OK, I know I've been very negligent about blogging. It has been a busy few months. I started dating Bikerdude, I went to California, I came back for a week, then my dad visited for two weeks, then he went home and my mom visited for almost two weeks. And I did a ton of stuff in my yard. Then I had to write a research proposal. Whew!! I've been lax on calling people and exercising too. Anyway, July will be quieter.
As a Californian I feel an obligation to introduce people to the delights of tri-tip and pho. Bikerdude is no exception. Anyway, a few weeks ago I made some tri-tip with an excellent marinade. I've been meaning to blog about it but hadn't gotten around to it yet. I'm making the marinade again for the 4th of July, this time for some little steaks that are tasty but tough.
Grilled Tri-Tip with Red Wine Marinade
Serves 4-6
* 5 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
* 1 tbsp dried rosemary or 2 tbsp fresh rosemary
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup dry red wine
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 tbsp honey
* 1 to1 1/2 pound tri-tip (London broil may be substituted)
Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk liquid ingredients, salt, and seasonings together.
In
a heavy-duty sealable plastic bag combine tri-tip with marinade. Seal
bag, pressing out excess air, and put in a shallow baking dish. Marinate
steak, chilled, turning occasionally, at least 4 hours and up to 24.
Remove meat from marinade. Grill until done. While the meat is cooking, bring marinade to boil a in small sauce pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve marinade with meat.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Gluten Free Buckwheat Pancakes
I've perfected my gluten-free buckwheat pancake recipe. There are a number of good all-buckwheat variations out there - the one from the Hodgson Mill package is nice. However, having perfected my own gluten-containing recipe, which contains about half buckwheat, half flour, I set out to transform it into a gluten-free version. It wasn't too difficult.
You can leave out the Xanthan gum if you don't have it - if you're a hard-core gluten-free cook I recommend it, but don't go out and buy it otherwise. It improves the body somewhat. If you want to make it with wheat flour, leave out the Xanthan gum and use 1/2 cup white or whole wheat flour. If you want them to be lower fat, use 2 tbsp butter.
Old Biddy's Sunday Breakfast
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup oat or sorghum flour (or use wheat flour if you don't need gluten free, or a premade gluten-free flour mix)
1 tsp Xanthan gum (optional)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp butter (1/2 stick)
2 eggs
1 1/3-1 1/2 cups buttermilk.
Combine dry ingredients and mix.
In microwave, melt butter in mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat with a whisk. Whisk in 1 1/3 cups buttermilk. Add dry ingredients and mix. If batter is too thick, add a bit more buttermilk. It seems to thicken up after a few minutes so it is ok if it's slightly thin.
Cook pancakes. I find they work better if they are on the small side (4"). You can add blueberries or chocolate chips if you want. Makes about 3 or 4 servings. Serve with your favorite pancake toppings. Unlike most pancakes, they taste really good reheated.
You can leave out the Xanthan gum if you don't have it - if you're a hard-core gluten-free cook I recommend it, but don't go out and buy it otherwise. It improves the body somewhat. If you want to make it with wheat flour, leave out the Xanthan gum and use 1/2 cup white or whole wheat flour. If you want them to be lower fat, use 2 tbsp butter.
Old Biddy's Sunday Breakfast
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup oat or sorghum flour (or use wheat flour if you don't need gluten free, or a premade gluten-free flour mix)
1 tsp Xanthan gum (optional)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp butter (1/2 stick)
2 eggs
1 1/3-1 1/2 cups buttermilk.
Combine dry ingredients and mix.
In microwave, melt butter in mixing bowl. Add eggs and beat with a whisk. Whisk in 1 1/3 cups buttermilk. Add dry ingredients and mix. If batter is too thick, add a bit more buttermilk. It seems to thicken up after a few minutes so it is ok if it's slightly thin.
Cook pancakes. I find they work better if they are on the small side (4"). You can add blueberries or chocolate chips if you want. Makes about 3 or 4 servings. Serve with your favorite pancake toppings. Unlike most pancakes, they taste really good reheated.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Round 2: No Knead Gluten-Free Boule
I haven't done much baking lately. I made coconut macaroons last week and they were quite tasty but weren't particularly blogworthy. My now gluten-free buckwheat pancake recipe is quite good and I will post it soon.
Somewhere along the line I remembered there were some gluten-free recipes in one of my no-knead bread cookbooks. I've had good luck with this technique and was curious to try. Naturally, I didn't have all the different types of flours required so I didn't make it right away.
Anyway, the basic technique is the same as the other no-knead breads - you make a wet dough and let it sit for two hours at room temperature and then store in the fridge. When you want bread you break off a ball, let it rise and cook it at high heat. If you prefer, roll it out and use it as pizza dough.
Gluten Free Boule
2 cups brown rice flour
1 1/2 cup sorghum flour
3 cups tapioca flour
2 tbsp dry yeast
2 tbsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp kosher salt
4 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup oil
2 2/3 cups warm water
2 tbsp honey (I forgot to add this)
Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Combine water, eggs, honey and oil and add to dry ingredients. Mix well and make sure all the dry stuff gets blended in. Cover loosely and let it rise at room temperature for two hours. Put dough in fridge.
The dough should be stored in the fridge for at least a day for best flavor. When you are ready to bake, pull off a ball (I divided the big batch into 3 portions), shape it and let it rise on a piece of parchment paper. It should rise for at least 2 hours, in my experience - it takes a long time to warm up from the fridge. About 30-40 minutes before you are ready to bake it, heat your oven to 450F. Use a pizza stone if you have one and let it heat up as the oven is heating. (If not, just put it on a cookie sheet.) Place dough in oven. If you are motivated, put a pan on another shelf in the oven and pour a cup of water into it when you put the dough in the oven. The steam will help the bread. (I forgot it the second time around and didn't notice much of a difference, though) Cook until loaf is golden brown, appx 35-40 minutes.
For pizza dough, sprinkle a piece of parchment paper with cornstarch. Pull off a ball of dough and roll out to appx 3/16"-1/4" thick. Allow it to warm to room temperature, and preferably let it rise for at least another 30 minutes after that. Add pizza suace, cheese, toppings etc. Bake in a 450F oven until done.
The bread is interesting. It's kind of dense and doesn't totally taste like wheat bread. However, it does have a nice yeasty flavor and a good crust, especially when toasted. It was infinitely better than the gluten free bread I tried on vacation. In the pizza dough, it actually tasted as good as my usual homemade crust and had a nice crunch which might've been even better if it were rolled out thinner. It had an interesting crispiness although it was dense, it was not doughy.
It was so nice to have bread and pizza, even though it tasted different.
Somewhere along the line I remembered there were some gluten-free recipes in one of my no-knead bread cookbooks. I've had good luck with this technique and was curious to try. Naturally, I didn't have all the different types of flours required so I didn't make it right away.
Anyway, the basic technique is the same as the other no-knead breads - you make a wet dough and let it sit for two hours at room temperature and then store in the fridge. When you want bread you break off a ball, let it rise and cook it at high heat. If you prefer, roll it out and use it as pizza dough.
Gluten Free Boule
2 cups brown rice flour
1 1/2 cup sorghum flour
3 cups tapioca flour
2 tbsp dry yeast
2 tbsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp kosher salt
4 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup oil
2 2/3 cups warm water
2 tbsp honey (I forgot to add this)
Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Combine water, eggs, honey and oil and add to dry ingredients. Mix well and make sure all the dry stuff gets blended in. Cover loosely and let it rise at room temperature for two hours. Put dough in fridge.
The dough should be stored in the fridge for at least a day for best flavor. When you are ready to bake, pull off a ball (I divided the big batch into 3 portions), shape it and let it rise on a piece of parchment paper. It should rise for at least 2 hours, in my experience - it takes a long time to warm up from the fridge. About 30-40 minutes before you are ready to bake it, heat your oven to 450F. Use a pizza stone if you have one and let it heat up as the oven is heating. (If not, just put it on a cookie sheet.) Place dough in oven. If you are motivated, put a pan on another shelf in the oven and pour a cup of water into it when you put the dough in the oven. The steam will help the bread. (I forgot it the second time around and didn't notice much of a difference, though) Cook until loaf is golden brown, appx 35-40 minutes.
For pizza dough, sprinkle a piece of parchment paper with cornstarch. Pull off a ball of dough and roll out to appx 3/16"-1/4" thick. Allow it to warm to room temperature, and preferably let it rise for at least another 30 minutes after that. Add pizza suace, cheese, toppings etc. Bake in a 450F oven until done.
The bread is interesting. It's kind of dense and doesn't totally taste like wheat bread. However, it does have a nice yeasty flavor and a good crust, especially when toasted. It was infinitely better than the gluten free bread I tried on vacation. In the pizza dough, it actually tasted as good as my usual homemade crust and had a nice crunch which might've been even better if it were rolled out thinner. It had an interesting crispiness although it was dense, it was not doughy.
It was so nice to have bread and pizza, even though it tasted different.
Old biddy's advice on obituary writing
You may've heard about the kerkuffle surrounding the Yvonne Brill obituary in the New York Times. If you haven't, I'll summarize in a nutshell. She was a rocket scientist who invented some pretty cool stuff. The NYT obituary opened by describing her beef stroganoff making skills, how she was a great mom, and how she said a good husband was harder to find than a good job. It then described her career. They have since edited it to make it less sexist. It's a lot less offensive but I'm still not thrilled. Needless to say, a lot of people (including me) got pretty offended by the sexist spin on her life. Predictably, the author had no clue this was offensive and said he just wanted to humanize her.
I was all set to post a blog on it last week, but then noticed that a grad school colleague of mine had taken the opposite track and proposed we needed similar obituaries for men. I'm all for human interest, so I had to stew on that for a while. I got my answer when I read the MIT chemistry newsletter.
A few days prior to Yvonne Brill's death, another badass honey badger scientist, Emily Wick, passed away and her obituary was published in the Boston Globe and included in the MIT Chemistry department newsletter. There was plenty of human interest in this one, minus all the annoying sexism. Yes, her life does reflect the times in which she lived, as does Brill's, but it is possible to describe it in a way that does not rile people up. If my (male) PhD advisor passed away I would hope to see something similar, although I would not necessarily expect it. Note to NYTimes - it's not really that hard to do.
EMILY WICK, PhD '51
The following obituary appeared in the Boston Globe on March 26, 2013.
"Emily L. Wick died peacefully of old age in her home in Rockport, Massachusetts
on March 21, 2013. She was 91 years old. Aunt Emily, everyone's favorite aunt,
has left behind an interesting and unusual life. She was born on December 9, 1921
in Youngstown, Ohio, daughter of James L. Wick, Jr. and Clare Dryer Wick. She
attended Mount Holyoke College where she earned a BS and MA in chemistry. She
went on to MIT and earned her doctorate, also in chemistry. After working for the
prominent firm of A.D. Little, where she discovered the chemistry for foods we take
for granted such as Miracle Whip and Campbell's soups, she joined the faculty at
MIT in the Department of Food Technology where she developed food systems for
the newly formed astronaut corps. She became the first woman to rise through the
ranks to achieve tenure at MIT and was also appointed Associate Dean for Student
Affairs. As the first woman member of the MIT Corporation, she was very instrumental in early efforts to assure that women students and staff played an equal role in the life of the university and had the same opportunities as men, as well as in developing a gender blind admissions policy. In 1973 she returned to Mount Holyoke as Dean of the Faculty and later Special Assistant to the President for Long-Range Planning.
After thirteen very happy years at Mount Holyoke, Emily retired in 1986 and returned to her beloved
Rockport. Emily's true love from the age of ten until her last days was sailing. She spent her first summer in Rockport in 1937. In the 1940's she and her sisters bought an O Boat called "The Little Urchin". Subsequently, she became a winning skipper of a Star Boat, a Jolly Boat, a Firefly, and ultimately a Bullseye. Until very recently she could be found every weekend on the water. Even when she became too old to skipper a boat she loved to go out in the committee boat or watch the races from her house on the edge of the harbor. We all remember the excitement in 1954 when the North American Star Championships were held in Rockport; Emily was very much a part of that project. In 1988 Emily became the first woman Commodore of the Sandy Bay Yacht Club and helped move the club toward a modern professional operation. She was very interested in ensuring that membership in the club be affordable for everyone, especially teen-agers. She is widely remembered among club members, and the committee boat has been named for her. Somehow Emily also found the time
to be an active member of the Appalachian Mountain Club and was a life long birder. She had binoculars in her car and in several places in her home as well as a spotting scope. She loved opera and listened every Saturday to Maine Public Radio broadcasts of live performances at the Metropolitan Opera House. She was the kindest of people and never, ever said an ungenerous word about anyone, not even politicians. Emily leaves behind a nephew Jim Wick, of Shelburne, VT, and four nieces, Laura Hallowell of Rockport, MA, Louise (Dan) DeSantis of Somersworth, NH, and her children Peter and Madeline, Emily W. Schaff of Youngstown, OH, and Anne Schaff of Portland, ME, and a long list of friends. Emily's family is grateful for the superb and loving care of her helpers and nurses from North Shore PRN and Hospice of the North Shore. A memorial service with reception following [was] held at the First Congregational Church of Rockport on April 20. Memorial contributions may be made to the Sandy Bay Yacht Club Sailing Program.
I was all set to post a blog on it last week, but then noticed that a grad school colleague of mine had taken the opposite track and proposed we needed similar obituaries for men. I'm all for human interest, so I had to stew on that for a while. I got my answer when I read the MIT chemistry newsletter.
A few days prior to Yvonne Brill's death, another badass honey badger scientist, Emily Wick, passed away and her obituary was published in the Boston Globe and included in the MIT Chemistry department newsletter. There was plenty of human interest in this one, minus all the annoying sexism. Yes, her life does reflect the times in which she lived, as does Brill's, but it is possible to describe it in a way that does not rile people up. If my (male) PhD advisor passed away I would hope to see something similar, although I would not necessarily expect it. Note to NYTimes - it's not really that hard to do.
EMILY WICK, PhD '51
The following obituary appeared in the Boston Globe on March 26, 2013.
"Emily L. Wick died peacefully of old age in her home in Rockport, Massachusetts
on March 21, 2013. She was 91 years old. Aunt Emily, everyone's favorite aunt,
has left behind an interesting and unusual life. She was born on December 9, 1921
in Youngstown, Ohio, daughter of James L. Wick, Jr. and Clare Dryer Wick. She
attended Mount Holyoke College where she earned a BS and MA in chemistry. She
went on to MIT and earned her doctorate, also in chemistry. After working for the
prominent firm of A.D. Little, where she discovered the chemistry for foods we take
for granted such as Miracle Whip and Campbell's soups, she joined the faculty at
MIT in the Department of Food Technology where she developed food systems for
the newly formed astronaut corps. She became the first woman to rise through the
ranks to achieve tenure at MIT and was also appointed Associate Dean for Student
Affairs. As the first woman member of the MIT Corporation, she was very instrumental in early efforts to assure that women students and staff played an equal role in the life of the university and had the same opportunities as men, as well as in developing a gender blind admissions policy. In 1973 she returned to Mount Holyoke as Dean of the Faculty and later Special Assistant to the President for Long-Range Planning.
After thirteen very happy years at Mount Holyoke, Emily retired in 1986 and returned to her beloved
Rockport. Emily's true love from the age of ten until her last days was sailing. She spent her first summer in Rockport in 1937. In the 1940's she and her sisters bought an O Boat called "The Little Urchin". Subsequently, she became a winning skipper of a Star Boat, a Jolly Boat, a Firefly, and ultimately a Bullseye. Until very recently she could be found every weekend on the water. Even when she became too old to skipper a boat she loved to go out in the committee boat or watch the races from her house on the edge of the harbor. We all remember the excitement in 1954 when the North American Star Championships were held in Rockport; Emily was very much a part of that project. In 1988 Emily became the first woman Commodore of the Sandy Bay Yacht Club and helped move the club toward a modern professional operation. She was very interested in ensuring that membership in the club be affordable for everyone, especially teen-agers. She is widely remembered among club members, and the committee boat has been named for her. Somehow Emily also found the time
to be an active member of the Appalachian Mountain Club and was a life long birder. She had binoculars in her car and in several places in her home as well as a spotting scope. She loved opera and listened every Saturday to Maine Public Radio broadcasts of live performances at the Metropolitan Opera House. She was the kindest of people and never, ever said an ungenerous word about anyone, not even politicians. Emily leaves behind a nephew Jim Wick, of Shelburne, VT, and four nieces, Laura Hallowell of Rockport, MA, Louise (Dan) DeSantis of Somersworth, NH, and her children Peter and Madeline, Emily W. Schaff of Youngstown, OH, and Anne Schaff of Portland, ME, and a long list of friends. Emily's family is grateful for the superb and loving care of her helpers and nurses from North Shore PRN and Hospice of the North Shore. A memorial service with reception following [was] held at the First Congregational Church of Rockport on April 20. Memorial contributions may be made to the Sandy Bay Yacht Club Sailing Program.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
So Nasty!
Once tasted, some things can not be untasted. Such was the case with the gluten free sourdough bread that I made last night/ this morning.
The recipe is from Bob's Red Mill, but they got it from somewhere else. It called for a sourdough starter (made from yeast, water and rice flour), and included eggs, cottage cheese, and dried milk powder, as well as their gluten free flour blend. I was intrigued by the high protein content of the bread. Unfortunately, I never had the flour blend before. The main ingredient is garbanzo bean flour. I love garbanzo beans and hummus, but for some reason I don't like the flour. It also had fava bean flour. Maybe it would be fine in things with a lot of spices/sugar, so that the beany flavor is masked. It wasn't fine here.
I made the dough as directed, let it rise, and then poured it into pans for a second rise overnight in the garage. It didn't overflow the pans or collapse, so that was good. It even smelled good as I baked it - not like sourdough but more like a butter roll or brioche. The loaves darkened up quite a bit, probably from all the sugar. Fortunately, I decided to eat breakfast early rather than wait for them to be done. That turned out to be a wise decision.
.JPG)
Upon cooling, one loaf collapsed and the other maintained its shape. After they cooled most of the way, I cut them open. The one that maintained its shape actually had an air pocket running the whole length of it. The texture was moist, sort of like a sourdough, but the flavor was just so wrong - too sweet and eggy, but the brioche like nature was completely ruined by the beany taste of the garbanzos and favas.
I fed one loaf to the crows. The cats are sitting out there guarding it. I'm saving the other loaf to see if it tastes better after being in the fridge, or as french toast. I kind of doubt it will improve with age, though. I have had a few baking disasters in my life, but they are usually things that get burned or recipes that have the wrong proportion of things. I would have to say that this is the first that was just completely wrong.
The recipe is from Bob's Red Mill, but they got it from somewhere else. It called for a sourdough starter (made from yeast, water and rice flour), and included eggs, cottage cheese, and dried milk powder, as well as their gluten free flour blend. I was intrigued by the high protein content of the bread. Unfortunately, I never had the flour blend before. The main ingredient is garbanzo bean flour. I love garbanzo beans and hummus, but for some reason I don't like the flour. It also had fava bean flour. Maybe it would be fine in things with a lot of spices/sugar, so that the beany flavor is masked. It wasn't fine here.
I made the dough as directed, let it rise, and then poured it into pans for a second rise overnight in the garage. It didn't overflow the pans or collapse, so that was good. It even smelled good as I baked it - not like sourdough but more like a butter roll or brioche. The loaves darkened up quite a bit, probably from all the sugar. Fortunately, I decided to eat breakfast early rather than wait for them to be done. That turned out to be a wise decision.
.JPG)
Upon cooling, one loaf collapsed and the other maintained its shape. After they cooled most of the way, I cut them open. The one that maintained its shape actually had an air pocket running the whole length of it. The texture was moist, sort of like a sourdough, but the flavor was just so wrong - too sweet and eggy, but the brioche like nature was completely ruined by the beany taste of the garbanzos and favas.
I fed one loaf to the crows. The cats are sitting out there guarding it. I'm saving the other loaf to see if it tastes better after being in the fridge, or as french toast. I kind of doubt it will improve with age, though. I have had a few baking disasters in my life, but they are usually things that get burned or recipes that have the wrong proportion of things. I would have to say that this is the first that was just completely wrong.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Tasty Slow Cooker Tapioca pudding
I bought some medium size tapioca pearls last week. Although I've made tapioca pudding before, I've never used the large, non-instant type.
I also didn't want to make anythin.g that required a double boiler, lots of stirring, or folding in beaten egg whites. I found a recipe from Alton Brown that used a slow cooker. That was good enough for me.
3 1/2 ounces large pearl tapioca, approximately 1/2 cup
2 cups cold water
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup half and half or cream
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
Place tapioca in a medium mixing bowl along with the water, cover, and let stand overnight.
Drain water from tapioca. Place the tapioca into a slow cooker along with the milk, heavy cream, and salt. Cook on high for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and sugar. Temper small amounts of the tapioca into the egg mixture until you have added at least 1 cup. Then add this back into the remaining tapioca in the slow cooker. Cook for an additional 15 minutes, stirring at least once. Transfer the pudding to a bowl. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Cover the surface with plastic wrap. Allow to cool at room temperature for 1 hour and then place in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled.
The tapioca pearls had to be soaked overnight. I would suggest letting it go a full 24 hours - it was still a bit tough after 12 hours. I also added about 1/2 cup more than called for. BikerDude, who is a new OKCupid guy, called right after I put everything in the crock pot, so got distracted and forgot to stir it for the first hour and a half. Not a problem, I think the stirring isn't that important until the end. But your crockpot may be different so give it a few occasional stirs just to be on the safe side.
Anyway, it was totally delicious. It was extremely rich and creamy, and not grainy at all. It was ultra decadent and even gluten free. If I would make it again, I'd use the recommended amount of milk/cream but may use a whole egg or two yolks just to see how it turns out.
I also didn't want to make anythin.g that required a double boiler, lots of stirring, or folding in beaten egg whites. I found a recipe from Alton Brown that used a slow cooker. That was good enough for me.
3 1/2 ounces large pearl tapioca, approximately 1/2 cup
2 cups cold water
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup half and half or cream
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup sugar
Pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
Place tapioca in a medium mixing bowl along with the water, cover, and let stand overnight.
Drain water from tapioca. Place the tapioca into a slow cooker along with the milk, heavy cream, and salt. Cook on high for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and sugar. Temper small amounts of the tapioca into the egg mixture until you have added at least 1 cup. Then add this back into the remaining tapioca in the slow cooker. Cook for an additional 15 minutes, stirring at least once. Transfer the pudding to a bowl. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Cover the surface with plastic wrap. Allow to cool at room temperature for 1 hour and then place in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled.
Anyway, it was totally delicious. It was extremely rich and creamy, and not grainy at all. It was ultra decadent and even gluten free. If I would make it again, I'd use the recommended amount of milk/cream but may use a whole egg or two yolks just to see how it turns out.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Gluten Free, "Magically Moist" Almond Cake
I've started reading about gluten free baking and have begun accumulating the various ingredients. From what I can tell, it's not a simple one-size-fits all replacement for wheat flour. People seem to use different blends for different purposes, although one can buy pre-made mixes.
I haven't ventured much beyond making things that are normally gluten free and the recipes on the various flour packages. The all-buckwheat pancakes came out ok, but weren't nearly as good as my usual ones. Today's buckwheat and sorghum pancakes were a lot better. I'll post a recipe when I have optimized everything.
On the back of a package of Bob's Red Mill* almond flour, there is a recipe for "Magically Moist Almond Cake". Despite the cheesy name, which makes me think of the movie Magic Mike (yes, my mind is in the gutter), it sounded really good - almond meal, coconut flour, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla, and sugar. The coconut flour is the only concession to gluten free. It otherwise seems pretty much like a flourless almond cake. I added a bit of almond extract for good measure.
The batter tasted great but the cake was just so-so, when it was still warm. After it had cooled completely, it improved greatly. It's very moist and almondy; indeed, you could describe it as magically moist, but given the ingredients the moistness seems pretty obvious. Perhaps magically delicious would be a better description. It would be great with berries and whipped cream. I'll definitely make it again. It was too tempting so I ended up taking most of it in to work for the grad students. I hadn't planned on taking them of my gluten free experiments because the ingredients are more pricy, but I had to get it out of the house.
Tasty Gluten-Free Almond Cake
1 1/2 cups almond flour (or grind your own)
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract (optional)
1/2 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan. Mix dry ingredients together. Cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add milk, vanilla, and almond extract, then stir in dry ingredients and mix.
Transfer batter to pan and bake for 30 minutes. Cake will be golden. Allow it to cool completely, preferably overnight.
*Bob's Red Mill, I love you! Not only do they have a ridiculous assortment of weird-ass gluten free flours, hot cereals, etc, are reasonably priced, and have good recipes on the back of the packages and on their website, Bob (yes there is a Bob) gave the company to his employees when he turned 81.
I haven't ventured much beyond making things that are normally gluten free and the recipes on the various flour packages. The all-buckwheat pancakes came out ok, but weren't nearly as good as my usual ones. Today's buckwheat and sorghum pancakes were a lot better. I'll post a recipe when I have optimized everything.
On the back of a package of Bob's Red Mill* almond flour, there is a recipe for "Magically Moist Almond Cake". Despite the cheesy name, which makes me think of the movie Magic Mike (yes, my mind is in the gutter), it sounded really good - almond meal, coconut flour, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla, and sugar. The coconut flour is the only concession to gluten free. It otherwise seems pretty much like a flourless almond cake. I added a bit of almond extract for good measure.
The batter tasted great but the cake was just so-so, when it was still warm. After it had cooled completely, it improved greatly. It's very moist and almondy; indeed, you could describe it as magically moist, but given the ingredients the moistness seems pretty obvious. Perhaps magically delicious would be a better description. It would be great with berries and whipped cream. I'll definitely make it again. It was too tempting so I ended up taking most of it in to work for the grad students. I hadn't planned on taking them of my gluten free experiments because the ingredients are more pricy, but I had to get it out of the house.
Tasty Gluten-Free Almond Cake
1 1/2 cups almond flour (or grind your own)
1/2 cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract (optional)
1/2 cup milk
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan. Mix dry ingredients together. Cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add milk, vanilla, and almond extract, then stir in dry ingredients and mix.
Transfer batter to pan and bake for 30 minutes. Cake will be golden. Allow it to cool completely, preferably overnight.
*Bob's Red Mill, I love you! Not only do they have a ridiculous assortment of weird-ass gluten free flours, hot cereals, etc, are reasonably priced, and have good recipes on the back of the packages and on their website, Bob (yes there is a Bob) gave the company to his employees when he turned 81.
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