Posts Tagged "bread"

Coeliac Awareness Week- Gluten-Free Bread

Posted by cafebebemama on May 17, 2011 in Gluten Free Mama | 4 comments

Bread. Bread is lovely. Bread represents life. Bread was my friend. Now bread doesn’t like me so much. I still love bread but in a slightly different form. It’s not the same but it will have to do until some genius comes along and makes me a gluten-free baguette.

The trouble with bread is the gluten. Gluten in flour is what causes bread to rise. Bread that doesn’t rise tends to be, well, flat…cakey…heavy…dry. There are ways and means but I need someone to teach me. Until then, I make do with the best gluten-free has to offer. Sigh…

I have had the opportunity to test prescription-only gluten-free bread (Juvela and Glutafin) both in mix form and ready made loaves. The ready-made loaves are teeny and a bit “sproingy” (for lack of a better term) and are best served toasted. A bit of a buzz kill for the sandwich lovers who need gluten-free bread. I have also had the opportunity to test store brand free-from bread. Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s have their own offerings (as do Asda, Co-Op and other brand stores) and again, they are adequate. Not ideal for sandwiches but great for toasting.

I recently gave the Tesco Free-From bagels and crumpets a go, in the interest of science. For the record, the Tesco Free-From bagels are as hard as a rock and dry as the Sahara but the crumpets were a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, the crumpets came in at £1.79 for 4 crumpets which makes each crumpet worth 45 pence! You can buy 8 Tesco-brand crumpets for about £1.00 (13 pence each). This is where I really get cross. Does gluten-free HAVE to cost 2-3x the regular retail price of non-gluten-free items? UNFAIR!

Warburton’s has entered the gluten-free game with their own range of gluten-free breads, tea cakes, rolls and crumpets. Again I was given the opportunity to sample the bread, rolls and tea cakes. I found the bread to be excellent, despite some rumblings in the press about the bread falling apart. Warburton’s addressed issues with quality and freshness and, I believe, have come up with a pretty good bread. I didn’t find the rolls terribly appealing and the tea cakes were very dry and required lashings of butter (and tea) but I would definitely buy the bread again. Part of the challenge is finding it, however, as my local Tesco does not stock it and my local Morrison’s for some reason has it stashed with the “regular” bread and not in the Free-From section.

One of the first store bought gluten-free loaves that I purchased after being diagnosed Coeliac was Genius bread. They’ve taken up a strong advertising campaign and are promoting their bread in magazines everywhere. But the extortionate price of the loaf (£2.89 per loaf) and the dry, crumbly texture of the bread makes it an item I am not likely to buy again. Sorry Genius. You don’t cut it in the Cafe Bebe household.

Finally, I have taken to making my own gluten-free bread thanks to my Morphy Richards breadmaker and Doves Farm Gluten-Free Bread flour. I do have to say that the bread is lovely, if slightly cakey but is considerably cheaper and more convenient than buying store-bought gluten-free bread. The Doves Farm flour is not the cheapest but if you buy in bulk, direct from their site, you can save a great deal. Or check out your local grocery store this week. Tesco has 3 for 2 on Doves Farm flours in honour of National Coeliac Awareness Week. I stocked up!

So, bread remains, a bit of the final frontier for Coeliacs. To find the perfect recipe, the perfect combination of flours and rising and baking…it is illusive. If you’d like to teach me and share with me your keys to success, I will happily welcome you into my kitchen. I’ve got a Salter Scale! Share your favourite gluten-free breads in the comments below. I’m willing to give any bread a try in my endless quest. Now who’s gonna be the first to offer me that gluten-free baguette in the sky??

Before you go, check out some scrummy recipes from TV chef, Phil Vickery who works his magic with some of the Warburton’s Gluten-Free range.

Adventures in Gluten-Free Breadmaking

Posted by cafebebemama on Feb 7, 2011 in Gluten Free Mama, Mealtimes | 2 comments

Morphy Richards Breadmaker

When I first was diagnosed with coeliac disease, a source of sadness for me was the loss of “normal” bread. I love bread. In every shape and size. When I lived in France in 2005, I got a baguette nearly every day. It exfoliated the roof of my mouth but I didn’t care! The pain was worth it. Bread was good.

Now I find out that bread is the enemy. And one of the worst parts is that the crucial ingredient that makes bread bread is GLUTEN. Making gluten-free bread is not easy. You seem to either wind up with something that weighs 37 pounds or tastes like wool. Neither option is overly appealing!

In the first few weeks of going gluten-free, I passed on the store bought gluten-free alternatives. Mainly because I couldn’t rationalise the price! Most store-bought, gluten-free bread is 2-3 times the cost of their “normal” alternative. £2.89 for a teeny loaf of moderately edible bread is not my idea of fun. For the sake of taste-testing, I did buy a loaf of Genius bread. It’s not too horrible but I still can’t justify the cost. When I received my starter kits from Juvela and Glutafin there were small loaves of bread and bread rolls included in the kits. Again, these samples were not half bad. I did find that they were best eaten toasted which was fine by me as toast and tea is my usual breakfast. I could have toast again! Rejoice!

Juvela and Glutafin are prescription only brands, however. I wanted to MAKE my own bread to not only save money but to be able to eat it fresh and warm and say, “I MADE that bread!” I gave the Juvela Fibre Mix a whirl without the use of a breadmaker and lo and behold…I created BREAD. It was light and lucious and didn’t cost a thing! (Well, I had received the mix for free in my starter kit) I will most definitely try this method again when I am able to fill my prescription.

But I’m funny. I like to make things with my own two hands (or my own breadmaker) by measuring and mixing, not pouring it from a mix. I guess I’m not funny…I’m a control freak with a need for constant reassurance!

Last week, I unpacked the Morphy Richards breadmaker that I received as a contributor to the Home of the House Proud site. I was so excited as I washed the baking pan and lovingly “seasoned” it for its first trial run. I used the following recipe for my first attempt in my adventures in gluten-free breadmaking:

• 300ml tepid water
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 120g Juvela white mix/120g Glutafin white mix/120g Doves Farm White bread flour
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp yeast

Method:

Add the water, oil and salt into the pan. Add the flour mixtures. Sprinkle the sugar followed by the yeast onto the top of the flour mixture. Place the pan into the breadmachine. Use the Gluten-Free programme. Wait, watch and hope for the best.

The gluten-free programme takes approximately 2hrs 35 minutes. I regularly kept peering through the window to check on the progress. It didn’t look promising for a while. There wasn’t much rising going on initially. In fact, most of the progress on it looking like a normal loaf of bread didn’t take place until the last 45 minutes or so. Doesn’t it look scrummy?

The finished product? Well, IT TASTED GREAT!!!!! I couldn’t wait for the requisite 30 minutes cooling time. I yanked the pan out of the breadmachine, turned the loaf out (it actually slid right out), placed it on a make-shift rack to cool and stared at it. I tapped it (sounded like good bread should) and then, after about 10 minutes, I cut off the end and had a taste! Very, very nice! Not at all like wool and quite light, thank you very much! Have a look!

Pretty huh?! I was rather proud of it! The hubby approved and Little Miss scarfed it right down. 2 votes of approval right there. Now, my recipe is slightly unorthodox. It was not perfect as it was a mixture of 3 types of gluten-free flour and I went off the rails to make that up. But it was tasty and went down a treat AND was gluten-free. It lasted the night with a few slices left for my toast in the morning. Result!

However, being the control freak that I am, I was not satisfied with this first attempt. I felt that I wasn’t doing my readers and any possible gluten-free readers, a service by relying on prescription-only mixes. So, I set up the bread maker the next day to make another attempt at gluten-free breadmaking using Doves Farm flour and the recipe on the back of their White Bread Flour package. A package that anyone (in the UK) can buy. Tune in later this week to see the results! In the meantime, enjoy this first attempt in adventures in gluten-free breadmaking. I know I did!

Hovis vs Snack Attack

Posted by cafebebemama on Jan 11, 2011 in Product Reviews | 0 comments

Hello Cafe Bebe Readers! I’m bringing you a fantabulous blogger this week and next who will be sharing her experiences with eating a healthy breakfast and how it makes a difference to her hunger throughout the day. Sabina is a fellow “mummy blogger” at Mummy Matters and has graciously agreed to try out some scrummy Hovis bread recipes for me as, being diagnosed with coeliac disease, I unfortunately can’t eat standard bread offerings any longer. So here is Sabina’s tale of how she’s taming her hunger pangs in Hovis vs Snack Attack.

Hello my name is Sabina, I’m 34 years old and I’m a snacker!  There I said it – I can relax now that it’s all out in the open.  I’ve never been great with food, I’m very much a can cook, won’t cook sort of girl.  I do not have a good relationship with food at all, I just want to eat something that is there and ready.  I find no pleasure in preparing food or thinking about what to eat and this has been much worse since I’ve joined the ranks of the stay-at-home mums.  I think this is probably the reason that Karin asked me to do this review for Hovis – in an effort to make me eat slightly better!

I have one other confession to make, I’m not generally a fan of bread – some people love it, some hate it, I’m somewhere in the middle.  I like bread, I eat bread occasionally but only as far as a sandwich or toast with butter and jam – I’m so adventurous aren’t I!  Although, I did have a bread maker because I wanted to have the smell of fresh bread billowing from my kitchen.

On a normal day I eat a bowl of cereals for my breakfast and then throughout the morning I might have yoghurt, some biscuits, a bar of chocolate or a banana.  Then lunch would be a jacket potato with cottage cheese or a bowl of noodles, again in the afternoon attacking the biscuit barrel or the chocolate cupboard, sometimes a handful of almonds and then some form of meat and vegetables for tea.  When you bear in mind that I’m a breastfeeding mother that isn’t really a healthy diet!

The very well known bread makers Hovis have started a campaign called “Stop Snacking” because researchers have revealed that the average British woman will consume approximately 1,092 unhealthy snacks in 2011.  In the survey of 2,000 women an average of 129 packets of crisps, more than 127 chocolate bars, 77 cakes and 133 biscuits will be consumed by one woman alone in 2011.  Personally, I think I would easily be double that figure – ooops not good when you look at it in writing.

Hovis Wholemeal have commissioned this research in conjunction with the release of their Facebook App at www.Facebook.com/Hovisbakery.  Hovis Wholemeal joined forces with Hovis Ambassador and Olympic Gold Medallist Victoria Pendleton because she understands the importance of healthy eating and choosing the right foods to kick-start your day. On the Facebook page you will find recipes, daily prizes, rewards for completion, people to chat with and ideas on how to stop snacking.  Don’t just take my word for it, check it out yourself.  I visited the page and decided to try out a couple of the recipes but in my own style.  Yesterday I had omelette on toast – it was supposed to be Eggy Bread but in all honesty I burnt it in the pan and so had to throw it away.

However, the question is, did I snack?  I don’t know whether it was a conscious thing or not but, no I didn’t snack.  I didn’t feel hungry at all and lasted out until lunch time.

But today’s recipe is the one that I loved and will definitely be making a regular appearance at my breakfast table – doesn’t it look good?

The recipe which gave me the inspiration for this was Yoghurty Fruity Breakfast with apples, bananas and blueberries topped with low fat yoghurt on toast.  I’m not a big fan of blueberries so I decided to swap mine for raspberries instead.  The funny thing is, this was the one which I was I really unsure about as I generally see bread as a “savoury” not sweet but this was soo tasty and filling I will definitely be having it again and it took less than a minute to prepare.

So why does this make me less likely to snack?  Hovis Wholemeal bread is rich in fibre which will make me feel fuller for longer and therefore less likely to reach for the biscuit tin.

**This is a sponsored post.**

Mummy & Little Miss Make Bread

Posted by cafebebemama on Feb 11, 2010 in Little Miss Adventures, Motherhood, Vlog Posts | 3 comments

Making Bread with Little Miss

Yesterday I decided to be brave and make bread with Little Miss.  I have a bit of a problem with mess and control and I know that when cooking in the kitchen with a 20 month old, you can’t worry about either of these things.  Inspired by Nick and Archie at My Daddy Cooks, I’ve taken the plunge to try something in the kitchen with Little Miss.  I figured bread would be the least painful…and I was right!  We followed the Annabel Karmel recipe from her book, Top 100 Finger Foods.  I’ll include the recipe after the vlog post.  The bread turned out quite tasty, actually.  We made it into rolls and a flat, olive bread for Little Miss (she’s a big fan of olives).  I will continue to use this recipe and venture into the kitchen more often with Little Miss.  She loves it and besides, we have an apron and everything so why not?  (apologies for the somewhat lengthy video…I need some video editing software and lessons!)

Ingredients for Basic Bread Dough-

• 7g sachet fast-action yeast
• 1tsp sugar
• 150 ml (1/4 pint) hand-hot water
• 225 g. white bread flour (or half-white/half-whole meal)
• 1/4 tsp salt (omit for under 1 year)
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

• Dissolve the yeast and sugar in a small bowl using four tablespoons of the water.  Leave to stand for 5 minutes- it should start to turn frothy.
• Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl then add the yeast liquid, oil and remaining water.  Mix to a soft dough, adding one or two teaspoons of extra water if the dough is too dry.
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for around 10 minutes until the dough feels smooth and springy.  Put the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean, damp cloth.  Leave to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour until risen and doubled in size.
• Turn out the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 1 minute.

I doubled the recipe above which resulted in us being able to make 6 rolls and 2 flat breads.  They turned out lovely and Little Miss was quite impressed with our efforts! 

Little Miss' Olive Flat Bread

Bread by Little Miss, Recipe by Annabel Karmel