English Muffins (2017 version)

Not quite sure why it's so long since I last made muffins. Buoyed on by by watching Junior Bake Off, Mini Monster wanted something he could make by himself. He managed to make 6 English muffins from my old recipe (done just after he went wheat free). They were great, if a little wet inside, but had all been finished by mid afternoon. So much for having some for this weeks packed lunch! 

My expertise in MEWS free baking has come a long way since those days, so I set about making a second batch with a few tweaks (these did make it to packed lunches, but only because I split and froze some to take out as needed).

These were left under the grill a little longer than I intended...

The pictures don't quite match up with the method as some were taken while Mini Monster was making the first batch with oil, I haven't missed something from the ingredients!

300mls Milk Substitute

100mls Boiling Water

2tsp (1 sachet) Dried Yeast

300g Gluten Free White Bread Flour

60g Dairy & Soya Free Margarine (I used hard Stork that had been left out to soften, but spread would work too)

Polenta (or ground rice) for lining the tray/tins

Mix milk substitute and water in a jug or bowl. Sprinkle on the yeast, stir and set aside for 15 mins to froth.

Ignore the jug of oil, this was the first batch of the day!

Put flour into a bowl, add frothed yeast mixture and beat until a smooth thick batter is formed.

Cover and set aside for 30-40 mins until dough has expanded in size (may not double). This stage is not essential, but as a bread baker pre kids, I always preferred a double rise (think I just do it for psychological reasons now!).

Grease a tray and the inside of 6 baking rings. Sprinkle on polenta to cover evenly.

Add the soft margarine to the dough and beat again with the whisk until evenly incorporated.

Ladle the mixture into the prepared rings. Cover with greased cling film and allow to rise until just below the top of the ring.

Bake at 190ºc for 20-25 minutes, or until the muffins are just coming away from the edges of the tins.

Remove from tins and place on a cooling rack.

Swedish Cinnamon Buns (Bakels)

I've been posting variation of these on Twitter for the last year or so, but still not got round to posting recipe, so here goes…

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Dough

300g Bakels White Bread Mix

300mls Milk Substitute

2tsp Dried Yeast

30g Hard Dairy & Soya Free Margarine

1tsp Vanilla Paste (or extract)

2 Cardamom pods, split & seeds crushed

Filling

60g Hard Dairy & Soya Free Margarine

50g Soft Dark Brown Sugar

Zest of half an Orange

1 1/2tsp Ground Ginger

1tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/4tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/4tsp Ground Cloves

2 Cardamom Pods, split & seeds crushed

Warm the milk substitute to hand hot. Sprinkle on the yeast, stir & leave to foam.

Tip the bread mix into a large bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix with a blunt knife until it begins to come together.

Add a little flour, knead for a few minutes and shape into a ball (or follow the instructions on the pack if you have a mixer).

Cover and leave to rise until doubled in size.

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Meanwhile, mix all the filling ingredients together with a fork.

Add the rest of the dough ingredients to the dough and knead in. This well be a very soft, sticky dough, but keep mixing until well combined.

Add a little more flour and bring together to a ball.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 5mm thick. I do it between sheets of cling film to stop it sticking.

Spread the filling over the rolled out dough.

Fold into thirds.

Cut lengthways into 4, then half each to give 8 long strips.

Twist into a knot and tuck the ends underneath.

Put onto a greased baking tray, brush with oil or milk substitute and leave to rise for 15-20mins (may need longer in a cold room).

Sprinkle with pearl sugar, if using.

Bake at 200ºC for 15-20mins until golden brown.

Lovely and sticky and crusty underneath too.

Dampfnudel (steamed buns) - GBBO2016 - Week3

I think this is the 4th Bake Off since I was challenged to create milk, egg, wheat and soya free versions of the technical challenges. The last couple of years, recipes have been few and far between as real life has got in the way. 

For those of you who don't follow me on twitter, I'm off work at the moment following eye surgery. In theory, this should give me more time to bake and to write up some of the 90 odd 'drafts' I have on the site. In practice, my eyes can't focus properly to type and my altered depth of vision makes cooking slower. 

I struggled with precision needed for topping the Jaffa cakes with chocolate on week one and my mum was here to do week two's Viennese Whirls for me. But while the contestants seemed to struggle with bread week, it was finally something, less precise, I could do more easily. The typing up less so, this is my second attempt as I tried doing it on my phone (easier for me to see than laptop), but it doesn't save automatically like my laptop does and I lost it all! 

I've been making bread for as long as I can remember, but since Mini Monster went wheat free too, I found it a struggle as it needed much wetter mix that couldn't be shaped so easily. I have regained my love of bread making over the last year, thanks largely to the discovery of Bakels and Coori Mixes. Both of these produce a 'workable' dough, which means some of our old favourites are producible again at home.

Like me, I suspect last week's Bake Off was the first time most of you had ever heard of Dampfnudel. I had a look at Paul's recipe and decided that for my first attempt I'd use the Coori Puff Pastry Mix that I have found is great for making a free from equivalent of a rich dough, which would usually contain milk, eggs and butter (also, I'd run out of the Bakels white mix, using my last bag to make a chocolate and cherry Couronne the day before).

My next problem was lack of a shallow, heavy based pan with a tight fitting lid. As you'll see from the pictures, I improvised with a glass bowl over a cast iron frying pan…

Not entirely sure if it would even work, I went for a smaller quantity of dough, which made 7 dampfnudel about 8-10cm across. This was enough for 4 of us, but the kids had finished off the plum sauce and custard before we had ours, I'll make the full quantity of those next time! 

This recipe is for double quantity I used (but closer to Paul's amount for 12 in the original recipe). I made this amount of the basic dough, but then split it in two and used half for the next step of the dampfnudel and half for sausage rolls. If you only want to make a small amount, just use half quantities for dough below.

Dough

400g Coori Puff Pastry Mix (this is already sweetened, so you don't need the extra sugar)

260mls Milk Substitute (warmed to hand hot)

7g Sachet of Dried Yeast

70g Dairy and Soya Free Spread (I used the hard Stork)

1tsp Vanilla Paste (or extract)

Grated Zest of 1 Unwaxed Lemon

Extra flour for kneading if too sticky (use a basic gluten free plain flour for this as it's cheaper)

Mix yeast with the milk and set aside to foam.

Put flour mix in a bowl (wide enough for you to knead in).

Add yeast mixture to flour and mix with a blunt knife until the dough begins to come together.

Sprinkle with a little extra flour if sticky and use your hands to knead lightly until you have a smooth dough.

Cover and set aside to rise until doubled in size (You can make the plum sauce at this stage).

Flatten dough slightly, then add the vanilla, lemon zest and dairy free spread. Fold over the dough and continue to knead until the added ingredients are well combined and you have a smooth shiny dough (you can use it at this stage, however, I covered mine and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours so I could make them fresh for the boy's dinner).

Divide the dough into 12 (or 7 if using half quantity) and roll into balls. If you made your dough in advance, you will need to knead it again before deciding, to knock out the air.

Poaching Liquid

150mls Milk Substitute

25g Dairy and Soya Free Spread

25g Caster Sugar

Heat the poaching liquid in the pan until sugar dissolved. Remove from heat.

Place the dough balls gently in the warm poaching liquid and leave for 15 minutes until well risen.

Not quite sure if this is what they meant my tight fitting lid...

Return pan to a low heat and cook covered for 25-30 minutes . Remove the lid and cook for a further 5-10minutes until golden and caramelised on the bottoms.

Carefully loosen the bottoms from the pan. Remove dampfnudel and serve with plum and vanilla sauce.

Nice light spongy texture.

Slightly scruffy edges, but the crust was delicious!

Plum Sauce

4 Ripe Plums 

1-2tbsp sugar (I only used one as my kids, but can add more later if too sharp for you)

Juice of an orange (I didn't have one so used a tangerine and half a lemon)

A pinch of ground cinnamon

Cut the plums in half and remove the stones. Chop into small pieces.

Add to a small pan with all the juice and sugar and cook gently until sugar dissolved.

Increase the heat and boil for 10 minutes until thickened and plum pieces soft.

Add the cinnamon and blend until smooth.

Vanilla Sauce

1/2 tbsp Custard Powder (gives a slight, but not too yellow colour)

1tbsp Cornflour

1tbsp Caster Sugar

1tsp Vanilla Paste or extract

300mls Milk Substitute

100mls Dairy and Soya Free Cream 

Follow instructions for custard here. This is supposed to be a thinner pouring consistency, if you want something thicker, just increase the amount of cornflour used.

Cheese and Herb Bread Rolls

Anyone who follows me on twitter will know I'm a big fan of a couple of mixes for bread making (Coori and Bakels). Biscuits and cake can be made with any of the flour blends easily available, but if you've had a go at making bread with wheat flour, you will know that making gluten free bread is a very different story. No kneading required as its almost cake mix like consistency can only be poured into a tin to contain it. In the early days of being wheat free, I had a go at trying to use a thicker workable dough, but just ended up with ugly, cracked, brick like breads (yes, really, I have bad days in the kitchen too!). 

I love that I can get a good workable dough with consistently good results from Coori and Bakels (but both require a little more effort) and finally make some of the things we used to have regularly at home. Have now perfected flatbreads, brioche, cinnamon bun, jam doughnut, sausage rolls, tarte tatin recipes to name but a few...

The first time I used the Bakels Multiseed mix (after the Allergy Show in London in 2015), I had to double check the ingredients as it was not only 'workable' like a wheat containing dough, but also smelt and looked like a malted wheat loaf when it came out of the oven! Of course, it was fine, they just have better food scientists than me and access to ingredients that improve the consistency of the dough…

The other problem I have is that as a Registered Dietitian, I'm not supposed to promote specific brands. This is even more frustrating when doing free from baking as some of the flour blends need more or less liquid to get the same results in a recipe. I've resigned myself to actually saying which flour I used now on the basis that I name several throughout the recipes, so not promoting a specific one on the site. So here goes…

I don't have anything as fancy as a stand mixer, I've tried using my electric hand whisk, but on balance, I've gone back to good old fashioned mixing by hand.

300g Bakes Multi Seed Bread Mix

270mls Milk Substitute (if you use a fortified one, it will add 324mg calcium to your loaf, or 54mg/roll)

1tsp dried yeast

100g Violife Original Cheese* (Grated)

2tbsp Chopped fresh Herbs (sage and rosemary from the garden) or 2tsp dried 

Additional wheat fee flour for kneading (I used Doves Farm white bread flour, but any wheat free (not self raising) flour would do)

Warm milk substitute to 'hand hot'. Sprinkle on the yeast, stir and set aside to foam up (even if you're using instant dried yeast).

Put flour, grated cheese and herbs in a large bowl. Mix together with a blunt knife.

Pour in the milk and yeast mixture.

Stir with the blunt knife until it begins to come together.

Sprinkle on a little extra flour and bring it to a ball with your hand. Knead lightly until you have a smooth ball of dough (you may need to keep adding a little extra flour if your hand get too sticky, but don't be tempted to add too much).

Cover with cling film and set aside in a warm place to rise (I think I left mine for about 45 mins, won't quite double in size like wheat bread, but when you press it with your fingers you will see it sink back down).

Sprinkle with a little more flour and knead lightly again. Shape into 6 rolls (or a loaf) and put on a floured tray. Cover with oiled cling film and leave to rise again.

Bake at 220ºC for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and sounding hollow when tapped underneath.

Try to leave to cool before eating…

*Violife Original (as you may have found) does not melt with direct heat (like on a pizza), but melts well in toasties, sauces etc, that's why you can see the spots of it on the outside of the rolls where it poked through the dough, the cheese melted will on the inside of the rolls. You could try other dairy and soya free cheeses, but as this is available in most of the main Supermarkets now, it made sense to use as easily accessible.

Bakels mixes are currently available at Sainsbury's and on Amazon.

Hot Cross Buns - 2016 version

Ever since I left home, I've always made fresh hot cross buns on the morning of Good Friday. Having children with allergies didn't stop that, they've just evolved with the restrictions and a better understanding of free from baking.

Same recipe, but Coori flour on left and Doves Farm on right

I always struggled a bit with gluten free bread as it tends to need more of a batter type consistency and, for me, part of the joy of making bread was in the kneading. Even in the 4 years since Mini Monster had to cut out wheat too, as well as the huge improvement in ready made breads (although most still contain egg, milk, soya or chickpea, all of which we still have to avoid), there has been an improvement in flour mixes available, with many having more elasticity even without the gluten. 

One of the downsides to wheat/gluten free baking is that the huge variety of flours now available all have different properties, this makes generic recipes more difficult to follow as some require more or less fluid than the recipe suggests. The difficulty with my job is we're not supposed to recommend specific brands, or if we do, we have to give more than one example of a particular product. 

While I've been a bit lax at posting recipes over the last year and a half, anyone who follows me on Twitter will know I've developed a love affair with Coori flour mixes, however, these are not readily available so I made this recipe with Doves farm White Bread Flour too (I had also meant to do a batch with Bakels White Bread mix too, but don't have any at the moment) just so you have a more accessible option. They may look very different, but both taste good, which is the main thing…

For 12 buns

400g Coori Puff Pastry Mix or 380g Doves Farm White Bread Flour, plus 20g Arrowroot

30g sugar (I used light muscovado)

2tbsp Mixed Spice

260mls Milk Substitute (hand hot)

2tsp Dried Yeast

100g Dairy and Soya Free Spread 

150g chopped dried fruit/chocolate chips

75g Wheat Free Flour plus Milk Substitute mixed to smooth paste that just holds it's shape, for crosses

2tbsp Caster sugar and water to glaze

Sprinkle yeast onto the warm milk substitute, stir and set aside for 5 minutes.

Place flour, sugar and spices in a bowl.

Stir in the frothed yeast mixture with a blunt knife. Once  it's come together, knead gently to form a smooth ball (you may need a little extra flour if too sticky, but don't be tempted to add too much).

Cover and set aside in a warm place to rise for 30mins.

Knead again, then roll out to a large rectangle (I do it on cling film to proven cross contamination from worktop or rolling pin).

Spread on half the dairy free spread, then fold the dough into thirds.

Re roll and repeat. Fold and roll another couple of times until the spread stops oozing out (you can just knead it again, but don't add too much flour).

Add the dried fruit and knead in.

These had dried sour cherries and chocolate chips

These were apricot, candy peel and chocolate chips

Divide the mixture and shape into balls and place on a greased baking tray. Oil the tops and cover lightly with cling film, set aside to rise.

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Mix the flour and milk substitute to a thin paste. Put in piping bag (or a greaseproof paper cone). Pipe crosses onto the tops of the risen buns.

Mixture for my crosses was a little too thick this year...

Bake at 200-220ºC for 25 mins (I don't think my oven is hot enough at the moment, so turned the temp up to 220, but that may be too hot in some) or until nicely browned.

Unglazed

Glazed

Dissolve the sugar in a little boiling water and brush on the buns as soon as they come out of the oven. Put them back in for a minute to 'set' the glaze.

Eat warm from the oven, or split them and toast them (isnseparate toaster, or in a toaster pocket to prevent cross contamination).