So Familiar a Gleam

So the power went out for a little over an hour last night. That set back my baking extravaganza that much more.

And my baking extravaganza turned into a near baking disaster.

I say near, because somehow, my two attempts turned out rather well. Somehow.

The making of the batter went alright, though it smelled a little odd when it was baking. It was stickier than regular batter, though that seems to be true of most gluten-free things. I greased and floured (with coconut oil and sweet rice flour) a 10 x 15 pan, and it came out of the pan just fine after I took it out of the oven, and I put it on a floured towel, and it rolled really well too, minimal crackage.

I had to chill the filling (more about that below), and after it was cold and stiffened up a bit, I unrolled the cake to fill it. The cake unrolled just fine, with just a little cracking.

Here is where the exciting part came. Though stiffer, the filling was still a bit thinner than ideal. I figured that if I got it rolled quickly and onto the plate, it would be fine. That may have held true, except....

The cake stuck to the towel a little, in uneven spots. This combined with the filling oozing everywhere led to the cake breaking a little, and filling going all over the towel, the table, and -yes- even the floor. I somehow managed to get the cake rolled and onto the plate, with it still looking like a roll, kind of. However, this was not good enough, as the plate was just as wide as the roll, and filling continued to drizzle out the ends onto the table. I grabbed a covered cake pan that just so happened to be clean and sitting out, and moved it (again miraculously without breaking it) to the pan, scraped what filling I had salvaged from the plate over the roll, covered it, and put it in the fridge. This left me with a rather large mess. However, the cake in the morning did not look nearly as bad as I thought it did at that point.



I made the filling with one 5.3 oz package of soft, mild goat cheese, 1 cup of sugar + one filled empty goat cheese container, 6 Tbsp coconut oil, 1 tsp. vanilla, and a short can of crushed pineapple. It was a little thin, so I beat in a little Xanthan gum, heated it in a double boiler, and added a Tbsp or so of sweet rice flour.



Though a little flat, it turned out very tasty.



Recipe!

*3/4 c. Gluten free flour blend
*1/2 tsp. baking powder
*1/2 tsp baking soda
*1/2 tsp nutmeg
*1/2 tsp cloves
*1/4 tsp salt
*6 Tbsp potato starch + water to moisten (or three eggs)
*1 c. granulated sugar
*2/3 c. mashed pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 10 by 15 inch jelly roll pan (I used a cookie sheet of the same size).
2. Combine dry ingredients.
3. Beat egg substitute and sugar until creamy, then beat in pumpkin.
4. Stir in flour mixture.
5. Spread evenly into pan, put in heated oven for 13-15 minutes (check after ten) until center of cake springs back when touched lightly.
6. Immediately loosen and turn out onto floured towel (make sure to saturate the thing with flour (or powdered sugar, those of you that eat corn products- in case you didn't know, there is cornstarch in powdered sugar).
7. Roll cake from 10 in. side, set aside to cool a little. Once filling is mixed and cake is cooled to warm, unroll cake, make sure it's not stuck to the towel, spread filling on it, and roll it back up, and transfer it to serving dish.
8. Chill in refrigerator for at least one hour before slicing and enjoying.

Then I decided to make cookies. They turned out super good, and are even chewy and crispy and taste like cookies! Without the use of eggs, milk, wheat, or other glutinous substances. :)







Recipe!

***To make chocolate-coconut crumbles: In double boiler, combine a couple tablespoons of sugar, and about half that coconut oil. Melt together. Sugar won't dissolve completely. After you are satisfied with that (it really depends on how long you want to spend), add two squares of baking chocolate. After this has melted for a while and is as close to smooth as you want it, mix a couple tablespoons of sugar in a little water and microwave for 30 second increments, stirring between, until sugar starts to caramelize. Stir into the chocolate mixture. Add several Tablespoons of dried, unsweetened coconut, stir thoroughly. It should crumb. I did this in no exact way, so hopefully if you feel like attempting this, it works for you.

*3/4 c. coconut oil
*1-2 tsp. butter flavoring
*1/2 c. EACH brown and white sugar
*1/4 c. rice milk
*1 tsp. vanilla extract
*1-1/4 c. gluten free flour blend (with xanthan, if your blend doesn't have xanthan, add one tsp. to dry mixture) (see above recipe for link)
*1 tsp. baking soda
*chocolate-coconut crumbles.

1. Cream together coconut oil, butter flavoring, and sugars.
2. Beat in rice milk and vanilla extract.
3. Stir together dry ingredients, mix into sugar mixture.
4. Fold in crumbles.
5. Roll into balls, place three or so inches apart on cookie sheet, and bake for 8-12 minutes, or until they look brown and crispy about the edges.
6. After removing from oven, let rest for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack. 7. After cool, move to plate and serve. Keep extra in air-tight container.