Gluten-Free Stollen

My apologies that this is a little late for Christmas 2017, but maybe you’ll make it anyway as winter treat. Stollen is a 14th Century treat; a rich fruit bread originating from Germany. It’s always been one of my favourite festive treats prior to being gluten-free, but none of the recipes I’d tried since had ever quite managed to emulate it. Whilst this may not be perfect, it’s pretty darn close IMHO.

If you have a Stollen pan, then you can by all means use it. But, if like me that’s something that would get very little use – I am suggesting you use a regular 2 lb loaf tin. Another option is just to try and shape a ciabatta style loaf by hand – it will spread more on a baking sheet. Whatever you use, just remember to line it with greaseproof paper! One final note, I find this is an ideal recipe to use up any leftover marzipan from making my Battenberg cake. If you have a smaller amount left, don’t worry – just throw it in, in smaller balls. It will still taste delicious!

Ingredients

• 250g gluten-free self-raising flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp Xanthan Gum
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• 300ml sour cream
• 100g caster sugar
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract or Essence
• 200g glace cherries, cut into quarters
• 100g unsalted pistachios
• 100g dried fruit (use whatever you have to hand – sultanas, mixed fruit with peel or raisins)
• 250g golden marzipan
• Icing sugar, to dust

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/ Gas Mark 4/ 350F
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and Xanthan Gum into a large bowl
3. Add the eggs with the melted butter, sour cream and caster sugar and mix until you get a dough consistency. Stir through the lemon zest, dried fruit, cherries and pistachios so that they are evenly distributed.
4. Roll your marzipan into a long sausage shape, on a clean surface dusted with icing sugar (to prevent it sticking). Place this in the centre of your tin.
5. Pour your dough mixture of the top. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
6. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool and dust with icing sugar before serving.

NOTE: I find this is best eaten straight from the oven whilst still warm or within 2-3 days. If you are not going to eat it all quickly, then slice it and freeze it between sheets of greaseproof.

Product Review – Tesco Finest Frozen Toffee, Chocolate and Pecan Meringue Stack

I was fortunate enough to receive some lovely free frozen desserts via The Orchard at Tesco. It helped to make Christmas a little more stress-free, as I could stash them in the freezer in advance. I chose to receive a Meringue Stack and Pavlova, both of which are gluten-free.

I saved them for a family gathering between Christmas and New Year because no-one wants to be preparing yet more food at that time of year. One of the desserts I selected was a gorgeous Tesco Finest Toffee, Chocolate and Pecan Meringue Stack. It was every bit as appetising as it sounds and beautifully presented. And foolishly, I should’ve taken a ‘before’ picture because it disappeared in a flash before I could snap a photo! I blame having other things on my mind at Christmas.

The meringues and cream were even caramel flavoured and were a delicate coffee colour. There was the perfect amount of chocolate swirls, pecans and caramel sauce to balance with the meringue and cream. The best part was that we just had to take it out of the freezer 2 1/2 hours beforehand and it actually looked homemade! For £4 it was a real bargain and it would easily feed 8 people.

Look out for the Raspberry Pavlova review coming soon!

Gluten Free Chocolate Log (Buche De Noel)

I didn’t manage to get a snap of this before it started being eaten, so we’ve already lost the branch! If you’ve never made a Chocolate Log Cake before then you’ve REALLY been missing out. You just can’t beat the lightness of the sponge and the richness of the all butter icing. You can never replicate this freshness with something shop-bought.

Did you know that a Buche De Noel is the traditional French Christmas Cake? It basically consists of a delicious chocolate Swiss Roll encased in a decadent chocolate buttercream icing. I think the French had the right idea, though I do also enjoy a slice of good old English Christmas Cake. This cake is obligatory in our household, as several family members dislike the fruit cake and Christmas pudding.

Ingredients

Cake

• 4 eggs
• 100g / 3 1/2 oz Caster Sugar
• 75g / 2 3/4 oz Dove’s Farm Gluten Free Plain Flour
• 1 tsp Xanthan Gum
• 2 tbsp Cocoa

 

• 1 tbsp caster sugar (for sprinkling)

Chocolate Buttercream

• 170g / 6 oz Unsalted Butter (softened)
• 225g / 8oz Icing Sugar
• 1 tbsp Cocoa

 

• 1 tbsp icing sugar (to decorate with snow effect)

Method

1. Grease and line a 30 x 23 cm / 12 x 9 inch Swiss Roll tin.
2. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C or Gas Mark 6.
3. Whisk the eggs and caster sugar in a bowl (either use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or handheld mixer) for  approx 8-10 minutes. Stop when the mixture if very light and foamy and leaves a ribbon trail when you lift the beaters.
4. Sieve in the flour, Xanthan Gum and cocoa and fold in using a spatula.
5. Pour the mixture in your tin and level. Bake for 10-12 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean or the cake springs back when touched.
6. Prepare another sheet of greaseproof paper and sprinkle over the 1 tbsp of caster sugar. Turn out your cake immediately onto this.
7. Peel off the original greaseproof paper. Trim the edges of your cake (save them to eat in a moment for testing purposes of course!)
8. Score a line about 1cm from the short edge, all the way across but do not cut through or it will not roll properly! Starting at that end, roll up your Swiss Roll tightly. Leave the greaseproof paper in place and cool on a wire rack.
9. Then when the Swiss Roll is cooled, make the chocolate buttercream icing. Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa on top of the butter in a large bowl and beat until smooth. You can do this by hand with a wooden spoon, or I can do this on the lowest setting in my stand mixer.
10. Carefully un-roll your Swiss Roll and remove the greaseproof paper.
11. Spread 1/3 of the buttercream on the inside and re-roll. Then use the rest to coat the outside. It is up to you whether you leave the ends to show which can give quite a nice effect (like the rings of a tree). I cut 1/3 of my roll off and add it to one side to create the look of a branched log. You can also use a fork to texturise the surface of the icing and give the impression of bark, once the cake is covered. Then sprinkle 1 tbsp of icing sugar on top, to give the impression of freshly fallen snow.

I hope you have time to make this little festive treat; it is best eaten fresh as a Swiss Roll is a fatless sponge and therefore it dries out more quickly than other cakes.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Gluten-Free Tunis Cake – My Christmas Gift To You All

This is my Christmas gift to you all. For years, I have grudgingly missed out on my favourite cake of them all – a Tunis cake. I swear this is the easiest cake you will ever make and the hardest part is getting it out of the tin! It has a subtle lemony twist, topped with thick, decadent chocolate which cracks when you cut into it. The cake is so moist, light and fluffy. It is better than any shop bought, gluten-filled cake any day! I wish you a very Happy Christmas and please share how you’ve got on with this recipe. I’d love to see yours.

Ingredients

Cake

• 225g/8oz softened unsalted butter
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 225g/8oz gluten-free self-raising flour (I used Dove’s Farm)
• 1 tsp Xanthan Gum
• 70g/2½oz ground almonds
• 4 eggs
• 1 lemon, grated zest only
• 2 tbsp water

Topping

350g dark plain chocolate

2-3 tbsp apricot jam

Decorations of your choice – I used edible rice paper snowflakes, as I had some to hand. If you want a more traditional appearance you can pipe on pink and yellow icing, adding some marzipan fruits to the centre.

 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 (fan 160C). Grease and line a 20cm/8in deep, loose-bottomed cake tin with baking paper (or I use non-stick liner from Lakeland). Make sure you have some excess sticking up around the sides, as you will need this when you apply your chocolate later.

2. Add the butter, sugar, flour, Xanthan Gum, ground almonds, eggs, water and lemon zest to the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer (I use a Kenwood Chef with the K beater). Beat on the highest speed for one minute. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin and level the surface with a palette knife or spatula.

3. Bake for 45 minutes, then cover with foil to prevent the top from browning and cook for a further 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack.

4. For the topping, gently heat your Apricot jam either in the microwave for about 30 seconds or on the hob. Brush the top of your cake with a thin layer – it helps the chocolate to stick.

5. Heat your chocolate in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until melted (or in a bain-marie on the hob. Try to temper your chocolate by stirring it and allowing it to cool (although I didn’t get as much of a shine as I would have liked on mine!) Then, pour over the melted chocolate and try to smooth it as much as possible.

6. I left my chocolate to set before applying my decorations, but you might need to apply yours to it wet to get them to stick. I simply brushed the back of my rice paper snowflakes with a few drops of water to get them to stick.

7. To serve, remove the cake from the tin and carefully peel off the parchment paper so that you get a clean line between the cake and the chocolate layer. As this is a special cake for Christmas, I applied a coordinating cake frill and secured it with a bead headed pin, so you don’t lose it.