Hot Cross Buns

This was my first attempt at hot cross buns.

I decided to use Juvela's recipe as I had just been sent a sample box of their products just a few days ago which included a box of their White Mix. You can find their recipe here but I have also recreated it below:

The recipe:

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6 and lightly grease a baking tray.

Ingredients

500g (20oz) Juvela Gluten Free Mix
2tsp mixed spice
50g (2oz) butter
1 sachet easy blend yeast (supplied with Mix)
50g (2oz) caster sugar
100g (4oz) mixed dried fruit
1 medium egg
125ml (1/4 pint) warm water (approx)
125ml (1/4 pint) warm milk (approx)

Instructions

In a bowl combine the Mix with the mixed spice. Rub in the butter to resemble breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast, sugar and mixed fruit. Beat together the egg, milk and water. Gradually add to the dry ingredients to form a soft but not sticky dough. Knead the dough until smooth on a surface lightly dusted with Mix.

Divide the dough into 8-10 pieces and shape into buns. Place on a baking tray, cut a shallow cross on top of each bun and cover with greased cling film. Put in a warm place until well risen (this should take about 45 minutes).

To make the cross on top of the buns, use 50g of Juvela Gluten-Free Mix and mix with enough water to make a paste. Use the paste to pipe a cross on top of each bun. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes.

To make a glaze for the top (optional) - Mix together 75g (3oz) sugar with 100ml (4fl oz) of water and use this mixture to brush the buns with while they are still warm.

Not bad for my first attempt.

Overall this was a quick and easy recipe for hot cross buns. It was handy using the flour mix as you didn't need to measure the flour out, you simply used the whole box including the sachet of yeast, also provided.

The dough itself was very very sticky and I found it quite hard to kneed, maybe I used too much liquid.

The final result was very pleasing indeed! Although my buns didn't rise as much as I would have liked and were rather dense, they tasted great, with just the right amount of spices and fruit, giving a really sweet, but not too sticky, fresh taste. I would liken my buns to a cake rather than a bread, but this isn't really a criticism, merely an observation. I think the key to getting lovely round buns is in the kneading and the proving of the dough beforehand. Practice will, no doubt, make perfect.

Happy Easter everyone!

Juvela goodies

A couple of days ago I received this amazing goodie box from Juvela in the post!

My dietician had given me a whole load of information and leaflets about various gluten-free companies, including one from Juvela inviting you to sign up for a free sample pack. Naturally, I filled out the form, popped it in the post and a couple of weeks later I received my sample pack.

What's inside? 

2 x pizza bases
1 box of fusilli pasta
1 box of crispbread
1 box of fibre flakes
1 box of white mix (flour mix)
1 fibre sliced loaf
5 x white rolls

This is another great company that want you to try their products first. Like Glutafin, Juvela have obviously spent massive amounts of time and money on preparing their sample boxes to send out to people. I'm so grateful that companies actually do this because it means I can sample many different products and brands before I decide on what I want to get on my prescription.


I can't wait to give them all a try. Reviews coming soon.

Thank you Juvela!

Pizza Hut

This review is quite a bit overdue as I actually visited Pizza Hut about 3 weeks ago now, so my apologies.

It was my husband's birthday and he didn't want any fuss or frills, so we visited our local Pizza Hut. I'd heard a lot about pizza companies such as Pizza Hut and Dominoes introducing new gluten-free pizza bases and had read some really mixed reviews so I have to admit I was a little nervous about trying Pizza Hut gluten-free base. I was mainly worried about cross-contamination and whether the staff would be educated and adequately trained in preparing gluten-free pizza. But I needn't have worried.

When I got to Pizza Hut I made it known to our waiter that I required a GF pizza. He was not at all fazed by my request and simply proceeded to show me to the relevant section in the menu where it mentioned the GF base. He also explained that I could have any of the toppings as they are all gluten-free. Yes!

Now when it came to the salad bar I was a little bit more apprehensive. Our waiter was a little unsure about what sections of the salad bar I could actually have so he went to ask his manager and came back with a list of the items I should avoid, which included the pasta salad, bacon bits, croutons, bread sticks, and dry onions. He also said I should be wary of the seeds, salsa and pickled onions as they couldn't guarantee they were safe. I was so grateful for the extra effort he went to which made me feel a bit bad but in the end I decided not to have any of the salad because I was just so worried about the cross-contamination aspect - I mean, all the salad is in one place and it could be so easy for someone to drop, say, a crouton in to the lettuce accidentally or snap a bread stick in half and then some of the crumbs go in to the rest of the salad. Call me paranoid, but I was just not willing to risk it but I really appreciated the Pizza Hut staff going to so much effort to find out what parts of the salad bar were GF.

When my pizza arrived I found it was a square base, which means that the staff can distinguish between the normal bases and the GF bases so there is no way of mixing them up, genius! They also told me that the GF pizzas are cooked in their own square tins to avoid any cross-contamination. It looked delicious and I couldn't wait to tuck in, but not before cutting my pizza myself with my own (clean) pizza cutter. Again, this is another way Pizza Hut avoid cross-contamination by getting you to cut your own slices. This is such a good idea!

Overall I loved my pizza. It had the same flavoursome toppings that Pizza Hut are so well known for just with a different base. The base itself, although very thin, wasn't dry at all or chewy which I have found with some GF bases. Delicious!

When I had finished eating, the waiter came back to check that everything was OK with my pizza and he even told me that when Pizza Hut had first introduced the GF base all the staff had received training on how to prepare and cook the GF pizzas and as part of the training they had all sampled a GF pizza. He told me that most of the staff were really impressed with the taste, and these are people that wouldn't normally eat GF pizza so that is definitely reassurance to us Coeliacs!

It was great to see that the Pizza Hut are so well educated on their GF base and have gone that extra mile to include Coeliacs in their clientele. The waiting staff were wonderful and went out of their way to ensure my dining experience was stress-free and enjoyable! Thanks again, Pizza Hut! It now means that if I am out and about with family or friends and we need a quick, relatively cheap bite to eat, we can go to Pizza Hut and I'm not excluded from the pizza experience. I'm now on the look out for other eateries with GF pizza bases. Can anyone recommend anywhere else?

*Enjoying my first GF pizza base courtesy of Pizza Hut. This is the spicy cajun chicken topping*

A little help please

I hate to admit I am finding things tough at the moment.

How long does it take to notice a real difference in symptoms after starting a gluten free diet?

I know that there probably isn't a clear cut answer to this but I am interested in finding out from my fellow Coeliacs how long it took you to notice a big difference and to feel well again after removing gluten from your diet.

I am now in week 5 of my gluten free lifestyle and I admit that during the past 2 or 3 weeks I had noticed a slight improvement in my symptoms e.g. I was not quite as tired as I have been feeling for months and months, but nevertheless still tired.

However, I am currently going through what can only be described as a bad spell and to save me from despair I thought I would turn to my blog and fellow bloggers for some advice. I have been feeling really ill for the past 5 days, the tiredness is back with a vengeance, and it seems like my symptoms are back to being as bad as they have ever been, despite noticing a small improvement in my symptoms initially. I don't think I have slipped up and eaten some gluten without knowing, as I have been so careful. But I really don't know what else could be wrong. Hence, my frustration! Any ideas?

I know I need to be patient and these things take time but if I am doing something wrong, I want to change that. Is it normal to have good and bad days whilst getting used to the gluten free diet? Am I doing something wrong? Or am I just jumping the gun a bit and expecting too much in the first few weeks?

 I recently read a suggestion online that you should change your toothbrush when you go gluten free even if it doesn't need changing yet just in case there is any gluten lurking in there. This is something I never even thought about but I have immediately thrown out the toothbrush and got a new one. I have brought a new chopping board so that I don't contaminate my bread with my husband's (gluten) bread. I no longer use our toaster and use the grill instead if I want toast. Despite being in to my 5th week of my gluten-free diet I am not really finding much improvement in my symptoms. And as far as I am aware I have been doing all I can to ensure that I don't have any gluten. I've read that some people can notice a difference in a matter of days, others it's a few weeks but then for some it could take up to a year for the gut to fully heal itself. I know I need to be patient but it's so tough! I want to feel better right away and I want to make all the sacrifices and changes to my diet seem worth it.

Anybody else have any other tips to help speed up my recovery or is it just a case of time? I would love to hear from you too if you are also struggling.

Thanks