Cranberry orange tea pastry

75 Minutes (mostly baking time) • Gluten-free • Low FODMAP • Serves 8 • Sweet and tart with a delicate crumb and pretty color. Delightful heated with a bit of butter melted into each slice. Or follow my grandmother’s lead and serve warm in a bowl with a spoon of hard sauce (recipe included) and turn this into a rich and delicious holiday dessert.

INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup lactose free whole milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 ¾ cups Betty Crocker rice flour blend (or other rice flour blend containing white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, and Xanthan gum)

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup white sugar

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter – melted and cooled

¼ cup fresh squeezed orange juice

2 teaspoons orange zest

1 large egg or 1 medium egg plus one egg white – at room temperature

1 cup raw cranberries

½ cup walnuts – toasted in a dry frying pan and finely chopped

DIRECTIONS (makes two small loaves or one larger loaf)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Grease your bread pan(s) and put a strip of parchment down the middle and leave the extra hanging over the short ends of the pan.

Combine milk and lemon juice in a measuring cup and let it sit for 5 minutes to sour.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

Pour the soured milk into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the sugar, melted (cooled) butter, orange juice and zest until fully incorporated.

Whisk in the egg until the mixture is smooth.

Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and fold together until just combined. Then fold in the cranberries and the walnuts.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan(s) and cook for 45 – 60 minutes (less time for smaller pans). When you insert a toothpick in the center of the loaf, it should come out clean when the bread is fully cooked.

Cool in pan 10 minutes then turn out to cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap and eat within 3-4 days. Bread freezes well so make extra and freeze a loaf!

OPTIONAL HARD SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

1 cup sugar

½ cup butter

½ cup lactose free whole milk, half and half, or cream

1 teaspoon Brandy

 DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour over cake and serve warm.

Low FODMAP serving size is one slice. A bit more if you’ve made the small loaf.