From flaky pastries to takeaway favourites, Gluten Free Feasts by Melanie Persson recreates the recipes coeliacs thought were off-limits forever.
Melanie Persson
It’s no surprise that many coeliacs deeply miss baked goods. After her diagnosis, Melanie Persson, author of The Very Hungry Coeliac, spent years hunting down a gluten-free cinnamon scroll.
“Funnily enough, cinnamon rolls weren’t even one of my favourite things when I could eat gluten, but when it was taken off the table, cravings for those soft, sweet rolls really kicked in and I couldn’t find a good substitute anywhere,” she says.
So, she took matters into her own hands. The challenge wasn’t just getting the flavour right, but creating a sweet white bread dough that could be rolled and shaped with ease.
“It mimics ‘normal’ bread beautifully,” Persson says. “It’s soft, but it’s also stretchy and has that slight chew. So many gluten-free bakes are crumbly, dense or cakey, and my cinnamon buns are none of those things!”
You’ll find the recipe, plus more baked goods, in her second cookbook, Gluten Free Feasts, which includes sweet and savoury recipes made for sharing. If you’ve been craving croissants, scones, crumpets or hot cross buns, they’re all in there too.
The cookbook also caters to coeliacs who miss their favourite takeaway dishes. Persson has devoted an entire chapter to Take Out Feasts, including a gluten-free spin on the Aussie-Chinese classic, sweet and sour pork.
“It is a staple for so many Aussie families, and to be able to experience that mouthful that’s meaty, juicy, sweet and crunchy all at once? Heaven!”
Here are two gluten-free recipes to try at home, plus a versatile flour blend that can be swapped into a wide range of your favourite recipes.
Cinnamon scrolls
This dough is versatile and works for lots of different recipes, both sweet and savoury, but these cinnamon rolls should definitely be the first thing you make. They’re perfectly sweet and squishy and will be an excellent addition to your picnic spread.
INGREDIENTS
- 200g warm water (37–40C is ideal)
- 1 tbsp instant dried yeast
- 60g caster sugar
- 280g basic flour blend (recipe below), plus extra for dusting
- 3½ tsp psyllium husk powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 40g butter, chilled and cubed
- vegetable oil, for greasing
For the filling
- 140g soft light-brown sugar
- 1½ tbsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 85g unsalted butter, softened
For the cream cheese frosting
- 25g unsalted butter
- 120g cream cheese
- 100g icing sugar, sifted
- pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
METHOD
- Add the warm water to a medium jug or bowl, then mix in the yeast and 30g of the sugar. Cover and leave in a warm, draft-free place for 10 minutes until the yeast has “bloomed”, which means there is a thick layer of foam on the surface. (If a layer of foam has not formed, your yeast may not be active and the rolls will not rise properly.)
- Meanwhile, combine the flour, psyllium husk powder, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and the remaining 30g sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Whisk the egg into the water-yeast mixture, then pour this into the dry ingredients. Mix slowly (with the paddle attachment) until mostly combined, then mix vigorously (medium speed on a mixer) for 3–4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice to ensure all the ingredients combine.
- Add the cubed butter and continue mixing on medium speed for 5–6 minutes, stopping two or three times to scrape down the sides of the bowl. When the dough is ready it will be very sticky but smooth, and you should be able to use a dough scraper or spatula to scrape it into a single ball.
- Grease a large bowl with vegetable oil, then gather the dough and transfer it. Shake and rotate the bowl a little to ensure the dough is a uniform ball, then flip it over. The aim is to have a smooth ball of dough that is greased all over, not to incorporate more fat into the dough, so try to avoid handling it and dimpling the dough with your fingers. Cover the bowl with cling film and place it in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour until doubled in size.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling by mixing the brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl and setting it aside.
- Line a 22cm square baking tin with baking paper.
- Grease your work surface and hands with a little vegetable oil, then tip out the dough. Knead the dough by hand for 30–40 seconds, removing the air bubbles, until it is a smooth ball.
- Dust the work surface and the dough quite generously with gluten-free flour, then roll it into a 40 × 30 cm rectangle, with a long side facing you.
- Spread the softened butter over the dough, doing your best not to pull the dough too much or rip holes in it (this is not difficult if the butter is softened). Leave a 2–3 cm strip unbuttered along the top edge of the dough but spread the butter right to the edges of the other three sides. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the butter in an even layer, then pat it gently into the butter.
- Starting with the edge closest to you, roll the dough up into a log. Do this as tightly as you can while avoiding stretching the dough (it is more delicate than a gluten-filled dough).
- Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log into 9 equal portions, each about 4–5 cm wide (cutting them using floss or twine will create neater rolls, but it is not essential). Arrange them in the prepared baking tin, spaced slightly apart. Cover the tray first with cling film, then with a tea towel, and leave the buns to prove in a warm, draft-free place for 15–20 minutes, or until the buns have grown in size by about 75 per cent.
- Preheat the oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional).
- Bake the rolls for 35–40 minutes, until they’re golden brown all over.
- Meanwhile, make the cream cheese frosting by whisking all the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Remove the rolls from the oven and allow them to cool in the tin for 25–30 minutes, then take them out of the tray (do this while the rolls are warm as the sugar will harden in the base of the tin as it cools, sticking the rolls in place).
- When the rolls have cooled completely, top them with the cream cheese frosting and serve. These will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 1–2 days or in the freezer (unfrosted) for up to 2 months (simply reheat them in the microwave, then add the frosting once cool).
Makes 9 buns
Basic flour blend
This is the plain flour blend I use for most of my recipes. To convert this flour into a self-raising blend, simply add 1 teaspoon of gluten-free baking powder for every 100g of this mix (this is best added as needed on the day of baking). Note that all starches used in this blend should be very finely ground.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 1 kg
- 315g rice flour
- 250g tapioca starch
- 250g gluten-free cornflour
- 165g potato starch
- 2 tbsp + 1 tsp xanthan gum
Makes 2 kg
- 630g rice flour
- 500g tapioca starch
- 500g gluten-free cornflour
- 330g potato starch
- 40g xanthan gum
METHOD
Sift the ingredients into a large bowl and mix until well combined. Sift and mix again to ensure the starches and xanthan gum have been evenly distributed into a homogenous flour blend. Store in an airtight container until you are ready to bake.
Sweet and sour pork
I’ve been making versions of this recipe for years, but have only recently perfected it! And it’s using a technique popular in Chinese cooking but which can also level up many other dishes. It’s called velveting, a marinating technique that helps to tenderise meat and keep it moist throughout the cooking process. The key is bicarbonate of soda. Including a small amount of bicarb soda in the marinade makes any meat incredibly succulent and flavourful. By having such tender meat inside a thin, crispy batter, you get the best of everything in terms of taste and texture.
INGREDIENTS
For the pork
- 400g pork loin steak
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- ¼ tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp gluten-free Shaoxing rice wine (or other rice wine)
- ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp gluten-free cornflour
For the sweet and sour sauce
- ½ tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ onion, roughly chopped
- 1 small carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 small red capsicum, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 125ml cold water
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- ¼ tsp salt, plus extra to taste
- 150g fresh pineapple pieces
- 1 tbsp gluten-free cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp water to form a slurry
For the batter
- 30g basic flour blend (recipe above)
- 60g gluten-free cornflour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- ¼ tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 120ml water, chilled
- 1 tsp gluten-free Shaoxing rice wine (or other rice wine)
- neutral oil, for frying
METHOD
- To prepare the pork, trim away any excess fat, then slice into 2–3 cm pieces. Place the pork pieces in a bowl along with all the other marinade ingredients and use your hands to massage the marinade into the meat, ensuring each piece is well-coated. Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate for 20–30 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Add the oil to a medium saucepan set over medium heat, then add the onion, carrot and red capsicum. Cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring regularly, until the carrots begin to soften, then add the rest of the sauce ingredients (except the pineapple and cornflour slurry). Bring to a simmer. When the vegetables are tender, add the pineapple and the cornflour slurry. Stir to combine and allow the sauce to cook and thicken for another minute, or until the pineapple has heated through and there is no floury taste in the sauce. Set the saucepan aside.
- Fill a large, deep saucepan about one-third full with neutral oil and set it over medium-high heat. Check the oil temperature – when you’re ready to fry it should be hot enough that a wooden chopstick or wooden spoon sizzles when dipped into the oil.
- For the batter, place the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Create a well in the centre and pour in the chilled water and rice wine, whisking constantly, until you have a smooth batter.
- Working with a handful of pork pieces at a time, transfer them from the marinade to the bowl of batter, ensuring each piece is well coated. Carefully lower the coated pork into the hot oil and fry in batches for 4 minutes, turning them regularly to encourage even browning. Transfer to the cooling rack.
- While the last batch of pork is cooking, place the sweet and sour sauce back over low heat and bring to a simmer. Working quickly, transfer the cooked, crunchy pork pieces to the saucepan and toss briefly to coat them evenly in sauce. Tip the pork, sauce and vegetables onto a platter and serve immediately.
Serves 4
This is an edited extract from Gluten-Free Feasts by Melanie Persson, published by Hardie Grant Books, RRP $45. Photography by Ola O. Smit.
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