Red, White, & Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

I know this is a fair bit late as far as Fourth of July recipes go, but you'll forgive me, right? After all, I come baring gifts...fruit, creamy, cookie crumbly gifts. Cheesecake bars. Who doesn't like a girl with cheesecake bars?

I have a confession to make: I'm addicted to trying new things in the kitchen. I can't help

it, I see every mini party or afternoon guest a great opportunity to try out a new recipe. Every invitation to dinner is like an invitation to my own personal Food Network Challenge. Some in my position would dust off a tried and true recipe, spending time choosing favorite gluten-free cake that has established itself as a pastry the gluten-eaters in my life have already loved rather than working on something new. But no. I like to make things difficult.

So completely from scratch patriotically themed cheesecake bars? No sweat. With ingredients not bought until T-minus 5 hours to party time? Not a problem. I might like to make things difficult, but I don't like to make difficult things, and lucky for me, these some assembly required bars were actually pretty easy to put together.

Cheesecake has always seemed daunting, but this one was assembled all in one bowl. One bowl?! You mean I get cheesecake and a mini scale clean up? Sold.

The best part about these cheesecake bars is that they didn't taste gluten-free. Not one little "Waiter, is there a navy bean in my cheesecake?" little bit. I mean, just look at that crumbly crust! When my mom's gluten-eating friend asked me for the recipe at her husband's insistence, well I knew I had unbridled cheesecake type success on my hands.

Summer tis the season for outdoor get togethers. Hot weather just begs for eating outdoors, grilling, and tempting fruity desserts. People may think dessert means chocolate, it might be what they say that want, but set out a plate of fruity, creamy, lemony bars and they'll disappear every time, trust me.

Red, White, and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

inspired by RecipeGirl's Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars and adapted from Smitten Kitchen's Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake (who adapted the cheesecake from Three Cities of Spain Coffeehouse)

1 box Cherrybrook Kitchen GF Vanilla Graham Mini Cookies

4 tablespoons of Earth Balance (or butter) melted

2 Tablespoons of sugar

1/8 teaspoons of salt

12 oz neufchatel or lowfat cream cheese

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2/3rd cup sugar

2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

zest of one lemon

1 cup fresh blueberries (more or less as desired)

1/2 cup chopped strawberries (more or less as desired)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8x8 inch pan (or a 5x9 inch pan) with aluminum foil, lightly greased with cooking spray.

In a blender, blend the cookies in the blender a quarter of a package at a time, until the cookies are ground into a fine crumb. Pour in to the bowl with melted butter and mix in salt and the 2 Tablespoons of sugar. Press the mixture firmly over the bottom of the pan to make an even layer of cookie crumb and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, beat neufchatel until fluffy with an electric mixture, adding the eggs one at a time. Beat in sugar, vanilla, lemon juice, and zest until fully combined.

Spread the cheesecake mixture over the top of the crust. Scatter berries evenly and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until you touch the center of the cheesecake and find it just set.

Let cool for 10 minutes before placing in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. When completely cooled, cut bars and lift them from the aluminium foil covered pan and onto a serving plate. (Or transfer bars before cutting, if easier.) Share and enjoy! :)

Let Them Eat Gluten-Free Cake!

Who doesn't like a good celebration?

Fancy clothes (or plain Jane blue jeans if it's more your style), balloons, friends and family, and yummy, yummy food. That's right, I said it, yummy, yummy food. Just cause you're celiac doesn't mean you can't enjoy your special day with gluten-free style. And just cause it's gluten-free, your cake doesn't have to be dry, dense, and oddly potato flavored.

As previously mentioned, hot tipper Tonia found herself a great gluten-free wedding cheesecake courtesy of helpful baker Lydia at Celene's Cuisine. Since then, I've been lucky enough to be contacted by not one, but two equally helpful readers anxious to connect their gluten-free brethren with scrumptious special event cakes.

If you're in the Northeast Ohio area and your looking for a traditional wedding cake, then have I got a lead for you. Thanks to hot tipper Vicki who shared her lovely wedding photos with me, I learned that White Flower at La Place in Beachwood makes gluten-free wedding cakes! As I so often write this blog from the Caribou Coffee that stares into White Flower Bakery, you can well imagine how I kicked myself for not following my instincts to walk the 50 feet from the coffee house to the bakery and inquire about the possibility of gluten-free baked goods!

No matter, Vicki thankfully did the oh so hard work of test driving White Flower for me. Of her cake, Vicki says:

The cake changed every other tier from lemon with raspberry and cocoa with ganache. I brought Marianne from white flower in a picture I saved of a cake because I thought the flowers were gorgeous. She recreated the cake into a style I loved! My favorite thing about my entire wedding was my cake!! A tad pricey, but so worth it!!!

If that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is. And with such a beautiful storefront, it's not surprising that White Flower would create a towering cake that is a true work of art. On top of being so

beautiful, it sounds absolutely delicious. What more could a girl ask for at her wedding? (Other than a groom, but a pretty cake like that, a husband become just a wee bit optional, no? Just me?) [[Edited to add: 3 years later, White Flower tells me they no longer make GF cakes.]]

Just a little west of Northeast Ohio? Fear not readers, because thanks to hot tipper and baker extraordinaire Kristen you literally can have your cake and eat it to. Kristen is the owner and baker of The Gluten-Free Bread Factory in Toledo, Ohio - the name alone makes me want to trek out of Toledo for a visit. Lucky for me, and you, Kristen does a lot of her business online. You can order her bread mixes from the comfort of your couch, and after you get them, you can eat them from the comfort of your couch, too!

Lucky enough to live in the Gluten-Free Bread Factory's area and have a birthday coming up? Kristen makes cakes for gluten-free boys and girls of all ages. Just contact her at kristen [at] theglutenfreebreadfactory [dot] com for more information.

Perfect 1-2-3-4 Cake (Advanced Math Version)

A few weeks ago, my brother graduated from college. 

This is fully weird on two levels. The first, is that for the past year, I've described myself as "a recent college graduate." And while that's still true, reactively speaking (relative to say the moon walk, the fall or Rome, or dinosaurs), I really am no longer "a recent college graduate". That plants me firmly in adulthood. Or pre-grad student-hood. 

Secondly, my brother, my little brother, is a college graduate. And not just a college graduate, but one with a job. A job with great pay, benefits, and a starting bonus. Who gets a starting bonus at 22? I guess the stars kind of align for you when your passion involves dollar signs and mergers, rather than in crafting the perfect comedic beat, or the ultimate gluten-free cake. 

Luckily for us both, we followed seriously divergent paths, and I am in no way envious of his cool new life. The thought of sitting in an office all day dealing with numbers and decimals makes me limp all over. Besides, you can't bake with envy. If I put it in my batter, it would make my batter bitter. I don't have time for bitter batter because, in addition to graduating college, my brother also had a birthday. And every birthday needs a birthday cake, right?

Mike happened to be coming home this week, and I decided to surprise him with a homemade birthday cake. We weren't much on the homemade growing up, and my brother isn't really much on the gluten-free baking (you may remember his utter shock at how great the cranberry cornbread was at our fully gluten-free, fully delicious Thanksgiving dinner), I knew I had my work cut out for me. 

I've made chocolate cakes before (the strong cocoa always manages to hide the weirdest of GF flavors), but I wanted to do something better. No, not better, best. I wanted to make the perfect cake.  Something that was great, all on it's own, and, oh yeah, happened to be gluten-free, too. If only I could channel such perfectionism into something that yielded a profit. ...Oh who am I kidding. It yielded cake, what's better than cake?

As I always do when searching for  little baking inspiration, I turned to Deb at the epically delicious Smitten Kitchen. Her food is so tempting, her picture so delicious, and her recipes are so easy to follow that every time happen on the site (...that is, everyday...), my mind and taste buds launch some kind of tantrum campaign, practically willing me into the kitchen for my own gluten-free adaptations and variations are her already stellar desserts, dinners, and brunches. (I should add here that Deb has never failed me yet. I've made GF versions several of her recipes and they always turn out beautifully.)

After wasting (or in my world, intensely productively working for) a few hours clicking through her cake recipes, I was finally remembered I was making this cake for a boy, er, man, er, brother (and therefore pink and / or citrus-y was probably not the way to go) and was "forced" to combine my favorite parts of her sumptuous desserts. The result was mixed and matched perfection. A beautifully crafted cake that I can't help but think as my greatest baking success to date. 

I managed to completely surprise my brother, asking him to put a jar of jam away for me in the fridge, so he'd coming face to face with his cake upon opening the door. He, in turn, surprised me, practically inhaling a slice. The verdict? "The only way this cake could've been better is if there was gluten in it." Somehow, I doubt that. 

Advanced Math 1-2-3-4 Cake

inspired and adapted from the Smitten Kitchen's 1234 cake, which was adapted it fromgeneral baking knowledge. 1-2-3-4 cakes get their name from their oh, so simple construction 1 cup of butter (and 1 cup of milk), 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour, and 4 eggs. My version uses fractions, think of it as the honors class version. 

1 cup of Earth Balance (or butter) at room temperature

1/2 cup skim milk

1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 cups all purpose gluten-free self rising flour blend**

4 eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

(**Self rising flour is regular flour with the addition of baking powder and salt. To make your all purpose GF flour self rising, please follow this formula: 1 cup GF flour (- 2 teaspoons) + (1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder) + (1/2 teaspoon of salt), multiply by 3 for 3 cups of GF self rising flour. My all purpose GF flour mix - I currently use Mr. Ritt's - has xanthum gum in it, but if you need to add xanthum gum to your flour, you'll need 1 and 1/2 teaspoons, that is, 1/2 teaspoon x 3, the number of cups of flour. ...Don't look at me like that, I said it was the advanced math class from the get go. But how many times did you get a perfect cake at the end of doing a proof? I rest my case.)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9 inch cake pans. 

Prepare the self rising mixture in a small bowl and set aside. Combine milk and buttermilk and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, cream butter until it puffs and fluffs up. Add in sugars and continue to cream for and additional 6 - 8 minutes. Crack in eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Beat the flour and milk mixture into the batter, starting and ending with the flour. Add the teaspoon of vanilla and mix until just combined throughout. (At least that's what deb said. I misread and added mine to the milk and buttermilk. It worked out fine!)

Divide evenly between the three pans and level them out as evenly as possible, a little extra work here is really worth it, trust me. Bake for 20 -25 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into your golden brown cake comes out clean. 

Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes, before turning cake pans over on a large plate, tapping on the bottoms coaxing the cakey goodness' release from their nonstick prisons. Let cool completely. 

Strawberry Filling

I totally cheated on this. I knew I wanted some kind of fruit in the center of the layers, and thought my brother would enjoy raspberry, or strawberry, or strawberry rhubarb... and oh, I just happened to have a fresh jar of strawberry-rhubarb jam on hand from my trip to Fowler's Milling Company. And as I have one eye blurred from my recent surgery, and one eye still filled with cataract, I figured I was already doing well enough with quite literally flying blind on this cake, and that, well, a little cheat would be okay. Just this once...

Deb has a recipe for raspberry filling, if your in the mood for full on from scratch baking,  but any all natural jam / preserves will do, too. I spread 1/4 of a jar over the bottom layer, and another 1/4 over the middle layer. The result was a soft, subtle strawberry twinge to the cake , and perhaps more jelly would've made more of a punch, if you're so inclined. 

"Wait, You Can Make This From Scratch?" Icing (Vanilla Butter Cream)

Michael swiped icing of the side of the cake with his finger, "Whoa, this is good icing." 

"Thanks," I smiled proudly, take that gluten-filled frostings! 

"What are you saying thanks for, it's not like you made it," my brother pointedly responded. The future law student has a penchant for exactness that's equal parts entertaining and fully annoying. 

"No, actually, I did" ... Though, in my head it as more like, Ha! Gotcha! 

"Wait, you can make icing from scratch?" Mike asked, fairly shocked. 

....See, totally different life paths....

1 stick of Earth Balance (1/2 cup butter)

3 cups + additional tablespoons as needed organic powdered sugar

2 Tablespoons skim milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

With and electric mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Slowly add in sugar, cream about 5 minutes. Add in milk and vanilla and beat until mixed. Add additional sugar or milk until you get desired consistency. 

I'm not one for a thick icing so this covered my cake completely, and then some. The recipe is easily doubled or halved, though.  I added a little blue McCormick food coloring and, lacking any piping tools, made a haphazard border with two forks and a lot of will power. 

Tales of Gluten Free In Cleveland Greatness, # 1

If you haven't heard - and hey, maybe you haven't because you're living under a rock or are a gluten-free blog lovin' shut in who wears giant soundproof headphones 24/7,  after all, readers get the benefit of the doubt around here - Cleveland is 2 games away from being thrust on the national stage. That is if our winning streak, MVP, and one man basketball magician hasn't already helped us sail through the air landing safely there, already. 

While Cleveland hasn't had any kind of national sports championship since 1964 (The Browns, and before that the only other one was The Indians in 1948), anyone who's come within 30 miles of the greater Cleveland area on game day (any sport, any game, even T-ball) knows that Cleveland sports fans are such rabid fans of their teams, and so very ravenous for a win ....and yet so very complacent with their losses.  We shrug, we get drunk  anyway, we go to work grumbling about Chicago, New York, Dallas, and how nice it would be to live in a city with a valid sports team (but backing up our statements with a host of reasons why we would never, could never, don't want to move there). The whole love / apathy involving sports around here is so curious it even sparked a 1994 movie, Major League, with Charlie Sheen.  But you already knew that, didn't you sports fan?

And yet, with Lebron bringing his city center stage, I think we'd all agree it's better to step up and meet the national spotlight, lest it shine on things we'd rather hide (the fact that we're actually moving the Inner Belt bridge 4 to 5 inches, anyone?), and with that in mind, let's use this opportunity to highlight some of the great gluten-free goings on right here in Cleveland, Ohio. 

A few months ago, a nice bride-to-be, Tonia, emailed me in hopes that I'd know someone who could make her a gluten-free wedding cake. More than ready to go the nontraditional route, Tonia had already decided to hedge her bets and go for a GF wedding cheesecake, figuring a suitable crust would be easier to prepare, rather than altering a whole towering cake. She signed on with a baker, went about attending to other pre-wedding details, and was utterly dismayed when her baker pulled out just a little over 3 months before the weddings, saying she just wasn't comfortable assuming the risk. 

Tonia and I brainstormed - tossing out ideas like contacting Kathy of Kathy's Creations for a small bride & groom's cake, perhaps trying an online bakery one, like A Bountiful Harvest, or working with her bridal party to create a GF cupcake tower instead of one massive cake - but in the end, I think the girl had her heart set on cheesecake. And who wouldn't? Though it maybe nontraditional, it's creamy, dreamy texture, luxurious flavor, and beautiful off white hue certainly says elegant wedding to me.  Lucky for her, a great cake was in reach, thanks to Lydia of Celene's Cuisine, to make the cake of her dreams a reality. Tonia says: 

"Lydia blew me away when she told me she bought new baking pans, utensils, a new mixer, and she is even planning to have her stove professionally cleaned, all to make sure there is no chance of cross-contamination. She's new to the GF world of baking, but her aunt has many food allergies so she's aware of how difficult it can be. The sample cheesecake she created for me was amazing! It is everything I told her I wanted - down to the hint of lemon and the almond crust!" 

So congratulations to you Tonia, on your wedding, on your great GF find, and on your determination to make sure celiac disease doesn't stand in your way, not now, not ever! Lydia bakes out of her home, conveniently centrally located for Eastsiders and Westsiders alike in Cleveland, by CSU.  You can contact Lydia, and drool over her beautiful cakes, through her lovely Celene's Cuisine website. 

Though some erroneous information led me to report this same news in October (oops!), May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month. While it's nice to be recognized, let's not forget that for those of us who live the gluten-free life day in and day out, every day is a chance to spread some awareness and some gluten-free goodness. As Tonia's story proves, a little GF persistence pays off, and even more importantly, there are members of the gluten-eating population perfectly ready, willing and able to help us out - we just have to find them (or help them find themselves). 

If you've made it this far and a bit miffed to discover this post is recipe-less, worry not! Just in time for Celiac Awareness Month, an article I wrote on Celiac Disease was featured on the cover of the Cleveland Jewish News' health section in early May. (Page 2 here.) Along with general facts and figures, the article also features a recipe for gluten-free mandelbrot adapted from one of my favorite Jewish cookbooks. Mandel bread, Jewish biscotti like cookies, are a perfect not too heavy, not too sweet, crunchy summertime treat. Grad a glass of milk (or Manishevitz if that's more your speed) and check 'em out.  

Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake, Made Fluffier with Expandex

I miss baking. 

I the very first book on the kitchen arts I owned - which was actually called "My First Baking Book" - and it overflowed with the magical secrets of sugary sweets, ones that didn't just spell out how half a teaspoon of this a a cup of that could so easily be transformed into crunchy cookies and moist cupcakes, but outlined how thoughtful decorating could turn already tempting treats into even more enticing cupcakes-shaped-like-kittens. (Or dragons.)

Like kids need any help wanting to devour baked goods. 

Now sure, over the past say fifteen years, I've gone hot and cold on my cooking and baking hobby, but it's always been on my terms. Like so many of you, I even relearned baking basics after getting the celiac diagnosis handed down to me, just to prove that a lack of gluten wasn't going to get me down. 

But for the past few months - as seen by a lack of updating 'round here - I haven't been able to cook, bake, broil, or saute much of anything. And it hasn't been my choice; in February, I developed cataracts. Given the kitchen accidents that could've befallen me do to limited vision range  - from the severe (cuts and burnings) to the comical (swapping in sugar for salt) - I found it best to hang up my apron, close my cookbooks, and get used to eating food from the freezer.  

All that is about to change, though. Tomorrow is my first surgery. By the first week in June, I should have normal vision in both eyes. It's a pretty exciting possibility for both my retinas and my tummy. A girl can't live on Amy's rice crust pizza, alone. 

Yet, I love cooking, and I miss it. And - call me Emily Post, or Bree Van De Kamp - but I can't stand the idea of attending a meeting without bringing along a freshly made dessert, cataracts or no. So not feeling comfortable enough to experiment with flavors and flours I can only somewhat see, I whipped up a variation of my favorite pound cake for a few ladies who worked so very hard planning and executing a fundraising benefit on behalf of Northeastern Ohio's Homeless. 

While I swapped out the orange zest and almond meal from the pound cake in favor of a lemon poppy seed (nut allergy friendly) version, the true exciting experimentation was the use of brand new gluten-free product Expandex - a modified tapioca starch that puffs up gluten free baked goods and imitates that gluteny texture you all know, love, and woefully miss. Currently, Expandex's only retail vendor in Ohio is the Raisin Rack, but do check their website for more information.  

My pound cake with Expandex didn't just have the light, airy taste a pound cake should, it actually looked more appetizing - more springy and bouncy - and that was only using half of the recommended amount! I'm honestly embarrassed to say that I had a dream about using it to make french bread last night, yet in the face of gluten-free honesty, who among us hasn't had a dream about bread? I thought so. 

Perfect Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake 

adapted from Ina Garten's Orange Pound Cake 

8 Tablespoons of Earth Balance Butter (or regular butter)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs at room temperature

the zest of 2 -3 large lemons

1 and 1/2 cup of GF flour

1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum

1 tablespoon Expandex (optional, if you can't find it)

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

scant 1/2 cup buttermilk 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

scant 1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup poppy seeds

Juice of 1/4 of a lemon

3 tablespoons of powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a loaf pan. 

Combine buttermilk, orange juice and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine flour, salt, xanthum gum, baking powder, baking soda, and Expandex. 

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter (beat with electric mixer about 3 minutes, until fluffy). Beat in eggs - one at a time - and chase it with the lemon zest and then the poppy seeds. Alternate adding the wet and dry ingredient mixtures to the batter, starting and ending with the flour. 

Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. 

Remove from oven and let cool for five minutes, then turn the pan upside down (over a plate!!) and tap on the bottom until the cake slides out. Continue to let another 5 minutes. 

When you're ready to serve, combine the lemon juice and powdered sugar, stirring it into a glaze, and top the cake as desired. 

Light, Bright Mac & Cheese and The Most Exciting News To Come From Starbucks Since Coffee

As my fingers rapidly race over my keyboard, I'm reminded of that scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, wherein after having all the kids and their parents sign the "you've entered at your own risk" (to put it mildly) waiver, he tries to get them to hurry along, announcing "So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it. " 

Spring is springing all over Northeast, Ohio. It's beautiful, sunny, and on a few days, even warm. (And though, we Clevelanders know that this likely means tomorrow the temperature will likely lurk near freezing, we're made of a heartier stock then most, and can tough out the most ridiculous spring season - heck, even our flowers blossom under these conditions!) While I'd love to say I've been neglecting my gluten-free duties for the sunshine, I've actually been buried under various projects, including creating a slide show for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless' annual benefit on May 1st. (NEOCH is one of those great organizations who work behind the scenes to revive Cleveland. The $50 ticket includes dinner - though questionable one as far as gluten is concerned - an open bar, a keynote speaker, and a silent auction. Please contact me if you're at all interested in attending or donating.) 

And that's a shame, as I have so much information on gluten free events, great gluten free finds in our very own Cleveland, and delicious spring recipes that I'm practically bursting at my celiac seems. Though it's perpetually on my to-do list, I'm continually shocked to find another jam packed day has gone by without finding the time to share recipes, food finds, and some of the great info so many of you have emailed to me. 

On that note, to those who've sent emails - both of their gluten-free finds and just of appreciation - thank you. Even if I don't respond right away (or for weeks) I read every one and I'm so happy that Cleveland's celiac community is growing stronger everyday as it makes itself vi sable on our culinary landscape. 

Speaking of speaking out, have you heard the best news to come out of Starbucks since the return of the pumpkin spice latte (seriously, those things might just have liquid cocaine in them, they're that addictive) - that's right, following in the trailblazing footsteps of General Mills' Chex and Betty Crocker, Starbucks will soon be offering a GLUTEN-FREE VALENCIA ORANGE CAKE. 

Starbucks says the decision was made based on the numerous phone calls, letters, and emails they've been fielding over the years from gluten free customers. This isn't just a quality of life increase for us folks, this is putting celiac disease center stage as well as proving to all of those who know they need to eat gluten-free but are dragging their feet that it IS possible to live happy, healthy, and DELICIOUSLY, gluten-free.  (Granted, I say this without having eaten this cake, but I can't imagine Starbuck's putting a shotty cake out - at least not when they have all the time in the world they want to perfect it. )

These pastries are expected to hit stores in May and will cost $2.25. You can read more about it in the Forbes article here. And if all this talk of orange cake has set off a craving you just can't control, why not whip up an Amazing Almond Orange Vanilla Pound Cake - a mouthwatering gluten-free version of Starbucks' lemon loaf cake (and my mom's favorite thing for me to make ever). 

There's oh so much more happening in the gluten-free world (and isn't that an exciting sentence all on it's own?) but reading about it all at once - or writing about it for that matter - would be fully overwhelming. For now, I leave you with an impromptu dinner that turned out to be one of the best gluten-free meals I ever made. 

First things first, I love pasta. Since I was little, I have filled my plate and my tummy with sticky, starchy semolina flour that tasted so very good going in but ended up being so very bad to my poor little body. And though my tastes have widened considerably since childhood, and though I've thankfully traded in semolina for gluten-free alternatives, I still very much doubt there's any dish better than a hearty vegetable and (gluten-free!) pasta bake.  There's something positively magical about a drippy, creamy sauce that fills each and every nook and cranny of elbow pasta.  If casseroles are comfort food, then pasta casseroles are the biggest, warmest, hug from your grandmother that you can imagine.  

Trouble is, eat foods like that every day and you'll have far more health problems than just celiac disease. But be honest, you don't really like those greasy, heavy meals that sit in your stomach for hours. No, with skim milk, vegetable oil butter,bright, vitamin rich vegetables, and protein and fiber packed quinoa pasta, a perfect, delicious dinner, a classic comfort food, really is within your gluten-free reach.

(Note: this recipe uses a tablespoon of Gluten-Free Pantry's Quick Mix, an all purpose blend of flours that contains xanthum gum, 4 types of GF flours, and is considerably thicker than regular GF flour. If you really want a great mac & cheese but don't have GF Pantry's Quick Mix, or don't want to fuss with the flour, you might want to check out my (Secret!) Mac and Cheese ... I told you, I love baked pastas. I might even have a problem. Think there's a twelve step program?) 

Light, Bright, Mac & Cheese Primavera 

based in part on Alton Brown's baked mac & cheese recipe

1 box Quinoa Pasta (I like Ancient Grains)

3/4 cup sliced White Mushrooms

1 cup Frozen Peas (microwaved for 2 minutes, so they are pert but still cold)

1 cup Baby Spinach

3 Tablespoons Earth Balance

1 Tablespoon Gluten-Free Pantries' Quick Mix

1 egg

1 3/4 cups Skim Milk

1 1/2  - 2 cups Shredded Cheese (I used Kraft Natural's Colby and Monetary Jack Blend as well as a little Cheddar) 

1 generous squirt of Mustard

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg

Black Pepper to taste

Cook the pasta for about 7 minutes, drain and set aside. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a small sauce pan, whisk together flour and butter over medium high heat. Stir in milk and nutmeg and let simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, spray GF cooking spray over a medium sized pan and saute mushrooms and for 5-6 minutes over medium heat. Set the mostly cooked vegetables aside and toss the spinach into pan, turning heat to low, and stirring occasionally, making sure the spinach wilts, but doesn't burn. Temper an egg into the sauce mixture (for directions on tempering, click here, don't worry, I had to look it up, too) and then stir in the cheeses, mustard, salt,  and pepper. 

Gently fold the cheese mixture into the pasta. Once the pasta is thoroughly covered in ooey-gooey cheese (truly, this is an intoxicating smell), fold in the vegetables. Pour the mixture into a 9x13 casserole dish and bake for 30 -35 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving with a dash of nutmeg sprinkled over the top. 

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!! 

Jefferson Market and Cakery - the Ann Arbor Home of the Best Birthday Cake I've Ever Had

I didn't think I wanted a birthday cake. 

In the nearly 3 years I've been gluten-free, I've found it easier to simply steam roll over events and feelings that make me feel left out. Why spend holidays thinking about challah you didn't have or birthday cakes you couldn't eat?  

Still, it had been 3 years since I blew out birthday candles. Part of that was college life, most of it was lack of a proper cake, and if I'm honest, I secretly longed for such an experience...

But still, I didn't think I needed a birthday cake. Sure, professionally decorated, store bought, made especially for me was a nice daydream, but here in the Midwestern real world where money is tight and gluten free bakeries don't exist? Such a thing was a pipe dream, and one I hardly felt like wasting time worrying about. Besides, I'm becoming quite the little baker. I figured if I truly wanted a cake, I'd just make my own. 

Surprisingly, my boyfriend sternly put his foot down. Absolutely not. It's your birthday, Dana. You are not making your own cake. 

Sweet, silly boyfriend, I thought, he thinks he can find a gluten-free bakery in Ann Arbor. Sure a year and a half ago he was sure all restaurants offered gluten-free options, but had 18 months of calling ahead every time we went out to eat, or worse, him watching drinking a glass of water while he apologized through his steak/Mexican/Chinese dinner taught him nothing? Oh well, I thought, maybe he's just going to make me a cake himself.   

And had he not found the Jefferson Market and Cakery, he may have just baked his first gluten free pastry. Lucky for us both, though, nestled a few blocks away from Ann Arbor's Main Street, in a sleepy residential community of side streets sits the home of the prettiest, yummiest cakes in all of Michigan. Dealing primarily in special event cakes (the beautiful kind of wedding cakes that are enough to make you want to get married tomorrow), the quaint Cakery is filled with a whimsical magic I've rarely felt since my childhood birthdays. You know, that prickly, near tangible excitement that whispers this is going to be a special day. Upon stepping into the Cakery, such a promise enters your body via a sugary scent picked up by your nose and settles warmly, comfortingly in your bones. 

But the name practically does it on it's on, doesn't it? Cakery. It's impossible not to say that word and smile, imaging the possibilities. 

As far as gluten-free options go, the good people at the Jefferson Market and Cakery were able to offer us a gigantic, frosted flourless chocolate cake. A cake, with my name professionally pipe in pink frosting across the top. 

At about 12 inches around, the cake was seemingly gigantic large thanks to its thick, dense 5 inch high chocolate amazingness. Unbelievably, they actually gave my boyfriend an option of making this behemoth of a birthday cake a layer cake, with option upon option of fruity compote, citrus curds, or butter cream piled thick between the layers.  As delicious as hazelnut or lemon cream sounds, I'm so, so glad he settled with a simple vanilla icing on chocolate cake. After taking eyes-are-bigger-than-our-mouths slices and barely getting 2/3rd of the way through those, the idea of another layer of that cake is....mindboggling. 

While at $40, this was certainly a special event only cake, I can say we've happily enjoyed every cent - and every crumb - of it.  And after a week, when we'd only slogged through half of the thick chocolate goodness, I sliced up the remained, wrapped it up in aluminum foil, and froze it, ensuring we'd have sweet memories of my lovely birthday and cake for weeks to come. 

I called to thank the Jefferson Market and Cakery for making my birthday so special, and was pleased to find out that, upon request, they can also prepare gluten free coconut macaroons and gluten free almond cookies. It might not be a huge selection, but the mere fact that a bakery is willing to be so accommodating to the celiac community, so willing to not just provide a product, but also to consult on their product, ensuring that the cake makes the birthday as special as it can be? Well that's more than creating a specialized birthday cake, its creating a special birthday. 

In the end, the Cakery and my boyfriend provided me with the best of birthday surprises, a present I hadn't even realized I wanted it. As we stuck every last candle from the 24 pack into my cake (23 plus 1 for good luck), lit the candles, and turned out the lights, I bathed in the warm glow of a true birthday. 

It was the best present a girl could hope for. 

La Dolce Vita / The Chop House - an Ann Arbor Dessert Destination

This is a Chocolate Melt Cake. Drizzled with chocolate syrup. Covered in house made Almond Ice Cream. Topped with slice almonds. Accompanied by a stick of dark and white chocolate. 

And this is the only picture I have of it.

This luscious, moist cake comes to you straight from Ann Arbor's La Dolce Vita - the dessert and wine bar situated in between upscale American restaurant The Chop House and Italian restaurant Gratzi - all three of which are owned by the same group, and all three of which have gluten free menus and celiac knowledgeable staff. 

As is imperative when you're talking safe gluten free fare, all of La Dolce Vita's gourmet desserts are made on site. Not only was the pastry chef on hand, not only can deserts be tailored to your gluten free needs (without that pesky wafer so many pastry chefs love to gluten up otherwise safe mouses and puddings with), but when you have a knowledge person in the kitchen, you can put your money on a safe, cross contamination free dining experience. 

Even though we arrived near 10pm on a week night, we were pleased to find the pastry chef was still there. She and our waitress pow-wowed on my gluten free needs, and were able to offer me several of the naturally gluten free confections on the menu, including approximately eight types of homemade sorbets and ice creams, a fruit and cheese plate, a sumptuous rice pudding with blood oranges, and, of course, the chocolate melt cake. 

Obviously, we went with the cake. 

This thick, deeply chocolate confection would've been enough on it's own, but pared with almond ice cream? I'm amazed I managed even one picture before we lapped it up. 

If you didn't know already, I love anything almond, anything dark chocolate, and any time I can safely dine out without worrying about being glutened. But a dessert bar in the Midwest that actually bats a 3 out of 3? Well I'd say that place pretty much offers a perfect dining experience. My boyfriend heartily agrees, giving La Dolce Vita's Chocolate Melt Cake a 9.9 out of 10, explaining the dessert only missed the mark because he could've done with another serving (or six) of it. 

I do love to make my boyfriend happy, so I'll just have to placate him and make sure we spend an evening at La Dolce Vita next time I'm in town. And if my arm gets twisted into tasting that tempting blood orange rice pudding? Well, that's just something me and my taste buds will have to deal with. 

Nian Gao - Chinese New Years Cake

February is quickly becoming the month of dessert. And why not? It's a month for love, a month for warmth, and being the heart of winter, and between the cold temperatures and short days, it's a month wherein we need things to look forward to. 

Therefore, before the month is out, I will have brought you practical a weeks worth of sugary confections, baked goods, and pastries. For what's probably the calendar's most despised month, February is surprisingly full of holidays. From Valentines Day to the Chinese New Year, from Presidents' Day, to well, my birthday, there's a lot to celebrate. So pull up your chair, loosen your belts, because February going to be filled with a month of carbs you'll love to eat, bake, and share. 

...I think March might be a month of salads. 

Until then, though, let's talk cake. 

It's been years since I've really traveled anywhere, and I thank my gluten free stars I had the good fortune to go to Japan when I did. At 16, I was still young enough have the experience of being immersed in a culture so different than my own leave a lasting  impression on my global understanding, my sense of history, and my palate. 

 

Without my trip to Asia, I imagine I would never have be bold enough to try adzuki bean paste, be familiar with the sweet and utterly tart flavors of lychee and umibushi, respectively, or know the spongy joy of glutenous rice flour. And so, when I was invited to a Chinese New Years potluck party a mere 20 hours before I was expected to arrive, I was certainly glad to know my way around an Asian dessert. 

Not that I'm insinuating Chinese and Japanese desserts are the same - though their cultures share a long history of cross pollination - but having a little knowledge of one certainly helped in the creation of the other. 

Nian Gao is a Chinese dessert eaten in greatest quantities around the new year because (as wikipedia tells me) when written in chinese characters, "nian gao" is homonym for "every year higher and higher". I admit it freely, I'm a sucker for symbolic food.  In any event, this not too sweet cake is made either plain or with adzuki bean paste. As an updated, cross cultural variation, I filled mine with dates and added a little vanilla, but I imagine it would be lovely with an addition of orange zest, almond extract, and / or substituting part of the milk with coconut milk. 

Delicious, simple, and naturally gluten free. What a wonderful way to ring in any New Year. 

(Baked) Nian Gao with Dates

A note, this cake is typically steamed, but not being so savvy with my Chinese cooking, I choose to prepare a baked version of the cake, but was told it had the look and consistency of the real thing. However authentic, or inauthentic, this cake is quite delicious. Recipe adapted from chinatownconnection.com

16 oz of Sweet Rice Flour (I used Mochiko - you can get it at any local Asian food store) 

7 -8 Tablespoons of butter, melted (or 3/4 cup vegetable oil)

3 eggs

2 1/2 cups of skim milk (or whole milk, or coconut milk)

1 Tablespoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of vanilla 

11 - 13 shredded dates 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13x9 inch pan and set it aside. 

Mix everything but the dates in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer, first at medium speed for 2 minutes, then on high for two minutes. Pour half of the batter into the pan, cover the mixture with an even layer of the shredded dates, and then pour the rest of the mixture over the top. 

Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, cut into squares, and have a happy, lucky, new year. 

Amazing Orange Almond Pound Cake

Peanut butter and jelly. Macaroni and cheese. Coffee (or tea) and cake. Such pairings a perfect and can be dressed up or had sweet and simple, but however you combine them, they're classic, timeless, and well, delicious. 

When the ingredients are good, fresh, and well blended, combinations like coffee and cake are a match made in culinary heaven. But when something is awry, well, you've got little to hide behind. 

I guess that's why I was more than a bit nervous when my mom informed me 4 hours before we intended to leave, that instead of having a post movie discussion at a coffee shop, we were going to have it at our house - and could I whip up a nice coffee or tea cake for our company? 

An on the fly gluten free Starbucks quality cake? Sure no problem...

Actually, thanks to a little planning and Internet researching, I came up with a perfect company cake. Coffee cake, with its crumbly, cinnamon sugar topping, seemed too complicated, and besides, my favorite coffee shop confections was always a slice of a simple, sugary, fruit flavored pound cake.

It didn't take long to happen upon Ina Garten's Orange Pound Cake recipe. With an orange glaze courtesy of  The Amateur Gourmet, and a a few adaptions of my own, I managed to recreate what I believe is gluten-free pound cake perfection. 

Beautiful, light, and with just the right amount of orange, this cake was perfect next to a cup of tangerine zinger tea and the in depth character analysis that followed our movie going experience. But don't take my word for it - my guests enjoyed three half-slices each. Not too bad for people who weren't quite sure what "gluten-free" meant mere hours earlier. 

With recipes like this, my dear Celiac friends, were slowing endangering ourselves of risking having our troublesome eating restrictions and the complications they cause us be brushed away by a nonchalant hand wave. No wheat flours, huh? Well clearly coming up with good gluten-free alternatives is easy. Polio, now there's something you have to watch out for...

Sure, sharing food like this might make friends and family think you're being a little over dramatic about the impact being gluten free has had on your life. But you won't care. You'll have this cake. 

Orange Almond Pound Cake 

with orange vanilla syrup and an orange glaze 

based on recipes by Ina Garten and The Amature Gourmet

8 Tablespoons of Earth Balance Butter (or regular butter)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs at room temperature

1/3rd - 1/2 cup grated orange zest**

1 cup GF flour blend

1/2 cup almond meal

1/4 teaspoon xanthum gum

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

scant 1/2 cup buttermilk 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

scant 1/4 cup orange juice

**(I zest to the whites so it was 2 oranges for me. approximately the zest of 2 - 3 oranges, depending on how you like your orange flavor) 

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

1 /2 teaspoon vanilla extract

scant 1/2 cup powdered sugar 

1 - 2 Tablespoons orange juice  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a loaf pan. 

Combine buttermilk, orange juice and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside. 

Likewise, combine (or sift, if you're feeling fancy) flour, almond meal, xanthum gum, sa

lt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set the dry ingredient mixture aside. 

In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter (beat with electric mixer about 3 minutes, until fluffy). Beat in eggs - one at a time - and chase it with the orange zest. Alternate adding the wet and dry ingredient mixtures to the batter, starting and ending with the flour. 

Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. 

Remove the cake from the oven and let stand for at least five minutes. Then, turn the pan over on a plate (or drying rack), don't worry it will slip out easily provided you've greased and floured ahead of time. While the cake cools an additional five minutes, make the orange vanilla syrup. 

In a small pot, combine sugar, orange juice, and vanilla. Heat on medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes a little thick (about three minutes).  Spoon some or all of the mixture on top of the cake. 

When you're ready to serve, in a small bowl, mix 1 - 2 Tablespoons of orange juice with the powdered sugar to form a thick orange glaze. Drizzle some or all on top of the cake. 

Eat, enjoy with friends, and watch your cake disappear. 

Note: This amazing cake could be made with a tangerine, lemon, or lemon lime variation. Heck, it could be made as cranberry orange, peach orange, raspberry lemon...all depending on the kind of juice and zest you use. Experiment. It's good for the soul and the taste buds. 

Patriotic prObama Cupcakes

In the past few years, there have been a great number of pivotal days. Days that you know you'll forever be trading stories about "remember where you where when...." Often, it's somber, if not horrific events burn our time and place into our memories. Thankfully, not all days to be remembered are so tragic. 

In the future, I imagine my children or grandchildren will ask me "Where were you when America saw it's first black president was sworn in, when yes we can changed to yes we did, when a new generation of Americans came into their own in understanding their personal and political power, when regardless of political party or personal belief, the country came together with a collective sigh of relief and a hope for change?" 

When that happens, I'll be able to answer that I watched the momentous event at Cuyahoga Community College (where my mother is a teacher), among people of all ages, races, and nationalities all of whom were moved, cheering and crying, at the prospect of something new and better. 

After the viewing, the hugging, and waving goodbye to former (former!) President Bush, us Americans hungry for change also found ourselves hungry for lunch. And what provides a better sweet ending to any Inauguration Day lunch than Patriotic prObama Cupcakes?

In the spirit of unity (and because my mother's coworker has a nut allergy), I tried the Cherrybrook Kitchen wheat/gluten free, egg free, and nut free chocolate cake mix and vanilla icing mix. (The mixes themselves were dairy free, too, but I put real milk and butter into the icing. A personal choice, but they're more than easily made using dairy substitutes for the lactose free and vegan among you.)

Talk about witnessing the impossible! While I think I'm still a Pamela's fan as far as mixes are concerned (I still dream about that birthday chocolate cake...), the completely allergy friendly Cherrybook Kitchen mixes were GOOD. I'd make it again good. Even the those without food issues agreed, the cupcakes were rich, perfectly textured, and utterly craveable. 

Best of all, they were easy, easy, easy to make. - A welcome surprise to me, as I'd made four failed batches of meringue cookies before finally turning to a mix. No matter how I whipped, my meringue would merely stare back at me glossy, thick, but peakless. It was only after batch four that I realized it was my regular table sugar weighing the mixture down. Sigh. - The cake mix required only 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, 2 teaspoons of vanilla, and 1 cup of cold water (I used 2/3rd cup cold coffee and 1/3 cup cold water, it makes for a richer, deeper taste).

The icing, too, was so very simple, just the mix plus 2 tablespoons of milk and 2 and 1/2 sticks of butter. The icing box says it makes enough icing for only 12 cupcakes, but I found I was able to frost 21 of my 24 cupcakes (made from 2 boxes of mix). 

Dividing the icing into three bowls, I added a few drops of McCormick food coloring and quickly found myself with red, white, and blue icing. I frosted my cupcakes and served up a delicious, equal opportunity treat for this sweet, historic day. 

A final note - and I hope you'll oblige me this political moment in a space whose primary concern is reserved for food - it was a welcome release of cynicism to frost my cupcakes in such a patriotic fashion. Over a third of my 22 years have been spent under a government who's legacy includes such low points as Abu Grahaib and Guantanamo Bay, a depressed, recessed economy,  and the horrific mismanagement of Hurricane Katrina. I cannot say that four years ago, much less last year, I would've ever imagined doing anything so openly patriotic, so celebratory of my country and it's government. 

But today I passed out my Patriotic prObama cupcakes with pride. I guess that's another thing I can remember about today. What about you? What will you remember? 

Birthday Dinner for the Boyfriend: Cheesy Potato Bake and Chocolate Cake with Strawberries and Coconut

Food is meant to be shared. 

It's why dinners for one comes in frozen plastic containers. It's why you don't buy a single slice of bread.  It's why we always want our gluten eating friends and family to try our latest gluten free creations. 

If there ever was a food that was indisputably meant to be shared, it is birthday cake. Perhaps that's why the seemingly simple request overwhelmed me so. "What I want for my birthday," my boyfriend said, "is a cake I can eat with you." 

I was determined to make a good, no great, gluten free cake for my gluten eating guy. He's a real meat and potatoes, beer and football kind of guy. The type who thinks owning anything pink is be an affront to his masculinity and that popcorn might as well be a food group. How he ended up with a vegetarian - much less this gluten free, vegetarian city girl - is somewhat a mystery to us both at times. 

In the beginning, he didn't understand celiac. The first time I came to stay with him, we had to go to the grocery store practically the moment I stepped off the plane. But with a little gluten free education and a lot of practice, we've learned to love to cook together. Over the past year, we've made everything from Asian inspired stir-fries to gluten free spinach and ricotta cannelloni. When eating with me, he's learned to forgo the meat and the wheat and embrace chickpeas and lentils. I, meanwhile, have learned to be a little more lenient on the subject of floury, white potatoes (which, no matter what he says, are not vegetables...well okay they ARE, but they're the starchy variety of vegetable, the kind in league with pastas and rices). It's been an experience for us both, but I think we'd both agree it's been fun. 

But birthday cake soon blossomed into birthday dinner. And with the focus shifted from one dish to two, my desire to create the perfect gluten free confection turned into a much less selfish desire to make sure the chocolate-on-chocolate cake requested actually tasted good. 

In the end, I used a mix. 

I figured it was safer that way, a guarantee no one would have to smile though a chocolate cake with a distinct potato flour undertone.  He'll be 40 next year; hopefully by then I'll have learned to perfect my own cake recipe and make something really special. The mix turned out to be a good choice, though, everyone loved it. It had the consistency and flavor of a regular chocolate cake. No. Not regular cake - a good chocolate cake. And yes, while I tweaked the recipe with some of my own ingredients, I can't claim the cake as my own. 

But I should never have thought of it as my own anyway, food is meant to be shared. 

Cheesy Potato Birthday Bake 

6 small potatoes

1 zucchini

1 yellow squash

3 leeks, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, chopped (more or less to your liking)

3/4 cup of broccoli florets  

1/2 cup 1% milk

3/4 cup vegetable broth or stock

dab of butter, perhaps 1/2 tablespoon 

1 tablespoon of cornstarch

1/2 - 3/4 cup of shredded cheese (we like a mixture of monterrey jack and cheddar)

additional cheese to sprinkle over the top

chopped parsley 

salt and pepper to your taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Peel and slice the potatoes in to thin slices, no more than 1/3rd of an inch. Slice the zucchini and yellow squash to roughly the same size, though they can be at a somewhat heartier thickness. 

(The following sauce is an adaptation of Ginger Lemon Girl's recent blog post on Cream Soup. I'd remembered reading about this base on her blog a few days earlier and it served as the inspiration for my casserole. Thanks, Ginger Lemon Girl, the birthday boy loved it.)

In a small sauce pan, melt the butter on medium heat. Add the milk, vegetable stock, and stir in the cornstarch. Cook for 3 - 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens. Next, add in the shredded cheese. Give it a good stir and watch as the cheese dissolves almost instantly - it's a pretty cool trick. Season with salt and pepper as desired.  

Combine the potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, leeks, and garlic, and broccoli in a casserole pan, and giving them a good toss together. Sprinkle salt and pepper to your liking over the top and toss it once more. Pour the cheese mixture evenly over the vegetables and bake in the oven - covered with tin foil - for 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes, remove the tin foil and add the remaining cheese and parsley (if desired) to the top of the casserole. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. 

Side note: This casserole reheated be-autifully the next day when I put it next too some scrambled eggs at breakfast. Yum. 

Chocolate Cake with Strawberries and Coconut 

(lactose free & nut free, too)

 

1 package of Pamela's chocolate cake mix

3 eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup water

1 cup strong brewed coffee

1 container of Cherrybrook Kitchen's chocolate icing 

1 large container of strawberries, sliced very thin

1/4 - 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Spread evenly between two cake pans and bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Take out and let cool. (This is a great time to slice the strawberries, a surprisingly time consuming task.)

Once the cakes have cooled, ice one of the layers and cover it with most of the sliced strawberries. Place the second layer above it and continue icing the cake. Place the rest of the strawberries on the center of the top layer and sprinkle the shredded coconut around them. 

Share. And Enjoy.