Gluten-free, sugar-free Part #1

My gluten-free, sugar-free journey.

Part 1

For many years I've known that my body has an issue with gluten and sugar. But there's a big problem if you try to find pre-made foods: you can (sometimes) find gluten-free products, or (more rarely) sugar-free products, but both? Not a hope.

So I've decided enough is enough and I'm embarking on a journey to find GF+SF recipes, or invent my own. The main reason is that now I have a little girl and I'd like to be around longer for her if I can... so looking after myself better is more a priority. Besides, I'm hoping that as she grows she'll pick up the desire to cook/bake like I do (though it is the case that I've struggled to be organised enough to actually follow through on it), and that she'll be healthier for it in the long run, too.

Given that I'm suffering from a severely sore throat and lost voice at the time of writing (not to mention that it's become hot-ish again), I thought I'd start with ice cream. Just plain vanilla to start with.

I own an ice cream maker with a freezable base. I bought it before I got married (I gave my lovely missus one as well at the time, so technically I own two... though one base has gone missing in the interim...), and have used it precisely once. The ice cream was a flop and I didn't ever try again.

So, here's the ingredients I used:

• 250ml A2 cream
• 300ml A2 skim milk
• 1/2 cup Natvia
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Some notes about this.

1. The recipe came from the instructions for the ice cream maker, but I'm tailoring it to my needs. It's the "simple plain vanilla".
2. I'm using A2 dairy (since I'm alpha-1-beta-casein intolerant as well); regular dairy will work fine.
3. Natvia is a stevia-based sweetener, that's normally a 1-for-1 replacement with sugar. I say normally because my experiences previously are that it doesn't always square away that easily
4. I omitted the salt; I saw no reason for it.

Having stored the base in the freezer for some years, it was definitely ready to use (it's got a plastic bag over it to stop ice crystals forming in it).

Simply mix the ingredients together and pour into ice cream maker and leave to churn for 20-40 minutes. In theory.

The first problem was one I should have predicted. Natvia is crystals of stevia with a bulking agent since stevia is about 1000x sweeter than sugar. However, it does not dissolve the way sugar does; I know this because I sometimes have stevia-based strawberry and chocolate milk mixes (think Quik but without the sugar) and the sweetener doesn't dissolve unless you heat the drink a bit.

To solve this, I dragged out the electric beaters and used that on a low setting for a while. It worked to some extent but left a wierd slurry in the bottom of the bowl.

The second problem is, I think, a reflection of the first. Having made the ice cream yesterday, I went to eat some today and it was rock hard. The slurry mixed through the cream mixture seems to have set quite firmly indeed. After allowing it to thaw, though, scooping out of the container became easier (it still seemed like cutting it worked better, and it was rather brittle).

The third problem was the stevia crystals themselves. Again a reflection of the first, the crystals were detectable in the ice cream so it didn't have a smooth texture. But I did use regular Natvia...

Finally, it is waaaay too sweet.

Apart from those issues, it was still very creamy but not overly so, and with some tweaks could be very morish (though because it's got only fat and no sugar other than the lactose from the dairy, it satisfies faster than regular ice cream).

So, over the coming long weekend, I intend to try it again but insteasd use 1/4 cup of the icing mixture version of Natvia (this is powdered, not crystalline, so shouldn't have the problems with the crystals or mixing).

I'll let you know how it goes!

The next job after thatis GF+SF donuts. I miss donuts. Lots.

And no, I'm not Homer Simpson ;-)