Book of Yum

This weekend I was in the mood for Fall. On Saturday we went to the Great America Haunt and not only did the Halloween decorations make me feel like it was Fall, but the chill in the air and the almost full moon made me want to curl up at home in front of the fire with a hot beverage and some delicious spicy-sweet dessert. That weekend, thanks to our Yahoo SillyYaks support group, I happened across a (gluten) recipe for ginger-molasses muffins from the New York Times that I found intriguing. It had crystallized ginger and fresh ginger for lots of kick, and didn’t call for any dairy at all, leaving the question of dairy or dairy-free milk entirely out of the equation. It was also naturally free of soy. I appreciated its usage of blackstrap molasses as one of the main sweeteners- with its high iron and calcium content, it is a great alternative to less nutritious mainstream sweeteners. When I decided to invite a friend over with multiple allergies, including an allergy to tapioca starch, I thought this recipe might be just perfect to share with a little tweaking. I came up with a flour blend without tapioca starch using potato starch instead, and used brown rice flour and teff for more whole-grain nutrition and flavor. The recipe was a hit with the DH as well as our guests, although DH’s first inclination was to whip up a batch of cream cheese frosting to slather on the muffins like cupcakes. Actually, that’s not a bad idea- I was just trying to be calorie conscious. However you frost or don’t frost them, these muffins are sweet and hearty, perfect for a cool fall night or a cool, sunny morning breakfast. They’re especially pretty baked in mini bundt cake tins, but would be great (and easier to remove) from muffin tins. Hope you enjoy!

Gluten-Free Ginger Molasses Muffin Recipe Dessert  Alternative Grains  American

Ingredients Canola oil for greasing muffin tins 1 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1/2 cup blackstrap molasses 1/2 cup canola oil 2 eggs, beaten 1 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger 1/2 cup white rice flour 1/2 cup brown rice flour 1/3 + 1/6 cup potato starch 1/6 cup whole grain GF flour- teff, quinoa, or buckwheat 1/2 cup raw sugar 3/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. high quality ground cinnamon pinch of ground cloves 4 tbsp. crystallized ginger, minced 1/4 cup chopped raisins 1/4 cup walnuts for serving, toasted (optional) Directions Grease a muffin tin with oil (or use paper liners) and preheat oven to 350 F. Bring 1/2 cup water to boil (in microwave, in electric kettle, or on stove). Add to a medium bowl and whisk in the baking soda. Next, add your molasses and oil and combine thoroughly. add eggs and ginger. In a large bowl, whisk your flours, sugar and dried spices (reserving the ginger) until ingredients are evenly distributed. Fold your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients without over-mixing. Stir in the crystallized ginger and raisins. Pour evenly into your muffin tin and bake for 30 or 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry. Cool in pan for five or ten minutes and then put on wire rack to cool. Sprinkle and serve with toasted walnuts if you like.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Adapted from New York Times recipe, inspired by SillyYak Yahoo group member, but my own take on the recipe. Please do not replicate without my permission. Recipe ID:  1302 Added:  October 13, 2008 Last Modified:  October 14, 2008

For the August edition of Adopt-a-gluten-free-blogger, I decided to adopt someone a little different than usual. I first stumbled across Bea at La Tartine Gourmande in a blog photography competition called Does My Blog Look Good in This. She won with this beautiful photograph. I had seen her entries before that, and always admired her food styling and artistry, but for a long time I assumed that most, if not all of her recipes would have to be converted to be gluten-free. However, I started noticing Bea using more and more gluten-free ingredients in recipes like her lovely quinoa chestnut crepes. Bea has been adopted before for our event- in fact, Lynn tried her Potato Salad Recipe in May. For this installment of Adopt-a-gluten-free blogger, I decided to try Bea’s Olive oil Crust Tart Recipe. Like her, I thought the idea of a (vegan!) olive oil gluten-free tart crust was a fantastic idea. I was extremely impressed by Bea’s quinoa pastry dough, as it was very malleable and easy to handle once rolled out. Unfortunately, unlike Bea I didn’t have any cute little tart pans, so I made peach tarts in my gratin pans instead. The resulting tarts had a nice, crunchy side crust and a pleasant, fruity filling that was not terribly sweet. I did find that the moisture from the peach made the bottom of the tart a little soggy after it was first baked, but I’m sure it’s my own fault for using the wrong kind of pans. This moisture did later get absorbed into the crust later, so all’s well that ends well. I do wish very much I’d had some almond oil to replace the olive oil, as Bea made it sound absolutely divine, but olive oil works nicely. I do think that if you have them, the mini tart pans she recommends undoubtedly take this recipe to the next level (and make the tarts look absolutely adorable as well.) I enjoy Bea’s recipes, but my favorite part of her blog are her exquisite food photographs, often of gluten-free foods. It’s almost embarrassing posting a photo of one of Bea’s recipes, as it is simply worlds away from the culinary landscapes she creates- but I hope it will encourage you to try one or more of her recipes, or at least check out the gluten-free section of her her gorgeous site. Another cool thinf about La Tartine Gourmande- you can brush up on your college french, as most recipes are published bilingually in French and English. :)

Intrigued by her sweet tart recipe, but in a savory mood?
Try Bea’s Enticing gluten-free savory vegetable tart recipe

Look for the roundup of adopt-a-gluten-free blogger here at Book of Yum in a few days- as well as the announcement of exciting changes for next month’s installment!