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Dear Lola
My Coeliac child now suffers from constipation and I am trying to include more fibre in his diet, I am using psyllium as you suggested in the bread but can I use this product in other recipes such as muffins.
Psyllium is easy to use in muffin recipes as 1 tablespoon of the fibre can be added to the flour. You may need to add a little more water depending on the recipe. For recipes such as scones I find it better to add the tablespoon of psyllium to quarter cup of water and let it jel’ for a few minutes before adding to the mixture, this way there is no guesswork.

Dear Lola
I am trying to make baby rusks without eggs, can you help.
I have had some success with egg replacer using my rusk recipe that is derived from my sandwich bread recipe although the rusks are more "crumbly' than those made with Bread Improver. More recently I found that egg replacer also works reasonably well with the potato bread recipe. This is good when you need bread rolls for school, but the potato makes it a little too soft and brittle for rusks.

Dear Lola
I bought some besan flour from a health food shop to make your flour blend, but the besan flour was very bitter, can I use some other flour.
Besan flour is not bitter to taste, even the cheaper brands that are imported from India are not bitter, some have an earthy curry flavour. I think the flour you were sold, as besan flour is yellow pea flour, this is a very bitter product. As good quality besan flour has increased in price, some shops are selling this cheaper flour as besan. The best brand of besan is the colour of custard powder and does not have black specs in it.

Dear Lola
My bread recipe is working well except that it burns on top and this makes a hard crust, difficult to slice. I have tried foil but it still burns.
With fan ovens the heat still manages to lift the foil, I use a flat scone tray on top of the bread tin, this works well to give you a flat top as well as preventing the loaf from burning. Gluten free flours are heat sensitive and do burn easily so try baking the bread on the lowest shelf and use an oven thermometer to check the temperature, if it is still burning reduce the temperature by 20 degrees.

Dear Lola
Can you tell me which flour to use when I am making one of my husband’s favourites, braised steak and onions? I have tried rice flour and cornflour but I don’t like the gritty taste of riceflour or the aftertaste of cornflour.
If I am in a hurry and haven’t any of my bread and pastry blend ready mixed, I use a thin coating of potato flour on the steak before browning, it thickens very well and makes a nice glossy gravy. Be careful not to use too much or you will get a gluggy mixture.

Dear Lola
Is there an easy way to measure golden syrup when I am making cookies. I love the flavour but it is so sticky I try and avoid these recipes.
There are a few easy methods of handling such products as golden syrup, treacle, rice syrup and liquid glucose. Many of these products are now packed in glass or plastic containers so that you can warm them in the microwave. If you are using oil in the recipe use some of this to oil your measure and the syrup will then easily slide off. If you are weighing the product just oil the dish on your scales.

Dear Lola
Why do you say to heat the eggs and sugar over hot water before beating in your sponge recipes, I usually separate the eggs and beat in the sugar?
Heating the eggs and sugar over a saucepan of hot water allows the mixture to be beaten without separating the eggs. Also the warmed mixture whips in half the usual beating time, a great help if you only have a hand mixer. Separating the eggs and beating for a long time gives you a dry sponge that will not keep. My method can be used with icing sugar and egg whites to give a thick creamy meringue covering such as used in Bombe Alaska. It sets in the oven in just a few minutes.

Dear Lola
I thought rice was quite safe for Coeliacs but in an Asian food shop I saw rice marked ‘Glutenous Rice’, can some rice contain ‘gluten’
Rice is quite safe for Coeliac sufferers and does not contain gluten, Glutenous Rice is another name for ‘Sticky Rice’, a type of rice naturally containing rice syrup or sugar. It is generally used for making sweets such as baked rice pudding or sweet rice balls.