Gluten free, dairy free, egg free bread

When looking for gluten free breads it seems there is always eggs and milk added, to me these ingredients mean making a cake not a bread, so I decided to try creating a new GF bread without eggs or dairy and the final product turned out really nice and tasty, like real gluten bread. The bread got eaten before I had time to take a picture!

Gluten free, dairy free, egg free bread

Ingredients

15 gr        Flax seed grounded to a fine flour (it is better than buying it already grounded)
30 gr        Brown rice flour
150 gr      White rice flour
20 gr        Millet flour
20 gr        Sorghum flour
20 gr        Quinoa flour
40 gr        Buckwheat flour (Sarasin)
35 gr        Potato starch
20 gr        Coconut flour
53 gr        Tapioca flour 

½ tsp /2gr Xanthan gum 

1.5 tsp     Salt

460 ml    Tepid water

3 tsp         Active dry yeast
1 tsp        Maple syrup (to activate yeast)

Method
Place all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl except yeast.

Mix water, yeast and maple syrup and let it rest for 5mn (it will start bubbling)

Pour liquid over dry ingredients and mix with paddle attachment for 5mn on speed 1, scraping the sides of the bowl at least once. You will obtain a batter like dough.

Pour in a silicone mould.
Let rise covered with a cotton/linen cloth for approx. 1h until it reaches the top of the mould
Bake in pre-heated oven at 350 for 45mn at least (check for hollow sound and lighter weight)

This bread is quite moist thus won't keep very long, it will freeze well already sliced for ease of use and toaster readiness.

Tip all flours can be substituted for other GF ones, however it is important to keep the Tapioca and Xanthan gum, they compensate for the lack of gluten.

Galette des rois

In France 6th January marks the celebration of Epiphany, the coming of the 3 kings or the Three Magi: Balthasar, Melchior and Gaspar bringing offerings to Jesus Christ, and as most traditions in France we celebrate with food, in this case it is the Galette des Rois. 

The bakeries go crazy over this and you can find galettes from December until February, the quality varies greatly, but if you are lucky to have tasted a good one you will remember it forever. I have this taste lodged in a corner of my memory and every year wait in anticipation to have a slice or more. 

Since moving to the US it is more difficult to find a galette des rois and this year I finaly decided to make it. 

It is basically an almond filling (Frangipane) encased between 2 sheets of puff pastry.

Galette des Rois

For a 10" galette 

Puff pastry (see recipe here)

Frangipane (see below)

Ingredients for Frangipane

3.5 oz / 100 gr Sugar
3.5 oz / 100 gr Almond powder / almond meal (you can make it yourself by finely grinding the almonds)
3.5 oz / 100 gr Butter at room temp.
2 tsp Corn startch (increase if you increase the rum)
A few drops of almond extract
2 Tbsp Rum
2 Eggs
100 gr Pastry cream (see recipe here - do not put whipped cream)

Method
Mix Sugar, almond, butter, corn startch, almond extract, rum then add the eggs.
When all blended add the pastry cream.

Assembling and baking the “galette des rois”
Split the dough in 2 equal parts, roll out 1 half while the other stays in the fridge, form a 10 ½ " circle (use a sharp knife to cut the dough, it will help it to rise nicely), lay it on a Silpat and chill while you roll out the second circle (slightly larger than the first one as you need to allow room for the filling).
Take first circle out, spread it with Frangipane (almond filling), leaving 2” without filling on the edges, brush water on the edges and place second circle on top of the filling and seal the edges by pressing them, it is really important to seal the edges properly or the filling will escape when baking.
Make a small hole in the center for the steam to escape and decorate the top of the dough with a sharp knife (beware not to cut through the dough completely).
Regrigerate for 30mn.
Brush with egg wash and bake in preheated oven for 30 to 45 mn at 370 F / 187 C depending on your oven (it's better to over bake than under bake). To know when it is baked lift the bottom and it should be golden and dry, it soggy return to the oven.
Serve slightly warm. 

Puff pastry - Pâte feuilletée

I have always loved making desserts and baking but was shying away from making real puff pastry with a pre-conceived idea that it would be too hard to make and would take too much time. Nonetheless I kept researching about it and finaly decided to go for it. Here is a fairly straightforward method that will give you really amazing results. Slightly different than a previous version already posted.

Puff pastry - Pâte feuilletée

For 2 10 ½" circles

Ingredients

1 ¾ cup + 1 Tbsp / 250 gr All purpose flour       
3 ¾ fl oz / 125 gr (115 ml) Water (cold)           
1 tsp / 6 gr Pinch of salt           
2 Tbsp / 25 gr Butter (room temp.)       

1.5 stick /162 gr Butter unsalted (cold)   

Method
In the bowl of food processor with dough blade mix all ingredients except cold butter, give a few pulse until the dough gathers together, take out on a clean dry work surface and form a ball without working the dough too much, make a cross on the dough (to help it relax).
Place the dough ball in a plastic wrap in the fridge for 20mn.
Take the cold butter and work it into a flat square 6”x6”.
Take the dough out of the fridge and spread the cross and roll out the dough into a square 9”x 9” approx.
Place the butter square on top of the dough square. Sideways and close the dough over the butter in the shape of an envelope, seal well so the butter won’t escape (very important).
Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 12” long (9" wide) and make a double turn.
Repeat and chill dough for 30mn.
Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 12” long and make 2 double turns.
Chill for 30mn.At this point you can either use the dough or freeze it.