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Craisin, pecan and white choc cookies

On February 24, 2012 in Baking, biscuits, celiac, comfort food, gluten-free, Nigella Lawson

Has the cult of celebrity ever struck you as weird? The way masses of seemingly sane people can go hysterical in the presence of a rock star, actor or reality TV star? Or how women can go weak at the knees at the mere sight of their idol. Think Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Lady Gaga, Madonna – all these mere mortals have been known to cause this effect. Indeed, if you were an alien observing Earth from afar, surely you would come to the swift conclusion that we’re all completely nuts!

Hero worship doesn’t stop at rock stars and Hollywood A-listers. The foodie world is currently basking in the glory of its newfound celebrity status.  Many refer to it as the “Masterchef phenomenon”, and they’re not wrong. Cooking was cool long before reality TV, but shows like Masterchef have put culinary pursuits well and truly back on the radar, and transformed previously unknown chefs like Adrienne Zumbo into household names.

Internationally speaking, the cult of celebrity chefdom is positively brimming at the rim. While most of us aren’t likely to go into a crazed frenzy at the site of Jamie, Nigella or Heston (okay, so I probably would), we are all on first-name basis with them. When these cooking gurus aren’t dazzling us with their latest cookbook release, they’re lighting up our screens with yet another cooking series. And as for Jamie, well he’s a special case, but his foodie empire is expanding faster than I can type this blog post. Speaking of which, have you checked out Jamie’s Ministry of Food Australia?

Of all the celebrity chefs out there, Nigella is my favourite. Truth be told, I just want to look like her, but that’s not the point. For someone who’s not a chef, she does a very good job of inspiring me to don my apron. Sometimes I wonder if there’s a food guru sitting behind the camera telling her exactly what to say and when to say it, but let’s not break the enigma shall we.

Without further ado, today I’m sharing my wheat-free interpretation of Nigella’s cranberry and white chocolate cookies (from Feast cookbook). My recipe actually strays quite a distance from Nigella’s version, but the results are good and gluten-free to boot. This brings me to the topic of oats. These cookies contain oats. While oats are deemed “no go” by the Australian Coeliac Society, they are on the gluten-free list of equivalent societies in other countries. They don’t upset my tummy, but I’m not a Coeliac, so you need to make your own call on whether these cookies are right for you.

Craisin, pecan and white choc cookies

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes: 20

Cranberry, pecan and white choc cookies

Craisin, pecan and white choc cookies

Ingredients:

125g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (loosely packed)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
pinch salt
1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder, sifted
11/4 cups gluten-free plain flour, sifted
3/4 cup rolled oats (please see note above about oats)
1/2 cup dried craisins (you can buy them from the supermarket)
1/3 cup pecans, chopped
1/2 cup white chocolate, roughly chopped (or you can use choc chips)
Method:
1. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer until creamy. Add vanilla essence and egg then mix until light and fluffy.
2. Add sifted flour, baking powder, oats, salt (please see note above about oats) and mix lightly until combined.
3. Stir in the choccie, pecans and craisins until evenly distributed.
4. Roll tablespoonfuls into balls and bake on two greased trays (they will spread so leave enough room) at 150ºC for about 15 minutes or until cooked and lightly browned.
5. After about five minutes, remove the cookies with a spatula and let them cool on a wire rack.
Cranberry, pecan and white choc cookies

Cranberry, pecan and white choc cookies

Notes:

  • Don’t worry if the mixture is sticky. My mixture was gooey and the finished product held together well.
  • I used White Wings gluten-free plain flour, but I found it to be very salty. Next time I’m going to make my own gluten-free flour mix using rice flour, soy flour and cornflour. In fact, there’s a great flour recipe in ‘Gluten-free Dessert Bible’. I will contact its author, Fiona Hammond to see if she’s happy to share it with you.

So, tell me. What’s your favourite biscuit recipe? And do you prefer your biscuits crunchy or chewy or both?

 

 

 

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Almond, hazelnut and apple cake

On February 16, 2012 in Baking, cakes, dessert, wheat-free

Guess what? Thirty six sleeps ’til I tie the knot. In a last-minute ditch to get in shape for the big day, future hubby and I have given up booze for the month of February. Thankfully it’s a short month. Mind you, neither of us are missing a tipple as much as we thought. In fact, I could get used to this teetotaling lifestyle. It saves kilojoules, money and sore heads. As an antidote to our puritan ways, I’ve been channelling my inner Martha Stewart and whipping up lots of baked goodies. So much for getting in shape, but hey, a girl’s gotta have some fun, even if she is a bride-to-be.

This brings me to today’s recipe – a gluten-free almond, hazelnut and apple cake. It hails from Brioche cafe in Balmain which I recently reviewed on Food Crush. The owner of Brioche, Fiona Wilkinson sells it by the truckload and kindly offered to share the recipe with yours truly. Finding a good gluten-free cake recipe can be as hard as finding a good man, so when you find a recipe that’s as good as this one, you simply must hold onto it for dear life.

Almond, hazelnut and apple cake

Almond, hazelnut and apple cake

I can see why Fiona loves this cake. It’s as light as a feather, beautifully textured and different from any other cake I’ve tasted. What’s interesting is it hardly contains any flour. Ground nuts constitute the bulk of dry ingredients while grated apple creates a lovely moistness and subtle sweetness. Fiona’s recipe (which originally from ’Gluten Free and Easy‘ by Robyn Russell) contains pistachios. I decided to use hazelnuts as a substitute only because my local supermarket had some freshly ground ones sitting in their refrigerated section (and they were half the price of packet pistachios that I would have had to grind myself).

The trick to getting this creation spot on is in mixing the egg whites until they’re just right. Be sure not to overmix them or they will lose their elasticity. It only took about 30 seconds for hard peaks to form with my electric mixer on the fastest setting. Also, be sure to fold the beaten egg mixture into the dry ingredients with a very gentle hand. Take your time with this as it can make or break the cake. You want to keep as much air in the egg whites as possible to keep the cake nice and fluffy.

Said cake went down a treat with my workmates last week – and that was without the sweetened mascarpone and mint that is supposed to act as an accompaniment. I’ve already received requests for seconds. I might try it with pistachios next time as I’m curious to compare the flavours. Oh, and Fiona tells me this cake is low-GI (glycemic index), so it would be foolish to stop at one piece.

Serves 8

Ingredients:

100g (2/3 cup) ground hazelnut (or ground, unsalted pistachios)
30g  (1/4 cup) white rice flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
150g (11/2 cups) ground almonds
6 eggs, separated
115g (1/2 cup) caster (superfine) sugar
115g (1/2 cup) caster (superfine) sugar, extra
50g apple, such as Fuji, unpeeled and grated (I used one whole apple)
50g butter, melted
To serve:
pure icing (confectioners) sugar (gluten-free)
sweetened mascarpone
shredded mint
Method:
1.  Preheat oven to 180C (350F / Gas 4).
2.  Grease and line the base of a 26cm (10 1/2 in) spring-form tin.
3.  Place the pistachio nuts and flour in a food processor and  process until the nuts are finely ground.  The flour helps the nuts to grind evenly.  Add the baking powder and  ground almonds and pulse until just combined.
4.  Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks and the first lot of sugar on high speed until the mixture is very thick.  Add the nut and flour mixture, apple and butter and stir well.  The mixture will be quite stiff at this stage.
5.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peak stage then add the extra sugar and beat to firm peak stage. Gently fold the egg whites into the nut mixture in two batches.  Place the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes or until cooked through. Allow the cake to set in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
6.  To serve, dust the cake with pure icing sugar and serve slices with a dollop of mascarpone and a little mint.
Almond, hazelnut and apple cake

Almond, hazelnut and apple cake

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Brioche

On February 9, 2012 in allergy-free, Baking, bread, cafes, cakes, celiac, food sensitivities, gluten-free, wheat-free

If I had a dollar for every time I went to a cafe and complained about the lack of gluten-free options, well, I wouldn’t be rich, but I’d probably have about $50. Since going gluten-free, I don’t go out for breakfast nearly as much as I used to.  Once upon a time, eating out was one of my favourite weekend rituals, but finding cafes that cater for gluten-intolerants can be challenging in Sydney.  Until now, that is.

Balmain's new gluten-free bakery

Brioche is located at 349 Darling Street, Balmain

Introducing Brioche. This bakery-cum-cafe has just opened its doors in the funky inner-west suburb of Balmain.  It’s heaven on a stick for people with food sensitivities.   I recently paid it a visit and had a chat with its lovely owner, Fiona Wilkinson.  As a Coeliac and someone who’s allergic to dairy and preservatives, Fiona is well versed in the tribulations of eating out in Sydney.   “I think there’s a lot of people out there who aren’t being catered for.  And unlike 10 years ago when people didn’t really understand (Coeliac Disease), these days people do really understand it, so I really wanted to do something to cater for those who I think are being missed out,” says Fiona.

Brioche the Bakery

You'll find lots of delicious baked goods on the front counter.

Brioche offers “normal” bread for “normal” people as well as a healthy dose of gluten-free options.  I’m talking gluten-free olive bread, sourdough, sultana loaf, multi-seed loaf and rolls.  And if you’re like me and really miss being able to order a sandwich when you’re out and about, for just a dollar extra, you can have gluten-free bread with your sanger.  The poached chicken sandwich with olive tapenade, rocket and roast tomato looked really good – and they tell me it’s low GI.

While all the regular breads are made on-site by the two full-time bakers who are known to work from midnight to 5am (ouch), the gluten-free stuff is bought from a specialist Queensland bakery called Zehnder.  Fiona said they’re in the process of perfecting their gluten-free loaves.  All the other gluten-free goodies, like the spelt croissants (they’re delicious); giant marshmallows; sausage rolls and pies (really good); berry, goji and chia muffins (you’d never know they’re gluten-free); and the great selection of cakes and banana bread are made on-site.

Spelt croissant

A spelt croissant at Brioche. It wasn't as light as a regular croissant, but it went down very nicely with my cup of tea.

Gluten-free banana chia bread

Gluten-free banana chia bread. I didn't try it, but it looked and smelt lovely.

Polenta date sultana cake

The only problem with Brioche's gluten-free polenta date sultana cake is that it's very easy to eat.

If this place is really successful, Fiona would definitely like to open a second one, but she thinks it’s going to take six months just to get this model right.  I asked if she’d open an outlet in Bondi just for me, but she said their concept is too untested at this stage to take on the likes of my neighbourhood.  Dammit!

The good news is Fiona was kind enough to share her favourite cake recipe with Food Crush.  It’s a low-GI pistachio and apple cake.  I whipped up my own adaptation of it this week and took it into work.  My workmates loved it.  Stay tuned next week for the recipe.  You won’t be disappointed!


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