My gluten free baking was a disaster at the very beginning. I was quite lost and I had no idea where to look for advice or tips that might help me with this whole gluten free topic. I was in London back then (when I was told I have the celiac disease), and I remember entering a bookshop and discovering a huge shelf of books about gluten free diet. I was very happy to see so many options and so many "textbooks" that I might use from now on. I bought at least three books right on the spot and started digging into them immediately.
The excitement and happiness was gone the minute after I went through most of the recipes and realised that I will definitely not use any of them. I don't know why it is so, that all those recipes had to include some exotic ingredients which are only available online or in some very special stores that you definitely cannot find around the corner. It didn't make any sense to me. Is it really that impossible to bake gluten free using more "normal" ingredients..? I have spent days going through different books, websites and blogs, and finally I found some niche blogs and websites that were helpful (most of them are polish). So it turned out one does not need to have all those fancy flours that are ridiculously expensive. Rice flour, corn flour, potato flour, buckwheat flour and the fanciest one - amaranth flour are the solution! Of course I understand if people want to experiment with different ingredients, but for me it really was a problem to find them all and most importantly, they would probably completely ruin my home budget..

So, here is a proof of what one can do with rice flour. I promise, you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients:

160g rice flour

120g sugar

4 bananas (middle size)

80g lactose free butter (at room temperature)

2 eggs

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla sugar

200g frozen cherries

a pinch of salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (top and bottom heat) and line the muffin tin with muffin cups.

2. Beat butter with sugar and a pinch of salt, then add the eggs and mix together. 

3. Mix rice flour with baking powder and vanilla sugar and add gradually to the butter and eggs, then mix them together.

4. Mash up bananas and add them to the dough. Mix thoroughly. 

5. Fold in the frozen cherries (with a spoon, not the mixer).

6. Fill the dough into the muffin cups and bake for 35-40 minutes.

(I have taken these out a bit too early - patience is not my strongest virtue... but they still tasted perfect! Although I didn't let them grow up much:) )

Recipe from: here

Chocolate mousse cake (gluten free + lactose free)

My cravings for chocolate, sweetness and warmth have officially peaked lately. Who doesn't need chocolate when we have Autumn outside..?! Coming home from a long day spent at work or school is so much better when you know a chocolate cake is waiting for you. I have spent the last weeks on trying out different recipes and soon you will see some results of those trials here. Going on the gluten free diet is not an easy thing, when one was used to baking cakes and cookies all the time. Now I am trying to figure out the ways to make everything I love most in the gluten free way. Hopefully I will succeed with at least some of my favourite things. For now, I am leaving you with this chocolate cake, which definitely has the best chocolate mousse frosting I have ever tried. It is so delicious and so easy to work with while decorating the cake! You have to try it out.

Ingredients: 

Cake base:

4 eggs 

100 g sugar 

80 g rice flour 

50 g cornstarch 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

pinch of salt

Chocolate mousse:

100 g milk chocolate, chopped

100 g dark chocolate, chopped

300 g softened butter (lactose free) + a tiny bit of salt, or you can use the salted butter

90 g powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla powder

pinch of salt

Tiny meringues:

2 egg whites (around 70 g)

pinch of salt

130 g sugar (crystal or powdered)

pinch of cocoa powder

Preparation:

Cake base (16 cm baking form)
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, top and bottom heat.
2. Separate the egg whites and egg yolks.
3. Beat the egg yolks with around 40 g of sugar in a bowl.
4. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until half stiff then add a pinch of salt and the remaining sugar, beat until stiff.
5. Gently fold in the egg yolks into the beaten egg whites, preferably using a wooden spoon.
6. Sift in the flours and the baking powder in three portions, mixing gently (by hand, not with a mixer).
7. Line the base of the baking form with baking paper and pour in half of the batter. (If you have 2 baking forms, bake them together at the same time. I only have one, so I had to do this twice)
8. Bake for around 25 minutes. Then switch off the oven and open the oven door slightly, letting the cake cool down slowly. When it is colder take it out and remove from the baking form.

Chocolate mousse frosting
1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Set aside until it reaches room temperature.
2. Beat the butter until very pale and fluffy, then add sugar, salt and vanilla powder and beat together.
3. Add the chocolate and beat for another 3-4 minutes until the mousse gets fluffy.

Meringues:
1. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees and line a baking plate with baking paper.
1. Put the egg whites in a dry mixer bowl, add salt and beat until almost stiff.
2. Gradually, still mixing add sugar, spoon by spoon.
3. Beat the mixture until the structure is smooth. If using crystal sugar, it might take a while before it melts, so the beating process takes some time.
4. Put a tiny bit of the cocoa powder on the sides of the confectionary sleeve (inside), fill in the sleeve with the beaten egg whites and create small meringues (the shape will differ depending on the cake tip you're using).
5. Bake for around 50 minutes, then turn of the oven and leave them to cool down, before removing from the baking form.

Inspiration:here