Love is...gluten-free, dairy free chocolate from Amore

Happy New Year everyone! The holidays for me were a little crazier than usual--my family came to visit and stay with me for Christmas in my new home in Seattle for the first time, and let's just say it took quite a bit of time, energy and more than a few trips to IKEA to make it guest-worthy in time.  Luckily, we agreed NOT to stay in and do a big meal for Christmas (so it turned ok in the end that the dining room was the least-finished room in the house). Whew!

One evening after Christmas, my mom and I were taking a nice walk after dinner, and we ran across two chocolate shops on Main Street in Bellevue (which is a neighborhood east of Seattle proper).  One was Fran's--which is local to Seattle and now famous nationwide, especially for their seasalt caramels. However, personally I feel that their product quality is not what is used to be (perhaps due to their global expansion), so was lukewarm about going in. Also, I prefer to support local retailers whenever possible, so was thrilled to pieces to find Amore Chocolates right across the street from Fran's! It is the TEENIEST shop I've ever been in in the US (there were tiny ones in Europe like this), but here was the kicker--they had a sign on the door that said "Vegan truffles--dairy free" and "Gluten-free".  How could I resist?  I practically dragged my mom into the store behind me.

Once inside, I overheard one of the employees ask, then repeated the question, to someone as to whether she had touched some products because he was working with peanuts and he didn't want cross-contamination.  Bingo--I was with my kind of people! I got even more excited, if that's possible.  We started chatting, and it turns out that that young man who was concerned about cross-contamination also had food allergies himself. Of course, we began sharing our food allergy lists, and once again, this Food Allergy Queen reigned supreme.  (Insert crowd cheers here.) He then goodnaturedly assigned himself the title of Food Allergy Court Jester. So cute!

On to the chocolates! So, it turns out that ALL the dark chocolates in the store are dairy-free and made with coconut milk instead. No cream in the chocolate, or the ganache (usually made with chocolate and cream) fillings. No butter either. Anything with a creamy texture was made with coconut milk! (See picture with bite out of it to see the texture--please ignore the bite mark.) And knowing that dipping chocolates by hand is difficult and a tempermental process in the first place, and also considering the extra challenge of the natural humidity in the Pacific Northwest, I was especially impressed by the hand-dipped chocolate texture and the intense European-style flavors of Amore Chocolates.  The owner, Brenda, was on the premises so I was able to ask her directly about how she assembled her products and the ingredients of everything.  She was tickled to help me work my way through the choices.

My favorites were the truffles, which had intense and complex flavors: Seriously Dark, Espresso and Raspberry. I also loved the Haystacks (coconut) and her new one, Potato Chip Haystacks, made with Ruffles! And the marzipan (made with almonds) ones were lovely and chewy, with just the right balance of sweetness.


A followup email confirmed that Amore uses chocolate from Guittard which is gluten-, dairy-free and peanut-free. However, they share equipment that may use dairy or almonds. They use soy lectithin, so those of you with soy allergies unfortunately need to skip these.  Also, when I asked, Brenda was not able to confirm that her sugar was vegan, and I'm guessing neither can Guittard. So I think we're safe to say they're vegetarian, but may not be 100% vegan for those who avoid all animal products.

Best of all, Amore Chocolates can be shipped across the U.S.! Since it's still winter, there's little chance that your chocolates will melt on route, but call and check if you live in a warm state and are concerned.  These are hand-dipped, and handmade, so they are labor intensive and a bit pricey. Expect to pay about what you would for Godiva chocolates...I think I purchased 12 pieces and they were $28. A special occasion treat. Try them, and let me know what you think. Be sure to tell Brenda that the Food Allergy Queen sent you, she'll love supporting our community. And you get amazing chocolates. What's not to love?

http://www.amorechocolatesonmain.com/vegan/

Chasing the White Rabbit...or in this case, white birthday cake

I get the most requests from readers for an allergy-free birthday cake (gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free) -- it's an especially tall order to remove all the key structural ingredients like eggs -- and harder still when you can't hide some of the substitution tastes behind chocolate!   As you may remember, I'd rather have chocolate than ANY other flavor, but over the years I've been testing out all kinds of white cakes, and am STILL not happy with the results.

Yesterday, for my Mom's birthday (Happy Birthday Mom!)  I made Rebecca Reilly's Basic White Cake recipe which is based on her gf mix.  I used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free mix, based on garbanzo bean flour (with a mix of potato starch, sorghum, etc.),  which is usually neutral-tasting enough for most recipes, and performs well so that you can't tell the difference...except in this case.  The cake texture was heavy and dense, the bean taste came through, and as my sister pointed out, it tasted a bit like bread rather than cake.  I was disappointed because all of her other recipes I've tried have been great!  Ugh.  The technical part was fine because the texture was cakey, but the taste was just not there. Luckily I was worried enough about testing it on a real birthday so also made one layer out of her Chocolate Applesauce cake to make sure we had something nice, and it tasted great.  I used her 7-Minute boiled frosting (egg-based), flavored with espresso powder and a little coconut on top for decoration to hide my very poor cake decorating skills.


*sigh*.  I feel like Alice in Wonderland, chasing the White Rabbit around yet another corner!  However, in the story she eventually caught up to him, so I know I'll just keep running, and I'll get there.  :)

Recipe: Flourless Peanut Butter cookies REVISED

I mentioned in an earlier post that I would tweak Gluten-free Girl's recipe with less sugar and make it egg-free, so here it is!  Impress your friends with these since they're both delicious AND vegetarian.  :)  PS.  The chocolate cookies pictured are Chocolate Sparkle cookies.

 Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
 Adapted from Gluten-Free Girl

One cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white granulated sugar

One teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

2 Tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce

          Pinch of kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Cream the peanut butter and sugars in a bowl by hand. Stir in the baking powder. Add the applesauce and salt. Mix until it is all well combined.

The dough will be sticky, so be prepared to get your hands messy. Wet your hands lightly, and roll the dough to the size of a walnut.  For the traditional decoration, press lightly with the tines of a fork. Place the balls at least 2" apart on a baking sheet lined in parchment paper.

Bake in the oven for about ten minutes. You will know the cookies are done when they feel coherent, but still a little soft and are lightly browned. Take the tray out of the oven and let the cookies rest for at least five minutes. Afterwards, carefully transfer them to a cooling rack.

Eat them.

Makes twelve cookies. 

Recipe: Flourless Peanut Butter cookies (gluten-free)

One of my buddies, Allergic Girl, was chatting about how these delicious gluten-free peanut butter cookies from Gluten-Free Girl were, and it immediately made me ravenous for some.  (Hillary Clinton was right, it DOES take a village of us food allergic people, right?)

These were so easy to make that I had to share the recipe now!  Perfect for a last-minute sweets craving.

The recipe only has four ingredients you probably already have in your pantry: creamy peanut butter, sugar, egg and baking powder.  They were yummy!  They would also make the perfect recipe to send to friends who don't know what to feed you when you come over.  :)

Here's the recipe,

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

One cup creamy peanut butter
One cup white sugar
One teaspoon baking powder
One egg

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Cream the peanut butter and sugar in a bowl. (As much as I love my KitchenAid, I have found that this is a hand-stirring job). Beat in the baking powder. Add the egg. Mix until it is all well combined.

The dough will be sticky, so be prepared to get your hands messy. Roll some dough into a ball. (How big? That depends on you. I have found, however, that the smaller these cookies are, the better they hold together. Eat two instead of one!) Roll the ball into white sugar. Line a baking sheet, covered in parchment paper, with sugary balls of dough.

Bake in the oven for about ten minutes. You will know the cookies are done when they feel coherent, but still a little soft. Take the tray out of the oven and let the cookies rest for at least five minutes. Afterwards, carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. After ten minutes or so, they will have hardened and be glistening with sugar.

Eat them.

Makes ten to twelve cookies. 

Here's a link to Gluten-Free Girl's original post.

They were a bit too sweet for my taste, so I'll tweak a version to reduce the sugar, and try to make an egg-free version next.  Enjoy these in the meantime.

Pie is back in my life! Gluten-free pie crust

Just as there are distinct differences between "dog people" and "cat people", when it comes to food I firmly believe that there is a significant distinction between "cake people" and "pie people".    This is not a lukewarm subject for most...when asked, most people can firmly and vocally place themselves in one camp or another.  For those who claim to like both, or who are undecided, I submit that they are aliens.  Just my opinion.

As for me, I am firmly a PIE GIRL.  Why?  Because pie is a luscious study of contrasts -- textures, flavors, and versatility.  Crisp pastry against smooth filling (or chunky filling) that can be sweet or savory.  Pies can be breakfast (bacon and egg quiche), entrees (chicken pot pie), country fair prizes, or snacks on the go (oh, how I miss McDonald's fried cherry pies!).   And they're just plain delicious.  Take that, cake!

When I was learning to bake as a kid, for some reason I learned how to make apple pie from scratch.  It became my signature dessert -- people requested it as gifts, and over the years I've even gotten several spontaneous marriage proposals from them (one from a woman)!  People were impressed because I made the crust from scratch, which was unusual then, and freakishly obscure today.  It's not as hard as people make it out to be --  just like everything else fab, it just takes a bit of practice.   And I've developed some techniques to make it easier for beginning pie bakers.

When I went gluten-free due to my allergies, I went in search of a decent pie crust that was flaky, tender and delivered that pleasurable contrast with the filling.  Time and time again I was dissapointed.  Most gluten-free pie crust recipes were nasty things that made me either sad or mad -- tough, dry, crispy or stiff, with no flavor.  But this year, once again, Rebecca Reilly has delivered!  Last Christmas, I made two pies with her crust recipe from her book Gluten-Free Baking (you can see it in the Amazon box on the right hand side of my blog).  Tastewise, it was close to my old crust recipe.  The texture was slightly less flaky, but it was good enough to fool people who weren't even noticing that it was gluten-free!  Yay!

I'll include the recipe for the crust, and my famous apple pie here.   And I'll work on this crust recipe a bit to determine if I can adapt a version which doesn't use eggs for you egg-free people.

NOTE: the picture shows my Christmas pumpkin and rhubarb pies.  The recipes aren't quite worked out yet (they were a little runny when I made all my substitutions), when they're fixed I'll post them at a later date.

Flaky Pastry adapted from Rebecca Reilly
Double Crust

Equipment you'll need: 9" heavy aluminum pie pan (don't use glass or it won't brown!)
rolling pin
pastry cutter (or two forks)
waxed paper

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups gluten-free mix (I used Bob's Red Mill Multipurpose GF flour since it has no rice)
If you can have rice, you can also use 1-1/2 cups of Rebecca's gf mixture: 2 c. brown rice flour+ 2/3 c. potato starch, + 1/3 c. tapioca starch and save the rest.

3 Tablespoons sweet rice flour (I used sorghum flour instead)
2 tsp. sugar (omit if using for savory filling)
1/4 tsp. salt
9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (I used Spectrum organic vegetable shortening instead)
1 jumbo egg
1-1/2 Tablespoon cider vinegar or lemon juice

Mix together the gf mix, sweet rice flour (or sorghum flour), sugar and salt.  Cut the butter into chunks, and use a pastry cutter (or two forks) to work the butter into the dry ingredients to form a coarse meal.  Once thoroughly mixed, make a well in the dry ingredients and break the egg into the well.  Add the vinegar or lemon juice.  Use a fork to stir from the center, working the flour into the egg to form a soft dough.  Shape into a flat cake, cover and refrigerate if it's too soft to roll out.  You'll want the dough to hold a shape, but not be so stiff that it cracks.  You'll want the texture to be like Play-doh.

Cut two large pieces of waxed paper, about 3"-4" wider than your pie plate.  On one piece of paper, sprinkle a little of the gf mix (or cornstarch) onto the paper to keep the dough from sticking to the paper.  Take out your dough, and flatten it a bit with your hand to make it sorta round.  Sprinkle the top with a little more mix or cornstarch, then put the second piece of waxed paper on top.   The you can use your rolling pin to roll out the dough.  Start from the center and roll outwards.  Because of the waxed paper, you can flip it over and adjust as you go along if it becomes uneven.  (When it gets really unruly, I also pin one corner of the paper with my hip against the counter to keep it from moving.  Hey, whatever works, right?)  Roll the crust to be about 2" wider than your pie pan (measure using the pan itself!). 

When it's the size you want, peel off one side of the paper, put the pan upside down on top and flip it over into the pan, and adjust.  Then peel off the other paper, tada!  Then cut another two pieces of waxed paper and roll out another circle for the top crust, Cover the rolled out dough and put them both in the fridge while you make the filling.

Famous Apple Pie filling
From Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook

Pastry for 2 crusts
6-7 cups of sliced, peeled Granny Smith apples (2 to 2-1/2 lbs)
3/4- 1 c. sugar (adjust depending on how tart the apples are)
2 Tbls. cornstarch
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg (it'll make a huge difference if you can use fresh vs. pre-ground)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbls. butter cut into small pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Peel and slice the apples into a large bowl. 
Combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, the mix among the apples (easiest if you use your hands). 

Put filling into 9" pie crust -- it will be high, don't worry!  Then arrange the small pieces of butter (if using).  Add on top crust then trim the crust edges with a knife so they're even all around.  Then you can decorate (or "flute") the crust edges together as you like. Cut small vents in the top to allow steam out. 

Bake in hot oven 50 to 60 minutes or until crust is browned and apples are tender.  Serve warm or cold.

Oh pie, I missed you so.  Welcome back!

More holiday baking: Chocolate cake (gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free)

I made another recipe from Rebecca Reilly's awesome cookbook Gluten-free Baking -- her recipes ALWAYS work.  This time, it was a Chocolate Applesauce cake -- I wanted something closer to a "normal" cake, light and fluffy, to bring to a group who are not foodies so I didn't want to go too far off the reservation, if you will.  :)

This cake turned out wonderfully.  It tasted great, with a nice texture that was moist, light, fluffy -- my only complaint was that it didn't look as nice as it tasted.  I suck at decorating cakes!  (For this version, I made a fake "mousse" for the middle filling layer from Cool Whip and a few tablespoons of cocoa.  NOTE: Cool Whip is not 100% dairy-free, but the label says it's less than 2%...a filling is totally optional, especially if you want to keep this purely dairy-free.  You could also use a raspberry jam or other filling, I just happened to have this handy.)  I get lots of requests for gluten-free cakes for birthdays, this would be a good one.  I'm still working to find a good recipe with this kind of texture without using eggs and will let you know when I find one.

This recipe calls for Rebecca's gluten-free flour mix, you have a few different ways to put it together:

Option 1:   2 c. brown rice flour or garbanzo flour, 2/3 c. potato starch and 1/3 c. tapioca starch; OR
Option 2:   1 c. garbanzo flour or garfava flour, 1 c. brown rice flour, 2/3 c. potato starch, 1/3 c. tapioca starch; OR
Option 3:  Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour mix


Double this recipe for a two-layer 9" cake like the one I made!

Chocolate Applesauce Cake (Makes 1 (11x7-square or 9x2 round) cake)
From Rebecca Reilly's Gluten-Free Baking

3/4 cup gluten-free flour mix (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/3 c. cornstarch
1 tsp baking gluten-free powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 egg whites
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. warm milk of your choice (I used almond milk)
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. gluten-free vanilla

ICING
2 c. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2-3 Tbsp. milk of your choice

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease baking pan and line with parchment paper.  Lightly grease the paper. (Don't used waxed paper if you don't have parchment.  Just be sure to grease and flour the pan well instead!)

Mix togther the gluten-free mix, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and xanthan gum.  Sift cocoa powder into bowl.  Whisk until blended.

Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until foamy.  Add the sugar slowly.  Pour in the milk, corn syrup, applesauce, and vanilla. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 25 minutes or until done when cake pulls away from the pan and a toothpick comes out clean.  Let rest 10 minutes in pan before inverting onto a cooling rack.  Let cake completely cool before icing.

To make the icing, whisk the powdered sugar and cocoa, adding just enough milk to make an icing thin enough to spread over the cake.  It dries quickly and loses its shine, so make this right before you are ready to frost the cake.

I cut a pattern out of paper to make the flower design on my cake, and used mini candy canes I broke up for the bottom of the cake -- mostly to hide my bad frosting skills!

Happy holidays!

POM wonderful is....wonderful!

A few weeks ago, the nice folks at POM Wonderful (who follow my blog) kindly sent me some of their pomegranate juice to try and review. Note that I said this happened a few weeks ago....with apologies to the POM people, I would have posted sooner but must sheepishly report that my boyfriend loved the juice so much that he drank it ALL in a few days and I had to go out and buy more. Silly rabbit.

If you're not familiar with POM Wonderful, it's delicious 100% pomegranate juice, not made with fillers or preservatives. Prior to this, I had only known about its health properties, but had not tried it yet because it was pricey. I love fresh pomegranates, and am not allergic to them, so was looking forward to drinking and cooking with it as well. The juice is very fresh tasting, and has a considerably thicker texture than juices made from concentrate. It tastes healthy but not in a bad way -- not very sweet, fairly tart and full-bodied. It has been researched to be helpful for heart health, has a low glycemic index (good for diabetics) and has more antioxidants than red wine. All good.

My man thought it was too concentrated to drink as is, so he set about figuring out ways to mix it. At first he drank it with water over ice, then drank it with Seven Up and ice, then ended up replacing his cranberry/vodka cocktail with pomegranate juice. He's now a big fan.

As for me, because of its body and unique taste, I tried thinking of ways to use it in cooking. In the past, I've used a pomegranate/cherry juice as a replacement for beef broth in a meat sauce, which turned out well, but I wanted to expand a little further. So I made an Alton Brown pomegranate syrup recipe to use as a sauce to go with turkey. Yummy -- even though I overcooked it and it turned into candy when it cooled. However, the best surprise came when I used it in a recipe from Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken (the Two Hot Tamales) in place of wine to poach pears. I'm allergic to alcohol and also to sulfites, so cooking with red wine is touchy with me under the best circumstances. No more! These turned out gorgeously -- beautiful color, a perfect balance of flavors, with a little spiciness in these smooth cool fruits. These are elegant enough for a dinner party, yet super easy to make. POM also has recipes on their Web site, www.pomwonderful.com.

I'll continue to try to incorporate pomegranate juice into my cooking. Recipes for both of these here:

Pomegranate syrup
from Alton Brown

4 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used champagne vinegar)

Place the pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice in a 4-quart saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the mixture has reduced to 1 1/2 cups, approximately 50 minutes. It should be the consistency of syrup. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the saucepan for 30 minutes. Transfer to a glass jar and allow to cool completely before covering and storing in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Pears Stewed in Pomegranate Syrup
c.1997, M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger, all rights reserved

2 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 large pears
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
Sweet yogurt cream, or whipped cream (I used cool whip!)
Toasted, chopped hazelnuts, for garnish
Directions

Combine pomegranate juice and sugar in a saucepan. Peel, halve and core the pears, and drop them into the pomegranate juice mixture. Add the cinnamon stick, cloves and allspice, cover the pan, and cook the pears gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until they are tender.

Strain the syrup, discarding the cinnamon and cloves. Let pears cool in the liquid, then transfer pears to a bowl. Boil the liquid until reduced to 1 cup, about 20 minutes. Pour the syrup over the pears and chill.

To serve, drizzle a serving platter or individual plates with the syrup, place a pear half on each plate, drizzle with more syrup. Serve with a dollop of sweet yogurt cream and sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts.

FAQ Chewy chocolate chip cookies (gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free)! Yay!

Last week I did a free demonstration on cooking for food allergies at Surfas Gourmet Food & Restaurant supply in Los Angeles. Thanks to everyone who came out! In attendance were a few people who had gluten allergies, a few employees who had children with food allergies, and a few people who had no idea what food allergies were about but wanted to learn. When I present, I prefer to have interaction with an audience, so we had lots of good discussions/questions about cooking for food allergies. Some of the key points we discusssed were:

1. When making substitutions, be sure to replace both taste and function of the allergen. For example, eggs are both an emulsifier (keep liquids cohesive) and add structure to baking.

2. Specifically for replacing gluten, you must replace that chewy quality that wheat has since alternative flours have none. The current standard replacement is xanthan gum, although some people use guar gum.

3. Also consider that texture frequently gets lost in substitutions, so try to consider that as well when making replacements.

4. When cooking for others, keep the allergy-free area organized by designating cutting boards, knives, storage, etc. with either color-coding or labeling.

5. Be sure to clean your cooking surface often using vegetable-based cleaners to avoid the possibility of cross-contaminating your allergy-free food.

6. Be on the lookout for your food allergens in toiletries as well since they're not going to be labeled gluten-free, soy-free, etc.

Whew! This all sounds so ominous, but really wasn't. It was fun to share what I've learned for myself so far, and the audience had experiences to share as well. One lady who was recently diagnosed with celiacs asked if I had figured out how to make gluten-free flour tortillas, which I haven't yet, but I'll put it on my list.

But of course, the BEST part was eating warm chocolate chip cookies straight out of the oven! I finally nailed a recipe to get the cookies to stay chewy and light and taste pretty darned close to the Nestle Toll House recipe. Gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free, these chocolate chip cookies are unfortunately not soy-free since there is soy lecithin in the chocolate. My BF, who is my critic/main taste tester and has no food allergies, loves these and has been eating them every chance he gets.

For those in the LA area, I forgot to mention again in the demo (DUH) that I'm teaching a full-length class of cooking for food allergies at the New School of Cooking on SAT, JULY 25. More information and registration is available at www.newschoolofcooking.com where I'll share recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner items.

Enjoy!


Food Allergy Queen Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 72 2” cookies
Gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free (not soy-free since most chocolate contains soy lecithin). I've since discovered that there is Enjoy Life soy-free chocolate chips, but have not tried them.

These are soft and chewy. My friends who are not gluten-free think they’re great too!

Ingredients
1 cup cocoa butter chips (available online and specialty shops), or dairy-free margarine if you can have it
3 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free All Purpose flour
2/3 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
2 tsp. gluten-free baking powder (Clabber Girl or Rumsford)
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce, organic if possible
1 cup agave syrup sweetener (amber to dark)
2 tsp. gluten-free vanilla (Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon preferred, McCormicks is also gluten-free)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Callebaut Semi-sweet but check to ensure your chips have no dairy or modified food starch).

Equipment needed
Cookie sheets
Silpat or parchment paper
Cooling racks

Preheat the oven to 325°. Line cookie sheets with a Silpat or parchment paper.

In a small saucepan, melt the cocoa butter chips (or margarine) on low heat, taking care not to let them burn. Let cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and make a well in the middle. Add all the liquid ingredients, including the cocoa butter, into the well and blend well. When mixed, stir in chocolate chips. (Note: as dough cools, it will become stiffer due to the cocoa butter re-solidifying, so don’t be alarmed.)

Using a teaspoon, drop 1” dough balls onto the cookie sheet leaving a little room around for them to spread. If you like your cookies super thin, flatten them at this stage.

Bake cookies for 14-16 minutes, or until light golden brown. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to let them cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

Babycakes NYC cupcakes

I was totally excited to get my new Babycakes NYC bakery cookbook this week. If you are not familiar with Babycakes, they were one of the big bakery names bragged about during the bizarre Cupcake Craze of 2006 (you know, there were videos, arguments about the merits of red velvet and long long lines on both coasts). Here's the kicker -- Babycakes bakery goods are (mostly) gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free. So, basically, vegan cupcakes went mainstream and hit it big! Whoo hoo!

A few caveats about the cookbook before I get to the actual results. Although the cover says gluten-free, I'm sad to report that not all of the recipes are actually gluten-free. Some of them use spelt flour, which is an heirloom wheat tolerated by some who are intolerant to gluten. For us allergic people, it's no good, spelt has gluten. Bummer. That means more workarounds for me. I'm sure Erin McKenna, the author/baker tried hard to make them all gluten-free, but it IS a difficult job replacing so many ingredients after all, and she does have higher standards than most cookbook authors I've run across. That being said, the pictures are gorgeous and everything looks DELISH so I was excited to dive in. Props to Erin anyhow.

So I made the Vanilla Cupcakes that started it all. Honestly, it was harder assembling the ingredients than actually making the recipe. Some items were completely unfamiliar to an old dog like me -- coconut flour and dry soy milk powder for example. Bob's Red Mill (my hero) makes the first, I'm going to investigate the second, but not too hard since I can't use it anyway. I used almond milk as a replacement for the soy milk and left out the lemon peel since I'm allergic to citrus, otherwise left everything else intact. Anyhow, the cupcakes themselves were WONDERFUL. Moist, springy and light with a natural balance of vanilla flavor -- meaning, they didn't taste like they were supposed to emulate something they weren't. Not too sweet. Really lovely texture. I admit user error and screwed up by accidentally putting in too much baking soda (it was supposed to be the baking powder first!) and most likely that was the reason that the bubbles in the cupcake were so big!

The ingredients were expensive, but she notes that in the opening section. Specialty flours are about $5 for 24 oz., and the coconut oil ranged from $6-$8 per pint or so. Agave is not cheap either. She doesn't note a few details, like whether to use light agave or dark, so I went with the middle ground on those. Also, coconut oil varies widely on the consistency (one was 100% liquid, one was almost solid, and one was a pleasant slurry), so again I took the middle ground to be safe.

The vanilla frosting I was not impressed with. Because I could not use the soy milk powder and had to substitute with coconut milk powder, the texture ended up more like royal icing and the flavor was a little too coconut-y to taste truly like vanilla. However, they worked together pretty well, but the frosting was nice but not as outstanding as the cupcake itself. I took these to work today (I work for a cooking store), and the foodie people I work with were impressed with the taste and texture of cupcakes with all those replacements. One woman whose child has a gluten allergy noted that they were perfect for an adult but would not be sweet enough for her son and would pump up the agave in her version.

Food allergy note: I just discovered from my friend Allergic Girl that coconut is considered a tree nut by the FDA. So technically, I can't call these nut-free. Who knew? :P

On a surreal note, a customer (hi Laura!) walked up to me today at work and said, "excuse, me, can you tell me about the different gluten-free flours you have that I can use in baking?" omg. My mouth just dropped open, mentally and physically, I think! My reply, "Would you believe that I just made gluten-free, dairy-free cupcakes and have the cookbook in the kitchen?" Crazy convergence in the universe today!

Anyhow, I'm posting pictures of the cupcakes. Verdict: thumbs way up on the cupcakes, neutral thumb on the frosting. More to come as I make other recipes. Sweet days to come!

Simple or complicated? Both!

This weekend, the weather turned more appropriately summerlike, and the fruits and veggies at the Santa Monica farmers market looked more beautiful and tempting in the clear sunshine. What to do? What to do? Everywhere I turned there were lovely things for the FAQ to eat...bing and rainier cherries, spring asparagus, sweet corn, too many choices among all the pretty colors.

I ended up choosing some very sweet Camarosa variety organic strawberries, stringless green beans, creamy yellow potatoes, and Lily's cage-free eggs then meandered home with my treasures. I had to have the strawberries immediately, so did a simple Italian-style dessert. Strawberries sprinkled with a little balsamic vinegar and some ground pepper (yes, really) are a unique and refreshing combination! The vinegar brings out the sweetness and the pepper keeps it interesting. No added sugar, whipped cream or gluten-filled shortcake necessary. (Of course you could whip up some gluten-free waffles if you feel so inclined.)

For the complicated dish, get this -- I made a Russian salad (Ensaladilla Rusa) from a Spanish cookbook, from a Russian author brought to you by Chinese girl! (It really DOES take a village, doesn't it?) From the fabulous The New Spanish Table, by Anya von Bremzen, this is AUTHENTIC Spanish food (unlike the pretty poser posted previously). The cookbook is charming, informative, and fun to look at too! This salad was not difficult, but took a lot of assembly...it's the Spanish answer to the French Salad Nicoise, but can also be served as a tapas with bread, if you're not allergic to wheat. It had a lovely mellow, but unique flavor because of the Spanish olives and anchovies in the dressing, but I got a chance to show off the fresh potatoes, green beans and my homemade mayo with Lily's eggs. If anyone is interested I'll post the recipe -- it's not difficult, just a lot of little steps. This would be a great light lunch for lazy summer days (I felt REALLY lazy after making this). But happy!

Satisfying a sweet tooth: flourless chocolate cake

Anyone with food allergies can tell you how difficult it is to satisfy a sweet tooth. Most traditionally-made cakes, pies, and pastries are out for those allergic to gluten, egg and dairy. As my friends already know, I consume massive amounts of dark (therefore dairy-free) chocolate, and carry it with me so that I always have a treat ready to go if I can't partake of what everyone else is having. (See 9/06 post entitled "Chocolate is a food group".) When I bake sweets for myself, I usually make a flourless chocolate cake, brownies made with almond paste, or chocolate sparkle cookies made with almond flour. I've also made vanilla almond cakes and quinoa pudding. But still, it's tiresome to always have to make my own desserts...it makes me feel distinctly Amish. Except I don't wear a bonnet.

So it's a nice feeling when I can find something to satisfy my sweet tooth off the rack. This occasion was particularly wonderful because I was prepared to be utterly miserable during a stop at Schat's bakery in Bishop. In case you don't know, Schat's is famous for their shepherder bread, which is delicious (I had it prior to The Discovery). So here I went, deliberately walking into a gi-normous bakery/store, with rows and rows of bread stacked 6 feet high. I could feel the gluten molecules swirling in the air all around me and felt a little ill. But near the end of the line where I fetched my coffee, I found a little treasure packet of very large chocolate-covered coconut macaroons. SWEET! No dairy, no gluten, and covered in my beloved dark chocolate. My determination and patience was rewarded with a treasure in the midst of gluten evil.

If you're feeling Amish, here is my favorite flourless chocolate cake recipe that I serve to my regular friends. Gluten and dairy-free, everyone loves it because it's not missing a thing...the secret is using the BEST chocolate you can get your hands on...I use Callebaut bittersweet.

Chocolate Cake
Gateau au chocolat
From Wolfgang Puck’s Modern French Cooking

Makes one 10” cake

8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
4 oz. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (to make this dairy free, I substitute coconut cream)
5 eggs, separated
a pinch of salt
2/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heavily butter and flour (to make this wheat-free, I use cocoa powder) a 10” round cake pan….If you have parchment paper, it works better to butter and flour the parchment in the pan.

2. Combine chocolate and butter (or coconut cream) and melt over simmering water.

3. Whisk together the egg yolks and all but 3 Tablespoons of the sugar. Stir melted chocolate into egg yolks until thoroughly combined.

4. With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining sugar and continue to whip until egg whites are stiff but not dry.

5. Carefully fold chocolate mixture into egg whites. Pour into prepared pan.

6. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn out onto a rack immediately. As the cake cools, the center will sink and crack…do not worry!

Dust with powdered sugar and serve with unsweetened whipped cream if you can have it (or Cool Whip which is has very little dairy!)

Can quinoa be comfort food?

It was a cold, drizzly and dull day. The FAQ needed a little something comforting to nibble on while wrapped in sweats and looking to feel cozy until the sun came out.

How to get that sitting-by-a-fireplace-with-a-dog-at-your-feet feeling? Apple pie, chili, rice pudding? Ah, rice pudding, that's the ticket! OH YEAH, I'm allergic to rice. And allergic to the milk in pudding. Dang. What to do? I quickly dug through my files and found a recipe for Quinoa Pudding that used a lot of similar ingredients to rice pudding. It sounded sorta weird. I've always been a little suspicious of quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah)...it looks kinda funny, the grains have these little white strings, the texture is similar to rice but more chewy than rice, and the flavor is a bit nutty. (Quinoa, in case you are unfamiliar with it, is an ancient grain that's high in protein, gluten-free, and apparently it's commonly used in Peru, which is where this recipe originated.)

You know what? It was DELICIOUS. Unusual, and yet familiar, the nuttiness of the grain was complimentary to the spices. It had a lovely texture, and was similar enough to rice pudding to be comforting and yet completely allergen-free! Yay! The top was crusty and carmelized, the pudding was mellow, and this recipe recommends a little swirl of honey on top to finish it off. Sweet. It was gonna be a good day.

Quinoa Pudding

1 cup quinoa (6 oz), picked over
4 c. water
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk (I used almond milk)
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. plus 1 Tbs. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. fresh bread crumbs (I omitted this)
1/4 c. slivered almonds or coursely ground walnuts or a mixture
1/4 c. dried currants or raisins
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
Accompaniment: honey or miel de chancaca (brown sugar syrup)

Wash quinoa in several changes of cold water in a bowl, rubbing grains between your palms, then drain well. (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, THE QUINOA IS BITTER AND MUST BE RINSED.) Bring quinoa and 4 c. water to boil in a large saucepan, then reduce and simmer, uncovered, until grains are translucent, 13-15 minutes. Drain well in a sieve.

Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, 3/4 cup sugar, and salt in a large bowl until just combined. Stir in quinoa, bread crumbs, nuts, and currants and pour into a buttered 9-inch square metal baking pan.

Stir together cinnamon and remaining tablespoon sugar and sprinkle over top of pudding. Bake in middle of oven until a knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Drizzle with honey or syrup before serving.

* Available at Latino markets.

Makes 8 servings.
Gourmet/Lilian Zamorano
November 2002