Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Ice Cream Cones...Gluten Free!

GF ice cream cones can be somewhat bland and tasteless, so why not make your own? These are yummy cookie/crepe-like and simple to make. Store in an airtight container.
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
3T.milk, more if needed
½ t. GF vanilla extract
  cup GF flour blend
Pinch of salt
3 T. vegetable oil as needed
Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until frothy. Whisk in the butter, milk and vanilla. Gradually whisk in the flour and salt until smooth. The batter should be thin, but you can stir in more milk as needed.
Heat a small Teflon skillet, crepe pan or round griddle over medium heat. Brush the pan lightly with oil. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter (no more) and turn to spread out the batter into a thin circle. When the underside is golden brown, grab edges of crepe with both hands and gently flip over and cook until golden on the other side. Do not overcook or undercook.
Take a piece of aluminum foil, fold to double thickness (or use heavyweight foil) and form a rough cone-shaped mold. Remove the cone/crepe from the pan. (Grabbing the pan by its handle and flipping the cone/crepe out onto a wire rack works well.)
Form the crepe into a cone, rolling it around the foil cone shape while the cone is hot, squeezing the bottom end to seal. This must be done very quickly, as the cone will soon become fairly firm and will no longer remain pliable.
Keep foil mold on the cone, while cooking each new cone, then moving the mold into the next cone. (Or you may choose to make several foil cone "molds" to use instead.) Repeat, making the crepes with the remaining batter. Keep the cones on the wire rack to cool and to allow each cone to firm up. 
Do not be alarmed if cones soften a bit after cooking into more of a semi-firm crepe-like texture. Once ice cream is placed into the cone, “voila!” it takes on a crunchy, chewy cookie texture that is absolutely perfect for an ice cream cone.
Makes: 6 cones. 

This recipe is from my cookbook: Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking

My cookbook is available at:
http://www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org   OR http://amzn.com/B002GQ2ZJ

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Almost Flourless & Low Sugar Chocolate (bean) Cake



This tasty sponge cake is a fabulous new option for baking gluten and wheat free because the addition of a can of drained beans helps to create a moist, dense texture with out the need for much GF flour. The cake does not dry out! 


 A completely sugar free option would be to use vegetable glycerin instead of the agave syrup (which is very low in sugar).



Preheat oven to 325 F. Line the bottom of one 8 or 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper.

Blend in blender until very smooth:
15 ounce can plain black beans or kidney beans, drained and rinsed.
3 large eggs
1 T. vanilla extract
1 dropper Liquid Stevia flavoring (English Toffee or Hazelnut), optional

Beat with a mixer until light and well mixed:
4-6 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup GF flour blend
1 dropper full of Liquid Stevia flavoring (English Toffee or Hazelnut) optional
1/3 cup vegetable glycerin or agave syrup, or powdered stevia

Add:
2 more large eggs, beating for one minute after each addition

Combine:
Bean batter with butter batter and mix on high for one minute until well blended.

Whisk together:
6 T. cocoa powder
1 t. baking powder
½ t. baking soda

Add:
Cocoa mixture to the other batter and beat on high until blended.

Optional bottom “topping”:
½-¾ cup ground pecans
½ cup natural coconut flakes
¼ cup vegetable glycerin or agave syrup

Roughly spread the pecan-coconut mixture over the bottom of the cake pan before adding cake batter. Now scrape batter into cake pan and smooth the top. Tap pan a few times against the counter to remove air bubbles. (The pecan mixture will be on top when cake is inverted after baking.)

 Bake at 325˚ F for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Notes: For best results, cool cake with a clean kitchen towel placed over the top of it to retain moisture. Refrigerate over night.

Makes: 8-10 servings.

For more recipes, check out my cookbook: Delicious! The Very Best of Gluten Free and Wheat Free Cooking

The cookbook is available at:

http://www.celiacdiseaseinfo.org