Daring Bakers: Dobos Torta

So, This challenge I made with friends. It was lovely. I had all the ingredients, and it just sorta happened. We had an awesome time, and the mini Tortas were kind of (okay... very) addicting - Especially before they had been put together. The little pieces were absolutely delightful. Cake scraps anyone?? Maybe you'd prefer the buttercream. It had a whole lot of butter, and chocolate and yum. The part we weren't too fond of was the caramel. Which I think we overcooked. And it kinda stuck to the paper. But, no matter - The tortas were delightful, and everyone was happy with all nine that we made.

The August 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rogers' cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.

And a lovely challenge it was, so here are the pictures.

First off - There is a lot of whipping in this challenge.

Luckily I had people to help. This is my friend whisking away =D

And... What the last cake looked like out of the oven. It wasn't all that large because it was the end, and there wasn't that much batter for the 6th one.

For each cake, we cut out circles from the cooked cakes. I got 9 cakes, plus a good amount to make caramel. If you're good at making that.

I had tons of fun decorating each of these cakes with buttercream, nuts and caramel.

This one has its own medallion.

This one - The Avalanche - was overflowing with nuts and extra buttercream just for my brother.

This one was mine =D.

And heres one spinning around.

And heres the mountain. Or maybe its a molehill? Either way, there is a lovely path to the other side.

Hehe. I love these ones. Just guess what they are.

Any ideas?

Tell me your answer. I'd love to know what you think about these 2 (and the rest of them)

Anyways, I know I said it made 9, but one of my friends took theirs before the photos were taken of the tortas, and the other one was not so pretty. It kinda fell apart. However, my brother was thrilled to gobble it up =D (as well as his other one).

xoxo

Lauren

PS - I used the challenge recipe provided, only instead of wheat flour, I used the following: 1/3 cup sorghum flour, 1/3 cup millet flour, 1/3 cup sweet rice flour, 2 tbsp corn flour (not starch), and 1 tsp xanthan gum. Just so you know...

The Mix of Family

The original recipe of these buns has always meant summer and family to me. Whenever we are out at My Grandma's cottage, my aunt always brings these buns. They are amazing buns. Light fluffy and delicious. I could eat ten in a day. Okay, maybe not that much, but I sure loved them.

With that said, I decided to make them gluten free for the first time. I had visions of these buns looking and tasting exactly like my Aunt's do. That didn't quite happen. Don't get sad though, they turned out amazing. Okay, maybe not quite the most beautiful buns in the world, but yum. They taste like family. Or at least a combination of my family breads. Like my Great-Aunts Brown Bread, combined with my Grandma's cornbread, and my Aunts white buns. Each bite

reminds me of a different memory. Although you likely don't have the same taste memories as I do, I highly recommend these buns. They're nice and small and perfect for a snack or to go

along with pretty much any meal.

Plus, they're packed with good, healthy grains. Therefore, this will be my entry into Amy's inaugural Slightly Indulgent Mondays. Seriously, I dare you to eat just one.

2-hour Memory Buns

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp yeast

3 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg, room temperature

3/4 cup millet flour

1/2 cup teff flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

3/4 cup corn flour

1 tsp xanthan gum

How To

Mix water sugar and yeast together in a large mixing bowl. Let stand for a few minutes.

Add oil, salt and eggs to yeast mixture, mix well.

Add enough flour to make a soft to medium dough (see note).

Combine until mixed completely. Knead if needed (no gluten needs developing).

Place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise for 15 minutes.

Punch down and let rise another 15 minutes.

Shape into buns and place in lightly greased, slightly warm pans. Cover with plastic and let rise in a warm room away from drafts for about an hour.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes (see note2). The recipe made 14 small buns.

Note: The original recipe calls for 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour or 41/2 to 5, depending on humidity. If you live in a humid environment, add a bit more flour. I only used 2 1/2 cups because there is no gluten, and gf flours can create tougher doughs.

Note2: For baking time, the original recipe said 15 to 18 minutes, but I baked mine for about 23 minutes total. Just watch them until they are your desired done-ness. (Mine were the colour of the ones above, but with flash they looked like the ones below when finished).

. . .

Please don't Let the fact that these buns need to rise and take about 2 hours to make prevent you from trying them, because they really don't require that much involvement. You can make them while watching a movie or reading a book. You can even make them while you're making a big fancy meal like any of these, or even while making one of these =D.

xoxo

Lauren

The Burgers

These are good burgers. Like really good burgers. Although I'm not a burger fan myself, my parents raved about these, saying that they were some of the best burgers they've ever had. To say my brother was pleased with them is a vast understatement. You see, this is his recipe. Sure, some ideas may have come from me... but he created it and figured it out as he went.

Using some of the leftover sofregit from my Daring Cooks challenge, he put that into the meat, as well as some spices and an egg. To top it all off, he wrapped the patties in bacon. Then, since it was raining out, and my brother had never cooked burgers on his own, my dad cooked them on the grill. He was actually kind of worried about the bacon dripping grease and causing the barbeque to spit flames. Therefore, the burgers were cooked over indirect heat (apparently this is important...)

Anyways, without further adieu, here is the burger recipe according to my brother...

Sofregit Bacon-Wrapped Burgers - Made 5 burgers

Ingredients

1 package Lean Ground Beef (probably 2 pounds)

Salt

Pepper

A dash of Mrs. Dash

Some dried minced onions

Powdered Garlic

Lauren's thing she called Sofregit

1 Egg

Enough bacon to wrap all burgers.

How to

1. Take ground beef in a bowl, add in all spices. Mix with your hands.

2. Add in Sofregit, Mix with hands until incorporated.

3. Break egg into meat, and mix until incorporated.

4. Shape into burgers.

5. Wrap burgers in Bacon. Secure bacon with toothpicks.

6. Cook on barbeque over indirect heat. (Slower than normal)

7. Remove toothpicks, place in Gluten free bun and enjoy!!

So, there you have it. My little brother's first recipe. Ever. Hopefully there will be more good ones to come =D.

Have an awesome day!

xoxo

Lauren

Daring Cooks: Rice with Artichokes, Mushrooms and Shrimp

For this challenge I waited until almost the end to do it, just not on purpose.  I was going to make it at my cabin, but that never quite materialized as I was on vacation and relaxing.  However, once I got back home, I knew I had to make this dish.  It sounded so interesting, and I had the time to spare, being summer and all.  So I made it, and yum.  I say try it, it's good.  A bit milder than expected, but with the Allioli on top, its got some kick and well, its yummy.  Thats all I can say about it.  My brother said it would be an awesome winter dish, and I completely agree, as it has a heartiness to it without being heavy.  He also complained about the mushrooms, but he ate every bite, so that problem solved itself =D.

This wonderful challenge was hosted by Olga, so thank you Olga for introducing me to this dish by Jose Andres!

And now... To the pictures!!

First up - Sofregit, and lots of veggies to cut up!

Not to mention the garlic.  Can't forget about it.

All cut up.  Be careful with the onions...  You don't want to cry or anything...

Since it's obviously lunchtime when you're making this, take a spoonful of the veggies from the pan, cook them quicker over a higher heat, with some butter.  Add in a couple of handfuls of spinach, and once wilted, add the egg(s).  Cook how you like your omlettes, add some cheese (I like La Vache Qui Rit - aka - Laughing Cow), flip and serve =D.

Yum!  Perfect!

Cook! Cook! Cook!  Get a good book, this'll take awhile...

Then it'll look all gorgeous and fragrant like this, with soft veggies.

A couple of hours later, when dinner was on the horizon, I made the Allioli.  I used a recipe from Everyday Grain-Free Gourmet, which had some extra flavours, like dijon mustard, in addition to the typical ones in this garlic sauce.  

Then, I got ready to make our actual dinner.  Starting with the mushrooms.

I chopped them up, as well as the artichokes (background)

And let them cook for a little while.

Then I got out the wine my mom had put aside.  I only ended up using half, so she got to finish it off.

Then, it was time to get ready for the rice - I used aborio.

Don't touch it!!  Just watch.  And smell.  Mmmm...

Gotta love the steam =D.

Almost ready...

Grab the shrimp and eat!

In the last few weeks of the summer, my mom decided to get both my brother and I to cook dinner once a week, and possibly carry it on into the school year.  This was obviously my contribution this week.

My brother's was burgers.  Made with some of the extra Sofregit, then wrapped in bacon.  My parents said that they were some of the best burgers they've ever had.  So, if you've got any left over Sofregit, try it, and stay tuned, I'll have a post up (and recipe) in a couple of days about them.

Have an awesome day,

xoxo

Lauren

The blog side of life

How is your Monday going? I'm just hanging around the house, quietly wishing school would start sooner. I know - its school, you have to do work and all, but really, I've always been a school kid. For goodness sakes, I love my math, sciences, english and social... Maybe not so much gym, considering thats involved too much sitting out, over exertion and crashing afterwards, but you get where I'm going. Also, school means friends, and seeing them often, not just for a couple hours every few weeks. Not to mention school means back to school clothes, and how can you miss out on that?

However, I am enjoying my summer as much as possible, doing all the necessary (and oh so lovable) challenges, exercising, hanging out with friends and of course, updating this!

Yesterday I got myself an award =D, Thanks Amy! And, because its never fun alone, I get to share the wealth with 13 (yes 13) of my favourite, lovely blogs. So here's to you, and all the wonderful blogs you write (and read).

Karen of Gluten Free Sox Fan

Cheryl of Gluten Free Goodness

Marlow of Gluten Hates Me

Shirley of Gluten Free Easily

Steve of Gluten Free Steve

Sophie of Flour Arrangements

Naomi of Straight into Bed Cakefree and Dried

Jill Elise of Hey That Tastes Good!

Jackie of Absolutely not Martha

Audax of Audax Artifex

Natalie of Gluten A Go Go

Lisa Michelle of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives

Thomas of The GFCF Experience

All of you have wonderful blogs that I enjoy reading, thanks for writing them! Also, don't forget to pass it on to 13 blogs you enjoy =D.

xoxo

Lauren

Pancakes

Pancakes, to me mean weekends.  They're one of the first things I ever cooked regularly by myself.  Almost every weekend, especially the ones where something special was going on, I would make my pancakes.  Since being gluten free, I have tried so many pancake recipes, mixes and more, with many being good.  My favourite mix would have to be the Wild Rice one from Arrowhead Mills, which isn't available in Canada, and therefore can be hard to get my hands on.  For recipes, there are many that I really enjoy, such as these Corn Pancakes, which are amazing both fresh and frozen & reheated.  Those are so good, and I definitely think you should try them.

There are many other recipes that I really like, such as the one in Grain Free Gourmet, that are very good, but they're just not the ones I used to make.

So, whats a girl to do?  But of course, you must change the recipe to work with you.  And thats what I did, and I'm thrilled to say, it worked beautifully. *almost* just like I remember.

These are fairly fluffy pancakes, that are great alone or with maple syrup (the real stuff, of course!).

Pancakes

Adapted from Company's Coming Kids Cooking cookbook.

2 large eggs

1 cup milk

2tbsp cooking oil

2/3 cup sorghum flour

1/3 cup millet flour

1/4 cup corn flour (not corn starch)

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1. Break eggs into the bowl and stir until the eggs are fairly smooth and a bit bubbly.

2. Add the liquids to the eggs and mix.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the liquids and stir until just moistened.  Heat the frying pan until a few drops of water bounce all over (an electric frying pan would be at 380 degrees F). Spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray, and scoop spoonfuls of the batter onto the frying pan.  When tops are bubbly and edges look a bit dry, flip the pancakes.  Cook until cooked through.

Apparently, it makes 18 round pancakes, but I got 11, fairly large ones.  I'd say that the recipe serves 4, as my brother and I each ate 3.  

Hope you enjoy them,

xoxo

Lauren

Vacations and thoughts

As you may have noticed, the past few posts on this blog have consisted mostly of Daring Challenges and thats about it.  As odd as it may sound, my main reason for this is that I am the healthiest I have been in a very very very long time.  

Seriously, salt pills have been a godsent, even if it did take awhile for my system to get used to them.  I have energy now, like real energy.  I've gone for bike rides, taken the dog out for longish walks and mowed the lawn.  I know that those don't sound like huge feats, but they kind of are.  At least they have become a step in the right direction.  I will be healthy again.  A month ago, I didn't quite believe that, but what a difference a month has made.  When I was visiting with my family, I played with my cousins, just like I always had, and if a day was spent sitting all day, I jumped at the chance to go to the grocery store to buy whatever.  While one of my cousins was running (triathlon prep), I was thrilled to be around these people I see once a year, but looking for more moderate exercise, so we went for a walk up the hill - until the rain threatened, but that was fun in itself, except for the fact that my dad's really nice digital SLR was around my neck, but we beat the rain back to the cottage =D.  

Another thing I have been lately is the happiest I've been in a long time.  I've increased my positive attitude.  Everything will be okay.  Plus, whats the point of creating sadness or disappointment, when you can be happy instead.  I'm not ignoring problems and whatnot, just being more positive about them.  I don't want to let what-ifs and bad things take over my life, so I smile, and enjoy my own company.  If I feel good all on my own, then having others around to enjoy is simply a bonus.  I make mini-plans (it is summer after all!), and look for silver linings.  I don't downplay problems or troubles, simply figure them out and move on to happier, better things.

Have an awesome day,

xoxo

Lauren