the trials and triumphs of cooking for people who are allergic/intolerant to food.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
a happy accident
Have you ever forgotten to add something to your recipe and then liked they way it turned out better? It was just such a rare and encouraging happenstance that occurred at my house this past weekend. We had a dinner party, everybody bringing such good g-free foods- taquitos with corn tortillas, a homemade spicy chili oil with garlic, a vinegary tangy coleslaw and my spicy mango chicken salad. Again, I got absolutely no pictures of any of those; I am such a bad food blogger! But I did get pictures of my new and improved lemon baby cakes! The previous recipe I had posted was good, but I thought I could make it better with a little different mix of flours- and I was right. It appears in small quantities, brown rice flour can give you that fine, tender crumb but not impart a super healthy taste. And I also wanted to try reducing the xanthan gum, as sometimes it can impart a gummy mouth feel I am not impressed with. That was the grand plan; however I completely forgot to add the xanthan gum! But they rose beautifully in the oven and they tasted fantastic!! So I have edited the previously posted recipe to reflect the new quantities; I still have 1/2 a teaspoon of xanthan gum listed, as that is what I was going to try and thought I should leave up because you always hear horror stories about g-free baking without xanthan gum. (Maybe this no xanthan gum thing was a one time only happy moment. You never know.) I also tried the coconut cream whipped cream again- progress in this as well. It really does need a super COLD bowl, so my bowl was in for three hours and it did whip up a bit stiffer, but still not whipped dairy cream consistency so will continue to jigger with this a bit too. I also tried to make these wonderful puffs that Shirley came up with without eggs this weekend, substituting flax seed meal, but there was no puff! Saddened, I had to postpone fiddling with this recipe again so that I wouldn't be that hostess who never leaves the kitchen during her dinner parties; however, fear not, as I will try again at the earliest opportunity. And really, there will be more pictures. I promise. You know, eventually.
I also linked this post to Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
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I love happy little accidents in the kitchen! The same thing just happened to me where I ran out of eggs so I just made do without, and the recipe actually turned out better. :) I'm going to check out the recipe for your lemon baby cakes!
ReplyDeleteHey Jamie--Woohoo on not needing xanthan gum! That's exactly how I've found that I don't always need to use it--by accident. Many have issues with gums and I'm not crazy about xanthan myself, so I'm pleased when I can leave it out. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry your egg-free puffs didn't work out though. I've looked online to see if anyone has had success in that area, but really only find folks doing pretty well with a rolled egg-free puff pastry. So you might check that out.
Are you following Diane's (The W.H.O.L.E. Gang) recipe for the coconut cream whipped cream? Everything must be chilled in advance, but it's worked wonderfully for me. Don't forget you can chill your bowl in the freezer, too. Well, if you're confident it won't crack. I have done that for a much shorter time instead of the refrigerator. (Usually my fridge is packed.)
I'll send you any more puff ideas I come up with. ;-)
Hugs,
Shirley
Iris: me too! I hope you like them and that they work for you!
ReplyDeleteShirley: thanks so much for the suggestions! I will check those recipes for rolled puff pastry and see what I can do :) and you know, I must confess I jotted down the basic directions and then completely forgot on who's blog I had found that whipped coconut cream! So thanks for the name! and thanks for the suggestions, always appreciated :) and I would adore any more puff ideas you come up with! hugs jamie