Gluten Free Nanaimo Bars - Daring Bakers January 2010

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca. I loved this challenge! I have been missing graham crackers and since they are an ingredient in this recipe, I got to make them gluten free. They turned out pretty yummy and I was excited to have a graham cracker peanut butter sandwich for a snack today!!
The nanaimo bar (pronounced nah-nye-mo) are delicious blend of chocolate, coconut, almonds and pretty easy to make (especially if you have graham crackers on hand. We'll be making them again. Since we're trying to be a little more helthy this year, I cut the butter in half for the base and instead of the vanilla frosting layer I used some sugar-free vanilla pudding (shame on me) made with 1 cup of milk instead of two so that it was really thick. We were able to enjoy these without the guilt and they didn't seem overly sweet like some people have claimed.

Gluten Free Nanaimo Bars

For Nanaimo Bars — Bottom Layer
1/4 cup Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
5 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa
1 Large Egg, Beaten
1 1/4 cups Gluten Free Graham Wafer Crumbs (See below for recipe)
1/2 cup Almonds (Any type, Finely chopped)
1 cup Coconut (Shredded, sweetened or unsweetened)

For Nanaimo Bars — Middle Layer 1oz box sugar free vanilla pudding mix 1 cup skim milk

For Nanaimo Bars — Top Layer
1/2 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoons Unsalted Butter

Directions:
1. For bottom Layer: Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan.
2. For Middle Layer: Whisk pudding mix a milk for 2 minutes until pudding is nice and thick. Spread over bottom layer and refrigerate.
3. For Top Layer: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

Gluten Free Graham Crackers
(adapted from Rebecca Reilly's recipe)

2/3 cup bean flour

2/3 cup tapioca starch

2/3 cup corn starch

¼ cups sweet rice flour plus more for dusting rolling pin

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 ¾ teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into pieces

3 tablespoons cold water

4 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Mix together gluten-free flour mix, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt.

2. Using your fingertips, work butter into dry ingredients.

3. Stir in 3 tablespoons cold water, honey and vanilla. If dough is too dry, add a little more cold water, a teaspoon at a time.

4. Gather dough into a soft ball. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

5. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper.

6. Roll out half the dough on a silicone mat to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 2 x 3-inch pieces and prick lightly all over with a fork. Place mat on a cookie sheet to bake.

7. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. If cookies spread and bake together, re-cut while still warm and loosen them. Let cookies cool slightly before transferring to cooling rack.

Gluten Free Gingerbread House - Daring Bakers Challenge

The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.

This month has been crazy busy and I wasn't sure if I would get to do this challenge (even though I've been wanting to make a gingerbread house for years!) Luckily it turned out, albeit a bit sloppy as I had some humidity trouble with the icing. Everything was gluten free and I will post my recipes soon...

We had a great time decorating our house!

My husband's a pro...his family has been building and
decorating graham cracker house for years!

Macaroons - Daring Bakers October Challenge

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macaroons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I've been wanting to make these for awhile, so I was really excited to see this as a challenge. Everything went together easily and I didn't feel too "challenged until the finished product turned out without the "feet" on the cookies. I think I need to be more patient - I put the cookies in when my oven read 375 degrees but the internal temperature per my thermometer was at 340 degrees. I was in a hurry...

I filled them with chocolate buttercream. They taste great but don't look quite right. I'll be trying this again until I get it!

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Gluten Free Mallows (Chocolate covered Marshmallow Cookies) - Daring Bakers July 2009 Challenge

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I was very excited about the Daring Bakers Challenge this month. Mallows were one of my favorite "special occasion" cookies growing up. You see, I grew up in a family with 10 kids and Mallow Cookies come in packages of 9-12. It just wasn't cost efficient to buy these at our house so it was a special treat when we got them. (Grandma DuPaix's Chocolate Chip Cookies, on the other hand, were a constant in our household and are still the cookie of choice among my siblings.)

This recipe turns out a delicious chocolate covered crisp cookie topped with a gooey marshmallow - yum!

Gluten Free Mallows
makes 5-6 dozen

• 3 cups (375grams/13.23oz) Gluten Free Flour Blend plus 1 teaspoon xanthum gum
• 1/2 cup (112.5grams/3.97oz) white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons (170grams/ 6 oz) unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together
• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows
• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.
4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.
10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.
11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping. (I ran out of time so I used store bought marshmallows cut in half, placed on the hot cookies and put back in the oven for 2 minutes.)

Homemade marshmallows:
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 3/4 cup (168.76 grams/5.95oz) sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites , room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
6. Transfer to a pastry bag.

Chocolate glaze:
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil

1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.

Gluten Free Bakewell Tart...er...Pudding - Daring Bakers June Challenge

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

My Bakewell Tart...er...pudding isn't even out of the oven yet and I can tell it's going to be fabulous! The first layer of a Bakewell Tart is the tart shell. I used the Tart Shell Crust recipe from Annalise Roberts Gluten-Free Baking Classics Cookbook. It's a first trying this particular recipe, but I've loved all of her recipes that I've tried, so I'm not worried about how it will turn out.

After making the tart shell and putting it (unbaked) in the freezer to chill, I started on the next layer - the jam. This can be any flavor that you want. I chose peach because I had some peaches in the freezer that I've been meaning to make into jam and now was as good a time as any to make it. I followed the recipe on the box of sure-jell pectin for peach freezer jam.

With the tart shell chilling and the jam setting up, it was time to move on to the delicious third and final layer - the frangipane. The recipe we were given to use was measured by weight and although a kitchen scale is on my list of things to own day own, it has not made it to the top of my wish list yet. Instead I did some research and came up with the following proportions:

Frangipane (for a 9 inch tart)

1/2 cup butter softened to room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 Tablespoon gluten free flour mix

1 cup almonds ground finely in the food processor

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream butter sugar. Add eggs one at a time mixing until well blended. Add the almond extract, gluten free flour mix and ground almonds and combine.

Now it's time to assemble and bake the tart:

Spread the chilled tart shell with 1/2 - 2/3 cup jam. Spread the frangipane on top of the jam layer and place into the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. The tart should be browned and firm to the touch but slightly soft in the middle. Let the Bakewell Tart cool for 30 minutes before serving.

Gluten Free Peach Strudel - Daring Bakers May Challenge

Making a gluten free strudel seemed like a pretty daunting challenge and I almost gave up before I started. I'm so glad I stuck with it as this ended up being the easiest challenge I've faced as a daring baker. With a little guidance from the Culinary Institute of America I was able to adapt a recipe and ended up with something easy to mix up using ingredients I always have on hand. What more could I ask for!

The May Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafes of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

Gluten Free Strudel Dough

3 Tablespoons gluten free flour blend
1 egg white (about 2 Tablespoons)
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients with a rubber spatula to form a thick dough. spread dough as thin as possible onto parchment paper making a 6"x12" rectangle. Bake for 3-4 minutes or until the sheet of strudel lifts easily off of parchment paper. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place your preferred strudel filling (I made a peaches and cinnamon) about an inch from the edge of the dough and roll up. Brush with egg wash or melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool before serving.

You can brush melted butter around the edges to help seal your dough, but I forgot and it turned out fine.

I sprinkled it with sugar before placing it in the oven. Next time I might do a cinnamon sugar mixture to sprinkle on top.

Daring Bakers April Challenge - Gluten Free Cheesecake

The April Challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes.  She has chosen Abby's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.  I  love, love, LOVE cheesecake!  I think it is probably the best thing ever invented ...ever!  I was excited to make cheesecake for the DB Challenge this month and even more excited to eat it!  I had a hard time deciding what flavor to make.  I prefer fruit and my husband prefers chocolate but I only have one springform pan so I decided to experiment and do half of the cheesecake raspberry swirl and the other half chocolate chip.  It actually worked out really well and I will do it that way again so that we can have more than one kind of cheesecake.  Plus it was super sinple to do.  I poured the batter over my gluten free sponge cake crust and then I swirled raspberry puree through one half and mini chocolate chips through the other half. 

The cheesecake was creamy and absolutely delicious.  I was worried about baking it too long but at 45 minutes it hadn't set.  At 55 minutes it still had a lot of jiggle but because I was so worried about over-baking it I turned the oven off.  It ended up being under-baked and had the appearance of room temperature Brie when I cut into it, but that didn't take away any of the pleasure this creation delivered to our senses.  Next time I will bake it and additional 5 minutes.

I followed the cheesecake recipe except for the crust because it wasn't gluten free.  For my crust I made a gluten free sponge cake - an idea I got from Junior's Cheesecake's in New York (theirs isn't gluten free).

Here are the recipes:

Gluten Free Sponge Cake Crust

1/3 cup gluten free flour blend
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs, separated
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 drops pure lemon extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and generously butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan (preferably a nonstick one). Wrap the outside with aluminum foil, covering the bottom and extending all the way up the sides.
2. In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
3. Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high for 3 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and beat until thick light yellow ribbons form, about 5 minutes more. Beat in the extracts.
4. Sift the flour mixture over the batter and stir it in by hand, just until no more white flecks appear. Now, blend in the melted butter.
5. Using a clean bowl and clean beaters. Put the egg whites and cream of tartar into the bowl and beat with the mixer on high until frothy. Gradually add the remaining sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form (the whites will stand up and look glossy, not dry). Fold about one-third of the whites into the batter, then the remaining whites. Don’t worry if you still see a few white specks, as they’ll disappear during baking.
6. Gently spread out the batter over the bottom of the pan, and bake just until set but not sticky, 13-15 minutes. Touch the cake gently in the center. If it springs back, it’s done. Watch carefully and don’t let the top brown. Leave the crust in the pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

Abby's Infamous Cheesecake:

3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

3. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

4. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, (I'm doing mine 60 minutes next time) until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil "casserole" shaped pans from the grocery store. They're 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away. (I used a 9" springform pan wrapped in foil and it worked well for me.)

Lasagne! Daring Bakers March Challenge

Home made gluten free pasta, oh my!  When I found out I'd be making pasta I was a little nervous.  Pasta is something I'd always wanted to try making, but since being diagnosed with Celiac Disease and going gluten free I kind of put the whole pasta making thing out of my mind.  Without this challenge I probably never would have tried gluten free pasta, and although it was a bit time consuming, it was kind of fun too.  It didn't hurt that I had a especially cute sous chef by my side!

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

Here's the recipe that I used.  I cut it in half and used a 9x9 inch pan.

Gluten Free Egg Pasta
1 cup corn flour
3/4 cup corn starch
1 cup tapioca flour
1 cup potato starch
3/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 Tablespoons Xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
6 extra large eggs
3/8 cup of water
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.
Whisk together 3 eggs, the water, and the oil. Pour into the middle of the dry ingredients. Mix with a sturdy wooden spoon, gradually drawing more of the flour mix into the wet ingredients. Add each egg as needed. The dough will be crumbly at the beginning but will gradually come together as you add the eggs. You will need to use your hands to squeeze and mix the dough.  The dough will be firm and stick together when ready. It will not have the elasticity of gluten dough therefore it will crack when kneaded and pushed. Form it into a smooth ball, oil it lightly, and cover securely with plastic wrap. Let it rest for an hour.

Put a sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface. This is very important as the dough will not hold together very well when lifted. Have flour ready for dusting (corn flour etc) and dust the surface lightly. Cut a piece of dough about the size of really large egg – it doesn’t matter the size but start small for the first one to gauge how much space you need. Keep the remaining dough covered so it does not dry.

Roll the dough into a ball and flatten into a disc with your hands. Put it on your work surface and flatten with your hands. Use a rolling pin and gently push the dough down and out ward from the centre. You may have to place one hand on the plastic wrap as you push the dough down and away. Gluten free dough does not stretch like wheat dough therefore it needs gentle flattening and pushing. If it breaks, pat it back together. If it is too dry, dab a little water with your finger.

The gluten free dough will be thicker than wheat dough and you will barely be able to see your hand through the dough. Once it is flattened, cut into strips or squares that will fit your pan.  Set the dough aside on the plastic sheet. There is no need to dry the dough. But if you do dry the dough, it will not be able to hang because it will break. Stack the rolled out dough with plastic sheets in between.

Stack the sheets when dry and wrap securely. Store in the fridge until ready to use. Freezing will make the dough crumbly and difficult to work with – so freeze only as a last resort!  This dough does not need to be precooked before being assembled into the lasagne.

Gluten Free Béchamel - White Sauce

2 & 2/3 cup milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter or Extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons corn starch

Salt and pepper to taste

Freshly grated nutmeg to taste

Mix the corn starch with ½ cup of cold milk. Heat the rest of the milk in a small sauce pan until steaming but do not boil. Add the milk/cornstarch mixture to the steaming milk. Stirring constantly, raise the heat and heat the mixture until thick. Once it is thick, remove it from the heat and add the butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Have the béchamel warm or at room temperature ready to assemble the lasagne. Whisk the sauce occasionally if it becomes stiff or thick.

Gluten Free Ragu Sauce

I used my spaghetti sauce recipe and added 1 pound ground sirloin

Before assembly, pour plain water into the pan, enough to form a thin film of water over the bottom. A 9 x 13 inch pan required almost ½ cup (125 mL) of water. Once the lasagna is assembled, pour a tablespoon of water into each corner of the dish. Cover the lasagna tightly with aluminum foil. Be careful not to touch the top of the lasagna with the foil. Bake as directed.

Spread a thin layer of béchamel over the bottom of the baking dish. Arrange a layer of about four overlapping sheets of pasta over the béchamel. Spread a thin layer of béchamel (about 3 or 4 spoonfuls) over the pasta, and then an equally thin layer of the ragu. Sprinkle with about 1&1/2 tablespoons of the béchamel and about 1/3 cup of Parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers until all ingredients are used, finishing with béchamel sauce and topping with a generous dusting of cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted but not brown.

Flourless Chocolate Cake - Daring Bakers February Challenge

With only 3 ingredients this cake was pretty easy to put together and made our house smell heavenly.  I'm serving it to company tomorrow so I haven't tried it yet.  I will update my post after we eat with the verdict (but after having licked the bowl I have a pretty good feeling about the outcome!). My camera is having issues, so please forgive the photos!

**UPDATE**

Although the cake looked and smelled delicious, I was disappointed in the flavor and texture.  I have another flourless chocolate cake recipe that is more complicated but well worth it so I'll continue using that unless I happen upon something better.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.
We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time:  20 minutes
16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and

 put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C.
Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

For the ice cream I did a Chocolate Chip cookie Dough ice cream using cookie dough from my sour cream M&M cookies because it does not call for eggs. Because of my schedule this month I was not able to make these at the same time.

Gluten Free Tuilles - Daring Bakers January Challenge

It's been over 3 years since I've had an ice cream cone, so when I found out the daring bakers challenge was tuilles I knew that I wanted to shape them into cones.  These turned out delicious (albeit fragile as can be!)  I need to experiment with some other flour combinations to see if I can come up with one that is a little more malleable, but over all I feel great about my results!

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux

Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.

I’ve substituted the flour with ½ cup cornstarch.

 Recipe:
Yields: 6-8 5 inch cones (or whatever shape you choose)

 Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch


 ¼ cup softened butter (not melted but soft)


½ cup sifted confectioner’s sugar


1 sachet vanilla sugar (substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)


2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)


½ cup sifted all purpose flour
(corn starch for gluten free)

1 tablespoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice


Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template(I traced a small bowl on the paper and flipped it over to follow the lines and get my shape for the cones.) Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations if desired.

Bake in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….


Daring Bakers Challenge: Gluten Free Crackers and Dip

I would have never thought of making homemade crackers if it hadn't been the DB challenge, but I am so glad I did.  These crackers almost taste like wheat thins (one of my favorite crackers that I can no longer eat) and it only took 5 minutes to mix them, roll them and stick them in the oven.  I will be making these again and I'll probably play with the recipe a little to see if I can get them a little closer to the wheat thin flavor I remember -without the wheat. Either way I am happy to have crackers!

Salsa verde is the dip I chose not only because it's gluten free and vegetarian, but it's also one of our favorites.  I don't use a specific recipe - I go by taste.  My friend Concha, who is from Puebla Mexico, taught me how to make this.  I'll try to write down the recipe the next time I make it.

Gluten Free Crackers

1/4 cup gf flour blend

1/4 cup millet flour

1/4 cup minus 1 teaspoon water

1 Tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon honey

1/8 teaspoon salt

salt for sprinkling

Mix until combined.  roll out paper thin between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Lift off top parchment sheet use pizza cutter to cut into desired size crackers. Mist dough with olive oil and sprinkle with salt or other seasoning.  (you don't need to separate them, they will bake into crackers and any still connected are easily broken apart.)  Slide parchment paper with dough onto cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

Daring Bakers Challenge - Gluten Free Chocolate Eclairs

I was so excited to see that this month's challenge was chocolate eclairs.  Eclairs are one of my favorite desserts, and I've made the glutinous version many times.  It has been almost 3 years since I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease and started a gluten free diet and it was well past time for me to make a gluten free version of this delectable treat.  The recipe we used comes from the book Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme.  The pate a choux recipe was easily made gluten free by substituting the flour with a gluten free flour mix and adding 1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum.  The pastry puffed up nicely.  The thing that really set these eclairs apart was the chocolate pastry cream.  I usually fill my eclairs with vanilla pastry cream and was anxious to see how they'd taste with chocolate filling.  I was not disappointed.  The chocolate pastry cream was silky smooth and delicious.  I used a combination of Ghiradelli milk and dark chocolate (my husband doesn't care for bittersweet chocolate) I also reduced the sugar by 1/3 since I was using sweeter chocolate.  The flavor is divine!  These little morsels of heaven reminded us of the chocolate pastry "religiouse" that we had in Paris.  I think a dollop of whipped cream on top will make these perfection!

Here's the recipe:

Pate a Choux (gluten free)

(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• ½ cup (125g) whole milk
• ½ cup (125g) water
• 1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¼ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (140g)gluten free flour mix plus 1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum • 5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the
boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wo

oden spoon. The dough comes together very
quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You
need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough
will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your
hand-mixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time,
beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.
You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do
not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you
have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it
should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs or cream puffs.





1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with
waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough.
Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers.
Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff.
The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the
handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the
oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue
baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking
time should be approximately 20 minutes.



Chocolate Pastry Cream 
• 2 cups (500g) whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 6 tbsp (75g) sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
• 7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, preferably Velrhona Guanaja, melted
• 2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil.  In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture.Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled.  Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium h

eat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it  remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four installments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is n

ow ready to use or store in the fridge.

 In order to avoid a skin forming on the pastry cream, cover with plastic wrap pressed onto the cream.



 Assembling the éclairs:



1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the
bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms
with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.
Top with your favorite chocolate glaze if desired.


The Daring Bakers July Challenge - GF Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream

Wow!  This challenge almost got the best of me!  It comes from a recipe found in Great Cakes by Carol Walter.  I was excited to bake a cake made with hazelnuts and chocolate, one of my favorite combinations, but felt pretty overwhelmed by all the steps.  My husband stepped in as sous chef just to help me make sure I didn't forget something! And did I mention the dishes? Even with the use of my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and my electric beaters and my food processor, I still needed them all at least twice so I was washing dishes as fast as I was using them.  But the real test, that first bite resulting from my laborious project, was it really worth it? Will I make this again? I really want to say yes, but in all honesty the jury's still out on this one. The ganache, which I love, was just a little too much for this cake.  The hazelnut flavor was weak and the flavor from the peach glaze was nonexistent.  Don't get me wrong, the cake was delicious, but I can get similar results with a lot less work.  I'm hoping that a night in the fridge will help enhance the flavors so I'll be able to post an update about how amazing this tastes 24 hours later.  We'll see.

Even though this didn't turn out the way I hoped, I learned so much throughout the process and I'm happy that I took the challenge.  Some things I did for the first time during this challenge were clarifying butter, roasting hazelnuts and removing their skin, and making Swiss Buttercream.  Now I won't be so intimidated the next time I come across these things in a recipe (although I'm still a bit scared of the Swiss Buttercream!)

I followed the recipe as direct substituting a gluten free flour blend for the flour and adding a 1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum to the cake batter.  I also did not use any alcohol flavorings and I used a peach glaze as opposed to the apricot used in the original recipe.  You can find the entire recipe here.

DB 1st Challenge - Blackberry Danish Braid

When they say challenge, they ain't kidding! I about bowed out when I saw that we were making a Danish Braid, but being on a gluten free diet has really helped me to come out of my comfort zone and embrace baking challenges. I find it so rewarding when my baking is met with success and when it's not, instead of feeling despair I'm met with a stronger determination to try again. It must be that stubborn streak in me coming out of hiding!

I found this challenge to be immensely rewarding and my fear of pastry dough has even dwindled a bit. My Danish braid was flaky and delicious - an overall success. My only disappointment was that the dough barely rose, but after cooking gluten free for over three years I wasn't really expecting it to! I'm anxious to check out some of the other gluten free daring bakers to see how they fared and what tips I can glean from their experience.

The recipe we used for this challenge comes from Sherry Yard’s "The Secrets of Baking". Everyone doing the challenge was to strictly follow the recipe for the Danish dough and than fill the braid with any topping of your choosing as long as you make it yourself. The only exception is for those on alternate diets who can make slight modifications to accommodate their diet. I swapped out the flour cup for cup with a gluten free flour blend and added 1 tsp xanthum gum. Otherwise I followed the recipe as written.

DANISH DOUGH - Gluten Free
Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough
Ingredients for the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom or pumpkin pie spice
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups gluten free flour blend
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons xanthum gum
sweet rice flour for dusting sticky dough

Ingredients for the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup gluten free flour blend

DOUGH: Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt and xanthum gum with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

BUTTER BLOCK: 1. Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.

2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Blackberry Topping 1/2 cup water 6 tablespoons sugar 4 1/2-pint containers blackberries, divided

Stir 1/2 cup water and sugar in heavy large saucepan. Add half of berries and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until syrup thickens, mashing berries with back of fork, about 12 minutes. Pour into medium bowl; gently stir in remaining berries. Cover and chill until cold, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.

DANISH BRAID Makes enough for 2 large braids Ingredients 1 recipe Danish Dough 2 cups filling, jam, or preserves

For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.

3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking

1. Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.

2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.