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.

Saveur Magazine's Torta Pisticcina, Chestnut Flour Tart

Hello? How excited was I to find a recipe that uses chestnut flour? I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that I'd heard of such a flour, but I had forgotten about it.

Well, Saveur magazine reminded me of it in their May 2012 issue. Their article on Corsica was lovely and filled with a bunch of interesting recipes. I was pleased to find the Torta Pisticcina recipe so that I could add another gluten-free dessert to my repertoire.

I used unflavored almond milk instead of regular milk, which I figured was fine, since the recipe includes both blanched and slivered almonds in it. There were a few things I did do wrong, which made the tart turn out not exactly right, but still pretty good.

Two mistakes, which I hope you won't make: salted butter and a cake pan that was two small.  Using salted butter instead of unsalted made the tart too salty. This is the second time this week that I've made that error. I've got to get some unsalted butter in my freezer. And, I also used an eight inch cake pan instead of the ten inch that the recipe calls for, making the middle of the tart too soft.

Even with these missteps, the tart was really tasty. The perfectly made one will make for a great mid-morning snack with a cup of tea.

Torta Pisticcina/ Chestnut Flour Tart

 Ingredients:

• 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted, with more for greasing the pan
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk here)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• Zest of 1/2 orange
• 2 cups chestnut flour
• 1/2 cup whole blanched almonds
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds

Method:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 10" cake pan, set aside.
3. Whisk butter, sugar, milk, vanilla, salt, and zest in a bowl.
4. Add flour and whole almonds; stir until smooth.
5. Pour batter into pan; sprinkle with sliced almonds.
6. Bake until browned and set, about 25 minutes.

the stronger, the better: my must-have comfort food

Comfort food makes me happy.Check out this drinks list: apple juice, iced coffee in the blender, Vin Santo, single malt whiskey.

What, pray tell, do these four drinks have in common? I believe only a select few outside of The Family would know this, so I’ll tell you. The list represents key Gran Fran-esque drinks over the span of my childhood into my adulthood. And, there is a food pairing for each, too. All of these make my comfort food list. This is more of a stroll down memory lane, rather than a plethora of Gran Fran recipes. But, it does shed some light on the nice times we had as a family over the past four-plus decades.

Apple Juice: Our friend-after-school-snack consisted of pretzels (either the super salty skinny pretzel sticks, or the traditional pretzel shaped ones) and apple juice. This was offered all the way through high school to our friends, who made snide remarks about the kiddie snacks at our house, but who told me later in life that it was still a favorite snack. I still crave this snack when things get tough and I find myself serving it to my daughter and her friends, too.

The super salty skinny pretzels came in their own individual boxes and were made by Mr. Salty. You know, the sailor pretzel guy? Sadly, I have found that they are not available any longer and I can't even find picture of them. But, any super salty pretzel will work here with your apple juice!

Blender Cappuccino: On very hot summer days, Gran Fran would break out the blender, grab some ice cubes, milk and espresso and blend it all up. I think she also added sugar. It was lovely. Real coffee and milk, none of this modern-day Starbucks blended stuff. Even though we were little, we were allowed to have this treat. A nice side with this was Gran Fran's best-ever pound cake.

I can no longer drink coffee (makes me very angry and too hyped up), but the smell of coffee in the summer always brings me back to the kitchen in Queens with Gran Fran jamming ice cubes into her blender and telling us all to "Stand back!” At least I can still make the pound cake, which is a little consolation for the demise of my coffee drinking days.

Vin Santo: Gran Fran and I went to Italy in 1989 on a college trip (I was in college, she was recently unemployed so she came along with the group). It was the first time we traveled together, and it lasted a month. The evenings were filled with drinking local wines and eating ourselves silly.

Gran Fran hung out with all of us, until one night when we young'uns decided to go to the local Disco. She opted to hang at the Enoteca, the local wine bar. When we came back to get her, she had been drinking Vin Santo, a sweetish wine that is paired with salume and heavier meats. She was in heaven! I have not developed much of a taste for Vin Santo, but whenever I do have it, it brings back Gran Fran's happy smile in Italy, where she enjoyed the summer light.

Single Malt Whiskey: I am a girl who loves me a whiskey. In bars, they are always questioning whether I realize what I'm ordering, when I ask for a very smoky whiskey, neat. I am all of 5'2" and love to wear short dresses with boots. Not the typical looking whiskey woman.

The first time I had a good glass of whiskey was with both Gran Fran and Joe at a jazz club in Manhattan while watching Les Paul play guitar. I think I was about 20 or so at the time and thoroughly enjoyed it. We ate burgers and the pairing was exquisite.

For my money, you can't get better than apple juice, iced coffee in the blender, Vin Santo or single malt whiskey. I hope to bring this list into the next generation with Iz, but for now, we're sticking to apple juice and an occasional iced coffee in the blender.

Blender Cappuccino ala Gran Fran

serves 1 (but easy to make multiples)you will need a blender (ok, seems obvious, but thought I should mention it) Ingredients:

• 2 cups hot coffee, if it’s winter; cold if it’s summer
• 1 cup whole milk or better yet half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 ice cubes if it’s summer
• Cinnamon, optional

Method:

• Place all ingredients in blender; adjust amounts to fit capacity of blender.
• Hold down cap of blender with a dish towel.
• Turn blender on high.
• Blend until frothy and creamy.
• Pour into glasses or cups. Sprinkle with cinnamon if desired.
• Serve immediately.

Pound Cake ala Gran Fran

serves many!

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks room-temperature butter
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups flour, unbleached, all purpose

Method:

• Butter and flour a 9-inch loaf or tube pan.
• In an electric mixer, or by hand, beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt together for about 10 minutes; longer if by hand.
• Add 4 eggs one at a time. Beat on medium for about 4 minutes, scraping bowl well.
• Add flour all at once. Beat on medium for about 3 minutes.
• On high speed, add final egg and beat for about 15 seconds.
• Place batter in pan. Place pan in cold oven on a lower third shelf.
• Turn oven on to 300 degrees.
• Bake for 2 hours if beaten in mixer. Bake for 90 minutes if beaten buy hand. Let cool on rack in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan and continue to cool.

Salume Platter ala Gran Fran

serves 8 (you can increase or reduce the amount of items you get based on how many people you are serving.)

to be served with Vin Santo

This doesn't really count as a recipe, more a serving suggestion for an excellent platter of Italian savory items.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Proscuitto di Parma
• 1 lb Soppresatta Salume, sliced thin
• 1 package Pate (Campagnola, is what I prefer, or Country-Style made with Pork)
• 1/2 cup Caper Berries
• 1 cup Black Oil Cured Olives
• 1 Sweet Baguette (or a nice loaf of Italian Bread), sliced
• 4 ripe Roma Tomatoes, diced
• 5 cloves Garlic, 3 minced, 2 cut in half
• 3 Tbsp. Olive Oil, plus more for brushing on bread
• Salt and Pepper

Method:

• Preheat broiler or get toaster oven ready.
• On a large platter, disply the assortment of meats, with bowls for the caper berries and the olives.
• In a serving bowl, mix together the diced tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Add salt to taste.
• Place baguette slices on a baking sheet in one layer.
• Rub baguette with the cut garlic halves, and then brush the bread with oil. Add a sprinkling of salt.
• Toast baguette in broiler or toaster oven until brown, turning once after a minute or so.
• Serve baguette alongside the diced tomato mixture to have guests create their own bruschetta.

Hamburgers ala Gran Fran

serves 6 to be served with a nice single malt whiskey

you will need a large non-reactive skillet Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground sirloin, shaped into 4 fairly thin burgers (they retract and get fatter as they cook)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup Marsala, Madeira or other semi sweet wine
• 2 shallots minced
• 2 tablespoons butter

Method:

• Prepare burgers. Sprinkle generously with fresh-ground pepper.
• Heat nonstick pan over medium heat until very, very hot.
• Add butter and oil, swirling pan off heat so fats don’t burn
• Return pan to heat; add burgers keeping space around each.
• Cook over high heat for about 4 minutes; reduce heat to medium; continue cooking 4 minutes more. Increase heat to high.
• Turn burgers; cook over high heat for 4 minutes; reduce heat to medium; continue cooking 4 minutes longer.
• Remove burgers from pan. Sprinkle with salt.
• Over medium heat, sauté shallots, sprinkled with salt, until golden. Turn heat to high for 2 minutes.
• Remove pan from heat; add wine, swirl. Return pan to medium heat; simmer until the wine no longer tickles your nose. Swirl cod butter into sauce to make it creamy. Pour sauce over burgers and serve on bread of your choice or on a plate with mashed potatoes

dipping sauce? no, no, that’s frosting.

Gran Fran and Joe always honored our birthdays with a special meal (ask for anything, and they’d make it for the birthday kid in question) and an excellent homemade cake. In honor of my recent birthday (no, I won’t tell you how old I am) and my daughter’s (she turned 10), I found it fitting to recount my first attempt at frosting, which, until this past week, was known as dipping sauce here on the West Coast.

Let’s take the way-back machine to 1980, when, for my tenth birthday (oops, if you can do the math, you now know how old I am!), I requested a chocolate cake with mocha frosting. Our house was one of the few in the neighborhood with a Kitchen Aid stand mixer in it, and let me tell you, Gran Fran got a lot of use out of it. I say Gran Fran got a lot of use out of it, because the rest of us were not allowed to use it. If one of us did go near it, she would scream, in her high-pitched voice-of-fear “Don’t you dare go near that! It’ll cut your fingers off!” (Think back to the movie A Christmas Story…”you’ll put your eye out”, and you get the picture.)

Now, let’s talk about the stand mixer for a minute. There was a guard around the outside of the bowl and a lock on the machine that had to be closed for it to mix. Unless one of us actually tried to climb into the mixer, I really don’t believe there was much to fear. But, you will learn, as you read these posts, that there were many things in the kitchen to be a-feared of, from Gran Fran’s perspective, and it’s a wonder the five of us ended up cooking at all!!

But, for all of the screaming and words of caution, Gran Fran makes a mean frosting and cake, to boot. To this day, I have yet to find a frosting I prefer to hers, even at the fanciest of fancy bakeries. She whipped up that mocha frosting in a matter of minutes, cooled it and frosted the cake. Delicious!

OK, back to the dipping sauce scenario. Fast-forward to 1993, San Francisco. It was the first year I was out on my own, and I had made a birthday cake, for which I needed frosting. Store-bought was never offered in my house growing up, so it never even crossed my mind to buy it, rather than attempt to make it. How hard could it be? I mean, Gran Fran would whip it up in no time at all, so I figured I could handle it.

Oh, I couldn't have been more wrong. It was all going well, the baker’s chocolate was melting away with the sugar and butter in the double boiler, the very strong coffee was brewed and it all smelled right. But, once I got it off the stove and tried it, it was liquid. No amount of cold would get it to set. The cake came out great, but the frosting just wasn’t right.

There was no time left to fix work up another frosting, so I packed up the cake, covered the “frosting” and headed over to my friend Dennis’ house. Once there, candles were put on the cake, a loud and rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday to You!” was sung, and then it was time for serving. Out came the “frosting”. Dennis took one look at it, and asked “What’s with the dipping sauce for the cake? No frosting?”

At this point, the whole thing was so laughable, that I simply served the cake with the “sauce” on the side, which people did end up dipping the cake in. Over the next 15 years, I attempted frosting after frosting sometimes resorting to whipped cream, since you can’t mess that up, and even managed to make the dipping sauce work well with flourless chocolate tortes.

But, in 2009, my daughter, Iz specified that she would like me to try one more time to make actual frosting and not dipping sauce (which my “frosting” had become known as over the intervening years). How could I disappoint her on her big 1-0? So, back to the kitchen I went. But this time, I had Gran Fran on the phone consulting on the frosting, and Joe e-mailing me recipes from New York. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to report that the frosting was a success. I have no idea if it was the family support, Iz’s very heartfelt request, or if the stars were aligned that day, but I made an excellent frosting.

Hats off to Gran Fran for showing me as a child how to make the frosting, and for keeping my fingers intact and out of harm’s way (also known as the evil Kitchen Aid). And, Iz thanks you, too.

Craig Claiborne’s Recipe for Mocha Frosting
Frosts tops and sides of three 8-inch layers

You will need a candy thermometer and a hand or stand mixer

Ingredients
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup water
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup soft butter
• 1 ½ squares (ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1 tablespoon very strong coffee
• 1 ½ tablespoons rum

Method
• Boil sugar and water to 240 F. (Syrup forms a soft ball in cold water.)
• Beat the egg yolks until fluffy. While beating add the syrup gradually, and continue beating until the mixture is cool.
• Add the butter bit by bit, until it has all been beaten in. Beat in the chocolate, coffee and rum.

Real Red Devils Food Cake
Makes three 8-inch layers

You will need 3 8 inch cake pans, preferably shallow, and a hand or stand mixer

(nope, no Non-reactive Pan or Pot to be seen in this recipe!!)

Ingredients
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/4 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/2 cup soft butter
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Butter the bottoms but not the sides of the baking pans.
• Cut a waxed paper or parchment round to fit in the center-bottom of the pan, leaving a 1/4-inch uncovered around the edge. Butter paper.
• Sift together into bowl the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa
• Add the butter, and 2/3 cup of the milk
• Beat 2 min.
• Add the remaining 1/3 cup of the milk, the eggs and the vanilla.
• Beat 2 more min.
• Pour into prepared pans. Bake until cake tests done about 30 minutes. Place pans on rack. Then turn onto cooling rack after 10 minutes