Once a month I get together with a few other folks for a shared lunch. It used to be pot luck, but we have got into the habit of bringing specific things and I generally supply something sweet – usually some form of cake. To begin with it was easy and I just made whatever cake took my fancy, but then we were joined by someone who was wheat intolerant and I had to change my thinking. All went well initially – I made various cakes using gluten-free flour; things like brownies and gingerbread don’t seem to suffer much with the lack of wheat. But then, she developed an intolerance to barley and the commercial gluten-free flour route was closed down.
So, I’ve experimented with a variety of flours – chestnut, rice, sorghum, millet and using guar gum to help with the texture, but although our gluten-intolerant friend says they are good, I am very dissatisfied with the results: either like a brick or stodgy, and the flour always seems to be slightly gritty. Part of my problem is planning ahead -I generally bake on a whim because I have all the necessary (wheat-laden) ingredients in my store cupboard, but personally I don’t like wheat-free flours, so I have to buy them specially for this once-a-month bake. Sadly things like chestnut flour don’t keep well and it’s too expensive to allow to go off.
Anyway, this month I have had a brainwave – old-fashioned coconut macaroons. I haven’t made these since I was a child and I had to go back to a cookery book from the 1970s to find a recipe. In fact it was an easy recipe – beat two egg whites until they are foamy, but not stiff, fold in 4 oz caster sugar and 2 level tsp cornflour, then fold in 5 oz desiccated coconut. Place little heaps of the mixture on a greased baking sheet, flatten them slightly and bake at 180C for about 20 minutes, until they are golden. They were so simple to make, they are dairy, wheat and barley-free. Fortuitously, I had two spare egg whites having made mayonnaise earlier on in the week, so the recipe was ideal. And, though I do say so myself, they do look (and taste) rather good:
no wheat, no barley, no dairy, still good
Now I really should spend some time getting to grips with some of Kate Chiconi’s gluten free recipes, which always look amazing.
The Snail of Happiness 
nanacathy2
/ November 18, 2016Thank goodness for maize! I made jammy buttons this week, there was flour but also coconut. All sounds very delicious
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 18, 2016I love baking, but seeking out wheat-free recipes that I actually like is really turning out to be a challenge. I see many, many macaroons in the future!
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Wild Daffodil
/ November 18, 2016As a child I used to make coconut mountains with my step-granny, we mixed condensed milk and dessicated coconut together til very thick, (I added lurid food colouring – but that is not essential!) and them we put mounds on rice paper and cooked it. I don’t remember any other ingredients.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 18, 2016wow- that sounds fantastic… a dollop of chocolate and you’d have a Bounty bar (not to mention a heart attack!)
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Wild Daffodil
/ November 18, 2016😉
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Heather
/ November 18, 2016They look great & seem easy. May I suggest a recipe from a blog ‘Fig Jam & Lime Cordial for brownies made with Chestnut Flour, the seem pretty good. Just a suggestion, hope you don’t mind.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 18, 2016Thank you, I’ll have a look at that… I think part of my problem is feeling uninspired, so anything that piques my interest is good 🙂
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Kathryn
/ November 18, 2016Any cake based on ground almonds works well for me, and there are so many recipes. They often work well with berries, and of course chocolate. : – )
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 18, 2016Funny you should say that, I just bought some ground almonds the other day.
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w1nt3l
/ November 18, 2016They look delicious. Wish I liked coconut, but it’s one of those flavors that I just can’t get past no matter how many times I try it or how old I get.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 18, 2016They went down a treat at lunch… I may try a version with almond next time.
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katechiconi
/ November 18, 2016I’m a bit puzzled about why commercial gluten free flours are no good for your wheat- and barley-intolerant friend. By definition, barley is a gluten-containing cereal, and should not be present in GF flours. The acronym is BROW: barley, rye, oats, wheat. GF flours commonly contain rice, corn, potato starch,tapioca, etc, in varying proportions, to mimic the properties of wheat flour. Single-ingredient flours will rarely perform as well, hence your less satisfactory results.
For a flour-free recipe that sadly needs a bit of advance prep (!), and works well as a celebration-type cake for GF people, take a look at this link:
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 18, 2016yes, I was astounded about the presence of barley.
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katechiconi
/ November 19, 2016Is the presence of barley only in one brand of flour? If so, it legally shouldn’t claim to be GF. Can you remember which one it is? There must be better alternatives out there.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 19, 2016I’ve found that it’s in the two most common brands, I will have to check exactly how they are marketed to see whether they are simply wheat-free or genuinely gluten-free.
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katechiconi
/ November 19, 2016I think they’d have to claim only wheat-free, by law. If there’s a GF claim on the package, what they’re doing is illegal.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 19, 2016Thanks – I will check their web sites as I no longer have either flour
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arlingwoman
/ November 18, 2016I like this resolution: no substitutes for anything, so it tastes as people expect and voila! is all good for everyone. I have used a lot of different flours and almond and rice go together nicely. Still, a new recipe is best, as otherwise, you remember the old one and it doesn’t measure up.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 18, 2016and everybody loved them… 🙂
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painterwrite
/ November 18, 2016Oh great, now I’m craving macaroons. I’ve read you can whip the “water” from a can of chickpeas into stiff peaks just like egg whites for meringues, so now I’m wondering if this would work for someone who vegans they might be baking these coconut goodies for. And then whip up a batch of hummus too…oh now I am getting hungry!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 18, 2016I’ve heard that about chickpea water, but I’ve never had the nerve to give it a go… maybe I’ll try one day!
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painterwrite
/ November 19, 2016I haven’t tried it either. There’s just something about “bean water cookies” that sounds a bit odd. Still, worth a try if you’re feeling a bit Mad Scientist-y.
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thecontentedcrafter
/ November 18, 2016This is a most interesting post and comments to read through Jan. I avoid wheat and sugar and so look to using ingredients such as mashed pumpkin, ground almonds and cacao for any sweet treats that may be required. I find that all very satisfactory, though it must be admitted my tooth is more inclined to savoury than sweet.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 18, 2016I eat sweet things when they are around, but like them less these days than I used to… I’m a bit of a fiend for cheese, though, which I have to be careful about due to my lactose intolerance (yay for lactase tablets and the fact that hard cheese contains relatively little lactose).
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MrsCraft
/ November 20, 2016They look delicious! 😊 I bet they’d be good with a teaspoon of jam dolloped on before baking.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 20, 2016they are supposed to have an almond on, but I didn’t happen to have any… I hadn’t thought of jam instead though
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MrsCraft
/ November 20, 2016Good excuse to make more I say! 😉
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crawcraftsbeasties
/ November 24, 2016Nice! I remember these from back in the day too… YUM! Wherever I used to get them from added chopped glacé cherries into the mix – definitely worth a shot if you’re making them again. Oh, and if you still want to try your luck with a flour substitute, I found a recipe for a blend a few years ago… It uses 240g white rice flour, 105g potato starch and 40g tapioca flour. Happy baking! 😋
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 24, 2016I may be so hooked on the macaroons now that I don’t need flour!
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crawcraftsbeasties
/ November 25, 2016Tasty! I might give some a whirl myself… It really has been too long!
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Wildlife Destination in India
/ December 8, 2016They look tasty. Wish I enjoyed coconut..
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The Snail of Happiness
/ December 8, 2016yes, that would be a draw-back!
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