Chocolate Honey Cake

I've been feeling the pull for the past few weeks of chocolate cake.  There is a gluten-free, vegan chocolate cake which I have made many times (my friends know it well), but for two reasons, I've been dreaming of a new cake.  I've become bored with making the old stand-by and the old stand-by recipe has xanthum gum, which try to stay away from these days.  So, I've been keeping my eye out for something new to try...

I started with Nigella Lawson's recipe for Honey Bee Cake which I converted to gluten-free and veganized.  It is by no means health food - there is a great deal of sugar and fat.  But, it would be a lovely cake for a special occasion.  Its a dense, very rich, almost gooey cake with a beautiful chocolate taste and the floral notes of honey in the background.  I didn't want to change everything about her recipe the first time out, and I'm sure I'll be making this again and plan to try it with less fat and much less sugar, (I found it extremely sweet for my taste - although I'm sure some folks will like it super sweet).  I'd also like to try it with another liquid sweetener, such as maple syrup, which is wonderful with chocolate. 

And, this is an incredible easy cake to put together, especially in the food processor.

Nigella and her kids of use marzipan to make little bees, decorated with the chocolate glaze and sliced almonds - I suppose if one has kids about, this might be fun, I skipped it.

Cake:

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted

4 tablespoons ground golden flaxmeal

6 tablespoons coconut milk

1 1/3 cups soft light brown sugar

2 sticks earth balance buttery stick (room temperature) 

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup sweet sorghum flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour (ground superfine is best)

3/4 cup arrowroot flour (or tapioca flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt 

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup boiling water

Sticky Honey Glaze:

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup honey

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and oil and line the bottom (with parchment paper) a 9-inch springform pan.  Also, because the batter is quiet liquid, I wrapped the pan with foil very tightly (although my pan did not leak at all).  Also, place the springform pan on a sheet tray (if there is some leakage, you don't want it all over your oven).

Combine ground flax meal and coconut milk and allow to sit for a few minutes (this is the substitute for 2 eggs).

Combine all dry ingredients: (sweet sorghum flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot flour, baking poweder and soda, salt, and cocoa)  and whisk until combined. 

In a food processor, beat together softened earth balance sticks and brown sugar until creamy, then add the honey and process another few seconds.  Add half of the flaxmeal & coconut milk mixture and about 1/2 of the dry ingredients.  Add remaining flaxmeal & coconut milk mixture and remaining dry ingredients.  Add the cocoa pushed through a tea strainer to ensure you have no lumps, and add vanilla and the boiling water. Mix everything well to make a smooth batter and pour into the prepared tin.

(don't have a food processor?  Do the same as above in a large bowl with a hand held mixer)

Cook for up to 1 1/2 hours, though check the cake after 45 minutes and if it is getting too dark, cover the top lightly with aluminium foil and keep checking every 15 minutes.  Let the cake cool completely in the tin on a rack.

To make the glaze, bring the water and honey to a simmer in a saucepan, then turn off the heat and add the finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate, swirling it around to melt in the hot liquid. Leave it for a few minutes, then whisk together. Add the powdered sugar through a sieve and whisk again until smooth.

Choose your plate or stand, and cut out 4 strips of parchment paper and form a square outline on the plate. This is so that when you sit the cake on and ice it, the icing will not run out all over the plate. Unclip the springform pan and set the thoroughly cooled cake on the prepared plate. Pour the glaze over the cold cake; be sure a good deal of the glaze dribbles down the sides. The glaze takes awhile to harden, so give it least an hour before you plan on serving it.

Notes:

- this cake rose beautifully in the oven, but then fell a bit in the middle (this is common occurrence with gluten-free baked things) - it didn't bother me at all.

- this recipe would make a beautiful cupcakes and there would not be the issue of the middle falling.
- I found the addition of the glaze over the top for me.  Next time, I will try the cake (or cupcakes) with just a dusting of powdered sugar.  And, because the cake is so deeply chocolaty, I'd like to try it with raspberries or raspberry jam - now that's something I could get excited about.

almond joy gluten free muffins (vegan too!)

The more I learn about almond flour, the more there is to love.  Most importantly, it tastes sweet and rich.  The richness comes from the beautiful healthy oils of the almond and it's quite high in protein and fiber.  If you are interested in exploring almond flour further, check out Elana Amsterdam's web site (elanaspantry.com) or her book 'the Gluten-Free Almond Flour cookbook'.  She has a lot to say about it.

I was looking around web for ideas when I came across a recipe for Banana Bread with an Almond Joy Twist at mybakingaddiction.com.  I loved the idea of the Almond Joy combination (almonds, coconut, and chocolate) and thought it would be interesting to try with almond flour.  I took apart Jamie's recipe and put it back together, in the process removing the gluten and veganizing it (the bananas did not make the cut...). 

I was so fascinated last month reading the posts for the pancake ratio rally.  What a fun idea!  Because of my cookbook compulsion, I had purchased Michael Ruhlman's book (Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking) when it was published...  but had not put it to use.  (note: see a link to this book in my I Love Cookbooks to the right...)

I got Ruhlman's book because I loved the idea of understanding the hidden mechanics underlying the process of how food happens.   However, all of his baking ratios are based on weight rather than volume measurements - this means using a scale to weigh the ingredients.  The idea of getting a scale and measuring by weight seemed unnecessarily complicated to me at the time. 

Then I'd gotten seriously side-tracked about a year ago when I had to start baking gluten-free, egg-free, and dairy-free because of David's newly discovered food sensitivities. 

Gluten-free baking has the best chance of success with a combination of flours & starches.  Different flours and starches having the same volume, may not have the same weight.  Because of moisture content and other factors, a specific weight in my kitchen may not be the same in yours - although the volume is the same.  I have had pretty good success baking gluten-free using the old measuring by volume - but now that I've gotten used to the scale - its seems easier then my Mother's way of measuring.  Plus fewer things to clean up.  The Gluten-Free Girl's says it all much better in her post 'why we don't use cups in our recipes'. 

 

(beautiful logo designed by Anile Prakash)

Welcome to the gluten free ratio rally, a monthly collaborative blog party!  To find all of the offerings in this month's collaboration focused on Quick Breads and Muffins - visit Silvana's Kitchen.

Please make a point of visiting all the g-free blogs participating in this month's Ratio Rally. You will no doubt make many new discoveries.  And also take time to visit  Silvana's Kitchen, who is our host this month - she has posted a round-up of the whole shee-bang.

Mrs. R of honey from flinty rocks made Lemon Lavender Muffins with Lavender Sugar
Alisha Austin of gfmostlyvegetarian made Sweet Potato Breakfast Loaf
Amanda Schaefer of Gluten Free Maui made Classic Banana, Oat, Pecan Bread
Amie Valpone of  The Healthy Apple made Gluten-Free Agave Apricot Quick Bread
Britt Hodges of GF In The City made Date & Walnut Bread
Brooke Lippy of Bell Wookie made Double Chocolate Cherry Muffin
Caleigh of Gluten Free[k] made Cardamom Banana Bread
Caroline Karasik of The G Spot Revolution made Orange Spice Bread with a Vanilla Glaze
Claire Berman of Gluten Freedom made Piña Colada Muffins with Coconut-Rum Glaze and Toasted Coconut
Danna Owens of Sweet Dees Gluten Free made Blood Orange Cardamom Muffins
Erin Block of Mysteries Internal made Strawberry Yogurt Muffins
Erin Swing of The Sensitive Epicure made Chocolate Chip Walnut Muffins with Streusel
Flo of Makanaibio made 2 Recettes de Muffins ou de Gateau Rapides
Gretchen of kumquat made Gingerbread Fig Loaf
Irvin of Eat The Love made Gluten Free Glazed Meyer Lemon Muffins filled with Slow Roasted Balsamic Red Wine Strawberry Jam
Jenn of Jenn Cuisine made Chestnut and Chocolate Quickbread
Karen Robertson of Cooking Gluten Free made Muffins
Kate Brabon of Kate Alice Cookbook made Raspberry Banana Crumble-Top Muffins
Kate Chan of Gluten Free Gobsmacked made Mocha + Chocolate Chip Muffins/Quickbread
Lauren McMillan of Celiac Teen made Cocoa Quickbread
Lisa of Gluten Free Canteen made Almond Cherry Berry Banana Muffins, Gluten Free
Lisa of With Style and Grace made Rosemary Lemon Quick Bread
Marla Meridith of Family Fresh Cooking made Strawberry Snack Cakes
Mary Frances of Gluten Free Cooking School made Cranberry Orange Bread with Cream Cheese Icing
Meaghan Cassidy of The Wicked Good Vegan made Vegan Gluten-Free Apricot-Orange Bread
Nannette Minley of Nannette Raw made Chai Muffins
Robyn of Chocswirl made Brown Butter Apple Spice Muffins with Pecan Nut Streusel
Shauna of Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef made Lemon Poppyseed Bread with Ginger Glaze
Silvana of Silvana's Kitchen made Chocolate-Coated Marshmallow-Topped Vanilla Cupcakes
Danna at Sweet Dees Gluten Free made Blood Orange Cardamom Muffins
Tara of A Baking Life made Carmelized Banana Bread with Pecan Streusel
Wendy Kirby of La Phemme Phoodie made Cheesy Apple Butter Bread with Garlic Powder
Winnie Abramson of Healthy Green Kitchen made Brown Butter Banana Bread

... back to the scale. 

Just a week before reading about the pancake rally, I had purchased an OXO scale because I wanted to try a recipe for gluten-free pizza crust which was in ounces.  See my lovely OXO scale above (note:  I read many many reviews of several different scales on amazon - the OXO had the best reviews and more of them). 

So, I was excited that the ratio rally was happening at the exact moment that I felt ready (emotionally ready and hardware ready).

Here’s the quick bread / muffin ratio from Ruhlman’s book  (2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, 1 part fat).  Which for my purposes here translates roughly to the following:

8 oz flour

4 oz sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon baking powder

8 oz milk

4 oz eggs (2 large)

4 oz butter, melted

So, here's my recipe for:

Almond Joy Muffins - gluten-free, sugar-free & vegan

(inspired by Jamie at mybakingaddiction.com)

Flax Meal Slurry (sub for 2 eggs):
4 tablespoons golden flax meal
6 tablespoons coconut milk

Dry Ingredients:

4 oz blanched almond flour (finely ground)

2 oz tapioca flour

2 oz quinoa flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon baking soda

Wet Ingredients:

4 oz coconut oil, melted (or olive oil)

4 oz agave
4 oz flax meal slurry    

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 oz coconut milk, warmed to room temperature

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

½ cup bittersweet chocolate, shaved (or dark chocolate chips)

½ cup unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup chopped sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a standard muffin tin with 12 muffin papers. 

Mix golden flax meal and 6 tablespoons coconut milk with a fork to make the slurry.  This mixture needs to sit for a few minutes to thicken.

Whisk together all dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. 

In a larger bowl, combine oil (the coconut oil needs to be mostly liquid to measure - I just warm up the jar in the microwave) and agave with a whisk, add 4 oz of the flax meal slurry.  Add vanilla and coconut milk (the coconut oil will begin to solidify as it comes in contact with the cold coconut oil – it will work just fine as long as the clumps of coconut oil are small - to avoid this issue, warm the coconut milk slightly)  Add vinegar.  Whisk vigorously to blend the wet ingredients completely. 

Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in 3 additions, mixing well after each.  Gently fold in chocolate chips, coconut, and almonds.

Do not let this batter sit around, the vinegar will immediately start to react with baking soda causing bubbles - which is exactly what you want, but you will want it to be in the oven as its doing so.

Distribute batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups (the cups will be full to the top - don't worry about that, the batter will rise a bit, but not much).  Bake about 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway thru (in my oven, these muffins bake exactly 30 minutes).  Bake until muffins are deeply golden brown (almond flour batters brown beautifully!) and a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan for 5 - 10 minutes before removing (carefully) to a wire rack to cool.

confession:  I originally intended this as a loaf, which I tried, but the high percentage of almond flour meant the cooked full-sized loaf was a bit fragile, especially warm - so the whole loaf fell apart!  We ate it anyway, just breaking off big chunks - because it was so good!  If you try this recipe as a loaf, be sure to let it cool, before attempting the de-pan maneuver.  If allowed to cool to room temperature, the coconut oil will hold the whole loaf together.  If you have mini-loaf pans, that would be fun also.

Options: 
- substitute butter (room temperature) for the coconut oil
- substitute 2 eggs for the flax meal slurry
- substitute any other non-dairy milk for the coconut milk (wouldn't almond milk be nice?)
- if you like the original idea of banana - substitute mashed banana for flax meal slurry
- for the tapioca flour, you can substitute arrowroot, cornstarch, or potato starch
- for the quinoa flour, substitute millet or sorghum flour
- substitute honey or maple syrup for the agave

Pear Chocolate Crisp

This isn't really the time of year I usually think of pears, but I am still receiving them from our CSA - so gotta use them...

This is inspired by a Pear Crisp with chocolate idea from the Caprial and John Pence who are wonderful chefs and have a restaurant and cooking school in Portland - I got to know them thru their PBS cooking show.  This is where I first encountered the idea of a fruit crisp with chocolate, which, I think we can all agree, is genius. 

Please don't be put off by the picture which looks like a handful of dirt on a pretty plate.  You can eat it at room temperature, in which case you will stumble upon the bittersweet chocolate in small chunks, or warm it up a bit and the chocolate will be more melty - either way its yummy.

I shared a link to this recipe at this week's cravings at the blog Mom's Crazy Cooking and slightly indulgent tuesdays at the blog simply sugar and gluten free.

I love ginger in anything, but this may be a minority view - if you don't like it so much, leave it out or use less. 

I used maple syrup as the sweetener because I think it complements the deep chocolate flavor.  You can use agave, honey, or even brown sugar.

4 - 5 cups peeled, cored and sliced pears

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 - 4 tablespoons chopped candied ginger (depending on how much you love it!)

2 tablespoons corn starch

5 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate (I use Scharffenberger)

Topping

2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsalted butter (or coconut oil, melt before measuring)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.         

Mix together the pears, agave, ground ginger, candied ginger and cornstarch and mix well.  Place in an oiled 8" x 8" baking dish.  Top with the chopped bittersweet chocolate.

To prepare the topping, place the almond flour, cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons agave, vanilla, butter and salt in a large bowl and mix until you form a crumbly crust. Top the pears with the crust. Place in the oven and bake about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. 

Gluten Free Brownies

The almond flour in these brownies makes for a dense crumb, exactly right for brownies and, it is subtly sweet and rich, so you can get away with using less sweetener and fat.  If you have reservations about the almond flour, substitute part of the flour called for with another gluten-free flour (quinoa, millet, etc.) or a flour mix (such as Bob's Red Mill).

Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour is readily available, and produces an exceptable product - however, the texture is improved by using a more finely ground blanched almond flour (such as Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour available on-line).

(Note: do not substitute almond meal for almond flour.  Almond meal is made from unblanched almonds)

3 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 cup dutch process cocoa powder
2 tablespoons tapioca flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch of xanthum gum (optional)
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup agave or maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil (or olive oil)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Prehear oven to 350 degrees and oil an 10 x 7 inch glass pan.

Whisk together dry ingredients, breaking up any lumps of almond flour or cocoa. 

In a separate bowl whisk together remaining ingredients.  Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir well. 

Spoon batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes (test with a toothpick).   Frost cooled brownies with Chocolate Ganache.  They are also really good without the frosting.

Option:
This batter can also be baked in 12 paper-lined muffin cups.  Bake about 25 minutes.  Allow to cool about 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a rack.  Use the chocolate ganache to frost.  (or use your favorite frosting)

Chocolate Ganache

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 ounces good dark chocolate

(add a small amount (1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and/or chili powder) - optional

Bring the milk to a simmer.  Meanwhile, break the chocolate into pieces and put into a bowl. When the milk comes to a simmer, pour over the chocolate pieces and add vanilla. This will melt the chocolate. Stir until it is smooth.  Cool in the frig or in an ice bath.  The ganache is quite liquidy at first, but will thicken as it cools.