Irish Soda Bread-Gluten Free, Dairy Free

I mostly followed this recipe from Gluten Free Goddess (who has a beautiful website and delicious recipes!): Gluten Free Goddess-Spotted Dog Recipe


My bread-we'd already made a huge dent before I remembered to take a picture!  It was delicious, not too sweet and it had a very similar texture to non-GF soda breads I've had in the past.

I made a few changes as follows:

2 1/4 cup King Arthur Gluten Free All Purpose Flour

2 tablespoons King Arthur Cake Enhancer

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum

3 eggs

6 tablespoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup vanilla flavored coconut beverage

1 teaspoon champagne vinegar (was out of lemon!)

3/4 cup currants

Whisk all dry ingredients together.  Whisk together liquid ingredients.  Add wet to dry and mix well.  Add currants last.

I used cooking spray and a pie dish.  I was out of parchment paper, but would recommend it.  I did get the bread out without breaking but the paper would have made it easier.  I did smooth the dough with wet hands to "dome" it.  

Bake at 375 degrees for 28-30 minutes (I find the King Arthur flour bakes quicker than most other gluten free flours).  

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sunday Morning Donuts-GF,DF.

I used this recipe:

Fluffy Cake Doughnuts

This is my alteration.

2 cups King Arthur Gluten-Free Flour
2 tablespoons King Arthur Caken Enhancer
1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs
3/4 cup So Delicious Coconut milk
1 tablespoon Spectrum Shortening (melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Grease donut pan and preheat oven to 325 degrees.

I used the 6-Donut Nordic Ware Pan.

Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix together wet ingredients and then add to dry.

Spoon into donut pan.

Bake about 16 minutes, until firm but spring back to touch.

While still hot toss in cinnamon sugar.

They ended up springy and not dry, not crumbly.  They are a bit denser than I like, but the family ate them up quickly.

Next time I might try more liquids and see if it gets lighter.

Coconut Cream Puffs-Gluten & Dairy Free

I used this recipe and modified it: http://www.joyofbaking.com/CreamPuffs.html

My modification:

1 c King Arthur All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c dairy-free margarine (I use Earth's Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks)
1 c water
4 eggs

1. Boil water and margarine until melted.
2. Whisk flour sugar, salt & xanthan gum together, add to water mixture and stir until a soft ball forms.
3. Put into mixing bowl, mix at low speed until the steam escapes and batter is no longer hot.  If it is hot the eggs will start to cook.
4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until well incorporated.  Mix until batter is a thick paste consistency.

Using a pastry bag leads to more uniform shape-or if using a spoon shape them carefully, make them into small mounds on the baking sheet.  Use silpat or parchment paper because they will stick to regular cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 20-30 minutes.  They should "puff" and feel light and hollow.  The center should be dry and the outside should be golden brown.  I found that with King Arthur gluten free flour I generally have to reduce the bake times slightly from a standard recipe.

Some people recommend piercing them in the last few minutes of baking.  I did not find this necessary.

Picture of them baking, I was afraid that they may not "puff" but they did beautifully.  I should have shaped them a bit better-but they still taste great :)

For the cream I used whipped coconut cream.  These of course would also be good with a vanilla custard or pudding.

Whipped Coconut Cream-works nicely as a topping on cakes and pies as well.

1 can full fat coconut milk-refrigerated for several days (I always keep on in my refrigerator so it is ready)

Begin whipping in your stand mixer or hand mixer and add 1 tsp vanilla flavoring and several tablespoons sugar for taste.

Whip 2-3 minutes until it begins to aerate and forms soft peaks.

Keeps well in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

Pumpkin Pie Part 2

My husband brought home a container of Libby's Pumpkin Pie Mix instead of the puree...and I had to be at a party by 2:30 this afternoon.  So I decided to experiment.  Libby's Pumpkin Pie Mix has all the sugar, flavor and pumpkin in it.  You add the eggs and milk.  It is labeled gluten free.

You are supposed to add 2/3 cup evaporated milk and 2 eggs.

I added 1/4 cup cornstarch and 2/3 cup of SO DELICIOUS Coconut Nog.  I figured it is thicker than regular milk so I would give it a whirl.  The raw pie filling tastes delicious-creamy and flavorful.  It LOOKS like regular pie filling more than the other recipe did.

It is currently baking-I'm not sure if it is going to be brilliant or a complete flop, so I'll update when it is done with a picture.  I don't know if it will thicken right!  Keeping my fingers crossed.

**Update** This was fantastic!  I did serve it later that day and the texture was a bit sticky, but after refrigerating overnight it was beautiful.  The pumpkin "custard" was thick, creamy and silky smooth.  The flavor was outstanding.  I would definitely do this again-the flavor was very similar to regular pumpkin pie.

Chocolate-Bourbon Cake

This is a cake that my husband loves-but it is so much work (and it smells so good) that I wanted in on the fun so had to figure out a gluten and dairy free method.

Inspired by: simplyrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

5 oz Earth Balance Coconut Spread

2 cups King Arthur's Gluten Free Multi-Purpose Flour

5 ounces Enjoy Life Mega Chunks

1/4 cup instant espresso (can use instant coffee)

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup bourbon whiskey Jack Daniel's is Gluten-Free

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar), for sprinkling

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 325°F. Pam Spray  a large bundt pan (10 cup capacity).  

2 Melt chocolate in a microwave oven or in a double boiler over simmering water. Let cool.

3 Put instant espresso and cocoa powder in a 2-cup (or larger) glass measuring cup. Add enough boiling water to come up to the 1 cup measuring line. Mix until powders dissolve. Stir in whiskey and salt; let cool.

4 Beat coconut spread until fluffy (2-3 minutes on high). Add sugar and beat until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract, baking soda, xanthan gum and melted chocolate, scraping down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.

5 With the mixer on the lowest speed, beat in a third of the whiskey espresso cocoa mixture. When liquid is absorbed, beat in 1 cup flour. Repeat additions, ending with whiskey mixture. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 45-55 minutes.

6 Transfer cake to a rack. Unmold after 20 minutes. Let cool. Sprinkle powdered sugar through a mesh sieve over the cake before serving.

The cake came out really nicely!  It is moist with a nice texture.  It cooked much quicker than the regular-flour cake did-

I actually baked 2 cakes (so I could taste it before taking it to a party).  The lighter color pan (Nordic Ware) cooked in 45 minutes.  The darker pan took 55.  As you can see, it is important to let the cake cool before taking it out of the pan, the darker pan cooled 10 minutes, the lighter pan cooled 15.  I would recommend letting it cool slightly longer to ensure it gets out safely!

Gluten-Free Cookie Crust

I used a box of Dr. Lucy's Cinnamon Thin cookies and a few tablespoons of Coconut oil to make a cookie pie crust.  Great flavor!

Pumpkin Cupcakes: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free

After making my pumpkin pie I had about a cup of pumpkin puree left-and I had a birthday party to go to so I decided to try a pumpkin cupcake.

I used this recipe and made some modifications:    Joy of Baking Pumpkin Cupcakes

1/2 cup Spectrum Vegetable Shortening

1 cup white sugar

Cream together

Add 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla and mix well.

Add 1 cup pumpkin and mix well.

Mix in a separate bowl:

1 1/2 c Bisquick Gluten-Free 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together. Using cupcake pan either greased or with cupcake liner. Fill cup to top (these raise nicely compared to the GF cake mixes I've used, when you fill to the top you get a nice dome).  

I made a standard shortening/powdered sugar/vanilla frosting, adding a bit of So Delicious Coconut milk to make it a bit lighter.  I added some cinnamon for flavor.

Very moist, flavorful and really nice texture!  Light, not dense at all.  We are able to tolerate baked egg in our house-but I think if you wanted to leave out the egg add another 1/4 - 1/2 cup pumpkin would make these great without egg.