bread making

‘Easy Gluten Free by Helen Tzouganatos, Published by Plum, RRP $39.99, Photography by Jeremy Simons’

Gluten Free cooking is my new “everyday”, I love this book!

Easy Bowl and Spoon Gluten Free Loaf

MAKES 1 LOAF DF, GF, V
“Baking doesn’t get much easier than this. Unlike regular bread, which requires kneading, all you need to
do with this loaf is mix the ingredients in a bowl like a cake batter, then pour into a tin for a light, fluffy
loaf (not dense and heavy, as gluten-free bread can often be). Tapioca is fantastic in gluten-free bread
because it gives it a soft, bouncy texture, and buckwheat injects a nutritious boost of protein, fibre
and antioxidants. Get creative and replace the sesame seeds with chia seeds, poppy seeds, linseeds or
pumpkin seeds, or you could even go seedless. All combinations are delicious.” p29

1 teaspoon caster sugar
7 g sachet dried yeast
2 eggs
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil,
plus extra for drizzling
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
210 g (1 3/4 cups) tapioca flour, sifted
210 g (1 3/4 cups) buckwheat flour, sifted
2 teaspoons sea salt flakes
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
sesame seeds, for sprinkling

Place the sugar, yeast and 300 ml of lukewarm water in a jug and whisk to combine. Leave to stand for 10–15 minutes or until the mixture foams.

Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl, then stir in the olive oil and vinegar.

Combine the flours, salt and xanthan gum in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the yeast and egg mixtures into the well and mix with a spoon until well combined.

Grease a 20 cm × 10 cm loaf tin with olive oil and sprinkle sesame seeds on the base and sides to create a seeded crust. Spoon the dough into the tin and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm place for about 1 hour or until the dough has almost doubled in size.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C (fan-forced). Drizzle olive oil over the risen dough and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden. Remove the tin from the oven and immediately transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool (this will help the crust stay crisp). Leave to cool for a few hours before slicing.

The loaf will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for 1 week. Alternatively, slice it and freeze for up to a month. Frozen slices toast well – no thawing required.

TIP
• Don’t slice the bread while it’s still hot as it will be gummy and sticky.
You need to let the steam inside settle for a few hours first.
VARIATION
• Replace the buckwheat flour with tiger nut flour for a slightly sweeter
loaf that is equally nutritious.

Love, Laugh, Bake! By Silvia Colloca, Published by Plum, RRP $39.00, Photography by Rob Palmer

THE BREAD BASKET
PRETZELS
“If you have travelled around those magnificent lands in the north of Italy, right on the border with Switzerland
and Austria, you may have wondered if all of a sudden you had crossed the frontier! Fair enough too, as
the first language spoken up there is German, and the culinary traditions of the area borrow more from the
neighbouring countries than the rest of Italy. This is where local restaurants offer wonderfully rich cabbage and
pork stews, spaetzle soup, apple strudel and the much-loved pretzel to accompany pints of Weissbier.
The traditional recipe for pretzels is a tricky one. It’s not complicated but in order to achieve the unique chewy
crumb and bronzed caramelised crust you need one crucial ingredient: the very caustic and abrasive lye. It is
true that you only need it at 3% of its strength, but after reading that I would need to protect myself with
thick gloves and safety goggles and (knowing how accident prone I am) I had to come up with an alternative.
Using bicarbonate of soda may make some purists cringe, but I am very happy to say the pretzels taste divine
and my hands and eyes are burn free! ” (p.52)

PRE-FERMENT
375 ml (1½ cups) lukewarm water
2 teaspoons dried yeast
225 g (1½ cups) 00 or plain flour
1 tablespoon barley malt syrup

DOUGH
375 g (2½ cups) 00 or plain flour
40 g unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons barley malt syrup
salt flakes, poppy seeds or sesame
seeds, to coat

To make the pre-ferment, mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl to
form a wet dough. Let it stand for 2 hours or until it looks very bubbly and has
doubled in size.

Add the flour, butter and salt to the risen ferment and knead for 6–8 minutes
or until smooth. Use a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook if you have one
handy. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and prove at room temperature
for 1½ hours or until more than doubled in size.

Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Gently scrape the dough out of the
bowl onto a floured surface and form into an oval shape. Cut it evenly into
eight pieces and roll each piece into a long thin rope. Twist the rope around to
form a pretzel shape and gently press the ends into place.
Place the pretzels on the prepared tray, leaving plenty of room for spreading.
Cover with a damp tea towel and rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
The pretzels will grow by about one-third during this time.

Preheat your oven to 200°C.

Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and add the bicarbonate of soda
and barley malt syrup. Working with a few pretzels at a time, drop them into
the simmering water for 1 minute on each side, then lift them out gently with
a slotted spoon back onto the tray. Sprinkle liberally with salt, poppy seeds or
sesame seeds and bake for 12–15 minutes or until golden. Remove and cool
on a wire rack for 30 minutes before eating.

MAKES 8