River Cottage Gluten Free

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One of the great things about my gluten free flour blend is that it can be used to make everything. From cakes to bread, pastry and even pasta. It’s also a source of protein and fibre being made from 70% wholegrain flours. When I got home I bought some rennet and found that making cuajada is about the simplest thing in the world. So here’s a recipe. You can make it with cow or goat milk, but I would search out some sheep milk (try the Sheep Milk Company) for that authentic Bilbao experience. If you’re going to keep the cuajada for longer than a couple of days then I would sterilise your jars in a hot wash in the dishwasher (over 60ºC) or wash in hot soapy water and dry in the oven at 140ºC – this takes about 10-15 minutes. Invest in a food thermometer too, so that you can get exactly the right temperature – this helps if you’re making yogurt too. I plan to write a post about making yogurt in my oven soon as it’s so easy and requires no extra gadgets to clutter up my work surface!

Milk kefir on the other hand is made by introducing kefir grains into milk. The grains are a symbiotic colony of many different bacterial strains and yeast. When the grains are left in the milk at room temperature they utilise the lactose in the milk to produce lactic acid which allows the bacteria and yeast to proliferate and grow. Of course, there was one major problem for me – all the bread! I watched the rest of our group pointing and munching and enjoyed my own breadless plates of sweet, nutty, jamon iberico de belota (jamon from free range iberico pigs that are fed on acorns) and piquillo peppers. There was even a trip to the Mercado de la Ribera in the old town where the pintxos came on gluten free bread – I was touched, but the bread was so awful I just ate the yummy toppings instead. So, I enjoyed the atmosphere of pintxos rather than the ease of drifting from bar to bar until your stomach tells you it’s full. If you love this recipe then sign up below for my free recipe ebook. In it I give you recipes for gluten free Yorkshire puddings, scones, pancakes, Victoria sponge and so much more. You’ll also get my weekly newsletter of recipe inspiration. Hold one end of the cucumber and bash it firmly and evenly all the way along and around the entire circumference. Turn it round and do the same thing with the other half. The cucumber should break apart on several places, so use your hands to tear it open at the natural breaks and turn the pieces flesh side down, giving them a few more bashes until they break into chunks or long pieces. Be firm enough that some pieces jump off the board and you get cucumber seeds everywhere. This is not a job for the timid!When you take the meat out, turn the oven as high as it will go (ideally 250°C/fan 500ºF/gas 10). When it reaches this temperature, take the tray out of the oven and place over a medium heat on the hob, trying to get an even spread of heat under the tin. The flours, ground flax seeds and milk kefir are mixed together and left covered with a T-towel. That’s it. The secret to great pastry is to keep everything cold and use only your fingers – not your palms, when rubbing in fat. You don’t have to worry about overdeveloping gluten here, but you don’t want to melt the fat into the flour and end up with a greasy lump. It might seem like an awful lot of ingredients, but the finished pastry is short, nutty, buttery and delicious! Preheat the oven to 260ºC (240ºC fan oven), well before the proving time is up and put a baking tray in the bottom of the oven.

The secret to the soft fudgy interior of this cake is precooking the rice flour with boiling water to get rid of any grittiness. The result is deeply chocolatey but not so rich that you can’t slather chocolate fudge frosting on top. You can make it egg free by using a flax egg, but it will be gooier and will need another 10-15 minutes baking. Whisk together the flour, ground almonds, liquorice powder, ginger and baking powder and set aside. A glorious A to Z of more than 330 ingredients and 350 recipes. An essential guide to cooking and eating wellMake the glaze too while you wait. Heat the sugar with 20g of water until the sugar dissolves and set the syrup aside. Alternatively sieve out the bits from some marmalade or apricot jam and let it down to a glaze consistency with a little boiling water. You can use this frosting as a soft fudgy ganache or whip it once it has cooled to room temperature for a lusciously smooth truffle buttercream which is much lighter in colour. If you whip your frosting, you must do this just before you pile it on the cake, or it can seize and won’t be spreadable anymore. Anything leftover can be stored in the fridge but needs to come to room temperature before it can be used. *Dark chocolate fudge frosting* Whisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. If using dried yeast, mix it in at this point as well. Otherwise, pour a little of the water over the fresh yeast, mashing it to make a paste. Nutrition expert Naomi Devlin gives clear advice for gluten-free eating – including detailed guidance on alternative flours, methods of fermentation and delicious baking ideas Toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry frying pan until they start to smell delicious and toasty and then tip out onto a chopping board and crush them to a coarse powder with a rolling pin or grind in a pestle and mortar.