Why do people settle for bad food, when you can do so much better if you just gave it a shot yourself? And don't give me the old: I can't cook & bake to save my life, because I can't isn't an option in my book. It drives my kids mental, but I do not accept I can't. I accept "I won't", "I don't want to" or I even "I'm too lazy to", but not I can't. Because if you really want to do something, you can. If it is your choice not to try something, fine, live with the consequences, but never, ever say i can't. Especially if you haven't even tried. It's a lousy excuse.
And a lot of prefabricated, mass produced gluten free food is just tasteless. It lacks love. Love and understanding what it means to eat gluten free because you have no other choice. And it lacks determination of making something better, just because you are not the one that has to eat it. The best products, in my opinion, come fro the companies founded by people who have celiacs in their life. People who started it out of love. Out of determination to produce something tasteful for their loved ones suffering from a necessary but tough diet.
This recipe was born this morning. It was born in my head, with the horrid stuff I ate yesterday in the back of my mind. I wanted to make something that would pop the tastebuds in my kids mouth, something that would make them smile, instead of make them scrunch up their nose in disgust.
This is what I made. And I made it with love & determination. And so can you. if you are willing to invest time, love & determination as well. Don't say you can't, say you can. And you will. You will succeed. If you set your heart & mind to it.
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| This is where determination & love gets you |
- 550 grams (1 lb 4 oz) of gluten free bread flour
- 1 teaspoon of fiber husk
- 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
- half a teaspoon of iodized salt
- 75 grams (2.75 oz) of granulated sugar (if you want to make it without, you can, I only used it to sweeten the bread a bit more. You can replace this for a few tablespoons of honey I think)
- 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
- 20 grams (0.75 oz) of yeast
- 100 grams (3.5 oz) of raisins
- 25 grams (1 oz) of cinnamon sugar (optional)
- 75 ml (2.5 fl oz)of olive oil
- 3 egg whites
- 250 ml (1 cup) of warm water
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 50 degrees centigrade (122 degrees fahrenheit) and put a bowl of water in the oven. This will help the bread rise later on.
- Take a big bowl and add the flour, fiber husk, xanthan gum, salt, sugar, cinnamon, yeast, raisins and cinnamon sugar. Mix it all well.
- Now take the warm water and out it in another bowl, mixing it with the egg whites, olive oil, honey & white wine vinegar. Whisk it well and pour it on the flour mixture. take your electric mixer and mix it all till you've got a well combined, firm dough. You don't want sticky dough, so if it is sticky, add a bit more flour.
- Need it on a clean surface, dusted with gluten free flour (make sure it is one hundred procent uncontaminated) and knead the dough. Divide it into two pieces, that you roll out like sausages. Then wind them around each other and turn it into a circle. Put some baking parchment in a round oven dish or baking tray and pop in the bread. It should look like this:
- Pop the bread in the middle of the preheated oven for an hour to proof. When the hour is over, it should look like this:
- Keep the bread out of the oven when you heat it to 200 degrees centigrade or 400 degrees fahrenheit. When the oven is warm, pop it back into the oven (on the lowest spot possible) and bake it for 10 minutes. Then lower the heat to 180 degrees centigrade or 350 degrees fahrenheit and bake the bread for another 40 minutes. I popped the bread out of the round dish 20 minutes before the end and baked it upside down for the remainder of the time to make sure it was golden and fully baked.
- Enjoy this with a bit of salted butter and some wonderful cheese.
