Let me save you from the terrifying moments when you realize, mid-cake, that you're missing an ingredient. A little chemistry goes a long way when it comes to kitchen hacks!
This is the cake built on mistakes. When you run out of certain ingredients in the kitchen, it's always helpful to know the chemistry behind what you're missing. Do you need to mimic fat? Acid? Leavening? In this case, I took every major substitution I know and used them to build a cake.
The cold sweat that drips down your neck when you realize you're missing an ingredient, and the cake batter is halfway finished, is real. You have guests scheduled to arrive in mere hours, nay, minutes. Do you rush to the store and grab a bundt cake shelled in plastic? Oh no, not here. NEVER ACCEPT DEFEAT.
Sugar presents us with some of the more accessible chemistry in the kitchen, and peanut brittle is an excellent example. Toss some baking soda into the bubbling caramel and let the carbon dioxide do the heavy lifting.
Against my mother's will I used to choose this airy, caramel confection when we were taken to the candy shop as kids. She will eternally favor truffles, the grand nexus of chocolate. But I like a bit of hardened texture in my confections, and this treat could not be more satisfying. Caramel seafoam is the adult equivalent of a teething biscuit. It presses against your teeth as you bite into the brittle caramel, rewarding you with sweetness for the task of chewing.
A cake I've long pined for, now solidly in my arsenal of treats. It took me a while to attempt this cake (for no good reason), I hesitated to tackle its structure and chemistry. Suffice it to say, there are few things as delightful as a cake soaked in milk.
Red and dripping with juice, a plateful of strawberry shortcake is the quickest way to a smile-filled afternoon. Make quick drop biscuits in place of the shortcake and your dessert will be ready even faster.
A delight of layers, this cake has enough personality to please every texture nerd. I line the pan with caramelized walnuts, then pour the batter on top for baking. Once the cake is out of the oven and cool, I plaster the top with an easy chocolate mousse. Though it may look complicated, fret not- this is a cake you can throw together with minutes on the clock and look like a winner when the buzzer sounds.
CAKE INGREDIENTS
2 cups Crushed/Chopped Walnuts
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Bourbon
1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
1/3 cup Tapioca Starch
1/3 cup White RIce Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
3/4 teaspoon Salt
3/4 teaspoon Xanthan Gum
3 Eggs
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Coconut Milk
3/4 cup Safflower Oil
Zest of two Oranges
BUSINESS
In a large saute pan, heat the walnuts with brown sugar and bourbon over medium flame. When everything is sticky and melted, remove from the stove and pour into the bottom of a lined 9-inch springform cake pan.
Heat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (everything up until Eggs on the list).
In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the sugar until slightly thickened and lighter in color. Whisk in the oil, milk, and orange zest.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing to combine.
Pour the batter into the cake pan, over the caramelized walnuts.
Bake the cake for 40-50 minutes, until browned on top and springy to the touch.
Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
FROSTING BUSINESS
I swear by this genius chocolate mousse posted on Food52, originated by Hervé This. Make a batch with orange juice from your remaining skinned oranges, and slather it on top of the cake before serving.
Whether or not you had an inadvertent overnight guest, take a few minutes and flap some jacks this morning. Pancakes aren't complicated, and if you make them a semi-regular part of your morning routine (say, perhaps, a weekend tradition) you'll find you know the formula by heart in no time. I threw some bananas into the mix, but if you don't have any on hand, skip 'em. Pancakes ahoy!
INGREDIENTS
2 Bananas
1 Egg
1/2 cup Milk (alternatives will work)
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon Safflower Oil
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Corn Grits
1/2 cup Millet Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
BUSINESS
Mash bananas in bowl, whisk in egg, milk, sugar, oil, and salt.
Stir in grits, millet flour, and baking powder.
Heat griddle over medium-high flame and ladle batter onto surface.
Cook pancakes for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles appear around edges, then flip.
Cook for another 2 minutes, then remove to plate and enjoy.
Though I'd love to take credit for these brownies, I must bow my head to the inimitable David Lebovitz. He published this recipe for brownies in 2011 and I've been making them ever since. The batter is drop-dead simple with one caveat: you must beat it for at least a minute (as he states). The structural alchemy that occurs during your fervent whisking is what makes these brownies irresistible. They normally emerge from the oven with a crisp top but this time I've taken them for a ride with red wine and raspberry jam, baking a sticky-sweet layer on top of the bitter chocolate.
8 ounces (225g) Bittersweet Chocolate (at least 65%), chopped
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup (150g) Sugar
2 large Eggs
1 tablespoon Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 tablespoons (30g) Corn Starch
1/2 cup Raspberry Jam
3 tablespoons Red Wine
1 tablespoon Corn Starch (yes, again)
BUSINESS
Grease an 8 or 9-inch square pan. Heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Melt the coconut oil, chocolate, and salt in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth.
Remove the chocolate mixture from the stove, pour it into a medium sized mixing bowl and stir in the sugar, then the eggs one at a time.
Sift the cocoa powder and 3 tablespoons corn starch over the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Beat the batter vigorously for at least on minute, until it is no longer grainy and nearly smooth. It will pull away from the sides of the bowl a bit. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the raspberry jam, wine, and 1 tablespoon corn starch.
Pour the raspberry mixture over the chocolate batter and slide the dish into your oven.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the jam is dark and thick and the edges of the brownies are crisp. Remove from the oven and let cool before slicing.
It's remarkable how many times I change a dessert when menu planning. What began as chocolate cupcakes with ginger sabayon morphed three times until it ended up as mossy green ramekins of matcha custard. I love the herbal note to end a meal, it feels complete.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. You will need 6 ramekins or one large casserole dish set on top of a dish towel in a large baking pan (more on this later).
In a sauce pan combine the coconut milk, almond milk, matcha, and vanilla bean scrapings over low heat. Whisk until the matcha is incorporated into the milk (no clumps allowed)
Fill a tea kettle or another sauce pan with water and bring it to a boil. You’ll need this later.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and salt until pale yellow and slightly thickened.
Remove the milk mixture from the heat and drizzle it slowly into the egg mixture, whisking all the time. If you pour too quickly you’ll end up with scrambled eggs.
Pour the custard base through a strainer and then ladle it into each ramekin, roughly 2/3 cup per dish. Set the filled ramekins on top of the towel in the baking pan. The towel helps to prevent burnt bottoms.
Slide the baking pan into your oven and then pour the simmering water in the pan, around the ramekins. Be careful to keep the water out of the ramekins and fill the baking pan until the water is about 2/3 up the ramekins. This will help evenly bake the custards.
Bake the custard for 28-32 minutes or until the custard is gently set. It should tremble ever so slightly when you give it a tap on the side.
Remove the ramekins from the water bath and allow them to cool for an hour on a rack. Then cover them tightly with plastic wrap and set them in the fridge to chill.
A good cup of tea needs a strong biscuit, and my green tea custard is no different. These cookies have a touch of ginger and a handful of black sesame seeds to ring in the Chinese New Year. Mix the dough with your hands, save a spoon.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup Oats
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Millet Flour
1/3 cup Black Sesame Seeds
3/4 teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Salt
3 ounces Coconut Oil
BUSINESS
Heat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl mix all ingredients with your hands. Squeeze and massage the mixture until there are no visible clumps.
Press the crust into a 9-inch pie dish (or some equivalently sized glass baking dish). Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes or until just brown around the edges. Remove dish from the oven and cut it into slices while it's still hot. Let it cool before removing from dish.
Screw pie, I want cobbler. Cobbler is easy (I’m never one to turn down an easy date). I cook the apples in a skillet a bit with sugar and spices before pouring them into a baking dish, it speeds up their time in the oven. And for the crust? Whip out your food processor and dump in the ingredients for this biscuit dough. It comes together in a few minutes and is easy to scatter on top of the tender apples.
INGREDIENTS
Apple Filling
6 Green Apples, peeled and sliced thinly
Juice of one Lemon
1 cup Brown Sugar
¼ cup Coconut Oil
1 tablespoon Cinnamon
½ teaspoon Sea Salt
¼ teaspoon Nutmeg
Biscuit Topping
¾ cup Brown Rice Flour
¾ cup Millet Flour
¼ cup Tapioca Flour
¼ cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Xanthan Gum
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
4 tablespoons Shortening
¾ cup Milk (a non-dairy alternative will work)
GET BUSY
1) In a medium saucepan, combine the apples, lemon juice, brown sugar, coconut oil, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Cook over medium heat until the liquid is syrupy and the apples are soft but not mushy, about 20 minutes.
2) While the apples are cooking, heat your oven to 450 degrees.
3) In a food processor add the brown rice flour, millet flour, tapioca flour, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and shortening. Pulse until it is the texture of sand.
4) With the food processor running, pour the milk in slowly. Pulse the dough until it forms a loose ball.
5) When the apples are ready, pour them into an 8×8 baking dish.
6) Sprinkle the dough over the apples, roughly, it doesn’t need to be even.
7) Put the dish in your oven for 13-15 minutes, or until the dough is lightly browned.
8) Remove from the oven, let cool for 5-10 minutes, then enjoy!
Yogurt adds a tang and spring to this cake that is most welcome, especially as we soldier through the winter. Feel free to substitute oranges or grapefruits for the lemons, the cake is splendid with any variety of citrus. An extra dusting of sugar on top before baking will reward you with a shimmering crust to present at the table. Winter baking need not be entirely cinnamon and cloves and apples and nuts. Lighten your load, bake a bright cake, remind yourself that Spring is on its way
What sensible person lives without a seasonal cake recipe stashed up their sleeve? Not this gentleman, that's for damn sure. I make this cake no matter the weather, with fruit foraged from the bottom of my refrigerator. Pear and Almond? Divine.
Winter baking is full of spice and warmth, none of those lemony midsummer desserts. Looking for a way to kick that old fruitcake in the bum? Try this cinnamon topped cranberry bread using Arrowhead Mills' Gluten Free All Purpose Baking mix and you'll be nibbling before it's had time to cool.
Welcome your guests this winter with a cookie platter. Make two cookies from one easy dough. Get your kids in the kitchen to help roll the cookies into balls, you'll have a warm treat to share in no time.
Coconut milk, vanilla, rice noodles. Darlings, it's the gluten free Kugel you've been fantasizing about. Inspired by rice pudding with noodles from Thai Kitchen, this is too easy to skip. Make it tonight.
A perfect dessert for Lunar New Year, I love to top this cake with plum preserves. Make two so you can keep one in the freezer, an emergency cake never goes to waste!
