Glutten Free Cherry Squares

 

• 2/3 cup warm milk
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1 cup pancake flour mix
• 1 cup sweet rice flour
• 1 cup butter
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 tin cherry pie filling
• 2 tbsp instant tapioca
• sweet rice for rolling
• toasted almonds
• white icing

1. Whisk sugar and yeast into the warm milk and let proof
2. Cut 1 cup butter in to the blended flours
3. Add the 4 yolks to the proofed yeast and beat together until well blended
4. Pour liquids into the flour mixture and mix into a ball
5. Turn dough out onto surface sprinkled with sweet rice flour, and knead lightly adding ONLY enough flour to allow it to be handled.
6. Divide dough in half, rolling out one piece between sweet rice sprinkled plastic wrap layers. Roll it out quite thin , to fit a 9 x12 inch pan.
7. Remove top plastic wrap and picking up dough with lower plastic wrap turn into pan... pushing up the edges of dough .. remove plastic wrap
8. Stir the 2 tbsp of tapioca into the cherry filling and spread evenly over bottom pastry layer
9. Roll out the top layer and place over the filling making sure to crimp the edges
10. Prick the top with a fork to allow steam to escape
11. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degree oven
12. Remove when golden and cool... while still warm cover with white icing and sprinkle with toasted almond flakes.

In honor of my husband, tattoo cupcakes

 

• 3/4 c canola oil
• 3 eggs

• 3/4 c milk
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

To decorate

• Red. white and blue fondant
• White chocolate ganache* see recipe below
• Anchor cookie cutter, heart cookie cutter, edible pens, small brush, glass of hot water, angled spatula, sharp paring or small knife and some cornflour/cornstarch and a small rolling pin to roll the fondant.

The scrolled ribbon and anchor
1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a cupcake baking pan with paper liners. Use a handheld electric mixer to beat sugar and oil together in a large bowl, then cream in eggs until light and fluffy; beat in milk and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually beat dry ingredients into wet until just combined, making sure not to over-mix.

2. Fill each cupcake well with batter to just under the top of the paper liner (I usually only fill cupcake liners 3/4 full, but for this recipe I like to fill the wells a little more than usual to make sure that I get a nice upper rim that I can cut off). Bake 22-24 minutes, or until light golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the cupcake comes out clean or with just slightly moist with a crumb or two. Cool for 5-10 minutes in the cupcake baking pan and then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

3. Make the white chocolate ganache. To create a smooth topping for a dozen cupcakes melt 300grams of white chocolate with 1/2 cup of cream until a smooth consistency. Allow to set firmer-you can do this in the fridge. Then uding a small angled metal spatula smooth the spreadable ganache over the cupcake coating it. Then filling a glass with hot water, dip the spatula in the water, shake off any excess water lightly and then smooth over the ganache surface to give it a smooth surface. The heat from the hot water and tiny drops of water make it smooth. Allow to set.

4.  Dust a clean surface with a light dusting of cornflour and using a rolling pin roll out the white fondant first. Cut out some circles to fit the top of the cupcake (I used a fluted cutter but a plain is fine), white anchors using the anchor cutter (sadly this is difficult to freeform cut unless you are very dextrous) and cut out some “ribbon” for the mum tattoo and fold it over at each end so that it looks like a ribbon scrolled. Cut out some small squares for dice. Roll out some thin “sausages” of white fondant which you will intertwine with red fondant to create the anchor ropes.

Anchor ropes
5. Roll out the red fondant (wiping the surface clean with a dry cloth between colours and redusting with fresh cornflour) and cut out some rounds to fit the top of the cupcakes, some red hearts and some lips (I shaped these in the same way I did the vampire cookie pops). Roll out a thin red fondant sausage and intertwine it with the white fondant to make the anchor. Roll out the blue fondant (again wiping the surface clean with a dry cloth and redusting with cornflour) and then cut out some discs to cover the top of the cupcakes.

6. With the brush, brush the ganache top of the cupcakes lightly with water. Affix the fondant discs onto the ganache. Place the hearts on top of some of the cupcakes and place the scroll on top affixing each with a small amount of water. Draw Mum on the ribbon with an edible ink pen or an icing pen. Draw dots on the dice and affix these to some cupcakes. Then do the same for the anchor and the rope and the lips where you can draw whatever message you like.

Torando Warnings...and kids crafts

We've had extreme weather the past few days, with our fair share of power outages.  Since our appliances are electric not alot of cookings has been going on here...

But to keep my 4 year old entertained we made home made ice cream in a bag...   its a kid craft/treat

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup salt (The bigger the granules, the better. Kosher or rock salt works best, but table salt is fine.)
• Ice cubes (enough to fill each gallon-size bag about half full)
• 1 pint-size ziplock bag
• 1 gallon-size ziplock bag

Instructions

1. Combine the sugar, half and half, and vanilla extract in the pint-size bag and seal it tightly.
2. Place the salt and ice in the gallon-size bag, then place the sealed smaller bag inside as well. Seal the larger bag. Now shake the bags until the mixture hardens (about 5 minutes). Feel the small bag to determine when it's done.
3. Take the smaller bag out of the larger one, add mix-ins, and eat the ice cream right out of the bag. Easy cleanup too! Serves 1.

A good dinner guest always brings dessert

My parents are having us over for dinner tonight.  So My oldest daughter (who's 4) and I made strawberry short cake! We had a flat of strawberries from the farmers market.

Ingredients

• 3 pints fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 cups whipped heavy cream

Directions

1. Slice the strawberries and toss them with 1/2 cup of white sugar. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F Grease and flour one 8 inch round cake pan.
3. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, 2 tablespoons white sugar and the salt. With a pastry blender cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add the beaten egg and milk. Stir until just combined.
4. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool partially in pan on wire rack.
5. Slice partially cooled cake in half, making two layers. Place half of the strawberries on one layer and top with the other layer. Top with remaining strawberries and cover with the whipped cream.