From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Ingredients

Fills an 8×8 deep serving pan

Pudding

• 2 plain gluten-free bagels (about 8 oz. weight) cut into ½ inch squares (like tic-tac-toe)
• 2 cups half and half or mix of half and half and milk
• 1 x 15 or 16 oz can solid pack pumpkin – not pie filling
• 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. gluten-free pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp. gluten-free vanilla extract
• ½ cup golden raisins
• ½ cup chopped nuts

Sauce

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• ½ cup heavy or whipping cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix half and half, pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, spices and vanilla together in a 10-12 cup bowl until blended.
3. Stir in raisins and nuts. Fold in bread cubes. I like to mix this together in a bowl, refrigerate overnight, stir and then turn into greased 8×8 pan.
4. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 40-60 minutes until bread is puffy and golden, does not ‘slosh’ around with excess milk mixture and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm with caramel sauce.

Sauce

1. Melt butter and brown sugar together in a non-stick pan over a medium heat. Watch so that neither butter nor sugar burn.
2. Add cream and stir well until sugar has completely dissolved. Serve in an oven-proof jug with the pudding. The sauce will stiffen on cooling but can be reheated gently. Sauce will keep in the refrigerator for about one week.

Note: There are lots of good caramel sauces in the shops, so you can save some time by purchasing a ready-made sauce.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

This bread freezes well, so you can make this in advance. The recipe can also be halved easily.

Ingredients

Pumpkin Bread

• 1 can (15oz) solid pack pumpkin, not pie filling (ingredient list should only be pumpkin) You can also use 2 cups of mashed sweet potatoes
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil (or 1 cup applesauce or ½ cup oil and ½ cup plain yogurt)
• 4 extra large eggs or 5 large eggs
• 2/3 cup water
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• grated fresh nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground cardamom (or 2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice to replace individual spices)
• 2 1/2 cup Oonagh’s Gluten-Free Flour Mix
• 1 cup almond meal
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup craisins – dried cranberries
• 1/3 cup golden or ordinary raisins
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans or other nuts

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 stick of butter, softened, unsalted if you have it
• 4 oz. cream cheese (1/2 of block) at room temperature (lite is fine, but it gives a softer texture)
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1-2 tbsp cream

Brown Sugar Frosting

• 1 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Put pumpkin, oil, sugar, eggs, water and vanilla in large (8 cup) mixing bowl and beat well for 2 minutes until air bubbles are visible.
2. Stir all dry ingredients together, then beat in dry ingredients. Stir in fruit and nuts.
3. Pour into 2 well greased 9 x 5” loaf pans, or 2 six-hole mini bundt tins (bundt tins will be well filled). Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes for loaf or 20-30 minutes for muffins/bundts. Cake should be well risen, dark brown (because of spices), firm at edges and pulling away from sides.
4. Remove from oven, leave to cool for 10 minutes, turn out onto cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Cake keeps fresh for quite a few days, freezes and microwaves well. If cake still feels sticky on side nearest to bottom of pan, then put it back in oven for about 10 more minutes.
5. Serve with cream cheese for breakfast or top with cream cheese frosting and brown sugar frosting on bundt cakes for a party.

Cream Cheese Frosting Instructions

Beat all frosting ingredients together until desired consistency. Add more or less sugar and cream to your preferred taste. If you used softened butter, then it will spread easily, but will need to be refrigerated in order to use a piping bag and decorative pipe. The cream makes it taste like melted vanilla ice cream, but you can get away with using milk.

Brown Sugar Frosting Instructions

1. In microwave or small non-stick pan, bring brown sugar, butter and milk to a gentle boil. Stir until butter melts, sugar dissolves, and mixture is smooth.
2. Gradually beat icing sugar and vanilla into hot mix.
3. You can add red and yellow food color to make pumpkin orange.

This recipe is courtesy of NFCA Blogger Ambassador, Cindy Gordon, of Vegetarian Mamma

For more delicious recipes, visit NFCA’s Gluten-Free Holiday Recipe Box.

Ingredients:

• 10 slices of gluten-free bread, cubed
• 8 oz. tub of cream cheese
• 2 cups of fresh raspberries
• 7 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup of maple syrup

Directions:

1. Spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with oil.
2. Place half of the bread on the bottom of the pan.
3. Dollop the cream cheese evenly on bread cubes.
4. Place half the raspberries on top of the cream cheese.
5. Top with remaining bread and then remaining raspberries
6. Beat eggs, milk and maple syrup.
7. Pour directly over mixture in pan.
8. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.
9. Enjoy!

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Makes about 15-20 bite sized pieces

Ingredients:

• 1 piece of fresh salmon filet, about 8 oz. in weight
• 1 Gala, Fuji or Braeburn apple with bright red skin (don’t use a Granny Smith)
• 1 Tbsp. sweet hot pepper jelly
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• Chives or skinny green (spring) onion
• Orange juice or 1 cup water with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice or white Balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Cut the salmon into strips about ¼ inch thick, ½-1 inch (2 cm) wide and a bit shorter than size of apple slice. A skinny, little finger size strip.

2. Wash apple, but do not peel. I make a cut down either side of apple to give 2 fat “cheeks” of apple with a flat edge. Then cut the remaining 2 sides of the apple. I like to use a fluted cutter for extra eye appeal.

3. Cut apple “cheeks” into slices about ¼ inch thick. They need to be thick enough to pick up in your fingers and not bend or break under weight of salmon. Put apple slices in enough orange juice or water with lemon juice/white balsamic vinegar to cover, to stop apples from browning.

4. Preheat broiler and place pan you are going to use on the oven shelf to preheat.

5. Place slices of raw salmon in a single layer on top of a piece of foil. Leave a little space between so they can cook better.

6. Mix pepper jelly with oil and brush on top of salmon. Do a test run first to see how much pepper jelly you like for taste. This quantity only gives a mild, “Mmm, what’s that?” sort of flavor. It doesn’t burn your lips, so you might want more or a hotter jelly. That’s your choice.

7. Once broiler and pan is hot, slide the salmon on the foil onto the pan under the broiler. Broil for 1-2 minutes until salmon looks cooked and pepper jelly is looking a little caramelized. The hot pan underneath means you don’t need to turn the salmon over.

8. Remove pan from broiler and let salmon cool slightly. It will break easily when it is this thin.

9. Drain apple slices and arrange in a single layer on serving platter. Lift each piece of salmon with a thin spatula, pastry slice, etc., and put a slice on each piece of apple. Sprinkle with finely chopped chives or very finely chopped green onion for color and flavor contrast.

10. Serve.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Makes 8-9 generous portions.

Ingredients

• 1 batch of soft gluten-free ladyfingers (you will have some left over)
• ¾ cup strong coffee, fresh or instant
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp coffee liqueur or sweet marsala
• 1 lb. of Mascarpone cheese at room temperature
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup heavy or whipping cream
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Choose a 6-8 cup attractive serving bowl that is wide and shallow (a nice vegetable serving dish will do).
2. Put a layer of soft ladyfingers in bottom of bowl and arrange more ladyfingers standing up against the sides of the bowl like flower petals, rounded side out.
3. Mix sugar and1/4 cup of liqueur into hot coffee. Taste and see if you want more liqueur or sugar.
4. Spoon/drizzle coffee mix onto ladyfingers until they are completely saturated. Coffee might pool at the bottom of the bowl, so rotate the bowl to help the fingers absorb more coffee liquid.
5. In a 4-cup mixing bowl, whisk cream, powdered sugar, and remaining 2 Tbsp of liqueur until stiff.
6. In separate bowl, gently stir mascarpone with a spatula to soften it. Add cream mix and gently fold into mascarpone until blended. Taste and see if you want more sugar. I find that at this stage I sometimes add up to ¼ cup of liquid heavy or whipping cream to soften the mix without making it runny.
7. Gently spoon cheese mix into bowl and smooth top.
8. Take a piece of parchment paper and cut into long ½” wide strips. Place the paper in parallel lines about 1” apart on top of cream cheese. I like to make lines on the diagonal across corners of the dish, not in line with the edges. Press the paper slightly into cheese at edges if it won’t stay. Place more strips of paper at almost right angles on top of the first row of paper. You are aiming for a latticework of paper with cheese mix showing through, including at the edges.
9. Place cocoa powder in a fine strainer or sieve (a tea strainer is great) and gently tap or stir cocoa to fall onto the open portions of cheese – so you are filling in the gaps with a fine dusting, not thick mounds.
10. Carefully lift the cocoa-covered paper strips and discard. The bowl should now have little diamonds or squares of cocoa powder alternating with white squares or diamonds.
11. Preferably chill for a few hours to allow flavors to mellow.
12. You can finish dessert with cream piped around edges and ‘scattered’ on open sections of top. Dust with grated chocolate or chocolate curls.

Tips & Alternatives:

• This is very rich, so only give small portions.
• Mascarpone is highly perishable, so treat the package carefully. The same goes for leftovers.
• If using an 8 x 8 dish: Use 1 1/4 cups coffee and 6 Tbsp sugar, but keep the same ¼ cup liqueur.
• Pour coffee/liqueur mixture into dish, then top with ladyfingers. Pour more coffee/liqueur mixture to saturate the ladyfingers, then spread the cheese mixture over the cake. Cover the cheese layer with more saturated ladyfingers, then another cheese layer. Finally, top with cocoa. Kahlua syrup topped with cake layer, more syrup so ladyfingers are saturated, cheese layer, moistened cake layer, cheese layer, top with cocoa.

Ingredients:

Loaf

• 4 T. butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ginger

Topping (Optional)

• 2 T. butter, melted
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of nuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat together butter, sugar, egg and pumpkin.

3. Add remaining loaf ingredients and mix completely. Pour into greased 8″ x 4″ loaf pan.

4. Mix nut topping and smooth evenly over batter. Pat lightly into the top of the batter.

5. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup butter, margarine or oil
• ¼ cup rice flour – use regular rice flour, not sweet rice flour.
• 1 cup whole milk or half and half
• 1 cup gluten-free chicken or turkey stock (you can use some wine as part of this stock quantity)
• 2 Tbsp. of tomato paste (Optional – this is to enhance color)
• Salt and pepper
• About 2 cups of leftover, cooked diced turkey or chicken thighs
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup of additional vegetables – sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, olives, capers, etc.
• ½ lb. gluten-free rotini pasta cooked according to packet directions and drained. Undercook the pasta, as it will absorb more liquid when you cook it with these ingredients.
• 2 cups of shredded cheese (I use pizza blend)

Directions:

1. Melt butter or oil in a non-stick saucepan. Stir in flour until smooth and cook over gentle heat for about 2 minutes. This cooks the flour and prevents the grainy, raw flour taste.

2. Slowly stir in milk and stock, bring to a boil and cook over gentle heat for about 3 minutes until sauce thickens slightly. Add tomato paste.

3. Add turkey, vegetables, cooked pasta and 1 cup of cheese. Mix well. Pasta tends to absorb the sauce and the melting cheese thickens it, so I can add up to one more cup of milk or stock to make the mixture runnier. Taste and adjust seasoning.

4. Pour into greased lasagna pan, top with remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese (or ½ cup Parmesan cheese, if you prefer). You can also crush some Gluten-Free Corn Chex and mix with the cheese for a crispy topping.

5. Cover and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes until bubbling. Let cool, then serve immediately or store in the fridge and reheat when company arrives.

Tips & Alternatives:

This white sauce can be a very versatile ingredient. Use it to layer in a gluten-free lasagna, jazz up real or packet gluten-free macaroni and cheese, put in a pie plate with gluten-free pie crust and bake, top with hash browns and bake, or even top a gluten-free pizza crust with a sauce and meat mix.

Courtesy of ShopRite

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time:15 minutes

Makes about 1 ½ lbs. of toffee

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ShopRite Granulated Sugar
• 8 oz. ShopRite Unsalted Butter
• 1 tsp. ShopRite Salt
• 1 tsp .ShopRite Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup ShopRite Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 cup ShopRite Sliced Almonds, toasted

Directions:

1. Lightly grease an 18”x13” sheet pan.
2. Melt the butter, sugar, and salt over medium heat in a heavy sauce pan. Gently stir the ingredients until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase heat to medium high and cook without stirring until the mixture becomes light golden brown. Using a candy thermometer, cook the mixture to 285ºF.
4. Pour the toffee onto the sheet pan and allow to cool 3-4 minutes.
5. Evenly sprinkle chocolate chips onto the warm toffee, spreading the melted chocolate evenly using a spatula.
6. Sprinkle the almonds on top of the chocolate.
7. Once the toffee has completely cooled, break into serving size pieces.

Photo Credit: Daisy’s World. While some of Daisy’s recipes are not gluten-free, many are wonderfully tasty and naturally gluten-free.