Gluten-free Orange Shortbread Christmas Trees

It's very easy to make these yummy Gluten-free Orange Shortbread Christmas Trees. I used Doves Farm Gluten Free Plain White Flour and ordinary cornflour, but you could use Doves Farm Gluten Free Organic Cornflour to be sure it really is gluten-free.
Turn on your oven to 170º C, 325ºF or Gas Mark 3, and grease two flat baking trays.
You will need: (see my Metric Conversion Chart on page above)
8oz Butter
4oz Icing Sugar
8oz Plain flour (Doves Farm)
4oz Cornflour
Pinch salt
The grated rind of one orange
Caster Sugar to sprinkle
I made it in my food processor, mixing all the ingredients together, but you could cream the butter and sugar together, then mix in the the flour, cornflour, salt and orange rind, until you have a smooth dough.
Roll it out and cut out the Christmas tree shapes, and place them on the baking trays. Cook for about 20 minutes. As soon as you take them out of the oven, sprinkle with the caster sugar and leave to cool. Keep in an airtight tin, or you can freeze them for Christmas Day.
It's also possible to use lemon rind instead of orange for a change.
I hope that you enjoy them!  

Gluten-free Mince Pies

Here is my recipe for Gluten-free Mince Pies. I always put holly leaves on the top to easily distinguish them from the ordinary ones which I decorate with stars!
I use my usual recipe: using 8oz Doves Farm Gluten Free Plain White Flour (see my metric conversion chart on the page above); 2oz hard margarine; 2oz cooking fat; a pinch of salt and 5 tbsp of water.
Turn your oven to 190° Centigrade,    375° Fahrenheit or Gas Mark 5. Use your food processor, or rub the fat into the flour in the traditional way, then add the water little by little as you mix it in the processor or with a knife. Unlike ordinary pastry, it won't hold together, so wrap it in a large sheet of cling film, easing it into a ball, and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, stir in a tablespoon or two of brandy into your jar of mincemeat to give it a lovely Christmassy flavour!
When the pastry has rested, open the cling film carefully, and place another sheet on the top of the dough. This means that you can roll it out successfully without it sticking to the rolling pin. Cut out your shapes with your cutters and then roll the remaining pieces into a ball again and repeat until all the pastry is used. I found that this quantity made 18 mince pies with holly tops, but if you made little lids, you would probably get about 12.
They are delicious eaten warm, dusted with icing sugar. They will freeze, and after defrosting, warm them up in the microwave to make them taste as if they've just come out of the oven!
What are you waiting for? Enjoy some with a glass of mulled wine!

Gluten-free Yorkshire Puddings - Update!

One of the things I've found hard to replicate with gluten-free flour is a delicious light Yorkshire Pudding. There is always a big difference between the normal puffy ones on the wheat-eaters' plates, and the rather flat little ones for gluten-free eaters.
A few weeks ago, I bought some Gluten-free and Wheat-free White Bread Flour from Doves Farm to make a pizza, I noticed that it contains xanthan gum which helps make the flour stronger to contain the yeast bubbles, and reasoned that it might work to make Yorkshire Puddings.
I used my usual recipe: 1 egg, 4oz flour and a pinch of salt to ½ pint of milk, using gluten-free bread flour instead of normal plain flour (see Metric Conversion Chart Page above). I usually zuzz it up in my food processor, but you can use a hand whisk or a good old fashioned wooden spoon and one of those lovely yellow stoneware mixing bowls, as long as it's beaten up well to form a creamy batter.
Make sure that your oven is really hot: 250ºC, 475ºF or Gas Mark 9, I usually turn it up after I've taken out the beef to rest. Pop in some bun tins containing a little cooking fat in each 'hole' to melt and sizzle for a few minutes, then pour in the mixture evenly and return to the oven for approximately 15 minutes.
They should rise and be golden brown. Enjoy them with your roast beef, or fill them with roasted peppers and top with feta cheese for a vegetarian alternative. Yum!
I would love to hear from you. Please tell me how you got on with this recipe.

Update! I have found that adding a teaspoon of Doves Farm Xanthan Gum, if you haven't got any Gluten-free bread flour and use Gluten-free plain four instead, really holds the mixture together, and gives puffier Yorkshires. However, make the mixture just before you want to cook it as it thickens up quite a lot and you need to spoon it into the tin rather than pouring it.

Gluten-free Blueberry Sponge Pudding

At this time of year, when the weather's cold and windy, and the nights are drawing in, there's no better treat than a sponge pudding.
I use this basic recipe where I've substituted gluten-free flour:
2 oz margarine
2 oz caster sugar
1 egg
3 oz Doves Farm Gluten-free Self-raising Flour
3 tbsp milk

This serves 4 people; any leftovers can be frozen.



Mix all the ingredients together with a spoon, electric whisk or food processor, until well mixed and a smooth dropping consistency.
You can also add:

2 tbsp jam to the bottom of the basin

2 tbsp lemon curd to bottom of the basin + grated rind of a lemon to mixture

2 tbsp Golden Syrup to bottom of the basin (the one in a squeezy bottle is easiest)

1 tbsp cocoa to mixture

Or a handful of blueberries (as you can see here) and pour into a greased 1 pint basin. Cover with greaseproof paper with a pleat in the middle to allow for rising, and tie with string.
You can then cook in a slow cooker for about 3 hours, or a pressure cooker for 50 minutes (according to the manufacturer's instructions) or do what I do, and simply pop it in the microwave for 5 minutes whilst I make the custard.

For basic custard you need:
1 tbsp custard powder
1 tbsp sugar
½ pint of milk

Mix the powder and sugar with a little of the milk, then add to the rest in a saucepan and, stirring all the time, bring to the boil.
You can also ring the changes by using cornflour instead of custard powder, and adding 1tbsp of cocoa to make a chocolate sauce, delicious with the chocolate pudding.
Any custard or cornflour should be gluten-free, the only problem arising when it is made on the same production line as gluten products. If you want to be sure, you can buy Doves Farm Organic Corn Flour which is gluten-free, and add the contents of  ½ a vanilla pod, or a few drops of vanilla essence.

I hope that you like this pudding. It is really quick and easy to make when visitors turn up unexpectedly, and of course, it's one that everyone can eat!

Gluten-free Chocolate Butterfly Cakes

Ok, I'll start with these delicious gluten-free chocolate butterfly cakes. They look just like ones made with ordinary flour, don't they? They taste the same too; it's really hard to tell the difference.
Recipes using Imperial measures would use 3 eggs, 6oz of self-raising flour, 6oz caster sugar and 6oz butter or margarine. These are based on ratios between the quantities, which means 2oz of each ingredient to each egg.
Metric quantities vary. If you look up the equivalent of 6oz in grams you get anything from 170 to 175 grams, so how can you expect to get the recipe to work?
Therefore, I stick with Imperial measurements, but feel free to use what works for you.

In this recipe, I substituted Doves Farm Gluten-free Self-raising Flour. The flour from this company is very good and I have used the Plain flour as well as the Bread flour. I added two tablespoons of cocoa powder. This gives a better flavour than drinking chocolate which has a high sugar content. I also added the secret ingredient of 5 generous tablespoons of milk; a little bit more because of the cocoa. This is because gluten-free flour tends to make cakes etc very dry, so extra liquid in the form of milk gives a moister result.
Then, just mix it as normal, with a spoon, a mixer, or a food processor. I like the mixer or food processor best because you don't have to cream the sugar and butter or margarine first before adding in the eggs and folding the flour and cocoa. Much quicker!
Spoon into the paper cases and cook for 20 minutes on Gas Mark 5, 190° Celsius or 160° Fan oven.
When cooled, scoop out the centre with a teaspoon and cut in half.  Fill with chocolate butter cream, made with 2oz butter or margarine, 3oz icing sugar and a tablespoon of cocoa, and replace the tops, edge on, like butterfly wings, and enjoy!
Let me know how you get on.