GF Cookie Girl

Homemade Holiday Goodies

2010-12-24T14:52:00.000-06:00

This year, I wanted to gift some homemade goodies as Christmas gifts. Pretty much all year long I've been prepping, with things like homemade vanilla extract and vanilla sugar. I got some awesome bottles with droppers for the vanilla, and some pretty jars for the sugar.

I also wanted to bake a couple things to give along with the extract and sugar, so I decided on my Texas pecan pralines. I'd also been wanting to try my hand at black & white cookies ever since my friend Amanda told me they existed. I decided Christmas was the perfect time to do it, and I even made some holiday versions: regular black & white (with vanilla glaze and chocolate glaze), black & red (raspberry glaze and chocolate glaze), and black & green (peppermint glaze and chocolate glaze). Yay!

I know, these pictures aren't the greatest, and I forgot to photograph the cookies before I packaged them all up, so these shots will have to do.

Gingerbread Stars

2010-12-23T14:40:00.001-06:00

We had a little holiday luncheon at my office last week, so I figured that would be a good time to bring some cookies! I'd been wanting to make gingerbread cookies all month, and here was a perfect opportunity.

I knew I wanted to make stars, because they're pretty, and I can make smaller, bite-sized ones easily. I also didn't have much time, so I wanted something I could decorate quickly. I found the most adorable sprinkles at Target: red jimmies with white candy cane shapes, red nonpareils with green holly leaves, and green jimmies with white snowflakes. I also had a nice big jar of "holiday" nonpareils, basically green, red, and white mixed together. And I had some silver, chunky sprinkles leftover from the time I made geode cupcakes!

Gingerbread Cookies
(adapted from this recipe)

2.5 tbsp dark corn syrup
2.5 tbsp maple syrup
2.5 tbsp packed dark brown sugar
2.5 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp ground ginger
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking soda
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
1/2 a large egg, lightly beaten
2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Bring corn syrup, maple syrup, sugars, and spices to a boil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat. Stir in baking soda (mixture will foam up), then stir in butter 3 pieces at a time, letting each addition melt before adding next, until all butter is melted. Add egg and stir until combined, then stir in most of the flour (leave about 2 tbsp aside) and salt.
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with as much of remaining 2 tbsp flour as needed to prevent sticking, until soft and easy to handle, 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Roll out dough about 1/8-inch thick between 2 sheets of wax paper. Place on a flat surface (cutting board or cookie sheet) and refrigerate for about 10-15 minutes. Cut out as many cookies as possible with cutters and carefully transfer onto parchment-lined baking sheets, arranging them about 1 inch apart.
Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until edges are slightly darker, 10 to 12 minutes total (watch carefully toward end of baking; cookies can burn easily). Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Make more cookies with remaining dough and scraps (reroll once).
Once cooled, decorate as desired.

Royal Icing

3 cups powder sugar, sifted
2 large egg whites
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp almond extract

Mix everything in your Kitchenaid with the paddle attachment on low to low-medium speed until it's smooth and will form soft peaks, about 5 minutes.
Add colors if necessary. Keep covered with a damp paper towel or plastic wrap when not using.
Pipe onto cookies as desired.

I packaged them up and brought them to my office, then set them out on display for everyone. They loved them and I only had a couple left over to bring home. Yay!

Newsletters I Actually Love Getting

2010-12-02T14:42:00.002-06:00

It seems like whenever you register for a website these days, you're somehow automatically signed up for their email newsletter too. I've got so many newsletters coming in to my account that I've set up a filter to have them all go straight into an archived Gmail label called Newsletters, so I can look at them at my leisure and they're not hanging around in my inbox. Thanks to this, I've been able to keep track of what newsletters are coming in, and figure out which ones to keep and which ones to unsubscribe from. It's surprised me to realize that there are some newsletters I actually look forward to and open with excitement!

Here are some of the best email newsletters out there, according to me:

CRAVE Cupcakes / Sprinkles Cupcakes
Initially, I was subscribed to Sprinkles, but when I kept getting emails showing off their adorable & delicious-looking cupcakes, I began to get frustrated. There was no Sprinkles in Houston! So I subscribed to the CRAVE Cupcakes newsletter for my cupcakes fix. I mean, who doesn't like to look at some goodies every now and then? I may not be able to afford these very often, but I can at least daydream about them.

Moo.com's MOOsLetter
I have a kind of obsession with MOO. At least once a month, I login and design new mini cards, stickers, etc. and usually end up not ordering them (yet). MOO's newsletter is perfect for me because it's a regular (but not too frequent) reminder of how cool they are, without being overly sales-pitch-like. They show off cool things that people are doing with their products, and usually they contain some sort of promo code for discounts. Perfect for inspiration and motivation to design & purchase some of your own products from MOO!

Etsy Finds
Sure, it's a daily newsletter, and sometimes those can get overwhelming, but not these! Etsy Finds is a great email to open when you just want to look at creative, pretty, interesting products. It's another source of inspiration, and occasionally I find something I want to purchase right away! I'll bet 1/3 of my Favorites on Etsy I found from this newsletter.

A Word A Day
Can you really go wrong with something as simple and fun as a word a day email? I like learning (or being reacquainted with) a new word every weekday. They have weekly themes, and each word is done justice. You'll learn its meaning, pronunciation, etymology, and origins, along with a few examples of it in use. Fantastic!

Photojojo
This one's for photography junkies, mostly, but it's a lot of fun for casually creative individuals, too. It's chock full of great gift ideas, photography accessories, and fun photo projects. Another good source for both inspiration AND shopping potential.

So, what do these newsletters have in common?

They're non-invasive (they're not bombarding you to buy anything)
They're pretty to look at (except AWAD, I suppose)
They're inspiring

What are some of your favorite newsletters to receive?

Sugar Cookies From My Childhood

2010-10-31T14:43:00.001-05:00

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been in love with sugar cookies. When I would go to the grocery store with my mom, the bakery would give kids a free cookie. I always chose the sugar cookies, preferably with sprinkles. As I grew older, my love for sugar cookies did not fade, but it became harder to find that perfect, nostalgic sugar cookie. The pre-made cookie doughs, or the cooke dough mixes, you can buy at the grocery store never tasted the same. Every from-scratch recipe I tried was never quite right, and way too many of them involved lemon. Am I the only one that thinks lemon flavor has no place in a pristine sugar cookie?!

This week, I got a little craving for sugar cookies, and though these days I normally go for my super favorite - decorated shortbread-like sugar cookies (like Gianna's heavenly creations) - this time I wanted the cookies from my youth. I decided to try a little experiment and see if I could better replicate those nostalgia-inducing sugar cookies. I whipped out my snickerdoodle recipe, but instead of rolling the dough in cinnamon and sugar, I rolled it in sprinkles!

The little balls of sprinkle-covered dough look like donut holes, don't they? So cute. I tried both nonpareils and jimmies, to see which I liked better. Surprisingly, just the difference in sprinkles made a difference in how the cookies baked and tasted. The ones rolled in jimmies turned out much softer, and had a more uneven covering of sprinkles in the end. The ones rolled in nonpareils had a more even coating of sprinkles, and they turned out much sturdier. The ones with nonpareils had the flavor I was searching for, and I was so happy! My boyfriend, however, preferred the ones with jimmies. Go figure!

So what is it about this recipe that hit the spot so well this time? I've always wondered if the cream of tartar in snickerdoodle recipes changes the flavor at all, even though I know it is mostly used to give the cookies a bit of spread and fluff. These also have some shortening in them, which I can definitely taste as different than if I had used all butter. I think the original recipe calls for all shortening, but I prefer half butter and half shortening in mine. Also, surprisingly, I think the nonpareils added a lot of that nostalgic flavor I was looking for. They introduce extra crunch and a hint of sweetness in the corners of my mouth. Perfect.

The recipe makes a lot of dough (about 4 dozen 3-inch-diameter cookies), so I took half of it and rolled it up, so I can unfreeze it to slice and bake later! If you'd like to do the same, I've got a great tip for getting your rolled cookie dough shaped perfectly. I used to always struggle with rolling my cookie dough, because it was uneven and lumpy. Here's how to make it perfectly round, for uniform cookies!

Rolling Cookie Dough into a Log:

Set out a large sheet of wax paper.
Arrange your cookie dough in a general log shape, along the middle of the wax paper.
Wrap the top of the wax paper over the log of dough so it is covered completely.
Get a straight edge (like a metal ruler) and press it up against the bottom of the log of dough, on top of the wax paper.
Holding the ruler in place, pull gently on the bottom piece of wax paper ONLY. This will pull the paper taut and in the process it will squeeze the cookie dough into a nice, rounded shape.
When your dough is the diameter you want, remoe the ruler and finish wrapping up the dough with the wax paper, and twist the ends closed. I like to write the type of dough and date on the outside so I'll remember what it is when I grab it from the freezer later.

Now, if you'd like to make some of your own sugar cookies / snickerdoodles, here's the recipe I used. This is probably one of my most popular cookies around the holidays. Everyone I share them with always comes asking for more, and nobody can tell they're gluten-free!

Drop or Slice-and-Bake Sugar Cookies / Snickerdoodles

What you'll need:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup GF all-purpose flour*
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400° F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the butter and shortening in your kitchenaid with the paddle attachment until smooth and well-blended.
Add the sugar and mix until well blended.
Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition.
Add the vanilla and mix well.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture. I did this in about 3 additions, so it wasn't a ton of flour all at once. Mix until well blended.
Roll the dough into balls (about the size of a donut hole) and roll them in your choice of sprinkles, sugar, or cinnamon-sugar mixture (or nothing at all - that tastes great, too!). Place them on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. I find the ones rolled in jimmies take a bit longer to bake, and they still come out softer. 9 minutes seems to be about the magic number for all different variations. If you like your cookies a little crispier, go for 10-11 minutes.

If you intend to roll and freeze this dough for slice-and-bake action later, I suppose you can just set them on the baking sheet and top (and bottom?) them with sprinkles or cinnamon sugar.

*My GF all-purpose flour mixture consists of 1 part brown rice flour, 1 part white rice flour, 1/3 part tapioca starch, 2/3 part potato starch, and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum per cup of flour.

Enjoy~

Glow Gluten Free Cookies (Review)

2010-09-28T19:05:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Kim at Age of Autism I was one of the lucky winners of a whole set of Glow Gluten Free cookies! Both Kim and Jill (from Glow GF) were so sweet to communicate with, and the cookies arrived really quickly. I wish I could have been just as timely as posted this review a lot sooner - I'm sorry it took me so long, ladies!

When I opened the box, I was amazed to find not just one sample of cookies, but four different boxes of cookies inside! My boyfriend and I got to sample the Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, and Gingersnap cookies! Yes -- ALL of their flavors. How awesome is that? And aren't the boxes SO cute?! They fit seven cookies inside, wrapped in a second layer of freshness protection.

One thing I love about these cookies is that not only are they gluten free, but they are also preservative free (and also casein and trans fat free!). As a baker, I have a strong love of whole, natural ingredients used in my foods, so I love to see the same care put into the baked goods that I buy. And as I am wont to do with ALL my foods these days, one of the first things I did was read the ingredients panel. I have to hand it to Glow Gluten Free -- you have convinced me that baked goods using bean flour CAN taste good! This is the first experience I have had with bean flours that has been a positive one, so that is saying something!

These cookies were yummy! The gingersnaps were the chewiest of the bunch, and they had that familiar gingerbread flavor and texture. Folks, the chocolate chip? They were reminiscent of Chips Ahoy! in a good way, only these were a bit chewier and had a more robust flavor. I think the chocolate Glow GF uses much be top notch, because I could taste the quality in the chocolate chip cookies. And the double chocolate chip? SO chocolately and really flavorful. I think these might have been my favorite. Snickerdoodles are one of my favorite holiday cookies, and these deliver. They're crispy (which I enjoy) and they leave that amazing, zingy aftertaste that makes my mouth happy even when the cookie is all gone.

All in all, I'd say these are some of the best gluten-free cookies I've tasted so far. If you see these on the shelf at the grocery store - pick them up! Unfortunately, I haven't seen these in my area yet, and if you're having the same trouble, don't fret. Just buy them online!

(You can also find Glow Gluten Free on Facebook and twitter.)

Strawberry Basil Pound Cake

2010-09-10T20:46:00.003-05:00

This week, I was gifted with so many things that I just knew I needed to show them off! First, some lovely girls from the church across the street were walking around our neighborhood handing out bags of fresh basil and oregano from their community garden! Isn't that awesome? It smelled SO good, folks.

I was also a lucky recipient of some bakeware tools from Pyrex, thanks to Foodbuzz! They sent me some magnetic measuring cups, magnetic measuring spoons, and a large glass mixing bowl. Guys, I can't tell you how happy I am with these items. The cups and spoons are shaped with a little spout on them for easy scooping and pouring, and their magnets make them SO easy to keep together. The mixing bowl is the perfect size for mixing by hand, and my rubber spatula is pretty much in love with its smooth interior. Yay, thank you Pyrex and Foodbuzz!

And thanks to the suggestion of a friend, I decided to make a strawberry and basil pound cake with all of my new stuff! Luckily I already had some strawberry puree that I'd been planning to use for something else. And I have just bought the most adorable mini loaf pans at the craft store!

This recipe makes four small (7 oz) pound cakes, or one large pound cake.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar
5 tbsp butter, melted
4 eggs
1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour*
generous 1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
generous 1/3 cup strawberry puree
2 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

*My GF flour mixture consists of 3 parts brown rice flour, 3 parts white rice flour, 2 parts potato starch, 1 part tapioca starch, and 1/2 tsp xanthan gum per cup of flour. The original recipe called for cake flour, which is fine, too, but for a gluten-free recipe, I prefer not to use cake flour most of the time.

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325° F and spray your loaf pans with cooking spray.
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Stir the butter and sugar until well mixed (feel free to use your kitchenaid for this, but if you don't have one, hand mixing works beautifully).
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition.
Add the flour mixture slowly, mixing well until it is cohesive.
Add the strawberry puree and basil and mix until well combined.
Pour into pans (for my mini pans it was about 1/2-cup batter per pan - it made 4 cakes).
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Serving and Eating

Friends, this cake is so good that my boyfriend can't stop eating it! I suggest that you serve it with some vanilla cream (recipe here), or even a nice strawberry glaze on top. The strawberry flavor in this cake isn't overwhelming, but the entire combination is a sweet, gently spicy, soft cake.

[The photo at the top of this blog has been entered in the Gluten Free Photo Contest!]

Financiers with Vanilla Cream

2010-09-05T19:08:00.001-05:00

When I was in pastry school, I became entranced with the financiers we made there. Never before had I tasted anything made with buerre noisette, and I had fallen in love. Their crispy outsides. Their soft, almondy center. If I wasn't careful, I'd find myself eating way too many of them when they were set out in the student cafe.

I've figured it's about time I made a gluten-free version, which should be pretty easy since there isn't much gluten in them to begin with. I have a small silicone mold that I bought a while back, and I thought it would be perfect for these financiers. It has square molds, and I thought that would perhaps be pretty, compared to the usual long rectangle shape of financiers.

First time around, I filled the molds almost all the way to the top, and after baking them twice as long as directed, they were still raw in the bottom. I had to throw my entire first batch in the trash. Boo! :( So, I've learned a couple of things while making them, and I've included these tips in the recipes below.

Financiers

Ingredients

100 grams TPT (50 grams almond flour, 50 grams sugar, mixed well)
170 grams powdered sugar, sifted
50 grams all-purpose gluten-free flour*, sifted
130 grams egg whites (about 4.5 large eggs' worth)
175 grams buerre noisette (brown butter)

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter on the stove on low heat. Boil until the butter begins to separate, and the solids sink to the bottom and turn brown. Remove quickly from heat and pour through a sieve or cheesecloth into another container to cool. Let cool to at least 40 degrees C (85 degrees F). It is important to keep a close eye on this because it can begin to burn very quickly. Pouring it through a sieve will remove all of the solids that you don't want in your buerre noisette.
Whisk together all of the dry ingredients until they are well incorporated. Then put the dry mixture in your kitchenaid with the paddle attachment.
Gently whisk the egg whites a little, and then add them to the dry mixture in the kitchenaid. Turn on low-medium speed and mix well.
With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the cooled brown butter into the kitchenaid and allow it to mix until the butter is well incorporated.
Brush the molds with a little bit of leftover brown butter or spray with cooking spray. If using a silicone mold, place it on a flat baking sheet before filling it. If you do not have silicone molds, you can also use mini tart molds or mini muffin tins.
Pour into a piping bag with a medium-sized round tip and pipe into the molds. If the molds are deep, like mine, be sure not to pour more than 1/8-inch or so of batter into each mold. When filled, tap the mold against the counter to settle the contents evenly.
Bake for 4-5 minutes, then remove from oven and place an almond slice (or berry, if you like) on each. Then put it back in the oven for another 4-5 minutes. The baking time will vary depending on how much batter is in your molds, and their material. I believe my mold is a bit thicker than the ones we used at school, so I actually had to bake mine for about 20 minutes total. Just continue watching them, and add a couple of minutes at a time, until they are nicely browned on the top. Then remove them from the oven to cool on a rack.

*My all-purpose flour mixture consists of 3 parts brown rice flour, 3 parts white rice flour, 2 parts potato starch, 1 part tapioca starch, and 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum per cup of flour.

Here's the part where I ate a couple, because they're just so hard to resist. The powdered sugar in the recipe gives them a distinct crispy, chewy edge that is so familiar In a lot of French baking.

While they're cooling, you can prepare the cream!

Vanilla Whipped Cream Frosting

Ingredients

2 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Preparation

To make sure your cream cheese is softened enough, feel free to put it in the kitchenaid with a paddle for a minute or two.
Switch to the whisk attachment and add the sugar and vanilla. Mix until smooth and creamy. You'll probably need to scrape the sides with a rubber spatula a few times during the process.
Once it is well mixed, set the mixer to low and slowly pour in the heavy whipping cream.
Continue whipping (you may want to up the speed a little) until it is well mixed and the cream forms stiff peaks. Again, you'll probably want to scrape the sides a few times during the process.
When ready, prepare in a piping bag with your desired tip. Pipe onto each financier and garnish with an almond slice.

Here's the part where I rushed to take photos of them so I could hurry up and eat them! The soft, smooth texture of the cream really sets off the chewiness of the financiers, and the flavors complement each other in such a delicious way. Enjoy!

Why the Vegan Baker Did So Well on Cupcake Wars

2010-09-02T19:10:00.006-05:00

Against my initial aversion of most things reality-tv-related, I've gotten myself sucked in to watching Cupcake Wars whenever I happen to catch it on the Food Network. Even my boyfriend is enjoying watching it with me (I think it has something to do with him enjoying hearing me analyze what's going on - much like I enjoy hearing him analyze MMA fights). On a recent episode, the contestants consisted of: a young man, a girl with her sister as an assistant, a middle-aged woman, and a young vegan girl named Chloe. All of them had years of experience in their cupcake businesses, except for the vegan girl who had only been in business for 3.5 months! Of course, I just had to see how things would pan out.

Time and time again, specialty-diet bakers face skepticism when offering their goods to the general public. So naturally, I groaned with frustration, but was not surprised, when the judges announced that they were "worried" upon encountering Chloe's vegan cupcakes for the first time. But by the end of the second round she had completely won them over, and Chef Florian (the hard to please, French judge) had even said he'd become a vegan fan!

What is it that made Chloe and her cupcakes so successful, when others were struggling with some foolish mistakes (as I often see on Cupcake Wars)? Why was it that she excelled under pressure, while the others were flustered? Here are a few things that I think helped her achieve victory, coming from my own experience as a specialty-diet baker.

1. Specialty-diet bakers are accustomed to experimenting.

When I started out as a gluten-free baker, I had a LOT of missteps and ruined cookies. Even with gluten-free cookbooks and blogs so abundant now (they were not quite as easy to find even a few years ago), it takes time and practice to learn how to work with these ingredients and recipes. I have no doubt that it is a similar experience for vegan bakers, sugar-free bakers, etc.

We spend a lot of time testing recipes, adding a bit more of this or that, trying a different liquid, realizing the dough is too dry, making sure the batter isn't too runny, and on and on. Now, I understand that "regular" bakers go through similar things, but unless you have delved into any kind of restricted-ingredient baking, you don't know what kind of additional challenges are faced.

Because of all of these experiences, it is my opinion that specialty-diet bakers can become a lot more in-tune with our ingredients, our recipes, and our methods, than some other bakers out there. For example, I was somewhat appalled as one of Chloe's competitors added too much Grand Marnier to her batter and it was so watery that she had to try to fix it by adding a bunch of sugar. Are people not taught baker percentage anymore? Perhaps it was just the time constraints that led the woman to make this mistake, but I didn't see any others having that problem.

2. Specialty-diet bakers know what works and what doesn't.

Due to years of experimenting, I've gotten a pretty good feel for what will work in my recipes. I know that adding coffee to my chocolate cookie dough gives it a very different texture when baked. I know that refrigerating my peanut butter cookie dough before shaping and baking leads to a smaller, more compact cookie than if the dough is at room temperature. I know that hand mixing certain things is the only way to go, and using my kitchenaid is necessary for others. I know that attempting a traditional shortbread cookie recipe will result in cookies so dry and fragile that they will fall apart if you even look at the wrong.

It is because of all the extra time we spend perfecting our recipes, that specialty-diet bakers know how many things can go wrong. In a competitive setting, it is best to go with things you know will work, things you've tried and are comfortable with, things that you know will not fail you, things that you know you will have enough time to complete. One thing I've noticed a lot of in Cupcake Wars is that people sometimes forget they're not superhumans. They want to create elaborate fondant decorations for cupcakes, forgetting that they'll have to spend a significant portion of time making one thousand of them for the final round. Know your limits!

3. Specialty-diet bakers often use high-quality, whole ingredients in their baking.

One of Chloe's competitors kept throwing bitter criticism at her, saying that vegan baking included "fake stuff" for ingredients. I'll admit that I don't know much about vegan baking, but I do know a little. I also realize that I do not know the ingredients in Chloe's recipes, so perhaps I am incorrect in surmising that she does not use a bunch of "fake" ingredients. All I know is that those of us with restrictive diets, are very conscious of what we put into our bodies. We, more than anyone, are concerned about the amount of chemicals and other questionable ingredients listed on nutritional information panels.

To assume that vegans are using "fake" ingredients is to display your ignorance of their methods. Did you know that flaxseed can be a great substitute for eggs? Did you know that vegetable oils, fruit juices, applesauce, and other things can be used in place of butter and milk? When the only thing you have to criticize about your competition is their alleged "fake" ingredients, and not their time management, presentation, or technique (by the way, did you notice that Chloe and her assistant were mixing all their batters by hand? Adorable!), it just goes to show how much they intimidate you.

And if one gauges the rest of her recipes based on her Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake recipe that she shared on the Food Network, I think it's safe to say she's not using anything "fake".

4. Specialty-diet bakers know that they must create exceptional goods, or nobody will eat them unless there is no other choice.

You know, it's an unfortunate thing, but I think that people are justified is approaching specialty-diet foods with caution. When I first went on a gluten-free diet, I spent months searching for a GF food that didn't taste like sand or cardboard. The first tasty gluten-free food I had was made by my own hands. It's what inspired me to pursue gluten-free baking on a larger scale, and to share these goods with others. Why should Celiacs have to resort to boring, dry cookies when we want something sweet? Why should we pine away at those gorgeous, delicious-looking cookies at Whole Foods, and then solemnly nibble on our gluten-free "treats"?

I'll admit that over the years, some truly awesome gluten-free products have become available in stores. Glutino makes some of the BEST wafer cookies I have ever tasted. But I digress, slightly. The point here is that we already know how hard it is to find food we can eat that tastes good. We wouldn't go through all the trouble of making, and marketing, our goods unless we knew that they were delicious enough to keep people coming back for more. Can anyone honestly think that a vegan baker would enter a televised cupcake competition unless she was extremely confident in the quality of her goods? I can assure you that I will not share anything I bake with anyone unless I am proud of what I am feeding them, and unless I want to eat them too!

In Conclusion

I must have started writing this blog entry about 8 different times, and each time it seemed too lengthy and not explanatory enough. Though this did turn out rather long-winded, I think I finally got the points across that I was aiming to convey. I hate to use idioms, but I have to suggest that you "don't knock it till you've tried it" when it comes to specialty-diet foods. Keep in mind that the person who made it knows a lot more about it than you do, and be prepared for the idea that you may just like it better than the "normal" version. ;)

Another Pretty Cup

2010-08-29T16:06:00.002-05:00

I saw this mug at Office Depot and fell in love with it. It is taller and a bit more slender than a normal mug.

What's Up With Wooden Spoons?

2010-08-25T16:07:00.001-05:00

Whenever I read a recipe in which the instructions specify that I stir something with a wooden spoon, my mind instantly goes back to when I was a little girl, helping my mom cook and bake in the kitchen. (Of course, this also reminds me of how she would threaten to spank us with that wooden spoon if we were being little jerks, but that's another story for another day.) I can still see her wooden spoons clearly in my mind's eye. That golden color, the edges browned from heat, the way the wood cracked and split and food sunk in and stained the spoon, the hint of scents from previously-stirred foods...

To be quite honest with you, friends, I am rather grossed out by the idea of using a wooden spoon at all. In my adult life, I have not even considered buying or using a wooden spoon. I honestly don't see the point. They seem like germ-attractors, and the way they scrape against pots and things kind of makes my skin crawl (like nails on a chalkboard). I even read a story on a gluten-free blog once, where the writer got "glutened" by some soup her friend made for her. The friend took extra care to make everything gluten-free, but that sneaky, sticky protein snuck into the soup by means of the wooden spoon she used to stir the soup - the same spoon she used for her regular cooking.

Aren't there better things one can use instead of a wooden spoon? I've gotten by just fine without these utensils, so I'm wondering why anyone likes to use them. All this ruminating has led me to research the benefits and drawbacks of using wooden spoons, along with alternatives.

What Are Wooden Spoons Good For?

1. Wooden spoons do not transfer heat as much as metal spoons do.

This could be important in keeping heat consistent throughout a dish you are preparing and not adding body heat transferred from your hand through the spoon, but in my opinion this has limited applications (although I am no expert).

2. Wooden spoons do not scratch the bottom of a pan like a metal utensil would.
According to Wikipedia, "this is useful when making dishes such as scrambled eggs." Okay, folks, if you are using a spoon -- wooden OR metal -- to make scrambled eggs, I have to ask you WHY? Why use a spoon to do something that would be much easier with a spatula? Plastic doesn't scratch the bottom of a pan either! And if you want to scrape the sides and bottom of a pan, silicone spatulas work WONDERS and don't scratch anything.

3. Wood will not react with some ingredients the way some metals will.
This is mostly applicable when making things like Amish breads, which have ingredients that react with aluminum. This means that if you use a stainless steel bowl or spoon with your Amish bread, you are still safe (and don't have to use a wooden spoon). Some metals (aside from stainless steel) will also leave a metallic taste in foods, which is unpleasant and unnecessary!

4. Wooden spoons will not crystallize sugar prematurely when making candy.
This article at The Kitchn compares using a metal spoon versus a wooden spoon for making candy and cooking sugar. The writer notes that her culinary instructor insisted on using only metal spoons because wooden spoons carry bacteria. However, the writer then refers to a book called On Food and Cooking, which argues that a metal spoon can cause unwanted crystallization due to the heat transfer effects of the material, so recommends using a wooden spoon instead. To both of these arguments, I point out that my chef instructor never had us use spoons for anything besides tasting (and scooping ice cream), and we cooked all of our sugar without using utensils because ANY stirring can cause crystallization, no matter what tool you use to do it.

5. Wooden spoon handles have a nice cylindrical shape.
This can be good for use in shaping pastillage or gum paste. Aside from that, I don't see much benefit, unless you just prefer this shape for gripping.

6. There may or may not be more uses for wooden spoons.
You can learn about them at Uncyclopedia.

Why I Don't Recommend Wooden Spoons

1. Wooden spoons are high maintenance.
Before you can even use your new wooden spoon, you'll have to prepare it. This means finding some mineral oil, warming it, rubbing it onto the spoon with a cloth, waiting a couple hours, then wiping off any excess oil. Oh, and you'll have to do this several times if you want it to be sufficient. And you'll also have to repeat this process throughout the lifetime of the spoon.

2. Wooden spoons are harder to keep clean.
Washing wooden spoons requires extra care, because you must be careful not to have the water too hot (heat damage), you mustn't let it soak in the water (water damage), and you'll need to dry them off right away to help discourage bacteria from sticking around.

3. Wooden spoons can harbor and transfer bacteria.
That's right, you'll need to take special care with your wooden spoon to ensure that it isn't harboring any nasty germs in it. See the cleaning methods above, but also take note that any scratches, cuts, or cracks in your wooden spoon are just inviting bacteria to come and get comfortable. Using the same spoon for things like raw meat and then for vegetables (or any other food item) is another way to incite cross-contamination and bacteria growth.

4. Wooden spoons are good for stirring, but not much else.
Seriously, take a look at the shape of your wooden spoon. The bowl can barely even be called a bowl; it is shallow and narrow, thus it is almost useless for doing any kind of scooping. The edges are thick and angular, which leaves out any kind of scraping you may want to do as well. Sure, it might be handy for stirring your soup, but so are many other things that also serve other purposes beyond "stirring soup."

Awesome Alternatives to Wooden Spoons

1. Silicone Spatula

A silicone spatula is versatile and doesn't have the many flaws of a wooden spoon. The material is flexible yet sturdy, and is much like rubber. This makes it an ideal utensil for scraping the sides of a bowl, and it will not scratch and of your pots and pans! It is also the best tool for folding ingredients together, like adding your whipped egg whites into a cake batter. Silicone is also heat resistant, which means there is no chance of heat transference. Because of its nonstick surface, it will not retain any smells or flavors from food, either!

Since they come in so many different shapes and sizes, you can have some for baking, and some for cooking that are easier to flip things like pancakes, etc.

NOTE: There are a lot of different silicone and rubber spatulas out there. I recommend one with a longer handle (14") and a nook in one side (this makes scraping off the edge of the bowl SO much easier), like this one here that is similar to the one I own. Unfortunately, I can't find ANY like it for sale online -- what the heck?!

2. Large Slotted Spoon

When I'm cooking, I generally switch over to a large slotted spoon instead of a spatula. Why do I like slotted spoons? For one, they are larger than a wooden spoon, which means more surface area with which to stir my soup, scoop up my potatoes, and mix my fried rice. The slots also allow steam to escape and juices to drip out a little bit, so if I hold the spoon up to my nose, it won't be so hot.

Mini Brownie Cupcakes

2010-08-21T16:08:00.003-05:00

As much as I love pastry, it just can't pay my bills yet, so by day I work in GIS doing nerdy geo-stuff for a small training and consulting company. This week, all of my co-workers were able to get together (which is a rare occurrence, because we are all off at different sites and in different cities). They have got to be one of the most awesome groups of people I've ever had the privilege to work with. So, to celebrate the occasion, I baked them goodies!

I decided on miniature brownie cupcakes because they're cute, bite-size, and fun to decorate. Also, I love making these brownies because they are so gooey and delicious and you can't even tell that they're gluten-free! I dipped them in some of my trusty dark chocolate ganache and topped them off with some vanilla buttercream and rainbow nonpareils.

So much fun and so tasty!

CMYKake

2010-08-03T16:10:00.002-05:00

Some of you may know what a big fan of colors I am. In fact, I even have the additive and subtractive color spectrums tattooed on my backs on my wrists. So it should come as no surprise that I was inspired to create a CMYK cake!

My plan was something like this:

But, as usual, my plan didn't come to fruition as fabulously as I hoped. However, it did turn out better than I expected, after a few setbacks.

The cake is entirely gluten-free and has SO MANY components that it actually took me three days to complete. And I had to re-bake the lemon cake because I didn't put enough baking powder in the first batch. Darnit! My process went something like this:

DAY 1

raspberry curd
lemon curd
blueberry puree

DAY 2

lemon cake
raspberry cake
blueberry cake
chocolate cake
chocolate ganache frosting (yes, the black is chocolate!)

DAY 3

re-bake lemon cake
blueberry Italian meringue
assemble and frost cake

By the end of it, I have to admit that I was rather exhausted, which would explain the not-perfectly-evenly-cut cake layers (resulting in the angled top) and the not-perfectly-smoothed frosting job. In the end, it looks cool, but it could have used a lot more filling in between the layers to make it taste better. Darn.

What Comes to Mind When You Think of French Cooking?

2010-07-21T16:20:00.001-05:00

This morning as I was making my way through a hotel lobby lined with a lovely array of breakfast buffet items, I began contemplating French toast. I thought to myself, why is French toast any different than regular toast? The answer was so obvious and so immediate that I don't know why it didn't slap me in the face before: eggs.

Now, let me be clear: I was not ignorant of the fact that French toast is made with eggs. That's been a generally accepted fact of life ever since I first tasted French toast. Perhaps it was because this information was such common knowledge to me, that I didn't really care what that meant. French toast is French, not because it is different than other types of toast, and not because it is any better than other types of toast, but because it is made with eggs.

Before attending a French culinary school, I was painfully unaware of the techniques and ingredients used in a lot of the traditional gourmet cuisine. At first it was kind of a joke, an observation, that I voiced in the school cafe during a dinner (where all the students present what they cooked that evening). "Wow, there's, like, eggs in everything..." But it wasn't very long into my first semester when I was basically punched in the gut with the knowledge that I had better become very comfortable with eggs if I wanted to succeed in (and enjoy) my pastry courses.

A large quantity of what I was taught to make in those classes involved a substantial amount of eggs, egg whites, egg yolks, or egg wash (and every chef has his own "correct" method for making egg wash, folks, don't screw it up). In fact, if there had somehow been a shortage of eggs at the school, our classes might have been ruined if not for the chocolatier practice! Various forms of sponge cakes and biscuits, custards, creams, meringues, mousses, macarons, breads, crepes, waffles (yes, the waffles tasted pretty much like waffle-shaped eggs!), royal icing, buttercreams - oh, the list goes on and on, and the list calls for a LOT of eggs. Even cookies required just yolks or just whites.

I tell you, folks, by the end of my education there, I could crack and separate eggs in my sleep (and there were debates about whether to crack your eggs on a flat table surface or on the edge of a bowl, too). I got to the point where I didn't really want to taste a lot of the things we made because, well, eggs. Maybe that's why I enjoyed the chocolate, candy-making, and sculpture portions of class so much -- no eggs (well, except for one technique in our sugar sculpture lessons, and the royal icing, hah!).

Okay, sure, that's just the pastry side of things! While it is true that I didn't attend the cuisine courses, I did get a chance to see and sample just about everything the cuisine classes cooked -- multiple times. The eggs were there, too; sneering at me with the hauty air of eggy superiority. Luckily people didn't have to make fun of my egg aversion at the dinner presentations, too. Most of the time I declined the food because it was already quite cold by the time we were actually able to start eating it. (Nothing more appetizing than cold eggs, am I right?)

This whole experience taught me two very clear lessons (well more than two, but I'm only listing two here for relevance): one, traditional French cooking and baking relies heavily upon eggs; and two, I am not very fond of eating eggs.

Bon appetit!

WoW Cooking Hour: Tasty Cupcake

2010-07-18T16:21:00.001-05:00

Sometimes you just want a delicious pastry, you know? It was on this rainy Sunday afternoon that I decided I was in the mood for a cupcake. A tasty cupcake. Well, isn't it lucky, then, that WoW has a recipe with that exact name?!

And look! The cupcake makes you happy! Such fantastic luck that I sh--

WTF is this? Ingredients: simple flour and an egg? Flour. Simple flour. And an egg. That's it? And this is going to make a tasty cupcake that will make me happy?

I have to admit that after my last WoW baking adventure, I was slightly optimistic, yet also a bit leery about these in-game recipes. Certainly there was some magic involved in turning two gooey spider legs into a delicious pie! But folks, I just couldn't bring myself to believe that any kind of Blizzard magic would turn simple flour and an egg into anything tastier than the most boring "bread" anyone's ever tasted.

Because I always give the benefit of the doubt, I decided I'd at least try this "recipe".

Mise En Place

Well, there's not much to it, is there? Simple flour and an egg.

(I actually added a little water to make it a somewhat decent consistency, but don't tell anyone.)

What do you know? It made enough for TWO cupcakes! Maybe this will turn out all right after all...

The Finished Product

I don't know about you, but I don't think this looks much different than it did before I put it in the oven. (In case you're wondering, it was hard as a rock, and I couldn't even bring myself to taste it.) Well, let's see what the final product looks like in-game.

Okay, this looks nothing like that. And on top of that, it's supposed to yield FIVE cupcakes, not two! What a rip-off! I found this whole thing rather unacceptable, friends. So unacceptable, in fact, that I decided to let Blizzard know about it.

Ahhh.... After letting off some steam (even though my message got cut short, god damnit), I decided to make myself a cupcake that was actually tasty.

A Real Tasty Cupcake

And since I'd been looking at, and expecting, a cupcake that looks like the one in the picture, I decided to make mine look like that. Once again, it's a chocolate-looking cake and a berry-looking topping. Well, I deviated a slight bit; hope you don't mind.

Rich Brownie Cupcake with a Red Buttercream Rosette

: A REAL Tasty Cupcake (excuse the poor image quality; my camera's battery died so I had to take this photo with my phone.)

I used this Best Cocoa Brownies recipe, using my own gluten-free flour mixture as usual, and baked it in mini muffin tins instead of in a brownie pan. I made a pretty typical American buttercream, colored it red, and piped little rosettes on the top.

These are so effing delicious, it's a good thing I made them in miniature size so I can ration them out!

I also made some with a fresh banana buttercream glaze (which doesn't look that pretty, sorry), which you can see here.

World of Warcraft's Gooey Spider Cake

2010-05-22T16:23:00.001-05:00

People often like to draw correlations between WoW and real life, and I'll have to admit that I am no exception. While a lot of gamers like to compare video games to things like war, strategy, and real-life interactions with other people, I prefer to take a slightly more sociopathic route. Being a reclusive pastry chef, I like to stay in my kitchen and bake~!

My newest endeavor is taking recipes from World of Warcraft and attempting to recreate them in my own kitchen. If you missed my first experiment, go see how my [Delicious Chocolate Cake] turned out. This time around I'll be doing another cake, but with more sinister ingredients: the [Gooey Spider Cake].

Recipe Assessment

Things to note about this recipe:
- It only has one ingredient: gooey spider legs
- Its result looks more like a pie than a cake

Mise en Place

With only one ingredient, this should have been pretty easy to prep. I'll tell you what, folks. I must have killed two dozen spiders (which takes a while for a holy paladin who doesn't do much damage) before I got enough [Gooey Spider Leg] drops to complete this recipe. Luckily, the last one I killed yielded exactly two [Gooey Spider Leg]s.

You'd think that it'd be easy enough to get what I needed after only one spider, since they have eight legs and everything. I guess sometimes they're just not gooey enough. Or something.

On to the Baking

That wasn't so bad! And now, just to bake the cake.

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical of this recipe, having only one ingredient, but I figured Blizzard wouldn't let me down so I decided to forge on with the baking.

Final Result

Tada! Wow, that was way easier than I thought it would be. This WoW baking is pretty cool!

(If you'd like to learn about an alternate way to make this pie, er I mean, cake... check out this blog.)

Strawberry Pie

2010-05-22T16:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been on this weird strawberry kick lately. After making strawberry icing for some chocolate cupcakes, and then strawberry cupcakes (sorry, no pics or blogs about those), my next adventure was a strawberry pie.

I borrowed this lovely recipe for the pie crust and changed it up to suit me. Well, by "changing it up" I mean that I substituted in my gluten-free flour. I also decided to do the first part of the process in my food processor since I don't have a pastry cutter, then did the second part as specified in the recipe. The dough turned out great!

I then borrowed this recipe for the pie filling. It looked so yummy before it was even baked!

As the pie was busy baking, I noticed that it looked gorgeous and the crust smelled SO GOOD - like puff pastry!

But after a while, I thought I smelled something burning. Indeed, the pie has burst somehow, and spilled all over the place! It has oozed out sweet red goo all over the tray I set it on and and overflowed down into the bottom of the oven, which was now busy bubbling like molten lava.

Yes, folks, my oven actually caught on fire. Luckily, my boyfriend knows how to use a fire extinguisher, and I happen to have one under the sink in my kitchen, so he quickly came to the rescue. Gosh, what a mess!

I inspected the pie to see what caused the damage. All I can guess is that I didn't seal the crust well enough on this spot. Boo.

Luckily, the pie wasn't a total failure. It didn't get to cook is as long as specified, so it was still a bit runny inside. However, my boyfriend says it's delicious (I haven't even gotten to taste it yet).

Cookie Giveaway and Sponsor News!

2010-04-17T16:24:00.001-05:00

Cookie Giveaway!

First off, I'd like to mention that I am sponsoring a Mother's Day Giveaway at ReesSpace! Visit the contest page to learn how to win two dozen gluten-free cookies from my Etsy shop!

Sponsor News

I am how a Rouxbe Affiliate, which means I can bring you exclusive how-to and informational videos about food and cooking!

What is Rouxbe?

Rouxbe is a different kind of cooking website. We're an online cooking school that guides users along the same learning path used to teach aspiring chefs in professional culinary schools around the world. And with Rouxbe, you can do it all in your home, on your schedule, and at your own pace.

Here's an introduction to their lesson about gluten.

Rouxbe Online Cooking School & Video Recipes

World of Warcraft's Delicious Chocolate Cake

2010-03-14T16:25:00.001-05:00

Premises and Promises

In order to bridge the gap between World of Warcraft and my kitchen, I've decided to embark on a new endeavor to make WoW food in real life. That is to say that I will be taking in-game recipes and attempting to recreate them in my own kitchen.

There will, of course, be a certain amount of improvisation on my part, in order to make some of these (unrealistic) recipes work; however, I do intend to stick as closely to the game recipes as possible. As time goes on, I also intend to branch out into recipes from other video games, but in the beginning it will be purely WoW items. If there's one you'd like to suggest, please send me a PM.

Blizzard's Delicious Chocolate Cake

I figured that a good place to start would be with a popular item from Burning Crusade days - the Delicious Chocolate Cake. (Since I am a pastry chef, I intend to stick to the baked goods, but we'll see where things go in the future.)

Recipe Assessment

Things to note about this recipe:

Simple Flour, not cake flour - this means the cake will be light and fluffy.
Ice Cold Milk - this means the cake will be rich, especially in ratio to the flour
Mild Spices - perhaps this could be the chocolate? I'm not sure what to use for this.
Small Egg - high ratio of eggs-to-flour. This cake will be rich and thick after all.
Flask of Port - quite a large amount of alcohol, although this could be tasty.
Mageroyal - this could be lumped into the spices, or add an accent to the chocolate.
There is no chocolate listed in the ingredients. Interesting.
There is no sugar listed in the ingredients. Also interesting.
There are berries in the picture (below) but not in the recipe. Heh.

Image Assessment

The first thing that I noticed is the icon doesn't look anything like a chocolate cake. It looks like white cake with some sort of berry filling and green goo on top. I could decorate it to look like that, but let's see what the item looks like in-game.

So in-game, the actual item looks (or is presumed to look) more like a chocolate cake with some berries on top. I'll shoot for this model because it seems more fitting for the name anyhow.

Kelley's Delicious Chocolate Cake

Now that I'd seen what the original recipe and cake look like, it was time for me to recreate this in my own kitchen. I decided to do this in the style used by Mythbusters. I'd make one cake using the exact recipe from the game (substituting spices/mageroyal as I see fit). Then I'd make another cake using the recipe but expanding it to make it an actual delicious chocolate cake.

Translated WoW Recipe

8x Simple Flour = 2 cups flour (assuming 1 part = 1/4 cup)
4x Ice Cold Milk = 1 cup milk (assuming 1 part = 2 tbsp)
4x Mild Spices = 4 tbsp cocoa (assuming spices = chocolate)
8x Small Egg = 4 extra-large eggs (cause who can find small eggs?)
Flask of Port = 1/2 cup port wine
3x Mageroyal =1 tsp lavender (it's a flower, at least!)

I decided to go for the normal (non-French) mixing style and just mix the wet ingredients and then add the dry ingredients. The batter turned out looking pretty good.

I was a bit leery, however, that the recipe called for four eggs, but no leavening of any sort. Would the cake rise?

That's right, folks. The cake came out very flat and very dense.

So dense, in fact, that I decided to use it as a makiwara.

It barely rose, meaning the final cake was about 1.5 inches in thickness. It had barely any flavor (thanks to there being no sugar in the recipe, Blizzard).

So. Almost total fail. Next it was time to try this with some revisions, because by now it was clear that I needed a real delicious chocolate cake.

Kelley's Revised Recipe

8x Simple Flour = 1.75 cups flour
4x Ice Cold Milk = 1 cup milk
4x Mild Spices = .75 cup cocoa, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp baking soda
8x Small Egg = 2 extra-large eggs + .5 cup vegetable oil
Flask of Port = 1/2 cup port wine + 1 tsp vanilla extract
3x Mageroyal =1 tsp lavender (it's a flower, at least!)
MISSING SUGAR = 2 cups sugar

As you can see, I altered the recipe to include some leavening, some sugar, and a slight alteration of wet-to-dry ratio. I also replaced some of the flour with more cocoa. The batter turned out nice and dark, and had a bit more volume than the first recipe.

The cakes rose beautifully, and I had no trouble at all removing them from the rings.

I baked two cakes and cut them both in half in order to stack them. I used three for stacking and the other for tasting. The cake was chocolatey and moist, but the port was a bit... odd. I knew I would need a very tasty frosting in order to even out the flavors. And I was glad that the images showed berries on the cake, too.

The Delicious Chocolate Cake

I decided to use a chocolate fudge frosting to fill between the layers and on the top. I also used sliced strawberries in between the layers, and halved strawberries to garnish the top of the cake.

So, the cake looked pretty, and actually rather WoW-ish. But... would it taste good? I sliced a piece and gave it a taste. The fudge frosting and strawberries were actually pretty perfect for balancing out the flavors. Yay~!

Final Thoughts

Blizzard was on the right track with this recipe, but in actuality, it didn't turn out so well. Hint: if you're going to use the word delicious in the name of your cake, you had better put some sugar in it. I'd also recommend leaving the port wine out, and replacing it with something more tasty, like coffee or maybe even some Kahlúa -- and less of it.

Oh, and by the way -- yes, it's completely gluten-free.

Valentine Goat Cookies

2010-01-28T15:01:00.000-06:00

It's probably quite apparent by now that I have a thing for cookies. A lesser known fact, however, is that I also have a thing for goats. So I was recently inspired to combine the two, adding a valentine theme into the mix.

I figured the best way to do this would be to make some decorated sugar cookies in the shape of goats. I decided to go with my trusty (and fricking fabulous, thank-you-very-much) gluten-free shortbread recipe and substitute goat butter instead of regular butter. (As always, click the images to see them bigger.)

The goat butter turned out to be a lot more like shortening than I was expecting. It was white and very greasy, but it assimilated into the dough better than normal butter did. The dough had the proper consistency, though, and was a dream to roll and cut, so no problems there - yay!

They seemed to brown a bit quicker than with my normal recipe, so I baked them a bit less time than usual. They also spread a bit more than I was expecting, but they didn't lose too much of their goaty shape, so it's okay.

Next day I set about decorating them! I decided on white goats and black goats, each with a little red heart (you know, for the Valentine part of this whole project). I used my entire jar of black powder coloring and my royal icing STILL wasn't black, so I had to make a quick run to the store to get some (real) gel coloring - thank goodness they hadn't closed yet!

And, since I am devious, and goats are often associated with the devil, I decided to make a red devil-goat cookie, complete with a BLACK HEART. Isn't he cute?

As for the taste? They're awesome. The cookies are softer than my normal shortbread recipe, but still sturdy enough that they don't fall apart in your hands (which is especially important in gluten-free baking). The royal icing keeps them together well, and the flavors work great together. Interestingly, the goat butter seems to have made these cookies taste a lot milkier than the normal cow-butter recipe.

Food & Cute - Two of My Favorite Things

2009-11-22T15:02:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things about this season is that Blue Bell starts selling their amazingly delicious peppermint ice cream. It is, without a doubt, my favorite ice cream of all time. And doesn't it look pretty in that adorable little penguin cup I got at Target?!

I also found those super cute kawaii food stickers at Borders today and couldn't pass them up! ^_^

In other news, I was busy making dinosaurs and snails out of gum paste during my make-up class this week (while the rest of the class was making flowers). It was pretty fun. The dinosaur's tail broke off, but here's a picture of my little snail!

For Fun & Practice

2009-11-15T15:03:00.000-06:00

This past week I went to class not only during nights like usual, but also two days during the morning classes. The morning class was working on sugar this week, so I got to practice with that some more. In the beginning, I didn't really like working with sugar (it's hot and finicky), but now that I've got the hang of it, I'm really starting to enjoy it. On Thursday, my instructor did a demo on how to make a bird with sugar, so I made one too! I followed his general demos, but changed things up a bit to suit my tastes. Here's the results:

And in my normal (night) class, when we finished up with the dessert buffet, my teacher made us practice our piping (again). This time I decided to try and appeal to what they really want us to do (instead of something I find more fun, like my mermaid cake). My teacher was pleased. I actually think my piping is getting a lot better. I took a picture for later reference when we have to make a cake to go on top of our croquembouches in a couple weeks.

Petit Fors and Custard Cups

2009-11-13T15:04:00.000-06:00

This week at school has been super busy. We did a dessert buffet for the Open House on Thursday night, so each of us had to create two mini desserts for the buffet. We had to consider color, shape, flavor, texture, volume, warm/cold, etc.

My two initial ideas were these (click to view them bigger):

The results? Well, I didn't realize just HOW small they had to be, so my idea for the Mayan Chocolate cakes had to be scaled down a bit more than I wanted. I omitted the chantilly cream in the center.My joconde biscuit turned out lighter in color than I intended, so I had to change from a chocolate mousse on top to a bavarian cream so that the colors matched better. Also, the pecans in the ganache were way too big, so they screwed up the uniformity of my display. Argh. I also wanted to make blue chocolate decorations for the tops, but I couldn't get the color I wanted, so I went with dark chocolate instead. My instructor chastised me for using blue, because the French say that the color on the outside needs to indicate the flavor on the inside. Bah! I still think the colors turned out gorgeous.

The other dessert turned out pretty much as I had planned. I decided against the brittle, however, because I didn't want it to get soggy and melt into the custards while they sat in the fridge between Tuesday and Thursday night. I also didn't get to put a cherry jelly inside the chocolate straws - it just wasn't feasible since they're so delicate. These were absolutely delicious, but the lime flavor kind of overpowered the coconut. Boo.

Pumpkin Muffins!

2009-10-11T15:06:00.000-05:00

Well, it was a lazy Sunday afternoon so I decided to make some pumpkin muffins. This was my first time making a gluten-free muffin recipe from scratch and they turned out amazingly well. I dressed them up with a little rosette of cream cheese frosting and some decorative cupcake liners.

I've added them to the Autumn line-up of goodies in my Etsy shop - yep, I'm back open for business. Check out the pumpkin muffins in my shop. Cheers!

Adorable Mugs From Target

2009-09-26T15:07:00.000-05:00

I got these adorable mugs from Target back in February and I just giggle with glee every time I open my cupboard and see them. I mean, aren't they so cute?!
(Click the pictures to see them bigger.)

Beginnings in Sugarcraft

2009-09-18T15:08:00.000-05:00

I've spent the past two months working on various projects in my pastry class, all of which added up to a final presentation and grade. Last night was our final night, where we had to present five of our creations in an attractive display: wedding cake, pastillage showpiece, sugar showpiece, chocolate box, and a fresh-made mousse cake. (Be sure to click all the images to see them larger.)

The Wedding Cake

As I'm sure you already know, my wedding cake was the mermaid cake I wrote about not too long ago. Since they were foam forms, we were able to keep them for the past few weeks until the final.

The Pastillage Showpiece

I have already written about this too, but only had some crappy cell phone pictures to show you. Now I was able to take some better ones with my real camera!

The Sugar Showpiece

The sugar showpiece was to be an underwater scene made entirely of sugar. The base, water, seaweed, and coral were made of poured sugar (boil it to horrendous temperatures and pour into various things for different effects). The pumice was made of rock sugar (boil sugar and add a spoonful of royal icing at a certain temperature to make it all foamy). The fish and jellyfish were made of isomalt, which was blown and pulled for various effects. Unfortunately, most of my jellyfish's tentacles broke off. :(

The Chocolate Box

The chocolate box was made completely out of chocolate, which we tempered the hard way - on a marble slab. :P The decorations on top were piped onto plastic and very carefully glued on with chocolate (and the help of some awesome chef's grade canned air stuff to freeze the chocolate solid very quickly).

The Mousse Cake - Night and Fire

For the mousse cake, we had a few different ones to choose from. I chose this one because, well, I like it! The bottom is a pistachio genoise, the middle is a chocolate hazelnut mousse, and the top is a raspberry mousse. It's topped of with a thin layer of raspberry glaze, wrapped in some more tempered chocolate, and decorated with some of my leftover chocolate decorations (from the box) and strawberries (because we were all out of raspberries - boo!).

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with the way things turned out, although everything could have been a lot better. :P