many cupcakes

It was my kids' birthday yesterday. I made 3 dozen gluten free cupcakes. I had piles of kids at the birthday party and MOST had 2 cupcakes. They were THAT good.

I used my standard flour mix:

1 cup of corn starch

1/2 cup of brown rice flour
1/2 cup of white rice flour

1 cup of potato starch

1/2 cup of corn flour

1/2 cup of tapioca starch

4 tsp xantham gum

and I used my standard cake recipe I've been using for years:

2 cups of the above flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup of butter

1 3/4 cups of sugar

2 tsp of vanilla

1 1/3 cups of milk

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda salt, set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add vanilla and eggs one at a time. Add flour and milk. Mix until smooth. For cupcakes bake for 25 min.

For the butter cream icing:

1 1/2 cups of salted butter, softened

2/3 cup Crisco shortening

5-7 tbs heavy cream 2 tsp clear vanilla

2 lbs powdered sugar (about 8 cups)

1-3 tbs corn syrup

Mix the butter, crisco cream, corn syrup on low speed until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar until mixed through.

In a word:

YUMMMMM

and the cookies..

I want cookies. Peanut butter cookies. I made them we'll see how they taste. My daughter is away at a friends. I'm a horrid mother for doing this but she has a tree nut allergy and we avoid peanuts but she's not here .... and I can eat a lot of cookies!

BREAD

I bought a bread machine with the illusive goal of having a grilled cheese sandwich. I made countless loaves of bread. Door stops, soup, things the dog woudn't want to eat. Then, I had one that was almost good. I had my grilled cheese and the cheese oozed into the bread.

Last night, one more attempt. I have it! A loaf of bread that looks and tastes like it should. Its four flour bread from the Bette Hagman bread cook book.

ALAS, today for lunch, my much desired drippy grilled cheese :)

going on a month

I've been gluten free for almost a month. Next thrusday, I get to celebrate my month of gluten free eating with a intestinal biopsy.

The past month has been surreal. I've travelled and managed to live and eat. Three weeks in to my journey, I realized that I had not had a headache in three weeks. I've had some form of headache for at least 20 years. Often mild but always there in some form. Last night, I slept through the night for the first time since my oldest son was born 13 years ago. Ah to sleep again.

But oh, to have a grilled cheese sandwich. I really want one on really nice egg bread. I want it SO much, I went and bought a bread machine and have a, hopefully nice, challah loaf in there this very moment. At this point, I'd be happy if it remotely resembles bread!

and the perfect pizza....

It was a beautiful thing. A nirvana foud: the perfect pizza.

I LOVE pizza.

Gradually over the years though, I came to not be able to eat pizza. I thought it was the pepperoni at first that made my stomach churn. I started eating it without it and having plain cheese pizza. Then my mouth started getting sore everytime I ate it. The sauce, I blamed the sauce. I don't really like raw tomatos. I blamed the tomatos and kept eating it and suffering.

Then the celiac diagnosis. It wasn't the tomato, or pepperoni. It was the CRUST. To be able to make a pizza that was lucious and perfect, how hard could it be?

The perfect pizza starts with a perfect crust and the perfect crust starts with the perfect flour! This will make more than one pizza. I keep it in a ziplock for when I want to use it.

1 cup of white rice flour

1 cup of potato starch

1 cup of corn starch

1/2 cup of white corn flour

1/2 cup tapioca flour

4 tsp of xanthum gum

I have used this basic flour for MANY things other than the pizza. I made a killer choclate cake with it.

and NOW the pizza dough:

1.5 cups of the above flour

3 tbsp of milk powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast or one package

2 egg whites

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp of cider vinegar

3/4 cup of warm water

cornmeal for dusting

Mix all the wet ingredients together with the yeast, leaving out the water. Mix in the dry ingredients. Use only enough of the water as you must until you have a nice sticky dough. I usually only use 1/2 a cup but sometimes it needs a bit more.

On a pizza stone or a cookie sheet, sprinkle cornmeal. Dust the dough on both sides and using your fingers spread it out. I like to use a cookie sheet and spread it really thin. Leave it for 10 min to let the yeast do its thing.

After 10 minutes, brush olive oil on the crust before you put the tomato sauce and then dress with your choice of yummie cheeses. Our favourites are mozzerlla, sundried tomato and proscuito. We also really like pesto, goat cheese and sundried tomato.

Bake at 425 for 15 miniutes or until done.

New Beginnings

I've done this blog thing before. A few posts here and a few posts there but there is nothing cohesive to hold them all together. I've finally realized that there doesn't need to be because its about documenting one journey.

Panalu'u is a beach on the big Island of Hawaii. It has black sand and the sea turtles snooze their days away on it. Its about as close to the end of the earth that one can get... and is blissfully perfect. Legend has it, if you take the black sand off the beach, the volcano god will make your life miserable.