Courgette loaf - gluten free

I knew I couldn't get through another summer without creating a new courgette cake recipe. This one is gluten free and uses one of my favourite vegetables for baking with. I always have plenty of courgettes to experiment with from the garden.

Courgettes are great for gluten free baking as they add additional moisture to the bake, something that gluten free bakes often lack, this is due to most gluten free flours having a good quantity of rice flour in them which robs moisture from the mixture.

Makes 2 x  loaves

What you need

• Oil spray and loaf tin liners
• 380g gluten free flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp xanthum gum
• 1 tsp bicarb
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 225g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 240ml vegetable oil
• 2tsp vanilla paste
• 220g courgettes - finely grated
• 1tbsp Greek yogurt (optional)

What you do 

• Oil spray and line two loaf tins
• Pre heat the oven to 160c
• Grate the courgettes ( I use a food processor), don't squeeze the moisture out
• Mix along with all the other ingredients in a food processor or mixer
• Pour into your prepared tins
• Bake for 50 -55mins until well risen and golden, test with a skewer
• Cool in the tins initially and then on a cooling rack
• This freezes well when wrapped in foil
• Serve plain and or simply iced

As host of bake of the week this week I am linking to Bake of Week, created by Helen at Casa Costello 

                                                         

Gluten free scones

Luxury afternoon teas are popping up all over the place, however even before I became gluten free I used to find that some of the scones which formed part of the afternoon tea disappointingly dry and crumbly and not that pleasant to eat even when ladled with obscene amounts of jam and cream.

Mr LF loves scones with jam and cream, particularly home baked scones with homemade jam, so the challenge was set as to create a gluten free scone. I must say that actually prefer the gluten free version, yes they don't rise as much but they are more moist and a lot less crumbly, they are also the perfect vehicle for large dollops of cream and jam.

After lots of research on the internet and baking up several storms (well disappointing versions) here is our current favourite recipe.

What you need

• 1.5 cups of gluten free self raising flour (if using plain add 1 tsp baking powder)
• 2 tsp xanthum gum
• 1 tsp fine sea salt
• 4 tbsp caster sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter - cold
• 2 eggs free range
• 2 tbsp Greek yogurt - made up to 5 fl oz with skimmed milk

What you do

• Preheat the oven to 220c
• Prepare your baking tray - I used a non stick silicone sheet, you could used non stick baking paper
• Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
• In a measuring jug or separate bowl mix the yogurt/milk mixture with the eggs
• Rub the cool butter into the dry ingredients until the texture of knobbly breadcrumbs
• Add the milk/yogurt/egg mix to the large bowl and mix until well incorporated
• Leave for a few minutes to allow the flour mixture to swell (this is necessary due to the gluten free flour)
• Using an ice cream scoop, create even sized blobs on your baking sheet
• Brush the top with the remnants if the egg/yogurt/milk mix
• Bake in the hot oven for 10-12 minutes until golden and well risen
• Cool for 5 minutes or so on the tray before removing to a cooling rack
• Serve sliced with lots of jam and a cream