Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Frangipane Tart

My little girl, Emily, has been asking me for 'Rahhhspberries' all day today. She's never had them before and they just so happened to be on offer in Aldi, so I bought a punnet for her. She put one in her mouth and immediately spat it out, declaring "I don't like that one, Mummy." I don't really like raspberries on their own either, so I decided to use them to make a cake.

Personally, I love raspberry cheesecake, but my fiancé isn't fussed on them and to be honest, I need to start making things he will eat too, otherwise I'll be struggling to get into my favourite jeans! He loves bakewell tart, so the recipe below is a bit of an adaptation on that. The pastry is probably the best one I've made to date - light, crumbly and sweet and it complements the moist frangipane. The raspberries add a bit of zing, and the dark chocolate perfectly finishes the whole thing off! It's gone down well with all three of us, so I'll definitely be making this again!

As ever, make sure you check labels on everything to ensure it's all gluten free.

Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Frangipane Tart

Pastry
100g unsalted butter diced
100g icing sugar
50g ground almonds
1 medium egg, beaten
200g plain gluten free flour plus extra for rolling
Baking beans/uncooked rice

Filling
125g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
1tsp almond extract
125g ground almonds
2 eggs
100g fresh raspberries, halved
30g Dark chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 160 degrees and grease a 9inch/23cm tart tin. (I also line it with foil first for easier removal)

To make the pastry, rub the butter and sugar between your fingers to form crumbs. Stir in the almonds and icing sugar and add the egg a little at a time to form a soft dough. Use a little more flour to roll out to a thickness of about 0.25cm. Line the tin with the pastry, gently pushing it to the corners. Trim excess from around the edge and blind bake using the baking beans/rice for 10 minutes, until the edges start to brown slightly.

For the frangipane, cream the butter, sugar and almond extract together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to beat the mixture. Gently stir in the almonds. Place the halved raspberries on the pastry base in circles and then spread the frangipane mixture on top. Bake until golden and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool.

Put the dark chocolate in a sandwich bag and melt in some boiled water. Snip the corner of the bag and drizzle the chocolate over the cake.

Chicken Katsu Curry

I love Asian food. Since going gluten free, I've managed to perfect a few of my favourite takeaway meals and I get a lot of satisfaction knowing I can still eat what I want with a few adaptations.  I used to love going to Wagamama, a restaurant specialising in Japanese cuisine - think ramen and dumplings! They used to have quite a good gluten free menu, but it seems to be very limited now. Chicken Katsu Curry was never an option for a coeliac because it uses panko breadcrumbs and the curry sauce contains wheat flour and soy sauce. I did try it before diagnosis and I loved it. It tastes like 'posh' chip shop curry!

I came across a recipe for it the other day and thought I'd have a go at tweaking it to make it gluten free. Everyone in our house loved it, including my fussy two year old! She did eat about half a pack of 'bum' crackers (prawn crackers, no idea why she calls them that and not sure I want to) but she used them to scoop up the rice and chicken, so I was happy.

Anyway, here is the recipe with some adaptations. Really simple. Feeding two and a half people, itt makes enough to freeze half so you have readymade curry next time, and given that it takes a while to make, this was handy. However, my fiancé didn't realise I wanted to keep it and threw it all away. Good job he's pretty.

Chicken Katsu Curry

For the curry sauce

1 large chopped onion

1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped

5 garlic cloves, chopped

2 medium carrots, sliced

2 tablespoons gluten free plain flour

4 teaspoons gluten free curry powder (I used Asda's own)

600ml chicken stock made from Knorr stock cube

2 teaspoons honey

4 teaspoons tamari soy sauce

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon garam masala

For the breaded chicken

2 chicken escalopes, or flattened breasts

1 beaten egg

100g gluten free breadcrumbs - made by blitzing a few slices of bread in a food processor, spreading into a thin layer on a baking tray and cooking in the oven for 6-8 minutes or until golden.

Rice and vegetables to serve.

Preheat oven to 200°c.

Gently fry the onion, ginger and garlic in a little oil in a saucepan until the onion is cooked and soft. Add the carrots and fry on low for 10 minutes. Add the flour and curry powder and cook for a couple of minutes. Pour in the stock, honey, soy sauce and bay leaf and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook on low for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour the curry through a seive into another pan to remove the onions and carrots and you should be left with a silky, thick yet pourable sauce.

Meanwhile, put the egg and breadcrumbs in separate bowls. Dip your chicken into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs, coating on all sides. Spray a baking sheet with a little oil before placing each breast on the tray and spraying more oil over them. Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Serve with boiled rice and either vegetables or salad.

The Big (Gluten Free) Apple!

For my *cough* 30th *cough* Birthday, my lovely boyfriend (now fiancé after he proposed by a frozen lake in the Winter Wonderland that was Central Park!) whisked me off for a few days in New York.

I visited New York back in 2009, about 6 months pre diagnosis of Coeliac disease, so thankfully I got to experience a 'proper' slice of Pizza, Magnolia Bakery cupcakes, burgers and various other delights. As well as the amazing food, I just love the city and had been pining to go back ever since. And after googling 'gluten free in New York' and seeing the wealth of articles, websites and reviews for places to eat and visit, I was very much looking forward to our trip.

I could write and write and write about my visit but I've decided to list just a few of my favourite places below. Click on the titles to visit their websites!

Lili's 57

Lili's 57 is the Midtown sister restaurant of the Upper East Side's Lilli and Loo, famous for its Asian cuisine and sushi. I ate here after reading about it on the internet and seeing they have their own dedicated gluten free menu. Chinese food is probably my favourite cuisine, and I was not disappointed here. The menu has lots of choice - appetizers, soups, main courses, salads, rice and noodles. I wanted to order everything! I went for a starter of steamed oriental pork dumplings followed by General Tso's Crispy Chicken and Mongolian Beef, which my fiancé and I shared between us. If you like Chinese food you should definitely check this place out. It's not too pricey, the portions are great and the staff seem very clued up about gluten free food. I felt reassured that my food was safe.

Gluten free delights at Lili's 57

Bloom's Deli

Located a stone's throw from Grand Central Station, Bloom's Deli is a cosy little diner open for breakfast right through late night snacks. It doesn't seem to be that popular with tourists, which I liked, as I felt like a New Yorker eating our breakfast with commuters stopping in on their way to work. Bloom's was another place I'd read about before flying out and I was excited to try their pancakes, which did not disappoint - so much that we ate breakfast here every day! As shown in the photo below, the pancakes were huge. They were very fluffy and it was nice to be able to pick different accompaniments to go with them. Their breakfast sausages were lovely!

Delicious gluten free pancakes and syrup

The menu is a coeliac's heaven, with many options for breakfast, salads, sandwiches, burgers and desserts. The staff are very aware and have a separate kitchen area for preparing gluten free meals. The portions are huge - we ate here for lunch one day when I wasn't hungry, so I opted for a salad, but as you can see, there was enough to feed both of us!

My 'small' turkey salad

My one regret about Bloom's is that when we ate here on our first night, incredibly tired and weary from our travel, I chose a burger but didn't know whether my bun was gluten free after taking a bite, so I left it. Turns out it was, and was probably one of the nicest burger buns I'd tried! We planned to go back so I could get another one, but we didn't find the time (or the space in my stomach for their enormous 12oz burgers!)

Check out the menu on their website for more information.

Risotteria

If you're worried about cross-contamination whilst eating out, you need to look no further than Risotteria - an entirely gluten free Italian restaurant located downtown on Bleecker Street. This is a small place that doesn't accept bookings, and I hear it can be very busy in the evening! We opted to go for lunch on a Saturday and were seated immediately. Enormous gluten free breadsticks while you peruse the menu are a nice touch!

Biggest bread stick ever, it was like a baguette!

Risotteria serves pizzas, pasta, sandwiches and a large selection of baked goods, all made fresh in the restaurant. You can also purchase baking mixes and frozen goods to take away with you. Both myself and my non-coeliac fiancé ate here, and even he was impressed with his gluten free panini!

I chose a turkey panini, which I couldn't even tell was gluten free. It was so good, and I was so impressed with this place that I bought some of their pizza dough mix to bring home with us. I could have bought everything on offer if I had a spare suitcase!

Turkey ciabatta from Risotteria

Don Antonio

We chose to eat here to celebrate our engagement upon recommendation from the girl in G-Free NYC (see below for more on this shop). We both love pizza and I was dying to try a proper New York pizza. You will not be disappointed if you visit. Forget vacuum-packed, cardboard bases we get in the UK, this is fresh, homemade dough with plenty of toppings to choose from. I chose to opt for a simple margherita so that I could enjoy the base, which I pretty much inhaled! They also have a restaurant in Atlanta - UK next? *crosses fingers*

Pizza makes us happy, especially when it's
gluten free and looks this good!

G-Free NYC

This was literally our first stop after getting engaged, not because a gluten free shop is my idea of romance (although I was in love with it!), but because we were planning to go there after being in Central Park anyway. I just didn't know a proposal would also feature in our plans! Anyway, this shop is brilliant. It's like a little gluten free supermarket, selling everything you could possibly need or want. Cakes, cookies, sweets, pasta, freshly baked bread and pastries, crackers, baking mixes, sauces and a large freezer selection are just some of the goods on offer here, and this is where I filled most of the space left in our suitcases! Admittedly, I didn't look in the freezer because I didn't want to disappoint myself by not being able to purchase anything, however if you're staying in an apartment or somewhere with cooking facilities, there will be plenty here for you.

G-Free NYC

The owners are very helpful and gave great recommendations for places to eat and visit. I was also offered various samples while discussing our trip and perusing the goodies and I even left with a printout of restaurants that we could visit.

Some of the haul I came home with!

These were my favourite places to eat, but there are so many more I didn't get chance to visit and others where I ate the food too fast to photograph it, such as:

S'mac - a mac and cheese restaurant where you can 'build your own' pasta dishes, including gluten free and vegan options.

Mozzarelli's - a deli serving gluten free pizza by the slice, pasta, wraps and sandwiches. You can also purchase a big slice of cake, cookies, baking mixes and more!

Friedman's Lunch - Located inside the iconic Chelsea Market, a great place to get a grab and go sandwich, packed full of delicious fillings.

I can't recommend New York highly enough for a coeliac. They are light years ahead of us in terms of food and there was so much on offer it was impossible to visit even a small percentage of the dining options and shops I'd read about, unless you spend a good month or so there! (which I'd be happy to do, in the interest of research obviously)

Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes

Caramel Macchiatos are my favourite drink in Starbucks. So much so that on my last visit, I bought a bottle of the caramel drizzle sauce they use on top so that I can make my own imitation versions at home. However,  I've yet to master the milk frother on my coffee machine, as it turns out more like bath foam rather than the silky, thick stuff you can stand your spoon up in at Starbucks. As such, a little drizzle of caramel sauce just sinks to the bottom. Woe.

Anyway, I digress. Because of my homemade latte failure, I've been squirting on the sauce on just about anything else - pancakes, ice cream, my mouth.. and decided to have a play around with a cake recipe based on my favourite drink. It worked quite well! I think a marshmallow creme might work better to imitate the milky foam, rather than buttercream, maybe I'll try that next time!

Caramel Macchiato Cupcakes 

Makes 8 large cakes

125g of margarine
125g caster sugar
125g Doves Farm gluten free self-raising flour
2 eggs
2 tsp of coffee mixed with a tbsp of boiling water, left to cool
2 tsp caramel flavoured syrup (I used this)

Buttercream

150g Icing sugar
50g butter
splash of milk

Caramel Sauce to drizzle over cupcakes

Preheat oven to 190 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar together in a bowl using an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add eggs and 25g of flour and whisk until combined. Add the rest of the flour, the coffee and the caramel syrup and whisk together for a couple more minutes. Evenly spoon mixture into cupcake cases and bake for 20-25 minutes until a cocktail stick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool and make the buttercream. Spread a thin layer over the top of the cakes, and then drizzle some caramel sauce over each cake.

Peanut Butter Brownies

These brownies really don't need much of an introduction. I have been craving peanut butter all week, and after a failed attempt at making peanut butter hot chocolate earlier in the week (bleurgh), these were exactly what I was looking for! Simple to make and with just a few ingredients, these make a very satisfying, rich brownie, with a lovely, light buttercream frosting full of peanut butter - perfect!

Peanut Butter Brownies

140g salted butter
220g sugar
80g cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extra
2 large eggs
70g gluten free self-raising flour

For the frosting:
100g butter
185g smooth peanut butter
125g icing sugar

Preheat oven to 160 degrees and line and grease a brownie tin with greaseproof paper.

Put butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl and melt in the microwave in short, 15 second bursts til the mixture comes together and is just warm. Leave to cool for 5 minutes and add eggs, flour and vanilla extract. Beat until glossy and pour into lined tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer dipped into the brownie comes out clean. While the tray is cooling, prepare the frosting by mixing the butter, peanut butter and icing sugar with an electric whisk, until light and fluffy. When the brownie is completely cooled, spread the frosting over it and put it in the fridge for half an hour or so. Remove, and slice into 16 equal squares.

Chocolate Salami

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas with many gorgeous gluten free goodies!

I am starting the year as I mean to go on with a blog post. I plan to keep this updated more often, but I think I've said that every year so far, so we'll see!

This is a great recipe to use up some of your leftover Christmas chocolate/biscuits/nuts. It can be kept in the fridge and sliced up as and when you want it. It would probably also freeze well. From this recipe, I made two large 'salamis' and gave one to my boyfriend's dad as we still have so much to get through!

I first saw chocolate salami on a Nigella Lawson programme and searched for the recipe afterwards. It would seem that most traditional recipes use raw eggs. I know this is perfectly safe, but I always feel a bit funny about raw eggs, so after researching a few more recipes and playing about with different combinations, I ended up with the one below. This recipe could be adapted in so many ways - try just milk chocolate if you don't want it to be so rich, use a flavoured syrup in place of alcohol, try different nuts, biscuits or even dried fruit to create a different texture. You can't really go wrong!

Chocolate Salami

100g good quality milk chocolate
100g good quality dark chocolate
150g unsalted butter
120g sugar
100g cocoa powder
100g hazelnuts, chopped
125-150g crushed gluten free biscuits (I used rich tea)
3 tbsp Cointreau or liqueur or your choice (optional)
Icing sugar to dust
String to 'wrap' the salami
Greaseproof paper

In a saucepan, melt the milk and dark chocolate with the butter, sugar and cocoa powder over a low heat. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and add the biscuits, nuts and Cointreau. Mix to combine it all and leave to cool for a while, before adding the white chocolate chips. Turn out onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and shape into a sausage. Use the paper to help you shape it smoothly and roll it up tightly, twisting each end. (You could also use the same method to create a few smaller sausages)

Store in the fridge until completely cooled. It should feel quite firm to the touch.

Remove the paper and dust the salami with icing sugar. Tie a long piece of string along the whole thing to look like a real salami (I just improvved this bit!). Use another piece of greaseproof paper to wrap it back up, or store it in an airtight container.

Chinese Supermarkets

Although I love all food, if I had to choose one cuisine, I'd say Chinese would be right up there. I really miss 'proper' chippy meals, even though they're full of MSG and other bad stuff! I've perfected fried rice, salt and pepper potatoes etc, recipes for which can be found here but there are other meals I really enjoy too.

I'm lucky that I live near Liverpool, which has its own Chinatown and a couple of big Chinese supermarkets. These places are great for fresh ingredients and everything you could possibly need to create your own Chinese banquet - right down to the plates to eat it from. I've also learnt that they're also great for coeliacs. You need quite a bit of time to wander round looking at everything to find things that are gluten free, but just take a look at the small selection below to see what I found today.

I won't lie, I was in there close to an hour today. Most of the products are imported and the ingredients are sometimes difficult to read or non-existent in English (obviously I avoided those, just in case)

I was made up to find Black Bean and Hoisin sauces that state 'gluten free' on them! The salt and pepper seasoning is gorgeous, we use that often for chicken wings and potatoes. I've also had the packet noodles before. They're not really that much like Supernoodles as they're made with rice so have a different texture, but they certainly do the job when you need a quick snack. These also state that they are gluten free on the packet. I picked up the cookies on a whim and found they were also safe. They're made from mung bean powder and almond flour. They have an 'interesting' chalky texture which might not appeal to everyone, but I quite liked them! 

If you have any Chinese supermarkets nearby, I would highly recommend taking a bit of time to go and see what you can find - I'm sure there's lots to be discovered. Do let me know if you find any gluten free sui mai!

We're going to have a little banquet on Saturday night. I think I'll make duck pancakes with hoisin sauce, fried rice, chicken in black bean sauce, prawn crackers and salt & pepper potatoes - can't wait! 

Viennese Whirls

Hello!

It's been a while since I posted a new blog. Truth is, I've been stuck in a bit of a baking rut. I always seem to make the same things, so yesterday as I was having a day in with my little girl, I decided to try something different. I also learnt that simply substituting a recipe with gluten free flour doesn't always work!

Pre-coeliac, I used to love these: 

I found a recipe for basic Viennese Fingers, swapped the flour in the recipe for gluten free, added 20g of cocoa powder and a dash of orange extract, carefully piped neat little fingers onto a baking tray and put them in the oven. The house smelled delicious and I checked on my biscuits after 10 minutes to find what can only be described as a heavenly-smelling cowpat. The biscuits had completely spread out into a very thin layer, spilling onto the bottom of the oven. Sigh! All is not lost however, as the crumbs I was left with have made for a very tasty base for a chocolate orange cheesecake. That's today's job!

Anyway, I was still hungry and bored so a few hours later I found another recipe and had another go! This time, Viennese Whirls. Following the recipe, the dough turned out a little too wet and I knew the same thing was going to happen, so I added an extra 50g of cornflour and they turned out perfectly. And just in time for the Great British Bake Off. 

Viennese Whirls

Biscuits

100g unsalted butter
50g icing sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
100g gluten free flour
50g cornflour
Strawberry jam

Buttercream

100g icing sugar
40g unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 170 degrees.

Cream the butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl. It's best to use an electric whisk for this so you can get the mixture light and fluffy. Fold in the flours and tip into a piping bag with a large star nozzle. Pipe flat circles of the dough onto a greased baking sheet (about 5cm diameter) and bake for 12 minutes or until golden.

Transfer biscuits to a wire rack to cool and prepare the buttercream by whisking everything together until light in colour and creamy in texture.

Shake a bit of icing sugar over the biscuits and place a small blob of jam on half of them. Put a spoon of buttercream on the other half and then sandwich together.

Try one or two, for testing purposes, and then store in an airtight container for a few days.

REVIEW: Zizzi

I have been meaning to do a review of Zizzi for a while now, and after eating there last night, there's no time like the present!

Zizzi is a nationwide chain of Italian restaurants similar to Strada, Prezzo and Carluccio's. They boast an impressive gluten free menu which isn't just limited to a couple of pasta dishes and salad. Their website has a separate 'special diets' menu, which lists all the food safe to eat for vegetarians and various allergies. I find this really helpful as you can plan in advance what you might have to eat, and it is particularly useful if you have trouble trusting the knowledge of the staff. They have copies of this menu within the restaurant, so make sure you ask for it when you're seated. Admittedly, when I asked to see it last night, I was told "oh you can have the pasta dishes, we just use gluten free pasta."  This isn't true. Some of the sauces contain gluten and are not safe, and there are more choices than just pasta, so be persistent in asking for the menu if you aren't offered it!

Having eaten at Zizzi before, I already knew what I wanted to order - the Strozzapreti Pesto Rosso. I love chicken pasta dishes and this one is gorgeous. Spiced creme fraiche sauce with spring onions and torn chicken breast. I am slightly confused by their special diets menu, as this dish is not listed as safe for coeliacs anymore, yet it does say it's fine in the allergen table at the back, providing the pasta is substituted.  I asked my server, and again had to ask twice as initially she said "oh it's probably not gluten free anymore then," and only sought confirmation when I explained about the table in the back of the menu. When she returned, I was told it was still fine and must be a printing error, so I'm going to raise this issue with Zizzi and ask them to recheck their menus. It would be a shame to miss out on my favourite meal because of a printing error.  Needless to say, I did order that and was fine the next day, so I'm confident it's still safe.

  My Strozzapreti Pesto Rosso. (Admittedly, it was hard not to
    divert my eyes towards my boyfriend's Rustica Pizza in the background!

Service aside, the meal was really nice. Ironically, I know I'm eating good gluten free pasta, when every mouthful has me doubting whether or not it is actually gluten free! Even my boyfriend couldn't tell the difference, but I was assured by two separate servers that it definitely was. The pasta they use is Doves Farm, and to my knowledge, I've never bought it before but I might have to add it to my trolley next time!

As with most of the gluten free menus at mainstream Italian restaurants, the only thing missing is pizza/bread options. It is understandable why they don't feature, with cross-contamination concerns etc, but it's still a shame as it would be lovely to have some garlic bread with my pasta. Perhaps they will look into some frozen/premade bread as gluten free options continue to expand and improve? I imagine that with Zizzi, it would be difficult, as their pizzas are cooked in a stone fired oven so I would rather know that what I'm eating was cooked separately and definitely safe. Lack of bread aside, the menu at Zizzi is brilliant for coeliacs. Various pasta and risotto dishes, starters (albeit only olives and prawns!), mains, sides and a couple of nice desserts are all safe, so if you like Italian food, you're bound to find something you like!

Maybe I could sneak a couple of slices of bread in my handbag next time?