Chocolate Fudge Birthday Cake Perfection

Okay, I have to confess something. I am a terrible cake baker, under pressure, that is. I call it the birthday cake curse. Really. I actually took a personal vow like 8-9 years ago to make no more scratch birthday cakes as they always get screwed up. I can make a great cake the rest of the time but birthdays…not so much. Once I baked a birthday cake for my sister Margie at my mom’s house and unbeknownst to me there was a second bottom on her cheesecake pan; my pear ginger cake was all goopy in the middle because of that! And then there was that fancy three layer cake I baked for my birthday long ago; the top layer was a sort of raspberry gelatin and it slid mostly off! Disaster at the party… Any number of cakes that didn’t rise properly or cracked as it baked or broke as I tried to get them out of the pan. I could go on and on. The curse continues!

Now I am gluten free and there are very limited and expensive options as to making gf cakes. Perhaps I should mention that I enjoy baking and it is a challenge I accept in my new gluten free life. So I persevered and several birthday cakes have been created since going gf and all were totally yummy. A few glitches but on the whole, I am pleased with my new gf birthday cake record. Today I baked my three year old grandson’s cake. Not so good in the perfect department but it sure was tasty when we ate it at the party. When it came out of my oven the layers sank some in the center. Re-reading her instructions at the start of the cake chapter I discovered that she does not recommend using a Kitchen Aid mixer; it is too powerful and always overbeats gf cakes. Now I know. I just flipped one layer over and used it as the bottom. I put extra cream cheese icing in the middle. The top was level and the flavors were out of this world.

This is the third time I have baked this cake for a birthday; time to share it. It is from my go to cookbook; Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts. Get a copy if you haven’t already. This cake is incredibly yummy, no one will ever feel cheated by the gf nature of it. And it isn’t that difficult to make, just don’t use that big powerful mixer! I like that it is make with low fat milk and canola oil; less fatty than many cake recipes. I used half the vanilla in the cake and it tastes perfect. I also measure the oil and milk and remove that tablespoon from each before mixing; she does it after mixing. I think oil and milk are hard to blend so I do it first.

I iced Aiden’s cake with a frosting from the Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor cookbook by Anne Byrn; vanilla cream cheese frosting and the contrast is perfection with this decadent chocolate layer cake. This icing spreads easily and the cream cheese makes it smooth and less sweet with a tangy undertone; it is addictive. It’s a perfect combo for a birthday celebration once you poke a few candles on top. This cake gets its deep chocolate flavor from two sources, unsweetened chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder. You will need a fair amount of sugar to make it sweet enough. And you will need some of that brown rice flour mix I often use. Recipe for that is below.

Not the prettiest looking cake but one of the tastiest chocolate birthday cakes ever!

Chocolate Fudge Birthday Cake

4 oz unsweetened chocolate chopped up

1 ¾ cup brown rice flour mix

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

¾ tsp. xanthan gum

½ cup canola oil

1 ½ cup low fat milk

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Line two nine inch cake pans with parchment paper; spray the inside of the pan lightly with cooking spray. You need the paper for safe removal from the pan. Do not use dark cake pans; light ones are far better for this cake. Heat the oven to 350 degrees, oven rack in the middle.

Melt chocolate, stir often. I used the melting feature on my microwave and did a lot of stirring until the last bits were liquid. You can do it in a double boiler if you are into that sort of thing. I went for the easy way.

Put all dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk well to combine.

Measure oil and milk, remove 1 tbsp. from each and discard. Mix together.

Beat sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Do not use your kitchen aide. Beat until light and fluffy. Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla, blend well. Add the dry and wet ingredients alternating half at a time, low speed on mixer. Mix at medium speed for one minute.

Pour into the prepared pans and bake immediately. Any delay is not going to help so have the oven ready to go. Bake 30-35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes, run knife around edge, tip out onto a cooling rack. Flip upright so the top of the cake is on the top. Let cool completely before icing.

You could make cupcakes out of it but no 8 inch pans; I tried that once and it overran the pan in a crazy “I love Lucy” manner!

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Brown Rice Flour Mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

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Cream cheese Icing

1 8 oz package light cream cheese, room temperature

1 8 oz stick salted butter, room temperature

3 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sieved

2 tsp. real vanilla extract.

Blend the cream cheese and butter in the mixer (yes I used my Kitchen Aid for this recipe!) Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, blending on low speed. Do not skip the sieving. Add the vanilla and blend a bit more. This recipe will frost one 9 inch layer cake perfectly.

Yam It Up…Fries That Is!

Yams are underrated: some families only eat them one day a year with their turkey later this month. Yet they are full of phyto-nutrients, vitamins and minerals to keep you healthy. Naturally sweet so there is no need to pour dozens of marshmallows and brown sugar over them. And they are not just for Thanksgiving.

I like to make baked yam wedge fries. Spicy ones are my favorite. They go great with oven fried chicken or homemade gf chicken nuggets. Yam wedges are totally yummy plus easy to throw together. Great vegetables don’t have to be full of calories, super fancy or difficult to make. Carefully prepared fresh vegetables are a great side to any balanced meal. And yams are naturally gluten free; hurrah!

Don’t pick gigantic yams, small to medium size are easier to cut into decent lengths for these fries. I like the ones that are deep orange inside; great flavor every time I use them.

Yam Fries

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

3-4 yams, wash, dry and then cut up into long fairly narrow wedges; 6 to 10 per yam depending on size and place them on a cookie sheet with edges, mound them up in the center

1-2 tbsp. EVOL: Pour on top the pile.

Sprinkle with

1 tsp. paprika

¼ tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. coarse sea salt

A sprinkle of hot chipotle chili powder

A few grinds of fresh black pepper.

Use two forks to stir around the wedges so they get coated with oil and spices. Spread them out over the baking sheet. If you don’t want them too spicy leave out the chili powder. Use whatever spices you like if my combination doesn’t thrill your taste buds.

Bake for 10 minutes, turnover with a pancake turner. Cook 7 to 10 more minutes until a fork pierces a wedge easily. The thicker you make them the longer they will take to get tender. Watch them closely for the last couple of minutes so they don’t burn. I find that they cook faster in my pizza oven; my main oven is a tad slower so they need from 10 to 14 minutes after you turn them but that does depend on the thickness you cut them to.

It’s that simple people! My family loves them and so will yours. Just add more yams and spices to make a bigger batch of fries.

Awesome Instant Oatmeal….GF of Course

Chilly nights are here….snow may be on the way. Yes, that sounds awful but it is the sad truth about fall…it means wintery cold is not far off. The freezing weather we are about to be hit with got me thinking about making more warm breakfasts. Last week I bought a bag of quick GF oatmeal at the health food store. It was pretty tasty and only took a few minutes to cook up. It got me thinking that maybe I could make my own version which could be cheaper and easily varied from batch to batch. I looked around on some sites and cookbooks. I found a recipe by the queen of entertaining, she who spent a few weeks in the big house. No names here! All I had to do was use gluten free oats which are available at Frey’s Better Foods, at Giant and at Wegman’s grocery store. I added a bit more cinnamon to my version.

There was a bit of prep work; the oats need to be toasted for 15 minutes which gives them a lot more flavor than the ancient grains version I had purchased. A sheet pan is perfect for this toasting. Just keep an eye on it for the last few minutes to make sure nothing gets too brown.

I put some dried cranberries and golden raisins in my version. Other options could be chopped dried fruits like apricots or apples, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, or any sort of nut you like. I think a combo of two items is really a great idea. Like some fruit and some nuts. I also topped mine, once it was cooked, with some hemp seeds which are nutty and kinda like sesame seeds.

The oats were coarsely ground in my small food processor in two batches. If you use a big one you could probably do it in one batch.

I poured the chopped oats into a storage jar with a tight lid and added the sugar, salt and cinnamon. Then I poured in the toppings. Easy and it only takes a few minutes to make it in the morning.

Instant GF Cinnamon Oatmeal

INGREDIENTS

2 cups old-fashioned gluten free rolled oats

2 tbsp. light brown sugar

½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread oats on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until lightly toasted but not browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool. Pulse oats in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Mix sugar, salt, and cinnamon, or more to your taste into the oats as well as half to 2/3 cup of a combination of add-ins (see suggestions below), before storing in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Or freeze it to keep even longer.

Additions: dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, walnut chunks, pecan bits, raisins, dried apricots cut into small bits, cut up medool dates, currants, dried blueberries or cherries, flax seeds, hemp seed hearts: any small seed or dried fruit would be awesome!

To make: heat 2/3 cup of water, lightly salted, to the boil. Stir in a heaping 1/3 cup of the oatmeal mixture. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring a couple times. Cover and let stand 2-3 more minutes before scooping the hot cereal into a bowl. It is already sweet enough for my taste but you can add more brown sugar or some honey to the dish. A fresh topping would be a great addition of nutrients and even more flavor. Sliced banana, some blueberries or sliced ripe pear and you are about to enjoy a fairly inexpensive yet healthy gluten free hot breakfast that only took 2 minutes to cook.

Note: I like this better than the GF Ancient Grains version; tastes fresher and toastier and has a great oaty flavor. About to make a new batch; I have been enjoying it a lot on cold mornings. I love how fast I can make it; my regular oatmeal takes 8 minutes plus the time to get the pot of water to a boil. Two minutes is an oatmeal revolution!

Sunday Supper: Chicken Fricassee with Herb Dumplings

Chicken fricassee is a long time family favorite. No one ever passes up seconds of it and my mom is particularly fond of the dumplings that are steamed on top of the chicken. I had no clue how to make it gluten free and hence didn’t serve this at any family Sunday night suppers for the past 21 months. I couldn’t find any savory dumpling recipes that were safe for me as a celiac. Finally, my longing for those homey flavors overcame my fear of extreme experimentation and this recipe was born the other weekend and much enjoyed by all. The dumplings are not quite as tender as the original ones but are a more than reasonable facsimile!

Yes, we ate this yummy meal on paper plates…less clean up.

It is a combination of two recipes with a number of additions modifications by me; the dumplings are somewhat based on a recipe from Bette Hagman’s book, More from the Gluten-Free Gourmet and the chicken fricassee recipe is mostly Betty Crocker.

Yes, there are a lot of ingredients in this recipe, don’t let that keep you from trying it; there is a lot of dumping together and slow simmering, no fancy cooking tricks or mad kitchen skills are required.

If you don’t want so much flavor in your dumplings cut back on the spices/herbs. They do need some herbs so don’t go less than half the listed amounts. If you don’t like all three of those veggies leave out as you wish but each adds seriously great flavor and helps to make this a satisfying one dish meal.

Be sure to check the chicken after 30 minutes and add some water if it is low; mine came perilously close to burning the last time I made it. The chicken coating helps to form savory gravy with that water. No gravy is not good either so add water so you end up with at least a cup of gravy.

Chicken

4-5 pounds cut up mixed chicken parts, bone in.

I cut the breasts in half for manageable serving sizes. You could buy a couple packages of chicken parts – what your family likes. I had trouble finding the cut up whole chicken that used to be common at meat counters. I bought a whole chicken and spent a grisly 15 minutes hacking up the beast into serving pieces. Not fun, next time I will get a whole breast and cut it up and use a package of chicken thighs/legs. If you only use breasts cut the cooking time to 30 minutes.

Coating mix:

2 tsp. paprika

½ cup white rice flour

¼ cup tapioca flour

2 tbsp. millet flour

1 tsp sea salt

¼ tsp. pepper

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2 tbsp. canola oil or mild olive oil

4-5 carrots

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2-3 celery stalks

1 large onion

1 large sprig fresh thyme or ½ tsp. dried thyme

1 large sprig fresh rosemary or ½ tsp. dried rosemary.

1 cup water, maybe more

Dumplings

Dry part:

2 ¼ cups white rice flour

½ cup potato starch

½ cup tapioca flour

1 tsp. baking soda

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. poppy seeds

½ tsp. celery seeds

1-2 tsp. dried or fresh chopped chives

2 tsp. dried parsley

Wet stuff:

3 eggs, lightly beaten

3 tbsp melted butter or canola oil

1/3 cup milk/buttermilk

Directions:

Mix the dry ingredients in a shallow bowl. I take off the chicken skin; up to your preference. Roll the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour. Heat the oil in a thick bottomed large dutch oven. Brown the chicken pieces on all sides; this could take from 8 to 12 minutes. Cut the carrots into 1 inch lengths, same for the celery. Chop the onion. Remove the browned chicken to a large plate, add the veggies and stir for a minute or two. Add back the chicken on top. Top with herbs. Pour in cup of water. Cover, cook on low for 45 minutes. Check after 30 minutes and add another ½ cup water if needed; you want there to be liquid on the bottom or the veggies could burn.

Make the dumplings. Mix the wet ingredients and then add to the dry mix in a big bowl. Stir briefly. It will be very wet looking.

Use a large serving spoon to put large glops of dumpling around the chicken pieces. Cover and cook 25 minutes or until dumplings appear firm (no longer gloppy). The chicken and the veggies should be done by that time. Enjoy!

This is the leftovers in the pot. Lunch tomorrow!

You could add a salad as a side dish for more veggies. We had a cucumber salad to round out our meal.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins…Oh so Cinnamony!

I had no portable baked snacks and a bowl of apples so I figured it was time for apple muffins. This is another great recipe out of Annalise Robert’s cookbook; Gluten-Free Baking Classics. It is very similar to her banana nut muffins. If I had to have just one GF cookbook hers would be the one for me.

I use so many of her recipes and her quick breads are outstanding! The apple cinnamon muffins did not disappoint: light, crunchy outside with a great cinnamon apple flavor. I put some golden raisins in my muffins but if you are not a fan; leave them out. They are my addition to this easy to make recipe. I also used half mexican cinnamon; a touch spicier than regular cinnamon but very good in these muffins. I ran out of cinnamon and was happy to have a close alternative to flavor these treats.

Do use a baking apple; not red delicious which are solely an eating apple and don’t use a extra firm one like the tasty Granny Smith; they won’t get soft enough during the rapid baking of these tasty little treats. I got a half peck of mixed baking apples from Bechdolt’s Orchard a week ago and have used them in several recipes– not an apple yet that wasn’t fantastic in flavor and texture.

I enjoyed eating a muffin still warm out of the oven. It is smart to freeze any you won’t eat in 2 days; ziplock freezer bag works great. They make super snacks. These apple muffins are kinda delicate; if you want to take them on a hike or car ride put them in a plastic food box – the rigid sides will keep your muffins safe from crushing.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

2 cups brown rice flour mix (see below)

2/3 c granulated sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 c chopped apple; peel and core the apple!

½ c chopped walnuts

¼ cup golden raisins (optional)

2 large eggs beaten

½ c milk, 1 or 2 percent

½ c canola oil

Heat oven to 375, placing the rack in middle of oven. Spray muffin pans with cooking spray. One batch makes 12-16 muffins.

Mix all dry ingredients in bowl of stand mixer or big bowl

Add apple, raisins and walnuts; stir to coat them with dry mix

Combine milk and oil, remove 1 tbsp of combined liquid and ditch it. Beat in eggs. Add liquids to big bowl; stir until blended.

Fill muffin pans 2/3 full. I use a big serving spoon and fill it about half way to dump in each muffin space. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar.

Bake 20-24 min until golden brown. Do not over bake or they will taste dry. Remove immediately from the pans and cool on a rack.

Freezes well for up to 3 weeks. Keeps in fridge (well wrapped) a few days.

Brown Rice Flour Mix base mix
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

	✒️🥣Dorothy's New Vin… on Tapioca Pudding – Timele…
	Angela Drake on Tapioca Pudding – Timele…
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	Angela Drake on Tapioca Pudding – Timele…
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My World Without Wheat

My World Without Wheat by Angela E. Drake continues here

Author: Angela Drake

Chocolate Fudge Birthday Cake Perfection

Yam It Up…Fries That Is!

Awesome Instant Oatmeal….GF of Course

Sunday Supper: Chicken Fricassee with Herb Dumplings

Apple Cinnamon Muffins…Oh so Cinnamony!