Thursday 16 April 2015

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 :)