Gosh – I am mortified that it has been so long since I have been around here. I can’t believe that the last couple of months have been and gone and that it is the first long weekend of the Summer! Can you?
It has been a busy few months that have been tinged with sadness as we said goodbye to my gorgeous and beautiful Grandmother. We cried, we laughed and we celebrated her life. 10 children, 30 odd grandchildren and a couple of grandchildren is certainly worth celebrating.
Work has been very busy and I just found myself wanting time for myself. During the last couple months, I also was advised that I have a slight intolerence to Wheat and Dairy. I knew about the dairy myself but after a hectic Christmas period, I didn’t just fall off the wagon as wait for a comfy landing and proceed to fling myself off it. I was advised to cut all wheat and dairy from my diet for a while and see whether it helped. Cutting out milk, cheese and yoghurt hasn’t been a problem – I had been dairy free before and it was just a matter of being careful and mindful of the choices I was making, but wheat? Well that has been a different story and I have found it really tough.
This weekend, we’re heading to my parents for dinner and I offered to bring a dessert. I had bought some lovely rhubarb and wanted to use that. I had been drooling over some amazing recipes on Like Mam Used to Bake in the last while and decided that with a little imagination I could make a wheat free and dairy free crumble. I made a test run this morning (yes crumble for breakfast – it is definitely a bank holiday)
To make the Crumble Topping you will need
- 160g Oatmeal flour* ( simply take 160g porridge oats and blitz in a food processor until completely powdered)
- 80g chilled non dairy spread. I use Pure Soya Spread
- 80g light brown sugar
- 40g porridge oats*.
For the stewed rhubarb you will need
- 2 bunches or 10 stalks of Rhubarb washed and chopped
- 3-4 tbsp caster sugar
- 5 tbsp water
*Please note that unless oats are stated as being gluten free, they are not suitable for anyone with a gluten intolerance or allergy. However, they are suitable for a wheat intolerance. Please check your labels if you have gluten allergies.
To make the crumble place the oat flour in a large bowl. Cut the chilled spread into the flour and work into it using your fingers until you have a coarse breadcrumb like substance. Add the sugar and oats and mix in. Don’t overwork the mixture. Set aside until you need it. Or place in an airtight bag for up to 2 days.
To stew the rhubarb, place the chopped pieces into a large saucepan, add the sugar and water, stir and place on a low to medium heat. Stir occasionally until broken down and stewed. Leave some pieces chunky as they will cook more when in the crumble.
Pour the stewed rhubarb into an oven proof dish- or into 6 ovenproof ramekins
Top with the crumble, covering the rhubarb and place in a preheated oven at 180C for 40-45 minutes (or 15 minutes if individual ramekins)
Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. For all you non dairy free peeps, serve with whipped cream. For those of you who want to remain dairy free, serve with natural soya yoghurt.
Serve, and enjoy.
Have an amazing long weekend. Mine will be filled with Running, family, friends visiting from Seattle (yay).
I hope to be back soon with more yummy food that I have adapted to try to say as dairy and wheat free as I can.
Orls.
PS – I recently wrote a guest post for the lovely WhatSheWears.ie on running, getting started and what you need to get going! Pop on over and have a look.
