So Familiar a Gleam

Hello Blogspot

2009-11-05T12:36:00.002-05:00

So once again it's been a long time since I've posted. But I haven't forgotten about you, internet. I've been posting pretty much daily on my tumblr.

<3

Life update! Exciting things!

2009-04-27T13:33:00.002-04:00

Life has gotten quite exciting lately!

My gallery opening was fabulous. Really an amazing end to the semester, and a highlight of my year. Now all I have to do is write my thesis! Ha ha. But seriously, if you are in the area and haven't seen it yet- come see the senior show, everyone's work was great. It's at the Davison Gallery in the CLC.

S.J. and Anna and I found out that the apartment downtown that we have had our eye on will definitely be ours! Yay! It's right in the middle of the Neighborhood of the Arts, a block from the Memorial Art Gallery and a block from Starry Nites Cafe.

What I'm even more excited about is this: I just got a job, to start the Monday after graduation, as a baker at Dinosaur BBQ! Other than the fact that it's biking/walking distance from our new apartment- I WILL BE A FULL TIME PROFESSIONAL BAKER! They have a baker now, but they just expanded their dessert menu, so they needed to hire a dessert baker. They added some more pies, cheesecakes and desserts... AND CUPCAKES. I. Love. Cupcakes. In case you hadn't noticed. Also, they do a weekly dessert thing, so I will get to make up a dessert every week. Whatever I want. As long as I can make it all week. I'M SO EXCITED. A little nervous, but mostly excited.

Also, the weather has been beautiful! I'm so excited to take a bike ride!

Daring Bakers April Challenge!

2009-04-27T13:05:00.002-04:00

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Cheesecake! Not uncommon, but oh so varied! This recipe was good- they say the best. I don't think I'd venture to say it was the best, but it was quite good. I made mini cheesecakes in cupcake tins because... well... I love cupcakes. I flavored the cake and the whipping cream with caramel irish cream and went for the "simple dollop" approach. I adore these confetti sprinkles too, so they were employed. I made them for Easter. We had a small dessert menu this year- just my cheesecakes, a chocolate cake for Joan's birthday, and a coconut custard dessert, the latter two made by my mom.

Here is the recipe and notes given to us in the challenge:

Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake:

crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

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)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

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. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too - baker's choice. Set crust aside.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, 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.

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

Shutterbug Sunday: Abstract

2009-04-27T12:53:00.002-04:00

Started this yesterday, and just didn't get to the "publish post" button! Here's my idea of abstract photography! Thanks Stephanie for this fun idea! Take a look at her pictures over at http://sugarbell.blogspot.com/

Shutterbug Sunday: Rich

2009-04-20T14:10:00.003-04:00

So I'm kind of bad at this, but my camera has been on the fritz and I'm awaiting the replacement in the mail. Here are some older pictures though. "Rich" made me think of relationships, food, and color. Also, my life being rich with these things!

Shutterbug Sunday: Pattern

2009-04-05T02:12:00.003-04:00

It is 2 in the morning, and so technically Sunday. I have decided to post this now so that it will be up for today, just incase I do something completely uncharacteristic and forget or something.....

Here is my photographic response to: Pattern!

Shutterbug Stephanie

2009-04-01T16:04:00.002-04:00

My lovely Stephanie over at Sugar Bell decided to start a themed photo post every week, and I think it's a fabulous idea. It is called "Shutterbug Sundays" and is supposed to be posted on Sundays. I thought of it Sunday, and promptly forgot until today. This week's theme was miniatures. Here is my contribution:

Tiny daisies in Mom's kitchen. :)

Theme: SJ, and food.

2009-04-01T15:47:00.003-04:00

I made these cupcakes last night, per SJ's request. Her favorite: vanilla cake with dark chocolate frosting. Pretty darn delicious, not my absolute favorite though. Also, Mom gave me these sprinkles, which I'm pretty sure are my favorite ever. They're called "spring confetti." Perfect!

SJ and I made biscuits this weekend. They turned out really tasty.

The other day SJ and I also went to Jitters for tasty food and drink.

I really love her. I think that she is absolutely top-notch, and feel very blessed to have been living with her for the past year, and look forward to the next year.

Death of a Blood Orange

2009-03-26T15:31:00.001-04:00

What a beautiful fruit.

New banner!

2009-03-25T12:38:00.002-04:00

Thanks Stephanie! (http://sugarbell.blogspot.com/) Love the new banner! :)

I have a big photo post coming, I've just been busy. And now, I must run away.

Daring Bakers February Challenge!

2009-02-28T13:30:00.003-05:00

So I almost forgot to post!

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.

I used 60% dark chocolate, which yielded a very rich, bittersweet cake. In lack of need of a cake, and because I love them, I decided to make cupcakes. I was going to just make little cakes in the cupcake pan like I saw that many people did, but my pans are kind of beaten up and I wasn't sure how great my success would have been to get them out. I topped them with shaved white chocolate and smooshed it around when it melted.

I wouldn't say that I had overwhelming success with the cake. It was good, but I think I either over-beat the eggs, or let the chocolate get too stiff or something, because the texture was just a little off.

We enjoyed it though.

Here is the recipe for the cake.

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/190C
9. 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.

I, sadly, didn't have a chance to make ice cream, but think I still might.

Dinner!

2009-02-26T23:56:00.002-05:00

Tonight for dinner I sauteed a red bell pepper with some mushrooms seasoned with a pepper spice blend and some salt. Added in a little tomato juice at the end to make it saucy, and stirred in some cheese at the end, just to get it melty. Served over little disk pasta about the same size as the pepper pieces. It was delicious!

Healthy AND Delicious!

2009-02-25T22:14:00.002-05:00

Sarah and I are having delicious parfaits! Yogurt that was plain that we sweetened just a little, and stirred in a little vanilla. Then we layered it with pineapple, blueberries, mini chocolate chips, and granola. Delicious!

Life update

2009-02-23T22:44:00.003-05:00

Hello internet. It's been a while. I've been baking a lot, but photographing little, so here's a picture of a doodle from the other day....

I thought it was perhaps time to post something other than a Daring Bakers challenge (though there's another one of those coming on Saturday.

So what's new in my life, you ask?

Well, I have a job! *applause and cheering* It's part time (20 hours a week), and pretty okay so far. It's at a soup-and-sandwich place in the City called "Cravings on Main Street." They have soups (usually three or four different soups and three kinds of chili) and one of the most extensive sandwich and salad selections I've ever seen. They also have stuff like pizza, fish fry on fridays, nd other such things. As with most things, I think it will get better as I get more settled. I just started my fourth week, so I am starting to get to know things, I'm still not comfortable in my knowledge of the way things work, there is still much to learn, but I know a little more what I'm doing. It definitely has a lot of thumbs up- my hours are 10 to 2, Monday through Friday. The shop closes at two, so I have all afternoon to myself and will never have to work late. The shop is also only open M-F, so I'll never have to work a weekend. About 85-90% of their clientele are regulars, so that's fun, and I'm getting to know some of them by face, and some even by name.

More exciting (and slightly more tenuous) than the job- my senior art show is in a month and a half. OH DEAR I HAVE WORK TO DO. It's mostly exciting, but there is the "it's not guaranteed that you will show" threat over all of our heads. We have an all-faculty critique on Thursday that's going to be a big part of their deciding if we are worthy (if our thesis and work is clear, etc.) to show in April. This one is going to be slightly informal, mostly milling around, eating some munchies and talking about our work when professors come to it. In a few weeks we have the more intense crit where it's them, me, and my artwork for fifteen minutes. "Defend this." Ah. Overall, I have a lot of work to do, but I have a pretty clear idea of where I'm going, I just have to push myself some more.

Oh, also exciting. As of the 15th of March, I have health insurance. Woo. So after that point, feel free to break my bones or infect me with hopsitalizable disease.

Exciting, but not in my life, is that my sister is going to Central America for two months this summer to work with a few different organizations and churches. Prayer (and monetary support) would be great. In preparation she has decided to fast from sweets until she departs. I think that this is awesome, and would be pretty much impossible for me. However, in prayerful support of her, and to implement a little more spiritual discipline in my own life, I have decided to fast from meat until she returns.

There's something else exciting in my life, but it's too early to tell the internet-based-world. Just so that you're kept in a little bit of suspense, and if you feel like it and want to pray for me so that I approach this wisely.

Pictures!

2009-01-30T12:55:00.003-05:00

I found my camera! I had put away my suitcase without removing it, it had gotten stuck in the lid pocket.

Here is a picture of the Tuilles, the square are filled with chocolate-caramel mousse, and the rounds are filled with chocolate-peppermint. I bent them slightly over a rolling pin.

Also, finally: pictures of the Christmas cupcakes. I also made some vegan coconut ones that were delicious, but escaped my camera. If I missed you either due to timing (cupcakes don't exactly keep well, and I traveled a lot in December) or my jerky-oversight, let me know and I will make it up to you!

White Chocolate Cranberry- a sweet cream cake dotted with white chocolate chips and filled with stewed cranberries, topped with white chocolate ganache (batches two and three were donned with whipped ganache), a smear of stewed cranberries, some fresh cranberries, and christmas tree sprinkles as leaves.

White Mint Dark Chocolate- another sweet cream base generously flavored with peppermint extract, topped with semi-sweet chocolate ganache, a "sloosch" of peppermint goo (as Jillian and I deemed the action), and drizzled with more chocolate, topped with snowflake sprinkles.

And, because I know that she'll love me for showing this to the world, or at least the internets- Jillian enjoying a mint cupcake, still gooey:

Daring Bakers January Challenge!

2009-01-29T16:03:00.003-05:00

Sorry I've been so bad about updating.... Maybe it's because I've been busy, maybe it's because there's little to report! Maybe a little of both. :p

Anyway, This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day (http://www.bakemyday.blogspot.com/) and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf (http://kochtopf.twoday.net/). They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

Tuiles are really neat, though mine were a little... imperfect... because I left a bunch of my baking supplies at Jillian's before Christmas, and keep forgetting to actually take them with me. There were a few different options, but I made the basic vanilla tuille. Sadly, I can't post a picture at the moment because I seem to have misplaced my camera- I assure you that they are quite cute though! I even had the little photoshoot set up, and then was unable to find my machine.

The extra this month was that we had to pair the delicate cookies with something light- I went with whipped mousse, since I had some left over from other things (chocolate-peppermint and chocolate-caramel), and if I can find someone to be fancy with, I have some vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream that I think would go nicely.

Here are the recipes that were given us, in case you are feeling adventurous. Though a little intimidating because they have to be thin, even, and you have to handle them directly out of the oven, they were quite easy, and relatively quick to make.

~~~*~~~

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

Recipe:
Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)
60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon 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 such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet 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 on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies 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 or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

Alternative Baking:
Either un-glutenize the batter given substituting the flour for any nut meal or oat flour, or as an alternative use one of the following batters below:

Nougatine:
From Michel Roux: Finest Desserts

5.1/4 cups / 500 grams sliced almonds
(or 4.1/3 cups/500 grams slivered almonds)
3.1/3 cups / 660 grams sugar
4 tbs / 60 grams butter (optional)
2 tbs oil (vegetable, sunflower, peanut)

Makes 2.3/4 lbs/1.2 kgs! (This is the yield of the recipe given in the book, feel free to downsize!)
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Preheat oven: 180C/350F

Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until lightly browned. Cook the sugar in a heavy based saucepan over low heat, stirring gently and continuously with a spatula, until it melts to a light golden caramel. Add the almonds and stir over low heat for 1 minute, then stir in the butter until completely absorbed. (This is not essential, but will give the nougat an added sheen) Pour the nougatine onto an oiled baking sheet.

Shaping: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable. Work with one piece at a time, of a size appropriate to the shape you want. Roll out each piece on a warm, lightly oiled baking sheet or lightly oiled marbled surface. It is essential to work quickly, since the nougatine rapidly becomes brittle. Heat the nougatine in a microwave oven for a few seconds only to soften it if needed.

Roll the nougatine into the appropriate thickness for your desired shape, but never thicker than 1/8 inch or 3 mm. Quickly cut out your chosen shapes using cookie cutters, or the blade or heel of a chef’s knife. To mold the nougatine, drape it very rapidly over the mold so that it follows the shape and contours. Leave until completely cold before removing from the mold.
Or, cut out and using your fingers or a knife, push into folds or pleats… use as a basket, twirl round a knitting needle..

Nougatine based shapes can be made two or three days in advance, Keep them in a very dry place and do not fill with something like a mousse more than 2 hours prior to serving.

Chocolate Tuiles
Michel Roux’s Finest Desserts
Makes 30
Preparation time: 15 minutes!

9 oz/250 grams dark or white couverture or best-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup/75 gr slivered almonds, toasted and cooled

Temper the couverture, and stir in the toasted almonds. Place the template on a sheet of rodoïde (or use a clean sheet of sturdy plastic such as a folder) and fill with about 1 tbs of the mixture. Repeat the process a little distance away from the first one. As soon as you have 5 tuiles fit, slide them onto a mold or rolling pin (side of a glass) to curve. Let cool completely, lift tuiles off the plastic only after the chocolate has set and just before serving, so that they keep their shine.

Or…..Savoury Bakers? You want something else entirely?
Well, let’s see if there’s something to suit your palate too. Parmesan crisps, savory tuiles?
It might be difficult to think fruity with these savoury tuiles but I bet you inventive Daring Bakers can come up with something light to pair. Think salads for instance.... and use this recipe for your tuiles:

Savory tuile/cornet recipe
From Thomas Keller "the French Laundry Cookbook"

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons (65 grams/2.1/4 ounces) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt (= 2/3 teaspoon table salt)**
8 tablespoons (114 grams/4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened but still cool to the touch
2 large egg whites, cold
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the softened butter until it is completely smooth and mayonnaise-like in texture. Using a stiff spatula or spoon, beat the egg whites into the dry ingredients until completely incorporated and smooth. Whisk in the softened butter by thirds, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary and whisking until the batter is creamy and without any lumps. Transfer the batter to a smaller container, as it will be easier to work with.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Make a 4-inch hollow circular stencil. Place Silpat on the counter (it is easier to work on the Silpat before it is put on the sheet pan). Place the stencil in one corner of the sheet and, holding the stencil flat against the Silpat, scoop some of the batter onto the back of an offset spatula and spread it in an even layer over the stencil. Then run the spatula over the entire stencil to remove any excess batter. After baking the first batch of cornets, you will be able to judge the correct thickness. You may need a little more or less batter to adjust the thickness of the cornets.

There should not be any holes in the batter. Lift the stencil and repeat the process to make as many rounds as you have molds or to fill the Silpat, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between the cornets. Sprinkle each cornet with a pinch of black sesame seeds.

Place the Silpat on a heavy baking sheet and bake for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the batter is set and you see it rippling from the heat. The cornets may have browned in some areas, but they will not be evenly browned at this point.

Open the oven door and place the baking sheet on the door.*** This will help keep the cornets warm as you roll them and prevent them from becoming too stiff to roll. Flip a cornet over on the sheet pan, sesame seed side down and place 4-1/2 inch cornet mold at the bottom of the round. If you are right-handed, you will want the pointed end on your left and the open end on your right. The tip of the mold should touch the lower left edge (at about 7 o'clock on a clock face) of the cornet.

Fold the bottom of the cornet and around the mold; it should remain on the sheet pan as you roll. Leave the cornet wrapped around the mold and continue to roll the cornets around molds; as you proceed, arrange the rolled cornets, seams side down, on the sheet pan so they lean against each other, to prevent from rolling.

When all the cornets are rolled, return them to the oven shelf, close the door, and bake for an additional 3 to 4 minutes to set the seams and color the cornets a golden brown. If the color is uneven, stand the cornets on end for a minute or so more, until the color is even. Remove the cornets from the oven and allow to cool just slightly, 30 seconds or so.
Gently remove the cornets from the molds and cool for several minutes on paper towels. Remove the Silpat from the baking sheet, wipe the excess butter from it, and allow it to cool down before spreading the next batch. Store the cornets for up to 2 days (for maximum flavor) in an airtight container.

Thanksgiving and Christmas preparations

2008-12-01T13:17:00.001-05:00

It was quite snowy at home for Thanksgiving. We probably have around a foot of snow. I was a little (but not too) shocked to see only a light dusting when I got back to Rochester. This morning there is only spots of snow in shady areas.

As for Thanksgiving itself, the day and meal were quite lovely. S.J. accompanied me home Wednesday night, and her parents drove out Thursday. She went back with them that evening. It was nice.

We decorated for Christmas at home, which was nice. We got a new tree, it's smaller, but nicely so. About 2/3 of the lights have really pretty coverings on them (seen above).

Mom sent me back to my house with decorations which I put up last night. I'll take pictures soon.

Also, our new cat, Miss Kitty (formerly known as Porch Kitty) is nice. She's a little jumpy sometimes, we think she might have been abused before someone dumped her and she ended up on our porch. She warms up to people pretty fast, though she seems to like ladies more than men.

Daring Bakers November Challenge!

2008-11-29T00:00:00.003-05:00

It's that time again- Daring Bakers Challenge Post time!

Apologies if temporal context is skewed, I'm writing this early and scheduling it to post automatically since on Saturday I'll still be in the land of dial-up.

This month was a caramel cake, with browned butter caramel frosting and optional chewy caramel candies (which I haven't had a chance to make, but likely will because I love caramel and the recipe didn't look too hard).

Our hostess this month was Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity and the recipe came from Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater; the cake is her own signature caramel cake. The additional optional challenge was Alice Medrich’s Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels (Golden Vanilla Bean Caramels from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich, Artisan Press, Copyright 2007, ISBN: 978-1579652111).

Helping the hostess this month was Alex (Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo), Jenny of Foray into Food. And for help with hints in alternative baking, Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go.

I made three cakes, using a doubled recipe (original recipe below). The things that I did in addition or in opposition to the recipes are as follows: For the browned butter frosting I didn't have a really fine mesh sieve, so I put a coffee filter in my mesh sieve that had no impact on the particles in my browned butter and let it drip through that. It took a while for it all to fall through, but it gave me nice pure flavorful butter. Then I made the frosting to the instructions, but it came out a little thinner than I would have liked it, so I beat in some shortening. I also added some extra caramel and a bit of vanilla because I thought the browned butter flavor was a little too strong. I also filled the two smaller cakes with whipped chocolate buttercream that I had made for the largest cake.

The larger cake was for a birthday party and the hostess requested a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. I liberties with "yellow" and made the caramel cake, and used predominantly chocolate frosting. I did fill it with the butter caramel frosting, and decorated with it. Everyone at the party enjoyed it (at least many people said they did, and no one left any on their plates, so I'm assuming everyone like it).

The littlest cake I made for us (my housemate, house-mom and I) to taste immediately, and we were impatient so I cut and frosted it while it was still warm. Though not pretty, it was a delicious decision (cut slice pictured at top). Sarah actually licked her plate clean (combo of really long day and delicious remnants). After being refrigerated it is still delicious, but much more dense in texture, and much much neater. I wouldn't say I prefer it one way or the other, but there is something very satisfying about gooey dessert.

The mid-sized one I made to take home with me when I go home Wednesday. The cake itself was beautiful. As others who made it before me said on the forum, it is a very dense cake, but I didn't mind that. It baked very evenly, and had a beautiful color and taste.

Ugly, partially melting cake for us:

Thanksgiving cake for family:

Birthday cake for Allie:

~*~

And here are the RECIPES, as they were given to us:

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Notes from Natalie for those of you baking gluten-free:

So the GF changes to the cake would be:

2 cups of gluten free flour blend (w/xanthan gum) or 2 cups of gf flour blend + 1 1/2 tsp xanthan or guar gum
1/2 - 1 tsp baking powder (this would be the recipe amount to the amount it might need to be raised to & I'm going to check)

I'll let you when I get the cake finished, how it turns out and if the baking powder amount needs to be raised.

Preheat oven to 350F

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)
In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.
To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light

(recipes above courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon)

(Optional) GOLDEN VANILLA BEAN CARAMELS
- makes eighty-one 1-inch caramels -

Ingredients
1 cup golden syrup
2 cups sugar
3/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure ground vanilla beans, purchased or ground in a coffee or spice grinders, or 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks, softened

Equipment
A 9-inch square baking pan
Candy thermometer

Procedure

Line the bottom and sides of the baking pan with aluminum foil and grease the foil. Combine the golden syrup, sugar, and salt in a heavy 3-quart saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, until the mixture begins to simmer around the edges. Wash the sugar and syrup from the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes. (Meanwhile, rinse the spatula or spoon before using it again later.) Uncover the pan and wash down the sides once more. Attach the candy thermometer to the pan, without letting it touch the bottom of the pan, and cook, uncovered (without stirring) until the mixture reaches 305°F. Meanwhile, combine the cream and ground vanilla beans (not the extract) in a small saucepan and heat until tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Turn off the heat and cover the pan to keep the cream hot.

When the sugar mixture reaches 305°F, turn off the heat and stir in the butter chunks. Gradually stir in the hot cream; it will bubble up and steam dramatically, so be careful. Turn the burner back on and adjust it so that the mixture boils energetically but not violently. Stir until any thickened syrup at the bottom of the pan is dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, to about 245°F. Then cook, stirring constantly, to 260°f for soft, chewy caramels or 265°F; for firmer chewy caramels.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract, if using it. Pour the caramel into the lined pan. Let set for 4 to 5 hours, or overnight until firm.

Lift the pan liner from the pan and invert the sheet of caramel onto a sheet of parchment paper. Peel off the liner. Cut the caramels with an oiled knife. Wrap each caramel individually in wax paper or cellophane.

This is so perfect!

2008-11-24T21:59:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is less than a week away!

2008-11-21T17:30:00.003-05:00

I made turkey cookies. I'm not usually into cutsie holiday motifs, but these are a tradition that must not be broken, for it is far too delicious.

Second day of running today. Went alright, made better time, but felt worse, I think that was due to the terrible night of sleep and the waking up with a sore throat and with sinuses in revolt. Megan is out of town, but Jillian's special friend Chris came with, and he's a police officer, so he helped keep the pace up a little.

Went shopping today too, got a pair of sweatpants for working out in. Jillian got a dress for our fancy party we're having. I got a dress last week. I'm super excited for the party, also my new dress is really pretty. :)

Life Change?

2008-11-19T15:22:00.001-05:00

Self improvement? Health? These are things I strive for. Today I took one more step in that direction. Jillian and Megan came over so that Jillian could do some laundry. They started working out on Monday (with projected schedule of MWFSa) and invited me along with them today. We walked/jogged/walked/jogged/ran 1.5 miles and decided to work towards a 5K. So yeah… we’re going to run three times a week, do some weights stuff, and swim on Saturdays- and hold each other accountable to it.

Here’s to health.

Also realized I’m in desperate need of workout clothes.

And, Irony of Ironies (yes with capital “I”) Brian was crossing the road when I pulled out of the VAC lot and started driving toward home. We had a hand signal conversation. He’s doing “Okay” (A shrug with up and down hands like a moving weighted balance). The ironic part was that “Without you” by Mad Caddies was playing in my CD player, which is not how I feel anymore, but was how I felt for oh-so-long.

28* outside, feels like 16*

2008-11-18T13:27:00.002-05:00

... according to weather.com. It is quite snowy, I haven't been outside yet today though. Took some pictures through the window though.

The garden looks a little confused.

Other than weather developments, work for my senior show is going well. My figures are growing. This last group was not as large as I originally had planned on it being, but I'm pleased with my progress. They are still, obviously, a fraction of my goal, which is life-size. These are still kind of considered "sketches," though they are more developed and larger than some previous sketches. According to the critique feedback from this past Thursday, my work is becoming "more sophisticated." The female figure third from left in the first picture is my, and was everyone at the critique's, favorite and the most successful so far. Please excuse the backdrop. :)

As a reminder, the basic thesis of my work is to explore inner emotion and dialogue between figures in the gesture of a body.

Thoughts and feedback, as always, is appreciated.

P.S. I love Iron and Wine.

Daring Bakers October Challenge!

2008-10-29T23:26:00.002-04:00

Challenge post time! I almost forgot it was posting day, but I didn't. The challenge this time was pizza. The challenge part was that we were supposed to give doing it classically a go- as in *bounce bounce toss spin spin toss.* I was pretty good at the bouncing, but the tossing- not so much. I did love the recipe though, and have made it three times.

The first time I made it I made the full batch and six pizzas, as is suggested in the recipe. They were for my sister's birthday party, and I didn't get a picture of them fresh because of the hustle and bustle. This is the only picture I got, of the meager remains. They were all topped with red sauce and mozzarella, and then each had different toppings including pepperoni, red pepper, onion, mushroom, tomato, and combinations of those.

The second time I made it I made a half-batch and made three pizzas which were eaten by my surrogate family and some of my friends. No pictures were taken then, but pesto, tomato, and fresh mozzarella donned all three.

The first two times I made them also I didn't do the refrigerate overnight thing, I just let the dough rest at room temperature for two hours and it worked beautifully.

The last time I made it, it was with pesto, grape tomatoes and mozzarella, and I actually got whole pizza photos. The last time I made it I split the dough four ways in stead of six, made two pizzas and six rolls. Also I actually did the refrigerate over night suggestion, which I thought actually made the dough less agreeable.

Here is the recipe, the only difference is that I used active dry yeast in stead of instant, which requires using warm water, dissolving the yeast in the water, then adding it plus the oil to the flour/salt. I edited this a little from what was given to us.:

~ BASIC PIZZA DOUGH ~ 
Original recipe taken from “The Bread Baker’s Apprentice” by Peter Reinhart.  Makes 6 pizza crusts (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter).  
Ingredients:
 4 1/2 Cups flour
1 3/4 Tsp Salt 
1 Tsp instant yeast  
1/4 Cup Olive oil or vegetable oil
 1 3/4 Cups Cold Water
1 Tb sugar  Semolina/durum flour or cornmeal  

PART ONE  
Method:

 1. Mix together the flour, instant yeast, and salt in a big bowl (or in the bowl of your stand mixer).  

2. Add the oil, sugar and cold water and mix well to form a sticky ball of dough. On a clean surface, knead for about 5-7 minutes.

 3. Flour a work surface or counter. Line a jelly pan with baking paper/parchment. Lightly oil the paper.

  4. With the help of a metal or plastic dough scraper, cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (or larger if you want to make larger pizzas). 

5. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Make sure your hands are dry and then flour them. Gently round each piece into a ball.  

6. Transfer the dough balls to the lined jelly pan and mist them generously with spray oil. Slip the pan into plastic bag or enclose in plastic food wrap.

  7. Put the pan in the fridge, let the dough rest overnight or for up to three days, OR

PART TWO  

8. Rest two hours if refrigerated, one if fresh  

9. At least 45 minutes before making the pizza, place a baking stone on the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven as hot as possible (500° F/260° C).   NOTE: If you do not have a baking stone, then use the back of a jelly pan. Do not preheat the pan.  

10. Generously sprinkle the back of a jelly pan with semolina/durum flour or cornmeal. Flour your hands (palms, backs and knuckles). Take 1 piece of dough by lifting it with a pastry scraper. Lay the dough across your fists in a very delicate way and carefully stretch it by bouncing it in a circular motion on your hands, and by giving it a little stretch with each bounce. Once the dough has expanded outward, move to a full toss.  

11. When the dough has the shape you want (about 9-12 inches/23-30 cm in diameter - for a 6 ounces/180g piece of dough), place it on the back of the jelly pan, making sure there is enough semolina/durum flour or cornmeal to allow it to slide and not stick to the pan.  

12. Lightly top it with sweet or savory toppings of your choice.  

13. Bake for abour 5-8 minutes.  

14. Take the pizza out of the oven; wait 3-5 minutes before slicing or serving.  

Oops.

2008-10-28T15:42:00.000-04:00

So as most people that know me have noticed, I drop my phone a lot. If this were a sitcom, here is where they would insert a montage of clips showing me dropping my phone set to a witty song. I've been getting better about not dropping it, however, I think that today I made up for the not dropping my phone all the time.

I was making cupcakes while talking to my mom on the phone. I got the cupcakes into the oven without a problem, however, when I went to rotate the pans halfway through baking, I dropped my phone.

INTO THE OVEN.

The door was not open all the way, so my phone slid down the hot door and landed on the bottom of the stove, you know, the metal part right above the FLAMES. My poor mother, she was a little confused. I then proceeded to panic, scramble for tongs, which the Johnsons' don't apparently believe in, grabbed two wooden spoons and fished it out (without burning myself!) It seems to be okay, there are two little melty spots, but they don't seem to be effecting the functioning at all.

More cupcakes, and a cake. And life.

2008-10-23T23:48:00.002-04:00

Today I made a birthday cake and Caramel Apple cupcakes- cupcakes with little pieces of apple in them dipped in gooey caramel. Pretty much delicious.

Amanda was visiting, and Sarah was around because she lives here- they were both tired and I fed them a lot of sugar, so it was pretty fun.

The birthday cake turned out really well, purple and green frosting, with little star sprinkles that Sarah found in the cupboard.

Life!

I have my second group critique of senior show work next Thursday. I wish I had more done, but I plan on churning out quite a bit of work this week. I did three sculptures last week, the first was destroyed, and I made two out of that clay. They turned out really well, but my batteries were dead in my camera and now I've taken them to my storage space on campus. I'll post soon about my concept for my show and hopefully put pictures of works in progress.

On the social side of my life, since I'm still looking for a job I have quite a bit of free time. I've been spending quite a bit of time with Jillian, which is really great. I like her a lot. We're in similar places in our lives right now, and we have so much more in common than I thought we did. It's been very nice. I've also had coffee with Brian a few times in the past month. That's been nice too, I'm glad that we can be friends. James and I have also been spending increasing amounts of time together, which is good. That's the nice thing about old friendships, there's enough of a basis there to just pick back up. And of course I've been spending a lot of time with my sister Amanda and her kitty, Zipper.

Life in general is kind of weird right now. I'm going part time, so I'm almost never on campus. I don't have any particular time to be up because my earliest class is at 3 in the afternoon on Tuesday and Thursday, and my other two classes are Wednesday and Thursday nights. I don't work very often, and when I do, it's usually weekend nights at the CLC, or for a few days during the week with the gallery, and that's only about once a month. I have my artwork, which is nice to be able to focus on, and nice to have a lot of time to spend on it, but I don't feel like I'm doing as much as I could be. Bennett said that we should be working harder right now than we ever have been, and I think that's true- I'm just having trouble with my starter it seems. When I do get to work, I work hard and deeply for a long time, it just seems I find myself sleeping more than I mean to most days and getting distracted really easily. I feel like I'm turning into a housecat.

I think that a lot of it is because of my massive lack of structure. I live off campus so I make my own food and can eat whenever I want, I don't have to abide by the dining hall hours. This is good most of the time, but I find myself eating breakfast at 11 and lunch at 4, and dinner is iffy, sometimes happening at 9, or 6 or whenever someone offers me dinner or I am inspired to cook. Sometimes I just pull out some cheese and vegetables and bread and have a picnic standing at the kitchen counter. I'd really like to get a job (especially since I'm quite low on funds at the moment), but part of me wants to take advantage of the ample time I have only spending six to eight hours in class a week to throw myself into my work. Maybe I'm just lazy and don't want to have to take the effort to budget my time. But the other half of me thinks that if I had a part time job at least, I'd have structure and I'd be more productive. But then, it seems like I should be able to just implement structure in my own life, but that is for some reason so much harder than it should be. I've never been good at scheduling personal time.

I basically feel like I bounce along my week in antigravity, floating through the clouds doing little things but not accomplishing much, spending a few hours here and there with friends, but not really being in community with them. It's like everything is falling apart and coming back together all at once, and in slow motion. I'm happier than I've been in a long time, and have more reasons to be happy than I have, but I don't feel there is much that is tangible, and like I'm reaching and not able to grasp my life. I seem to just be kind of confused. I'll stop rambling now.

Tomorrow (tonight, technically) or Saturday we're having a girls' night, probably at Jillian's, so I'm looking forward to that. Also, it's Amanda's birthday as of the strike of midnight 40 minutes ago, Happy Birthday sister!

A cupcake kind of world

2008-09-29T21:38:00.004-04:00

It's been a cup-cakey kind of mood the last few weeks.

The one above is a mini of the butternut squash variety that I made last week for our art seniors dinner, based on this recipe posted by Garrett on VanillaGarlic.

I also made two dozen each vanilla white and dark devil's food cupcakes for my sister's boss's birthday for the Tuesday night meeting (he actually ended up not being able to make it, so I ended up giving them another layer of frosting to cover up the piped well-wishes the I added after these pictures but extra frosting is never bad, so it was okay).

There was a little extra batter from both of those batches, so I made two-toned minis for the house.

And the week before last I made cupcakes while making my mother's birthday cake which were initially filled with caramel, but the caramel sank into the cake, so I made a caramel butter cream and filled them, then mixed the extra caramel buttercream with dark cocoa and topped them with that. Those missed the photo shoot though.

Daring Bakers September Challenge!

2008-09-27T04:44:00.002-04:00

This month's challenge was lavash crackers. It was a really open challenge, hosted by some alternative bakers, there were instructions for gluten free and non-gluten free crackers. We could use any flours and toppings, and the second part of the challenge was to create a vegan dip or spread to serve with the crackers.

I was in a simple mood when I made this, so I didn't get too crazy with spices or seeds. I made two batches, one with whole-grain spelt, and one with half light spelt/half unbleached white flour. I split both of the batches and did half sprinkled with fleur de sel (the rectangle crackers) and half with vanilla sugar (the triangle-ish crackers). For my dipping sauce/spread I made nutella-type chocolate hazelnut cream. (It was really simple, I had a hint from Sally at aprovechar.danandsally.com that she blended hazelnut praline with melted dark chocolate. She bought her hazelnut praline paste in a jar, but since I had hazelnuts left from the July challenge, I made praline like we did before, I used pure cane sugar to keep with the vegan requirement, processed it to paste again, and drizzled in a square of baking chocolate melted in 1/4 cup agave nectar. In the picture that's all I did. I ended up adding a few tablespoons of coconut milk to it though, because when it got cold it was really thick!)

These were really easy to make, really delicious, and they store well. I made them in the middle of the month and I still have some in zip bags, and they haven't gone stale.

Lavash Crackers, the instructions as given to us:

Makes 1 sheet pan of crackers

* 1 1/2 cups (6.75 oz) unbleached bread flour or gluten free flour blend (If you use a blend without xanthan gum, add 1 tsp xanthan or guar gum to the recipe)
* 1/2 tsp (.13 oz) salt
* 1/2 tsp (.055 oz) instant yeast
* 1 Tb (.75 oz) agave syrup or sugar
* 1 Tb (.5 oz) vegetable oil
* 1/3 to 1/2 cup + 2 Tb (3 to 4 oz) water, at room temperature
* Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, or kosher salt for toppings

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt yeast, agave, oil, and just enough water to bring everything together into a ball. You may not need the full 1/2 cup + 2 Tb of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.

2. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Sprinkle some flour on the counter and transfer the dough to the counter. Knead for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test (see http://www.wikihow.com/Determine-if-Bre … ong-Enough for a discription of this) and register 77 degrees to 81 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), satiny to the touch, not tacky, and supple enough to stretch when pulled. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

or

2. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: The dough should be firmer than French bread dough, but not quite as firm as bagel dough (what I call medium-firm dough), and slightly tacky. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

3. Ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size. (You can also retard the dough overnight in the refrigerator immediately after kneading or mixing).

4. For Non Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Mist the counter lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Press the dough into a square with your hand and dust the top of the dough lightly with flour. Roll it out with a rolling pin into a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. You may have to stop from time to time so that the gluten can relax. At these times, lift the dough from the counter and wave it a little, and then lay it back down. Cover it with a towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with baking parchment. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the parchment. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.

or

4. For Gluten Free Cracker Dough: Lay out two sheets of parchment paper. Divide the cracker dough in half and then sandwich the dough between the two sheets of parchment. Roll out the dough until it is a paper thin sheet about 15 inches by 12 inches. Slowly peel away the top layer of parchment paper. Then set the bottom layer of parchment paper with the cracker dough on it onto a baking sheet.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle a covering of seeds or spices on the dough (such as alternating rows of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds, kosher or pretzel salt, etc.) Be careful with spices and salt - a little goes a long way. If you want to precut the cracker, use a pizza cutter (rolling blade) and cut diamonds or rectangles in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking. If you want to make shards, bake the sheet of dough without cutting it first.

5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top (the time will depend on how thinly and evenly you rolled the dough).

6. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. You can then snap them apart or snap off shards and serve.

Tumblr

2008-09-20T00:52:00.002-04:00

I don't think that I mentioned this before. I got a Tumblr, and I've been posting little updates, pictures, and thoughts there- it really is quick and easy. Enter here.

Market day

2008-09-09T21:28:00.004-04:00

So I went to the Rochester Public Market today with my sister, who spent the night last night. Yay twenty-somethings sleepover! Every time that I got to the Market, I think to myself that I need to go there more often. It is so worth it. Other than Lattes at the Market Boulder, I bought:

Cucumbers, a beautiful yellow pepper, baby lavender eggplant, a big orange squash that I don't remember the name of, sweet potatoes, an avocado, and pluots, which are a hybrid fruit I think of plums and apricots, also very delicious. There was one that never made it to the picture. I also got an amazing bouquet of sunflowers that I'm going to take home on Friday for mum's birthday. Oh, and some peaches:

They were two baskets for five dollars. How could I say no?

The pie at that top of the entry features some of those babies, three pints went into the freezer, a container is in the fridge for munching, and some were had on ice cream by Mr. Johnson (the dad in the house where I live). I also took about half of the skins that I peeled from the fruit as I cut it up, covered them with water, threw in about a half cup of sugar, and simmered it for a good long while. Then I strained it and simmered it for a while more, and made a very tasty peach syrup for ice cream, waffles, or anything else we can think to put it on.

Also for dinner, I made lasagna with thinly sliced eggplant layered with sauteed ground venison, tomato sauce that I made, ricotta, and a shredded blend of cheese. Getting the ingredients other than the venison (brought frozen from home) and the eggplants, is kind of a funny story.

Not really, but a little. I rode my bike to campus today. Before I left I decided I was going to make the lasagna for dinner. When I was on campus I thought, I'm out, might as well stop at the little IGA in town and pick up some ricotta. While in the store, I realized I also needed tomato sauce. While in the isle I thought of how I don't really like canned sauce and decided to get various cans of tomato paste, plain sauce, and chopped tomatoes which I could make into a nice sauce with fresh herbs from the garden, etc. Then over at the cheese, I grabbed the ricotta, then thought I might need some other cheese because I didn't know what was at the house, so I grabbed a bag of Sargento six cheese Italian blend (which is delicious, by the way). Then I saw the cottage cheese and thought, a nice snack, healthier than some that I've been eating lately, and a definite weakness for me (especially thinking of the fresh peaches at home). So I grabbed a tub of that. I somehow made it to the checkout without dropping things, and realized while I was paying that I had ridden my bike. And had a notebook in my bag already (I need to get a rack for my bike still, so all of my belongings have to go into my messenger bag), and that I would have to put in there my bike chain, which is actually a four or five foot long metal chain with a padlock because I'm too poor to buy something and that's what my dad found to give me. So I got everything into my bag, got on my bike laden with fifteen to twenty pounds of extra weight, and built character on the ride home.

Buckwheat Coconut Soft Chocolate Cookies. Vegan.

2008-09-01T22:49:00.004-04:00

So I have finally come to a point where I can make a non-crunchy cookie without eggs. This is so exciting because I quite prefer soft and/or chewy cookies (and the first go at it produced very hard cookies- hard past the point of crunchy). I made these the day that I completely messed up the eclairs. I needed something to restore my baking self-esteem, also because I had touched the "I want sweets" nerve with the idea of allergen-free eclairs.

I highly recommend these. They were awesome, to be humble about it. Also I think that they would translate to GF easily, since there is only one cup of gluteny flour in them.

Recipe!

Preheat oven to 325* F. Line some cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl whisk together:

1 cup Buckwheat flour
1 cup light spelt flour (can sub 1 cup white, wheat, or GF flour+xanthan)
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup Quinoa flakes (can sup rolled oats, if GF make sure they're certified GF)
1 tsp soda
1 1/2 tsp powder
a heaping 1/2 cup dark cocoa
about 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar

In a separate bowl combine:
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 Tbsp molasses (I used a blurb. Very exact measuring there.)
5 Tbsp warm milk (I used hemp, use whatever kind of milk you want. Coconut milk would go with the theme.)
2 tsp vanilla (again a blurb, probably actually was more than that. It's hard to overdo vanilla, unless you dump the whole bottle in.)
Egg replacer for 2 eggs. I use Ener-G plus a Tbsp of ground flax.

Pour wet ingredients into dry and mix to combine. If needed, add additional milk 1 Tbsp at a time until dough is pliable and shiny.

Scoop onto cookie sheet. If using GF flours, don't forget to smoosh them a little, because they don't generally spread as much.

Bake for 15 minutes or until firm.

On some of them I added a glaze made from vanilla chips (they weren't vegan) melted with hemp milk and whisked with a little confectionary sugar. I sprinkled those with a little shredded coconut to hide the unmelted bits of chips.

Daring Bakers August Challenge!

2008-08-31T16:28:00.002-04:00

So this one isn't so exciting. The recipe was exciting, but this month was really crazy so I only had time to attempt it once. The recipe was chocolate eclairs, which we could sub another flavor for as long as we kept one chocolate component. I decided to vegan-ize it, or try to (since I try to avoid eggs and milk anyway), and make it chocolate coconut. The coconut would be subtle, mostly from using coconut milk instead of dairy milk. However, a few things went wrong. The Pâte à Choux actually came out really nice, and close to what I interpreted the description to mean. The speckles are from the flax meal that I use in addition to Ener-G as an egg replacement.

It piped nicely, and even puffed nicely in the oven. However I got a little ahead of myself and pulled them out too soon, and they fell. You can see that the bottom looks a little thick on this one.

While they were baking, I made the chocolate pastry cream. Again, it looked nice as I started. I didn't think as much as I should have though, and didn't take into account that egg replacer is starch based, and there is starch in the recipe so the cream thickened nicely, then just kept thickening as I cooled it and I ended up with chocolate-cream gel. It was pretty gross. I didn't even bother taking a picture.

Moving away from the cream back to the pastry, I realized that I messed those up too, I threw it all away and decided to try again. However, a lot has happened this month and I haven't had a chance. I'm going to a friend's house in a little while though, and I think that I'm going to give them another go while I'm there. I wanted to get this attempt up now though so that I made the deadline in case I don't have time to post about the hopefully successful ones we make in a little while. I won't be defeated!

Here is the recipe as it was given to us- the order I found to be kind of confusing, so if I have time later, I will rearrange it and edit it, but I'm a little crunched right now.
Chocolate Éclairs by Pierre Hermé

Éclairs consist of 3 elements:

- Pâte à Choux, also known as Choux Pastry or Cream Puff Dough
- Pastry Cream
- Chocolate glaze

First the modifications:

Under the motto - Culinary Liberty For All, Tony and I thought we should give enough leeway for creativity.

What’s the point in cooking if not to cook what YOU want to eat?

In terms of modifications of this recipe, the possibilities are endless. In order to maintain some sort of cohesiveness throughout the challenge, here are a couple general guidelines for eclair month at the Daring Bakers.

1. The dough used for the eclairs must be a pâte à choux from the recipe given below.
2. Keep one chocolate element in the challenge. The recipe below is for a chocolate glaze and a chocolate pastry cream. You choose which chocolate element you want to keep. Then feel free to mix and match flavors to the base recipe.
3. Everything else is fair game. Enjoy!

Posting Day: August 31st, 2008

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 20-24 Éclairs)

• Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

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.

Notes:
1) The éclairs can be kept in a cool, dry place for several hours before filling.

Assembling the éclairs:

• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)

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.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40
degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of
the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the
bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) 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 glazed tops onto the pastry cream
and wriggle gently to settle them.

Notes:
1) If you have chilled your chocolate glaze, reheat by placing it in a bowl over simmering water,
stirring it gently with a wooden spoon. Do not stir too vigorously as you do not want to create
bubbles.

2) The éclairs should be served as soon as they have been filled.

Pierre Hermé’s Cream Puff Dough
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(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) all-purpose flour
• 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 wooden 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
handmixer 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 as directed above.

Notes:
1) Once the dough is made you need to shape it immediately.

2) You can pipe the dough and the freeze it. Simply pipe the dough onto parchment-lined baking
sheets and slide the sheets into the freezer. Once the dough is completely frozen, transfer the
piped shapes into freezer bags. They can be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by PierreHermé

• 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 heat).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 now ready to use or store in the fridge.

[bNotes:[/b]
1) The pastry cream can be made 2‐3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator.

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

3) Tempering the eggs raises the temperature of the eggs slowly so that they do not scramble.

Chocolate Glaze
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1 cup or 300g)

• 1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
• 3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
• 7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Notes:
1) If the chocolate glaze is too cool (i.e. not liquid enough) you may heat it briefly  in the microwave or over a double boiler. A double boiler is basically a bowl sitting over (not touching) simmering water.

2) It is best to glaze the eclairs after the glaze is made, but if you are pressed for time, you can make the glaze a couple days ahead of time, store it in the fridge and bring it up to the proper temperature (95 to 104 F) when ready to glaze.

Chocolate Sauce
Recipe from Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé
(makes 1½ cups or 525 g)

• 4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup (250 g) water
• ½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
• 1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Notes:
1) You can make this sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator for two weeks. Reheat the sauce in a microwave oven or a double boiler before using.
2) This sauce is also great for cakes, ice-cream and tarts.

What a week.

2008-08-14T17:35:00.003-04:00

So this has been quite the week. Sunday night I went to the new night worship service led by friends at their church in LeRoy. I don't know the name of the church, just that they call it the golf ball, because that's what the building looks like. It's a large faceted white dome that looks like a golf ball half sunken into the ground. After the service we went to the Barringer's house; always a good thing, I love them and could use the positive company. I ended up having a long tearful conversation about certain recent events with Chrissy. It was a good conversation, and my time with the rest of the family was lovely also.

A large precursor to this week, and something that has been on my mind quite a lot, that I haven't shared with you, internet, is that Brian and I broke up three and a half weeks ago. I'm sure you understand why I wouldn't post this right away, as it is something that has been difficult to deal with. I am, obviously, still dealing with it, but it has become common knowledge and I've stopped crying every time I think about it, so it's time you know dear internet. It was a peaceful breakup, no hard feelings or fights or anything, but still very hard.

Monday morning at eight o'clock I received a call from Brian to tell me that his grandfather had passed away earlier that morning. It is a terrible loss, he was a wonderful man and will be missed. I held him in very high esteem, and it has been hard to see him lose the short and intense fight he had with the cancer in his throat. Prayers for Brian and his family are greatly appreciated, and this loss has left a huge hole. Rest in Peace, John "Dee" Deschamps.

***

I went home Monday, much later than I meant to due to several things. The purpose of my going home was that my car has been acting weird and I had a dentist appointment. The dentist appointment went fine. My car, however, needed some major engine tuning up. Everything was fine though, and fixable, which is good. However, there is a sequel to that story.

First, a picture of George. This is his "WTF is that thing, and why is it clicking at me?!" face.

Tuesday night I made dinner. A few weeks ago I was hanging out with my friend James and we went to a place in Brockport called Zonie's for dinner, which is a place that serves calzones. Only calzones, with almost any filling you could think of. Since we went there, I've been craving calzone. I however, also wanted pizza. So I created a pizza-calzone. Basically I made two rounds of dough, topped the first with pesto and cheese, moistened the edges, and put the second round on top. After crimping the edges together (as you would with a pie), I topped it with more pesto, artichoke hearts, chopped roasted red pepper, mushrooms, and cheese. It was pretty much awesome. Also, the dough recipe was pretty much the best I've ever made. It was super simple too (however glutenous, though I'd like to try it with alternate flours):

Mix together until dissolved:
1 cup warm water
1 packet/1 Tbsp yeast

Stir in:
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp oil
2 1/2 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 cups unbleached white and 1 cup whole wheat)

I also added a heaping spoonful of pesto to the dough.

Assemble pizza as desired, bake at 425*F for 20-30 minutes, depending on thickness, until firm and golden at edges.

Then yesterday I went and hung out with Steve and we made a similar creation, only with all white flour, no red pepper (because I forgot to buy one), and ricotta added into the center and top. Also delicious.

My day yesterday was quite eventful. I was planning to leave by eleven to be to Rochester by one. I actually left on time. However, not two miles from my house my car began to do that sputtering thing that was the whole reason for the tune up in the first place. "Oh dear," said I. I pulled off the road and called my mom who suggested taking it back to Dave. I did, and he said it sounded like there was still some water in my tank, so he gave me some super extra dry gas and said that it should be fine after I filled up with gas. He and I took it for a drive, and it was fine, so after dropping him back off at the garage, I went on my way. It stuttered a few times, but seemed fine. And it was, mostly, until I went through the toll booths to go into Buffalo. If you have never been to Buffalo, the thruway is a four lane highway where no one cares about anything except how much they can break the speed limit.

After my ezpass registered, I eased on the gas to accelerate- and nothing happened. "Oh no." Thought I.

Then my engine caught and the RPMs rocketed, but there was no shifting and I was still going a nice slow 20 mph or so. I got over to the middle lane and nestled myself behind an also slow-going semi and tried to control my panic. My car very slowly inched up, but around 40 started sputtering and hiccuping, and I tried to remain calm. For a short period of time things seemed to go back to normal, but soon it was sputtering again. I decided it was probably a good idea to exit the highway and the next exit was the exit for the Walden Galleria Mall. This exit is a two lane curved ramp with a stop light at the end. The light was red. I thought to myself, if I stop will I start again? And, sure enough, not twenty seconds after I came to a stop my car gave out a violent shutter and completely died.

This did not ease my sense of panic.

I got it to start again and began to beg the light to turn green. It did (though took its time) and I shutteringly got off the ramp and into a parking lot. I then called my mom and triple A and was subsequently towed back home to Dave's. The problem was quite a simple one, though effective. When he revamped my engine, he replaced a bunch of parts. The place where he gets his parts from carried two grades of parts- the good kind that he gets, and the off brand. The one part that he needed was out of stock in his preferred brand, so knowing that I needed to get back to Rochester, he got the off brand. He has solidified why he doesn't use those products. This part that he had to get was the spark plug mechanism. The way that it is is there is a little box with wires that have to go down into the engine and are secured in place by little rubber plugs that fit into the holes and are held there and then secured when the engine is turned on by suction. Apparently the suction didn't work correctly and while I was driving two of the plugs worked their way out and popped up out of the holes causing my engine to cease functioning. He called the guy and had the part ordered so that he would have it this morning. I, however, needed to get to work and so borrowed my parents' Vibe and drove back directly. My father is coming tomorrow and I'm meeting him halfway so that we can switch back.

***

One of the benefits to having the Vibe is that my bicycle fits in the back, so I was able to take it to the city to the place where Steve gets his parts and I'm getting it tuned up. I'm pretty excited and get to go pick it up tomorrow. They are replacing a bunch of the parts and it's going to be awesome (and probably safer). The name of the place is Full Moon Vista and it's at 180 St. Paul Street in Rochester. I was super impressed with the guy that helped me- he was really knowledgeable and has been in the bicycle business for a long time. Also, the price is really reasonable for the high quality stuff and service they provide.

***

One last amusing thing before I retire to bed- When I left my room briefly earlier, the house cat here, Clover, snuck into my room seeing the open door. I didn't notice her when I came back in, and went about my business for a little while before being startled by the eyes staring up at me from my bed when I turned. After she knew that I had noticed her, the ritual "love me I'm awesome" dance commenced, pictures of which can be seen on my flickr.

Late mini post

2008-08-05T00:34:00.002-04:00

So I definitely need to go to bed soon, but I have two exciting things:

1. I bought the paint for my room today, and got most of the room primed- we ran out with just the top of one and a half of the walls bare- talk about mildly disappointing. So I have to stop at the store tomorrow and grab a quart of primer. Grr. But it's exciting because hopefully I'll get at least the 1st coat of the color up tomorrow. I'm so exited to have a real room really to myself.

2. Steve and I went to the Organic Co-Op today. I got several exciting things, but by far the most exciting is the iced cream made out of coconut milk! Soy-free, milk-free, and non-rice-y. It's made by the company "So-Delicious" who I've seen and eaten soy-based ice cream by, and it really lives up to it's company name.

Verdict on the cake

2008-08-04T00:29:00.002-04:00

AWESOME.

So I, and all that partook, were very pleased with the cake.

This is what was left of it after both sets of parents, SJ and I had at it this afternoon. Most of this was finished off by Megan, Jillian and I this evening. We had a really nice girly chat time evening.

Vegan coconut cake, and the saga of it's making, and I got a flickr

2008-08-02T16:48:00.007-04:00

This post is about a seemingly successful vegan coconut cake, and the point that I got a flickr. At the moment, the only pictures on my flickr are of the aforementioned cake.

Yesterday I really wanted to make a cake, and my roommate justified making it when I said "there's no reason to make a cake, with the phrase "there is no need to have a reason when cake is involved." I said "okay" and away I went. This cake took a while, but it shouldn't have, I was just silly about a few things.

I haven't technically tasted the cake yet, but the few nibbles of scraps that I tasted were quite good. We'll see how it is tomorrow. It didn't raise very much, so I think if I do it again, I will either 1 1/2 the recipe, or use a smaller pan. It worked really well for thin layer to torte- no need to split them crossways.

I made cupcakes the other day that turned out okay, but nothing to blog about. I had frosting left over, which was one of the reasons for my wanting to make a cake. This frosting would lead to some now amusing mishaps though. It was comprised of granulated sugar disolved into heated coconut milk, beat with an equal amount of coconut oil, then beat into a good measure of confectioner's sugar. It wasn't quite as fluffy as buttercream, but it was quite tasty.

After I made the cake, I let it cool on the counter, then wrapped it in plastic wrap and left it there while I went to work, planning to put it together when I was on my break between jobs. When I got back from work, I beat the frosting a little to soften it to a workable consistency (coconut oil gets rather stiff in the fridge). I then divided the cake into quarters, took one quarter, placed it onto a little rectangle of cardboard covered in foil, and spread a quarter of the frosting on the top. I didn't consider the point that the room-temperature cake might melt the delicate frosting.

By the time I had the third layer on, the second layer was sliding out, and we won't talk about what happened when I tried to persevere and put the fourth layer on (as though that would help somehow). I tried so hard to salvage it, to no avail. After ten minutes I ended up disassembling the stack and scraping off as much of the melt-y frosting as I could salvage (It's a good thing that the cake has hearty structure). This actually ended up working well, because I then put the layers re-covered in the fridge to chill through, and the coating of melted frosting sealed them, so hopefully their few hours in the fridge while I was back at work didn't dry them out too terribly.

Before I went back to work, however, I tried to salvage the frosting. Needing to make a little more, I added a cup or so of confectioner's sugar and a bit of coconut oil. The discrepancy in temperatures, however, caused the frosting to break and become a oily, lumpy mess. I tried heating it through, and that made it worse. Feeling defeated but refusing to scrap it, I stuck it in the fridge and went back to work.

Work went really long and I finally got home just after midnight. As expected, the frosting was hard as a rock, as coconut oil freezes at a very high temperature. I thought about melting it, but didn't think it would help anything, since it just made it separate more before. So I took my hand mixer with the beaters on it and just buzzed the top of the mass. Surprisingly, as it shaved off ribbons, it mixed it all together, and I had perfect, smooth, fluffy buttercream-type frosting after about ten or fifteen minutes! I then took out the four sad looking, glazed cake pieces out of the fridge and much more successfully torted them.

Then I took the left over cream and smoothed the sides with it.

Then came the vegan ganache experiment. I decided to carry through the coconut theme and use coconut milk. When you open a can of coconut milk, if you don't shake it, the milk will be separated into a thick cream-consistency liquid and, pretty much, water. I refrained from shaking the can and used the separated thick coconut cream. I think that this is easier in the non-light versions, but all I had was light. I combined this (about 2/3 cup) with a drizzle (about 1 Tbsp) of agave nectar in a saucepan and brought it to a rapid simmer. I then poured it over 1 1/3 cup organic chocolate chips (Sunspire brand- they are so delicious! I could just eat a bag- no need to make anything with them). I let it stand for a few minutes, then stirred it until it was smooth. It seemed a little thicker than ganache that I'd previously made, but was a nice consistency. At this point you are supposed to add a little liqueur or flavor extract, but I forgot.

I let the ganache sit for a few more minutes to cool to 90-ish degrees, as I've heard suggested, so that it wouldn't melt the cream frosting and be thick enough to give a good coating. I should have waited a little longer though, because the stayed nicely on the top, but most of it slid off the sides and it ended up looking like Mecca, oddly enough.

I persevered again though, and moved the wire rack and spent several minutes scooping up ganache and spreading and re-spreading it on the sides. Eventually I got a nice covering. Not perfect- but nice and mostly even. I drizzled some over the top too, to hide the imperfections. There is a little bit of speckling from the frosting being pulled through. I think that I was pretty successful though- especially in my frazzled state at one in the morning.

After it chilled in the fridge, the ganache stiffened up quite nicely, and it looks like real ganache. :) I'm pretty happy with it. For all of it's grief though, it better taste darn good!

Now that you have the back story- here's the

Recipe!

Vegan Coconut Torte (or just cake, if you just make the cake):

Preheat oven to 325, grease and flour a 9x13 for a thin cake, or another size pan of your choice.

In a food processor combine:

1/4 cup ground flax meal
1/2 cup tapioca starch
3/4 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
2/3 cup light spelt flour (**for GF readers, spelt is not gluten-free! I digest it better than wheat, so if you are just wheat sensitive I highly suggest it, but it *is* glutinous!**)
1/4 cup almond flour
4 tsp baking powder
(if using GF flours instead of the spelt, don't forget the xanthan gum)

Process for a few minutes until coconut is reduced to flour. If you have coconut flour, sift flours together and skip the processor.

In a separate bowl mix together:

1 1/2 cup organic unrefined sugar
1 tsp salt

Blend and add to the sugar:
1 1/4 cups coconut milk, warmed
1/3 cup melted and cooled coconut oil
prepared egg replacer for three eggs

Slowly add flour blend by sifting it over the wet ingredients while whisking. After all of the flour is added, if the batter is still thin, you may need to add a little more flour. I ended up adding three extra Tablespoons of spelt.

Dump into prepared cake pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until firm to the touch and a toothpick or knife inserted into the center tests clean.

Remove from oven and let rest for five minutes.

Loosen edges of cake if necessary and invert onto lightly oiled rack. Once cooled, wrap tightly and CHILL thoroughly. Prepare whatever filling you would like to separate the layers with while the cake is chilling, and chill the filling if necessary. Cut the layers if necessary and assemble as desired. Chill the cake while you prepare the ganache, place cake on wire rack over a pan and pour the ganache in the center of the cake, allowing it to drip over the sides and coat them. With a round cake this is usually not to hard, a square cake takes a little more convincing on the ganache’s part. Chill for several hours until ganache is set and there is no temperature discrepancy among the components.

I will post pictures of the sliced end result tomorrow, and give a review on the taste and flavor combinations.

My very first Daring Bakers Challenge!

2008-07-28T15:42:00.001-04:00

So today is posting day for my first Daring Bakers Challenge! How exciting!

The Daring Bakers is an online baking club/blogroll/community thing that's really neat and has one challenge recipe a month. The recipe is secret until posting day, but today is posting day, so the secret's out! I copied and pasted the original transcription of the recipe, and put my comments and amendments in bold italics.

This month's challenge:

Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream
From Great Cakes by Carol Walter

The recipes to be prepared:

1 Filbert Genoise
1 recipe sugar syrup, flavored with dark rum
1 recipe Praline Buttercream
½ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1 recipe Apricot Glaze
1 recipe Ganache Glaze, prepared just before using
3 tablespoons filberts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Recipe part one! Although I usually bake allergen free, I decided to make this for my friend's birthday, and so made the cake recipe strait off, not changing anything ingredient-wise. I did however split the batter and made a four inch, a six inch and a seven inch cake, instead of the single ten-inch cake that was specified in the recipe:

Filbert Genoise

Because of the amount of nuts in the recipe, this preparation is different from a classic genoise.

1 ½ cups hazelnuts, toasted/skinned
2/3 cup cake flour, unsifted
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
7 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar, divided ¼ & ¾ cups
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. grated lemon rind
5 lg. egg whites
¼ cup warm, clarified butter (100 – 110 degrees)

Position rack in the lower 3rd of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10” X 2” inch round cake pan.

Using a food processor, process nuts, cake flour, and cornstarch for about 30 seconds. Then, pulse the mixture about 10 times to get a fine, powdery mixture. You’ll know the nuts are ready when they begin to gather together around the sides of the bowl. While you want to make sure there aren’t any large pieces, don’t over-process. Set aside.

Put the yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, and beat until thick and light in color, about 3-4 minutes on med-high speed. Slowly, add ¾ cup of sugar. It is best to do so by adding a tablespoon at a time, taking about 3 minutes for this step. When finished, the mixture should be ribbony. Blend in the vanilla and grated lemon rind. Remove and set aside.

Place egg whites in a large, clean bowl of the electric mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed, until soft peaks. Increase to med-high speed and slowly add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, over 15-20 seconds or so. Continue to beat for another ½ minute.
Add the yolk mixture to the whites and whisk for 1 minute.

Pour the warm butter in a liquid measure cup (or a spouted container). * It must be a deep bottom bowl and work must be fast.* Put the nut meal in a mesh strainer (or use your hand – working quickly) and sprinkle it in about 2 tablespoons at a time – folding it carefully for about 40 folds. Be sure to exclude any large chunks/pieces of nuts. Again, work quickly and carefully as to not deflate the mixture. When all but about 2 Tbsp. of nut meal remain, quickly and steadily pour the warm butter over the batter. Then, with the remaining nut meal, fold the batter to incorporate, about 13 or so folds.

With a rubber spatula, transfer the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with the spatula or back of a spoon. **If collected butter remains at the bottom of the bowl, do not add it to the batter! It will impede the cake rising while baking.

Tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. You’ll know the cake is done when it is springy to the touch and it separates itself from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack sprayed with nonstick coating, removing the pan. Cool the cake completely.

*If not using the cake right away, wrap thoroughly in plastic wrap, then in a plastic bag, then in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If freezing, wrap in foil, then the bag and use within 2-3 months.

Sugar Syrup
Makes 1 cup, good for one 10-inch cake – split into 3 layers

1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. dark rum or orange flavored liqueur

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the liqueur. Cool slightly before using on the cake. *Can be made in advance.

Praline Buttercream
1 recipe Swiss Buttercream
1/3 cup praline paste
1 ½ - 2 Tbsp. Jamaican rum (optional)

Blend ½ cup buttercream into the paste, then add to the remaining buttercream. Whip briefly on med-low speed to combine. Blend in rum."

Swiss Buttercream

For the buttercream, I used my mother's simple buttercream recipe instead of this egg-y one. I figured I was going to be itchy enough from the eggs in the cake and wanted to limit my allergen intake. My mother's recipe is: Beat several cups of confectioner's sugar with milk, adding a tablespoon at a time until a uniform paste is formed. Beat in one measure unsalted butter, equal amount shortening (for stability) and beat on medium until fluffy.

For good measure, here is the original buttercream recipe that I did not use, though the consensus was that it is quite divine.

"4 lg. egg whites
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
1 ½ -2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier or liqueur of your choice
1 tsp. vanilla

Place the egg whites in a lg/ bowl of a elevtric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until the whites are foamy and they begin to thicken (just before the soft peak stage). Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of simmering water, making sure the bowl is not touching the water. Then, whisk in the sugar by adding 1-2 tablespoon of sugar at a time over a minutes time. Continue beating 2-3 minutes or until the whites are warm (about 120 degrees) and the sugar is dissolved. The mixture should look thick and like whipped marshmallows.
Remove from pan and with either the paddle or whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and sugar on med-high until its a thick, cool meringue – about 5-7 minutes. *Do not overbeat*. Set aside.

Place the butter in a separate clean mixing bowl and, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed for 40-60 seconds, or until smooth and creamy. *Do not overbeat or the butter will become toooooo soft.*

On med-low speed, blend the meringue into the butter, about 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, over 1 minute. Add the liqueur and vanilla and mix for 30-45 seconds longer, until thick and creamy.

Refrigerate 10-15 minutes before using.

Wait! My buttercream won’t come together! Reheat the buttercream briefly over simmering water for about 5 seconds, stirring with a wooden spoon. Be careful and do not overbeat. The mixture will look broken with some liquid at the bottom of the bowl. Return the bowl to the mixer and whip on medium speed just until the cream comes back together.

Wait! My buttercream is too soft! Chill the buttercream in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes and rewhip. If that doesn’t work, cream an additional 2-4 Tbsp. of butter in a small bowl– making sure the butter is not as soft as the original amount, so make sure is cool and smooth. On low speed, quickly add the creamed butter to the buttercream, 1 Tbsp. at a time.

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or can be frozen for up to 6 months. If freezing, store in 2 16-oz. plastic containers and thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for several hours.

Praline Paste
1 cup (4 ½ oz.) Hazelnuts, toasted/skinless
2/3 cup Sugar
Line a jelly roll pan with parchment and lightly butter.

Put the sugar in a heavy 10-inch skillet. Heat on low flame for about 10-20 min until the sugar melts around the edges. Do not stir the sugar. Swirl the pan if necessary to prevent the melted sugar from burning. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove sugar crystals. If the sugar in the center does not melt, stir briefly. When the sugar is completely melted and caramel in color, remove from heat. Stir in the nuts with a wooden spoon and separate the clusters. Return to low heat and stir to coat the nuts on all sides. Cook until the mixture starts to bubble. **Remember – extremely hot mixture.** Then onto the parchment lined sheet and spread as evenly as possible. This worked surprisingly better than I thought it would, however, it took much longer than the recipe said that it would for some reason.

As it cools, it will harden into brittle. Break the candied nuts into pieces and place them in the food processor. Pulse into a medium-fine crunch or process until the brittle turns into a powder. To make paste, process for several minutes. Store in an airtight container and store in a cook dry place. Do not refrigerate.

Apricot Glaze
Good for one 10-inch cake

I made a strawberry glaze, per the request of my roommate, whose birthday I made this for.

2/3 cup thick apricot preserves
1 Tbsp. water

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and preserves to a slow boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. If the mixture begins to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, add water as needed.

Remove from heat and, using a strainer, press the mixture through the mesh and discard any remnants. With a pastry brush, apply the glaze onto the cake while the cake is still warm. If the glaze is too thick, thin to a preferred consistency with drops of water.

Ganache Glaze
Makes about 1 cup, enough to cover the top and sides of a 9 or 10 inch layer or tube cake

**Ganache can take on many forms. While warm – great fudge sauce. While cool or lukewarm – semisweet glaze. Slightly chilled – can be whipped into a filling/frosting. Cold & solid – the base of candied chocolate truffles.

6 oz. (good) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, like Lindt
6 oz. (¾ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier, Cointreay, or dark Jamaican rum (optional)
¾ tsp. vanilla
½ - 1 tsp. hot water, if needed

Blend vanilla and liqueur/rum together and set aside.

Break the chocolate into 1-inch pieces and place in the basket of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer into a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Heat the cream and corn syrup in a saucepan, on low, until it reached a gentle boil. Once to the gently boil, immediately and carefully pour over the chocolate. Leave it alone for one minute, then slowly stir and mix the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the cream. Carefully blend in vanilla mixture. If the surface seems oily, add ½ - 1 tsp hot water. The glaze will thicken, but should still be pourable. If it doesn’t thicken, refrigerate for about 5 minutes, but make sure it doesn’t get too cold!

Assembling Cake

Cut a cardboard disk slightly smaller than the cake. I used cardboard circles slightly larger than my cakes because I would be transporting two of the three that I made. Looking back, it would have been less messy to use a smaller board and then transfer the cake to a platter or something. More on the mess later.

Divide the cake into 3 layers and place the first layer top-side down on the disk. Using a pastry brush, moisten the layer with 3-4 Tbsp. of warm sugar syrup. Measure out 1 cup of praline buttercream and set aside.

Spread the bottom layer with a ¼-inch thickness of the remaining buttercream. Cover with ½ of the whipped cream, leaving ¼-inch border around the edge of the cake. Place the middle layer over the first, brush with sugar syrup, spreading with buttercream. Cover with the remaining whipped cream. I had less whipping cream than I thought, so that layer was a little thin.

Moisten the cut side of the third layer with additional sugar syrup and place cut side down on the cake. Gently, press the sides of the cake to align the layers. Refrigerate to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Lift the cake by sliding your palm under the cardboard. Holding a serrated or very sharp night with an 8-ich blade held parallel to the sides of the cake, trim the sides so that they are perfectly straight. Cut a slight bevel at the top to help the glaze drip over the edge. Brush the top and sides of the cake with warm apricot glaze, sealing the cut areas completely. Chill while you prepare the ganache. I didn't trim the edges of my cake because I thought that they were even enough. Again, looking back I think it may have been beneficial to trim them to make them just a little neater. I just don't trust my vertical knife skills....

Place a rack over a large shallow pan to catch the ganache drippings. Remove the gateau from the refrigerator and put it the rack. With a metal spatula in hand, and holding the saucepan about 10 inches above the cake, pour the ganache onto the cake’s center. Move the spatula over the top of the ganache about 4 times to get a smooth and mirror-like appearance. The ganache should cover the top and run down the sides of the cake. When the ganache has been poured and is coating the cake, lift one side of the rack and bang it once on the counter to help spread the ganache evenly and break any air bubbles. (Work fast before setting starts.) Patch any bare spots on the sides with a smaller spatula, but do not touch the top after the “bang”. Let the cake stand at least 15 minutes to set after glazing. My ganache turned out well, though it could have been a little more viscous. I feel it was a little thin. The tiny cake glazed evenly, but I had more run off than I thought I would, so I glazed the cardboard too. For the two larger cakes I made a little border a half-inch or so from the bottom of the cake so that there would be a little moat of ganache around the bottom. It worked better than I thought it would, there was just a little leaking.

To garnish the cake, fit a 12 – 14-inch pastry bag with a #114 large leaf tip. Fill the bag with the reserved praline cream. Stating ½ inch from the outer edge of the cake, position the pastry tube at a 90 degree angle with the top almost touching the top of the cake. Apply pressure to the pastry bag, moving it slightly toward the center of the cake. As the buttercream flows on the cake, reverse the movement backward toward the edge of the cake and finish by pulling the bag again to the center. Stop applying pressure and press the bag downward, then quickly pull the tip up to break the flow of frosting. Repeat, making 12 leaves evenly spaced around the surface of the cake.

Make a second row of leaves on the top of the first row, moving the pastry bag about ¾ inch closer to the center. The leaves should overlap. Make a 3rd row, moving closer and closer to the center. Add a 4th row if you have the room. But, leave a 2-inch space in the center for a chopped filbert garnish. Refrigerate uncovered for 3-4 hours to allow the cake to set. Remove the cake from the refrigerator at least 3 hours before serving.

As we were allowed to decorate as we pleased as long as we had all of the elements, I didn't decorate the cake as was instructed. I did different decorations on all of the cakes, however, I didn't get a photo of the littlest one.

Leftover cake can be covered with foil and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Weekends

2008-07-28T10:16:00.005-04:00

I went down to Binghamton this weekend and met six day old Elliot Jane. She is very sweet, and beautiful. A very good baby. Stephanie looks good, though very tired. She and Jacques are still getting used to the new parent thing. They're doing quite well though. :)

Also, Amanda got a kitty, Zip, and brought him to visit last night. Other than using the regular camera, we had fun in photobooth on my computer.

Going back in time, last weekend I made a coffee cake. I used Sally's transcription of the original, and made a few changes. I used a blend of Almond flour (1 cup), rice flour (3/4 cup), tapioca flour (1/2 cup), and millet flour (1/4 cup). I also used the juice of one lemon plus soymilk to bring it to 1 cup for the butter milk. I would have preferred to use coconut milk, but I apparently used my last can and didn't replace it. I didn't have any dark brown sugar, so I used light, and I used Ener-G egg replacer, with a 1/2 Tbsp of flax meal for the egg replacer. I also sprinkled the top with slivered almonds in addition to the raspberries, and lacked the large-grain salt. It turned out pretty well, though after two days the top was a little soggy. I will make it again, but when it will be consumed quicker.

I made it immediately before I went to my sister's, and had been planning on taking it with me. I didn't really think about how to transport a 400* dish before it was in the oven. I lined a cardboard box with a few layers of cereal boxes from the recycling, folded up a towel and rolled the ends to fill in the longer ends of the box, lined it with foil, and had a quite successful means of carrying.

hot, hot, hot

2008-07-19T16:14:00.002-04:00

You know it's hot when you break a sweat powdering your face. Yeesh.

Of course I would decide to bake in this weather. More about that later.

Also, I picked raspberries (five different kinds!) the day before last in the hot hot heat. If I remember correctly they are from left to right (front to back) Canby, Royalty, Prelude, Killarney, and Encore. I purchased, from the same fruit farm, some of the largest cherries I've ever seen, and some lovely Crispin apples.

Brian also almost died of heat, but was also hott (with two t's) when he dressed up as the Joker yesterday, all day, for Batman. Purple suit and all (he had taken off his jacket here.

New Bicycle, new recipe, sadly no new job yet.

2008-07-16T23:39:00.004-04:00

So I've been looking for a new bike more suited to me, and not of the mountain variety. (I have had a mountain bike for a while; my friend Dan is purchasing it from me in a while.) I was looking on Craigslist for ladies bicycles and found a really neat bike. I went to look at it today and immediately knew that I must purchase it, so I did. It is a vintage Schwinn "Suburban." It is "raspberry" in color, and has a petal-generator powered headlight, and a rearview mirror. I am very happy with my purchase.

The headlight:

The tiny generator:

The rearview mirror (and me):

The insignia, and a close-up to try to capture the color

Tonight Helen came to visit and I made cookies. They turned out really well, though I didn't completely sub all of the ingredients, they are almost-vegan and almost-allergen free. I was making a rather large batch to take to several people and I wanted to use things that I knew would work instead of making a bunch of small batches and tweak them to make them perfect in every way. I think that they would be very easy to completely de-allergenify.

Two variations of Oatmeal Cookies:

Butterscotch chip (also known as Oatmeal Scotchies) and Chocolate Oatmeal

Notes:

*For the Butter/Shortening mix I used 1/2 cup butter (this is what added the little non-vegan and little allergenic bit) and 1 cup coconut oil (I doubled the recipe, so in the single recipe that I will transcribe that would be 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup, respectively). This is my mother's recipe, and she said that with just shortening the cookies stay in whatever shape you put them in the oven and with just butter they spread everywhere and stay very soft. A mix lets them spread but hold form enough so that they don't fall apart. I'd like to try these with just coconut oil, but I decided to use some butter this time.

*These are wheat free, but if you are gluten free, make sure that your oats are *certified gluten free*! Due to growing and processing practices, oats that are not labeled "certified" often are contaminated, though they are naturally gluten free.

*In the last step for the additives, add whatever flavorings, or a cup of chunks of whatever you want- raisins, mixed dried fruit, chocolate chips, vanilla chips....

*I made one large batch and split it before the last step so I could make the two variations.

The Recipe!

Cream together:
3/4 cup Butter/Shortening mix
1 1/2 cup brown sugar (I used light brown)

Prepare three egg replacers with the amount of water for two, so that it is very thick and foamy. Mix this into the sugar-oil mixture.

Mix in:
1/3 cup milk (whatever variety you prefer to bake with)

Blend in:
3 cups oats
1 cup flour (I used millet and was very pleased) (*If using gluten free flour, add 1/2 tsp xanthan. I used 1/4, but some of my cookies fell apart when I moved them from the cooling rack to the plate, so a little more might be beneficial.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda
blurb or two of vanilla

When this is mixed together stir in:

For chocolate: 1/4 cup dark cocoa
For scotchies: 1 cup butterscotch chips

And in other areas of my life:
Still looking for a job, health insurance, and car insurance. However, Mrs. Johnson is going to let me paint what will soon be my room, which is exciting. It is now a not-quite-pale yellow. I think that I am going to paint it a nice calm sage-y green. They have a bed frame for me, I need to purchase a mattress set though. We have also discussed rent and duties, and I'm pretty excited. At least some parts of my life are coming together. Slowly but surely it all will.

On a much more shallow excitement, Brian got advance tickets for the new Batman Movie for Friday- ooo, exciting. Also, he got his first tattoo. Though I have mixed feelings about tattoos sometimes, I like it. He does too. Hopefully he will for the rest of his life. It's in a nice subtle place- on the instep side of his right heel. It is meaningful and neat looking, yet nerdy if you know what it's from. I will post pictures of it soon.

Also, I was amused when I visited Sally's blog today and saw her version of a recipe that I came upon just hours before while I was (on a break) at work. It looks quite tasty, both in the original and in hers and I feel that I will definitely have to make it soon.

It is way past my bedtime, but laundry had to be done. Tomorrow I have to get up so early so that I can get to the bank before work.

Goodnight moon.

Cue, whiney me:

2008-07-12T13:46:00.004-04:00

Wow I want to take a nap so much.

It's almost ninety (but there's a breeze and our apartment is staying nicely cool). I don't mind the heat, but the humidity threatens to suffocate.

I have to go back to work in ten minutes. I also have to clean up the mess from the lunch I just ate that wasn't nearly as good as I wanted it to be.

I really just want to go to sleep.

*pouts*

There are nice things though:

I talked to Brian for the first time since Thursday morning. We went our separate ways, quite literally, after our last vac appointment. He went to visit home and camp, and I went home for a doctor's apt. And both camp and home are in places of little to no cell phone reception. When I talked to him he was on the way to bid grandparents adieu and then he was leaving to come back here (to Rochester, I came back last night). Hopefully he'll get back in time to stop in to say hi before he has to go into work at three.

Amanda is coming to visit when she gets off work at three. Maybe she'll want to go to Jitters. I should be able to take a break from work about then.

Also, I joined a baking club (though when you join it seems almost like you're joining the free masons....) and made the monthly secret challenge recipe yesterday while I was home. I can't talk about it (hence "secret"), but it turned out really neat after long hours of work, and was tasty to boot! I can't wait to post about it on the thirtieth....

And I got to see my Georgie when I was home.

Now out into the scaldingly beautiful day (after I wash a few dishes) and back to work I go.

Hi ho, hi ho.

Banana Bread, cookie recipe, new things

2008-07-10T11:23:00.004-04:00

So the other day when we got back from our weekend (well, Thursday-Saturday morning) at Jillian's, Brian went to work and Steve stayed to hang out, which was cool because he's pretty awesome. I saw that my bananas were browning quite quickly and mentioned that Brian has been asking for banana bread pretty much every time he sees bananas. I think that it was Steve that then said, "well lets make some!" So we did. We made two really beautiful loaves. He posted a picture of the whole loaves here. It was a grand time.

Recipe! (Adapted slightly and doubled from my 1950 Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book). For two loaves of banana bread.

Preheat oven to 350* F.

Generously grease two 9 or 10 inch loaf pans. (I used coconut oil for this, surprise!)

Mix together until uniform and creamy:

1 1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup coconut oil (originally soft shortening)
prepared egg replacer for four eggs (originally 4 eggs)

Stir in:

6 Tbsp (about 3/8 cup) sour milk/buttermilk
1 3/4 cup mashed banana (three large bananas)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1ish Tbsp Apple butter

Sift/whisk together ad stir in

4 cups flour (don't forget the xanthan gum if using gf flours)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

When blended, stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or nuts or whatever you want)

Divide between the two loaf pans, smoothing the tops so that they are flat and even. For a slightly crunchy and shiny top like I had, sprinkle a few Tbsp granulated or raw sugar evenly over the tops.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until tests done with a knife or toothpick poked in the middle.

Cool for a few minutes, then using oven mitts remove from pans (to do this I hold the pan in one hand and turn the loaf into the other hand (with mitts on, it is still really hot!) then flip it back so that it is right side up on the rack so that I don't damage the pretty top.)

Wait as long as you possible can, and enjoy plain or with butter!

***

New things!

Yesterday I went shopping at Wegman's and wandered around for while, always a dangerous thing to do. I am happy with my extra purchases though. I got a pretty (and large) cream colored coffee mug, like the colorful ones that my roommate has, so I can stop coveting hers when I use them, and bought Brian a red one, because he also liked S.J.'s a lot. (And they were on sale.) I got a super cute (and environmentally friendly) SIGG water bottle.

The design is really pretty! This was pretty much the first one I saw, then I looked at all of the others, then I picked this one back up. :p

Also, my sister is thinking about getting a kitty, which is really exciting.

Another new thing in my life is that I've started in the formal movements to go to school part time for next year (we've moved past just thinking, people...). S.J. has talked to her parents and they are making adjustments to their house to accommodate me (her mom is really gung-ho about it now that she has gotten past her initial uncertainty and is really excited to clean out and rearrange the house), so I have somewhere to live now. I also talked to financial aid and registration. I found out that I have nine credits left to graduate. As long as I have six credits each of my last semesters, I can keep half of my PEL and there is a part time TAP that I can apply for. I also won't lose any of my loans, but will lose all of my scholarships. I have to go and ask them if I will be able to keep my on-campus jobs. I definitely need to get a real job. Also, exciting, I need to get my own insurance, because I'm going to be booted from my parents not being a full time student. Yay! Adulthood! (By yay I mean mildly terrifying....)

***

And now for that mint chocolate chip cooky recipe!

Preheat oven to 325* F.

Line two cooky sheets with parchment paper.

Cream together:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp peppermint extract

In a separate bowl sift/whisk together:

2 cups rice flour
1/4 cup potato starch
2 Tbsp sweet rice flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1tsp baking soda

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and mix to combine.

Stir in:

2/3 cups chocolate chips
2/3 cups vanilla chips

Chill for 3/4 hour, then let sit on table for 15 minutes to soften again (the chilled coconut oil will make it too stiff to divide at all).

Break pieces off of the dough and form into balls. place an inch or two apart on the cookie sheets and smoosh them a little (they won't spread with these types of flour). I make ping-pong sized balls for two-bite cookies.

Bake for 14 minutes or just until firm and slightly brown around the edges.

Cookies will stay soft for at least a week (none survived past that) if kept covered.

Changes

2008-06-25T10:39:00.004-04:00

So I got a new email, made a new Blogger account with it and switched over to that in case you are wondering why my name has gone from "elsepeth" to Beth Ann. I'm still me though!

I've also added a friend's blog to my list to the right. She's an artist, photographer and really awesome girl! Check her out through the "for the love of" link!

Also, I made cookies. Chocolate-vanilla Chip with mint! The recipe made about twice what I thought it would, so if anyone wants to visit me, I would love to have coffee/tea and cookies! I definitely have enough!

I'll post the recipe later, right now I have to go to work.

<3

Hi!

2008-06-14T13:57:00.002-04:00

So It's been about ten years since I've updated this, and I apologize. I have a few really good recipes to share, but for now I'm just going to post some stuff about what I've been up to (and maybe a quick pie recipe).

~The last week of classes was really crazy both with work and personal things, and then finals week came. Finals themselves were not entirely horrible, though I would have appreciated another week.

~The Monday of finals week I got the terrible news that a girl I was friends with in high school was killed in a car accident. She will be greatly missed. Her funeral was nice, terrible, and poetic. Right after the priest said his last closing word at the cemetery, there was immediate downpour of rain.

Rest in Peace Jill.

Jillianne Moerman, July 24, 1986 - May 12, 2008

~Also somewhat poetically, the half of the heart-shaped bamboo that she gave me five or six years ago randomly died the other day.

~I have been baking a lot too.

~I made tiramisu (twice!).

~My parents came to visit a while ago and they brought me some rhubarb from our patch, and I've made a few pies, strawberry-rhubarb and blueberry-rhubarb (below).

~Recipe!

In a large bowl combine three cups of rhubarb with two cups of berries. Pour over the berries 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup flour (for non-wheat I would suggest a starch or bean flour, not rice flour, which makes the inside of the pie rather gritty), and one lightly beaten egg/ prepared replacer for TWO eggs (the egg/egg replacer will help it to thicken and not be runny, but it won't be custard-y either).

Let sit for a few minutes while you prepare crust dough for a two crust pie. (Cut 3/4cups soft (but solid) shortening into two cups of flour until it has a fine, even crumb. If using liquid shortening (oil) lessen to 1/2 cup and add more if needed. Mix in 4 Tbsp water and form into a ball. If needed add more water 1 Tbsp at a time until dough comes together. Devide in half and roll into two rounds. To transfer rounds to pan, fold in half and pick up by corners of crease.)

Transfer the bottom round to the pan, flatten against the bottom to avoid tearing through when filling. Trim any excess that drapes excessively over the edge. Stir the filling to redistribute the coating and carefully scoop the filling into the well of the pie. Let it mound up a little in the center. Carefully transfer the top crust and cut away excessive extras, then firmly pinch the two crusts together all the way around, forming a very firm seal. This is important so that your pie doesn't leak all over the inside of the oven. Cut vent holes in the top (I like to trace little hearts with one of my little cookie cutters). Bake at 400 for 40 to 45 minutes.

~Party!

I also made food for one of my apartmentmate's birthday. I made spinach-artichoke dip, bruscetta, garlic crustinis, sausage rolls, and a layer cake that I split the batter six ways, tinted the primaries and secondaries, and marbled. Here is a terrible picture of the decimated bottom layer.... I'm sorry that the first two pictures are so dark, they looked much better on the tiny screen.

~In other news, Brian crashed into a building and removed a large amount of skin from his knee and shoulder, as well as getting terrible "roadburn" (brickburn?) on the whole left side of his torso (rollerblading shirtless is a good idea).

~Stephanie is going to have her baby in less than a month! See "a wing and a prayer. and coffee." to the right for recent pictures (and sonograms!).

~Also, my hair is purple again! (Picture courtesy of S.J.)

Mocha cake! (With mousse!)

2008-05-19T16:52:00.002-04:00

Sorry for this terrible picture, this was all that was left when I went to take a picture, and the mousse had gotten rather melty!

Cake Recipe!

Heat oven to 325. Oil and flour a 9x13 cake pan

Whisk together:

1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
heaping tsp xanthan
1/4 cup ground flax meal
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 cup flour of choice (I had a half cup of a mix of flours that contained about five different kinds, and I don't remember what was in it because I just wrote "mix" on the baggie)
1/3 cup sweet rice flour
1/3 cup buckwheat flour(I used singoda, which is Indian buckwheat)
1/2 cup mathia flour (or other bean or bean blend)

In a separate bowl mix together:
1 1/4 cups strong coffee
1/3 cup light olive oil
prepared egg replacer for three eggs

Mix the dry and the wet together until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake for a half hour-ish, or until cake tests done when poked with a toothpick or butter knife.

While cake is baking begin preparing the mousse topping.

Mousse!

Place 3 cups chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate into a food processor and grind finely. Careful not to get distracted, or you will start melting the chocolate and it will get chunky not ground. This doesn't really effect the outcome, but if you want to be picky....

In a medium saucepan stir together:
2/3 cups whipping cream (I want to try this with coconut cream, like in Sally's coconut whipped cream)
6 Tablespoons sugar

Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved.

Through feed tube on food processor, pour the milk mixture and 1 cup of coffee or coffee liqueur (I used coffee because I'm currently residing on a "dry" campus). Process until creamy and completely blended. Scrape into a bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour. When cake is cool, pour/spoon mousse over the top (depending on how firm it has gotten). Refrigerate covered until mousse is set. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

If there is extra (there was a little left for me), spoon into fancy glasses, top with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkle of cocoa and serve as a chilled refreshing treat!

Two favorites.

2008-05-09T13:57:00.002-04:00

I think that my favorite part of the otter video is around one minute where they float apart and then come back together and the one grabs the other's paw again. It's so cute!

Also, my new favorite snack is lemon yogurt with frozen blueberries. Yes, it's quite tasty.

Chocolate-mocha mousse with fresh whipped cream...

2008-05-09T01:13:00.002-04:00

...sprinkled with cocoa.

More to come (recipe, correlating cake, completely different cake) once the papers are done.

My goodness, the papers.

Otters, cake, and dinner

2008-05-08T02:23:00.003-04:00

No matter how cold hearted or irritated you are, this will make you smile (just ignore the kind of irritating people in the background):

Sorry for the rant earlier. I got to ceramics and the base for both of my glazes (Cornwall Stone) was almost gone. I needed about 10,000 grams for both of the glazes and there was only about 1,600. Since it wasn't my fault I don't have to worry about getting them done until the shipment comes in, which at absolute soonest will be next week.

I still have papers though. Which I should be working on.

I forgot until about eleven thirty that I was supposed to make cakes for Leadership and Ministry tomorrow, because we are having our love feast. So I started that about midnight. Hence I'm still up. It gives me time to do some work though. Doesn't give me too much time to sleep, which is a minor problem, but hey, you take what you can get. I can sleep next week. I really like the idea of having a week in between the last week of classes and finals. We don't have that here, but I'd whole-heartedly appreciate it if we did.

I look forward to posting the two cakes that I made. One is a mocha fudge cake- the base cake has coffee in it (1 1/4 cups!), then it's covered in mocha mousse. The other is a berries and lemon upside-down cake. A lemon cake with a mix of raspberries, black raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries baked into the bottom-top. That one is baking right now and it smells amazing. Hopefully it will taste accordingly.

Dinner today was also delightful. I roasted some butternut squash with a touch of brown sugar and raisins, encrusted bite-sized pieces of turkey with chopped pecans (which ended up being more like turkey with toasted pecans because I didn't feel like being careful stirring and knocked most of the "breading" off), and a cucumber salad topped with a drizzle of local buckwheat honey, basalmic, extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper. It was great!

I know that everyone is, but, I'm a wee bit stressed

2008-05-07T14:15:00.003-04:00

SO I'm fifteen minutes late for class, I had a hot pot fall on me this morning and bruise the joint of my dominant thumb, the crazy barometric drops and jumps have caused my body to feel as though I've been hit my a truck or a migrane leaked out of my head and is now residing all over my body (and that with the painkillers), and it's a quarter after two and I'm supposed to mix two 8,000 gram batches of glaze AND glaze my set of ten bowls, jar, ceramic spoon, creamer and sugar dish, and five pitchers before Alice loads the kiln in, oh, two hours. Also I have two and a half papers to write by friday and another for next week.

On a happy note, I got the summer office job on campus which hopefully will boost my hours enough so that they will let me live here for free. I'll write more about my three summer jobs later. I also get to bake two cakes for class tomorrow because we are having a "love feast." (It's such a hippie-ish class. My sister came to visit yesterday and she thought it was hilarious that we clap for people when they are late because we are glad that they made it and we want to perpetuate an environment of grace.)

P.S. I love Henri Nouwen. You should buy all of his books for me and yourself and read them. Or at least "In the name of Jesus." Or at least find the documentary made about him (it's narrated by Susan Sarandon, which I thought was bizarre and neat) and watch it.

... =^_^=

2008-05-02T01:40:00.002-04:00

I would really like a cat or a (calm, non-slobbery) puppy to cuddle with right now. There really is no better way to go to sleep than snuggling with a warm, fuzzy, tiny being devoted to making you feel better and loving you.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

2008-05-01T17:12:00.002-04:00

So I really wanted something chocolate the other day, but wanted to be able to at least pretend it was healthy, and I had a zucchini that was growing soft in the fridge. The result: Chocolate zucchini bread! I wanted this to be Chocolate Chai zucchini bread, but the spices were not as prominent as I wanted them to be, so I think that I will double the amounts next time. The bread is very tasty though, dense and moist, with the very subtle hint of spice.

Recipe!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly grease two 9x5 inch bread pans.

In a large microwave safe bowl, microwave 2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate for 30 second intervals, stirring between intervals, until smooth.

Mix in:
Egg replacer for three eggs, whisked to foamy
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 cup light olive oil
2 cups grated zucchini (I only had one, so I used one cup zucchini and one cup applesauce.)
1 tsp vanilla

In a separate bowl whisk together:
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup mathia flour (Indian flour blend of lentil and pea flour)
1/3 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 cup singoda flour (Indian buckwheat)
1/3 cup ground flax seed
1 1/2 tsp xanthan
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp clove
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ginger (the spices I will probably double to 1 tsp each)
1 tsp salt

Add flour mixture to wet ingredients.

Fold in 3/4 cup chocolate chips (or 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup chopped nuts).

Divide the batter between the two pans.

Bake in preheated oven for 60-70 minutes. After 20 minutes I turned the temperature down to 325. Bake until toothpick or butter knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Art Show

2008-04-24T23:19:00.002-04:00

The Senior Art Show here at Roberts opened this past Saturday. It will be up until May 17th, so if you are in the area, do stop by and see it. It's a really good show. There is even a feminist piece with a bra in it. "Gasp! There are no bras on Christian campuses!" you say. Well, now there is one, so now we can find out what one looks like. There is a really nice array of work, painting, photography, sculpture, digital, even a handmade paper installment piece and a fashion display.

Here are some sneak previews:

For information about the gallery and directions, click here. The hours are posted, and a private tour can be arranged if you call ahead for a time that the gallery is not open. (I also work for the gallery, so I would be able to arrange something too.)

sandwich bread, indian-inspired flatbread, and bar cookies

2008-04-23T23:54:00.003-04:00

So, like I said, I've been baking a lot lately. Tonight I made this bread from Kate at Gluten Free Gobsmacked. It turned out absolutely amazing. I will definitely make it again. It was super soft, moist, yeasty, not heavy, and deliciously flavorful, but would be great for sandwiches. The only things that I changed were I used egg replacer, and I had to substitute a little. I was low on quinoa, so I used about 1/4 cup quinoa flakes, 1/2 cup oats in stead of 3/4 cup of one; also I was low on sorghum flour, so I topped off that with millet (probably about the same proportions as the quinoa-oat mix). I also used arrowroot starch and potato starch instead of the tapioca and corn starch because I'm out of tapioca and don't do corn. I also used the "quicker, no-sponge" method.

S.J. visited tonight after a very stressful day, and she said that the bread was awesome, and a great comfort food. I took this very sexy picture of her.

The other day I was in need of bread quickly, so I whipped up a batch of flatbread dough. I did it a little differently though. I had just been to the Indian market (Om, it's in henrietta and the lady that own/runs it is so sweet and nice and helpful) and had been looking at my Indian cookbook that I got for my birthday. I decided to take this opportunity to try out some of the new flours that I bought there.

Using my favorite flatbread recipe (which here is in doubled quantity, the recipe I describe following is for a single batch), I subbed the flour and starch with 1/2 cup Mathia flour- a blend of lentil and pea flour, 1/2 cup samo flour, a starchy flour in between a starch and sweet rice flour made from a grain similar to tiny tiny rice (she showed me what the grain looks like too), and 1/2 cup rice flour. All of the mixing is the same, but then....

Once you have it mixed heat a griddle to a steady medium heat.

Take a hunk of coconut oil and generously coat your hands so that the dough won't stick. Throw some coconut oil on the skillet too so that it gets nicely coated too.

Now grab a handful of dough and form it into a ball between your hands, like you were making rolls. Then hold it in one palm and lightly press and stretch the dough with the heal of your hand. You will want to switch off hands and make sure your hands stay well oiled. Flatten it until it is about as thin a flatbread or a pancake.

Carefully place it on the griddle, trying not to trap too much air under it. Flip with a spatula after a few minutes. It should be a nice golden color. After mine were done rubbed them with a little more coconut oil and sprinkled them with a rosemary herb blend and a little salt. One batch of bread makes 6-9 little grilled breads, depending on how big they are.

The final recipe that I share with you tonight is originally here. It is for a recipe called "Pecan Joys." It is a bar cookie with pecans, coconut, and chocolate chips. I made a few alterations though, so I will give you my recipe too.

The original recipe called for a Jiffy cake mix, but I don't use them because of allergens, so I made up a cake mix, and it worked really well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together:
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Sorghum
1/4 cup Arrowroot starch
1/2 cup Mathia Flour (see above)
1/2 tsp Xanthan gum
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Egg Replacer

Stir together and add to dry ingredients:
1/3 cup melted Coconut Oil
Prepared Egg Replacer for 2 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
2/3 cup Pecans
2/3 cup Coconut flakes (I used moist sweetened shredded coconut)
1/2 cup Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Raisins (I added these because I love raisins and jumbled up cookies, and it made them "healthier"... right?)

Scrape into a lightly oiled 9x9 pan.

Bake until golden on top, about 15 minutes.

Let cool. I sliced mine and left them right in the pan. They were quite tasty. They would probably also work as drop cookies.

Rochester is blooming.

2008-04-21T11:40:00.001-04:00

Lynn Meredith and Getty Lee? (Two of the most strangely named singers I now realize)

2008-04-18T09:11:00.002-04:00

A post is coming about flatbread and bar cookies. I just had to put this thought process in writing-

There is a news headline that goes on top of my gmail that comes from various different sites. (I'm pretty sure that this is customizable, but I haven't taken the time.)

Today's was from ESPN. It said "Kansas stars Rush, Arthur declare for NBA draft."

I thought to myself after reading the first phrase, "well, that's an interesting combination, but would be a really cool concert," thinking of course of the timeless bands both of which I enjoy.

The second phrase confused me greatly. Who is Arthur and what does he or the NBA draft have to do with 70s and 80 rock? "Oh," thought I, "Kansas must be the team, Rush must be a player.... Sad there will be no music."

Muffins!

2008-04-10T23:20:00.000-04:00

So I don't know if it's because I've been stressed, or because everyone is stressed and I was raised with the principle that a cookie and a glass of milk (after seventh grade soy milk, and after a while juice) will fix anything for at least a few moments, so I like to bake things to liven peoples' spirits, but I've been baking a lot. Tonight it was muffins, for the roomies in the morning and to take on our overnight (Brian and I are going to Jillian's for a friend "weekend" (we both have to work Saturday night though, so it's just an overnight).) And because I'm out of rice milk and need a breakfast tomorrow.

This recipe is a little wacky because I was tired and not paying enough attention.

Blueberry-Strawberry-Yogurt Muffins!

Preheat oven to 375.

Stir together:

1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour

After this is well combined, remove 1/2 cup and put it in a plastic baggie. The base recipe that I was using only calls for 2 cups of flour, but I convinced myself that there were only three halves, added the garbanzo and said, "rice, sorghum, millet, arrowroot, ... crap." So if you want my exact flour mix, that's how I got it.

To the 2 cups of flour whisk in:

2-ish tsp xanthan
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 scant tsp baking soda
1/2 TBSP egg replacer powder
a few shakes of ginger (~1/2 tsp?)

In a separate bowl, prepare egg replacer for 2 eggs (or gently beat 2 *organic* eggs).

Stir in 1 1/2 cups strawberry yogurt (regular, soy or goat). (This for me was about two Tbsp less than that plus enough apple sauce to even it out because I didn't have as much yogurt as I thought....)

Melt 1/2 cup coconut oil (don't get it too too hot) and whisk it into the yogurt mixture along with a splash of vanilla.

Whisk this into the dry mixture until just combined.

Stir in 3-4 handfuls of blueberries (~1 cup?).

Dollop into muffin tins lined with pretty papers and bake for 20-25 minutes. I used cupcake tins, so mine took just under 20 minutes, real muffin tins would probably take closer to 25.

I'm pretty excited about maowing down on these in the morning. Yeah. When I took them out of the tins they were so soft and warm, I almost had to eat one, but by this point in the day my stomach is sick of trying to digest things, and sweet with a hint of acid was not on the "good ideas" list.

<3

Review of the Pie!

2008-04-10T16:44:00.000-04:00

So the pie was okay, it was a little runny (a little more than a little runny). I'm still not sure how rice flour works in these situations. I think that next time I will use half sweet rice flour (instead of regular rice flour) and half tapioca or arrowroot starch in the filling, and put it all in, even if it seems like a lot. Berries juice a lot, especially when they've been frozen! (which I knew, I just anticipated the flour to absorb more than it did.)

So hopefully it will turn out better next time. It is tasty, but runny.

Janice went to Jitters. She got me a Blueberry Freeze. Mmm berries.

Springy!

2008-04-10T11:23:00.000-04:00

In honor of happy spring weather, it's a polka-dotted day! (Please ignore the laundry in the background....)

Pie!

2008-04-10T00:53:00.000-04:00

I made a pie.

Recipe!

whisk together:
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
(or 1 1/2 cups of whatever flours you like)
1 generous teaspoon xanthan gum
a sprinkle salt

Cut in:
1/2 cup coconut oil or other shortening (butter, crisco, light olive oil)

Stir in water a little at a time until crust stays together when squeezed (won't form as nice a ball as with regular flours, I used a little less than 1/2 cup).

Press about half of the dough in pie plate to cover bottom, sides, and lip of sides.

Mix together 2 cups frozen black raspberries and 3 cups frozen blueberries. Let defrost partially (the blueberries were still quite hard, the black raspberries were just starting to soften and a few squished when I stirred).

Stir in 2/3 cup rice flour and 1 cup sugar until evenly coated.

Pour berries into crust, there will likely be 1/2 cup or so of flour/sugar not attached to the berries. Let some of it fall with the berries, but not all is needed. sprinkle four/sugar mix to even the distribution, discard extra. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over top of berries.

Form remaining crust dough into a ball. Place between two pieces of parchment paper and roll into piece large enough to cover pie. Carefully peel top layer off, with edge of crust to the edge of pie plate roll/flip to cover (like a tank's wheels or a conveyor belt). Carefully remove parchment. pinch edges to seal. Poke holes in a pattern on top to vent.

Bake at 325 for 25-35 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.

Leave on table (on wire cooling rack) for roomies to find in the morning.

Also, I collect teapots now, according to my darling Stephanie. She gave me this cutie for my birthday.

A post! (About cake!)

2008-04-06T23:25:00.000-04:00

So I've been craving cake, and I bought some frozen strawberries on a whim. I thought to myself, fruit and cake is tasty, chocolate covered strawberries are tasty.... Inspired by pineapple upside down cake, I decided to make what I have dubbed "Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cake." There were a few technical things with the process that I will definitely change next time, but I think that I will be making this again. It was subtle and dense and rich.

The original cake recipe was Bette Hagman's Devil's Food Cake from "The Gluten-free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods" but I changed a few things, I will italicize or otherwise note the changes. Also, the strawberries and glaze are my own additions.

Fruit bottom (becomes top):
2 bags frozen strawberries
6-ish Tbsp granulated sugar

Defrost strawberries (if using microwave, make sure not to start cooking them, defrost them in small time increments and stir often). Toss strawberries with sugar until coated. Transfer from bowl to colander and place colander over bowl to drain for a while. You want as much excess juice off the strawberries as possible, and you WILL NEED THE JUICE for the glaze.

Oil and flour two 8 or 9 inch round or square cake pans. I put the (well drained) strawberries in the bottom of the pan to pour the batter over them, arranged in an invisible grid. This didn't work so well. I didn't count on the strawberries shrinking as much as they did, and most of them stuck to the pan. Next time I think that I will either put oiled parchment paper in the bottom of the pan and cover the bottom with strawberries, except for an inch around the edge for a border to contain the strawberries, or cook the strawberries on the stove and put them between the two layers.

Cake Recipe!

3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup dark cocoa powder

3/4 cup rice milk + 1 tsp lemon juice (originally buttermilk)

(dry ingredients)
1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/4 cup white bean flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup arrowroot starch (all of this was originally 1 3/4 cup Bette Hagman's Four Flour Mix)
1 scant tsp Xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp egg replacer

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup strawberry yogurt (soy) (originally mayonnaise)
Prepared egg replacer for two eggs (originally 1 egg plus 1 egg white)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
(original recipe also called fora three drops red food coloring which I forwent)

Preheat oven to 350.

Whisk the cocoa into the boiling water, remove from stove.

While it is cooling a little (you still want it quite warm), mix together the dry ingredients.

Whisk the rice milk + lemon juice ("buttermilk") into the cocoa mixture.

Beat the brown sugar, yogurt, "eggs" and extracts until creamy. Beat in the cocoa mixture, then incorporate the dry ingredients.

Divide between the two layer pans being careful not to move the strawberries around and making sure the batter is distributed evenly around.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, check with butter knife or toothpick by seeing if it comes out clean if inserted into the middle.

Invert onto cooling racks (place the rack upside down on top of the pan, grip the edges with mitts and flip the two together, may need a little shake, but the cake should come out when you remove the pan). Let cool before frosting.

Strawberry glaze

Take the reserved juice from the strawberries and whisk in 1 cup or so confectionary sugar, or until it is smooth and thickened, but not stiff. Beat for several minutes and add a few Tablespoons of shortening or coconut oil and beat until there are no chunks. If using coconut oil, it may be helpful to warm the strawberry juice slightly as it becomes very hard when cold.

When the cakes are cool, move one of layers to a plate, strawberry side up. spoon or pour glaze into the center and spread to cover the top of the cake. Move the second layer on top of the bottom layer. I put the strawberry side down because I wanted a smooth top. Pour glaze into the center again and spread across the top of the cake and the sides. If you wish let it stiffen and add a second layer of glaze on top (i think I did four thin layers). Leave any extra glaze out in a bowl to be served with the cake in case anyone eating it is like my father and only likes a little cake with his frosting. ;)

Enjoy!

21!

2008-03-19T15:01:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday to me!

My mom sent me a picture of my cake today (along with many other things), and my scanner was being rebellious, so I just took a picture of the picture, and pictures of most of the other things. It was probably around two feet tall, quite the centerpiece, especially on the cake pedestal that my mom had it on.

She sent me a package of wild cherry M&Ms, which are quite delicious (and about half gone).

She also sent me a Japanese bento box cookbook, and a book on meaning of symbols (it was on my wish list, one of those useful for artists kind of books). Also a new pair of pajama pants (the pink plaid thing behind the books). Sorry, I couldn't get the picture to upload turned, so you get it sideways because I have a paper to write. :p

Holy tasty bread batman!

2008-03-18T20:12:00.000-04:00

So I made this soda bread posted by Karina at Karina's Kitchen tonight to have with dinner, and it was so good! Other than using egg replacer, I didn't change the recipe at all. I did however, after cooling it enough to remove it from the pan, put it back in the oven (bread strait on the wire shelf style) on warm for maybe forty five minutes.

It was earlier than I thought when I started making it, so it was all baked at four thirty, an hour before Brian was coming over for dinner. I really wanted it to still be warm when dinner was served, so I just kept it in the oven. I don't think that it effected it at all, other than perhaps increasing the crustiness of it, which was amazing. It was nice and crunchy on the outside and soft and yummy on the inside. I took it out about fifteen minutes before so that I could put the tilapia in to broil, and cut it maybe five minutes before Brian got here. The flavor and texture were stupendous. I melted some honey and butter for dipping. Even after it got cold it was still crusty and soft (we sat munching for a while), and it wasn't until the end of the meal that Brian realized that it was made with my "weird" flours. I will definitely be making this again.

In case curiosity abounds, with the bread, we had baked/broiled tilapia (I baked it until it was paled, and then broiled it for just a few minutes to crisp the edges) that I dredged in a mixture of honey-mustard, brown sugar, and lemon juice, and then lightly dusted with rice flour, and a mixture of zucchini, green beans, and carrots in a rosemary-butter sauce.

Here is all that was left to be photographed. (That's a sandwich bag that it's sitting on.)

Right in front of you

2008-03-18T11:32:00.000-04:00

You know how sometimes something is right in from of you for months and you just don't notice it. That happened to me today. I was going to get ice out of the freezer to cool my juice that I didn't finish at breakfast, and saw, seemingly for the first time, this magnet on my fridge. It seems appropriate to recent events. Joe, Brian's roommate, had to leave today because his mother is very ill. I will leave out specifics because I don't know how open a topic it is, but prayers would be appreciated for that. Also, Brian's grandmother has been in the hospital with some funky complications. She is doing a bit better, but it's still a bit sobering. Prayers for her and their family. Also, my uncle, due to many things and a very long backstory that perhaps I'll post on one day because if nothing else it is inspiring that he's still with us, is likely going to loose his right leg from the knee down this week. Prayers for him and my aunt (who sounds so worn and still isn't healed from her neck surgery over a year ago).

An Update!

2008-03-17T17:09:00.000-04:00

So last weekend my dearest Stephanie got married. It was a beautiful ceremony, and the dessert reception was nice too. I made cookies for that, but didn't get any pictures (I was a co-maid of honor, so I was thinking of many things other than grabbing my camera before we left), so I will leave that to when Sarah sends me pictures. (I stole this picture of them from her blog, http://barefootmorning.livejournal.com/ It was taken honeymooning in Florida I believe.)

This past weekend I went home because my mom had a birthday party for me (my birthday's on Wednesday! Ooo excitement!). My daddy bought me green and yellow and white carnations. He's so sweet. It was a really nice weekend though. I got to see lots of people; there were the usuals, friends of the family, my family, Amanda had to come late because of work, and Brian obviously was there. All of the Mosses came (Ben, one of the sons, is my oldest friend, we played together before kindergarten). My sister Lona came, which was nice to see her, and unexpected because she had said that she had to work. And one of my friends that goes to SUNY Fredonia (about twenty minutes from my house) was able to spare his Saturday to come, which was really neat because I hadn't seen him in a long time. Even some friends from school here drove the two hours to my house to come. My mom made me an awesome cake that was so awesome I'm not even going to try to describe it, but will post a picture when my mom sends me one (again, forgot the camera, I'm getting bad at this).

Before I went home, I tried to made a seed bread based on this recipe with added 2 Tbsp each (to a double batch of dough) of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and millet seeds. I made one loaf and a loaf of rolls to take home to have with the barbeque meat that mom made. It turned out okay. It was really good when it was still warm, but became rather hard after it cooled. It didn't really rise a whole lot, I think because of the seeds (that has happened before with regular seed breads), so I think that I will try a different approach next time (perhaps flattening the dough and rolling it up like cinnamon or raisin bread). It is tasty, but definitely needs to be tightly sealed and warmed before being consumed. This is a fresh out of the oven roll, with honey atop.

2008-03-02T01:16:00.000-05:00

I got a blister mopping the stairs in the Cultural Life Center today. Ah, work as a cleaning lady.

This post made me smile. Click for a lovely picture and statement

I'm really tired. That's all for now. Hope that weekends are going well.

How's life for you right now?

Kissy moosen!

2008-02-28T11:11:00.001-05:00

My mom sent me an email with nature photo awards by NG (I'm guessing National Geographic), and I thought I would share this picture of kissing moose with you (or moosen, as my friend Karen calls more than one moose). I mean, they are moose, and they're nose to nose. How sweet. Aw.

2008-02-27T16:02:00.000-05:00

So last night instead of doing work (or rather as lengthy break in between work, using the excuse that doing Cognitive Psych labs for more than a half hour would both kill my eyes and drive me crazy), I baked. My darling still has my camera, so pictures are to come soon.

First I made this bread, with a few variations in the flours (I didn't have any millet flour or flax seed meal, so I substituted with a little garbanzo bean flour, sorghum flour and a little quinoa). It turned out so soft and delicious, I very much look forward to munching on it this week. :) (Thanks to Natalie at Gluten Free Mommy.)

Then I made these really tasty ginger cookies They turned out a lot darker, I think because I used blackstrap They were a test run for trying to find a non-chocolate cookie to make for Stephanie's wedding. (Jacques' little sister is allergic to wheat too, so I'm making a platter of cookies that will be safe for us. I'm planning on making some of those chocolate almond cookies I posted before Valentine's day, along with some chocolate mint ones, and wanted one or two other cookies to go with.) (Thanks to Kate at Gluten Free Gobsmacked.)

Like I said, pictures will come soon.

Break, 1st anniversary, and dinner tonight

2008-02-25T18:05:00.000-05:00

Break was nice. It was good to be home. My parents are pretty much amazing, and my Georgie is so cute (and ornery, but hey, he's a cat), I just love him. I also got to see Cherisse and my godson, who is so big! He just turned two, and is almost as big as a three year old. Sadly, the only pictures are on my cell phone, and I don't know how to get them off of it. Brian took my camera on the roadtrip he and the guys went on. They did stop by and visit me on the way back through, which was nice. They got stuck in traffic and weather though, so instead of getting to my house around nine, they got there around half past midnight. They still ate the cheesecake I made though. (I hate cheesecake, and am pretty sure that even if I liked it, it would make me sick.) Then they were on their way to rochester at about two. I could not convince them that it would have been a better idea to spend the night and leave in the morning, they "just wanted to get back" that night. Crazies. They did make it back safe and sound though, and I went back to campus Saturday to spend coveted time with my darling, as Sunday (yesterday) was our first anniversary!

We divided the celebrations of our first between Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we went out to dinner at the Macaroni Grill, a nicer restaurant in Henrietta. Not very hypoallergenic, but extremely tasty. I tossed my self control out for the night and we partook a lot of food that I really shouldn't eat. It didn't really make me too sick though, thankfully. I have been reintroducing, very slowly, some things, like dairy yogurt and popcorn, but this was my first big interaction with wheat and cheese. We split a calamari appetizer, which was good, but I don't know that I'd order it again for a while. Then I got lobster ravioli (the white wine sauce was very different from what we used to make at the restaurant, much cheesier), which was really good, and my darling got mushroom ravioli, and we sampled each other's plates, his was really good too. Then we got dessert. HOLY TASTY BATMAN! I realize that what I consumed was really terrible for me, but I do not regret it at all. Brian got tiramisu. It was really good. I got this cake that was better than any other restaurant dessert that I have ever had. It was a citrus cake, about three inches high, with a thick layer of lemon cream unlike any other cake topping that I've ever had. I'm pretty sure that it was whipped marscapone with sugar and citrus. Then, the cake was soaked in some sort of cream. It was so rich and tasty, wow. We shared those too, though I ate more of the citrus cake and he ate more of the tiramisu.

Yesterday, our actual anniversary, we didn't do a whole lot. We went to church and stayed for the luncheon after. Then we came back, went to our respective rooms, and napped. Later Brian came over and we just hung out until late in the evening. I had reading to do, and so I did that while we chilled, then we watched House. It was really a nice day.

Dinner today was very tasty too. I was inspired by Sally's post on salads. I had a coupon for Perdue "short cuts" chicken breast strips, so I got those when I went shopping (and, as usual, I checked the ingredients and I was surprised that it is guaranteed gluten-free! It does have traces of soy though. This was at least true of the honey-roasted variety that I got, I didn't read the other packages). I made a salad of Romaine, tomatoes, almonds, and the chicken, and topped it with a quick dressing I made from apple cider vinegar, honey, light olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. That filled up half of my plate, and the other half held thinly sliced apple that a paired with a slice of Uniekaas Hollandse Chevre, a firm but creamy, slightly tangy goat cheese. It was really satisfying. It was really pretty too, sadly, Brian still has my camera, so I can't show you.

There are other updates that I was planning on giving, but I have mucho work to do, so it will have to wait until another day.

<3

Hello, goodbye

2008-02-16T12:12:00.000-05:00

I love the Beatles. Sister and I were listening to them last night.

I'm going on break for a week and going home to visit the parental units. Pretty excited, it's been a while. I just love them. Hopefully I'll get to see Lona and the child too. Amanda will be home Sunday night through Tuesday, which should be fun too. And of course I'm most excited about seeing the first love of my life, George. Sadly, my current love (and first human one) has gone on a roadtrip with friends (well that's not sad, it's pretty swell) so I won't see him for a week (that's the sad part), but he might stop in on the way back because they will be taking the highway that swings past my house.

All this to say that postings will probably be few and far between. I might get one or two out, I'm uploading a few pictures now (maybe I will finally get those muffins posted), but my darling took my camera on the roadtrip, and I will be in the sparse land of dial-up, so even if I had my camera, uploading pictures to the internet would be near impossible.

Hope your week is grand!

<3 Beth

Valentine's Scones!

2008-02-15T19:25:00.000-05:00

I made these scones for my darling and for my roomies for Valentine's morning! They turned out really wonderful, they were much sweeter than I expected them to be, so I might cut the sugar to 1/4 cup the next time I make them, which I definitely will. The original recipe can be found here, but I changed almost all of the ingredients to make them me-friendly.

Ingredients:
*egg substitute equivalent to one egg
*1/3 cup rice milk
*1/4 cup orange cranberry relish (made this for Christmas, don't remember if I posted the recipe- basically a bag and a half of cranberries, pulp of four oranges (peel, remove membranes), processed and sweetened to taste (I used brown sugar), then cooked until just boiling so can be cold canned) [original recipe called for applesauce]
*2 Tablespoons coconut oil
*1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
*2 cups flour blend (I used 3/4 cup rice flour, 1/4 cup sorghum flour, 1/3 cup sweet rice flour, 2/3 cup tapioca flour)
*1 Tbsp baking powder
*1/2 tsp salt
*berry preserves
*sweet rice flour for dusting fingers

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare egg substitute according to package directions. Whisk until frothy.
Whisk in milk, relish, coconut oil, and vanilla extract.
Whisk together dry ingredients, mix into wet ingredients.
Using a quarter cup measure, drop blobs of batter *at least three inches* apart on oiled cookie sheet. Dust fingers with sweet rice flour and pat the batter into heart shapes.
Press a small well in the center of each heart and spoon 1/2 teaspoon of berry preserves into each well.
Bake for 12 to fifteen minutes, or until browned on edges.
Gorge yourself on delicious scones! (But wait several minutes or you will scald your mouth on the hot preserves!)

Encouragement rant

2008-02-15T00:48:00.000-05:00

I feel a great burden lately that this world we live in needs more encouragement. There is this huge undertone in our culture and attitudes that nothing is ever good enough, but if you aren't happy-smiley-cheerful then something must be terribly wrong with you and you need to go to the counseling center. And it's not permissible to encourage someone because someone might think that you are weird and beyond the fear of judgement there is a fear that goes along with that unexpressed undertone that says nothing is right that to encourage someone is to acknowledge that not everything is alright in itself is not right. So if you are reading this and feel burdened, or discouraged, or anything, know that you aren't alone and that someday, somehow it will be okay. And if you notice that someone might not be happy-joyous, give them a little word of encouragement.

Heart shaped deliciousness!

2008-02-13T13:55:00.001-05:00

Happy day before Valentine's day! I love Valentine's day (my sister will adamantly disagree with her opinion that it is stupid). Not because of the over-commercialized romance factor, but simply because the heart motif is my favorite simple little pattern. I was so excited when chipping iced over snow off my car the other day and a piece broke off in the perfect shape of a heart. I put it on the sidewalk for others to look upon and feel loved. I love love. Not just the romantic kind (but I am excited that my darling is taking me on a fancy date tomorrow night to a nice Thai restaurant), but Agape love, God love, friend love, parent love, sibling love, aunt-niece love, godchild love, and any other kind. I will end my digression here.

Yesterday I was really craving chocolate, and then, in my checking of favorite blogs, I came across this really awsome looking recipe posted by Karina of Karina-s Kitchen for Mint Chocolate chip cookies. I didn't have any mint extract, but have been on an almond and/or amaretto kick lately and conveniently had some almond extract, so I used that instead. I also topped them with a little melted chocolate (with a little coconut oil stirred in to make it shiny and keep it a little soft and fudgey). Review: Awesome! Seriously, these cookies are so rich and light and chocolately and gooey that as much as I like to play with recipes, other than changing the flavor extract, I don't think I could ever feel okay with changing this recipe at all.

The previously mentioned muffin recipes are coming soon. Right now I have to go to class.

<3

Foodie Blogroll, and other things

2008-02-12T14:34:00.000-05:00

Hi there! Sorry it's been a while. I soon will post an entry on the muffins I made last week, a terrible dinner failure, some successes, and my plans for what I'm making for Valentines soon! Sorry it's been a while- life has been crazy again (the whole in college thing), on top of not feeling well still, and treacherous weather. I however have so far avoided the terrible bug that has been going around (it seems the whole world, or at least country), so it's mostly just the normal not feeling well (update on that coming soon too).

Just a little entry right now though to point out that I added the "Foodie Blogroll" to my page- it's over there on the right, below my profile. It's just a great little (okay, not so little) list of many many food blogs. Great resource for networking, getting idea, or just browsing. I thought it was neat. So take a look through if you so desire (warning- this can lead to a lot of time passing before you realize it!).

Por Favor

2008-02-05T16:12:00.000-05:00

I will post a food update soon, but for right now, I have a different kind of post.

I would like to put in a prayer request to the internet.

My friend Jacob's brother Tim has been in Guatemala doing relief work (I think with a long-term missions group), and they were working on a building of some sort when a gas line right where they were working blew up, sending Tim (and the other workers I'm guessing) flying backwards, and one of the walls of the building fell on him. He's in pretty bad shape, and in a pretty impoverished area, so the hospital where he is probably isn't the best. Prayers for him, the people with him, Jake, and their family would be greatly appreciated.

Ruach Adonai

2008-01-27T17:15:00.001-05:00

Here is the sculpture that I had in the show at the end of last semester. I said I would, but then I never did take or post pictures of it while it was in the gallery. Here is is on my living room floor (ignore the uncleanliness of the floor, it's a really old carpet, pre-dating us by a long shot), a detail of the bird- branch and a detail of the hebrew text that covers it (Genesis 1:1-3, and on the branches seven verses from the Old Testament of the Spirit of God). I'll even put up a professional-ish description. I had an offer to buy, but the girl recanted. I was sad, needless to say.

Title: Ruach Adonai (Spirit of God)
Medium: Stoneware, painted with acrylic
Date: September-October 2007
Artist: Beth Holdridge
Priced on Request

Domestic Day...

2008-01-26T23:05:00.000-05:00

Today consisted of cleaning, entertaining company (by company I mean Heidi and her little chinchilla friend, Henry), and cooking.
Meredith got up and cleaned the kitchen quite thoroughly -which was really good of her, it needed it. I slept in much later than I meant to, but then got up, tidied and dusted the living room, and then Heidi got here. Janice cleaned the carpet a little while later.

After Heidi left, They had dinner, then Brian decided he needed a nap, so we had a late dinner. I pan- seared some tilapia marinated in lemon juice, tahini, water, a little honey. Then I dredged it lightly in rice flour and seared it in a really hot pan. I then took the fish, set it on top of the brown rice that had finished cooking slightly before, covered it so that it would stay warm and made a sauce from the marinade. I stirred in the rest of the flour left from dredging- started with about 1/3 cup, ended with about 1/4 cup -along with some water, a little salt, and a bit of fruit juice, and poured it all into the still heating pan from the fish, stirring until thickened and uniform. I think that I had to add a little water so that it stayed saucy, and not pasty. It turned out really good though. I served it with brown rice (yum!) and oven roasted honey-glazed carrots.

For dessert, I baked some pears with ginger, and meredith got a mango and some sorbet, so we had baked pears, chilled mango, and strawberry sorbet, a very fruity end to a yummy meal.

And I was just craving raisinettes, so a made some with chocolate chips and the little bit of golden and regular raisins, and some dried cherries.

I heated the chocolate chips, stirred in a little coconut oil- to keep it smooth, and stirred in the raisins. Then I dropped one or a few raisins at a time onto a parchment paper, and stuck it (on a cookie sheet) in the freezer for twenty minutes or so until they set up. Then I picked them off and put them in the creamer of my tea set that I made last year.

Tortillas!

2008-01-24T21:36:00.000-05:00

So today marked eleven months since Brian asked me the question "will you be mine?" :)

And, being that we are an awesome and creative couple, guess what we did....?

If you guessed "went to the eye doctor and got new glasses for Brian" you win a plush bunny. And by 'you win a plush bunny', I mean, I want one.

After we got out of the eye doctor's, we had a quick jaunt to Wegmans and purchased a delicious Lindt Creation 70% Orange gourmet chocolate bar, and a few ingredients for tacos. We came back and I made safe-for-me flour tortillas (made with rice, quinoa flour, and tapioca flour), and had healthy-ish tacos made with lean ground turkey, and even got light sour cream. Other toppings included avocado (too lazy and poor for guacamole), tomato, cheese for Brian (the sour cream was his too), lettuce, and salsa.

Before we went to the eye doctor, since we got there a half hour early, we popped over to the pet store that is down the plaza. Brian was sad that there were no scorpions, but we looked at the kitties and there was a really kute adolescent cat named Korea who I really wanted to take home. She was white with grey spots and really friendly. I always feel so depressed that I can't take them all (or any) home.

Recipe for allergen free tortillas:

2 cups of flour (I used 2/3 cup white rice flour, 1/3 cup brown rice flour, 1/3 cup quinoa flour, 2/3 cup tapioca flour, and 1 tsp xanthan gum)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp mild coconut oil, shortening, or lard (I used coconut oil)
2/3-1 cup warm water

Blend flour mixture, baking powder, and salt thoroughly

Add coconut oil (or shortening) and mix with fingers until shortening is crumbed through the flour mix evenly (or as evenly as you can get it.

Add 2/3 cup warm water, mix to combine, using mixer or hands. If using mixer, after the water density is uniform, see if the crumbs will knead into a dough. If it doesn't, add water, a little at a time, until it comes together.

Knead for a few minutes, then divide into "golf-balls" and set aside, covered with a damp towel or plastic so that they don't dry out.

Let sit for several minutes. (This is when I prepared the ingredients for the inside of the tacos- I put the meat on to cook, and prepped the other ingredients. I started rolling and frying right after I put the seasoning and water over the turkey to marinate.)

This is the method that I used to roll out the tortillas so that they wouldn't stick to the table or the rolling pin:
I taped a piece of parchment paper to the table, then after flattening a ball of dough a little with my hand, covered it with saran wrap and rolled it with the pin. I wasn't super careful about the shape- they have more character that way- and I also made them a little thinner than traditional, but they were still pliable (when warm, just like regular tortillas, when cold they cracked if bent).

Overall, we were very pleased!

Mini Pizza!

2008-01-18T19:49:00.000-05:00

I made mini pizzas for dinner the other night and they were really really good. I had been craving pizza for a while, but hadn't had the time to make it (also I kept forgetting to buy tomatoes or sauce! Important!). I used the following recipe, originally posted with slight variations (I added a half tsp of xanthan gum because I didn't have the tsp of unflavored gelatin she had in the original recipe, also I used a mix of italian herbs in substitution of her tsp oregano) by a namesake Beth on her blog, "I Can Fly!"

As she said, the crust turns out delightfully chewy and crispy, though for the mini pizzas next time I might decrease the cooking temperature to 375, because they seemed a little underdone, but the bottoms were on the verge of being more than just toasted when I took them out.

2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2-1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
a few shakes of italian herbs
2/3 cup warm water
1 tbsp yeast
small squirt of honey
1 tsp oil
1 tsp cider vinegar
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425.
Whisk together dry ingredients (except yeast).
Dissolve yeast in warm water, whisk in honey, oil, and vinegar.
Blend together and beat with mixer (using bread hooks) for three or four minutes.
Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray (or pizza pan if you are doing full-sized).
Divide dough evenly into as many little pizzas as you want to make. (I made five 4-5" pizzas)
spray hands with cooking spray, pull or press out little blobs into disks, leaving edges a little higher for the crust.
Pre-bake for ten minutes.
Remove from oven, top with sauce and pepperoni, as well as any other toppings your little heart desires.
Return to oven for ten-fifteen minutes, or until edges are browned (more like 20-25 minutes for a full sized pizza).
Enjoy! (But let rest for a few minutes so that you don't burn your mouth!)

2008-01-17T23:36:00.001-05:00

I made cookies the other day.

I made oatmeal cookies for Stephanie (who was visiting this week! Yay!) and my darling, and chewy quinoa cookies for me. :) The wheat free version I made for myself turned out delightful, and two days later they are still soft, even though I had them on a plate on my table covered (not as tight as would be ideal) with plastic wrap. They are now, as of a few hours ago residing in a bag in the freezer, because I found myself munching too freely. He he. But they turned out nice and soft, not as gooey as the oatmeal ones, but still very moist. They didn't brown as much on top as would have been ideally aesthetic, but I'm not that picky. The bottoms and edges browned nicely though (ignore the one to the back of the plate in the picture- it's not as burnt as it looks. My ancient campus apartment oven doesn't heat too evenly so it makes it difficult to bake extremely evenly).

For the quinoa cookies:
3/4 cup EITHER (half-shortening-hallf butter) OR 3/4 cup Coconut oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2-3/4 of a banana, mashed, plus two Tbsp potato or arrowroot starch
3/4 cup honey
1/3 cup milk (regular, rice, soy, whatever)
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
If using coconut oil- 1-2 tsp butter flavoring (optional)
2 cups Quinoa flakes
1 cup Quinoa flour
1 cup flour blend
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1-2 handfuls of raisins
3/4 to 1 cup chocolate chips (I like mini, and I use Enjoy Life! brand, which are about mini sized anyway, so it works out :) )

Cream together the margarine/shortening or oil with the sugar and honey.
Beat in banana, vanilla and butter flavoring, and add milk.
Mix together the flakes, flours, and other dry ingredients, add to wet mixture until combined.
Stir in raisins and/or chocolate chips, or nuts or other dried fruit, or whatever else you might want to put in the cookies. Butterscotch chips would be delightful I feel.

For Oatmeal cookies, keep everything the same, except in stead of the flakes and two flour measurements, use 3 cups Oats and 1 cup flour.

A Pan-cake for dinner, and a picture-heavy update post...

2008-01-13T19:17:00.000-05:00

So for dinner today I wanted something light and non-salty. I thought pancakes, but didn't want to spend time making up a whole batch of pancakes just for myself. Then I remembered this post and figured an easier way to have my pancake sooner with less sweat and mess. So I made up some buckwheat pancake mix (recipe to follow), poured it into my heated, lightly oiled skillet, sprinkled it with some allergen free chocolate chips and organic unsweetened coconut, and popped it in the 350 degree oven for fifteen minutes or so.

In the pancakes:
1 cup Buckwheat Flour
1-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
Three generous squirts Honey (2ish Tablespoons)
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Tbsp Arrowroot or Potato Starch (or egg substitute for one egg, or just one egg)
1 cup + a little extra warmed Rice Milk (or soy milk, or coconut milk, or milk milk)
2 Tbsp melted Coconut Oil (or butter or margarine or olive oil)

Whisk together dry ingredients, whisk in wet ingredients.

And it turned out delicious! It baked through nicely, the edges were just a little crispy... mmm. Topped it with a little drizzle of pure maple syrup. :) Excuse the blurry pictures, the lighting was much less than pristine in the apartment tonight. I ate about a third of it. My darling and I will probably eat the rest of it's whole-grain, low sugar goodness before our workout tomorrow (New semester starts, and we are going to start working out again, hopefully with our schedules, we will be able to stick with it better this time around. We both have MWF mornings free, so we are going to go then- 8:30 every morning baby!.)

As promised long ago, here are some pictures of my pretty new computer. :) I love it lots. I feel very blessed.

And now, here are some other fun food adventures of late:

What's more Christmasy than guacamole? It's red and green! Though this batch turned out more like a green salsa, because the avocados were much less than ripe.

One of the first nights that I was back at my parents' house for break I made dinner, and it turned out very pretty, and tasty. Fresh flatbread with home-made hummus (with roasted red peppers and sun-dried tomatoes) and shrimps in a tangy tahini based sauce with peas.

For Christmas presents I made little packages of biscotti (tiramisu flavored and cranberry-pistachio), brown sugar fudge, and handmade chocolate mint truffles.

I also made some cranberry-orange relish and had my first canning experience.

And, last but not least, my allergen-free pursuits: I made crackers (several different kinds, including plain, salted, poppyseed, and rosemary)...

and sugar cookies... These ones had just sugar on top, but I also made some fudge-y topping with almonds and coconut...

And I made chocolate-mint biscotti, and honey-almond biscotti, but didn't get pictures of it.

2007-12-04T00:22:00.000-05:00

Hi there! I've been gone for a while. On top of last week being crazy, my computer was a bit on the fritz. However, los padres came to visit me this weekend and brought my new computer! Yay! On top of actually working all the time, it's really neat! I will post pictures of it, as well as pictures of the food I made for Thanksgiving, and other food I have been making! :) See you soon!

2007-11-20T19:29:00.000-05:00

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.

2007-11-20T01:42:00.000-05:00

I discovered a wonderful thing- Artificial Butter flavoring.

Okay, so it might go against my purist attitude, but cookies can taste like cookies again! :)

2007-11-20T00:55:00.000-05:00

Gluten-free, egg-free, milk-free Chocolate Spice Cookies

* 1/2 cup Sugar
* 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
* 1/4 cup Coconut oil, soft but not liquified (or butter)
* 2 Tbsp potato starch + 1-1/2 Tbsp liquid (or 1 egg, or other egg replacer)
* 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
* 1/3-1/2 cup Cocoa + 2 Tbsp water + 2 Tbsp oil
* 1/2 tsp. Salt
* 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
* 1 tsp. Cloves
* 1 tsp. Nutmeg
* 1-1/2 cup Gluten free flour blend

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cream together the sugars and the coconut oil.

3. Beat in potato starch mixture and vanilla.

4. Beat in cocoa mixture.

5. Mix together the rest of the ingredients, mix into wet mixture. Batter will be sticky and glossy.

6. Form into balls and place 2-3 inches apart on a prepared cookie sheet. If you want flatter cookies, you must squish them a little; with the exact recipe, they won't spread hardly at all. I didn't squish them so I had ball cookies.

7. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on size. Check after ten minutes, remove from oven when start to brown on edges by pan.

8. After cool, top with frosting, melted chocolate, or this fudgey-dark chocolate "glaze" that I made:

9. For really dark chocolate glaze: In double boiler, dissolve 3 Tbsp sugar in enough oil to wet it, do not over-wet. add one square baker's chocolate, dissolve. You may have to stir over low heat for quite some time to melt the sugar completely. If it's not smooth enough, or looks too thick to spread, add a little rice milk, water, or coffee. I left the sugar partially granulated for a stunningly dark chocolate topping that got sweeter after a couple of chews.

2007-11-15T00:35:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was not a good stomach day. I ate bland foods all day. Dinner was rice noodles with olive oil, goat cheese, salt, pepper, and a little sugar (yes sugar, it pleasantly cuts the strong taste of the goat cheese).

Then last night I made cookies. (I will post the recipe soon, I have to figure it out, I did a lot of approximating and random ingredient additions....) They actually turned out pretty good, though they didn't spread at all so they are just little balls. They needed a little something though, so I melted some baking chocolate and stirred in some sugar to make a really nice, really dark chocolate "glaze." I remelted it some more today to melt all the sugar crystals, because I was hasty yesterday, so it was still quite crunchy.

Lunch and dinner were good today.

My stomach has still been finicky, so I tried to keep it simple. For lunch I had bean threads (noodles made from bean starch, and oh so good- I really like them, maybe more than rice noodles), with sauteed carrots and rosemary turkey breast cut into little bits.

For dinner I was craving pizza, with is a horrible, terrible idea, so I improvised. I took tome flat bread and topped it with tomatoes, the left over turkey from lunch, a little goat cheese, and lightly steamed spinach. Threw it in the oven for ten minutes or so at about 300 degrees, and there I had a lovely, tasty dinner.

2007-11-12T21:06:00.001-05:00

I made flatbread today, and it turned out amazing. The best since I stopped being able to use eggs. :)

I made two pans, the first turned out a little crispy on the bottom, the second was nice and soft.

2 cups Indian rice flour
1 cup tapioca starch
4 Tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons xantham gum
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 c. water
2 Tablespoon yeast, dissolved in 1/3 c very warm water
2 teaspoon cider vinegar
4 Tablespoons EVOO
4 Tablespoons potato starch dissolved in a little cold water
2-3 Tablespoons sweet rice flour (for dusting pan/hands)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat 1-1/2 c. water until very warm, pour over rice flour, blend well, set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the rest of the dry ingredients.
3. Mix vinegar, dissolved potato starch, oil, and dissolved yeast into rice flour mixture.
4. Blend in the rest of the ingredients.
5. Dust cookie sheet with sweet rice flour. Place six or so dollops of the dough (will be very soft) apart on the pan. Sprinkle dough with a little more sweet rice flour, cover with plastic wrap and smooth the dough until flat (it is very sticky, so you can do this with just your fingers, but it takes much longer and is hard to make even).
6. Remove plastic wrap. Tap all over with fork for ventilation.
7. Bake for 10-14 minutes. Remove when golden around edges. Let cool in pan for a few minutes. When cool enough to touch, cut into pieces and store in air-tight container or zip-lock bag.

original recipe

2007-11-12T01:31:00.000-05:00

I adore him, really.

It's quite dim in my kitchen.

I made gluten-wheat-corn-milk-egg free pumpkin pancakes tonight for dinner for the roomies and myself. Lots left over. :) Yay breakfast for a few days.

I made pancakes like this this morning for the group of friends that we accompanied to Jillian's house, however, I just added that much pumpkin to Bisquick pancake mix. This of course meant that I couldn't eat them, which was one of the reasons I wanted to make them tonight. For myself I sauteed some potatoes, at the end adding soft goat cheese, and then sauteed some pineapple in maple syrup (that was really really good).

pumpkin pancake recipe, with 'regular' substitutions

1 c. Sorghum flour
1 c. Rice flour
1/2 c. Tapioca flour
(all four could be substituted with 1-1/2 c. regular all purpose flour)
4 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp Clove
1 tsp Nutmeg
(or 2 tsp of any blend of spices you want)
4 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
3/4 c. Pumpkin Puree, heaping
4 Tbsp. Olive Oil (or butter)
2 c. Rice Milk (or regular milk)
4 Tbsp. Potato Starch (2 eggs)

1. Heat rice milk to very warm, but not boiling. In a medium sized bowl, pour over rice flour and blend well, set aside.
2. Blend all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
3. Add pumpkin and oil to rice flour mixture, blend well.
4. Add blended dry ingredients, mix well.
5. Drop desired amount of batter onto hot, oiled skillet, flip when edges start to change color slightly (the batter is so thick that it doesn't bubble hardly at all as regular pancakes would).
6. Serve with butter (oil) and brown sugar, syrup, and/or whipped cream.

2007-11-09T11:40:00.001-05:00

I'm going to go back through and add the recipes for the food that I've posted, so check back in the next day or two if you are interested! :)

2007-11-09T00:14:00.000-05:00

So I've been pretty gung-ho about this food allergy thing. Really kind of excited about finding ways around it and trying new things, and just accepting that I can't have some things anymore. I found groups, recipe sites, blogs. One of the blogs that I read, my favorite really, the lady that writes it is having a Holiday Recipe Event (Gluten-free recipes of course), and I was thinking about what I could come up with to submit. These are the things that have kept me from being discouraged, this wonderful community of strangers, united by the fact that we get ill from so-called 'normal' food.

Then it happened tonight.

I became discouraged for the first time.

It came with the realization that:

I can't have Christmas cookies anymore. I actually almost started crying. (This definitely isn't a cue that I need more sleep... no....)

:'(

2007-11-06T11:19:00.001-05:00

I made another coffee cake yesterday. This time I used more apples and messed with the recipe a little by adding more yams. It made the batter wetter, so I baked it longer, which resulted in a crust on the bottom that I can't decide if I like. It also smells more strongly of yams, which I also can't decide if I like. I also didn't cook the glaze as long, so it was thinner and not really chewy caramel, so that's good (though I love caramel, on top of coffee cake makes both hard to eat). It turned out good again though.

In other news, it's supposed to start snowing tonight.

yammy coffee cake recipe

2007-11-04T15:40:00.000-05:00

Lunch today was pretty, so I took a picture.
I pan seared some thinly sliced turkey breast with basalmic vinegar, crushed red pepper, black pepper, and garlic salt and served it with mushroom rice pilaf with peas, and green salad with a beautiful tomato dressed with basalmic, EVOO, salt and pepper. :) And I finished it off, after all that healthiness, with a piece of coffee cake from the other day, and black coffee with 1 Tbsp of honey.

I'm apparently turning into a food blogger, mostly because there is little else interesting in my life at this point.

2007-11-03T16:17:00.001-04:00

There was amazing steam coming off of my coffee this afternoon. I had trouble getting a good picture though, This one is all right.

And continuing on in my gluten-wheat-egg-milk free baking, I tried a new recipe today.

I made a caramel apple- sweet potato coffee cake. (Sweet potatoes in the cake part, apples and caramelized sugar on top.) I think I'm going to use a smaller pan next time because it's a lot thinner than I wanted it to be. I heated the sugar a little too much too, so the caramel is a lot chewier than I meant it. It's a tricky thing, caramelizing sugar. It's tasty though, and I'll probably use the recipe again, just with more apples, more attention to the caramel, and a smaller pan.

In non-food news, Jake proposed to Chrissy last night. Apparently there is a long story, but all I know is that she said yes (of course).

2007-11-03T03:32:00.000-04:00

Mmm... Cadbury dark chocolate. I am not allergic to this. (Given, I didn't read the label, so there probably are allergens in it, like milk and soy lecithin. It's just so delicious, and I still feel kind of crappy most of the time, so darn it all, I'm going to eat the chocolate!)

Making making making....

2007-10-30T23:06:00.000-04:00

So since I got tested and found out that I am allergic to wheat, oats, corn, soy, peanuts, walnuts, milk, and eggs, I have been experimenting with different foods and substitutes. I also got batteries for my camera, so I took pictures of some of the things that I ate today to share with you.

Tapioca pudding made with coconut milk (and a little almond milk) swirled with apple butter.

Rice-flour flat bread with blueberry jam made by Meredith's mother.

Chocolate chip brownies!

Sauteed apples with sugar, nutmeg, and clove, on top of tapioca pudding.

'ello

2007-10-30T00:59:00.000-04:00

I created this because I know some people that have one, and I miss seeing things that they write. I will probably post both on here and on my existing livejournal. Maybe the same things on both. We'll see. Look, my church.