New Holidays, New Challenges: Passover

New holidays, New challenges!

With Passover just around the corner my thoughts have turned to creating allergen-free “matzo balls”.  Of course they cannot contain the traditional ingredients, eggs or matzo meal.  I will try to make gnocchi using potatoes and potato starch with tapioca starch as binders.  If it works I will post the recipe. 

Ashkenazi Jews (Jews from Eastern Europe) who observe Passover dietary restrictions cannot eat soy during Passover.  So Passover is a terrific time to stock up on soy-free goods that normally contain soy. Look for a grocery store that carries a large selection of Passover foods. Then bring your reading glasses and have some fun!!   For example, soy-free bouillon is available.

 The Kosher Better than Bouillon chicken base is allergen-free and I can only find it during Passover.

We found potato starch at much lower price than Bob’s Red Mill.

Lieber’s brand soy-free chocolate chips   are half the price of the Enjoy Life allergen-free chips. 

And if you are looking for allergen-free instant pudding mix, the brand Gefen may work for you.  We plan to make the pudding using almond milk. 

But the most exciting find was Glick’s Olive oil cooking spray.  It contains only olive oil and propellant.  NO SOY LECITHIN!!    This is the first cooking spray I have seen that does not contain a soy product. 

Many sauces are available and in order for them to be Kosher for Passover they must be soy-free.  Please read every label very carefully since wheat in the form of matzo meal will appear in many products.   And products do get moved from shelf to shelf so you still need to be vigilant with label reading.

So far our Seder menu will feature:  chicken soup with potato gnocchi, fruit salad, green vegetables, roast chicken, sweet potato casserole with crunchy cornflake topping and an allergen-free chocolate cake with coconut milk chocolate ganache.  Some of us will be able to eat matzo and all of us will enjoy many glasses of wine.  And of course there will be horseradish and haroset (a mixture of apples, nuts and wine).

The gnocchi test run is tomorrow.  I’ll let you know if they work out.

Fudgy Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Fudge Glaze (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free, Soy-Free)

This chocolate cake recipe produces a rich, moist, fudgy cake. The Icing is based on ganache and has wonderful mouth-feel which normally comes from cream and butter.  The use of coconut milk produces the same results and can be enjoyed by people who are dairy intolerant.  If the cake recipe is too intimidating, just make the icing and serve it on frozen desserts as a special treat.

Fudgy Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Fudge Glaze (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free, Soy-Free)

You will need a kitchen scale for this cake recipe.  They are inexpensive and invaluable for this type of specialty baking. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Prepare 9 inch layer pan or 10 inch springform pan by putting canola oil on a paper towel and coating pan completely with the oil. Then place a circle of parchment paper or wax paper in the bottom of the pan and grease that as well.

Combine in bowl and mix with a fork

44 grams sorghum flour

68 grams potato starch

32 grams tapioca starch

42 grams hazelnut flour or meal (This is available from Bob’s Red Mill)

173 grams sugar

40 grams Hershey’s Cocoa (Unsweetened)

¾ teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

In large mixer bowl combine well

½ cup canola oil

1 tablespoon EnerG Egg replacer mixed into ¼ cup very warm water

½ cup unsweetened almond milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

You will also need ½ cup hot brewed coffee for the next step.

Add the dry ingredients to the liquids in a few portions alternating with the ½ cup hot brewed coffee.  Start with the dry ingredients and end with the dry ingredients.  Beat for 3 minutes on high.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.  Check for doneness with toothpick inserted in middle.  It should come out clean.  If not done bake a few more minutes and check again.  The baking time will vary with pan size so be patient and keep checking.

Place the cake still in the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.  Remove cake from pan and place it gently onto the rack and allow to cool completely.

Fudgy Glaze

½ cup coconut milk.  Be sure to shake can well before opening.  (I store the extra coconut milk in a tightly sealed plastic container in the fridge.)

2 tablespoons corn syrup

4 ounces Enjoy Life chocolate chips (They are allergen –free)

1 tablespoon Hazelnut Liqueur like Frangelica

Bring coconut milk and corn syrup to simmer in small saucepan on stove.  Remove from heat and add chocolate chips.  Cover with lid and let sit for 8 minutes.

Stir slowly to combine the now melted chocolate chips into the mixture. Add the liqueur and stir until smooth.  If too thin you can chill it.  It should be spreadable but not too runny.

When cake has cooled completely place cake on serving plate and pour glaze over cake. Use a spatula to spread the glaze over entire cake.

Enjoy!

This glaze is delicious and you can use it on   many desserts.

Delicious Gluten-free, soy-free, vegan herb bread

Delicious Gluten-free, Soy-free, Vegan Herb Bread

This chewy satisfying bread is gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free and soy-free.  I recommend using a stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachment to increase volume.  I have included both volume measurements as well as weight measurement.  Baking with a kitchen scale is much faster, less messy and more consistent.  You can use one light-weight plastic bowl to weigh each flour separately and then dump that flour right into the mixing bowl. This eliminates measuring cups and swiping the knife, as well as concerns about packing the flours too densely.

Prepare the 9 x 5 loaf pan by oiling it well with canola oil on a paper towel. 

Combine in the mixer bowl:

1 ½ cups or 165 grams sorghum flour

½ cup or 52 grams of tapioca starch

½ cup or 87 grams of potato starch

½ cup or 55 grams millet flour

1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 ¼ teaspoon salt

1 packet rapid rise dry yeast or 2 ¼ teaspoons

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Combine is another bowl:

1 ¼ cup warm water at 110 to 115 degrees. Should feel hot but not burning hot.

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

½ teaspoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed well with a fork into 4 tablespoons of warm water

Pour liquid ingredients into bowl with dry ingredients.  Mix at high speed for 3 minutes.

Pour dough into prepared pan. You may sprinkle top with sesame seed if desired. Cover loosely with wax paper and let rest for 1 hour.  Preheat the oven while the bread is resting.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 70 minutes.  Allow to cool in pan on wire rack.  Run a plastic spatula around the bread to loosen from the sides of the pan.  Turn out onto cooling rack and allow to cool completely. 

Slice with bread knife.  This bread is best fresh or frozen.  I separate the slices with small pieces of wax paper and put 4 slices into each sandwich baggie.  Then these baggies go into a freezer bag for storage in the freezer.  I label the baggies and the freezer bag with “AF” for allergen –free.

Enjoy!

Weigh each flour separately in plastic bowl. I weighed the  tapioca flour first and then dumped it into the mixer bowl.

Then I weighed the millet flour and dumped it into the mixer bowl. Continue with all of the flours.

Whisk the dry ingredients before adding liquids

The dough is wet and sticky.

If you are not allergic to sesame seeds they add a nice touch to the top of the loaf.

The ingredients

Loaf cooling in pan on cooling rack

The finished product

Yes, it looks like bread , it tastes like bread and it feels like bread in your mouth.

Tips to Get You On Your Way

For the most delicious, consistent baked goods, here are some tips:

1) Bake by weight. Use a kitchen scale, rather than a volume measurement like measuring cups. This ups the accuracy and gets rid of the mess. The scales are about $20.

2) If you do bake by volume, with measuring cups, be sure to spoon the ingredients into the measuring cup over a piece of wax paper and use the flat side of a butter knife to level off the top. (Don't scoop the cup into the container, because you may pack too much into it.) Then pour the excess left on the wax paper back into the ingredient's container. This prevents too much of the ingredients from getting into your bowl.

3) If using a packaged baking mix, be sure to shake it vigorously before measuring it out to distribute the ingredients evenly. One easy way to do this is to put it in a zip-lock bag to shake it.

Follow this blog for more tips and many allergen-free recipes!