Flaugnarde aux poires et à la noix de coco (Pear and coconut flognarde)

To test out my newly aquired Pyrex flan dish, I made this coconut pear flaugnarde. 

Pear and coconut flognarde

Peanut butter cake

This is a peanut butter cake I made by frosting a yellow cake with peanut butter cream cheese. I've written about the yellow cake, adapted from a wonderful recipe I found in Dr William Davis's 'Wheat Belly Cookbook'. 

Peanut butter cake

Basic grain-free sweet tart crust (2)

This is a revision of basic grain-free sweet tart crust (1).

Basic grain-free sweet tart crust (1)

This is a sweet tart crust that can be pre-baked and finished later with your choice of fillings.

Sweet tart crust

Cinnamon raisin walnut bread (2)

Tweaking the original recipe from a year ago, I made a loaf of cinnamon raisin walnut bread to take to my in-laws over the holidays. 

Cinnamon raisin walnut bread

Torta di mele (Apple cake)

One of the complaints Husband has of my wheat-free, grain-free cakes is that they often have a grainy texture. Though he tries to soften the blow by stating that it's only a minor criticism and in all fairness, I don't think any wheat substitute can ever achieve the wheat result, I still want to find a way to improve upon the texture.

With that in mind, coupled with the feeling that my relationship with my new kitchen has evolved from casual acquaintance to devoted friend, I decided to try out a new apple cake recipe last week.

Torta di mele

Clementine cranberry cake

Reprising last Christmas' dessert, but with a few tweaks. 

Clementine cranberry cake

Spiced apple streusel muffins

After making the spiced apple galette, I had three Granny Smith apples leftover. Not wanting to make another galette so soon, I used the leftover apples to make applesauce.

The applesauce had been sitting in the fridge for a few days. I was worried that it would turn, so I flipped through the Wheat Belly 30-Minute Cookbook to see what I could do with it. I came across a recipe for apple streusel muffins. After checking I had everything (yay!) in the pantry, I got to working.

Spiced apple streusel muffin with cappuccino

All-purpose baking mix (wheat free, grain free )

A useful baking mix recipe from Dr William Davis's 'Wheat Belly 30-Minute (Or Less!) Cookbook'. This mix is meant for creating a variety of different bread and baked goods: loaf breads, flatbreads, rolls, scones, muffins, and cookies. Keeping a supply of this mix on hand will help save time.

All-purpose baking mix

Spiced apple galette

It had been a while since I made a cake or pie, so when I got some sweet, tangy, juicy Granny Smith and Jazz apples, I immediately got to making a spiced apple galette. 

Slice of spiced apple galette

Spiced cranberry bread

Here's another variation of the basic bread with sweet mixed spices (coriander, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, fennel, cloves, and cardamon) and dried cranberries.

Spiced cranberry bread

Cinnamon raisin walnut bread (1)

Ever since I made the basic walnut bread, I'd been itching to try making a variation using cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts. And after a trip to Holland & Barrett to pick up a few missing ingredients, I got to working.

Cinnamon raisin walnut bread

Basic bread (with walnut)

On the heels of my success with the chocolate-frosted yellow cake, I tried out another 'base' recipe from the Wheat Belly Cookbook, the Basic Bread. I had tried making loaf bread before using only coconut flour but it came out too dense for my liking (hence even though I have the recipe written down, I haven't posted it). This basic bread recipe called for garbanzo bean, or chickpea/gram, flour. I couldn't find ready-made chickpea flour in the shops here (I didn't try very hard, only looking at the usual shops I go to), so I got a bag of dried chickpeas and proceeded to make my own.

It was actually quite easy to do, as long as one had the tools - food processor, or in my case, a mini chopper, a coffee/spice grinder, and a sifter - good sound insulation in the kitchen (or whatever room you're working in), a bit of time, and lots of patience. I made two batches, using one for this bread and kept the rest in a air-tight jar for future use.

Basic walnut bread

Chocolate-frosted yellow cake

While I wouldn't call myself a cake lover, I do occasionally find myself hankering for cake. And that was what happened two weeks ago. I desperately wanted a slice of moist, dense, and fluffy cake. Being swamped at work and not really having an idea of how to make a wheat-free version, I picked up a toffee cake from the shops. While it tasted alright (not amazing, mind you), I paid for it with several days of discomfort and then more. And still, my craving wasn't satisfied.

So I bit the bullet and bought myself a coffee grinder so I could grind up golden linseeds as they seem to be called in several wheat-free, grain-free recipes. And boy, was I glad I did! Not only did the grinder work a treat for the linseeds, I also managed to make icing sugar without cornstarch with it, which was needed to make the frosting for my cake.

The cake I chose to make was a chocolate-frosted yellow cake. I came across a recipe for it in Dr William Davis's 'Wheat Belly Cookbook'. The cookbook has a good variety of recipes and is easy to use once you have the basic ingredients at hand. The wheat-free cakes I'd made so far were mostly loaf cakes so I wanted to try something new and a yellow cake looked like a good choice as it was versatile. I also wanted to try another kind of frosting (using something other than coconut cream/milk).

Chocolate-frosted yellow cake

Maple pecan scones

I'm not a great fan of the quintessential afternoon tea accompaniment on this side of the pond, namely scones and clotted cream. So even after I went wheat-free, I didn't miss scones one bit. I do, however, miss having a nibble with tea. So I decided to attempt making wheat-free scones. 

Maple pecan scones with maple syrup glaze

Earl Grey tea biscuits

Earl Grey is my favourite black tea, and I've had much success using it in chocolate desserts (see my pots de créme au chocolat and chocolate truffle cake). This time I decided to try using it without chocolate and to make biscuits instead. 

Earl Grey tea biscuits

Pineapple coconut loaf (2)

After a full schedule for the first two weeks of May, I finally had the time and energy to try out the tweaked recipe for my pineapple coconut loaf with less liquid and sugar. I also used the ground walnuts left over from making the chocolate walnut torte.

Pineapple coconut loaf

Pineapple coconut loaf (1)

My mother baked for the two some years that we spent in the States. One of her best creations was a coconut cake. I was probably only 7 years old at the time when I first tasted it but even decades later, I remembered it as a scrumptious cake loaded with shredded coconut with a crunchy sugary topping. When I was older, I asked her for the recipe, but she couldn't remember it, claiming that she'd got the recipe off the papers or magazine and didn't keep it.

For years I'd been trying to find that recipe and even attempted a coconut loaf glazed with coconut milk syrup a couple of years ago but to no avail. A couple of weeks ago, when I was making a pork stir-fry with pineapples, it occurred to me that I could pair pineapple with coconut in a cake. Adapting my recipes for the madeira cake and lime & coconut cake, I made a pineapple coconut loaf. At the time I wasn't thinking about my mother's cake. But when I took the first bite of this pineapple coconut loaf, I nearly shrieked with excitement. Could I have possibly stumbled upon the right recipe?

Banana walnut mini muffins

I had two very ripe bananas, one in the freezer and one in the fruit bowl. I decided to make my trusty banana & walnut loaf, except this time, I'm making it into mini muffins. This recipe is adapted from my banana & walnut bread. 

Banana walnut mini muffins

Amaretti biscuits

After making the Greek almond cookies, I still had 2 egg whites left over from the coconut custard tart, so I attempted amaretti, another favourite accompaniment to coffee.