The Gluten Free Blog

This recipe is taken from Seriously Good! Gluten-Free Cooking by Phil Vickery.

What a lovely combination: sweet, creamy, chocolate matched with the tartness of the Bramley apple dip. It’s just superb!

For the base:

• 150g brown rice flour
• 55g caster sugar
• 115g unsalted butter
• Oil or butter for greasing

For the filling:

• 150g unsalted butter
• 150g soft dark brown sugar
• 397g tin of condensed milk

For the topping:

• 200g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
• 55g white chocolate, broken into pieces

For the dip:

• 4 large Bramley apples, peeled and cored
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
• Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.

Grease and line a 20cm square tin with baking parchment. To make the base, mix the flour and sugar together and then rub into the butter until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Press this mixture very lightly and evenly into the tin and bake for about 15 – 20 minutes or until pale golden.

To make the filling, place the butter and sugar in a large non-stick frying pan and stir over a medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. To make a golden caramel, add the condensed milk, stirring continuously, until the first bubble appear on the surface. Remove from the heat as soon as it comes to the boil. Spread the caramel evenly over the shortbread base and the cool and chill for about 30 minutes.

Place the apples, sugar, cinnamon, lemon and orange zest and juice in a medium pan and cook down until the apples are cooked. Place the milk and white chocolate in two separate heatproof bowls. Place the bowls over two pans of barely simmering water to melt the chocolate.

Pour the melted milk chocolate over the cooled caramel, smoothing to the edges. Quickly pour over the white chocolate and gently swirl to create a marbled effect. Allow to set. When the chocolate has set, cut the shortbread into squares and serve with the dip.

This recipe is taken from The Wheat and Dairy Free Cookbook by Terence Stamp & Elizabeth Buxton.

This is a very clean tasting soup that has a truly amazing colour. Neither orange nor red, it is a brilliant flame colour. Equally delicious hot or cold, this is a useful party standby and makes a refreshing alternative to gazpacho. It may seem from the ingredient list that this is a very spicy soup, but it is not. The blend of flavours is very carefully balanced and no one ingredient dominates.

• Olive oil – 5 tbsp
• Carrots, diced – 140 g (5 oz)
• Orange-fleshed sweet potato, cut into chunks – 140 g (5 oz)
• Onion, chopped – 115 g (4 oz)
• 10 green cardamom seeds
• Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
• 3 dried bay leaves
• Turmeric or a few saffron strands – ½ tsp
• Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
• Can chopped tomatoes – 1 x 400 g (1 x 14 oz)
• Stock, either vegetable or chicken – 500 ml (16 fl oz)

For the garnish:

• Sheep’s yoghurt – 100 ml (3½ fl oz)
• Chopped fresh chives

In a heavy saucepan heat the oil and cook the carrot, sweet potato and onion for 3 minutes. Add the spices and stir them into the oil for 1 minute. Add the lemon juice, tomatoes and stock, and simmer covered with a lid for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Remove the bay leaves and liquidise the contents of the pan in a food processor. Pass the purée through a sieve.

If the soup is to be served hot, pour back into the cleaned saucepan and gently reheat. The soup is meant to be fairly thick, but if you prefer a thinner soup, add a little more stock at this stage. You may then need to adjust the seasoning slightly with a little more lemon juice and black pepper.

If the soup is to be served cold, pour into a bowl, cover and chill in the refrigerator.

Whether hot or cold, garnish with a dollop of the yoghurt into which you have whisked the chives.

Serves 4

This recipe is taken from Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free, Reduced Calorie Cookbook by Connie Sarros. A great mousse for the calorie conscious!

Shred a piece of semisweet chocolate to sprinkle over the top of the mousse before serving.

• 3 ounces white chocolate, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon water
• 2 cups gluten-free non-dairy whipped topping

Melt the chocolate with the water in the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water until the chocolate is melted, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; cool, stirring occasionally. Fold in half of the whipped topping until completely blended, then gently fold in the remainder of the whipped topping. Spoon into bowls.

Makes 4 ½ cup servings

One serving – Calories: 74; Total fat: 4.4 g; Saturated fat: 3.9 g; Cholesterol: 1 mg; Sodium: 4 mg; Carbohydrates: 6.5 g; Fibre: 0 g; Sugar: 4.6 g; Protein: 0.2 g

This recipe is taken from The Wheat and Dairy Free Cookbook by Terence Stamp & Elizabeth Buxton.

These ginger cookies are very crisp.

• Fine oatmeal flour – 55 g (2 oz)
• All-purpose wheat-free flour – 55 g (2 oz)
• Pine kernels – 2½ tbsp
• Grated fresh root ginger – 3 tbsp
• Runny honey – 2 tbsp
• Baking powder – ⅛ tsp
• Sunflower oil – 1½ tbsp

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas 2.

Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and gather together with your hands to form a ball. Kneed the mixture in the bowl until it is smooth. The mixture will start out feeling rather wet, but as the flour absorbs the honey and oil, the dough will become firmer. It should look very glossy and have no cracks at all. If necessary, add some more oil to moisten.

Pinch out enough dough to form balls of about the size of a walnut and place these balls on an ungreased baking sheet, 7.5 cm/3 in apart. Using the heel of your thumb and palm, flatten the balls of dough as thinly as possible. This can also be done using a metal spatula. Tuck any loose edges of the mixture back into the dough to form a circular cookie.

Bake for 20 minutes or until evenly golden and cooked thoroughly. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 8 cookies.

This recipe is taken from Wheat-Free, Gluten-Free, Reduced Calorie Cookbook by Connie Sarros. Perfect for Christmas!

This dessert serves 10, so you can enjoy delicious leftovers.

• 2 envelopes gluten-free unflavoured gelatine
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2¼ cups evaporated skim milk
• 1 16-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin
• 6 tablespoons light brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 10 teaspoons gluten-free non-dairy whipped topping
• Cinnamon

In a medium bowl, sprinkle the gelatine over the cold water to soften; set aside. In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup of the evaporated milk to just boiling. Slowly stir the hot milk into the gelatine, stirring until the gelatine is dissolved. Stir in the remaining 1¼ cups of milk and the pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and vanilla. Spray a 10-inch pie plate with gluten-free non-stick spray. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the pie plate. Chill until firm. To server, top each slice with a teaspoon of whipped topping, then sprinkle the topping lightly with cinnamon.

Makes 10 slices

One slice – Calories: 112; Total fat: 0.9 g; Saturated fat: 0.8 g; Cholesterol: 2 mg; Sodium: 71 mg; Carbohydrates: 15 g; Fibre: 1 g; Sugar: 14.1 g; Protein: 6.3 g