gluten free baking

Daffodil Cake – Delish Easter Dessert

Today I saw a post on Epicurious about daffodil cake and I had to smile because I’ve been making this cake for decades.  I try to eat less sugar, but homemade dessert is my joy and sometimes it is about using the ingredients you have and the people who will enjoy it.  I had egg whites in the freezer and wanted to use them up. Defrost and I have everything else in the fridge or pantry: go daffodil cake. Looks like an angel food cake on the surface but it is an old-fashioned confection – a daffodil cake.  The insides have some white and some yellow cake. I found the recipe in my old 1970s Betty Crocker, a great standard cookbook I would never want to be without.  I was making it for many years before my diagnosis with celiac so once I got comfy baking gf I figured I could make it gf and it is perhaps even better than it was with gluten-based flour.

I made it for my mom who was a big fan of said cake. She was not sure I was making it gf because it was so tasty…. She has been gone a bit over two years and I so miss her. Yes, it is totally gf and is totally delicious.  daffodil cake, french apple tart 014

So, all you gluten-free disbelievers, this cake will change your mind. It is tender, moist and delicately flavored, not to mention very pretty and perfect in spring for Easter.  It is after all, a daffodil cake and spring is the only time in the year they bloom. Make some now folks! It also makes a wonderful birthday or party cake; you could put a thin vanilla powdered sugar glaze on top to make it fancy for such an occasion.

Notes: I save egg whites; in a Tupperware container in the freezer, until I have a cup of them.  Then I am ready to put this beauty together. Or just use enough eggs to make a cup 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 from 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 does not break  Don’t use old tired 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.

Put the yolks in the medium mixing bowl and add those six whites in with the other cup of whites: 1 ½ cup total egg whites.  I know, a crazy lot of eggs 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. This cake is even better, a masterpiece of delicate melt in your mouth cakey delight.

Angie’s GF Daffodil Cake

1 cup egg whites (room temp)

6 whole large eggs (room temp)  separated

1 ¼ cup powdered sugar

1 cup brown rice flour blend (recipe below) aka King Arthur’s Basic GF Blend

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 or twice.

Pour the egg whites (should add up to 1 ½ cups) 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.

In small bowl beat the 6 egg yolks about 4 minutes until thick and lemon yellow colored.

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 about half of the mixture into a separate large mixing bowl.  Add the beaten egg yolks; gently fold until it is pretty well blended.

Put big glops of the plain mixture into the baking tube pan; I like 3 big ones.  Put three big glops of the yellow blended mix between them. Top with more glops of the mixes, using it all up.  Gently stir through the pan with your spoonula to swirl it a bit 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. daffodil cake, french apple tart 014

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.

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 my variation on the angel food cake you will find in Annalise Roberts’ Gluten-Free Baking Classics cookbook.   This post was first published in April 2016.

Not My Mom’s Rice Pudding, Better!

I always loved rice pudding as a child, creamy custard studded with raisins and topped with a good sprinkle of cinnamon.  But the rice itself was kinda drab, not much flavor and it was not well blended with the rest of the pudding.  A few years ago, I found a recipe that caused a rice pudding revolution in my kitchen: it used sweet rice which is a white short grain oriental rice.  You could substitute Arborio rice if you like, what I have used in my most recent batch. I buy sweet rice in oriental grocery stores but I think Wegmans may carry it too.  Each grain absorbs the milk as it cooks and releases a lot of creaminess as well as providing a soft squishier rice that gives the pudding a more blended feel than my mom’s usage of long grain rice that stayed firm and separate from its pudding surrounding.

This recipe is naturally gluten free.  No one eating it will think, “Oh, darn, another of those weird GF recipes!”  They will just think, “I wonder if she will think I am piggy to want seconds of this?

I think in a pinch you could skip the second part where you briefly bake the pudding but I never do, I think it helps the pudding form the best texture.  Do sprinkle the top with cinnamon unless it is something you despise.  I recommend whole milk as it makes pudding taste so good but if you prefer two percent that will work.  I do not recommend skim milk for pudding. Ick on the texture and flavor of such a mutant pudding!  And this recipe is great with chopped dried apricots, dried cherries, golden raisins, or even currents or in it instead of raisins. My original recipe had lemon peel and apricots in it. Recently I put a few long orange peelings in it and a cinnamon stick while it cooked on the stove top which gave it a delicate orange flavor which played well with the raisins. So, you can alter it to suit your mood and your ingredients. I sometimes just use 3 whole eggs rather than end up with two extra egg whites.  Especially with the price of eggs these days.

I am making it tonight in the “classic” form; with raisins and sprinkled with cinnamon. I can’t wait to enjoy a cup of warm and creamy rice pudding.

rice pudding

These cold days make pudding such a treat.  What could be more comforting after a cold walk with the dog than a bowl of wickedly creamy homemade rice pudding.

Creamy Rice Pudding

Ingredients

¾ cup sweet or Arborio rice

1 quart whole milk

1/3 cup raisins

1/3-1/2 cup granulated sugar, depending on your sweetness needs! I go with 1/2 cup

2 egg yolks

2 whole large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla

A good sprinkle of cinnamon

Directions:

Rinse the rice in a strainer briefly, (I forgot to do this last week!)  place in a heavy bottomed 1 ½ quart saucepan, pour in the milk (4 cups) and stir frequently as it heats on medium to a bubbly simmer.  Add the raisins and turn down the heat to low, cover and cook 25 minutes.  Be sure to stir it every 5-7 minutes to separate the rice and keep it from scorching on the bottom.  Add the sugar, stir well.  Mix up the egg yolk and whole eggs in a bowl with a whisk and add in some of the hot mixture; maybe 1/3 to ½ cup.  Dump it all back in the pot and stir well.  Turn off the heat and add the vanilla.

Heat your oven to 300 degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a low ceramic or glass baking dish. I like an oval myself, that shape is what my mom usually used!  Pour in the pudding, removing any lemon or orange peel and the cinnamon stick if you used such and sprinkle it well with cinnamon to dust the surface.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Often,I put it in a hot water bath created with a 9×13 cake pan and some hot tap water. Did this last week.  This method produces a lovely delicate custard, worth the extra fuss.

It is tasty warm and wonderful the next day.  Some people guild the lily with toppings of whipped cream, grated lemon or orange peel or even whipped mascarpone cheese.  Up to you how you dress it up!  I occasionally serve a homemade cookie on the side for added crunch value.  Enjoy!

Originally published in 2015; minor text changes made.

Carrot Cake to Splurge On

Everyone thinks of carrot cake as rich and chock full of calories from the raisin packed layers to the thick creamy cream cheese icing slathered on thickly between layers and covering the entire cake. This is an incredibly moist and decadent cake, yet it is gluten free and gets it richness from olive oil, carrots and plump raisins soaked in booze. There is no flour substitution; made entirely with ground almond flour so it is naturally gluten free. It is a single layer and is fairly low in sugar for a cake, and I made a cream cheese icing with less sugar and less cream cheese plus it was a lower fat cream cheese; I just iced the top, so I was able to make less icing and save a few calories. It was definitely enough icing to complement this delightful cake. This version is by Nigella Lawson with a few changes and additions by me. So, all I am thinking right now is why didn’t I make this, years and years ago!

Notes: I didn’t have much rum on hand, so I used some bootleg limoncello I made about 5 years ago to soak my golden raisins in. It really brought the citrus out in this cake. My version used orange zest; I was strangely out of lemons other than ones with their skin already zested for other recipes. The three tablespoons of pine nuts that I toasted and threw into the batter had a big flavor impact. I normally use walnuts in carrot cake, so I now think either is a great way to go; do toast them as it really amps up the nutty flavor.

I wasn’t much thinking about blogging; more about bragging on the deliciousness of this awesome cake and so I took hardly any pictures and none of them are all that decent; I swear that next time I bake it I will take some more pictures of higher value; these sure don’t do this lovely cake justice.

Venetian Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp pine nuts

8 oz coarsely shredded carrots (peel first)

3 oz golden raisins

2 ¼ oz limoncello or rum ( I measured the raisins in a glass measuring cup and added lemoncello to a touch above half way up the raisins )

5 oz sugar

4.5 fluid ounces mild olive oil plus a tad more for greasing the pan

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

9 oz almond flour (not almond meal)

A scant ½ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. cinnamon

The zest of half a good sized lemon or orange plus the juice of said lemon

Frosting

6 oz room temp light cream cheese

2 Tbsp. butter at room temp

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Prep: Toast the pine nuts (or chopped walnuts) in a dry frying pan stirring or tossing constantly; they will burn if you don’t toss and stir and when they are about done pour them in a small bowl; don’t leave them in the (heat off) frying pan; they will burn on the residual warmth of the pan. Let cool. Put the raisins and limoncello in a small saucepan and heat up; then turn down the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Let cool before using.  Next, peel and grate carrots. I did it by hand with my versatile box grater on coarse side, but you can use a food processor, or a shedder attached to your stand mixer.   I grated them onto wax paper and then weighed it; so much more accurate than saying 3 carrots and hoping it is the right amount. Line a 9-inch round springform pan with parchment paper and oil it with a bit of olive oil. Heat your oven to 350 degrees and make sure your shelf is in the middle.

Cake Directions: Put the almond flour, the two spices in a small bowl and whisk to blend. Put the sugar and olive oil in a large mixing bowl and whisk until it is well blended, light and creamy looking. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well before the next one. Add the vanilla extract, mix briefly. They add the almond flour mix and then carrots and the raisins and liquid clinging to them. Last, add the pine nuts, lemon or orange zest and lemon juice. Blend briefly. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes; mine took the full 40 minutes. It should look risen and a cake tester will come out clean. Mine was rather pale so I briefly broiled it; about 2-3 minutes watching constantly; kinda risky but it was just so unbrowned I decided to go rogue and broil my cake for a couple of scary minutes! Let cool 10 minutes. Run a small sharp knife around the edges to free it and remove the ring of the pan. Set it on a cooling rack and cool completely before frosting. I left mine on the metal bottom; you best do the same!

Make the icing; blend the cream cheese and butter until fluffy; add the sugar in half cups or less as you blend. Add the vanilla and beat the frosting until it is fluffy. Frost the top of your beautiful cake. Enjoy!

Banana Cake, GF But Delish!

There are desserts I really miss.  Leading a busy life it is hard to find time to bake. Not made cake in many months but my taste buds were craving old school banana cake. Of course it has to be gluten free for me. yet it has to taste yummy for all of us. My grandson helped dump in ingredients and he smashed the bananas up with a fork the first time I made this recipe; I used dead ripe bananas I had frozen a month ago and really wanted to put them to good use. Gotta say, this was a wonderful choice! I let them thaw partially before Aiden went to town with his fork. This recipe is simple and I subbed in my favorite all purpose gf flour from King Arthur and it worked great. My family loved the results!

I made the cream cheese icing in the original busy bee  recipe, but I doubled the vanilla (the amount below is the doubled amount) as I like it with more of that delicious stuff!  It was a big hit and really finishes off the flavor of the cake. This is made in a nine inch square cake pan. I did put my cake strips around it as it was browning unevenly. They helped to even the baking out.The bake temp is 350 degrees for 35 minutes. If you have no eggs you could do the flax eggs (2 Tbsp. ground flaxseed and 5 Tbsp. water; mix and let sit 5 minutes) or do 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce. In these pricy egg days these two alternatives become very attractive!

Making this cake early tomorrow morning so we can enjoy this classic cake later after work is done.

banana cake in pan

Ingredients:

2 cups GF flour (I used KA Basic GF flour)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp sea salt

3/4 tsp. xanthan gum

1/2 cup canola oil

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar packed

2 lg eggs

3 ripe bananas

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese at room temp (I used light cream cheese; really like it best for icings.)

1/4 cup butter softened to room temp

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

banana cake

A big hunk of banana cake.

See recipe at theprettybee.com for directions. If you love banana cake and have to be gf; this recipe is simple and delish! Enjoy.

Original post Feb 2019 updated with minor changes and clearer information.

Scandinavian Almond Bars, GF for Your Eating Pleasure!

Christmas cookies are everywhere in my kitchen. In tins, Tupperware and cookie jars. This year I tried 3 new recipes; this one is replicating a particular cookie called a Scandinavian Almond Bar. It is somewhat crunchy and somewhat addictive. My guy snuck a bunch of them while I was at church Christmas Eve! It is a traditional cookie and apparently quite popular. I don’t know how I missed them! If you are not gf just use all-purpose flour and leave out the xanthan gum too. This is one of those recipes that is yummier than it seems like at first glance. Of late, I like bar cookies; less work usually and can look very uniform if you wish.  Fussy complex cookies can be exhausting; this is easy despite the long list of flours.

Scandinavian Almond Bars

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice flour

¾ cup gf oat flour

½ cup tapioca flour

¼ cup potato starch (NOT potato flour)

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp. kosher salt                                    

 Directions:     Blend all dry ingredients in a small bowl; use a whisk.

Next: In stand mixer bowl: place 1 cup sugar and ½ cup butter, softened; beat until fluffy. Add

1 lg egg at room temperature; beat until blended in. Add ½ tsp. almond extract (I did more like ¾ tsp)

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Topping: 1 Tbsp. milk, ½ c sliced almonds

Icing:  3/4 cup powdered sugar, ½ tsp almond extract, 1-2 Tbsp. milk

Directions: Heat oven to 325. Butter a 9×13 pan. Make dough and press the dough into the pan evenly; use a sheet of parchment paper to do this; it will be very sticky. Using a pastry brush; brush milk over the dough and top with the sliced almonds. Press almonds lightly into the dough. Bake 20-22 minutes.  Remove when just starting to brown at edges. Let cool for 5-7 min in pan, cut into bars with a sharp knife. If too soft; let cool a few more minutes. Carefully move them to a wire rack. Let cool completely and drizzle the icing over the bars thinly; too thick and it will be goopy, too thin and the icing will drip off. Let sit a while until icing is firm.  Can be frozen once iced.  Enjoy!