Another gf wedding cake - a chocolate cupcake tower in Sweden

Ages ago I said to my sister-in-law that I would make her daughters' wedding cakes if they wanted.  Well, that remark was remembered, and as a result I am flying to Sweden in July to make a purple and silver chocolate cupcake tower for my niece, who has coeliac disease and also wheat intolerant.  I suppose I should have realised that this wouldn't be an English affair, as at the time the family lived in Mongolia.

It sounded simple.  I have never been to Sweden but often wanted to take a trip around Scandinavia.  First choice would be to have my husband drive the campervan there for the wedding so that I could stay safely, bake the cakes, have an adventure around the wedding.  Unfortunately, though retired,  he is working and can't take the month off that I would like.  So, could I drive the van myself?  No, not on a trip of that length.  There used to be a ferry to Sweden - it still shows up on a google search, but it no longer runs.  A ferry to Denmark, drive, ferry, drive, or via the Eurotunnel and a lot of driving.  I didn't manage to get used to driving the van in the UK last November as planned due to the house suddenly getting a buyer, and only drove the Smart car in France, so don't think a three to four thousand mile trip on the 'wrong' side of the road makes sense as a first solo journey.

Rent a flat in the town and fly there.  That made sense.  I found a cheap flat a few minutes walk from the station on the internet, but after 'booking' it got a note saying it wasn't available.  All other self catering options were wooden cabins were thirty km away from the town - great for a boating/sauna holiday but not so good for getting cakes make and delivered. I looked into hiring a cabin at the Boras campsite, but they have very little catering equipment and are surprisingly expensive.  Renting a campervan on arrival at the airport would also cost a lot and the van would be likely to have an invisible layer of gluten on all surfaces.

One of the hotels in the town said they took special efforts to meet extra needs and even mentioned gluten.  I booked with them even though they were the most expensive hotel in town.  If I get glutened I can't do anything, so being cautious makes sense.  In the meantime offers of the church ovens and the future mother-in-law's means that the baking can happen.

I almost booked the whole thing on the internet, but then thought that maybe, as I wanted something a bit unusual, I should try a travel agent.  The Co-op in Worcester couldn't even find Sweden in their system.  However, I did eventually get a flight with better timings than the one I had found on the internet - arriving at midday in a strange place is much better that last thing at night when you still have to travel 30km.  I booked the hotel separately - more expensive, but at least it is done.

The travel agent rang the airline to check that it would be ok for me to take flour and baking kit in my luggage.  It hadn't occurred to me to check, so that was a useful thing to have done.  I have to get all the baking kit in my 23kg of luggage allowance.  I need to take all the fancy stuff like cupcake cases, sparkles and other decorations, I would prefer to take the baking trays as baking gf really needs properly clean tins which have not been used for wheat flour.  They, however, are heavy, especially if you take enough to allow 150 cupcakes to be make without it being a whole day activity.  I also want to take my giant tiered cake-stand.  It is plastic and folds down, but even so it is quite large and heavy.

And the flour?  Well, Shipton Mill still haven't brought out the flour mix so I will need to grind, mix and package the flour here before I go.  I have been experimenting with my usual chocolate cake recipe, and making it premixed - just add eggs, oil and water, stir, put in cases and bake.  I tried out a batch on my embroidery chums.  They were complementary on the cakes, but the three that took a batch of the mix to bake for themselves haven't reported back yet.  I wanted feedback on how robust the mix was with different ovens as I have no idea what kind of ovens I will end up using.  If the cake is easy to make and the instructions clear it gives another level of safety if I do get sick - then pretty well anyone will be able to make the cakes even with very little supervision.

As to what I shall wear?  I think I will take my baking clothes, but don't reckon there will be room for a posh frock.  As long as the cake looks great I suppose I only have to look clean and tidy - must remember not to go to the ceremony with chocolate batter and icing all over myself.

gf bread without tapioca - first tests

I started testing bread recipes using a flour mix that has no tapioca in.  For a long time I have used a standard flour mix with urid lentils, tapioca and cornmeal that gives very good results.  However, my step-daughter seems to be unable to tolerate the tapioca, and I know that some people do find this flour difficult.

What with my travels, catching up on normal life and then wrenching my foot badly my planned experiments took a back seat.  However, I tried a plain loaf and a fruited loaf the other day using one third each of the urid lentil flour, brown rice flour (which I just bought from the supermarket so do not know what kind of rice) and yellow cornmeal.  To 600g of this mix I added 1.5 tsp yeast, a tbsp of agave syrup and sufficient water to make a batter ( I think about 800ml).  I also included 30g of potato protein, which helps gf breads not slump, but this is not yet available to domestic consumers.  In the past I found that provided I kept breads below 5cm/2inches and didn't let them rise above the tin they were fine without this.

I poured the batter into the tins, left them to rise in a warm moist oven, and when they nearly reached the top of the tin put the oven on.  The loaves were baked for 50 minutes at 175C, the little rolls baked in muffin tins were baked for 25 minutes.  Remember that this includes the time taken for the oven to get hot.  I find that it is better to leave a gf loaf for longer than you think necessary rather than have an inadequately cooked middle, so if you don't feel sure the bread is done take it out of the tin and put back in the oven for a few more minutes.

The plain loaf did slump a little but does not have a layer of gluey dough.  It is ok to eat plain - just a bit more crumbly than my usual loaf.  I made good croutons with some diced bread, a squirt of oil and some garlic, baked until crisp.  Any left over bread can be turned into breadcrumbs and kept into the freezer until you want to crisply coat something.  Two days later it is still easy to slice without crumbling.

The second loaf and the buns were made from the same batter but with added ingredients.  As this was a first test, and my foot still wouldn't bear my weight, the recipe was an informal and unrecorded handful of this and that.  I added more sugar, some vanilla, a bit of cocoa, about a cupful of chopped dried apricots I had cooked with water to go with breakfast pancakes, some dried blueberries and cranberries.  I also added a tablespoon of oil.  This mixture made a smooth loaf with good  holding qualities.  Two days later it still slices well and is moist without being cloying.  It is sufficiently good that I will work up a proper recipe.

The basic loaf needs a bit more work, but it is promising.  I found that tapioca gave a smooth chewiness to baked goods, whereas rice tended to give a gritty texture.   I always disliked Doves Farm flour for anything other than pancakes and choux pastry because things fell apart and had a lousy rough texture, and thought it was due to the rice.

I am hoping to create a bread mix as tasty and well-behaved as my usual lazy seedy bread. I think next time I will add buckwheat for the additional flavour a well as seeds.

GF Seedy rolls in the campervan

I’ve been driving around France and Italy for the last month, so have been cooking in the campervan.  I made up some bread mix before I left, made with urid, tapioca and conrmeal flours, Solanic potato protein (which stops risen yeasted gluten free breads slumping), lightly crushed buckwheat, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, a smidgeon of cocoa powder and some yeast.  I mix with water to a slurry, put into bread tins, sprinkle extra seeds on top, leave to to rise, then bake from cold in my campervan oven.  I have no idea what temperature it is; I just cook the bread until it is toasty brown and has come away from the side of the pan a little.

The last blog on this topic showed my high altitude bread, cooked in Bourg St Maurice when we were skiing.  This is my low altitude seedy rolls; camped by the sea near Sete, on the Mediterranean.

The bread is light, crisp on the outside, and full of flavour.  It also has no added fat or salt.

Frankie & Bennies - an update on gluten free eating

I noticed that several people had read my blog from 2010 about eating gf at Frankie & Bennie's, where I said it was dull but safe.  However, since then I ate at one of their stores again.

This time the waiter said they were used to dealing with food intolerances.  I said I was very sensitive and they would need to take extra care - dishes straight from the dishwasher, not touching my food if they had touched bread etc.  I asked for a spiced chicken dish with salad.

The food came.  The chicken was not spiced - I presume they decided the spice mix had gluten or they weren't sure.  I didn't get an explanation or comment.

I don't remember much about the meal.  What I do remember is that I was ill for several days afterwards, a particular nuisance as I was starting a trip to France and Italy in the campervan.

So,  self-perceived knowledge about food sensitive may have increased but the capacity to handle food safely does not seem to be adequate.  Based on this experience I would be very loathe to eat at one of these restaurants again.

Lazy bread in the campervan

Before we left England on our European jaunt I mixed up some flours, seeds and yeast (and some Solanic potato protein which helps stop slumping) and made up 400g bags and heat sealed them.  Monday evening I added water to make a thick slurry and left the dough to sit overnight.  

I had no idea if the yeast I had used could cope with being treated this way, but next morning, even in the van which we hadn’t heated, the batter was bubbly so I put it in a bread tin and put it in the oven.  

I have found in the past that this bread copes with being baked from a start in a cold oven, so I just did that here, cooking at full heat for an hour and 15 minutes at a slightly reduced temperature.  I haven’t got a thermometer so I have no idea what temperature the bread was cooked at.  However, the bread came out well cooked and delicious, so I can very definitely say that it works well as a lazy, no idea what the temperature is, campervan bread.

This bread is made with urid lentil, tapioca, and cornmeal flours plus potato protein, pumpkin, sunflower and linseeds, yeast and water.

testing prehydrolysed tapioca starch - PREJEL from AVEBE FOOD as an addition to gf flour

The wonders of LinkedIn mean that I can try using a dry powder form of my tapioca gloop.  I take 100ml of water 10gm of tapioca flour, stir together while cold, then cook, stirring constantly, to a clear gel.  I use this to add flexibility and ease of handling when making pasta and flatbreads.  It is a bit of an effort doing this each time, and I wondered if a dry version could be added to the flour, which would mean a pre-mixed flour could be made available.

I got sent a tub of this powder some time ago, but with moving house it has sat unused.  Last night I amused myself running a first test.  I made two small batches of flatbread, using 100g of my standard flour mix (40% urid, 40% tapioca, 20% cornmeal).   To one I added 10g of the PREJEL. I used this amount as I wanted to be sure to spot the effect if there was one.  I added cold water to get a firm dough (100ml for the batch with PREJEL, 70ml for the plain).  I let them rest for ten minutes and then rolled out four flatbreads.

The dough with the PREJEL felt plump and soft, and rolled without any tearing.  The plain dough took a little more care to produce a flat disc.

I cooked both on a non-stick frying pan.  It is the first time I have tried cooking flatbreads on my new induction hob, so I was not too sure of the right heat settings, but both batches were treated the same.

Both batches of flatbreads were flexible when they were first cooked. I rolled and rerolled them several times, and both retained their shape.  The plain flatbreads had a slightly leathery texture between the teeth, the PRJEL flatbreads had a slightly more adhesive feel.

As both batches were flexible I reheated one of each, to mimic a possible normal use if buying flatbread readymade.  The PREJEL flatbreads were more flexible after this, but both still retained their shape and could be rolled.  In a more extreme test I left the flatbreads out on the worktop overnight, not wrapped or covered in any way.  The next morning the plain flatbreads were stiff and could not e rolled without cracking.  The PREJEL batch could still be rolled and were soft enough to eat without difficulty.  The slit visible in the PREJEL flatbreads on the top were not cracking but the way I marked the flatbreads to be able to tell which batch had the PREJEL in.

top - PREJEL, lower - plain.  10hrs uncovered

I should have run a test comparing my tapioca gloop to this powder as well as the plain flour.  However, it is clear that the addition of some of this PREJEL gives a dough that is easier to work and a flatbread that remains flexible and easy to chew.

Gallette - traditional Breton pancakes made with buckwheat

It is a while since I had buckwheat pancakes so I checked the recipes available.  Most suggest wheat flour with a quarter or so buckwheat.  I presume people do this to moderate the distinctive flavour of buckwheat.   I made these pancakes with plain buckwheat flour, which despite its name has nothing to do with the wheat family and is naturally gluten free.  I also skipped the large amount of melted butter some recipes called for, using a little vegetable oil, and substituted dairy milk for rice milk, making these dairy/lactose free as well.

I ate mine with homemade apple sauce and grape jelly.  Rod ate his with grated Gruyere and pepperoni, folded and left on the pan to melt the cheese.

These were delicious and simple to make.  We used the traditional wooden tools bought decades ago on holiday in Brittany, but you can spread the batter with the back of a spoon, and turn using a spatula.  Our flat crepe pan, used for nearly thirty years, is made of aluminium so won't work on the induction hob in the new flat.  We used our old cast iron griddle, which worked a little less well as edges are a bit roughened by use for many different forms of bread and pancakes over the years.  An ordinary frying pan would be fine.

For two people - as a main meal, or four as desert

200g buckwheat flour
1 egg
1 tbsp oil
400ml rice or other milk.  This is two of the small cartons I keep in the pantry.

Mix all the ingredients together and let it rest for a while.  The recipe I was basing this on said an hour but I used my batter after ten minutes.

Heat a pan, lightly grease and pour a small amount of batter and spread it out.  You could also increase the liquid to a pouring, swirling consistency and just tip the pan to spread.

Cook on a medium heat until browned on the first side, then turn and cook on the second.  Stack and keep warm or eat as they come off the stove.  If you make too many wrap and keep in the freezer.  They can be microwaved quickly and used as wanted.