Tag Archive for: gluten free desserts

Tartlets with strawberries

Today we are in the mood for strawberries, their bright colour and inviting taste that goes well with desserts. And here we are with a reinterpretation of the classic shortcrust pastry tartlets, lighter but still delicious: Tartlets with strawberries

The trick?

Simple, the dough is prepared with ‘Zero Butter’, a fantastic all-vegetable substitute of butter.

We can begin!

Tartlets with strawberries

40.5g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the shortbread

  • 100g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 60g sugar
  • 50g gluten-free cake flour mix, brand Mix C Dolci Schär**
  • 50g almonds, peeled
  • 50g Zero butter* or butter
  • 1 egg
  • 8g baking powder*

Ingredients for the pastry cream

  • 160g low fat milk
  • 50g sugar
  • 15g corn starch*
  • 3 egg yolks
  • a bit of vanilla from the pod

Ingredients for garnishing

  • 200g fresh strawberries

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Grind the almonds in a food processor into a flour and add all the other ingredients for the shortcrust pastry; mix them together to obtain a soft, smooth dough. Cover with cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the pastry cream: in a food processor or bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture is frothy; add the corn starch and vanilla. Meanwhile, put the milk on the stove and bring it to the boil; pour it over the egg and corn starch mixture and stir quickly with a whisk so that no lumps form. Put everything back on the heat and let it thicken while continuing to stir. Let cool by covering with cling film.
  3. Roll out the shortcrust pastry and line tartlet moulds; prick the bottom with a fork and bake in a static oven preheated to 160°C for about 20 minutes. Let them cool down.
  4. Top the tartlets with custard and strawberries.
    Since no gelatine is used to coat the fruit, eat the tartlets on the same day or the next day at the latest.

Crostatine-di-fragole-gluten-free.blog-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Tartlets with strawberries

Replace the gluten-free flour with an equal amount of standard flour.

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Strawberry cheesecakes

Spring doesn’t just mean milder air and the awakening of nature, it also means the arrival of juicier fruit that precedes summer delights… in short, it means strawberries and Strawberry cheesecakes.

In fact, remember that strawberries are a very diabetes-friendly fruit, having only 5.3g of carbohydrates per 100g of strawberries. And since they are in season and friendly to our needs, also try Ricotta and strawberry cake.

Let’s get to work now!

Strawberry cheesecakes

22.01g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the cake

  • 200g gluten-free biscuits**
  • 110g butter
  • 50g Nutella

Ingredients for the mousse

  • 200g strawberries
  • 250g whipping cream
  • 150g cream cheese at room temperature
  • 60g icing sugar*
  • 10g gelatine sheets*
  • 2 tablespoons of milk
  • 1 vanilla pod

Ingredients for the strawberry sauce

  • 250g strawberries

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Place the biscuits with the softened butter in the blender and chop until a rather fine mixture is obtained; complete by adding the Nutella and mixing well with the chopped biscuits.
    Pour the mixture on the bottom of 9 round pastry rings with a diameter of 8cm placed on a tray, levelling well and compacting it with the back of a spoon. Finally, let your bases rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the mousse.
  3. Soak the gelatine in plenty of cold water for at least 10 minutes.
    In a bowl, mix the cheese with the icing sugar with a fork; wash and clean the strawberries, then blend them to a juice and add them to the cheese cream, mixing well.
    In another bowl, whip the cream and add the seeds of the vanilla pod.
    Heat 2 tablespoons of milk in a saucepan without reaching the boil, remove from the heat, add the squeezed gelatine and stir to dissolve it.
  4. When the gelatine mixture has cooled, add it to the cheese cream. Finally, also incorporate the whipped cream and stir gently with a spatula, from the bottom upwards so as not to cause the mixture to go runny. Pour the resulting cream over the biscuit base inside the rings.
    Now put the cheesecakes in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
La preparazione delle cheesecake

Cheesecake preparation

  1. Before serving, set aside some strawberries to use as a garnishing and blend the remaining ones to make a sauce.
    Take the cheesecakes out of the refrigerator, remove the rings and top with the strawberry sauce and a sliced or whole strawberry.
  2. This recipe can also be prepared by replacing sugar in the cream with a sweetener of your choice, e.g. 30-40g agave syrup, thus reducing the amount of carbohydrates.
La cheesecake pronta da gustare

The ready-to-eat cheesecakes

Version with gluten of Strawberry cheesecakes

Replace gluten-free biscuits with standard ones; no other adaptation is needed.

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Valentine’s day’s recipes: Lovers’ Sacher cake

Valentine’s Day is arriving to celebrate the feeling of love, to be together and exchange sweet thoughts. And what gift could be more appreciated than a delicious Lovers’ Sacher cake, decorated with fresh raspberries?

The perfect ingredients are all there: irresistible dark chocolate, delicate apricot jam and the intense flavour of raspberries to top it.

The shape chosen, needless to say, is the heart shape.

Try our recipe and give it to someone you love! And if you want more ideas for Valentine’s Day, have a look at these Chocolate sweets with candied violets.

Lovers’ Sacher cake

39.85g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the cake

  • 150g gluten free flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
  • 150g sugar free dark chocolate*
  • 150g butter
  • 150g sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • a bit of vanilla from the pod
  • a pinch of salt

Ingredients for filling and coating

  • 250g raspberry jam without added sugar*
  • 120g apricot jam*
  • 150g sugar free dark chocolate*
  • 50g fresh raspberries
  • 50g fresh cream
  • 30g water

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Melt chocolate and butter in a bain-marie, or in the microwave, stirring so that the two ingredients are perfectly incorporated. Then let the mixture cool.
    Separate the yolks from the egg whites and whip the latter until stiff, adding a pinch of salt; then set them aside. Add sugar to the chocolate mixture and then one egg yolk at a time, stirring with a whisk. Add the sifted flour and vanilla, continuing to mix so that no lumps form.
    Finally, incorporate the beaten egg whites.
  2. Pour the mixture into a heart-shaped cake tin, corresponding to a baking tin about 24cm in diameter, lined with wet and squeezed baking paper so that it adheres well to the walls of the tin; gently beat the tin on a surface to let any air bubbles out and bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for 35 minutes. Once the necessary time has elapsed, remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool.
La base della Sacher

Sacher base

  1. Cut the cake in half horizontally. Spread 250g of raspberry jam on the lower half, then cover it with the top half. Pour the apricot jam into a thick-bottomed saucepan together with a little water; put it on the heat and let it melt slightly, then strain it through a fairly thick sieve to obtain a kind of thick, smooth juice.
  2. Use this jam to generously moisten the surface and sides of the chocolate cake.
La copertura con il cioccolato

Chocolate coating

  1. Prepare the chocolate coating by melting the chocolate and cream in a small saucepan over very low heat or in the microwave. Stir well to obtain a smooth and even cream and cover the cake with the help of a smooth-bladed knife.
La decorazione con i lamponi

Decorating with raspberries

  1. Place fresh raspberries around the perimeter of the heart to define it.
La Sacher pronta per essere gustata

Sacher ready to be enjoyed

Version with gluten of Lovers’ Sacher cake

Replace the 150g of gluten-free flour with an equal amount of wheat flour.

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Gluten-free Mini cheesecakes with chocolate and orange

The recipe we are proposing was a real experiment, one of those that not only succeeds perfectly, but can become a must to end a dinner party with a dessert that will conquer the palate: Mini cheesecakes with chocolate and orange.

Beautiful to look at and excellent to eat, these Mini cheesecakes with chocolate and orange are a perfect example of harmony of flavours: the mouth-watering contrast between the chocolate of the base, the cream cheese and the final layer of bitter orange perfectly balances sweetness. The result is a perfect combination that explodes in the mouth.

Can we say that we fell in love? And if you like cheesecakes, also try the strawberry version.

Here’s how to prepare them.

Mini cheesecakes with chocolate and orange

20.26g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the base

  • 200g biscuits**
  • 110g butter
  • 50g Nutella

Ingredients for the mousse

  • 250g whipping cream
  • 150g spreadable cheese at room temperature
  • 60g icing sugar*
  • 50g chocolate chips*
  • 8g gelatine sheets*
  • 2 tablespoons of milk
  • 1 vanilla pod

Ingredients for the orange topping

  • 150g bitter orange marmalade* 15g Cointreau or orange juice

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Put the biscuits and butter in the blender and blend everything until you obtain a rather fine mixture. Finally, add Nutella, stirring until all ingredients are mixed well.
  2. Use the mixture to form the bottom of 8 round pastry rings having a diameter of 8cm placed on a tray. Level the base well and compact it with the back of a spoon. Put to rest in the refrigerator for about half an hour.
  3. In the meantime, prepare the mousse.
    Soak the gelatine in cold water for at least 10 minutes.
  4. Put the cheese in a bowl, add the icing sugar and a bit of vanilla from the pod, then mix.
    In another bowl, whip the cream and add other seeds from the vanilla pod.
  5. In a small saucepan, heat the 2 tablespoons of milk without letting it boil, remove it from the heat and add the squeezed gelatine stirring for it to dissolve. When it has cooled, strain it through a sieve and add it to the cream cheese. Fold in the whipped cream gently.
    Add chocolate chips as desired and pour the resulting cream over the biscuit base inside the rings.
    Let the cheesecakes rest for at least 3 hours.
  6. And now the last step.

Uno_Chef_per_Gaia_mini cheesecake al cioccolato e arancia

Place the orange marmalade in a cup and dilute it with 3 tablespoons of Cointreau (or orange juice) to soften it so it can be spread on the cheesecakes.
7. To do so, take them out of the rings, cover the surface with a generous layer of jam and decorate to taste with a slice of orange and a few drops of chocolate.

Version with gluten of Mini cheesecakes with chocolate and orange

Replace gluten free biscuits with standard ones; no other adaptation is needed.

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Craving for something sweet? Try my gluten-free Apple pie

Gluten-free Apple pie is a must. Impossible to resist the scent of apples, their taste that blends sweet and ‘sharp’ flavours in a single bite, further enhanced by the many spices that can be used to create flavour variations.

And it is precisely apples the main ingredient in the dessert we are recommending today: a gluten-free Apple Pie that can be enjoyed at any time of the day, for breakfast, as a snack, to accompany tea, but also to finish dinner on a sweet note.

With this recipe, you can create a cake with a soft and enveloping heart, enclosed in a thin shell of fragrant puff pastry, a mouth-watering idea to pamper your palate. If you like apple cakes, also try my Soft apple and cinnamon cake.

Uno_Chef_per_Gaia_ricetta Apple Pie

Gluten-free Apple pie

19.30g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the brisè pastry

  • 300g gluten-free flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
  • 150g cold butter
  • 80g water
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • sweetener* or sugar

Ingredients for the filling

  • 1350g Granny Smith apples (weight of whole, unpeeled apples)
  • 2-3 tablespoons of water
  • 25g lemon juice
  • 25g almond flour*
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
  • sweetener* or sugar

Ingredients for finishing

  • 1 whole eggs
  • 20g brown sugar

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

  1. Start preparing the shortcrust pastry by mixing flour, butter cut into chunks, sugar/sweetener and a pinch of salt. The mixture will be grainy, so mix it until it becomes firm, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate whilst preparing the filling.
  2. And now the filling! Peel and cut the apples, put them in a non-stick pan with a few tablespoons of water and let them cook until soft. Then remove everything from the heat and let it cool down.
    At this point you can add the sugar/sweetener, lemon juice and cinnamon, stirring to combine all the flavours.
  3. Well, we have both the dough and its filling….let’s assemble.
  4. Roll out more than half of the brisè pastry on a sheet of baking paper and line a 24cm diameter mould. Sprinkle the base with almond flour, cover the bottom with the freshly prepared apple filling and close with another disc of brisè. It will be like a treasure chest of taste and scents.
  5. Make ray-like cuts on the surface and brush it with beaten egg and a sprinkling of sugar to taste. Finally, bake the cake in a convection oven preheated to 180°C for about 45 minutes.
L'Apple pie pronta per essere gustata

Apple pie ready to be enjoyed

  1. If it does not brown properly, set the oven to 200°C and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes. This fantastic Apple Pie can be served either warm or cold.

Version with gluten of Apple pie

Replace the gluten free BiAglut flour with an equal amount of wheat flour and possibly reduce the amount of water to be added to the crust.

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