Fragrant feta, parsley and dill bread

Yesterday my 89 year old tough, sweet, wonderful, opinionated grandma passed away.  My last grandparent, my mothers mother and my kids oh so beloved nanna. We have been very lucky to have had her around for so long, but her passing hurts none the less. But because weirdly enough the world moves on while you are grieving, baking bread was on the agenda for today. I decided to do some therapy baking and try something new, while contemplating my grandma and her love for food. Or better said, her not existing love for cooking and so on. My grandma has never loved cooking, she ate because it kept her alive & kicking. Of course there were things she loved to eat, but cooking never was her favorite task. Where my mom and I get our love for cooking and baking from we don't know. Not my gran, that's for sure. Her oliebollen (Dutch doughnuts or Dutchies in English) and her (mostly collapsed and thus wonderfully sticky and gooey) cake on the other hand were legendary. My gran came from a family of 11 (and only one brother now remains, so sad) and every New Years Eve my gran would bake buckets full of oliebollen. Even when her huge family decreased over the years with brothers and sisters falling away, she kept baking them in buckets. We ate tons of them, even if they looked dreadful, they tasted marvellous. I don't think she ever wrote down her recipe, and I can never ask her now. Her "oliebollen" will stay a legend from now on. 

While kneading my dough I also contemplated the possibility of my grandma being a celiac without knowing. Because my gran has had tummy troubles her whole life, but never had herself checked out. My hubs and I have so often thought: what if I baked glutenfree bread for her too, would that have helped her somewhat? But she was so old and stuck in her ways and attached to her basic wheatbread that we never pressed on. She would've been so sad as to know she made her oldest puppy (that is how she always referred to my boys) so sick, so maybe it's better that we will never know. And that she will never know for sure, because I know the thought has crossed her mind too. 

As I was thinking of my wonderful gran, my hands worked seperately and created this soft, fragrant bread, made with Turkish yoghurt, feta, dill, parsley and paprika. It would be something my gran would never eat (way too exotic for her) but that she would be very proud of me for making it. Love you gran!

This bread is very fragrant, you'll smell it through your whole house when baking

Ingredients: 

• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of butter
• 75 ml (2.75 fl oz) of milk
• 20 grams (0.75 oz) of yeast
• 175 grams (6 oz) of Turkish yoghurt
• 75 ml (2.75 fl oz) of olive oil
• 1 egg
• A teaspoon of iodized salt
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons of fiber husk
• 450 grams (1 lb) of glutenfree flour
• 200 grams (7 oz) of feta
• 3 tablespoons of dried parsley
• 2 tablespoons of dried dill
• 1 teaspoon of paprika powder
• 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 50 degrees centigrade (122 degrees Fahrenheit) and put a bowl of water in the oven. 
2. Melt the butter and put it in a bowl to let it cool a bit. heat it the milk, just a bit so it's warm, do not let it boil, stir in the yeast and mix in the olive oil and the yoghurt. Separate the egg yolk from the egg white. Set the egg yolk aside and mix in the egg white in with the butter and the milk, yeast olive oil mixture as well. Add the sugar, iodized salt, xanthan gum and fiber husk and mix in. 
3. Add the flour and gradually work it through. When it's well combined, add the crumbled feta and the herbs and spices. Knead those through as well and then transfer the dough to a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Form a loaf and carve on the top a couple of times. 
4. Put the baking tray in the preheated oven and let the dough proof for about 30-40 minutes. Take it out of the oven and preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (350 degrees fahrenheit).
5. Mix the left over egg yolk with two tablespoons of water and brush it on top of the loaf. Leave it to rest another 10 minutes while your oven preheats. Then put it into the oven for about 35-40 minutes till it's golden. 
6. Let it cool a bit before carving it, this bread is very soft and crumbles easily. 

Enjoy!

Lemon, lemon and more lemon cheesecake (and some almonds too)

As I type this I realise that this is my 40th recipeblog. Wow, time flies when you bake like a maniac. To those who read my recipes faithfully, thank you! To those sharing them to share them with other celiacs: thank you too! 

To those who make them or recreate them, I hope your cake, bread or cookie turns out even better than my versions. I hope you enjoy making them as much as i do. Please let me know if my recipes work or fail for you. I love improvements. And thank you for your faith in my silly recipes. 

This lemon cheesecake was born in my head. I saw a recipe for an almond cake, but I found their topping of yoghurt and forest fruits a bit plain. Since I love citrus fruits and the warm weather here asks for a fresh cake this cheesecake sprang to mind. I could almost taste it, al I had to do was recreate what i conjured up in my head.

A summery, fresh cheesecake with a soft base

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 250 grams (9 oz) of almond flour
• 250 grams (9 oz) of finely granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• The zest of 1 lemon and a tablespoon of it's juice

For the cheese layer

• 200 grams (7 oz) of cream cheese (I used Monchou cheese)
• 250 ml (9 fl oz) of double cream
• 1 packet of whipping cream stiffner
• The rest of the lemon juice
• 150 grams (5.5 oz) of caster sugar

For the topping:

• Half a jar of Lemon curd (I used Chivers smooth Lemon Curd,it's glutenfree and so yummy it's addictive)
• 1-2 tablespoons of water
• 1-2 tablespoons of powder sugar 

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Mix the almond flour with the granulated sugar in a bowl
3. Add the eggs and whisk them in.
4. Add the lemon zest and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Save the rest of the juice of the lemon for the cream cheese layer.
5. Mix it all well and pour the mixture into a lined and buttered spring cake tin.
6. Put the almond cake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes till it's all golden and smells heavenly.
7. Let it cool for half an hour. 
8. When the base is suffienctly cooled down, you can finish the lemon cream cheese-filling and top it with Lemon Curd. 
9. Mix the sugar with the cream cheese and the rest of the lemon juice.
10. Whip the double cream with the whipping cream stiffener. Add the cream cheese-mixture to it and slowly fold it in. 
11. Spread the filling on the almond cake base. 
12. Put the lemon curd in a tiny bowl, add the water to make the curd more fluid. Add a bit of powdered sugar so it will make a nice glaze in the fridge. 
13. Spread the lemon curd mixture on the cream cheese. 
14. Put the cheesecake into the fridge for a couple of hours for a firm double cream and fresh cream cheese filling. You can make this pie/cake a day in advance and it will be perfect the day after as well.

Enjoy!