Gluten-Free Lemon, Lime and Quinoa Pudding Cakes

I am so grateful for all of the e-mails and feedback that I receive.  It lets me know that people are interested!  I have received quite a few requests for gluten-free and dairy free recipes.  This one is very simple and perfect for dinner on the patio.  The texture is very light, much like a mousse.  It’s a bit tart and very refreshing.  Serve warm or cold.

Enjoy,

Lemon, Lime and Quinoa Pudding Cakes

*from Canelle et Vanille

Preheat oven to 325° and grease 5 5oz ramekins

2 egg yolks
6 oz whole milk
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp lime zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup quinoa flour
pinch kosher salt
2 egg whites

In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks, milk, lemon zest, lime zest, lemon juice and
lime juice.

In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, salt and quinoa flour.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk.

Whip the egg whites until medium peaks form.   Fold a third of the egg whites into the batter. Add the rest
and fold gently.

Pour the batter into the greased ramekins.  Place the ramekins in a deep baking pan and pour hot water into the baking dish- enough to cover the ramekins half way. Bake for about 30 minutes until set.

Good Things Come In 3′s….

The first person every little girl falls in love with is her dad.  And I, like I’m sure many others, have spent a good deal of my life comparing the other men in my world to my dad.  He’s  an ultra-focused, perfectionistic kind of guy with a killer dry sense of humour.  He’s my ‘go to’ guy when I need a home inspector, an appliance repair person, someone to tell me how to cook my seafood dinner, someone to teach me how to build something, a financial advisor and the list goes on….Thank you dad for teaching me all about my heritage.  I love your family stories and how you have shown me all the neat places and people from your childhood.

How blessed I have been to have another father figure in my life too!  A step-dad who can tell you the back road route to any destination, whom I have called many (NUMEROUS) times when I needed directions or something was wrong with my car.  Oh, and not to forget the hell he put any date through who came to pick me up!  Thank you for making me proud to have the nickname “squirt” even though I’m a grown woman with a family of my own (who all have nicknames too!).

And, finally number three, a fantastic person who I love more each day for the role model he is to my own children.  He is a hard worker, ultra-loyal, laid back kind of soul.  And, he has taught my sons (without even realizing it), the way you respect and love your leading lady.   Thank you for showing me how easy it is to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

So, now that we’ve got all that mushy stuff out of the way, lets eat boys!  This one’s for you.  Who wouldn’t enjoy a dessert made with Irish Whiskey?  Yum!  Happy Father’s Day,

Irish Coffee Sundaes with Caramel Whiskey Sauce

from Epicurious - I did not change a thing from this recipe!  It is absolutely perfect as is.

For coffee nut crisp:

• 1 large egg white
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules, crushed
• 1 cup walnut pieces (3 1/2 ounces), coarsely chopped if desired

For sauce:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 6 Tablespoons Irish whiskey
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• good-quality coffee/cappuccino ice cream

1.  Whisk egg white, sugar, coffee powder, and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Stir in walnuts until coated. Spread mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet (make an 8 x8 rectangle) and bake at 325° for 25 minutes or until fairly dry to the touch.  Remove to a rack and break into small pieces when cool (I left some larger pieces to use for garnish).

2.  For the sauce, bring the sugar and water to a boil in a 2–quart heavy saucepan over medium–high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil without stirring, until syrup begins to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Continue to boil, swirling pan occasionally, until syrup is a deep golden caramel.

3.  Remove pan from heat and carefully add whiskey, cream, and salt (mixture will bubble up and steam and caramel will harden).  Return the pan to heat and simmer, stirring, until caramel is dissolved and sauce is smooth. Cool to warm.

Serve sauce over scoops of cappuccino ice cream then sprinkle with walnut crisp.

I would double the batch of walnuts, these are really addictive all by themselves!

Easy Homemade Fondant

I decided this week-end I would give fondant a go.  Homemade that is.  It’s super easy, although a little messy, and there’s oodles of video’s on line about how to make your own.  It basically has 4 ingredients; water, marshmallows, shortening and icing sugar.  I flavoured mine with a bit of almond extract too.  It keeps well at room temperature for a few weeks and tastes way better than store bought.

Amanda at I Am Baker (amazing cakes!) made these cute cupcakes with fondant and fruit.  And it was so cute I totally stole the idea.  So although it makes me look super creative…I’m not…..

I have very few pictures to show you because..well, uh errr…we ate them as we were photographing them.  We voted and we liked the raspberry and chocolate best.  The chocolate cupcakes are absolutely amazing!  Recipe to follow soon….

A delicious surprise inside!  Even if you’re not crazy about fondant (you”ll like this one I promise!), you can still enjoy the berries and cake!

I added some raspberry preserves to the last one before topping with berries.  Yum!

Well we had to eat these anyway…they were all cut up!  We couldn’t let them go to waste!

And finally…playing with gel colours and attempting to decorate a mini cake (it’s actually 2 cupcakes).  My friend is getting married and I was trying to use her wedding colours on it.  Key word here is trying (she’s probably horrified).  It looks like a glorified Hostess Cupcake.  I was just playing!

This belongs on the boo boo plate, which is a plate that I throw all my mistakes on.  The kids hover over the boo boo plate like vultures.  I’ve never had people so eager to watch me make a mistake!  My son (bless him) carried this down to his buddies house and they were going to eat it anyway.  Love that boy!

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fond

My girlfriend moved to England a few years ago.  I cried like a baby when she left.  Although I was so happy for her courage to move far away, I was devastated at what I thought was my loss.  I’ve been to visit and she took me to Paris for my birthday ( SOOO NICE).  She has been home to visit many times since then.  We talk every Sunday on the phone and it’s as though she still lives 10 minutes away.  I do still have times when I really miss the girl time.  The distance makes movie night a little difficult and I sure would love to go have dinner (in Paris again would be awesome!).   Really, not a lot has changed though, we still argue over movies and books and we always seem to talk about food.  She recently sent me a recipe for Genoise Sponge Cake that she made at a dinner party and it looked amazing!   Below is my version, just a simple 2 layer with lemon whipped cream, raspberry preserves and fresh raspberries.   As I make it, I have a little smile on my face, thinking of my good friend.  Enjoy,

Sponge Cake

*adapted from Gourmet Magazine

preheat oven to 350 degrees

6 eggs room temperature

2/3 cup vanilla sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sifted cake  flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/3 cup melted unsalted butter, cooled

Lemon Whipped Cream Frosting (see below)

3/4 cup raspberry preserves for serving

2 pints fresh raspberries for serving

1.  Butter and flour a 10″ round pan.  In stand mixer with whisk attachment combine eggs, vanilla and sugar.  Beat on high speed for 10 minutes (mixture should triple in volume).  In a separate bowl, sift flour and salt together.

2.  Remove bowl from stand mixer and very gently fold flour and salt in with spatula (1/3 at a time).  In a small bowl, mix some of the cake mixture with the melted butter until incorporated.  Add this to the cake mixture, again gently folding.

3.  Pour mixture into cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden.  Cake will begin to pull away from sides of pan.   Unmold onto wire rack for cooling.

*Sponge cake is easier to work with on the 2nd day, so make the night before if you plan on cutting layers.

4.  Cut cooled cake into 2 layers.  Place bottom layer on a cake platter and spread with raspberry preserves.  Spread a layer of frosting on top of preserves.  Put 2nd layer on top of frosting.  Frost top with remaining frosting and cover top with fresh raspberries.

Lemon Whipped Cream Frosting

*Better Homes and Gardens Recipe

In large chilled bowl beat 2 cups whipping cream, 2 Tbps. powdered sugar, and 1 Tbsp. instant vanilla pudding on medium-high until stiff peaks form. Fold in 1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel.

Ooey Gooey Goodness

I love to camp.   I do not like the clean-up as much.   So I’m avoiding it and instead am going to share my great new discovery with you.   There’s nothing better than a messy, sticky, gooey s’more and it’s even better when the marshmallows are homemade!  I found a few recipes and couldn’t believe how simple they were to make.  Really, 30 minutes and you’re done.  And, once people were done with the “you made your own marshmallows?!?” comments, the vote was in and these were awesome.  In between some yummy chocolate or melted in krispie squares, these rock.  Just in time for summer.  Enjoy!

Marshmallows

*Adapted from The Golden Iris

1 cup cold water, divided

3 1/4 oz envelopes unflavoured gelatin

2 cups white sugar

2/3 cup pure glucose (corn syrup will work too)

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup icing sugar

1.  Line a 13x 9″ pan with tin foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.

2.  In the bowl of a stand mixer pour 1/2 cup of the cold water.  Sprinkle the gelatin on top and let it sit for 15 minutes.

3.  In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, glucose, salt and remaining water.  Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, then increase to med-high heat and let mixture boil for 8 minutes, without stirring.  At this point, syrup will form a soft ball when dropped into a glass of ice cold water.

4.  Using whisk attachment on stand mixer, begin beating the gelatin mixture while slowly pouring the boiling syrup down the side of the bowl (not directly on whisk attachment as it can splatter).  Syrup is boiling hot, so pour slowly and carefully!  Beat mixture for 15 minutes at high speed.  Add vanilla and beat for one minute more.

5.   Scrape into pan and smooth top- marshmallows are sticky, so a buttered spatula works well at this point!  Let mixture stand at room temperature until firm- approximately 4 hours.

6.  Stir together cornstarch and icing sugar.  Sift a generous amount onto work surface and unmold marshmallow on top.  Sift more powder onto the top of the slab.  Lightly spray a large knife with cooking spray and cut marshmallows to desired size. Sift all sides of your marshmallows with powder to avoid sticking!  Transfer to a rack and shake off excess powder.  Place in an airtight container.

*Add food colouring at the same time as the vanilla for some coloured fun!