BF Party

[Frische Haus]

OK, I have a b-day party in early March (and June) for my little urchins. I have made in the past a couple of GF DF cakes from recipes posted online and was not impressed with the results.

I recently tried Namaste at WF. Namaste is good but dang it is muy caro. I am also forced to buy some organic box of frosting there (which we also really like-- I can't seem to make on my own even though it just seems to be powdered sugar and whatever your milk or butter sub is...)

Are there any tried and true GF DF cake recipes someone is willing to share?

I will also have to feed lunch to the hordes but I am going to make it simple and have a plate of toxic sandwiches and a tray of GF DF fair.

[Fidissimus]

I like Bob's Red Mill Chocolate cake mix - I use Silk soy milk (very vanilla) and Earth Balance Naturally Buttery Spread.
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Cheers!
Jenn

GF BD: Feb. 2001
Free of wheat, barley, rye, oats, dairy, eggs, almonds, pineapple and brewers yeast.
http://graindamaged.blogspot.com/

[cruelshoes]

If you can get your hands on the book Gluten Free Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts, there are several really great cake recipes in there. The coconut cake and angel food cake stand out for me as really delicious. I don't have the book in front of me now, but i don't believe there is dairy in either of them.
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-Colleen

Where are we going, and what am I doing in this handcart?

[mrsppmrxky]

Here is her website http://www.foodphilosopher.com/assets/docs/recarchall.cfm Go to the recipe for the cupcakes (you can make it as a cake layer if you want) it is #110.

Try using SOY milk. I had good results when I made her recipe with soy. If you use coconut milk, it is pretty dense. I have not used it with Rice milk, so I can't testify to that. I have used goat milk, but if you are avoiding casien, you can't do that. I do know that the SOY was a TNT for me when I did it.

For the icing. Use about 1/2 cup of shortening, some vanilla or whatever flavoring you want, about 1 and 1/2 pounds of powdered sugar......you might have some left over but it will keep in the fridge for up to 10 days. Use either your soy milk (or whatever you use) or if all else you want to use water you can. To cut the sweetness and make it a smooth icing. Add about 9 grains of fine salt to the mix and whip this icing after you get it to the moistness you want. I usually whip mine for about 5 min with the wire whisk. This makes it very light and smooth textured.

Hope you have a success with this. I suggest that you give this a test run before your birthday party so you know if you like it or not. If you like it, find the book at booksamillion or online. It is worth it's weight in gold.

NOTE: Not all of the recipes on the website she has are glutenfree, so make sure you pick and choose wisely.
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[Frische Haus]

Thanks, I'll look for the Bob's in the store if I can't come up with the quintessential homemade cake recipe.

I'll have to make a mental note of the book you are recommending CS. I am on a spending freeze right now. I recently purchased online a GF DF (or CF) Cookbook and I am anxiously awaiting its arrival.

Fid. The new haircut is quite flattering. I recently cropped my locks as well. Ah, ease and simplicity. (Maybe I'll grow it out just a tad.)

[cruelshoes]

Check your local library for cookbooks. I have had great luck with ours. It's a great way to "try it before you buy it".
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-Colleen

Where are we going, and what am I doing in this handcart?

[Frische Haus]

1) So my cookbook arrives in the mail and I'll be darned but the author rather glibly states in the introduction that it is not a "baking" cookbook so that was rather perturbing. I did cull a nice ginger lemon marinade from it for chicken though so all was not lost.

2) I requested from my library 4 of its "newest" cookbooks for GF (and CF when available) cooking. The most recent one was by a C(K)athy Snowball and she jointly authored it with someone else and that one contains wonderful recipes for someone with a lot more time on their hands and a very sophisticated palate.

Then there was one on GF Gourment (?) Dessert Baking and all of her recipes called for use of one of 4 or 5 various mixes that she concocted in her kitchen that each used 4 or 5 different flours. And she talked at length about how to do substitutions and how to make adjustments in your recipes--which to be honest I kind of stop following after the 4th or 5th sentence. (Oh, and most of her recipes also used various "soda pops," which is just not an item in my pantry and I am very suspicous of people who cook with cola.)

However, she did do a nutritional breakout of the flour mixes and the OTC garfava mix stacks up quite well against the wheat. So this made me feel better about my ongoing bulk purchase of BRM All Purpose flour mix from amazon which everyone seems to rate only as "good" in taste and its one main advantage is cost.

3) Anyhow, so I am kind of overwhelmed with baking demands this month and I had to make an apple pie for the husband for his birthday (because of the deluge of cakes in a 1-week period) and I just followed the apple pie recipe in my Joy of Cooking for the pie and the crust and just subbed out the unacceptable flour with my BRM flour and the "butter/shortening" for my earth balance "butter" and viola--pie! I didn't get a complete seal on my top crust but darn I was 70% there. I think I will be a lot closer next time. The cosmetic appearance didn't interfere with the taste factor.

4) I wrote down the cupcake recipe for the next baking effort. I am going to stick with Namaste for Sat. However, to add to my woes the preschool is having me bring in "36" snacks for the actual day of my son's birthday and the mail order book did have a recipe for "gooey popcorn balls" which I think is only just retribution for all of these onerous demands on my leisure time.

[Frische Haus]

The food was a hit.

And this is what I use to make my bread. It is a variation of Aaron Atkinson's submission on allrecipes dot com. I have made at least a baker's dozen of these loaves successfully (pun intended).

GF "White" Bread for Bread Machines

3 eggs
1 tbs vinegar
1/4 c oil
1/4 c honey
1 1/2 c soymilk
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp lechithin
1 tsp guar gum
1 tbs xanthan gum
3 C BRM all purpose flour mix
1/3 c of whatever else is handy usually white rice flour mix
1TBS bread machine yeast

I put my liquids into a little saucepan on the stove until they seem close to lukewarm (except the honey--honey goes right in the breadmachine pan). (I have even errantly cooked the eggs a little with this method and the bread still comes out...)

While warming liquids, measure all dry (except yeast) and do a short whisk to blend. When liquids warm, dump in the pan (with honey), dump in dry liquids. Last item on top is the tbs of yeast.

Bake it on the GF setting for 1.5 loaf at med setting come back in 1 hr 17 minutes and you have fresh bread. Usually let bread sit for half an hour before consuming.


The Namaste chocolate layer cake is just divine. There were only crumbs left. I'll probably order this type of flour blend off of Amazon in the future so I don't have to pay $8 for a "box" cake. They seem to use the brown rice flour/sweet rice mix...

[Frische Haus]

Well, today I tried the recipe that Mrspprx...suggested for Vanilla Cupcakes--and wow!

I made it with BRM All purpose flour mix & since I didn't even have half a c of oil in the house (I used a 1/4 C mix of olive and canola oil + 12 TBS milled flax (first cooking use there).

And they are delicious. It is such a relief to be able to throw something together with ingredients that I have in the house.

We were last-minute deciding to attend another b-day party this afternoon and as I was explaining to the 3 1/2 year old that he couldn't have any cake, he set his jaw trembling and filled his eyes with tears as he explained to me (as if I hadn't a lick of sense) "but I love cake!" Hence, the cupcakes...

You people are lifesavers.