Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding (Gluten Free, Dairy Free–If You Wish)

March 12, 2010 · Filed Under Friday Foodie Fix, bread, breakfast, dessert, easy, gluten free, recipe, treats · 9 Comments

Along with pound cake, bread pudding is a dessert I grew up eating. One of my grandmothers made great bread pudding. It was one of the few things she was still making “from scratch” when I was growing up. My mom’s bread pudding was very similar to that made by my dad’s mother—both in taste and quality. Of course, I learned from both of them and made bread pudding the same way—using stale bread and saved ends of bread and throwing it all together with a few eggs, spices, and milk. There was never a recipe. You sort of eyeballed how much bread you had once you crumbled it in a bowl, covered it with milk, added some eggs, and went on from there. This method actually worked pretty well, but you were never 100% sure your bread pudding would be a success until you had your first bite. Then one day a good friend of mine, Denise, brought her bread pudding into work for a luncheon. It was wonderful! It had a rich custard flavor, but wasn’t heavy in any way, and the cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla made both the smell and taste lovely. Best of all, Denise had an actual recipe … with measurements. What a concept! LOL With her recipe, one could re-create delicious bread pudding over and over—with no moments of uncertainty. I passed the recipe on to my mom and she’s been enjoying using it for many years now. Denise’s recipe guarantees success every time. Incidentally, Denise also made a scumptious pound cake. That recipe she would not share. Instead, she made pound cakes for everyone during the holidays. As you can imagine, nobody complained about the lack of the actual recipe.

Of course, going gluten free made me push the bread pudding recipe card to the back of the box. But, when I had some leftover gluten-free challah bread from a vendor’s donation to our support group, I thought it was time to pull out the recipe again. I’m happy to report that it worked beautifully! So start saving your stale bread and look forward to a delightful dessert. It makes a very nice breakfast, too. Bread pudding is often served with distinctive sauces like lemon, vanilla, caramel, and even whiskey, but I grew up enjoying it with a little milk poured over it. (We actually did that for any type of pudding.) This time, I enjoyed it with a drizzle of honey mixed with some vanilla.

Oh, Mr. GFE is not a big fan of bread pudding … unless I add some raisins, then he’ll enjoy a bowl or two. I added a small amount of raisins to part of the bread pudding mix left in the bowl to allow one section of the pan just for him. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos that really show the raisins. But, if you love raisins, be sure to head over to Diane’s Friday Foodie Fix at The W.H.O.L.E. Gang where you’ll find lots of recipes that feature raisins.

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding (Gluten Free, Dairy Free–If You Wish)
(Click here for a printable version of this recipe.)

6 eggs
1 ¼ cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp nutmeg
1 tbsp vanilla extract
12-ounce can evaporated milk (see coconut milk substitution in notes below)
½ can (¾ cup) of water
1 cup raisins, optional
4 cups of gluten-free bread, crumbled (I like chunky pieces)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Grease 9 x 11 baking pan.

In large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla extract.

Add bread and raisins (if used) to mixture.

Pour milk into saucepan. Fill milk can halfway with water; add to saucepan with water. Heat milk and water over medium heat until warm, not hot.

Add milk and water mix to other ingredients in bowl. Let sit 5 minutes.

Pour into baking pan and bake for 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold, topped with milk or any sauce of your choice.

Shirley’s Notes: Any leftover bread, muffins, waffles, and such, should work. Even the results of failed recipes for such “bread” products could potentially be used. If you only have a small amount at any given time, just stockpile them in a container in the freezer until you have 4 cups worth. If using coconut milk, you can use the full can, which is generally 14 ounces, but be sure to use only ½ cup of water in that case.

Adapted from my friend, Denise

The bowl in the photos is from my grandmother’s china. Even with cracks and chips, it gives me such joy to use it. Spooning my bread pudding out of this bowl, I can almost imagine myself back at Grandma’s table.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Tags: bread, breakfast, dairy free, easy, GFE, gluten free, go ahead honey, pudding, raisins, recipe

Perfect Pound Cake

February 10, 2010 · Filed Under Suite of Sweets, Valentine's Day, dairy free, dessert, easy, gluten free, recipe, treats, vegetarian · 39 Comments

This post is linked to the Valentine’s Day roundup at Ellen’s I Am Gluten Free and Gluten-Free Wednesdays over at Linda’s blog.

Today’s recipe is the third installment of SSS … a Suite of Sweets for Sweethearts.

When I was growing up, pound cake was a family favorite. Bake a good pound cake and you were loved by all. Seriously. There was no gift I could give my grandmother (my dad’s mom) that she would have preferred over my pound cake. Grandma loved pound cake, and she said mine were the best. You see … before going gluten free, I made all kinds of pound cakes. There were classic pound cakes, orange pound cakes, lemon pound cakes, cream cheese pound cakes, chocolate pound cakes, and marble pound cakes … to name a few. Some were baked in tube pans. Some were prettiest if cooked in Bundt pans. Some were 8-inches square. Others were baked in loaf pans. Some were served plain. Some required a dusting of powdered sugar. Some needed a thin drizzle of icing. But, one thing they all had in common was how good they were. Everyone in my family and circle of friends had their own personal favorite of my pound cakes. I’ve been gluten free for well over 6 years now. I have not baked a really good gluten-free pound cake in that time (although I’ve tried several). Until … Now.

This pound cake recipe is another gfe recipe that uses olive oil as the shortening. It’s from the Filippo Berio site, which was also the source of the Mediterranean Chocolate Cake recipe that I converted to gluten free. I made this cake dairy free by using coconut milk, although you can use dairy milk if you like. However, I’m pretty sold on the moisture and dense texture provided by the coconut milk in this recipe. If you consistently eat dairy, this just might be one time you want to try eating dairy free.

I made this pound cake for my dad’s birthday. Good thing the recipe made two loaves. Son was home for the weekend and ended up eating almost one entire loaf by himself, and then more later. He told me I should sell this cake in individual slices for $4 or $5 … “Mom, I’m serious. You could make a fortune.” (And, he’s mentioned his love of this cake and his entrepreneurial ideas for me several times since.) Before he headed home, he asked me to slice the remaining part of the loaf into individual pieces as a “to-go package” for easy eating while on the road. Then, he offered to deliver the remaining pound cake loaf to Dad when he stopped by to say hello on his way out of town. Do I need to tell you what happened? He ate all of his to-go package before he arrived and then ate some more of Dad’s pound cake when it was offered. In case you need any more endorsement than that, please know that this cake is very easy to make and delightfully moist. All the previous gluten-free pound cakes I’ve made were dry the following day (if not later that same day), but that’s not the case with this one.

Perfect Pound Cake
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

2 ¼ cups gluten-free flour*
1 ½ tsp xanthan gum
1 ¼ tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
¾ cup light olive oil
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tbsp orange juice
2 tsp vanilla extract (I used my homemade vanilla extract)
3 large eggs
2/3 cup full-fat coconut milk (dairy milk or another non-dairy milk can also be used)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. (Update: Reader Wendy lives at a higher altitude—6600 ft—and she adjusted oven temperature to 375 degrees, per her comment below.)

Combine flour, xanthan gum, sea salt, and baking powder in an extra large measuring cup or separate bowl. Set aside.

Pour olive oil into large bowl, and slowly mix in sugar, orange juice, and vanilla extract.

Add eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition.

Add milk. Mix 2 minutes. Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, mixing well.

Pour batter into two greased loaf pans.

Bake for 50 – 55 minutes.

*I can’t tolerate many of the healthier, gluten-free flours; e.g., sorghum, buckwheat. Therefore, my gluten-free flour mix is 3 parts Asian white rice flour and 2 parts cornstarch. I gently mix three one-lb bags of the Asian white rice flour and two one-lb boxes of cornstarch in a very large bowl and then store the mix in several airtight containers (like large glass jars). No refrigeration is needed. But feel free to use whichever flour mix you use most often for baking, and If you’d like to learn more about how to select the right gluten-free flour for all your recipes, you’ll want to check out Amy’s (Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free) current series on Understanding & Choosing Gluten-Free Flour—Part 1 here and Part 2 here. If you’re not gluten free, you may use all-purpose flour and omit the xanthan gum.

Adapted from Filippio Berio

Shirley’s Notes: I imagine that coconut oil would work fine in this recipe. Pans can be greased with whichever oil you use. Two loaf pans are what the original recipe calls for and what I used. Don’t worry too much over the size of the pans, although you may have to adjust cooking times. The original recipe called for 6 3/4″ x 3 1/2″ x 2″ loaf pans. I (and one gfe reader) used 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ x 2 5/8″ pans. I don’t taste either the coconut milk or orange juice in this recipe; perhaps they balance each other, but all I taste is “good.” Last, I love the crunchy edges of this pound cake recipe. The end pieces are my absolute favorite.

If you are a not a fan of pound cake as a dessert by itself, feel free to top a slice with some fresh fruit (e.g., strawberries for a strawberry shortcake-type dish). Or drizzle with your favorite chocolate or fruit syrup. Finally, you could take H.Peter’s (a.k.a. The Celiac Husband) Valentine’s Day advice and make an elegant pot of chocolate fondue. It’s easy to cut pound cake into squares, skewer with a toothpick, and dip into thick chocolate fondue. Easy, gluten-free chocolate fondue recipes abound. Here’s a dark chocolate one from Simply Recipes. (I am definitely craving fondue after looking at the photo!) I even found a chocolate fondue recipe that was free of most allergens over at Alisa’s site, Go Dairy Free. You can check it out here. I suspect it might be easy to make a fondue using the coconut milk left over from this pound cake recipe with some dairy-free chocolate. In fact, I’ll do that and report back eventually—promise. As H.Peter suggested, fondue would be a fun thing to do for Valentine’s Day. I attended a party at Christmas where there was chocolate fondue. But, the fondue had already been cross-contaminated from folks dipping in hunks of gluten-containing pound cake, so it didn’t matter that there was fruit available for dipping. I was a bit disappointed, so I think having a chocolate fondue party for two would be something special for us to do on Valentine’s Day. Hey, maybe we’ll even kick it in early if we lose power with this current storm. Making fondue on the wood stove by candlelight might just be the ticket to making the darkness a little more enjoyable. However, I’m really hoping the power will stay on … it’s not that I’m unromantic … really it’s not. How will I be able to bring you the rest of a Suite of Sweets for Sweethearts, if I lose power?

Don’t forget to check out the previous SSS entries … Surprise Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and Cinnamon-Sugar-Crusted Almond Popovers. Last, Amy (Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free) is having a giveaway for the wonderful book, I Love Dessert, by food allergy expert, Nicolette Dumke. Head over Amy’s to enter the giveway!

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!

Tags: breakfast, dairy free, easy, GFE, gluten free, moist, recipe, Valentine's Day

Cinnamon-Sugar-Crusted Almond Popovers

February 9, 2010 · Filed Under Suite of Sweets, Valentine's Day, What can I eat ..., bread, breakfast, dessert, easy, gluten free, recipe · 29 Comments

This recipe is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed with Grace and What can I eat that’s gluten free? over at Linda’s The Gluten-Free Homemaker.

It’s day two of SSS … a Suite of Sweets for Sweethearts. With that wintry stuff moving into our area again, I thought I’d share this recipe for melt-in-your-mouth breakfast (or dessert) popovers. These can surely make your forget about your “I’m over winter” blues. They would also be ideal for breakfast on Valentine’s Day morning … or brunch … or afternoon tea. Frankly, I can’t think of any time these popovers wouldn’t be good. I adapted this recipe from David Lebovitz’s Sugar-Coated Popovers recipe (an adaptation of an earlier recipe of his shared both in the New York Times and this Maida Heatter cookbook).

Each time, I’ve made these popovers, if there were more than two of us eating them, they disappeared in mere minutes. These popovers even inspired Mr. GFE to suggest that there should be a special feature here on gfe—Mr. GFE’s Recipe Pick of the Month. Of course, this recipe would be his first pick, he said. Son proclaimed these popovers to be the closest thing to a cinnamon bun that he has eaten since going gluten free. (The cinnamon-sugar mixture I always use is very heavy on the cinnamon.) Then Son ate four, in fairly rapid succession … even after he’d stated that he was only going to eat half of the fourth one. Maybe this recipe should be called Mr. GFE’s Top Pick Willpower-Busting Popovers. These popovers were a family collaboration of sorts. It was Son’s idea to prepare a little honey butter (using raw honey from our bees) for topping these popovers. That was a brilliant idea!

I’ve added almonds to my recipe, which Mr. GFE and I love. For those with nut allergies, skip the almonds and you will still have delightful popovers.

Cinnamon-Sugar-Crusted Almond Popovers
(Click here for a print version of this recipe.)

For the popovers:

2 tablespoons butter, melted (non-dairy should work)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk (whole, 2 %; non-dairy should work)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup gluten-free flour mix (I used my gluten-free flour mix*)
1 tsp xanthan gum

For the topping:

about 1/3 cup of sliced almonds

For the sugar coating:

1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (more or less depending how much you like cinnamon) (UPDATED: I just made the popovers again and made a new batch of cinnamon-sugar. One tablespoon of cinnamon was too much. Start with 1 teaspoon and add more if necessary after taste testing your popovers.)

For dipping:

1/4 cup melted butter in small bowl

Softened butter, for greasing the pan (I always just use a butter wrapper.)

1. Preheat the oven to 400º F. Grease a nonstick popover or muffin pan (with 1/2-cup indentations), with softened butter.

2. For the popovers, put the 2 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, milk, salt and sugar in a blender and blend for a few seconds.

3. Add the flour and blend for about 10 seconds, just until smooth.

4. Pour into 9 greased molds, filling each about 2/3 full.

5. Sprinkle each with about a teaspoon of sliced almonds.

6. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the popovers are golden/deep brown. (I do my usual toothpick doneness test.)

7. Toward the end of the baking time, you’ll want to get ready for the popovers by creating a little assembly line for final processing. Melt butter in a small bowl and place on your work space. Mix cinnamon and sugar in another small bowl and place to the right of the butter. Place plate or napkin-lined basket to the right of the cinnamon-sugar bowl.

8. Remove popovers from the oven. At this point, you can wait a few minutes until they are cool enough to handle or you can do what an impatient person (that would be me!) does. I stick a toothpick in each popover, remove it from the pan and follow an assembly line process. Dip the popover in the bowl of melted butter rotating until bottom and sides are buttered. (Alternatively, you can brush the butter on the popovers using a pastry brush.) Keep the popover on the toothpick and dip into the bowl of cinnamon-sugar. Roll bottom and sides into mixture. Place on plate or in napkin-lined basket. Each one is a warm, buttery, cinnamon-sugar bundle of goodness ready to eat!

Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz

*I can’t tolerate many of the healthier, gluten-free flours; e.g., sorghum, buckwheat. Therefore, my gluten-free flour mix is 3 parts Asian white rice flour and 2 parts cornstarch. I gently mix three one-lb bags of the Asian white rice flour and two one-lb boxes of cornstarch in a very large bowl and then store the mix in several airtight containers (like large glass jars). No refrigeration is needed. If you’d like to learn more about how to select the right gluten-free flour for all your recipes, you’ll want to check out Amy’s (Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free) current series on Understanding & Choosing Gluten-Free Flour—Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Shirley’s Notes: That last photo is actually of recovered, “mistake” popovers that I made during our last snowstorm. As soon as I popped the muffin pan into the oven, I saw the bowl of melted butter sitting on the counter. I had gotten distracted by a couple of ”brown-outs,” while preparing the batter. Long ago, I might have scrapped the whole batch and started anew. Not any more … I set the muffin pan on the stove and spooned a little melted butter into each muffin cup and gave a tiny stir, then replaced the muffin pan in the oven and baked per usual. As you can see, the popovers suffered no ill effects. I also had forgotten to allow the eggs to come to room temperature. No worries … the recipe still worked fine. The popovers might have turned out a teeny tiny bit better if the eggs had been at room temperature, but we certainly didn’t find anything to complain about.

Enjoy, and if you’re on the snowy East Coast of the U.S., stay safe. These popovers will take care of the usual, second part of that parting statement— ”stay warm“—at least for a bit. They’ll warm your tummy and bring some sunshine into your life. Later, you can enjoy yesterday’s SSS offering … Surprise Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, because at this point, I really don’t think you want to be eating that snow cream. Just sayin’.

Shirley
Not just gf, but gfe!