Almond Flour and Italian desserts

Italian food is that last thing you think about when you are GF. A wheat minefield. So your options become the one roast chicken on the menu. Pizza and pastas are definitely out. Oh yeah, so are cream sauces and desserts.

However, there are regions in Italy with the most fantastic almond based desserts. Lila at the Busy Baker in Sydney, is the model of how country specialties can be made GF and delicious on a large scale. (See previous blog on her creations). From her Arrancini filled bolognese to her delicious GF waffles and lemon creations, her work is a testament of what can be done.

The Abbruzzo region, serves their famous Parozza di Pescara (Italian chocolate cake) with almonds (although many serve their dish with semolina, I find it is fine without it), then there is the Foccacio a la Portoghese, an orange almond cake that is simply divine whose recipe dates back to the 1800's. Read about it at this food history blog. I've had it in the little island of Waihiki in New Zealand and can attest to it being possibly one of the best cakes I have ever eaten. You can substitute the sugar in this recipe for agave but lessen the orange juice to one cup.

GF Baklava

Pecan Baklava

Your dehydrator can be a terrific tool for you to create GF masterpieces. Many home ovens now come with them. Raw food enthusiasts who don't heat their food over a certain number of degrees to maintain their nutrients, swear by the dehydrator. Here is a simple, tasty, impressive GF, DF recipe for you to try. A spin on the traditional baklava made of walnuts, this one is loaded with nuts, I used cashews and has a phyllo crust made of cashews. Of course, low glycemic sweeter. This recipe makes about a 5X5 square. Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco is a wonderful raw food restaurant that specializes in these type of raw desserts.

Phyllo Dough

3/4 soaked cashews - Soak Cashews in water overnight and drain when ready to use

1/8 tsp salt

1 tablespoon agave nectar

1/4 cup water
1/2 tbsp vanilla

1 tbsp lemon juice

Blend all ingredients till smooth and creamy - takes about 3-5 minutes on high speed.

Pour the paste on to a dehydrator sheet of teflex liner and spread to make a thin sheet. You should have enough to make 3 sheets. (For the photo, I stacked 2 sets on top each other). Not too thin that you can see through it. Dehydrate for 1 hour at 145 degrees then lower to 115 for 24 hours. You should be able to pick up the sheet and not have it crumble apart.

Filling

3/4 cup pecans chopped to small bits

2 Tbsp agave nectar

1/2 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 Tbsp Lemon juice

1/8 tsp cardamom

Mix all ingredients together by hand.

Cut the phyllo into equal squares and layer with filling equally. Start with one piece of dough then pecans then more dough. Top with 1 Tbsp agave or yacon syrup to create a glaze.

To store: Store in airtight container for up to a week.

A GF Find - Busy Bakehouse - Sydney, Australia

Meet Lilla Petrocitto, the shy, energetic, passionate proprietor of Buzy Baker is taking GF baking seriously. Walk around Queen street in the trendy suburb of Woollahra and you will see her tending to her customers with care. Lilla is celiac with multiple allergies. She has turned lemons to lemonade with the most extensive GF products yet. She constantly tests and solicits customer feedback on every dish she serves.

This place has the most amazing thin crust pizza. Our prosciutto and arugula pizza had snap and crunch, was slightly sweet and complemented the prosciutto, rocket topping. Buzy Baker had savory pies and gnocchi, a mile high lemon pie, apple and rhubarb pies, lemon polenta cake, Florentines, quinoa and chia bread all GF. Truly one of the most extensive GF bakeries I have ever encountered, this shy but passionate woman has transformed some Italian classics into GF masterpieces - some GF/CF, some GF. Although most have a sugar base, this serves as an inspiration of what creative baking can be.

Enjoy her creations..

New Product - Danielle Crispy Green Tea Rolls

WholeFoods now carries this delicious crispy rolled cookie that is melt in your mouth delicious. Though it does contain brown sugar it only has 7 grams for 3 rolls. With only 6 ngredients it is loaded with good stuff - coconut milk, tapioca flour, brown sugar, green tea, egg and salt. No preservatives, no colors and only $4.99 a box! You won't be disappointed, if you can find it that is..contact the manufacturer at DanielleSnacks.com. They have an interesting story, but these crispy rols are not listed on their website and really should be. Yum!

The Maligned Coconut

In past years the coconut has been shunned for contributing to high cholesterol and to be avoided. This is due possibly to the notion that coconut oil was once hydrogenized and therefore categorized as an unhealthy, dreaded transfat. Nothing could be further from the truth. The coconut in it's basic form, unprocessed, is antiviral, high fiber, low carbohydrate and low glycemic. Possibly the perfect food.

The fiber content of coconut ranks at 61% as compared to 27% for wheat bran, 16% for oat bran, 13% for wheat flour and 3% for unbleached white flour (another reason to avoid that nasty flour). One cup of shredded fresh coconut has 3 grams of carbohydrate 9 grams of fiber...yes, 9 grams! The remaining 68 grams is primarily water.

Coconut fiber has been shown to control blood sugar and insulin levels. It's high fiber content helps moderate the swings in blood sugar slowing down the absorption of sugar in the blood. In addition, coconut flour has been shown to increase your good cholesterol or HDL. Coconut meat has been shown to protect the heart by modifying blood lipid levels.

So now to the good stuff, when baking with coconut flour note that the liquid to dry ratio may at first seem high until you add the flour. It has an amazing ability to absorb a lot of the liquid very quickly. The batter may seem elastic and thick but it bakes up very nicely. Also, a little goes a long way with the flour. Try substituting a portion of your GF flour with coconut flour and replacing your non dairy milk with coconut milk. Both are easily obtainable online. Bob's Red Mill or Aloha Nu have organic coconut flour. Canned Coconut milk and fresh in the shell coconuts are readily available at any Asian market.

For a quick dessert, buy one of the fresh coconuts and chop of the top portion, save the liquid for a refreshing drink and place 2 scoops of non dairy ice cream inside. As you dig into the ice cream, scoop out the delicious coconut meat - YUMMY!

The only downside is that the flour tends to be a bit pricey. If more of us clamour for it, we could possibly start a movement to get the price down.

Legal Seafood - A GF Haven in Boston

Legal Seafood in Boston is one of the few restaurants in the country with a dedicated GF menu. Ask for it when you dine there. It is extensive and they take pains to prepare the seafood in a dedicated area, washing and preparing the plates separately to avoid cross contamination. Their fried calamari, rolled in chickpea flour, is fresh, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. They will serve GF bread in lieu of white rolls which are reminiscent in texture of buttermilk biscuits. They are made of rice and tapioca flours, seasoned with a hint of onion. Their salmon is cooked to perfection. The GF food is served by their managers as they take allergies very seriously. In addition, they pride themselves in the freshest fish off the boats and quality test their fish for mercury regularly. When dining there you don't have to second guess the health aspect of any of their products. I found myself dining there at 6 times in a quick 5 day stay!

Legal Seafood has to be applauded for such committment to their wheat intolerant patrons. Encouragement of restaurants like Legal Seafood brings an awareness to other restaurants of the spectrum of customers out there who want to dine out but are limited in a world of wheat. Though their desserts are mainly dairy, they are making a difference in the wheat world. When other restaurants would rather not both with the hassle of maintaining a separate area and taking meticulous care in the preparation of GF food, this restaurant shines above the rest.

Thank you, Legal Seafood!!

Chipas or Pao de Queijo - Cheese Bread - South America

I've served this savory bread several times to non GF friends and they all loved it. Also called pao de queijo in Brazil (cheese bread), pandebono in Colombia, chipas in Paraguary and Buenos Aires. It is served in roadside stands in much of South America for about a quarter. Best part is that it is naturally gluten free. Made of cassava or corn flour, filled with cheese, it is crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.

This recipe uses tapioca flour. I have substituted rice milk and rice cheese to make this recipe work. You can try different fillings. It is extremely easy and quick to make. Serve this out of the oven while warm, as it sits the consistency will change to be someone softer and lose it's crispiness.

Heat oven to 375.

Mix together 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup rice milk in saucepan. Heat at high till liquid starts to boil. Remove from heat and add in 2 cups tapioca, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 clove finely chopped garlic. Let cool for 15 minutes. Dough will be slightly stringy and able to form a ball.

Mix in 2 beaten eggs and 1/2 cup rice or soy "cheese". Form into small 1.5 inch balls and place on an ungreased pan. Should make 12-15 depending on size. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden on the outside and moist on the inside.

New Product Substitute for Cream

I found a new product in Whole Foods which is quite exciting. MimicCreme is a non dairy, non junk food, substitute for cream. I have tried it in GF eclairs and as a filling for cakes and it worked out very nicely. The simplicity and wholesomeness of the ingredients is something worth mentioning. Made from almonds and cashew nuts, it gives a nice thick texture to those recipes for creamy mousse dessert cakes or simply as a replacement for heavy cream. With 0 grams of sugar and 1 carbohydrate, this product is amazing. If you've tried raw cheesecakes, many of them are nut based so it is not that unusual and actually works quite well. Thank you to the chefs who make these creative products possible!

GF Oven "Fried" Chicken

Here is a quick and easy, healthy alternative to fried chicken. Served with a salad served sprinkled with mandarin oranges and almonds, and a light dressing of olive oil, rice wine vinegar and agave, it is a staple at our house.

Wash and dry 4 chicken drumsticks.

In a plastic bag, mix together 1 cup almond meal and 1 cup brown rice flour. Add about 1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Add your favorite ground herbs to taste if desired.

Place chickens in bag and mix together till chicken is thoroughly coated.

Meanwhile heat an over to 375 degrees.

Lay chickens out on foil lined tray sprayed with olive oil to prevent sticking.

Bake for 45-50 minutes or until chicken is crispy and well cooked.

GF Rice Pudding (Vegan)

Rice pudding with golden raisins and pistachios

Rice pudding is one of those comfort foods when made perfectly. It is easy, quick and this recipe does not require eggs or an oven. The secret is using the right rice. I have tried this recipe with basmati, glutinous, long grain but the perfect rice that seems to have the perfect starch consistency is a good medium grain short grain white rice. Made with creamy hemp milk (you can use rice milk) and agave. The sweetness of the raisins with the saltiness of the pistachios gives it a nice balance of salty sweet.

Start by boiling 1 cup water. (The normal proportions would be 2 water to 1 rice.). Add in
1/2 cup medium short grain white rice and a pinch of salt. Simmer on low for 15-20 minutes as you would when making regular rice.

Add 2 1/2 cups hemp or rice milk, 1/3 cup agave and cook on low for another 30 minutes. Pudding will be cooked when spoon stands up straight in the mix.

Add 1 tsp vanilla, 1//2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup golden raisins and 1/2 tsp pistachio nuts.

YUMMY! How easy is that!

All GF Flours are not Created Equal -Rice Flour

A friend of mine, new to the GF world, mentioned buying a quinoa bread that was totally inedible. Her whole family was convinced the bread was bad after one bite. I told her of a similar experience I had trying a GF bread touted as "the moistest gluten free bread on the market today". Its weight was a tip off as to what the texture was going to be like. Dense, heavy, pungent and crumbly, I was convinced it had gone bad in the shipping until I opened the sister loaf and it had similar unearthly characteristics. I immediately felt very sad for all the customers who buy this bread thinking that this is the gold standard of breads. That the sentence for being gluten free was a life with this bread and this is all there is out there. Rest assured it is not!

Filling your pantry with these wonderful alternatives is very exciting. GF recipe books abound on Amazon and after a few tries you will find your cookbook that will make the difference for you. These renegade authors and chefs, often take their professional traditional pastry training and after countless tries turn a wheat classic into a GF classic. We should applaud them for the hours of work and the failed experiments to get closer to baking perfection. So lets start our journey with flours and the myriad of choices out there.

This posting I'll start with rice flour, because it is readily available in many forms and each behave differently.

Rice Flour comes in many forms - white, extra fine white, brown, glutinous or sweet rice. Knowing what type to use and when is more science than art.

White Rice Flour is milled from polished white rice and is grainier than the other varieties of flour. It is best when mixed with other flours to make bread, cakes and cookies. When used alone can sometimes have a gritty texture.

Extra Fine White Rice Flour - Is a finer ground white rice flour with a soft powdery texture. I mix this flour with other flours when making finer cakes. Its consistency helps with with the gritty texture of white rice flour but when used solely can add a gummy texture to a cake.

Brown Rice Flour has similar properties to rice flour but has better nutritional value as it is milled from unpolished brown rice. Because it contains more oils, it is best kept refrigerated. It has a nutty taste and grainy texture. Again, this rice is best when mixed with other flours.

Glutinous or Sweet Rice is also known as sticky rice. It is very elastic when mixed with liquid. It is one of the most perfect gluten free flours widely used in Asia and is said to have been used in China for over 2000 years in both savory and sweet dishes. This type of rice can be milled or unmilled. Milled Rice is typically white and unmilled which contains the bran can be black or purple. The famous Japanese "mochi" which is a small round cake with typically a bean filling is wrapped with a sometimes white glutinous cover. Vietnamese cultures also use the flour to make the distinct "Banh" cakes (they also may use cassava or tapioca flours) filled with sweetened mung beans. Filipinos will make a version called "Palitaw" which is glutinous flour shaped flat and dipped in boiling water then rolled in sesame seeds, sugar and coconut flakes.

As you can see this variety of rice flours makes it a versatile alternative in GF baking. If you are looking for the traditional crumb of a Western made cake, you will be best using a combination of flours when using rice flour. Rice flour with potato and tapioca starches seem to be a good combination. Try a mix of 1 cup brown rice flour to a 1/3 cup potato starch and 4 tbsp tapioca starch to make a versatile GF flour mix in these proportions. You can make this mix in batches using it as needed when baking most of your cakes when replacing flour.

Perfect Vegan GF Chocolate Cupcake

The search for the perfect vegan cupcake has taken me 6 months, countless recipe trials and modifications. Finally, I can share with you success..best yet, no eggs, gluten, sugar or dairy. I served this at a recent gathering of very picky eaters who called it the best cupcake they've ever had -firm and moist - no one could ever guess it was gluten free. I owe this find to the Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen blog whose recipe won out on all the others. I used it as a base and modified to enhance the moisture.

The biggest complaint of gluten free baked goods is that it is crumbly and dry. With any of these ancient grains that lack gluten it is sometimes necessary to let the batter sit with the liquid to allow it to absorb. In classic baking, this is a no-no as this cannot be done with recipes which are heavily leavened with eggs as the incorporation of eggs give the lift and rise to the cake. However, with vegan desserts, this is possible with the absence of eggs. I have tried soaking the batter after mixing for 15-20 minutes for this recipe and it makes a noticeable difference in the texture of the crumb.

This recipe I tested both with rice and hemp milk. The hemp milk gave it a creamier texture and the coconut sugar I use for its low glycemic properties. (It is one of my favorite sweeteners and works great in recipes where brown sugar is used.) I am sure this recipe will fool even your toughest critics. This recipe yields about 9 large or 20 mini cupcakes:

1 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup grapeseed oil

3/4 cup coconut sugar
1 cup hemp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 F. Spray muffin tins.

Mix together sorghum, tapioca flours, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, baking soda and sea salt.

Beat oil, coco sugar, hemp milk and vanila together .

Beat in dry ingredients until well mixed. Let sit for 15-20 minutes to absorb the moisture.

Fill pans 3/4 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes for mini cupcakes and 20-15 for regular size cupcakes.

When cooked, wait 5 minutes then remove from tins and cool on rack before frosting.

This frosting seems to work well with these cupcakes and it isn't too sweet. It does pipe on very soft and you may need to modify it to the stiffness you want by adding more coconut oil which solidifies at room temperature. The coconut gives it a nice taste.

Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup palm shortening
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tbsp arrowroot powder
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredient together until fluffy. Pipe on to cooled cupcakes.

A world of discoveries in Asian food stores

Head off to your local Asian market and spend time discovering the variety of goodies available. A myriad of alternatives await you from tapioca crackers to mung bean noodles to tofu soup to rice desserts wrapped in banana leaves. Though most labels might seem intimidating in their native language, almost all will have an English ingredient list. The tapioca crackers from Indonesia for example had tapioca flour, water and salt listed. Now be aware that most of the desserts come with a hefty dose of refined white sugar but if ideas are what you are looking for, the Asian market has all the ingredients to allow you to make your own low sugar alternative. A steamed rice Philippine cake wrapped in a banana leaf cane be made with glutinous sweet rice, coconut milk, a banana leaf (they come frozen in the food aisle) and substitute the sugar with your sweetener of choice. A tofu pudding, a traditional Chinese dessert of creamy soft tofu in a sugar syrup served warm can be made with an agave syrup - you control the sugar content.

Meandering through these aisles with your mobile phone allows you to use technology to instantly understand what your a looking at. A quick web search of what "chana" is brings up wonderful chickpea or garbanzo flour recipes commonly used in Indian cuisine in dishes such as vegetable pekoras. The great thing about many of these foods is that inherently they are not only gluten free but lactose free. Coconut milk or rice milk is often substituted for the milk as pasteurized cow milk in many of these countries is not native to their cultures. Try substituting sugar with low glycemic agave or coconut sugar. Try making a vanilla Thai custard which is not only easy but contains healthy antiviral coconut milk or bring home ingredients for the classic Thai sticky rice with mango dessert or Pick up some Japanese mochi (sticky sweet rice buns filled with red beans) or even a fresh young coconut with a straw to sip the freshest natural good for you juice you've ever had then scrape off the coconut meat to grate on your desserts.

Enjoy your trip to the Asian store, it opens a world of possibilities!

Art of Baking Gluten Free

As you start to venture out making your own creations, there are a few basics that can help guide you in your substitutions. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, first use an existing recipe then tune your ingredients. Prepare to summon up all your patience as sometimes getting the final result can take several tries. For one recipe I am still working on, I've done 11 tries and counting! But I hope these guidelines can help you somewhat.

When substituting wheat with any of the "ancient" grains (as many of these alternative grains have been used for centuries in some cultures before wheat was brought to their shores), keep in mind that wheat absorbs water at a higher rate than other grains. Wheat swells to soak up the moisture you add to it. So soaking the flour in your liquids before mixing can help the common complaint on dryness with GF goods. Too little moisture often results in a crumbly texture, too much hydration and the crumb will be dense and heavy. This rule holds most true with breads. As you experiment you will find each recipe to be a little different. When baking cakes, remember that leavening, or incorporating gasses into your batter to give it volume and shape by using baking powder or yeast, may require only a short soak to make a nice difference in your cake(5 minutes). There are exceptions, when using egg foam as you will quickly lose volume after beating since the trapped air in the foam allows for proper leavening of your cake.

In addition, if you use finer ground flours like fine ground rice or almond flour you increase the surface area of the grain adding to the changes in the hydration required. In one GF tart crust recipe I used almond meal and experiencing crumbling so much that I had to use an egg to bind everything, I substituted finely ground almond flour and removed the egg. The result was a perfect crust - held its shape without crumbling, could be filled without getting soggy and was crispy. Huge difference from the original.

In many cake recipes, try using a fine ground rice flour (Gustos Mills makes a good one) instead of the regular rice flour and you will see a significant change in the texture of your cakes, the grainy texture will now have a moist mouth feel.

Finally, try using warmer liquid to accelerate the swelling and absorption of the liquid into your grain. Particularly true with bread where a thermometer is indispensable - 120 typically for yeasted doughs.

Hopefully these tips can help you as you modify your favorite wheat recipes. Your journey may be sometimes frustrating but with a little bit of trial and error you won't miss any of your favorite desserts.