Got the blues?

I had serious sorry-for-myself blues last night. The sort that required something by Muddy Waters to be playing in the background. The reality of living gluten-free is that often (while you're trying to get to grips with a whole new field of flours) you will feel like you're wading through very muddy waters. A recipe that works one day, turns on you the next and it's hard not to take it to heart when hours of research and even more hours spent trawling grocery stores checking labels have gone into it.

The reason for my blues? My blueberry muffins didn't rise. Baking gluten-free makes you feel a bit like a child again. You're not really sure what you're doing, you put the pan in the oven with nervous anticipation, and then stand and watch through the oven door for the entire 20-minute cooking time, fearing that if you look away they'll flop. So there I was, watching, willing this batch to puff up in vain. It took me back to 1989. It was my sister's birthday and we had just moved to the little town of Dundee (Dundee, South Africa, not Dundee, Scotland). My mother was whipping up batter for her fail-safe chocolate cup cakes, but as each batch went into the oven they rose and then collapsed like popped party balloons. As delicious as the chewy mess in the pans was, it was devastating for my mother. The reason for the flop... altitude.

While I can't blame altitude for last night's disappointment, I needed to repair the recipe this morning. So I pulled out the tin of Happiness Tea (hibiscus, rosemary and cardamon) my great friend, Nicks, gave me a while ago, hoping it might just live up to its promise.

The tin is enough to cheer anybody up. It reads...

Put the kettle on to boil. Warm your favourite teapot. Add one tablespoon of tea for each person. Pour in boiling water, allow to brew for 10 minutes, while you do one or more of the following: Lie on the sofa like a great big slug. Hug somebody. Dance like you danced when you were five years old. Rest. Take off your shoes. Sing like Pavarotti. Shake like Elvis. Help yourself to a huge slice of chocolate cake. Call a friend. Listen. Remember the last time you laughed out loud. Tickle somebody. Sit where you can feel the sun on your face. Smile. Be still. Be present. Just be. Stir and pour. Drink.

While the huge slice of chocolate cake would be an issue, I poured myself a cuppa... and it was blue (thanks to the hibiscus flowers)! A little ironic, I think, but perfect. And then the muffin crumbled... so to speak. Why not turn flopped muffins into crumble topping? If you ever bake a batch of g-free muffins that don't turn out quite according to plan, here's a way to turn them into a treat.

Bit of a Blunder Blueberry Apple Crumble

2 cups frozen blueberries

½ cup brown sugar

1 tblsp corn starch

1 tin unsweetened pie apples

Your own crumble topping

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Heat the blueberries, sugar and corn starch in a pot over a medium heat. As they defrost you will have a lot of liquid that slowly turns syrupy with the sugar and corn starch. Take it off the heat before it starts to gel too much. Grease a pie dish (I used mini single-portion pie dishes for fun). Place the apples at the bottom. Spoon the blueberries and syrup over the apples and then top with your crumble. Bake for about 20 minutes until the top is golden and delicious blue syrup is bubbling up the sides.