Gooey Quinoa brownies to die for

Sometimes I get confronted with my kids special 'condition'. Him being the only celiac in the kindergarten classes is an accepted fact by the school and his classmates. They know he eats differently and other than that he is just Thijmen. But this semester's theme is food. And now it gets more and more obvious to Thijmens classmates what being a celiac actually means. To them it is normally limited to a different sandwich at lunchtime and his own treatbox.

But last week the kids were asked to bring some carton packaging of foods they eat to school. So there were the boxes of chocolate sprinkles and milk and cornflakes and so on and Thijmen? He brought the boxes of glutenfree candy, glutenfree flour and glutenfree falafel to school. Suddenly it was more than clear to his classmates that his eating pattern is very different.
And yesterday they talked about the letter of the week. The Q. The kids were asked to name things with a Q. And what did Thijmen say? Quinoa. Its becoming an increasingly big part of his (and our) diet and so it was a natural response. And his teacher? She had no clue what it was. So I will be handing him a packet of it to show in the class and I've baked Quinoa brownies for him to show him how proud I am of him and how faithful he is to his diet, his way of life. If he wants, he can give a piece to his teacher, to show her what can be made with Quinoa. A little education goes a long way, right?

Here is the recipe for the brownies. Its not mine, it's by NatureCrops whose Quinoa is always stocked in my glutenfree cabinet. I just added fiber husk and some xanthan gum to keep the brownies from crumbling too much.

Ingredients:

• 250 grams (9 oz) of glutenfree dark chocolate
• 200 grams (7 oz) of butter
• 300 grams (10.5 oz) of powdered sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 1 tespoon of fiber husk
• 250 grams (9 oz) of Quinoa flour

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade (400 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Chop up the chocolate and melt it together with the butter in a bowl over a pan with boiling water. Stir well so the butter and chocolate blend well.Let the mixture cool a bit. 
3. Beat the eggs lightly with the powdered sugar. Add to the chocolate mixture once it is cooled a bit. 
4. Put in the flour, xanthan gum and fiber husk and mix well for a few minutes. 
5. Pour it into a lined and greased brownie pan and bake into the oven for about 20-30 minutes. The inside will still be a bit gooey, but that makes them even better.
6. Let it cool a bit before you serve it.

Glutenfree raisin & cinnamon rolls

Baking usually means patience and time, and of both I have very little. Also as a celiac (or a mom of one) it means you 'lose' a lot of valuable time baking. Because buying everything is even more expensive & to be honest, doesn't taste as good as what you bake fresh. (That goes for non-glutenfree too, btw). But bread needs time to proof, to develop structure and maybe even more important taste.
These glutenfree raisin rolls can be made in the three hours I have in the morning between schoolruns and it means my kids have warm fresh rolls for lunch.

This recipe makes 8 rolls.

Ingredients:

• 400 grams (14 oz) of glutenfree bread flour
• 4 grams (0.14 oz) of iodized salt
• 40 grams (1.5 oz) of granulated sugar
• 8 grams (0.28 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon of fiberhusk
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of softened butter
• 30 grams (1.125 oz) of yeast
• 250 ml (1 cup or 9 fl oz) of water
• 75 grams (2.75 oz) of raisins 
• The zest of one lemon
• 1 egg beaten

Instructions

1. Put the flour, salt, sugar, vanilla sugar, cinnamon, butter, yeast, fiber husk, xanthan gum and water in a bowl and mix for two minutes. Then kneed the dough shortly. Put the dough back in the bowl and leave it to rest for 45 minutes in a 50 degrees centigrade (122 degrees fahrenheit) warm oven. Put a bowl with water in the oven to help the dough proof.
2. Take the bowl out of the oven, add the lemon zest and raisins and ones it through the dough. Line a baking tray with parchement paper and divide the dough in pieces of about 110 grams (3.75 oz). Make balls put them on the baking tray and flatten them a bit. Put them back into the oven for another 45 minutes to help them proof further.
3. Take them out of the oven again, preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade (375 degrees Fahrenheit). Take a brush and brush some beaten egg over the raisin rolls. Put them in the warm oven and bake for about 15 minutes till golden. Serve while still warm. All they need is a bit of butter and some wonderful (Gouda) cheese.

Enjoy!

The ultimate glutenfree guilty pleasure: shortbread topped with caramel & chocolate

Just reading this recipe will cause you to gain at least 2 pounds but I promise it is worth it. This caloriepacked shortbread is my husband's favorite birthday treat. Ever since I first made it about 5 years ago he's requested I make it for every birthday. As his 40th is around the bend (we celebrate tomorrow) I got out my glutenfree baking bible, Louise Blair's Great Gluten-free Baking, and looked up the recipe. Really, get your hands on this recipebook if you love baking, every recipe is brilliant!

Now, watch the calories attach themselves to your hips as you read the recipe (don't say I didn't warn you!). It makes about 15 servings.

Ingredients:
Shortbread

• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of soft butter
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of finely granulated sugar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of rice flour
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of corn flour
• 1 tablespoon of xanthan gum

Caramel

• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of butter
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of light caster sugar
• 1 can of condensed milk (about 400 ml/14 fl oz)

Chocolate layer

• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of glutenfree dark chocolate
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of glutenfree white chocolate

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade (400 degrees fahrenheit).
2. Put the butter and sugar for the shortbread in a bowl and whisk till it is all fluffy.
3. Pour in the flour and xanthan gum and mix well. The dough will be light and crumbly. 
4. Butter a baking tray of about 28x18 cm (11x8 inches) and toss in the crumbly dough. Press it and make sure it is evenly spread out in the tray. 
5. Bake in a warm oven for about 10-15 minutes until golden. Take it out of the oven and let it cool a bit. 
6. In the meanwhile put all the ingredients for the caramel in a pan with a thick base. Put it on a low fire and keep stirring until all the sugar and butter has dissolved and the mixture is bubbling. Don't stop stirring now, and let it boil for about 5 minutes.
7. Remove the pan from the heat, let the caramel cool a bit and then pour it over the shortbread. Let it cool completely.
8. Put the white and dark chocolate in seperate bowls, put those on top of pans with softly boiling water. Let it melt. Pour spoonfuls of white and dark chocolate alternately on top of the caramel and shake the tray to make the chocolate mix. Drag a knife through the chocolate to make a pretty pattern. Let the chocolate cool and freeze up in the fridge. Cut before serving.

Enjoy! Or should I say indulge?

Glutenfree briochecupcakes with forest fruit topping

As promised after my rather big rant in my previous blog from 2 weeks ago here's a lovely new recipe. In this recipe I get to combine 3 of my food favorites: cupcakes, brioche bread and forest fruits. How's that for indulgence?

The basic, non glutenfree recipe, is from my cupcake inspiration: Cupcake Heaven magazine. I turned it into a glutenfree recipe & combined my brioche bread recipe with theirs. The difference with my brioche recipe is that I've used a bigger amount of butter, because I wanted an (even more) luxurious taste for these cupcakes and I've used less flour.They would make a great addition to a glutenfree high tea or just enjoy them with a great cup of tea.

This recipe makes 12 yummy brioche cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 200 grams (7 oz) of soft unsalted butter
• 20 grams (0.75 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 1 tablespoon of regular granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 375 grams (9.75 oz) of glutenfree breadflour
• 20 grams of yeast
• 1 teaspoon of iodized salt
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon of fiber husk
• 200 ml (7 fl oz) of lukewarm milk (use proper milk, not non-fat, it will make your brioche so much more tasteful)
• 1 egg (beaten)

For the topping

• 250 grams (9 oz) of forest fruits
• Powered sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 50 degrees centigrade (122 degrees fahrenheit), put a bowl of water in the oven. The water will help the proofing of the bread.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar and salt in a bowl.
3. Add the xanthan gum and fiber husk and mix.
4. Add butter, 3 eggs and lukewarm milk and the yeast. Mix it all with an electric mixer till you get a firm yet sticky dough. 
5. Line cupcake trays with paper cups and scoop in the dough. 
6. Put it in the preheated oven for an hour to let it proof. 
7. After an hour, take the trays out of the oven and preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade (375 degrees fahrenheit). Brush the top of every cupcake with some of the beaten egg and when the oven is on the right temperature put it back into the oven for another 20-30 minutes until the cupcakes are baked and golden. Leave them on a rack to cool for a few minutes.
8. Make a puree of the forest fruits (I pureed them separately) and sweeten with powdered sugar. Spoon some puree over every cupcake.

Enjoy!