gluten free baking

Little Cherry Cake

Cherry pie…yes, I’m still obsessing on cherries.  The other week I did make something with the few sour cherries I still had in the freezer.  A small six inch cherry cake. It was so easy; a basic cake batter made with my portable mixer and you sink some sour cherries into the batter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake.  The batter swallows up the cherries and they bake in the cake creating a wonderful, sweet, little treat.  I know… trying to eat less sugar but I really wanted a smaller cake to share with my mom and it was wildly successful.  Subtle cherry flavor in a tender golden blanket of cake.  Totally yummy and really not that much sugar.

The recipe is by Annalise Roberts and the original can be found on her blog.  I changed it a bit for my small cake version. She uses sweet cherries and I prefer sour.  This little cake serves four.  It goes together quickly and makes a great dessert for a small group.  Guessing vanilla ice cream would be fantastic on it but never got to that!

Little Cherry Cake

Heaping 1/3 cup c. sugar

¼ c. butter, room temperature

½ brown rice flour mix

¾ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. xanthan gum

Pinch of salt

1 large egg, room temperature

½ tsp. almond extract

¼ tsp. vanilla extract

¾ to 1 cup pitted sour cherries (if frozen do not fully defrost)

1-2 tsp. cinnamon sugar

Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Put rack in center to lower center of oven.  Spray a six inch cake pan with cooking spray.

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl using an electric hand held mixer, not a standing mixer as that is too powerful.  Blend until smooth. Add the eggs, dry ingredients and extracts, beat 2 min at medium speed.  Pour batter into pan.  Place cherries evenly around the top; push them in a bit so they are not just laying on the surface. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar. Bake for about 35 minutes; test to see if the batter is set.  Cool on rack before cutting. Store leftover cake tightly wrapped (if there is any!)

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Not the prettiest cake slice; a quarter of it.  It tasted better than it looks here!

Brown Rice Flour Mix  (Same as King Arthur GF blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

Cherry Berry Pie in July

Just cause it is hot doesn’t mean I can’t bake a pie.  Ran my exhaust fan to carry off some of the excess heat.  Worth it for the yummy pie to share with friends and family. I was out of town and missed sour cherry season in late June. Bummer.  So…cherry pie; want it but didn’t want canned pie filling.  No sour cherries in the farm stand, no frozen ones in my grocery store.  What to do.  I decided to make a cherry berry pie with a four berry blend from the grocery store’s frozen case. I have used this blend before to make muffins and it did pretty well.  One other options is jarred sour cherries, maybe next cherry pie attempt will be with them.

If you prefer a lattice it can be made by doubling this pie crust and some careful construction work.  I tend to go the easy route of the crumb as everyone loves it. You could make a smaller 8 inch pie; use a cup less fruit and cut the sugar some, ditto for the tapioca. This pie is fantastic with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. cherry berry pie 005

This recipe is a blending of my own pie filling and the pie crust and crumb recipes from Annalise Robert’s cookbook, Gluten-Free Baking Classics.  I used a touch less sugar a a bit more fruit, and the frozen fruit blend to create my own special pie.  That cookbook is a fabulous resource and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone trying to bake gluten free for a family member.  There is nothing like the classic dessert of a pie to comfort a celiac who can’t eat what they used to.

cherry berry pie 004Angie’s GF Cherry Berry Crumb Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbsp. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

———————–

Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you ready the crumb crust and the fruit.

Filling:

6 cups fresh or frozen sweet cherry, blackberry, blueberry and raspberry mix   (two plastic 12 oz packages)

Mix the following in a small bowl and pour over the cherries:

1/3 to ½ cup granulated sugar

3 tbsp. tapioca granules

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Roll out pie crust between two sheets of wax paper or in a pie bag; try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.  Fill with sweetened fruit mix.  Sprinkle the crumb topping (1 to 1½ cup) evenly over this mixture.  The more crumbs the thicker the crust they will form; for a really thick crust use all the crumbs from the recipe below.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes with a piece of aluminum foil on top of the pie, then 25-30 more minutes at 375 degrees uncovered until bubbly and the crust is light brown.  If you use frozen berries like I did, don’t defrost them more than half way; make sure it is bubbling and light brown before taking it out of the oven. Cool at least 2 hours before serving at room temperature.

Note: I bake pies in my bottom heat pizza oven and it gives me a great browned crust.  If your oven isn’t bottom heat you might want to pre-bake the crust 10 minutes before filling and topping the fruit.

Crumb topping

Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form. Don’t over mix or you will get a soft dough instead of crumbs; not a good thing…done it and not happy with myself…

¾ c brown rice flour mix

½ c granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks

Brown Rice Flour Mix  (Same as King Arthur GF blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

 

Cherry Crumb Pie Delights

Pie is a classic American dessert, what guy doesn’t like a fat slice of juicy pie? Cherry pie is perfect for the weeks before and after the Fourth of July or anytime you can get frozen sour cherries.  My sister sometimes uses jarred cherries but I prefer fresh or frozen sours.  You can make it gf easily with this recipe – my crust is really tasty; my family practically cheers when I serve homemade pie and the rest of my family does not eat gluten free.

Fresh tasting, locally sourced fruits are exactly in the spirit of summer.  I have picked mine at an orchard down in Bucks County near the Turnpike along Limekiln Pike, about 20 minutes from Hellertown.  This year they were not selling hand pick and I missed the very short season. No matter; I can use frozen ones for sure!

The sugar, cinnamon and almond extract create an intense cherry flavor.  If you prefer a lattice it can be made by doubling this pie crust and some careful construction work.  I tend to go the easy route of the crumb as everyone loves it. You could make a smaller 8 inch pie; use a cup less fruit and cut the sugar some, ditto for the tapioca. This pie is fantastic with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

This recipe is a blending of my own pie filling and the pie crust and crumb recipes from Annalise Robert’s cookbook, Gluten-Free Baking Classics.  I used a touch less sugar, more fruit, and made a few other changes to create my own special pie.  Her cookbook is a fabulous resource and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone trying to bake gluten free for a family member.  There is nothing like the classic desserts that we used to enjoy seasonally to comfort a celiac who can’t eat what they used to.

Angie’s GF Cherry Crumb Pie

Crust:

1 c plus 2 tbsp brown rice flour mix (at bottom of recipe)

2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1 Tbps. granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

¼ tsp salt

6 Tbps. cold butter cut into 6 chunks

1 lg egg

2 tsp fresh orange or lemon juice

Spray 9 inch metal pie pan with cooking spray, dust with white rice flour.

Mix dry ingredients in bowl of stand electric mixer.  Add butter and mix until crumbly and resembling coarse meal.  Add egg and juice.  Mix until it comes together into big chunks.  Shape into a ball with your hands. Put it on a crust sized piece of wax paper (14 x 14 inches more or less), flatten the crust ball some; put on top of it another piece of wax paper and chill it all in your fridge 15-20 minutes while you pit the fruit.

Filling:

6 cups pitted fresh sour cherries: place in medium bowl (If frozen do not defrost and bake the pie maybe ten extra minutes until good and bubbly)

Mix the following in a small bowl and pour over the cherries:

¾ cup granulated sugar

3-4 tbsp. tapioca flour

1/4 to ½ tsp. cinnamon

Roll out pie crust between two sheets of wax paper or in a pie bag; try to get the thickness even, no thick middle! Peel off one side of paper and place in pie pan, centered.  Remove other slice of wax paper.  Crimp edges all around.  Fill with sweetened fruit mix.  Sprinkle the crumb topping (1 to 1½ cup) evenly over this mixture.  The more crumbs the thicker the crust they will form; for a really thick crust use all the crumbs from the recipe below.

If you love your pie really sweet add another ¼ cup granulated sugar to the dry mix part of the filling.  I found the pie to be plenty sweet but everyone has their own sweetness level.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes with a piece of aluminum foil on top of the pie, then 15-20 more minutes uncovered until bubbly and the crust is light brown.  If you use frozen berries, don’t defrost them more than half way and you might have to cook the pie up to 15 extra minutes; make sure it is bubbling and light brown before taking it out of the oven. Cool at least 2 hours before serving at room temperature.

Note: I bake pies in my bottom heat pizza oven and it gives me a great browned crust.  If your oven isn’t bottom heat you might want to pre-bake the crust 10 minutes before filling and topping the fruit.

Crumb topping

Put all four ingredients in the same mixing bowl you made the bottom crust in and mix well with mixer paddle until crumbs form. Don’t over mix or you will get a soft dough; not a good thing…done it and not happy with myself…

¾ c brown rice flour mix

½ c granulated sugar

½ tsp xanthan gum

1/3 c cold butter cut into six chunks

Brown Rice Flour Mix  (Same as King Arthur GF blend)
2 c brown rice flour

2/3 c potato starch

1/3 c tapioca flour

 

GF Blackberry Shortcake – 2.5 version

I made a strawberry shortcake last weekend but only used ½ the biscuit.  I had some blackberries leftover from camping so I went for it; blackberry shortcake.  A touch seedy but all blackberry recipes got that going! But I must say this was a great change up from the usual way I eat blackberries; raw on the hoof. blackberries I got them at a produce stand for a great price. The fresh whipped cream is a must to make this a memorable dessert! Making it again for sure.

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Angie’s Blackberry Shortcake, GF2.5

Biscuit dough

1 cup white rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tbsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. xanthan gum

6 tbsp cold butter

1 medium egg

2/3 cup buttermilk

2-3 tsp. sugar (optional)

2 tsp. soft butter

Other ingredients:

1-2 quarts ripe blackberries

½ cup sugar (or less to taste)

2-3 tbsp. Karo light syrup

1 cup heavy whipping cream

½ tsp. real vanilla

2 tbs. powdered sugar (if you like your cream sweet)

Directions
Heat oven t0 400 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter until it is small pebbles.  Add the egg and most of the buttermilk.  Mix with a spoon; add rest of buttermilk if you need it.  It should be a bit sticky, don’t over mix; just until dry is blended in.  Spray the inside of an eight inch cake pan and a 6 inch cake pan with cooking spray.  If you don’t have a small pan just use two 8 inch ones.  Pat ¾ of the dough into the 8 inch; make it about ¾ to 1 inch thick and try to smooth the top and side edges a bit.  Put the rest of the dough in the smaller pan and do the same smoothing.  Make that one ½ to ¾ inch thick. Take 2-3 tsp. of granulated sugar and sprinkle it over top of the two biscuits. I think it gives a great finish to the shortcake. Bake them about 20 to 25 min; the smaller one should be done in 20 minutes; a golden light brown. Set on a cooling rack for a few minutes.

While it bakes, get the berries ready.  Hull 1-2 quarts of fresh ripe berries.  Place the berries in a glass mixing bowl; chop through them a few strokes with a sharp knife or better yet use the potato masher to squash most of them.  Add ½ cup sugar and about 2-3 tbsp. Karo light corn syrup to the berries.  Stir well and refrigerate until the shortcake is baked.  You could do this berry preparation up to two hours in advance.  No more or they will start to disintegrate.

Place the fairly hot bigger layer on a large platter, one big enough to hold the shortbread and still have room for a generous overflow of berries. Butter lightly if you wish.  Top with several big spoonfuls of berries.  Don’t worry if there is juice in the berry bowl; there should be; melted down sugar and Karo syrup with berry juice will give you a delish berry liquid.  Top with the second smaller biscuit and then more berries.   Cut into chunks.  Top with freshly whipped cream; beat a cup of heavy whipping cream until it is softly whipped.  Add ½ tsp. vanilla and ¼ cup sugar if you wish it sweet.  Be sure to pour the berry juice over your shortcake; it soaks in and adds to the blackberry experience.  My dad liked to pour unbeaten cream over his shortcake. My mom usually set out the whipped cream, a jug of cream and some whole milk so everyone could chose how to finish off their personal shortcake. flowers 005

If there is any left over it makes a great breakfast the next morning!

Mom’s Strawberry Shortcake 2.3 Version

I just have to share this recipe with you again.  It is just a classic and no one I know turns down homemade strawberry shortcake. We had it last Sunday.  I am not sure where I got the recipe…. my gf biscuit version is pretty tasty I have to say.

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This year’s biscuit was so flaky and tasty I could hardly believe it was gf and I am the one who made it!

 

But there is one thing, you gotta make it with the best freaking strawberries you can find.  None of those big firm ones with whitish cores that are shipped in from far away.  You need juicy ripe, scented red berries that can be chopped coarsely and mixed with sugar and served over shortbread.  Gluten free shortcake biscuit.  Yes, it can be made with other than local berries and it will taste great but local fruit make it fantastic!

My mom always made a gorgeous version of strawberry shortcake. When I was a kid she would serve it as the meal.  I have done that and it is kinda cool.  For that I made a huge oval biscuit that lay in my turkey platter with a smaller oval topping biscuit that I split off the big biscuit and buttered the split area before topping with berries and the smaller biscuit.  And more ripe berries.  Then a topping of softly whipped heavy cream.  Oh berry perfection.

Now I bake it in two separate pans but the construction of the final product is the same otherwise.  These pictures are from last June; my daughter snapped them as I put the shortcake together at a family gathering.  It is always a hit even with gf shortbread.  The shortbread I made this past Sunday was so good, I swear it could pass for my old shortbread… Feeds six or four piggie eaters.

Mom’s Strawberry Shortcake, GF2.3

Biscuit dough

1 cup white rice flour

2/3 cup potato starch flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tbsp. sugar

½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. xanthan gum

6 tbsp cold butter

1 medium egg

2/3 cup buttermilk

2-3 tsp. sugar (optional)

2 tsp. soft butter

Other ingredients:

2 quarts ripe strawberries

½ cup sugar

2-3 tbsp. Karo light syrup

1 cup heavy whipping cream

½ tsp. real vanilla

2-4 tbs. powdered sugar (if you like your cream sweet)

Directions
Heat oven t0 400 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter until it is small pebbles.  Add the egg and most of the buttermilk.  Mix with a spoon; add rest of buttermilk if you need it.  It should be a bit sticky, don’t over mix; just until dry is blended in.  Spray the inside of an eight inch cake pan and a 6 inch cake pan with cooking spray.  If you don’t have a small pan just use two 8 inch ones.  Pat ¾ of the dough into the 8 inch; make it about ¾ to 1 inch thick and try to smooth the top and side edges a bit.  Put the rest of the dough in the smaller pan and do the same smoothing.  Make that one ½ to ¾ inch thick.  Optional: take 2-3 tsp. of granulated sugar and sprinkle it over top of them. I think it gives a great finish to the shortcake. Bake them about 20 to 25 min; the smaller one should be done in 20 minutes; a golden light brown. Set on a cooling rack for a few minutes.

While it bakes, get the berries ready.  Hull 2 quarts of fresh ripe berries.  Place them in a glass mixing bowl; chop through them a few strokes with a sharp knife.  Add ½ cup sugar and about 2-3 tbsp. Karo light corn syrup to the berries.  Stir well and refrigerate until the shortcake is baked.  You could do this berry preparation up to two hours in advance.  No more or they will start to disintegrate.

Place the fairly hot bigger layer on a large platter, one big enough to hold the shortbread and still have room for a generous overflow of strawberries. Butter lightly if you wish.  Top with several big spoonfuls of berries.  Don’t worry if there is juice in the berry bowl; there should be; melted down sugar and karo syrup with berry juice will give you a delish berry liquid.  Top with the second smaller biscuit and then more berries.   Cut into chunks.  Top with freshly whipped cream; beat a cup of heavy whipping cream until it is softly whipped.  Add ½ tsp. vanilla and ¼ cup sugar if you wish it sweet.  Be sure to pour the berry juice over your shortcake; it soaks in and adds to the strawberry experience.  My dad liked to pour unbeaten cream over his shortcake. My mom usually set out the whipped cream, a jug of cream and some whole milk so you could chose how to finish off your personal shortcake.  I might add that I grew up on a farm so this was raw milk from grass pastured cows; fantastic cream equaling a freaking perfect shortcake topper.  We also grew our own berries; no chemical sprayed on them ever.

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Forgive the paper plate: I was at my mom’s assisted living and I do paper to save on clean up time plus her sink is miniscule!

If there is any left over it makes a great breakfast the next morning…

Originally published in June 2014, again last June and now in late June.  I confess I could not find local berries on Sunday, I used organic ones and only used the ripest berries for this cake. So can you, just set aside any underripe ones as they are not great in a shortcake.

I am thinking blackberries might be good with this shortcake biscuit. Going to try them tonight!