It was Aubrey’s 40th birthday and we had friends over for drinks and nibbles and needed cake so went into The Cheesecake Shop to get a black forrest cake for everyone.   I was planning on being cake free as over Easter and school holidays have over indulged.   But there was a sign at The Cheesecake Shop saying try our gluten free chocolate mud cake so on impulse bought a whole one!   I was impressed as the staff member tells me they are baked in a dedicated facility and then plastic wrapped and sent down to Bunbury.   Of course this means has been frozen and the list of ingredients is long, probably not the healthiest choice but for convenience factor worth buying and great for a kids birthday cake!   It tastes delicious, not that different from their other chocolate mud cake, but best warmed slightly with some vanilla ice cream! (I like the Weiss for a gluten free vanilla bean ice cream)

Autumn Coles magazine also had a section on gluten free Easter recipes and decided to give this gluten free brownie a try as but different as uses ground up gluten free rice cakes as the base.

120g thick gluten free rice cakes
100g macadamias chopped
125g butter chopped
100g Green & Blacks 70% dark chocolate chopped
1/2 cup pure icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)
1/2 cup cacao sifted
2 free range eggs lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk
fresh raspberries & cream to serve

Preheat oven to 150 degrees celsius and grease and line 20cm square cake pan.

Place rice cakes in TM and grind on speed 9 for 1 minute or until fine crumbs, transfer to a bowl.

Chop macadamias in the TM and add to the bowl, stir to combine.

Place butter, chocolate, icing sugar and cacao in a saucepan and stir on low heat until melted and smooth.

Add to rice mixture and mix to combine.

Add eggs and milk and mix well.

Put into cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for 15 minutes or until just set, cool in the pan.

Dust with icing sugar and slice into fingers.   Serve with raspberries and either cream or ice cream.

One of the best blogs for gluten free and Thermomix is Quirky Cooking.   Jo is amazing at creating tasty and healthy recipes and I have tried many but this latest one just might be my new favourite.   We had some salmon for Good Friday and wanted to do something different, Aubrey wanted a curry, so best of both worlds with this recipe.   We did not have any quinoa and so used basmati rice instead which came out like coconut steamed rice.   Check out the recipe and Quirky cooking blog here.

Delicious gluten free pizza at Cafe Bianco on a gluten free base hand made with chickpea flour.  This month is Charlotte’s Pearsciutto with a pesto base, topped with baby spinach, slices of pear, salty crisp prosciutto & mozzarella.   Go check it out as for April only!

I have tried making gluten free pastry before for a quiche and lets say it was not very edible, just at the filling!   So was with some doubt that decided to give this chickpea crust a go as demonstrated (and taste tested!) by Rose at the Gluten Free Expo.   I could not find dal flour so ground down half a cup of green lentils (from the soup aisle!) and half a cup of brown rice to flour in the Thermomix.   I transferred this to a bowl and then processed a can of drained chickpeas to a paste in the Thermomix and then added to the flour mix with a pinch of salt.   Once this was mixed well together I added a little vegetable oil until becomes the consistency of play dough.   You then press this into a quiche tin (with the removable base) and up the sides to form a crust, no need to blind bake it.   I then made the quiche filling with four eggs and 1 cup of milk mixed together.   Then it is just a case of adding any left over ingredients or things have on hand.   The first quiche I made was a cheese, bacon and onion quiche with fetta cheese and sprinkled with tasty cheddar on top.   This weekend I made a spinach, mushroom, sun dried tomato and sunflower seed quiche with goat cheese fetta.   Both tasted delicious and the crust if able to be sliced and comes out of the quiche tin easily and holds together yet it is easy to cut and eat, not like some of my previous attempts as gluten pastry or crusts which you could not cut or chew!

It is starting to get cooler and I felt the need for a casserole instead of meat and salad for dinner.   The autumn Coles free magazine had a really easy recipe that uses the gluten free Outback Spirit Pork Kakadu Plum sausages.

1kg Outback Spirit Pork Kakadu Plum sausages
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion chopped
175g bacon chopped
690g jar Italian Passata (tomato puree)
Basil leaves
400g can butter beans
250g broccoli florets steamed to serve

Heat frying pan on medium and cook sausages for 4-5 minutes turning once until well browned.   Removed from pan and set aside.

Heat oil in same pan and cook onion for 5 minutes or until soft.

Add bacon and cook until browned.

Add tomato passata, handful of chopped basil and 1/2 cup of water. Season and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add beans and stir to combine.

Thickly slice sausages and add to tomato sauce and simmer for 5 minutes until cooked through,.

Serve with broccoli.

Now I have the hang of the muffin mix consistency required can make many variations.   On the weekend I tried making savoury muffins with sun dried tomato, fetta, pesto and sunflower seeds.   They are delicious warmed up with light cream cheese for lunch and would be lovely with pumpkin soup.

I then used the muffin mix to make a dark choc and orange loaf.    I substituted the 1/4 cup of sugar with Natvia from my WBC gift pack and boiled an orange and blended it in the Thermomix to add to the batter.   I used dark choc chips in the centre which make a chocolate sauce in the centre of the loaf which comes out more like a pudding and is delicious warmed up with vanilla bean ice cream.

Thank you so much to WBC for my hamper of cereal, hot chocolate and Natvia.   I love the WBC bircher muesli which I soak overnight with apple juice and add some grated apple.   In the morning I stir through light greek style yoghurt and top with blueberries and banana.   I also love the porridge in winter and the muesli is great to take with you when going away for a quick and easy breakfast.   If you cannot find gluten free options in a cafe I often order fruit salad and yoghurt and then sprinkle muesli over the top as crunchy topping.

I also love the Vitarium 100% natural sugar free drinking chocolate with Natvia.   Very nice in frothed or steamed milk with a gluten free marshmallow for a sweet evening treat before bed.   It is also gluten free as well as egg and nut free.

I made the trip up to the gluten free expo on the weekend, did not get to it in 2011.   I was glad I did for the cooking demo by Rose from Balingup alone.   I have eaten many times at the Balingup Bronze Cafe with its 100% gluten free and delicious menu.   Rose is inspirational and for someone who cannot cook she inspires me that I can learn!   I would love a cookbook and recipes with precise amounts but coming to value the need to learn to cook by getting a feel for the texture and consistency required.   So that in mind I came home from the expo and attempted white chocolate and raspberry muffins which were always a must on trips to Balingup.

I could not find any Dal (or Dahl?) flour locally so stuck with the Orgran SR Flour mix but you can use a mix of flours and add some GfG (gluten substitute from Orgran) but remember the GF baking powder as I forgot with first batch and they came out flat and rubbery!!!   I added about 2 cups of SR flour, 1/4 cup raw sugar and about half packet of Nestle white chocolate melts.   Then I mixed 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and 2 eggs together and added some greek yoghurt.   I combined the flour mix with egg/oil mix and had thick consistency before adding about 1 cup of milk added last and slowly so does not become to runny a mix.   The after spraying muffin tray with oil added tablespoon as base, added frozen raspberries and then topped with more muffin mix.   Cooked in hot oven (210 degrees celsius) for 10 minutes and then lowered temperature to 180 degrees celsius for the remaining 15 minutes.   Make sure you let the muffins rest and I was not sure cooked completely so turned oven off and left in there bit longer.   Served with a icing made from remaining white chocolate melts and tablespoon of greek yoghurt and some vanilla bean ice cream.   Have stored rest in the fridge and freezer and they freshen and fluff up with 10-20 seconds in the microwave.

So book into one of Rose’s upcoming workshops, you will be glad you did and so will your taste buds!

Download the pdf here.

If you have not worked it out by now Cafe 140 is my favourite place for gluten free food and great coffee.   They might not have the biggest range of gluten free food on the menu but it is the best and the tastiest from breakfast to sweet treats.   The coffee is consistently good and love trying out all the single origin coffee.   So please vote for Cafe 140 in the I Love Food Awards 2012 here.