Free from baking

This crêpe batter includes some yoghurt, which makes the flour more digestible when the batter is left to stand overnight; it also makes for silky textured pancakes. They are a little more delicate than wheat based crêpes, so don’t be disheartened if your first one isn’t perfect. Sorghum makes a malty, slightly wholemeal crêpe, but you could substitute other single flours or use a mixture: teff and buckwheat will give a darker, more flexible crêpe, whilst millet, maize and rice flour will give mild flavoured, slightly stiffer pancakes….

A chunk of moist, golden cornbread, still warm from the oven, is a great partner to soup or a hearty salad. Hugh adds grated carrot, which keeps the cornbread nice and tender, and contributes a delicious hint of sweetness….

Chestnut flour can be a difficult ingredient in bread and cakes, refusing to allow them to rise in quite the way the cook would like. In this recipe, however, it behaves better than the ground almond it replaces, making perfectly formed macaroons every time….

Fondants were one of the first desserts I mastered after going gluten free. Oh my goodness, the joy of sinking a spoon into something that was both cake and sauce! Chestnut flour makes the little puddings seem more chocolatey. There is nothing tricky about these – just prepare your moulds carefully and keep checking on the fondants as they cook. You can prepare them up to 24 hours in advance and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to bake and serve – just add a couple of minutes to the baking time if cooking from chilled….

This light textured tea-bread is entirely grain free and refined sugar free! Figs give a mellow, caramel sweetness to the bread that takes the edge off the walnuts without making it too much like cake. High in both protein and fibre to ensure a slow release of carbohydrate into your blood stream. It is equally delicious toasted and spread with butter, a partner for cheese and pickle or served with a dollop of Greek yogurt and some fresh fruit. Recipe from course tutor Naomi Devlin….

Naomi likes a thin-based pizza, sparingly spread with a simple tomato sauce and baked as hot as the oven can go, until the base is invitingly crisp and the cheese is melted and bubbling. You are welcome to put pineapple and ham on your own creations, but she thinks that the holy trinity of bread, tomato and cheese is unbeatable….

A few teaspoonfuls of rosewater, a handful of pistachios and a scattering of rose petals elevate this simple cream filled sponge to something exotically redolent of a Persian flower garden. Some sugared rose petals are always gorgeous on any cake flavoured with rosewater: just paint the petals with egg white, toss them in a bowl of caster sugar and lay to dry on kitchen paper in a warm, dry place for 6–24 hours, until crisp….

Linseeds, also called flaxseed, are a rich source of omega-3 oils, as well as providing protein, fibre and iron. These crisp, salt-scattered crackers are an irresistible way to eat them. They look wonderful too, with their slightly curled-up form, and random, rough-edged shape. Serve them with dips or soups, or just leave a dish in the kitchen for opportunistic munching….

We can’t think of a nicer way to refuel mid-morning or teatime than with one (or two) of these. In texture they’re somewhere between a soft, chewy cookie and a tender rock cake – a pretty good place to be….