Coconut-Rosewater Cake with Pomegranate Cream Cheese Icing.

Used a recipe from Joy of Cooking that worked quite nicely.

Whip 3/4 c. butter ( stick and 1/2)
Whip in 1 1/2 c. sugar
Whip in 3 egg yolks,
followed by 3 c cake flour, 3 teaspoon baking powder, 3 tsp rosewater, and 3/4 c coconut milk
Stir in 3/4 c. shredded coconut
In a separate bowl, whip 3 egg whites till stiff, but not dry
Fold into rest of batter, pour in to pans, and bake at 350 till done, about 25 min for a cake, 18 or so for cupcakes.

Icing
1/4 C. Cream Cheese
1/4 c. butter
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon pomegranate syrup
2 c powdered sugar
mix, refrigerated, ice cooled delicacies.

Blueberry Chocolate Ganache tort

This was fun :)

Crust

1/2 c. oat flour (or ground oats)
1/2 c. whole wheat white flour
1/2 stick butter (4 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp sugar

Press into tart pan, poke holes, place in oven at 350 for about 15 min, till lightly browned

Ganache

About 7ish oz bittersweet chocolate
about 3ish oz semi sweet chocoalte
-Chop these very fine. I used a food processor, adding one piece at a time.

1/2 stick Butter
1/2 c. half and half, or cream
Heat these 2 ingredients until just simmering


2. 5 c fresh blueberries
1/2 c/ sugar
Heat these 2 until saucy, mush blueberries around to release juices

Pour hot blueberries over chocolate, then hot butter and cream.
Let sit a few seconds, then stir till smooth.

Pour into crust.

Arrange more berries on top as desired, chill till ready to serve.

Tomato Tart

This is Tasty. I mean it, really really tasty.
The Crust is crunchy, and the tomatoes blend really well with the goat cheese. Oh, and it only takes about 10 minutes to put together. Great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.


Cornmeal Crust

1 c cornmeal
1/4 c. flour
1 egg
1/4 c olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 tsp fresh tyme
1 Tbsp water

Pat into tart pan evenly

2 cloves Garlic, minced
3 ripe heirloom tomatoes, sliced into circles
1/4 c crumbled goat cheese

Place single layer of tomatoes onto crust. Sprinkle goat cheese and minced garlic over 1st layer, top with 2nd layer of tomatoes. Lightly drizzle over olive oil and sprinkle salt.
Place in oven at 400 for about 30 min. Enjoy!

banana yum bread

4 bananas, ripe and mashed
1 egg + 1 white (might just leave the white out and be fine, i just had an extra)
2 Tbsp butter, softened
3 Tbsp milk (almond)
3 Tbsp yogurt
tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 c. sugar + very small dash stevia
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 c flour (I used 1/2 c. quinoa flakes + 1/3 c flax seed, + the rest white whole wheat)
-you could use plain old flour no problem, I just like things with a bit more flavor

Bake at 350 for...about 50 min.

Fresh Fig Tart

Yes I sorta used a recipe, no...I didn't really follow it.

Crust-in food processor
Grind 1/4 c oats and 1/4 almonds
add about 1/2 c flour
dice in 1/2 stick butter
add about 1-2 tbsp water, till sticking together lightly
put in fridge

Filling
about 10 large figs, quarters, cut however you prefer (i used the costo co big pack, and used about 1/3)
Mix together well-
1/2 c. yogurt
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp agave nectar
toast pie crust briefly in oven, then arrange figs and pour filling over, add more figs on top to fill in gaps.

Place in oven at 400 for about 30 min.

Blackberry Yogurt Pie

This is pretty sweet. Yes thats a pun..But really.
Went wild blackberry picking, must create something.

Crust (Just for the bottom of pan, not up sides)
1/2 cup almonds (put in cuisinart till fine)
add 1/2 stick butter, about 1/2 c flour, and water till a moist crust consistency.
Take out, and press into bottom of pan.
Bake at 400 for about 5 min.

Take out and add filling

Filling :

Wisk 2 eggs in a bowl.
add 1 c. yogurt (I used non-fat greek)
1/4 c. sugar + a bit of stevia (or any where from 1/2 c- 3/4c just sugar)
2 Tblsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp almond extract
mix well,
add 5 c. fresh blackberries, washed and drained.

Sprinkle about a tsp of tapioca on top of crust
pour berry mix into pan, bake about 30 min at 400, till puffed and solidified.

Quinoa Flake muffins.

So I saw this Recipe on Karina's Gluten Free blog, and didn't have 90% of what it called for. Far from being dissuaded, I poured stuff in a bowl. Taste great. Light, airy, not too dry, sweat, and wonder of all wonders even sorta healthy.
Here's how it went...

pre-heat oven to 350. Mix dry then add wet if you want to be particular, but that didn't happen with mine.

1 c Quinoa flakes
1 c white whole wheat four
1/4 c Flax seed meal
tsp baking soda
tsp baking powder
cinnamon
nutmeg
ginger
TINY 1/16 of a teaspoon stevia
1/4 c honey
1/4 c olive oil
1 c Almond milk
2 eggs
tsp vanilla
1/4 c chopped crystalized ginger
1/4 c finely chopped pecans

Bake in oven for about 10 minutes, or until when you touch the top it barely bounces back. Light brown.

I used mini muffin tins (lightly greased), and it made 24. All of the ingredients were of course eye-balled, so if yours comes out too dry, add more of something.

Apricot Lemon Tarts

I made 2 tarts that were about 7 inch diameter? I'm writing out the ingredients for one 8 - 9 incher. Just simpler that way.

Basic pastry crust, add some sugar.

Pre-heat oven 350

Lemon bar filling:
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/3 c. lemon juice
1 Tbsp zest
2 Tbsp flour.
mix the eggs and sugar till smooth and kinda creamy. Add in juice and zest, then fold in flour.

Roll out refrigerated dough and place in tart pan. Pour in lemon filling and place in oven for about 8-10 min, til just setting.
While this is in the oven, slice (or sliver?) 6-8 ripe apricots. Cover with some lemon juice and a bit of sugar. Take some jam (3 Tbsp) (I meant to use homemade apricot, but it was quite possibly homemade peach) and heat in microwave with about 2 Tbsp water mixed in.

When tarts are out of the oven at 10 minutes, arrange apricots on top. Gently spoon jam glaze over the top. Place tarts back in oven for another 10 minutes, remove, and enjoy! After trying, I think that leaving them in the oven a bit longer wouldn't be a bad idea, either before or after putting on the apricots. More experimentation should figure that right out.

Amazing Zucchini, Carrot, Apple, Banana cake

2 c. more or less to find good consistency
1 egg
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Dash of agave nectar if desired
1 tsp baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla
1 banana (mashed)
1 small zucchini (grated)
1 large carrot (grated)
1 large apple (chopped fine)
add chopped nuts to taste

Pour into greased bread pan or cake pan, cook for about 40-45 minutes at 350

Cherry Apriot Tart

1 pastry crust. I baked this in a pie pan because I don't yet own a tart pan (problem soon to be rectified.)

Apricot Sauce-make in sauce pan on stove
6 or so apricots, as ripe as possible.
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. sugar
1 Tbsp corn starch
1/3 c. water
1 Tbsp Basalmic Vinegar.
Cook down on stove, stirring frequently. Let cool, then run through food processor until smooth.

Cherry Tart.
Roll out pie crust, place in pan. Fill with halved cherries skin side down. Sprinkle about a Tbsp Tapioca over cherries.Pour Apricot sauce over, spread so that all is covered, with cherries poking through. Bake in oven at 360 for about 35-45 minutes, until it looks solidified.

Easy Pasta Salad?

Here you go Chris...
Made this entirely from Frank Scavenging.

Pasta (prob not noodles-that would be weird)
Cherry tomatoes
Onions
Garlic-3-4 cloves minced (I really like garlic)
sliced black olives- aprox.
Spinach-lightly chopped
Feta Cheese
Olive Oil
Salt
balsamic vinegar

Bring pot of water with a splash of olive oil and a dash of salt to boil. Add pasta and cook as instructed.
Drain pasta when cooked, and place pot back on stove. Add more olive oil. Saute onions and garlic until onions start to become clear. Pour the drained pasta back into the pot and splash with more oil. Add rest of the vegetables and the cheese, stirring well. Pour about 3-4 tbsp of vinegar over to finish. Adjust proportions of vegetables to pasta to taste. Would also be great with some summer squash and bell peppers sauted in with the onion, or some sun dried tomato. Perfect for a quick meal, and only dirties one pot!

Gambling Gooseberries...an experiment in odd canned goods.

Mom's having a dinner party-I get to make desert. Even though I don't get to attend dinner. Ha!
Of all the random things we have in our pantry, are two cans of Gooseberries in Light Syrup, by Oregon Fruit Products. I don't know where they came from, but they'd been there for a while...a long while...
After perusing various recipes, I decided upon a gooseberry galette. My ability at following recipes is nill, so I naturally messed up the rustic pie crust described, making it too crumbly to possibly form said galette. In response, two unique deserts were born of this mistake. Following is a rough recipe to each.

Gooseberry Galette



Pre-heat oven to 400
Single pie crust-whatever type you prefer.
2 cans of Gooseberries, drained (save syrup for following recipe, if interested)
aprox. 2 tbsps tapioca
aprox. 1/2 C. Brown Sugar-more or less to taste
tsp. Cinnamon
tsp. Cloves
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
Any additional spices you feel like playing with
Egg white + granulated sugar for coating crust

Combine moist ingredients in a bowl with spices.
Roll out pie crust, place on cookie sheet
Turn moist ingredients out into center, fold all around.
Brush crust with egg whites and dust with sugar.
Bake high in oven at 400 degrees, until crust is lightly browned, fruit bubbling, and begining to solidify. This should take about 45 min. more or less-and I would reccomend placing foil around the edges of the crust if it begins to burn. Take out of oven and let cool-filling should become a bit more solid.


Gooseberry Custard Tart.

The failed pie crust nicely filled a 6 in. pie pan, with a bit of excess. I prebaked this for about 5 min. at 400.

In a sauce pan, combine...
aprox. 1/2 cup Gooseberry syrup, or as much as you can salvage from the tins. ( I created this using the format of a lemon meringue pie, substituting syrup in the place of lemon juice.)
aprox. 1/4 cup
aprox. 3 egg yolks (depending on how much syrup you salvage.
aprox. 1/2 cup granulated sugar
aprox. 1/2 cup corn starch

Whisk together, then stir constantly with a wooden spoon over medium heat until boiling and thickened. Add additional corn starch if it's not thickening.
When it boils, remove from heat and stir in:
aprox. 1 tbsp. Butter, until it is fully mixed in.



Pour mixture into the pre-baked pie crust. Crumble any excess over pie for a crumbly topping, and place in refrigerator. Consume when cold. I will try this again creating a pie with custard bottom, topped with gooseberries. Experiment!