GF MENU: Hello Cupcake

I was very lucky not to be a kid with Celiac Disease. I got to do the birthday parties and treats at school. Pizza parties were great and nothing tasted better than baking Tollhouse cookies. I wasn't left out of these activities.

An an adult, I'm able to handle these situations better than I would have as a child. I can bring my own pizza, if I know in advance. I can eat steamed veggies when everyone orders Chinese food and then get more food later.

But birthday parties are still rough. Unless I know in advance and want to cook my own baked goods, easily purchased celebration foods boil down to fresh fruit and...well, fresh fruit.

Slowly, though, shops and even bakeries are starting to realize the massive amount of folks with Celiacs might spend their money, too, on treats. Two bakeries in the DC area fall into this category:

1. Hello Cupcake
2. Cakelove

Now I'm only going to mention Cakelove, because I have not had much success with them. The store on U Street NW in DC never seems to actually have gluten-free cupcakes. They aren't ready. They're sold out. They don't have them on weekdays. (This is a new thing my coworker was told when she called.) That sort of thing.

I gave them three tries at three separate times on three separate days of the week (one was a weekend). No dice. No gluten-free delights for me.

But Hello Cupcake is a different story. I'm going to rave about them. One location only off Dupont Circle in NW DC. But they are wonderful! Each time I've been, they've had a gluten-free option or two. The cupcakes are delicious and interesting. One time it was pumpkin-flavored with a GF cream cheese-based icing. Fabulous!

And yesterday, I was a kid again. My coworker was kind enough to inquire about the cupcakes (she heard me glowing about them earlier) so she could buy some for an office birthday party. We walked over together in the frigid weather. It was well worth it. We came back with a cupcake for everyone, even me. I got to be a part of the party!!

RECIPE: Gluten-free Biscuits

In the current economic climate, it probably surprises no one that money is tight. Added atop of the general cost of living is the additional medical bills and cost of food. It's not a pretty sight!

Consequently, when I decided I wanted biscuits this evening, I needed to:
a. make them from ingredients I already had and
b. keep it simple so I use as little energy as possible

I mixed together 3+ different recipes and came up with a decent option. Here it is!

Gluten-free Biscuits

• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/3 cup potato starch flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp egg replacer (no water)
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/8 tsp dextrose-free salt
• 1/2 stick (aka 4 Tbsp) of unsalted butter, chopped into little pieces
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• Corn oil
  

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix together dry ingredients (flours, baking powder, replacer, xanthan gum, & salt). I used a plastic whisk.

3. Drop in chopped butter. Use fingers to work butter into dry mixture, until it's a coarse meal.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in milk, 1/4 of a cup at a time. After each 1/4 cup, mix in the milk with a fork.

5. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. I used corn oil poured on a paper towel. A number of the recipes indicated the sheet should be ungreased, but I found no difference from one to the other (so I err on the side of greasing).

6. You can now roll out the dough and use a cutter or a glass to make biscuits. I personally dropped about two Tbsps worth of dough per biscuit on to the sheet and molded them into acceptable biscuit shapes.

7. Place in the oven for 10-13 minutes, depending on your thickness. Mine were about a 1/4" thick and they only needed 10 minutes. Note: the biscuits don't really rise any.

8. This makes about 12 2"-wide, 1/4" thick biscuits. Enjoy with butter or honey!

Variation: Add 2 Tbsp of granulated sugar to the dry ingredients for a sweeter biscuit. Top with cinnamon sugar & melted butter for GF dessert.

RECIPE: Sticky Rice with Mango & Sesame Seeds

A favorite gluten-free dessert of mine is mango with sticky rice. It has been a favorite at Thai restaurants for years, but tonight was the first time we tried to make it at home. It was remarkably successful. YAY!

Here is the recipe I found a few places online, that we used this evening:

STICKY RICE WITH MANGO & SESAME SEEDS
SAUCE

• 2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

RICE

• 2 1/2 cups Thai sticky rice (1 pound)
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 mangoes (chopped up)
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Make the sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine the coconut milk with the sugar and salt. Bring to a simmer and cook over moderate heat until thickened slightly, about 10 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a sauceboat and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the rice: In a large, microwave-safe bowl, cover the sticky rice with water; let soak for 1 hour.

Drain the rice and return it to the bowl. Add 2 1/4 cups of water and cover the bowl with plastic wrap**. Microwave the rice on high power for 5 minutes. Pull back the plastic wrap and stir the rice. Replace the plastic wrap and microwave the rice for another 5 minutes. Pull back the plastic wrap to stir the rice a second time. Replace the plastic wrap and microwave until the rice is just tender, about 3 minutes longer. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

In a small saucepan, combine the coconut milk with the sugar and salt and bring to a simmer. Pour the hot coconut milk over the rice, folding until just combined. Spoon the rice into bowls. Top with the mango and sesame seeds and serve, passing the sauce at the table.

**Instead of plastic wrap, we used a microwaveable, ceramic casserole dish with a glass lid. This worked well for us.

It took us about 90 minutes total, with all of the soaking and cooling. But it was well worth it. YUM!