Goodness where has the time gone? Its less than two weeks til Christmas! Luckily I've sorted my Christmas presents bar one tween boy and my last skirt for my nine year old niece Stephanie! This Friday will see the last of these tasks completed I hope. As for Christmas baking I've taken a minimalist approach with just one new recipe and one old recipe adapted. Now I must admit I'm a little behind as I did my Christmas baking on the 4th December with the intention of sharing it with my in-laws but overflowing sewerage got in the way. Anyway I won't focus on that but will share with you my latest recipe and sewing. This will also be my last blog for the year as we head off to Perth this weekend and I'll only be making old recipes for Christmas parties this weekend.
Last Christmas I made rocky road and spiced biscuits for gifts and sharing, however the latter was not gluten free, so this year I wanted to try gluten free version and came across a gingerbread recipe from Jacqueline Mallorca's Wheat-free cook. The recipe recommends using a cow biscuit cutter which I didn't quite get as a Christmas decoration, even in sunny California so I went for the more traditional star shape. I also used baking paper to roll out the dough which makes it easier to handle while also making it easier to clean up and it uses less flour! I did one substitution as I didn't have any ground cloves so used mixed spice instead. Now one thing that I recommend that you don't do is to leave them out to cool for too long like I did as the humid weather of Sydney made them go a bit soft. However I did find a tip on-line that suggests re-cooking them for a short period of time, which I did and they were much crunchier. Unfortunately in some cases a wee bit too crunchy, although they are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee! Anyway here is the recipe!
Rice flour gingerbread biscuits (Jacqueline Mallorca's Wheat-free cook)
1c brown rice flour
1c cornstarch
1/2tsp salt
1/4tsp xanthan gum
1/2tsp baking powder
1tsp ground ginger
1/2tsp ground cinnamon
1/4tsp ground cloves (1/2tsp mixed spice)
1/2c dark molasses
1/4c sugar
55g unsalted butter (3 Tbsp)
1. Preheat oven to 180C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
2. Whisk together rice flour, cornstarch, salt, xanthan gum, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
3. Heat molasses to boiling point in a medium saucepan over medium heat (or microwave for 1 minute) and stir in butter and sugar. Remove from heat and stir in the flour mixture one-third at a time. If the dough is not workable add 1-2 tablespoons of water. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until silky smooth. Cut the ball of dough in half and work with one section at a time.
4. Dusting the dough lightly with rice flour, roll out to about 7mm thick. Using a rice floured biscuit cutter, cut out as many gingerbread figures as possible, re rolling the trimmings to make more. Bake until the cookies puff up slightly and lighten to a tan colour, 6-7 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then place on wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough. Once cooled store in an air tight container.
Baked Saturday 4th December 2010
At the same time I also decided to make another batch of fudge as it seems to go down really well and indulges my need for chocolate. As a minor alteration to my previous recipe from the 22nd August 2010 I substituted finely grated rind from a large orange for the fresh ginger. I also splurged on some 70% dark chocolate to make it super special! Yum indeed. I reckon if you have to leave some thing out for Santa a biscuit and some fudge would go down a treat.
Now a weekend wouldn't be complete without a spot of sewing and I still had a couple of skirts to make which are for my nieces for Christmas. This time I was planning to convert a couple of pairs of jeans that I'd picked up from the local op-shop into unique skirts for the hard to please tweens! I'd chosen ones with colourful patterns or embellishments that could be used in the front and back panels to spruce up the finish product. I got two done but was still on the hunt for one more pair. That will be this weekends task before jumping on the plane! I'll have to see how the wear before I give out the step by step instructions but there are heaps of different ones on net that you can get your hands on.
Last weekend saw my winging my way to Coffs Harbour to visit a girl friend for her birthday. Although we did cook up a storm in the kitchen, preparing some tasty savouries for finger food to go with some drinks, I didn't lend my hand at any new gluten free recipes. So that's where I'll leave it for Friday Baking Club for 2010. Fingers crossed that 2011 brings the opportunity continue a four day week and a day off devoted to experimenting in the kitchen! Enjoy.
