Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

So I know it's been a while.  I've had a crazy month.  I moved from the suburbs to Brooklyn, had to deal with all the fun of moving into a fourth floor walk up, had to change jobs, so why not get back in the grove of things with a gluten free recipe so easy anyone can bake these?  Coconut macaroons are a great little indulgence.  Sweet with a hint a salt to balance them out, and if you dip them in dark chocolate the bitter notes are a perfect complement for the sweetness of the coconut.  This recipe takes about five minutes to complete and couldn't be easier.  The result will be delectable macaroons, crispy outsides with a smooth, soft, center.

Chocolate Dipped Coconut Macaroons

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten
Makes about 2 dozen macaroons
Print Recipe

Ingredients

- 1 14 oz bag of sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
- 2 egg whites room temperature, whipped
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt

Decorating Tutorial: Tutus and Flowers

For my little cousin Samantha's 3rd birthday, I wanted to make Tutu cookies for her because she loves ballet.  When I cut and baked all the tutus I needed I still had a lot of extra dough, so I cut the rest into flowers.  Now, I was limited for time, so these are not gluten free, but I'm sure you could find plenty of recipes for gluten free dough on the web.  I haven't perfected it yet with my own flour, but at work we just substitute Bob's All Purpose Gluten Free Flour in our regular recipe and it works great!

But back to the point, this is Jesicakes first decorating tutorial!!  I'll show you how to make these flowers and those tutus.  And the great thing about decorating, is once you learn principles like layering, you can apply them to make any cookie you want.

Royal Icing

Recipe by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 5 Tbsp meringue powder or 2 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup of room temperature water
- 1-2 tsp lemon juice

In the bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment.

Add the water and lemon juice and using the paddle mix the water in enough so it is mostly saturated.

Turn on the mixer on low until it is fully saturated.  Then turn the mixer to medium high and beat for about 8 minutes.  The icing should hold it's peaks when you turn off the mixer and raise the paddle.

I find it easier to thin icing than to thicken it, so I'd make the base batch thick.

Transfer to a sealed plastic container to keep the icing in while mixing the colors.  The icing will dry out and harden if you leave it exposed.
 

Icings Colors and Decorating

-Pink Gel Food Dye

-Yellow Gel Food Dye

-3 #2 round tips

-1 #13 star tip

-4 couplers and 4 coupler rings

-4 pastry bags

-Loose Icings: Light Pink, Dark Pink-Thick Icings: Dark Pink, White, Yellow
-Opal or White sanding sugar and a paper plate (optional)

Lemon Poppy and Apricot Almond Hamentashen

Hamentashen have always been a pastry that I wanted to love but mostly found them lacking in something that made them special.  They sound like the perfect package: slightly cakey, slightly crispy, filled with jam...but always tasting kind of bland (ESPECIALLY those bites without jam!).  Coincidentally the week at work we decide to try making hamentashen ourselves, my friend Jessica sent me a gluten free hamentashen recipe so I took it as a sign of having to try to make them for myself.  At work we made strawberry walnut (which I couldn't have because of the walnuts), chocolate, and lemon poppy. 

Already these were improvements from the plain sticky apricot filling that the hamentashen  I'm used to have.  So I decided to also go with Lemon Poppy and also went with a Apricot/Peach Almond filling.  I also added some orange zest to the dough, egg washed them, and gave them a dusting of cinnamon and sugar to add some more flavor and complexity to them.  The dough was a little tough to handle but once I got it down these were a breeze. 

And let's throw modesty out the window for a moment: These will make you completely forgot the awful, chalky, dry, sticky cookies super markets have the nerve to call hamentashen!  The dough is the perfect middle between cakey and crisp.  The flavor of the dough has a bit of brightness from the orange zest but not too much orange flavor so as to outshine the filling.  The cinnamon sugar dusting gives them a warmth and spice.  And the fillings are delectable.  The Lemon Poppy is the perfect balance of sweet and tart and the Apricot/Peach Almond has it's own bit of tartness from the apricot, sweetness from the peach and crunch from the almonds.  They're the perfect twist on the traditional plain poppy and plain apricot fillings.  Hamentashen are traditionally a Jewish pastry eaten during Purim (which is Wednesday night), but once you try these you'll be wanting to make hamentashen year round!

Lemon Poppy and Apricot/Peach Almond Hamentashen

Recipe via Beth Warren Nutrition from Special Diets for Special Kids by Lisa Lewis
Made Gluten Free by Jesicakes
Makes about 32 4'' hamentashen

Ingredients for Dough

- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup canola oil (can substitute vegetable oil)
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp gluten free vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
- 1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
- 3/4 cups white rice flour
- 3/4 cups tapioca flour
- 4 tsp gluten free baking powder
- 2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 tsp of orange zest (about one orange's worth)
- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp sugar
- extra white rice flour for dusting

Ingredients for Filling*

- 1 cup of lemon curd (I used Dickinson's 10oz jar of Lemon Curd...of course you can make your own but I wasn't feeling that ambitious!)

- 2 tsp poppy seeds

- 1 cup of Apricot/Peach Preserves (I used Smuckers naturals...when picking a preserves I make sure the only ingredients are the fruit, sugar, pectin, and citric acid...no starches or additives).

- 2/3 cups of finely chopped almonds

*this was not enough filling...I needed about another cup or so and happened to have other preserves in my fridge.  Overall I'd say you need 3 cups of the preserves of your choice total.

Honey, Lavender, and Lemon Cupcakes

Winter is often a time when meals are heavier and heartier, and the flavors tend to be heavy as well.  This weekend, I wanted to make something light, floral, and a little more complex than traditional cupcake flavor combinations.  I worked at a chocolate shop in Philadelphia for two years, and the entire time I worked there, my favourite truffle was the Honey Lavender one.  A few months ago I was in a spice market in Murray Hill, and I saw a packet of lavender and knew I needed to created a dessert with it.  So this weekend, during a light snow, but very grey morning we had Saturday I decided to brighten up the day with Honey, Lavender, & Lemon Cupcakes with a Cream Cheese Icing (which is also sweetened with honey and flavored with lavender and lemon).  The bases of these cupcakes are light and fluffy due to the use of just egg whites.  This texture along with the brightness from the lemon, the light sweetness from honey, and the floral notes of the lavender makes the cake delicate yet flavorful.  The icing adds a little bit of extra punch of those flavors while still remaining overall a light and bright cupcakes.  These cupcakes will brighten up your cold winter day, and come spring and summer I'm sure they'd be the perfect cupcake for a light dessert on a hot summer day.

Honey, Lavender, and Lemon Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from a combination of Hooray For Weekends and Blissfully Delicious
Made Gluten Free by Jesicakes
Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

- 3/4 cup sorghum flour
- 3/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/4 cup white rice flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 Tbsp gluten free baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 4 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (one stick)
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp dried lavender flowers
- 3 Tbsp clove honey
- Zest from 1 1/2 lemons (about 2 Tbsp)*

*Zest both lemon completely and set aside zest from half of one for the frosting

Get ready for Valentine's with Red Velvet Cupcakes!

With Valentine's Day two weeks away we've already started preparing for it at the bakery.  Our cupcake of the month is a Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Icing.  We found a recipe that seemed more moist than others we had tried in the past with a few extra ingredients to make them more flavorful.  Red Velvet can sometimes be bland, but the addition of buttermilk and yoghurt give the cake just a little bit of tang that pairs wonderfully with the hints of cocoa and the cream cheese icing.  The weekend after we made them at work I gave it my go at making this recipe gluten free and had success!  The same great flavor, same moisture but gluten free!  So whether it's for Valentine's or just because you love red velvet try these cupcakes out for a little extra treat!

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Recipe adapted from Epicurean Mom
Made Gluten Free by Jesicakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

- 3/4 cup sorghum flour
- 3/4 cup brown rice flour
- 1/4 cup white rice flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking gluten free powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 1/2 tsp red gel food coloring*
- 1 tsp distilled white vinegar
- 1 tsp gluten free vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 3 Tbsp Greek yoghurt (I used Chobani 0% plain)

*food coloring is an estimate, I did it until I achieved the color I liked.  Use food gel colors if possible, red food dye can have a distinct taste, and to make the cupcakes red you'd have to use A LOT of unpleasant tasting liquid color.  Food gel adds more color with less gel.

Pancake Sunday!

Pancakes Sundays are a pretty motivating reason to actually get out of bed on a Sunday.  We don't do it every Sunday, but when we do it's always a cheery (and delicious) way to start the day.  Having nice warm, fluffy pancakes is especially delightful on a day like today when here in New York it's chilly and everything is covered in snow.  Now I know, pancakes are not technically a dessert or baking, but you know what, they have the word "cake" in them so I decided to post this here anyway!  This recipe is too good to not share...pancakes that are gluten free yet possibly the best I've ever had?  How could I not share.  I've done this two ways:

• 1/2 cup brown rice flour and 1/2 cup white rice flour:  makes a very light, fluffy, moist pancake with a little extra hint of sweetness and brightness from the white rice flour
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup white rice flour, and 1/4 cup oat flour: A rich, moist, and denser texture yet has a more complex flavor from the oat flour. 

Both ways are delicious, so it's really if you want light and fluffy or rich and dense...now onto the recipe.

Gluten Free Pancakes

Recipe adapted from Galanter's Kitchen

Makes 5 four inch pancakes

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup white rice flour OR 1/4 cup white rice flour and 1/4 cup oat flour
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder (gluten free)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of almond milk*

*can substitute rice or dairy milk

The process is super simple...

Classic Snickerdoodles

 I've made them once before going gluten free and I wasn't too thrilled with how they came out.  I don't know if it's just that I'm using a new recipe or if it's the fact I made them gluten free but this time they were delectable.  They're sweet and crispy from the rolled sugar with a warm spice from the cinnamon.  They're slightly crispy on the edges with a soft chewy center (the way every good cookie should be).  There is something about that warmth and sweetness that brings me back to being a kid.

Classic Snickerdoodles

Recipe adapted from Itsy Bitsy Foodies
Made Gluten Free by Jesicakes

Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

- 1 cup butter, room temperature

- 1 1/2 cups sugar

- 2 eggs

- 1 cup sorghum flour

- 3/4 cup brown rice flour

- 1/2 cup white rice flour

- 1/2 cup tapioca flour

- 1 tsp xanthan gum

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 2 tsp cream of tartar

Ingredients for Cinnamon Sugar

- 4 Tbsp sugar

- 1 Tbsp cinnamon