Gingerbread (Gluten free)

 

It’s been a while since I wrote a new recipe, which is ridiculous because I actually made these about a month ago. This gingerbread is adapted from this recipe. I have toned it down because I find it over sweet and have left out the glaze. I have made a third of the quantity, because it does otherwise make a huge cake! Lastly I have swapped plain flour with some gluten free alternatives, using the same combination I used in these muffins which are quite similar.

 

A few points to consider:

 

The mixture is very liquid at the end and you do pour it into the muffin cases. It in no way resembles a normal cake mixture and you will worry that you went wrong (at least I did). Do not fret! It will work; this is how it is supposed to be.

 

Do heat the milk through as I have suggested in the instructions. I didn’t and the warmed treacle mixture went solid when I poured the milk on top of it and trying to whisk it smooth was a bit tricky.

 

Makes 9 mini muffins

 

75g unsalted butter
60ml treacle
60g muscovado sugar
60g ground almonds

60g buckwheat flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2/3  tsp ground ginger
1/3 tsp ground black pepper
1/3 tsp ground cinnamon

A pinch of ground allspice
A pinch of ground cloves
1 large egg
40ml milk
1small tbsp freshly grated ginger

 

Turn the oven on to 160°C.

 

Put the butter, treacle, sugar and 40ml of water in a medium sized saucepan.

 

Heat over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the butter melted. Pour into a mixing bowl and allow the mixture to cool. In the same bowl slightly warm the milk.

Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices in a separate bowl and put into one side. When the treacle mix is lukewarm then add the egg to it and whisk it, then add the milk and whisk until smooth.

 

Once smooth add the dry ingredients and the grated ginger.

Pour into the muffin cases and bake for approximately 15minutes. The muffins should spring back when touched and if you insert a toothpick or skewer it should come out with a few moist crumbs.

 

Treacle and Oat Muffins (Gluten Free)

Since trying to substitute gluten free flours for plain flour in baking I have become much more used to cakes which are crammed full of oats, nuts, seeds, fruit etc, and in my view they now taste nicer, and plain flour cakes seem to now luck sustenance. This is to the point that I found myself saying at Christmas, that I preferred Christmas pudding to bûche de noel, (thus going against 20-odd years of undying devotion to chocolate buttercream and butterless sponge). Josie does not agree and continues to make chocolate muffins and waffles with plain flour rather than succumbing to my suggestions to at least substitute wholemeal or rye for the plain flour, but these muffins below are some of my favourite. I think also with a bit of tweaking you could quite easily make these into gingerbread.

A note on buckwheat. It is not related to wheat at all but actually to rhubarb amongst other plants (!!) and its grains are milled to make the flour. It is used to make those lovely savoury pancakes in Brittany and grows well in cold climates, so is eaten in places like Russia and Scandinavia. It is naturally gluten-free but make sure when buying it that it is has been milled etc in a gluten-free environment, much likes oats. The only buckwheat flour I have found in shops here in the UK is Doves’ and it is not gluten-free. I would suggest the internet as a possible source for buckwheat buying.

If you can’t find buckwheat go for 100g of ground almonds.

These muffins are crumbly and you have to let them cool before taking them out of their cases if you make them in silicone ones like we did.

Makes 12 medium sized muffins.

50g ground almonds

50g buckwheat

175g oats

100g soft brown sugar

1tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 egg

120ml milk

60ml treacle

75ml vegetable oil

Turn the oven onto 200°C.

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

2. In a separate bowl beat the egg, milk, treacle and vegetable oil until it is well blended.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until it is just blended, do not overmix.

4. Spoon into muffin cases and bake for 15 minutes.