Free-From Recipes Featured in Free-from Festive Feasts by Robbie Anderson.
Caren Ryan’s Delicious Christmassy Chocolate Truffle Pudding
This scrumptious festive treat will go down well with the free-from and non free-from community alike!
Cake ingredients:
100 grams unsalted butter
100 grams golden caster sugar
4 eggs (lightly beaten)
200 grams Swiss milk chocolate (I use M&S Swiss milk choc which is gluten free)
50 grams dark chocolate (again I use M&S)
100 grams ground almonds
50 grams gluten free self raising flour (I use Doves)
Sauce ingredients:
100 grams Swiss milk chocolate
100 grams dark chocolate
450 mls double cream
Cake Method:
Melt the 2 types of chocolate with the butter either in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave being careful not to burn the chocolate!
Leave to cool slightly .
Add all the other cake ingredients and beat with an electric whisk or in a food mixer for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
Line a 9 inch square brownie pan with non stick parchment paper
Pour the cake batter into the pan and bake at 170 degrees for 25 minutes the cake should still have a slight wobble when it come out of the oven , leave to cool in the tin.
Sauce Method:
Melt the cream and chocolate together in a saucepan over a gentle heat until meted and smooth.
Cut the cake into squares makes 16 small squares and place into a large square oven proof dish.
Pour the sauce over the cake and before serving heat gently through in a low oven.
This is especially good served with home made vanilla ice cream! There will hopefully be more recipes to come from Caren, who is quite the expert on gluten free cooking!
Unashamedly 70s Chocolate Roulade (& it’s flourless too)
From Big Table Busy Kitchen, by Allegra McEvedy (Quercus.2013) £25
Photo: Chris Terry
As when JFK/Elvis/Lennon/Cobain died (delete for appropriate generation), you never forget where you were when you made your first roulade. Mine was some time between the Lennon and Cobain eras; I was blind drunk and I rolled my dad’s friends something more like a Camberwell carrot than a roulade. Apart from my rolling technique, the recipe came from the great Helge Rubinstein, who moved in my dad’s circle of friends. Although I’ve adapted her recipe quite a bit, this version still captures the character traits of a roulade born, like me, in that epic decade. Good for 8–10
For the cake:
6 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
50g cocoa powder, plus plenty
extra for dusting
a little icing sugar, for dusting
For the filling:
150g milk or dark chocolate
(70 per cent cocoa solids; preferably Fairtrade), plus extra for squiggling
250ml double cream
2 tbsp brandy or water
50g icing sugar
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160ºC/Gas 4. Line a high-sided baking tray, measuring about 30 x 20 x 5cm, with greaseproof paper and butter the greaseproof. Whisk the egg yolks and all but a tablespoon of the sugar until pale (this takes a few minutes), then sift in the cocoa powder.
Whisk the whites separately and, once fluffy, add the last tablespoon of sugar and whisk again until firm. Fold the whites into the cocoa base in three stages: the first will loosen up the chocolatey mix, the second will lighten it further and the third will make it airy, just be careful not to overwork the mix, or you will knock the air out of it.
Tip the mix evenly into the prepared tray and don’t play with it too much. Bake for 20–22 minutes until cooked but still springy – if overbaked, it won’t roll. Meanwhile, tear off a second sheet of greaseproof paper about 5cm bigger on all sides than the sponge and dust it lightly with cocoa powder and icing sugar.
Cool the cake in the tin for 6–8 minutes (no more), then turn out on to the dusted greaseproof paper. Peel the old greaseproof off the sponge. Position the cake with one of its long sides closest to you, fold the border of new greaseproof over this long side and use it to help you roll the cake up tightly like a Swiss roll or newspaper (rolling the paper into it too). Leave it rolled up while
you make the filling.
Melt 130g chocolate with 50ml of double cream either in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water), or in the microwave. Stir in the brandy or water, and if it seizes up a bit, warm it gently again to make it spreadable.
Whip the rest of the double cream with the icing sugar, until smooth but firm. Now unroll the sponge and spread it with the chocolate, leaving a gap of about 2cm at both short ends, which makes it easier to roll.
Once the chocolate layer is completely cool, cover it with the whipped cream, again leaving that 2cm gap, and you’re ready to roll. Using the greaseproof paper again to guide you (though not rolling the paper inside it this time), roll her up as neatly, tightly and proficiently as you can – don’t worry if she gets the odd crack as they’ll get covered up in the final step.
Once done, dust the whole thing with copious amounts of cocoa powder, then melt the last of the chockie and squiggle it on top using a teaspoon and a limp wrist. A-mazing!
©Allegra McEvedy