More Coming Soon!

We're having to take a break from the blog for a while but will be back in the future with more recipes and reviews, watch this space!

Gluten Free Moist Carrot Cake

This is a relatively new recipe I came up with in 2012, we all love carrot cake but Abigail of course had never tried it. She loved the smell and asked me to try and make a gluten free version so after a bit of messing around with the 'normal' recipe someone gave me years ago I came up with this, it turned out far better than I expected and we only make this version now for all of us!

Preparation time -  ~20-25 minutes
Cooking time - ~80 minutes (less for a fan assisted oven)
Makes / Serves - 10-12
Child friendly - 2/5
Difficulty rating - 2/5

Ingredients:

185 g gluten-free self-raising flour alternative
200 g golden caster sugar
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
140 ml vegetable oil
320 g finely grated carrots (this is the weight after they have been grated)
3 tablespoons of juice from 1 large orange*

Zesty Icing:

250 g cream cheese
50 g butter or good quality spreadable.
300 g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons of juice and zest of 1 large orange*

*Note, you only need 1 large orange which is shared between the cake & icing.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150 C / 300 F / Gas Mark 2 and prepare a loaf or cake tin by lining with baking paper (not necessary if using a silicone loaf or cake mould).
2. Use a grater to carefully to remove the zest from the orange and squeeze the juice into a small glass for use later.
3. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt, bicarbonate of soda, xanthan gum, nutmeg and cinnamon then mix well with a spoon.
4. Add the eggs, vegetable oil & orange juice and beat the mixture together either by hand or using an electric hand whisk (an electric whisk is definitely recommended!).
5. Add the grated carrots and mix well with a spoon.
6. Transfer the mixture into the loaf or cake tin and bake in the centre of the oven for around 80 minutes (1 hour and 20 minutes) or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
8. In a good size bowl combine the butter and cream cheese.
9.  Add the vanilla extract & orange juice and mix well by hand.
10. Gradually add the icing sugar, mixing until smooth.
11. Add the orange zest and mix well.
12. Spread the icing evenly over the top of the cake (a palette knife works best).

Tips:

1. It's entirely optional but personally I like to add 100g of pecans to this recipe (added last), holding a few back for decorating, you could even use walnuts instead! 
2. For a slightly more traditional taste you could add 1/2 teaspoon of 'mixed spice'.
3. If you're not a fan of orange you could leave this out of both the cake and icing, however this will give you a slightly drier sponge and you may need to add a few drops of water to the icing to get a suitable consistency.

Review - No Wheat Chocolate And Orange Bars

One of the things we tend to take for granted is the good old fashioned chocolate biscuit, a favourite being the wafer (e.g. Blue Riband) so when we spotted these in Tesco a couple of years ago for just less than £1 for 5 we had to try them!

First off let's look at how the price measures up;

Nestle Blue Riband 8 Pack - £1.55 (0.19p each)

Tesco Value Chocolate Wafers 5 Pack - £0.55 (0.11p each)

No Wheat Chocolate And Orange - £0.85 (0.17p each)

So as you can see from the figures above although they are more expensive than the  Tesco Value wafer they are actually priced at less than the branded Blue Riband wafers, making them very good value indeed.

Taste and texture wise they are easily as good as the Blue Riband wafers, the only catch is the orange flavouring, whilst my daughter sees that as an added bonus it might put some people off as orange flavoured chocolate isn't for everyone. 

It's hard to see how this product could be improved, though it would be nice to see a plain chocolate version as well, for most people this is the perfect replacement!

No Wheat Chocolate And Orange Bars (5 Pack) 10/10

We are still here!

I thought I'd just write a quick post to explain the lack of posts over the last week;

Things have been pretty hectic here with two ill children, half term week etc so I haven't had much free time, I'll be making up for it soon with excellent new recipes in the works along with more still to come from the old site and numerous reviews.

Watch this space :) 

On a different note I was amazed to see that we came very close to 2000 unique views last month which is incredible considering the new site has only been up for a few weeks and I haven't done any promotion work yet!

What's more whilst about 80% of those views were by people here in the UK we also have regular visitors from a few other European countries, North America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even China! 

Thanks for visiting and please do leave comments and share photos of recipes you have tried!

Gluten Free Lemon Drizzle Cake

Time for another old recipe originally from 2007, like many of our recipes this one was inspired by my nan's old 1940's 'Good Housekeeping Guide' although the recipe had to be adapted quite a lot to get the texture right.

Preparation time -  ~15 minutes
Cooking time - ~45 minutes (less for a fan assisted oven)
Makes / Serves - 8-10 average sized scones
Child friendly - 3/5
Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

225 g gluten-free self-raising flour alternative
225 g caster sugar
225 g butter (or good quality spreadable)
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
lemon zest - from two lemons

Drizzle:

100 g caster sugar
lemon juice - from two lemons

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4 and prepare a loaf tin by lining with baking paper (not necessary if using a silicone loaf mould).
2. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar and xanthan gum, mix well.
3. Add the butter and eggs, mix until smooth either by hand or using an electric hand mixer.
4. Add the lemon zest and mix well by hand.
5. Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
6. Leave in the tin to cool slightly whilst preparing the drizzle.
7. In a bowl or small jug combine the lemon juice and caster sugar, mixing well.
8. Using a skewer or fork prick the cake all over and then pour the drizzle over the top.
9. Leave the cake in the tin to cool completely, the lemon juice will soak in and once cooled the sugar should leave a nice crisp topping.
10. Carefully remove the cake from the tin and serve!

Tips:

1. Remember - the cake should still be warm when the drizzle is poured over!
2. If you fancy something a little different this recipe also works with oranges, just replace the 2 lemons with 2 average sized oranges and only use around half of the juice! When making an orange drizzle cake the flavour benefits from also adding 20 - 25 g of ground almonds in step 2.

Review - Tesco Free From Pasta

For this review I'll be looking the three variants of Tesco Free From pasta shown below, penne, fusilli and spaghetti. All three are available from most Tesco stores and come in 500 g packs, which is the usual weight for dried pasta.

Firstly lets consider the pricing, at the time of writing all three packs cost £1.40 each which when put in perspective is actually very reasonable, here are some prices of 'normal' pasta for comparison:

Tesco fusilli / penne / spaghetti 500 g (standard range):   £0.85

Napolina fusilli / penne / spaghetti 500 g:   £1.30

Other branded fusilli / penne / spaghetti 500 g:   £1.30 - £2.09

Other branded fusilli / penne / spaghetti 500 g:   £1.30 - £2.09

So as you can see from the figures above although they are significantly more expensive than the standard Tesco pasta varieties they are priced very much at the lower end of standard branded pasta, which I think makes the pricing very reasonable.

Now lets move on to the products themselves. 

All three varieties are made with a blend of rice flour and maize flour, which is a common blend for gluten free pasta, though one notable difference is that the colour of this pasta is fairly 'normal' rather than having more of an orange colour like many other gluten free brands.

Cooking times are slightly shorter than 'normal' pasta but only very slightly, meaning that if your cooking a family meal you can cook both 'normal' and gluten-free pasta at the same time and not have to worry about different cooking times.

We found that both the penne and fusilli were very good quality and once a sauce is added they are almost indistinguishable from 'normal' pasta taste wise, they do have a slightly different texture but the difference is small enough that it doesn't take long to forget about it completely, in fact many people may not even notice. You do need to be careful not to over cook them by more than a couple of minutes though as they go extremely soft and start to fall apart. The fusilli also lends itself very well to pasta bakes where it is oven cooked from raw, it cooks evenly and takes up the flavours of the sauce as well as 'normal' pasta. One final point worth mentioning is that a little salt in the water is essential to stop the pasta sticking together whilst boiling!

The spaghetti is a little different, whilst it is also very good taste and texture wise we have found it all but impossible to cook it without it clumping together to some extent. Like the other two varieties a little salt is essential, otherwise you will end up with it all sticking together, but unlike the other two great care needs to be taken to prevent clumping even with salt added. We haven't been able to stop it clumping completely but we find that breaking the spaghetti in half and stirring the pan every 20 seconds or so during cooking minimizes it, not an ideal solution but from what we have experienced it is a common problem with gluten free spaghetti in general.

Our conclusion...

All three pastas are good value for money. The penne and fusilli are perfectly good alternatives for people on a gluten-free diet and can be used for anything you would use their 'normal' versions for. The spaghetti on the other hand is comparatively difficult to work with and whilst it tastes good you will have a difficult time preventing it from clumping together whilst cooking, a problem that seems to plague every gluten-free spaghetti we have tried.

Tesco Free From Penne 500 g              9/10
Tesco Free From Fusilli 500 g             9/10
Tesco Free From Spaghetti 500 g       7/10

Gluten Free Sweet / Teatime Scones

This is a sweet twist on the new cheese scones recipe we posted last week and perfect for a picnic or cream tea, just add some fresh cream and jam!

Preparation time -  5 minutes
Cooking time - ~15 minutes (less for a fan assisted oven)
Makes / Serves - 6 average sized scones
Child friendly - 3/5
Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

200 g gluten-free plain flour alternative
25 g caster sugar
40 g butter (or good quality spreadable)
100 g natural yoghurt
50 ml milk (plus extra for brushing)
1 tablespoon gluten-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 230 C / 450 F / Gas Mark 8 and prepare a baking tray by lightly greasing or lining with baking paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, caster sugar, baking powder and xanthan gum, mix well.
3. Add the butter and rub into the dry ingredients with your fingers until it has a consistency similar to breadcrumbs.
4. Add the milk and yoghurt, then use a spoon to blend everything together into a dough.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed gently until it reaches a consistency that can easily be rolled out.
6. Roll out the dough to a thickness of around 2-3cm and cut out the scones with a 5 cm round cutter (or similar), re-rolling the left over dough and cutting out more until you run out of dough.
7. Arrange the scones on your baking tray, leaving as much space between them as possible, and brush them with a little milk.
8. Put the baking tray near the top of the oven and bake for around 15 minutes or until risen evenly browned.
9. Leave on the tray to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Tips:

1. If you do not have a suitable cutter just improvise with an upturned ramekin, small glass, or something similar!
2. This recipe can be easily adapted to make traditional fruit scones by adding either 80-100 g of halved or quartered glacé cherries or 50-60 g of sultanas.

Photos & Feedback

If you have made one of our recipes and taken a photo we would love to see it, with your permission we will share it on here and might even update that recipe to include it!

Also if you have any feedback on our recipes, a suggestion or a request then we would love to hear from you, you can either leave a comment on one of our posts or e-mail us at the following address:

admin@coeliacfriendly.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you!

Gluten Free Coffee and Walnut Cake

This is another recipe from the old site, originally posted in 2008, and another one adapted from my Nan's old cookbook. Like our other sponge based recipes we have now tweaked it to include xanthan gum which although optional definitely results in a better sponge, whether you are on a gluten-free diet or not this is one very tasty cake!

Preparation time - under 30 minutes
Cooking time - 30 minutes (slightly less for a fan oven)
Makes / Serves - serves ~10
Child friendly - 3/5
Difficulty rating - 2/5

Ingredients:

150 g gluten-free self-raising flour alternative
110 g softened butter (or good quality spreadable)
110 g golden caster sugar
75 g walnut halves
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)
3 teaspoons warm water
2 teaspoon good quality instant coffee granules

Icing & decoration:

175 g softened butter (or good quality spreadable)
350 g icing sugar
4 teaspoons warm water
4 teaspoons good quality instant coffee granules
75 g walnut halves

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C / 330 F / Gas Mark 3 and prepare a cake tin by greasing or lining with baking paper (unless using a silicone cake mould).
2. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar and xanthan gum, mix well.
3. Pour the water into a small bowl, add the coffee granules and mix with a spoon until completely dissolved.
4. Add the butter, eggs and coffee mixture to the bowl, mix well either by hand or using an electric hand mixer.
5. In a small bowl crush the walnut halves into small pieces and then add to the mixture, mix well.
6. Pour the mixture into your tin / mould and bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes, or until evenly browned and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the mould / tin for at least 15 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Method (icing):

1. Pour the water into a bowl, add the coffee granules and mix with a spoon until completely dissolved.
2. Put the icing sugar and butter in a separate bowl and mix well.
3. Add the coffee mixture to the bowl and mix well.
4. Spread the icing evenly over the top of the cake and decorate with the walnut halves.

Tips:

1. If catering for someone with a nut allergy you can just remove the walnuts from the recipe, it works well as just a plain coffee cake!
2. Remeber that the xanthan is optional, if you don't have any the recipe still works fine without it but will have a slightly drier, firmer consistency.
3. If you do not have golden caster sugar you can just use normal caster sugar instead, their is only a small difference in taste and colour.

Abigails Gluten Free Cheese Scones

We came up with this recipe just a few months ago when Abigail needed an alternative recipe for her cooking class at school, we were amazed at just how well they came out and only had to make a couple of minor tweaks to the recipe!

Preparation time -  5 minutes
Cooking time - ~15 minutes (less for a fan assisted oven)
Makes / Serves - 6 average sized scones
Child friendly - 3/5
Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

200 g gluten-free plain flour alternative
40 g butter (or good quality spreadable)
100 g natural yoghurt
40 g mature cheddar cheese
50 ml milk (plus extra for brushing)
1 tablespoon gluten-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 230 C / 450 F / Gas Mark 8 and prepare a baking tray by lightly greasing or lining with baking paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt, mix well.
3. Add the butter and rub into the dry ingredients with your fingers until it has a consistency similar to breadcrumbs.
4. Add the cheese, milk and yoghurt, then use a spoon to blend everything together into a dough.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed gently until it reaches a consistency that can easily be rolled out.
6. Roll out the dough to a thickness of around 2-3cm and cut out the scones with a 5 cm round cutter (or similar), re-rolling the left over dough and cutting out more until you run out of dough.
7. Arrange the scones on your baking tray, leaving as much space between them as possible, and brush them with a little milk.
8. Put the baking tray near the top of the oven and bake for around 15 minutes or until risen evenly browned.
9. Leave on the tray to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Tips:

1. If you do not have a suitable cutter just improvise, for the scones pictured Abigail actually used a small glass ramekin!
2. You could easily adjust this recipe to your taste, for example you could use a different cheese, add 3 teaspoons of dried onion, 1 teaspoon of dried herbs, a combination of these or something completely different, be creative!

Gluten Free Banoffee Pie (No Cook)

This is a personal favourite of mine that we first posted on the old site in 2007. Ingredient wise it's not really that different to a standard banoffee pie but we came up with the proportions and method one afternoon without using a recipe and have stuck to doing it this way ever since!

Preparation time -  20 minutes + chilling time
Cooking time - 0 minutes
Makes / Serves - 8-10
Child friendly - 3/5
Difficulty rating - 2/5

Ingredients:

150 g gluten-free shortbread
150 g gluten-free digestive biscuits
65 g butter
110 g caster sugar
1 tin (397 g) Nestlé Carnation Caramel
3 average sized bananas
400 ml double cream
10 g icing sugar
2 teaspoons cocoa

Method:

1. Place all the biscuits in a large bowl and crush into a crumby consistency (we use the end of a wooden rolling pin), or alternatively use a food processor.
2. Heat the butter in a medium sized pan over a low heat until completely melted.
3. Remove the butter from the heat and add to the crumbled biscuit, mix well.
4. Press the mixture evenly into a 24-28 cm tart tin with a removable base, then place in the fridge and leave to chill for  at least 20 minutes before continuing.
5. Remove the tin from the fridge and transfer the base onto a serving plate.
6. Spread half of the caramel evenly over the biscuit base.
7. Cut the bananas into thick slices and press evenly into the caramel layer, the top of the banana slices should ideally be just below the height of the bases edge.
8. Carefully spread the remaining caramel over the banana slices and into the gaps between them.
9. In a jug mix the cream and icing sugar and beat until it forms soft peaks, be careful not to make the cream too thick if using an electric hand mixer.
10. Spread the cream evenly over the top of the caramel and base, then sift the cocoa over the top.
11. Chill for a minimum of 40 minutes before serving.

Tips:

1. Rather than using cocoa you could melt around 100 g of dark chocolate and drizzle it over the top of the cream, just make sure you let the melted chocolate cool slightly before drizzling.
2. For a base with more crunch reduce the amount of butter by 5 g and instead of refrigerating it in step 4 cook it in the oven for around 10 minutes at 180 C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4, allow to  completely cool before continuing to step 5.

Gluten & Dairy Free Sponge Cakes

We originally developed this recipe in 2008 for a primary school party. We needed a completely allergen free recipe to cater not only for Abigail but also for a child with a dairy intolerance and after a few days tinkering we came up with this one, it has changed a little since then though with the optional inclusion of xanthan gum to improve the texture.

Preparation time -  15-20 minutes
Cooking time - 15-20 minutes
Makes / Serves - 1 large cake, 12 small cakes or 6 muffins
Child friendly - 4/5
Difficulty rating - 2/5

Ingredients:

120 g gluten-free self-raising flour alternative
110 g caster sugar
 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)
3 eggs

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4 and prepare your cake tin/s or cases.
2. Place the eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat until thick and pale, this can take a very long time by hand an so using an electric hand mixer is highly recommended, even by this method it will  take at least 6 minutes but is essential for a good texture.
3. Gradually add the sugar (around a quarter at a time), beating the mixture well after each addition.
4. If using xanthan gum then combine this with the flour in a separate bowl and mix well.
5. Add the flour to the eggs and fold into the mixture. Sifting rather than pouring the flour can make it easier to get a smooth mixture, you shouldn't use the electric hand mixer at this stage unless you have problems getting a smooth mixture.
6. Spoon the mixture into your tin/s or cases, gently smoothing the top if making a large cake and dividing equally between the cases if making small cakes of muffins.
7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes if making a large cake, or 15 minutes for small cakes or muffins. Or until the cake/s appear golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
8. Leave the cake/s to cool in the tin/s for a minimum of 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tips:

1. This recipe is perfect for parties as it caters for both gluten and dairy free diets and is tasty enough that everyone can enjoy it. A large one is the perfect base for a birthday cake, which you can decorate however you want or small ones can be turned into fairy cakes, cupcakes, or decorated in any number of other ways, be creative!
2. This recipe is the perfect base for any number of cake and muffin types, replace 20 g of the flour with cocoa to give it a chocolatey twist, or add chocolate chips, fudge chips, glacé cherries, dessicated coconut or any other ingredients that takes your fancy, once again.. be creative!

Gluten Free Battered Fish

A new recipe for 2013 this is a heavily updated batter recipe for coating which we have tweaked to perfection over the last few months, to suit your personal taste or to coat other foods, for example sausages, you might still want to vary the amount of flour a little (10-15 g less or more depending on desired consistency).

Preparation time - ~5 minutes
Cooking time - ~5-8 minutes
Makes / Serves - makes enough batter to coat 4 average sized cod fillet portions
Child friendly - 1/5
Difficulty rating - 2/5

Ingredients:

130 g gluten-free plain flour alternative
80 ml warm water
50 ml milk
1 tsp baking powder
extra flour for coating
vegetable or sunflower oil for frying

Method:

1. Put the flour and baking powder into a jug and mix well.
2. Add the water and milk and beat until a smooth mixture is obtained, set aside.
3. Put some extra flour onto a plate. Dredge both sides of each fish portion in the flour, shaking off any excess but ensuring a thorough coating, and place to one side.
4. Heat your oil, testing the temperature by dripping in a little batter, the batter should instantly start to give off bubbles and cook to golden in 2-3 of minutes. If using a deep fat fryer a temperature of 180-190 C should be used depending on the model and capacity of the fryer.
5. Dip each fish portion into the the batter one at a time, quickly placing them into the oil, you may need to cook them singularly or in pairs depending on frying method.
6. Cook each portion for around 5-8 minutes or until golden brown all over.

Tips:

1. This is a great all purpose coating batter but you will possibly need to make it thicker or thinner for coating different foods, for example the recipe works as is for for most fritters but needs to have about an extra 10-15 g of flour added for sausages.
2. You don't need a deep fat fryer or pan full of oil to cook this! A good quality deep frying pan with around 1 cm of oil, over a medium-high heat, works very well, you will need to turn the fish roughly every 3 minutes using this method and cooking times will be 1-2 minutes longer overall.
3. If you want a lighter, more bubbly, batter you could use sparkling spring water instead, just make sure the water is at room temperature and not chilled. Likewise you could also use warm 'gassy' beer  instead of water if you prefer a beer batter.

Gluten Free Sage & Onion Stuffing Balls

This is one of Abigail's personal favourites and one of the first savoury recipes she learned to make herself, it's a bit on the messy side but easy for anyone to make! Once again this is one I came up with 2006 and easily one of our most used. I recommend our 'Bread For Gluten Free Breadcrumbs' recipe for rolls of an ideal crumbing consistency.

Preparation time - under 15 minutes
Cooking time - ~20 minutes (less for a fan assisted oven)
Makes / Serves - makes ~12 balls
Child friendly - 3/5
Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

200 g gluten-free bread-crumbs
2 large, or 3 small, onions
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
3 tablespoons dried sage
1 tablespoon vegetable or sunflower oil
pinch of salt
pinch of ground black pepper

Method:

1. Dice the onion and fry in a minimal amount of oil until softened, set aside for later.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 190 C / 375 F / Gas Mark 5 and prepare a baking tray by lining with foil or greasing well with oil.
3. Place the breadcrumbs, sage, salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix well by hand.
4. Add the onion (which should now be fairly cool) and oil to the bowl and mix well.
5. Add the beaten egg to the bowl and mix well, ensuring an even mix.
6. Divide the mixture and shape into 12 balls and place, evenly spaced, onto the baking tray.
7. Bake for ~20 minutes or until evenly browned.

Tips:

1. Rather than frying the onion you can microwave it in a bowl mixed with 2 tablespoons of oil for 1-2 minutes, depending on your microwaves rating. If you do this then add all of the oil used to cook the onion to the mix instead of adding the oil separately in step 4 above.
2. It's very easy to adjust this recipe for different flavours of stuffing, for example if serving with pork you could use about a third less onion and add a Bramley apple instead (cubed, boiled until softened and well drained), be creative!

Gluten Free Gravy

Their are many specialist gluten-free gravy products on the market which vary greatly in both quality and price, for a typical 200 g jar or tub you can expect to pay from  £1.69 up to around £2.69, depending on the brand.

But the truth is you don't really need them! The reason is simple, Bisto launched a product range called Bisto Best several years ago and the whole range is essentially gluten-free (we'll get to the 'essentially' bit later), what's more at ~£1.50 a jar it is cheaper than any specialist gluten-free gravy I've ever come across and is the best tasting gravy from a jar we have ever tasted.

These three have all earned a permanent place in our kitchen...

In addition to the varieties above they also make pork, lamb and vegetable (this is the only one in the range not suitable for Coeliacs) see the Bisto website for further information.

Unfortunately they do not make a turkey variety but we find two parts chicken to one part caramelised onion makes a perfect gravy for turkey, we use this blend every Christmas!

Now for the explanation as to why I said they were 'essentially' gluten-free, if you visited the website or have looked at a jar in a store then you may have noticed this warning...

"Contains Soya. Produced on a line which handles Wheatflour."

Now this was only added relatively recently and to someone on a gluten-free diet that doesn't sound good, however in this case it really is nothing to worry about for the following reason...

"...  Premier Foods provided substantial test results which showed that the gravy granules contain a very low level of gluten within the safe levels for people with coeliac disease (20 ppm or less). We therefore list Bisto Best gravy granules in the Food and Drink Directory.

Please be aware that the jars still have a ‘may contain’ statement but we have confirmed the product is suitable."

That is a direct quote from Coaliac UK and and an up to date statement can be found here.

It is available from just about every supermarket and even many smaller shops so if you like your gravy give it a try, you won't be disappointed!

Bisto Best Gravy (various varieties) 200 g      9.5/10

Update November 2015: We've had a few messages from people concerned about the recent recipe change and questioning whether this product is still suitable for a gluten-free diet. I can confirm that only the vegetable variety is no longer considered safe and that all other varieties still meet the strict requirements of Coeliac UK and are still included in their directory. I've updated the post to specifically mention that the vegetable variety is an exception.

Mobile Version Of Site

I came across a problem earlier with how some of the recipe posts were being displayed on the mobile version of the site, I'm pleased to say that this has now been fixed and I have taken steps to ensure the problem does not affect future posts.

Gluten Free Scotch Pancakes

Also known as Drop Scones, these are a very quick and easy treat. This is another one of our older recipes from 2006 and definitely one of our most used.

Preparation time - under 10 minutes
Cooking time - ~10 minutes
Makes / Serves - makes ~10-15 pancakes
Child friendly - 4/5
Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

200 g gluten-free self raising flour alternative
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
300 ml milk
2 teaspoons sugar
vegetable or sunflower oil for frying

Method:

1. Put all the ingredients into a jug and beat until a smooth batter is achieved.
2. Heat a small amount of oil in a non-stick frying pan.
3. Once the pan is nice and hot pour tablespoons of batter into the pan to form rounds, you can either use a tablespoon or carefully pour straight from the jug.
4. When the underside appears golden carefully turn them and cook the other side until that also appears golden.
5. Serve immediately or once cooled store in airtight container for a day or two. 

Tips:

1. Using an electric hand mixer for this recipe reduces the preparation time to just a couple of minutes and tends to produce a much fluffier consistency.
2. A population variation of these is 'Lemon & Sultana Scotch Pancakes', to make these just replace 10-20 ml of the milk with lemon juice and add ~25 g of sultanas to mix just before you start to cook the pancakes. You'll need to use a tablespoon rather than pouring straight from the jug though to make sure each pancake contains sultanas!
3. You can serve these just as they, with a little butter on top, some ice-cream melted over them, topped with maple syrup and pecans, topped with toffee sauce and mixed nuts or any number of other variations, be creative!

Gluten Free Cauliflower Cheese

Here is the first of our brand new recipes for 2013, we make this for the entire family as it is completely indistinguishable from 'normal' cauliflower cheese and tastes absolutely wonderful!

Preparation Time -  30 minutes
Cooking time - 25 minutes
Makes / Serves - 4 portions
Child friendly - 1/5
Difficulty rating - 3/5

Ingredients:

1 large cauliflower
70 g gluten free plain flour alternative
50 g butter (or good quaility 'spreadable')
450 ml milk (any except skimmed)
150 ml stock (the water the cauliflower is cooked in)
90 g cheddar cheese (whatever strength you prefer)
pinch of salt
pinch of black pepper

Method:

1. Cut the cauliflower into florets as evenly as possible.
2. Boil the cauliflower in a large pan until tender (10-15 minutes), drain well and set aside 150 ml of the stock water for later use.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 200 C / 400 F / Gas Mark 6.
4. Place the florets into a medium sized oven proof dish (we use a lasagne dish) and set aside.
5. Now it's time to make the cheese sauce. Over a low heat, melt the butter in a medium sized pan, then remove from the heat and stir in the flour to make a smooth paste. 
6. Return to the heat and gradually stir in the milk, mixing well after each addition.
7. Stir the sauce continuously until the mixture thickens, which can take several minutes.
8. Add the stock, salt, and black pepper to the pan and mix well.
9. Add around two thirds of the cheese, mix well and remove from the heat.
10. Pour the sauce evenly over the cauliflower and then sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.
11. Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown.

Tips:

1. If the sauce has not thickened enough after 5-6 minutes you might need to add an extra 5 g of flour, it really depends on the flour used, don't be afraid to add more if you feel it's needed.
2. Cauliflower cheese is often served as a meal in itself, to make it a more well rounded meal you could grill 6-8 rashers of streaky bacon before starting the recipe, cut them into small pieces and mix into the sauce just before pouring over the cauliflower.

Gluten Free Banana Loaf

This recipe is a little more recent (mid-2007), but proved extremely popular on our old site. I've also updated it a little to include a small amount of xanthan gum, which can be left out if you don't have any. Getting enough fibre into a gluten free diet can be very difficult and this recipe can be a great help in that regard.

Preparation time -  under 15 minutes
Cooking time - 50-60 minutes
Makes / Serves - One small loaf is approx 8-10 servings
Child friendly - 5/5
Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

170 g gluten-free brown or 'fibre' flour alternative
150 g caster sugar
75 g softened butter
3 large or 4 small bananas (mashed)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4 and prepare a small loaf tin, if not silicone it is a good idea to line with baking paper as well as greasing.
2. Place all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat together until completely mixed.
3. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 50 minutes, check with a skewer to ensure the loaf is cooked right through and bake for a further 10 minutes if needed.
4. Allow to cool slightly in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Tips:

1. If you're in a hurry an electric hand mixer can really speed up this recipe, however a low speed setting should be used.
2. You can make this recipe a bit more interesting by adding 120 g of either sultanas or chopped mixed nuts, it's also delicious served with toffee sauce, especially if it's warmed for ~20-30 seconds in the microwave first.
3. This recipe also works very well with golden caster sugar which gives the loaf a subtly different flavour, particularly when sultanas are also added as above.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

This was one the first recipes I adapted from my Nan's old cookbook in 2005 as it was the thing Abigail missed most at the time, but unlike the shortbread this recipe wasn't included in the cookbook itself, it was a recipe my Nan came up with herself in the 1960's, jotted down on a scrap of paper and tucked into the biscuit section! These aren't your average cookie, not overly crunchy like a typical British cookie but not overly soft like American cookies, they sit somewhere in between!

Preparation time -  under 15 minutes
Cooking time - ~20 minutes (slightly less for a fan oven)
Makes / Serves - This depends on the size you want them, we usually do 8-12.
Child friendly - 5/5
Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

150 g gluten-free plain flour alternative
150 g caster sugar
125 g softened butter
100 g chocolate chips (or chunks)
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons water

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 C / 350 F / Gas Mark 4 and prepare a baking tray by either greasing it or lining with baking paper (which seems to work better in this case).
2. Add the flour, baking powder and caster sugar to your mixing bowl and mix well.
3. Add the butter, egg and water to your mixing bowl and mix until smooth.
4. Add the chocolate chips (or chunks) to the mixing bowl and mix well.
5. Using a tablespoon put blobs of the mixture onto the baking tray at least a few centimetres apart (to allow for spreading).
6. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Allow to partly cool on the tray before transferring to a cooling rack.

Tips:

1. If you're in a hurry these can be made with an electric hand whisk in just a couple of minutes, just add everything except the chocolate chips at the same time, mix well, and then mix in the chocolate chips by hand.
2. You could replace the chocolate chips with any number of other things, such as fudge pieces, sultanas, dried apple (plus a teaspoon of cinnamon), be creative!
3. For a slightly different taste you can use golden caster sugar, which works best when you've replaced the chocolate chips with something fruity (like the suggestions above). 
4. For an extra chocolatey twist replace 30 g of the flour with cocoa!

Gluten Free Yorkshire Puddings

Another recipe from 2006, this one is essential for everyone on a gluten-free diet who loves their roast dinners! We have tried several other Yorkshire Pudding  recipes over the years and we always end up coming back to this one.

Preparation time - under 15 minutes
Cooking time - ~25 minutes (slightly less for a fan oven)
Makes / Serves - 6 average sized Yorkshire Puddings
Child friendly - 2/5
Difficulty rating - 3/5

Ingredients:

65 g gluten-free self raising flour alternative
50 g butter (or good quality 'spreadable')
125 ml water
2 eggs (lightly beaten)

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 C / 425 F / Gas Mark 7 and grease either six Yorkshire Pudding tins, a muffin tray, or similar (this recipe works best with fairly deep, well greased, tins).
2. In a small pan, melt the butter over a low heat.
3. Add the water to the pan and gently bring to the boil.
4. Remove from the heat and add the flour, beating well.
5. Return to a low heat and stir continuously until the mixture thickens and forms a stiff ball that can be rolled around the pan.
6. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for around 30 seconds.
7. Gradually add the beaten eggs until a stiff dropping consistency is obtained (you might not need all the egg!), beating well after each addition. 
8. Spoon the mixture into the 6 tins, using a teaspoon to spread it evenly over the base and up the sides.
9. Bake for around 20 minutes then remove from the oven and pierce the top of each Yorkshire Pudding with a sharp knife, bake for another 5 minutes to crisp.

Tips:

1. Although these are best eaten fresh from the oven they can be kept in the fridge for up to a couple of days and reheated in the oven for 5-7 minutes to re-crisp.
2. It might take a couple of attempts to get the consistency right but stick with it, they are well worth it!
3. Add some sage and finely shredded and chopped onion before spooning into the tins to give them a sage and onion twist for a chicken or turkey roast. 

Gluten Free Scotch Eggs

This was one of our most popular recipes from the old site and although it can be quite a messy one is actually very easy, you might need to make them a couple of times to get the amount or bread / rolls right though as this does depend on brand etc (I recommend our 'Bread For Gluten Free Breadcrumbs' recipe for rolls of an ideal crumbing consistency). The end results beat any supermarket bought scotch egg by a long way, a great addition to any packed lunch or picnic.

Preparation time - ~30 minutes
Cooking time - ~5 minutes
Makes / Serves - 6
Child friendly - 3/5
Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

6 eggs (hard boiled)
2 eggs (beaten)
200-250 g fine gluten-free breadcrumbs (depends on brand)
500 g gluten-free sausage meat
70 g gluten-free plain flour alternative
vegetable or sunflower oil for frying

Method:

1. Shell the boiled eggs and put to one side.
2. Divide the sausage meat into six roughly even portions.
3. Put the flour in a small bowl and roll each egg in it individually, again placing them to one side as you go.
4. Wrap a sausage meat portion around each egg as evenly as you can, forming a ball shape.
5. One at a time dip the sausage encased eggs into the beaten eggs and then immediately roll it in the breadcrumbs, ensuring an even coverage.
6. Heat the oil to 180 C / 350 F and cook each egg for around 5 minutes or until you are happy that the sausage meat is cooked and the breadcrumbs are browned. 
7. Roll on a paper towel to remove excess oil, serve warm or allow to cool and chill for later, they should keep fine in the fridge for a few days.

Tips:

1. For a healthier alternative you could bake them in a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes at 190 C / 375 F /  Gas Mark 5, turning halfway through to ensure even browning. Although most people would agree they taste better fried!
2. If your intending to eat them warm (straight after cooking) you can use eggs that are slightly less well boiled and have a softer, even slightly runny, yolk for a more traditional taste.
3. If you want to try something a little different add some chilli, onion, garlic, herbs,  black pepper or a combination such as garlic and tarragon to the sausage meat  at step 2 and mix in thoroughly , be creative!

Gluten Free Pancake Day Pancakes

This one is a recipe we developed in 2006 so that Abigail didn't miss out on Pancake Day, it's incredibly simple and the pancakes easily taste good enough for everyone to share rather than cooking both gluten and gluten-free pancakes.  

Preparation time - ~5 minutes

Cooking time - ~5 minutes

Makes / Serves - 8 average sized pancakes

Child friendly - 3/5

Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

100 g gluten-free plain flour alternative

2 eggs (lightly beaten)

300 ml cold milk

vegetable or sunflower oil for frying

Method:

1. Add the eggs and milk together in a jug and beat well.
2. Add the flour to the jug gradually, beating well after each addition to ensure a smooth mixture (if using an electric hand whisk you can just add it all at once).
3. Heat your frying pan to a medium heat, using just enough oil to ensure the pancake doesn't stick (this may take a couple of tries to get right!).
4. Pour in enough of the batter to thinly coat the pans base, lifting the pan from the heat and tilting it to spread the batter evenly.
5. When the underside of the pancake is a nice golden colour turn it (or flip it if your daring enough) and cook the other side until it is also a nice golden colour.

Tips:

1. If your not serving the pancakes straight away it's best to layer them between foil until you need them, they will keep in the fridge for at least a couple of days.
2. The batter made in this recipe can also be used as for crêpes, for sweet crêpes just add a 1/2 teaspoon of caster sugar to the mix in step 1 and for savoury crêpes add a 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
3. It can be very difficult to get a smooth mixture when hand beating so an electric hand mixer is definitely recommended.
4. For something a little different you can replace 10 g of the flour with cocoa to give them a chocolate twist, this works great for deserts where you are filling the pancakes / crêpes,  an old favourite is to use a black cherry filling and serve warm with a little vanilla ice cream on top, be creative!

Bread For Gluten Free Breadcrumbs

Here is another recipe from 2005, even though their are far better bread recipes (and I'll be posting more soon) we still feel that this is the best one to make if want breadcrumbs for another recipe (breaded chicken, scotch eggs etc) as many gluten free breads just go mouldy rather than drying out like wheat based breads.

Preperation time - under 20 minutes (plus 30-40 minutes proving / rising time)
Cooking time - loaf 20-25 minutes, rolls 15-20 minutes (slightly less for a fan oven)
Makes / Serves - 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves or 8-10 rolls
Child friendly - 3/5
Difficulty rating - 2/5

Ingredients:

500 g gluten-free plain flour alternative
1 teaspoon quick yeast (not always gluten-free so check the label!)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoon vegetable or sunflower oil
450 ml warm water (or 500 ml for a brown or 'fibre' mix)

Method:

1. Grease either a large bread tin, two small loaf tins or a baking tray.
2. Put the flour, yeast, salt and sugar into your mixing bowl and mix well, it is very important to ensure that the dry  ingredients are well mixed before moving on.
3. Add the oil and again take care to mix well.
4. Add the water, holding back around 50 ml, and once again mix until a thick batter type mixture is obtained.
5. The mixture should join back up fairly quickly if you run a sharp knife through it, if it feels too thick then gradually add the remaining water little by little, mixing well and retesting the batter between additions (the mixture will be very sticky compared to a wheat flour dough, this is normal).
6. Place the mixture in your tin/s or divide, shape into rolls and place evenly spaced onto your baking tray.
7. Cover loosely with either a damp tea towel or cling-film  and leave in a warm place for 30-40 minutes to prove / rise, the mixture should almost double in size.
8. Heat your oven to 220 C / 425 F / Gas mark 7.
9. When ready remove the tea towel or cling film place in the pre-heated oven, turning at least once during cooking to ensure an evenly cooked crust. For loaves allow 20-25 minutes cooking time, for rolls allow 15-20 minutes.
10. Leave the bread / rolls to cool completely, and use within 3 days.

Tips:

1. Despite the title the bread / rolls baked using this recipe are fine to eat as such, they are quite dry and crumbly compared to other recipes though which is why this recipe is best for use as breadcrumbs. 
2. If you want to make a smaller batch then you can just halve the recipe and make half as many rolls or a single small loaf.
3. Once breaded most things can be frozen for weeks or even months and cooked later, so you can make them up in bulk and have them to hand whenever you want them.
4. Breadcrumbs made from this recipe are perfect for chicken, fish, scotch eggs, mushrooms and just about anything else you might want to bread!

Ultimate Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

This recipe is another one originally from 2005, but it has been revised to include a little xanthan gum to make the sponge even softer. If you don't have any xanthan gum the recipe is still great without it, but it does make a difference!

Preparation time - under 30 minutes
Cooking time - 35 minutes (slightly less for a fan oven)
Makes / Serves - serves ~10
Child friendly - 4/5
Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

165 g gluten-free self-raising flour alternative
125 g butter (or good quality 'spreadable')
110 g caster sugar
40 g icing sugar
45 g cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (not always gluten-free so check the label!)
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional)
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
250 ml milk (slightly warmed)

Method:

1. Heat your oven to 180 C / 355 F / Gas mark 4.
2. If not using a silicone mould then line your cake tin with greaseproof paper.
3. In a large mixing bowl beat together the butter, caster sugar and icing sugar until light and creamy.
4. Add the vanilla extract and then gradually add the lightly beaten egg, beating well after each addition.
5. Add the flour, cocoa, xanthan gum and bicarbonate of soda and start to fold them into the mixture using a spoon.
6. Once the dry ingredients have been mostly incorporated into the mixture add the warm milk and beat until the mixture is smooth.
7. Pour the mixture into your mould / tin and bake in the oven for 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
8. Leave the cake in the mould / tin for at least 20 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tips:

1. Silicone cake moulds are far better that traditional tins, especially when it comes to gluten-free baking as you can peel them away from the cake more carefully.
2. Using an electric hand mixer (on a medium speed setting) rather than beating by hand can easily halve the preparation time and often gives a better final result!
3. If you want to cut the cake into brownies, like we often do, then I'd recommend using a 20-25 cm square mould / tin.
4. You can stir in some chocolate chips or fudge pieces just before pouring into the mould  to make it even tastier!

Tasty Gluten Free Shortbread

To start things off I'm going to post a few of our original recipes from 2005/2006 that are still relevant today!

First up... shortbread!

This was one of the easiest recipes to adapt as it's pretty much just the 'normal' recipe but with a flour substitution, it's actually based on a recipe my nan (Betty) taught me from the 'Good Housekeeping Guide' she was given in the nineteen forties!

Preparation time - ~30 minutes

Cooking time - 15-20 minutes (slightly less for a fan oven)

Makes / Serves - ~20 shortbread

Child friendly - 5/5

Difficulty rating - 1/5

Ingredients:

125 g butter

55 g caster sugar

180 g gluten-free plain flour alternative

icing sugar for dusting

Method:

1. Cover your baking tray with either foil, baking paper or a reusable Teflon sheet.
2. Blend the butter and sugar together, using a spoon, until smooth.
3. Stir in the flour gradually to get a smooth paste.
4. Turn the mixture out on to a work surface and gently roll it out to a thickness of around 1 cm or half an inch thick.
5. Cut into fingers or other shape as desired and place onto baking tray, leftover paste can be rolled out again several times to use up any trimmings if shaped cutters are used.
6. Heat your oven to 190 C / 375 F / Gas mark 5.
7. Prick all over with a fork and sprinkle with icing sugar and refrigerate for about 20 minutes. 
8. Bake in the oven for  15-20 minutes, or until pale golden-brown.
9. Leave them on the baking tray to cool, or alternatively transfer to a wire rack after 5 minutes or so to speed the process up.

Tips:

1. Weigh your butter first, cut it into small cubes, and leave it at room temperature to soften slightly whilst you get everything else ready!
2. Shortbread can be decorated in all sorts of ways, especially using icing or chocolate as a base, be creative!
3. You can make plain shortbread a little more interesting in lots of ways, for example you could exchange 60 g or 2 oz of the flour for cocoa and add some chocolate chips to make them chocolatey or add some natural lemon flavouring and a some lemon zest for a zingy twist!
4. Gluten free shortbread makes an excellent base for things like banoffee pie, cheesecakes, etc.

This blog is a replacement for our old site 'AbigailsSpecialFood' and all the recipes still relevant (a lot has changed with regards to the availability of gluten free foods in the last 8 years!) will be gradually reposted here as we go through them.

The original site has now been completely taken down and any old links should now redirect here, so if you ended up here by clicking one of the old links don't worry you are in the right place!

Now Abigail is that bit older she'll also making some posts, including recipes and reviews, of her own :)

Please bear with us whilst we get the recipes transferred over!