Go gluten-free with our easy bakes

These baked treats are so tasty you wouldn’t even guess they’re gluten-free

LUCKILY for those who want to avoid gluten there are several gluten-free flour mixtures available. Various flours such as rice, potato, tapioca, corn, chickpea and buckwheat are blended and mixed with a binding agent such as xanthan gum to help bakes retain their shape. If you’re highly allergic ( for example if you have Crohn’s or coeliac disease), avoid oatmeal as it’s often processed in factories where it can be contaminated by gluten from other products.

RED VELVET CAKE

Gluten-free self-raising flour or gluten-free cake flour works well to give this cake a soft texture. Make two batches of the batter – one for the cake, the other for the cupcakes.

MAKES: 1 MEDIUM CAKE AND 12 CUPCAKES PREPARATION: 30 MIN BAKING: 40 MIN (CAKE); 20-30 MIN (CUPCAKES)

BATTER (make 2 batches) 180g gluten-free self-raising flour 7,5ml (1½t) baking powder 45ml (3T) cocoa powder salt 90g butter 140g castor sugar 2 eggs 5ml (1t) red food colouring powder 10ml (1t) vanilla essence 200ml buttermilk ICING 2 tubs (230g each) creamed cottage cheese

125ml (½c) icing sugar red food colouring powder

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 15cm cake tin and 12-16 cupcake tin hollows with nonstick spray. 1 Batter Using the ingredients for the first batch, sift the dry ingredients together twice. 2 Cream the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the colouring and vanilla essence and beat until well combined. 3 Fold in the flour mixture and the buttermilk in turns, combining well after each addition. Transfer to the cake tin. 4 Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. 5 Make a second batch of the batter, transfer to the cupcake tin hollows and bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on the size) or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave the cupcakes on a wire rack to cool. 6 Transfer the cake to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Slice horizontally into three equal layers. 7 Icing Mix the cottage cheese and icing sugar. 8 Spread a little icing on two of the cake layers. Stack all three layers on top of one another. Ice the whole cake, then scrape off enough icing for the red colour of the cake to be visible. 9 Mix a little food colouring powder with the remaining icing. Transfer to a piping bag with a rose nozzle and pipe icing on the cupcakes to resemble roses. Arrange on the cake, using kebab skewers to attach some to the sides.

CHEESE AND ONION BREAD

We use a gluten-free brown flour that contains flaxseeds, which makes the bread rich in fibre.

MAKES 1 OVAL LOAF PREPARATION: 20 MIN BAKING: 30-35 MIN

handful of oatmeal oil for shallow-frying 3 onions, sliced into rings pinch of sugar 500g gluten-free brown flour mixture with flaxseeds 10ml (2t) bicarbonate of soda 5ml (1t) sugar 5ml (1t) salt 15ml (1T) olive oil 400-500ml buttermilk 100g cheddar cheese, grated TO SERVE parsley butter and extra cheese

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and grease with nonstick spray. Dust with oatmeal. 1 Heat a little oil in a pan and fry the onions until soft. Sprinkle a little sugar over and stir-fry until lightly caramelised. Set aside. 2 Mix the dry ingredients. 3 In a separate bowl, mix the olive oil and buttermilk. 4 Lightly mix the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold the cheese in, then mix in half the onions. 5 Shape the dough into a rough oval on the prepared baking sheet. Press the rest of the onions into the top, then bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. If the bread starts becoming too dark on top before it’s done, cover with foil for the last 5 minutes of baking. 6 To serve Serve with parsley butter and cheese.

CRUNCHY SEED CRACKERS

There’s no flour in these seed crackers – only seeds and psyllium husk hold them together.

MAKES ABOUT 36 CRACKERS PREPARATION: 15 MIN BAKING: 1 HOUR 100g sunflower seeds 100g pumpkin seeds 60g flaxseeds 100g sesame seeds 45ml (3T) psyllium husk 5ml (1t) paprika 2,5ml (½t) salt 400ml water

Preheat the oven to 150°C. 1 Mix all the ingredients and set aside for 10 minutes. Put a silicone mat on a baking sheet and spread the mixture evenly over it to about 2mm thick. 2 Bake for 1 hour or until crunchy. Slice or break into pieces while hot. Cool and store in an airtight container.

EASY CHOCOLATE AND COCONUT CLUSTERS

MAKES 20-30 CLUSTERS PREPARATION: 10 MIN BAKING: 15-20 MIN 70g cocoa powder 200g icing sugar 300g ground desiccated coconut pinch of salt 5ml (1t) vanilla essence 4 egg whites, lightly whisked extra icing sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. 1 Put the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the vanilla essence and mix well. 2 Add the egg whites a little at a time, mixing through lightly after each addition. 3 Using an ice cream

scoop or a 15ml (1T) measuring spoon, put dollops of the mixture on the lined baking sheet – making sure you leave plenty of space between them. 4 Bake for 15-20 minutes or until done. Set aside to cool and dust with extra icing sugar if you like. 5 Store in an airtight

container.

MAIZE MEAL SCONES

These scones are made using coarse maize meal combined with a gluten-free flour mixture that contains some chickpea flour.

MAKES 12 SCONES PREPARATION: 15 MIN BAKING: 20-25 MIN 250g coarse maize meal 250g gluten-free flour mixture with chickpea flour 30ml (2T) sugar pinch of salt 10ml (2t) baking powder 2,5ml (½t) bicarbonate of soda 500ml (2c) buttermilk or plain yoghurt 1 egg 80ml (¹⁄₃c) oil paprika for dusting TO SERVE butter and jam corn kernels (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180°C. 1 Grease the hollows of a deep muffin tin with nonstick spray or line with paper baking cups. 2 Mix the dry ingredients

well. 3 Beat the buttermilk or plain yoghurt, egg and oil together. 4 Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix lightly. 5 Add spoonfuls of batter to the muffin tin. Sift paprika over each scone. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of a scone comes out clean. 7 The serve Garnish with corn (if using) and serve with butter and jam.