Irresistible Strawberry Gluten-free Vanilla Cupcake

Winter @ Australia. It means that now is strawberry season. Thinking to bake into new gluten-free cupcakes with fresh strawberry puree, it must be wonderful blending together. Finished it with small amount of fresh custard, vibrant colour of the whole package made it looks stunning!

Today, my new recipe of this irresistible Strawberry Gluten-free Vanilla Cupcake can be made into 2 different types of finishing. One type to put the fresh strawberry puree on top of the vanilla cupcakes before baking, the outcome looks like the first picture below.

The strawberry puree colour became darker after baked

The other type is putting fresh strawberry puree after the gluten-free vanilla cupcakes baked and cooled down. Decorate it with fresh custard. Alternatively, you can remove the cupcake liner and change it to upside down. Then, splash some puree on top depends on your own creativity.

The top view.

I'm submitting this post to my hosted Aspiring Bakers #21: Gluten-Free Bakes (July 2012)

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Gluten-free Cherry Cheesecake

This is my another baked Gluten-free cherry cheesecake. A little bit varies from my previous baked blueberries cheesecake - more Arrowroot biscuit surrounded the cheesecake to make it more crusty. The crunchiness of the crust perfectly combine with super soft creamy cheesecake. In the meanwhile, they are gluten-free!!!

Fresh cherries topping always looks stunning as ever.

Whenever fresh fruits combine with cheese, the result always so perfect especially the balanced taste.

This wonderfully sweet cherries make the whole decoration as easy as that.

I'm submitting this post to my hosted Aspiring Bakers #21: Gluten-Free Bakes (July 2012)

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Flourless Baked Cheesecake - it's gluten-free as well!

Oh, cheesecake!! This is always my go-to dessert recipe whenever I'm having guests. Everyone loves it. And the best part is- the recipe is inherently gluten-free. No substitutions. In fact, this is the same flourless cake I've been making befores. It never contained flour which makes it gluten-free. Isn't it brilliant?  The only thing I've tweaked was putting more blueberries in the between of crust and cheese cake this round.

Spread some blueberries jams over the top of the cheese cake, sprinkle over a few blueberries, if you wish, then dust with icing sugar. Cut into slices to serve. This cheesecake is best eaten when it is at room temperature. Oh, yum!

Blueberries topping seducing as always

A little bit of dense, a bit fluffier like Hokkaido cake with cheese taste, sexy blueberries deliciousness on a plate. This is such an easy recipe, especially if you use a food processor to do the work. Enjoy!

This wonderfully rich cheesecake is equally delicious made with other fruit (as I made it by using my frozen blueberries). Use whatever is in season, or whatever you happen to have in the freezer.

I'm submitting this post to my hosted Aspiring Bakers #21: Gluten-Free Bakes (July 2012)

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Lucky Draw for 5 Hankerie's fans

To celebrate Hankerie's 1st year anniversary, Hankerie is giving away 5 lucky winners for AUD20 gift voucher each to do your own online shopping @ www.buynowdirect.com.au.

The joining rules as easy as that:

1. You must be Hankerie's fan (Like "Hankerie" facebook.). Only 1 prize entitled for each person.
2. Leave the comments that you can find at the end of this blog post here. Any comment regarding on what do you want to see more from Hankerie. This comment sequence will determine your unique number code of lucky draw. No matter how many times you leave the comments here, it only counts your first leave comment number as your unique key number respectively.

The 5 lucky winners will be announced on 25th July 2012 by using random.org generated numbers (the counter of your comment sequence).

Good luck, all!

Leave your comments here to win the prize:

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Gluten-free Flower-shaped Chocolate Cake

Gluten-free can be made into fancy presentation too. Yes, it's absolutely gluten-free chocolate cake.  Baking gluten-free in Australia can be as easy as that, substitute the normal wheat flour into ready-mix gluten-free self raising flour that you can obtain any supermarket here. Indeed it makes my life much easier instead of thinking what flour to mix with what flour.

For this cake decoration idea, I'm using a small flower-shaped cookie cutter to cut it, pipe some lovely fresh raspberries cream on top and finish it with fresh raspberries. Simple but nice. For those gluten-free diet, enjoy this!

Gluten-free Flower-shaped Chocolate Cake with raspberries cream

Sometimes cut into different shape can make your taste more exciting.

Cut into 'V' shape

I'm submitting this post to my hosted Aspiring Bakers #21: Gluten-Free Bakes (July 2012)

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Delicious Homemade Gluten-Free Bread

Gluten-free bakes can be made into different types. Today, I'm trying out making them into bread, wheat-free. This brownish, crusty loaf has a delicious, moist, close-textured interior. The addition of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar helps to make the bread rise. In the past, I thought cream of tartar is just the leavening agent for egg white, never think about it can help bread to rise as well. Thanks to the food chemical reaction magic!!

In Australia, most of the bakery, cafe or even farmers market do sell gluten-free bakes including breads, cakes, macarons or even pizza. I can definitely easy to find all pre-mix gluten-free flour in supermarket as well here. Price wise, indeed slightly more expensive to the normal wheat flour.

Interesting to know more and more facts about gluten-free technique. Some new discovery for the people who has allergy to gluten.

I turned my homeade gluten-free bread into my dinner - gluten-free sandwich 

The crusty skin of the bread not as chewy as the gluten wheat bread

The proving time of the gluten-free bread is same as the normal wheat bread. Nothing different except the taste.

Made some cut before sending into oven

I'm submitting this post to my hosted Aspiring Bakers #21: Gluten-Free Bakes (July 2012)

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Gluten-free Pancakes with fresh berries

Pancakes are the food of lazy weekend mornings after the long week days. For me, I'm definitely enjoy sweet breakfast instead of savory breakfast. In the same time, I would like to keep myself healthy and not overdose gluten. Since I'm learning and inventing this new way of baking, I would like to put myself into more practices.

As such, I came up with a gluten-free pancakes that satisfied my morning sweet tooth and my fiber requirement. Making them gluten-free was as easy as substituting the wheat flours for a combination of almond flour, tapioca starch and baking soda. I had a smashing success.

These gluten-free pancakes came out light, fluffy, and golden-brown—just like the wheat version. These have the right texture, which is the important thing. They're good. Enjoying these delicious, fruity gluten-free vessels of maple and joy are worthy of lazy weekends and those you love.

Add on some toppings to make the whole tasting more exciting

Just because you're on a gluten-free diet doesn't mean you have to miss out on a breakfast of classic pancakes. Not at all!

Cut into half and they looks almost the normal pancakes

I'm submitting this post to my hosted Aspiring Bakers #21: Gluten-Free Bakes (July 2012)

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Aspiring Bakers #21: Gluten-Free Bakes (July 2012)

Being allergic to gluten doesn't mean you have to miss out on life's simple pleasures - with the gluten-free bakes you can have your cake and eat it, too! Nowadays, everybody being health-concious and avoid eating gluten and overly sweet bakes. With that, Hankerie came out this idea for July's Aspiring Bakers theme. Hopefully all the bakers out there would like to join, learn all the gluten-free bakes technique, ingredients and of course eat healthy too!!!

Thanks to SSB fo giving me this chance for Hankerie's 2nd time hosting Aspiring Bakers after my previous hosting last year - Aspiring Bakers #14: Creative Christmas Bakes (December 2011)

Definition of Gluten Free Bakes: A gluten-free bake is a bake that excludes foods containing gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat (including kamut and spelt), barley, rye, malts and triticale.

Some inspiration options for you

1. Use a basic, neutral tasting gluten-free baking and pancake mix in your recipes. Keep it on hand and you have a pre-mixed flour blend for basics- quick breads, muffins, and cakes. It's fabulous in flourless chocolate cakes, quiches, omelets, and pancakes. 
2. Safe grains for baking include brown rice flour,  white rice flour, sorghum flour, millet, and teff. The faux grains buckwheat and quinoa make nutty tasting high protein flours.
3. Starches for baking include potato starch, cornstarch, arrowroot, tapioca starch, millet, montina, lupin, quinoa, sorghum (jowar), taro, teff, chia seed, and yam.
4. Various types of bean, soybean, almond, hazelnut, and nut flours are sometimes used in gluten-free bakes to add protein and dietary fiber.

Who can join?

Everyone! (if you do not have a blog, just send me a photo and recipe of your bake/dish)

How to join?

Step 1 :

Bake any gluten-free based on your own creativity, in the month of July 2012.

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