Pear and coconut cake

Baking without rice flour is a bit of a headache, because it was so easy to put rice everywhere. I got set in my ways, and probably overused it, contributing to it falling out of Chipmunk's diet. My creativity seems to be back on track though, this cake came out extremely tasty.

Pear and coconut cake - gluten free, eggless, dairy free, rice free, soy free, nut free 

100 g coconut oil (melted)
140 g sugar
50 g applesauce
100 g coconut milk
2 tsp vanilla sugar
50 g corn flour
100 g tapioca starch
100 g buckwheat flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
0.5 tsp cardamom
0.5 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking soda 

2 ripe pears, peeled and cubed 

Mix the dry ingredients together, add everything else except the pears. Mix together well, then fold in the pears. Bake at 200 C for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out sort of clean. 

Naan bread

In my previous post I claimed that the pita bread dough could be used to make naan bread. I lied. This one is much better. It has the slight sour taste that real naan has, and is nice and soft, too. The most important step is the cooking process - a dry cast iron pan is essential for getting the nice, charred bubbles.

Naan bread fresh from the pan

Naan bread - gluten free, soy free, eggless, corn free etc

250 g water
30 g coconut milk
1 tsp vinegar
2 tsp yeast
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp psyllium husk

100 g starch (eg. half potato and half tapioca)
100 g white rice flour
100 g brown rice flour

Flattening the dough 

Mix together the coconut milk, water and vinegar. Let sour for a moment. Add the rest of the ingredients, then let rise for about an hour. Separate into 5-6 parts. Flatten into a nice shape and then cook on a hot and dry cast iron pan until it bubbles slightly, then flip. Brush with your equivalent of butter for a more authentic taste. 

First taste by the hubby, he approved

Mocha Bites - mokkapalat

In Finland, these are probably the second most common thing to find on a coffee table, besides pulla. Little cake squares, covered in a chocolatey frosting flavoured with a splash of coffee. All bake sales in the history of bake sales in Finland probably feature this cake. 

Mmm, tasty.

It's good.

There are about a zillion recipes, most featuring stuff Chipmunk cannot eat: wheat, eggs, cocoa, dairy and often also nuts. My recipe is gluten free, eggless, dairy free and has no cocoa. Hooray!

Without further ado:

Mocha Bites - gluten free, eggless, dairy free, cocoa free, nightshade free, soy free 

dry ingredients:
65 g rice flour
55 g tapioca starch
40 g corn flour
50 g sweet(/glutinous/sticky) rice flour
130 g brown rice flour
-------- 

or 340 g gluten free flour of choice 

-------
1 tsp psyllium husk
0.5 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
2 tsp soda
6 tbsp carob
2 tsp vanilla sugar
250 g sugar 

wet ingredients:
100 g applesauce
200 g coconut milk/cream
200 g water
150 g melted margarine
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 

Mix dry together. Mix wet together. Mix all together. Pour onto a parchment lined baking tray and bake at 200 C for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  

Let it cool down, then make frosting and frost. 

Frosting:
150 g margarine
2 tbsp espresso ---- or 1 tsp instant coffee and 2 tbsp water
splash of coconut milk
enough powdered sugar to get the right consistency (about 300-400 g)
Melt margarine in a pan, mix in all the other stuff and stir until smooth. Then pour onto the cooled cake before the frosting has time to set. Sprinkle something on top, to decorate. 

Makes a good snack, too.

Korvapuusti, pulla, vanilla buns redux

The quick and dirty pulla is nice and all, but it's just not the same as a good ol' cinnamon roll. Unfortunately, chipmunk can't have cinnamon, so these are just regular vanilla buns. Taste good, though! I'm really happy with this dough, it came out soft, buttery and not too sweet. Easy to roll out, too.

Here's the recipe:

Vanilla buns - gluten free, egg free, soy free, corn free, nut free, dairy free 

5 dl liquid (coconut milk with water works great)
2 tbsp psyllium husk powder
1 tbsp yeast
1,5 dl sugar
7 dl all purpose gluten free flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom
100 g margarine melted

Mix liquid with psyllium husk powder and yeast. Allow to stand for 5-15 minutes until the psyllium gels. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Roll out dough with flour, spread with margarine mixed with vanilla and some sugar. Roll it up, cut into triangles, pinch the top down and let rise for about 30 minutes. 

Brush risen buns with cold coffee, sprinkle with sugar pearls and then bake at 225C for 15-20 minutes, until golden. Cool, then eat. Or eat them warm. They're good either way.

Quick and Dirty Pulla and further restrictions

Pulla is a finnish traditional sweet bread. Kind of like brioche, but less fatty.

Pulla made in cake tin

 It's tasty, but commonly made with wheat, eggs, milk, butter and sometimes also raisins and/or almonds. All of which are Not Good for little Chipmunk. Took many trials and failures to get this recipe sort of right. When I finally completed a good one, using soy, it turns out we have to drop soy from Chipmunk's diet yet again. Luckily, the recipe works fine without, so here is the updated formula.

Chipmunk approved.

My pulla is made in a cake tin, partially because I'm lazy, and partially because the dough is so sticky that it's difficult to work with otherwise. If I make it drier, the end products don't retain the soft, pillowy goodness that pulla is supposed to have. Hence, quick and dirty pulla!

This is usually all that's left a few hours later

100 g melted margarine
200 g non-dairy milk of choice (I use home-made coconut milk)
50 g sugar
280 g all-purpose GF flour (my blend is in this post)
2 tsp dry yeast
1-2 tsp ground cardamom
0.5 tsp salt
(1 tsp baking powder if impatient) 

Mix all together, spoon into pan, let rise for about half an hour (or add the baking powder to dough and bake immediately). Bake at 200C for about 20-25 minutes, depending on how thin you spread it. Cool somewhat and enjoy!

Mmm, tasty

The restrictions part of this post come from our recent visit to the doctor.