BakeBakeBake

Flourless brownies (yes, GF!)

aome — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 10:41:27 GMT

You guys, I have found brownie heaven.

And I say this as someone who comes from a long line of chocoholics, and has a couple of long-standing treasured brownie recipes already. But we recently moved in with my BIL/SIL, and my SIL has a Thing for Hershey's chocolate. She used to like their brownie mix but I guess they changed it so now she's been searching for a perfect fudgy Hershey's brownie. My BIL (who also bakes) tried a recipe out of a Hershey's cookbook we have, and it's okay, but I wanted to explore more. Also, I eat a low-gluten diet (mostly GF but I can cheat a little), so when I saw these flourless brownies, I thought that would be something to try. Guilt-free treats! Well, guilt-free as far as gluten goes. ;)

And man, do these deliver. The original recipe actually includes a ganache for the top, but I found these brownies to be perfectly decadent all on their own. Like I said, it was the Hershey's flavor I was after, so I used their "Special Dark" bars, but I would imagine these would be even more awesome with a higher-quality dark chocolate. But even so, my batter was just as glossy and rich-looking as it is in the website's photos. We're all having trouble not eating the entire pan tonight! *g*

Triple Ginger Cookies

ext_4434303 — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 10:40:47 GMT

Does anyone have the recipe for Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Cookies? Or another one that tastes better than traditional gingerbread cookies?

Blueberry, raspberry and blackberry cake

delissimo — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 08:00:17 GMT

6 eggs
340 g caster sugar
175 g butter
0,5 tsp vanilla extract
400 g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp milk
1 large lime , half zest pared , half zest grated
450 ml double cream
250 g quark or creamy white soft cheese
4 tbsp icing sugar
4 small , ripe pears. peeled and cored
500 g plump , ripe blackberries
5 small ripe plums cut into 6 pieces
50 g pomegranate seeds
6 tbsp apple juice
1 tsp arrowroot

1. Preheat the oven to 160C . Grease two , 20 cm cake tins and line the bases with baking parchment. Put the eggs ina bowl with the sugar . beat it until thick and pale. Than add the melted butter and vanilla extract , whisking .

2. Sift the flour and cinnamon over the surface and gently fold in with a metal spoon , adding the milk to slacken slightly. Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins and level the surfaces. Bake in the oven for 40-45 min . Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 min.

3. Zesty filling . Squeeze the lime juice. Wrip the cream , cheese , icing sugar , and the grated lime zest until peaking. Set aside a quarter of the cream mixture for the top. Chop three of the pears and toss in 1 tsp lime juice . Fold trough the remaining cream mixture.

4.Fruity topping Cut the remaining pear into neat slices , toss in a further tsp of lime juice , and set aside for the topping with a third of the blackberries, plums and pomegrabate seeds.

5. Split each cake in half. Top one piece with third of the pear and cream mixture , then a third of the fruit not reserved for decoration. Repeat the layers then top with the last cake half. Top with the reserved cream mixture and fruit. Drizzle the syrup over the fruit. sprinkle with pared lime rind. Chill until ready to serve

wheat free rye bread

thebarkingdog — Fri, 29 Jul 2016 08:00:00 GMT

I have been on a gluten free diet but I recently decided to try a blood group diet and I can have rye flour. So I am looking for a bread recipe that I can make in my bread machine. I can use rye flour, rice flour, oat flour, barley flour, tapioca flour, corn starch. The diet says no potatoes so not sure if potato flour and starch can be used. Corn flour and meal only occasionally. I can also use flax meal. I'd make a 1-2 pound loaf in my machine.

I looked online but the recipes have ingredients I don't have or can't find. I have all listed except the barley flour.

I will be doing more internet research.

Here is the recipe I use the most and make it in the machine on gluten free setting.

1 cup water 110 Fahrenheit
1 tbs honey
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup butter or oil (I used margarine and the loaf fell, too much salt I think, better loaf with oil)
2 eggs
1/4 cup powdered milk
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer
1 1/2 tsp xantham gun or guar gum
1 1/2 tsp potato flour
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp + 1 tsp each
Brown rice flour
corn starch
tapioca flour or potato starch (both give ok results) a combo of the two also works.
1 1/8 yeast

Place ingredients in this order into the machine and start it using the gluten free setting. This recipe can be mixed in a bowl and done in a loaf pan. rise up to an hour (double in size) bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.
This makes a small loaf.
I have substituted a portion of the rice flour with rye flour and got an ok loaf too.
I wonder if replacing the rice flour with rye flour would work, not sure if I'd need more or less liquid.
I added caraway seed.

Strawberry Cloud Cake

realtormarina — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 01:20:23 GMT

Baked this one a while ago - found pictures today. May it bring a bit of summer and sunshine to your homes! Classic and always trendy - vanilla sponge, whipped cream, strawberries and chocolate. Enjoy!

Step 1 - Lets bake a basic vanilla sponge (I doubled the recipe for my cake)

6 eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 package of vanilla sugar

Beat up with a mixer till steady peaks
Fold in 1 cup of sifted flour

Bake in a mold covered with parchment at 180C until edges are golden and middle of the cake springs back when pressed

Let chill and cut into 2 or 3 layers

Step 2

Beat 2 cups of heavy cream and 1/2 of icing sugar till steady peaks
We will use it as filling and as icing!

Step 3 - fill the cake, ice the top and sides, cover sides with cookie crumbles

Step 4
Decorate the borders using a parchment bag with a star tip

Step 5
Cut fresh strawberries (do not remove stems) and spread them like a hand-fan. Decorate the cake with the "fans"

Something like this!

Step 5
Decorate with some melted chocolate!

Step 6 - Enjoy!

Other Great Recipes:

Cherry Cheese Dessert
Little Mermaid Cake
Mushroom and Potato Casserole
Beef Squares
Eggplant Towers
Cabbage Rolls - Holubtsi
"Berry Baskets" Pastries - Корзинки (Korzynky)
Spicy Appetizer "Korean Carrots"
Oatmeal and Sour-cream Bread
Apple Charlotte
Ukrainian Doughnuts - Пампушки
"Super-Power" Cranberry Drink
"Syrnychki" - Cottage Cheese Pancakes
"Syrna Zapikanka" - Ukrainian Cheese Casserole
"Syrnyk" Ukrainian Style Cheesecake
"Little Porcupines" Pastries - Їжачки (Yizhachky)
Camping Special - Cooking at Pinery
"Rushnychok" Ukrainian Poppy Seed Roll
Apple Puffs
Chocolate Truffle Cake
Quick Pickles
Chicken Cacciatore
Vatrushka
Orange Rice
"Parrot Tail" Cake
Galushki
Happy Mushroom Salad
Chicken A La Bacon
Crepes
Traditional Easter Bread - Paska
Honey-Garlic Roasted Cauliflower
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Ukrainian Style Stir-Fry
Pizza Primavera
Vegetarian Borsch
Cream Puffs
Chocolate and Walnut Pastry "Alissa"
Busy Mommy's Caramel Tartlets
Kiwi Pastry
Spinach and Potato Casserole
Creamy Cheesecake
Swimmer's Choice Pasta Salad
Lemon Poppy Seed Shortbread
Shepherd's Pie
Glazed Shortbread Cookies
3D Guitar Cake
Honey Oatmeal Cookies
Avocado and Smoked Salmon Terrine
Meatballs
Waldorf Chicken Salad
Booblik + Bonus Challah Bread
Chili
Cake "Mikado"
Halloween "Pumpkin" Salad
Poutine
Eggplant Rolls
Beef Stroganoff
Fish Kebabs
Apple Cranberry Pie
Raspberry Truffle Cake
Amazing Potato Bake a la Salina
Sushi
Chocolate Croissant
Traditional Russian Pie
Pierogi with Sour Cherries
Banana Bread
Dolma, or Grape Leaf Rolls
"Melting Moments" Cookies
Chicken Cutlets
Potato Pancakes!
Awesome Spinach Salad
MY SIGNATURE STEAK

Staffordshire Oatcake, Sir!

foodnchef — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 00:31:28 GMT

Have you already cooked delicious Scottish croquettes with haggis? And enjoyed its full-flavoured taste? I have to say honestly, I’ve cooked this dish twice already. The first time was to shoot the photo session, and the second time I cooked it to excite my guests by the miracle of cold-smoking process and its special flavour.

And today I have another Scottish recipe for you. Are you ready? See the recipe at http://foodnchef.com/pancake-from-staffordshire-sir/

Recipe Request - something with lots of mint

thursdayschild — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 00:29:08 GMT

So I have these mint plants in my backyard, and because mint is what it is, I have tons of it. I'd love to use it for something other than mint tea, but I'm not sure what. Does anyone have any good recipes that call for a lot of mint? Fresh or dried is good, but not mint extract - that's not what I'm trying to use here. Thanks bakers!

peach bundt cake

ringsandcoffee — Thu, 14 Jan 2016 08:29:35 GMT

My spectacular baking fail.
On Sunday, I suddenly wanted this cake: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/whole-orange-cake, which I've made once before. Oranges are coming into season, and the last time I made it, the oranges I used were not terribly ripe or juicy. It still came out okay, as far as I remember. This time around, the bitter taste from the pith overpowered the cake, and not even a ton of glaze could save it. The texture of that cake was also too dense for my liking. The cake also stuck to the pan when it came out. Though I managed to get the stuck part out in one piece, it didn't fit back in like a puzzle piece. Add this to the rather dry and flavorless red velvet bundt from 2 weeks ago, and I was determined to have something come out well.

Baking win.
When I bought the oranges, peaches were also on sale, so I thought maybe they would work in a cake. Oh, they worked well. I adapted the orange cake recipe and made sure to grease AND flour the pan this time, and success! Seriously yummy cake was the result. Doubling the leavening really helped the texture, I believe. The extracts were added on a whim, but really work.

Whole Peach Cake (adapted from here)

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups peach puree (see below)
1 tsp orange extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

peach puree: Remove the pits from and roughly chop 3-4 peaches. In a food processor, puree the peaches, along with the juice of one lemon, until no chunks are left. You will need 1 1/2 cups of this. Save the remaining puree for smoothies, or eat it with a spoon. :) I did not peel the peaches, because I am lazy and ain't nobody got time for that. The flecks of peel ended up turning green in the baked cake, but it tastes fine.

Preheat oven to 325*F and grease and flour your bundt pan.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the peach puree and extracts. The batter may break (look curdled), but it will be fine once the flour is added. Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour, and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The batter will be quite thick. Pour into the prepared bundt pan, and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula.
Bake 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake rest in the pan 15 minutes, then turn onto a rack to cool. Glaze if desired, but it doesn't really need it.

photo...

Fantastic dessert – strawberry galettes with almond cream

foodnchef — Thu, 23 Jul 2015 13:51:44 GMT

I don’t know about you but I adore strawberry desserts. As soon as the berry season starts, I take best advantage of it. Great ladies from Make My Cake Patisserie shared with me a recipe of perfect summer dessert. This dessert, strawberry galettes will almond cream, will for sure be a real gem of your summer dessert menu. And almond cream gives it a nice flavour and taste.

Read the recipe here http://foodnchef.com/fantastic-dessert-strawberry-galettes-with-almond-cream/

Trying to recreate a cookie recipe

ringsandcoffee — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 04:32:12 GMT

While in England, I found these delicious cookies.

I brought 2 packages home with me, and have already eaten one. I want to try recreating them, but they have 3 ingredients I've never used in any cookie recipe: glucose syrup, cornflour and dried skimmed milk. A little research told me that glucose syrup = corn syrup, and cornflour is what the Brits call cornstarch. I just bought some powdered milk.

The ingredients list is as follows: flour, dried cranberries, sugar, butter, corn syrup, cornstarch, dried milk, baking soda, salt, and orange flavoring.

My question for you is how much corn syrup, milk powder, and cornstarch to use? It seems like the normal dough base that would use 2 sticks of butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar, etc.

Thanks!

Gluten free bread dough

thebarkingdog — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 00:37:24 GMT

Google "Gluten free bread that doesn't suck" You will find this website http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2013/03/finally-gluten-free-bread-that-doesnt-suck.html

This is the best recipe I have found so far, if anyone has a better one please share!
So yesterday I made this and baked it in a 9X12 silicone cake pan then I cut it into hot dog and hamburger buns, it's the right thickness for this. square and rectangle shaped buns. Would also be good for sub sandwiches too.

Vegetarian chickpea flour pizza (gluten-free)

kueken23 — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 00:35:28 GMT

In some countries, you can now find gluten-free pizza bases in health shops or even supermarkets. They are great, but do you know what's even greater? Making your own gluten-free pizza from scratch. And it doesn't even take that long! This is a recipe for a vegetarian pizza using ground chickpea flour (also called garbanzo bean flour). Of course you can top your pizza with whatever you like, many different versions possible, so just go ahead and experiment! You can find the recipe and more photos here.

Ingredients
Crust
100 g ground chickpea flour
pinch of salt
80 ml water
1 teaspoon of dried herbs (basil, oregano, parsley, thyme, rosemary, ...)

Topping
100 ml pureed tomatoes
1 teaspoon of dried herbs
1 teaspoon of paprika spice
vegetables of your choice, in my case: tomatoes, cauliflower, mushrooms
50 to 100 g cheddar cheese (quantity depends on how much cheese you like)
optional: 25 g goats cheese
fresh basil to garnish
oil for frying

Instructions
1) Add ground chickpea flour and salt to a bowl. Add half of the water and whisk ingredients together. Add the rest of the water and whisk until you get a smooth batter with no lumps. Add the dried herbs and whisk again. Leave covered and in a warm place for 30 min.

2) Meanwhile, prepare your toppings. For the tomato sauce, add pureed tomatoes, dried herbs and paprika spice to a bowl and mix together. Chop up your vegetables and grate the cheese.

3) Pre-heat your oven to 200 °C.

4) Coat a non-stick pan with oil. When the oil is hot enough, pour the batter into the pan. Use the back of a spoon to quickly spread out the batter if necessary (the pizza should be thin!). Fry for 2-4 minutes and use a spatula to flip the crust and cook for another 2-4 minutes.

5) Line a baking tray with greaseproof baking paper. Transfer your chickpea pizza base to the baking paper. Add the tomato sauce, vegetables and cheese and bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes (you can also do this in the grill, if you have one!). Once done, transfer to a plate, garnish with fresh basil and enjoy!

White and dark chocolate swirls with apple (glutenfree)

kueken23 — Fri, 19 Jun 2015 05:26:19 GMT

So easy to make, yet so delicious, these swirls are some of my favourite bakes. I've used apples to give them a fruity touch, but you can omit them (or chose other fruit). Perfect to have for tea time or take with you on a picnic! You can find the recipe and more photos here.

Ingredients
• 60 g white chocolate
• 40 g butter
• 2/3 cup gluten-free self-raising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 apple
• 60 g dark chocolate

Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 180 °C or gasmark 4.

2) In a bowl, melt white chocolate and butter in the microwave. Set aside to cool.

3) In another bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract. Pour in white chocolate mixture and stir together. Chop apple into small pieces, add to the batter and mix again until well combined.

4) In yet another bowl, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave.

5) Pour the white chocolate batter into a square baking pan lined with greaseproof baking paper. Pour melted dark chocolate over the batter (technically in a zig-zag fashion, but to be honest, it does not really matter how you pour it over). Swirl with a spoon.

6) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

recommendations for a granola recipie?

helenatroy — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 05:29:10 GMT

Hi there,

Granola & breakfast sausages are probably the only two things I still don't make myself - and ... it should be easy to make granola, right?

I'm looking for recommendations for granola recipies, as well as any tips & trick. If (homemade) granola can be said to run on a spectrum from brickle-like on one end to shortbread-like on the other, my preference is for something shortbready.

thanks
HT

New with a question

little_dende — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 21:38:03 GMT

Hello! I am new here and I don't see a set of rules, so I hope this type of question post is ok.
I am trying to figure out how this bread is made:
Grain-Free Coconut Bread

You can see the ingredients are just coconut flour, coconut, water, and salt. I tried putting those ingredients together, but I definitely did not get bread out of it... It came out of the oven more like dust. :) Here is what it should look like!

Small round loaf

Ingredients

Actual bread-like texture

If there is anyone out there who might know a trick or two about this, I would be so incredibly grateful! :)

Dinosaur baby t-rex volcano birthday cake

ellawhitee — Mon, 25 May 2015 12:36:18 GMT

Originally posted by ellawhitee at Dinosaur baby t-rex volcano birthday cake

Want to see more yummy cakes? Check out our blog.

Strawberry jalapeno filled cupcakes

superbadgirl — Wed, 20 May 2015 12:39:40 GMT

"Strawberry jalapeno - gross!" you say? I say, "Try it, you might like it." I was right there with you. I know it's not a new combination, but still one I faced with trepidation myself.

We're having a potluck tomorrow. Any reason to overeat, my office will take. Anyway, I was commissioned to make these, given two ingredients and a puppy dog look: strawberry puree and jalapeno lime vodka. Challenge accepted!

Jalapeno Vodka Cupcakes
slightly adapted from this recipe

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup Greek vanilla or plain yogurt
4 eggs
1/4 cup jalapeno lime vodka
splash of kirschwasser
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2-3/4 cup sugar
3-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.

2. In a large bowl, combine butter and eggs. Stir in vodka and vanilla extract.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until just combined.

4. Fill baking cups 2/3 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

You can see from the pic two problems. 1) My blasted oven and 2) I bought liners at the dollar store. Terrible idea. Awful. The bottoms of the cakes got overly brown while the top remains pasty. They're not overdone, they just look it and it drives me mad.

Strawberry jalapeno jelly filling
Okay, this I can't really give you a recipe for. I cobbled until it came out. I used these ingredients:

strawberry jam - maybe half a cup
strawberry slurry/puree for making drinks - maybe half a cup
two TB of jalapeno lime vodka
a splash of lemon juice
corn starch

I cooked all that for a several minutes(dissolving the corn starch with the lemon juice first to prevent clumps) until it thickened, put it through a strainer to get rid of seeds. It wasn't jalapeno-y enough - I knew the alcohol in the cakes would likely bake off, so I candied two jalapenos and tossed some of the syrup into the mix back onto the heat, with yet more corn starch. Finally got the taste and consistency I wanted:

It's messy, yessy, but so good. The berry flavor comes through great, ending with a nice heat from the jalapeno.

Topped these with a quick American buttercream, which I didn't realize was too thick until I was piping, alas.

I think the person who asked for these is going to want to run away to Vegas with me.

Glutenfree cocoa roulade with white chocolate

kueken23 — Sun, 12 Apr 2015 11:49:37 GMT

This is such a delight! The sponge contains only 1 tablespoon of flour and due to the quark, the filling is very light and refreshing. Tastes well whatever the season! You can find the recipe and more photos here.

Ingredients
Batter
4 eggs
120 g sugar
1 tablespoon gluten-free self-raising flour
30 g cocoa powder
Filling
100 ml double cream
50 g white chocolate
100 g quark (or ricotta cheese)
Additional
sprinkles or grated chocolate
sugar

Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 220 °C. Line a rectangular baking tray with greaseproof baking paper.

2) Separate eggs. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Add 40 g sugar and whisk again until glossy, then set aside.

3) In a separate bowl, cream together egg yolks and 80 g sugar. Sift in flour and cocoa powder, mix until well combined.

4) Carefully fold in 1/3 of the stiff egg whites. Add remaining egg whites and lightly fold together. Pour the batter onto the prepared baking tray and spread the batter evenly.

5) Bake for 7 to 10 minutes.

6) In the meantime, sprinkle some sugar on a tea towel. Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and immediately invert onto the tea towel. Tightly roll up the cake around the damp tea towel and leave to cool completely (this is very important, as your filling will get runny if your cake is still warm!).

7) To prepare the filling, melt the white chocolate (stove or microwave). Set aside to cool a little bit. Whip the double cream until stiff. Keep a little bit of the whipped cream in a separate bowl. Use the rest to mix with the quark (or ricotta cheese) and white chocolate, mix until well combined.

8) Unroll the cooled cake on fresh baking paper. Evenly spread the filling on top. Using the parchment underneath, carefully roll up the filled cake as tightly as possible.

9) Transfer the roulade to a serving plate. Decorate with the remaining whipped cream and sprinkles or grated chocolate. Chill for at least 3 hours before serving.

Pound cake with 12 variations

mesmerising — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 08:19:46 GMT

After being a lurker here for years, I decided to share with everyone a delicious pound cake recipe, along with the 12 variations I used for my slices. I hope you enjoy!

Pound cake

Here is the recipe for the basic pound cake [adapted slightly from Nick Malgieri’s How to Bake (NY: Harper Collins, 1995), pp. 280-1]:

Ingredients:

2 sticks/225g butter (unsalted)

1 cup/250ml sugar (caster)

4 eggs

Pinch of nutmeg

1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup/62.5ml milk

¾ tsp baking powder

2 cups/250ml flour (minus 2 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons cornflour

Method:

Ensure your butter and eggs are at room temperature. Preheat oven to 160C/325F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Prepare a rectangular loaf pan, sides buttered, bottom lined with parchment or baking paper.

With a mixer or by hand, beat the butter and sugar until soft and light (or until your arm’s about to fall off). Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time. Beat in salt, nutmeg, and vanilla extract.

In a separate, small bowl (or large mug), combine the remaining egg with the milk.

In a third bowl, add the baking powder and the two flours. Stir and sift once.

Beat a third of the flour into the butter/sugar/egg mixture (first bowl). Beat in half of the milk/egg mixture (second bowl), then the flour again (third bowl), then the milk/egg (second bowl), and finally the flour (third bowl). There should be five additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

Pour mixture into the loaf pan. Bake at 160C/325F degrees for about 1 hour, or until a thin knife or toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the cake emerges clean. (My oven is a little tempera-ture-mental and needed about an extra 15 minutes on the lowest shelf.)

Cool on a rack in the pan for at least 30 minutes. Unmold, remove the bottom paper, wrap the cake, and cut on the following day—unless you’ve made this in the morning, in which case you can cut in the evening. You want to wait until the cake has cooled entirely before cutting, otherwise it will crumble and fall apart easily.

Cut with a sharp serrated or bread knife. Store in the fridge for a few days, or in the freezer for about a month.

The list of variations:

Day/Way #1: Au naturel
Day/Way #2: Jam and butter
Day/Way #3: Cinnamon “toast”
Day/Way #4: Amaretto
Day/Way #5: Simply fried
Day/Way #6: Chocolate-coated with custard
Day/Way #7: Wild about berries
Day/Way #8: A grilled pear-ing
Day/Way #9: French “toast”
Day/Way #10: Hong Kong-style French “toast”
Day/Way #11: Funky monkey sundae
Day/Way #12: Strawberries, cream, and cake

And a few photos:

#2: Jam and butter

#6: Chocolate-coated with custard

#7: Wild about berries

#11: Funky monkey sundae

To read about what inspired this pound cake project, and for the variation recipes, please see my blog posts: part 1 (#1-4), part 2 (#5-8), and part 3 (#9-12).

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a chance to enjoy the noms!

Coconut polenta muffins

kueken23 — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 08:19:20 GMT

Polenta is basically cornmeal and therefore suitable for gluten-free baking and cooking. Try to get rather finely ground polenta, as it can be very grainy otherwise (and that can ruin the texture of your muffins). You can find the recipe and more photos here.

Ingredients
100 g soft butter
100 g sugar
2 eggs
125 g polenta
125 g gluten-free self-raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
250 ml coconut milk
optional: 50 g shredded, unsweetened coconut

Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 180 °C. Grease a muffin baking tray with butter and coat with sugar (or use muffin paper cases).

2) Separate the eggs (keep the egg whites!). Cream together egg yolks, butter and sugar.

3) Add flour, polenta and baking powder (2 teaspoons seems like a lot, but the polenta needs a bit more raising agents than plain flour) and mix well. Add coconut milk and blend until well combined. If you like, add some shredded, unsweetened coconut.

4) Beat egg whites with a hand mixer until stiff. Gently fold them into the batter.

5) Spoon mixture into the prepared muffin trays. Bake for 20 minutes (muffins will be lightly golden-brown). Leave to cool.

Variations
You can add some chopped banana or pineapple to the batter to make it frutier. Also very delicious if served with custard!

Chocolate on Chocolate

lakemeader01 — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 08:19:05 GMT

Mini donuts, chocolate on chocolate.

Glutenfree chocolate hazelnut cake with banana and dates

kueken23 — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 11:35:27 GMT

Moist, chocolaty, fruity and gluten-free - what else could you wish for? You can find the recipe and more photos here.

Ingredients
100 g dark chocolate
50 g butter
75 g sugar
2 eggs
60 g ground hazelnuts
30 g gluten-free self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange flavour/ 1 tablespoon orange liqueur
1 ripe banana
100 g dates OR 50 g dates and 50 g raisins
Decoration
3 tablespoons of preferred jam
20 g dark chocolate

Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 175 °C or gas mark 4. Line a round baking tin with greaseproof baking paper.

2) In a bowl, melt chocolate and butter (microwave or stove).Set aside.

3) In a separate bowl, cream together sugar and eggs. Add ground hazelnuts, gluten-free flour, baking powder, cinnamon and orange flavour or orange liqueur. Mix until well combined.

4) Chop banana into bite-sized pieces. Remove stones from dates and chop into small pieces as well. Add banana and dates (and raisins if you like them) to the batter, mix again.

5) Pour batter into the prepared baking tin. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes.

6) Remove from oven and leave to cool.

7) For the glaze, gently heat up the jam. Brush it evenly over the cake. Grate some chocolate and sprinkle it on top of the glazed cake.

Glutenfree coconut rum shortbread

kueken23 — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 03:02:30 GMT

Shortbread is great - easy to make, very few ingredients (no eggs!) and always delicious. Also great food to take with you when on a trip out. You can find the recipe and more photos here.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup gluten-free, self-raising flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut (unsweetened is fine, too)
1 tablespoon rum (or milk)

Glaze
50 g chocolate

Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 180 °C and line a baking pan with parchment paper.

2) In a bowl, blend together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter and vanilla extract and mix until dough is crumbly. Stir in coconut and continue to mix, this time with your hands.

3) Add the rum (or milk).

4) Use your fingers to press the dough evenly into the pan.

5) Bake for 7 minutes, rotate the pan and bake for another 7 minutes. Shortbread should not get too brown/dark and when you remove if from the oven, it should still be slightly soft. Leave to cool and cut into bars or squares.

6) Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Cover shortbread with the chocolate and leave to cool again.

Gluten-free soft chocolate cookies

kueken23 — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 22:42:57 GMT

Chewy, soft and chocolaty - the way a perfect cookie should be! Store them in a glass jar, so they can be easily transported. Also makes a pretty and delicious present. You can find the recipe here.

Ingredients
Batter
100 g butter
100 g light brown sugar
150 g gluten-free self-raising flour
1 egg
40 g cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon mixed spices or cinnamon
50 g dark chocolate or chocolate chips

Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 180 °C or gas mark 4. Line 2 baking trays with greaseproof baking paper.

2) Melt butter in the microwave. Mix together will all ingredients apart from the chocolate and mix with a hand mixer until well-combined.

3) Chop the chocolate in small pieces (not needed if you are using chocolate chips) and add to the batter. Mix again, this time with a spoon.

4) Spoon a tablespoon of the mixture on to a baking tray, repeat until you have used up all of the cookie batter. You do not have to shape them as they will melt and flat out in the oven anyway.

5) Bake for 15 minutes. When you remove them from the oven, they will still be soft, but once cooled, they will firm up a bit.

redwingprincess — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 10:25:57 GMT

I need some advice from any professionals around here.

I am throwing my parents a surprise 25th anniversary party and I wanted to do a replica of their wedding cake. I've talked to one bakery over at Holiday Market and they said it's about $5 a serving. I've also sent information to another baker that a friend has used but am still waiting to hear back from her. The original bakery closed this past winter all of the sudden.

But my aunt thinks I should do the cake to save some money since I am an only child and paying for everything myself. IF I was to do this cake how much mix would I need and buttercream? I was thinking to do the bottom layer as one cake carved and then another tier on that and then the one with the pillars for my parents to save. So maybe a 12, 8 & 6?

Or is anyone here a baker in the Metro Detroit area that could possibly do the cake?

thank you for any help you can give.