Frozen 'Pina Colada' Lolly Folk (gluten and dairy free) - non-alcoholic

Summer isn't done yet! We are now well into September and although there is a distinct Autumnal feel and smell to the air, we are still being treated to temperatures way up into the 30's down in the South-East. How amazing is that? Sure the grass is brown and we have giant crevasses in the lawn where the clay has dried and retracted as the weeks have passed, but it is so good to be able to continue to feel the warmth on skin and to eek out those last garden weekends before the cold sets in....

With all the heat, it has been great to make something icy to cool down with. These 'Pina Colada' Ice-Lollies are so refreshing and absolutely what we need right now!

In usual preparation for the winter months, I recently had a clear out in the larder and decided that any ingredients found hidden or lurking..... forgotten within, were to be placed in a box in the kitchen as a prompt to prepare food that would get rid of them. Whilst I hate waste, I am also terrible for buying ingredients with every good intention of using them in something tangible and then failing to remember they are there..... We now have a large stash sat on the kitchen table which is inspiring meals and acting as a weekly 'invention test' for anyone who dips in.

Amongst the many weird and wonderful jars and packets (including spice and curry pastes, a whole selection of noodles, and even a tin of apples (really?)), I found a packet of pineapple jelly granules that we brought back from Greece the visit before last (yep..... now three years old).

With the continued heat, I wanted to use it for something other than boring old jelly and decided to try making some frozen jelly lollies instead.

Hoping for more of a milky ice-pop but also wanting it to be dairy free, I added coconut milk and coconut cream as a base to the jelly and also threw some fresh pineapple into the mix for extra texture. The combination of pineapple and coconut is perfect for the heat..... very tropical and utterly thirst-quenching.

Last year I bought some really funky ice lolly moulds with sticks that had arms and legs to make lollypop men....... As with the jelly, I had mindlessly shoved them into a cupboard as the weather cooled and forgotten all about them. It was Miss GF that had reminded me a couple of weeks back that they were there.....

Inspired by my little moulds, I rushed out to the supermarket and sourced some fab gummy lips, teeth and mushrooms (for hats), which I combined with some candy eyes (left over from making Halloween Cake Pop Spiders two years ago) for fun faces.

Aren't the great? Not only do they taste amazing, but they look cute too!

I am sharing my Pina Colada Lolly Folk with the following :

Treat Petite with The Baking Explorer and Cakeyboi.


The No Waste Food Challenge with Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary.

Recipe of the Week with A Mummy Too.


Sunday Fitness & Food with Ilka's Blog and Marathons & Motivation.

Brilliant Blog Posts with Honest Mum

Cook Blog Share with Sneaky Veg.

Frozen 'Pina Colada' Lolly Folk - Non-Alcoholic (makes approx 8 popsicles)

Ingredients

220 ml coconut milk

1 pack granular pineapple jelly

1 to 2 tablespoons caster sugar (optional/to taste)

1 teaspoon freeze dried cherry powder (optional)

250 ml coconut cream

handful chopped fresh pineapple

edible candy eyes/chocolate chips

gummy lips and teeth

gummy marshmallow mushrooms
make sure decorations are gluten and dairy free if necessary

Method

1. Heat the coconut milk until it is boiling (either in the microwave or in a small saucepan).
2. Place the jelly granules, sugar and cherry powder in a measuring jug and pour in the boiling coconut milk. Stir well until the jelly and sugar have completely dissolved.
3. Add the coconut cream and stir through.
4. Allow the mixture to start to cool and thicken (stirring intermittently). It is fine to place in the fridge to speed the process, but be sure to keep an eye and stir regularly.
5. Once the mixture has cooled enough that it is beginning to thicken very slightly, add the chopped pineapple and stir through. 
6. Prepare your lolly moulds and pour the mixture into them.
7. Freeze.
8. When completely frozen, remove the lollies from the moulds and decorate with sweets to make eyes and mouths and hats (upturned mushrooms). To stick the sweets to the lollies, lay them on a sheet of baking paper (on a baking tray) and take a hot skewer and gently touch the surface where the sweet is to stick, to melt a small dot. Press the sweets over the melted dots and re-freeze to set. 

Gluten Free Alchemist © 2013-16 unless otherwise indicated

Beautiful Gluten Free Bread Bouquet (with my new Oat,Teff & Millet bread) - GBBO Week 3

Unless you've had your head in a hole for the last couple of weeks, you will know that the annual GBBO shindig is now in full swing. We've done cakes and also biscuits, so this week must be Bread Week!

For all the gluten-eating bread-bakers out there, this is the week where gluten really comes into its own, as you pummel, pull and contort your dough to develop its stretch and turn it into all sorts of wondrous creations. Good luck all!

For us gluten-avoiders, it is the week which spells trepidation and leaves us watching from the sidelines. With gluten free bread being such a tricky beast, I usually look on with envy at the one thing I can't 'do' with flair and artiness.

Sure, there are plenty of gluten 'replacers' we can use to help bind and hold together our bakes (xanthan gum, guar gum, chia, psyllium, etc), but none truly give gluten free bread dough comparable properties...... and this leaves me a tad frustrated.

Whilst I have developed some amazing gluten free loaves..... my Brown Bread being the one we swear by (and live off) in GF HQ, the opportunity to get truly creative and 'pretty' with bread has been elusive....... until now!

A few weeks back, I set about tweaking my old fave a little to develop a new loaf using a different blend of flours. Nothing dramatic, but the tweaks have produced a gorgeous bread with a slightly lighter flavour, yet still made with a healthy wholesome flour blend incorporating Teff flour (a great source of fibre, protein, calcium, iron, thiamin and vitamin C (and lots of other good stuff)), Oat flour (great for lowering cholesterol, stabilising blood sugar, and packed full of essential vitamins and minerals), and Millet flour, which acts as a prebiotic and is good source of magnesium (supports a healthy heart),and other essential nutrients.

Not only is this bread good for you (and way better than your average shop-bought loaf), but it also has an amazingly soft, bready, pliable, hold-together texture, which makes for great sandwiches that can most definitely be eaten 'on the run' without fear of heading gutter-ward due to disintegration.

This is a recipe which also makes delicious bread-tin baked loaves, a fantastic soft baguette, and perfect mini rolls.

I should be ecstatic..... Another gluten-free loaf which tastes amazing and is real bread! But it's Bread Week and I want to be part of it too! Which got me thinking........ How could I make a gluten free bread show-stopper that would not look ridiculously pathetic alongside all the others in the Bake-Off tent?

3am, two nights later (you know those sleepless blogger nights, dreaming of foodie creations and conundrums and hoping the quiet darkness will bring inspiration)....... I got it!

Most gluten free dough cannot be 'moulded' maybe, but being more like a paste, it would be perfect to pipe.....

I was desperate to get down to the kitchen to test the idea, but Mr and Miss GF would be less than impressed if I disturbed their sleep in the middle of the night to bake..... I had no choice but to wait until morning.....

I am so thrilled with the results...... My first batch was a selection of letters, hearts and flowers. I even tried a snail, but by the time it had risen, it looked like a deformed slug (no photos of that one then!).... As we munched through a selection of shaped rolls for lunch, both myself and Miss GF (almost in unison) declared.... 'these flower balls would be great for dipping in garlic butter.' For sure.... they make brilliant tear and share mini rolls and could be dipped in any number of things, from olive oil and balsamic vinegar to houmous, salsa and yoghurt-based dips.

Which got me thinking again...... to make a bouquet of bread-ball flowers, perfect for an edible table centre-piece to accompany soup at a special dinner...... to be shared with friends at a party..... or even to enjoy with dips, cheese or spreads whilst watching a favourite film.

It may not be plaited and it may not be quite as stunning as Kate's Corn Maiden or Benjamina's Braided Bread Heart, but on the plus side, my bread has no less than six flours in there (twice as many as required by Paul and Mary). And whilst I don't like to blow my own trumpet too often..... I can honestly say this is the most unusual shaped gluten free loaf I have ever seen (and possibly the best bread I have ever made).

And here it is...... my beautiful Gluten Free Bread Bouquet...... fit for a banquet or even the Bake Off Tent.

I am sharing with the following linkies :

Tea Time Treats with Travels for Taste - this month celebrating savoury treats (with Lavender & Lovage & Jo's Kitchen).

Cook Blog Share - this week with Easy Peasy Foodie

Great Bloggers Bake Off over at Mummy Mishaps


Brilliant Blog Posts with Honest Mum

Gluten Free Fridays with Vegetarian Mamma

#FoodCalendar with Charlotte's Lively Kitchen - celebrating the Great British Bake Off

Sunday Fitness & Food with Ilka's Blog (and Marathons & Motivation)

Recipe of the Week with A Mummy Too

The Bake Off Bake Along hosted by This Particular and Rhyme & Ribbons

Oat, Teff & Millet Bread (makes 2 x 1 lb loaves, approx 15 individual mini loaves/rolls or can be piped into rolls/shapes of your choice)

Ingredients

80g white rice flour

80g white teff flour

100g oat flour (easy to make as in this post)

40g millet flour

50g potato starch flour

60g tapioca starch flour

1 tablespoon xanthan gum
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
7g gelatine/4g vegegel
3 tablespoons milk powder
11g easy bake yeast (I used Allinsons)
3 large eggs - room temperature
1 tablespoon runny honey
370g warm water (at 46 C/115 F)
1½ teaspoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons sunflower oil

milk or egg to glaze
seeds/oats/nuts for decoration

Method

1. Weigh and mix together all the flours, xanthan gum, salt, bicarbonate of soda, gelatine/vegegel, milk powder and yeast (I weigh all into an airtight container, seal and shake to get an even blend with no lumps). Set aside.
2. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and add the honey and warm water (at 46 C/115 F). Beat with a whisk until well blended and airy.
3. Add the lemon juice, sunflower oil and dry ingredients and mix together well with a dough hook mixer attachment or wooden/silicone spoon until even. Continue to mix for a couple of minutes to allow the ingredients to amalgamate well.
4. Spoon your dough into your base-lined bread tins/moulds (about two-thirds full), or into a piping bag with your desired nozzle attached.
5. If you are piping, pipe your design onto a tray lined with baking paper, leaving a very slight gap between elements to allow room for rising (at which point the dough will join to form one piece).
6. Cover with clingfilm and place the trays somewhere warm for about 40 to 50 minutes to rise (they will almost double in size) - I put mine in a very low oven with a bowl of steaming water.
7. Before baking, brush the tops of the dough with egg/milk to glaze and if using seeds/oats/nuts, sprinkle them on top.
8. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4 and bake the bread - 15 minutes for small rolls, 15 to 20 minutes for a bouquet or piped pieces, 30 to 40 minutes for larger loaves.
9. Remove from the oven when baked golden brown and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Gluten Free Alchemist © 2013-16 unless otherwise indicated

Viennese Whirls - gluten free (in celebration of GBBO Biscuit Week)

Last week was biscuit week on the Great British Bake Off. We saw a selection of disasters and also some beautiful triumphs in the show-stopper gingerbread story challenge, as well as some extremely well-iced and flavoured biscuits (some clearly way too soft for Paul's liking) in the signature bake.

Now ginger bread is something that I have already tackled...... I developed my own recipe suitable for house-building a couple of years ago. The gingerbread was delicious and perfectly spiced..... With Christmas coming up, you may find a good excuse to try it!

But it was the GBBO technical challenge..... to bake Viennese Whirls, which proved to be well...... quite challenging for some. It was clear that these little melt-in-the-mouth morsels filled with butter icing and jam are not as easy to make as Mr Kipling would have us believe.

So exactly how tricky would it be to make a gluten free version? I set out to test it!

My first attempt was a complete disaster..... I followed Mary Berry's recipe to the letter, but with a straight replacement of gluten free flour..... Not good! Although the batter looked good and piped perfectly, no sooner was it in the oven, than it spread like a beige weed across the bottom of the baking tray. I continued to bake it through anyway, and although a little oily, we agreed in GF HQ that once scooped into a bowl, the crumbs would taste great sprinkled on ice creams and maybe even mixed into crumble topping!

To be honest, I sort of guessed that Mary's recipe wouldn't work with weight for weight substitutions, but I almost needed to test it to work out what I might need to try next to de-glutenise it.

Back at the drawing board, I re-worked the recipe to reduce the butter slightly, and increase the cornflour content. I also added a drop of vanilla and a little extra sugar as the additional flour upset the flavour balance.

Seems like these changes did the trick! My second batch of Viennese Whirls GF-stylie held well and were robust enough to (with care) jam, ice and sandwich! Sure they are a little fragile, but I got the impression from the GBBO that fragile was not in itself a 'fail'. And hopefully Paul and Mary would be more than happy with my 'definition'!

Having had many a gluten-version of Viennese Whirls in my earlier life, I can be proud of my efforts..... I may have made the biscuits slightly larger than I intended and perhaps over-jammed and iced them (both problems which are easily rectified), but they sure do melt in the mouth and taste just as I remember them...... (although as I get older, my tooth appears to be losing some of its sweetness, and next time I make them, I may well forgo the jam and butter cream and just dip them in chocolate instead).

However you choose to embellish them, if you are gluten free, fear not..... you too can eat Viennese Biscuits!

I am sharing my gluten free Viennese Whirls with the following linkies :

Treat Petite - this month hosted by Kat over at The Baking Explorer (and Cakeyboi). This month 'anything goes' again (so long as your offering is cute and small) so hop over and join in!

Cook Blog Share.... This week with Hijacked by Twins

Sunday Fitness & Food with Ilkas Blog (and Marathons & Motivation)

Brilliant Blog Posts with Honest Mum

Given that this is a biscuit I grew up with, I am also sharing with Inheritance Recipes (this month with Coffee & Vanilla (and Pebble Soup)). It was great to be able to share one of my childhood favourites with Miss GF....

Free From Fridays with the very talented Emma at the Free From Farmhouse

#TheFoodCalendar with Charlottes Lively Kitchen. These would make a perfect sweet offering for a Macmillan Coffee Morning. What will you bake for yours on the 30th September?

Gluten Free Fridays with Vegetarian Mamma

Bake Off Bake Along with This Particular and Rhyme & Ribbons.


I am also Sharing them with Delicious Alchemy for their 2016 Gluten Free Magic Bake Off. If you bake gluten free, go check it out!

Viennese Whirls  (makes about 10 sandwiched biscuits)

Ingredients

Biscuits
240g unsalted butter - softened

65g icing sugar

225g plain GF flour mix (I used my own blend A from this post)

60g cornflour 

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Butter Icing filling
100g unsalted butter - softened
200g icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Strawberry/Raspberry or other jam

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4. Base line 3 baking sheets with baking paper.
2. Cream together the butter and icing sugar (preferably using an electric whisk or food mixer) until well-blended, very pale and fluffy.
3. Add the vanilla extract and flours and continue to beat until the mixture has become a very smooth, pale paste.
4. Using a large star nozzle, pipe the mixture into even-sized whirls on the trays, leaving a gap between them.
5. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown, turning the trays half-way through to ensure an even bake. Keep a close eye on them to ensure they don't burn.
6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the trays.
7. Whilst the biscuits are cooling, make the icing-filling : Beat the butter and then gradually add the icing sugar and vanilla extract until you have a smooth, soft icing.
8. Once the biscuits have cooled completely, use a palette knife to very carefully loosen the biscuits from the baking paper and then very gently (they will be quite fragile) lay half of them, swirled side down on a clean sheet of baking paper.
9. Transfer a few spoons of jam into a bowl, and stir vigorously to loosen (if the jam is very thick, it may benefit from a few seconds in the microwave to warm slightly).
10. Use a teaspoon to drop a small dollop of jam in the centre of each of the upturned biscuits and with the back of the spoon, very gently spread the jam towards the edges.
11. Using a large star nozzle, pipe a swirl of butter icing on top of the jam of each biscuit and then very carefully take a second biscuit and place it on top to make a sandwich. Although you can very gently ease the top biscuit down, do not squeeze too hard or the biscuits may break.
12. Serve with a hot cup of tea and enjoy. (They also taste great with some fresh raspberries on the side!)

Gluten Free Alchemist © 2013-16 unless otherwise indicated

GF Alchemist Signature Raspberry & Lemon Drizzle Bundt Cake (gluten free)

As any good foodie in the UK will know, the Great British Bake Off 2016 has started. This year, twelve apron-clad bakers are battling it out with their whisks, ovens, saucepans, baking tins and a whole multitude of ingredients, both familiar and obscure, to become the weekly 'Star Baker' and ultimately, the overall champion. They will showcase their skills, baking everything from cakes, biscuits and desserts to breads, pastries and high-end patisserie. In amongst the joy, tears and tantrums (and that's just Mary and Paul), their sweet and savoury creations will flaunt their talents from meringue to macaron, creme pat to ganache, ice cream to mousse and (hopefully) plenty of chocolate and sugar work thrown in for good measure.

Its fun to watch the adventure unfold..... getting to know the contestants, soaking up lots of tips and tricks to try, wincing at the disasters and celebrating the success. But my favourite week of course has to be the 'free from' (alternative ingredients) week. It always makes me happy to see fellow bakers trying their hand at 'restricted' baking and I watch like a hawk to pick up new ideas and helpful advice.

I love that each year, a number of bloggers also join in with the Bake Off challenge, by running their own 'bake along' side by side. I particularly love reading the weekly offerings from Kat The Baking Explorer, who is an amazing baker and challenges herself every year to bake week-by-week something that has been whipped up on the show (as well as to help us keep track of the contestants and their progress). Last week, she followed up with some amazing Jaffa Cakes, which looked perfectly professional.

I would love to commit to a full join-in, but time is always against me and the additional process of transmuting the more complex recipes from traditional to gluten free can be an extensive trial and error task...... more time and plenty of failures before success comes my way!

This week however, luck was on my side. The bakers were asked to produce a signature bake that was a Drizzle Cake followed by a technical challenge of making Jaffa Cakes and finally a show-stopping mirror-glazed Genoise sponge.

I have attempted gluten free Genoise, but I was not completely happy with the result and it is on my list of (many) bakes to re-work. On the other hand, my making of Jaffa Cakes (which I did with a home-made Mixed Berry Jelly a couple of years back) came out deliciously tasty (albeit without a specific genoise at the base).

Like Paul Hollywood, I adore a moist, juicy, tart Drizzle Cake and have made a few gluten free ones along the way : Zesty Drizzled Lemon Cake with Roasted Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting; Chocolate Loaf Cake (with drizzled chocolate syrup); Strawberry Trifle Cake (with drizzled fruit coulis); and my Raspberry & Lemon Drizzle Cake.

Baked using one of my favourite ingredients : freeze-dried raspberry, I first made Raspberry & Lemon Drizzle Cake for a colleague's leaving do at work. To mark her departure from the office, she held a 'pink tea' to raise money for Breast Cancer Care and my drizzle cake (which I coloured extra pink), went down a storm.

Being so yummy, I have re-created it here (fractionally amended) in Bundt form. Bundt cakes are fantastic for celebrations and parties, because they give maximum 'wow' for minimum effort. The shaped tin does all the work and with the addition of a dribble of chocolate, ganache or icing, a few sprinkles and sparkles or a dotting of fruit, they look like you have spent hours slaving away in the kitchen. All you need to do is sit back and soak up the praise for all you 'hard work'!

To be honest..... I am not sure I would make a specific drizzle bundt cake too often as the shape of the sponge does not lend that well to an even-soaked drizzle. However, having seen a couple of the GBBO bakers use bundt tins, I thought I would try it out.

I wish I had added a little more red colouring to pink-up the sponge a shade or too, but otherwise, this cake is delicious! Zingy yet sweet, fruity, very moist, with a slight crispness from the extra drizzled icing, a complimentary fresh softness from the berry decoration and very very moreish.... Not sure whether Paul would approve (I was somewhat amused by his comment 'its fascinating that it's gluten free' when tasting GBBO contestant Candice's drizzle cake. Some of us have no choice Paul!!)...... but in our house, we love it!

I am sharing my signature Raspberry & Lemon Drizzle Cake with the following linkies :

Free From Fridays with Emma over at the Free From Farmhouse

Cook Blog Share - this week with Hijacked by Twins

Brilliant Blog Posts with Honest Mum

#TheFoodCalendar with Charlotte's Lively Kitchen. For Breast Cancer Care's Strawberry Tea

Raspberry & Lemon Drizzle Bundt Cake

Ingredients

Preparing the Bundt Tin
1½ tablespoons cornflour
sunflower oil

Sponge
200g plain gluten free flour blend (I used blend A from this post)

120g ground almonds

50g fine ground polenta

1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons GF baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
15g freeze dried raspberry powder
300g golden caster sugar
250g unsalted butter - softened
4 large eggs - room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
juice 1 lemon
zest 1 lemon
red food colouring (optional)

Drizzle Syrup & Icing
sieved juice 1 large lemon (+ a little extra)
1½ tablespoons water
10g freeze dried raspberry powder
180g icing sugar (sifted)

To Decorate 
fresh raspberries
white chocolate - grated
dark chocolate curls
edible glitter

Method

1. Prepare a large bundt tin by lightly brushing or rubbing the internal surface with oil. Coat the oil with cornflour (tip the cornflour into the tin and shake and tip until covered). Turn the tin over a sink and tap the bottom to remove any excess cornflour.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 170 C/325 F/Gas 3.
3. Weigh and mix together the flour, almonds, polenta, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and freeze dried raspberry powder. Ensure the mix is well blended and all lumps are broken down and set aside.
4. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl using an electric whisk, until pale and fluffy.
5. Add the eggs one at a time and beat each until smooth.
6. Add the vanilla  and food colouring (if using) and beat again.
7. Add the flour mix, lemon juice and lemon zest and fold through quickly and lightly using a large spoon or spatula, until the mix is evenly blended.
8. Pour the batter into the bundt tin (about two-thirds to three-quarters full) and smooth the top using the back of a spoon.
9. Bake for approximately 35 to 40 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean and the top springs back to the touch.
10. Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning the cake out onto a wire rack to cool. If the sponge does not come out of the tin easily (mine never do), gently ease a small silicone spatula around the edges and down the sides (not forgetting the centre post), turn back over and tap all round using a rolling pin.
11. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven (and before turning out), make the Drizzle Syrup : Place the lemon juice, water, raspberry powder and 100g of the icing sugar into a small saucepan.
12. Heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture becomes a thin syrup. If it seems too thick, just add a drop more water or lemon juice.
13. Once the sponge is tipped out and whilst it is still warm, use a skewer to poke lots of holes across the top of the bundt, making sure you go down to a good depth to enable the syrup to penetrate deeply.
14. Gently and carefully pour or syringe the drizzle into the holes. You should use most (about two-thirds), but not all of the syrup. 
15. Icing : Take the remaining syrup and add a further 80g icing sugar and stir through again over the heat to dissolve and blend. You may wish to add a little more lemon juice/water at this time if the mix seems thick.
16. Remove from the heat. As the icing cools, it will quickly thicken, so ensure that you drizzle it over the sponge whilst it is still liquid enough to do so.
17. Decorate with fresh raspberries, chocolate and sprinkles whilst the icing is still wet enough to stick.
18. Eat 'neat' or serve with cream.

Gluten Free Alchemist © 2013-16 unless otherwise indicated