Apple Pie Shots

So I learned recently that a friend with whom I've had a falling out has removed me from a shared google doc. That is excessive and takes going out of one's way IMO. All I did was delete her phone number. ... I almost feel like maybe I should one up her... (*mostly joking!)

So, I hacked into Mister's account and took the recipe from the shared google doc. :-P

Apple Pie Shots

In a large pot, combine:
1 gallon apple cider
½ gallon apple juice
10 cinamon sticks
Boil for 15 minutes. Add:
2¾ cups sugar (I use significantly less, ~1½-2 cups last time as I recall )
Mix well and allow to cool completely.
Finally, add:
1 fifth (750ml) of Everclear
Bottle.

Makes about 1½ gallons

Recipe Source: http://www.randommemo.com/2008/08/apple-pie-shots.html

Banana Crunch Cake

My friend M was supposed to stop by today. She's on a diet that is now dairy and gluten free and LOVES sweets. I figured I'd try to throw something together. Pros: it's delicious. Cons: M isn't coming over and I have to eat it ALL (Mister's experimenting with whether or not avoiding sugar and alcohol will cure what ails him. You don't want to know.)

CHANGE OF PLANS! M literally just called me and said "f--- it I'm coming over". I knew she couldn't resist a sweet. :-P

But here's the recipe, for what it's worth. It's all stuff I have in stock, and I now have TWO friends who are gluten and dairy free... both named M (actually their names are both unusual and ridiculously, eerily similar).

Banana Crunch Cake:

-- gluten free mix (I have a biscuit/all purpose mix in stock)
-- oil
-- non-dairy milk (I used coconut)
-- sugar
-- granola
-- banana
-- cinnamon

I oiled the bottom of my cast iron frying pan and preheated the oven to 350F. Put a healthy amount of gluten free mix in a bowl (about 1.5-2 cups). Add 1/4 c. of sugar and a pinch of salt if desired. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and 5 oz or so of milk. Basically, you want this to be a thick batter, but still thin enough to pour.

Pour into the frying pan and even out all the way to the edges.

Sprinkle a layer of granola over the batter.

Slice a banana very finely (I used a frozen banana -- worked like a charm -- just peel it AFTER slicing) and put slices over the top of granola.

Sprinkle a crap ton of sugar on top (around a half cup maybe?) and some cinnamon.

Put in the oven until batter is cooked through.

** Optional: I added more sugar and attempted to caramelize the top. I just had a few burned sugar spots and lots of non-melted sugar. Eh.

But this is delicious! I think the next time I make this I might try to make it an upside down cake.

Hungarian Sour Cherry Coffee Cake

I was lured by the beautiful sour cherries at the farmer's market to buy two containers. I double checked -- "What do I do with them?" Bake was the immediate answer.

So I did a quick search on Tasty Kitchen, and found this recipe. It looked pretty tasty, so I figured I'd give it a go.

I was going over to my friend J's house for cards and home made pizza, so I thought it'd be nice to bring dessert. And he was raving about how awesome sour cherries are at band practice yesterday :-P.

Although the directions are quite fiddly, the results are delicious. And no, I did not follow them to the letter. I used fresh cherries instead of canned (I sprinkled some sugar over the top to compensate). As my friend M was to be at cards, I subbed out the butter for Earth Balance and the flour for oat flour. Oh, and I used four whole eggs total, instead of two eggs and two yolks. I'll never use those whites as I hate meringue. I also didn't chill the dough as long as I should. The step at the end with the final topping? Super obnoxious to deal with. But, as I said, it's delicious.

So, as long as you're willing to put up with a bit of finickyness, this is a good recipe to play with. I could also see a similar tart fruit like rhubarb, blueberry or cranberry doing well too.

Theoretical Cream Puffs

A friend of mine has a horrible collection of food allergies. Wheat and gluten, cow milk products (but not sheep or goat), and chicken. As she's also not a cook, she often EATS horribly as well.

I rather extravagantly informed her that I could cook and bake her whatever, as both Mister and I love to feed people and we merely look upon her allergies as a challenge. She replied: cream puffs.

So I've looked into it, and thankfully, I made eclairs last Sunday with another friend (at her instigation -- it just happened coincidentally), so I have a general idea of what I need to work with.

The basic recipe goes like this:

2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs

For the pudding, I can make vegan vanilla pudding based off of this:

1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups soy milk
1 tsp vanilla

However I would use tapioca starch as it's finer, and either almond, rice or coconut milk as I don't like soy.

For the heavy cream, it's apparently as easy as this:

2 cans full fat coconut milk (13.5 oz cans)
1/3 cup powdered sugar or to taste
1 - 4 Tbsp coconut flour or tapioca flour (add 1 Tbsp at a time)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract or to taste

1 - Chill the cans of coconut milk overnight in the fridge
2 - Open the cans, drain off the clear liquid and transfer the cream to a chilled bowl, using a rubber spatula to scrape all the cream out of the cans
3 - Beat the thick coconut cream in the chilled bowl with a hand mixer until thick and fluffy
4 - Add the vanilla, then gradually beat in the powdered sugar and coconut or tapioca flour, 1 or 2 Tbsp at a time, testing for flavor and consistency
5 - Using a rubber spatula, transfer the coconut cream to a covered storage container, and chill for 2 hours until the mixture firms. Serve chilled.

For the actual shell recipe, I'd replace the butter with butter-flavored Earth Balance, and probably just buy Bob's Red Mills GF Mix, as that's the easiest way to sub consistent results.

For presentation, I wish I had a pastry bag to fill the cream puffs, but I don't. :-( Looks like I'll have to slice the tops to fill them.

The directions to make the cream puffs are:

1 - Whip the coconut milk. Refridgerate.
2 - Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
3 - In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. 4 - Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
5 - Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
6 - Mix up pudding. Fold in coconut milk cream. Refridgerate.
7 - When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pudding mixture, or use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells.

And I'm done! I have figured out the "challenge" and found it wanting! I also, while searching through things, rediscovered the Chocolate Oblivion Torte which is both gluten and dairy free! :-D

OMG Salad Dressing

I can only take so much of this. Why is it that any time someone does a recipe for salad dressing, they have WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much oil? It should be an even 1:1 ratio of oil to vinegar, and THEN you throw in whatever else you want. Grrr...

"¼ cups Red Wine Vinegar
1-¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil"

^ this was in my inbox, as it's the most recent recipe on the Tasty Kitchen blog. There is no where's near enough vinegar. It makes me sad, and it makes me want to rescue people from their tragic lack of vinegar. My recipe for salad dressing?

Let's say 1/4 c. flavored vinegar (I particularly like Spiced Fig Vinegar), 1/4 c. olive oil (sometimes I have infused olive oil), 2 tsp. tasty mustard, oregano, salt, and tons of pepper. Shake it up and you're done! And for the love of the gods, don't put too much oil!

EDIT: Even P-Dub's most recent recipe involves waaaaaay too little vinegar! :-(

Recipes Used

Yesterday for dinner I made Black Lentils with Caramelized Onions for band, and everyone agreed it was tasty. I served it with rye toast and butter. And then J brought stuffed grape leaves and M brought a pizza and it was really a feast. We drank hot toddies made with Crown Royal, cinnamon sticks, cloves, hot water and Apple Cider Syrup. Delicious!

I am making Chocolate Nutella Sea Salt Fudge for family, and it is currently in the fridge setting. FYI it's a bit of a wrist work out.

The fruitcake is still in the oven, and has at least another 2 hours to go. I just have to finish a slipper, assemble all the slippers, wrap everything and pack to leave tomorrow.

I'm going to go drink some eggnog to get ready. :-P

New Booze to Make

I want to make this recipe only I'd probably remove the pith. Supreme dem oranges (as Mister put it) and use a peeler on the peel!

Look at how tasty it looks!