A special gluten free orange cake

Lately, I've been finding myself trawling through the internet looking for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free products and recipes. It isn't that I have recently been diagnosed with an intolerance towards certain food groups (though oysters and mussels do make me crook!) but since returning from my vacation, I have felt this urgency for a lifestyle overhaul. I am not sure if it post-vacation guilt - the sort you experience knowing you've lived up one too many excesses but it definately feels like: "Can someone hit my reset button, please?".

A few days ago, I caught up with my friend D who lives in Sydney and had a self-indulgent whinge-fest. The usual "Life sucks, my legs look like cottage cheese in a pair of nude stockings, I need a new job and any idea where I can find all the answers to every question I will ever have to ask so I don't have to ask them?" type of conversation.

He listened empathically and replied, and I am paraphrasing here, "Darl, do the 15-day detox and start working in a big pharmaceutical company."

Why of course! That's what I need. D is wise beyond his age.

The 15-day detox plan he refers to follows a fairly strict diet of unprocessed food, no dairy, no eggs, no alcohol or caffeine, white fish but only 3 times a week and $70 worth of non-medically proven, herbal supplement tablets that make you feel cleansed from within. I've done it before - it works.

It is not for the lack of commitment to a lifestyle change that I have not begun the abovementioned detox but I am looking towards a long-term strategy, something more sustainable so it becomes part of my being. I began researching the benefits and drawbacks of various types of diets: ovo-lacto vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic and raw food.

Needless to say, one thing led to another and I soon found myself perusing gluten-free websites and now have a better understanding of what coeliac is. I would like to digress a little, now many years ago, I suffered asymptomatic arthiritis and after prolonged medicating with non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, my condition did not improve. What made matters worse, I was taking more drugs to counteract the side effects of the anti-inflammatory drugs. Incidentally, I started reading Eat Right for Your Type by Dr Peter D'Adamo, a text which suggests a diet based on an individual's blood type and to cut a long story short, I refrained from products containing dairy and wheat, consumed more plant-based protein, and together with the power of positive thought, I no longer felt I had the body of a geriatric. Admittedly, I did grow weary of eating the same types of food and never grew accustomed to the texture and flavour of wheat-free baked products. But now, with a more open mind and palate, I am more than eager to explore alternative ingredients again.

I tasted a flourless orange cake for the very first time at a Sunday picnic a few years ago and I was totally captured; left utterly speechless with my first mouthful. It's texture, a very unusual combination of nibbly, dense and moist bordering creamy but lacking the taste of creamery butter. It is more reminiscent of a steamed pudding - minus the cloying sweetness and the richness. Simply put, its texture was completely different to the conventional crumb of what I knew made a cake.

Yesterday, I revisited this experience and made an orange cake following the recipe found in Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion. There are many contemporary renditions of this classic cake some with the inclusion of flour and meringue to ligthen its texture, maybe fewer eggs and even replacing the oranges with other citrus fruit that may be in season. Here, I adapted Alexander's recipe with the addition of some ground wattleseed (by Oz Tukka) and oat flour (NB the jury is still out on the appropriateness of oats in a gluten-free diet). Edible wattleseed was developed as a food flavouring back in the mid 1980s when its coffee, chocolate and hazelnut profiles were discovered and have since been popularised in modern Australian cuisine. With such characteristics, it comes as no surprise how I arrived at my orange and wattleseed pairing and why this cake is so delectably more-ish!

Orange-wattleseed cake

3 small unwaxed oranges

250g sugar

250g ground almonds

6 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp ground wattleseed

1 tsp baking powder

5 tbs oat flour (optional)

(makes 1 20x20cm square cake)

cover oranges with water in a medium saucepan and boil for 10 minutes

drain oranges and cover again with water

cook oranges in boiling water for 30 minutes, topping up the water level if necessary

cool oranges and puree the entire fruit (yes, pith and all - minus the pips of course!) in a food processor/blender

line the base of the baking tin with baking paper

preheat oven to 170C

combine almond meal, baking powder, wattleseed and oatflour (if using) in a bowl. whisk to mix thoroughly

beat sugar and eggs until double in volume (this results in a lighter "mousse" textured cake. If you find yourself lacking the equipment or the patience, skip this step completely. Just combine the eggs, sugar and orange puree in a single step)

stir orange puree into egg mixture until just combined - do not overmix

fold dry ingredients into the mixture

pour into prepared baking tin

bake for 50 minutes or until only a few crumbs are attached to the skewer when testing for doneness.

Rose cupcakes with white chocolate frosting

I am beaming with pride as I write this post because I am quite pleased with my efforts today. Although I didn't get around to my list of things to do before Christmas arrives, I manufactured what I consider perfect little cupcakes.

The inspiration for my almond-rose cupcakes with white chocolate frosting came a couple of weeks ago when I sampled a very good rose syrup by Mymouné which unlike most commercially available has a natural flavour and light cloudy pink hue. Although I love the heady perfume of roses and find the idea of using it in cooking very romantic, I have often considered it a very difficult flavouring to incorporate in recipes because it isn't a very versatile or culture-neutral ingredient. Also determining the right amount to use can be rather tricky.

For my cupcakes I used dried rosebuds which are not unlike those you find in little pouches of potpourri for your drawer but these are organic and not treated with nasty chemicals (I purchased mine from Simon Johnson in Subiaco) and may too be used in a tisane, spice blend (such as ras-el-hanout) or a syrup infusion if you so choose. I find dried rosebuds and petals are a better alternative to rose syrup because you get the essence of the flowers without the added sweetness so you can simply add them finely crumbled or ground to your favourite cake recipe without having to adjust the quantity of sugar accordingly.

The essence of rose, sweet and floral like vanilla, has an affinity for ingredients with a high percentage of fat like cream, butter, milk and nuts like almonds and pistachios so it is not uncommon to find it combined with one or more such ingredients in desserts. Here, I have paired it with ground almonds in a cake with a toothsome and moist crumb. The recipe is as follows.

Rose cupcakes

250g soft unsalted butter

185g ground almonds

300g sugar

4 eggs, separated

80g flour

20g dried rose buds

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

(makes 16 cupcakes)

preheat oven to 180C and line a cupcake tin with paper liners

pulse rose buds and ground almond in a food processor until a fine.

whip egg whites and gradually add 50g sugar until a shiny and stiff meringue is achieved. Set aside

beat butter, sugar and vanilla paste until pale and creamy

add an egg yolk at a time, beating well between yolks (about 20 seconds between each)

mix in almond and rose powder (mixture will be very stiff at this point but don't worry!)

fold a third of the meringue through the mixture above to "loosen" it a tad then continue to fold in the rest of the meringue.

scoop into paper liner 2/3 full (Note: I used an spring release ice-cream scoop to make the job of portion control easier)

bake for 25 minutes or until no crumbs are attached to a toothpick when inserted into the middle of a cupcake.

cool completely before frosting

White chocolate frosting

200g white chocolate (I used Callebaut drops)

100ml whipping cream

250g Philly cheese

heat cream in a small pan (do not boil!)

beat cream cheese until smooth and fluffy

add hot cream to white chocolate and allow to sit for a couple of minutes before stirring to achieve a smooth and homogenous consistency

mix chocolate and cream cheese and continue to beat. If mixture is too soft at this stage, refrigerate for an hour and beat to achieve a fluffy consistency.

top completely each cooled cupcake with an elegant swirl of white chocolate frosting and a little rosebud (sprinkle with roughly chopped toasted pistachios if you so desire).

Shortbread with Chocolate Bits

There was no hesitation when I launched into this mini baking session around midnight. I had a craving and it was keeping me awake so I knew exactly what I had to make - a very tender and flaky shortbread with a melt-in-your-mouth quality.

A good shortbread recipe is indispensable as it works as an excellent base for additions like candied fruit, nuts, toffee bits or whatever that may take your fancy. I decided on little bits of dark chocolate in the end. I was tempted to add some grated orange rind to the dough simply because I adore the orange-chocolate combination but then I thought it could also work to have the dough rolled and cut out into shapes (I had 5-pointed stars in mind), drizzled lightly with an orange glaze and adorned with silver dragee.

However, I discovered much shortly after this vision of grandeur, my enthusiasm wanes as quickly as it peaks after midnight so I ended up with rustic looking shortbread fingers which I thought had their very own appeal and quite frankly, don't taste the least bit shabby at all.

SHORTBREAD
250g unsalted butter, soft
80g icing sugar, sifted
300g flour
75g cornflour
pinch of salt
75g almond meal (optional)
100g dark chocolate (min 55%), chopped
(makes one 6X10 inch pan)

preheat oven to 160C and place a rack in the center of the oven.
sift flour and cornflour into a bowl and icing sugar into a separate bowl.
cream butter until soft and creamy then add icing sugar and salt and beat for another minute or so until combined.
add flour mixture and chocolate bits (and almond meal, if using), mix until a smooth dough forms.
pat the dough evenly into the pan.
bake until the top and bottom are lightly browned, about 40-45 minutes.
cut shortbread with a very thin, sharp knife into fingers while warm. (Note: cookies will not slice well when cold)

What the Basboosa??

Alright, it's true, the thought of basboosa being a word you shouldn't say in front of children did cross my mind when I stumbled upon it whilst researching a recipe for sugee cake which incidentally happened to be what my mum had a longing for. Interestingly, the Middle-Eastern sweet basboosa and the traditional Kristang sugee cake both bear striking similarities in the ingredients used, method of preparation and flavour but vary in the way they are presented and served.

The primary ingredient in both cakes is semolina, which is coarsely ground durum wheat also used in the production of pasta, couscous and certain breads. The unique quality of semolina makes it a prime ingredient in cakes because it not only results in a moist, sandy crumb but it also lends an interesting mealy texture with a nutty taste, not unlike that of ground almonds.

I am a big fan of flourless cakes but I sometimes find them too heavy and cloying. Take for example, the flourless orange-almond cake made by pulverizing boiled oranges (peel, pith and all) and then blending this with ground almonds, sugar and eggs - it's great but I sometimes find it difficult to enjoy any more than a thin slice at a time. It seems such a shame for a cake with all the right ingredients to not appeal to a greater audience apart from those who are gluten-intolerant and/or those who enjoy heavier-textured cakes. Similarly, the Middle-Eastern version of the semolina cake is flat and dense, soaked to dripping with a rose-scented syrup and is served in small portions as an after-meal sweet but I wanted a cake that is lighter in its texture but still substantial enough to serve with a cup of tea as a mid-morning or - afternoon snack so I set forth to gather recipes for several different cakes using semolina and worked out one which called for less sugar, and eggs, a touch of flour and a lemon-scented syrup to finish (so bearing closer semblance to its Greek cousin revani but a far cry from the traditional sugee cake recipe which requires an alarmingly large number of egg yolks and amount of sugar).

The cake ended up so simple to make (that it was laughable!) and it baked up so beautifully I could not help but beam with great pride and joy. I have to add, the scatter of toasted sliced almonds on top of the cake was a last minute decision as I thought it looked slightly bare left unadorned, though in retrospect, it looked just as stunningly delicious spotting a gleaming tan with flecks of candied zest after the lemony syrup* was applied. And believe me, when this cake is made right, you will be rewarded with a superbly textured cake, heady with the fresh scent of citrus making it the perfect tea-time treat or a splendid dessert accompanied with a thick cream or yogurt with some freshly-cut summer fruit and berries. Scrumptious!

*the lemon syrup provides just the right touch of sweetness to the finished cake in my opinion but my parents who seem to have lost their sweet tooth with old age found the cake too sweet. I suppose there is no harm in doing without the syrup and increasing the amount of sugar in the cake batter ever so slightly.

SEMOLINA CAKE

4 eggs separated

75g sugar

zest of 1 large orange

1tsp vanilla extract

160g semolina

130ml orange juice

50ml milk

75g self-raising flour, sifted

50g ground almonds

125g butter, melted and cooled

(makes a 20cm round cake)

pre-heat oven to 180C and line the base and sides of a 20cm springform pan with baking paper.

mix the semolina with orange juice and milk in a medium mixing bowl and set aside. Combine the flour and ground almonds in a separate bowl.

whisk the egg yolks, vanilla, zest and 50g of sugar using a stand-up mixer or a hand mixer until light and fluffy.

mix the semolina mixture to the yolk mixture gently so as not to deflate the mixture.

fold the melted butter through this mixture - it is not necessary for it to be completely incorporated at this stage.

whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar in a clean bowl until firm shiny peaks are formed.

fold 1/3 of the whisked egg whites into the above mixture to lighten it before folding in the remaining egg whites.

pour batter into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.

syrup

zest and juice of 1 large lemon

160g sugar

50ml water

simmer the sugar, water, zest and juice for 3-5 minutes or until a slightly viscous consistency (like maple syrup) is observed.

brush syrup all over the warm cake and allow it to rest for at least 3 hours before serving.