gluten free familyA mum's blog about gluten-free living in Australia

Yes the yummy Christmas season is here again and we at GFF love the festive ambience — but the relentless parade of parties does make it a tricky time of year for the gluten-free.

I’m hoping this year will be a little different, though, because I will be hosting the festive dinner in my home for for the first time in years. That means I get to banish all things gluten from the Christmas menu.

This does not mean, however, that I will be skimping on the good bits. No indeed, we are doing the whole festive, cold-climate affair — right down to the steamed Christmas pudding and fake snowflakes on the windows. Even Santa will be munching on gluten free shortbread once he heaves his way through the catflap.

Of course it isn’t the turkey, ham and baked spuds that give us trouble. After all it’s not that hard to subsitute your favourite stuffing mix with gluten free breadcrumbs, or to stir up a pan of turkey gravy using rice flour. Even most of the chippolatas in the supermarkets are mixed with rice flour these days.

No, it is those traditional festive sweet meats that create the biggest headache. So here’s what’s on the menu at my house this year.

Mince pies
Last year I discovered some mini gluten free mince pies at Coles and this year they are back in force (and I think Woolies are stocking them too). Made by a manufacturer called Jon-Jon, I find these are handy little bite sized treats totally irrisistible. They have a nice crispy shortcrust outer and a delicious dollop of filling — and you can almost devour one in a single bite. Sadly this does nothing to ease the guilt of eating the whole box in one sitting.

If you like a more substantial mince pie, a number of gluten free bakeries also make their own (as well as other Christmas fare) if you are lucky enough to live near one!

Gingerbread
A few months ago we discovered some little gluten free gingerbread men from Dragonflyfoods in Dural.  They sent me a party box to chomp through and they are yummy little critters – arguably even tastier than their wheaten brethren – and are all individually wrapped.  So if you want to stock up on a joblot of these, you can order them through the website.

For those who want to go it alone, this recipe makes a bunch of delicious (albeit slightly fragile) little gingerbread men, and the kids will love getting involved in the baking too.

Shortbread
I’ve never tried making my own, but Coles stocks a brand called Butterfingers which are pretty tasty, and Orgran has also released some little shortbread bites that I am yet to sample.

For those who like to bake, here’s a recipe I found online. I have not tested it but it seems to get a good rating from visitors and the description includes those all-important words: “melt in your mouth”.

Christmas pudding
I’ll be heading to Choices gluten free bakery tomorrow to pick up my Christmas pudding and hopefully I haven’t left it too late. If so, there are a few alternatives.

Pudding Lane sells a delicious-looking gluten free pudding from its online shop, and for more intrepid cooks, Jamie Oliver has a gluten free pudding recipe on his site — and I would love to hear if anyone has tried this at home!

For something a little less traditional but equally delicious, we have blogged in the past about the sticky date pudding mix from Celebrate Health found in Coles. One pack makes a dozen muffin-sized puddings and it comes with a quick, delicious topping recipe that you make with brown sugar and margarine.

And for those who like something creamy to top their puddings, Orgran has a custard mix that does a pretty decent job for those of us who must live without dairy. Carnation has also been advertising soy cooking milk as a cream replacement for those non-dairy people who can tolerate soy products.

Christmas cakes
Vitarium (who brought us realistic, yummy pancakes) has created a gluten free Christmas cake mix so look out for that on supermarket shelves or on their website. Or you can go wild with this online recipe — that looks good enough to eat!

Seasons greeting everyone!

Lucy

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