Food Challenges

Cake-a-licious!

For a number of years, I just didn’t have a birthday cake. Finally, I orderd one from a gluten free bakery for my sixtieth birthday. I was thrilled to have my very own birthday cake to add to the celebration! It was a real treat that I hadn’t realized I was missing. The entire family tucked in and shared the excitement with me. The cake honestly added a lot to the occasion and I was grateful to have had it. Upon reflection, a few days later, I had to confess that the cake was heavy and dry. In addition, it had been extremely expensive. I began to wonder if I could create something that would look, taste and have the texture of cakes I had eaten long ago… before my gluten free life style. For the next eighteen months, I did a lot of research and experimenting in my own kitchen. At last, I’m ready to share the results! Continue Reading…

Liana’s Gluten Free Gingerbread

I created this variation on an old favourite so I could make gingerbread houses with my grandhcildren and enjoy the treat with them. When pressed into a mould, this dough creates a moist chewy cookie with a great crumb and traditional taste. If you roll the dough thinner and bake it longer, you can achieve the drier, crunchier cookie, but its not as hard as a ginger snap. Continue Reading…

Holiday Season Recipes

The holidays are quickly approaching! It’s a wonderful time to gather with family and friends to celebrate life together and observe a variety of rituals and traditions. Of course when people come together, invariably there are food offerings. I’m going to attach links to some recipes here on the site that might be of interest as you plan your meals and parties. If you’re going to a party or dinner, why not take a hostess gift that includes gluten free foods that are safe for you to eat? I know my family and friends appreciate the specialty items I bring to celebrations.

Appetizers:

1. Cheese Crisp Horsd’oeuvres
2. Hot Crab Dip
3. Smoked Salmon Devilled Eggs
4. Potato Popovers

Main Course:

1. The Turducken - the turkey and dressing layered with duck and chicken
2. Beef Wellington -  a variation of the classic created to deal with GF pastry
3. Crown Roast of Lamb - crown roast of lamb stuffed with wild rice dressing
4. Tortiere Medallions – a variation on the classic French Canadian savoury pie without the crust
5. Turporko - a turkey breast stuffed with tortiere meat wrapped in proscuitto
6. Prosciutto Chicken Breasts - chicken breasts stuffed with pesto and wrapped in prosciutto
7. Osso Buco - braised veal shanks
8. Lamb Shanks - Mediterranean style braised lamb shanks

Sweet Treats:

1. Shortbread Cookies
2. Decadent Chocolate Torte
3. Mini Pumpkin Cheese Cakes
4. Cherry Chocolate Mousse Cake
5. Blueberry Ginger Bars
6. Sugar Plums
7. Black Forest Sugar Plums
8. Gingerbread

Traditions:

1. Roasted Chestnuts
2. Tackling the Sweet Tooth

Please feel free to drop by from time to time as I will be adding more recipes! Happy Holidays!

Gluten Free Oatmeal Ginger Cookies

I’m one of those fortunate people who can eat certified gluten free oatmeal. About 80% of people who are gluten sensitive or who have Celiac Disease can eat gluten free oats. How do you find out if you can? The medical community can provide tests to definitely answer this for you, as an individual, or you can use a rotation diet to see if you react to gluten free oats. Oats have many health benefits, in addition to tasting great! This recipe is a version of the original sent to me by my sister, Lynn, from Auckland, New Zealand. She uses blueberries in her recipe and a general GF flour blend. I’ve substituted ginger for the blueberries and used my own specific GF flour blend which includes xanthan gum. Continue Reading…

Liana’s Decadent Torte

I recommend making this the day before you serve it. The flavours mature over night and enhance the overall decadence of this dessert. Continue Reading…

Season’s Greetings!

It’s that cold, blustery time of year again! I want to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season. I hope you have an opportunity to celebrate the fullness of life by sharing great food, traditions, and activities with those who are nearest and dearest to you. This year I’m sending all of you something I created, just for this special occasion. To me, it’s one of those truly great memories and traditions from my childhood. Continue Reading…

Blueberry Ginger Bars

I recently tried gluten free rolled oats, for the first time, in my cheesecake base and the entire family were pleased with the results. I enjoyed the taste and didn’t react adversely, so I decided to try a fruit dessert bar. This is one of the variations I made. I’ll post other versions separately, because the bases and fillings are different. I hope you and your family will enjoy them as much as we have. Continue Reading…

Mini Blueberry Cheesecake

My husband, Paul, is not a pumpkin fan, so he asked me to create a cheesecake that was suitable for a fruit topping. We used blueberries because they’re in season and are delicious with cheesecake. I used a blueberry preserve, but you could use fresh blueberries with a fruit glaze. Continue Reading…

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

I found some cute little miniature spring form pans when I was out shopping recently. Their base is 4 inches in diameter. I decided to pick up a couple to use for smaller projects. I felt they would be perfect for my cooking experiments in general and our very small family in particular. How often do you have a large cake or dessert that’s just too much for your household to consume before it “passes its rotting date”, as my youngest used to say? So when I decided to try making a gluten free pumpkin cheesecake, I gave my mini pans their maiden voyage. I’m going to use it to replace pumpkin pie at my Thanksgiving dinner!

The resulting cheesecake is rich and tangy, with a velvety smoothness and sweet, crunchy crust. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did. Continue Reading…

Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

My sister sent me this recipe from New Zealand. It sounded fabulous, so I just had to give it a try. I didn’t have any mini muffin tins, so I used paper liners and regular muffin tins. I only had large eggs, so I used them. I added some xanthan gum to my blend of GF flours (almond, quinoa and tapioca) and a pinch of salt. I used fresh organic raspberries and reserved 12 for the tops. Just for fun, I stuffed each raspberry with a dark and a milk chocolate chip before I stuffed them in the batter and baked them. I used honey instead of sugar. That suits my palate, but if you like things sweet, you may want to use sugar. The result is a moist, chewy, brownie like muffin, rich with the taste of chocolate and raspberries. Yum! P.S. Lynn’s original recipie is below.





2 eggs (large)
½ cup honey (or sugar)
½ cup plain yoghurt (homemade lactose free)
1 Tbsp oil
1 cup + 2 Tbsp GF flours (mainly ground almonds; tapioca, quinoa, etc)
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup cocoa
¼ cup milk chocolate chips or chunks (cut up from bar)
¼ cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (cut up from bar)
1 cup frozen raspberries (set aside 24 nice whole berries for topping)


Place paper liners in the muffin tins, preheat oven.


Separate egg whites into small bowl. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.


Beat with mixer the egg yolks, honey, yoghurt and oil in large bowl.


Combine flours, xanthan gum, salt and cocoa then stir into large bowl; stir in chocolate chips and raspberries. If mix is very wet add a bit more flour.


Cut in a small amount of the egg whites to loosen chocolate mixture, then fold in remaining egg whites.


Fill muffin tins quite full and top with individual raspberry that has been stuffed with a milk and a dark chocolate chip, slightly push the berry into the batter.


Bake 18 – 20 minutes; you want them to be moist so don’t overcook, remove from oven when just set in the middle and let cool in trays before attempting to remove to racks. They freeze well.


The original version from my sister:


Chocolate raspberry mini muffins 180C/375F 7-9 mins 24 mini muffs


2 eggs (med)
½ cup honey (or sugar)
½ cup plain yoghurt
1 Tbsp oil
1 cup + 2 Tbsp GF flours (mainly ground almonds; tapioca, potato, etc)
½ cup cocoa
½ cup chocolate chips or chunks (cut up from bar)
1 cup frozen raspberries (set aside 24 nice whole berries for topping)


Grease muffin tins, preheat oven.


Separate egg whites into small bowl. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.


Beat with mixer the egg yolks, honey, yoghurt and oil in large bowl.


Combine flours and cocoa then stir into large bowl; stir in chocolate chips and raspberries. If mix is very wet add a bit more flour.


Cut in a small amount of the egg whites to loosen chocolate mixture, then fold in remaining egg whites.


Fill muffin tins quite full and top with individual raspberry, slightly push the berry into the batter.


Bake 7-9 minutes; you want them to be moist so don’t overcook, remove from oven when just set in the middle and let cool in trays before attempting to remove to racks. They freeze well.