New Recipe: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (gluten-free)

My schedule has been very strange to me without the shop to rush off to every morning. I keep finding myself baking first thing in the morning having nothing that I feel pressed to do at any given moment. This will change as I settle in more. I am addicted to schedules and routines and it makes me batty to have no structure to my day.

I did, however, make some yummy pumpkin muffins a few mornings ago. Having roasted too much squash the night before and with nothing planned it seemed I had no other choice than to do more baking.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (gluten-free)

1 1/2 cups sugar, refined or unrefined
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups roasted pumpkin or winter squash, mashed
5 pastured eggs
1/2 cup water
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups GF flour blend of choice, I used Bob’s Red Mill
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl beat oil and sugar together. Add eggs and squash and combine well, then water and vanilla. In a small bowl add all dry ingredients except chocolate chips. Mix dry ingredients until well-combined. Add a third of mixed dry ingredients to wet batter and beat in until smooth. Add remaining flour mixture and mix until smooth. Add chocolate chips and mix well.

Fill muffin cups at least 3/4 high. Bake for 30 minutes until baked through.

New Recipe: Flourless Chocolate Cake (gluten-free, grain-free)

Now that we’re settling into our new home it is time for me to start cooking, that seems to be my way of settling into a new environment. Since we are staying with another family I get the chance to cook for even more people which makes me even more happy. I think I would be happiest cooking for a whole commune.

In honor of Valentine’s Day yesterday I cooked a big feast and this cake was the finale. This is a cake I used to bake at Gathering Grounds in Patagonia, AZ. I’m sure it was based on another recipe but at this point I have no idea what the original source is.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce

cake
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 pastured butter
6 eggs, separated
12 tbs. granulated sugar (refined or unrefined)
2 tsp. vanilla

raspberry sauce
24 ounces frozen raspberries, defrosted
4 tbs. pastured butter
1/4 cup sweetener of choice
1 tsp. vanilla
juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9″ springform pan by lining the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Assemble pan and grease. Wrap the outside of the pan with foil.

In a double boiler melt chocolate chips and butter, remove from heat and set aside. In a large bowl add 6 egg yolks and 6 tablespoons sugar, beat until thick, creamy, and the yolks have lightened in color. Take melted chocolate and slowly add to egg yolks while beating consistently. Beat in vanilla.

Using a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer (I’ve done this by hand but it is a workout!) add egg whites. Start beating and slowly add 6 tablespoons of sugar as you beat the whites until they hold a firm peak.

Add a small amount of whites to the chocolate mixture and carefully mix in, then add the rest of the whites and carefully fold in. Now gently transfer the batter to prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes.

When the cake is done set out and allow the cake to cool in the pan for about an hour or two. If you like a dense cold cake you can transfer it to the refrigerator at some point. I prefer the cake served at room temperature. When you are ready to serve run a knife carefully around the cake and then carefully open the cake pan.

For the raspberry sauce, add all of the ingredients to a saucepan and put over medium high heat. Stir ingredients until they are totally broken down, bring to a simmer. Let mixture simmer for a few minutes and then pour through a sieve to remove seeds. Use a wooden spoon to be sure you’ve extracted all of the juice from the seeds. I chilled the raspberry sauce before serving.

When slicing this cake have a wet rag handy to wipe the knife between cuts. Serve with some raspberry sauce.

Multi-tasking

I have been settling back in nicely to the ranks of the self-employed. For many years in NYC I ran my own clothing business. I’ve always enjoyed working for myself. I find that I am a much more demanding boss than any of the other people who ever employed me. This has pluses and minuses obviously.

What is different about being self-employed this time however is the vast variety of projects I am pursuing. Each day I never know what awaits me as far as work goes.

Today was an excellent example. After walking my daughter to school and spending some down time at the coffee shop I came home. I walked next store to the local community arts center to discuss some craft classes I might teach and also ended up discussing marketing work. Once home I did a bunch of sewing for a linen company. Then I ordered flooring for my new space. I ran the completed linen goods over to the person overseeing that and stopped by the coffee shop to adjust my schedule for Gluten-free baking. I returned home and exchanged e-mails with a local business which is interested in me making a large batch of raw, vegan pies for a local festival.

Deep breath, still lots to go! I went and picked up my daughter, we got a snack and went to another local business interested in my marketing skills. I figured out what they are looking for and arranged to do a proposal for them next week. Back over the linen studio to pick up more things to sew. Ran to the store, grabbed dinner supplies and proceeded onto dinner.

Now that dinner is done and we took our evening family walk I’m onto some computer work. I worked on some font samples to send a client for a logo design. I also spent time organizing my to-do lists and my schedule. I spent a bit of time considering my blog and decided these kooky, fun hectic days were what I really felt like sharing today!

It can be hard to manage but I love getting to use different parts of my brain all day, meeting different people and supporting so many amazing projects! I feel so lucky to get to share my skills with so many other skillful people.

Gluten-Free Baking: Pumpkin Cake with Apple Topping

One of the many things I’ve been working on lately is baking gluten-free treats for a local restaurant, The Gathering Grounds in Patagonia, AZ. I’ve been baking crazy things like Berry Cheese Danish, Lemon Cream Puffs, Gingerbread Cupcakes and much more, all gluten-free. Granted, these are not foods that I eat at home but it is fun to be making some delicious gluten-free foods that everyone has been enjoying.

Periodically I’m going to share one of the recipes I’ve been developing to use at the restaurant. I’m always trying to come up with interesting things that are not typically seen gluten-free.

Pumpkin Cake with Apple Topping

Topping:
3 tbs. pastured butter
4 cups apples, peeled and chopped
3 tbs. rapadura or sucanat
1 tsp cinnamon

Place the above into a sautee pan and cook over medium heat until apples soften and the sauce begins to caramelize. Set aside.

Cake:
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Flour Blend
1 tbs. flax or chia meal
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1 heaping tbs arrowroot starch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup rapadura or sucanat
1/2 cup pastured butter, softened
3/4 cup cook pumpkin, mashed
1/3 cup sour cream
2 eggs

Drizzle:
3 tbs cream cheese
12 tsp lemon zest
1/2 lemon juiced
3 tbs. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
water to thin to desired consistency

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9″ springform cake pan. In a bowl combine flours, flax, gum, starch, salt, baking soda,baking soda and spices. In a separate bowl cream together butter and rapadura. Mix in the pumpkin, sour cream and eggs one at a time. Beat until smooth and well-combined. Slowly add the flour mixture and stir well.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Pour the apple mixture on top and spread evenly over the batter. Cook for about an hour.

Allow to cool in the pan about 20 minutes and then remove and cool completely on a cooling rack.

For the cream cheese drizzle combine everything except water in a bowl. Mix until smooth. Add water and tablespoon at a time until you achieve a consistency that can be easily drizzled over the cake.