Basic Gluten-Free Baking.

My brother's fiance is a Celiac. Meaning she can't have anything with wheat in it. That means no cakes, cookies, muffins, waffles, pasta, anything with wheat in it. Whatsoever.

As long as they have been dating, I've used this opportunity to do some gluten-free baking. It's not as hard as it might seem. Mostly I stick to naturally flourless things, such as meringues, flourless chocolate cakes and cookies, though sometimes I do venture into various flours and substitutes (chickpea flour, almond flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum). When I heard they were coming for dinner the other day, I immediately though of a pavlova. They remind me of spring and summertime and we all need some of that here right now.

I was introduced to the pavlova by one of my favourite cookbook authors Nigella Lawson. This is a variation on her recipe from Feast.



Pavlova recipe adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson

Meringue base:
8 large egg whites
Pinch salt
2 1/2 cups superfine granulated sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon Amaretto (I use this in place of vanilla extract in everything gluten-free that I make)

Whipped cream topping:
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar

Fruits of your choice (I used blueberries, raspberries and blackberries!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Then add the sugar a few tablespoons at a time until it's all incorporated and stiff peaks are formed. Fold in the cornstarch, vinegar and Amaretto (or extract) and then pour this onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, forming about a 10-inch circle in diameter, smoothing out the top. Put this in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 300 degrees F, then bake for an hour to an hour and a half, or until there are cracks around the rim. Then turn the oven off, open the door and let it cool completely.

You can try to take this off the parchment and put it on a platter, but I find it easier to take a platter, and then INVERT the pavlova onto it, and then peel off the parchment. Meaning the bottom of the meringue is then the top, where the cream will go.

When the pavlova is completely cooled, whip the cream and sugar until soft peaks form, and dollop generously over the meringue. Then scatter the fruit (or pile, in my case) all over the cream. This is a messy dessert, but it's SO delicious and fun to eat. Great show stopper also, if you're looking to impress someone special ;)

Cupcakes: Cure for a Headache?

I had THEWORST headache yesterday. And I don't like to exaggerate things like this because I dislike people that make things a bigger deal than they need to be. I mean, honestly, it hurt so badly all I could do was lie in my bed from the time I got home from work until about 8 o'clock at night. After the Excedrin kicked in I could sleep, therefore when I woke up I was actually rested and didn't feel sleepy at all. So what did I do then? I stayed up until 1 in the morning making cupcakes of course.

The first batch of cupcakes I made was a disaster. I don't know what I did wrong but they overflowed and caved in and the tops of them were crystallised with sugar. I don't know what it is but lately I've been having issues with cupcakes. Anyway I went to Lisa Yockelson's book ChocolateChocolate. I have never had a problem with any recipe by her. EVER. I remembered she had a recipe in the book for vanilla cupcakes called "The Cupcakes of My Childhood." How dreamy! And they really are. They taste like cupcakes from a mix, but they have none of the chemicals. Or cake flour, which I did not have. This might be my new go-to recipe for vanilla cupcakes. They come out perfectly every time.



As for the frostings I used the recipes most recently posted on Cupcake Bakeshop's blog. Both came out deliciously, however my chocolate frosting is not a shiny as hers!! But it still tastes amazingly chocolate-y and fantastic.

The Cupcakes of My Childhood adapted from Lisa Yockelson's ChocolateChocolate

Batter:
3 cups AP flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line 28 muffin cups with paper liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until it's soft and creamy. Add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time until it is thoroughly incorporated. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat for about 30 seconds after each one is added. Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract. Then alternately add in the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour.

Scoop about 1/4 of batter into each prepared cup. Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until risen and slightly golden brown on top. When tested, a toothpick should come out clean. Turn out onto cooling racks and let cool completely before frosting.

Vanilla Frosting increased/changed slightly from The Cupcake Bakeshop
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (I changed this, it was originally extract. I love the look of the seeds!)
2 tablespoons milk
Pinch salt (I added this)

Beat the butter until soft, then add the powdered sugar and beat until incorporated. Add the vanilla and milk and beat until everything is completely combined and creamy.



Chocolate Frosting adapted from The Cupcake Bakeshop, which is originally from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook

5.3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons boiling water
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla (I added this)
Pinch salt (I added this also. Must have a bit of salt with chocolate imo.)

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in 20 second increments until it's nice and smooth. Set aside to cool.

Combine the cocoa powder and boiling water to make a paste. Set this aside also.

Cream the butter and powdered sugar until creamy. Add the melted chocolate and beat. Then add the cocoa paste and mix until smooth and shiny.

Smooth both frostings on with a small icing spatula or spoon and indulge.

Variation on a Butter Cake.

So it's Saturday night and I forgot that tomorrow is Sunday.

I quickly search through a few cookbooks, come up with nothing exciting in particular unfortunately. (Laura I know you had your heart set on cinnamon crumb muffins, but I've been doing too many crumb things lately.) Then I see by my place at the dinner table the new issue of Gourmet Magazine! I flip to the last page to see what The Last Touch is (weird, I know but this is what I do when I get a new Gourmet in the mail), and I see this recipe called "Butter Cake." How perfect! It looks simple, easy and delicious.

I decided since it was for brunch to add some raspberry jam in the middle, which was a nice touch, but I think this cake would be perfectly lovely just on its own.

Butter Cake recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine

1 3/4 cups AP flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 whole large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (I used a springform pan for easier serving).

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix for another 30 seconds, until combined. Then add the zest and extract. Then alternately add in the flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour.

Pour this into the cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes (obviously I divided the batter in half slightly at this point, spreading about 1/4 cup of raspberry jam in the middle) or until it's golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool on wire rack completely and then dust with icing sugar, if desired. Cut into wedges and serve.

Dutch Apple Tarts or Using What's In The Freezer.

This past Thanksgiving, for some reason I wish I could remember, I made extra pie/tart dough and so I rolled it out and put it into mini tart pans and froze them.



They've been taking up a lot of room in there for 2, 3 months whatever now and it can be a pain to look for that bacon or pound of butter you KNOW is in there but you can't find it because of all the other crap involved. My mom found this recipe for Dutch apple crisp on a box of Wegmans pie dough (store-bought pie dough - gross) and it sounded delicious and a great way to get those tart shells out of the freezer. Plus anything with a crumble topping gets extra points from me.

This original recipe is for 1 9-inch pie. Obviously I used 7 small ones. I don't think it really matters too much in the case of apple pie, since the apples tend to get soft and smoosh down a bit while they bake. I packed the apples pretty heavily into these, and it was perfect. If I made these again I might double the crumble recipe and really pack that on top, but these were great with the amount of crumble it calls for. Here I'll give the recipe for the regular 9-inch pie, since I'm assuming most normal people don't randomly have some tart shells stocked in the back of the deep-freeze.

Dutch Apple Crisp adapted from a Wegmans recipe on a box of pie dough.

1 pie crust (homemade, store-bought, whatever I don't care. Whatever is easier for you, really. But I'm a huge stickler for homemade. It's just so much better. Alright moving on.)

Apple mixture:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (originally called for 1/4 teaspoon, I bumped it up)
Pinch of salt

6 medium-sized Granny Smith apples



Crumble topping:
1 cup AP flour
1 stick slightly cold butter, cut into small chunks
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Prepare the pie crust, and line a 9-inch pan with it, then place this on a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Blend the sugar, cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt together in a small bowl.

Peel, core, and slice the apples thinly. I actually cut my apples into quarters like this so they'd fit more into the tart shells:



Then pour the dry sugar-spice mixture on top of the apples in a large bowl and toss them well to combine everything. Let this sit while you make the crumble topping.

Cut the butter into the flour and brown sugar in a medium-sized bowl until the mixture looks something like this:



Then pour the apples into the pie crust, and top with the crumbles, packing lightly to make them not fall off while baking.



Bake for about an hour, or until it gets golden brown on top and the apple mixture is nice and bubbly.

Wait for it to cool off for a while and then dig in. I bet it'd be out of this world with some homemade vanilla ice cream - you know - the kind with real vanilla seeds in it? Yum.