A spot of Christmas baking - last post for 2010

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.

Yummy blueberry breakfast muffins and more!

Where have you been and what have you been baking? I hear you ask. Its been over a month since I last posted with tales from the kitchen and sewing table. Its not that I haven't been creating all this time, its more that I haven't been creating anything new. Not to mention I've been away as well. Anyway I'll try my best to give you a quick update on what has been happening this last month. And I might even have a new recipe for you!

Now as you'll remember my last post was all about the Mad Men Party and the huge baking and sewing efforts that that involved! Phew. You can understand why I could of had a break after that. Well in actual fact I didn't have a break. We were visiting family and friends that weekend and I hate to arrive empty handed. So I ended up baking a loaf of bread, 2 batches of chocolate eclairs and 2 batches of choc-orange cupcakes. Nothing new there and I do think I became obsessed with choax pastry and chocolate eclairs. They are so tasty yet so easy to make!

The following week we were winging our way to Hamilton Island to join a couple other friends who had conned me into entering in the Whitehaven Beach 2km Ocean swim. This meant we flew up mid-week and came back Monday afternoon. And in true crazy Meg baking fashion I was up early Wednesday morning to put a loaf of fruit bread in the oven to take with us. It came out 10 minutes before the taxi came to take us to the airport and was steaming as we got into the taxi! It was quite a sight Neil and I sitting in the departure lounge me with a sweet smelling loaf of fruit bread on my lap cooling before I could put it in a bag and board the plane! Mind you it was a nice treat while we were away as the gluten free options on the island were few and far between.

Despite the weather being a bit wet, a fun time was had by all. I think Alison went a bit tropo doing 4 dives in 5 days as well as an ocean swim!  She was also the resident fish completing the 2km swim 39 minutes! Louise and I both had respectable times too and I'm sure we managed to beat some of the super fit triathletes who had also descended on the Island for the triathlon.

Now the following week I did have a break. I think I hit a minor slump after the last few weeks of excitement and I was lacking inspiration to get back into the kitchen. So I lazed about catching up on some reading and iview. This was good in a way as it meant that last Friday I was chomping at the bit to get in there and try something new. Although it did take me a while to try and decide what! I warmed up on the Friday making some more bread and decided on a plan of attack for creating. I had to start on my Christmas present sewing as well as come up with something new to take round to our friends place who had just moved into their new house in Kennsington. Lucky fellas its got a pool too!

Inspiration finally came after flicking through a few books, including a recent addition 'Seriously good gluten-free baking' by Phil Vickery. I'd gone slightly nuts of late ordering books on-line from the US book depository as they are seriously cheap now that our dollar is so strong and they have free shipping. Anyway I digress! The boys we were visiting are health conscious so I thought I'd try and find something a bit more nutritious than eclairs, sigh, and I came across this recipe for buttermilk breakfast muffins. The picture looked good and I'd recently bought some frozen blueberries so they were it.

So Saturday morning I was up early and in the kitchen baking a fruit loaf and having a go at the muffins. I soon realised I didn't have any buttermilk but I improvised with some yoghurt and milk. But then I came across a sneaky ingredient I hadn't first registered when looking at the recipe the day before - glycerin. I'd mistakenly though I had some but it was actually glucose syrup. They look the same - clear and viscous but are very different. The book assured me that you can get it easily from supermarkets so I scoured the baking and health food sections with no luck. I was stumped. I had to head back home and do a bit of Internet research and found out that chemists also carry it. Apparently its a laxative in large doses as well as being good at holding moisture in baked goods. So back I went up the street to the chemist and luckily they had it. And now that I knew to look in the chemist section of the supermarket I found it there too, slightly cheaper and in a bigger bottle!

Now I could get back to finishing the recipe, only about an hour later than expected. The oats had been well soaked in the buttermilk and sugar. Actually they looked a little dry so added a splash more milk! I was also curious to see how the glycerin would affect the recipe. When mixed with the oil and egg it became quite thick and when added to the flours and pre-soaked oats if looked a little on the dry side so I added a dash more milk, although I was unsure if this was how it was supposed to look. Anyway I popped in the blueberries and the batter into the prepared trays and into the oven they went.

The cooking time was a wee bit longer than recommended, but I don't have a fan forced oven so that could be it but as long as you cook them until they look right ie. nicely risen and brown then you should be right. Now for the taste and texture, they're different to any other muffin I've had. The oats give it a good slightly grainy texture which make them more substantial and I suppose that's why they've been called breakfast muffins. The flavour is subtle such that I'd be tempted to put in more blueberries or maybe some grated apple and cinnamon to spice them up. Maybe next time. Anyway I think its a great basic recipe that can be easily adapted to different flavours suitable for breakfast. Also the addition of the glycerin means that they can last a bit longer and supposedly are suitable to freeze but I haven't given the latter a go yet! Anyway here it is.

Buttermilk Breakfast Muffins (Seriously good gluten-free baking by Phil Vickery)
makes 12
200g porridge oats
284ml carton buttermilk (1/2 milk, 1/2 yoghurt)
125g caster sugar
150ml vegetable oil
1 medium egg
1Tbs glycerin
140g rice flour
40g potato flour
20g tapioca flour
1 1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp xanthan gum
1/2tsp bicarbonate soda
75g frozen blueberries (100g)
Method
1. Preheat oven to 200C and line 12 hole muffin tin
2. Place oats, buttermilk and sugar in a medium mixing bowl and set aside for 20 minutes.
3. In a separate bowl whisk together flours, xanthan gum, baking powder and bicarb soda until well combined.
4. Whisk the oil eggs and glycerin together in a jug and add to the oat mixture. The stir in flour mixture. Finally add the blueberries and mix well.
5. Spoon into prepared muffin tray and cook for 15 minutes or until well browned and risen. Cool on wire rack and serve.

Baked Saturday 27th November 2010

Now it would be remiss of me not to quickly mention some of my sewing efforts as well as they have become a feature of Friday's off. This year I've decided to make a few little gifts for Christmas for my nieces using material that is re-purposed, off-cuts or end of season bargains. I'm also trying to use patterns from etsy or the Internet focusing on re-purposing other items like jeans or men's shirts. My first attempts are for my nieces Sophie (5yo), Tahlia (3yo) and Darcy (1yo) for which I've got a multi size pattern for of etsy. I must admit I was initially going to make them all cord skirts but because its summer and WA has been so hot I've gone for lighter materials and no-lining on the skirts. This has meant I've had to adapt the pattern which I think I've managed to do ok. I do think little girls clothes look so cute! Just as well I've got plenty of nieces and friends with little girls so I can make a few. Here's what I've done so far.