vanilla, using coconut oil instead of butter, honey or maple syrup instead of sugar, so many possibilities for one little recipe. Try sandwiching them with lemon butter cream; you won't regret it.
3-2-1 Coconut cookies
Makes 20 small cookies
1/3 cup coconut sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 cup coconut flour
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Line a biscuit sheet with baking paper.
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour and mix well.
Form dough into small balls. Flatten with a fork. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until base has just browned. Allow to cool slightly on tray before removing.
Tres leches with a twist
Pastel de tres leches is right up there as one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. Which is why I'm somewhat perplexed that it isn't more popular in Australia. In fact, the only place I have visited which has this most divine of desserts on the menu is Spice Temple. Great place for food, but a little on the expensive side if you're just looking for a slice of cake.
For those not in the know, pastel de tres leches is essentially a genoise sponge soaked in a mixture of evaporated, condensed and plain milk. The twist in this recipe? Coconut flour, to give my grain and nut-free friends an opportunity to partake in the sweet, milky goodness. As a bonus, you can easily substitute coconut milk and cream for the milks and coconut oil for the butter to make it grain and dairy free. Winning!
Pastel de tres leches
Cake
10 eggs, separated
1 cup panela*
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter, melted
Topping
395g sweetened condensed milk
375ml evaporated milk
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 cups cream (35% fat)
Icing sugar to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 180 Celsius. Grease and line 30cm cake pan.
Combine egg yolks, vanilla and panela. Beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Add coconut flour and baking powder. Fold through, trying not to lose too much volume. Add melted butter, a little at a time until well combined. Set aside. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks appear. Gently fold through batter. Place in prepared pan and bake 45 - 60 minutes until mix comes away from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and allow to cool before turning out. Set aside to cool completely.
Meanwhile, mix condensed, evaporated and plain milk together. Pierce top of cake repeatedly with a skewer or fork. Pour over milk mixture and allow to soak in. Refrigerate if time allows (a minimum of 2 hours recommended). Whip cream, vanilla and sugar. Spread on cake.
* Note that you can substitute any sugar or honey. Panela, also known as rapadura, has a great flavour and is readily available at metropolitan supermarkets.
Lemon and coconut treats
Seems to be everywhere I look someone is talking about reducing carbs, or increasing protein, or coconut being the answer to all of life's ills. Then there are the people who are avoiding gluten, soy and animal products. And then there are those who are proponents of the raw food movement. These little snacks tick nearly all of those boxes, and if you use honey, maple or agave as the sweetener, they even tick the last one. So what's the down side? Each tiny little ball contains over 400 kilojoules, with nearly 9 grams of fat each. That's fine if you're particularly active, but if you're sitting at a desk most days, then enjoy responsibly.*
Lemon and coconut balls
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1/3 cup coconut flour
2 tbsp glucose syrup
4 tbsp lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 cup coconut oil
Method
- Mix together the dry ingredients.
- Combine the glucose, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla bean paste. Add to almond mix and stir well.
- Melt the coconut oil and drizzle in to the almond mix. Mix until a ball forms.
- Roll the mixture into balls and refrigerate until firm.
Makes around 20 balls. If glucose syrup is not available, replace with honey or you sweet liquid of choice.
*Of course, there are also plenty of people who say that you won't get fat from eating fat, but I don't want to risk it.
Not quite angel food cake
I recently had need of twelve egg yolks, which left me with quite the dilemma. What on earth do you do with twelve egg whites when meringue isn't an option? I'm not much of an omelette fan, and just wasn't in the mood for macaroons. After a little searching of the interwebs, two things stood out. First of all, meringue is pretty much the number one suggestion when it comes to cooking with egg whites, and secondly, angel food cake uses a lot of egg whites while simultaneously being one of those things that can either go very right or very, very wrong.
Armed with the knowledge that my cake could end up tasting like sweet polystyrene, I set out to give it a shot. I used gluten-free flour, because I have loads of it after making the chocolate cupcakes last week. If you want to use regular flour, substitute 2 tablespoons of cornflour for part of your flour. I also used a bundt pan instead of an angel food cake tin, as realistically, 12 spare egg whites is not a situation I normally find myself in. Plus the cake tin cupboard is already bursting at the seams! Hence the "not quite".
The verdict? I think it would be much improved by serving it with whipped cream instead of the vanilla glaze I added. The kidlets would disagree, they devoured it in an afternoon.
Angel-food cake
12 egg whites
1 cup smart sugar
1 cup gluten-free flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp lemon extract
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Beat the eggs until they reach soft peak stage. Gradually add the sugar, beating until it is fully dissolved. Add the vanilla bean paste and lemon extract. Sift the flour and add around a third to the egg mixture. Fold through carefully, making sure not to lose too much volume. Add the remaining flour in batches, folding through the egg mix. Place in a tube tin or bundt pan, and cook until the cake springs back when touched, around 50 minutes. If the cake browns too quickly, reduce the temperature to 160 degrees. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before turning out and serving.
Gluten-free goodness
I really enjoy cooking for people who have diets a little bit different to the every day. It's just a little bit more challenging than whipping up any of my regular recipes. My most recent challenge was to make a dessert that was both gluten and dairy-free. Since baking is my thing, I decided to try my hand at gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with dairy-free ganache.
The recipe is both easy and delicious. You can't ask for more than that!
The recipe is both easy and delicious. You can't ask for more than that!
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| Perfect as a dessert topping |
Chocolate cupcakes
4 eggs
1/2 cup "smart" sugar
2 tsp golden syrup
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup gluten-free flour
1 1/2 tbs cocoa
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Line a 12 cake muffin tin with cupcake cases.
Beat the eggs, sugar and golden syrup together at high speed until light and fluffy.
Sift together the baking powder, flour and cocoa. Gently fold in to the egg mixture, being careful not to lose too much volume.
Place the mix in the cupcake cases and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the cakes spring back.
Cool before icing or topping with ganache.
Dairy-free ganache
400g can coconut cream
1 tsp gelatine
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate melts
Method
Separate the solids from the liquid coconut cream. Heat a little of the liquid with a small amount of water. Add the gelatine and stir until completely dissolved. Add the remaining coconut cream and heat until hot enough to melt chocolate. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside until slightly thickened before pouring over cakes.
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