gluten free baking

Apple Fritter Quick Bread

Saw this recipe for apple fritter bread a week or two ago. Incredible looking so I wanted to make it but it was not a gluten free recipe.  A few days later I discovered that Better Batter has an identical recipe up on their website but made with their wonderful gf flour blend.  Didn’t take me long to decide I just had to bake a loaf. Never made anything like it in the past other than an apple coffeecake but that was a bit more cakey and was baked in a tube pan.  So armed with just two good sized apples and a lot of cinnamon and nutmeg I threw this recipe together. It is made with oil; I used canola and my dairy choice was whole milk but I am guessing you could use any sort of milk you like. The batter was kinda thin and that worried me but it thickened up as I compiled it in the 9×5 baking pan.

I used my stand mixer and several smaller bowls; one for the apples which are tossed with cinnamon sugar, a small bowl with brown sugar and cinnamon and a medium bowl with the flour and leavening agents in it.  Nothing tricky or complicated; dump and mix it together both in the stand bowl and then in the loaf pan: you layer it up with batter, then apples, then brown sugar/cinnamon mixture, do that another layer and then run a butter knife through it to swirl the cinnamon a bit.  My loaf baked the full 50 minutes and then I let it sit in the pan a while to cool and solidify.  I did make the glaze; not that much more sugar and it looks so pretty.

Yes there is just about ¾ cup of granulated sugar plus 1/3 cup brown sugar but it is a lovely fall treat and there isn’t much else to complain about; no butter or crisco and the chopped apples add a healthy touch. No one is going to whine when you serve up slices of homemade apple quick bread.  Great with a cup of coffee or tea.  Just do it!  Here is the link to the recipe.  Let me know how you like it.  http://betterbatter.org/fall-time-apple-bread

Fig and Raspberry Galette

Figs are a favorite of mine in the fall. Pricy though. This year my fig trees came through with several dozen figs over about a months time. Some were stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with honey, and eaten raw.  Some were roasted briefly with that same yummy cheese. Heavenly.  A lot were just popped in my mouth for a sweet treat.  I made a super delicious fig and yogurt cake last weekend. Now for a fig based dessert in the pie family.  Saw this recipe on Tasting Table a while ago and immediately knew I just had to make it. FYI: a galette is a free form flat round French tart. Now you know!

I used my favorite gluten free crust recipe plus some cinnamon.  Lacking almond paste I made some; see my blog post for that recipe: https://myworldwithoutwheat.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/almond-paste-holiday-joy/.  The filling was fairly close to the recipe. You might think the thyme leaves and honey unusual but trust me it is just perfection!  If you love figs or raspberries this is an outstanding and show stopping dessert.

 

Fig and Raspberry Galette

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

6 Tbps. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Line a 15 inch pizza pan with parchment paper.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes.  Then roll out and put on the parchment lined pan; put back in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Frangipane filling:

1/3 cup almond paste

2 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. gf flour

1 egg

½ tsp. black berry brandy or kirsch

Pinch of salt

Fruit part:

6-7 ounces of ripe figs: 8 large or maybe 10 small

5-6 ounces fresh raspberries

1 -2 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped

2 tsp. honey

1 tsp. orange or tangerine zest (I used tangerine)

1 beaten egg for washing

1 cup crème fraiche or organic plain yogurt or plain Greek yogurt

Directions: Combine the almond paste and sugar in a small food processor, process until broken up into sandlike mess.  Add the butter and process until blended.  Add flour, egg, brandy and salt.  Process some more.  Chill in fridge while you continue tart creation process.

Chop the thyme (remove all stems).  Zest a tangerine or half an orange’s skin. I do this onto wax paper for ease of picking up later.

Get out the tart crust and the almond mixture. Spread the frangipane out; I just dumped mine in the center of the crust and it spread on its own.  Leave 1.5-2 inches of crust around the filling. Top with halved or quartered figs; mine were small; halved them. Next sprinkle the raspberries around; I didn’t need the full 6 ounces.  Sprinkle on the sugar, thyme leaves, then drizzle with honey and dust the zest over it as evenly as possible. Fold up the edges of your crust and pinch together to create the galette shape.  Use a pastry brush to brush the crust with the egg wash.  Bake for 30 minutes in a 425 degree oven.  Mine got a little too brown on the bottom.  Next time I will turn it down to 400 after the first 15 minutes.   Let your tart rest a bit; don’t serve hot but a warm slice will be awesome.  Slice and top with a big dollop of crème or yogurt.

fig-galette-slice

Brown Rice Flour Mix (same as King Arthur basic gf blend)

2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch – not potato flour!

1/3 c tapioca flour

The crust recipe is from Annalise Roberts great cookbook, GF Baking Classics, Second Edition.

Turkish Fig and Yogurt Cake

We enjoyed the most amazing cake last night.  I used 12 of my own homegrown figs in it.  chicken-gumbo-002Some sugar, lots of Greek yogurt, some eggs, some flavorings and very little flour.  It was very easy to put together; sort of like making a soufflé. I mixed the yolks with the sugar and then the flour added in bit by bit with a whisk.  My stand mixer made the egg whites into fluff and I folded them into the yolk/sugar mixture.  Spooned into a buttered cheesecake pan and laid the cut halves of the figs into the batter. Bake it and BOOM; an amazing dessert fit for a king and queen!  It does puff up a lot as it bakes; don’t worry; it will sink somewhat; can’t stay puffed when it is cooled.

The flavor was a lemony, fluffy light cake but the figs were the star attraction.  If you like figs; this is your cake!

The recipe is from fearless dining: here is a link to the original I used to create my cake.  http://www.fearlessdining.com/recipe/gluten-free-turkish-fig-yogurt-cake/.

I made only a couple of changes to fit what I had in my pantry.  This is a spectacular cake to serve to company. Just need those fresh figs and some yogurt. I got mine at Aldi’s.  Their store brand Greek yogurt in a big size has wonderful flavor and texture.

 

Turkish Fig and Yogurt Cake

Ingredients   (at room temperature)

4 eggs, separated

½ tsp. cream of tarter

½ cup sugar

3 tbsp. gf flour – I used King Arthur blend

½ tsp. xanthan gum (leave out if your flour has some in it already)

1 tsp. lemon or orange extract

1 tsp. water

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

½ tsp. orange or tangerine zest (if you don’t have orange extract)

1 ½ cup Greek yogurt, plain

7-12 figs (big ones; only 7, small; use more) Halved

A tsp. of butter for greasing the pan

A bit of powdered sugar to sift on top

Directions:  see the original post for directions –  http://www.fearlessdining.com/recipe/gluten-free-turkish-fig-yogurt-cake/.fig-cake-006

Pear Frangipane Tart for Dessert

Pies are my favorite thing to bake. You might think that muffins would be my choice; they are great snacks and I am often blogging a recipe for tasty muffins but nothing makes me happier for dessert than a slice of homemade pie.  Plus I am ever on the hunt for great pie/tart recipes for my self declared year of the pie!  So when I saw this new recipe come up this September on Annalise Roberts’ website; I knew I had to try it.

I used just barely ripe Bartlett pears.  I didn’t peel them as the skin was very thin.  Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly.  The crust is her regular pie crust and you prebake it and let it cool to room temperature before filling the crust.  Only difference is you make the crust rise up above the tart pan wall; so it is at least an inch to 1.5 inches tall.  You have to poach the pears first and let them cool, she suggests that you could do that the day before.  It is really neat how the frangipane filling bubbles up and surrounds the pear slices to create a tart that is sort of like an upside down pineapple pie but with pears and almonds.

It got a touch darker than I planned but great almond flavor, pears are perfect and the crust as good as any I have ever made.  A keeper for company occasions and totally satisfied my pear cravings.  A certain someone who is not fond of pears loved it and took a piece home with him for enjoying the next day. Winner!

pear-tart-012

So, if you like tarts and pears give this recipe a try; it is pretty similar to her cherry frangipane tart recipe although it requires a glaze for brushing on the pears before baking.  I am guessing that if you use melted apple or peach jelly you could skip that step of reducing the poaching syrup to the thickness of a glaze.  I went the whole deal and loved every bite of it; keeper recipe for me.

I ate it with some really good vanilla ice cream, with plain Greek yogurt and with no accompaniment; great all three ways.

The recipe can be found at: http://mygluten-freetable.com/2016/09/gluten-free-pear-frangipane-tart/

GF Skinny Burger Buns

Gluten free rolls for burgers or sloppy joes are a bit of a problem; store ones are too hard and too thick; can barely taste my burger for them and the price is ridiculous for what you get. I haven’t found a sandwich roll I truly like, not until last week.  So….I was reading the comments on line for a French bread recipe I use a lot; at food.com. I was looking at how others modified it, always curious.  I made several changes for my version.  So I wanted to see what else could be done.  Someone said they made rolls out of it!  Bingo.  A must try solution for the quandary of edible gf rolls for burgers. The base recipe always tastes great, is easy to create and I’ve been making my version of it for over three years.  Tasty  as dinner bread but what I need so often is a decent roll that takes the hot stuff like a burger or sloppy joes.  I use cloud bread for cold sandwiches and love it but burgers need something sturdier as cloud bread pretty much dissolves with contact to hot food.

The only addition I made for this burger rolls recipe is some flax seed meal and if you don’t want that; leave it out; flax seed bits adds flecks of tan color and a wholesome flavor.  Good for you too. I used olive oil instead of melted butter; worked fine and is healthier.  They aren’t high and puffy like store buns but I have to say they do the job of a burger bun very nicely with their great flavor and texture.  They may be skinny but they are a great solution for rolls.  Actually I think you could slice them in half right down the middle and use as an English muffin!

You really need the right baking pan; a muffin top pan; very shallow but wide depressions; about 1/3 inch deep; my pans are Teflon.  You can buy them on line from Amazon.

This dough is very easy and quick to mix up if you have a stand mixer as it needs a serious beating!  You need to keep an eye on the rising process; your pans should be in a warm but not hot location.  So I turn on my oven and let it heat to 105 degrees upon which I turn it off and put in the bread. Just opening the door to put in the pans will lower the temperature to about 90 degrees; perfect. Just warm enough and no drafts inside there.  Be watchful; as for all gf yeast doughs: don’t over rise it or your rolls will deflate; disaster! Once the pans are getting close to ready you need to preheat the oven; take the pans out first if yours is rising in there… I plan to keep working on this recipe and see if I can get the rolls to rise a bit higher…got some ideas.  Will update when I have an even better roll to share.

The rolls are still tasty the next day. I froze most of them. Actually, you can make a half batch; mix all the dry ingredients well in a bowl then remove half; 1 ½ cup plus 2 ½ tsp. of dry mix and put it in a baggie.  When you want to make each half batch add the wet ingredients and beat up per the recipe: ¾ cup warm water, 1 1/2 tsp yeast, 1 tbsp. olive oil, 1 egg, and ½ tsp vinegar.

Gluten Free French Burger Rolls

Makes twelve rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup white rice flour

1 cup brown rice flour

1 cup tapioca flour

3 tsp. xanthan gum

3 tbsp. flax seed meal

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp. sugar

1 ½ cups lukewarm water; about 90-95 degrees

1 tbsp. yeast

2 tbsp. melted butter or mild olive oil

2 eggs, room temp.

1 tsp. cider vinegar

Poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)

Directions: Put the flours, gum and salt in bowl of stand mixer, blend.

In two cup measuring cup or small bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in the lukewarm water; let stand 3-5 minutes until foamy.

Dump into the dry ingredients; add the butter or oil, eggs, and vinegar.  Beat on high for 3 minutes.

Spray depressions in your pans with cooking spray and dust with yellow cornmeal.

Glop in the bread dough; it will be like soft putty.  Smooth the top with your fingers that you dampened in water.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds if desired.

Let rise for 30 to 40 minutes until doubled.  Bake in pre-heated 400 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. They won’t be hugely high but enough for slicing in half for sandwiches or burgers.  Cool before slicing.  The rolls don’t have to be stone cold to slice but cutting any gf bread hot is a bad idea; gets all gummy….not a good thing.  They work quite well as gf English muffins.