Crafty Cookery

This collection of recipes have been in the planning stages for a number of weeks, ever since Icy Sedgwick mentioned she’d had chocolate wasabi cake. I was intrigued by the flavor combination and the challenge of creating recipes to suit my sensitivities. Of course if I was going to skirt the edges of my allergy to chocolate, I decided to go all the way and put cane sugar free chocolate ganache between the cake layers. I offset the richness of the chocolate with a green tea powder (matcha) frosting to carry out my Japanese theme. 😛

I finally felt well enough to test my recipes and they turned out great and actually the wasabi is so subtle it could be increased. It left a nice warm sensation in my mouth but the chocolate covered the bitterness and fire of the wasabi very well. As an alternative, this works well with other flavors as well. I tried it with ginger powder instead of wasabi powder and it was equally delicious. Of course, the spices could be left out completely for those with more traditional tastes. 😉

This was the first time I’ve baked with date sugar (which is actually dried and powdered dates and sometimes sold as date flour) and I loved both the sweetness and extra nutrients it added to the cake. I have a feeling I’ll be using it in my baking quite often. It doesn’t dissolve like cane sugar so adds extra bulk to the cake. I compensated by adding more liquid but it was still a fairly dense cake but very tasty.

Gluten Free Chocolate Wasabi Cake

1 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup date sugar
1 cup rice milk
3/4 cup light agave nectar
3/4 cup vegan margarine, softened
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup rice flour
3 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 Tbs wasabi powder
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat the oven to 350* F. Lightly grease the bottom of two 8” cake pans. Combine flours, cocoa, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and wasabi powder and whisk together in a medium bowl. Beat the margarine until creamy. Slowly add the date sugar and the agave nectar; whip until fluffy. Add the eggs and the egg yolks one at a time, add the vanilla. Turn the mixer to low and alternately add the flour mixture and the rice milk. Pour into the prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the cake is springy to the touch.

Chocolate Ganache with Agave

8 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup light agave nectar
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 Tbs coconut oil
1 tsp wasabi powder

Combine the chocolate, agave nectar, and coconut milk in a saucepan. Heat over medium heat until the chocolate melts, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut oil and wasabi. To spread easily, the ganache should be slightly warm, and the consistency of hot fudge.

Green Tea Buttercream Frosting

1 cup vegan margarine, room temperature
1/2 cup light agave nectar
1/4 cup corn starch
1/4 cup arrow root powder
1 Tbs coconut milk
2 tsp matcha powder

Mix matcha in with the coconut cream to make a paste. Beat margarine briefly, scrape bowl. Add agave and matcha paste. Beat until smooth, slowly adding corn starch and arrow root. Chill until ready to use.

I had a bag of key limes that I needed to use so I thought the most logical vehicle for them was a key lime pie. At the time I didn’t realize it’d be such an adventure since it sounds simple enough. I substituted coconut milk and agave nectar for the sweetened condensed milk and ended up with a key lime custard in a gluten free “graham” cracker crust. Oops. I tried again tonight by first reducing down two cans of coconut milk with agave. It turned out beautifully even though I have half a cup of condensed coconut milk left over. I’m sure I can find some use for it. 🙂

Sweetened Condensed Coconut Milk

2 13.5 oz cans coconut milk
1/2 cup agave nectar

Pour coconut milk and agave nectar into a medium saucepot on medium heat. Simmer, stirring often, until reduced by half (takes about an hour). Let cool.

Dairy Free Key Lime Pie

1 1/2 cups sweetened condensed coconut milk
1/2 cup key lime juice (12-15 limes)
2 tsp key lime zest
5 egg yolks
1 unbaked graham cracker crust (or gluten free graham cracker crust)

Preheat oven to 350* F. In mixing bowl, add sweetened condensed coconut milk, key lime juice and lime zest. Blend with mixer on medium until well combined. Add one egg yolk at a time to the bowl while continuing to mix. Once all the egg yolks are incorporated, pour the pie filling into the prepared pie crust. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the center is set up. Allow to cool on wire rack before refrigerating. Best served chilled.

I have a dozen key limes I need to use. I was considering making ginger-lime panna cotta but then thought “why not key lime pie?” I eliminated nuts from my diet so I needed a graham cracker crust substitute. I found a recipe here with a gluten free mock graham cracker crust recipe. I changed it to suit me, of course. The dough tasted wonderful so I’m hoping it will bake up well, too. I used a 1 1/2 tablespoon “coffee” scoop to measure out the dough on parchment paper & then flatened them with the ball of my hand. Rolling it out would work, too, but I don’t mind the rustic (and easy) approach. This would also make a great cookie dough base if you like crunchy cookies, though may need to be sweeter for some people’s palates.

1 1/2 cups rice bran
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 cup vegan margarine, melted
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp gluten free vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325* F. In a medium mixing bowl combine dry ingredients and whisk together. In a larger bowl, add melted margarine, agave, honey and vanilla. Stir well. Slowly add dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients, stirring well until all ingredients are combined. Use an 1/8 cup measuring cup to scoop out the dough in even amounts. On parchment covered cookie sheets, evenly space dough with one inch clearance on each side. Flatten the cookies out with the palm of your hand until about an 1/8 inch thick. You can shape them into squares or leave them round. Bake for 20-25 minutes and allow to cool before using.

Gluten Free “Graham” Cracker Pie Crust

1/2 batch gluten free “graham” crackers
3 Tbs margarine, melted
2 Tbs agave nectar

Crush the crackers in a food processor. Add margarine and agave and pulse until everything is well combined. Press into a pie pan with the back of a spoon until evenly distributed on the sides and bottom of the pan.

I had a gallon bag of frozen raspberries from my parents in my freezer and they’ve been demanding my attention for several days. This weekend we have out-of-town, out-of-state & out-of-country guests staying with us so I decided now was a perfect time to make a raspberry cake with raspberry filling and raspberry frosting. The frosting was the most challenging part but I finally figured it out and it turned out really well. It’s the best cane sugar free frosting I’ve created thus far.

The bones of the cake recipe can be found here. This is the second time I’ve used it and I liked the results both times. I substituted raspberry juice for milk so the batter was lavender colored which baked into a strange color but it tastes good. If the color bothers you then use milk or your favorite non-dairy milk substitute. 🙂

Raspberry Cake

1 1/2 cups rice flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
3 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 1/4 cup stevia extract powder
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1 cup raspberry juice
1/2 cup raspberries
1 tsp gluten free orange extract
1 tsp gluten free vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350* F. Grease two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans. Mix the rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and xanthan gum together in a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the eggs, stevia and mayonnaise until fluffy. Add the flour mixture, juice and flavorings; mix well. Fold raspberries into the batter gently but evenly. Spread batter into the prepared pans. Bake at 350* F for 25 minutes. Cakes are done when they spring back when lightly touched or when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Raspberry Filling and Frosting

3 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen & thawed)
1/2 cup stevia extract powder
1/2 cup agave syrup
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tsp orange extract
3 Tbs cornstarch
1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened to room temperature

In a medium saucepot, bring raspberries, stevia and agave to a low simmer. Combine orange juice, extract and cornstarch into a smooth slurry. Once the raspberries are simmering, add the cornstarch slurry and whisk or stir constantly for at least five minutes or until the filling thickens. Remove from heat and divide in half. Allow to cool. In a mixing bowl, combine half the raspberry filling and the margarine. Beat on high until thoroughly combined to create frosting. Pour the raspberry filling in between the layers of your cooled cakes and frost the cake with the frosting.

Scones have been on my list to re-create for months. Nikki has been talking about rosemary scones with strawberry jam for a number of weeks so tonight I made rosemary scones. I had an obscene number of lemons on hand so I added them into the fold. This is the first time I’ve used this recipe and while I’m very happy with the flavor and texture of the scones, I may decrease the liquid by half a cup in the future. The dough is too damp to roll or pat out like the evil gluten filled scones I used to bake. 🙂

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup corn starch
1 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup stevia extract powder
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp xantham gum
2 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp rosemary, finely minced
1 cup vegan margarine (chilled in the freezer)
2 cups rice milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 Tbs cider vinegar
1 egg, beaten

Pre-heat oven to 350* F. In a large mixing bowl thoroughly combine the dry ingredients, lemon zest and rosemary. Grate the margarine into the flour using the small holed side of a box grater. Mix the margarine into the flour so there are no large balls of grated margarine. Add the rice milk, lemon juice, vinegar and beaten egg to the flour mixture and stir until the dry and liquid ingredients are combined. Using a large spoon, drop the dough onto a parchment papered sheet pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.