thanksgiving wrap-up -- cranberry breads!

Our internet was out most of the day on Wednesday so instead of telling you about the cranberry breads I planned to make, or telling you that I posted a Thanksgiving article at Gluten-Free Works, I spent the day making a This-Isn't-Really-How-Pilgrims-Dressed dress for Muffin:

So now I will give a summary of my Thanksgiving cooking: Yum.

We were invited to a potluck dinner with some friends and our contribution was rice and cranberry bread. I cheated a bit and had my housekeeper make a rice pilaf (from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook) while I made the cranberry breads.

Earlier in the week I tried a cranberry apricot nut cake from Anja's Food 4 Thought. There's no flour in it and if you use unsugared dried fruit then it's sugar-free as well. I had to substitute some of the nuts and I used cranberries that I'd brought back from the United States with us last summer. Ocean Spray Craisins can be found here sometimes, but I didn't want the expense and the inconsistent supply chain to keep me from making cranberry bread at Thanksgiving so I've been saving them to use since September. Anja calls for a mix of pecan and hazelnuts, but I haven't seen hazelnuts here in months so I used all pecans -- which hadn't been around for a few weeks and miraculously arrived on the shelves last Sunday. I bought enough to get me through Christmas. You could fool around substituting different fruits and nuts. (I bought some amazing dates this week, too, that would be good.)

Muffin and I ate most of that cake, which was evidence enough that it would be a good Thanksgiving dish. I had chopped and pre-measured the fruits and nuts when I made the first loaf so on Thursday morning I could make a fresh loaf in less time.

For my second bread I went back and forth on whether I should add cranberries to either the Pamela's baking mix banana bread or zucchini bread recipes. I went with the banana bread. I know the recipe by heart so it was quick to make on Thursday morning. I made it as muffins to ensure it cooked evenly and to save time and mess from having to cut it up.

Muffin tossed all breads and muffins aside once she got her first taste of turkey. Last Thanksgiving she was too young for real food. This year she inhaled the turkey off my plate and took a few bites of mashed potatoes, rice pilaf, and broccoli as well. We thought giving her a turkey leg to play with would make a funny photograph and we were surprised to see her bite right into it. She is definitely a Thanksgiving eater.

banana date muffins with coconut oil

I'm in love with coconut oil. I'd been hearing about its magical properties in the removal of Holi paints and this morning as I was rubbing it on Muffin's head, hungry from the toasted coconut smell, I started wondering how I can cook with it. I was going to make banana bread today anyway... could I replace the butter with coconut oil?

Before answering that question, I had to make sure the coconut oil I used was marked "edible." Coconut oil is used in women's hair here and the hair oil is a different grade than the cooking oil.

I pulled out my trusty Pamela's baking mix and got to work.

4 tablespoons coconut oil
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups Pamela's baking mix
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup golden syrup (You can also use granulated sugar or honey, but golden syrup is another new obsession of mine.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup ripe, mashed banana
1/2 cup chopped dates (You can substitute nuts or another dried fruit if you prefer.)

Mix it all up and spoon into oiled or paper-lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 F / 175 C for about fifteen minutes, until edges start to turn golden and a toothpick comes out clean. My yield was about fifteen muffins, but the muffin papers I've found here a a bit smaller than the usual ones found in the United States.

These were soft and tasty-warm-delicious right out of the oven, and they kept their softness and moisture for a couple days. They are oh-so-yummy, rich with the coconut and banana flavors. I'd love to try dried mango for a full-on tropical muffin.

The answer is yes, I can replace butter with coconut oil, at least in this recipe.

Muffin enjoys her muffin.

(Recipe modified from the banana loaf recipe found on the Pamela's baking mix package.)

carrot cake

I was looking forward to the abundance of carrots in my produce delivery this week because for some reason I had a hankerin' for carrot cake. I can't remember the last time I ate carrot cake. It's not something I usually crave, but I have always loved the cream cheese icing.

I found a recipe in one of my gluten-free baking books and I was so diligent about making sure I had all the ingredients on my shopping list when I went to the store earlier this week. It uses some exotic flours, like almond meal and teff, which I have in my pantry. It calls for fava bean flour but I figured I could substitute with soy flour, which is easier to get on short notice. I cleared a few hours yesterday afternoon so I could hunker down in the kitchen. Opened my book and... I didn't have enough eggs. The recipe calls for 4 and I only had 3. Shoot.

I looked through 6 of my cooking and baking books. I could always do a Fanny Farmer and substitute the regular flour with my gf flour mix. The Fanny Farmer calls for a lot of ingredients though. Better Homes and Gardens calls for 4 eggs. This one calls for too many eggs. That one uses ingredients I don't have on hand. I was ready to give up hope.

Then I cracked open a book I hadn't used before. Some friends from New Zealand gave us a cookbook as a wedding present, Edmonds Classics: New Zealanders' Favourite Recipes. Much like the Betty Crocker cookbooks of yesteryear (which I love and have several from the 60s), it centers around Edmonds brand baking soda and other specific brands of flour and other ingredients. It has all the kitsch of the Betty Crocker books, plus the added quaintness of being from New Zealand.

Not only does the Edmonds carrot cake recipe use only 3 eggs, but it uses two other elements I was sad to give up if I had to use a recipe other than the one I originally wanted to use: pineapple and a bundt pan. Pineapples and bundt pans are so fancy! They turn any old cake into a celebration.

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup Amco canola oil
2 cups Champion standard grade flour
1 tsp Edmonds baking powder
1 tsp Edmonds baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups grated carrots
3/4 cup (225 g can) drained unsweetened crushed pineapple
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp grated orange zest (optional)

Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a deep 20 cm ring tin. Line base with baking paper. Beat together eggs and sugar for 5 minutes until thick. Add oil and beat for 1 minute. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Combine carrot, pineapple, walnuts and orange zest. Fold into egg mixture. Fold in dry ingredients. Spoon mixture into prepared tin. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave in tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. When cold, spread with Cream Cheese Icing and garnish with orange zest and coconut.

The handy conversion table in the front of the book told me that 180 C is about 350 F. I did not check my bundt pan to see if it was anywhere near the size of a "20 cm ring tin." I figured it was roughly the same shape and I'd keep a close eye on it while it's in the oven.

For the New Zealand brand ingredients, obviously, use whatever counterparts you'd normally use. Of course I used Bob's Red Mill GF All-Purpose Baking Flour. I also used chopped pecans instead of walnuts because I like them better. I had the orange zest on hand so I added it. The can of pineapple I had said 227 grams, but after draining I assumed it would be close enough. (I reserved the juice in case I needed to make the batter moister.)

This was not a quick recipe for me. I'm slow in the kitchen. First I sifted together my dry ingredients, then I grated the carrots--by hand--and put the carrot mixture together. Then I turned on the oven, greased the pan (I didn't use paper because my pan is rounded), and got the eggs-sugar mixture going.

It was at this point I learned that you should not stick a rubber spatula into a KitchenAid Mixer while it's turned on. A kitchen angel must have been watching me because thankfully the damage was minimal. I think the worst part was the awful clanking sound as the whisk went awry and the bowl popped off the stand. Mike came running into the kitchen, certain I had chopped my fingers off or something. But not even any eggs-sugar had spilled! Mike was able to bend the whisk back into useable shape and I learned a very valuable lesson.

The rest of the mixing went quickly. The batter poured easily into my bundt pan and I put it in the oven. Somewhere between 40 and 45 minutes I checked it, and it was golden brown on top and the toothpick came out clean so I took it out. It slid from the pan gracefully and looked so pretty! Nice and golden brown.

This morning I made the icing. I used the cream cheese icing that goes with the carrot cake recipe I had planned on using in the Best-Ever Wheat- and Gluten-Free Baking Book. This book lists the ingredients for the icing but forgot the instructions.

3 oz (85 g) GF cream cheese, softened
2 cups (200 g) GF confectioners' sugar
2 Tbs (30 ml) milk
1 tsp almond flavoring or extract

I put the cream cheese, milk, and almond extract into my mixing bowl, started it up, and added the sugar gradually. This made a thick frosting. I wanted a thin, drizzly icing so I added quite a bit of water until I got the consistency I wanted.

As I was spooning the icing over the cake, Mike said, "Wow, that looks like a picture!" This cake is so pretty and so delicious that it might have to make an appearance at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I think carrot cake is a recipe that works well with the gluten-free "translation" because the carrots and the pineapple make the batter very moist. Moisture is always a factor in gluten-free baking. I did not need to add the reserved pineapple juice--this batter was perfect.

This icing and cake combination is perfect. This is a very understated, mild carrot cake, and the small dose of super-sweet icing complements it perfectly. I guess it turned out to be serendipitous that I didn't have enough eggs for the recipe I first wanted to use, which has more spice and sugar. Mike's always claimed he hates carrot cake, but he likes this one.

**Dairy-free if you omit the cream cheese icing.

rosemary butter cookies

It's likely that we'll be moving within the next 6 months to a year and I've decided that my several years' worth of Martha Stewart magazines is baggage that doesn't need to move with me again. I've been going through them ripping out some of my favorite crafts and recipes. When this one caught my eye last night I said to myself, "Hmmm, I have about 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary that needs to be used up soon. Why not?" I can't find this exact recipe online. I think it might actually have come from one of the Weddings magazines.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup fine sanding sugar

1. Put butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer; mix on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add flour, rosemary, and salt; mix on low speed until incorporated.

2. Divide dough in half; shape each piece into a log. Place each log on a 12-by-16-inch sheet of parchment. Roll in parchment to 1-1/2 inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of parchment at each turn to narrow log and force out air. Transfer to paper-towel tubes. Freeze 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll logs in sanding sugar; slice 1/4 inch thick. Arrange 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Bake until edges are golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool.

Makes about 5 dozen.

I used Bob's Red Mill GF All-Purpose Baking Flour. And I'm never certain when I should be sifting before measuring and when I should be sifting after. I chose after. And I used a Martha trick of stirring it with a whisk rather than pushing it through a sifter. In place of sanding sugar, which sounds very fancy-shmancy, I found that the Trader Joe's Organic Evaporated Cane Juice Sugar is fine enough for the job.

My cookies don't look as pretty as Martha's. I didn't understand the instructions about the ruler, and looking at the accompanying picture in the magazine didn't help to explain it at all. So they're sort of squiggly around the edges rather than smoothly round. Also, the first batch is a little over-done. I think I sliced them too thin. They're dry, but in a yummy shortbread kind of way.

The taste is buttery delicious! And the rosemary makes them seem so classy, like they should be served with high tea. File under "in case the queen comes to lunch."