Glutenfree oatcakes

I'm reading Jenny Colgan's The Summer Seaside Kitchen and in them the main character Flora makes Scottish oatcakes. Usually her books contain a few recipes and this one is no exception.... except... the Scottish Oatcakes aren't one of them. So I searched the ever knowing world wide wide and made my own version of the various different recipes I've found. 

These oatcakes are wonderful with a bit of butter or cheese, but I think they make a great and quite healthy breakfast option too, as I'm one of those breakfast cracker kind of person. ;-)

I made these crackers with 100% gluten free oats and oat flour so my two gluten free sons can eat them as well. My sons don't react to oats (i know that is not the case for everyone with coeliacs disease) and they love eating oatmeal and such. 

Ingredients: 

• 100 grams of rolled oats
• 175 grams of oat flour
• 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 60 grams of cold butter
• 1 teaspoon of iodised salt
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 100 ml  of hot water

Instructions: 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade or 390 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix together the rolled oats, oat flour, cream of tartar, iodised salt and sugar in a big bowl.
3. Add the cold butter mix this through the flour and rolled oats mixture by rubbing it together until everything is mixed. It should have the consistency of bread crumbs. 
4. Add the water (just bit by bit) and combine until you have a somewhat thick and slightly sticky dough. The amount of water varies; depending on the oats. I needed a lot of water. 
5. Sprinkle some flour on a clean work surface and roll out the dough to  thickness that's about 1/2cm. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. 
6. Place the oat cakes on a baking tray and bake  them in the oven for  about 20-30mins until a light golden brown colour. 
7. Let them cool a bit on a wire rack before you eat them with some salted butter or cheese. 

Lemon & Honey cookies

I not only bake for my kids or my blog, I bake for my colleagues too. Almost two weeks ago I had a work dinner and I spent half the evening taking requests from colleagues for cookies. My cookie baking reputation at work has taken a flying leap. And every now & then I indulge them. And I always love their reaction: "You can't tell this is gluten free!" Well, duhhh, of course not. Gluten free does not equal cardboard cookies. Not if you do it right.

But first I needed a recipe for cookies that were delicious, taste like summer & that I could make in enormous quantities. So I adapted another recipe that had the consistency I was looking for with honey and lemon and a bit more sugar to match the summery feel I wanted. This is the result. So I first made a batch for my little men and soon I'll be baking a gigantic amount of cookies & I'll take a tour to visit all the cookie begging colleagues and bring them some. 

They may not look like summer, but they taste like it all the same!

This recipe makes two dozen cookies.

Ingredients:

• 300 grams (10.5 oz) of rice flour
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 1.5 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 15 grams (0.5 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of light caster sugar
• The zest of two lemons
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of butter
• 4 tablespoons of honey

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade (350 degrees fahrenheit)
• Put all the ingredients in one big bowl and mix till you have a combined dough. It will feel soft, but not extremely sticky.
• Pour some gluten rice free flour on a clean kitchen surface, kneed the dough on it and then roll it out with a rolling pin. Cut out cookies with your favourite cookie cutters. Repeat until you have used up all the dough.
• Put the cookies on baking trays lined with baking parchment and put in the oven for about 15 minutes until slightly risen and golden. 
• Take them out of the oven and let them cool completely before you serve them with a cup of tea or coffee. 

Enjoy! My boys loved them and I think they have a new favourite cookie.

Sinful Gigantic Chocolate Chip Cookies

I could tell these cookies would be fabulous just by tasting the dough. Crunchy, velvety dough full of chocolate. And you know what makes it so fabulous? Loads of full fat butter, sugar, vanilla & egg yolks. Lots of stuff that basically is not healthy for you, but oh so delicious every now & then. 

Those of you who know me a little know that I'm totally horrified by the fact that some people seem to think that the gluten free diet is a good way to lose weight. It's not, it's a diet that helps people get their health back. That doesn't mean that I'm opposed to living healthy either. Those that know me well know I've struggled with my weight for a period of my life and the only way I got back to a healthy weight was by cutting down portions, eating healthier (read loads of veggies, fruits, rice, wholemeal bread and such and above all no more processed packaged foods) and exercising way more (riding my bike to work every day). So I get people wanting to live healthy. I just don't believe that the gluten free diet is going to do you any favours. Because gluten aren't your enemy unless you have celiac disease. Sugar, fat & such are. But if you don't eat unhealthy stuff all day, every day, it's ok to indulge yourself every once in a while. And that's what I've done by making these cookies. Cookies that I'll serve to my kids and some of my colleagues tomorrow because I think they deserve a bit of indulgence. And I may just have one myself. ;-)

This recipe makes about 20 huge cookies. 

Ingredients:

• 250 grams (9 oz) of full fat butter
• 250 grams (9 oz) of light caster sugar
• 250 grams (9 oz) of (sticky) rice flour 
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda or cream of tartar
• 0.5 a teaspoon of iodised salt
• the scraped seeds of a vanilla bean
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of white chocolate
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of dark chocolate

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade or 350 degrees fahrenheit.
• I bought to bars of chocolate and bashed them to smithereens with my meat hammer (make sure you have some big chunks left in there too for good measure).
• Put all the ingredients in a big bowl and mix them until you have above mentioned crunchy velvety dough with tons of chocolate.
• I rolled out the dough (on a gluten free, clean surface) till it was about 0.5 cm (almost 0.25 of an inch) thick and punched out round cookies with cookie cutter with a diameter of 7 cm (2.5 inch). I put them on a baking tray (make sure you leave a lot of space in between) and put them in the oven for about 10-12 minutes. 
• Leave to cool & then impress your friends, family, colleagues (or yourself) with them as you serve them with a cup of coffee.

Gluten-Free Easter Bunny bread rolls

This week my boys will have Easter brunch at school, after the Easter service in the local Catholic church. It is a nice end to the church service and a wonderful beginning of the Easter weekend. But it is always one of those days that my boys realize they eat differently. That they're the odd one out. The rest of their class will eat the brunch served by school and they will be eating their own gluten free bread rolls. Because school won't provide a gluten free brunch for them. Part of me understands, because the chance of glutening the kids is huge, and you don't want to be responsible for that, but on the other hand it is still a bit sad that school can't provide for kids with special diets. But... it is what is is, so I made my boys these Easter Bunny bread rolls, so they have something special at the brunch.

These are so easy to make, you can make them with your kids. 

I used Peak's Free From fibre-rich bread mix to make these airy bread rolls, but I did not quite follow the instructions on the box. This recipe makes about 12 Easter Bunny's.

Ingredients:

• 450 grams  (1 lb) of Peak's Free From fibre-rich bread mix
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 15 grams (0.5 oz) of yeast
• 12 grams (0.3 oz) of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 250 ml (9 fl oz) of warm milk
• 60 ml (2.03 fl oz) of extra vergine olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon of molasses
• oatmal to make noses
• black currants to make the bunnies eyes
• an egg (whisked) to brush on top of the bunnies
• a bit of oat flour to roll out the dough and prevent it from sticking to the surface & the rolling pin

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade /350 degrees fahrenheit
2. Mix the bread mix, xanthan gum, yeast and sugar in a big bowl.
3. Mix the milk, eggs, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and molasses in another bowl.
4. Add the milk mixture to the bread mix and beat with an electric mixer till all is combined and you have a sticky dough.
5. Dust a clean surface with a bit of oat flour and roll out the dough till it's about a centimeter or half an inch thick. Dust the top with oat flour too when you roll out your dough. Then use a (large) bunny shaped cookie cutter to cut out the bread rolls.
6. Brush the top of the bread bunnies with the whisked egg and then make noses from the oat flakes & press in black currants for eyes. 
7. Put the bread rolls in the warm oven and bake for about 35 minutes until golden and fluffy.
8. Put them on a wire rack to let them cool. 

Serve them with a bit of salted butter and some cheese. Happy gluten free Easter!

Blueberry & Lemon Cheesecake

I'm not going to write a whole intro to this recipe because basically I've baked this for the sheer fun of it. I wanted to bake and since I yearn for more springlike (or better yet summery) weather, I made this blueberry and lemon cheesecake. Both flavours represent sunny weather for me and they go together so incredibly well! 

Also, I don't feel like preaching about gluten free all the time. This luxurious and rich cheese cake is my way of saying: see... living gluten free ain't so bad. You can have cheese cake & eat it all! 

Here's how it turned out.

Yeah, I know.... it tastes as good as it looks, I promise!

Ingredients:

Base

• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of soft butter
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of raw cane sugar
• 200 grams  (7 oz) of gluten free rice flour

Cheesecake

• 600 grams (1 lb 5 oz)of softened cream cheese, softened
• 200 grams (7 oz) of sugar
• 15 grams (0.5 oz)of vanilla sugar
• 85 grams (3 oz) of sticky rice flour (gluten free) 
• half a teaspoon of baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 125 ml (4 fl oz) of sour cream
• grated zest of one lemon
• juice of one lemon
• 200 grams (7 oz) of fresh blueberries

Lemon & cream cheese frosting

• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of cream cheese, room temperature
• 50 grams (3.5 oz) of butter, room temperature
• 50 ml (2 fl oz) of sour cream
• 250 grams (9 oz) of powdered sugar
• grated zest of one lemon
• lemon juice 2 tablespoons
• about 100 grams (3.5 oz) of blueberries for decoration

Instructions:

Base:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade/ 400 degrees fhrenheit
2. Line a spring cake tin with baking parchment & butter the sides
3. Mix the butter, sugar & rice flour in a bowl till you have a crumbly mixture. Pour it in the spring tin & cover the base of the spring tin pressing the mixture to form a solid base. Put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes until it starts to turn golden & take it out of the oven. Let it cool down.

Cream cheese filling: 

1. Reduce oven to 150 degrees centigrade / 300 degrees fahrenheit.
2. In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, rice flour and baking soda until combined (Use low speed to keep less air from getting into the batter). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add eggs one at a time, beating slowly and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition.
4. Add the sour cream, lemon zest and lemon juice. Beat on low speed until well combined.  
5. Now fold in the blueberries with a spatula so they stay intact. 
6. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the (shortbread) base.
7. Place spring tin(covered with aluminum foil) in the oven.
8. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
9. Turn off the heat and leave cheesecake in oven with door closed for 30 minutes.
10. Remove cheesecake from oven and chill it in the refrigerator.

Decorate:

1. Combine cream cheese , sour cream and butter and mix until smooth.
2. Add lemon zest and powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
3. Add lemon juice and mix until smooth.
4. Once cheesecake is cool and firm, remove from spring tin and place on serving plate. Cover with icing. Sprinkle blueberries on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Enjoy!!!

Carrot Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese frosting

I always bake gluten free, even for my own birthday. Why? Because I do not want to risk any cross contamination in my kitchen and in my baking products. The only gluten products that come into my kitchen are my breakfast crackers & our bread that we religiously keep away from the gluten free stuff. Our dinner is always gluten free, I do not want to cook two seperate meals.

So that also means that the birthday cakes for my husband and my birthday are always gluten free too. No fuss, and basically (if I do it right) people don't even taste the difference. This year I wanted to make a carrot cake. I had never made one gluten free, so now was as good as a time as any. When I googled carrot cake I stumbled on this Dutch recipe and it sounded so delicious that I just needed to make a gluten free version of it. And that is more than just substituting the flour, because gluten free flour react differently than normal flour, so i needed to make some changes in the recipe. Here's how it turned out:

There's tons & tons of cream cheese frosting on top to give the cake some extra zing!

Ingredients:
Cake:

• 450 grams (1 lb) of grated carrots
• 300 grams (10.5 oz) of gluten free cake flour (I used Schar's mix C) 
• 200 grams (7 oz) of raw cane sugar
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of grated coconut
• 2,5 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• the zest of 1 orange
• half a teaspoon of iodized salt
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon of grated nutmeg
• 0.5 teaspoon of powdered ginger 
• 0.5 teaspoon of powdered cloves
• 15 grams (0.5 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 225 ml (8 fl oz) of olive oil
• 125 ml (4 fl oz) of buttermilk
• 4 eggs
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of chopped walnuts 
• 100 gram (3.5 oz)  of chopped raisins (sultanas)

Orange & cream cheese frosting

• 300 grams (10.5 oz)(3 of cream cheese 
• 3 tablespoons of fresh cheese (quark)
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of powdered sugar 
• zest of one orange
• 2-3 tablespoons of orange juice.
• about 50 grams (1.75 oz) of chopped walnuts to decorate.

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade/350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Take a big bowl (you need a big one, because this amount makes a whole lot of batter!!!) and mix the flour, cane sugar, grated coconut, grated carrot, vanilla sugar, cream of tartar, xanthan gum, cinnamon, nutmeg, powdered ginger, powdered cloves and the orange zest. 
3. Take another bowl and mix the eggs with the buttermilk & olive oil.
4. Mix the egg, oil & buttermilk mixture in with the huge amount of flour, spices, carrots & coconut mixture. Make sure it is mixed well. If your mixture remains a bit dry, add a bit of extra buttermilk.
5. Now fold in the chopped walnuts and raisins.
6. Butter a round spring tin and line it with parchment paper. Pour in the batter and softly even it out with a spoon.
7. Put it in the oven for about 50-60 minutes until it is nice & golden.
8. Let the cake cool completely before you decorate it with the cream cheese frosting. To make the frosting mix the cream cheese, fresh cheese, orange juice & powdered sugar till all is combined. Spread it on top of the cake.  Sprinkle the cream cheese frosting with orange zest & chopped walnuts.

Enjoy!

Mascarpone & parmesan bread rolls with chives & pine nuts

Before I share this recipe with you all, there's something that I need to get off my chest.

I've had it with this whole fad concept that people seem to think that gluten free is. I've also had it with people eating gluten free solely because they think it's healthy for them. I really don't know how to make this any clearer but: gluten free does not equal healthier people. You are basically denying yourself nutritients: vitamins & minerals because you avoid gluten without any medical reason to do so. Wheat, rye, spelt, whatever.... it's not unhealthy for you (unless you have celiac disease or a wheat allergy). And if you don't have a medical reason to avoid gluten, neither are the gluten. Eat the damn stuff, just do it with moderation. These grains contain nutrients you need & that celiacs need to compensate for with other foods to get their daily intake. Just stop eating all the processed shit that food companies try to sell you. Because that all does contain crap you do not want to eat on a regular basis. Just eat healthy and do not believe the hype, because that is pure marketing. It does not mean it's valid or true. And you are simply making the life of people who have no other choice but to live gluten free very, very difficult. Because you feed the common thought that gluten free is a fad and that you do not need to take it seriously. 

And to all the people on the other side of the spectrum that are rolling their eyes and questioning living gluten free: some people really do have a medical reason to eat gluten free. And it's a very valid one. I honestly hope you don't ever have to go through this strict way of life, where you have to watch out what you eat, to make sure your food does not get contaminated. Because one crumb of bread or a bit of wheat flour can make you sick. And I mean really, really sick. And yes weird things such as cosmetics, play doh or glue can contain gluten and if you forget to wash your hands it will contaminate your food. Just like that. For real. It's not a joke. My 8 year old is proof. He has celiac disease and he is doing remarkably well. Most of the time. He is very strict on his diet, but his intestines will always be his weak spot. Even if he sticks to his diet. Right now he is home with tummy cramps and other stuff that comes with it, solely because the stomach flu virus he picked up is harder on him than it is on others. And he is suffering from it longer than you & I would. He has this disease for life. So trust me, it's real. It's damn real.

Rant over. Here's the recipe to the mascarpone & parmesan bread rolls I made for my sons. Because living gluten free may be hard and serious 'shit', it's not the end of the world either. 

Ingredients:

• 250 ml (9 fl oz) of buttermilk
• 1  large egg
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of mascarpone cheese
• 450 grams (1 lb) of gluten free bread flour (I used Le Poole mix for white bread)
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons of fiber husk
• 10 grams (0.25 oz) of granulated sugar
• half a teaspoon of iodized salt
• 75 grams (2.75 oz) of grated parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons of chopped chives
• 1 egg yolk, two tablespoons of water & pine nuts for decoration

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 50 degrees centigrade (110 degrees fahrenheit) & put a bowl of water in the oven. The water will help the dough proof.
2. Put all the ingredients (except for the pine nuts) into a big bowl in the order you see above. 
3. Mix it all until you have a firm but sticky dough.
4. Divide the dough into 9 equal pieces and form them into rolls. I used the handle of a wooden spoon to make indentations on top (in the middle) of each roll. Just because it looks nice. 
5. Put the rolls onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment & put it in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes to let the dough proof.
6. Take the dough out of the oven and turn up the heat of the oven to 200 degrees centigrade (400 degrees fahrenheit).
7. Mix the egg yolk with the water & brush it on top of the bread rolls. Sprinkle with the pine nuts.
8. Put the bread rolls back into the oven for about 30-35 minutes until they are golden. 
9. Let them cool on a wire rack before you serve them, although my son ate his straight from the oven.

Enjoy!

Fluffy peanut butter cookies with a chocolate surprise

The recipe is based on this brilliant recipe that popped up on my Tumblr feed and I decided to make a gluten free version of it because my youngest son is a huge, huge fan of peanut butter. And of chocolate sprinkles. I fear that slight addiction is all my fault, because when I was pregnant with my youngest son I suddenly developed a craving for peanut butter & chocolate sprinkles sandwiches. When I was pregnant with my first I ate tons of olives. Guess what he loves? Yeah...

Anyway, I decided to add a little twist to the recipe and hid a chocolate button in the centre of each cookie. That way my youngest had cookie that combined his favorite sandwich toppings: peanut butter & chocolate. In the next batch I'm putting in a bit more, because the balance isn't quite right yet. There isn't enough chocolate in the cookie. So f you make it, pout in a bigger chunk of chocolate & you'll be very pleased with the end result! 

Here's how mine turned out:

See, not enough chocolate. but delicious all the same!

This recipe makes about 25 medium cookies.

Ingredients: 

• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of peanut butter 
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of butter
• 200 grams (7 oz) of raw cane sugar
• 2 eggs
• 15 grams (0.5 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 300 grams (10.5 oz) of gluten free rice flour
• 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• some raw can sugar to coat the cookies with

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees centigrade/350 degrees fahrenheit. Using an electric mixer, cream peanut butter and butter in a mixing bowl until it's smooth. Add the raw cane sugar; beat it until it is fully combined. Add the eggs and vanilla sugar, and continue beating until creamy.
2. First sift your flour in a separate bowl so it will be light & airy, sift the baking powder and xanthan gum as well. The xanthan gum is needed so your cookies won't crumble. Then whisk together the flour, baking powder & xanthan gum. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter, sugar & peanut butter mixture, beating on low speed.
3. Prepare baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or lightly greased aluminum foil. Place raw cane sugar on a plate. Roll (table) spoonfuls of cookie dough into balls, press a chocolate button or chunk in the middle and then roll each ball between your hands. Roll balls in sugar to coat them completely.
4. Place cookie balls 3 cm / 2 inches apart on a prepared baking sheet. Bake until cookies begin to puff up slightly, about 12-15 minutes, until cookies just brown around the edges and crackle on top. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool at least 10 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Easy to bake cinnamon rolls a la Wendy

You know that moment when you read a recipe and think: "Man, I would do that completely different and it would be absolutely amazing?" Or am I the only one cocky enough to think that? (I do hope some of you who actually use my recipes think that every now & then and improve my recipes. Because there is always room for improvement!)
The longer I'm doing the gluten free baking stuff the more I recognize a good recipe or one that could be improved. Simply because I've baked so much I just know how certain components go together or how gluten free dough reacts. So if you are just starting out & wonder what the f*ck you got landed with when you received the diagnose of celiac disease: it does get better. The more you bake, the better you become at it. It's just a new way of baking and accepting that the old way is not going to work. 

This recipe for easy cinnamon rolls is one of those: "Man I would do that differently"-recipes. I knew certain components were missing to make the dough more like "real" cinnamon rolls. More fluffy, less compact. Why settle for ok, if it can be wonderful, right? 
The fact is, my first version was sort of ok. It had the consistency I wanted, but the taste was still a bit off. Turned out I used the wrong combination of flours and too much baking soda. Bummer! So here's the recipe to my improvement of the improvement. You still with me? So don't be discouraged if something doesn't work out the first time. Just try again and change your recipe a bit.

This recipe makes about 12 cinnamon rolls and you whip them up in about 45 minutes or so. A quick fix if you suddenly have guests and you need to serve them something delicious.

Fluffy, soft, yummy cinnamon rolls

Ingredients:

• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of soft butter
• 1 egg
• 40 grams (1.5 oz) of full fat yoghurt
• 20 grams (0.75 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 175 grams (6 oz) of basic bread flour (and a bit more for dusting your work surface and rolling out your dough)
• 5 grams (0.125 oz) of xanthan gum
• 5 grams (0.125 oz) of baking soda
• half a teaspoon of iodized salt
• 40 grams (1.5 oz) of finely granulated sugar
• 1.5 teaspoon of cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 175 degrees centigrade or 325 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Put the butter, egg, yoghurt, vanilla sugar and honey in a bowl and mix it till it's creamy and combined. Add the flour, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt and mix it into the creamy butter mixture. Your dough can be quite sticky. If it is, add a bit of extra flour. 
3. Dust a clean work surface with a bit of flour and roll out your dough into a rectangle shape. 
4. Mix the granulated sugar with the cinnamon to create cinnamon sugar and spread it over the dough. Leave a border with no sugar so the dough can stick toghter when you roll it up. 
5. You roll up the dough from the short side of your rectangle. Then slice it up in tiny rolls. If some cinnamon sugar falls out of your cinnamon rolls, just press the top into it, so you get a nice layer on top of your cinnamon rolls, as well as in between. 
6. Put them on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and put them in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes. They'll come out all risen and golden. 
7. Let them cool on the tray before you serve them with a cup of tea (or coffee if you so please)
8. Enjoy!

Cinnamon cheescake with Dutch stewed pears & a speculoos base

Autumn & winter aren't my favorite seasons. I don't like the cold. I don't like the darkness & the gloomy atmosphere that comes with it. But I do love the food. It's comforting & traditional. The smells & tastes bring me back to my youth, when life was simple. And the food is just as simple. 

This cheesecake combines the best of autumn & winter: cinnamon, speculoos cookies (or as we call it speculaas) and typically Dutch stewed pears. Whenever I make them, i think of my grandma, who made them for us when we came for dinner and they always tasted so delicious. She was so good at them. They make me smile & this cheesecake will warm your heart & tickle your tastebuds as well. 

I did not invent this recipe, it's someone else's clever & delicious invention. I altered a bit of the recipe to my grandma's way of making the stewed pears (with port wine, you cannot do without!!) and a gluten free base with my "kruidnootjes" dough as base. Here's my gluten free version:

It might not look all that pretty, but it makes up for it in taste

Ingredients:

Stewed pears

• 4-5 Gieser Wildeman pears
• 350 ml (12 fl oz) water
• 2 tablespoons of granulated vanilla sugar
• 1 cinnamonstick
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 star anise
• 1.5 glass of port wine

For the gluten free speculoos base

• 25 grams (1 oz) of soft butter
• 125 gram (4,5 oz) of dark caster sugar 
• 8 grams (0.25 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of gluten free buckwheat flour
• 200 grams (7 oz) of gluten free cookie flour (I used Shar's C mix)
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder
• 2 tablespoons of gluten free mixed spice/speculoos spices (a mixture of ground cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, kardemom & orange peels) 

For the Cheesecake

• 400 grams (14 oz) of cream cheese (I used Dutch Mon Chou cream cheese)
• 250 grams (9 oz) of cottage cheese 
• 125 grams (4,5 oz) of granulated sugar
• 8 grams (0.25 oz) of vanilla sugar 
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon 
• 1 tablespoon of mixed spice/speculoos spices 
• 1 vanilla bean

How to make the stewed pears:

It's best to make them the night before so they are cold when used in the cake. 

• Scrape the vanilla from the bean'pod and put in a separate bowl. 
• Put the water, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla bean and star anise in a small saucepan. Stir so that the juice absorbs the sugar. 
• Peel the pears, slice them in quarters and remove the core. Add them to the pan. Place the pan over medium heat and bring to a boil. 
• Reduce heat to low, cover the pan and cook the pears for about 1 hour. Then add the port wine & cook for another 30 minutes. 
• Turn off the heat and let the pears cool in the pan with the lid on, outside of the refrigerator.

How to make the cake:

You start with the dough for the speculoos base:

• Beat the butter with the sugar until creamy. 
• Beat in the egg.
• Then add the mixed spice/speculoos spice, cinnamon, xanthan gum, salt, cream of tartar and all of the gluten-free flour and kneed the dough (using a mixer) into a firm ball. 
• Put this, covered with foil, in the refrigerator for an hour.
• Line a spring baking tin with baking parchment and butter the sides. 
• Roll out the dough on a clean surface and line the baking tin with it. Put it in the fridge.
• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade / 350 degrees fahrenheit.

Now make the cheesecake filling as follows:

• Mix the cream cheese, cottage cheese, sugar, cinnamon, mixed spices and vanilla until you have a smooth mixture. 
• Fold in the eggs one at a time. 
• Remove the tin from the fridge and pour the mixture onto the crust. 
• Put the pears on top. 
• Bake the cake about 1 hour in the preheated oven. 
• The cake should have a beautiful golden color and there should be no more moisture to be seen. 
• Allow the cake to cool for at least three hours on a wire rack before you serve it. 

Enjoy!

Ps. next time I'm making this cheesecake, I'll chop up some 1 extra stewed pear and mix it through the cheesecake mixture. That would make it even more fabulous!!

Mozzarella, Basil & Parmesan Bread

I could write a whole story about why home made gluten-free bread is so much better than store bought, or about what it's like to have to bake all your own bread if you are looking for variety in your gluten-free diet, but with this bread, it's not necessary. You cannot buy this kind of bread and come on... look at it:

And it's not that much work to make either... so what are you waiting for?

This recipe makes two fluffy, yummy ciabatta shaped breads. It's delicious as it is, but it is lovely with a cup of your favorite soup. 

Ingredients:

• 400 grams (14 oz) of gluten-free (bread) flour 
• 15 grams (0.5 oz) of yeast
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 250 ml (9 fl oz) of warm water
• 60 ml (2.25 oz) of extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons of greek yoghurt
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 teaspoon of cider vinegar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of chopped mozzarella
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of grated parmesan cheese
• a handful of fresh basil leaves (chopped)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees centigrade or 425 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Line an oven tray with baking parchment.
3. Mix the flour (in a big bowl) with the yeast, xanthan gum and salt.
4. Whisk the water, oil, eggs, honey and vinegar together in another bowl. 
5. Beat this (together with the greek yoghurt into  the dry ingredients with an electric mixer at a low speed until you have a thick, shiny dough. 
6. Beat it for another 5 minutes on medium high speed, mixing air into the dough and scraping the ides of the bowl occasionally. Add the mozzarella, parmesan cheese and basil in the last two minutes. If it's very sticky, add a bit of extra flour.
7. Divide the dough in two batches and form both into ciabatta shaped loafs on a clean, gluten-free flour dusted surface.
8. Carve the top of the loaves to make them pretty and put them on the baking tray. 
9. Lower the heat to about 200 degrees centigrade (400 degrees fahrenheit) and put them in the oven for about 40-45 minutes. I do not let this dough proof, it works just as well when you put it straight into the oven. They will come out golden, fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Enjoy!

Gluten-free 'leftovers' fiber-cake

My cupboard with baking products was overflowing with leftovers again. That's what happens when you experiment a lot, because somehow you never need the full amount of the stuff you buy for your recipe. So I put it all on my counter and realized they had one thing in common: they're all products full of fibers. Fibers are essential for your (intestines) health. You need them, but celiacs don't always get enough of them. Because gluten-free products lack natural fibers. Natural fibers that are in wheat, barley, rye and spelt. You can compensate part of it by eating lots of veggies but with kids, that's always tricky. Mine do ok with their veggie intake, but a bit more fibers (and vitamins & minerals) can't hurt. So I often bake bread and add nutritious stuff like dried fruits, tomatoes, herbs, nuts, oatmeal and such. But you can also bake cakes full of fibers. That's what I did today:

Ingredients:

• 125 grams (4,5 oz) of soft butter
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of cane sugar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of molasses (I used Dutch apple syrup)
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons of gingerbread spices 
• 110 grams (about 4 oz) of almond flour
• 110 grams (about 4 oz) of gluten-free cake flour (I used Schar's C-mix)
• 10 grams (0.5 oz) of cream of tartar
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of grated coconut and some extra to sprinkle on top
• 25 grams (1 oz) of gluten-free oatmeal and some extra to sprinkle on top
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of raisins (I soaked them in rooibos tea for half an hour before adding them to the cake mix)
• 1 apple (chopped in tiny pieces)

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade (a little over 325 degrees fahrenheit).
• Cream the cane sugar and soft butter together until it is a fluffy mixture. Add the molasses and mix it in. 
• Then add the eggs and mix that in. Beat the mixture until it is airy and well combined. 
• Now add the spices, almond flour, cake flour and cream of tartar. Beat it well until it is all combined. 
• Add the coconut & oatmeal and mix it in. 
• Finally add the raisins (drain them well!!!!) & the chopped apple. Fold this in instead of beating it, so your batter will stay light & airy. 
• Butter a cake tin and tip the cake batter in. Sprinkle the top with some coconut & oatmeal & put the cake tin in the middle of the oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes. If the top gets dark too fast, lower the temperatures.
• When the cake is all golden and baked fully (stick a skewer in to check if the batter doesn't stick to it. If it doesn't, then the cake is done), take it out of the oven, out of the tin and let it cool on a wire rack. 

Enjoy!

Coconut & Pumpkin Cake with lots of dark chocolate on top!

Damn that last bit of the big ole pumpkin that was still taking up refridgerator space. It had to go, so I just had to make sonmething with the last itty bit of it (you don't throw away perfectly good & nutricious food even if you don't know what to make with it, now do you?). And since I couldn't bear to eat pumkin soup again and my kids would kill me if we ate pumpkin risotto for the millionth time, it had to be a cake of some kind. This recipe is my own invention, no 'inspirational stealing' from anywhere so it's a Wendy-original... and it turned out soooo good!

Yes, it tastes as good as it looks

Ingredients:

• 550 grams  (1 lb 4 oz) of cooked and mashed pumpkin (cooled)
• 220 grams (8 oz) of basic gluten free cake flour (iIused Schar's cake & cookie flour - Mix C)
• 200 grams (7 oz) of sugar
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of soft butter
• 4 eggs
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of grated coconut and some extra for decoration
• 10 grams (0.25 oz) of cream of tartar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of dark chocolate

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade or 350 degrees fahrenheit
• Cream the butter and the sugar in a big bowl until it's light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs and then add the flour, cream of tartar, gluten free flour & the coconut. When that's all combined add the pumpkin. Fold it in carfully so your batter won't lose the air you've beaten into it.
• Butter a cake tray and pour in the batter.
• Place it in the middle of the oven & let it bake for about 40-45 minutes, until your house smells heavenly and the cake is risen and golden.
• Take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes before you gently take it out of the tray. Place it on a wire rack and let it cool completely.
• Melt the chocolate (chunks) in a bowl that you place on a pan with softly boiling water. Make sure the water does not touch the bowl. When it's completely melted pour it over your cake & sprinkle it with coconut. Leave it till it's completely cooled & serve with tea!

Enjoy!

My other gluten free pumpkin recipes:

• Pumpkin & buttermilk bread
• Pumpkin & walnut cupcakes
• Pumpkin pie with cream cheese frosting

Pumpkin Pie with Cream Cheese Frosting

I've had many conversations about my sons gluten free diet the last few days. My son was invited to a birthday party of a classmate and so I had to discuss his diet with her mom in order to make sure he was catered for. His classmate had told her mother already that Thijmen has a diet, so her mom was sort of prepared. Until she heard what it all meant. A bit overwhelmed she said: "Oh my, that must be so difficult to live with...." and I answered her: "No, it's ok... when you are used to it..." and in my mind I was already concocting a new recipe. I also told her: "I'll e-mail you where you can get what you need so you won't have too much work and he'll eat safely & has fun." 

I'm always e-mailing people, calling restaurants, bowling alleys, theme parks or zoo's to check if my kid can eat there gluten free. And I stress how important it is to be strict in this diet, because it will make him very sick otherwise. It's part of being the mom of kids on a gluten free diet. But when people ask me if it is hard and difficult, I will always tell them it's not that bad. When you are used to it. And that is the truth, although it might looks like i'm contradicting myself. This diet is strict and there are so many freaking things you need to remember of which cross contamination is the hardest one. It's so hard for others to understand that one measly crum of bread, pasta, cookie, cake or candy can make you sick. But once you've learned all the tricks, know which products are safe (but keep checking ingredient declarations at all times), have turned your life style around it (washing your hands a gazillion times per day for instance), once the diet is in your system, it's really is no that bad. It's still a serious business, but it is not the end of the world. You just get used to all the organizing, baking, cooking and explaining. 

Now if only all the above was the same for doctors. I also talked to two friends this week who have loved ones with tummy issues and it amazed me how easy doctors say: Go eat gluten free for a while to see if it helps you. I keep educating people around me about getting a bloodtest first that will show signs of gluten intolerance if you are a celiac. If you start the diet first and then take the test, these levels drop fast and there is nothing left to see. So when you would quit the diet, because the test shows nothing, you could only make yourself sicker. Or ... what if they tell you that if it works, you need to go back to 6 weeks of gluten hell again, just so they can make a diagnosis they could've made way sooner if they did not advise, but had acted first? And besides, do they actually tell you that there is more to this diet than just eating gluten free? That is also means that you have to be fully gluten free and that you can't cheat and that you need to keep all gluten products away from the gluten free stuff for fear of contamination? 

That is why I keep repeating myself and maybe I'm the gluten free pest in your Twitter & Facebook timelines, telling people to take this all seriously, but I do that because it just needs to be said, for my kids sake, for other celiacs' sake and for all those people out there who do not know where their tummy troubles come from. And I'll always add after all the seriousness: "Once you get the hang of it, it's not that bad. And I'm here to help." 

I'll step off my soapbox now and share this recipe with you that shows that eating gluten free ain't so bad. ;-)

I decorated it with chocolate pumpkins for that Halloween vibe

Ingredients:

For the shortbread base

• 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

For the pumpkin filling

• 750 grams (1lb 10oz ) of pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
• 140g (5 oz) of caster sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp fresh nutmeg, grated
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 25 grams (1 oz) of butter, melted
• 175 ml (6 fl oz) of milk

For the cream cheese frosting

• 200 grams of softened cream cheese
• 115 grams (4 oz) of butter
• 250 grams (9 oz) of icing sugar 
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

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 & line a spring tin with baking parchment 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. Place the pumpkin in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and simmer for 15 mins or until tender. Drain pumpkin; let cool
7. Push the cooled pumpkin through a sieve into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, salt, nutmeg and the cinnamon. Mix in the beaten eggs, melted butter and milk, then add to the pumpkin purée and stir to combine. Pour into the tart shell and cook for 10 mins, then reduce the temperature to 180C (350 degrees fahrenheit). Continue to bake for 35-40 mins until the filling has just set.
8. Leave to cool.
9. Make the cream cheese frosting as follows. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.
10. Serve chilled.

Mini Custard Pies with an almond, coconut & oatmeal base & a fresh strawberry

I was making rumpledoodles (see recipe on my blog here) a few weeks back and as I was making the dough for these cookies full of fibers and lots of flavour I realized it would make a great base for pies too. I figured I had to alter the recipe somewhat to make for a pie crust, so that needed some thinking. I let that idea slip from the back of my mind for a while, until last week when it hit me. It would make a wonderful combination with custard. Home made, gluten free custard. And that's when the baking itch always hits me. When the idea has come to me, I just have to bake. 

The little black specks in the custard are the vanille seeds as I used a proper vanilla pod in the custard.

So I made these cute little pies as a Sunday treat & the amount of dough also allowed me to make a stack of cookies too. This recipe will make about 12 mini custard pies and about 10 oatmeal, coconut, almond cookies. When I wanted to photograph the cookies, I found out i only had three left. So that goes to show how lovely those were. 

They're gone before you know it!

And the mini custard pies? They didn't last very long either! 

Ingredients:
Pie base & cookies

• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of rolled oat
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of gluten free almond flour
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of grated coconut
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of raisins, 50 grams (1.75 oz) of dates, 50 grams (1.75 oz) of dried apricots
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons molasses (maple syrup works really well too!)
• 150 grams (5.5 oz) of soft unsalted butter (if you are lactose intolerant as well, you can substitute it for soy butter or something similar)
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 1 egg
• a tiny bit of basic gluten free flour to dust the work top with and to help roll out the dough.

Custard

• 250 ml (9 fl oz) of milk
• 1 vanilla pod
• 16 grams (0.5 oz) of vanilla sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 20 grams (0.75 oz) of corn starch
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of granulated sugar

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade or 350 degrees fahrenheit.
• Line a muffin or cupcake tray with paper cupcake cups.

First you make the custard as follows:

1. Mix all the sugar with the cornstarch & whisk it with a bit of cold mix till all the cornstarch and sugar are combined and you have no lumps.
2. Scrape the vanilla pod seeds from the vanilla pod and put them in a pan with the pod. Pour in the remainder of the milk & heat the milk in the pan on the stove. 
3. Beat the egg yolks with the cornstarch & sugar mixture till it is is frothy.
4. Pour a bit of the hot milk on the frothy egg, cornstarch, sugar mixture while whisking and then pour this back into the pan with the milk. 
5. Bring this to a boil and keep whisking, as soon as the custard starts bubbling, turn down the heat, leave it to boil for about a minute & don't stop stirring.
6. Then pour the custard on a cold plate or in a cold bowl, remove the vanilla pod and cover it with cling film. Leave it to cool for half an hour and then let it cool further in the fridge.

Then you make the pie crust & cookie dough:

1. Put the rolled oats, the apricots, dates & raisins in a blender and blitz till everything is in small chunks and the oats look like flour.
2. Put it in a bowl and add all the other ingredients. 
3. Mix it all well until you have a firm but slightly sticky dough. 
4. Dust a spotlessly clean worktop with a bit of basic gluten free flour (I always use a bit of baking parchment to place on the work top and dust that with the flour to make sure no stray gluten can bite my gluten free dough in the butt, just to be sure) & put the dough on there. Dust it with gluten free flour again & roll out the dough till desired thickness & punch out circles for the cookies & the pie crust. Place the circles (roll them out a bit if necessary) in the lined muffin or cupcake tray and form the pie crusts. Put the cookies on baking parchment & on a tray. 
5. Bake them both in the oven for about 20-25 minutes till golden.
6. Take them out of the oven & let them cool on a wire rack before you fill a piping bag with the cooled down custard and pipe the custard onto the pie crust. Decorate with a fresh strawberry. 

Enjoy!!