BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES FOR VALENTINE'S DAY!

Best Ever Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes...Gluten Free!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This recipe has been adapted from a layer cake from the Quinoa 365 cookbook (which for me didn't work out very well initially).  I was determined to tweak baking times and procedure because the cake held promise.  You will require 2 cups of cooked quinoa.  This is best done with quinoa that is not over-cooked. Mine was cold; straight from the refrigerator.

I purchased my quinoa from Costco.  It's organic and you don't have to rinse it...but I do anyways.  I also used a rice-cooker to cook my quinoa.  The original recipe calls for 2/3 cups uncooked quinoa and then it tells you to cook it (leaving you leftover quinoa to store away).  I made 1 whole cup of uncooked quinoa and this allowed for more leftovers (so I can make something else with it).

My first attempt with the quinoa chocolate layer cake resulted in squidginess.  It was kind of wet and not too pretty but I knew that the flavour was good.  No soapy quinoa flavour detected.  Good thing.  

My cupcakes were lined with jumbo (or large) cupcake liners.  The recipe yields 12 cupcakes. I used my Vitamix to blend the quinoa and all the batter ingredients together.  Then I filled the liners with the batter.  The batter was just enough for the the jumbo liners.  They were filled more than 3/4 full.   

The cupcakes looked and smelled promisingly chocolatey in the oven.  They puffed up and then when taken out they fell a bit.  However, they tested clean with a cake tester.  No crumbs.  I baked the cakes for 30 minutes and they came out perfectly.  Not squidgy!  

Unlike the layer cake, the cupcakes are sturdier and the crumb isn't wet.  It is super moist and not a note of quinoa is detected.  My daughters didn't even know there was quinoa in it.  They didn't think it was gluten free.  Not a speck of flour was required in the recipe.  In fact, you could probably make it dairy free by substituting the milk with coconut milk and coconut butter.  I think that the eggs are pretty important for the structure though.  I have no idea if egg substitute would work because we're okay with eggs and I probably will never attempt it.  If you try it and it works, let me know!

The recipe calls for 1 cup of cocoa powder.  I imagine that lends quite a bit of structure and flavour to the cake.  Don't skimp here.  Get good cocoa powder.  I have used Callebaut.

The Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes do not require frosting.  They are scrumptiously moist without it.  I sent one to school for Bebe's recess snack.  When I asked her how it was after school, she said it was so yummy!  I told her it was gluten free and she said it sure didn't taste like it!

Can you imagine a chocolate cupcake that's moist, healthy with all the goodness of quinoa and doesn't require a frosting?  I inhaled my cupcake and encourage you to try this excellent reincarnation of the quinoa chocolate cake recipe.  I'm never going to go back to making it in layers.  This rocks with a glass of cold milk too!

Now, I had to bling these babies up for Valentine's Day for my loved ones.  I made chocolate lace hearts on parchment paper.  I grabbed a bar of Lindt Dark Chocolate (70%), microwaved to melt it in a custard cup and made a parchment cone to free-hand drizzle some hearts.  I let them set and them wedged them in a little dollop of buttercream atop the cupcakes.  I encourage you to top these with the Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream from HERE.  

If you like  dragées, use them for sparkle.  I personally don't like their crunch.  My daughters love all sprinkles and go crazy with them.  To each her own.

I thought this particular ivory white dragée made the cupcake look so elegant.  It might even make a good Wedding Cupcake!  Imagine a Celiac Bride/Groom who could finally eat their own wedding cake worry-free?  

I haven't had such a good cupcake since my most popular post THE BEST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES EVER.   Even when I don't post anything, people still seem to land on that old post and I still get lots of commenters telling me how yummy it is.  

Well, this Quinoa Chocolate Cupcake is in contention to beat out that recipe.  In fact, I think it's better.  It's faster to whip up (in a food processor or blender), it's cheaper (uses cocoa powder) and it's moister.  Above all, it's healthier because it doesn't use white wheat flour; but it has all the goodness of the extra protein from the quinoa and it tastes amazing.

I'm very excited to have you try this recipe as cupcakes.  Try it and let me know what you think.  Will this  quinoa chocolate cupcake knock the liners off my popular go-to chocolate cupcake recipe using regular flour?   I'm converted.  How about you?

BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

adapted from Quinoa 365:  The Everyday Superfood

Makes 12 large scrumptious cupcakes

• 2 cups cooked quinoa, cold (see note below for instructions to cook quinoa)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cups butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

*1 muffin tin (large cups, large cupcake liners) with 12 wells.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line the muffin tin with the 12 large-sized cupcake liners.  
2. In a Vitamix, Blender of Food Processor, combine:  milk, eggs, vanilla.  Blend until combined.  Add 2 cups of cold cooked quinoa and the melted butter and continue to blend until smooth.
3. Dump in the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the Vitamix.  Blend well to combine.  
4. Pour from the blender directly into the cupcake liners, evenly distributing the cupcake batter between the 12 liners.  Gently tap the tin on the counter to ensure there are no air bubbles.  Smooth the tops with a small spatula (or your finger!)
5. Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 30 minutes.
6. Test the cupcakes for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester.
7. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Remove from the pan and allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a rack.
8. Frost if desired with Swiss Meringue Buttercream using a 1M Wilton tip.  Decorate with the chocolate lace hearts (see post above for the easy method I used).  Bling it up with dragees if desired.
9. Cupcakes can be stored sealed in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.  But I don't think they'll last that long.

Note:  Bring 2/3 cup raw, rinsed white or golden quinoa to boil in a heavy saucepan with 1 1/3 cups water.  Cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn off heat and leave covered saucepan on burner for another 10 minutes.  Fluff with fork and allow the Quinoa to cool.

Rice Cooker Method:  Cook rinsed quinoa as you would rice, following manufacturer's instructions and the indicator lines for appropriate water levels.    I made 1 cup quinoa and found it had enough leftovers to make another dish.

More about → BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES FOR VALENTINE'S DAY!

Espresso-spiked Banana Bundt Cake

Banana Bundt Cake

My NordicWare Bundt Pan

Banana Bundt love...gluten free too!

ESPRESSO-SPIKED BANANA BUNDT CAKE

adapted from Dorie Greenspan's "Classic Banana Bundt Cake" from Baking:  From My Home to Yours

[Cakebrain's note:  I tossed in a shot of freshly brewed hot espresso into the batter for a lovely flavour]

For my favourite Gluten Free Flour blend recipe, check out my post here.

• 3 cups GF flour blend (or all purpose flour, as in Greenspan's original recipe)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups organic cane sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large organic free range eggs, room temperature
• approximately 4 very ripe bananas, pureed (1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups)
• 1 cup sour cream
• one shot freshly brewed espresso

1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat to Preheat the oven to 350 F. Generously butter a 9- to 10-inch (12-cup) Bundt pan. [I sprayed my Nordicware bundt pan with Pam.]
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.
3. Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the bananas. Finally, mix in half the dry ingredients (the mixture will look curdled — just keep mixing), all the sour cream, and then the rest of the flour mixture. Toss in the shot of hot espresso.  Mix until well blended.  Scrape the batter into the pan, rap the pan on the counter to de-bubble the batter, and smooth the top.
4. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. [mine took 75 minutes] Check the cake after about 30 minutes, if it is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding on the rack to cool to room temp.
5. If you have the time, wrap the cooled cake in plastic and allow it to sit on the counter overnight before serving — it’s better the second day.
6. Because my adaptation of the cake is gluten free, it should be refrigerated.  It will keep well in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for several days.  You can warm up slices in the microwave for a few seconds or allow the slices come to room temperature before serving.  This bundt would freeze well too.

More about → Espresso-spiked Banana Bundt Cake

CANDY CORN HALLOWEEN CUPCAKES: FINAL POST BEFORE MY KITCHEN RENO!

White Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Classic Buttercream and Candy Corn!

These are the last cupcakes I’ll ever make in my old kitchen!  Whee!


I have been so busy lately with work, school and just life.   I won’t be baking anything for a while until Christmas at least since we’re undergoing renovations to the kitchen. 

I will be taking pictures of the renovation along the way and will post them in my blog instead. 

My old kitchen is dark and full of granite.  It doesn’t look all that bad, but many of the appliances have kicked the bucket and I have had to replace my oven, dishwasher, microwave and hood fan since moving in over 8 years ago.   So I’ll be keeping those relatively new stainless steel appliances and just replacing the rest. 

My plan for the new kitchen:  ALL WHITE!

• island counter will be honed white Carrara marble or Statuario marble (sealed of course)
• perimeter counter will be quartz
• white cabinets; brushed silver handpulls/knobs
• industrial looking faucet in brushed silver
• stainless appliances
• 16 x 16 porcelain tile floors (white/gray)
• rectangular glass mosaic backsplash (whites/grays)

Since my kitchen won’t be usable and we’ll be living in the house still, it’ll be chaos.  We plan to eat out and eat simply.  We have a little old microwave and a bunch of plug-in appliances.  We’ll adapt.  We live within walking distance of many restaurants, a Safeway, a bunch of bakeries and we have tons of edible things in the pantry…we won’t starve.

However, I won’t be baking for a while.    Well, it’s kind of been like that anyway around here hasn’t it been?  So sorry if you came looking for cake and just found a bunch of posts of my restaurant reviews.  I have lately felt like I’ve lost my baking mojo since being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. 

I think a new kitchen might help alleviate the doldrums and may ignite me into a new baking direction.  Yes, I am still gluten free.  My GP says if I feel better restricting gluten, I should continue.  Besides, it’s healthier.  However, having said that, I do not fear gluten (I'm not Celiac) and my kids still eat it.  I indulge once in a while with a little bit of gluten; especially if it's cake.

My grad studies?  that’s going along okay.  I am still only getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night because of the marking from regular work and having to sporadically hand in concept papers to my professors too, but that’s kind of what I knew I’d be getting into.

I’m excited about all the changes going on in my life and I’ll document the DEMO of my old kitchen on the blog through pictures.  It’ll be cool I think.  It’s almost everything I’ve wanted in a  kitchen.  Plus, I am at ease with my choices in the design since I’ve been thinking about it for over 8 years.   Everything in the kitchen is what I think I’ll be happy with for a long time.  It’s all classical colours and the look won’t wane.  I am a little worried about the quartz, but for sure I know I want to go away from the granite look.  It’s so yesterday.  I am tired of how dark it makes my kitchen.  I can’t see the crumbs the kids leave on the counters, or the sticky spills they trail until it’s too late. 

All you smarty-pants who think you know how marble is porous and it’ll etch... I already know that.  Europeans have been using marble for counters for decades.  I think I’ll manage.  I want it for my island because I do my pastry/baking there.  I also will be doing some sealing sporadically (really, it’s just a spray and wipe…how easy is that?  I already spray and wipe my current granite counters anyway)

Besides, if you compromise on the look now, you’ll never be truly happy with your kitchen.  The white marble will stay.  It’ll look great.  It’ll be classic. 

Don’t many people change kitchens every 20 years anyways?  By that time, maybe I might want to change the marble.  Or maybe I might still like it.  I have a feeling I will still like it.  In fact, I’m thinking of using it in the bathrooms too.  Maybe Carrara again.  Or limestone.  Anyway.  I’ll have to save up for that all over again. 

I’ve been saving up for 8 years for this current kitchen renovation.   By next year, we might be working on changing the dining area and the hardwood floors (they’re all banged up engineered hardwood floors).  I also want to redo the bathrooms in a few years.  Our house is just falling apart!  oh, and I hate the curtains.  They came with the house.  They’re so 90’s. 

These Halloween cupcakes were made for my daughter’s Halloween Party at school.  They are White Velvet Butter Cupcakes from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Rose’s Heavenly Cakes and the frosting is Classic Buttercream with Vanilla Bean from Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible. 

The cupcakes tasted amazing!  The buttercream was silky smooth and the flecks of vanilla were nice.  The candy corn was something my daughter said everyone in the class should like.  I don’t know…I picked mine off.  Give me simple cake and buttercream anyday with no sprinkles or candy.  Today I popped a mini bite-sized one from the batch (I made 3 sizes of cupcakes) and thought they were so yummy! Tender, moist white crumb made with 3 egg whites made it light…I doubled the recipe and the 6 egg yolks that remained were employed in the Classic Buttercream.  I like it when a cupcake is efficient and delicious at the same time!

This is a winner and I’ll make ‘em again for sure when there’s call to make a white cupcake.    I would have gone chocolate all the way, but one of the kids in her class doesn’t like chocolate.   I think that if you feel so strongly about not liking a food, hey…I’ll accommodate.  And I happen to really like this kid because he’s so darn nice!    He’s such a neat kid.  So this whole batch was made vanilla because of him.  I don’t think he knows that but that’s okay.  It would be weird if he knew that anyways.    Though they’re only 8, I’ve told my daughter that if she ever wants to date a guy, he’ll have to be like this chocolate-hating friend of hers.  Not the chocolate-hating part, but the nice part.  I think I’m safe for now because she thinks boys are icky and she’s way too cool to be thinking about liking boys anyway.

Stay tuned for some demolition pictures of my kitchen!

More about → CANDY CORN HALLOWEEN CUPCAKES: FINAL POST BEFORE MY KITCHEN RENO!

GF BABY BUNDT CARROT CAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE GLAZE

GF Baby Bundt Carrot Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

These baby bundts go very well with a shot of espresso.  The bitterness of the coffee is a perfect accompaniment to the carrot cake’s sweet flavour profile.

I purchased 6 silicone baby bundt molds from Safeway of all places.  There was a display of Ricardo Larrivée Cookware and Bakeware (he's a Quebec chef from Food Network Canada) of Ricardo and Friends.  The individual baby bundt molds caught my eye and came in a set of 6.  So cute!  The line is called Ricardo Cuisine.   There were hearts and flowers, but I chose the bundt shape.  I liked the little hold in the middle.

The GF Sweet Rice Flour Blend worked out okay with this carrot cake recipe.  However, I omitted nuts and raisins because my kid’s allergic to nuts and I don’t like raisins in my food.   I used the rest of the batter for cupcakes and piped the cream cheese frosting in a swirl on them.  For the baby bundts, I microwaved a bit of the frosting to make it pourable and drizzled it over the bundts. 

The carrot cakes should be kept in the refrigerator to store.  They taste best the next day.  The texture wasn’t at all heavy but they definitely were moist.   This is due to the use of grapeseed oil instead of butter.    The cupcakes puffed up a little in the oven and shrank a bit after removal from the oven.  So you don’t get a very dense cupcake here.  Instead, it is light and moist.  The tops are not domed so they do look best with a swirled frosting on top. 

Bib and I actually prefer the carrot cupcakes without the frosting as they are sweet and moist enough without.  We easily ate two each before they were frosted.  Bebe likes the frosting.  Without the frosting though, you could take them for a snack at school and eat straight out of hand.  They are similar to banana bread in that way.  Delicious!  If you do make the baby bundts, I do think you ought to gild them with the warmed up frosting. They do look much prettier.

This recipe could be dairy free if you omitted the frosting.

Mini Baby Bundt Carrot Cakes (GF)
adapted from Simply…Gluten-free Desserts

• 2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1 1/3 cups grapeseed oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups sweet rice flour blend [or your favourite GF flour blend](see HERE for a recipe)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
• 1 pound carrots, finely grated (about 3 cups)

1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting 

• 8 T unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1/8 t salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners and/or prepare mini bundts on a sheet pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the sugar, oil and vanilla.  Lower speed and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well until each egg is fully incorporated, and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula after each addition
3. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the sweet rice flour blend, ground cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt
4. With the mixer on low speed, add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.  Add the carrots to the remaining flour mixture and toss well to coat.  Add to the batter and mix well using a large spatula, and making sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl well.  Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups.  Tap the pans on the counter three times gently to settle the batter.
5. Bake the cupcakes for 35-45 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Cool for about 10 minutes in pans then remove from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.  When completely cool, frost, if desired.
7. Refrigerate carrot cakes to store.  Unfrosted cakes can be frozen.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Cream the softened butter and cream cheese until smooth. Mix in confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt until well combined. 

To Decorate Mini Bundts:
In a small custard cup, heat the cream cheese frosting until melted (check every 10 seconds).  Set the bundts on a rack on a sheet pan and drizzle the glaze over the bundts, allowing the excess to fall off through the rack.  Allow to set.
To Decorate Cupcakes:
Using a 1M tip, swirl frosting from a piping bag in a circle starting from the outside perimeter of the cake towards the centre.

More about → GF BABY BUNDT CARROT CAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE GLAZE

GF BANANA CHIFFON CAKE HEAVEN

GF Banana Chiffon Cake with Condensed Milk Drizzle and Organic Local Raspberries

Third time’s a charm with my GF  Chiffon experimenting!  The kids were happy to eat my failures because they were so tasty.  However, it was time for a flavour shift.  I had 2 spotting bananas on the counter and pureed them for the batter. 

The Condensed Milk Drizzle is my preference over an icing sugar drizzle.  It was way easier as I always have some in a container in the refrigerator.  The berries are a tiny tart and like jewels in the syrupy drizzle.

This chiffon is a winner and doesn’t taste GF.  See that crumb?  It was soft and moist but not gummy.  It hung upside down to cool and did not collapse.  It had good structure but was ever so slightly wobbly tender.

The following GF flour blend recipe is the one I have tripled and kept in an airtight container to be used in place of regular flour.  It has been truly amazing and I imagine you can adapt it, as I have seen numerous permutations on the net.  For cakes, you will find that using the Thai Rice Flour brands that I have pictured below are important for fine texture.  You will find the 3 Elephants Brand rice flours in Asian markets.  They are really cheap.  You can buy a whole bunch at once and  blend up your mix.  For the other starches, I believe brands are not as important. 

CAKEBRAIN'S FAVOURITE GF FLOUR BLEND RECIPE:

2 1/4 cups superfine Thai Rice Flour (Asian market)

1/4 cup potato starch

2/3 cup tapioca starch

3/4 cup sweet rice flour (Thai brands are best)

1/3 cup cornstarch

2 teaspoons xanthum gum

• In a large airtight container, combine the flours together well.  I use a large wire whisk to mix the flours thoroughly.  Be particularly vigilant about distributing the xanthum gum as it is a small quantity compared to the rest of the flours.


• Use this GF Flour Blend in place of regular cake flour or all-purpose flour.  


• You do not have to worry about sifting as it's not lumpy


• You do not have to worry about overbeating as there's no gluten to develop.

CAKEBRAIN'S GF BANANA CHIFFON CAKE RECIPE

(adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

1 ½ cups sugar
1 1/3 cups GF FLOUR BLEND (see above recipe), OR your favourite GF flour blend
1 ¼ tsp baking powder [I used Magic Brand]
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
7 large eggs, 2 left whole, 5 separated (at room temperature) 

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
½ tsp cream of tartar 

2/3 cup water

1 cup very finely mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large or 3 medium) [make sure bananas are very ripe—with brown spots on the skin]

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325°F. Whisk sugar, gf flour, baking powder and soda and salt together in large bowl (at least 4-quart size). Whisk in two whole eggs, five egg yolks (reserve whites), water, oil and extracts until batter is smooth. Stir in pureed bananas.

2. Pour reserved egg whites into large bowl; beat at low speed with electric mixer until foamy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar, gradually increase speed to medium-high, then beat whites until very thick and stiff, just short of dry, 9 to 10 minutes with handheld mixer or 5 to 7 minutes in standing mixer. With large whisk, fold whites into batter, smearing any blobs of white that resist blending.

3. Pour batter into ungreased large tube pan ( 9 inch diameter, 16-cup capacity).

4. Bake cake on lower middle rack in oven until wire cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 60-70 minutes. Immediately turn cake upside down to cool. If pan does not have prongs around rim for elevating cake, invert pan over bottle or funnel, inserted through tube. Let cake hang until completely cook, about 2 hours.

5. To unmold, turn pan upright. Run frosting spatula or thin knife around pan’s circumference between cake and pan wall, always pressing against the pan. Use cake tester to loosen cake from tube. For one-piece pan, bang it on counter several times, then invert over serving plate. For two-piece pan, grasp tube and lift cake out of pan. If glazing the cake, use a fork or a paring knife to gently scrap all the crust off the cake. Loosen cake from pan bottom with spatula or knife, then invert cake onto plate. (Can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature 2 days or refrigerated 4 days.)

6.  Serve with a drizzle or condensed milk and fresh raspberries.

More about → GF BANANA CHIFFON CAKE HEAVEN

GF VANILLA BEAN CHIFFON VERS 1.1 FAIL

My favourite GF flour blend and my favourite chiffon recipe are being combined and undergoing rigorous testing.  To see how versatile my blend is, I tried it in my chiffon cake recipe.

The batter looked good as it baked in the oven.

The chiffon seemed to have more lift than my regular chiffon recipe using cake flour.  The GF blend does not contain gluten…possibly an important component that provides structure to a chiffon cake batter.  Gulp!

Upon taking the chiffon out of the oven, I was immediately struck by how quickly the cake began to deflate.

Right before my eyes, the cake shrunk down.  I thought I should turn it upside down to help maintain the structure…

GF FAIL! 

Well, turning the GF chiffon upside down seemed to help it along in its collapse.

Let me say this first:  this vanilla bean chiffon tastes amazing!  The crumb is extremely moist without being gluey; it is tender, spongey and light and my family ate the sad looking flop in a day.  Everyone loved the taste.  Everyone loved the texture.  Too bad it looked like a fallen souffle.

The cake had puffed up high in the oven.  After about 2 minutes out of the oven, it started to deflate rapidly; shrinking from the sides of the pan.  The crust of the cake stuck to the pan and the inner part of the cake separated from the crust…a weird looking scenario.  We ate the crust and inner part of the cake separately.  It was delicious!  Too bad it didn’t look very good. 

I am going to try increasing the amount of flour in the recipe next time.  I weighed all my ingredients so it will be easy to play with the numbers.  I am worried about the lack of structure because of the missing gluten.  Perhaps I may bake it longer and I may reduce the liquid in the recipe bit by bit.  Much to tweak but I want to maintain the excellent moist texture and flavour. 

More about → GF VANILLA BEAN CHIFFON VERS 1.1 FAIL