Author: Angela Drake

Angela Drakehttp://AWorldWithoutWheat.wordpress.comElementary school teacher, circulation desk clerk at my local library, mother of Kasey, Nonna to Aiden and Liam, volunteer at Musikfest, gardener, potter in stoneware, quilter, gf baker, hiker, camper, birdwatcher and addictive reader.......
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Lemon Velvet Pie

My first pie post this year is something out of my Farm Journal’s Best Ever Pie Cookbook published in 1981.  My dear sister Margie gave it to me a long time ago and I have baked a number of sweet pie treats out of it. This is a lemon pie but unlike any I have ever made.  It is called a lemon velvet pie.  I think of it as a puffy lightly lemon cloud of a treat.  Impressive and delicious. It has a lot of elements to it but no step is that difficult to conquer. It might strike you as the offspring of the union of a chiffon pie and the venerable and much loved lemon meringue pie!  Anyway, it is melt in your mouth delish and delicate especially if you make it with Meyer lemon as I did.

Per my New Year’s promise I did cut the sugar down quite a bit.  This filling is naturally gluten free.  My wheat eating friends can use a regular pie shell to make this treat.  I am betting it might be also great with my cookie/tart pie crust. This pie will be the talk of your next gathering if you whip it up!

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Lemon Velvet Pie

 

2/3 cup of sugar (can add another 1/3 cup if you like it sweet)

6 tbsp. corn starch

½ tsp. salt

1 ½ cups cold water

2 eggs separated

2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. lemon zest, grated fresh

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tbsp. (1 packet) unflavored gelatin

¼ cup cold water

1 cup light cream

A baked 9 inch pie shell

1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 2-3 tbsp. powdered sugar

 

Directions; bake the pie crust and let cool. See any of my past pie blog posts for a crust recipe.  I bake it about 20-25 minutes until it is light brown.

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in 1 ½ to 2 qt saucepan, stir in water, cook over medium heat until it thickens and mounds when dropped from a spoon; stirring constantly. Might take up to 5 minutes.  Stir a couple of spoons of it into the two stirred up egg yolks. Add right back into pan and stir well, cook 2 minutes on low stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add butter, stir, add the zest, lemon juice and vanilla, stir well. Remove one cup of filling and set aside.

Soften gelatin in the cold water for 5 minutes.  Add to the remaining hot filling in pan, stir to dissolve it.  Gradually stir in light cream, cool slightly to firm a bit.

Beat egg whites until firm and glossy, using electric mixer at high speed.  Fold into the pan of cooling filling.  I used a rubber spoonula. Pour mixture into baked pie shell, Refrigerate 15 minutes.  Top with the remaining cup of plain filling you set aside.  It will be thick; I put small spoonfuls all over the top.  Chill in fridge at least 2 hours to set the pie.

Whip the cream, add some sugar to sweeten lightly and serve slices with big dollops of cream on top. Velvety lemon delight on a plate.

Originally posted in January 2016, minor text changes, no recipe changes.

 

Angel Food Cake

I know I promised to write about fresh fruit desserts every week this year but sometimes it is all about using the ingredients you got.  I had some egg whites in the freezer and wanted to use them up. Defrost and I had everything else in the fridge or pantry: go cake. This post is also an exception to my resolution because it is so freaking delish. Was making it for many years before my diagnosis with celiac so once I got comfy baking gf I figured I could someday make it gf and it is perhaps even better than it was with gluten based flour.

So all you gluten free disbelievers, this cake will change your mind. It is tender, moist and delicately flavored, not to mention very pretty.

Notes: I save egg whites; in a Tupperware container in the freezer, until I have a cup and a half of them.  Then I am ready to put this beauty together. Or just use enough eggs to make 1.5 cups of whites. If you don’t have guar gum you can use xanthan gum.

A few words on separating eggs: this can be tricky and I have learned via bad experiences not to separate directly into the measuring cup full of whites; do it into a small bowl and dump. You can NOT get ANY egg yolk in the whites or they won’t beat properly.  Best to set any egg that breaks or becomes contaminated with even a speck of yolk aside and make an omelet for supper! I crack each egg on the edge of my counter, split its shell in half and dump it over one cupped hand. The white flows through into the bowl underneath and I drop the yolk into the mixing bowl. Be gentle so the yolk doesn’t break  Don’t use old eggs or the yolks are more likely to break; fresh is best but they need to come to room temperature before cracking so the whites beat to a high volume.  FYI: When baking gf all ingredients should be room temperature unless the recipe tells you otherwise.

I know, a crazy lot of egg whites in this but remember, no fat what-so-ever! Angel food cake is a good choice for your diabetic friends, or so they say. I just think those folks love a good angel food cake.

Angel Food Cake

1 1/2 cup egg whites (room temp)

1 ¼ cup powdered sugar

1 cup brown rice flour blend (recipe below)

½ tsp guar gum

1 ½ tsp. cream of tarter

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ tsp. almond extract

1 cup granulated sugar

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Put baking rack on second slot from the bottom.  You need a ten inch tube pan with removable bottom, do not spray.

Mix and sift the powdered sugar, flour, guar gum in a bowl at least once.

Pour the egg whites into a stand mixer bowl, add cream of tarter and salt.  Start at medium speed.  Beat until foamy, increase speed until high, wait for soft peaks and add cup of granulated sugar a tbsp or two at a time as it beats.  No bowl scraping or stopping.  Beat at highest speed until you have stiff peaks.  Beat briefly after adding the two flavoring extracts. Set aside.

Fold the flour mixture into the egg whites, I do about a quarter cup at a time sprinkled all over the top and I fold it with a spatula or spoonula.  Be gentle and smooth; don’t worry if it isn’t perfectly smoothly mixed.

Put big glops of the mixture into the baking tube pan; I like 3 big ones. Gently stir through the pan with your spoonula to get rid of any big air holes and smooth the top with the spoonula.

Put into preheated oven, bake 35 minutes, until when you press gently on the top it springs back.

Remove from oven, turn it over and hang on an empty wine bottle neck or a big funnel. Let cool totally in this upside down state before cutting it out of the pan. I use a sharp serrated bread knife, cut around the outside edge and the center tube. Lift it out and then slice under the cake all around.  Place a cake plate over the top and gently flip it.

I store it in a plastic cake saver or just in the microwave away from breezes and hungry folks.  You could wrap it in plastic wrap too. It is best eaten within 3 days.  It generally doesn’t last that long around here.  We had some with fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream: heavenly!

Brown Rice Flour Mix base mix 

(This mix is the same as King Arthur’s basic gf blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

 

This recipe is almost exactly the angel food cake you will find in Annalise Roberts’ Gluten-Free Baking Classics cookbook.

 

New Year… Resolutions for a Better Lifestyle!

Well, a week late but here I go.  My New Year’s resolutions: exercise more, eat less processed foods and cut back on sugar.  I already eat a lot of veggies and fruits and plan on as much or more.  Also, sleep longer on consistent basis, (The irony of my typing this post late this night is not lost on me!) avoid harsh soaps and chemicals, find more time to relax, laugh more and smile more.  Find more joy in life

white-cheddar-puffs

So, when shopping I am going to avoid the sugar and processed foods. I bought a bag of cheese curls for my visiting family.  Last bag ever.  Swear it! A couple months ago I found some nummy cheese puffs at Aldi’s that are naturally flavored with white cheese. Their cheesiness is delicate and pure in comparison to those neon orange Utz curls.  Good decision. Keep trending that way is how I plan to roll while grocery shopping.

Less cake…more fruit based desserts is my baking resolution and I will share them with you.  I did my year of pies in 2016 and it was very nice indeed.  This year might be more like lots of hand pies, tartlets, galettes, clafouti and other fruity concoctions.  I also am trying to cut back even more on white sugar; go for honey, maple syrup, raw sugar, or coconut palm sugar. Just say FRUIT and I smile!

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peach tartlets ready for the oven last summer

I also want to explore more spicy entrees in my cooking; Moroccan, Indian, Thai etc. Love spices, love new foods and enjoy the discovery of lovely flavors and textures in my adventures into other cultures.  You may soon be seeing posts voyaging to new foods and spice combinations. Come along for the ride and be an explorer with me in 2017!

Lemon Custard Bars

Lemon season is right now; they are very fresh and I have a whole box of them my wonderful brother in Texas sent me.  The incredible lemon scent when I opened the box about knocked me over! Besides the venerable lemon meringue pie, lemon marmalade, lemoncello liqueur, lemon velvet pie, lemon chiffon pie and lemonade; what else can be made with them? I use them when I oven bake chicken with small potatoes. I make preserved lemons for use in Moroccan cooking and in sauces. I put the zest in shortbread cookie dough and I love lemon bars.  Recently, I found a new lemon bar recipe that is more of a lemon custard bar you cut into squares. This recipe is so simple. I followed it exactly down to the parchment paper lined baking pan; makes for easy removal of the squares after cooling.  This is a 8×8 square pan; makes 9 big squares or 12 smaller rectanges.

The custard is eggs, gf flour blend, baking powder and a whole lot of lemon juice.  Beat them up and pour on top of a lemon scented shortbread (it has lemon zest in it!) and bake a while.  Then comes the waiting; they have to chill two hours before you can cut into the pan of delicate lemony goodness.  The squares get sprinkled with sifted powdered sugar for a pretty picture of a lemon treat.  They are from Nicole Hunn’s gluten free website.  Since she doesn’t allow bloggers to share her recipes; here’s the link to her amazing lemon bars: http://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/gf-lemon-bars-for-dad-plain-lemons-for-me/

lemon-custard-square

They are thicker and more custardy than typical lemon bars and a delicate delight when made using Meyer lemons.  But the recipe is for regular lemons and they make a great dessert using whatever lemons you like.  If you are a lemon lover they can’t be passed by!

Instant Pot Revolution!

I got this amazing kitchen appliance: the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker 6 in 1, six quart size.  It has functions for sautéing, steaming, making rice, porridge, stewing, slow cooking and yes; pressure cooking.  Now, when I was a kid, my mom had a pressure cooker. She used it mostly for canning tomatoes and I remember being told to never ever touch it while in use.  I was terrified of that pressure top thingy; if touched, clouds of boiling hot steam poured out.  Any time I thought of getting a pressure cooker, those memories would come back and it was “nope” to a pressure cooker.  This past year a lovely friend of mine, Jenn, got an Instant Pot and she was always talking about it on facebook.  I asked and got her response of “This thing is wonderful and I use it all the time.”  She is a vegetarian and is totally in to legumes and grains.  Not gluten free like me but she eats very healthy and that IP (as folks call it) seemed to be her best friend in the kitchen.  On Black Friday, the 6 qt Instant Pot went on sale on Amazon 47% off.  I ordered one during my lunch break and it came the following Monday!  Kinda intimidating with all the directions, but I dove in and did the required water pressure test, no issues so next I made my favorite chicken paprikash in it in slow cooker mode.  For this setting, I did get the glass cover that allows one to see the food cooking inside; not for use under pressure but great for sautéing or slow cooking.  It turned out perfectly.  And so it began.  My love affair with my IP….

instant-pot

I made amazing coq au vin; chicken thighs braised in red wine to you! It was done faster than the mashed potatoes I was making in the traditional stove top fashion. The sauté feature is wonderful; the chicken goes in to get a browning, comes out, the onions go in and cook a bit; then garlic and after a minute back goes chicken as well as wine, broth, herbs and the lid is tightened and the manual feature set for the desired minutes.  It takes a few minutes to come to pressure and then my IP beeps and starts the pressure cooking and the count down to zero.  I let it naturally release (read: turn it off and let it stand ten minutes untouched) and then I pushed the pressure valve to release with a kitchen towel over it for any serious steam.  It released for 2-3 minutes and then I added the pan full of sautéed mushroom slices and my luscious and tender chicken with mushrooms and wine was ready to serve.  To recap the time: it took about 5-6 minutes to come to pressure and the time at pressure was like 15 minutes.  That’s a fast way to make excellent dishes. I like it better than a slow cooker; my veggies taste fresher and the meat is cooked better without being over cooked.

instant-pot-controls

Then, I made two different kinds of meat broth; chicken and pork; done in about 30 minutes for chicken and 60 for the pork.  Which is far less than half the usual time for making broth. I love being able to load it with the broth ingredients and start the cycle and walk away to do other stuff.

The other day I made some amazing dulce de leche caramel sauce; so delish and creamy and one ingredient: sweetened condensed milk.  You pour it into canning jars and pressure cook it for 14 minutes. I did two batches of that for gifting.

I expect to make soup in it often; made some cauliflower potato soup last week; so easy.  One item I had that is very helpful is my immersion blender; great for pureed hot soups. I call it the boat motor!

instant-pot-with-soup

Making soup!

So, next time someone starts talking about an IP you will know what they mean.  And maybe you will start thinking about getting one.  It will change how you cook, for the better.