this post contains gifted items, all thoughts and views my own
I feel like I’ve not covered enough of my baking on the blog this year to justify all the calories I’ve combined and consumed. Baking helps me to relax, unwind and I am always coming up with new and inventive ways to get creative in the kitchen. As a coeliac, I enjoy making meals for the whole family who aren’t gluten free and testing out things that they can enjoy just as much as me. It can be tough to produce top quality bakes that are in fact gluten free, and GF food does come with a reputation of being dry, crumbly and just generally bad. I am here to tell you that this just isn’t the case once you know what you’re doing. I’ve come up with three gluten free recipes that you can rely on with the help from Sous Chef, whether you are newly diagnosed or just trying to bake something for a gluten free friend.
Sous Chef (established 8 years ago this month) sells thousands of amazing ingredients from around the world to its customers. I’m in love with middle eastern spices and flavours, so in this blog post you’ll discover a few products that aren’t in your average pantry…
It’s cupcake day!
If my daughter had her way, it would be cupcake day every day in our household. I love baking with her and I try to do it as much as possible when we have the time. The easiest things for us to make are gluten free cupcakes. Here’s my perfected recipe over 15 years of making them:
Mix 250g white caster sugar together with 250g soft spread (I use a plant based spread as gluten free flour needs that extra oil). Once this is silky smooth and there are no sugar lumps, go ahead and crack in 3 eggs one by one. Don’t worry if the mixture separates a little, and you can do this by hand or with a mixer. Next is 250g gluten free self raising flour and three tablespoons cocoa powder (sifted or mixed in with flour before adding). It’s really important to do this slowly, and do this stage by hand so you don’t knock the air out of the mixture. Once combined, add a little drop of vanilla extract plus a quarter teaspoon of xanthan gum -note this last ingredient isn’t 100% essential but I do find this helps to keep the cakes from crumbling. Bake in the oven for around 15-18 mins at 190 degrees, though adjust your temperature accordingly to your oven and cupcake size. You are after a slightly domed top that is firm to touch, and no wobbles!
I let Alice loose with all our Frozen accesories, while I used a vanilla butter cream and beautiful rose petals (via Sous Chef) to create my batch.
New York style baked cheesecake
For the biscuit base:
The base is 80g butter and one pack of gluten free choc chip cookies. Blitz the biscuits in a blender, and mix with melted butter to form the base. Press into your cheesecake mould (lined with baking paper) and bake at 180 degrees for ten mins. Take out to cool, then whack up the oven to 220 degrees before making the filling:
The filling ingredients
- Roughly 900g of cream cheese
- 250g of caster sugar
- 3 tablespoons of gluten free plain flour
- 1½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- A dash of lemon juice
- 3 eggs and an extra yolk
- 300ml of sour cream
The topping
- Pomegranate molasses (via Sous Chef)
- Fresh pomegranate seeds
Whisk together your cream cheese and sugar carefully, then add your flour. Next go ahead with your vanilla extract and lemon juice, then the eggs plus extra yolk (one at a time). I added the sour cream by hand next, as I didn’t want to over-whisk the mixture. Making sure there are no lumps, pour onto the cooled biscuit base and pop in the oven for 10-15 mins before lowering the temp down to 100 degrees. Bake for around 45 more minutes, or until the edges have browned and there is a slight wobble in the middle. I let my cheesecake stay in the oven for a little longer turned off as I wanted it to be a bit firmer on the inside. I then left it to completely cool before putting in the fridge overnight with foil on the top.
In the morning it was ready to decorate with my pomegranate molasses (via Sous Chef) and the pomegranate seeds! The molasses has a tart bite that cuts through the creaminess of the cheesecake perfectly.
Late night chocolate brownies
Sometimes you just need that late night, oven-baked snack to satisfy you. I had a packet of gluten free brownie mix in the cupboard that just required an egg and oil as ingredients. Not entirely my own recipe but hey, you can always rely on a good old packet mix for ease and speed!
My absolute favourite combo is chocolate and pistachio, so here’s where you can get creative with a packet mix. I added some swirls of pistachio cream (via Sous Chef) on top of the brownie mixture in the tin and baked it for 15 mins. They turned out amazing- the creamy swirls just made the brownie so much nicer and they didn’t last long!
So there you have it, three gluten free recipes that you can rely on no matter if you have a spare 15 minutes for brownies or a morning to make the perfect baked cheesecake. What’s your go-to gluten free bake? Let me know in the comments below and share with me.
Saharasplash x
Thanks for reading. Have you seen my latest parenting blog post featuring Alice’s current daily routine?
