Gluten Free Baked Coconut Custard Slice...

Oh, this is so delicious I just had to share. My first instinct was to keep this lovely dish to myself and hand it down to future generations as Nanna's Special Secret Recipe. But then, I never really understood that whole 'secret recipe' stuff.

So here it is. A product of experimentation with Coconut Flour. This product is readily available at Health Food outlets and on-line. It seems expensive, but you use so little it lasts ages. In a normal 'baking' recipe, I have been replacing normal flour with Coconut Flour at a rate of 1/3 the amount indicated in the recipe. The reason being that the Coconut Flour absorbs liquid like you would not believe. Not all of those experiments have been successful, hence my reluctance to include them at this stage. But I will continue to experiment and post successes as time wears on.

Baked Coconut Custard Slice

4 large eggs
1 cup Coconut Cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup yoghurt (I used home made natural Greek yoghurt)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup coconut flour

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a 20 x 20cm casserole dish.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, coconut cream, milk and yoghurt with an electric mixer or whisk, until smooth. Start off on low speed and increase to medium to smooth. Add the other ingredients and mix well.

Pour into your greased dish and place in the oven for around 45-50 minutes. This recipe does not require the use of a water bath as some tradtional baked custards do. Check after 45 minutes. If the custard slice is firm to slight pressure in the centre, it's done. If it's still a bit wobbly, give it longer, checking every five minutes.

Allow to cool in the dish. Serve warm or cold with fruit on the side if desired. This is gorgeous with a drizzle of fruit flavoured syrup or liqueur, and a blob of double cream on the side. It's also great as a lunchbox snack, stored in an appropriate container.

Psst....The Dancing Diva has even had this for breakfast!

Enjoy!

The Sleepover Dilemna.

My daughter loves a good sleepover.

Indeed, sleepovers are a part of our life.

I had sleepovers as a child, my older sons grew up with sleepovers, and now my daughter regularly enjoys having friends stay overnight with us, or spending a night at a friends house. It's a real rite of passage and one I've always encouraged, knowing full well that it's one of the best ways to get to know her friends.

The Gluten Sensitive issue is a difficult one for sleepovers though. If the sleepover is at our house, how do I ensure that we have enough 'goodies' to make the occasion fun? If it's at the other persons' house, how do I impress upon them that Darling Daughter must avoid Gluten products. Insisting seems bossy, sending her own food seems snooty, and having her starve is just not an option. I find too, that whilst many of the families she stays with do all they can to accomodate her sensitivity, there are some who either don't understand or don't believe there's an issue.

She doesn't react severely, so where's the problem?

A recent sleepover meant that upon her return home, she was sluggish, irritable and out of sorts. She confirmed that she'd had a 'normal' wrap and a choc chip muffin, which in the scheme of things, shouldn't matter too much. But where she noticed the difference was at a theatre rehearsal where she found she simply could not concentrate and yawned constantly, feeling overwhelmed and fatigued.

Now you could argue that that's a typical by-product of a good sleepover, but it's more than that. All of those symptoms are typical of gluten intake in someone who has sensitivity to the product, and she is such a creature of habit that no matter where she is, she's asleep by nine and awake at seven.

I've yet to find the ideal, diplomatic solution to this problem and would welcome any advice or comments.

Trotting, not galloping...

It's been a while since we started our Gluten Free life now, and I'm finding it easier than I expected.

The greatest challenge remains how to make some of the commercial gluten-free products more palatable, as try as I might, I cannot completely ditch convenience food.

My latest success is Gluten Free Wraps turned into Pan Seared Quesilladas.

On thier own, these wraps are a bit woeful. They have an unappetising leathery texture that just isn't pleasant or satisfying.

This method turns them into a crisp wedge stuffed with gooey filling and is well worth a try for Pizza Lovers.

You need:

A large non stick frypan
Spray oil (olive oil is best)
Spatula for flipping
Plate for serving
Pizza wheel or sharp knife for cutting

Ingredients:

Wraps, gluten free or otherwise if you aren't gluten sensitive
Grated cheese
Other fillings like pineapple, deli meat, capsicum (peppers), baby spinach, toasted nuts

Method:

Heat the hotplate on 'High' and place the pan on it. Spray the pan liberally with the oil and toss in one wrap.

Sprinkle the entire surface with grated cheese.

Then in a semi circle (because you're going to fold it in a minute), distribute your other ingredients evenly.

Leave to cook for a minute or so, checking underneath until the underside is toasty brown and to your liking.

If the other ingredients aren't melted and piping hot now, heat the grill (broiler) and pop the whole thing under there for a minute or so.

Remove from grill or hotplate, and flip the plain half over the filled half so you have a sort of omelette arrangement in the pan.

Slide onto your serving platter and cut in half, arranging one half over the other for presentation.

Enjoy!

We're not yet galloping along with our food choices, but we've advanced from a crawl to a comfortable trot, so we're getting there!

(photo following)