Sheryl D

Been awhile since I last posted - crazy around here, but here are a few things we have played with lately... My son's birthday cake. Bottom tier is gluten-free chocolate cake with peanut butter filling and vanilla buttercream. Middle layer is vanilla cake with chocolate fudge filling, vanilla buttercream. Moon is chocolate cake with chocolate fudge filling and vanilla cocoa buttercream. Marshmallow fondant (my kids like it, even if it isn't as easy to work with). All figures are fondant or modeling chocolate. Moon rocks are sponge candy. Christmas dessert was an entrement, with gingerbread sponge, eggnog mousse, caramel creme brulee insert, white chocolate ginger sesame feuillete. Walnut citrus marzipan mushrooms. Gluten free of course. Prickly pear gelee, lime mousse cake, gluten free almond sponge. Candied coconut pecan. Savory, but gluten free artisan bread using some new methods Cinnamon roll pancakes - yes gluten free Also recently did plated dessert of coconut shortbread, banana scented pear coconut frangipagne dessert, with kinako ice cream. Vegan refined sugar free pecan sorbet with apple crisp for a friend on a cleanse diet.

Christmas breakfast: Cinnamon pancakes with either cream cheese frozen yogurt or cream cheese drizzle. Christmas late lunch: Our tradition is Mexican inspired food. Our kids are attached to it! First course: jicama, citrus, crab salad in a lime dressing. Main course: We have a leg of lamb we will do something with - I think long braised or sous vide with guajillo chili reduction. Some root veggies roasted, or maybe something fancier. My husband is working through the main course. Dessert: Yule Log Entrement, Gingerbread sponge, eggnog mousse, chocolate feuillete, white chocolate ginger ganache and glaze.

I make coconut pastry cream all the time with UNSWEETENED coconut cream instead of milk. You can you full fat coconut milk too but it can be less coconutty. It will work with other stone fruit, berries and relatively non-acidic fruits. However, some will be more muted than others. I have found roasting peaches helps. Also note that the color of some fruits changes to brown and the pastry cream won't help oxidation for some very vulnerable fruits.

I decided to go for marshmallow fondant given economic tightness. It gave an OK result, but it really sagged with the humidity that day. Overall, it was fun to do. I had intended to be meticulous with cutting straight lines etc. but life was very busy. It was a good lesson on keeping my priorities straight. Instead of straight lines, I spent a bit more time with my one year old. Instead of beautifully tinted fondant, my 9 year old birthday boy got to hand paint it himself - and he couldn't be happier with his work. His friends were thrilled. Kids loved the taste of the fondant and they loved the chocolate lego men. I thought the Anikin from episode 3 was cute, and we also made Mas Windu (forgive my spelling!) I created a coconut frosting based on a southern custard frosting. It was a bit soft for this application I think, although it tasted good. I think in the future I would do a white chocolate cream cheese base. Next up in January - Big Thunder Mountain railroad. This one is less intimidating to me, because it is nature - it's supposed to have imperfections!

Just made some holiday spice florentines (molasses, ginger, cinnamon) and pistachio cherry cardamom florentines. Also made two batches of granola for gifts - one for the kiddos friends with peanuts, mini choco chips, coconut and dried bananas and one tropical with mango, pineapple, macadamia nuts, pecans, coconut. Will be making a GF stollen, and also working on GF laminated dough - haven't decided what to make with it. Kids want a gingerbread house, and they want ice cream coconut snowmen for dessert on Christmas. I have decide about that.

Yogurt - my kids and husband thrive on the stuff. It is easy to make and SOOOO much cheaper (I make 7 quarts at a time - yep 7). Gluten free pizza crusts - also easy to make for my son and cheaper than store bought. Ice cream - because most store bought isn't worth it and I enjoy creating new flavors. Lately I've discovered the ease of making pickled veggies. I might head into that territory soon. Oven dried tomatoes and we freeze beans we cook, but don't can either.

I tried several blends, and even tried some experiments using vodka (which doesn't activate xanthan or starches, leaving the fat to make it more crispy), but the classic worked the best in an actual pie. Gluten free pie crust 1/2 cup brown rice, sorghum or millet flour or almond meal 1/2 cup finely ground white rice flour 1/2 cup corn starch 1/4 cup potato starch 1/4 cup sweet rice flour 2 tablespoon sugar 1/4 t kosher salt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks or grated 1 large egg 2 T ice cold water + more as needed Blend all the flours, sugar and salt together in a food processor. Pulse in the butter until the mixture resembles a course meal. Turn out to a bowl and add egg and 2 T water. Mix, add water as needed. This can be wetter than gluten filled dough because the only thing that will turn chewy here is the sweet rice flour.

Here is the recipe for oat crust based on Christine Tosi's. It would be lovely with pumpkin chiffon. Make sure and use GF rolled oats. I recommend Lara's oats. Bob's Red Mill are are a bit too thick for cookies and crusts.

How about a frozen mousse - chocolate and passion fruit. Or semifreddo. Coconut panna cotta with guava sauce and toasted coconut and macadamia nuts. If you want to go more unique, look into pandan as a flavoring. Really a nice flavor. Or ice cream mochi. Baked alaska with coconut cake. There are so many ice creams you could pair with it. I love the many many tropical fruits - if you have access to them. Sour sop is really good. Ube is also fun with the color. Or do ice cream sandwich for a playful twist. Macadamia nut cookies, stuffed with tropical ice creams.

Mincemeat pie is on the menu - shaken up a bit with dried pineapple and mango mixed in. And kobacha squash pie, with oatmeal crust. All gluten-free for me and my son (Celiac)

I use different combinations of flours depending on what I am baking, fine white rice flour, brown rice flour, corn starch, tapioca starch, millet, almond, coconut, sorghum, and sweet rice are the most common. The exact recipe is on my blog, have to run the kid who missed the bus to school, but i can post it here later today.

My son wants a Jedi temple for a birthday cake. Am I insane? I have made 3D cakes, but the boys have banned me from fondant in the past. This year my son says go for it, but I am a bit intimidated by this one. do you think mmf would work for this? I have made it before for small accents. I was thinking fondant for the sides, paint on the lines, and modeling chocolate for the spires. Last year I did splash mountain, Indiana Jones ruin, and chicken dinner.

Busy baking week: Brown butter apple pie with gluten free crusts (I was playing with different techniques for gluten free crusts). I am not quite sold on browning the butter first. I love browned butter, but I think it gets lost in the pie and just may not be worth it here. The coconut cake I made however with brown butter was worth it. I need to make another one and write up the recipe! Cranberry cream tart with chocolate crust (also gluten free). Mmmm. I really liked this one. And a pear blue cheese souffle. Kids snarfed down two for dinner - yes it is really a dessert, but healthy enough I fed it to them for dinner : ).

Still trying to figure it out, but it will just be my little family this year. Hubby will be working all night the night before and barring any crazy medical emergencies, he should be home for Thanksgiving. But given his potential absence we have ho-hummed about having guests. We also don't have turkey. My kids like about 1 serving and then they are done, if that. My husband hates it, and I am not attached. So... Lamb chops (from the meat CSA), probably crusted with something... Potato and celeriac puree with Roquefort Roasted parsnip and brussel sprouts Pomegranate sweet potatoes Pichet Ong's squash pie with butterscotch whipped cream. By request, but I will make it with a variation on the Crack pie crust. Maybe mincemeat pie - my kids haven't had it and I think they would really love it. We really don't need two pies, but I may not be able to help myself. Of course if I make mincemeat pie, I think I will need to make a great ice cream to go with it. This could be a slippery slope!

We have the SLT saucier and sauce pans. We like them well enough. Our All clads are skillets except for our little sauce pan, and so it is hard to compare. However, we got the SLT at the 40% off sale and couldn't beat the value.