Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Cupcakes with Almond Cream Filling and Dark Chocolate Ganache

Bakespace.com is hosting a Pom Wonderful cupcake baking contest and I can't resist anything those little antioxidant powerhouses!  Naturally, I made my version gluten-free, since my little helpers would be inhaling them after dinner.  (And broke my KitchenAid in the process)  But, I have to say, it was all worthwhile.

And I could really use your help by voting for my cupcake on Valentine's Day.  Don't worry - I'll remind you. ;)



Okay, maybe not the breaking of my beloved stand mixer, but I digress...


The taste testers all declared this one a hit, so here you go:

Chocolate Covered Pomegranate Cupcakes

1/2 cup Spectrum non-hydrogenated shortening

1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs

1 tsp gluten-free vanilla

2 1/4 cups All Purpose Gluten Free flour (or all purpose flour)
1/2 cup Penzey's Dutch Process High Fat Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

1 1/3 cups Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice

1 cup of Pom pomegranate arils

In a working stand mixer, cream together the shortening, eggs, sugar, and vanilla.  Slowly pour in the pomegranate juice and mix on low, unless you really want a pink polkadotted kitchen.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the work bowl, mixing on low just until incorporated.

Fold in the pomegranate arils by hand.  Trust me.

Bake in a 350° oven for 18-22 minutes.

Meanwhile, you can prep the filling:

Almond Cream Filling

2 cups Marshmallow Fluff
8 oz cream cheese
1 tsp almond extract

Mix.  Try not to lick the batter too much so you have enough for your cupcakes.


While the cupcakes cool, go ahead and make the dark chocolate ganache.  Dark chocolate has a boatload of antioxidants, just like pomegranates.  So, this are heart-healthy.  Kind of.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

1 11.5 oz package of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chocolate baking chips
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

If you haven't made ganache before, you're about to find a new favorite icing.  Ganache is so versatile, you can chill it in the refrigerator and roll in cocoa for truffles, whip it for a cake filling or icing, or use it warm.  We're going with the latter of these, my personal favorite.  Yes, you can grate chocolate by hand and get something superb like Valrhona.  And it will be delicious.  But, so will this.

Warm your heavy whipping cream in a heavy-bottomed pot, bringing it just up to a simmer.

Okay, I'll be totally honest.  I did this in a pyrex measuring cup in the microwave.  Whatever.  I have five kids and I made homemade cupcakes today.  I'm taking a shortcut. :)

Pour the very hot cream over the chocolate chips in a glass bowl.  Let it sit for a second and the cream will start to melt the chocolate.  Slowly whisk.  As the chocolate melts, the cream will blend with it in this gloriously thick, glossy emulsion.  You will love me.  I promise.

Now that your cupcakes are cooled, fill with the almond cream filling.  You can do this with a piping bag, but I have a handy little decorator gun.  Pampered Chef and Wilton both make them.  (Use your 40% off Michael's coupon.  This is a great gadget!)  I refer to the standard version of these cupcakes as "fauxstess."

Yep.  I went there.

Once the cupcakes have a nice little almond cream bite nestled inside, dip the top of the cupcake into your ganache-in-waiting.  Twist slightly as you pull it back out and it should give you a little swirl.

If you want the curly-Qs on top, just use your leftover filling in a piping bag (or ziplock bag with the corner cut off) and pipe those right on top.  Not required for deliciousness.

There you go.  I hope you give it a try and enjoy them with someone you love this Valentine's Day.

Gluten Free Brown Sugar Banana Bread

I have a tendency to either not buy enough or way too many bananas.  Somehow we can't get into the groove with these delicious little fruits.  Personally, I like them when the tips are green, but the center is yellow.  Not a freckle to be seen.  My husband used to tease me, saying I was going to be poisoned.  He favors a "perfectly ripe banana," with abundant freckling and a sweet inner fruit.  (Blech!  Mush!)

Either way, we've missed the mark on both our preferences.  And, while the kids will eat bananas in any way, shape, or form, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to bake some banana bread.  If you wait until the next day to slice them, they become a bit easier to cut thin.  Add a smear of peanut butter and you have a great lunch sandwich.

2 cups all purpose gluten free flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

a few grates of fresh nutmeg

2 eggs or egg replacer

about 4 large, ripe bananas

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup of oil (or unsweetened apple sauce)

Mix it.  Do we need directions for this part?  My kids just dump it all in a bowl and turn on the kitchenaid.  It's that easy.  Nothing to sort or sift or any of that nonsense.  One bowl.  Mix.  Done.

I have two great loaf pans, probably from Target, that are wicked heavy.  I spray them with nonstick cooking spray ahead of time (Trader Joe's) and divide the batter in half.

Bake at 350° for around 40 minutes.

Flip them out onto a cooling rack and try to not eat the whole loaf before it cools, I dare you.

Getting Back to Basics

Like so many of you, I could stand to lose weight and have made it one of my resolutions.  In fact, I went to the doctor last week for this specific purpose.  With the all-clear from the doctor, I am beginning by watching my calories.

I highly, highly recommend Spark People.  First, it's free.  FREE.  Totally, entirely free.

You can set up your profile including height, weight, and track all of your measurements.  Tracking calories is not as tedious as it sounds because Spark does it all for you.  You simply search for the food you've eaten (or, more ideally, plan to eat), select a portion size, and add it to your day.  You can track fat, calories, carbs, nutrients, etc.  Did I mention that it's free?  And entirely the most eye-opening thing you can do for your diet.  (And by diet I mean the food we eat each day to survive.)

I did some searching for low-cal snacks because my doctor has suggested I eat every two hours.  "Something," she said.  I'm not much of an eater in the early hours of the day.  In fact, I tend to wait until I'm shaking from low blood sugar and then I eat a little lunch.  The bulk of what I eat in the day is dinner and it could be slowing my metabolism.  So, I'm giving this a shot.

Are you a visual person?  Check out this cool website I found with what 200 calories *looks* like.

As I work on my meal plans, I thought I'd share my lists with you all.  I'm fairly obsessive about health and nutrition (ah the irony, considering my weight).  But, my cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar were stellar.  So I'm doing something right.  Just maybe a little too much of it.

I like eating.  I like feeling full.  I can't sit down to a frozen diet meal and feel satisfied, which creates the temptation of snacking later.  So, it is my goal to come up with foods that are filling, high in fiber, and satisfying.  My goal over the next few days is to build a meal plan that is based in lots of fruits and veggies.  Just look at how much food you can get for so little calories when eating a diet filled with produce!  (Not to mention the crazy amounts of vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants).  Here's the calorie count for a half cup of the following:

Fill 'er up! List

Fruits

• Apple - 33 cal
• Avocado 120 cal
• Banana 67 cal
• Blueberries 42 cal
• Cantaloupe 27 cal
• Cherries 46 cal
• Grapefruit 38 cal
• Grapes 55 cal
• Guava 56 cal
• Honeydew 31 cal
• Kiwifruit 54 cal
• Mango 54 cal
• Nectarine 31 cal
• Orange 42 cal
• Papaya 27 cal
• Peach 30 cal
• Pear 41 cal
• Pineapple 39 cal
• Plum 38 cal
• Pomegranate 52 cal
• Raspberries 32 cal
• Strawberries 17 cal
• Tangerine 52 cal
• Watermelon 23 cal

Veggies

• Artichoke - 38 cal
• Arugula - 3 cal
• Asparagus - 13 cal
• Beets - 29 cal
• Bell peppers - 15 cal
• Broccoli - 15 cal
• Brussels Sprouts 19 cal
• Butternut squash 32 cal
• Carrots 25 cal
• Cauliflower 13 cal
• Celery 8 cal
• Collards 5 cal
• Cucumber 8 cal
• Green Beans 17 cal
• Green Cabbage 11 cal
• Green Onions 11 cal
• Iceberg lettuce 5 cal
• Jicama 25 cal
• Leaf lettuce 3 cal
• Mushrooms 8 cal
• Onion 32 cal
• Potato 58 cal
• Pumpkin 15 cal
• Radishes 9 cal
• Romaine 4 cal
• Spinach 3 cal
• Summer squash 9 cal
• Sweet corn 66 cal
• Sweet potato 57 cal
• Swiss Chard 3 cal
• Tomato 16 cal

Beans

• Black beans 100 cal
• Great Northern beans 104 cal
• Lentils 115 cal
• Lima beans 108 cal
• Navy beans 127 cal
• Pinto beans 122 cal
• Red Kidney beans 112 cal

Christmas Pears Are Poaching

Six Christmases ago, I set out to find something a bit lighter for the holidays.  With a family as large as ours, everyone tries to share in the cooking responsibility and we each bring a dish.  This Christmas in particular, I was watching what I ate and wanted to find something that would be festive but healthy.

Since then, it has become a tradition.  Even the once reluctant now come back for seconds.  The sweet pears taste a bit more like dessert, reminiscent of apple pie, than the grainy bits you pick out of canned fruit cocktail.  

We cook for a crowd, but these last for several days.  I plan to make cheese blintzes with them, if any are left over.

12 pounds of seckel pears

3 lemons

1 bottle of moscato wine

1 1/4 cups of honey

2 vanilla beans

2 whole cinnamon sticks

And as many able-handed people as you can find in the house!

Note:  You don't have to use seckel pears.  We've bought them at Sam's this year under the name of "sugar pears."  I've bought all different types - the key is, you want them to be semi-firm.  The soft ones will just mush, so don't bother with them.

Juice the lemons into a large mixing bowl.

Peel, cut in half (top to bottom), and core the pears.  I use a melon baller to pop the core out and a tiny paring knife to pull out the fibrous core that runs the length of it.  As each pear is prepped, add to the bowl of lemon juice to prevent browning. 

Pour the bottle of moscato wine into a stock pot.  (Moscato is cheap.  You can find it at Trader Joe's and Sam's.  I think most grocery stores carry it as well.  If you can't find it, substitute a fruity white wine - Riesling, Gewurztraminer, etc.)

Fill the bottle back up twice with water, adding the volume to the pot as well.  (So the ratio of water to wine will be 2:1, in case you need to alter the recipe for your family's size).

To the water and wine mixture, add honey, whole cinnamon sticks, and split vanilla beans (run the tip of a sharp knife down the length of the bean - no need to scrape, it will simmer out on its own).  

Add the pears, leaving the lemon juice in the bowl.  Watch out for those pesky seeds.  Cover the pears with a circle of parchment, if you have it, laid directly on the top layer.  I have used a dinner plate that fits into the pot or a pie plate.  

Simmer until knife-tender - around 10 - 15 minutes for small pears.

Remove the pears with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl.  Turn the heat up on the poaching liquid and simmer until reduced and syrupy.  

Cool the syrup, then pour over cooked peaches.  Refrigerate up to 24 hours in advance (the longer they sit, the better they taste!)

The Two Step (but totally worth it) Buttermilk Coffee Cake With Cinnamon Streusel

Now that finals are over, I thought I'd sit down and type up the recipe several of you requested. For my second daughter's recent birthday, she asked for a, "coffee cake."

"Do you want a coffee-flavored cake," I asked.  "Or do you want a coffee cake like the ones at Starbucks, with the cinnamon swirl and crumbs on top?"

The birthday girl's eyes lit up.  "Both?" She grinned.

The birthday cake itself was a Bûche de Noël, with an espresso simple syrup soak, filled with whipped cream, covered in chocolate ganache, and decorated with tiny toffee bits and a tiny owl.  But, for breakfast, we had this:


Step One:


3TBSP Pamela's GF Bread Mix/Flour
3 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 tsp good cinnamon (we love Penzey's Vietnamese cinnamon)
2 TBSP butter *
About a quarter cup of pecan halves (can sub other nuts or omit, but that'd be nuts!)




Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a Cuisinart.  Pulse until the nuts are broken and the butter is incorporated into the dry ingredients.  You want crumbs, not paste, so just until they're mixed.  Maybe 10 pulses.


(My four year old has this job)


*I have used Earth Balance in this, but it will change the texture of the crumb topping a bit.  It tends to be very soft, even when cold, and you have to be careful to not create a paste.  Also, yes, you can do all of this with a fork or a pastry cutter (just use chopped pecans instead of halves).  However, since this recipe is a buttermilk coffee cake, you're probably not sensitive to dairy if you're reading this.  Can you sub soured milk (with lemon juice or vinegar added to a nondairy milk)?  Sure.  But there's something magical that happens when buttermilk is used.  I promise.  I've tested it. 




Empty the contents of the food processor into a bowl and set aside.  Don't worry about washing the bowl - you're going to mix it all together in the cups anyway.






Step Two:


1 1/2 cups of Pamela's GF Flour Mix
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup of sugar
1 1/4 tsps of baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt


1 beaten egg
1/2 cup buttermilk


With lingering bits of streusel topping, add all the dry ingredients into the bowl of your Cuisinart.  Pulse until you get a crumbly texture with no noticeable spots of butter.  Think pie crust.  


Open the chute and pour in the egg and buttermilk.  Process just until moistened.  This is a quick bread, like banana bread or cornbread.  It will be sticky and thick.


We like muffins, but you're free to make whatever shape your heart desires (I'm particularly fond of those individual little loaves but it was a birthday and the birthday girl wanted muffins).  You don't have to use the foil muffin liners I always recommend for cupcakes.  These coffee cake muffins don't stick like cake.  So, we had polka dot liners.  (Check etsy for fun designs!)


Now, scoop a heaping Tablespoon of dough into each cup.  Designate a preschooler or "helper" kid to add about a heaping teaspoon of the streusel on top of that.  Then, go back and add another heaping tablespoon of dough for the top of the muffin.  And, again, dust with streusel mix.  


You will now have a tender, slightly sweet cake with a ribbon of sweet cinnamon in the center and crumbs on top.  


Bake at 400° for 16 minutes or so.  Flip out onto a rack and cool slightly so you don't burn your mouth.  But, they are absolutely delicious warm!


Enjoy!

THE Pumpkin Muffin Recipe

For years this has been passed around my circle of friends.  I thought it might be easier to just post it on here, so you guys can have access to it any time.  

I strongly recommend spraying the paper muffin liners or using Wilton's silver liners.  Things won't stick to those.  I buy them for $1.99 at Michael's.  

3 C sugar

1 C oil (I often use applesauce or chunky applesauce)

4 eggs (also have used egg beaters with good results)

2 tsp vanilla

Mix together until combined

3 1/2 C Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp baking soda

sift dry ingredients, then add wet to dry

2/3 cup milk (soy works great, skim works great)

1 3/4 cups pumpkin (canned - just a regular size can)

add half the milk, mix, half the pumpkin, mix again, the rest of the milk, mix, the rest of the pumpkin, mix

optional: 1 cup chopped nuts, 1 cup chocolate chips 

(just fold these in)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean

(and really, let's be honest, if you just dump it all into the kitchenaid, they taste just fine!)

Top with cream cheese frosting for cupcakes.

Flaky, Rollable, Tender, Delicious Gluten Free Pie Crust

Yep.  You read that right.  I've conquered it!

My grandma made dessert every day.  Every.  Day.  From scratch.  I lived with her for years and can remember perching myself at the end of her huge chrome-trimmed table as she slid the fabric sheath on her rolling pin and dusted flour on the canvas.  She'd give my aunt Vicki and me the scraps, which we promptly destroyed by overworking and smashing into pot pie sized tins.  Her cookies are legendary, but where her real pastry talent lies is within the layers of her pie crust.

Never tough.  The right blend of flaky and tender.  The perfectly rolled, never over-worked edge adding a hint of salty, savory crisp to a sea of pie fillings: coconut custard, lemon meringue (my favorite!), lemon chiffon (a close second), pumpkin chiffon (family favorite), cooked strawberry, strawberry gelatin, banana cream, peach... where was I?

Right.  The crust.

When I first began cooking on my own, I called my grandma often.  She graciously read recipe after recipe to me over the phone and explained techniques.  I still have a handwritten cookbook from 1996, filled with her recipes scrawled with in my nineteen year old handwriting.

Thanks, Grandma.

This recipe will make enough for two pies if you're a really super efficient housewife from the fifties.  If you are likely to crack the edges and have trouble rolling out pastry, it'll make one plus scraps.

Gluten Free Pie Crust

2 Cups Gluten-Free Pamela's Bread and Flour 

2/3 C. Shortening*

1 tsp salt

6-7 TBSP ICE water**

*note: yes, shortening.  Grandma used Crisco, of course.  

I used Spectrum non-hydrogenated.  It's about $5 for a tub at Whole Foods.

**ICE water.  Ice a cup of it, set it aside while you work.  You'll add it bit by bit but it MUST be cold.

You can absolutely do this with the tines of a fork the way my Grandma does.  

(But I do it in my Cuisinart.)

In the bowl of your food processor mix the flour, salt, and add the shortening.  Close it up.  Pulse - I counted just for you - around 25 times.  You want that fat to get distributed through to every grain of flour, or at least as many as you can.  It should not really look like flour anymore once this happens - more like wet sand.  If you smoosh it together in the palm of your hand and squeeze, it will stick.

Now, stop.  Get that cup of ice water.  You don't need the ice - just the really, really cold water.

Using a tablespoon (actual tablespoon measuring spoon) begin adding water to the chute on the food processor.  I dump one tablespoon in, then as it drizzles down I pulse.  Continue until it comes together - mine took about 7 TBSPs of water.  It will begin looking like sugar cookie dough.  It should never ever be *wet* - just - combined.  

At this point, I take it out of the bowl and pat it together in a disk.  This helps get the air out and creates the general shape for a pie crust.  Now, let it rest.  Do you HAVE to do that?  No.  But I do think it helps things chill out a bit.  You can even pop it in a ziplock or wrap it in saran at this point, if you're not ready to bake the pie yet.  When you are ready to roll, dust the counter with flour (or use one of those awesome vintage rolling pin things like my grandma had)  WOW!  This is it! http://www.etsy.com/listing/60345984/vintage-munising-tiger-maple-red-handle

Someone snatch that up!

Okay - so roll it out - you want it even, sometimes I roll in a few directions to get it nice and round.  Then I usually use a pizza cutter to trim off the edges.

Transfer to your pie plate and fill.  You're done!