Gluten-Free Almond and Milled Seed Banana Bread

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I have been having adventures with gluten-free foods lately. It's not that I need to eat gluten-free foods suddenly or anything, it's more that I first made and ate gluten-free foods about fourteen years ago thanks to my friend Chloe, who was having severe food allergies at the time, and remembered recently that gluten-free food could be quite lovely with its seeming resurgence on food blogs.
I always have some allergy and food-intolerance recipes handy just in case a friend who suffers from one comes over and, in this particular instance, I'd been wondering how different it would be to eat gluten-free banana bread having never tried that (but eating my regular share of gluten-packed banana bread).

I have an unabashed love of bananas; I think they may be the perfect food. I know some people hate them but, frankly, I don't get those people; it seems everyone in this house loves them so banana bread is always well received, and I've taken to trying different versions lately having spent so many years with a favorite recipe. We don't often end up with overripe bananas here simply because they're eaten up so quickly but, on occasion, particularly when one too many visits have been paid to the store, we end up with several sets of bananas and I have to use them up. You can of course freeze bananas so that you're not forced to bake with them until you're ready, just be aware that if you do the peel turns completely black though the flesh is unaffected.

Of course there's no dearth of gluten-free banana bread recipes on the web with all the gluten-free blogs, but there's no telling what recipe will look appealing to you when you do a search for something as popular as banana bread. I settled on this recipe from Gluten-Free Goddess for snacking banana bread and set about figuring out how I would make it with less almond flour. I love me some almonds but I didn't really want this to taste mostly of almonds and banana.

I've spoken on my blog about a milled seed mix made by Linwoods which is made up of milled flaxseed, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. I made gluten-free muffins with it and they were delicious; I actually thought the mix was milled nuts until I took a good look at the package; due to my having made so many muffins with it, I decided to make some gluten-free banana bread instead with what remained. I didn't have enough of it to make up the entire portion of "flour", so I ended up mixing almond meal with finely chopped hazelnuts and what was left of the milled seeds.

I was pleasantly surprised by the result. I thought it would be good but I didn't realize how good it would be, and the best part of it was that it was incredibly light and moist. The recipe below is the most basic version. You could of course add other spices, perhaps whatever mix you usually use in your banana bread. Karina's version calls for 2 cups of flour-substitute, I added a bit more because I had an extra 1/4 cup of milled seeds left in the bag; if you look at the comments on her post, people substituted all different kinds of flours, ground nuts, etc... so feel free to experiment with your own kind of flour or non-flour mix.
The next time I get a bag of milled seeds, I'm definitely making this banana bread again, along with a few dozen muffins. You never know when the urge to snack might hit you.

Gluten-free Almond and Milled Seed Banana Bread
adapted from the Gluten-Free Goddess here

1 cup (100g) almond meal

3/4 cup (75g) milled seeds

1/2 cup (60g) finely chopped hazelnuts (or pecans or whatever kind of nut you want)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 large eggs, at room temp

1/3 cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil

1 cup (100g) light brown sugar

3 medium very ripe bananas, cut up, mashed

2 tsp vanilla extract

- Heat oven to 350F (180C).
- Grease a loaf pan very lightly. No need to flour it. (I used cocoa for the fun of it to see if it would make a taste difference, it didn't).

- In a small bowl, mix the almond meal, milled seeds, and hazelnuts with the baking soda, baking powder, sea salt and spices. Combine well. Set aside.

- In a large bowl, beat the eggs until light and fluffy; add the olive oil, brown sugar, banana mash and vanilla. Beat well to incorporate.

- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix and beat for a couple of minutes.

- Pour the batter into the pan and bake for ~35 minutes or until done. A pick stuck in the center should come out clean.

- Cool the bread completely on a wire rack before slicing or serving.
It will keep for about 3-4 days well wrapped or in an airtight container.

This post was written by HILDA


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OLD IS AS OLD DOES and Can we really be cool parents at 50?

Between school and careers, traveling and, quite possibly, selfishness, we are marrying older and having our children later than our parents and grandparents had them. This means that when our children enter their teen years we are pushing fifty or more. As our children are coming to terms with puberty and those turbulent adolescent years which bring the coming of adulthood, we are dealing with our own mid-life crisis, both of us passing over the rocky road of a life-changing period, coming to terms with a process that neither of us are really prepared for. And because of the bad timing, we end up bumping heads a little too often. Our kids are trying to look older, act older, appear older while we, yes, are trying to turn back the clocks. We are trying to wrap our heads around the fact that we have aged even if we don’t feel it at all, they want to grow up all the while clinging onto the safety of childhood. We color our hair and slip on something tight and try to deal with the withering look or, worse maybe, the eyes rolled heavenward in disbelief of our teen; the teen avoids the scrutinizing glare, the judgmental scolding of the parent when he or she appears in the hallway dressed in a similar uniform. The line between teen and parent of teen gets finer every year.


Remember when moms and dads dressed like moms and dads? Remember the good old days of TV families, like The Cleavers or Rob and Laura Petrie? You know, dads wore suits to work then changed into beige cardigan sweaters and slacks before the 6 o’clock news came on and moms wore shirtdresses or skirts and blouses, sweater knotted casually around the shoulders, looking so cool and collected while dashing between clubs and grocery store? Moms and dads fell into recognizable categories and there was comfort in knowing that when we got home from school we would always find the same thing every day. And moms and dads never crossed the line, stepped over into our teen territory either in their wardrobe, their activities or their language. We wore the bell-bottomed jeans, they wore the polo shirts and banlon, we biked with our friends, played board games, surfed and danced, they played bingo and bridge or Mah Jong, had cocktail parties and went on cruises. We listened to The Beatles or The Rolling Stones, they played Herb Alpert or Burt Bacharach LPs. Now the line is oh-so fuzzy and our roles are tossed topsy-turvy up in the air like balloons, blown this way and that, changing day to day.


I turned fifty this week. No matter how I saw it coming, it still surprised. The years pass and somehow I feel younger now than I have for a long time. But how to be a good parent when I feel so young, when I loathe playing the part of “a woman of a certain age”, the traditional mom? Changing times call for changing roles, yet I think that the younger generation is actually more uncomfortable with the setup than we are. We twitter and Facebook, we blog and we text. We chat with our girlfriends on Skype, giggling and gossiping like schoolgirls, laughing about hot musicians and hotter rugbymen, we hold hands with and kiss our husbands in public and while watching tv, we dress in the latest fashions, fashions quite possibly meant for younger women. And even while our sons’ friends say “Wow, your parents are so cool!” our sons wail “Why can’t you be normal like other parents?” Our tiny pleasures incite embarrassed glances, their friends only invited over when we are out. They shake their heads in dismay when they see us hunched over the computer, typing furiously, giggling hysterically as we tweet or update our status. And as I slip on my Doc Marten boots over my favorite fishnet stockings, hands are slapped against foreheads, as husband chases me around the house whooping like a crazy man, dog hot on his heels, as we fall in a heap onto the sofa and start making jokes about the latest celebrity gossip, they get up and silently slide out of the room.

Can we be the cool parent at our age or are we simply an embarrassment? Should we get upset each time they say that we just don’t get it, that we grew up in The Dark Ages and therefore there is no way we understand anything that they are going through, that we can’t possibly know how to correctly use any of the internet social sites? Do they resent our advice, our advice lost somewhere between 1960’s straight-laced parental thinking and cool 20th century ideas? Well, yes. But what’s new? I actually think that our teens are just going through the same old teen rebellion, that ages-old parental disdain not unlike what we went through at their age and secretly they are pleased that their friends think we are cool, are pleasantly surprised that we have a popular blog, are proud when their friends gobble down crazy mom’s cakes and cookies and beg for more. They laugh at our jokes (no matter how hard they try to suppress the grin), enjoy going on vacation with us and think it’s funny when their friends flirt with us (yes it has happened!).

So stay cool, keep on truckin’ (no, wait, that’s wrong…), allow yourself the same freedom of expression that they assume for themselves, laugh at yourself (and at them) long and hard and enjoy that youth for as long as you can hold onto it. One day, they, too, will understand and be glad that we taught them how to be content with what we have, who we are, what they are and what they can be. As I wrote in my birthday blog post: Time is fleeting, life is ephemeral, youth is a game. Enjoy it while you can. Everything else will fall into place.

And I’d love to share an incredibly delicious, luscious, lemon treat that we all ate with gusto on this most important of birthdays.


LUSCIOUS LEMON SOUFFLE PUDDINGS

Makes 6 individual soufflé puddings.

1 cup (200 g) sugar, divided
3 Tbs (45 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
3 large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbs lemon zest
1/3 cup (50 g) flour
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup (80 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup whole milk (I used half low fat milk + half light cream)
1/8 tsp cream of tartar (if you don’t have cream of tartar replace with a few grains of salt and a drop or 2 of lemon juice)

Preheat the oven to 325°F (170°C). Butter 6 individual ramekins or pyrex bowls.

Remove and set aside 2 Tbs of the sugar. Separate the eggs: place the yolks in a large mixing bowl and the whites place in a separate bowl preferably plastic or metal.

Cream the butter with the rest of the sugar (1 cup less the 2 Tbs) until blended and fluffy. Beat in the yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition until blended. Beat in the vanilla and the lemon zest. Add the flour and the salt and beat just until combined. With the mixer on low, beat in the milk and the lemon juice. It will be very liquid.

In the separate bowl with very clean beaters, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy and then until soft peaks form. Continue beating the whites as you gradually add the 2 tablespoons sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Fold the whites into the yolk/lemon batter just until incorporated and you have no more chunks of whites.

Using a ladle, fill the 6 ramekins with the batter almost to the top. Place the filled ramekins in a large baking pan (placing a piece of newspaper on the bottom of the pan keeps the water of the water bath from boiling) and very carefully (so as not to get any water in the lemon batter) fill the pan with hot water, so that the water is halfway up the ramekins. If you like, place the baking pan in the oven and then pour in the water; this will avoid you having to lift and move the baking pan after it is filled and risk splashing the water into the batter.

Bake for 40 – 45 minutes. The tops will be puffed up, maybe ½ to 1 inch (1 – 2 cm) above the rim of the ramekins, and a deep golden brown.

Remove the baking pan from the oven then carefully remove the ramekins from the water bath onto a kitchen towel. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Like a soufflé, the tops will sink a bit when cooling.


Serve hot or warm – they can be eaten later but are best when fresh from the oven or just slightly cooled – with a sprinkling of powdered sugar or a dollop of whipped cream.


These mini soufflé puddings are a cross between a soufflé, a mousse and a pudding: they will have a top layer of puffed, light as air soufflé and the bottom layer will be creamy, almost like a pudding. They are tart and lemony like the best of lemon pies but warm, light and soothing and oh-so elegant.

The soufflé-like top.

The pudding bottom.

They are also delicious after a day or two in the refrigerator, like a fabulous, rich lemon mousse.

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This post was written by JAMIE

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TWO HOLIDAYS IN ONE

Tis the season to be jolly, according to one well-known holiday song. And it certainly is what with the swags of gaily-colored lights and the glittery garlands strung up and down the streets, the holiday music piped into shops and city squares adding a festive rhythm to your already bouncy step. Candy shop windows have become wonderlands of silver and gold, boxes tied up in plump velvet bows and crystal dishes filled with every chocolate delight. Toyshops greet you with fluffy cotton snowmen and jolly Santas prancing through the snow laden with gifts for all. Friends chattering non-stop about holiday meal preparations, the pies and the cookies, the turkeys and hams, the family flying in from the four corners of the earth to celebrate together amid laughter and seasonal joy.


And if you don’t celebrate Christmas? I know how easy it is to get swept up in the festivities, the bright lights and the wonderful culinary traditions. “I don’t celebrate Christmas” is often greeted with quizzical, confused looks and “Why not?” follows the surprise. For many, this holiday is universal, a sharing of love and human kindness, the excitement of decorating and the pleasure of giving and receiving gifts. Yet when raising children in another culture or religion, how does one balance the traditional/religious side of Christmas with the non-religious commercial side, that part of Christmas that kids see others celebrating, and often watch enviously from afar?

I have tried to raise my children in a Jewish home, yet they have celebrated the odd Christmas whenever they spent their winter holidays with their French grandparents: chopping down, dragging home and then decorating the tree, pulling out tiny figurines and setting up the crèche in front of the fireplace, hanging stockings and receiving Christmas gifts directly from the hands of Jolly Old St Nick (le Père Noël or better known as Tonton Claude!), and eating their fare share of Bûche de Noël and marrons glacés. We even had a small tree once or twice in honor of their heritage and their grandparents, but the real excitement and joy seeped into our house at Hanukkah time: the boys drew and cut out Maccabees and Assyrians when they were small, creating a cardboard version of the great battle scene in which the tiny Jewish army, made up of a band of brothers, defeated the powerful, well-armed great Greek Syrian army who were out to wipe out the Jews; and still every year the boys pull out these tiny figures and line them up on the dining room buffet, they hang glittery, shiny garlands of silver and blue and prepare the two Menorahs (one for each of them to light). This is the Festival of Lights, the holiday in which we are reminded of the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem by that mighty Assyrian army and the oil in the Holy Eternal Light that burned for eight days instead of one until more oil could be prepared. We therefore light candles on a Menorah, the special holiday candelabra, for eight nights, starting with one candle on the first night, and adding one more each night. On the eighth and final night of Chanukah, all the candles are lit. And, of course, there is a gift on each night, with the lighting of each candle. And lots of latkes, the traditional treat of Hanukkah, fried potato pancakes eaten with fresh applesauce.


Yet, how to deal with the Christmas season for those of us who don’t celebrate this holiday? Food is always my way! Bring in a little of that Christmas cheer by baking puddings and cakes, stollen, panettone, gingerbread men and whatever other little goodies and treats that can be baked and offered to your loved ones. The kids can bring in their friends to share in the holiday goodies or pack them up and dole them out to neighbors and colleagues. And why not mix it up? Here is my absolute favorite cut-out cookie recipe, buttery sweet and tender, never crumbly and dry: every year I pull out my Hannukah and Christmas cookie cutters: the Star of David, the Menorah and the Dreidl along with the sleigh and reindeer and Santa cookie cutters. Glazed and sprinkled with colored sugar or rolled in nuts or simply eaten plain, these are the best cookies ever!


This year I’ve made my traditional Hanukkah cookies, drizzled with white chocolate and sprinkled with blue, but for the Christmas in me, I’ve used my ruffled cutters in 4 sizes to create a Christmas tree. Once cut out, I brushed the edges of the shapes with a bit of beaten egg then dipped them carefully in crushed green pistachio nuts to give the idea of a fir tree. They baked up perfectly! I then sandwiched them together with “snow”, a fluffy lemony mascarpone-goat cheese cream with plenty of whipped cream folded in. I piled up the layers then sprinkled them with a little bit of gold sugar crystals and some gorgeous pink praline, a gift from Pam.


HOLIDAY CUT OUT BUTTER COOKIES

2 sticks (1/2 lb, 225 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
¾ cup (150 g) sugar
2 large eggs
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbs Amaretto (optional)
½ tsp vanilla – use 1 tsp if omitting the Amaretto
3 ½ cups (525 g) flour

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating briefly after each addition just to incorporate.

Beat in the salt, the Amaretto and vanilla and then about a third of the flour until smooth. Gradually beat in as much of the remaining flour as possible using the electric beater, then stir in the rest with a wooden spoon or a spatula.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. If you haven’t stirred in all of the flour you can knead in the rest quite easily. Once you have a smooth, homogeneous dough, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Working with about half the dough at a time, roll it out to a thickness of not less than 1/8-inch (no less than .3 cm), being careful that the dough is very evenly rolled out. Carefully cut out shapes with your cookie cutters. Gently transfer to a cookie sheet (I use unlined, ungreased cookie sheets with no problem at all). If you want the fir tree effect, just gently lift the cookies one by one, brush around the edges with a beaten egg, then dip in crushed pistachio nuts before placing on the cookie sheets. I also brushed my Hanukkah cookies very lightly with egg wash and doused them with colored sprinkles.

Bake for about 10 minutes. They will be set and appear cooked but they will NOT brown. You’ll know they are cooked because they will slide right off the cookie sheet when just nudged with a spatula.

Allow to cool. You can now frost them or drizzle with melted chocolate as I have done.


MASCARPONE-GOAT CHEESE LEMON CREAM
This is adapted from a recipe I found on Meeta’s blog What’s for Lunch Honey?

7 oz (200 g) mascarpone cheese, drained
1 oz (30 g) fresh, tangy goat cheese, drained
2 Tbs (30 g) superfine sugar
Finely grated zest of ½ lemon
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp Limoncello

¾ - 1 cup (about 200 ml) heavy whipping cream
Edible decorations (colored sugar, chopped nuts, etc)

Make the Lemon Mascarpone Cream:
Place the mascarpone, the goat cheese, the sugar, zest, cinnamon and Limoncello in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Chill.

Have the Lemon Cream, the whipping cream as well as the glass bowl and beaters for beating the whipped cream very well chilled before making the “snow”.

When ready to make the Cookies and Cream Christmas Tree, beat the heavy cream in the chilled bowl with the chilled beaters until thick. Using the same beaters, beat the Lemon Mascarpone Cream briefly (in a large bowl) just to loosen it and make it smooth and creamy after chilling in the fridge. Add the whipped cream to the Lemon Mascarpone Cream and beat briefly to blend and thicken.
To create the Cookies and Cream Christmas Tree:

Simply pile up the various-sized ruffled cookies which had been trimmed in chopped green pistachio nuts from largest to smallest, placing a large dollop of snow/lemon cream carefully in the center of each cookie round before placing another cookie on top. Decorate by sprinkling the snow with colored sugar decorations.

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This post was written by JAMIE

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The luxury of homemade Mascarpone...in a cake!

Have you tried making soft cheese at home?

I've tried & I'm sold on the idea. Not only is it a much cheaper option, it's also a very satisfying process. Fresh cheese should be moist and white, with no sign of mold. The fat content of fresh cheese varies as they can be made from whole or skimmed milk, or even with cream. I've been on a soft cheese making spree these days, having been completely taken in by the luxury of homemade soft cheese, amazed at the freshness & smoothness. It's from Vera's Baking Obsession that I've tried homemade ricotta & mascarpone, both with outstanding results. Cottage cheese is something inherent to Indian culture, & is made in almost every home, ours too. My next attempt is going to be Quark, from a recipe @ Meeta's What's For Lunch Honey. I'm going to share a recipe for a cake I made using homemade mascarpone, a cake I made for my father's birthday. It was a delicious to goodness cake with a genoise sponge as the base. The crumb of the genoise was light, tender & moist, and a dousing of coffee syrup made it perfect! Sandwiched with a cream as luxurious & indulgent as homemade mascarpone, the cake was perfect. Just right - not exceedingly sweet, light, yet luxurious! I made the mascarpone 2 days in advance, the genoise a day in advance, & refrigerated both.

HOMEMADE MASCARPONE CREAM
as adapted from Baking Obsession
Makes about 12 oz
Ingredients:
600ml low fat cream (25 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream
1 tbsp fresh lime juice Method:
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering.
Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating.
Add the lime juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir.
Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours. CHOCOLATE GENOISE
As adapted from this recipe @ Baking Obsession
Ingredients:
3 tbsp clarified butter/ghee
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
4 large eggs (I used 5 as the eggs were smallish)
2/3 cup fine granulated vanilla sugar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line, grease & flour an 8-inch round cake pan.
Sift the flour and cocoa together three times; reserve.
Bring some water to a boil in a large pan/griddle & reduce to simmer. Place eggs & sugar in a large bowl, whisk constantly over the simmering water, heat the eggs to lukewarm (about 105F). Remove the bowl from the pan; leave the skillet on the stove but turn off the heat. With an electric mixer, beat the egg mixture at high speed until it has cooled, tripled in volume, and resembles softly whipped cream, about 5 minutes in a heavy-duty mixer or longer with a less powerful mixer.
Meanwhile, set the bowl of clarified butter/ghee and vanilla in the skillet of hot water, with the burner off, to keep it warm.
Sift about one-third of the flour and cocoa over the whipped eggs. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the mixture-quickly but gently-until combined. Fold in half the remaining flour and cocoa, then fold in the rest. Remove the warm butter mixture from the skillet. Scoop about 1 cup of the batter into the bowl with the butter and fold together until completely combined. Use the large rubber spatula to fold the butter mixture completely into the remaining batter. Turn the batter into the prepared pan and tilt to level.
Bake until the cake beginning to shrink slightly around the edges and the top springs back when pressed with your finger, about 40-45 minutes. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a rack.
To unmold, run a small knife or spatula around the inner edges of the pan. Invert it onto a rack and remove the parchment liner. Turn the cake right side up. The génoise can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
MOCHA MASCARPONE FROSTING
Ingredients:
12oz Mascarpone Cream (recipe above)
200ml low fat cream (25% fat)
1 tsp coffee powder (increase or omit as desired)
2-3 tbsps ground vanilla sugar, or regular sugar (according to taste)
Method:
Beat mascarpone cheese with a wooden spoon till smooth. Fold in the rest of the ingredients & mix with the spoon till smooth. CHOCOLATE GENOISE CAKE with MOCHA MASCARPONE
Ingredients:
1 chocolate genoise sponge (recipe above)
1 portion of Mocha Mascarpone Cream (recipe above)
Coffee syrup
Dark chocolate shavings, flakes & coffee beans etc to garnishTo assemble:
Make a strong coffee syrup with 1/4 cup of hot water, 2-3 tsps sugar & 2 tsps coffee powder. Cool.
Cut the genoise into 2 horizontal layers.
Place one layer on the cake platter. Brush well with the coffee syrup. Sandwich with a little less than half the mocha mascarpone.
Top with the second layer, & brush that well with the coffee syrup.
Frost the top & sides of the cake with the remaining mascarpone. Grate dark chocolate over the top, edge with coffee beans, & sift cocoa over the edges.
Chill for 3-4 hours.

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This post was Written by Deeba

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Blender Carrot Cake

This is one of my favorite cakes, it can be made in almost no time at all, and is perfect to go into lunchboxes, as you can cut it into any shape desired (aka the leftover space in the bento).



The recipe was given to me by a friend who received it from her guest mother in Brazil, and it has become a family favorite ever since. In Brazil it is called bolo de cenoura.

You can prepare the batter in a blender or in a food processor.

Ingredients:

• 2 large carrots
  
• 150 ml vegetable oil
  
• 240 g sugar
  
• 2 eggs
  
• a pinch of salt
  
• 240 g flour
  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder

Combine carrots, eggs, oil, sugar and salt in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the (sifted) flour and baking powder, process until a batter forms. Pour into a baking dish (I used my new IKEA reactangular baking pan, which was perfect) and bake in a medium hot oven until done (test with a toothpick).



Of course you could add any frosting you like with carrot cake, but we prefer this plain.

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This post was written by Petra from Foodfreak

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Sourdough Starters and Mothers

Nurturing Mothers
We're all about families here at The Daily Tiffin. Mothers and fathers nurturing their family, and families caring for each other. For thousands of years, Mother
was the center of the household unit. While there are many types of families today, there's one thing that keeps them going - a nurturing parent, grandparent, siblings, aunties and so on, that feeds, sustains and cares for the family.

Today, I want to talk about another Mother. One who has been around for what seems like forever. She's been my mother for many, many years, and maybe even your mother, and your neighbor's mother too. This Mother is a real world traveler and has been part of cultures that we can't even imagine. This Mother really gets around!
Of course, I'm not talking about your biological Mother. I'm, talking about "Mother Sourdough". It's hard to tell how many families she's fed over the years. We could even be related in a spiritual sourdough sort of way!

Years ago, while I was still in my teens, I got this notion that I wanted to be independent. Sound familiar? I wanted to take care of myself, get back to nature, and create something that I could call my own. Too young to marry and start a family of my own, I learned that I could still create a living being, or substance as you will, that needed to be fed and cared for much like an infant. I picked up a new book (1970) called, Sourdough Jack's Cookery and Other Things by Jack Mabee. You can still find it today on Amazon or eBay. This book started a love affair with all things sourdough!



A Living Organism!
Keep in mind, I was a teenager, living at home with my parents who were not into that sort of "hippie stuff" back then. I made my starter - a bubbly, sour and yeasty smelling sourdough concoction. Sound yummy? It will when you discover all the delicious baked goods I made from this humble sourdough "Mother". I made sourdough pancakes, muffins, coffeecakes, and sourdough bread kneaded by hand. I kept my sour smelling mess in the fridge with strict instructions to my bewildered family, "DON"T TOUCH, Living Organism!" I called him Herman. Yes, he had a name, and it didn't matter to me that he was "THE MOTHER". Dad soon discovered that icky bucket of Herman in the fridge was like a pot of gold to his stomach! He ate everything - and I don't mean just the delicious creations I churned out. I mean the rejects, flops, the dropped-on-the-floor-five-second-rule yucky stuff too!

Over the next 30 years (please don't do the math!) I used the same starter for my family. (OK, I have to fess up here. I did let Herman die, but only once. I asked forgiveness, created him all over again, and life went on.) No matter where we lived, we always saw the bucket of sour and bubbly Herman in the back of the fridge. Then we opened a bakery and Herman needed to grow up fast. We fed him really well until he grew big enough to fill four, 5 gallon buckets at a time. We were always rotating them, never wanting to let Herman get too skinny and die again. This went on until 2004 when we closed the bakery and finally let Herman go. He served us well all those years, but it was his time to rest in peace.


The Supposed Story Of Sourdough
There are stories of sourdough "Mothers" living for 150 years, being shared one cup at a time and keeping the family going, generation after generation. Wagon trains crossing the country in search of gold and a better life, made sure they always had a sourdough "Mother" sponge aboard. San Francisco Sourdough Bread is probably one of the most famous breads made with sourdough. Friendship starter is another term used by friends as they shared a crock of the starter with a new bride or neighbor. A little card with recipes and wishes for a happy life is attached with a ribbon.

Sourdough (or natural leaven) has been around for a very long time. Before yeast was sold in little packets, it was made with leftover potato water and flour. Some bakers use scalded milk before mixing. Others use a variety of flours, such as whole wheat or rye. Wild yeast can also be used. Different ingredients will change the taste of the sourdough, in turn imparting unique flavors to your baked goods. You can also skip the entire conception part and buy Vermont's King Arthur's classic Sourdough Starter and then maintain it.




There are plenty of recipes out there, many made from scratch, but this is one of the easiest to make and care for. Experiment!

Homemade Sourdough Starter Recipe

* 2 cups Unbleached King Arthur Flour, or similar all-purpose flour
* 1 pk Active Dry Yeast (Again, play around with potato water, scalded milk, wild yeast.)
* 1 Tbsp sugar (optional)
* 2 cups (more or less) lukewarm spring water.


Directions

* Use a plastic container or a crock with a lid.
* Make sure it is double the size of your beginner as it will rise and fall, giving off gases. This is normal.
* Never use metal containers or spoons. A chemical reaction will take place and ruin the process.
* Mix Flour, yeast and sugar in container.
* Add enough water to make a pancake batter-like consistency.
* Place the cover on top, but don't seal it.
* Set it in a warm place for 24 hours or until bubbly and yeasty smelling.
* It will have risen during this time, so stir it down, cover and place in refrigerator.

Care and Feeding
Now that you've created a life, you need to feed and nurture it. Some bakers give their sourdough a name, although that's really not necessary.(Remember Herman?) At this point it's still a baby and needs to be cared for. After a day or two when it smells sour and tangy, cover and put it in the refrigerator. As it gets older, it will soon be called "Mother" and has to be replenished each time you use "her". If you use 1 cup of starter, then you need to put 1 cup back. Replace with 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup water, mix in well, let her sit out for a while, cover and put her back in the refrigerator. Every now and then, add some potato water to help her along. You must remember to feed her often or she will get moldy and die. :-(

Sourdough Baked Goods
So, what can you make with this messy, sour-smelling slimy goop? Plenty! Some good suggestions are; sourdough bread, sourdough carrot cake, pancakes, bagels, coffeecake and muffins, quick breads, brownies, buttermilk biscuits, cinnamon rolls and, well, you get the picture. Just about anything that calls for leavening can be substituted with sourdough and with a little tweaking, turn out delicious baked goods.

This Sourdough Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is from my own collection. I've literally made a thousand or more of these cakes over the years. For obvious reasons, I highly recommend it!


The Sourdough Home has a number of delicious recipes for breads, muffins, sweets, rolls and more, some with photos, tutorials and classes.


The Fresh Loaf is a community for amateur artisan bakers and bread enthusiasts.

King Arthur Flour has an amazingly easy Rustic Sourdough Bread Recipe. Full of tips and photos, I love this website!

Also from King Arthur Flour comes a Chocolate Sourdough Cake! I haven't made this one yet, but it's next on my list!

Joy The Baker shares her recipe for Sourdough Pancakes.

The Kitchn from Apartment Therapy has an alternative Sourdough Starter for you to try.

Remember to have fun with your sourdough. Take it out of the fridge once in a while and have a bakery play day with your kids. You'll make memories they'll never forget!



written by Donna Diegel

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The Great Pumpkin

When I was a child, I had an unexplainaible but strong aversion to pumpkin. All it was good for was making jack o'lanterns on Halloween, period. How could anyone possibly eat these things--they're not food! The pulp was merely a nuissance that slowed down carving a face on the pumpkin and the seeds were just garbage.

As with many things, I've come to realize how very wrong I was. First off, pumpkins are obviously food--very good food, as a matter of fact. They're another gourd-like type of squash which, like tomatoes, are one of those things you'd never think to call a "fruit." They can come in all shapes and sizes, whether it be a tiny one pounder or obsenely large 1,000+ lb beasts. There are more varieties than I can count, but as far as your kitchen is concerned, you generally want the smaller varieties (e.g. called "sugar pumpkin," "pie pumpkin," etc.) rather than the giants you carve faces in as there is a big difference in flavor (namely a lack of it in the bigger ones--trust me, I've tried). As for health benefits, the orange color ought to give this one away: they're loaded with lutein, alpha, and beta carotene, which means vitamin A to you and I. And the seeds that I maligned as a child are a great source of protein, zinc, and other vitamins.

Pumpkin factoids aside though, the real issue is how did I ever spend all those years blowing off a sweet slice of pumpkin pie? Why was I going for peanuts and sunflower seeds when I could have opted for toasted, spiced pumpkin seeds? I'm definitely making up for lost time this season. Every week now, I leave the grocery store with a few pumpkins so I can break them down and make pumpkin puree so I have it handy throughout the week (yes, you can always buy canned, but I personally think has a tinny taste, and really, making it fresh is very easy to do and requires very little of your time in the kitchen. You can make a lot, bag it up, and freeze it, too, taking it out as you need it).

Of course, there's a lot more to enjoying pumpkins than the traditional pumpkin pie and toasted seeds. You could make muffins, rice pudding style risottos, cookies, macarons, ice cream, or donut holes. Armed with pumpkin puree, the only real limit to pumpkin-based sweets is your imagination. Of course, you aren't limited to sweets, either. You could try a loaf of bread, savory pumpkin pie, pumpkin wild rice soup, pumpkin gnocchi, or even try your hand at Afghani cuisine and make kaddo bourani. Its surprisingly versatile and I certainly will have a lot of new pumpkin-centric recipes to share this season, both sweet and savory.

How do you enjoy this autumn fruit?

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This Post was written by Mike from Mike's Table

Bake. Decorate. Donate. Cookies!

Making and decorating cookies -– and donating the cookies to a local food pantry, emergency shelter or senior center -- is a wonderful and fun activity you can do with your kids, your friends, your co-workers, your worship group, or your neighbors.

Cookies make people smile at any time of year. Just last week, I hosted a cookie decorating event, called Drop In & Decorate, at my house. In one afternoon, we decorated 250 cookies and donated them to a shelter for women who are homeless or victims of abuse.

What better gift to give on Mother’s Day -- or July 4, or Canada Day, or any day?

The idea behind Drop In & Decorate is that people get together for the fun part – the decorating. Do the baking ahead of time, or better yet, ask your friends to bake a dozen cookies and bring them to the party.


I use a basic sugar cookie recipe with Royal Icing. The cookies are easy to roll out and cut with large (3-4 inch) cookie cutters and baked up to a week in advance.

This year I experimented with squeeze bottles for the icing, which worked really well. My husband built a holder for them out of a piece of scrap wood. He drilled holes, so the bottles could stand nozzle-side down (avoiding the air bubbles that formed when the bottles stood upright for any length of time), and for legs he used recycled parts from our printer cartridges!

Pastry bags are easy to use for decorating, and give a great amount of control. We’ve had children as young as age 3 use them for decorating.


For more information about how to host your own cookie decorating party, along with our cookie and icing recipes, tips and sources, and lots of cookie ideas, visit the Drop In & Decorate blog.

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This Post was written by Lydia from The Perfect Pantry

Birthday Cakes - 3 Dimensional

3-D cakes, also known as Novelty Cakes are lovely to look at and also give the impression of being extremely difficult to make. How many of you have looked at cake books that feature 3-D cakes and sighed enviously, if not in defeat?
I used to be like that but no more! That’s not entirely true. The cakes featured in books are still way beyond my league but I guess the point that I am trying to make is that the cakes shown in books are not only made by professionals, but the pictures are taken by professionals too! So there is no need to sell yourself short by comparing yourself with a pro now is there.

This article will attempt to show you that you can do it at home - with a little patience and creativity.

Novelty Cakes are really not that difficult to make. The trick is to work within your comfort zone. If you are not familiar with sugarpaste, then stay away from it. If you are afraid of fondant, then wear a string of garlic around your neck. One thing you need though, before you take the plunge into 3-D cakes is a good idea and a little faith in yourself. Okay, so that’s two things you need. So shoot me.

The very first time I ventured into 3D cakes was for my son’s 5th Birthday. You see, as I mentioned in my previous post, the best thing about making cakes for your own children is that it never has to be perfect. They will love you (and the cake!) no matter what.

I was planning to make him a Formula One race car and I knew that I could just trace a car design on to a rectangular cake and ice it. Nonetheless, I wanted to make an extra special cake for him and at the same time raise my ‘skill’ level. And so I took the route of a 3-D cake.

That's how I ended up making a Ferrari F1 cake for my very first 3D attempt. Sounds complicated? Yes, it sure does. It certainly Sounds complicated but it really isn't as I will attempt to explain. With all things, a little bit of planning goes a long way.

I'm an F1 fan myself. Have been for many, many years. So I knew what F1 cars looked like. This is also where my Engineering training came into good use! I figured what I needed was a Plan View (View looking from the top) of an F1 car. The plan view, coupled with the picture in my head of what an F1 car looks like would enable me to construct a 3D F1 Car out of cake. I guess all that time sepnt, many years ago, studying Technical Drawing using Third Angle Projection would come in really handy now! That was my plan.

Okay, so did I lose you? Sorry... Let me try again.

As always when you are trying to find information - Search The Web. I was looking in particular for an F1 car in Plan View. As I said earlier, this means a view from the top. (like in the diagram below - you Have To appreciate that I drew this (okay, maybe traced it) for you okay!!).


The plan was starting to come together. Now I needed to bake the cakes.

Did I say cakes? Yes! I baked two rectangular cakes. Why two cakes for only one car? Well, the car needs a track to run on doesn’t it? So anyway. Two cakes. The first cake acted as the roadway or base for the car. I iced it with buttercream icing – black for the road and green for the side of the track or runoffs. The sides of the cake was iced with a brownish green just to differentiate it from the actual track. To finish off the track I used strawberry flavoured rolled wafers to act as the Rumble Strips, or kerbs. My track was now complete. Now for the car.

Using the second cake, I cut the outline of the car out using the Plan View and that resulted in a piece like this:



You're starting to get the idea now arent you!! Now referring to the plan view again, I cut out a rectangular piece that would serve as the Front Wings for the car. Next, I cut out another piece that that resembled a rectangle with a half cone on top. This was the Engine cowling.

Finally, the Rear Wing was fashioned by cutting a squre piece of cake and covering it with a rectangular piece. Not exactly the way a Rear Wing should look but hey, its just a cake okay!!!

The cake was then assembled on a cake board and covered in a rather thick buttercream before being smoothened down with a spatula dipped in hot water. I let the cake rest for a while before lifting it using a spatula and cake server to place on to the ‘track’. You may notice that my car didn’t exactly sit very straight but at this point in time, I was just thankful that I had managed to get the car onto the ‘track’ without any damage!




The four tyres were fashioned out of icing sugar, a little butter and cocoa, rolled out into a ball and then flattened in the shape of tyres. The wheel suspension was simply chocolate biscuit sticks pushed into the cake and tyres. To give further detail and authenticity to the F1 car, I printed out my sons name, the Ferrari logo as well as the Number 5 – as the number of the car as well as my son’s age – on to Overhead Projector Transparency sheets. I then cut these out and ‘stuck’ them to the cake.

And there you have it – a Ferrari F1 Car. I added two Lego men to the cake and that made my son even more excited!




When my daughters 3rd birthday came up a few months later, I carried on with the theme of 3-D cakes. My daughter loves all the Disney princesses and in particular Ariel, the little mermaid. It only seemed logical to make her a mermaid cake!

All things must start with a plan. The plan in my mind was to buy a doll-pick (a doll with only the torso while the bottom half is a pick to stick into the cake). This would be the body of the mermaid. I would have the mermaid sitting on a rock and then fashion its tail out of icing. Not only did I have a plan, it also sounded do-able!

What I did was to make one large rectangular cake and a much smaller dome cake. The rectangular cake was iced in blue and green – for the sea. I didn’t make the icing too smooth but rather used the spatula to make little billows – for the waves.
The dome cake was cut somewhat jagged and then covered in chocolate and placed at the top half of the cake – like a rock. I then stuck the doll-pick into the ‘rock’ but left it sticking out just a little so that I could fashion her ‘hips’ and ‘tail’. I used a mix of butter, loads of icing sugar and some liquid glucose (you can also use Corn Syrup) to give the icing some pliability. I coloured it a dark green and then rolled it out into a sausage shape. I then flattened one end of it and cut the ends to resemble the fish tail. Now it was just a matter of draping the tail on to the rock and shaping the ‘hips’ to join nicely to the doll-pick. I then cut the end of a drinking straw into a semi-circle and used that to make scales on the tail!

To finish off the cake, I drizzled more chocolate around the base of the rock and then sprinkled some brown sugar around it – to make it look like sand. I placed some chocolate shells around the rock and used fish shaped candles for the final touch.


Just last year, I made this Pirate Ship cake for my son’s 6th birthday.


In the interest of saving space and since I already posted it before on my own blog, this is where you can find the full instructions for the Pirate Cake.

And just last month, I made this Dora themed Pinata Cake for my daugther’s 4th birthday. This was a lot of fun to make and even more fun to crack open! Again, full instructions are detailed on my blog.




So there you have it! 3-D cakes are possible with a little imagination and are really not that difficult to do.

I still owe you tips on hosting Theme Based parties but rest assured that I will cover that soon! Till next time…..

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This Post was written by Dharm from Dad ~ Baker & Chef

Cake Decorating

Although I've been baking cakes from a very young age, I never had any rhyme or reason to decorate them. Sure, I've had lots of experience in covering a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and maybe even a little ganache. But that was it.

And then everything changed when my son Michael turned one!

That was when I decided that I HAD to make his birthday cake and not order one. That decision meant that I had to learn to decorate it too.


The first cake I decorated was for Michael's First Birthday. I baked a butter cake in a Wilton Teddy Bear pan and the cake came out of the pan with the pattern embossed on it. Thus, it was fairly straightforward to pipe out an outline on the embossed pattern and then fill in the outline with piped stars. Easier said then done though!

Due to a lack of experience, I didnt realise that I should have iced the mouth and nose first before piping around it. So, to compensate, I used M&M's for the mouth and nose. After doing that, I realised that this made the bear seem a little evil!

It also took a lot of time to decorate the cake, basically due to my inexperience.
Nonetheless, I though it was a pretty fine effort for a first timer and what mattered most was that my son was pleased with his Teddy Bear cake.

The following year for his Second Birthday, he had developed an interest in Construction Equipment. Although he had been hinting at a Dinosaur Cake the whole year, he suddenly decided he wanted a Bulldozer for his birthday cake.

I had spent the preceding few months before his second birthday doing some research on how to transfer patterns on to a cake. What you are about to read is with the benefit of hindsight and gleaned from my failures and lessons learnt. Hopefully it will be simple and easy enough to follow and you wont have to learn the hard way!

First off, find a nice picture from the Internet, a colouring book or any other place, that you want to use.

Enlarge the picture (using a photocopier) to the size you want. I find that A4 or Letter size is large enough for a large rectangle cake.

Trace the pattern out on to tracing paper or greaseproof paper.

Bake your cake and then prepare a thick buttercream icing. I normally use a ratio of 1:2.5 meaning 1 part butter to 2.5 parts icing sugar. The icing should be firm enough to roll into a ball. Then when you press it between your fingers, it should become a flat circle and hold its shape. The reason you want it firm is so that you can place a sheet of tracing paper/greaseproof paper on top of the icing without causing it to smudge.[See, I didnt do this the first time and when I covered the icing with the paper, it all stuck to the paper and was a right royal mess!)

"How do I ice the cake with icing so thick then?" I hear you ask. The trick here is to 'pat' the icing on. Take an amount of icing in your hands (of course
make sure your hands are clean!) and press it out onto the cake. Flatten the icing, spreading it out slightly as you do so - much like you are lining a tart pan or mould. The icing will not be smooth but dont worry. Once the cake is covered, smoothen out the icing by dipping a metal spatula in hot water, wiping it dry and then smoothening out the icing.

Let the icing set for a bit.

Place the tracing paper with the image on top of the cake. Using a toothpick, prick holes into the icing following the pattern on the tracing paper.

Remove the tracing paper from the cake and you now have your pattern transferred on to the cake like a join-the-dots puzzle!

Connect the dots by piping icing along the dots and you have an iced outline.

Fill in the outline with piped stars or flowers or any other shape you like. Or simply use piping jelly or thin icing to 'flow' into the outline.

And there you have it! This is the Bulldozer cake that I iced using the method described above.



The following year, for his Third Birthday, I made him an African Elephant. I used the same method as above but with a slight difference. I created the base icing out of three different colours - for the grass, the middle and then the sky. Also, I used melted chocolate for the outline.

Having only decorated two cakes before this, I must say that I was amazed at how well this cake turned out. The Lovely Wife was equally amazed and to this day she says – “that cake was made with 20% skill and 80% love!” Proof that with a lot of dedication, anything is possible!





Cake decorating didn't scare me anymore and I think I was really getting the hang of it. It was still hard work, but the happy look on my children's faces was reward enough. It was then time to celebrate my daughter Sarah's First Birthday. Her brother used to affectionately call her Bunny and so I decided on a Bunny Cake for her.




This cake was another labour of love as would you believe that my icing set broke on me halfway through the decorating? I stayed up until almost midnight finishing the cake using various methods of ingenuity to pipe out the icing. I have since learnt the art of using piping bags rather than an icing set.


For my son's Fourth Birthday, I made him this Dinosaur Cake. For any of you that have been forced to learn about Dinosaurs, this particular dinosaur is the Carnotaur that was little Michael's "most favourite dinosaur in the whole world." I added a few of his toy dinosuars around the cake to make it seem like the Carnotaur was stalking them!





Practice really makes perfect and for Sarah's Second Birthday, I made her this Tigger Cake. I used some store bought plastic grass and coconut trees to further decorate the cake and give it more character.



So you see, decorating cakes is really not that difficult. All it takes is a little patience and it gets easier the more you do it. I still dont think I'm particularly skilful at cake decorating but I think the more I do it, the better I get. It doesn't really have to be perfect either and the only thing you really need though,
to make it very special, is a Whole Lot of Love!

Speaking of Love, with Valentine's Day tomorrow, it's not too late to bake a cake for your other half. A simple square or rectangle cake decorated with a heart would be super. Or maybe his/her favourite sports team logo or even their favourite cartoon character. The possibilities are endless!

The next time I write, I'll share my experience in making 3-Dimensional Cakes as well as share with you my experience in hosting Themed Birthday Parties for the kids. See you soon and in the meantime, Happy Valentine's Day!

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This Post was written by Dharm from Dad ~ Baker & Chef