tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76939165107469927352024-02-18T23:10:44.592-05:00Deliciously Dairy FreeLose the dairy, not the flavour.Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-5050577211861900422020-05-09T19:30:00.000-04:002020-05-09T19:30:12.987-04:00Dairy Free Zucchini Bread<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtDBMqEDC6nKZubKSzVIUp7k7LU2tg0w-XRNXRjzLWdHkRCTEshFTlC0BCDuqXWVLDP6WoF4QA7SEe4OCVMc3cBvIOKIS8iICCZ5IWtl_YKiItYeS783dXvBohfzBOGGrpGe8WbtRv0uqq/s1600/fullsizeoutput_13ac.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1447" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtDBMqEDC6nKZubKSzVIUp7k7LU2tg0w-XRNXRjzLWdHkRCTEshFTlC0BCDuqXWVLDP6WoF4QA7SEe4OCVMc3cBvIOKIS8iICCZ5IWtl_YKiItYeS783dXvBohfzBOGGrpGe8WbtRv0uqq/s320/fullsizeoutput_13ac.jpeg" width="289" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Using this recipe from <a href="https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/double-chocolate-zucchini-bread.html">Once Upon A Chef</a>, this zucchini bread comes together easily when using a food processor. Substitute melted dairy free margarine of your choice (I used President's Choice Lactose Free) for the butter and you're on your way to a quick, chocolatey treat!
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<div class="ingredients">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ingredients</span></h3>
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<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1/2c melted dairy free margarine </span></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="amount"><span class="toggleunits" data-alt="160 grams">3/4 cup</span> plus 2 tablespoons</span> <span class="name">packed brown sugar</span></span></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="amount">2</span> <span class="name">large eggs</span></span></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="amount">1 teaspoon</span> <span class="name">vanilla extract</span></span></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="amount">1-2/3 cups</span> <span class="name">all purpose flour</span></span></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="amount">1/3 cup</span> <span class="name">cocoa</span></span></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="amount">3/4 teaspoon</span> <span class="name">salt</span></span></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="amount">1/2 teaspoon</span> <span class="name">baking powder</span></span></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="amount">1/2 teaspoon </span><span class="name">baking soda</span></span></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="amount">2 cups</span> <span class="name">shredded zucchini, gently packed</span></span></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="amount">1 cup</span> <span class="name">semi-sweet chocolate chips</span></span></li>
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<div class="instructions">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">INSTRUCTIONS</span></h3>
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<li class="instruction" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Preheat the oven to <span class="toggleunits" data-alt="175 C">350 F</span> degrees and grease a loaf pan with margarine or oil spray. </span></li>
<li class="instruction" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Melt margin in a large microwave-safe mixing bowl until just melted. Stir in the brown sugar until completely smooth. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until incorporated. </span></li>
<li class="instruction" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Add flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture and stir until well combined. It will be very thick.</span></li>
<li class="instruction" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Stir in the shredded zucchini and chocolate chips. </span></li>
<li class="instruction" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread evenly. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean . Let the loaf cool on a rack for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.</span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Loaf can be frozen for up to three months. </span></div>
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<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-59419395773215703812013-06-27T21:56:00.000-04:002013-06-27T21:56:56.853-04:00Chocolate and Caramel Tart<br />
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This month's Daring Baker's Challenge was our choice of pies/tarts. Obviously I chose the only pie that contained chocolate. Dessert doesn't count if it doesn't have an element of chocolate! I thought that the chocolate and caramel tart would be easy to make dairy free (which it was), easy to make (it wasn't) and delicious (it wasn't).<br />
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This recipe was a pain in the rear from the first step! I started making the pate sablee and it was super simple, but when I made the tart shell, I was left with enough dough for two pies! What a waste! Turns out, it was just what I needed because when I placed the tart shell in the oven it shrank so badly from the tin that it was unusable! Luckily, I was able to roll out the remaining dough and make another tart shell. This time I left the dough hanging over the tin and trimmed it after it was baked.<br />
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The second recipe within the recipe is a caramel that is spread over the tart crust. It is a simple recipe, just sugar and cream. I used coconut cream thinking that it would be the same as using real cream, but I was mistaken. The caramel never thickened despite adding margarine, and boiling it for a long time. I chucked that batch and tried again using almond milk. This worked slightly better, but it was still quite thin. I didn't want to make it a third time, so I stuck with the almond milk version. I put it in the fridge after pouring it in the shell hoping that it would set up before the chocolate mixture was poured in.<br />
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The chocolate filling was the only portion of the recipe that worked the first time. First you mix some eggs with almond milk and then add a ganache type mixture. For the ganache I heated up some coconut milk and then poured it over semi-sweet chocolate and left it until the chocolate melted. When I combined the egg mixture with the ganache, I had high hopes! It looked and smelled great. I pulled the tart shell out of the fridge and the caramel still hadn't set. I carefully spooned the chocolate on top of the caramel, trying hard not to disturb the caramel to keep the layer intact. That was fruitless, because it all mixed together. Hoping for the best, I shoved it in the oven and waited.<br />
When I took the tart out of the oven it looked great! I waited until it cooled to room temperature and cut myself a slice. It was meh. For all of the trouble of making duplicate recipes after the failures, I wasn't even rewarded with a delicious slice of silky chocolate. It was good, but not worth the trouble or calories.<br />
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If you would like the recipe for this tart, you can leave me a comment and I can send it to you. It really isn't even worth the trouble of typing it on here. I wouldn't recommend making it. The recipe was oddly written and was hard to follow in the format that was offered on the Daring Kitchen website. You're better off finding a tart shell recipe, filling recipe and caramel recipe that is tried and true and making your own combo. I guess I have been spoiled by making recipes from Cook's Illustrated- they work every time!<br />
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<span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Blog-checking lines:</i> Rachael from was our lovely June 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she had us whipping up delicious pies in our kitchens! Cream pies, fruit pies, chocolate pies, even crack pies! There’s nothing like pie!</span></span>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-42823255664959243642013-06-24T20:12:00.001-04:002013-06-30T18:26:32.149-04:00Cinnamon Buns<br />
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Every now and then I get a craving for ooey, gooey cinnamon buns just like you can get at the mall. Gone are the days when I can impulse buy a Cinnabon while shopping, but I've found something almost as easy and just as delicious. <br />
One of allrecipes top 20 recipes is called <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Clone-of-a-Cinnabon/Detail.aspx#&panel1-4" target="_blank">Clone of a Cinnabon</a> is just what I remember from when I was a child and my siblings and I would split a humongous cinnamon bun. I've made this recipe many times with a few modifications to the ingredient list. I haven't attempted the cream cheese icing (obviously), but I suppose you could try it with Toffuti cream cheese. <br />
It is super easy thanks to the bread machine, and it's the perfect treat!<br />
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<b>Clone of a Cinnabon</b><br />
<i>Bun dough</i><br />
<div class="fl-ing" itemprop="ingredients">
<span class="ingredient-amount" id="lblIngAmount">-1 cup </span><span class="ingredient-name" id="lblIngName">warm almond or soy milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) I microwave it for about 45 seconds in the microwave</span></div>
<div class="fl-ing" itemprop="ingredients">
</div>
<label></label><br />
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="100" data-ingredientid="16317" itemprop="ingredients">
<span class="ingredient-amount" id="lblIngAmount">-2</span><span class="ingredient-name" id="lblIngName">eggs, room temperature</span></div>
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="100" data-ingredientid="16317" itemprop="ingredients">
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<label><span class="checkbox-formatted"></span></label><br />
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="74.32737" data-ingredientid="6311" itemprop="ingredients">
<span class="ingredient-amount" id="lblIngAmount">-1/3 cup </span><span class="ingredient-name" id="lblIngName">margarine, melted</span></div>
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="74.32737" data-ingredientid="6311" itemprop="ingredients">
</div>
<label><span class="checkbox-formatted"></span></label><br />
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="616.5" data-ingredientid="1686" itemprop="ingredients">
<span class="ingredient-amount" id="lblIngAmount">-4 1/2 cups </span><span class="ingredient-name" id="lblIngName">bread flour( I've always used all purpose flour)</span></div>
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<label></label><br />
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="6" data-ingredientid="16421" itemprop="ingredients">
<span class="ingredient-amount" id="lblIngAmount">-1 teaspoon </span><span class="ingredient-name" id="lblIngName">salt</span></div>
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="6" data-ingredientid="16421" itemprop="ingredients">
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<label><span class="checkbox-formatted"></span></label><br />
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="100" data-ingredientid="1526" itemprop="ingredients">
<span class="ingredient-amount" id="lblIngAmount">-1/2 cup </span><span class="ingredient-name" id="lblIngName">white sugar</span></div>
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="100" data-ingredientid="1526" itemprop="ingredients">
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<label><span class="checkbox-formatted"></span></label><br />
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="10" data-ingredientid="20218" itemprop="ingredients">
<span class="ingredient-amount" id="lblIngAmount">2- 1/2 teaspoons </span><span class="ingredient-name" id="lblIngName">bread machine yeast</span></div>
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="10" data-ingredientid="20218" itemprop="ingredients">
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<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="10" data-ingredientid="20218" itemprop="ingredients">
<i>Cinnamon-sugar filling</i></div>
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="10" data-ingredientid="20218" itemprop="ingredients">
<span class="ingredient-amount" id="lblIngAmount">-1 cup</span><span class="ingredient-name" id="lblIngName">brown sugar, packed</span></div>
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="10" data-ingredientid="20218" itemprop="ingredients">
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<label><span class="checkbox-formatted"></span></label><div class="fl-ing" data-grams="17.25" data-ingredientid="16386" itemprop="ingredients">
<span class="ingredient-amount" id="lblIngAmount">-2 1/2 tablespoons </span><span class="ingredient-name" id="lblIngName">ground cinnamon</span></div>
<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="17.25" data-ingredientid="16386" itemprop="ingredients">
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<div data-grams="75.66667" data-ingredientid="16157" id="liIngredient">
<label><span class="ingredient-amount" id="lblIngAmount">-1/3 cup margarine,</span><span class="ingredient-name" id="lblIngName"> softened</span></label></div>
<div data-grams="75.66667" data-ingredientid="16157">
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<label><span class="ingredient-name">
</span></label><div data-grams="75.66667" data-ingredientid="16157">
<ol><span class="ingredient-name">
<li><span class="plaincharacterwrap break">Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.</span></li>
<li><span class="plaincharacterwrap break"></span><span class="plaincharacterwrap break">After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.</span></li>
<li><span class="plaincharacterwrap break">Roll dough into a 16x21-inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup margarine and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).</span></li>
<li><span class="plaincharacterwrap break">Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes</span>
</li>
</span></ol>
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<div class="fl-ing" data-grams="10" data-ingredientid="20218" itemprop="ingredients">
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<br />Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-40519079915615996642012-03-09T19:16:00.006-05:002013-06-30T20:16:34.188-04:00Cookies n Cream Ice Cream<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBkwPCRjz4znSi8I_6N72RnyoxfsWh8qy4cajoUDFO3GcBNcJc0MDtRT06MzwSfSew08z3bqC-AKRFhegtGy3HiBbyb5DBFsMB7fKZ0fH_NQeqQWpXDnATAiS5rEWCFZXQoXVtCjgcs6C/s1600/IMG_3680.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 246px; height: 320px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718068965129897026" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLBkwPCRjz4znSi8I_6N72RnyoxfsWh8qy4cajoUDFO3GcBNcJc0MDtRT06MzwSfSew08z3bqC-AKRFhegtGy3HiBbyb5DBFsMB7fKZ0fH_NQeqQWpXDnATAiS5rEWCFZXQoXVtCjgcs6C/s320/IMG_3680.jpg" /></a>
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<div>Ever since I eliminated dairy from my diet, I have been trying to find a great dairy free ice cream alternative. I've tried soy based ice creams (expensive and so nasty), Toffuti (hard to find and expensive, but pretty good) and rice cream (ick), but they all made me long for something that didn't leave a horrible aftertaste in my mouth and a dent in my wallet. When it came time to register for wedding gifts two years ago, I knew that an ice cream machine had to be on there. Luckily when we opened our gifts, someone generously gave us one. Four days after our wedding I made my first batch of ice cream and I've been going strong ever since!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br /><br />I have experimented with many different recipe variations in the two years since getting my ice cream machine. I tried the recipe that came with the Cuisinart machine, ones from online, a great one from Cooks Illustrated, but they were all written to be made with milk and real cream. Substituting soy milk for all of the dairy simply didn't make a rich and creamy ice cream. It often froze to a solid chunk of ice, and although that was delicious, it just wasn't right. One thing that didn't change through my experiments was to whip eggs yolks with sugar to help add thickness to the ice cream. The addition of egg yolks is very important in creating a creamy ice cream base. I also add two and a half tablespoons of corn starch to help thicken the base even more. By researching the ingredients of readily available ice creams, I noticed that almost all of them had a thickening ingredient added. Since I wasn't going to go buy xantham gum, I decided to try the only thickener I had in my house, corn starch, and was pleased with the results. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br />After many recipes I found that a mixture of coconut milk and almond milk made for an ice cream that didn't have a weird colour or aftertaste. The coconut milk adds enough fat to keep the ice cream from freezing into a solid chunk and it is also pretty mild, so the ice cream doesn't taste like coconuts. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br />I've made this ice cream recipe many times and I've been able to turn this ice cream base into many different variations. From this one base I have made chocolate, peanut butter chocolate, mint chocolate chip, mint fudgeeo, vanilla chocolate chip, moose tracks, toffee crunch and candy cane (a holiday favourite!). I will be posting these recipes as I make them throughout the year. </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br />Below is a recipe for a vanilla base that I add crushed Oreos to to make Cookies n Cream ice cream. Oreos are dairy free in Canada (not sure about the U.S), so I can happily make Cookies n Cream, which was one of my favourite flavours as a kid. Making your own ice cream allows you to add as many cookies as you'd like. Nothing is worse than having a scoop of Cookies n Cream and not getting a good chunk of cookie! </div><div> </div><div> </div><div><br />If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can put the cooled ice cream base into a container and place it in the freezer and stir it every half hour until you get the consistency you desire. I'm not sure how long this recipe will keep, since it doesn't seem to last in our house more than two days! This is the first recipe that I can say is entirely my own!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>1 1/2 cups almond milk (regular or unsweetened)</div><div>1 1/2 cups coconut milk (or 1 regular sized can)</div><div>3/4 cup sugar </div><div>4 egg yolks</div><div>2 1/2 tablespoons corn starch </div><div>1 vanilla bean, halved and seeds scraped out using the back of a knife</div><div>1 tablespoon vanilla extract</div><div>12 Oreo cookies, crushed.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>1. In a medium bowl, whip egg yolks and 1/4 cup of sugar with a whisk until light yellow (think the colour of margarine or butter). Set aside.</div><div>2. In a medium sauce pan, combine almond milk, coconut milk, 1/2 cup of sugar, corn starch, vanilla bean and vanilla seeds. </div><div>3. Heat the milk mixture over medium heat until it reaches 175 F, or until steam rises from the surface, stirring frequently. Do not allow to boil. </div><div>4. Once the mixture reaches 175F, remove from heat. Slowly add 1/2 cup of the milk mixture to the eggs to temper it. Repeat this until half of the milk mixture has been incorporated into the eggs. </div><div>5. Place the pot over medium heat and pour in the egg mixture. Stir continuously until the mixture reaches 180-185F. Do not let it boil, as this will cause it to curdle. </div><div>6. Pour the ice cream base through a fine mesh sieve into a large glass measuring cup or bowl.</div><div>7. Allow the base to cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours, or in the freezer for 2 hours.</div><div>8. Stir in vanilla extract. Pour the base in an ice cream maker and follow the machine's directions. </div><div>9. During the last 5 minutes of mixing, add the cookie chunks. If your machine can't handle solid chunks, stir by hand. The mixture will resemble soft serve at this point.</div><div>10. Scoop ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze for at least two hours. </div><div>11. Enjoy ice cream like you did before without the horrible feeling afterwards!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 244px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5718069136674411234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSO9l56T1vbmTOOYnf5Q6a_CZwE0LMP2iL_CA4ipWxE1zqURN_P1s0LfTlgfJDd2ynO3TOhqtHVkpZu5mskmwnhhoWUJDemeiLE07DDav9JB3D9zhc5wHC2hj6b-F2rqw3Isjqf9J-vkkc/s320/IMG_3685.jpg" /></div><div> </div><div> </div></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-29066865094377779052012-03-06T17:23:00.006-05:002013-06-30T20:19:21.211-04:00Banana Bread<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Rlxkxbq_WSUdcEgx9BnzQ36gu4EIO2pyDRf9Q6WDSG9E7HaX1cISM92oOnf1fMRTZ6WzAItWHJNJNbzam1rnLkmoDDSPZbFy-9-gW6yln9x0zlUcOZsvlfGmLse5YxSqWgJ6CGhbi5Nd/s1600/IMG_0559.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 218px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716917230946181074" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Rlxkxbq_WSUdcEgx9BnzQ36gu4EIO2pyDRf9Q6WDSG9E7HaX1cISM92oOnf1fMRTZ6WzAItWHJNJNbzam1rnLkmoDDSPZbFy-9-gW6yln9x0zlUcOZsvlfGmLse5YxSqWgJ6CGhbi5Nd/s320/IMG_0559.jpg" /></a>
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<br /><div>After a long and unnecessary (re: lazy) hiatus from posting, I am back with a new light set up and new recipes! I have been experimenting with lots of ice cream recipes lately, and I'm excited to post them for all those who cannot stomach regular ice cream! </div><div> </div><div>The banana bread recipe that I am using is the one that my family has been making forever. It comes from an old food processor cookbook and it is different from most recipes that I've seen. It's pretty simple to make and it is all made in the food processor, so it is easy to clean up afterwards. The recipe is baked in a low oven for a long time, which is torture since your house is filled with the yummy smell of banana bread for hours before you can eat it! To make this recipe dairy free I use almond milk soured with 1 teaspoon of white vinegar to simulate buttermilk or soured milk. This works very well, but I find that it makes the bread spill over the top of the loaf pan, so bake it on a sheet pan to save yourself from cleaning baked on bread from the bottom of your oven. </div><div> </div><div>This recipe makes one loaf and it freezes very well. </div><div> </div><div>3 medium, ripe bananas</div><div>1 cup white sugar</div><div>3 teaspoons baking soda</div><div>dash of salt</div><div>2 eggs</div><div>1/4 cup oil</div><div>1 1/2 cup flour</div><div>1/2 cup soured almond milk.</div><div> </div><div>1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Butter a loaf pan and set aside. </div><div>2. Process banana until pureed, 15-20 seconds. </div><div>3. Add sugar, salt and baking soda and process for 30 seconds. </div><div>4. Add eggs and oil and process until blended, about 10 seconds. </div><div>5. Pour flour over banana mixture and then add soured almond milk. Process until smooth, 8-10 seconds. </div><div>6. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for 2 1/2 hours, or until tooth pick comes out clean. </div><div> </div><div><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 259px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5716917464171231186" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAcUzc9oxmcKJDzRdsTrEVGaMSQFP4FOJ5iVeYeNfPpDzmkmPCZ-lZVeBlqSL__MeCEetXq-npACYKnV23Bo7majLaWHKEYF5jBi83sX9mr9niz4Di6GKidHbKtIqXOnnrsSisVWlu1ABT/s320/IMG_0567.jpg" /></div><div> </div></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-2962268636730297922010-10-27T16:22:00.003-04:002013-06-30T20:20:58.282-04:00Doughnuts<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqaff4syE5wUL9-SYpBCNcORTgi5QkYAZ9VhRjO6x6_cjDL4NBraI1_y_luwyTjxy_9Bxj-RmTvJzvNtv76kNIbiZ2TIeyraXDrp06-6d6vT_vW1bf1F685mOn4Az9LQR38xsb1incJLB/s1600/donuts.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5532827978193294322" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqaff4syE5wUL9-SYpBCNcORTgi5QkYAZ9VhRjO6x6_cjDL4NBraI1_y_luwyTjxy_9Bxj-RmTvJzvNtv76kNIbiZ2TIeyraXDrp06-6d6vT_vW1bf1F685mOn4Az9LQR38xsb1incJLB/s320/donuts.jpg" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2010%2F10%2Fdoughnuts.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FTMiNu2ON0_I%2FAAAAAAAAALE%2FsJBW_XzDLlw%2Fs320%2Fdonuts.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Doughnuts" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a>
</a> The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.<br />I've made doughnuts several times before, both cake doughnuts and yeast doughnuts. I must say, I prefer the cake style as they taste the closest to old fashioned sugar doughnuts from Timmy's, my favourite dairy filled Tim Hortons treat. If they didn't have old fashioned sugar, my next choice was either a chocolate dip or the kind with sprinkles on it. When I saw that the challenge for this month was yeast doughnuts, I knew I had to recreate a dairy free version of a chocolate dip and sprinkle doughnut.<br />The recipe was pretty straight forward, even though it requires using yeast. I get nervous when using yeast because I worry that I will not let it proof enough, or let it proof too long and my treats will be ruined. This time it worked! Making the dough was really easy. I used soy milk instead of regular milk to melt the shortening, but I let it get a little too hot and had to wait a while before I added the yeast to the mix or else I would have killed the rising effect of the yeast.<br />When the dough comes out of the mixer, it was really sticky. After it rested for a while, it was still sticky! It didn't seem to matter though, since I was able to roll and cut them.<br />Instead of deep frying, I pan fried the doughnuts in a shallow layer of oil in a frying pan. I've used this method before when making doughnuts and beavertails, and it hasn't failed yet. I don't like the idea of using a whole jug of oil and then chucking it! Once the doughnuts had spent their time in the old and had turned golden brown and puffy, I let them rest for a while as I prepared the glazes. I didn't use a recipe for the glazes. I combined icing sugar and soy milk in a bowl until it was the right spreading consistency for the vanilla glaze and I melted chocolate chips with a bit of oil for the chocolate glaze. I dunked the cooled doughnuts in the glazes and then rolled them in sprinkles.<br />Overall this challenge was fun. Paul remains my #1 doughnut fryer and the doughnuts were delicious! I would definitely make them again, even though they probably aren't the healthiest treat. It is nice to be able to indulge in a doughnut ever now and then, even though I can't get them through the Timmys drive thru!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Soy Milk 1.5 cup<br />Vegetable Shortening 1/3 cup(can substitute butter, margarine or lard)<br />Active Dry Yeast 4.5 teaspoon (2 pkgs.)<br />Warm Water 1/3 cup / 80 ml (95°F to 105°F / 35°C to 41°C)<br />Eggs, Large, beaten 2<br />White Granulated Sugar ¼ cup<br />Table Salt 1.5 teaspoon<br />Nutmeg, grated 1 tsp.<br />All Purpose Flour 4 2/3 cup + extra for dusting surface<br />Canola Oil DEPENDS on size of vessel you are frying in – you want THREE (3) inches of oil (can substitute any flavorless oil used for frying)<br /><br />Directions:<br /><br />1.Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat just until warm enough to melt the shortening. (Make sure the shortening is melted so that it incorporates well into the batter.)<br />2.Place the shortening in a bowl and pour warmed milk over. Set aside.<br />3.In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let dissolve for 5 minutes. It should get foamy. After 5 minutes, pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl of a stand mixer and add the milk and shortening mixture, first making sure the milk and shortening mixture has cooled to lukewarm.<br />4.Add the eggs, sugar, salt, nutmeg, and half of the flour. Using the paddle attachment of your mixer (if you have one), combine the ingredients on low speed until flour is incorporated and then turn the speed up to medium and beat until well combined.<br />5.Add the remaining flour, combining on low speed at first, and then increase the speed to medium and beat well.<br />6.Change to the dough hook attachment of the mixer and beat on medium speed until the dough pulls away from the bowl and becomes smooth, approximately 3 to 4 minutes (for me this only took about two minutes). If you do not have a dough hook/stand mixer – knead until the dough is smooth and not sticky.<br />7.Transfer to a well-oiled bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.<br />8.On a well-floured surface, roll out dough to 3/8-inch (9 mm)thick. (Make sure the surface really is well-floured otherwise your doughnuts will stick to the counter).<br />9.Cut out dough using a 2 1/2-inch (65 mm) doughnut cutter or pastry ring or drinking glass and using a 7/8-inch (22 mm) ring for the center whole. Set on floured baking sheet, cover lightly with a tea towel, and let rise for 30 minutes.<br />10.Preheat the oil in a deep fryer or Dutch oven to 365 °F/185°C.<br />11.Gently place the doughnuts into the oil, 3 to 4 at a time. Cook for 1 minute per side or until golden brown (my doughnuts only took about 30 seconds on each side at this temperature).<br />12.Transfer to a cooling rack placed in baking pan. Allow to cool for 15 to 20 minutes prior to glazing, if desired.<br /><br /></span>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-25983634023228320192010-05-27T15:45:00.003-04:002013-06-30T20:34:41.102-04:00Piece Montee<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXJypVddrZJNRS9TBHjPrWVKOx1YzkK_HQuJWvlWu0FOJOR0GxjV7CxgdcvAM7xjRljeF3AA9eapwxcbqOTgj96b2YO56VwiqU1eQY61Q3hIKAHWd1kCWH_qFJC4B-Vc2qY8qSB1YTQFR/s1600/IMG_1723.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 235px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476048282713059426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXJypVddrZJNRS9TBHjPrWVKOx1YzkK_HQuJWvlWu0FOJOR0GxjV7CxgdcvAM7xjRljeF3AA9eapwxcbqOTgj96b2YO56VwiqU1eQY61Q3hIKAHWd1kCWH_qFJC4B-Vc2qY8qSB1YTQFR/s320/IMG_1723.jpg" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2010%2F05%2Fpiece-montee.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FS_7U5lf_8GI%2FAAAAAAAAAKg%2FrRg9ID56XS8%2Fs320%2FIMG_1723.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Piece%20Montee" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a>
<br /><div>The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.<br />This month I was challenged to make a Piece Montee. You might know that dessert by it's other long French name, croquembouche. When I saw this challenge I freaked. The giant cone of cream puffs seemed impossible for me to make. I imagined days of making cream puffs and the long time it would take to create a sky high cone of caramel glazed treats. My fear made me procrastinate until the last possible day, which happened to be the hottest day of the year! I was standing in my kitchen stirring a bubbling pot of hot caramel while it was 35 degrees centigrade outside!<br />Once I actually read through the recipes for the piece montee, I started calming down. It wasn't that hard! I had to make a pastry cream to fill the puffs, pate a choux and a caramel glaze. Not too difficult! I started by making the pastry cream, chocolate of course, the night before I made the puffs. I followed the recipe and I substituted soy milk for the whole milk in the recipe. I was a bit nervous that the cream wouldn't turn out since I only had low fat soy milk on hand, but it still ended up being quite thick and tasty!<br />The next day I started making the pate a choux. No substitutions were needed for this recipe, everything is dairy free! Making the pate a choux reminded me of making play dough with my mom when I was younger. You know it's done when it pulls away from the side of the pot. Luckily, the pate a choux tastes a lot better than the salty mess that is home made play dough! The recipe doesn't say this, but stirring the eggs into the hot flour mixture counts as a work out! My arms were sore by the time I was done incorporating the eggs. The mixture gets quite stiff after the addition of the last egg!<br />When it came time to pipe out the cream puffs, I thought I was making them quite small. It turns out that the little blobs of pastry turn into gigantic airy puffs once the hot air hits them! Next time I will pipe them really small so that I get normal sized puffs. After the puffs had cooled I started filling them with the pastry cream. I used a medium sized round tip on my pastry bag and jammed the tip into the bottom of the puff. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough cream to fill my gigantic cream puffs, but I had exactly enough! I placed the finished puffs in the fridge and started to make my caramel.<br />The caramel glaze only has two ingredients- sugar and a tiny bit of lemon juice. I ended up making two batches since my first one got way too dark and tasted like smoke. Nasty. Now I know that when you set out to make caramel, take it off the heat a bit before it's done since it continues to cook for a bit afterwards. I used my burnt caramel to make little sugar corkscrews, so it wasn't a total loss. The second batch of caramel worked perfectly. Instead of dunking the puffs in the caramel like the recipe states, I spooned a bit onto the bottoms of the puffs and built my pyramid that way. I figured I'd be better protected from horrible hot caramel burns that way, and it worked!<br />Once the croquembouche was assembled I drizzled the remainder of the sugar all over and arranged my sugar corkscrews. When it came time to rip the croquembouche apart I was a little leery. Would this taste good? The answer was yes! It was really good! Would I make it again? Maybe not for any old dessert, but if something special was going on or someone requested one I would definitely do it. It wasn't as hard as I thought and it was very easy to make dairy free!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Chocolate Pastry Cream<br /></strong>1 cup soy milk<br />2 Tbsp. cornstarch<br />6 Tbsp. sugar<br />1 large egg<br />2 large egg yolks<br />2 Tbsp. unsalted butter<br />1 Tsp. Vanilla<br /><br />1. Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.<br />2. Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.<br />3. Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.<br />4. Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.<br />Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.<br /><br />For Chocolate Pastry Cream (Half Batch Recipe):<br />Bring ¼ cup milk to a boil in a small pan; remove from heat and add in 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, and mix until smooth. Whisk into pastry cream when you add the butter and vanilla.<br /><br /><strong>Pate a Choux</strong><br /><br />¾ cup water<br />6 Tbsp. unsalted butter<br />¼ Tsp. salt<br />1 Tbsp. sugar<br />1 cup all-purpose flour<br />4 large eggs<br /><br />Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.<br /><br />Preparing batter:<br />Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.<br /><br />Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.<br /><br />Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.<br /><br />Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.<br /><br />As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.<br />It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.<br /><br />Piping:<br />Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.<br />Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.<br />Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).<br /><br />Baking:<br />Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.<br />Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.<br /><br /><strong>Caramel Glaze<br /></strong>1 cup (225 g.) sugar<br />½ teaspoon lemon juice<br /><br />Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately </span></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-89937016471069463532010-04-28T16:45:00.003-04:002013-06-30T20:37:30.420-04:00Traditional British Pudding<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvHZYXvzEHj1A79L5B26PzKjO6QiDyxxX8d6YgDfb0QS7Vuo8myDEbNtSZM3LL7anePsmOmG6CehTQIwj4qiIBHRYo-p1K9yE5Wvrb1ETz30j333rvZRO8sLk8EdBfP5RzpMFGOzvVQyv/s1600/IMG_1699.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 242px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465298394147213602" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYvHZYXvzEHj1A79L5B26PzKjO6QiDyxxX8d6YgDfb0QS7Vuo8myDEbNtSZM3LL7anePsmOmG6CehTQIwj4qiIBHRYo-p1K9yE5Wvrb1ETz30j333rvZRO8sLk8EdBfP5RzpMFGOzvVQyv/s320/IMG_1699.jpg" /></a><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2010%2F04%2Ftraditional-british-pudding.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FS9ij7t6oUSI%2FAAAAAAAAAKA%2FztkMsMcMf5c%2Fs320%2FIMG_1699.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Traditional%20British%20Pudding" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script><br />The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet. Suet is beef fat, so I was pretty grossed out when I first read this challenge. There was no way I was going to bake using raw beef fat. I'm sure it provides great flavour, but I really didn't want to go to the hassle of trying to locate suet at the grocery store or go to the butcher to request a hunk of fat. Plus, I'm sure it's not a healthy option. Since I had decided to not use suet, I had to set out to find a traditional pudding recipe that was beef fat free!<br />For the purposes of this challenge, pudding refers to a dessert that is cooked in a pudding mold (or in my case a glass bowl) using steam. I have never baked a dessert using steam before, so I was pretty nervous about it not turning out. I chose a pudding recipe that is dairy free as well as chocolaty! I used a recipe from a website called <a href="http://www.puddingclub.com/wikipudia/very-chocolate-pudding">The Pudding Club.</a> I guess puddings are pretty popular, since there were many pudding websites/recipes to choose from.<br />I chose a recipe called Very Chocolate Pudding and it was very easy to make. I had to weigh all of the ingredients, since the site is British and that's how they roll. I followed the recipe exactly, except for the fact that I didn't have self raising flour. I used the same amount of all purpose flour and added 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder to help my pudding rise. I mixed up the batter and poured it into my medium Pyrex glass bowl. The batter was pretty yummy, so I had high hopes for the finished product.<br />Since this was my first pudding, I didn't have a dedicated steamer. I had to McGuyver my own. I used my giant stock pot with three custard cups at the bottom to keep my bowl elevated from the bottom of the pot. I filled the pot with water so that it came halfway up the pudding bowl. I covered the bowl tightly with aluminum foil and wrapped it with string to make a handle so I could easily lift the bowl out of the pot. Once the water came to a full boil, I lowered the bowl in and hoped for the best! It was a long hour and a half wait to see if my first pudding would be a flop or a success.<br />I lifted the bowl out of the water and ripped off the aluminum foil and was pleased to see a dense chocolate cake that had risen quite a bit! I flipped the pudding out of the bowl and let it cool as we finished supper. To complete the pudding I decided to make a chocolate sauce, since you can never have enough chocolate! I used a recipe from all recipes that is simply called <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chocolate-Sauce/Detail.aspx">Chocolate Sauce</a>. The sauce is dairy free and is almost fat free, which is a nice bonus. You can also use it for ice cream, hot chocolate and chocolate milk! It makes quite a bit, so I placed the rest in a jar and it now sits in my fridge waiting to jazz up some other desserts. I did make a small modification to the recipe. I used 1 cup of sugar instead of 1 2/3 cups and 1 cup of water instead of 1 1/4 cups. I like chocolate sauces and things like that to be a little less sweet, and this did the trick.<br />Overall my first British pudding was a success. I really thought that when I lifted the bowl out of my homemade steamer that I would find a sloppy chocolate mess, but it actually turned out nicely. It was really yummy and not that hard to make. The only downside was that it had to steam for an hour and a half and it probably wouldn't be that fun to do during the summer time. I probably wouldn't make a pudding this way again, but it was fun to try!Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-65005577476772166672010-02-27T12:42:00.003-05:002013-06-30T20:29:26.836-04:00Tiramisu<span style="font-size: 85%;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzeZVxXBvCu5AdSYwA3QB9jFVY0eHCTLQHMzdMjExFBLlBHufHhyphenhyphenInU4Om124NJtoe0Lm5NkTfPCPJ50jpc5m_UMgEsEr2RjG_R3DRWTBsH71IP22cBenxL4ACeuX3fcs3Ppb-QC2DoEWE/s1600-h/tiramisu"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442984993232513922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzeZVxXBvCu5AdSYwA3QB9jFVY0eHCTLQHMzdMjExFBLlBHufHhyphenhyphenInU4Om124NJtoe0Lm5NkTfPCPJ50jpc5m_UMgEsEr2RjG_R3DRWTBsH71IP22cBenxL4ACeuX3fcs3Ppb-QC2DoEWE/s320/tiramisu" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 221px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2010%2F02%2Ftiramisu.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FS4leA19n64I%2FAAAAAAAAAJc%2FWFP9OtUpZqw%2Fs320%2Ftiramisu&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Tiramisu" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a>
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The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Aparna</span> of My Diverse Kitchen and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Deeba</span> of Passionate About Baking. They chose <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Tiramisu</span> as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Bleu</span> at Home and Baking Obsession.<br />
I was pretty excited when I read the February challenge and saw that it was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Tiramisu</span>, but a little nervous at the same time. I knew that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">tiramisu</span> was a creamy dessert, so making it dairy free would be a challenge. I was surprised to see that dairy didn't play as huge of a role as I had thought. I didn't make <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">mascarpone</span> cheese, which as I read further, wasn't a huge part of the dessert. Only 1/3 of a cup was required, so I skipped it and it wasn't missed. Instead of whipped cream I used <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Nutriwhip</span>.<br />
This recipe did take a long time to make. I made the pastry cream and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">zabaglione</span> on one day, the lady fingers the next and then I made the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Nutriwhip</span> and assembled the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">tiramisu</span> the next day. It was a lot of work, but it was worth it.<br />
Making the pastry cream and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">zabaglione</span> was pretty simple. Combine the ingredients, heat on the stove, stir until thick. The lady fingers were pretty easy as well. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to make.<br />
I thought the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">tiramisu</span> was pretty yummy, but the coffee and Marsala wine were a little too overpowering for me. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">tiramisu</span> also tasted a lot better three days after it was made. My favourite part was the lady fingers. Would I make it again? Probably not, but it was fun to try!<br />
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<span style="font-size: 85%;"><strong>For the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">zabaglione</span>:</strong><br />2 large egg yolks<br />3 tablespoons sugar<br />1/4 cup Marsala wine (or port or coffee)<br />1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract<br />1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest<br /><br />Heat water in a double boiler. If you don’t have a double boiler, place a pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl in the pot making sure the bottom does not touch the water.<br />In a large mixing bowl (or stainless steel mixing bowl), mix together the egg yolks, sugar, the Marsala (or espresso/ coffee), vanilla extract and lemon zest. Whisk together until the yolks are fully blended and the mixture looks smooth.<br />Transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler or place your bowl over the pan/ pot with simmering water. Cook the egg mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 8 minutes or until it resembles thick custard. It may bubble a bit as it reaches that consistency.<br />Let cool to room temperature and transfer the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">zabaglione</span> to a bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.<br /><br /><strong>For the vanilla pastry cream:</strong><br />1/4 cup sugar<br />1 tablespoon all purpose flour<br />1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest<br />1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract<br />1 large egg yolk<br />3/4 cup whole milk (I used soy milk)<br /><br />Mix together the sugar, flour, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. To this add the egg yolk and half the milk. Whisk until smooth.<br />Now place the saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from curdling.<br />Add the remaining milk a little at a time, still stirring constantly. After about 12 minutes the mixture will be thick, free of lumps and beginning to bubble. (If you have a few lumps, don’t worry. You can push the cream through a fine-mesh strainer.)<br />Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic film and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.<br /><br /><strong>Lady Fingers</strong><br />3 eggs, separated<br />6 tablespoons granulated sugar<br />3/4 cup cake flour, sifted (or 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 2 tbsp corn starch)<br />6 tablespoons confectioner's sugar<br /><br />Preheat your oven to 350 F (175 C) degrees, then lightly brush 2 baking sheets with oil or softened butter and line with parchment paper.<br />Beat the egg whites using a hand held electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gradually add granulate sugar and continue beating until the egg whites become stiff again, glossy and smooth.<br />In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly with a fork and fold them into the meringue, using a wooden spoon. Sift the flour over this mixture and fold gently until just mixed. It is important to fold very gently and not overdo the folding. Otherwise the batter would deflate and lose volume resulting in ladyfingers which are flat and not spongy.<br />Fit a pastry bag with a plain tip (or just snip the end off; you could also use a Ziploc bag) and fill with the batter. Pipe the batter into 5" long and 3/4" wide strips leaving about 1" space in between the strips.<br />Sprinkle half the confectioner's sugar over the ladyfingers and wait for 5 minutes. The sugar will pearl or look wet and glisten. Now sprinkle the remaining sugar. This helps to give the ladyfingers their characteristic crispness.<br />Hold the parchment paper in place with your thumb and lift one side of the baking sheet and gently tap it on the work surface to remove excess sprinkled sugar.<br />Bake the ladyfingers for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets and bake for another 5 minutes or so until the puff up, turn lightly golden brown and are still soft.<br />Allow them to cool slightly on the sheets for about 5 minutes and then remove the ladyfingers from the baking sheet with a metal spatula while still hot, and cool on a rack.<br />Store them in an airtight container till required. They should keep for 2 to 3 weeks.<br /><br /><strong>Whipped Cream</strong><br />Two cups of whipped cream. (I used <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Nutriwhip</span>)<br /><br /><strong>To make the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">Tiramisu</span></strong><br />Have ready a rectangular serving dish (about 8" by 8" should do) or one of your choice.<br />Mix together the warm espresso, rum extract and sugar in a shallow dish, whisking to mix well. Set aside to cool.<br />In a large bowl, beat the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">mascarpone</span> cheese with a spoon to break down the lumps and make it smooth. This will make it easier to fold. Add the prepared and chilled <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">zabaglione</span> and pastry cream, blending until just combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream. Set this cream mixture aside.<br />Now to start assembling the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">tiramisu</span>.<br />Workings quickly, dip 12 of the ladyfingers in the sweetened espresso, about 1 second per side. They should be moist but not soggy. Immediately transfer each ladyfinger to the platter, placing them side by side in a single row. You may break a lady finger into two, if necessary, to ensure the base of your dish is completely covered. Spoon one-third of the cream mixture on top of the ladyfingers, then use a rubber spatula or spreading knife to cover the top evenly, all the way to the edges.<br />Repeat to create 2 more layers, using 12 ladyfingers and the cream mixture for each layer. Clean any spilled cream mixture; cover carefully with plastic wrap and refrigerate the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">tiramisu</span> overnight.<br />To serve, carefully remove the plastic wrap and sprinkle the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">tiramisu</span> with cocoa powder using a fine-mesh strainer or decorate as you please. Cut into individual portions and serve. </span></div>
Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-73382536278674673882010-01-03T20:19:00.006-05:002013-06-30T20:40:06.898-04:00Apple Strudel Muffins.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieaFtoAk0f6AIC3PDl9FMkP_zdAOl4kknOWqDbaeT0_87z6iAtkbFlzy9FKL_B6zYaB_aiHr4YQhSg5XZcknkwvFhmzjPbfcw34itVMwVBVauuyfXTgjIPUpVaQfU3Um9_QhH5Wt7DDqz2/s1600-h/applemuffin.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5422690931708931858" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieaFtoAk0f6AIC3PDl9FMkP_zdAOl4kknOWqDbaeT0_87z6iAtkbFlzy9FKL_B6zYaB_aiHr4YQhSg5XZcknkwvFhmzjPbfcw34itVMwVBVauuyfXTgjIPUpVaQfU3Um9_QhH5Wt7DDqz2/s320/applemuffin.jpg" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2010%2F01%2Fapple-strudel-muffins.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FS0FEq_c-LxI%2FAAAAAAAAAI8%2FclFbdT2K_1M%2Fs320%2Fapplemuffin.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Apple%20Strudel%20Muffins" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a><br /><div>After promising Paul that I would make muffins all Christmas break, I finally got around to it tonight. The day before going back to work! We spent our Christmas being pretty lazy, and it was wonderful! I finally got my act together and made some muffins so that Paul would have a breakfast that is easy to take to work. </div><div>After reading over a couple of recipes on Allrecipes, <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Strudel-Muffins/Detail.aspx">apple strudel muffins </a>caught my eye. I love apples and cinnamon together, so this recipe had to be good! </div><div>While I was making the muffins I realized that there were no liquids other than vanilla and eggs listed in the ingredients. I must have read the ingredients list a million times to make sure that I wasn't missing a key liquid ingredient.</div><div>The recipe is pretty straight forward. Mix the wet ingredients, add apples, throw in the dry stuff and stir. I used one and a half peeled Granny Smith apples to get 1 1/2 cups of chopped apples. I also used margarine instead of butter to make the muffins dairy free. Once all of the ingredients were mixed together, the batter was more of a dough than a loose muffin mixture. I was a little nervous. I'm used to having muffin batter resemble pancake batter, but this was like play dough. Instead of spooning the mixture in, I pressed the dough into the muffin pans and hoped for the best. I sprinkled the strudel on top and placed them in the oven.</div><div>Half way through baking my house smelled great, like French toast and apple pie all in one. We couldn't resist testing out a muffin after supper. They are more cakey than muffiny, but they are so good. The apple bakes down and becomes soft and the strudel topping becomes crispy and delicious. I can't wait to try one of these muffins for breakfast at work!</div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-63921629134316914052009-12-23T20:08:00.005-05:002013-06-30T20:42:55.936-04:00Gingerbread House<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQDMPao76L7_mWKJ1Ke8X76DNuCl50lXWDaqD6yRs-LoPeDCfNJTAtHSg_YniLLkeeKJgE0G3QbCkgNfF_1qSyWlaCHEMLVPf5BGp2iV4S62ME9cB6nF36XHXBmZmd1nfvK_3Ox8sMn-i7/s1600-h/IMG_1413.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 214px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418612531692212082" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQDMPao76L7_mWKJ1Ke8X76DNuCl50lXWDaqD6yRs-LoPeDCfNJTAtHSg_YniLLkeeKJgE0G3QbCkgNfF_1qSyWlaCHEMLVPf5BGp2iV4S62ME9cB6nF36XHXBmZmd1nfvK_3Ox8sMn-i7/s320/IMG_1413.jpg" /></a>
<br /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F12%2Fgingerbread-house.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSzLHY3b-j3I%2FAAAAAAAAAI0%2F9XZCdizODyk%2Fs320%2FIMG_1413.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Gingerbread%20House" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script><div><div><div>This month the Daring Bakers challenge was to make a gingerbread house. I was pretty excited about it since I've made a gingerbread house pretty much every year. I knew this was going to be fun. I really didn't like the recipes that were posted on the Bakers website. The gingerbread was puffy and pale, and there was an added recipe for simple syrup to glue the house together. I decided to go with tried and true recipes for <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Eileens-Spicy-Gingerbread-Men/Detail.aspx?prop31=1">spicy gingerbread</a> and <a href="http://www.joyofbaking.com/RoyalIcing.html">royal icing</a>. I made a double batch of the gingerbread and I used egg whites for the royal icing since that's what I had in the house and no one was going to be eating my gingerbread house anyway, so I wasn't worried about salmonella.<br />I got the template for my house at the weirdest site. <a href="http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Building_a_Gingerbread_House-Miscellaneous_Decor-A1534.html">Bob Vila</a>, the This Old House guy! He had very nice plans and different styles of houses you could build with cute and funny instructions. I chose to build a colonial style house. I liked how it had lots of windows.<br />To build my house I made a double batch of gingerbread and then we got to rolling. I had pre-cut all of the house templates to make it quicker. Paul helped me roll and cut the pieces since I was losing it quickly! I was rolling the dough too thin, so it was breaking when I tried to move it onto the cooking sheet. To make stained glass windows I put some wax paper on the back of the windows and then I crushed up some Lifesavers and put them in the window holes. Once we got all the pieces baked and cooled, it was too late in the day to build the house, so we waited a week to build the house.<br />I made a batch of royal icing to serve as the glue that held the house together. Assembling the house was pretty easy. I was worried that the roof was going to slide off because it wasn't fitting properly, but once the royal icing hardened it was super strong.<br />To decorate the house we used Oreo Thinsations for the roof. They were expertly applied by Paul using royal icing to glue them down. I used little chocolate dot thingys for the decorations around the windows and to make a wreath on the door.<br />We both had a really good time making the house, and we'll probably make another one next year! We already have some ideas for next time!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;color:#ffffff;">The December 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to you by Anna of Very Small Anna and Y of Lemonpi. They chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ everywhere to bake and assemble a gingerbread house from scratch. They chose recipes from Good Housekeeping and from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book as the challenge recipes.</span></div></div></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-34989176908235872652009-11-27T17:09:00.004-05:002013-06-30T20:44:28.635-04:00Cannoli<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6F5mhQiv1v6FUBn5r6iD8bvsY-vGAghU91t7aynlO95Mlmrg1ciPJJLq3UCXZgANDCkmKv639jOqtox8cG5mhH7nmzN8PBGsKIu40j9V2XTtHTOFPxB1euRlMpVE-9wxfHgyfMZ6_l4gS/s1600/IMG_1344.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408916417377390898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6F5mhQiv1v6FUBn5r6iD8bvsY-vGAghU91t7aynlO95Mlmrg1ciPJJLq3UCXZgANDCkmKv639jOqtox8cG5mhH7nmzN8PBGsKIu40j9V2XTtHTOFPxB1euRlMpVE-9wxfHgyfMZ6_l4gS/s320/IMG_1344.jpg" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F11%2Fcannoli.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSxBU0u2O0TI%2FAAAAAAAAAIE%2F3DS0l7CloA0%2Fs320%2FIMG_1344.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Cannoli" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a><br /><div>The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cannolo</span> (<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> is plural!), using the cookbooks of Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mattichio</span> <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Bastianic</span> and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Rucker</span>, recipes by Michelle <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Sciolone</span>, as ingredient/direction guide. She added her own <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">modifications</span>/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.<br />This month's challenge didn't require any baking, just deep frying! I was a little hesitant to deep fry again, but I figured I'd try my tried and true method of frying in my skillet. For the challenge I had to make a recipe of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> dough and the filling options were up to me! Traditionally <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> are filled with a ricotta cheese mixture that is either savory or sweet, but that wouldn't work for me! I chose to fill my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> with <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_10" class="blsp-spelling-error">Nutriwhip</span> and fruit to make it a little easier on the belly.<br /><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_11" class="blsp-spelling-error">Cannoli</span> are supposed to be little tubes that are filled with the ricotta mixture. In order to get the tube shape, the dough is shaped around a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_12" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> form, a cylindrical piece of metal or wood. I didn't want to go buy <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_13" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> forms that I would never use again, so I fried up circles of dough, an alternative way suggested in the original recipe. They turned out really well!<br />The dough was pretty standard to make. Just throw the ingredients in the mixer and whirl away! The dough was pretty dry, so I was a little nervous, but after a few kneads on the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_14" class="blsp-spelling-error">countertop</span> it came together into a smooth dough. I let it rest in the fridge for the afternoon while I did my typical weekend stuff. After supper I got Paul to help me roll out the dough. It was pretty tough to get it thin, so I need a stronger person to help me out! He rolled the dough and cut them into four inch rounds. We docked the dough to prevent it from bubbling while frying, that didn't go exactly as planned, but more on that later.<br />I dropped the rounds into about an inch of hot oil in a small frying pan. I turned them after about a minute and fried them until they were golden. The recipe says that they should blister, but mine blew up like balloons. I later found out that this was because my dough was too thick, but I really don't see how we could have gotten the dough any thinner without buying a pasta machine. I had a few that worked the way the recipe stated, but the rest were puffy, but still delicious.<br />When the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_15" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> had cooled, I piped some <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_16" class="blsp-spelling-error">Nutriwhip</span> on a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_17" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannolo</span>, sprinkled it with chopped strawberries and topped it with another <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_18" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannolo</span>. I then dusted it with powdered sugar.<br />The <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_19" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> making experience was fun, but I probably wouldn't make them again.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_20" class="blsp-spelling-error">CANNOLI</span> SHELLS</strong><br />2 cups all-purpose flour<br />2 tablespoons sugar<br />1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder<br />1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon<br />1/2 teaspoon salt<br />3 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil<br />1 teaspoon white wine vinegar<br />Approximately 1/2 cup sweet Marsala or any white or red wine you have on hand<br />1 large white (only needed if using forms)</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Vegetable or any neutral oil for frying </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Confectioners' sugar<br /><br />Note - If you want a chocolate <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_21" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> dough, substitute a few tablespoons of the flour (about 25%) with a few tablespoons of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch process) and a little more wine until you have a workable dough .</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>DIRECTIONS FOR SHELLS:</strong><br />1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oil, vinegar, and enough of the wine to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and well blended, about 2 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge from 2 hours to overnight.<br />2 Cut the dough into two pieces. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work. Lightly flour a large cutting or pastry board and roll the dough until super thin, about 1/16 to 1/8” thick (An area of about 13 inches by 18 inches should give you that). Cut out 3 to 5-inch circles (3-inch – small/medium; 4-inch – medium/large; 5-inch;- large. Your choice). Roll the cut out circle into an oval, rolling it larger and thinner if it’s shrunk a little.<br />3 Oil the outside of the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_22" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> tubes. Roll a dough oval from the long side (If square, position like a diamond, and place tube/form on the corner closest to you, then roll) around each tube/form and dab a little egg white on the dough where the edges overlap. (Avoid getting egg white on the tube, or the pastry will stick to it.) Press well to seal. Set aside to let the egg white seal dry a little.<br />4. In a deep heavy saucepan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of 3 inches, or if using an electric deep-fryer, follow the manufacturer's directions. Heat the oil to 375°F (190 °C) on a deep fry thermometer, or until a small piece of the dough or bread cube placed in the oil sizzles and browns in 1 minute. Have ready a tray or sheet pan lined with paper towels or paper bags.<br />5. Carefully lower a few of the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_25" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> tubes into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan. Fry the shells until golden, about 2 minutes, turning them so that they brown evenly.<br />8. Lift a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_26" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> tube with a wire skimmer or large slotted spoon, out of the oil. Using tongs, grasp the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_27" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> tube at one end. Very carefully remove the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_28" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> tube with the open sides straight up and down so that the oil flows back into the pan. Place the tube on paper towels or bags to drain. Repeat with the remaining tubes. While they are still hot, grasp the tubes with a potholder and pull the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_29" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> shells off the tubes with a pair of tongs, or with your hand protected by an oven mitt or towel. Let the shells cool completely on the paper towels. Place shells on cooling rack until ready to fill.<br />9. Repeat making and frying the shells with the remaining dough. If you are reusing the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_30" class="blsp-spelling-error">cannoli</span> tubes, let them cool before wrapping them in the dough. </span></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-53490355633860469882009-10-27T09:00:00.000-04:002013-06-30T20:25:23.103-04:00French Macaroons<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQc0ArcR9weIk_geIPyQI2hZjyGwnuP388vPkRRw5JF9YCBHMXCnDDcFOTgIslV3UzQ4T1B17W8ii-IlhsYzC8M145rUBIwqYMPAv3P2o-4xDEnps3dI18cNWAwXGnooAgWcgbRbyVfI6/s1600-h/IMG_1314.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397089411005627826" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQc0ArcR9weIk_geIPyQI2hZjyGwnuP388vPkRRw5JF9YCBHMXCnDDcFOTgIslV3UzQ4T1B17W8ii-IlhsYzC8M145rUBIwqYMPAv3P2o-4xDEnps3dI18cNWAwXGnooAgWcgbRbyVfI6/s320/IMG_1314.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 214px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><a data-pin-config="above" data-pin-do="buttonPin" href="http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F10%2Ffrench-macaroons.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSuZQOWwDPbI%2FAAAAAAAAAHg%2F7-HR5PUmugw%2Fs320%2FIMG_1314.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20French%20Macaron"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
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The October 2009 Daring Bakers' Challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Taverns as the challenge recipe. To be honest, I had no clue what a French macaroon was. I thought macaroons were those little mounds of coconut. I felt sad when I first started reading the write up on the website, since I hate coconut, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the macarons that they were writing about were little cookies made with almond flour and filled with ganache or icing. Yummy! </div>
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I thought the macarons might be tricky to make, as things that require fluffy egg whites can be temperamental, but I was happy to find that it wasn't so difficult. The longest part of the recipe was waiting for the eggs to come to room temperature. That took about an hour. I must confess that my eggs were still a little cold when I whipped them, but I didn't want to wait any longer to start the cookies. The hardest part of the recipe was getting the eggs to stiff peaks. I always worry that I'm going to over whip them and ruin the recipe. Luckily this time they came out right. I tried adding pink food colouring to the egg whites to make my macarons a soft pink colour like I had seen in other examples, but I was scared to add too much liquid to the eggs and they ended up not being pink at all. Oh well, next time I'll up the food colouring. Once the eggs are whipped and the granulated sugar is incorporated you fold in the almond flour and icing sugar mixture and that's it! </div>
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I filled my piping bag and fitted it with just the coupler. The Daring Bakers's website says that you can trace circles on parchment and use them to make perfect circles, but I eye balled it. After I had piped the cookies, I baked them as per the recipe and they worked well! I think I left them in the oven too long though, some of them turned a little too brown. After testing them (many times) the brown ones were still yummy! I let the cookies cool really well and then I filled them with a dark chocolate ganache.</div>
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I don't have a recipe for the ganache, I kind of made it up as I went. I poured a splash of soy milk into a pot and warmed it on the stove. When it was steaming I added a Lindt chocolate bunny and some dark chocolate I had kicking around in my baking cupboard and voila! A ganache was made. I spread some ganache on one side of a cookie and topped it with a cookie of a similar size.</div>
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No dairy free substitutions were needed for this recipe other than the soy milk in the ganache. I'm not sure if I would make these cookies again, even though they were easy to make and well received by those who ate them! </div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">-2 1/4 cup confectioners (icing) sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">-2 cups almond flour</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">-2 tablespoons granulated sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">-5 room temperature egg whites</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Combine icing sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">2. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl of a mixture until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">3. Sift a third of a flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently until combined. Sift the almond flour mixture into the mixture in two batches and fold until just combined. Don't over fold. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">4. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">5. Pipe into 1 inch mounds. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">6. Bake macaroons for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375 degrees. Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven for 7-8 minutes or until lightly covered. ( I would bake it a little less, but it depends on your oven.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 85%;">7. Cool before filling.</span></div>
Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-28872710316168868952009-10-25T17:06:00.003-04:002013-06-30T20:48:12.682-04:00Butter Free Butter Tarts<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxOY10FMwmxrDDW4FuqqeeajgDYQ8CcsHPutZri0lKg49GgLpK5EJAqeZdt6K6_7s4ObsGUZmQ2YVU6K55r64sAcOSZbZjJWvXhlNRaYIkU-0P4MRTtwu_KgyRAv9jdaDnVzDYkEqR12XF/s1600-h/applesandtarts+013.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 204px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396654730185614386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxOY10FMwmxrDDW4FuqqeeajgDYQ8CcsHPutZri0lKg49GgLpK5EJAqeZdt6K6_7s4ObsGUZmQ2YVU6K55r64sAcOSZbZjJWvXhlNRaYIkU-0P4MRTtwu_KgyRAv9jdaDnVzDYkEqR12XF/s320/applesandtarts+013.jpg" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F10%2Fbutter-free-butter-tarts.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSuTE4mglJDI%2FAAAAAAAAAHY%2FktSG0RJn4r4%2Fs320%2Fapplesandtarts%2B013.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Butter%20Free%20Butter%20Tarts" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a><br /><div>For Paul's father's birthday I was given the task of making his favourite dessert, butter tarts. Instead of a birthday cake, we were going to have a variety of his favourite treats, and I was nervous! I'm not very good at pastry and I didn't want to arrive empty handed at a birthday party. I also wanted to make a butter tart that I could eat as well, so a dairy free butter tart was what I set out to do.</div><br /><div></div><div>The tarts ended up being a combination of two recipes, the pastry shell from one site and the filling from the other. The pastry was really easy to make. Probably the easiest pastry I've attempted so far. I ended up making two batches of the pastry. The first one I refrigerated for 30 minutes, and the second I used right away since I was pressed for time. The second batch I rolled between two sheets of waxed paper so it wouldn't stick. I used a circle cutter and then placed the pastry rounds into a regular sized muffin tin. The recipe for the pastry can be found here, on <a href="http://gocanada.about.com/od/wheretoeatanddrink/r/butter_tart.htm">About.com.</a></div><div> </div><div>The filling was super simple to make. You just throw all of the ingredients into a bowl, stir it around and fill the pastry shells. Easy peasy! I was surprised to find that a treat called butter tarts had very little butter in them. I substituted margarine for the butter in the filling recipe. The filling recipe can be found on the website called <a href="http://www.canadianhomeandcountry.com/recipes/from-scratch/butter-tarts-a-national-treasure/a/2414">Canadian Home and Country.</a> I made three versions of tarts, walnut, raisin and plain. I filled all of the shells and sprinkled raisins or walnuts on top. My favourite were the plain ones. </div><br /><div></div><div>When I was looking up recipes, I found that butter tarts are a uniquely Canadian treat! Pretty cool! The tarts went over really well. I'm going to have to make them again sometime because not everyone at the party got to try them because some people were going back for seconds and thirds! </div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-73314573510494561682009-09-27T19:27:00.005-04:002012-03-10T16:01:17.302-05:00Puff Pastry Failure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHskfqKp-j0oNItMfeMcxwXRRAwk__OHZO_fPn1bf9TK_KWe-omY7TeMxPa_VY6AsBUYPXL1JD4UjjyTdXbLg0kd_c8HviCm9WHDXv8RlE2Bb5aqijt6I6sAHGBOdeMD5vZlrogyAUEBE/s1600/puffpastry+012-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHskfqKp-j0oNItMfeMcxwXRRAwk__OHZO_fPn1bf9TK_KWe-omY7TeMxPa_VY6AsBUYPXL1JD4UjjyTdXbLg0kd_c8HviCm9WHDXv8RlE2Bb5aqijt6I6sAHGBOdeMD5vZlrogyAUEBE/s320/puffpastry+012-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div>The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Steph</span> of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">au</span>-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Vol-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">au</span>-vents are like little pastry nests that you can fill with savoury or sweet fillings. They are very chic looking and would impress any guest who enjoyed them. I went into the challenge hopeful that I would be able to make puff pastry without butter. That would mean that I could make all sorts of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">hors</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">d'oeuvres</span> and desserts without having to use commercial puff pastry which most often has butter in it. I was a little hesitant to start the challenge, as puff pastry is incredibly complicated and time consuming, but I wanted to get it over with and enjoy the results.<br />
I stared the pastry right after breakfast one weekend morning. The recipe requires you to make a dough and use it to encase a square made of cold butter (or in my case margarine) to create layers of flaky pastry goodness. The dough turned out just as it said it would online. I pounded one pound of margarine with a rolling pin to create an eight in square and wrapped it with the dough mixture and placed it in the fridge to harden. The way to create the layers of butter in the pastry is to laminate it. Laminating the pastry requires you to roll the pastry to a length of 24 inches, fold it in thirds, let it rest in the fridge at least half an hour and start rolling again....six times! Needless to say, it took me all day.<br />
My problems arose early in the day. The margarine kept squishing out of the pastry during the laminating process. I tried to pinch it back in and coat it with flour as the recipe stated, but it never worked properly. After all I made all of the required turns, I rolled out the sheets of pastry and cut out the rounds needed to make the vol-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">au</span>-vents. After letting them rest in the fridge for what seemed like the millionth time that day, I egg washed them an put them in the oven. I knew something was wrong shortly after they went in the oven. They became all frothy and greasy. I could see puddles of margarine under the rounds. They looked gross. They also didn't rise at all. From photos that I had seen online, they grow to like five times bigger than they started out. Once the baking was done, I ended up with heavy little hockey pucks that were super greasy. I later found out that this was caused by not letting them rest enough. I guess I was too impatient.<br />
I planned on filling the vol-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">au</span>-vents with a chocolate pastry cream topped with salty and sweet pecans. I did end up with one vol-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">au</span>-vent that looked semi-presentable so I filled it with chocolate soy pudding and topped it with nuts. I was so over the pastry that I didn't want to eat it, so I don't know what it tasted like.<br />
I usually post the recipe for the Daring Bakers Challenge, but this recipe was so long and complicated that I can't see any other dairy free bakers attempting it. I'm not confident that it can be done using dairy free <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">margarine</span>, but if you have made them work using margarine, please let me know!</div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-8869675084595610492009-09-02T20:51:00.004-04:002009-09-02T21:15:42.233-04:00Pulled pork and cool kitchen gadgets.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhif5EN193tR2j2pVvX2S7yCB055zT9by1WW7a2iLG1MEh417lRVFQANpReCLgJTrgDqI5anVLi-4ikkZBOA1zVhsDaucpNIib3_nh1VeLBjrr4pa-MoydhodnctWQBtkP-anaRCjaE4e/s1600-h/pulled+pork+011.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5377042847929815122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQhif5EN193tR2j2pVvX2S7yCB055zT9by1WW7a2iLG1MEh417lRVFQANpReCLgJTrgDqI5anVLi-4ikkZBOA1zVhsDaucpNIib3_nh1VeLBjrr4pa-MoydhodnctWQBtkP-anaRCjaE4e/s320/pulled+pork+011.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>This weekend we had a party up at Paul's cottage with his friends. We knew the weather was going to be kind of crappy, so we didn't want to stand outside in the pouring rain cooking our supper. We wanted something that was no fuss so it allowed us all the time we wanted to just relax. Pulled pork fit the bill. Season some pork, dump some chicken broth on it, turn on the slow cooker and you're done! Pretty simple!</div><div>When Paul was in school at crazy hours and I was at work, slow cooker meals really saved us. There often wasn't enough time between getting home from work and Paul dashing out the door to cook a nice meal. I soon discovered the joy of prepping food the night before and turning it on in the morning and coming home to a perfectly cooked meal.</div><div>Pulled pork is so simple. The recipe I use is very loosely based on a recipe I saw on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Allrecipes</span>.com. All I do is season a pork butt/shoulder roast (aka picnic roast) with spice rub, I used a Southern rub from my <a href="http://deliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.com/search/label/pork">ribs</a> night, put it in the slow cooker, pour about two cups of chicken brother around it and set the timer for 7 hours. I cook it on low so that it stays moist. A 3-4 pound roast is good for 7 hours, reduce the time for smaller roast and increase for larger ones. </div><div>After the pork has cooked, remove it from the slow cooker and shred with two forks. Dump out all of the cooking juices and return the meat back to the pot. Smother the meat with your favourite <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">barbeque</span> sauce and heat for another 30 minutes. This weekend we used <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">barbeque</span> sauce from <a href="http://www.camp31.com/">Camp 31</a>. We used their award winning <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">barbeque</span> sauce that we bought during Rib Fest. </div><div>Once the pork is heated through, pile it on a bun and enjoy! We don't top the sandwiches with anything, the saucy goodness is yummy enough on it's own!</div><div>Today is my birthday, and I received some wonderful kitchen/blog related presents! Paul got me onion goggles! I have longed for onion goggles for a long time! When I have a lot of onions to slice, I run for my ski goggles to prevent crying. Now I don't have to! He also got me a proper tripod for our new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">dSLR</span> camera. No more dropping my camera into food! My parents also got me a new cutting board. Great birthday all around!</div><div>*Photo taken by Paul!</div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-87543629469708051902009-08-27T20:19:00.003-04:002013-06-30T20:51:14.355-04:00Dobos Torte<span style="font-size:85%;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTsPYbAFTY_eJv2_cuC37T1JDMDbcpcEmmDD-SVzPupWjq5aS_PTWfAXE9UvbSjW1R67tDMOQpZKpzZPTXv6bGUkQzM21wgEkJpyqAurTAJmnETs0oOO73ibuvC-CRHuaD_IPrHOM-vqlU/s1600-h/dobos+torta+006.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374806352684422978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 254px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTsPYbAFTY_eJv2_cuC37T1JDMDbcpcEmmDD-SVzPupWjq5aS_PTWfAXE9UvbSjW1R67tDMOQpZKpzZPTXv6bGUkQzM21wgEkJpyqAurTAJmnETs0oOO73ibuvC-CRHuaD_IPrHOM-vqlU/s320/dobos+torta+006.jpg" border="0" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F08%2Fdobos-torte.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSpcl5pxEl0I%2FAAAAAAAAAGM%2F4RS-JtiMUi0%2Fs320%2Fdobos%2Btorta%2B006.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Dobos%20Torta" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a><br /><div>The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Spoonfulof</span> Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Nigella</span>. They chose the spectacular <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">DobosTorte</span> based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers' cookbook <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Kaffeehaus</span>: <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ExquisiteDesserts</span> from the Classic <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Caffés</span> of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Dobos</span> torte is a five layer sponge cake filled with a rich chocolate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">buttercream</span> and topped with wedges of caramel. There are many ways to change this recipe, but I stuck to the recipe.<br />This cake was very labour intensive. It took me two days to complete the whole thing since I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">didn</span>’t have a full day to devote to baking. The recipe starts of with six cakes that you make by smoothing batter onto traced <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">parchment</span>. I used the bottom of a torte pan as my <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">outline</span>. The batter was really easy to make, although I did like having to use six eggs. Cholesterol city! The batter was light and airy thanks to the whipped egg whites. The layers were baked for 4 minutes (I guess my oven is hot) and then I peeled them off the parchment and wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge until the next day.<br />The second night of baking I started on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">buttercream</span>. I was a bit nervous about making the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">buttercream</span>, since I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">couldn</span>’t use real butter. I used dairy free hard margarine, which has the same fat content as butter, so I figured I’d be safe. I also <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">didn</span>’t have superfine sugar. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Loblaws</span> changed their sugar provider, and I haven’t been able to find superfine sugar at my store. Stupid <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Loblaws</span>. I used regular sugar (which Red Path calls Special Fine-which it’s not) and the recipe turned out fine. I don’t know why you would need superfine sugar since the sugar gets dissolved in the egg mixture anyway. I used dark chocolate for the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">buttercream</span> since baking chocolate has milk ingredients in it. The icing was so rich and creamy. I loved it! The hard margarine performed just like butter did when I made a traditional Swiss <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">buttercream</span>. I have to say that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">buttercream</span> was my favourite part of the torte! After I made the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">buttercream</span> I put it in the fridge to harden a little while I prepared the cakes. I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">trimmed</span> each cake to size and selected the best layer for my caramel topping. The caramel topping <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">didn</span>’t work out the way I had hoped. It took forever to turn ‘amber’ and the lemon juice was so overpowering I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">couldn</span>’t stand to eat more than one bite. In the end I used it anyway, since I wanted to keep the look of the cake as accurate as possible. Once the layers were cut, I filled and stacked the layers and gave the whole thing a coating of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">buttercream</span>. I arranged the caramel wedges on top and propped them up using cashews, since I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">didn</span>’t have hazelnuts.<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_26">Dobos</span> Torte was a fun, albeit long process. It was an okay cake. I probably <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_27">wouldn</span>’t make this cake again. It was good, but it was no <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_28">Bakewell</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_29">Tarte</span>! As for substitutions for dairy, all I needed to do was omit the butter and replace it with margarine. </div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Equipment </strong><br />-2 baking sheets<br />-9” (23cm) <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_30">springform</span> tin and 8” cake tin, for templates<br />-mixing bowls<br />-a sieve<br />-a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)<br />-a small saucepan<br />-a whisk</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">-metal offset spatula<br />-sharp knife<br />-a 7 1/2” cardboard cake round, or just build cake on the base of a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_31">springform</span> tin.<br />piping bag and tip, optional </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Sponge cake layers<br /></strong>-6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature<br />-1 1/3 cups (162g) confectioner's (icing) sugar, divided<br />-1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract<br />-1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (112g) sifted cake flour</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">-pinch of salt</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">1.Position the racks in the top and centre thirds of the oven and heat to 400F (200C).</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">2.Cut six pieces of parchment paper to fit the baking sheets. Using the bottom of a 9" (23cm) <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_32">springform</span> tin as a template and a dark pencil or a pen, trace a circle on each of the papers, and turn them over .</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">3.Beat the egg yolks, 2/3 cup (81g) of the confectioner's (icing) sugar, and the vanilla in a medium bowl with a mixer on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and forms a thick ribbon when the beaters are lifted a few inches above the batter, about 3 minutes. (You can do this step with a balloon whisk if you don't have a mixer.) </span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">4.In another bowl, using clean beaters, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 2/3 cup (81g) of confectioner's (icing)sugar until the whites form stiff, shiny peaks. Using a large rubber spatula, stir about 1/4 of the beaten whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remainder, leaving a few wisps of white visible. Combine the flour and salt. Sift half the flour over the eggs, and fold in; repeat with the remaining flour.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">5.Line one of the baking sheets with a circle-marked paper. Using a small offset spatula, spread about 3/4cup of the batter in an even layer, filling in the traced circle on one baking sheet. Bake on the top rack for 5 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed gently in the centre and the edges are lightly browned. While this cake bakes, repeat the process on the other baking sheet, placing it on the centre rack. When the first cake is done, move the second cake to the top rack. Invert the first cake onto a flat surface and carefully peel off the paper. Slide the cake layer back onto the paper and let stand until cool. Rinse the baking sheet under cold running water to cool, and dry it before lining with another parchment. Continue with the remaining papers and batter to make a total of six layers. Completely cool the layers. Using an 8" <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_33">springform</span> pan bottom or plate as a template, trim each cake layer into a neat round. (A small serrated knife is best for this task.)</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Chocolate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_34">Buttercream</span></strong><br />-4 large eggs, at room temperature<br />-1 cup (200g) caster (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_35">ultrafine</span> or superfine white) sugar <span style="color:#ff0000;">I used regular white sugar and it was just fine.</span><br />-4oz (110g) bakers chocolate or your favourite dark chocolate, finely chopped<br />-2 sticks plus 2 tablespoons (250g) hard margarine, at room temperature</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">1.Prepare a double-boiler: quarter-fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">2.Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thickened, about five minutes. You can use a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer for this.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">3.Fit bowl over the boiling water in the saucepan (water should not touch bowl) and lower the heat to a brisk simmer. Cook the egg mixture, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes until you see it starting to thicken a bit. Whisk in the finely chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, for a further 2-3 minutes.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">4.Scrape the chocolate mixture into a medium bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. It should be quite thick and sticky in consistency.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">5.When cool, beat in the soft butter, a small piece (about 2 tablespoons/30g) at a time. An electric hand mixer is great here, but it is possible to beat the butter in with a spatula if it is soft enough. You should end up with a thick, velvety chocolate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_36">buttercream</span>. Chill while you make the caramel topping.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Caramel topping<br /></strong>-1 cup (200g) caster (superfine or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_37">ultrafine</span> white) sugar <span style="color:#ff0000;">I used regular white sugar</span><br />-12 tablespoons (180 ml) water<br />-8 teaspoons (40 ml) lemon juice <span style="color:#ff0000;">I would probably use half that amount</span><br />-1 tablespoon neutral oil (e.g. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_38">grapeseed</span>, rice bran, sunflower) <span style="color:#ff0000;">I used canola oil</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">1.Choose the best-looking cake layer for the caramel top. To make the caramel topping: Line a jellyroll pan with parchment paper and butter the paper. Place the reserved cake layer on the paper. Cut into 12 equal wedges.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">2.Stir the sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. Once dissolved into a smooth syrup, turn the heat up to high and boil without stirring, swirling the pan by the handle occasionally and washing down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet brush until the syrup has turned into an amber-coloured caramel.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">3.The top layer is perhaps the hardest part of the whole cake so make sure you have a oiled, hot offset spatula ready. I also find it helps if the cake layer hasn't just been taken out of the refrigerator. Using the offset spatula, quickly spread the caramel evenly to the edge of the cake layer. Let cool until beginning to set, about 30 seconds. Using the tip of the hot oiled knife (keep re-oiling this with a pastry brush between cutting), cut through the scored marks to divide the caramel layer into 12 equal wedges. Cool completely.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Assembling the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_39">Dobos</span><br /></strong>1.Divide the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">buttercream</span> into six equal parts.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">2.Place a dab of chocolate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">buttercream</span> on the middle of a 7 1/2” cardboard round and top with one cake layer. Spread the layer with one part of the chocolate icing. Repeat with 4 more cake layers. Spread the remaining icing on the sides of the cake.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">3.Optional: press the finely chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">4.Propping a hazelnut under each wedge so that it sits at an angle, arrange the wedges on top of the cake in a spoke pattern. If you have any leftover <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_42">buttercream</span>, you can pipe rosettes under each hazelnut or a large rosette in the centre of the cake. Refrigerate the cake under a cake dome until the icing is set, about 2 hours. Let slices come to room temperature for the best possible flavour.</span></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-43079784412856227492009-08-11T20:31:00.003-04:002013-06-30T20:53:28.669-04:00Strawberry Pie<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFsEDEom1CE0ZfH2BZbS9tNcNC5tuonYyR9JuD_h_0VJb7WSSpMd8wvMeWTlmkxELvG1OdzpJuPa2lsmOhepikJXHSsYHnkdXss9gKOI-oGqVYn-hYkuchkngLIPz5zeUU3twX8wg3sLM/s1600-h/pieandcake+007.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368871357912000546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFsEDEom1CE0ZfH2BZbS9tNcNC5tuonYyR9JuD_h_0VJb7WSSpMd8wvMeWTlmkxELvG1OdzpJuPa2lsmOhepikJXHSsYHnkdXss9gKOI-oGqVYn-hYkuchkngLIPz5zeUU3twX8wg3sLM/s320/pieandcake+007.jpg" border="0" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F08%2Fstrawberry-pie.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSoIQDfUdKCI%2FAAAAAAAAAGE%2FKpJDbGqxUP0%2Fs320%2Fpieandcake%2B007.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Strawberry%20Pie" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a><br /><div>I love strawberries. I love pie crust. Mix the two together and you get a very awesome summer pie! I discovered this recipe one summer after a friend brought us a pie that his mom had made. I found a similar recipe in the Joy of Cooking for a glazed berry pie, and modified it slightly to make it like the delicious pie I had previously enjoyed. The recipe is very simple and doesn't have too many ingredients. It is best made with fresh strawberries, so I tend to only make it during strawberry season, which sadly doesn't last too long around here. The best thing about this recipe is that it's totally dairy free. If you used a gluten free pie crust it could be gluten free too.</div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong>Strawberry Pie</strong></div><div>-one single crust pie crust. I use the <a href="http://www.criscocanada.com/recipe_page.aspx?rid=577">Crisco</a> recipe. Baked</div><div>-6 cups strawberries or red raspberries</div><div>-1 cup sugar</div><div>-1/4 cup cornstarch</div><div>-1/8 teaspoon salt</div><div>-1/2 cup water</div><div>-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>1. Hull the strawberries and cut the bigger ones in half. Measure 4 cups of berries and place the remaining 2 cups of berries in a bowl. Blend remaining two cups using a blender or food processor until smooth.</div><div>2. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium sauce pan.</div><div>3. Whisk in 1/2 cup water.</div><div>4. Stir in the pureed berries and lemon juice.</div><div>5. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring constantly for 1 minute. </div><div>6. Arrange berries cut side down in the pie shell. Pour the berry mixture over the top of the berries and place in fridge for at least 4 hours.</div><br /><div></div><div>The berry mixture will become gelatinous as it cools and it holds the berries together so it doesn't ooze when you cut pieces of pie. I'm not usually a fan of pie, but this one rocks. The berries soften a bit after the warm mixture is poured over top, but after it cools in the fridge it's a refreshingly cool summer treat!</div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-46170742811368743622009-07-27T19:49:00.003-04:002013-06-30T20:55:17.349-04:00Mallows<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4f0D2MubVxOPFOl83pTcNe_c5FJmjLXtqoRx_67iQBPwSfVXQIFn7cwpBbUhf89aHONL0stf-ANdcSOc0NZn3ycljTgN8bHjWSPMNBV6rUAe0NLsUmmDvCzbqV167L8cb04D5V900hgOC/s1600-h/farmandcookies+009.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363297285371377026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4f0D2MubVxOPFOl83pTcNe_c5FJmjLXtqoRx_67iQBPwSfVXQIFn7cwpBbUhf89aHONL0stf-ANdcSOc0NZn3ycljTgN8bHjWSPMNBV6rUAe0NLsUmmDvCzbqV167L8cb04D5V900hgOC/s320/farmandcookies+009.jpg" border="0" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F07%2Fmallows.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSm5Cdw9gtYI%2FAAAAAAAAAF8%2FDW3JGw0-Gbk%2Fs320%2Ffarmandcookies%2B009.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Mallows" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a><br /><div>This month's Daring Baker challenge was Mallows, a chocolate covered marshmallow cookie that reminds me very much of Puffs or Whippets from my youth! The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at <a href="http://sweetendingz.blogspot.com/" jquery1248738171421="26">Sweet Tooth</a>. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the <a title="The Food Network" href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/" jquery1248738171421="27">Food Network</a>.</div><br /><div>As a child we always had homemade cookies for our dessert at school. I loved the cookies my mom made, and so did many other kids who had store bought cookies. I used to trade my cookies for thinks like Oreos, Whippets and for some strange reason frosted Cheerios. Store bought cookies were a novelty to us since we never had them, and the other kids loved cookies that weren't from a package, so it worked out well! When I saw these cookies, I instantly thought of all the chocolate chip cookies that got traded for the marshmallowy goodness of a Whippet or Puff. </div><br /><div>The cookies were actually quite easy to make. The cookie base was pretty standard. The only thing that annoyed me was 3/8ths of a teaspoon of baking soda. What the eff is that? My equivalent fraction skills really suck (which is horrible for a teacher), but I didn't know what to do with that measurement. I just put in a pinch and hoped for the best! I guess the pinch was good enough, because the cookies turned out really well, and there were a lot of them.</div><br /><div>I was pretty nervous about making marshmallows. I had attempted to make marshmallow bones using a whack recipe from Martha Stewart. They were awful. I followed the recipe exactly as written, but they were a sticky, gooey mess. Gross! This time, the marshmallows turned out perfectly! </div><br /><div>The chocolate glaze was pretty straight forward. 2 ounces of oil looked like a lot when I first poured it over the chocolate, but it was just right. The coating was very smooth and cracked a little when you bit into the cookie. The only problem was that it was so humid in my house when I made the cookies that the coating didn't set. I'll try the cookies again in the winter and see if the humidity was the issue. </div><br /><div>Assembling the cookies was not too difficult. I used a piping bag with just the coupler to pipe kisses of marshmallows on top of the cooled cookie base. After two hours, I dipped the cookies in the melted chocolate and oil mixture and let them harden (sort of) on a cooling rack. </div><br /><div>The only downside to this recipe was that it made a tonne of cookies....many more than the amount of marshmallow I had. It wasn't a problem though, since the cookies were good enough to eat on their own, and I dipped the extras in chocolate. Delish!</div><br /><div>The dairy substitutions were pretty straight forward with this recipe. Instead of butter I used margarine. </div><br /><div><strong>Mallows(Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)</strong></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Prep Time: 10 min</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Inactive Prep Time: 5 min</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Cook Time: 10 minServes</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">about 2 dozen cookies<br />• 3 cups all purpose flour</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 1/2 cup white sugar</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 1/2 teaspoon salt</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 3 eggs, whisked together</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Homemade marshmallows, recipe follows</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Chocolate glaze, recipe follows<br />1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">2. On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">3. Add the eggs and mix until combine.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">4. Form the dough into a disk, wrap with clingfilm or parchment and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">5. When ready to bake, grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper or a silicon mat.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">7. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 1 to 1 1/2 inches cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">8. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">9. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">10. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">11. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">12. Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">13. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm, about 1 to 2 hours.<br />Note: if you don’t want to make your own marshmallows, you can cut a large marshmallow in half and place on the cookie base. Heat in a preheated 350-degree oven to slump the marshmallow slightly, it will expand and brown a little. Let cool, then proceed with the chocolate dipping.</span> </div><br /><div><strong>Homemade marshmallows:</strong></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 1/4 cup water</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 1/4 cup light corn syrup</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 3/4 cup sugar</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 2 tablespoons cold water</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 2 egg whites , room temperature</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract<br />1. In a saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">2. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">3. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">4. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">5. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.6. Transfer to a pastry bag. </span></div><br /><div><strong>Chocolate glaze:</strong></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">•2 ounces cocoa butter or vegetable oil<br />1. Melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water.</span> </div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-52637043128706079442009-07-17T20:01:00.003-04:002013-06-30T20:57:25.485-04:00Allergy Free Chocolate Cake<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2BpfsP14F_Cz6PmqviIyqygRE-y_tV_7FaGIKpn2zcgN2ZH9p6b6Grn9GxnNSrJyS8D9zoee4Uluv-lYMhSQiPcH8-45j1a8o43TAHXtOg5ZehF0T-TA5l3WQDSNhYbaQ1FYiJDPZiVy/s1600-h/pieandcake+009.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359590295313681554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga2BpfsP14F_Cz6PmqviIyqygRE-y_tV_7FaGIKpn2zcgN2ZH9p6b6Grn9GxnNSrJyS8D9zoee4Uluv-lYMhSQiPcH8-45j1a8o43TAHXtOg5ZehF0T-TA5l3WQDSNhYbaQ1FYiJDPZiVy/s320/pieandcake+009.jpg" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F07%2Fallergy-free-chocolate-cake.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSmEW-i3NjJI%2FAAAAAAAAAF0%2FtfYJaVdYpLQ%2Fs320%2Fpieandcake%2B009.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Allergy%20Free%20Chocolate%20Cake" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a><br /><div>I love cake.....like really love it. Anthony Bordain often speaks of his 'death row' meal, the meal you would request right before you get fried, and I think chocolate cake with whipped cream and strawberries would be just that. In my house we grew up eating (and still eat every birthday) Chuckie's Chocolate Cake. My aunt first introduced my mom to this cake, and it has made many appearances ever since. I'm sure every family has a version of this cake, often called depression cake or whacky cake. It's very simple to make, as it contains ingredients that you have kicking around in your pantry. It also doesn't contain any perishable ingredients like butter, milk or eggs, so it's economical as well! Since it doesn't contain milk or butter, it's deliciously dairy free!</div><br /><div>This cake is very dense (it's wonderful in character pans) and chocolatey and takes no time to make. I have made this as cupcakes and even quadrupled the recipe to make a giant cake. It's very adaptable. I have made this recipe with spelt flour as well as a gluten free flour mixture and they both tasted just like the regular version. It's so easy to make, that you can even mix it right in the pan you are going to bake it in!</div><br /><div>I can no longer have whipped cream, which makes me very sad. Whipped cream and strawberries with cake is the best thing ever. Recently I found a great substitute for whipped cream. <a href="http://www.mapleleaf.ca/ConsumerProducts/AllOtherBrands/OpenBrand.aspx?ID=61%20%20">Nutriwhip</a> is a product that can be whipped just like whipped cream, and it tastes pretty much like whipped cream. I used to use Cool-Whip, but then I found out that there was casein in it. I like Nutriwhip because you can whip the amount you need and put the rest in the fridge. </div><br /><div>The combination of cake, Nutriwhip and fresh local strawberries is the ultimate dessert for me. Once strawberries came into season, I needed my fix!</div><br /><div><strong>Chuckie's Chocolate Cake</strong></div><br /><div>1 1/2 c flour</div><br /><div>1 c packed brown sugar</div><div> </div><div>1/4 c cocoa</div><br /><div>1 teaspoon baking soda</div><br /><div>1/2 teaspoon salt</div><br /><div>1 cup water</div><br /><div>6 tablespoons oil</div><br /><div>1 teaspoon vanilla</div><br /><div>1 tablespoon white vinegar</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>In an 8 inch square pan stir dry ingredients. Make a well. Add wet ingredients and stir until smooth. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.</div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-59027975677493359362009-06-28T17:21:00.002-04:002013-06-30T20:58:55.076-04:00Bakewell Pudding<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRVB1WjtEqNIK8Cn9RTzCCZ1qrY8Zypx55a9D7L3_eGm4PUnue1-0-VwQDP-Srwarem9OOZn67tAcR-DlYw8SAtxLxaTcMPr3QdTfAk41MZfiudAukPur571W_vdOFU7sC9jGzfIg-i8M/s1600-h/summer+2009+048.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5352499834703603202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRVB1WjtEqNIK8Cn9RTzCCZ1qrY8Zypx55a9D7L3_eGm4PUnue1-0-VwQDP-Srwarem9OOZn67tAcR-DlYw8SAtxLxaTcMPr3QdTfAk41MZfiudAukPur571W_vdOFU7sC9jGzfIg-i8M/s320/summer+2009+048.jpg" border="0" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F06%2Fbakewell-pudding.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSkfmPavYZgI%2FAAAAAAAAAFs%2FnnzrtzK31wc%2Fs320%2Fsummer%2B2009%2B048.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Bakewell%20Pudding" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a><br /><div>June's Daring Bakers challenge was a British treat called Bakewell Pudding. It's more of a tart really. Bakewell pudding is a tart shell filled with jam or custard and topped with frangipane, a very light almond cake that is delicious! The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England. At first I wasn't looking forward to making this recipe since it required all of the ingredients to be weighed out. I didn't have a scale, but after I bought one I learned that weighing wasn't so hard. It was actually nice to just dump all of the bowls of pre-measured ingredients into my mixer. It was fast that way, but it did make for a lot of cleaning afterwards! I'm not sure that I'm a convert to weighing my ingredients instead of using cups, but we'll see. I really enjoyed this recipe, and I actually made it twice in the same week! I brought a piece to work to let my dad try it and he like it too. I made it again for him on Father's Day, but this time I added a thin layer of raspberry jam underneath the chocolate tart filling I used. It was even more delicious than my first go around! Raspberries and chocolate go very well together!</div><br /><div>The shortcrust pastry was very easy to assemble thanks to the grated margarine. The recipe calls for grated frozen butter, but I used frozen hard margarine instead. I hadn't used hard margarine in baking before, but it acted just like butter, and tasted very similar too. Grating the butter allowed me to mix the pastry crust as little as possible, which made the crust very flaky and tender. I refridgerated the first crust for about 90 minutes, and the second time for 30 minutes, and I didn't notice much difference. You can definitely make this well ahead of time, but in a pinch you can make it last minute too! I didn't have any almond extract, so I used vanilla instead. When it came time to roll out the pastry, I used my dad's method of rolling it out between two sheets of wax paper. Doing it this way ensures that the pastry won't stick and you can plop the pastry over the pan and peel back the wax paper. This also eliminates the need for a dusting of flour, which can make the pastry tough.</div><br /><div>The frangipane was very easy to make. I threw all of the pre-measured ingredients into my mixer as suggested in the recipe and it turned out well. I didn't have the curdling issue that some people had. I don't know what I did differently, but it came out very smooth. For this recipe I used regular tub margarine instead of butter because it is much softer than the stick margarine. I used vanilla extract instead of almond. I'm glad I did, since almond extract is pretty overpowering, and I'm not a huge almond fan. Although this recipe called for a fair amount of almond meal, it wasn't almondy at all. </div><br /><div>For the filling I used a recipe for chocolate tart filling from the <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chocolate-tart-recipe/index.html">Food Network's Tyler Florence</a>. The recipe on Daring Bakers said to use jam or curd as a filling, but there was no way I could pass up chocolate. I halved the recipe, since it would have been way too much after the addition of the frangipane. I had to modify this recipe a bit since it called for heavy cream and milk. I used my usual soy milk, and thickened it just a touch with corn starch. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, which may have helped thicken the mixture since chocolate chips contain an ingredient that helps them hold their shape when heated. The chocolate filling was so smooth and creamy and it was an excellent compliment to the buttery crust and sweet almond topping. </div><br /><div>I assembled my tart using a 10 inch tart pan. I rolled out the pastry and placed it in the pan and froze it for a good 30 minutes. The second time I made the tart I put a thin layer of melted jam in the tart shell and froze it that way. It helped keep the chocolate and jam from mixing together. After the shell was nicely chilled, I poured the chocolate tart filling in and then topped it with the frangipane. If I was to make this recipe again (which I probably will) I will freeze the chocolate filling in the shell before spooning on the frangipane. Since the chocolate was very liquid, it rose above the frangipane. It wasn't a huge problem, but I would have liked to be able to smooth the frangipane with an off set spatula to make it nice and smooth without the tart filling pouring out.</div><br /><div>I really enjoyed this recipe. It is a very light and tasty dessert that is perfect for summer time! Below is the recipe with my modifications in red.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Bakewell Pudding</strong></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Makes one 23cm (9” tart) <span style="color:#ff0000;">I used a 10 inch pan</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Resting time: 15 minutes</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Baking time: 30 minutes</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">rolling pin<br />One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Bench flour <span style="color:#ff0000;">I used two sheets of wax paper for rolling, so this wasn't needed.</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability<span style="color:#ff0000;"> I used chocolate tart filling instead.</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">One handful blanched, flaked almonds<span style="color:#ff0000;"> Omitted because they are gross.</span><br /><strong>Assembling the tart</strong></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.<br />Preheat oven to 200C/400F.<br />Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.<br />The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.<br />When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Sweet shortcrust pastry<br /></strong>Prep time: 15-20 minutes</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film<br />225g (8oz) all purpose flour</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">30g (1oz) sugar</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">2.5ml (½ tsp) salt</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)<span style="color:#ff0000;"> I used the same quantity of hard margarine</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">2 (2) egg yolks</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)<span style="color:#ff0000;"> I used vanilla instead</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water <span style="color:#ff0000;">I needed more like 4 tablespoons for some reason.</span><br />Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.<br />Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.<br />Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Frangipane</strong><br />Prep time: 10-15 minutes</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula<br />125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened<span style="color:#ff0000;"> I used soft tub margarine</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">125g (4.5oz) icing sugar</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">3 (3) eggs</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract <span style="color:#ff0000;">I used vanilla</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">125g (4.5oz) ground almonds</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">30g (1oz) all purpose flour<br />Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour <span style="color:#ff0000;">(light yellow. Such a lame way to describe yellow colour)</span> and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></div><br /><div></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-44203685472302338362009-06-15T22:00:00.004-04:002013-06-30T20:31:35.976-04:00Funnel Cakes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1I-tipLwrfhFO7DmHD-GvjKontsSlHSaK_ZiPTvA93v164RlDRLIueQhzcTCbLl8B_iNwoBXvwKwcDfvXTHcfOd-3zbH9w-h955UIV6OjEhUE3L_lRHs_btKZHyJjQYJ8yHx6I6O5vft/s1600-h/funnelcake+012.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347742011859953282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 258px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG1I-tipLwrfhFO7DmHD-GvjKontsSlHSaK_ZiPTvA93v164RlDRLIueQhzcTCbLl8B_iNwoBXvwKwcDfvXTHcfOd-3zbH9w-h955UIV6OjEhUE3L_lRHs_btKZHyJjQYJ8yHx6I6O5vft/s320/funnelcake+012.jpg" border="0" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F06%2Ffunnel-cakes.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSjb_BrdYZoI%2FAAAAAAAAAFk%2FHj4yWHDsMts%2Fs320%2Ffunnelcake%2B012.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Funnel%20Cakes" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a>
<br /><div>While looking for recipes on Martha Stewart a few weekends ago, Paul glanced over at my screen just a post about funnel cakes scrolled by. He asked me if I could make them, since he hadn't had a funnel cake in a long time, so I took that as a challenge. We were also helping a friend mark some science tests that night while watching a hockey game, so a treat would be nice.</div><br /><div>I googled funnel cake recipes, and <a href="http://www.momswhothink.com/cake-recipes/funnel-cake-recipe.html">this recipe</a> from the blog Moms Who Think caught my eye. It was pretty simple and contained ingredients that I already had on hand. </div><br /><div>I know funnel cakes probably aren't the healthiest thing to eat, since they are fried and are sugary, but a treat is necessary every now and then. To cut down on the artery clogging goodness of this recipe, I used a frying pan and put a very thin layer of canola oil in it. This is the same method I have used in the past to make my doughnuts. It worked very well. I used a piping bag with a fairly small round tip to create the funnel pattern, since the batter was thicker than I thought it would be. I made little swirly patterns in the oil, making sure that all my squiggles touched in some way so it would be easy to remove from the pan. After they were cooked to a golden brown, we dusted them with powdered sugar and enjoyed!</div><br /><div>For this recipe I used soymilk instead of regular milk, and no one could tell the difference. I hadn't had a funnel cake in a really long time, since you can never really be sure what they contain when you eat them at an amusement park (and I doubt the person making them knows what goes in them anyway). These were definitely best the day they were made. We ate some the day after and they turned pretty hard, but they were still tasty!</div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-89569874955213988682009-05-31T21:06:00.005-04:002013-06-30T21:02:10.769-04:00Lemongrass Beef and Noodles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_rCSy7ZDIT-vacpY4gfV13ei38VhOmFKcoWI-dxC3lXfR78WRnVZ_sQK1ONYs2umzxhg9hOEaGlXKGisGd_s27FQ_zjOj-p-mmydQR1Q2bFA2wugQblGzRXDThrGluSzu8RfSicqRADx/s1600/IMG_2660-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje_rCSy7ZDIT-vacpY4gfV13ei38VhOmFKcoWI-dxC3lXfR78WRnVZ_sQK1ONYs2umzxhg9hOEaGlXKGisGd_s27FQ_zjOj-p-mmydQR1Q2bFA2wugQblGzRXDThrGluSzu8RfSicqRADx/s320/IMG_2660-2.jpg" width="320" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F05%2Flemongrass-beef-and-noodles.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-0OdFkUknJd8%2FT1vBOKdid7I%2FAAAAAAAAANI%2FioHGt8EVaNI%2Fs320%2FIMG_2660-2.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Lemongrass%20Beef%20and%20Noodles" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a></div><br />
<div>Tonight for supper I made a Martha Stewart recipe that I have had success with before. I love Martha, don't get me wrong, but sometimes her recipes just suck. I don't know if they don't test them enough, or they have their ingredient proportions wrong or what, but often times they just bomb. <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/lemongrass-beef-skewers?lnc=4ef2dc5bfca40110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=cf_link">Lemongrass beef skewers </a>are pretty yummy and easy to make and both times I made them they turned out really well. The beef is served with <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/rice-noodles-with-scallions-and-herbs?lnc=6f79cf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD&rsc=cf_link">rice noodles with scallions and herbs. </a></div><br />
<div></div><div>These two recipes are pretty easy to make and can be made in about 40 minutes. For the beef recipe you are supposed to skewer the beef on bamboo skewers before you cook them, but both times I made this I didn't skewer them and they turned out just fine. I also don't have a grill pan, so I used a frying pan. The first time I made the recipe I couldn't find lemongrass anywhere. I don't know if it was the time of year or what, but no grocery store around me had it. Eventually I found a tube of squeezable lemongrass, so that had to do. This time around I found lemongrass in my local grocery store. I didn't know what to expect with this ingredient as I had never seen it before. It kind of looks like a stick, and when you cut it open it smells just like lemons. I did make a few omissions/substitutions in this meal. The thought of fish sauce makes me want to hurl, so I used soy sauce instead. I also omitted the cucumber and mint, since cucumbers are gross and I don't like mint in savoury dishes. </div><br />
<div></div><div>The rice noodles are very easy to make. The vermicelli noodles only need 4 minutes to cook and have to sit until they are cool, so you can make them well in advance. For this recipe I couldn't find a Thai bird chile, so I used red pepper flakes. It probably wasn't the intended method of spicyness, but it tasted fine. I think Martha overestimates the produce selection at your local grocery store. Maybe bird chiles can be found in Bedford, New York, but not Ottawa! I omitted the fish sauce in this recipe as well and used soy sauce instead. </div><br />
<div></div><div>This meal is a nice change from our usually chicken and rice/potato combination. The beef has a nice flavour from being marinated in the lemongrass mixture and is delicious when wrapped up in Boston lettuce leaves. I look forward to eating this meal again for lunch at work! This recipe is both dairy free and gluten free if you use a gluten free soy sauce. </div><br />
<div></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-9683541962806780782009-05-27T19:49:00.003-04:002013-06-30T21:05:46.633-04:00Apple Strudel<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VXLpJjEJQP5kTPT2WpRMX13USLh_NAbltp409Y19P89ceWeziwY1KKz6DLxuJvhF7MvpUWM85uAb-MV_1lyzRlViagO36_dxlsO1L-KoW6VFjsHiGpEnaTq70kicCgVtaAkMboRNSW20/s1600-h/studelandchocolate+010.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340660860368662418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VXLpJjEJQP5kTPT2WpRMX13USLh_NAbltp409Y19P89ceWeziwY1KKz6DLxuJvhF7MvpUWM85uAb-MV_1lyzRlViagO36_dxlsO1L-KoW6VFjsHiGpEnaTq70kicCgVtaAkMboRNSW20/s320/studelandchocolate+010.jpg" border="0" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F05%2Fapple-strudel.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FSh3WwagbL5I%2FAAAAAAAAAFU%2F0_zBzQhHV24%2Fs320%2Fstudelandchocolate%2B010.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Apple%20Strudel" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a><br /><div>A few months ago I joined a baking site called <a href="http://thedaringkitchen.com/">The Daring Kitchen</a>. On this site you can sign up to participate in monthly baking and cooking challenges. I was really excited to start, as this website would challenge my baking skills as well as my ability to adapt the recipes to be dairy free. After waiting to get approved, I was ready to start my first challenge.<br />The challenge for the month of May was Apple Strudel. It was pretty easy to make, but it took a while. First you make a fairly plain dough that has hardly any ingredients and let it sit for 90 minutes. Right before I rolled out the dough I toasted the breadcrumbs and peeled and cut the apples. I used Granny Smith apples since they are my favourite. The dough has to be stretched to 3x2, which seemed like it would be impossible, but it was really easy. The dough stretches under it's own weight, so no rolling pin was needed. All I did was hold it until it stretched and then Paul helped me stretch it to the size needed. From what I read, strudel dough when stretched should be thin enough to read a love letter through. Mine certainly was! The recipe says to use a cloth to stretch the dough out on. I didn't have a table cloth or anything to use, so I thought wax paper would be fine. WRONG! It stuck so bad that I had to throw the whole lot out. I started again, but this time I used a bedsheet and it worked perfectly!<br />I don't know if I would make this recipe again. It was delicious, but time consuming and I was pissed when I had to throw out the dough (even though it was my fault, not the recipe's). My dad suggested that instead of breadcrumbs I use graham cracker crumbs. That would be a good combination. In this recipe the only thing I had to substitute was margarine in place of the butter. I also omitted the rum and raisins, since raisins are nasty. If I was to make this recipe again, I think I would add more cinnamon.<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:85%;">Apple strudelfrom “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">2 tablespoons golden rum</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">3 tablespoons raisins</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, divided</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">strudel dough (recipe below)</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">2 pounds tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (I used Granny Smith)</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.<br />2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.<br />3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.<br />4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.<br />5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Strudel doughfrom “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers<br /></strong>1 1/3 cups unbleached flour</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1/8 teaspoon salt</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">7 tablespoons water, plus more if needed</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.<br />2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).<br />3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.<br />4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.</span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;color:#ffffff;">The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.</span></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7693916510746992735.post-25439449627562778002009-05-19T21:27:00.002-04:002013-06-30T21:08:20.936-04:00Molten Chocolate Cakes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ScqC-2TzDVvx7dlmmuEOOKsPx42ISa4p7_DxKc3GYXxNMfvSDlHTf2vBEJXua1ZzHyJ0yVcGoGQ_BOYFwUfbuqF72DpVmzEpyiszuF4KL10zk3YI1qVxaY-mNzzWuqkPsPuUq53UF0As/s1600-h/studelandchocolate+004.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337716579931257234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ScqC-2TzDVvx7dlmmuEOOKsPx42ISa4p7_DxKc3GYXxNMfvSDlHTf2vBEJXua1ZzHyJ0yVcGoGQ_BOYFwUfbuqF72DpVmzEpyiszuF4KL10zk3YI1qVxaY-mNzzWuqkPsPuUq53UF0As/s320/studelandchocolate+004.jpg" border="0" /><a href="//pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdeliciouslydairyfree.blogspot.ca%2F2009%2F05%2Fmolten-chocolate-cakes.html&media=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_KwRG_IDpgLs%2FShNg8vKD-ZI%2FAAAAAAAAAFM%2Fd38Y97fb09g%2Fs320%2Fstudelandchocolate%2B004.jpg&description=Deliciously%20Dairy%20Free-%20Molten%20Chocolate%20Cakes" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="above"><img src="//assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><script type="text/javascript" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js"></script></a><br /><div><a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.fc77a0dbc44dd1611e3bf410b5900aa0/?vgnextoid=9e39ab224190f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&rsc=header_6&autonomy_kw=molten+chocolate+cake">Molten chocolate cakes</a> are my go to dessert when I can't think of what to make when company is coming. They look like a lot of work, but they are really easy. You can even make them in advance and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to have dessert. The ingredients are pretty simple and I usually have them on hand.</div><br /><div>I recently made these for Mother's Day since my whole family loves chocolate. When I went to find the bittersweet chocolate, I noticed that I only had two squares left. The box also said that they contain milk ingredients, so I was really bummed. I really wanted to make them, but I didn't want to risk feeling sick. I found a bar of 70% cocoa chocolate and used that and topped the rest up with chocolate chips. I was a little nervous about using chocolate chips, but they turned out just fine! As for dairy free substitutions, I used margarine instead of butter and I scrambled to find bittersweet chocolate without milk in it. I guess finding dairy free baking chocolate will be my next mission!</div><br /><div>I got this recipe from Martha Stewart. Her recipes seem to be pretty hit or miss, but this one hasn't failed me yet...even without having the right chocolate! The recipe says it only makes 4, but it makes 6 very nice sized cakes. I couldn't imagine how big 4 would be. I think my muffin cups would overflow with all of that batter in there. I usually serve these with a whipped topping and strawberries. Molten chocolate cakes with strawberries and cream (whipped topping....whatever) are the best way to end a meal with your family and friends!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><em>*Food styling by Mark.</em></div>Stephaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09502413146015296552noreply@blogger.com0