Awe-Inspiring Gluten-Free Bread

The hardest part about being gluten free at Christmas is feeling excluded. Having to watch everyone else enjoy mouth-watering cakes, hot crusty rolls, and delicious bread-stuffed turkey while putting on a happy face and pretending that the bland, last-thought gluten-free food you’ve been offered is delicious and doesn’t make you feel like an awkward, inconvenient afterthought.

That’s why the best present you can give a gluten-free friend is a magnificent, hot, fresh loaf for Christmas. It shows that you care about them, that you’ve thought about them, and that they are truly welcome at your table.

We’re sharing with you the recipe for the best, tastiest gluten-free bread I’ve ever made which we discovered completely by accident. It started with Loopy Whisk's recipe but after swapping ingredients, adjusting quantities, and changing tins, it became a delicious, awe-inspiring loaf everyone can enjoy. The perfect way to make gluten-free people feel loved this Christmas.

This is a Five Bowl Recipe.

Ingredients

Bowl 1

• 180 g milk (any type — I use goat’s milk)
• 20 g dry yeast
• 50 g caster sugar

Bowl 2

• 50 g Nuttlex (or butter)
• 2 eggs

Bowl 3

• 15 g psyllium husks
• 330 ml warm water (70°C if your kettle has the setting)

Bowl 4

• 320 g tapioca starch
• 260 g rice flour
• 50 g potato flour
• 10 g salt
• 15 g gluten-free baking powder
• 10 g xanthan gum

Bowl 5

• Water (for shaping)

Equipment

• 4 cereal bowls
• Scales
• Thermomix (optional — just makes it easier)
• 20 cm round silicone baking dish
• Baking stone

Note: I don’t weigh ingredients in my Thermomix because it’s not accurate enough — I use a separate set of scales.

Method

Bowl 1

1. Place the bowl on the scales. Add milk.
2. Microwave for 1 minute.
3. Add sugar and yeast. Stir and set aside.

Bowl 2

1. Place the bowl on the scales. Add Nuttlex.
2. Microwave for 15 seconds to melt.
3. Add eggs. Set aside.

Bowl 3

1. Measure warm water into the bowl.
2. Add psyllium husks. Stir and set aside.

Bowl 4

1. Place the mixing bowl on the scales.
2. Add tapioca starch, rice flour, potato flour, salt, baking powder, and xanthan gum.
3. Blend on speed 10 for 10 seconds.
4. Add the contents of Bowls 1, 2, and 3.
5. Blend on high for a few seconds — stop if the motor strains.
6. Knead the dough for 4 minutes.
7. Scoop into the baking dish.

Bowl 5

1. Fill with water.
2. Wet silicone paddles to shape the dough without sticking.
3. Set the dough aside to rise for 1 hour.
4. After 40 minutes, place the baking stone in the oven and preheat to 220°C — this gives the oven 20 minutes to heat while the dough finishes rising.
5. Bake for 35 minutes — until golden and firm.

Tips: When the bread first comes out of the oven, it will be too soft to cut — wait at least five minutes. The cooler it is, the easier it is to slice. It tastes best as fresh bread on the first day, but the next day it makes restaurant-worthy toast.

Going Lower Food Course

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Cheesecake with Pineapple FruitCake Base

Two Christmas Cakes for the price of 1 & 1/2

Cheesecake with Pineapple Fruit Cake Base

Our Magical Mistress and Cheesecake Queen, Sandra, has outdone herself! She’s taken a classic Christmas Fruit Cake, improved it with a tropical twist, paired it with a traditional cheesecake, and then combined the two into something entirely new. Giving us two Christmas cakes for the price of one and a half!

To begin, she adds a tin of pineapple to a basic Christmas fruit cake mixture, giving it extra moisture and festive flavour. Just before it goes into the oven, divide the mixture between two tins: about 80% in one tin and 20% in the other. Bake both as usual.

The larger cake becomes your Pineapple Christmas Fruit Cake, while the smaller one becomes the deliciously fruity base for your Christmas Cheesecake.

Pineapple Fruit Cake Ingredients

• 450g can crushed pineapple (undrained)
• 500g mixed dried fruit (use a mix of sultanas, raisins, currants, etc.)
• 125g butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon mixed spice
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 tablespoons brandy (optional)

Method

1. Line a two deep 20cm round cake tins with baking paper, bringing the paper 5cm above the edge.
2. In a saucepan, combine pineapple, dried fruit, butter, sugar, spices, and bicarbonate soda.
3. Stir over heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil, and boil uncovered for 3 minutes.
4. Allow mixture to cool completely.
5. When cold, preheat oven to 170°C
6. Add eggs and sifted flours. Mix well.
7. Spread ⅘ of the mixture into one tin and ⅕ into the second.
8. Bake for 1½ hours or until cooked.
9. When hot from the oven, douse large cake with a little alcohol (optional) to keep moist.
10. Cover and leave in the tins until completely cold.

Base

1. After the cheesecake base is cooked. Cool cheesecake base completely before starting.

Cheesecake Filling

• 2 blocks (500g total) cream cheese
• 300ml thickened cream
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon gelatine (dissolved in a little water and microwaved for 10 seconds)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, mixed spice
• ¼ teaspoon ginger
• A dash of brandy (optional)
• 1 block white cooking chocolate, melted

Method

1. Beat cream cheese until smooth.
2. Add caster sugar and mix until dissolved.
3. Add thickened cream and vanilla essence; mix well.
4. Stir in melted white chocolate.
5. Add dissolved gelatine and mix thoroughly.
6. Add spices and brandy; mix until smooth and well combined.
7. Pour over the cooled fruit cake base.
8. Refrigerate until set.

Once set, remove from the tin and serve chilled. The result is a beautifully festive dessert — rich, creamy cheesecake with a spiced, fruity Christmas cake base that smells and tastes like the holidays.

Very Op Shop Christmas

One of our favourite Christmas traditions is the family op shop run where everyone piles into the car and we go op shop hopping. It’s enormous fun and has become one of my favourite parts of Christmas.

Last year, we bought 41 presents for a grand total of $250.70 and 25 of them were books! We spent $119 on books alone (we’re all nerds).

The rules of the op shop run are simple: every person must buy at least one present for each other person. That means everyone receives at least five gifts. There’s no minimum or maximum spend.

The trickiest part? You have to keep your purchases secret from the person they’re meant for! This makes our op shop run both challenging and hilarious. Evil Grin Because, it’s not easy to hide something from someone who’s in the same shop, using the same checkout, and hopping into the same car as you.

It turns into a team game of deceit and pretence, where we all have to work together. One person distracts the gift receiver while the buyer sneaks through the checkout and out to the car, and the receiver pretends they have absolutely no idea what their siblings are up to. This is why it is so much fun!

The kinds of treasures you can find in op shops are endless. There are: kids’ toys, clothes, pot plants, crockery, board games, and books galore! You can even score piles of wrapping paper, gift bags, and craft supplies to wrap your presents beautifully without spending a fortune.

Here are photos from last year's Op Shop Haul

First, this was the selection of wrapping paper to choose from at St Vinnies. We picked up some lovely rolls and savings we made on wrapping paper alone made the trip worth it.

Here are some of the books we all picked out for each other.

Here are some of the other treasures we found: bird statues, a horse on a stick, more books, super comfy shoes, jewellery boxes, coffee cups, and even a freezy mug.