So many people have happier, more comfortable lives without gluten in their systems. The gluten free diet is very common now and even most cafes and restaurants have a GF option. It's a shame though. Gluten is good. Gluten makes a cake light and fluffy, pasta silky and pastry stretchy. It provides elasticity to all wheat based products. Gluten free bread? Well, barely edible bricks, really, aren't they?
Mum is allergic to wheat, so she eats a 'gluten free' diet. Baking with GF flour is DIFFICULT when you first start. There are some things that just aren't worth making when you're working with GF flour. Don't even bother with pastry. Don't try a sponge cake. It'll all end in disappointment.
The first thing to do is accept the fact that those days of light airy butter cakes and crunchy puff pastry are over. O-V-E-R. Accept it, own it, get over it.
Some traditional recipes do work when substituting GF flour directly for wheat flour. These are cakes that are normally meant to be very moist or heavy. I'm talking about cakes made with sour cream, or a nut meal or syrup cakes, cakes with yoghurt or lots of melted chocolate. The GF flour will make them heavier and probably sink in the middle, again, accept it, own it, get over it. It will still taste pretty good.
When baking for mum I use this flour...
If I need self raising flour I simply add 2 1/2 (two and a half) teaspoons of baking powder per cup of GF flour.
Today I'm making GF BROWNIES. Oh yeah, brownies work. You may not be able to have good pasta, but here, maybe a brownie with make you feel better.
GLUTEN FREE BROWNIES
120g GF flour
70g corn flour (making sure it's the one without added wheat!)
100g maccadamia nuts, roughly chopped
5 eggs
120g caster sugar
300g milk choc melts (I'm not even going to find out the weight watcher points for this one)
200g butter (oh yeah, eat at own risk)
Oven on at 170 deg C. Grease and line a lamington/ brownie tin. Sift flours. Melt butter and choc in a bowl over simmering water. Whisk eggs with the sugar until light and airy. Fold in choc and butter. Fold in flours and maccas. Bake for 45 mins. Cut when cold.
So I've been melting...
Breaking eggs from Chooktopia and whisking....
And pouring into prepared tin....
And taking out of focus photos... but I suppose you'd already noticed that.
Mum is due to arrive soon and this will be just what she needs with a cup of tea after the drive.
Out of the oven and.... TA DAAA!
Mmmmmmmm, just what the dietician ordered.
There you go mum...
