Makes about 8 servings

Ingredients:
For the crust:

• 2 boxes Enjoy Life Foods Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Cookies
• 1 T. dairy-free milk

For the filling:

• 2 T. dairy-free buttery spread
• 1 medium sweet apple, suitable for baking (such as Cortland), cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1 medium pear, suitable for baking (such as Bartlett), cut into 3/40-inch pieces
• 2 C. fresh or frozen cranberries
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• Pinch salt
• 1 T. Enjoy Life Foods All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 C. water
• 1 t. lemon juice

For the crumble:

• 1/2 C. Enjoy Life Foods All-Purpose Flour
• 1/4 C. packed brown sugar
• 1/4 C. dairy-free buttery spread

For the glaze:

• 1/4 C. confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2 t. dairy-free milk
• 1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1 t. vanilla extract
• Pinch salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Lightly oil a 9-inch tart dish
2. To make the crust, combine 2 boxes of Soft Baked Snickerdoodle Cookies and the dairy-free milk in a food processor. Process until the cookies are finely ground and stick together when the mixture is squeezed.
3. Scrape the mixture into the prepared dish, pressing it into the bottom and up the sides.
4. To make the filling, melt the dairy-free buttery spread in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the apples, pears, and cranberries. Cook until the mixture begins to soften, about 7 minutes. Stir in the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cook until the sugar melts. Sprinkle with the All-Purpose Flour, mixing to coat. Pour in the water and lemon juice, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and glossy. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
5. To make the topping, combine the All-Purpose Flour, brown sugar, and dairy-free buttery spread in the food processer. Pulse about 10 times until the mixture is in large crumbs.
6. Scrape the fruit mixture into the prepared crust. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the fruit.
7. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes, until the crumble topping is browned and the fruit is bubbling. Let cool 30 minutes.
8. To make the glaze, put the confectioners’ sugar, dairy-free milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt in a small bowl. Mix to combine. Drizzle the mixture over the tart. Let stand 15 minutes to set.
9. You can enjoy the tart warm, but the filling will continue to firm as it cools.
10. Serve as desired, storing leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, and any other leftovers to the freezer.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh, adapted from a recipe by Marjorie Marino, Bulacan, Philippines

We spent 2 weeks in South Africa and have given talks on South Africa as well as a gluten-free South African buffet. I was given this vegan recipe, which I adjusted it to make it my own. It uses maple syrup since vegans won’t use honey, but I use honey since I really don’t know if maple syrup is available in South Africa. I also used feta cheese instead of tofu. We saw huge platters of feta cheese and chunks of ripe tomatoes and cucumber everywhere as there are very large Greek communities.

Ingredients:

Makes 4 servings

Salad

• 9 small to medium red and yellow beets
• 2 Tablespoon (30 ml) butter
• 1 cup (4 oz) chopped pecans, toasted in oven for about 10 minutes
• ¼ cup (60 ml) honey (or maple syrup to make it vegan)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Feta Cheese to taste (or no cheese to make the recipe dairy-free and vegan)

Vinaigrette

• ¼ cup (60 ml) white balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) gf Dijon mustard
• 3/4 cup (180 ml) olive oil
• 3 Tablespoon (45 ml) chopped chives or green onions (spring onions, scallions). A South African friend suggested cilantro (coriander leaves)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Toast chopped pecans for about 7 minutes.
3. Wash and dry the beetroots and place in an oven-proof casserole dish. Bake covered from 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the beets are tender when pierced with a knife.
4. Allow to cool, then cut off each end and peel.
5. Heat a skillet/frying pan over medium heat and then add the nuts and let them heat. Add the maple syrup or honey, let sizzle until mixture almost turns to chewy toffee. Season with salt and pepper, then remove from the heat and set aside.
6. To make the dressing, add all of the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until smooth.
7. To assemble the salad, slice the beets and arrange them on 4 plates. Sprinkle with the nuts and crumble the tofu over the beets.
8. Whisk the dressing once more, then drizzle some over each plate and serve immediately.

Makes 30 servings

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup Schar Gluten Free Bread Crumbs
• 2 slices bacon, diced
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound mushroom caps
• 1/2 cup mushroom stems
• 1/3 cup onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, minced
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian spices
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chopped chives for garnish

Directions: 

See me make this recipe on New Hampshire’s ABC WMUR Cooks Corner on Wednesday, December 7 during the noon news. I will also post on Gluten Free Cooking with Oonagh on Facebook. I found that when I tried to make this the traditional way, the egg butter mix curdled too much. In England, we used to make this for weddings in a 16” square, deep cake pan using a complete bottle of sherry or brandy until the cake was sitting in a puddle of alcohol laced syrup.

Cake Ingredients:

• 1½ sticks (6 oz., 170 g.) butter very soft (Earth Balance is a good substitute)
• ¾ cup (6 oz., 170 g.) sugar
• 3 extra large eggs or 4 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. (15 ml.) gluten-free vanilla extract
• Zest of one large orange
• ⅓ cup (1¼ oz., 35 g.)  almond flour
• 1 cup (4½ oz.) King Arthur gluten-free flour (not containing xanthan gum)
• 4 tsp. (20 ml.) gluten-free baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 Tbsp. (30 ml.) milk

Syrup Ingredients:

• 2 cup (16 fl. oz., 480 ml.) orange juice
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ½ cup (4 fl. oz., 120 ml.) orange liqueur. Grand Marnier is wonderful, but also far more expensive than Triple Sec or Gran Gala. Choose whichever you can tolerate. Use brandy or rum as an alternative. Rum and brandy should both be naturally gluten-free, but flavorings may add gluten.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a 10” (25 cm) Bundt pan with food spray. A spring form pan can also be used, but the cake would then have to be placed in a different container for the syrup to soak in.
2. Place softened butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, flour, almond flour, baking powder, milk and salt in mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer until soft, fluffy and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stir in orange zest, which tends to stick to beaters, so you then have to the scrape zest off. Don’t skimp on this beating. Mix will get whiter and might look slightly curdled, but that won’t affect taste or texture.
3. Spoon batter into prepared Bundt pan (it will only about half fill pan), smooth top and bake in preheated oven for approximately 30-40 minutes until cake is well-risen, deep golden brown and deeper brown around the edges. It might have a crack in the middle, but this will be hidden when you invert the cake.  Note: A dark pan will darken cake sooner.
4. Remove cake from oven and leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then use a thin spatula or thin plastic knife to release all edges of cake, including center hole.
5. Turn cake out of pan onto plate. There is no need to let cake cool further.
6. Make syrup by dissolving sugar slowly in orange juice, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 1 minute. Remove from heat, cool for a few minutes and add alcohol.
7. Pour half of prepared syrup into Bundt pan and return cake to Bundt pan (no need to wash pan first). Pour remaining syrup over cake and leave in pan for about 10 minutes until cake has absorbed all syrup. It will look as if it is swimming in liquid at first.
8. Carefully turn out onto serving plate (otherwise it might break) and leave to finish cooling. Don’t leave it in the pan to cool, as it becomes difficult to turn out. This cake does not need cream, but my mother (and me) always served it with whipped cream and sliced almonds sprinkled on top.

Note: I whip 1 cup of whipping cream with 1 Tbsp. orange liqueur and 1 Tbsp. powdered sugar, then I cut cake into slices and spread or pipe cream on top of each slice. Finish with chocolate curls, grated chocolate or chocolate shards. You can also leave cake whole and increase the quantity of cream and smother cake in cream with lots of chocolate curls and sliced almonds.

To make cupcakes: ⅓ of recipe makes about 4 muffins/cupcakes. Cook for about 15 minutes.