I have always considered myself quite a nice person. I like food of all shapes, flavours and colours. From every country and continent. I don’t discriminate, I am an equal opportunity eater. It’s only the doctors who say I’m intolerant. And certain foods who refuse to tolerate me. They certainly refuse to recognise and respect my right to eat them without major physical discomfort and distress.


Gluten and lactose are not my friends.


Despite the negative attitudes surrounding me from many of those I love best, (cakes, ice cream, hot toast) I decided to become a chef. Not always easy when you live in a bread and milk filled world. I like to think that this has helped me become a better person as I embrace my differences and refuse to let the gluten get me down. I believe InTolerance. I am the InTolerant Chef.

Food should not be about what you can’t eat, but what you can and what you enjoy eating. This blog is about my journey of cooking and eating and discovery. It’s not a definitive guide to allergy awareness nor do my intolerances make me an expert. Your body is your responsibility, not mine. I only know what works for me.


I can tell you this..... No glutens were harmed in the making of this website.

March 1, 2013

Fig and Walnut Yeast Bread


















I've not had huge sucess with gluten free bread


So often it's dry or crumbly, or just plain tastes like sawdust. The best results seem to be with a quick bread style recipe, like a muffin mix- but that's not really a bread is it? I really wanted to try a yeast dough that would hold together, rise nicely, and above all taste good too! I was sure it wasn't completely impossible.
I was playing around with some ingredients lately, trying to come up with a good toasting bread that would be lovely for an easy weekend breakfast, but still nice for a sandwich too. I had a big bag of walnut flour to use, and a quick search of my baking pantry revealed a good stash of dried fruits and I had a moment of clarity: Fig and Walnut. What a perfect match indeed. Some sweetness from the fruit, with the richness and texture of the walnuts as well- yummo!

Now I've used a lovely Walnut Flour that you can order directly from Lario,
http://www.lario.com.au/nuts-walnut-flour-p-444.html?osCsid=4060f95ae61b087259e6d9eac40e4c9c  
but if you can't get your hands on any then it's fine to use another nut flour or just extra gluten free flour instead. I have to say though, that it really is a lovely ingredient and adds so much extra flavour.




Fig and Walnut Yeast Bread

250 gm Walnut Flour (if unavailable use gf flour)
250 gm Gluten Free Flour
14g dried yeast (2 foil packets)
100g castor sugar
250-350 ml luke warm lactose free milk
2/3 cup light neutral Oil
3 Eggs
250 gm plumped Dried Figs
1 cup or so Walnuts
1 tsp Psyllum Husks (optional, but it does help it 'stick' together like regular dough)
Pinch of Salt























Put the flours, sugar, psyllum and yeast into a large bowl and mix together





















Whisk up the milk, eggs and oil, then mix into the dry ingredients





















What you want is a nice soft, sticky dough. It will be wetter than one made of wheat flour, but gluten free doughs need that bit extra





















Lightly cover the dough, and leave it somewhere warm for about an hour or until pretty much doubled in size
Mine sat outside in the 37* heat as it was a bit cooler there than in my kitchen!





















While you're waiting, chop the figs and walnuts into nice little pieces




















The dough will have risen, look a bit 'spongy' and smell nice and yeasty by now





















Punch the dough down, then mix in the fruit and nuts




















Make sure the goodies are distributed evenly, not all clumped together





















Pop the dough into a greased loaf tin, and press on some more wanlnuts for a nice topping if you like
From this:





















Let the dough have a second rise for about another hour
To this:





















Bake at 180*C checking after 50 mins, for up to 70 minutes or so- or until the bread is nice and crusty and sounds hollow when you tap it underneath
To this!

















This mix made a really nice dense type of bread. I like to include egg as it helps bind the dough together but then it's a fine line between 'bread' and 'cake'- I think in this case it's quite nicely balanced. The texture was pretty good for gluten free, not as crumbly as usual but still just a little delicate. The most interesting about this bread though was that using the walnut flour gave it almost a pumpernickel/rye flavour that was a real surprise, and very delicious.
I just loved this bread with cheese, and it was lovely with jam, but it was at it's best simply toasted with a big swipe of butter, yummo!



So Dear Readers, what do you think of Gluten Free Bread, and do you make it at home?




Disclosure: Nuts and Nut Flour supplied by Lario International - Thanks guys!





24 comments:

  1. I must admit that I haven't made much gf bread at home but I'm loving these walnut flour suggestions since I have some too! :D

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    1. Isn't Tania a champion, Lorraine! I'm really having fun playing around with it. I'm going to make a walnut carrot cake for Easter next- yummo. I bet you have some amazing recipes up your sleeve Lorraine, I can hardly wait to see what you come up with :) x

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  2. I am an absolute sucker for bread with walnuts in.. I am keen to get my hands on some of that walnut flour. I am sure it would be hugely versatile.

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    1. It's really lovely Sherilyn, and absolutely delicious too! I hope you get some soon :)

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  3. Rebecca - your breads look wonderful! I have never seen walnut flour but what a great combo with the figs.
    I make homemade GF bread each week. I use millet, sorghum, potato starch and tapioca starch combined. It is great for sandwiches. For toast we like Udi's GF Bread.

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    1. Thanks Ina, i was pretty happy with how it worked out. I've heard a lot about Udi's bread Ina, but we can't get it here :( Does your homemade bread last well, and do you use a bread machine?

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  4. Becca, it looks lovely, especially with all those figs and nut flours. For the life of me though, I can't figure out how it's rising - I always thought yeast needed gluten to rise? Would love to know.. :) xx

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    1. Thanks Celia! You're right about the yeast and gluten, that's why most gfree breads use quick rising agents instead. I just wanted that delicious yeasty taste :) The gluten makes the lovely stretchy web that lets your bread get the lovely holes in it and get that chew going, with gluten free bread the eggs and pysllum husks help bind it together to trap the bubbles. It certainly doesn't work as well, and I think the best results would be too use both yeast for flavour and soda for extra lift. If only I could tolerate spelt I could have the best of both worlds! :( xox

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  5. Bec, I love the sound of this and might investigate the flour via the link you have provided. It sounds very healthy too!

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    1. I so hope you check it out Lizzy, it's so delicious. The health issue is just lucky- I'm in it for the Yumm :)

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  6. I was going to say the same thing as Sherilyn. You know I can't live without bread so when I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance, the first thing I made was gluten free bread. I enjoy eating different breads but never used walnut flour and not to mention figs in a bread. I should give this a try.

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    1. I really hours you give it a go Balvinder, and let me know how it works out for you. This was a nice match with cheese and also with honey or butter- yum!

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  7. What a good idea. Fig and walnuts go so well together. I can imagine this would be wonderful toasted with some butter and honey poured over it xx

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    1. I love it when the flavours match so well Charlie. It was so nice to have something like this for a change, even the best intentioned shop products don't have a huge range of variety for gluten free flavours. Iron bark honey was a perfect match indeed! Xox

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  8. Oh God!! That last picture with the butter melted over the toasted bread is the money shot!! It looks so lush! Adding the nuts and fig to this recipe would make it simply delicious, great story :)

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    1. Awww shucks! Thanks sweetie! It was certainly very tasty indeed :)

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  9. Butter on anything taste delightful but I don't think anything could make GF bread taste delicious! It's just not quite the same :P

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    1. Sad but true Msihua, sad but true..... That's why I'm trying to change the world- one gluten at a time!

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  10. I haven't played with any gluten free breads, but am loving playing with different ingredients at the moment that (I think!) are all nearly gluten free. Maybe a I should whack a few figs and walnuts in as well.

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    1. Oh that sounds interesting Brydie, I hope you'll blog them! Figs and walnuts always taste good :)

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  11. Your Fig and Walnut bread looks fantastic and delicious. I bake bread often but haven't tried a gluten-free one just yet. I always afraid they'll come out dry and crumbly as you described them. This would be a lovely recipe to try. I have a few good friend who are on a straight GF diet. I'm sure they'll appreciate this.

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    1. Thanks Amy! It's sure hard to get the balance right :( I bet your friends would love a homemade treat from you, how thoughtful!

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  12. Your Gf fig & walnut bread looks amazing, tasty & just wonderful, I believe!
    Waw, even! A must make! :)

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    1. Thanks sweetie! Let me know if you give it a try, I love to hear about other peoples adventures!

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