New Zealanders, it seems, have quite a reputation for home baking. Their 1908 cookbook, Edmonds Cookery Book, provides recipes for a plethora of favourite sweet-treats including the classic and now politically incorrectly named, Afghans ….
Our Valentine’s Day Lime and Rose Cheesecake is on the more delicate end of the scale and uses lime juice and zest to cut the richness a little. And to fit the occasion we’ve made it in a heart shape, decorated with dried rose buds ….
Where we live we happily enjoy our festive season in the hot summer months when chestnuts are not in season. However, like Santa Snow, they are still often thought of as a traditional Christmas component ….
Most of our recipes for pastry - and we do have a few of them on the blog – are made with a blend of flours that work together to replicate the characteristics of wheat flour. This one is unusual because it uses only buckwheat flour, along with the usual butter, sugar, egg, etc. Whether it’s serendipity, chemistry or both, the buckwheat flour behaves beautifully, just like wheat ….
These Orange, Almond and Vanilla biscuits are delicious and can be made in any shape and iced in any way for any occasion. However, we at The Coeliac’s Revenge have produced them in ‘YES’ shapes and in the colours of Aboriginal Australia to show our support for a YES outcome in our upcoming vote for constitutional change in Australia ….
f you’re on the lookout for a sweet little chunk of gluten-free deliciousness, and you’re partial to ginger, whip up some of this Ginger Hazelnut Crunch. Each small bite has a layer of smooth ginger topping on a crunchy hazelnut biscuit base, which makes it great company for a coffee or to round off a good meal ….
This pretty cake is pretty easily made. And that’s always a good thing. While the rose petals decoration is optional I highly recommend going that extra step for the beautiful perfume they impart to the cake …
It’s apple season in Australia and when we’re not simply enjoying crunching into a sweet, crisp new season Kanzi, Pink Lady, Jonathon, Royal Gala or Jazz we’re celebrating it with a gluten-free Apple and Poppy Seed Tart ….
We made this moist and delicious Gluten-free Rhubarb and White Chocolate Cake for a birthday recently, and because some of us are so keen on rhubarb we thought it should be a keeper. It’s an easy cake to make and it behaves itself very nicely ….
I’ve been making this cake for many years now and I can’t quite remember from where the recipe originated. What I do know is that it is very well liked and often ‘just another small slice, please’ is guiltily requested. To decorate, either go the full bling by applying some gold leaf to the ganache frosting or simply dust with icing sugar ….
Chocolate, roses, nuttiness, spice and of course sweetness make this cake perfect for Valentine’s Day or any other day you’re looking to win a few hearts with a delicious and easy cake ….
We know that lots of people love a cheesecake so here we’re offering a baked Cherry Mascarpone Cheesecake for you to try. With the use of a food processor it’s very simple to make so maybe this is one to try with your enthusiastic little cooks. They’ll just have to wait overnight until it chills in the fridge ….
Years ago, the Byron Bay Cookie Company used to make some very decent gluten-free Macadamia and White Chocolate Cookies. In those days, when there wasn’t a lot of gluten-free on the market, they were a stand-out. Sadly, the quality of the product didn’t last, but if you like a good cookie, please try a batch of our Macadamia and White Chocolate Cookies ….
We at the Coeliac’s Revenge love a party and a wedding offers the opportunity for a really big one! Luckily for us then, after 32 years of a very happy union, Jan’s beloved dropped to his knee recently and proposed ….
Made entirely in the food processor, our Quince and Vanilla Cake has two texturally different layers sandwiching vanilla-poached quinces in between. No quinces? No problem. Our Quince and Vanilla Cake can be made with any poached fruit or even your favourite jam ….
Small sweet and spicy, our gluten-free Linzer Biscuits are a variation on the traditional Austrian cake, the Linzer Torte, a latticed topped, jam filled tart made with hazelnut pastry. Our biscuits are flavoured with cardamom and cinnamon and filled with our homemade sour cherry jam but any jam, homemade or not will be delicious ….
Roast almond meal gives a lovely nutty contrast to the lemon flavour of our Lemon, Roast Almond and Ricotta Cake. And the ricotta guarantees a moist texture which will last for a few days making it ideal to bake in advance ….
If, like us, you handily keep some pastry in the fridge or freezer then the task from thought to table is quite a bit quicker. For this pretty Vanilla Persimmon Tart we used our Revenge Almond Shortcrust Pastry that provided a nutty, crisp case ….
Would you have guessed that beetroot, cardamom, blackberries and raspberries would go together so well? Well, we did, and we backed our hunch to come up with this lovely cake ….
It’s walnut season in our wintry climes and we’re taking full advantage of their sweet freshness by showcasing them in this delicious Walnut and Apricot Jam Tart ….
This super simple recipe for crisp, Sweet Chestnut Bark will help elevate those scoops of ice cream to a proper dessert ….
We know you can pick up a macaron pretty well anywhere these days but they’re not all good and just think how impressed your friends and family will be when you produce your very own home-made version. Our macarons are not at all difficult to make but you do need to follow a few easy technical steps to ensure success ….
Plums and hazelnuts seem to have been made for each other. Certainly in this pudding they make a great team, providing a juicy, fruity base and a crisp friand-like topping. And with a dollop of something creamy it’s delicious ….
Three ripe pears in the fruit bowl, a flan tin lined with our Revenge Almond Shortcrust Pastry sitting handily in the freezer and pretty soon I had a golden-brown Pear and Almond Tart cooling on the kitchen bench ….
We’ve used memories of childhood and an adult palate to devise a version of Rocky Road using couverture chocolate, gluten-free marshmallows and candied macadamia nuts ….
As a very young woman I went to Europe with two girlfriends for a year. We had a great time (who wouldn’t?) and, like most people, fell in love with Italy. And its food (yes, and the art, architecture and the odd young man or two!). In Siena, to see where the famous Palio horse race spectacular is run, I had a piece of its equally famous Siena Cake. And another love affair was started ….
Our Chocolate, Date and Orange Marmalade Cake uses meringue as its base and is enriched with dates and chocolate and flavoured with orange marmalade. Sounding a bit unusual? Not really, chocolate and orange make a great marriage and the dates …. well they add texture and a complex sweetness ….
Sometimes a creamy dessert, like the Raspberry Mousse we have here, is all the better for a little company - which is where these crunchy Almond Lace Wafers come in. While not dissimilar to classic Brandy Snaps, these Almond Lace Wafers are, of course, gluten-free ….
Our first recipe for 2022, Gluten-free Muesli Slice, is a little bit healthy, a little bit indulgent and not a lot of effort. Sounds like a perfect way to start the new year ….
Here’s a mad idea for the little ones at your Christmas table … do-it-yourself Pavlova Snowmen ….
I have quite possibly made this Candied Quince and Ricotta Cake over a hundred times as it was a firm favourite when I had my café. However, in those days not all my cakes were gluten-free and so I had almost forgotten about this delicious recipe ….
The Crème Caramel has been a popular dessert forever - well, maybe since some long-gone chef burnt a pot of custard and found that a base of overcooked sugar was a delightful improvement ….
The Bon Vivant is a layer of nut meringue (daquoise), baked and cooled then covered with a buttery, chocolatey topping and baked again. It’s fabulously rich, so just a square or two will do …
This cake could be described as a fruit cake given that it is full of apple, pear, sultanas and lemon zest. Yet, it is nothing like the traditional fruitcake we all know and enjoy, generally around Christmas time ….
Perfect to have with a cup of espresso or as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, our Date and Walnut Fudge Slice may not win a beauty contest but it sure tastes good ….
A birthday dessert was required; cherries are in season; our new, buttery, gluten-free pastry recipe needed its debut; the guest of honour is Italian; and so our Cherry and Ricotta Tart seemed a perfect choice ….
Polenta not only gives texture to our Glazed Lime Polenta Cake, it is actually quite nutritious. It’s low-carb, low-fat and gluten-free and contains protein, fibre, complex carbohydrates and vitamin A. What a winner ….
This fabulous recipe requires a couple of spoonsful of a lemon soufflé mixture spooned onto gluten-free crepes which are folded, sugared and baked. The soufflé mixture rises within the crepes creating delicious pillow-like puffs with crispy edges and ambrosial interiors …
It’s not as if anyone needs anything more to eat after feasting on a big Christmas meal but, personally, I always think that the indulgence needs to go just one extra mile on such a big day and I love to produce a BIG plate of special little sweet treats ….
In planning our blogs for Christmas this year we thought that the traditional European Yule log might be nice for the dessert. Often referred to as a Bûche de Noël, after the French version, it is a fun cake to make and loved by all who like chocolate (everybody). ….
The three of us love a grand dessert, a big statement at the end of a good meal, as evidenced by the desserts in our SWEET REVENGE cookbook. But sometimes something simpler is called for. Our Gluten-Free Cardamom Crisps and Gluten-Free Almond Crisps are just the thing ….
The recipe for these delicious morsels, called Eugenies, is from Annie Smithers, the chef and owner of du Fermier in Victoria. She explains that when she was an apprentice chef travelling in France she ate at Michel Guerard’s restaurant, Les Pres d’Eugenie where she first sampled these orange and chocolate treats ….
Berries, coconut and almond are three ingredients that most people seem to like. Combine them as we have done in our Berry, Almond and Coconut Cake and you have a sure winner on your hands ….
My friends, Cino, Silvano and Maria-Rosa will be furious. They are fiercely purist in a very Italian way. A salsa isn’t a salsa unless it’s made with tomato. A pesto isn’t a pesto unless it’s made with basil, pinenuts and parmigiana Reggiano. And don’t even think of putting black sesame seeds into your biscotti ….
The universally loved lemon tart can have many variations but the most well-known version, containing lemon curd in some sort of guise, may not necessarily be the most delicious ….
On our recent trip to Jordan we found a cornucopia of fabulous sweet treats on just about every street corner, but alas, those dainty, nutty, syrupy delights almost exclusively contained gluten. While we may never master a gluten-free filo pastry to make all the wonderful variations of baklava that looked so inviting, we have perfected a gluten-free Barazek ….
The recipe for our Mocha Meringue Treats started its long journey in Iceland where these almond meringues, topped with a rich mocha cream and iced with chocolate, are called Sarah Bernhardt Cakes ….
Our light and not-too-sweet Hazelnut, Honey and Cocoa Nib Cakes make the perfect finale to a heavy meal. The subtle flavours marry well with most types of fruit and were particularly delicious with the poached quinces pictured. Lashings of cream mandatory of course ….
This gluten-free Chocolate Buttermilk Cake is fabulous, even if we do say so ourselves, and it’s pretty straightforward to make. The couverture chocolate and cocoa give it a rich, very chocolatey flavour and the buttermilk creates a wonderful texture …
I love a sweet and salty combination. Bacon caramelised with honey and sprinkled over a salad; sweet, butternut pumpkin and olives or feta in a savoury tart; salted caramel ice cream; salted chocolate crème brulee - and the list goes on ….
These decadent morsels, originally named Millionaire’s Shortbread due to their rich ingredients, are our gluten-free version of a recipe published by Andrew McConnell a few years ago. As they are not too sweet and use couverture chocolate, they are a bit more grown-up than the commercially made caramel chocolate slices found in cafés and shops everywhere ….
This is my kind of cake. And Rosie’s and Jan’s too. We love the nutty bite, the combination of three varieties of nuts, the aromatics of cardamom and cinnamon, the icing perfumed with orange blossom and, most importantly, that it’s easy to make ….
Our Gluten-Free Ricotta Souffle Cake is the perfect treat with which to spoil your mother on Mothers’ Day and just like our mothers, it’s not too sweet but just perfectly sweet enough ….
We love our Gluten-free Anzac Biscuits but they weren’t always as delicious. Anzac Biscuits started out in life as a staple in soldiers’ rations – a very (very) hard, nutritious but unpalatable alternative to bread ….
Wanting a seasonal tart to end an Italian meal we came up with this delicious combination. Fig, frangipane and Frangelico. We nicknamed it the 3F Tart ….
When we were testing this recipe, we all agreed it reminded us of our childhood. Was it the coconut, the dates, the golden syrup, the lovely sweet and chewy texture or did it just remind us of that lovely smell of sweet baking in the family kitchen ….
At home on a summery Saturday evening. Husband proposed a deal. A cake for a cocktail. Done I said ….
There are many stories about how the heart came to represent love, and of course Valentine’s Day. One suggests it came from an illustrated verse, written in the 13th century, that depicts a poetic lover handing his beating heart to his beloved. The image shows his thumb making an indentation in the top of the heart, thus creating the symbol we all know today ….
Making pastry can be a tricky undertaking at the best of times. Cooks talk about having ‘pastry hands’. Indeed, hot hands, air temperature and even humidity can have a role in success or failure. At the Coeliac’s Revenge we’re pretty good with pastry and really love making and eating it. So when tasked with producing some excellent gluten-free pastries we were up for the challenge ….
We think our Hazelnut, Cocoa Nib and Chocolate Ganache Squares just might be a superfood! ….
A simple, unadorned lemon tart is one of my favourite desserts. Try your hand at our silky version using our Revenge Gluten-free Shortcrust Pastry and it may well become your preferred dessert too ….
Here are two simple sweet treats for you. Both are very moreish and too easy to nibble through morning, noon and night ….
After I was diagnosed with coeliac disease, my Mum, who was always a keen cake-baker, started providing me with my own personal stash of gluten-free biscuits ….
I wasn’t a Girl Scout so I’m not very good at tying knots or starting fires without a match but I am very good at being prepared and these individual tarts are designed with that preparedness in mind …
Alfajores are delicious, buttery shortbread-like biscuits sandwiched together with dulce de leche, a rich, caramel confection which is a staple in South American countries, especially Argentina. They are completely addictive ….
I have a really sweet tooth. I love honey. I also love crunchy things, especially roasted almonds. Nougat de Montelimar is a French nougat that has all of the above rolled into one, and it’s my very favourite sweet treat. My kind of nirvana ....
This classic apple tart is another fairly easy recipe for your repertoire and will be well liked by all. Who doesn’t like apple? Who doesn’t like pastry? No one we know. And besides, this one not only looks pretty, it smells wonderful ....
Black and White Macaroons? Well, not really, but these simple little treats do use black sesame seeds and white coconut threads. And the end result, as pictured, is blackish and, once they’ve been dusted with icing sugar, also a bit whitish ....
It’s late summer and plum season. Queen Garnets, Bloods, Amber Jewels, Santa Rosas and Tegan Blues to mention just a few. Lovely names all and lovely to eat as well ....
Kourabiethes are a kind of shortbread, a national standby in Greece served on any festive occasion but particularly at Christmas and New Year ....
In the run-up to the festive season, or anytime really, I feel quite satisfied with myself if I have a little hoard of good things to eat on hand for whoever might drop in, and these classic Italian biscuits are close to perfect because they accompany a lovely glass of sweet wine just as easily as a cup of tea ....
Funny how one thing leads to another. I recently needed only a couple of stalks of rhubarb, to pickle, to top some delicious sticky rice cakes for a pre-dinner nibble. As our rhubarb pickle loses its vibrant colour after a week or two, I only pickle what I need. What to do with the rest? A bit of poaching with some star anise, orange juice and zest produced a cup full of delicious pulpy sweet rhubarb.
What to do with that ...
Nonya cuisine is probably the world’s first true fusion food. It really is a fusion of cultures using Malay, Indonesian, Thai and Chinese flavours and spices and is also well known for a wide variety of delicious and sometimes unusual (to me) traditional cakes and sweets. I went crazy for their delicate Pineapple Tarts ...
This is fusion food. I’ve taken a favourite Japanese flavour, a traditional English-style pudding and a modern method to produce this lovely, easy dessert ....
This quick and easy fruit loaf makes for a great gluten-free breakfast or brunch. Toasted and topped with butter, or served with a dollop of yogurt and a drizzle of honey, it's a recipe that has to be goodness itself ....
This Quark and Ricotta Cream is denser than a panna cotta, richer than a bavarois and nothing like a caramel cream. It is delicious though and easy to make ....
With some friends coming round for a cup of tea recently I wanted to whip up something good to have with it and this Macadamia and Cranberry Slice worked a treat ....
Husband’s birthday. Cake needed. But what to make? Something new. He’s had all our recipes of course. Birthday getting closer ..... Chatting with a friend just back from Europe who, on a train to Brussels, consumed several pieces of what she described as the most delicious cake she’d ever had - a Medovik, a Czechosolvakian Honey Cake. Bingo! ....
We’ve posted a few citrus-based recipes recently but given that lemons, oranges and grapefruits are in season right now we know you’ll allow us to post one more. After all, it is winter in the southern hemisphere and vitamin C is supposed to be good to ward off colds and the flu.
So here is a classic lemon delicious pudding with a touch of lime ....
I had been gifted an enormous bag of limes by a friend from a tree on his property so this week I decided to go all-tropical in chilly Sydney and made a Lime and Coconut Tart ....
Be warned, these decadently delicious treats are dangerous! They have a crispy g-f base covered with chocolate then a moist, coconut macaroon top. Very hard to stop at one or two .... or even three ....
My beautiful grandmother, Dot, had a lovely tradition of always noting the name of the person who passed a recipe on to her. I still have her old hand written recipe book with its solid wooden cover. It is full of recipes with lovely names like Chocolate Cake Rene and Aunty Nellie Lambert’s Rock Cakes, Muriel’s Caramel Marlow and Elsie T’s Coffee Crystal Biscuits as well as many of Dot’s own recipes ....
Anzac Biscuits started out in life as a staple in soldiers’ rations – a very (very) hard, nutritious but unpalatable alternative to bread. In Gallipoli, they became known as Anzac Tiles, and creative ways were found to get them down. They were grated and turned into porridge, or soaked in water with jam, and baked over a fire to make ‘jam tarts.’ (Sounds like seriously wishful thinking.) ....
Christmas means summer to us here in Australia, and in perfect accord with the hot holiday weather is the abundance of fresh summer fruit that accompanies it: mangoes, pineapples and papaya, cherries and raspberries, grapes and guavas, peaches and nectarines, and many more exotic fruits too ….
Trekking in Peru, everything was amazing. The people, the views, the ancient culture, the altitude, the incredible and mysterious stone work everywhere, even the barbecued guinea pig. Their national liquor, pisco, was pretty amazing when made into a Pisco Sour and a dessert, the Tres Leches Cake, of which I became particularly fond ….
Ever since I sampled a tiny, yuzu scented chocolate in the glorious food hall of Mitsukoshi Department Store in Tokyo I’ve gone a little mad for the mysterious, aromatic, citrus flavour. I seek it here, I seek it there ….
Wanting to create a cake with a bit of French flair for a Bastille Day dinner last month, I adapted this lovely recipe from Helen Goh and made it gluten-free, of course ….
Over the years Rosie, Caren and I, between us, have accumulated lots of wonderful gluten-free cake recipes, many of which are already included in the Sweet Baking category here on our blog. A chance conversation we had recently highlighted the fact that it’s often nut flours that make the best substitute for wheat flour in cake-baking. But what if you want to avoid gluten and nuts? Well, this one’s for you. Or anyone else who doesn’t mind a moist, citrusy cake with a nice texture and a moreish flavour. Anyone? ....
When we announced that this, moist, classic butter cake was gluten-free, all eyebrows were raised. The gluten 'tolerants' amongst us couldn't tell the difference and everyone asked for seconds ....
Our Chocolate Chestnut Cake with Chocolate Frosting is a soft, moist, rich but light cake smothered in a dreamy, creamy, real chocolate frosting, just like the ones the perfect mothers used to make on those old family sitcoms of the sixties. I used to dream of a cake with such luscious icing ....
This is a really quick and easy recipe, making a good all-purpose cake, delicious for the gluten-tolerant as well as intolerant. It can be served plain or iced, topped or bottomed with whatever takes your fancy, split and filled, studded with fresh berries in summer or topped with poached quinces in winter ...
These fun biscuits make a great, edible Christmas table decoration or a lovely playful gift. They’re quick to make, easily cut into shapes only limited by one’s imagination or supply of biscuit cutters and can be iced as festively as you fancy ....
Our Ricotta, Chocolate and Pistachio Christmas tree cake can be made up to 3 days ahead of time and quickly topped with whipped cream and Christmas tree biscuits at the last minute ....
Christmas pudding is a traditional favourite for most of us, even at the end of a big Christmas meal and even in the heat of a Sydney summer. In our house it’s smothered with our ‘Best Ever’ brandy sauce. Jan recommends it served with homemade vanilla ice cream as well. Real diehards may want to add custard to the list ....
Jan’s Mum’s Quick Mix Christmas Cake is a good one. It is full of fruit and free of gluten. Just perfect. It improves with time so is best made a couple of weeks before cutting. It will be even better if you can secrete it away for a couple of months – if you can keep it that long! ....
Yes, it’s time to get on with the Christmas baking. The koels are waking us at 4 am, the channel-bill cuckoos are causing havoc amongst the local birds and the cicadas are drumming. Tinsel is appearing in the shops and gift catalogues in our letterboxes. All signifiers of summer and the approaching festive and holiday season ....
As our seasons here in Sydney are not absolutely defined, we segue from cool to warm to hot and back again before a new season is in full swing. To be able to declare the change we take our cue from the appearance of new season’s fruit and vegetables in the market. We now know that spring has sprung and summer’s nearly here because our markets and shops are filling up with delicious stone and berry fruits ....
These not too sweet, slightly chewy and very delicious, chocolatey bites are great to have on hand for a mouthwatering hit any time. They're also easy to make in a large batch, perfect for a Christmas or holiday gathering ....
Most cooks, I’m sure, will always put their leftovers to good use, reinventing them in surprising and imaginative ways but Massimo Bottura, whose restaurant Osteria Francescana in Italy is currently number 1 on The World’s Best 50 Restaurants list, lifted the world of leftovers out of the garbage bins and into true, heart-felt philanthropy ....
Pears and chocolate are a delicious combination. The pears, standing like little soldiers to attention, are embedded in this cake which makes for a pretty stunning presentation.
I find it’s always worth a wander around the fruit market when I’m at a loss for a dessert idea. There will always be a fresh ingredient which catches my eye and starts the taste buds tingling and the grey matter groaning to a start. Recently it was a robust looking pineapple.....
These plump (hence the name) little biscuits are perfect with a cup of tea or a coffee. They are mixed very quickly in the food processor or by hand and although we've filled them with halva you can just as easily and deliciously fill them with jam or bake them empty and, when you're ready to serve, fill with lemon or lime curd, chocolate ganache or even nutella (sshhh).
We use honey in a myriad of ways – in our baths, on our skin, in our tea, on our toast, to sooth, to sweeten, to heal. We even pen homilies about it. ‘Honey catches the bees’ is an excellent retort to a sharp comment. However, I prefer to eat it ....
It seems that when it comes to cake everyone has something to say. Of course, we all know what Marie Antoinette said. Apparently George Harrison observed “All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.” And I admire the tipster who suggested that to keep a cake moist just eat it in one sitting....
I mentioned to Rosie recently that I was working on a recipe for banana bread. There was silence…. for a good while. I naturally started wondering if there was a problem....
I recently read an article on the School of Life website entitled ‘Food as Therapy' which asserts that what we eat and cook has benefits far beyond just nutrition. We all know this of course but food, it seems, is an interesting tool when analysing our emotional needs. It has psychological value......
Nothing quite beats a piece of cake. The go-to food for celebration, commiseration and comfort; for morning and afternoon tea, dessert and, if you are really into it, for breakfast the next day. (I admit to early morning bites, just to see if it still tastes okay, of course.) .....
Frangipane, most commonly used as a filling for tarts, is rich with almonds, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. It is an essential component in many delicious cakes and desserts and has been a staple in the pastry kitchens of the European world for centuries....
This almond cake is very quick to throw together and is a different way to use up an accumulation of egg whites in the freezer especially if you’d like a change from using them to make meringue based cakes and desserts....
This decadent chocolate and meringue invention is definitely a hit for the taste buds, and when made with couverture chocolate it can be surprisingly nutritious too. It is a rich melt-in-the-mouth cross between a chocolate truffle and a sophisticated brownie...
Brazilian weddings are traditionally big, lavish, showy affairs: hairdos, frocks, make up, family jewels, and their desserts do not let them down. They actually serve hundreds of cakes, little ones, called Bem Casados....
Many religious and cultural traditions abound when it comes to Easter, especially in terms of festive food, and in Australia we can follow our own family habits or happily borrow from the diverse customs of our fellow countrymen...
