Cheesecake

The following recipe is one that I have used for many years.  It's a family favourite and dare I say it.. almost a pantry staple in our house 😆

It's a KRAFT recipe which has been adapted slightly to a cater for us gluten free folk.  I have made it thousands of times and every time it is a triumph & warmly received. 

Ingredients
1 + 1/4 Cups Gluten Free sweet biscuit crumbs

80g butter, melted

2 x 250g block Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened

3/4 Cup Caster sugar

1/4 Cup lemon juice

3 teaspoons GF gelatine, dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water

1 Cup cream, lightly whipped

Method
Combine biscuits crumbs and melted butter and press into your tin. Refrigerate whilst you prepare the filling.

Using a mixer, beat Phily and sugar until smooth

Add lemon juice & gelatine mixture and beat well until combined.

Fold through cream.

Pour mix into prepared base and chill for 3 hours.

You can incorporate some passionfruit pulp, lime zest, raspberries, or other creative additional extras  into the mix before setting for that extra special something. I would avoid using fruits such as Pineapple or Kiwi Fruit in the mix as they may inhibit the gelatine working it's magic and setting the cheesecake.  Save these for toppings. 

Generally, any plain gluten free sweet biscuit works well. My favourite used to be Naturally Good Coconut Bakehouse Cookies but unfortunately not as readily available (locally) to me anymore. If you can find them, they make for an excellent cheesecake base. I have used Schar Maria plain biscuits and Eskal Tea Biscuits successfully.  

You could also incorporate some desiccated coconut into the biscuit base for that something special.  Toppings can be simple or elaborate. From strawberries & a dusting of icing sugar, to a medley of fruits, chocolate, meringue or even spun sugar.  You are only limited by your imagination.

This recipe makes 1 standard sized cheesecake (9-inch springform pan) or a dozen individual servings using disposable foil baking cups (8 x 3.8cm)


This is not a sponsored post

That's all very Well and Good

The last 8 weeks in our house have been a whole lot of CRAZY to say the least.

We have had mad LEARNER DRIVER practise, Gymnastics, Taekwondo, Netball season starting, Footy season starting, THE Practical Driving Assessment (third time's a charm 😉), wisdom teeth extractions, teenage recovery from aforementioned wisdom teeth extractions.. 

5 year old tantrums from time restrictions placed on electronics 😖 and for the 8 year old - a Rapid Maxillary Expander Appliance thrown in just for good measure. Good times. I'll just tack on the end here, the majority happening whilst the husband has been away for work. But you know what?  I have come to realise that this is OUR kind of normal.  It's all or nothing in Casa Hart. (Usually weighing heavily on the ALL end of the scale) Sound familiar?  Not whingeing (OK maybe a little bit).  

I know it's a lot of families' kind of NORMAL these days - more of an explanation of why things have been quiet on the old blogging front. Apologies. 

I have however, managed to road test a couple of superb products from the lovely people at 

Well and Good in between ORGANISED CHAOS and am here today to tell you about them. 

In my opinion the individual products stand on their own merits but hey I'll let you be the judge. ENJOY!

CRUSTY BREAD MIX

This is photographic proof that the mix produces an excellent result.  I was REALLY impressed with this product.  It was very user friendly and bucking the system in my usual haphazard manner, I used my mixer against recommendation (to which I only discovered recently - oops! Pays to actually read instructions..) Well what a brilliant result.  Good Friday saw me making pumpkin soup which killed 2 birds with one stone so to speak (with one wisdom teeth impaired individual in the house).  

The bread complimented the soup perfectly.  It was crusty & delicious on the outside and soft in the middle.  True to their word, Well and Good have delivered an excellent product here.  

                 GLUTEN FREE SELF RAISING FLOUR

This gluten free flour fortified with Quinoa and Calcium produces an excellent baked good.  It comes in a resealable 1kg bag and is not only gluten free but dairy free & nut free as well.  I have road tested the merits of this flour in some Hart family favourites several times. Several times because the baked results don't seem to last very long around here so I keep baking more just to make sure. You know. Purely for quality control.  

My theory is, if it tastes good they'll eat it.  

If there is added nutritious stuff concealed in there and it gets eaten just as heartily, WIN WIN. 

Nice one Well and Good. Mothers everywhere will love this sneaky tactic 👍

For those wondering, the Gluten Free Plain Flour is an equally quality product. It has been used frequently in my kitchen and I would purchase both again without hesitation.

Easy Chocolate Brownies

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE

Mmm.. Chocolate Mousse

Mmm.. Choccy Cake

Imagine having them both at the same time.. in one cake! Imagine no more! Well and Good have made this dream a reality. Good Grief. Do we really need this? Don't be ridiculous. OF COURSE WE DO.

This scrummy delight is from Well and Good's NEW range of gluten free products that contain a twist of superfood without compromising on taste.  In this case raw Cacao - organic and cold pressed added to the mousse topping.  The mousse is rich and decadent and perfectly compliments the moist chocolate cake base underneath. If you're looking for the WOW factor with the convenience and ease of a cake mix to whip up and seriously impress..

My teenage son tells me that the SALTED CARAMEL PUDDING IN A MUG was also pretty decent (Those of you that have teenagers will know, this is a POSITIVE affirmation).
Apologies for lack of photographic evidence of said pudding but due to immediate and ill-mannered consumption of dessert I will take this as a BIG thumbs up.  Also, the fact that he could follow the 2 step instruction on the reverse of pack (1. Combine milk, oil and pudding mix in mug 2. Cook in the microwave for 50 seconds) - a monumental achievement.
GMO free. Gluten & Nut Free and containing no artificial colours or flavours. With Gooey Chocolate Pudding and Spiced Banana Cake varieties also available, I'd say this little gem will appeal to many.




Well and Good is a proudly Australian owned family business. All of their products are made in Melbourne in a strictly Gluten, Dairy and Nut Free environment. You will find their products in Coles, IGAs and health stores throughout Australia.  Products are also available online ($4 postage Australia wide). Try their handy STORE LOCATOR HERE

You will also find an excellent recipe resource available via their website HERE and if Youtube is your thing, they have that covered as well.  With step-by-step tutorials using the Well and Good range of  baking mixes and recipes.

Well and Good sent me the above products to sample

All opinions expressed are my own.  
I was not paid for this post.

Cannelloni

There are some excellent cannelloni tubes in dried pasta form but with the release of new fresh gluten free lasagne sheets, I recently had a go at making my own tubes with them.

It produced excellent cannelloni and so I thought I would share what I do.

Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breasts

1 litre GF Chicken Stock

125g chopped Spinach (I use frozen)

250g Ricotta

30-40g slivered almonds roughly chopped 

Method

I like to poach my chicken breast first, so in a medium sized saucepan, bring 1 litre of gluten free liquid chicken stock to the boil (I use Massel) add chicken breasts and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.  Cook spinach during this time and set aside.

Remove chicken from stock and blitz in a food processor together with the cooked spinach.

Combine chicken/spinach mixture with chopped almonds & ricotta and incorporate well.

Heat lasagne sheets according to packet directions/individual microwave power.  This aids in ease of rolling but you must still work relatively quickly.  Keep remaining sheets under plastic wrap whilst working on another.

I like to use a store-bought pasta sauce keeping the flavours simple - remembering that the hero here is the pasta filling. Any sauce should compliment not take over.  I like to use a gluten free (by ingredient) Passata type sauce. Italian Tomato and Basil. Perfect.

Spread a little sauce in the base of a rectangular lasagne dish. Arrange cannelloni in a single layer immediately on top and cover generously with more sauce. Dress with cheese and a sprinkling of Italian herbs, cover with foil and into a 180°C oven for 45 minutes, removing the foil in the last 5 minutes.

Delicious and moreish. Enjoy!

(The above ingredients made about 15 tubes so I made 2 dishes. A large dish holding 10 tubes and a smaller rectangle with 5)

New & Improved from Lifestyle Bakery

Aren't we lucky that we have such an array of gluten free products available to us nowadays?  Especially bread.  I shudder to think of the gluten free selection (or lack of..) of days gone by..

You may have noticed a familiar face in the bread aisle recently.  Lifestyle Bakery are no strangers to gluten free.  They have provided us with a soft and tasty range for some time now and I am very happy to report that they have developed a NEW AND IMPROVED range of Soft 'n' Light gluten free bread.  

The range includes a Super Soft White Loaf - New Thicker Slice, Multigrain with Red Quinoa, Super Seed with Chia Seed and a Spicy Fruit Loaf made from 100% Australian grown fruit.

Super Soft White with it's improved taste and new thick-cut slices was a popular choice in my house. Toast was a hit this morning at brekky and both my younger children happily skipped off to school with a fab new sanga made with the same loaf. Only one child is Coeliac but let's not split hairs.

The Superseed is my fav.  Naturally kids are going to be kids when it comes to bread with 'bits' in but for me, I embrace the bits. With a combination of chia, red quinoa plus amaranth and teff seeds, it's loaded with essential nutrients but I just love the taste. In fact, this afternoon, I lightly toasted a couple of slices, loaded them up with thick chunks of vine ripened tomatoes, added a sprinkling of salt and pepper and it was lunchtime perfection. It's the little things..

The new range was launched on 3rd August 2015 and has replaced all previous Lifestyle Bakery Soft 'n' Light Gluten Free loaves.  RRP $5.89.  Available NOW in Woolworths WA and selected Woolworths stores in SA and NT.  

Alternatively, products can be purchased online at  www.lifestylebakery.com.au 

Lifestyle Bakery sent me the above products to sample.

All opinions expressed are my own.  I was not paid for this post.

Clear out the Pantry Biccies

So it is a constant source of annoyance when the kids ask for NEW cereal when they haven't finished the existing box. You're with me, right??

"Please mum pleeeeeeaasssse, can we? can weeeeeeee? pleeeeeeease"

and even if you dare to stand your ground and say "NO.. you have to finish the other box first"

you know deep in your heart, that very same box will be sitting high on the shelf in six months time taunting you with it's uneaten contents <groan>

AARRGGHH!!

So today I'd had enough of the taunting.  Those 2 cups of uneaten cornflakes (plus a few other pantry items) were going to be put to good use.  It's raining and I'm hungry and the oven is beckoning..

This recipe adapted from a base recipe from Taste.com

INGREDIENTS

110G butter, softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup gluten-free plain flour

1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups gluten-free cornflakes

1/2 cup pistachio, roughly chopped

1/2 cup Craisins

1/2 cup gluten-free chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius

Line a large flat tray with baking paper

METHOD

Cream the butter and sugar together until you have an icing-like consistency

Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt and then add remaining ingredients. 

Mix well to combine.  Add butter mixture and mix well, ensuring all dry ingredients are incorporated well.  Don't be afraid to crunch up the Cornflakes in the process.

Spoon or roll tablespoon sized portions onto tray.  If you are feeling daring, you can and place 3 rows of 3 but be warned - the mixture does spread so be prepared.  

I would recommend 3 rows of 2 - spacing well apart.

Bake for 12 minutes until golden.  Allow to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack

These biscuits are buttery and yum but I think this recipe will appeal more to the older child or an adult palate - AHEM.. 

<complimented with screwed up, pained expression> 'What are those BITS in it? 

What are those GREEN THINGS? 

I'd like to tell you that the kids inhaled them.. BUT that would be a bald-faced lie.

There seemed to be a lot of picking things out and tiny mouse-like bites.  You can't win 'em all.

More for me.  

And you know what?

I'm OK with that.

Pumpkin Soup

Easiest soup, great to disguise some other veggies in and super yum.

Ingredients

2 x 1L GF Chicken Stock 

1 whole Butternut Pumpkin cut into small pieces

1/2 Brown Onion chopped

2 Carrots chopped

1 large Potato chopped

2 Celery sticks chopped

1 tsp Ground Cumin

1/2 tsp Ground Coriander

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 cup Thickened Cream

Method

In a large heavy based pan, brown the Onion, Cumin and Coriander.

Add stock and vegetables and bring to the boil.

Reduce heat and allow to simmer for approximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Using a stick blender (right in the pot), carefully blitz until you have a smooth consistency.

Add 1/2 cup Cream and Nutmeg and stir in well.

Serve with a dollop of Creme Fraiche and chopped Chives.

Enjoy! 

Gluten Free Donuts

When I learned I had Coeliac Disease, there were a lot of never agains..

Never again will I experience the softness and deliciousness that is REAL bread

Never again will I enjoy the crisp taste of an icy cold REAL beer

Never again will I relish the taste sensation that is a REAL donut..

HANG ON..

NO!  I refuse to believe there will be no donuts in my life.  NO!

and so..

I bought a donut pan on Amazon and while I waited patiently for it to arrive, I scoured the internet for gluten free alternatives.

and you wanna know what I found..

HEAPS! Yes HEAPS of gluten free donut recipes. All is not lost.  Now to experiment..

I liked the idea of baked not fried (hence the donut pan) and so I road-tested an Apple Cider Baked Donut recipe except that I didn't in fact have any Apple Cider on hand..  

however, I did happen to have Apple Cider Vinegar.  Turns out, not the greatest substitution haha 

but hey - nothing ventured, nothing gained right?  

You will find an excellent Apple Cider recipe HERE from Gluten Free on a Shoestring
but you know what? Sure mine were DIFFERENT tasting but they weren't awful.  

Anyway further experimentation saw me making donuts today with sour cream.

Sour Cream has long been used in baking, yielding great results.   Those using this ingredient believe the end product to be moist and richer in taste.  Lets see shall we?

So the following has been adapted from a recipe by The Semisweet Sisters  

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup sour cream

1 large egg (I use 700g free range)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup rice bran oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup gluten free plain flour ( I use White Wings)

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon Bi-carb Soda

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

METHOD

Pre-heat oven to 180° C

Spray donut pan with cooking oil or alternatively, butter well

Combine sour cream, egg vanilla, oil & sugar on a  medium speed in a mixer

Add dry ingredients and mix until all ingredients are combined

Fill an icing bag with donut batter (for ease of transfer to donut pan).  Fill each mould to about 2/3 full and bake for 15 minutes until just browning around the edges.
Allow to cool in pan for approximately 5 minutes then invert onto a cake rack.

CHOCOLATE GLAZE

1 cup pure icing sugar

1 tablespoon GF cocoa powder

2-4 teaspoons of milk

(add additional milk a little at a time to achieve the right consistency - not too runny) 

Dip the top of each donut in the glaze and kind of twist each one, ensuring the top is coated well and then turn over onto a plate (lined with baking paper) to set.

The verdict..

My kids wolfed these down.  I hope you enjoy these as much as we do :)