Banana Pecan & Maple Syrup Cupcakes to make you smile

This recipe was created during a family barbecue. We were making baked sweet potatoes (Americans call them yams???) in the barbecue and I had found a recipe for cinnamon & maple syrup butter to go with them. When I tasted it, I knew it would make a great topping for a cupcake. So, when I found some overripe bananas that needed to be used, I decided on Banana Pecan & Maple Syrup cupcakes, where the maple Syrup replaced the sugar you'd normally use. That would taste just great with Cinnamon & Maple Syrup Buttercream I had in mind. It also meant that these cupcakes can be eaten by people who have to eat sugar free (although they would have to skip the buttercream).

The color of the buttercream would be a bit brownish and boring, so the kids and I used chocolate sunflowers to decorate the cupcakes. And this is how it turned out. 

A little bit of sunshine on a sunny day

This recipe makes about 12 cupcakes.

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes

• 225 grams (8 oz) of gluten-free all purpose flour.  You can use gluten-free rice flour as well.
• 225 grams (8 oz) of over ripe bananas
• 150 ml (5 fl oz) of maple syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 75 grams (2.75 oz) of butter (softened)
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of roughly chopped  pecans
• 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon of salt

For the buttercream:

• 200 grams (7 oz) of soft butter
• 3 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of powdered sugar /icing sugar
• a pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade /350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Place paper cups in your cupcake tray.
3. Put the bananas with the eggs and the maple syrup in a blender and blitz till it's frothy and combined. Pour it in a mixing bowl.
4. Add the soft butter, the pecans, the gluten-free flour, the cream of tartar, the xanthan gum and salt and mix it all together to a airy batter. 
5. Scoop the batter into the paper cups and place the cupcake trays into the warm oven. Bake for about 20-25 minutes till the cupcakes are all risen and golden. 
6. Let them cool in the tin first, before you transfer them to a wire rack to let them cool completely.
7. Make the buttercream by mixing all the ingredients together and put it in a piping bag. Pipe it on top of the cooled cupcakes and decorate with whatever you want! 

Enjoy!

A momma's tale: fighting the 'gluten-free is a fad' concept

Before I share my recipe with you (which I will do in a next blog), I'd like to share my thoughts on something with you first. A while back I was scanning my twitter timeline and my eye caught a tweet. Innocent Drinks, that company that makes juices and stuff with lots of healthy goodness retweeted a tweet. They were doing a fun Twitter session where people were asked to update old movie quotes to the present. and I couldn't find this retweet very funny. So I responded. Here's the Twitter conversation i had:

It makes me sad that so many people think this gluten-free diet, this diet that is cruel and hard sometimes is considered a fad by so many. If only they had to live the life of a person who needs to live gluten-free in order not to get sick. Will they ever realize that it's not a celebrity diet to be mocked? Will they realize it is not about the health freaks that live gluten-free because they think it is healthier for you? (Which it isn't by the way, if you eat gluten-free just for the hell of it and without the help of a dietician, you'll miss out on essential vitamins, fibers and minerals.) Will they ever realize that this diet is about getting healthy & strong again and often getting healthy for a celiac means gaining weight? That it is about getting control over your body and eventually your life again, but also saying goodbye to many things that used to be normal for you? That going gluten-free because you have no other choice is not to be taken lightly but a brave and necessary decision that will impact the rest of your life forever? That it takes determination to stick to this diet? That a celiac can not cheat? And that it also means you are never sure of what you eat unless someone you trust makes your food? Will they understand how my kid feels when at school they once again forget to get him a simple popsicle instead of a well meant Italian gelato in a paper cup where they scooped hundreds of ice-cream balls onto  'gluten' cones before he got his? And that this might mean his ice cream is possibly still contaminated? Even if i have explained the same thing to them year after year? Will they understand his fear of getting sick and feeling horrible tummy ache all over again? 

What makes me more sad is that even though the celiac community often voices their experiences more often and even louder than ever, it is all to deaf ears. It gets lost in the jokes, in the shrugs, in the 'I don't give two fucks'. It took me a while to write this blog, because I wondered if it would make a difference if I wrote this. Would it help? But if i don't react to tweets like the above, when I do not write this blog, things will definitely not change. This may be read by just a few. I may only reach three people, but at least i've educated three people. Three more people who know to take celiacs and the gluten-free diet seriously. To not mock it. To not make light of it. Who may not understand what it means to live gluten-free, but who will maybe realize that this diet is serious shit (literally) and deserves to be taken just as seriously. 

Do me a favor? If you read this... spread the word. Even if you think: "But i don't know any people who are gluten-free?" All the better. Spread.the.fucking.word. Help the celiac community in their quest to get this 'the gluten-free diet is just a fad-concept' out of this world. Educate people, for crying out loud. It will not stop people from going on this diet because they think it is better for them somehow, but it will help get the real story out. It might open peoples eyes. 

If you want to know more about what it is like to live a gluten-free life & what it means to be a celiac, read my sons story. Read Jennifer Esposito's story.  Read. Educate yourself. 

Thank you! 

Wendy (a glutenfreemomma trying to change the world, one gluten-free recipe at a time)

Caramel Apple Pie that was supposed to look totally different

This blog entry is not about the challenges of gluten-free baking, but how a recipe can turn out totally different from what you see in the cookbook. I wonder if any of my readers have that when they recreate one of my recipes. Do they look completely different from the pictures I post with the recipes? And how the hell does that happen?

I was making a grocery list this morning and I had one of my many Jamie Oliver books open. You all know I love and adore him, right? Like, borderline worship... Anyway...my oldest son leafed through it and asked me if we could make this pie today. 

Jamie Olivers Toffee-Apple Pie

I told my son: "Sure" and we wrote down all that we needed for this recipe. But while I was reading it I thought: I'm not going to boil the 2 cans of  of condensed milk for three bleeding hours. What does he think? That I have all day? I'm going to make caramel my way. I guess that is where the whole thing went south. Well, sort of... because when my pie came out of the oven, it looked nothing like the picture above, but like this....

Errmmm... a bit different, but very lovely none the less. 

So here's the recipe to my gluten-free version of Jamie Olivers Toffee-Apple Pie, that I call Caramel Apple Pie. Because it sure isn't anything like Jamie's gorgeous pie, but lovely (and gluten-free) none the less. If you want to make Jamie's version and boil 2 cans of condensed milk for 3 hours, check Jamie's Dinners. 

Ingredients:

For the pie base

• 1 vanilla pod
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of butter
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of powdered sugar
• a pinch of bakers salt
• 250 grams (9 oz) of gluten-free flour (I used Schar C for cakes and cookies)
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• the zest of half a lemon
• 3 egg yolks (Jamie uses 2 but i used three to make sure the gluten-free base wouldn't crumble underneath your hands)
• 2 large spoons of chilled milk

For the filling:

• 2 cans (400 ml/ 14 fl oz each) of condensed milk
• 200 grams (7 oz) of butter
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of light caster sugar
• 2-3 large apples 
• some powdered sugar and cinnamon to sprinkle on top of the apples

Instructions:

1. First you make the pie dough, because that needs to be refrigerated for an hour (I was impatient (as always) and refrigerated it for 40 minutes and it turned out just fine). Put the seeds of the vanilla pod with the butter, powdered sugar, salt, the gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, lemon zest and egg yolks and mix it all together with your mixer until it looks a bit like breadcrumbs. Then add the milk and mix till the breadcrumbs have become a combined dough. Make a sort of a sausage from it, wrap it into cling film and refrigerate it as long as your patience allows you.
2. When your patience is up, line and butter a spring cake tin and slice the dough into slices (duhhhh) and cover the bottom and the sides, and press the slices together to make one base. Put it into the freezer for about an hour. (I didn't make it longer than 45 minutes again... I have no patience whatsoever)
3. Now peel the apples, slice into quarters, remove the core and slice them thin. Dust them with ground cinnamon. 
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade (350 degrees fahrenheit).
5. Make the caramel as follows: put the butter, condensed milk and sugar into a pan with a thick base, put it on a low heat and let it all melt together. Then bring it to a boil, and do not stop stirring! Keep stirring for about 5 minutes as soon as the caramel starts bubbling and then take it off the heat. Take your pie base out of the freezer, pour on the caramel and then place the apple slices neatly on top. Dust with powdered sugar and pop it in the hot oven for about 40-45 minutes till the crust is all golden and your house smells divine. 
6. Leave it to cool completely (I even put in the fridge for 2 hours till the caramel was completely set.) Before you cut it and serve it to your guests. And as long as you do not show them Jamie's version, they will ooohh and aaahhh at your genius! 

Enjoy!

A little taste of Italy: Amaretti Biscotti

I sometimes bake just to keep this blog going, and this recipe is no exception. I was leafing through one of my cookbooks when I saw the recipe for Amaretti Biscotti and I just knew I wanted to bake a gluten free version for this blog. So below you'll find the recipe for the Biscotti. All gluten free and just as yummy as regular Biscotti. Perfect with a double espresso after an Italian dinner.  They are very easy to make and make a perfect ending if you are treating friends to a gluten free Italian dinner. 

I know a lot of people think cooking gluten free Italian food is difficult, because pasta is made with wheat and hence contains gluten. But Gluten Free pasta's are fairly good and then the possibilities are endless! 
Start with some anti pasti (check if the meats are gluten free, that can be tricky!) and some home made gluten free foccaccia, then make this brilliant lasagna (which can be made in advance and is a recipe by of the genius that is Gennaro Contaldo, I just used gluten free lasagna sheets) and end it with some home made Gelato and finish with an (double) espresso and these Biscotti. 

These Biscotti's have some pistachio nuts in them for an extra bite

Now, if you are not a celiac, or allergic to wheat or gluten, and you are reading this and you want to entertain some gluten free friends please make sure you cook your dinner in a gluten free kitchen. And with gluten free I mean a kitchen where there isn't a crumb of bread, cookies, flour or anything else that contains gluten to be found. Do not use wooden utensils that have been used to cook gluten food. Make sure pots and pans are spotlessly clean. The same goes for your oven. Because one little crumb means so much trouble for a celiac, you wouldn't believe. It means pain, being sick and damage to the intestine that takes a very long time to heal. That is why in our home, gluten & gluten free food is prepared in different area of my kitchen. I have one oven that is purely for gluten free food. Our dinner is always gluten free. I only bake gluten free. Even if I bake for people with no gluten issues, I bake gluten free. I don't want gluten flour in my kitchen at any cost. Take no risks. Your guests will thank you for taking their illness seriously. 

Here's the recipe to make about 20 Amaretti Biscotti:

Ingredients:

• 125 grams (4.5 oz)of gluten free almond flour
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of powdered icing sugar
• 3 teaspoons of gluten free rice flour
• 0.5 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 30 grams (1.125 oz) of pistachio nuts bashed or crushed into tiny pieces
• 3 egg whites
• 75 grams (2.75 oz) of finely granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon of almond extract or amaretto liquor

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade / 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
3. Mix the almond flour, icing sugar, rice flour, xanthan gum and pistachio nuts in a big bowl. 
4. Beat the egg whites in a clean bowl while slowly adding the granulated sugar till the egg whites are glossy and airy.  
5. Add the almond extract or the liquor to the egg whites. Slowly fold the flour mixture into firm eggwhites, spoon by spoon, making sure the egg whites stay airy and fluffy. 
6. I used two spoons to make small ovals on the baking parchment and smoothed them with a wet spoon (this way you can smooth the top without the mixture sticking to your spoon).
7. Put them in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Turn them over half way through the baking process. 
8. Let them cool completely and store them in a airtight container until you serve them. 

Enjoy!