pies and desserts - Against the Grain: Extraordinary Gluten-Free Recipes Made from Real, All-Natural Ingredients (2015)

Against the Grain: Extraordinary Gluten-Free Recipes Made from Real, All-Natural Ingredients (2015)

pies and desserts

sweetcrust pastry (pâte sucrée)

WHEN YOU WANT A SOFTER, sweeter dough, this pastry is the perfect solution. The texture is softened by the addition of a whole egg and an egg yolk, and tenderized by adding sugar. The sugar and eggs also facilitate browning and produce a warm golden-color crust. Sweetcrust Pastry is a richer dough, perfect for cream pies and fruit pies.

makes enough for a single 9-inch pie crust

¾ cup (105g) tapioca starch

1 cup (120g) light buckwheat flour

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into 10 to 12 pieces

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

2 to 3 tablespoons cold milk

1. In a food processor, combine the tapioca starch, buckwheat flour, sugar, and salt and pulse together. Add the butter and pulse until the chunks of butter are no larger than peas.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the whole egg and egg yolk. Add the eggs to the dough and pulse to combine until the yolk is completely blended and there are no streaks of yellow.

3. Add the cold milk 1 tablespoon at a time. The dough will start to come together, but it will still be loose and crumbly.

4. Follow the directions for rolling out the dough in Shortcrust Pastry.

shoofly pie

SINCE 1875, FAMILIES HAVE BEEN COMING to Thousand Island Park, located on the tip of Wellesley Island in the St. Lawrence River. For the last fifteen years, the park library’s major fund-raiser has been a pie sale. I’m not sure who thought of pie baking during the peak heat and humidity of July, but every year over a hundred pies are donated, and a line sixty people long forms a half hour before the sale begins. This past year, the pies sold out in a record three minutes. Fruit pies, apple in particular, are the number-one seller.

I decided to make what I thought would be a unique pie: a shoofly pie. “A what?” the lead organizer asked me when I delivered it. “It’s a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch pie,” I answered. He labeled it “gluten-free” and slipped it into the lineup with all the rest. I lived and worked in central Pennsylvania for three years and fell in love with this humble pie, which is a bit like a cake rather than a gooey pie. This recipe is adapted from a wet-bottomed shoofly pie by Wendy Jo Hess of the Central Market in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Made from nonperishable pantry items like flour, brown sugar, and molasses, this pie has been a Pennsylvania Dutch staple since the early 1700s. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

makes one 9-inch pie

Sweetcrust Pastry

½ cup (60g) light buckwheat flour

½ cup (70g) tapioca starch

⅔ cup packed brown sugar

4 tablespoons salted butter

1 cup molasses

1 large egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup boiling water

1. Make the pastry, roll out, and line a pie plate as directed. You can either flute the edges or trim the crust to the lip of the pie plate. Place the pie pan on a baking sheet.

2. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F.

3. In a medium bowl, combine by hand the buckwheat flour, tapioca starch, brown sugar, and butter until the mixture is crumbly and well blended. Set aside ½ cup of the mixture to be used for the topping.

4. Add the molasses, egg, and baking soda and whisk to blend. Whisk in the boiling water until uniformly blended.

5. Pour the filling immediately into the prepared pie shell. Sprinkle the reserved topping mixture over the filling.

6. Bake for 18 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the center of the filling is still a little jiggly.

Fresh Pear Pie

fresh pear pie

ONE OF THE NEATEST THINGS about old cookbooks and recipes are the handwritten annotations made by the cook. My favorite annotations are the little stories that cooks sometimes tell. In this case, the recipe was from a friend of my late mother-in-law. She wrote a little “story” about a large pear tree in her yard and how she panicked when some surprise company arrived. She went out and picked some green pears for a pie, and not quite sure what to do, she grated them. The pie turned out to be a major hit, so thereafter she always raided the pear tree before the fruit was ripe.

When I saw some rock-hard Anjou pears on sale one day, I bought some to make this pie. But as time has a way of getting away, the pears ripened. I could no longer grate them, but I liked the flavor combination of the initial recipe—pears with a hint of orange and cloves. For this pie, I precooked the pears to determine the amount of juice I was dealing with. Then I thickened it separately and added back the thickened juice. Although this was intended to be an open-faced pie, I felt the precooked pears needed a little something on top. Sugared pie-crust cutouts on the top give it all the benefits of a lattice crust without struggling with weaving strips of unwieldy gluten-free dough. Besides, it makes it look special, and pies should be special. This one certainly is.

makes one 10-inch pie

Sweetcrust Pastry

8 mostly ripe Anjou pears

Grated zest of 1 small orange or clementine

1 tablespoon orange juice

3 tablespoons sugar

4 whole cloves

1 tablespoon light buckwheat flour

1 tablespoon tapioca starch

1. Make the pastry and refrigerate. Measure off one-third of the pastry and return to the refrigerator. Roll out the remaining pastry and use it to line a 10-inch pie pan. The crust will be thin.

2. Peel and slice the pears, tossing them with the orange zest and juice as you work to prevent browning of the fruit. Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the cloves to the pears and toss.

3. Transfer the pears to a saucepan and cook over a low heat for 6 to 7 minutes, or until they start releasing lots of juice. Turn off the heat and set aside for 10 minutes. They will continue to leach juice—up to 1 cup, depending on how ripe they are.

4. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450°F.

5. Drain the liquid off the pears into a bowl; discard the whole cloves and all but 1 tablespoon of the pear juices. In a small bowl, stir the buckwheat flour and tapioca starch into 1 tablespoon of the pear juices, pour it back into the pears, and heat until the pears are thickened. Pour the mixture into the pie shell.

6. Remove the reserved dough from the refrigerator and roll it out between two pieces of plastic wrap. Use a small cookie cutter to cut out enough shapes to overlap and create the surface of the pie (or simply use a glass to cut out rounds). Before placing the cutouts on the surface, dredge the pieces in the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar and flip them onto the surface sugar side up.

7. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 50 minutes, or until the crust is browned.

Deep-Dish Vermont Apple Pie

deep-dish vermont apple pie

I HAVE A LONG HISTORY WITH BAKING PIES. I remember coming home in second grade and telling my dad that I needed to bring a cherry pie to school for a fund-raiser the next day. “Sure,” he said, “and I’ll tell you how to make it.” Me, make a pie? I was eight years old, and that was the very first thing I ever baked. So, you think I’d be an expert at pie baking after starting out so young? Well, believe me, I was no prodigy. The Annual Columbus Day Cider Sale was a major fund-raising event at our sons’ preschool when we first moved to Vermont, and I found myself recruited for an apple pie baking marathon with a half-dozen other moms. It took our host, Andrea, only seconds to whip up the dough, roll out a perfect crust, and fill the shell with apple slices. But when I rolled the dough, it either sprang back like a rubber band or stuck to my rolling pin. I had failed at the most basic task of making a country apple pie.

Gluten-free pie crusts changed all that for me. With no gluten to get rubbery and tough, apple pie baking is a fun fall ritual. My son Alex loves to crank the apple peeler, and together we make a deep-dish apple pie, chock full of apples and sweetened with Vermont maple syrup. You can use any variety of apples for this dish, but a combination of two types, one tart like Cortland and one sweet but crisp like Jonagold, gives the best flavor and texture. The juiciness of an apple varies depending upon when it was picked, so you may want to decrease the tapioca starch by a few teaspoons for apples that have been long stored away.

makes one 9-inch deep-dish pie

Shortcrust Pastry

2 tart apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

2 sweet, crisp apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup maple syrup

2 to 3 tablespoons tapioca starch

2 tablespoons salted butter

1 tablespoon granulated sugar, for sprinkling the crust (optional)

1. Make the pastry as directed. Measure off one-third of the pastry and return it to the refrigerator. Roll out the remaining pastry and use it to line a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan. The shell will be thin.

2. In a large bowl, toss the apple slices with the spices, lemon juice, and brown sugar. Allow the apples to sit for 30 to 60 minutes, tossing them occasionally. This process is called maceration and will cause the apples to release their juices.

3. Meanwhile, position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450°F.

4. Drain off the apple juices into a small bowl and add the maple syrup to the apples. Measure the amount of apple juices in the bowl and add the tapioca starch: The general rule of thumb for thickening with tapioca starch is 1 to 2 tablespoons per cup of liquid. Adjust your tapioca starch accordingly and stir it into the apple juices until all the lumps are eliminated.

5. Toss the apples with the thickened juices and pour into the pie shell. Roll out the remaining dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and invert it onto the pie. Crimp and flute the edges of the pie crust using your thumb and forefingers. Using a sharp knife, cut out a circle in the center or simply cut steam vents. Sprinkle the crust with granulated sugar (if using).

6. Place an empty baking sheet on the rack underneath the pie in the event that the pie bubbles over. Bake the pie for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 50 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned.

southern pecan pie

THERE ARE ESSENTIALLY TWO KINDS of pecan pies: those that use corn syrup and those that use brown sugar. The former comes out a little custardy, and the latter is more like a praline pie. I didn’t even know what pecan pie was until I went to college in New Orleans, where authentic pecan pie making is considered an art. Once I tasted great pecan pie—the praline kind made with brown sugar—I knew I had to find a foolproof recipe. In the Houston Junior League Cook Book from 1968, given to me by my late mother-in-law, the top billing goes to the recipe for “Southern Pecan Pie,” followed by the “Yummy Yankee Pecan Pie” underneath. The “Yankee” recipe is made with a combination of maple and corn syrup. I can just hear my mother-in-law grumbling from her grave about those “damn Yankees thinking they can come down here and improve things.” A good pecan pie should be a Southern Pecan Pie. And this one isn’t just good, it is the absolute best.

makes one 9-inch pie

Shortcrust Pastry

8 tablespoons salted butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons half-and-half

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons tapioca starch

2 teaspoons light buckwheat flour

1 cup chopped pecans, plus 1 cup halved pecans (for top layer)

1. Make the pastry, roll out, and line a pie plate as directed. Place the pie plate on a baking sheet.

2. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F.

3. In a bowl, with a hand mixer, cream the butter and both sugars on high until they are light and fluffy. Add the eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, tapioca starch, and buckwheat flour. Beat on high until all the ingredients are fully incorporated. The filling will be frosting-like. Fold in the chopped pecans.

4. Spread the filling mixture in the pie shell and, starting at the rim, cover the surface with pecan halves by arranging them in concentric circles, working toward the center.

5. Bake the pie for approximately 45 minutes, or until the pecans are lightly browned and the filling is firm. The filling will continue to set more as the pie cools.

boston cream pie

A BOSTON CREAM PIE is a curious dessert, for it is not a pie at all, but a cake that allegedly had its origins in the mid-1800s. Pies, both savory and sweet, were everyday foods then, and Bo Friberg, in The Professional Pastry Chef, suggests that it was more common for colonists in New England to own pie pans than cake pans. He traces the Boston Cream Pie to an 1855 recipe published in a New York newspaper for a powdered sugar-topped “pudding pie cake.” We do know that the chocolate-glazed Boston Cream Pie had its origins at the Parker House Hotel in Boston in 1856. Whatever its true origins, I’m completely okay with a cake that has a lot of features of an éclair and is called a pie.

For a number of years, Boston Cream Pie was a very popular flavor, spawning cake mixes, doughnuts, toaster strudels, yogurt, and ice cream. For this past Valentine’s Day, I decided to make this Boston Cream Pie for Tom in one of my vintage heart-shaped cake pans. Unlike most Boston Cream Pie recipes, this one is gluten-, dairy-, soy-, and corn-free. It features coconut prominently in its many forms—flour, cream, milk, and oil—and I believe I like it better than the dairy version. There is a bit of cooling that goes on in this recipe: The cake layer must cool before filling it with the cooked pastry cream, which must be cooled as well. I took advantage of the sub-zero temperature on my front porch to cool the components with lightning speed. That night, nestled around the fireplace, we enjoyed a slice of the best pie. (Or was it cake?)

makes one 9-inch pie

FOR THE CAKE AND FILLING:

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ cup coconut cream (skimmed from the top of a 13.5-ounce can of full-fat coconut milk)

3 large eggs

½ cup (56g) coconut flour

½ cup (70g) tapioca starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pastry Cream

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

1½ cups dairy-free chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life)

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1. Make the cake and filling: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Generously grease a standard-depth (1½-inch) 9-inch cake pan. Line the pan with a round of parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, blend the sugar, oil, coconut cream, and eggs. Beat for approximately 4 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, blend together the coconut flour and tapioca starch.

4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Beat for several more minutes, making sure to scrape down the sides. Beat in the baking powder, baking soda, and vanilla, mixing them thoroughly into the batter. Ladle the batter into the cake pan.

5. Bake the cake for 40 minutes, or until golden and the center springs back when pressed. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a cooling rack to cool thoroughly before assembling.

6. Meanwhile, make the pastry cream and chill as directed.

7. To assemble the “pie,” slice the cake horizontally into two equal layers. Spread the pastry cream on the bottom half and top it with the other half.

8. Make the chocolate glaze: In a small microwaveable bowl, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a microwave or use a double boiler, just until the chips soften. Stir the glaze vigorously until smooth. While still hot, pour the chocolate glaze over the “pie” and allow it to cool fully before serving.

swedish apple pie

THE OPPOSITE OF MUD SEASON in Vermont is the “leaf-peeper” season in the fall, when tourists flock to our state in search of a piece of Vermont—beautiful scenery and authentic food and gifts. Roadside sales of homemade baked goods abound, and we never seem to have enough. When you just can’t make enough apple pies, and when you need to make lots of them in a hurry, the Swedish Apple Pie is your ticket … and the purchasers won’t even know or care that it is gluten-free. My friend Dottie gave me this recipe years ago when we were on apple pie baking duty for our kids’ preschool. “Crusts?” she said. “Who makes crusts? This just can’t fail, and it tastes lots better.”

The beauty of this pie is its simplicity. It contains minimal ingredients, and the hardest thing is peeling the apples. It also can be sliced into neat squares and wrapped individually in plastic wrap, making it both a bake sale and lunch box favorite. The key to success with this pie is creaming the sugar with the butter, which traps air bubbles and creates a crusty loft. This recipe works just as well with seasonal fruits like blueberries, peaches, and even lightly sweetened rhubarb. It is a great recipe, for example, when you overdo PYO blueberries, and end up with more than you can eat before they spoil. This pie freezes well, and thaws tasting freshly baked.

makes one 8 × 8-inch pie

3 to 4 medium tart apples, peeled and thickly sliced

1 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

8 tablespoons salted butter

2 large eggs

½ cup (70g) tapioca starch

½ cup (60g) light buckwheat flour

Additional sugar and cinnamon, for sprinkling top (optional)

1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease the sides and bottom of an 8 × 8-inch baking dish.

2. Spread the apples evenly in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle the apples with the 1 tablespoon sugar and the cinnamon.

3. In a medium bowl, with a hand mixer, cream the butter and the 1 cup sugar on high until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and beat for 2 more minutes. Gently fold in the tapioca starch and buckwheat flour until just moistened.

4. Spoon the mixture over the apples and spread evenly to cover them. Sprinkle with additional sugar and cinnamon, if desired. Bake for 1 hour, or until the top is lightly browned and firm.

Fresh Peach Semifreddo

fresh peach semifreddo

EVERY SUMMER WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, my parents planned our family vacation around their attendance at the Gordon Research Conference, the premier gathering of the world’s leading scientists in New Hampshire. We would leave our home in Virginia in early August, “taking the scenic route,” and camp along the way. Many years, our first stop was Kingsbury’s Orchard just over the border in Maryland when the peaches were just beginning to ripen. We’d buy a half-bushel basket, with no place to set it other than the floor in the backseat amongst our skinny legs. We’d eat those sugary peaches for days, cradled in a paper napkin to keep the juice from running down our arms. I’ve been hooked on Southern peaches all my life, and there’s nothing like peaches ’n’ cream … except this semifreddo.

Peaches star in this semifreddo made of layers of peach-swirled ice cream and peach liqueur-flavored ladyfingers. Since the cream portion of this dessert is made with egg whites, the recipe includes a step to lightly heat and thus pasteurize them before they are whipped into a meringue. Alternatively, you can work with powdered egg whites or meringue powder, although fresh egg whites will produce the lightest and highest-volume layers.

makes one 9-inch loaf

1 cup sugar

2 pounds peaches, peeled and cut into pieces

2 tablespoons peach liqueur

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy (whipping) cream

12 Ladyfingers

3 large egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line a 5 × 9-inch loaf pan with two pieces of plastic wrap, tucking one piece along the length of the pan and another across the width. Allow for overhang on all sides.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine ⅓ cup of the sugar and all but 1 cup of the peaches over medium-low heat. Cook the peaches for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they release their juices and start to thicken. Set the pan aside to cool, then refrigerate for 1 hour, or until the peaches are thoroughly chilled.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the peach liqueur and 1 tablespoon of the cream. Using a pastry brush, paint the mixture on the flat sides of the ladyfingers. Cover them with plastic wrap and set them aside while you prepare the filling.

4. In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg whites and the remaining ⅔ cup sugar. Set the bowl in a saucepan over, but not touching, simmering water. Whisk the egg whites to dissolve the sugar while heating the mixture for 4 to 5 minutes, or until it is warm to the touch and is pasteurized (about 140°F).

5. Remove the bowl from the heat, add the vanilla, and use a hand mixer to beat the egg whites until they are tripled in volume and the meringue is completely cool.

6. In a small bowl, using clean beaters, whip the remaining 1 cup cream into soft peaks. Gradually fold the whipped cream into the meringue until blended. Fold in the chilled peach mixture without thoroughly blending it. (You want a marbled or swirled effect.)

7. Spoon and smooth one-third of the peach cream into the bottom of the prepared pan. Top with 6 ladyfingers, set flat side up and laid lengthwise in the pan. Spoon another one-third of the peach cream on top of the ladyfingers. Top that cream layer with another layer of ladyfingers. Smooth the remaining third of the cream on the top. Loosely fold the plastic overhang over the top and freeze for at least 8 hours. (You can also follow these steps in a semifreddo mold, as shown, placing the ladyfingers in a single layer.)

8. Remove the frozen semifreddo from the pan by using the plastic wrap to lift it. If necessary, run a thin, sharp knife under hot water and slip it down along the sides to loosen the semifreddo. Invert the semifreddo onto a platter and cut in slices to serve. Garnish with the reserved 1 cup peaches. The semifreddo is best when allowed to soften several minutes before serving.

coconut raspberry chocolate tartlets

RED RASPBERRIES grew all along the dirt road leading to our first home in Vermont. I’d go out with the kids and we’d pick for an hour or more and come home with only a little container, but they had to be the sweetest and most delicate fruit I had ever tasted. Our golden retriever quickly learned they were sweet as well. He would bound ahead of us and snatch berries right off the thorny canes. When we built our present home, blackberries soon began growing along the driveway and the edges between the yard and the woods, but no wild raspberries. But nearly twenty years later, wild red raspberries inexplicably appeared among the blackberries, every bit as sweet and tiny as the ones we picked years before.

Raspberries pair exceptionally well with chocolate, the sweetness of the berry offset by the smoky bitterness of the cocoa bean. For this tart shell, a chocolate graham cracker-like crust forms the shell, and the raspberry puree filling is thickened by nothing but coconut butter. This is a simple confection, perfect for tea and even better dressed up with freshly picked berries and whipped cream.

makes 9 to 12 tartlets

FOR THE CHOCOLATE SHELL:

½ cup (60g) light buckwheat flour

½ cup (70g) tapioca starch

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tablespoons (24g) potato starch

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablespoons honey

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

FOR THE COCONUT RASPBERRY FILLING:

1 cup fresh raspberries (or thawed frozen)

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup Coconut Butter, softened

¼ cup dairy-free chocolate chips, melted, for drizzling (optional)

1. Make the chocolate shell: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

2. In a food processor, combine the buckwheat flour, tapioca starch, cocoa powder, potato starch, brown sugar, shredded coconut, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon and pulse to combine. Blend in the coconut oil until the dough is mealy. Add the honey and vanilla and blend until the dough comes together. (If the dough gets too sticky to roll out, place it in a bowl in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.)

3. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Roll out one portion of dough on parchment paper as thinly as possible, 1/16 to ⅛ inch; keep the remainder of the dough refrigerated. Using a biscuit cutter or drinking glass, cut out 3 to 4 2½-inch rounds.

4. Turn a mini muffin tin upside down. Carefully transfer a dough round to the bottom of a muffin cup at one of the corners of the muffin tin. Center the dough over the cup and lightly press opposite sides against the muffin cup to create a 4-cornered tart shell. Repeat for 3 more cups at the corners of the muffin tin. Slide the upside down muffin tin onto a baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes. Allow the shells to cool on the muffin tin until set and then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. They will be fragile until fully cooled. Roll out and bake the remaining shells and let them cool before filling.

5. Make the filling: In a small saucepan, combine the raspberries and 1 tablespoon water. Heat the raspberries over a low heat until the berries release their juices. Strain the berry juices into a bowl, using a fine-mesh sieve to remove the pulp and seeds. Add the honey, vanilla, and softened coconut butter to the raspberry juice and stir to combine.

6. Spoon the filling into the shells. Drizzle the tops with melted chocolate, if desired.

Fresh Fruit Cheesecake Tartlets

fresh fruit cheesecake tartlets

MACAROONS are one of the naturally gluten-free cookies that everyone likes, and they have a long shelf life so they are ideal for taking on road trips and planes. Not only are they convenient as cookies, they can be chopped up to make crusts and add texture to cream fillings. It never occurred to me for the longest time just to make my own and adjust the amount of sweetener, depending on whether we were going to eat them as cookies or use them in a dessert.

The shells of these cheese-cake tarts are similar to macaroons, but not quite as sweet. They are attractive shells, a little like a bird’s nest, that release easily from the pan and can be baked ahead of time. Cacao nibs in the shell give just a hint of chocolate and add texture and visual appeal. The cheesecake filling contains no eggs, so it need not be baked to be safe—only refrigerated to set. The filling, which tastes much like traditional cheesecake, is a bit lighter because the filling is half whipped cream. The lightness provides a distinct contrast to the chewier, earthier shell. These mini cheesecakes keep and freeze well. Just thaw to serve and top with fresh fruit. They are a delicious and showy handheld dessert, but try them frozen—that’s Tom’s favorite way to eat them.

makes 12 tartlets

FOR THE TART SHELLS:

2 large egg whites

2 tablespoons tapioca starch

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup cacao nibs

FOR THE FILLING:

½ cup heavy (whipping) cream

8 ounces cream cheese

¾ cup (150g) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups chopped fruit or berries

1. Make the tart shells: Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325°F. Grease 12 cups of a standard muffin tin very liberally. Make sure there is plenty in the bottom to prevent sticking.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites and tapioca starch. Stir in the shredded coconut, sugar, and vanilla. Knead the mixture by hand until it is fully moistened and you can create a ball that holds together. Work in the cacao nibs by hand.

3. Roll the mixture into balls the size of golf balls and drop one in each muffin cup. Dampen your fingers and press each ball down into the bottom of the cup. Still with damp hands, press down on the dough and work it into and up the walls of the cup. The better you pack it, the more robust the tart shell will be.

4. Bake the shells for 23 minutes, or until the rims are golden brown and the insides are white. Allow the shells to cool enough to handle, but release them from the muffin tin while they are still warm and flexible. If you find them getting brittle, slide them back in the warm oven for a minute to soften. Let the shells cool completely.

5. Make the filling: In a bowl, with a hand mixer, whip the cream to soft peaks. Set aside.

6. In a separate bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until it is soft and fluffy. Beat in the sugar and vanilla. A little at a time, beat the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.

7. Fill the crusts immediately and refrigerate the tarts until the filling is firm. Top with fresh fruit to serve.

rhubarb cream tart

OUT HERE IN THE COUNTRY, we swap and gift plants. We start with a cutting or a clump, or just some excess when dividing perennials. Among the plants that have taken root in our garden, we have Liz’s day lilies, Kathy’s lupins, Virge’s primrose, and Allie’s gooseneck loosestrife. But the coolest plant of all is the rhubarb from Christopher’s cuttings. Every year, it is the first spring sentinel of the garden.

There are two main varieties of rhubarb: red and green. Ours is of the green variety, with a tinge of red. Rhubarb, which is thought to have originated in Siberia, first appeared as an ingredient in tarts in Britain in the late 1700s. Rhubarb is a part of their pie heritage as apples are ours. Here in New England, almost everyone has a backyard rhubarb plant. The plant produces rhubarb for up to fifteen years. It is extremely cold-hardy and easy to grow with huge elephant ear-shaped leaves and long slender celery-like stalks. This tart showcases the beauty as well as the taste of the rhubarb. Rather than losing its identity in a sauce, the rhubarb lines the bottom of the tart shell and rises to the top during the baking process. The smooth, sweet cream filling contrasts with the tartness of the rhubarb in this quintessentially New England dessert.

makes one 10-inch tart

FOR THE TART:

Sweetcrust Pastry

10.5 ounces fresh rhubarb

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon tapioca starch

1 tablespoon light buckwheat flour

FOR THE CUSTARD:

½ cup sugar

2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup light cream

1. Make the tart: Make the pastry, roll out, and use it to line a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

2. Cut the rhubarb into ¾-inch slices and toss it in a bowl with the sugar. Allow it to sit for 30 to 40 minutes. Drain the rhubarb in a colander and toss with the tapioca starch and buckwheat flour.

3. Meanwhile, position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°F.

4. Prebake the tart shell for 10 minutes. Remove the tart shell but leave the oven on and reduce the temperature to 325°F.

5. Arrange the rhubarb in the bottom of the prebaked shell. (It will rise to the surface as it bakes, so take care in how you arrange it. I like the look of a basket-weave pattern that alternates the direction of the rhubarb.)

6. Make the custard: In a bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the sugar, whole eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla on high until light and foamy. Add the cream and beat on high until well blended, about 2 minutes. Pour the filling over the arranged rhubarb.

7. Bake the tart for 45 minutes, or until the custard is firmly set.

cherry and roasted quince galette

ONE DAY, MY SON ALEX came home from school all excited about some jelly they had made. The jelly they made turned out to be quince, from a quince tree on the edge of the school’s parking lot. A few weeks later I happened to be running near the farm school and noticed a bunch of bright yellow fruit on the ground under the tree. Of course I stopped and crammed as many as I could into the pouch of my hooded sweatshirt. By the time I got home, my car smelled otherworldly, sweet like honey, perfumed like a rose, yet tropical like a pineapple. Don’t be fooled, though; the quince’s perfume-like fragrance belies a puckery, tart fruit.

The quince is described as a cross between a pear and an apple, but I don’t think that description does it justice—it is a pretty unique member of the rose family, which includes pears and apples. Although it is native to southwest Asia, it was commonly grown by the American colonists as a source of pectin for jams and jellies. In this galette, I pair roasted quince with tart cherries, which contrast nicely with a frangipane, or an almond paste-based pastry cream. Although both fruits are tart, they represent a different quality of tartness and work extremely well together. A galette is a perfect gluten-free adaptation of pastry crust. Its freeform and rustic shape allows you to fold and pleat it any way you want, and imperfection is just fine.

makes one 8- to 9-inch galette

FOR THE FRUIT FILLING:

2 large quinces

Juice of ½ lemon

¼ cup maple syrup

3 tablespoons salted butter

1 can (15 ounces) water-packed pitted tart red cherries, drained (such as Oregon Fruit Products)

Sweetcrust Pastry

FOR THE FRANGIPANE:

⅓ cup Homemade Almond Paste

4 tablespoons salted butter

½ cup sugar

2 large eggs

⅓ cup (40g) light buckwheat flour

1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

2. Make the fruit filling: Peel and cut the quinces into chunks and place them in an ovenproof bowl of water with the lemon juice to keep the fruit from browning as you work.

3. Drain the water, return the quince to the bowl and toss with the maple syrup. Dot it with butter. Roast the quince for 55 minutes, stirring about every 15 minutes. Remove the quince and let it cool. Toss in the drained cherries and set aside.

4. Meanwhile, make the pastry and refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

5. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450°F. Butter a 9 × 13-inch or smaller baking dish. Line it with parchment paper. (Using a dish with sides will prevent the galette from spreading too much.)

6. Make the frangipane: In a bowl, with a hand mixer, beat together the almond paste and butter until well blended. Add the sugar and beat until the crystals are dissolved. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until fully blended. Beat in the flour until well combined.

7. To assemble the galette, decide on the shape and size of the galette and the amount of crust you want to fold over on the top (I recommend about 2 inches for an 8- to 9-inch galette for the optimal top-crust-to-fruit ratio). Roll out the pastry ⅛ inch thick between two pieces of plastic wrap and transfer to your baking dish.

8. Spread the frangipane in the center of the pastry, leaving sufficient borders around the edge for folding up the pastry. Top the frangipane with the fruit filling and fold up and pleat the edges until you get a rustic-looking galette.

9. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 45 to 50 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling and the crust is lightly browned.

homemade almond paste

A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK, we were driving on Interstate 95 not far from Florida. Up ahead we saw an 18-wheeler, loaded high, with some black netting flapping in the wind. Then we heard the sound. Despite the hum of the crowded interstate, we heard and then saw bees. Lots of bees. We were passing a pollinating rental truck, likely en route to the annual pollination of California’s 800,000 acres of almond trees. Almond trees, curiously enough, are not self-pollinating; so every year, in February, nearly half of all the beehives in the United States—over a million hives—are trucked to California by over two thousand 18-wheelers. Almonds, almond flour, and almond paste are the basis of many cakes, cookies, and confections, not to mention frangipane, an almond cream filling. We can thank the migratory beekeepers for their existence.

You can always buy blanched almonds to make almond paste, but I find the transformation from a bag of wrinkled brown almonds to fresh, sweet, manila-colored paste for pastries and cookies is pretty amazing. I particularly like removing the skins by blanching the almonds and popping the nut out of the skin.

makes about 14.5 ounces (411g)

1½ cups raw almonds

1½ cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons pasteurized powdered egg whites

½ teaspoon almond extract

1. To blanch the almonds, place them in a heatproof bowl and pour in just enough boiling water to cover them. Soak them in the boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and rinse several times with cold tap water.

2. Squeeze the skins off by pressing the pointed end of the nut between your thumb and forefinger. Scrape off the dark spot where the skin attaches to the nut with your fingernail. Spread out on a clean kitchen towel to dry. Make sure they are totally dry before proceeding with making the almond paste.

3. In a food processor, blend the almonds and ½ cup of the powdered sugar until the nuts are finely ground. They will look like sand. Add the remaining 1 cup powdered sugar and blend until thoroughly mixed into a uniform color. It should look like grainy flour. Try not to blend the almonds too much because the oils will release and cause clumping.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered egg whites and 1 tablespoon water. Add this mixture and the almond extract to the ground almonds. Process until the paste forms a smooth ball, adjusting the texture by adding a teaspoonful of powdered sugar or water as needed.

5. Double-wrap the paste in plastic wrap and then enclose that in a sealable plastic bag. You can keep it this way in the refrigerator for approximately 3 months or in the freezer for 6 months. When using almond paste in recipes, bring it to room temperature first. Because you have used pasteurized powdered egg whites, the almond paste is safe to use in unbaked recipes.

NOTE: Almond paste and marzipan have similar ingredients. Marzipan, which is used for candy and fondants, often has a higher ratio (up to 75%) of sugar. You can add about 2 cups (240g) of powdered sugar to this almond paste to make a good marzipan that can be dipped in chocolate, or tinted with food coloring and sculpted into marzipan candies.

Coconut Éclairs

coconut éclairs

THIS IS ONE OF THE EASIEST gluten-free desserts to prepare with only a few ingredients. It is also guaranteed to impress your family or guests. Sometimes gluten-free baking requires a leap of faith that the recipe will come out as expected. Consider this one a triple jump. During the baking process, the dough is literally transformed from a semigelatinous glob to the most attractive, best-tasting, and uncompromising éclair shell. You can simply slice each shell open and fill it with pudding, fruit, ice cream, whipped cream, or whipped coconut cream for a fantastic dessert. Or you can dress it up by dipping it in chocolate glaze or drizzling it with a hard sauce of your choice. People will be talking about it for days.

What makes this work? The answer is tapioca starch, a root that can form a very rubbery gel. Sometimes, in the absence of gluten, rubbery is exactly what you need. This éclair is a prime example: What you’re doing is creating a paste capable of ballooning up as it bakes. It relies on the high moisture content in the liquid and the eggs to leaven the éclair shell by steaming open the paste. Initially, the éclairs are baked at a high temperature in the lower third of the oven to ensure that the eggs act effectively as emulsifiers, and the paste does not separate.

makes 10 eclairs

½ cup full-fat coconut milk

¼ cup coconut oil

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup (140g) tapioca starch

2 large eggs

Chocolate Glaze

Pastry Cream

1. Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk, coconut oil, sugar, salt, and ¼ cup water to a boil. Immediately stir in the tapioca starch. The mixture will be moistened and look kind of like gummy cauliflower. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.

3. Using a hand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time. The goal is to get the dough to come together into a consistency that can be piped. It will first look like scrambled eggs. Add ¼ cup water and keep beating until the dough comes together. When it is both fluffy and rubbery (kind of like cooked dumplings) and the dough begins to climb the beater, it is done. You will notice almost wet pearls of tapioca in the dough; they will disappear in the baking process.

4. Use a piping bag fitted with a plain ½-inch tip or cut a ½-inch opening in the corner of a 1-quart sealable bag, and pipe straight logs (about the width of a hot dog and 4 inches long) onto the parchment-lined baking sheet, separating them by about 2 inches. (As the dough is piped, you may find that it clings to the bag at the end of the piping. Use a butter knife or a spoon to “cut” it loose.) After you have piped all the logs, wet your fingers to smooth any irregularities if you want perfect éclair shells.

5. Bake the éclairs for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 30 minutes until they are light golden in color. Turn off the oven, open the door, and allow the éclairs to cool in the oven.

6. Once the éclairs are fully cooled, use a serrated knife to cut them in half horizontally. Dip the top half of each éclair in the Chocolate Glaze and set aside. Fill the bottom half of each éclair with 1 to 2 tablespoons Pastry Cream and carefully set the glazed top back on. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

pastry cream

WHEN IT COMES TO DESSERTS, the real finishing touch is pastry cream, which adds flavor and a contrasting creamy texture to otherwise ordinary baked goods. This dairy-free pastry cream is based on Shirley Corriher’s recipe for Crème Pâtissière in her book BakeWise. The unique flavor in this pastry cream comes from the coconut milk and particularly the coconut cream. The natural emulsifiers in the egg yolks hold the water and fat in the coconut milk together and give the cream its smooth texture. The tapioca starch becomes a gel as the cream is cooked and this gel, in combination with the eggs, allows the liquid to set. The tapioca also prevents the eggs from curdling. Vanilla is added at the end while the cream is still hot; once a gel has set, additional stirring will thin the pastry cream.

Pastry cream has so many applications and is used to fill pastries, cakes, and tarts. It can also be thinned to make a cream sauce or lightened with the addition of ½ cup whipped coconut cream. Pastry cream also can be flavored in as many ways as you can imagine, including plain vanilla, chocolate, coffee, liqueurs, and fruit purees. Interesting effects can be achieved by making the pastry cream either a complementary flavor, as in Boston Cream Pie, or a contrasting flavor.

makes 2 cups

4 large egg yolks

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons (20g) tapioca starch

⅓ cup sugar

½ cup coconut cream (skimmed from the top of a 13.5-ounce can of full-fat coconut milk)

1 cup full-fat coconut milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In a bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they are thickened and light in color, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, stir together the salt, tapioca starch, and sugar. Stir in the coconut cream and then the coconut milk until completely blended. Turn the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a bubbling boil, stirring vigorously. The mixture will get thick and gelatinous.

3. Remove the pan from the heat. Take approximately ⅓ cup of the hot mixture and whisk it into the bowl of yolks. Then a little at a time, keep whisking the hot mixture into the eggs until the saucepan is emptied. The mixture will have thinned considerably.

4. Pour the blended mixture back into the saucepan and return it to medium heat. Constantly stirring, bring the mixture to a bubbling boil. Remove the pastry cream from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

5. Pour the pastry cream into a heatproof glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap on the surface (to prevent a skin from forming), and refrigerate until completely cooled.

ice cream sandwiches

WHEN WE DECIDED TO PRODUCE and sell our bread products commercially, we had no experience in the food industry. We were confident about the appeal of our products, but we were totally out of our league when it came to every aspect of food manufacturing. Luckily for us, Vermont has a highly regarded Food Venture Center that offers food business incubation and support services. One of the most helpful things was meeting another Vermont food manufacturer, Rhino Foods—a manufacturer of ice cream specialties and ingredients, and the developer with Ben & Jerry’s of the first cookie dough for use in ice cream. Neither my husband, Tom, nor I will ever forget the day we walked onto their production floor—machines were pumping out chocolate chip cookies, rotating rack ovens were humming away, and a huge octopus-like machine was pumping frozen custard.

I remember thinking at the time, Wow, we could make gluten-free ice cream sandwiches. Ice cream sandwiches are a perfect gluten-free application because the wafer (or cookie) part of the sandwich doesn’t really involve gluten, and shelf-stability isn’t an issue because they are frozen. This is a rolled-out dough that can be made as thick or thin as you like. You can make traditionally shaped rectangular ice cream sandwiches and round ones, and fill them with any ice cream flavor. Sometimes you just want a simple ice cream sandwich, and now you have one.

makes 10 to 12 rectangular sandwiches

1 cup (120g) light buckwheat flour

1 cup (140g) tapioca starch

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup (48g) potato starch

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

8 tablespoons cold salted butter

⅓ cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup milk

1 pint ice cream

1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor, combine the buckwheat flour, tapioca starch, cocoa, potato starch, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add the butter and pulse until the dough is mealy.

3. In a bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, honey, molasses, vanilla, and milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the food processor and pulse until the dough comes together. If the dough gets sticky, place it in a bowl in the refrigerator for 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Divide the dough into 4 portions. Working with one portion at a time, roll out the dough on parchment paper to a thickness of about ⅛ inch. Use a pizza cutter to cut 2 × 5-inch rectangles or any other shape of your choice. Transfer the sandwich wafers to the baking sheet. Using a wooden skewer, make docking holes in the top of the wafers.

5. Bake the wafers for 6 minutes. As soon as you can handle the baking sheet, slide it into the freezer to immediately cool down the wafers. This will not only cool the wafers but also soften them like a traditional ice cream sandwich cookie.

6. Once the wafers are frozen, spread each one with a ½- to ¾-inch layer of your favorite ice cream. Depending on the ice cream, you may have to soften it slightly to work with it. Immediately wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap or a piece of parchment paper and return it to the freezer.

Chocolate Eggs

chocolate eggs

SOME TRADITIONS DIE HARD, but this one never died. I’m referring to our family’s Annual Easter Egg Hunt. It all began one year when the kids were toddlers, and we read Rosemary Wells’s delightful book, Max’s Chocolate Chicken. In this particular story, Max and his bossy sister, Ruby, compete to find the most eggs, the prize being a chocolate chicken. That year, we found a chocolate maker in Brattleboro who actually owned a chocolate chicken mold and who made a chocolate chicken especially for us, and we held our first egg hunt. I’m not sure whether the parents hiding the eggs or the kids searching for them had more fun.

While the egg hunt hasn’t changed in over twenty years, the contents of the eggs have. Now I make these chocolate-covered eggs that are valued as much as the final prize. I save the crumbs from leftover cake or failed cake recipes (yes, that happens sometimes) and freeze them. Making the chocolate eggs is a pretty simple task of shaping the eggs and dipping them. It is hard to believe that something so simple as coconut butter can transform a dry cake into a gourmet chocolate egg.

makes twenty 1- to 1½-inch eggs

2 to 3 cups crumbled yellow or chocolate cake, such as Basic Yellow Cake or Decadent Chocolate Cake

7 ounces Coconut Butter, softened (or substitute thick cake icing)

1⅓ cups chocolate chips

Scant 1 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable shortening

1. In a large bowl, mix the cake crumbs and coconut butter by hand until it is uniformly moistened.

2. Wet your hands and form balls 1 to 1½ inches in diameter. Taper the ends to resemble a bird’s egg. Place the eggs in a wax paper-lined baking dish and freeze.

3. In a microwaveable bowl, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave. Or set a heatproof glass bowl in a skillet with 1 inch of water and melt the chocolate chips over low heat. Stir to uniformly blend in the coconut oil. (If you need additional chocolate dip, you can prepare more with a ratio of 20:1 chocolate chips to coconut oil or vegetable shortening.)

4. Dip each egg in the chocolate and return to the baking dish. The chocolate should solidify quickly as it is cooled by the frozen egg.

coconut caramels

I DIDN’T REALIZE I had a corn intolerance until late in life. It’s now so strong that within minutes after ingesting anything with even a small amount of corn in it, I get a severe itching sensation. It is hardly life-threatening, but sometimes I think the inflammation will drive me crazy. Corn or some derivative seems to be in everything: It’s in just about any candy, including caramels, which are so interesting to include in baked goods. A typical caramel ingredient label might include corn syrup, sugar, skim milk, palm oil, whey, salt, artificial flavors, and soy lecithin. So I learned to make my own caramels.

The best caramels, which are also dairy-free and vegan, can be made with just two ingredients: coconut milk and sugar. Honestly, you can make really great caramels in the time it takes to unwrap the cellophane from individually wrapped ones. These caramels taste almost like double caramels—during the cooking process, both the natural sugars in the coconut milk and the sugar caramelize. Not only are these great treats, but they make great caramel sauce and even caramel baking chips for Caramel Brownies. I make these caramels for gifts and I also use them as the creamy centers for chocolate-covered caramels. A candy thermometer is not essential for making these, but it will reduce the guesswork.

makes sixty 1-inch caramels

Coconut oil, for greasing the pan

2 cups coconut cream (skimmed from the tops of four 13.5-ounce cans of full-fat coconut milk)

2 cups sugar

1. Grease an 8 × 8-inch baking dish with coconut oil. Line it with a piece of parchment paper overhanging on two sides, and grease the paper with more coconut oil.

2. In a small saucepan, warm the coconut cream over low heat, but do not boil it. Turn off the heat, cover it, and set it aside for later. (You want the coconut cream to be warm so it combines more easily with the caramelized sugar in the next step.)

3. In a medium saucepan, melt the sugar over low heat. Heat it until all the solid crystals are dissolved and it is the color of maple syrup. If you are using a candy thermometer, this is 300° to 320°F. Stir as needed to break up chunks of sugar that form. Remove it from the heat.

4. Stir in the coconut cream. It will sputter and tend to clump but try to incorporate the cream in the sugar as best as possible. It will have a light, creamy color.

5. Return the saucepan to medium heat. Stir as little as possible, and only if necessary to melt the cooled caramel chunks. (You are trying to minimize creating crystals in the caramel. Should crystals form and get in the caramel, they can continue to grow and make your caramel gritty over time.) Allow the caramel to boil off 35% of its volume. As it boils, it will darken to a traditional caramel color. If you are using a thermometer, this will be 250°F, or what is known as the “hard ball stage.” Err on the side of underboiling. You can always reheat the mixture to make the caramel firmer, but you can’t reverse overboiling.

6. Pour the caramel liquid into the prepared baking dish. Allow it to set before lifting it out of the pan by the overhanging parchment, and cutting into 1-inch squares with kitchen shears or a pizza wheel. Placing the pan in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so helps making cutting easier.

7. If desired, wrap each piece in a small square of wax paper and twist the ends. Store the caramels in the refrigerator—they will keep for months without crystallizing.

coconut caramel chips ✵ makes 1 to 1½ cups of chips

These chips should be made ahead of time so they can cool properly before adding them to baked goods. The cooled chips will be the consistency of taffy. They may be stored in the refrigerator for several months or frozen.

1 cup homemade Coconut Caramels, through step 5)

1 tablespoon coconut flour

Coconut oil, for greasing the pan

Tapioca starch, for dusting the chips

1. Microwave (or warm) the caramel for 15 seconds until it is softened. Stir in the coconut flour, then microwave the caramel for 15 more seconds to completely blend.

2. Grease an 8 × 8-inch baking dish with coconut oil. Line it with a piece of parchment paper overhanging on two sides, and grease the paper with more coconut oil.

3. Pour the caramel mixture into the prepared baking dish and allow it to cool fully. Cut the caramel into ½-inch (or larger) squares using kitchen shears. Dust the chips with tapioca starch to prevent sticking. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Lava Bonbons

chocolate lava bonbons

SINCE 1949, the Pillsbury Bake-Off has been the biggest cooking contest of its kind. In 1994, Mary Anne Tyndall won $50,000 for her Fudgy Bonbons, fundamentally a Hershey’s Chocolate Kiss wrapped in a brownie. Her concept was brilliant, but her timing was off; Pillsbury upped the prize money to $1 million the next year. I began making her recipe when it was published, long before we followed a gluten-free diet. It was most definitely a winner and always received rave reviews.

The original recipe included chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, flour, vanilla, Hershey’s Chocolate Kisses, and a white chocolate baking bar for decoration. My version of the recipe grew out of a need to figure out what to do with an extra 1-pound bag of Hershey’s Kisses. I worked with the concept, tweaking the original ingredients a bit, and brought my bonbons to work the following day. The container was emptied within minutes of me walking in the door. I have tried lots of culinary experiments on my staff over the years, but this was the first one where they ganged up and sent a messenger to ask/beg me to make more. I didn’t have enough of the “extra” kisses left, so I had to buy even more on the way home.

makes 36 bonbons

2 cups powdered sugar

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup (35g) tapioca starch

1 cup hulled pumpkin seeds

2 large egg whites

36 Hershey’s Kisses (to make the bonbons dairy-free, you can use any dark chocolate chunks instead of kisses), unwrapped

½ cup rainbow, ½ cup chocolate, and ½ cup white nonpareil sprinkles (optional)

1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a food processor, combine the powdered sugar, cocoa, tapioca starch, and pumpkin seeds and process until the pumpkin seeds are reduced to fine pieces. Add the egg whites and process until the dough comes together. It will be a tad crumbly, but should come together like Play-Doh when squeezed and molded, and should not stick to your hands. (If the dough is either too dry or too wet, add a tad more tapioca starch or water in teaspoon amounts.) Knead the dough together and transfer it to a bowl. To keep it from drying out, cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel as you work.

3. Roll a piece of dough (about 1 tablespoon) into a smooth ball the size of a large marble. Flatten the ball until it is a disk 1¾ to 2 inches in diameter. Place a kiss in the center of the disk and fold the sides up toward the pointed end of the kiss. Pinch the dough together at the top and smooth out any seams. Roll in the sprinkles, if using.

4. Place the balls ½ inch apart on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until they are set. Allow the bonbons to cool completely on the baking sheet; they will be quite soft when you take them out of the oven and will set as they cool.