Cake decorations. Do what you know

I have never taken a cake decoration class. I have wanted to, but it was just to frivolous. Plus, I been a big fan of  "cake wrecks" for years, and I thought I could do as good as those people, without any training.
But sadly, I guess I can only do as good as those people, without any training.
So, here is the cake I made of the Doctor Who party we had with friends.


It is a simple white cake in a 9X13 pan. I used my DrWho ice cube mold, to make marshmallow filled chocolate Villains. I made a very small batch of "white chocolate fudge" 'cause I know how to do that, and tinted it gray, then spread it very thin in a pan. Then used my doctor who cookie cutters to make the shapes, and played those on top of  a buttercream frosting, and I put Blue Raspberry cool aid in the frosting to color it and flavor it. It gave it a little bit of a sour taste, and balanced the cake and the sugary shaped on top.
I loved it and the responses from our friends were positive.

Krusteaz Gluten free pancake mix.

Krusteaz Gluten free pancake mix.
BEST. PANCAKES. EVER. EVER!

I mentioned these a few weeks ago, but this is the third time I have made these, and I love them!

 

   Light fluffy and tall. Excellent texture or mouth feel, an amazing buttermilk and vanilla flavor. The best gluten free pancakes I have had in 15 years.
I do however want to take note that since this is a mix your result might vary but not if you follow the directions. The box calls for lightly spraying the pan with oil and cooking them at medium heat. my husband attempted to make the pancakes at high heat and use butter; and it turned out disgusting; burnt outside, gelatinous inside and crunchy edges. So I recommend you go with the directions on the box.

 



Moon Rabit Pie Crust Mix, review, and tips

 

 First of all, the Moon rabbit bag of mix, is enough to make 3 crust. But the package recipe is for one crust. So it you want an bottom and an top crust you have to make it twice.

But for this pot pie I just did a top.

 

I flowed the directions on the bag, and the dough rolled out nicely, but was too fragile to move tot he pie. So I added a little extra water, and a spoon full of Avocado (for a butter like substitute.) That is want give the crust a slightly green tint, if you notice it.  But most people would not.
Overall not my favorite pie crust.
My favorite pie crust is the Gluten Free Pantry Mix.

oatmeal cookies, the ugly sister of the cookie world

I have see this around:

And My Hubby feels the same way. And I guess, I agree, if I'm looking for a cookie, then raisin is not what I'm looking for.

But I think Oatmeal cookies have their place: It's Breakfast.

So I have the recipe in The How Can it be gluten free cookbook, from America's test Kitchen a try. Seeing as I Love their chocolate chip recipe, I though this might be good.
I was disappointed with their recipe, but came away with a few tips that I will be applying to my future oatmeal cookie recipes.

#1: Soak a portion f the oats in a portion of the liquid, before incorporating into the batter. (softened the oats)
#2. Use Butter and Oil (or in my opinion: Butter and shortening) That way you get the lift and the browning from butter, and the higher smoke point of the oil gives us sustained chewiness. I had heard this logic applied to pie crust, and it works when applies to this kind of cookie as well.

Choclate cake, levels and definitions.

I consider chocolate cake to be an umbrella under which the categories of things like Devil's-food, red-velvet, and German-chocolate cake reside.

So, for a few years now, "Red velvet" cake has been a hip, in, and trendy thing. And I have to say, some people , who should know better, Should know better.

So Let me Ed-U-Cate

I have a few old cookbooks:
Between that, and my knowledgeable grandmothers, I give you the definitions of chocolate cake.

Red Velvet:
Red velvet is set apart ingredient wise with buttermilk and a little bit of Choco powder in the batter. Back in the day, before the recipe called for a TON of red food coloring, the color of the cake was NATURALLY occurring. It was before the chocolate was processed in a our modern "Dutch" processing ways. The chocolate would react with the buttermilk, and the reaction would cause the brown coco to look red. And the cream cheese frosting is a must. I would say this is the least chocolaty of the cakes.

Chocolate spoon cake:
This is the chocolate version of the classic pound cake. Also called Dump cake because you only use one bowl, and then dump it in the baking pan. This is the style most often found in cake mixes. Usually Eggs, milk and butter. It is chocolaty in a shallow way.

Devils food cake:
This cake in identified by the methods of using boiling water and coco powder. Sour cream and baking soda makes the cake a deeper brown and also a slightly different flavor. More "complex" flavor, because of the extra fat and acidity in the sour cream.  It has a more "coffee cake" texture from the cream and soda, which often leads to the appearance of coffee in the recipe. Back in the day, this cake was also red in color, and that is there it got the Devil name. But because of the other flavors, it's not that chocolaty.

German chocolate:
Using BROWN sugar, and the boiling water method with chunks of chocolate instead of coco. This makes the cake darker, and a richer flavor. The German part came form the origin of the chocolate; the original recipes called for a specific kind of sweet chocolate brick, that as imported from Germany, that the baker would then chop up and melt with hot water. The arrival of the coconut pecan frosting was closely after, but is still a good way to identify it.

"Brownies"
This cake is characterized by less flour, more coco and more liquid, as melting the butter is a must. Basically if a Brownie recipe calls for a leavening agent, then its actually a cake. Legend says that brownies were invented when someone left out the baking powder out of a chocolate cake by accident.

Cookie Sheet

This is the same cookie recipe, same temperature, on three different pans.

               A.                              B.                    C.

         Light mettle                Light mettle          Dark mettle

    Parchment paper           Silicone mat        Parchment paper

I think the light pan with the parchment paper works best. 

Brownies with a cookie layer

I'm not entirely shore what to call them.
I think If I was looking for them in a cook book index I would search under "Cookies, Bar, Layered"
pumpkin-pie-brownie from last year would also fall in this category.
This one is WAY simple.

I made a batch of Betty Crocker gluten free brownies.
While they were in the oven, I got out a half a tub of Pillsbury gluten free chocolate chip cookie dough.
With my hands I mushed out the dough into a 7 inch square.
About 10 minutes BEFORE the brownies should be done, I took the pan fro the oven, placed my cookie pancake on top. And put the whole thing back in the oven.
I cooked it about 15 min.
Then I took it to the church pot luck.
Sadly, it was eaten so fast, I did not get a photo.
But it was good. So I will probably do it again.

Pillsbury refrigerated Gluten Free Pie and Pastry dough, review

So, I was intrigued to find at the local store, Pillsbury ready made GLUTEN FREE pie and Pastry dough.



 I picked some us, and decided it's first experiment should be mini Quiche.

A quarter of the dough was just enough for six muffin crusts.

Sadly, I overfilled the cups with the quiche, so the finished result was not lovely enough to photograph. But it was good flavor and texture. So I look forward to making a few more things with the rest of the dough.

Pamala's Gluten free bread mix, tips for sucess

So, were trying to purchase a house.

That means, watching our pennies, and preparing to move. So I decided to use a bread mix I already had, rather then go get a loaf from the store.

 



It turned out fairly well. I have a hit and mis relationship with bread mix, so it was nice to get a decent loaf.
So here is how I did it:
I proofed the yeast, in the warm water, with a little of the sugar and starch, even though the recipe does not call for it.
I put it in two small loaf pans, instead on one large, avoiding the doughy center.
I smoothed the dough in the pans, with my wet hands, to give it a uniform surface.
I let it raise, in a worm oven, over a pan of water, for an hour.

And that did the trick.

Carrot Bread

Out sweet little Squeaker has become a picky eater. I know around  his age it's normal for their appetite to slow down, as his growing is also slowing. He is five time the size he was 20 months ago. But he had been sick, and has actually lost some weight. His Pediatrician said to give him cake and ice-cream. So he can put it back on, but I don't want him to eat just junk food.
He knows over 50 words, and cake is one of them.
So his Occupational therapist suggested I make him banana breads, zucchini bread, and stuff like that. He does not have to be GF, but he is observant enough to notice that if I will not eat something, then he will not either. So I cook GF for both of us.
So in the adventure, I found a recipe from Bob's red Mill, for

Carrot Bread 

• 1 cup Freshly Grated Carrots
• 4 Tb Milk
• 1 large Egg
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon,
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 1/4 Cup Bob's All purpose baking flour 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Lightly grease a 4" x 6" baking pan, set aside.
Sift all dry ingredients into a mixing bowl; add egg and milk and mix well.
Stir in grated carrots.
Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 40 minutes.
 Allow to cool before slicing.

I put in in loaf pans, and in my mini bunt pans. We call it "Cakebread."

Banana split cup cake

As it is spring, I thought a fun cupcake was in order.

Banana split cupcakes are popular right now, and I just so happed to have some Bananas.

 

Banana cake.

Crushed pineapple filling.

Strawberry buttercream frosting.

Gluten free Yellow cake mix turned into Banana Cake.

1 cup ripe bananas, mashed up.
1 pkg Bob's red mill, gluten free yellow cake mix
3  eggs
1/2 Cup oil
1/2/ cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate ships

DIRECTIONS:

Be sure all ingredients are room temperature. Put bananas and oil in blender and liquefy. Pour mix, vanilla and spices into to cake mix. Use electric mixer, on med-high. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Fold in Chocolate chips. Pour batter into greased and floured minni bundt pans.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30min, then check for doneness.



Peach Pie

Gluten free Peach Pie with Crumble top. 

Whole foods, ready made, unbaked, pie crust.
Caned Peaches
Topped with Bob's red mill oat crumble crust.

Recipe for Caned peaches Pie filling
3 can's peaches.
1 Cup sugar
3 Tb tapioca flour.
1 tsp each Nutmeg and cinnamon

Drain peaches, reserving only 1 cup of liquid.
Mix with sugar, tapioca and spices.
Arrange peaches in pie crust, pour mixture over.

Vanilla cupcakes, filled with Yummy

Cupcakes, with jam and cream filling.

Cupcakes made with Bob's red mill Vanilla cake mix.

Sliced in half, smeared with Blackberry preserve, and dolloped with whipped topping.

The Cake turned out quite dense. It was moist in the cense that is stuck to your fingers, but dry in your mouth, making it difficult to swallow.

re-purposing

They say when life hands you Lemons, make lemonade
When life hands me a bread that is not what I expected, I make french toast.

SO I turned the not sweet enough Pull apart/monkey bread into french toast. With butterscotch syrup.
Super yummy

Soup. Gluten free, Dairy free, no onion.

For a cold damp winter evening, soup is a good choice. It is however a little tricky at our house.
No Gluten
No Dairy
No Onion.

SO, tonight we mixed up a batch of Coconut Curry, cauliflower carrot soup.

It tasted good, and was nicely colorful.
My mom roasted the cauliflower in the oven before turning it into soup, which supposedly improves the flavor.

Gluten free version of Samoa Cookies

So, a few years ago I heard that there were recipes for making your own Girl scout cookies. I had liked the Samoa.

SO armed with a bage of shortbread cookie mix, I set out to make them.

1. Make the mix as directed. I used Bob's red mill.*
2. I formed the dough into a tube, wrapped it in plastic, and refrigerated it for a little while to get it firm.
3. Slice the tube into 3/4 inch disks.
4. Bake as package directs. 
5. Let cool
6. Dip in Caramel. I used some form a jar of ice cream topping.
7. Press the caramel side into shredded coconut.
8. Drizzle with melted chocolate chips.

 *On there own, the cookies were very crumble, and did not have much of a flavor. SO the toppings really made the cookie.

Blueberry lemon Rolls

I was inspired by The Chew, Blueberry sticky Buns presented by Daphne Oz (Who I thin is Dr Oz's daughter)
It's a cinnimon roll reecipie using Pizza dough, and blueberries (not rasins) and let's agree that a sad dried up grap has no place in a yummy gooie sticky treat.
SO I tried my own version, a lot less sticky.

I used Bob's red mill Pizza crust Mix.
Prepared as directed for cinnamon roll dough.
I rolled/ Patted it out to about 14 inches square, as that was as big as I could without it tearing.
I sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar, dolloped a little butter, and generously sprinkled frozen blueberries over it. And spritzed it with Lemmon juice.
I Rolled it up. Sliced it as best I could. Let It rasie for at least a hour. And baked it up.
Super yummy.
But it could hae used a little  more moisture. Next time more berries and more butter.
And you can BET there WILL BE a NEXT TIME!!

Breakfast biscuits. Easy on-the-go Breakfast.

Breakfast biscuits
Easy on-the-go Breakfast.

I used the Bisquick Gluten Free baking mix.
I followed the recipe on the back of the box to make the biscuits.
With just a tablespoon more watter.
I then mixed in about half a pound of cooked ground breakfast sausage
and about a cup of cheese. Cheddar and mozzarella.

With VERY WET hands scoop small balls onto a oiled baking sheet.
Bake at 375 for 15-20 min until golden brown.

Then I let them cool, and toss 3 or 4 into small sandwich bags. Those go in the freezer. Then in the Morning Just grab a bag, microwave for 20 seconds, and you have a warm breakfast ready to go.

Healthies Granola

I think I got it:

Granola
3 Cups Bob's red mill Gluten free oats
1 Cups Cashew chopped
1/2 cup sunflour seeds
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/4 Cup Organic light Maple syrup
1/4 Cup EVOlive Oil
1/4 Cup light Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup dried apple
1/2 Cup Cranberries
Pinch salt
Dash Lemon Zest

Baked at 250 for an hour.

This combo got the Calories per half cup to under 250, Fat to 15, Carbs to 30 and Sugar to 5.

The heavy weight of calories is the oil. Olive oil is already the lowest, So there it is.
The Oats and Cashews have about the same calories per cup, so I suppose you could increase the volume of the fruit, and decrease the oats and nuts, and that would make it less calories, but more sugar.
You can use a "light" maple syrup, reducing calories there, but adding chemicals, and often doubling the salt (?!)
So it is my conclusion, that any of those changes will do more harm then good to the over nutritional value.

Easy as Pie

Gluten free baking is tricky.
Not just a horse of a different color, it's a different animal entirely.
Someone who is an excellent baker can not necessarily translate their skills over to gluten free baking.
If anything, In my experience, the better you are at regular baking the worse you are at gluten free baking. If for only the fact that you know what it "should" or "supposed to" look like, act like, or taste.
Pies for example.
My MIL made 5 pies for Thanksgiving. One she made gluten free.
 Putting the obvious concerns of cross contamination aside, the gluten free pie should not have been dealt with in the same manner as the other pies.
So let me tell you have it should have been dealt with.
1. Combine all of the dry ingredients. Ideally you sift them together, or a whisk will do.
2. Use half Butter and Half Shortening. Cutting them in completely
3. Combine the wet separably, then it can be added.
4. Roll it out, put it in the pan. Cover and chill until solid.
5. When ready to bake, cover edges, (and top crust) with foil.
6 Take it out when it is Just beginning to darken.

Those are the basic tricks. Pie is not easy. And each mixture might have its own nuance.