GLUTEN-FREE BREADS AND BAKING

[First posted 26th September 2013]

I ran a couple of breadmaking sessions (making pain au chocolat) at a SureStart centre here in Taunton this morning – one for dads and their kids, and one a general drop-in for families.

After a conversation with one of the mothers about gluten-free breads (her husband was trying to avoid wheat and dairy) I said I would post something on the subject on my blog.

So here’s where I’ll try and gather all the info that I have about gluten-free breads and baking.

Firstly, some of the GF breads and cakes on this blog:

Socca - gram flour pancakes, socca made into an 'omelette', traditional pancakes, chocolate cake, scones. (There's more - just put 'gluten free' into the search box)

And I have a recipe for a GF loaf of bread further down this post.

FAINA - FARINATA

There are a whole range of recipes which use a chick-pea batter - here's my recipe for socca, which is a thin pancake, done in a frying pan.

Faina, or farinata, if I've done my research properly, is a lot thicker, and baked in the oven.

The basic recipe is very simple:
100g chick-pea (gram) flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
300ml water
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

However, I love to tinker with recipes, and I wanted something spicy.

So I added a teaspoon of my homemade curry powder, a teaspoon of bouillon powder instead of salt, a teaspoon of Italian seasoning and a splash of mushroom sauce.

I whisked this to get rid of the lumps, and poured it into a 20cm cake tin ( actually, my silicon cake form).

This was baked in the oven for about 20 minutes at 220C.

It came out as a solid slab - and (apart from nibbling it constantly, for it was very tasty), I wasn't sure what to do with it. Eventually, I cut off  about a third which I sliced horizontally and fried lightly for a couple of minutes each side. I had this for dinner with a spicy tomato sauce with cannelloni beans (sort of baked beans) and some curried potato wedges.

I thought it was absolutely gorgeous, and it's one I shall do again. Whilst eating this, I realised that, cut into chunks and fried, it could well be used in a chilli non carne. In the event I made the chunks and added some to a veg curry I was making. This again was a lovely way to use up the faina - and I've still got some chunks left in the oven (which I'm nibbling on every time I go to the fridge!)

I could certainly see me using this in the same way I use seitan - and it's yet another alternative to soya chunks.

A GLUTEN FREE VEGAN LOAF

I ordered some Bob's Red Mill gluten free bread flour from my local Health Food Shop - and was astonished to find it cost £5.99 for 450g! [faints] Won't be buying that again, I'm afraid.

Stiil, I was curious to see how it performed using vegan ingredients. Here's the resulting first attempt:

Made two small loaves

 Good look crumb and a nice rise!

Gluten free, vegan chocolate cake

(This is a GF variation on a vegan chocolate cake I developed for a family get-together last year.)

Ingredients:

165g Dove's gluten and wheat free self raising flour

25g cocoa powder

200g sugar

80g vegetable oil

250g water

Method:

Measure the dry ingredients, sifting the flour and the cocoa powder, then add the oil and water. Stir, initially with a dessertspoon, and then with a whisk, then pour into a prepared 20cm (8") cake tin.

Bake at 175C for 35-40 minutes.

Or: Use a micro-wave friendly cake form and microwave for 6-7 minutes (800W). Rises better!

Here's the original recipe.

VEGAN COFFEE MORNING FARE!

This was what I was left with: some GF carrot cake, couple of marzipan and apple tartlets, 2 Danish pastries, 2 Bialys  and some Pane al cioccolato

Every month or so, my friends and I hold a coffee morning - and this week it was my turn to play host.

I always do a bit of experimenting on these occasions, push the boat out a bit, and use the opportunity - I'll be honest - to show off a bit.

So the evening before, I set to and made a rich chocolate loaf,

following this recipe, followed by a gluten-free carrot cake.

I had intended to make a coconut cream topping on the following morning - but I ran out of time.

Although I did allow myself a couple of hours in which to do a bit of experimenting, making Danish pastries (using Pure soya spread), 

Bialys (bread shots) filled with marzipan and mincemeat or marzipan, dates and chocolate, and marzipan and apple tartlets.

The four Bialys on the left were filled with marzipan and mincemeat - the other four have marzipan, followed by chopped dates and topped with half a square of dark chocolate

All these were made from 400g white flour, plus 3 dessertspoons sugar, 15g of yeast and 240g water - in other words, a simple sweetened bread dough.

VEGAN CARROT CAKE

Monday 15th September 2014
Made a gluten-free version of this tonight, for tomorrow's coffee morning. No walnuts so I replaced them with  flaked almonds.

This time I baked it in the microwave! 

2 reasons for this:
1. Six minutes in there as against 30+ mins in an oven at 180C - talk about saving the planet!
2. And it rises about 25% more in the microwave than it does in the oven.

Also, if you're in a hurry, the microwave wins hands down!

I shall attempt to make a coconut cream topping for it in the morning.

[Pics to come]
31st August 2012

Ingredients:

165g s/r flour

200g sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground ginger

80g grated carrots

70g chopped walnuts
80g vegetable oil
220ml water

Method:

•       Preheat the oven to 180C

•       Measure the flour, sugar, spices,carrot and walnuts - stir to distribute 

•       Add the oil and water to the mix and stir – initially with a large spoon or spatula, then with a whisk

•       Pour in to an oiled and lined 20cm (8” inch) baking tin or cake tin

•       Put in the oven and cook for between 35-40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean

•       Leave on a cooling rack in the tin for ten minutes

•       Turn out on to the cooling tray

The only way I’ve found not to gorge on this cake is to, as soon as possible, cut it into, say, 50g pieces, then put them in the freezer. This way I can allow myself one piece per day.

Variation: For a gluten free version of this, simply use Dove’s gluten free flour in place of the flour

5:2 DIET: SOCCA OMELETTE - VEGAN AND GLUTEN AND SOYA-FREE

7th August 2013
Why, oh why don't I have this more often?

I've just made a quick version of this for lunch, which was absolutely fabulous - and only 184 calories!

Lightly fry the tomato and mushroom to soften, and sprinkle with black pepper.

Then:

30g gram flour

Pinch of salt (optional)

75ml water

5 squirts of 'One-cal' olive oil (for the frying pan)

Filling:
1 rounded dessertspoon hummus
1 sliced tomato
1 sliced mushroom

Method - as below.

Calorie count:

30g gram flour - 101

20g houmous - 60
75g tomato  - 14

29g mushroom - 4

10 squirts of oil (five for the tomato and mushroom, 5 for the 'omelette') - 5

Total 184 calories

29th April 2013
I just love chick-pea (gram) flour! It is full of  flavour - and so useful in the kitchen.

Here's a lovely, socca based, vegan, gluten-free, soya-free omelette-type dish. Dead easy - and dead gorgeous! 

This 'omelette' totals roughly 263 calories for those watching their weight. Served with the potato wedges linked to below, plus a serving of broccoli, the total comes to approximately 375.

Ingredients:
30g gram flour
Pinch of salt (optional)
75ml water
5 squirts of 'One-cal' olive oil (for the frying pan)

Mix together, and add:

5 slices of jalapeno peppers, chopped fine
1 sun-dried tomato, chopped small

Filling:
Houmous
Sprinkle of lemon juice
1 field mushroom, sliced and lightly fried
Black pepper

Sharp, tangy and hot - and very few calories!

Method:
Heat a medium-sized frying pan with a little oil (or, for calorie counters, use about 5 squirts of 'One-cal'), and pour in the batter. 

Just starting to cook from the edges

Allow the pancake to cook for about 4-5 minutes, then, to make sure it's not sticking to the pan, gently lift the edges up all round with a spatula.

Spread houmous over one half of it, sprinkle with lemon juice,  then place the mushroom slices over the houmous.

Finished off with black pepper 

Sprinkle with black pepper, then fold the other side of the pancake over the filling.

The finished 'omelette'

Serve with curried potato wedges and broccoli.

30g gram flour - 101c
16g jalapenos - 4
16g sun dried tomatoes - 33
40g houmous - 120
36g mushroom - 5
5 squirts of oil - 5

Total - 268

Plus 100g curried potato wedges - 87 cals, and broccoli - 15 cals

370 calories in total!

Note: If you want an even lower-calorie meal, substitute the houmous with more mushrooms and sliced tomato. The meal would probably come in at around 270 cals in total!

More about the 5:2 'diet'.

Gluten-free pancakes - also dairy and egg free!

I've been making pancakes with just self-raising flour and water for a while now.

Yesterday I thought I'd try it with gluten-free flour - and, what do you know? It works! Recognisably good pancakes using Dove's gluten-free self-raising flour.

I've put this on a separate post so that it will show up on a gluten-free search.

Refer to the other thread for the method.

Or, simply mix a batter with your chosen flour and add water to make a batter.

Heat up an oiled frying pan - and away you go!

Gluten-free, egg-free, parkin

This is a variation on my vegan parkin recipe - simply substituting gluten-free flour for the wholemeal and increasing the baking powder slightly:

100g porridge oats

100g gluten-free flour (I used Sainsbury's white bread flour - that's all I had in)

3 tsps baking powder

4 tsps ground ginger

1 tsp mixed spice

100g sugar

80g vegetable oil

220g lukewarm water

100g blackstrap molasses - warmed and added after the oil and water

Mix the dry ingredients (only sieving the baking powder), then add the oil, the water and the molasses.

Stir with a spoon and whisk until smooth, then pour into a 8" cake tin. I used this star-shaped silicon cake mold which is 9" across between the points, and 6.5" across the middle and it's 1.5" deep.

Just before baking...

And just after baking

Bake for about 40 minutes at 175C - and it's done when a skewer comes out clean.

Apart from being a bit lighter than the one made with wheat flour, it was indistinguishable - the combination of the ginger and molasses along with the porridge oats make this a truly memorable cake.

My son was well pleased - he always has a problem with the gluten in ordinary cakes.

I've since tried it with Dove's GF brown flour, and it seems to be a little heavier than the white GF flour - which is closer to the original, I think. 

VEGAN SCHIACCIATA CON L'UVA (Gluten free)

Ingredients:

200g cornmeal

100g sultanas 

2 dsps sugar

2 tsps gluten-free baking powder

150ml (plus) water

Good splash of olive oil 

Plus a handful of seedless grapes, halved.

Method:

1. Put the oven on at 200C and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

2. Place dry ingredients in mixing bowl and stir a couple of times, using a spatula or table knife.

3. Working quickly (the baking powder starts to react when it meets the water.), add sufficient water to bring it together as a dough - I found I'd used 162.5g (my scales are divided into 25g segments - the pointer was just halfway between two markers!)

4. Place on baking parchment and roll or push the dough out into a circle about 2cm thick. Cover with the grapes and place in the oven for about 20 minutes

5. It's ready when a skewer comes out clean.

The term ‘Two harvest bread', comes from the fact that the sultanas are from last year and the grapes from this. (If you soak the sultanas overnight in wine it becomes ‘Three harvest bread' and the wine now becomes a dessert wine!)

The bread has an unusual texture - it seems a little grainy when you first pop it into your mouth, and there is a slight 'metaliccy' taste.

But I had some last night and found myself going back several times for another nibble, which is a good sign!

I had a chunk for breakfast, split and spread with apple puree. It was very acceptable.

(I'm certain you could make this into a pizza dough by leaving out the sugar and fruit. I'd be tempted to brush the surface with oil before putting on a tomato topping.)

Socca (gram flour 'pancakes') vegan and gluten-free

[Other variations on socca - faina/farinata.]

Friday 26th August.
Had this again for dinner with a filling of lentils and mushrooms - and then I had a socca pudding!


100g gram flour
235g water
1/4 tsp salt


I cooked a small pancake and dusted it with sugar. Meanwhile I'd blitzed some strawberries and raspberries with a little sugar in the microwave. Using a slotted spoon I placed the fruit down the middle of the pancake then placed slices of vegan ice cream (Swedish glace chocolate ice cream) over the top of the fruit. Then I lifted the sides of the pancake over the filling and, with some difficulty, scooped it up and onto a plate. I then drizzled the fruit 'couli' over  the dish and served it up.


Very nice indeed!


TBH, the pancake fell apart quite a bit whilst maneuvering it around. On reflection I should have:
Oiled the pan a bit more, so the spatula would slide underneath easier;
Allowed the pancake to cook a little longer so it would keep its shape better;
Used a spatula on both sides to lift it out.


But there's no getting away from the fact that this is a very nice pud indeed!


Saturday 20th August.
Following a conversation with a friend whose daughter is on a fat-restricted, gluten-free diet, I tried this recipe without the oil - and found absolutely no difference. That's not quite true, I found it held together slightly better without the oil! (I've taken some pics which I'll post soon.)


I shall start another thread on 'Received wisdoms - batters and pancakes' on the BBC Food board shortly - I make some lovely vegan pancakes without either eggs or milk. (I started a similar thread recently questioning the use of butter and eggs in sponge cakes.)


27th May 2011.
Made this again today, substituting 20g of oatmeal for some gram flour and once again it was lovely. Only difference is you need to keep stirring the batter as the oatmeal tends to settle.


17th October 2010.
I came across this blog today, with a recipe for this bread very similar to the one I made yesterday:


I used:
100g gram flour
1 teaspoon Marigold bouillon powder
225ml water
20ml olive oil


I blitzed this for a couple of seconds, and poured in enough to make a 20cm pancake. I did think the batter was very thin, but, no, it was just right.


Then I placed some curried lentil and cabbage (that I’d had sitting on the stove) on one side of it, and folded it over like an omelette, and cooked it a bit more.

I have to tell you it was absolutely wonderful! The combination of flavours was just perfect!

For lunch I made the recipe I intended to make last night – I finely chopped 3 s-d-toms and some ‘Misto funghi’ from Lidl, stirred them into the batter and made a pancake with the mix. After a couple of minutes I turned it over, since I wasn’t sure the middle was done on top. I had this with some fried tomatoes and, once again it was lovely! 


Tonight I repeated the lentil-filled omelette, but this time I took a couple of pics:

Gorgeous, just gorgeous!