best dessert: June 2010

Not every ballerina gets a dessert named after her....

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard - a book already in my collection.

Ahhhhh, Pavlova. There's a dessert I haven't had in years! This was one of the dessert's in

Carob-Almond-Banana Smoothie

Carob and banana smoothie that is vegan and dairy-free delicious

Almond milk smoothie with carob and banana.

It's the little things in life. So they say. And today I would agree- wholeheartedly, in fact, with every rebel piece of my dairy-free chocolate verboten heart. The heart that beats without the comfort of gluten, without the silky swirl of cream, without the sexy burn of Tapatio sauce and raw red onion. The heart that misses Penne Arrabiata and roasted tomato salsa. The pragmatic heart that now beats on a mission, to quell this monkey gut of mine long enough to heal a stubborn duodenal ulcer.

And that is why, Babycakes, no chocolate will grace my tongue. Or peppermint tea (which I drank by the gallon to calm said monkey gut). Apparently chocolate and mint exacerbate little things like hiatal hernias. And, oh yeah. Holes in your duodenum.

The things you learn. Better late than never.

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Gluten-Free Blueberry Crumb Cake Recipe

Gluten-Free Blueberry Crumb Cake Recipe

Blueberry crumb cake- gluten-free summer goodness.

Coffee cake for the road.

Sometimes in life- when you least expect it- the stars are kind. Synchronicity smiles. And disparate pieces of your dreams bump up against one another and nestle snug into place. I'm referring, of course, to my dream of California. Summer by the Pacific, walking the beach, shopping the Farmers' Market, reuniting with my sons. Cooking. Writing. Haunting book stores and coffee shops.

I've been trying to get there for two years.

No, the house hasn't sold yet. But Plan B is under way. We found the elusive summer rental. Just when I thought it wasn't going to happen. A sublet in Santa Monica. In the nick of time. A lovely, light filled creative space. With a sweet kitchen. So I am back to making lists, mapping our drive south to Flagstaff, AZ, turning west to aim for the coast. I am lying in the dark alert, at 3 AM, pondering not the mysteries of the collective unconscious, not the properties of desire and effect, quantum attraction and Zen detachment, but favorite flavors of chocolate chip cookies. I am imagining herbed sandwich wraps (recipe soon!). Bags of salted popcorn. iTunes playlists. And this, a new blueberry cake recipe I felt inspired to bake. With a cinnamon crumb topping.

I think it's perfect to pack for a two-day road trip, don't you? Or even a two minute trip, scooting across the back yard barefoot to visit your best friend and neighbor. She'll make the coffee. Or iced chai. While you unrap the cake you get to eat, too.

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I Spy: At Santa Monica Farmers' Market

Fresh lavender at the Farmers' Market.

My favorite childhood book- hands down- was Harriet The Spy. Have you read it? Harriet- the anti-heroine- helped change my life back in the Dark Ages. It was 1964 and girls were expected to giggle and take ballet and dream of party dresses. We were encouraged to walk with books on our heads to cultivate a ladylike gait, and practice buttoning the baby teeth pearls on our slim white gloves with nimble, dainty fingers.

But, as you may have guessed, I was neither dainty or particularly infatuated with the girly stuff of being a girl. I was bored to tears with feminine training. I didn't long to be an object that was admired. I wanted to actually do something. To create something. I wanted to be Harriet the Spy. I bought a notebook just like Harriet, scribbled down stories and drew pictures. I created a world. It was my book of secrets.

Today I roam the streets of Santa Monica with an iPhone. I take pictures. I walk and look and catch snippets of conversation. I photograph street life and shop windows, found art and empty spaces. The iPhone is my notebook now. I am recording my observations.

And today, here is what I saw. Hope you enjoy it.

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Papa Screams for Ice Cream

I love to bring people joy with my food, it's one of my favourite things about cooking and baking. This why I like bringing desserts when we get together with friends, or baking a cake for someone's birthday. It's the reason I send treats to work with hubby, or take a pie over to a friends house "just because". While I don't necessarily need an occasion, Father's Day was as good an excuse as

Easy Gluten-Free Baguettes

How to use Pamela's gluten-free bread mix for easy French style baguettes.

How to make a rustic, easy gluten-free baguette.

Why do you always crave the things you can't have? Is it because desire dims upon acquisition? Is it the crusty chestnut that the chase is more interesting than the catch? Do we simply take for granted the things we hold, the things we use, the things we eat, day after day? Familiarity breeds perhaps not contempt but a subtle numbness. We slowly turn off to the everyday beauty, the generosity of the simple luxuries in our life. It seems to me a form of forgetting. A spiritual amnesia that coaxes us into believing we want what we don't have. And we neglect to appreciate what we do possess.

Which brings me, I'm sorry to say, not to any esoteric mystery, but. To bread.

here's why. While I do - truly - appreciate (and have, for years) the convenience and kind-to-my-tummy nutrition that an organic brown rice cake offers me as a humble, gluten-impaired celiac, I frankly admit that it is difficult to conjure any semblance of passion, or for that matter, what I would describe as desire, for this go-to celiac snack food. Yes, these foamy chewy discs have saved my life on more than one occasion. Yes, I keep a bag of them in the car at all times. Just in case. And yes, I am grateful for their existence on this fragile planet.

But I have never daydreamed about rice cakes.

I have never painted Still Life with Rice Cake.

Or written a poem about one.

Though come to think of it, I have photographed a rice cake. In the car. With my iPhone.

It does sport a certain beauty all it's own it. In its own quirky, ricey way.

But it's not a baguette. It's not a rustic, crusty, warm from the oven loaf of golden goodness. It doesn't go with wine. And it's not a good match with garlicky olive tapenade. So as much as my bruised and enlightened heart can embrace a rice cake and accept my gluten-free fate in a quasi-Zen go with the flow sorta way, there is a longing I have nurtured for the last eight gluten-free years. A deep, unfulfilled desire.

The truth is, Darling- I miss a long, slender, warm, fresh baguette.

Now don't get all Freudian on me. I'm still talking about bread here. And as far as bread goes, we gluten-free folks have much to appreciate. Even revel in. There's this recipe for delicious gluten-free bread. And this multigrain recipe with cornmeal kick to it. We're no longer as deprived as our earlier, last century celiac counterparts in the bread department. We can make cheese sandwiches.

But lately I've been dreaming of the continental culinary jewel known as the baguette. A mainstay in every student's romance repertoire (if you were an art student, especially; if you majored in accounting or football, the allure of a blanket, baguette, a bottle of wine and thou may not have blipped on your radar screen, and that's truly a shame and a deficit you ought to repair this very minute- go!). And not only dreaming. I've been actively craving an olive tapenade and the classic vehicle to smear it on.

So I experimented with what I had on hand- a bag of Pamela's Wheat-Free Gluten-Free Bread Mix. I could have mixed my own flours, it's true. But it was late in the day when the burning desire hit. And Yours Truly just wanted to whip up a pre-dinner rendezvous comestible.

To quench my unbridled yearning.

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Pla Krim-Khai Tao (Vermicelli in coconut milk syrup)

Pla Krim Khai Tao or Vermicelli in coconut milk syrup, a traditional Thai dessert. This dessert mixed between kind of dessert Pla Krim and Khai Tao bring to eat together. The sweetness of dessert Pla Krim. And salty of Khai Tao are combinations. Make a gorgeous taste. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

50 gms Sticky Rice Flour
25 gms Rice Flour
1 Tablespoons Cassava Starch
50 ml flower Water (rose, jasmine, pandan leaves etc.)
200 gms Palm Sugar
250 ml Water
200 ml Coconut Milk
A Pinch of Salt
Water for Boiling
A Bowl of Cool Water

Preparation:

Mix the rice flour, sticky rice flour and cassava starch together.
Add enough of the flower water to form a stiff dough and knead it a little.
Bring a pot of water to the boil.
Pinch off small pieces of the dough and roll them into worm shapes and drop them into the boiling water to cook. They cook quickly, typically one or two minutes depending on size.
Scoop out of the hot water and drop into the cool water to cool down.
Make palm sugar syrup by adding the sugar, to water.
Add just enough water to cover the sugar, then heat until the sugar is light brown and just dissolved and leave to cool.
Add the Vermicelli in the pot. This will make vermicelli absorb the syrup.
To make a salty coconut milk, put coconut milk on the heat, add a pinch of salt and just warm it till steam starts coming off, you just want to warm it.
To serve spoon the vermicelli in a bowl and pour the warm coconut milk over it.

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Mun Ping (Grilled Sweet Cassava ball)

Grilled Sweet Cassava ball or Mun Ping. Cassava or tapioca is a perennial plant widely grown in many tropical countries, including Thailand as one of the most important commercial crops. We do use a lot of tapioca in our cooking, baking and dessert making. In Asian culture, cassava root is often consumed fresh, either boiled in chunks to be eaten with sugar, or made into all sorts of steamed cakes and puddings. Tapioca seed is also a common ingredient for dessert.

Ingredients:

100 gms Cassava Starch
230 ml Coconut Milk
150 gms Sugar
2 Eggs Yolks
1 Teaspoon Butter

Preparation:

Boil the coconut milk with the sugar on a medium heat until dissolved.
Turn the heat off and mix in the eggs yolks.
Put the cassava starch into a dry frying pan and dry-fry for 20-30 seconds over a high heat (stir constantly). This will give the starch a slight toasted flavour.
Add the starch to the saucepan and stir it in over a low heat - until it forms a thick sticky dough.
Grease a baking tray with a little butter.
Take off pieces of the dough and press them into 2cm diameter balls and place them on the tray.
Cook in an over at 170 degrees celsius until brown, (1 hour is a typical baking time for these).
Serve With Hot Tee or Coffee

Ma-praao Kaew (Crispy Coconut Candies)

The dessert today I introduce "Ma-praao Kaew" which is basically sweet dried coconut. As usual this was a bit too sweet and crispy. For this recipe you will need middle aged old coconut. Not quite young coconut, not old coconut, just middle aged. You can find this frozen in your Asian supermarket, as medium old coconut “Ma-praao How” or “Ma-praao Roy Kanom”.

Ingredients:

500 gms Shredded Coconut Meat
300 gms Sugar
150 water
Food colouring

Preparation:

Mix the sugar and water together.
Heat and bring to the boil.
Boil the water off to a thick sugar syrup.
Add the shredded coconut, lower the heat and continue stiring until all the liquid has gone.
Let cool a little, taking two teaspoons take out ball shaped lumps on the mixture and let them cool on a drying try.

Grilled Bananas (Gluay Tap)

Thai babies are fed mashed up banana as easy baby food. One of the first solid foods Thai babies will eat are bananas. Thais also make dried banana chips, sticky sweets, deep fried banana pieces, bananas in coconut milk.. You name it! There are hundreds of ways of preparing banana in Thailand. Thais believe that bananas are very healthy for your body. They have medicinal properties which help with stomach problems and flu. Bananas also have a ton of vitamins. And this recipe call “Grilled Bananas or Gluay Tap” in Thai and basted with sweet sauce. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1-5 fruits Namwaa Bananas (for 5 Sticks)
5 Sticks for grilling
100 gms Dark Brown Sugar (for Sugar Syrup)
100 mls Water

Preparation:

Slice the Namwaa bananas into 3cm thick slices.
Thread them onto the sticks side ways on
Grill them until browned and cooked through.
You can also dry fry or barbecue them.
Once they're threaded on, bash them with a mallet. (This flattens them and helps break down the fibers making them easier to eat.)
Grill until brown and cooked through, top with the a sugar syrup or honey.
For the sugar syrup heat the dark brown sugar and water in a saucepan until dissolved.
Boil off the water to make the sugar syrup thicker, then pour over the banana.

Lemongrass Iced Tea

Dried lemon grass leaves to make a zesty, refreshing drink that is highly satisfying both hot and cold. A native of South East Asia, Lemon Grass was introduced to these parts with the growing popularity of Thai cuisine. It has a light lemony taste, with slight hint of ginger. And is known to lift a sagging spirit, as well as aid digestion. Recent studies also show that Lemon Grass has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Best of all, it tastes great. If you have yet to try it, we recommend it highly. Naturally caffeine-free.

Lemon Grass is a member of the Poaceae family, which includes all the common grasses. Originally from Malaysia, it flourishes in any humid climate. Lemon grass may be harvested several times in a season by cutting the upper portion of the leafy material, which quickly grows back for a second cutting. It is hugely popular among the lovers of Asian cooking, especially Thai food. And had recently found an herbal tea following. Most of the Lemon Grass used as herb tea comes from Argentina, Hawaii and Chile.

Source: Adagio

Flavoring :

from lemon grass 3
fragrant screw pine leaves 3 leaves.
Sugar
Water

How to do:

Clear lemon grass to break clean enough different sectional split.
Fragrant screw pine leaves wash to clean maul split roasted sore enough to put boiled 5 minutes.
Add sugar and let's boil, then turn off the stove and let's it cool.
Serve with ice.

Properties:

Distend the stomach to be bloated tight fix have colic.
Also diuretic for those with symptoms have suppression of urine.
Even less with any limb swelling. Lemon grass oil has effect kill fungi and bacteria.
Helps tract and upper respiratory tract clean. To prevent cold.

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Pink Guava Sweet Taste

This is a fresh pink guava sweet taste does not look very large. Highly Vitamin C. I drink every morning in hotel breakfast room before go to work while working abroad. I love it. And so I asked for a recipe from the cook. This not so difficult If you can get fresh pink guava, this is one of the most delicious ways to use it. It is a juice, really a smoothy, made from the pulp of the guava fruit. Use larger older guava for this recipe, it will give a sweet/sour taste to the drink.

Ingredients:

120 gms Pink Guava Fruit
5 Tablespoons Sugar Syrup (50-50 sugar & water solution)
236 ml water ( boil )

Preparation:

Peel the guava, take only the outer flesh minus the seeds in the middle.
Mix the guava, syrup and water and blend in a food processor.
Pour over crushed ice.
Optionally a tiny pinch of salt over the top fills out the flavours.

Easy?? Enjoy ka!

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Baking my way through writer's block...

Hazelnut Pound Cake with a Nutella Ribbon
Writer's block sucks. I've been back from London for 10 days now, and am still "stuck" on what to write about. There's no shortage of stories to tell, or topics to discuss - it's simply a matter of the words not coming. I think I'm just over-thinking the whole thing. Trying too hard and getting absolutely nowhere.

My whole routine has been slightly

56 Things To Remember

On the eve of my last birthday I wrote a post- Fifty-five Things I've Learned in 55 Years. Well, Babycakes. June is here again. There's another candle on the gluten-free cake. And fifty-six things I want to talk about. Or more accurately, remember. To remind myself. Because at my age? Remembering is an art not a science. So write this down. It's important. You know what they say.

Here today gone mañana.

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Banana Ice Cream Pops

Gluten free dairy free frozen banana pops

Frosty banana pops- a dairy-free and vegan summer treat.

Summer is here. Daylight stretches pink into the evening, warm and luxurious. Santa Monica is thick with tourists. Students heft surfboards and beach towels instead of backpacks. The Farmer's Markets are drop dead gorgeous (sneak a peek at our LA markets from Sarah here at The Delicious Life- who's been considerably more mobile than moi lately, scouting different farmer's market locations in a whirlwind tour). June is one of my favorite months of the year.

How can it not be?

To celebrate I made some tasty frozen confections this week. I'm still on a limited diet, trying to soothe this tenacious monkey gut of mine. So the flavor choice was banana- in case you didn't know, bananas are kind and acid reducing to an ulcer prone tummy. I decided to use maple syrup as the sweetener, just because.

Creamy banana goodness ensued.

Banana Ice Cream Pops Recipe- Dairy-free and Vegan

Xanthan gum boosts viscosity and improves the texture of non-dairy ice cream. But if you prefer not using it, Darling, leave it out. It's all about personal preference.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups frozen sliced bananas

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1 cup ice cold vanilla rice milk or coconut milk

1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

Instructions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a Vita-Mix or blender and whip until creamy smooth.

Spoon the banana mixture into six large frozen pop molds (or whatever Popsicle style molds you have on hand). Insert sticks. Freeze overnight for best results.

To remove a pop from the mold, run warm water over the mold to loosen the pop- or follow the mold manufacturer's gentle instructions.

Makes about ten pops.

Notes:

I made this recipe using vanilla rice milk, but coconut milk would be heaven. Good tasting vanilla hemp milk or nut milk would also work.

I made six pops and froze the extra banana mixture as ice cream.

You could also freeze any extra in ice cube trays for smoothies.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

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Frozen banana pops recipe that is vegan and dairy free

Frozen banana pops!

current state of my blog

Hello all!

Well, this week I have spent a lot of time trying to get caught up on so many things: posting, sorting through photos, catching up at the day job, and getting some sleep (that 8hr time difference really kicked my butt). On top of that, I have spent several hours attempting to restore my blog to it's previous look - unsuccessfully. No idea what happened there, or how, so instead of

Funky Monkey Macarons

This month's MacTweets Challenge comes hot on the heels of my trip to Food Blogger Connect, in London. It was an incredible trip, one of the best things being tha I finally got to meet a few of my fellow MacTweeters like Cecilia with her One Vanilla Bean, Bethany and all of her Dirty Kitchen Secrets, Pam a.k.a. the Cooking Ninja, Sarah, who lives at the fabulous Maison Cupcake, the fabulous Mowie

Publisher's Comments

**BLOG PRESENTATION DISCLAIMER**

Hello Everyone,
This is just a very short note to everyone visiting my blog (thank you!), that I have just returned from a fantastic trip to Food Blogger Connect 2010 in London. I had an amazing time, details of which I will be sharing very soon.
However, I have returned home to see that the templates, headers, titles and colours are all missing from my blog.

Gluten-Free Banana Mini-Muffins

The cutest gluten free banana mini muffins that are moist and delicious

Sweet little mini-muffins with big banana taste.

Sweet Morsels

Week four began Monday. My month of soft foods only is slowly winding down. I can feel the diet working, spinning its soothing magic and calming this burning monkey gut of mine with scoops of mashed potato and spoonfuls of slow cooked soups between doses of kitten cuteness and favorite comedies. My medicine has been a stew of Protonix, Culturelle, baby food, and laughing as much as possible.

I'm a big believer in the healing power of a hearty guffaw.

But I'd be lying if I didn't confess I crave texture and crunch like there's no tomorrow. Who wouldn't? After four plus weeks of nothing more al dente than a boiled rice noodle, I am sorry to tell you I wake up dreaming of potato chips. I miss the nutty terrain of a pecan cracker. The sexy chewy center of a chocolate chip cookie.

This yearning has not gone unnoticed.

Steve has been pondering my dearth of oral satisfaction. And always one to roll up his sleeves and pitch in, he started rummaging around the kitchen, imagining something I could eat- without repercussion. A treat soft enough to comply with my diet's rules. A go-between bite nestled somewhere in the middle of hot buttered toast (not allowed) and pureed pumpkin (allowed, but so dead boring).

And thus the mini-banana muffin was born. A petite friendly bite of moist banana goodness. Not overwhelmed by cinnamon (off limits). Not studded with nuts (emphatic no-nos!). Just simple, clean, honest banana taste.

In a darling, non-pointy vegan parcel.

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