Easter is one of the times of the year where people look forward to a big feast. Whether you invite your friends or have a big family dinner over Easter weekend, you can expect plenty of delicious lamb, eggs, and sweet treats. If you have recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease, you might not be looking forward to this time of year as much as you might have in the past, but do not worry, as we’ve put together some of the best gluten free baking options for Easter this year.
Easter dinner gluten free lamb pie
Baking doesn’t always mean cakes and bread. Sometimes, the centrepiece of an Easter dinner table is a lovely, sumptuous, pie. This gluten free lamb and rosemary pie is the perfect main meal for Easter Sunday when you have the family round and a coeliac in the group. The beauty of it is that you can make individual pies with this recipe, so you could just make those who require gluten free food a pie for themselves, though we would say it’s so tasty that nobody would know the difference.
Ingredients for filling
- 800g boneless lamb shoulder cut into 2cm pieces
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 chopped onions
- 1 crushed garlic clove
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 625ml gluten free chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons 100% corn cornflour
- 120g frozen peas
Ingredients for gluten free pastry
- 375g gluten free pastry flour
- 125g chopped cold butter
- 2 tablespoons gluten free tamari
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Heat the oil over high heat and cook the lamb in batches, turning every 5 minutes until browned.
- Reduce the heat to medium and cook the onion and garlic. Return the lamb to the pan, add the rosemary and a combined paste, mustard, and chicken stock, bringing it all to the boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and stir every now and then. Leave for an hour and a half or until the lamb is tender and the sauce has thickened.
- Combine 2 tablespoons of water with cornflour and add to the lamb mixture along with peas. Cook on high heat, stir for 5 minutes, season, and leave to cool.
- To make the gluten free pastry, process flour and butter in a food processor until it resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually pour in combined tamari, oil, 160ml water until it comes together and lightly knead into a ball.
- Preheat an oven to 220C/425F. Oil 5 10cm pie tins and place on an oven tray.
- Roll the pastry between two sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick. Cut 6 15cm rounds and ease into the tins before trimming the edges.
- Spoon lamb mixture into the pastry cases, cut 6 10cm rounds to place on top of the pies and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Make two small cuts in the top of each pie, scatter extra rosemary and salt before baking for 30 minutes until the tops are browned and firm.
Easter dessert
Dessert is key to any good meal. It’s often the showstopper, the last thing your guests will eat so it must look and taste great! This BBC Good Food Rhubarb Ripple Semifreddo is a beautiful pudding after a lamb dinner. It is also easy to prepare ahead of time, so you’re not missing much of the dinner party!
Ingredients
- 200g chopped rhubarb
- 100g caster sugar
- 3 tablespoons ginger cordial
- 4 separated eggs
- 100g icing sugar
- 300ml double cream
- 50g ready-made meringues broken into small pieces
- 25g crystallised ginger
Method
- Line a 900g loaf tin with baking paper.
- Put the rhubarb, caster sugar, ginger cordial, and 2 tablespoons of water in a medium saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the rhubarb is soft but holds its shape. Pour into a jug to cool.
- Whisk the egg whites until stiff and set aside. In another bowl, whisk the yolks with the icing sugar until thickened and pale in colour. In a third bowl, whip the double cream until thick. Fold the yolk mixture into the whipped cream and then fold the egg whites and half of the broken meringues.
- Spoon a third of the cream mixture into the loaf tin and freeze for 30 minutes. Once set, pour in half of the cooked rhubarb. Top with another third of the cream and return to the freezer for another 30 minutes. Once this layer has set, add the rest of the rhubarb and a layer of cream. Cover with clingfilm and freeze for 2 hours.
- Once ready to serve, turn onto a serving plate and decorate with the leftover rhubarb, meringue pieces, and crystallised ginger.
Gluten free Easter cake
An Easter cake is an important part of the celebrations and can be there on the side throughout the weekend (or however long it lasts in your household!). Ready to slice and have with a cup of tea or just for the sake of eating a slice, this Sainsbury gluten free Easter cake is pure chocolate indulgence.
Ingredients
- 225g soft butter and extra to grease
- 225g caster sugar
- 4 medium eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 185g gluten free self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
- 40g cocoa powder
- Pack of Mini Eggs and/or 225g gluten free chocolate fingers
Icing ingredients
- 100g chopped dark chocolate
- 250g softened butter
- 185g sifted icing sugar
- 55g sifted cocoa powder
Method
- Preheat an oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4 and grease two 20cm round cake tins.
- Mix the butter, caster sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, self-raising flour, baking powder, xanthan gum and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl and beat for 1-2 minutes with an electric whisk.
- Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 25-30 minutes until firm to the touch and risen. Leave in the tins for 5-10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.
- Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and leave to cool.
- Beat the butter until it is pale and very soft.
- Mix in the icing sugar and cocoa powder, beginning on low speed and then pouring in the cooled chocolate before one final mix.
- Sandwich the sponges with icing and spread more on the top and the sides of the cake. Press the chocolate fingers around the entire side of the cake and sprinkle a nest of mini eggs on top.
Plenty of gluten free baking options
Gluten free baking continues to evolve and include many variations of cakes, pies, and other baked goods that are inventive, delicious, and crucially, don’t contain gluten. It is always one of those areas of food that newbies to the gluten free life worry about, but as you can see above there are some incredible gluten free baking recipes to try out. You don’t have to miss out on tasty baked goods this Easter just because you are coeliac. It is worth looking at if you qualify for a gluten free prescription. You can gain access to gluten free flour mixes and other bakery items that can help you deliver gluten free baking recipes this Easter.
