sweet miscellany

Let me start this post by saying last year at this time, I was just starting to explore gluten free/vegan baking. It was around the time I seriously starting thinking about opening my etsy shop (and eventually a brick & mortar bakery). I also became serious about eating healthier, not just as a fad or a diet, but for life. Since then I have created gluten free, vegan, and sometimes both gluten free & vegan cookies and treats for my shop. In my opinion, it’s become rather easy for me to make a gluten free/vegan cookie. I cannot really say the same for cakes.

Cakes are a whole different beast altogether. Gluten gives baked goods the proper viscosity and rise they need. When you remove this, along with eggs from a cake, you have to make up for it elsewhere. It can be done and is done all the time, however; most recipes call for large amounts of starch or not-so-appealing gluten free flours like white rice and garbanzo bean. The reason for this is that starches (and bean flours) bind well just like gluten. My problem with this is starches in large quantities freak me out. The thought of eating a starch cake doesn’t really make my mouth water. So, I had to figure out a way to make a gluten free/vegan cake without a large amount of starch. This involved a lot of research and recipe reading. And, for this recipe, it involved 3 failed attempts, with sunken in tops and weird oily and crumbly textures. It wasn’t until I finally tried using ratios and measuring out ingredients by weight that I had success. I literally did a happy dance when these came out of the oven merely because they had lovely puffed tops instead of ugly craters. I have this link to thank for the ratios/weights and a great starting point for any cakes/muffins/cupcakes in the future.

The wonderful thing about these muffins is that you can use any combination of gluten free flours and starches that you want and still produce a lovely muffin. As long as it’s 70% flour by weight and 30% starches by weight, your muffin will be lovely. As much as I passed right by weighted recipes in the past, they really are more accurate. To make a long story short, although it may be too late for that already, buy an inexpensive kitchen scale and make these muffins. You won’t be sorry and your tummy will thank you for it 🙂

Gluten Free/Vegan Meyer Lemon & Lavender Scented Muffins

Makes 6 to 7 muffins, depending on the size of your muffin or cupcake tins. The easiest way to measure the flour is to put a bowl on the scale, hit tare to bring it down to zero, then add the flours/starches.

175 grams gluten free flour mix (I did 50 grams millet flour, 50 grams sorghum flour, 22 grams amaranth flour, and 53 grams arrowroot)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp baking powder
90 grams organic raw sugar
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
2 good pinches of dried, culinary grade lavender
the zest of 1 meyer lemon
1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water
100 grams rice milk (you can use any type of milk here)
50 grams coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 350F and line a muffin/cupcake tin with 6 liners. Mix the ground flax seed and water together in a small bowl and set aside to thicken.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, starches, baking soda, baking powder, raw sugar, sea salt, lavender, and lemon zest until well combined. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the thickened flax mixture, the rice milk, and the coconut oil until very well combined and uniform.

Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until everything is mixed in and no flour remains. Fill the lined cups about 3/4 of the way (you may end up have 7 muffins, depending on the size of your tin). Do not overfill the cups or the batter will spill onto the tin and your muffins won’t be too attractive. Bake the muffins at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes until the top springs back when touched and a tester comes out clean. Enjoy!

*Serving Ideas: these are quite delicious plain, but if you want to make them a bit more elegant, you can serve them with a dusting of organic powdered sugar or make a glaze out of about 1/4 cup organic powdered sugar and a couple of teaspoons of meyer lemon juice.

I made stuffed portobellos the other night for dinner and thought I would share an update that is fitting for the winter weather. I posted the original recipe back in August and it can be found here. The portobello part of the recipe is obviously the same, but the filling has been re-worked. Lovely strips of red chard are sauteed with garlic, pecans, and a bit of herbes de provence before being tossed with plump wheat berries and piled onto a roasted portobello cap. To finish it off, I topped it with a bit of salty feta, but if you wan’t to keep it vegan, you could use a nice coarse sea salt or omit any toppings all together. And, for the gluten free peeps, you can use quinoa or brown rice instead of wheat berries for equally delicious results.

Stuffed Portobello Caps with Red Chard and Wheat Berry Stuffing
I used red chard because I have been finding particularly beautiful bunches of it at the store, but feel free to use any type of chard you like. If you don’t have herbes de provence, it will be just as delicious without it.

2 large portobello mushroom caps, gills and stems removed
1 medium bunch of red chard, ribs removed and sliced into strips
1/3 cup pecans, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp herbes de provences
1 cup of cooked wheat berries (or 1 cup of cooked GF grains)
about 2 tbsp of feta cheese, crumbled (or coarse sea salt if making it vegan)
sea salt
olive oil (or ghee)

Preheat your oven (or toaster oven) to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment or foil. Brush a bit of olive oil on each mushroom cap, season with salt and pepper, and place on the baking sheet with the gill side facing up. Roast at 350 for 8-10 minutes until tender and juices are present. While mushrooms are roasting, heat a skillet to just below medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Once the oil is heated, add the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds. Next, add the chard, a bit of salt, and the herbes de provence and saute for about 3-4 minutes or until the chard begins to wilt. At this point, turn the heat down to low and add the wheat berries, pecans, and a bit more salt. Toss everything together and heat over low until everything is warmed through. Pile half of the filling in each mushroom cap and then top with the feta. Enjoy!

serves 2