Changing lifelong eating habits can be a huge challenge for most people with coeliac disease, for a variety of reasons. However once shopping and cooking gluten free food is mastered, the next challenge is to educate those in their wider community and whanau to support them to stay safe and adhere to the strict GF lifestyle, away from the home. Each year we ask the coeliac community to celebrate Coeliac Awareness Week with their friends, family and workplaces by holding a GF High Tea - so they have an opportunity to talk about how the disease impacts their everyday life.

It's also an opportunity to try out new recipes provided by our CNZ Food Ambassadors, including Sally Holland who shares her -

SOY CARAMEL AND MACADAMIA SLICE

Ingredients

• 175g butter
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup gluten free flour mix
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1 395g tin sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tbsp golden syrup
• 65g butter
• 2 tsp -soy sauce
• ½ cup raw macadamias, chopped

Method

• Cream butter and sugar. Add gluten free flour mix and almonds and mix well.
• Press 2/3 of the mixture into a baking paper lined slice tin. Refrigerate remaining dough.
• Put condensed milk, golden syrup and butter in a saucepan and heat until the butter is melted. Mix in the soy sauce and set aside to cool.
• Crumble the remaining dough and mix with the macadamias.
• Pour caramel over base and scatter the dough and macadamias over this.
• Bake at 160C fan bake for about 40 minutes,
• Cut into pieces when cold.

Gluten Free Flour Mix

This is easy to mix up and is best stored in an airtight container in the pantry. I have used white rice flour and cornflour from maize not wheat. Xanthan gum is made from corn sugar and is used as a gluten substitute to give elasticity in gluten free baking. Tapioca flour is also known as arrowroot.

• 2 cups rice flour
• 1 cup tapioca flour
• 1 cup cornflour
• 2 tbsp xanthan gum

Sift all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Using a wire whisk, slowly stir until well blended. Transfer to an airtight container.
Makes 4 cups.

Try this and other recipes featured in the GF High Tea tool kit found in the members only section of the website.

About Sally Holland

Cooking is a lifelong passion for Sally, who is a self-confessed “foodie” and has loved cooking since she was a child.

Sally became interested in gluten free cooking when her husband, Bill, was diagnosed with coeliac disease 16 years ago. Initially thrown by his diagnosis, she enthusiastically took up the challenge of creating delicious gluten free cooking that everyone loves to eat. Her desire to help others who are coeliac and those who cook for them is the driving force behind her cookbook Goodbye Gluten.

Stronger Together

Being able to talk to people who understand about what living with coeliac disease is really like, is why being a party of the Coeliac New Zealand community of staff, volunteers and members is so special. It also provides a great opportunity for you to have fun and make new lifelong friends.

We hope you will consider making a donation to Coeliac New Zealand Inc. It is unprecedented times and our funding opportunities have reduced significantly while at the same time competition for funding has increased and your support makes a huge difference to us and the people we support.  Every cent donated by you and other generous individuals makes a difference as it allows us to continue to do the work we do for people with coeliac disease.