Almond Chocolate Cake: A Gluten-Free Delicious Treat

My daughter bought me a beautiful cookbook last Christmas, Stéphane Raynaud's 365 good reasons to sit down and eat, that included this wonderful gluten-free almond chocolate cake.

When she was about five years old, I asked my daughter what kind of cake she'd like for her birthday party. Without hesitation, she announced that she wanted a flour-less chocolate torte. Very clear where she was taking her food cues from, even at that early stage.

I hadn't yet changed my diet to gluten-free, but always loved the rich, dense quality of a good flour-less torte. I guess I made it often enough that Isabella came to think of this as the norm. Eight years later, she still loves this type of cake. When we were going through the book, and found this recipe, I knew it would be the first thing I made.

It has taken me three-qaurters of a year to get to baking this cake. It was so much fun to try my hand at a completely different version of the flour-less torte than I had ever made before.  The ground almonds (which I didn't grind quite as fine as I should have) keep the cake together and make the cake taste nutty and delicious.

This gluten-free treat takes some time. Do not rush, you have to whip the egg whites and then the yolks, melt the chocolate and the butter, grind the nuts...all the steps should be done at a leisurely pace. Otherwise, you end up like me: running back and forth between the stove and the mixer, dropping ground almond all over the floor, and getting egg yolks on your camera. OK, maybe not the camera part, because I'm assuming that most of you are not shooting each step as you go. But, I think you get my drift. Enjoy the ride.

Up to this point, I've never considered myself much of a baker, but I'm beginning to warm up to it. I love the scientific nature of putting all the right ingredients in the mix and then magically getting a wonderful treat at the end. My favorite part was watching the egg whites froth up into foamy peaks and then settle into this nice soft mounds.

The cake turned out a little soft. I don't think it was baked wrong, or mixed incorrectly. I do think I should have gone with my first instinct and used a springform pan, or a tart pan with a removable bottom. That way, the cake bottom would have been supported the whole time, instead of trying to transfer it to a plate for serving on it's own.

A wonderful dessert for Fall, especially if you serve it with a nice berry jam (that maybe you made back in the summer) and a hot cup of tea.

Chocolate Fondant Cake

from Stéphan Reynaud's 365 good reasons to sit down to eat

Ingredients:

• 9 oz good-quality dark chocolate
• 9 oz butter
• 4 eggs, separated
• 3 1/2 oz sugar
• 1 cup gorund almonds
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 315 degrees F.
2. Melt the chocolate with the butter in a double boiler.
3. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks.
4. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until they become pale and frothy.
5. Add the chocolate mixture, ground almonds and cornstarch.
6. Gently fold in the egg whites with a spatula.
7. Butter and flour a tin (note: I lined a nine inch round pan with waxed paper).
8. Pour in the chocolate mixture, cook in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Cook the Book: Gluten-Free Cinnamon Butter Puffs

Better than beignets, these cinnamon butter puffs really knocked my socks off.

In this installment of our Cook The Book project, we are covering quick breads from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book. There are six of us participating in the project: Rachel of Ode to Goodness, Sammy of Rêve du Jour, Emily of The Bon Appetit Diaries, Aimee of Homemade Trade and Claudie of The Bohemian Kitchen.

After my wonderful cinnamon buns, I was prepared to commit at least eight hours to making these. The butter puffs were made, start to finish in just over thirty minutes. They came out of the oven just as we finished eating dinner, so instead of these being a breakfast treat, we ate them as desert.

This perfect marriage of sugar and spice yields moist, fluffy muffins with a kick of nutmeg. The gluten-free flour mix I used did not take away from the fluffiness of the muffins, which was my main concern. My daughter loved the flavor and texture of them so much that even after I told her they were gluten-free, she said they tasted just right.

Enjoy with tea, cafe au lait or hot chocolate. The lip-licking coating and the downy interior elevate these muffins beyond traditional breakfast offerings.

You may also want to give these fig, ham and butter sandwiches from the same book.

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Butter Puffs

adapted from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup shortening (I used butter instead, same measurement)
• 1/2 cup suger (less if desired)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups flour (I used Gluten-Free Pantry's Baking Mix)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 cup milk

Topping:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar combined with 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Meethod:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the muffin tins.
2. Put the shortening (or butter), sugar, and egg in a mixing bowl. Beat well.
3. Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg and add to the first mixture.
4. Pour in the milk and beat until blended and smooth.
5. Fill the muffin tins about two-thirds full.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden.
7. For the topping, have the melted butter ready in a bowl that is just large enough to hold one puff.
8. Have a shallow bowl nearby with the combined sugar and cinnamon.
9. As soon as the puffs are done, remove them from the pan and dip them one by one into the melted butter, and then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Glazed Cinnamon Rolls from The Breakfast Book

Glazed cinnamon rolls are so very tasty. Welcome to the first installment of my very first Cook the Book. The idea here is that I will cook a recipe every other week from Marion Cunnigham's The Breakfast Book. I'll give you a flavor of what the book is like and will inspire you to cook up some of the tasty breakfast treats yourself.

Up first is a very good glazed cinnamon roll recipe. I'm not much of a baker. I fully acknowledge my shortcomings in this area. The requirement to follow an actual recipe with precise measurements is next to impossible for me. I've been at this recipe since 7:30am this morning. The rolls went into the oven at 5:15pm. To be fair, the dough rested for six hours in the refrigerator.

I chose to do the cinnamon rolls because I have the fondest of memories of Gran Fran whipping these up for us on weekends. I now have an even greater respect for the process she went through to give us fresh baked pastries. Gran Fran was known for being up at all hours of the day and night cooking and baking. I'd come home well after midnight to be greeted with the smell of beef stew or foccacia bread with garlic and rosemary. Gran Fran was to be found somewhat asleep, sitting up on the couch with the TV on. She'd awake with a start saying "Oh, I was just resting my eyes. Let me make you a plate." It was never asked as a question. It was a given that when you came in she'd feed you.

Why'd I wander off on that tangent? Because I just figured out that she must've been up making the dough so it could rest in the fridge overnight to be ready for baking soon after we got up. I wasn't that smart. Isabella will be having cinnamon rolls as her dessert tonight (with many more leftover for breakfast). Regardless of when we eat them, they are amazing, and I am proud to say that I made my first successful batch of glazed cinnamon rolls (it only took me 42 years!).

As per Isabella's instructions, I made one dozen with the glaze and dusted one dozen with cinnamon-sugar.

I'm doing this project along with five other wonderful food bloggers: Rachel of Ode to Goodness, Sammy of Rêve du Jour, Emily of The Bon Appetit Diaries, Aimee of Homemade Trade and Claudie of The Bohemian Kitchen.Click on through to their sites to see which recipes from the Yeast Breads chapter they made.

Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book, copyright 1987, Alfred A. Knopf

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 package dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon plus 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, chilled [I used unsalted, recipe didn't specify]
• 3 eggs yolks
• 1 cup milk

Filling Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted [I used unsalted, recipe didn't specify]
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature [I used unsalted, recipe didn't specify]
• 1 tablespoon water (a trifle more mat be needed to make a manageable glaze)

Method:

1. Put the warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast over. Add 1 teaspoon sugar, stir, and let dissolve for 5 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl stir together the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and salt with a fork to mix them well.
3. Cut the butter into pieces the size of small grapes and add to the flour mixture.
4. Using either you hands or a pastry blender, rub or cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is distributed and there are coarse little lumps of butter throughout.
5. Stir in the yeast mixture, the egg yolks, and the milk. Beat until blended [I used my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer with a dough hook].
6. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator at least 6 hours (this dough can be refrigerated for 12 to 14 hours).
7. Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured board, roll out half the dough into a rectangle about 10 by 12 inches.
8. Spread 2 tablespoons of the melted butter over the rectangle.
9. Mix the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar and the 1 teaspoon cinnamon together in a small bowl. Sprinkle half the sugar mixture evenly over the rectangle.
10. Starting with the wide side, roll up the rectangle like a jelly roll. Divide the roll into 12 pieces by first cutting the roll into 4 equal portions, the cutting each portion into 3.
11. Put the rolls cut side down in a greased muffin tin. Repeat these steps with the other half of the dough.
12. Cover loosely and let rise for 1 hour.
13. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes
14. Remove the rolls and out them on a rack set over a piece of waxed paper.
15. To make the glaze, sift the confectioners' sugar into a small bowl, then beat in the butter and water until smooth.
16. Spoon a little of the glaze one reach roll while still hot.

Winner, Chicken Dinner.

We ate lots of chicken growing up, but Gran Fran got hers from a butcher. A nice, old place, run by a bunch of (as I recall her saying) good looking German men. They'd always give me a mini hot dog while they got our order together.

The quality of the meat Gran Fran bought (and still does) raised all of us with the taste for only the best. She generally stuck to chicken breasts, sometimes legs if there was frying going on, or whole chickens for roasting.

As an adult, therefore, Chicken thighs were a revelation to me. I get the feeling that using Chicken thighs vs some fancier part of the chicken, ranked up there with buying inferior meat products, in Gran Fran's world. Because the flavor and moistness of thighs is sooooo good, I am straying from the Gran Fran and using Chicken thighs a lot.

The recipe featured here only takes about 30 minutes to marinate, saute and then bake, so it's an excellent weeknight meal. I made it for a friend, and served my daughter (remember Ms Iz?) some of the leftovers. Being somewhat cautious about sauces and flavors, I worried Ms Iz would not eat it. But, to my joy, she loved it and has asked me to make it again.

Goes to show, I should probably make the 12 year old eat more sauces....

Chicken Thighs with Oregano, Honey, Mustard and Lemon

• 8 chicken thighs
• 2 tbsps Honey
• 1 tbsp Mustard
• 1/2 cup Olive Oil, plus more for sauteeing
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• 2 cloves Garlic, sliced thinly
• 1/4 tsp Dried Oregano
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup White Wine or Dry Vermouth

Method

• In a large non-reactive(!) bowl, place honey, mustard, olive oil, one half of the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. 
• Stir until all ingredients are mixed well.
• Add chicken thighs. Using your hands, thoroughly cover the chicken with the marinade.
• Set aside for five minutes (if you have more time, you can let it sit for as long as you'd like).
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Once chicken has marinated for as long as you have, heat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat.
• Add oil when the pan is good and hot.
• Place chicken thighs skin side down onto pan. Pour remaining marinade over chicken.
• Do not disturb them for five to eight minutes, until you see the side of the skin curling up a bit.
• Move thighs to one side of pan, add garlic slices and quickly turn over the thighs to rest on top of the garlic.
• Squeeze remaining one half lemon juice over top of the chicken.
• Remove pan from flame.
• Add white wine or vermouth, trying to pour it underneath the chicken, so as to not soak the skin side.
• Sprinkle oregano, salt and pepper over the chicken.
• Place pan in preheated oven and bake for twelve more minutes, until meat is cooked through and juices run clear.

Enjoy!