Sweet and simple:This flan has only five ingredients.Infraordinario Studio for Dalcò Edizioni S.r.l.Gluten-free cooking is far from the new phenomenon it's often purported to be.
Home cooks around the world have long worked with recipes that use a variety of crops and ingredients other than wheat and other gluten-containing cereals.
InThe Gluten-Free Cookbook, Italian chef Cristian Broglia has collected 350 gluten-free recipes from more than 80 countries around the globe.
Cristian Broglia's new cookbook.Infraordinario Studio for Dalcò Edizioni S.r.l. Many are classics that have been treasured for generations or regional specialties using corn,buckwheat,rice,nuts and other wheat alternatives.
All are naturally free from gluten,without the usual substitutes or skipped steps required in so many coeliac-friendly recipes.
Here,Broglia shares four sweet treats to try at home.
Milk flan (Venezuela)
Venezuelan quesillo (or"little cheese") has no cheese in it,but is a flan that develops airholes as it bakes,making it look like Swiss cheese. You can also bake quesillo in individual moulds,adjusting the cooking time according to their size.
Ricotta cake (Poland)
Polish sernik ("cheesecake") rises quite high during baking,but will sink back down as it cools,and,like many cheesecakes,does a final bit of slow cooking in a turned-off oven. If preferred,serve it decorated with melted chocolate,berry compote,or caramel sauce.
INGREDIENTS
- 150g unsalted butter,melted,plus extra for the pan
- 2 tbsp potato starch,plus extra for the pan
- 8 eggs,separated
- 400g caster sugar
- 1kg ricotta cheese
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
- juice of ½ orange
- juice of ½ lemon
- 1½ tsp baking powder
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 145C fan-forced (165C conventional). Grease a 30cm springform pan with butter and dust with potato starch.
- In a bowl,with an electric mixer,whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale yellow and frothy. Add the ricotta and thoroughly combine. Add the melted butter,potato starch,vanilla sugar,orange juice,lemon juice,and baking powder and mix well.
- In a clean bowl,with an electric mixer,whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the ricotta mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and let the cake rest for 30 minutes inside the oven,without opening the door.
- Remove from the oven and let it cool down before removing the pan's sides. Leave the cheesecake on the springform base or carefully transfer it to a serving plate. Serve warm.
This rich custard treat is very similar to a creme brulee.Infraordinario Studio for Dalcò Edizioni S.r.l.Catalan cream (Spain)
Crema catalana,with its rich custard and crackly sugar topping,is very similar to a creme brulee – and in fact there are those from Catalonia who insist that creme brulee is the copycat. Unlike creme brulee,the Catalan version is a cinnamon-scented custard and is cooked on the stovetop instead of being baked. To make the sweet crust,sugar is sprinkled over the chilled custards and is then caramelised with a kitchen torch or grilled,but the traditional method of doing this is to super heat a special iron (seeNote) over a flame and then let the radiant heat caramelise the sugar.
INGREDIENTS
Delicious,soft and creamy,without a trace of gluten.Infraordinario Studio for Dalcò Edizioni S.r.l.Flourless chocolate cake (Italy)
Depending on which origin story you believe (and there are many),the torta caprese,from the Italian island of Capri,might be the result of a mistake (a baker in the 1920s forgot to add flour to a cake recipe) or possibly simply a cake designed to showcase almonds,an ingredient typical of that part of Italy. Any way you look at it,the cake is delicious,soft and creamy.
INGREDIENTS
- 170g unsalted butter,at room temperature,plus more for the pan
- 25g potato starch,plus more for the pan
- 180g icing sugar,plus extra for dusting
- ½ vanilla bean,split lengthwise
- 5 eggs,separated,at room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 170g dark chocolate,grated
- 80g almonds,finely chopped
- 80g hazelnuts,finely chopped
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 160 fan-forced (180C conventional). Butter a 21-centimetre round cake pan that is 8 centimetres deep. Dust the pan with potato starch.
- In a bowl,combine the softened butter and 90 grams of the sugar. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the bowl. With an electric mixer,beat at high speed for 4 minutes. Add the egg yolks and salt and mix for 5 more minutes.
- In a separate bowl,stir together the chocolate,almonds,hazelnuts,potato starch,cocoa powder,and baking powder.
- In a third bowl,with clean beaters,beat the egg whites with the remaining90 grams sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold half of the egg whites into the butter/egg yolk mixture and stir gently. Add half of the chocolate/nut mixture,then the remaining whites again,and then the remaining chocolate/nut mixture. Gently mix all the ingredients until perfectly smooth.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the surface is dry and lightly cracked,about 45 minutes.
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack. Invert the cake onto a serving plate and dust with the remaining sugar.
Serves 6
This is an edited extract fromThe Gluten-Free Cookbook by Cristian Broglia,published by Phaidon,photography by Infraordinario Studio for Dalcò Edizioni S.r.l.,RRP $65,phaidon.com