Baking Backlog—GF Hamburger Buns

Posted on September 29, 2012 by HSG

Will be posting several recipes in succession . . . got behind on typing up the recipes.

Gluten-Free Hamburger Buns

The other day I happened to be browsing the baking section of JoAnn Fabrics and was thrilled to find mini-cake pans and mini-Springform pans (from Wilton). They looked to be the perfect size for GF Hamburger Buns, so I bought some. Today I tested them out. They worked GREAT!! The 4″ pans make the perfect size bun for a 1/3 pound burger.

I honestly don’t remember the last time I had a burger on a bun before tonight. What a treat!!

Gluten-Free Hamburger Buns

Makes three 4″ buns; recipe can be doubled.

Equipment

Three 4″ round mini-cake pans (Wilton makes the perfect size)

Ingredients

1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup millet flour
1/4 cup potato starch (not flour)
1/4 cup tapioca starch
3/4 teaspoon guar gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 Tablespoon sugar
1-1/8 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 egg
1-1/2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup + 3 Tablespoons milk (or milk substitute), heated to 115°F

Directions

Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
Grease three 4″ cake pans and dust with rice flour.
Combine all the dry ingredients (flours, guar gum, salt, gelatin, sugar, and yeast) in a medium-large bowl. Whisk together.
Combine the egg and oil in a small bowl. Whisk together.
Heat the milk and check the temperature.
Pour the warm milk into the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Add the egg and oil mixture. Stir to combine. Beat for approximately three minutes until well combined.
Spoon the dough into the prepared pans. Spread dough evenly with mini-spatula or knife. Cover gently with a cloth or plastic wrap. Let rise until double (approximately 40-50 minutes).
Near the end of the rising time, place the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F.
Bake the buns in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until nicely brown on top and sounding hollow when tapped on top. Remove buns from oven and turn onto a rack to cool.

NOTES

The original recipe (in Gluten-Free Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts) used an electric mixer to combine the ingredients. I use a Danish Bread Dough Whisk instead. It works fine. Just make sure you beat the ingredients thoroughly so that the gum and gelatin have time to start working.
The little pans can be difficult to handle. I placed mine on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil for ease of getting into and out of the oven.

4″ Mini Cake Pans, greased and dusted with rice flour

Dough in Pans

After Partial Rising

After Baking

Buns Cooling on Rack

Marinated Quinoa Salad

Posted on July 6, 2012 by HSG

For years my go-to summer salad was my take on “Marinated Pasta Salad” from Mollie Katzen’s The Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook. Of course, one could modify that recipe to use rice pasta (gluten free) and leave out the mozzarella cheese (dairy free), but for July 4th this year I made a few additional tweaks and came up with Marinated Quinoa Salad. Many of the same flavors and refreshing taste, but without the food allergies!

Marinated Quinoa Salad

45 minutes to prepare, plus time to chill
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

1 cup dry quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
1/2 bunch kale
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
1 jar or can artichoke hearts (8-15 oz., see note below), coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (packed) finely minced parsley
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
basil (1 Tablespoon fresh or 1 teaspoon dry) or other herb blend (I used Pasta Sprinkle from penzeys.com)

Directions

In a 1 quart saucepan with a lid, boil the water. Add the rinsed quinoa, stir, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender. Allow the quinoa to cool.
Clean the kale by removing the leaves from the stems. Rinse the leaves in a bowl of water and tear them into large, bite-size pieces. In a large pot with a lid, heat about one inch of water to boiling. Add kale and steam/blanch for 2-3 minutes until tender. Toss with tongs a couple of times during the cooking. Remove to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain thoroughly and chop into smaller bite-size pieces.
Add kale, red onion, artichoke hearts, and parsley to quinoa. Toss.
Add oil, vinegar, salt & pepper, and basil or herbs. Toss
Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Notes

Quinoa is a high-protein, gluten-free grain-like seed gaining in popularity in the US, but ancient in origin. Several varieties are available. I buy the dark-beige variety in bulk at the Seward Co-op. It requires only a quick rinse in a sieve before cooking. Other varieties may require longer rinsing, soaking, and/or cooking times. Follow the directions for your quinoa. You should end up with approximately 2 cups cooked quinoa.
Most artichoke hearts seem to be processed with ingredients that are likely to be corn-based (e.g., citric acid, “spices”). If you are sensitive to corn, use your judgment. I find that if I drain the marinated artichoke hearts, I don’t have much, if any, reaction. I haven’t tried the canned variety (with the citric acid), but would drain and rinse those before using. Feel free to substitute some other vegetable (green peppers, broccoli, carrots).
You could use the kale raw and be just fine. I find a few minutes of blanching heightens the color and makes it easier to digest.

GF Carrot Cake Redux

Posted on June 15, 2012 by HSG

After my successful Carrot Cake BakeOff in March, I decided to combine the best of the two recipes and made a “new and improved” two-layer carrot cake for my birthday.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

Full Batch = two 9″ rounds; Half Batch = one 9″ round

Ingredients

Full Batch	Ingredient	Half Batch
2-1/2 cups	Cake & Pastry Blend (see below)	1-1/4 cups
1-1/2 teaspoons	baking soda	3/4 teaspoon
1 teaspoon	baking powder	1/2 teaspoon
1-1/2 teaspoon	cinnamon	3/4 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon	nutmeg	1/8 teaspoon
1/4 teaspoon	ground cloves	1/8 teaspoon
1-3/4 cups	sugar	7/8 cup
1 cup	vegetable oil	1/2 cup
3 eggs	eggs	2 eggs [my modification to avoid 1/2 egg]
1 teaspoon	pure vanilla extract	1/2 teaspoon
8 oz. can	crushed pineapple, drained with juice reserved	4 oz. (1/2 can)
4 Tablespoons	reserved pineapple juice	1 Tablespoon [modified due to additional egg noted above]
2 cups	peeled & grated carrots	1 cup
3/4 cup	raisins	3/8 cup
1/2 cup	chopped walnuts	1/4 cup
1/2 cup	unsweetened coconut, rehydrated with 1-2 tablespoons of water	1/4 cup

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease 8- or 9-inch round cake pan(s). Line with bottom of the pan with parchment. Lightly grease the parchment. [I buy 9″ round parchment sheets rather than cutting my own.]
Combine the flour blend, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a bowl; set aside.
Prepare all the add-ins: carrots, raisins, walnuts, coconut, pineapple.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla at low speed until smooth, then beat at high speed for 3 minutes. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed to blend. Add the reserved pineapple juice and beat until smooth. Stir in the carrots, pineapple, raisins, walnuts, and coconut. (I do these additions by hand with a wooden spoon, rather than with the mixer.)
Divide the batter between the cake pans. Bake on the center rack for 40-45 minutes, until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes away clean. [Do make sure the center seems “solid” or the whole thing is likely to collapse as it cools.] Remove to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a rack to cool completely. [You may need to run a knife around the edge of the pan. I also put a sheet of parchment over the rack so the cake doesn’t stick to the rack.]
Frost with non-dairy Coconut Powdered Sugar Frosting (see below) or your favorite frosting.

Note

I use these velcro cake pan insulating strips to keep the cake from doming. They work great! However, it’s possible that without them your cake will be done sooner . . . so remember to start checking after 30 minutes of baking. Better safe than sorry!

Cake & Pastry Blend

(adapted from Hillson, Gluten-Free Makeovers)

1-1/4 cup sorghum flour
1 cup superfine brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1-1/2 teaspoons guar gum
1/2 teaspoon salt

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl. Store in a plastic zipper bag in the refrigerator until needed.

Notes on Flour Blends:

DO NOT use the old “scoop and level” method of measuring with GF flours. You will get too much flour. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup, then level off excess with a knife.
Obviously, this recipe makes more than the 2-1/2 cups needed for the carrot cake recipe. Remember to mix the blend, then measure for the recipe. Save the leftovers for other baking.
If you use any other flour blend you will need to add gum and salt to the carrot cake recipe.

Lucinda’s Non-Dairy Coconut Powdered Sugar Frosting

(Update 10/6/2014: I no longer use these proportions in my frosting. Please see my current recipe at http://highlysensitivegirl.com/hsgblog/2014/10/04/apple-cake/#frosting )

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I use Spectrum Organics Palm Oil Shortening)
2 Tablespoons Coconut Manna (I use Nutiva brand; https://store.nutiva.com/coconut-manna/)
2-3 cups confectioners sugar; sifted if lumpy
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
dashes of lemon juice or water or “milk” substitute as needed to thin the frosting

Beat the shortening and coconut manna until light and fluffy. Add extracts and beat again.
Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and mix at low-medium speed until combined.
Add liquid, one teaspoon at a time, to thin the frosting enough to use.

Notes

The coconut manna provides some richness to make up for not using the butter and cream cheese that would be in the traditional version of my powdered sugar frosting.
For some reason this recipe wasn’t quite enough to frost the cake today. Haven’t gotten the proportions correct after years of making cream cheese frosting. I think this needs more shortening, so next time I’ll try 3/4 cup shortening and maybe an extra spoon of coconut manna.

GF Carrot Cake Bake-Off

Posted on April 2, 2012 by HSG

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Bake-off

March 30, 2012

Apparently when I’m feeling a bit down, I cook. Seem to be doing alot of it lately. A few days ago I needed some dessert and couldn’t decide between two GF carrot cake recipes. SO, I made two 9″ round cakes, one of “The Best Carrot Cake” from Beth Hillson’s Gluten-free Makeovers, the other from Annalise Roberts’ Gluten-Free Baking Classics . I calculated a half-batch of each recipe, baked them both at the same time, and then compared them both with and without a basic powdered sugar frosting.

YUMMO!!

Unfortunately for those wanting recipes, I didn’t make enough changes to the original recipes to feel justified in posting them here. Both cookbooks were readily available at my public library (though I now own Roberts’ book and will probably buy HIllson’s soon as well).

For now I will try to describe the recipes in enough detail for you to know whether you would like to pursue them . . . trust me, they bake up good enough for non-GF-folks to eat!

Hillson’s recipe uses a flour blend of sorghum, rice flour, and tapioca flour combined with relatively small amounts of gum, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, & cloves. These dry ingredients are combined with sugar, oil, and eggs. Grated carrots, crushed pineapple, raisins and walnuts are then stirred in.

Roberts’ recipe uses her Brown Rice Flour Blend (super-fine brown rice flour, potato starch, & tapioca starch); somewhat larger amounts (compared to Hillson) of gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. These dry ingredients are combined with sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Grated carrots, walnuts, and coconut are then stirred in.

The only modifications I made to the recipes were:

guar gum instead of xanthan gum
rehydrated unsweetened coconut instead of sweetened
reduced the amount of pineapple juice to adjust for moisture introduced by the extra 1/2 egg (half of 3 eggs became 2 eggs 🙂 )
baked for an extra 7 minutes because the centers were not firm after the listed baking times

I used my Farberware non-stick cake pans greased and lined with parchment circles. I also used my Velcro insulated pan wraps (which keep cakes from doming and worked equally well with these GF cakes as they did with regular cakes). In the picture above, the cake in the front-left is Hillson’s and the one in the back-right is Roberts’.

After tasting each of the cakes to make sure they were edible and compatible with each other, I stacked them and frosted with my Non-Dairy Coconut Powdered Sugar Frosting. (rather tricky after you’ve already cut into the cakes!)

Non-Dairy Coconut Powdered Sugar Frosting

1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I use Spectrum Organics Palm Oil Shortening)
2 Tbls Coconut Manna (I use Nutiva brand)
2-3 cups confectioners sugar; sifted if lumpy
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract
dashes of lemon juice or water or “milk” substitute as needed to thin the frosting

Beat the shortening and coconut manna until light and fluffy. Add extracts and beat again.
Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and mix at low-medium speed until combined.
Add liquid, one teaspoon at a time, to thin the frosting enough to use.

Note: The coconut manna provides some richness to make up for not using the butter and cream cheese that would be in the traditional version of my powdered sugar frosting.

GENERAL NOTES

The recipe in Hillson’s book is VERY different from one you might find posted online (http://adventures-in-gluten-free-wheat-free-living.yumsugar.com/Beths-Gluten-Free-Easy-Carrot-Cake-2905567 ). I haven’t tested the online version.
Roberts’ recipe has been posted here http://www.theculinarylife.com/2009/easy-gluten-free-carrot-cake-recipe/
Overall, I preferred the texture and taste of Hillman’s recipe (lower cake in photo below) over Roberts’ (upper cake in photo below). Hillman’s was sweeter, moister, and spicier. Hillman’s recipe does not rise as much as Roberts (due to smaller amounts of leavening), so next time I would use Hillman’s recipe, but substitute the baking powder and baking soda amounts from Roberts’. I might also be tempted to toss in the unsweetened coconut as well. 🙂 Roberts’ cake tasted more like what I think of as “carrot/spice cake from a box”. Edible, even tasty, just not as rich as I wanted in a carrot cake.

Friday Night Fish Fry

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Highly Sensitive Girl

First a confession—I made this meal last Saturday (was too tired last Friday) and then didn’t get around to writing it up . . . better late than never.

Lent has had me craving fish fillets, so I looked for some recipes and found a couple that looked like they might work. One required GF breadcrumbs, which I was all out of (will try this one next time) . . . the other was a rice-flour-based batter which I adapted to be dairy-free as well. I put some clean oil in my Fry Daddy and put together a GF Fish Fry.

Menu Note: Due to my CFS (which greatly limits my ability to cook for a long time and/or do more than one thing at a time), I prepared everything except the catfish nuggets earlier in the day. The slaw & guacamole need to chill. The beans and rice can be reheated while you are cooking the fish.

Catfish Nuggets

Ingredients

1 pound catfish nuggets (or other white fish like tilapia; catfish nuggets come already chopped up and are cheaper than buying a fillet and cutting it up yourself)
1-1/4 cup rice flour (or other GF blend), divided
1-1/2 tsp chili powder, divided
1 egg
1/2 cup soy milk (or other dairy-free “milk”)
salt & pepper
oil for frying

Directions

Preheat oven to 200°F (for keeping the nuggets warm after they are fried)
Combine 1/2 cup of the flour and 1 tsp chili powder in a shallow dish for dredging.
In a separate bowl, mix together the egg, the remaining 3/4 cup flour, soy milk, salt & pepper, and 1/2 tsp chili powder. Add extra “milk” if the batter is too thick.
Heat oil (I’m guessing the Fry Daddy heats the oil to somewhere between 350°F & 400°F, but the beauty of the Fry Daddy is it keeps the oil at an even heat . . . the original recipe tells how to do this in a fry pan instead)
Dredge 3-4 nuggets in the seasoned flour, then run through the batter and carefully place the nuggets in the hot oil. Stir gently to make sure the nuggets don’t get stuck together. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until golden.
Remove nuggets from oil with a slotted spoon and place on a paper-towel-covered plate. Sprinkle with kosher salt and place in a warm oven to keep warm as you fry the remaining nuggets.

NOTES

If I made this recipe again, I would try it without the dredging step. I’m pretty sure the batter would stick without it and it made the coating too thick. Another option would be to make the batter thinner.
If you are frying on the stove or using a different type of fryer it would be wise to “test fry” a single nugget to see what the optimum frying time is for your setup.
If you have access to decent GF tortillas you can turn the above into delicious Fish Tacos. Warm a tortilla, top with rice, beans, a couple of nuggets, some slaw & a spoonful of guacamole. Fold & Enjoy! (I prefer just piling everything on a plate or in a bowl.)

Broccoli Slaw

Mix together:

10 oz bag of cole or broccoli slaw mix
1/3 cup GF mayo
1 Tbls white vinegar
1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Chill at least one hour, stirring occasionally.

Guacamole

1 avocado, diced
1/4 medium red onion, diced
2 T cilantro, minced
1 large spoon diced tomatoes (fresh or saved from beans recipe)
1 T lemon &/or lime juice

Mix together and chill.