Gluten and Dairy Free Brioche Recipe

For anyone who knows me, they know I love food, love eating, but hate cooking. My friend Aran is an amazing pastry chef and cook and she was kind enough to post one of her creations on my blog for those of you who actually enjoy baking and cooking. This looks fantastic and I hear they tasted pretty great too!!

Gluten-Free Brioche

adapted from "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" by Zoe François and Jeff Hertzberg

Makes enough bread for three 1.5 lb loaves

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup tapioca starch (tapioca flour)
3 3/4 cups cornstarch
2 Tbs granulated yeast
1 Tbs kosher salt
2 Tbs xanthan gum
2 1/2 cups hemp milk
1 cup honey
4 eggs
1 cup neutral flavor oil
1 Tbs gluten-free vanilla extract
Egg wash
Raw sugar for sprinkling on top

Whisk together the brown rice flour, tapioca starch, cornstarch, yeast, salt and xanthan gum in a 5 qt bowl.

Combine the liquid ingredients and gradually mix them into the dry using a paddle attachment until there are no dry bits of flour.

Cover and allow the dough to rest for 2 hours. The dough can be used now or refrigerated for up to 5 days.

On baking day, grease a 8.5"x4.5" pan. Break a 1.5 lb piece of dough and shape it into a round. Wet your hands as the dough will be sticky. Elongate the dough into an oval and put it in the pan. You might need to wet the top a bit to smooth it out. Let it rest for 90 minutes (40 minutes if you are using non refrigerated dough).

Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle raw sugar right before baking. Bake at 350F for about 40-45 minutes.

Toasted Brioche, Poached Egg, Watercress and Apple Salad

Serves 4

8 slices toasted gluten-free brioche
4 eggs (preferably farm fresh)
2 cups watercress
Bunch of purple basil
2 Granny Smith apples, thinly slices
Few drops lemon juice
Water for poaching eggs
1 Tbs white vinegar
Mustard and toasted hazelnut vinaigrette

Poach the eggs. Bring 3 qts of water and the vinegar to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer. Break off the egg into a ramekin and gently submerge the egg in the simmering liquid. Do not let the water boil and only cook 1 or 2 eggs at a time. Cook for about 2 minutes or until white has coagulated but yolk is still liquid. Remove with a slotted spoon.

Thinly slice the apples and drizzle with some lemon juice so they don't oxidize.

Place 2 small slices of toasted brioche on a plate. Garnish with watercress, purple basil and thinly sliced apples. Place the poached egg on top and season with a bit of salt and pepper. Drizzle the mustard and toasted hazelnut vinaigrette on top.

Mustard and Toasted Hazelnut Vinaigrette

2 tsp mustard
2 Tbs minced shallot
2 Tbs hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 Tbs olive oil

Place the mustard, minced shallots, hazelnuts, balsamic and apple cider vinegars in a bowl. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking creating a light emulsion.

For more photos, please visit Aran's blog.

Gluten Free Cinnamon Crackers with Pear, Fig and Vanilla Bean Jelly and Baked Pear Flan

Although I am no expert in gluten free baking, I have managed many times to bake gluten free cakes and cookies, but this was my first attempt at baking yeast breads using gluten free flours. I have to admit it was a challenge and it took three trials to get to these crackers that you see in the photos. It is a very simple recipe but I couldn't get the consistency right the first two times.

The trick to getting a thin cracker is to roll it as thin as possible, almost like paper. The first two doughs were tough so rolling them became a challenge. The baked crackers were rather thick and hard. Finally, for the third batch, I added a bit more water to see if a softer dough would be easier to roll. And there it was, worked like a charm.

To accompany the crackers, I made a pear, fig and vanilla bean jelly and also a baked pear custard. For the custard in these photos, I used cow's milk (I am not of an dairy free diet), but it works the same with rice, hemp or coconut milk.



Gluten Free Cinnamon Graham Crackers

1 1/2 cups gluten free baking mix (used Bob's Red Mill all purpose mix)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 Tbs agave nectar
1 Tbs vegetable oil
3 to 4 oz water, at room temperature
Ground cinnamon
Sugar

In a mixing bowl, stir together the baking mix, salt, instant yeast, agave nectar, oil and 3 oz of water. Mix well and slowly add the remaining 1 oz of water, if needed. Shape into a ball and place it in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough ferment for 90 minutes. It can also be placed in the refrigerator overnight retarding the fermentation (I chose to retard the dough this way).

Lay out two sheets of parchment paper or silicon mats. Divide the dough in half and place the dough between the sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is paper thin and about 15" x 12". Peel away the parchment on top and place the dough on a sheetpan. Spray the surface with cooking spray and sprinkle cinnamon sugar and top.

Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes or until brown. Let them cool before serving.

Pear Flan

250 ml rice milk, hemp milk or coconut milk
3 eggs
60 grams sugar
Half a pear, thinly sliced

Whisk together the eggs and the sugar. Slowly add in the milk and whisk until thoroughly combined. Strain through a fine sieve and pour the custard in your ramekins. Place ramekins in a baking sheet or deep baking dish and add some hot water to go up about an inch high. Bake at 300F for about 25 minutes, but it will depend on the size of the ramekins. The center should still jiggle a little but the rest should be set. Let them cool for a bit and store in the refrigerator.

Pear, Fig and Vanilla Bean Jam

2 pints of green figs, quartered
2 medium sized Bartlett pears, medium diced
1 lb sugar
Juice of half a lemon
1 vanilla bean split

Wash the figs, pat them dry and cut the stems off. Cut them into quarters and place them in a ceramic bowl. Dice the pears and add them to the bowl. Add the lemon juice, sugar and vanilla bean. Stir the fruit gently and cover the bowl with parchment paper. Let the fruit macerate at room temperature for an hour.

Transfer the fruit to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Transfer the fruit to another bowl, cover with parchment paper and refrigerate overnight.

The following day, transfer the fruit to a saucepan, bring it to a boil, skim impurities from the surface and cook for about 7 minutes. Laddle the jam into jars and seal.