A special post for ANZAC Day – a slightly different observation this year with social distancing measures in place and the world facing a different kind of threat. ANZAC biscuits are an Aussie staple and no matter where you go at this time of the year, they are on sale – commercially made batches selling in supermarkets, home-made batches in bakeries and on market stalls – but nothing beats the joy of making these at home, with or without family help.
The scent of these as they are cooking brings back memories of the day we all stand and pay our respects to the fallen who gave their lives, so that we could have better lives. And once you bite into them, yes, you have that instant ANZAC day flashback come forth, but in a stomach-friendly form for those of us with issues with wheat/gluten/dairy/egg.
Our great great uncle George Cedric Kent enlisted in the army – underage – and the tour of duty cost him his life. His name is etched in the epitaph at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. He is our family’s ANZAC hero, and many Australian and New Zealand families have at least one ANZAC hero in their lineage.
Vale:
Private George Cedric Kent – Son of Edward Charles and Maria Isabella Kent 636 – 9th Battallion – 1st AIF -Gallipolli – France 1914 – 1916 Died of wounds 22 April 1916 Sailly-Sur-La-Lys.
“LEST WE FORGET”
There is a strict regulation of ingredients that must be present for a biscuit to be called an ANZAC biscuit. I have incorporated all of these to ensure I do not diverge from tradition. I have made some embellishments with the goji berries, but these are a simple touch to represent the poppies and are not part of the make-up of the biscuits, they sit on top, like a fallen poppy petal.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa flakes or rice porridge flakes
- ¾ cup Cassava flour (or any plain gluten free flour blend)
- ¼ cup Teff Flour or buckwheat flour
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 – 2 Tbspn chia seeds (black/white)
- 125g Nuttelex spread or vegan butter
- 2 Tbspn Golden Syrup
- 1 Tbspn water
- ½ tspn bicarb of soda
- Dried goji berries (optional)
Method:
- Soak goji berries (if using) in 1/2 cup freshly boiled water and leave for 10 minutes before draining.
- Preheat oven to 160°/140°FF. Line oven trays with baking paper.
- Combine dry quinoa/rice porridge flakes, chia seeds, flours, and sugar in large bowl. Meanwhile, stir butter, golden syrup and water in a small saucepan over low heat until smooth; stir in bicarb of soda until frothy. Stir into dry ingredients.
- Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls; place about 5 cm (or a little less) apart on trays, flatten slightly with back of a fork. Add one goji berry on top of each biscuit. You could use a glacé cherry, chopped to resemble a poppy flower with a black sesame centre.
- Bake biscuits about 15 minutes; cool on trays, or transfer the whole paper (without dropping the biscuits) to a cooling rack.
Esculent Dreams 