Gluten free Christmas Fruit Cake

My last cake was Mawa (Koya) Cheese Cake for Diwali, after one and half month Fruit cake for Christmas. I couldn’t believe myself for such a change in my life style but, Christmas can’t be celebrated without a Cake! Hence, mentally prepared myself to cheat from HFLC !! Even during a cheat day I make sure that, I won’t cross 100 grams of carb’s per day and no more gluten :-)

This is my first gluten free cake. Yes, very little flour (no more wheat based) used just to bind the dry fruits. The cake tasted pretty similar to traditional (rum soaked) plum cake with loads of dry fruits in it. Though the ingredient’s list looks longer, the baking procedure is pretty easy and I’m sure you will love the taste and I bet, you can’t stop yourself with a single bite. 

 

 

Ingredients :  ¼ cup chopped  apricot     ;      ¼ cup chopped raisins   ;   ¼ cup chopped   dates ; ¼ cup chopped almonds     ;    ¼ cup chopped prunes   ;     ¼ cup chopped  walnut  ;    ¼ cup of fresh orange juice    ;    ¼ cup of light brown sugar     ;   ½ tsp vanilla essence    ;     ½ tsp of ginger powder    ;    ½ tsp of cinnamon powder     ;    1 ½ tbsp. of coco powder    ;    ½ cup of chocolate chip    ;    a pinch of cardamom powder    ;    1 egg   ;     60 gms of butter    ;   ½ cup of sorghums flour (remove 2 tbsp of flour and add 2 tbsp. tapioca flour or corn flour )    ;   1/4  tsp of baking powder    ;     ¼ tsp of baking soda      ;   ¼ cup of sugar    ;    1 tbsp. of orange zest    ;     melted chocolate for Christmas tree decoration  ;    1 tbsp. of icing sugar for snow effect 

In a bowl add the melted butter and all the dry fruits, orange juice, orange zest, sugar and allow it to boil and remove from the heat (stove) and mix well and allow to cool at room temperature.

In a separate bowl add all dry ingredients like, flour, coco powder, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom powder, cinnamon powder, ginger powder and mix thoroughly and keep aside.

In mixing bowl beat egg with brown sugar and vanilla essence until sugar dissolved. Add the dry fruit mixture, Nuts (almond & walnut) and the flour mixture and blend till all fully combined and cake batter consistency.

Pour the batter in the greased 5½’’ cake pan and bake it in the 180◦c pre heated oven for about 30 minutes. And allow to cool to room temperature.

For Christmas tree, chocolate decoration :  using melted chocolate draw the Christmas tree and transfer to the fridge to set and place them on the cake and sprinkle the icing sugar for snow effect. 

Wishing you all Merry Christmas and wishing you a very happy & prosperous New year. 

Gluten Free (Eggless) Cookies (Nankhatai)

 

Nankhatai is quite popular tea time cookie / biscuit in Indian subcontinent.  Nankhatai, falls under shortbread cookie category. The word Nankhatai is derived from Persian word Naan meaning bread and Khatai from an Afghan word meaning Biscuit.

Ingredient :   1 cup of besan ( chick flour)     ;     ¼ cup of almond powder or cashew powder      ;      ¼  cup of sugar (powdered)     ;     1/2 cup of semi solid ghee     ;      1 tsp of baking powder     ;     ½ tsp of baking soda     ;     1 tsp of yogurt    ;     2no’s of  cardamom     ;     chopped almond for topping 

In a mixer add 2tbsp of sugar and cardamom (without skin) grind it to powder. 

In mixing bowl, add ghee, powder sugar mix well with whisk until it combines well. In separate bowl add all dry ingredients like besan flour, almond powder, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom-sugar and mix well with whisk.

Slowly the add dry ingredient into ghee mixer and mix well. Add yogurt and combine well until it becomes soft dough. Make equal sized balls out of the dough and place them on the dusted working surface, Flatten slightly to form a cookie. Finally, add chopped almond on the top of the cookies and gently press. 

Arrange the cookies on the cookie tray and transfer into the 180°C pre–heated oven and bake for 30 - 35 min. allow it to cool and sever with hot tea (masala chai).

Gluten Free Cookies

Gluten is nothing but a kind of two proteins present in cereal grains like wheat, rye, barley etc.  Gluten acting as glue that helps holds food together also gives the elastic texture of dough.

Gluten is not bad. but, some people are gluten-intolerant. i.e  the body's inability to digest or break down the gluten protein this condition is known as celiac disease. In general, if you can avoid cereal gains and it’s by products, it’s become Gluten free.

These cookies were specially baked for a three year old boy, who is a gluten-intolerant. So, thought of doing some decorations, to attract.

Ingredient :   ¾ cup of almond meal          ;         1/4 +1 tbsp cup of  coconut flour (coco flour)      ;       2 egg        ;       2 tbsp of flax seed powder       ;        1 tbsp of coco powder     ;      1 tsp of vanilla essence      ;        1 /4 cup of sugar ;        1 /4 cup of clarified butter (ghee)        ;        1/4 cup of chocolate chip cookies      (For decoration – white chocolate chips & melted chocolate for eyes) 

In a bowl add almond meal, coconut flour, flax and coco powder, keep aside.  In a bowl beat the egg, sugar and vanilla essence.

Now add the dry ingredient mixture into egg mixture and blend at the end add the chocolate chips in it.

Divide the mixture into equal size balls and place them on the prepared baking trays with good space between each and slightly flatten them down.

Transfer the tray into 180°C per-heated oven and bake for about 10 -12 minutes. Allow them to cool. That’s it for a crispy gluten free cookie.