If air tasted like brownies...

you would have what I made!

We love chocolate and I love cake, so if I could make a safe chocolate cake for us to eat... well, why wouldn't I? I've seen the lava cake thing and I dunno... Something about that just puts me off. The fact that it looks like you're eating a half baked cake is revolting to me. That being said, I was hesitant to try a flourless cake (recipe below). I wasn't sure what the texture would be like and if it would be a waste of good chocolate.

In the spirit of "Nothing ventured, Nothing gained" I decided to give it a try. I've made this 3 times now and each time it's been a bit different due to slight variations. I wanted to go small at first and remembered years ago my father had given me a set of small springform pans for Christmas. Having never made a flourless cake before, I was unsure what the stability of the finished cake would be. Springform seemed the best way to go to avoid having to invert the cakes, thus making the stability less of a concern.

The first two attempts were done completely by hand, while I used my Kitchenaid for the last attempt; which happens to be the one my husband thinks turned out the best. I served each little cake while still slightly warm topped with non dairy whipped topping, a faint drizzle of caramel ice cream topping and a dusting of cocoa powder.

I knew it was good when I had to push my plate away with a good third of the decadent little tasty remaining untouched. The flavor of the chocolate was intense like a good fudge brownie, while the texture was like a chiffon cake. Light and airy, not at all dense or soupy like I'd feared. The center never truly "set" like a proper cake, but I never felt like I was eating raw cake batter and that's what mattered most to me.

My husband asked me to make another one a few days later, so for the second attempt the only changes I made were using a 7" springform pan instead of the individual pans and chocolate chips instead of a premium chocolate bar. This one required a longer baking time, retained the same intense fudgy flavor, seemed a bit more "brownie-like" in texture and was gone in about 3 days time. Lovely with a fresh coffee.

Two days ago, I decided to give it another try with a few more modifications. This time I used a regular 8" cake pan, I melted my chocolate chips & butter in the microwave instead of using a double boiler and I used my stand mixer instead of mixing by hand. This last change is what I believe made the biggest difference.

Letting my stand mixer combine everything with the paddle attachment created a batter that was significantly lighter in color which meant it contained more air. Because there's no flour in the recipe, the batter can be a bit heavy and the eggs can take a real dose of elbow grease to fully incorporate by hand. This was the main reason I wanted to try the mixer, to make sure all of my ingredients were well combined.

What I ended up with, aside from a house filled with the lovely aroma of warm chocolate baking in the oven, was a sinful dessert combining the flavors of a super fudgy brownie with the texture of a souffle! Thin like a torte, but nowhere near as heavy. Because the flavors are so intense, a small slice with a bit of whipped cream is our service of choice. I would love to show you how it turned out, but my husband got the knife into it before I had a chance to pull out the camera.

If you love chocolate... I do hope you'll try it. Whether you go for the slightly heavier hand mixed method or the float away mixer method... it's chocolate at it's gluten free best!
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Flourless Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
4 oz. bitter or semisweet chocolate
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used vanilla sugar*)
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*To make vanilla sugar, simply shove what's left of your "used" vanilla beans into a jar of sugar and shake every so often. The granules will scrub tiny bits of vanillin from the pods which will flavor your sugar, thus imparting a further hint of vanilla to your recipes.

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-In a heat proof bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Melt the chocolate and butter using either a double boiler (heat proof bowl over a simmering pot of water) or in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval.
-Once fully melted, whisk in sugar.
-Once combined, whisk in eggs, one at a time until fully combined and add vanilla.
-Sift cocoa powder into the chocolate mixture and whisk to combine.
-Pour into greased 8" cake or tart pan
-Bake 25-35 minutes. Let rest on a wire rack for 5 minutes before attempting to remove from pan.
-Serve in small warm slices with a dollop of whipped cream, drizzle of caramel or chocolate sauce, fresh fruit, ice cream, chocolate shavings, a dusting of cocoa, sprinkles, toasted nuts... the list goes on and on!
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My husband has already put in a request for his office White Elephant. He wants a double layered with a cream cheese and toasted pecan filling. Since it'll be my first time baking for his colleagues, I'll definitely be doing a trial run and certainly be posting pics!!

Keep on Creatin'...

Lemony lightness!!

My mother sent me a link to a recipe for Gluten Free Lemon Pancakes that sounded wonderful!! I decided I'd try it out this morning, only to discover that I didn't have enough cornmeal in the pantry and no regular milk in the fridge. Oh the humanity!!! Well, I said to myself, I had the taste for pancakes in my mouth and I was bound and determined to have them!

While most kids were playing or watching TV, I was in the kitchen with my mom. I have so many memories of me standing in a chair so that I'd be tall enough to see what she was doing on the table or kitchen counter. And she was wonderful about it. That's the reason I can say that I baked my first cake at the age of 5! She would line up all the ingredients on the table, stand back and direct me. She wouldn't do it for me, she'd tell me what to do and let my little brain figure it out for itself. I wonder if she knew how brilliant she was being? I'll have to ask her.

One of the many things she taught me was how to "make do". Simply put, if there's something you want to eat and you're missing some of the stuff... chances are you've got some other stuff that can help get you where you wanna go. It looked like I was gonna have to dust off my old skills...

I already had half a box of g-free Bisquick and that makes fairly decent pancakes on it's own. I also had some buttermilk left over, so I decided to "make do", making modifications and additions along the way. As I started to mix the batter, I noticed it was considerably thicker than it usually is when following the box instructions. I think this was likely due to the use of buttermilk instead of regular milk. I added a few Tbsp of water to thin it a touch, but wound up leaving it fairly thick.

When the time came for me to sit down and actually dive in... I thought I had died and gone to heaven! These pancakes had a lightness and fluffiness I've never obtained before! The texture of the actual cakes was so delicate and airy that the lemon flavor was the perfect compliment! I can't wait to make these for my husband some morning!

Naturally... I had to share!!

1 Cup gluten free Bisquick

1 Tbsp Sugar

Zest of one lemon

1 Cup Buttermilk

1 egg

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Juice from 1/2 lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 Tbsp water*

In a bowl, combine Bisquick, sugar and lemon zest. 

Whisk to mix thoroughly.

Add buttermilk, egg, oil, lemon juice & vanilla extract to dry ingredients. 

Stir to combine.

*Add water in SMALL increments, if necessary, to obtain a good THICK batter consistency.

Pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto lightly greased hot griddle or pan.

Cook until edges turn brown and top of pancake has less sheen to it.

Flip pancake and continue to cook until second side is golden. 

If desired, top each pancake with a pat of butter while still hot.

Just before serving, dust with confectioner's sugar, garnish with thin lemon slices.

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This recipe is going into the recipe box as a Go To! I've got tons of ideas swirling in my head already. Serving them with a light glaze or homemade lemon blueberry syrup... Orange pancakes served with mimosas for a Sunday morning brunch...

Happy Sweet Eats...

A Flurry of Gluten Free Goodies!!!

I haven't posted here in a while because... well, I had a few baking disasters and got a bit discouraged. Gluten free baking is truly like science. The smallest error can have disastrous results... like my loaf of bread that came out of the oven beautifully but quickly transformed into something that resembled an old hat that had been left out in the rain. I suspect my yeast was the culprit.

I've since found some recipes that inspired me to stick my toe in the proverbial waters again. I've had some great successes, so I just HAD to share!

Last night was the 3rd preseason game for the Eagles, so I felt football food was in order. I didn't have any wings in the house, so I decided to make popcorn chicken & onion rings. Oh how I've missed onion rings! Everything turned out fantastic!! The only catch about the onion rings is, you've gotta eat 'em fresh. After they've sat for too long, they turn pretty soggy.

This inspired me to try for something sweet. Having to live gluten free means that most sweet goodies are totally off limits. Occasionally, you'll find a sweet treat here or there... but they're often pretty expensive not to mention, there's nothing like freshly baked warm goodies! 

Today's treat was Pumpkin Spice Doughnut Holes... and once again... SUCCESS!!! 

I'm even more thrilled because I had to make a few substitutions. Technically, these contain no pumpkin! This is apparently the wrong time of year for canned pumpkin, so I grabbed a can of yams instead. I also didn't have the 2 cups of rice flour the recipe called for, so I substituted 1 cup of sweet sorghum flour for one of the cups of rice flour. I can't tell you how good my house smells right now! 

So... hope you enjoyed today's Food Porn. With successes like this, I'm sure there will be more to come!

Sweet Treats!

I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas! Desserts are one of the things that make life worth living... Sadly, the vast majority of desserts out there are "poison" for me and the Mr. I refuse to live a life devoid of sweet sweetness... so a good portion of my time is devoted to the gluten free dessert.

The recipe I'm posting today is one that I made for a girlfriends get together last summer. We had a nice little BBQ at the house and I knew everyone would love this because the main ingredient is... CHOCOLATE!!

It's got 4 ingredients, is easy to make... but looks fancy and delicate!

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Classic Chocolate Roulade

7 oz. good quality chocolate, chopped

1 cup sugar, plus some confectioner's for dusting

7 eggs, separated

2 tubs whipped topping*

* I usually add a tsp of vanilla extract to each tub of topping.

It gives the topping more of a "homemade" whipped cream taste*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and line jelly roll pan with baking parchment.

Melt chocolate in bowl over pan of barely simmering water.

Allow chocolate to cool for about 5 minutes.

In large bowl, whisk sugar & egg yolks until light & fluffy.

Stir melted chocolate into egg yolk mixture.

Whisk egg whites until stiff, but not dry, then fold into chocolate mixture.

Pour chocolate mixture into prepared pan, spreading it level.

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until firm.

Leave cake in pan & cover with cooling rack, making sure it doesn't touch cake.

Cover rack with damp dishtowel and wrap in plastic wrap.

Leave in cool place for at least 8 hrs, preferably overnight.

Dust a sheet of waxed paper with confectioner's sugar.

Turn roulade out onto it and peel off the lining paper.

Spread about 1 1/2 tubs of whipped topping over the roulade.

Starting from one of the short ends, carefully roll it up using the paper to help.

Place the roulade, seam side down, on a serving platter.

Dust with remaining confectioner's sugar.

Serve with a dollop of whipped topping, chocolate curls & sprig of mint.

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While this may sound like a lengthy process, I really hope you'll try it. The majority of the time is spent waiting. The cake is so delicately sweet and wonderfully light, you won't feel guilty for eating it!

Coley's First Creations!

I'd never given much thought to giving up gluten. When my tummy problems were really flaring up, I never considered gluten. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast... so when I worked, I used to love going down to the cafeteria and ordering the most beautiful fluffy pancakes, a perfectly toasted sesame bagel or, on light mornings, simple toast or an English Muffin.

When my tummy would be thrown into turmoil, my brain automatically blamed the butter on the toast, the cream cheese on the bagel or the syrup on the pancakes. Never once did I look at the star of the show. How could I? I had been raised on "toast and tea with lemon" when you're sick!

Many days have passed since then and having now completely committed, along with my husband, to living a gluten free life, my tummy troubles seem to be getting further away in my rear view mirror. There are only a few problems with this... gluten free foods in the grocery store are either non existent, hard to find, extremely expensive, teeny tiny sized or some combination of the aforementioned. This has spurred me to, as my fore-mothers did, take matters into my own hands and kitchen!

Yesterday was my first attempt at homemade gluten free bread. I made a big batch of flour mix that I modified a bit from one of my gluten free cookbooks.

Four Flour Bread Mix

3 cups Garbanzo Bean Flour

1 cup Sorghum Flour

4 cups Tapioca Flour

4 cups Cornstarch

3 Tbsp Xanthan Gum

1 Tbsp Salt

1 Tbsp Egg Replacer

3 envelopes unflavored gelatin

3/4 cup sugar

Using this mix, I made...

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Honey Sweetened Hawaiian Bread

Dry Ingredients

3 cups Four Flour Bread Mix

1/3 tsp Baking Soda

3 Tbsp Almond Meal (finely ground almonds)

4 tsp Yeast

Wet Ingredients

1 egg, plus 2 whites

1/4 tsp vinegar

3 Tbsp Honey

4 1/2 Tbsp margarine/butter

9 oz. Pineapple/Orange/Banana juice

1/3 cup water

Grease chosen pans and dust with rice flour.

Combine dry ingredients and set aside.

In another bowl or bowl of stand mixer whisk the egg & whites, vinegar, honey & margarine/butter (in chunks) until blended.

Combine water & juice and heat to 110 degrees for hand mixing (for bread machine, follow manufacturer's instructions)

For Hand Mixing, with mixer on low, add dry ingredients a little at a time.

Alternate between dry ingredients and water/juice to maintain cake like batter.

Turn mixer to High and beat for 3 1/2 minutes.

Spoon into prepared pan, cover with plastic and allow to rise in warm place for 35 minutes for rapid rise yeast, 60 or more for regular yeast or until the dough has reached the top of the pan.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 50-55 minutes, covering with foil after first 10 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning.

For Bread Machine, place the ingredients in the machine pan in the order suggested in the machine manual. Use the setting for light crust.

This bread is really perfect for popping into the toaster to enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee in the morning. The sweetness from the honey & the fruit juice gives it a really nice flavor. While this is not a light airy bread, it does not weigh 4 lbs either. It's somewhere in the middle with a texture similar to a banana bread.

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Dinner was another new experiment! In honor of Fat Tuesday, I decided to make a pot of Chicken Jambalaya. The new part was the G-free Fried Shrimp I made as an appetizer!! Sadly, when you have to avoid gluten, that usually means the world of fried foods is often a distant memory. This is why I've modified my family "Fried" chicken recipe... but that's a recipe for another day! :^)

The Mr. also has some trouble with milk, but not cheese ironically. I had been trying to think of ways around it and tried one out last night with much success!

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Gluten Free Fried Shrimp

Thawed, deveined & peeled large shrimp

Dry Station

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

Wet Station

1 cup plain non dairy creamer

2 Tbsp spicy brown mustard

1 beaten egg

1 Tbsp hot sauce (optional)

Heat frying oil to 375 degrees.

Dip shrimp in dry concoction, then the wet and back to the dry.

Allow shrimp to sit for a few minutes.

Give shrimp another pass through the wet and finish with the dry before dropping into oil.

Fry shrimp for 2-3 minutes or until they begin to float.

Remove shrimp from oil and place on rack to cool.

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The brilliant thing about this recipe and the multiple dredgings is that the breading really creates a nice crust that won't break off during cooking. I'm looking forward to using this for one of our board game nights for chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks or... Ooooh!!! Homemade Broccoli Bites!