Italian Biscuits

The new menu does not present too many problems for delivery, we've done the dishes once before, however it does require some thought in widening the options available to our customers who are gluten intolerant or vegan. today we made a couple of breakthroughs and i'd like to share them. I've been trawling through American vegan and coeliac cookbooks in a bid to make a decent biscotti and amaretti biscuit.we tried a few recipes, had some success with one for biscotti from 'my sweet vegan' but the resultant biscotti didn't look as nice as they tasted. today we adapted our own recipe for biscotti and had some success. here's the recipe for anyone interested. it suits both vegans and coeliacs.

100g cornflour

100g polenta

120g doves farm gluten free bread flour

1 tsp baking powder

150g golden caster sugar

150ml soy yogurt

50ml veg oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

80-100g chopped almonds

Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then bring together and form a dough. it should not be too sticky.

Using some more flour split dough into four and roll into sausage shapes. bake at 170C for 20 minutes or so on greaseproof paper, until still slightly soft. remove from the oven and cut each sausage at an angle to make biscuits. place back on the greaseproof and bake for a further five to ten minutes, turning the biscotti once. this will dry them and lightly brown the insides.

The amaretti, whilst not as crispy as those on sale, were redolent of Farley's rusks, bringing back memories of childhood. i must admit to still buying the occasional box in to my twenties. here's the recipe.

Follow the instructions on the orgran egg substitute box to make the equivalent of two stiffly beaten egg whites. this takes some beating so use an electric whisk unless you need the exercise. once beaten add sugar, 100-150g, and ground almonds, 150g, and beat in. then add enough doves farm gluten free bread flour to make a sticky dough. it should not come away from the sides of your bowl. using wet hands takes teaspoon measures and shape into balls, then place on a tray covered in greaseproof. bake at 170C until lightly browned, take out, turn over and dry the bottoms for five minutes. these were tasted by one of our chief tasters, Theresa, who gave them the thumbs up.

Have to go now to watch the man u game. happy baking.

Wayne