With a little help from our friends...

My friend Kristel (http://stirringuptrouble.wordpress.com/) sent me a picture of a flour-less cake & this instantly struck my fancy to bake this with my mum particularly because my baked item of the month for November is a flour-less torte. So after a short search I found this delicious sounding dessert. It was pretty simple to do considering all that was involved was using a double boiler, a hand mixer, & the oven. After making it & trying it, it definitely needs something sweet to go with it or we need to put something sweeter in it. With the unsweetened cocoa powder & bittersweet chocolate chips it was not as delicious as I would like. With that being said, I look forward for to making this similar dessert next month. Enjoy!

Mum & I love multitasking. As we made this dessert, we also made Derek (my nephew) & his friend's Halloween costume. They are going to be oompa loompas. We dyed the turtlenecks brown & sewed the pants, hemmed them, & put in a waste band. We like to stay busy!!

Gluten-free Flour-less Chocolate Cake w Almond Whipped Cream

Ingredients

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 3 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
1 1/4 cups sugar (we used 3/4 cups of Stevia)
6 eggs
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

Almond Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoons sugar (1/2 tsp Stevia)

1 teaspoon almond extract



almond whipped cream



Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a circle of parchment paper. Spray the paper and edges of the pan with cooking spray, and lightly dust with cocoa powder, then set the pan aside.

Place two-thirds (8 ounces) of the chocolate and 1 cup (2 sticks) of the butter in a double boiler  over medium heat. Stirring often, melt chocolate with butter until completely blended. Remove from heat add sugar and mix well. Let the mixture cool slightly and add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition (this made it really pudding like). Sift cocoa into bowl and stir until just blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake has risen and top has formed a thin crust. The cake should be just firm in the center when done. Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate, removing sides of springform pan. Remove and discard parchment paper and set cake aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the chocolate glaze. Melt remaining 4 ounces chocolate and 3 tablespoons butter in a double boiler over medium low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, then stir in milk, honey and vanilla. Set aside to cool slightly.

When cake has When cake has cooled, pour glaze onto the center. Using a spatula very gently smooth glaze along the top and sides of the cake. Chill cake, uncovered, for 30 to 60 minutes before serving to set the glaze and make the cake easier to slice.

For the almond whipped cream.  Add the cream, sugar, and almond extract to a bowl.  Beat on low speed until the volume begins to grow.  Increase to high speed until peaks begin to form.  Be careful not to overbeat or you will end up with almond flavored butter…

Serve cake with a dollop of whipped cream and garnish with fresh berries and mint. 



after flourless cake!



Yummy!



Special thanks to the following website, A Gluten-Free Guide (http://tinyurl.com/2wsll7m), for this yummy recipe!

Cherry Cake w Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting

This was one of the simplest desserts to bake. The only prep time that was needed for this was for the homemade cream cheese frosting. Mom had made it a few days before for my nephews homemade gluten free chocolate cookie. One of the cookies made regular, the other with coconut (blog to come soon). This cake even though not made from scratch, made for a quick & easy dessert that leaves your mouth wanting more.

Cherry Cake 

Betty Crocker's Gluten Free white cake mix

2 cans of cherry filling

cream cheese frosting:

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature

8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature

2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Follow the directions on the white cake mix package

2. Be sure to grease thoroughly. Fill bundt cake pan halfway with the cake mix. Pour cherry filling on top of cake mix. Top with the rest of the cake mix.  

3. Bake!

After baking this delightful dessert, my cake fell apart.

Luckily for me, Mom is a genius & helped me fix my disaster into a beautiful presentation!

When Heaven hit our lips..

This heavenly dessert turned my negative thoughts about how difficult it would be to actually enjoy desserts that are gluten free. Chocolate Caramel Shortbread tastes even better than it sounds.

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread

(serves 12)

Crust:

1/2 c. butter, extra for greasing

(sift the following ingredients)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 c garbanzo flour

1/4 c. sorghum flour

1/4 c. superfine sugar

Caramel:

3/4 c. butter

1/2 c. superfine sugar

                3 Tbs. dark corn syrup (we used light corn syrup)

                     14 oz/400g canned condensed milk

             70z/200g semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces

1. Preheat to 350F. Grease & line the bottom of a 9-in shallow square cake pan. Place the butter, flour, & sugar in a food processor until the mix binds together. Press in the pan & level. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

2. Mix all of the caramel ingredients in a heavy bottom pan. Heat gently until sugar melts. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat & simmer 6-8 minutes, stirring, until very thick. pour over shortbread & chill for 2 hours or until firm.

3. Melt chocolate, spread over caramel. Let chill in the fridge for 2 hours or until set. Cut & serve. 

Trying to satisfy the Starbucks Cravings

My sister, Jamie, wanted my Mom & Me to replicate the Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake from Starbucks. This was one of the first desserts that we converted over to gluten free. For the most part I think that this turned out pretty good. We could taste the bean after taste, but it did not take away too much from how delicious it was. We plan to tackle this recipe again in hopes of ridding the coffee cake from the bean after taste.

Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

(serves: 24, prep time: 45 minutes)

1 1/3 c. sugar

1 c. sour cream

1/4 c. margarine, softened

4 eggs

4 med., ripe bananas

3 tsp. vanilla (add more to taste)

1 c. chocolate chips

[sift the following ingredients]

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/8 c. tapioca flour

1/4 c. potato starch

1/2 c. sorghum flour

1/2 c. garbanzo flour

1/2 c. coconut flour

1. Heat oven to 375F. Spray a 9x11 inch pan w non-stick cooking spray. 

2. Beat sugar, sour cream, margarine, & eggs in large bowl on low speed for 1 minute.

3. Beat in flour ingredients on medium speed for 1 minute.

4. Beat in bananas & vanilla on low speed for 30 seconds.

5. Stir in chocolate chips & spread in pan.

6. Bake 35-40 minutes or until light brown on top.

7. Cool in pan.

8. Cut into 2-inch bars

Three step Cheesecake

3-Step Cheesecake

(serves: 8, prep time: 10 minutes + refrigerator, bake: 40 minutes)

Crust:

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 c. garbanzo flour

1/4 c. sorghum flour

1/4 c. superfine sugar 

(be sure to sift the dry ingredients together)

1/2 c. butter

Filling:

2 pkg (8oz each) Philadelphia cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

1. preheat oven t 325F. Bake crust 25-30 minutes. Beat cream cheese, sugar, & vanilla extract w an electric mixer on medium until well blended. Add eggs; mix just until well blended.

2. Pour into crust.

3. Bake 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight. Refrigerate leftovers.  

Fudgy S'More Bars

I was very excited to put this one together. The picture makes it look heavenly & delicious. However we quickly learned that if you are going to use gluten free ingredients, you must be certain not to mess up. If the smallest thing goes wrong, it seems to have lasting effects on the dessert outcome. We were doing a lot of baking on this day & I forgot that this crust needed to be baked before adding the top. I thought this turned out awful, but Mom & everybody else who tried it, loved it. I could only taste the bean after taste, something I want to rid out of our desserts.

Fudgy S'More Bars

(makes 32 bars, prep time: 20 mins, start - finish: 1 hr 35 mins)

Crust:

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 c. garbanzo flour

1/4 c. sorghum flour

1/4 c. superfine sugar 

(be sure to sift the dry ingredients together)

1/2 c. butter

Topping:

4 c. mini marshmallows

3/4 c. candy-coated chocolate pieces

1/4 c. hot fudge topping, heated

1. Heat oven 350F. Grease 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, beat crust ingredients w electric mixer on low speed until coarse crumbs form, scraping bowl occasionally. Press mixture evenly in bottom of pan.

2. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle marshmallows evenly over crust; bake 1-2 minutes longer or until marshmallows begin to puff.

3. Sprinkle chocolate pieces evenly over marshmallows; drizzle warm topping over top. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Cut into 8 rows by 4 rows. 

Perfect Apple Pie

These apples came hand picked from Carter Mt. in Charlottesville, VA. I was extremely excited to make this pie because it is one of my favorite types of pies & I was interested to taste the gluten free pie crust.
I used Pamela's Bread Mix & followed the pie crust recipe. This is has been the best pie crust that we've made thus far. For the filling, I substituted the flour for xanthan gum. This was my most favorite gf dessert that has been made. Enjoy!

 

Perfect Apple Pie

(serves 8, prep time: 35 mins, Start-Finish: 3hrs 20 mins)

Crust: Pamela's Bread Mix

Filling:

6 c. thinly sliced, peeled apple (6 med)

3/4 c. sugar

2 tsp. xanthan gum

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon (more if desired, I used more)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (I used more)

1 tbl. lemon juice

1. Heat oven to 425F. Place pie crust in 9-in glass pie plate. Press firmly against side & bottom.

2. In large bowl, gently mix filling ingredients; spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Top with second pastry; seal edge & flute. Cut slits or shapes in several place in top crust. Cover edge with 2-3 inch wide strips of foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil during last 15 mins of baking.

3. Bake 40-45 minutes or until apples are tender & crust is golden brown. Cool on wire rack at least 2 hours before serving.

Baking Tip: Tart apples, ie Granny Smith, McIntosh, or Pippin, make the most flavorful pies. Or you can substitute two 21 oz cans of apple pie filling for the fresh apple filling

Recipe from Pillsbury 16 month calender (2010) 

Yummy!

That's what we're hoping every person who tries our recipes will say! Recently, my stepdad was diagnosed as a celiac. This means his diet is restricted from gluten- barley, wheat, & rye. No bread, no pasta, no processed foods, no cross contamination (going out to eat becomes a problem), & trying to get enough nutrients in your body so that you do not become under nourished.

Our goal with this blog is to write about what desserts that we have tried, sometimes delicious treats, while other times the desserts are atrocious. That is what this is about though, going out on a limb and trying new things in order to help my stepdad eat with more of a variety. At the same time, my mom & I are slowly cutting out gluten from our diets. It is a lot harder than it seems, but it is a fun challenge that helps our bodies to be healthier.

I hope that you will go on this journey with us & pass it on to others..xo