Aila's Shortcake

Aila was my Mother-in-Law.
She was a bloody-minded, determined, stroppy old bag.
She was also an entertainer, a raconteur - with a huge fund of naughty stories. She preferred the company of men to that of women.
She called herself a good, plain cook and she made the best roast dinners ever.
She smoked like a chimney, drank whiskey and knew more rude words than I do - and she would use them at the most inappropriate times.
She was funny and often very kind. We got on very well because very early on in our relationship I decided I would never fight with an old lady. Also, because I always did exactly as I was told.
I miss her still.

Aila's Shortcake

125g butter - softened
125g sugar - I used sugar which had vanilla beans buried in it.
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
225g flour - I am using a blend of flours recommended by Karina at http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/12/baking-cooking-substitutions-for-gluten.html
I used a combination of sorghum flour, buckwheat flour and tapioca starch. Karina uses xanthan gum in her blend. I don't have any (and I think they sound a bit yucky - a technical term which means... ick)
so I didn't put any in my flours mix.

Cream the butter and sugar.
Add the egg - beat
Tip in the flour and baking powder and beat again - this is a very soft dough which can easily be made with a hand-held electric beater - which is good, because I don't have a stand mixer.
Tear off four even-sized pieces of baking paper - big enough to line a pie dish.
Carefully measure three-quarters of the mixture onto one piece of baking paper..... na, just kidding! There is no 'carefully' in this recipe - just roughly 3/4.
Put another piece of the baking paper on top of the dough, then press the dough till it fits the base and sides of your pie dish. Put the paper covered dough in the fridge for 10 minutes to harden up a little.
Do the same process again, pressing the dough out to cover the top of your pie, and refrigerate that too.
Don't be too precious about getting the measurements right.
This dough is very forgiving - gaps smoodge together beautifully.
Take the dough from the fridge.
Put the base circle into your pie dish and quickly remove the top layer of baking paper.
Fill the pie with whatever you want - I used a mixture of peaches and sliced apple.

Take one piece of paper off your top piece of dough and plop it dough-side down on top of the filling.
Peel the last piece of paper off... I'm thinking as I write this, that I really don't need to be so pedantic about instructions because, frankly if you can't figure this out for yourself, you really need to be reading someone else's blog...
Skrunkle the edges over to fit the top, and don't worry about any holes that you rip in the pastry.

Sprinkle with sugar - I used sugar that I have stored in this lovely little container that we bought at a market in Vietnam. It's made of cinnamon bark and scents the sugar (the same way the vanilla beans
do)

Bake the pie at about180c or until it is golden.

Serve to a happy husband for his birthday.
This is good hot, warm or at room temperature.
Aila would often make it with jam in the middle.

Ice Cream

6 egg whites
250g sugar
225ml cream

Whisk egg whites to soft peak stage
Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water - don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water.
As you beat, add the sugar in a steady stream. Continue to beat until thick and glossy (about 10 minutes).
Remove from heat and beat until cool. Chill in the refrigerator until quite cold.
Whisk cream to soft peaks and fold into meringue. (At this point you can also crumble in your meringues - if you are making Eton Mess)
Freeze till set.

Individual Meringues

I have a friend who, when I ask her to dinner, says she will come, but only if I make Eton Mess for dessert. It is so easy to make that I always agree. It is supposed to be made with softly whipped cream, crumbled meringues and strawberries - all mixed up. I like to make it with softened ice-cream in place of  the cream, and you can use any kind of fruit - banana and passionfruit is a good combination...

4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white vinegar
2 tsp cornflour
1 dstsp boiling water

Beat the egg whites until they stand up in peaks.
Add the caster sugar in four lots, beating all the time and beating well between each addition. The mixture should be thick and stiff - like a very thick marshmallow.
Add the rest of the ingredients and beat in, adding the water last.
Place in heaped tablespoonsful onto a lined baking tray.
Bake for 30 minutes at 120c
Remove from the oven and place on a cake rack until cold.
Store in an airtight tin

French cheesecake... without the cake

Because one day I hope I will be able to eat dairy again...

COUER A LA CREME

250g gluten free cream cheese
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp lime or lemon juice
1 tsp grated lime or lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp fruit flavoured liqueur
1 1/4 cups cream

Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy.
Beat in the icing sugar, juice and zest.
Whip cream, vanilla and liqueur together .
Fold cream into cheese mixture.
Line a mould or sieve with a double layer of fine cheesecloth.
Pour in the mixture and smooth the top with a spatula.
Cover with a layer of cheesecloth, place the mould on a plate and allow it to 'weep' in the fridge overnight.
Discard any liquids.
Unmould the creme and remove the cheesecloth.
Serve with fresh fruit.

though let's face it, when it's time for dessert I'm usually too tipsy to do much cooking

I'm not sure if I should include this recipe. I have not yet made it, so I don't know if it works. But, whoever wrote this says it is delicious with bubbles...  so, I will! and in my defence.... it usually takes just two glasses of wine to make me sleepy/tipsy!

STRAWBERRY SOUFFLES
Strawberry Sauce
12 - 15 fresh strawberries
1/2 cup good quality berry jam
2 - 3 tbsp fruity liqueur ( grand marnier, kirsch - the booze is optional)

Blitz everything in a kitchen whizz.
Put 1/2 the sauce into a small pot and heat, stirring until boiling
Spoon the remaining sauce into ramekins

Souffles
2 egg whites
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Whisk egg whites to soft peaks, add sugar bit by bit and beat until sugar is dissolved.
Fold in hot berry puree and vanilla.

Spoon meringue over the top of cold berry puree.
Bake 4 - 6 minutes until souffles start to brown. Don't keep cooking until they rise or they will collapse too much as they cool.

Serve immediately with sliced strawberries.

Sue's Pavlova

The very worst thing about being told you have celiac disease comes when you look through all the recipes you collected over the years (..and years, and years, and...sigh) and you realise you should have used them and not just locked them away in a file... and now you will never use them.... bugger! Not this one though, this one is now a family classic. Sue is my sister. I have no idea where she found this recipe.

Sue's Pav

3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbsp water
1 dstsp water

Put everything in a bowl. Beat the bejeebers out of it - till it forms a meringue. It'll take 15 - 20 minutes and you will have heart failure at the beginning because you will think it is NOT going to work.
It does.
Pile it onto a baking tray lined with baking paper (do I really have to write that bit?)
Bake 125c for 1 hour

There is no photo to go with this one yet, but there will be. Eventually. I just want to look industrious while the painters are here. There is a limit to how much respect is available if it looks like you spend all your day watching home renovation shows or the food channel on tv.... there is also a limit to how much food two people can eat, in order that it be photographed for a food blog....

Fruit Cloud - the ice-cream you're having, when you're not having ice-cream...

If you're going to get a disease, I've decided that Celiac disease is the one to get! No drugs, no operations - just good food! How lucky can you get? (Well actually, if I could be a skinny Celiac it would be grand, but - life is not perfect....and I have finally realised that NOTHING is perfect, so that's ok too :-)

But - it is summer, icecream season. And while I can eat a little dairy, too much is just too much. So I was very pleased to find this recipe. It is part of a recipe in Annabel Langbein's "The Free Range Cook" - a most beautiful book.

Fruit Cloud

250g berries - chopped up a bit if large
2 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Have all your ingredients at room temperature - it helps the mixture fluff up.

Put everything in a bowl and beat till the sugar has dissolved. This will take about 8 minutes.

Pour the mixture into a container, cover and freeze for at least 4 hours. It will keep, covered in the freezer for about a month.

The Fruit Cloud delicious, soft, sweet and melty. Perfect served with extra berries and meringues.