A guest post: gluten free carrot cake

I'm proud to announce a guest post for today. Last week, I was checking out Facebook while at work and saw that my coworker Samantha had posted a picture of a gorgeous looking carrot cake on her profile. Later that day, she showed up in the newsroom with a generous amount of it and she put it on the meeting room table for us to try while we discussed news and pages. It was delicious. And, to my amazement, it was gluten and butter free. So I asked her to write a post on my blog and she graciously accepted. So here she is and here's her recipe:

"As soon as I found out I couldn’t eat any wheat anymore I felt desperate. I thought it was a complete nightmare, also because I love every kind of baked sweets. Ok, after a few months I have to admit it’s not actually nice, but from that day I tried to cook my own dishes a little more and discovered that gluten-free food can be delicious as well. I tried many carrot cake recipes but this is my favorite, both because it’s really simple to make and because the result is great. That’s why I’m writing this post for my new colleague and I’m really honored to!"

Ingredients

300 gr (10 ounces) carrots 

300 gr (10 ounces) grated almonds

300 (10 ounces) gr sugar

80-100 gr (3.5 ounces) gluten-free flour (or simply white flour)

4 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

grated lemon rind

Eventually, to decorate:

icing sugar

marzipan carrots

Peel and grate the carrots. Mix them with the grated almonds, the sugar and the lemon rind. Add the eggs and stir. Finally add the flour and the baking powder and keep mixing for a couple of minutes. That’s it, you can now put the mixture in an oiled  baking pan (no matter what shape, I actually like ring shaped cake). Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes at 175° (aria calda). When the cake got cold, you can decorate it with icing sugar and marzipan carrots or with a lemon frost made with water, lemon juice and icing sugar. Enjoy!

Berry pie

A super easy pie, for those of you who, like me, are not much into dessert. But sometimes you just have to serve it because, let's say, you have planned dinner for 6, but you end up with 10 guests.

No biggie. The more the merrier and all that crap.

But if you don't want everyone to leave your house hungry, you have to come up with something. Recently, when a few extra friends stopped by for dinner, I had to rethink my menu a little because the pasta I wanted to serve was not enough for everyone. So I made a savory pie for an appetizer and made this berry pie for dessert. Lots of pies, I know, but they had a buy-one-get-one-free offer on refirgerated pie crust at the store, what else could I have done?

Basically this is a non-recipe. I bought some fresh berries, but frozen will do the trick. I washed them and sprinkled them with brown sugar and lemon.  Then I unrolled the pie crust, poured the berry mixture in it, folded the edges and put the pie in a 350°F oven until it looked done. I sprinkled it with powder sugar... and voilà! Dessert is done.

Yogurt pudding with warm berry sauce

You know how some people are dessert kings and queens? They bake beautiful cakes and pies, their chocolate suffles are flawless, they even make their own pie dough, for crying out loud. Well, I'm not one of them. I very rarely make dessert —mostly because I don't particularly enjoy eating it, so I just kind of assume that other people don't care about it either. Which is not true, since I know that there are many who live for dessert. I'm quite the opposite —I'd never skip a savory appetizer to keep room for dessert— but sometimes, when you invite people over for dinner and you know that they like dessert... well, you have to come up with something. I usually take the easy way out and just buy gelato. But last week I figured I'd give dessert a try. I was flipping through my cookbooks and saw this yogurt pudding with berry sauce. It looked good —much better than the photo above— and it sounded light and refreshing so I went for it, even if it involved using gelatin, something I've never done before. Well, had I known it's so easy to use I would have started using it a long time ago.

Before I go on with the recipe, I just wanted to thank all of you for visiting my blog and leaving me so many nice comments. March was my blog's most successful month ever, and that's thank to you. Also, here's a link to my Facebook page, if you aren't a fan already: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wandering-Cook/

YOGURT PUDDING WITH WARM BERRY SAUCE
Makes 4

6 ounces white, low fat yogurt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 ounces heavy whipping cream
1 sheet of gelatine

1 pint mixed berries
1 tablespoon good quality honey
1/2 glass of red wine
ground cinnamon

Mix yogurt at room temperature with sugar in a bowl. Soak gelatine in warm water, squeeze out excess water and melt gelatin over low heat with a tablespoon of cream.

Add gelatine mixture to yogurt mixture and stir. Whip remaining cream and incorporate whipped cream into yogurt mixture. Divide mixture into four metal individual metal cups and place in the fridge until they set.

20 minutes before serving, place the puddings in the freezer.

In the mean time, make sauce by cooking the berries with honey, wine and cinnamon until warm and syrupy.

Remove pudding from molds and serve with warm sauce.

"Skinny" apple pie

By now you all know I'm not a dessert kind of person. I don't like to eat dessert, which of course means that I'm not overly good at preparing it. The thing is, I love all things savory and harbor a strong indifference towards sweets. There are of course exceptions. Not many. But there are some. This apple pie is one of them. My mom invented the recipe to get rid of some apples that were lingering on the kitchen counter a little too long for their good and decided to try and make pie with one of those ready-to-bake pie crusts. She just rolled out the crust, cut the apples real thin, so they would cook evenly, placed them on the crust, sprinkled them with brown sugar and cinnamon and cooked the whole thing in a preheated oven (350F) until the pie was ready —which wasn't very long since the pie is so "skinny". That's it.
Easy right? Makes me wish other things in life were this easy. But they aren't. And today I'm so grumpy I didn't even feel like posting a recipe, which is why I reverted to this almost non-recipe.
Oh well. I guess I'll get over it. In the mean time I'll have a slice of apple pie. And a glass of wine.

Caramel Chantilly cream for panettone or pandoro (or anything you like, really)

I'm not sure why my highly intelligent blog has been publishing photos (like the one above) without my permission and most of all before I have a chance to write down the recipe and stuff. Anyway, this Chantilly cream is to die for and everyone, and I cannot stress that "everyone" enough, should try it. One look at the recipe and you'll see that it's incredibly rich, which is the reason why we eat only once a year for Christmas. As the title suggests, we eat it with panettone or pandoro -the two most typical Italian Christmas staples- but I bet tht it's good on any type of cake or, as the Kitchen Witch suggests, with spoon.

The caramel Chantilly cream is one of those grandma's recipe. This particular grandma's name was Licia and she was my sisters' grandma. Or maybe I should call them "half sisters" to make everything clearer, but I've never used the term because it makes it sound like I don't like them. Which isn't true. I love them to death. And when she was alive I loved their grandma Licia and her fabolous cooking. She hailed from Piedmont and cooked meals fit for a king. They were never light, nor diet-friendly, but they were always delicious. Also, they were her meals and her recipes. And when someone would ask her for the recipe she would give it to them. Only, she would not give the right one. We are not sure if it was because she didn't really have a recipe in the modern sense of the term -she tended to cook by "feeling", not by measuring- or if it was just that she wanted her version to be better and therefore "forgot" to mention an ingredient or two.

Fact is, to this day, whenever we are sitting and eating caramel Chantilly cream we think of her and we laugh because, to this day, our version is not as good as hers. And it will never be.

CARAMEL CHANTILLY SAUCE

1 pint heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons sugar
5 egg yolks

Mix whipping cream and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl. Whip with a whisk or with a mixer and place in the fridge.

Put 5 tablespoon of sugar in a small heavy pan with two tablespoons of water. Heat over medium heat until sugar melts and turns into caramel. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl mix four tablespoons of sugar, flour and egg yolks. Slowly stir in milk. Stir to combine. Stir mixture into the pan with the caramel and out it back on the stove over low heat. Stir constantly until the two are well blended. Remove from heat and let cool in the fridge.

Right before serving mix the caramel mixture with the whipped cream.

Pear pie with caramel sauce

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was great, although maybe not as eventful as mine. I'm currently sitting on my couch with a big glass of red wine in my hand and a very swollen left knee that hurts like hell. Last night, as the turkey was almost done and we were about to start making oysters Rockefeller I slipped on a little bit of water that was on the kitchen floor and flew up in the air and down on the floor so fast I didn't know what hit me. One second I was happily skipping around the kitchen making Thanksgiving dinner. The next I was landing square on my left knee, putting all my weight on in. It hurt right away. Bad. Tommy and my friends put me in a chair, made me a Martini and elevated my leg (in that order). You know, the things good friends do when you injure your self in the midst of a freaking cooking marathon. Naturally there was no time for dwelling, for my parents were due to arrive in minutes and several things still had to be done -the potatoes had to be mashed, the gravy had to be made, the stuffing was sitting half made half not on the counter. So they left me sitting in my chair, in the kitchen, martini in hand and ice on my knee, and they started running around the kitchen, getting stuff done, following my orders as I barked them out. Within minutes my parents were in the kitchen also, dinner was almost ready and I had rightfully won myself the nickname of "kitchen nazi".

But what's important is that Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous. And boy, was I glad my mom had made this wonderful pie!

PEAR PIE WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

From Cooking Light:

3 ounces all-purpose flour, divided (about 2/3 cup)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 medium firm pears, peeled, cored, and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury)
Cooking spray
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Sauce:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons water

Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare pie, weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 1 1/2 ounces (about 1/3 cup) flour, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add juice and pears to flour mixture; toss gently to coat. Roll dough into an 11-inch circle; fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Fold edges under and flute. Arrange pear mixture in an even layer in prepared crust.

Combine remaining 1 1/2 ounces (about 1/3 cup) flour and 1/3 cup brown sugar in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons cold butter to brown sugar mixture; cut in with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle butter mixture evenly over pears. Bake at 375° for 1 hour or until lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack 10 minutes.

To prepare sauce, combine 1/3 cup brown sugar, cream, and 2 tablespoons softened butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in 2 teaspoons water. Serve at room temperature or slightly warmed with pie.

Basil gelato

I've been really lazy lately and haven't posted as much as I wanted too. Now that my friend Filippo has left I can get back to my normal cooking schedule and -hopefully- also to my semi-healthy eating habits. September is a month of new beginnings, or at least it feels that way to me. Even though I haven't been in school for years, I still feel that the year starts in September, not in January. And so every September I make plans and write down resolutions and promise my self that it's going to be the year, the one where my life suddenly changes for the better. September is also the month when -regardless of the heat- I start thinking about fall and winter food.
But before I get excited about roasts and soups I decided to post one last summer recipe: basil gelato.
Sounds weird? Wait until you try it -it's one of those things you'll fall in love with immediately. I paired mine up with fresh strawberries macerated in balsamic vinegar, it was one of the best desserts I've ever tasted, even if I say so myself. You will need an ice-cream maker for this recipe.

BASIL GELATO
Makes 1 1/2 quarts

1 quart half and half

1 cup sugar

8 egg yolks

2 1/2 ounces fresh basil (chopped)

In medium saucepan heat half and half and basil gently to a simmer, then remove from heat.

Pour the mixture into food processor and blend until basil is finely ground, then strain through a sieve to remove basil pieces.

In medium size mixing bowl combine egg yolks and sugar and beat together for about a minute.

Slowly beat 2 tablespoons of the warm half and half mixture into the egg mixture, then beat in the remaining half and half little by little.

Place bowl over a pot of simmering water and cook over a gentle heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Make sure the temperature doesn't exceed 170 degrees or the eggs will curdle. Cool in an ice bath.

Chill mixture in fridge for at least 4 hours.

Churn in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Transfer gelato to a 2 qt plastic container, cover top w/ parchment paper cut to size and freeze until firm and ready to serve.

Mom's pear and chocolate tart

I'm not a huge fan of desserts. If I had to pick between -say- a pizza and a piece of cake I'd go with the pizza, no doubt about that. Still, there a couple of sweets I really love. Gelato is one. My mom's pear and chocolate tart is the other. When I was in middle school my mom used to make it all the time. I would it half of it between the time I came home from school and the time I went to bed. Crazy, uh? Especially if you think that I was a scrawny, 80 pound kid. How could I do it? I'm not sure. But this tart is so good it's difficult to stop eating it once you start. Just try and see!

PEAR AND CHOCOLATE TART:

6 pears
1 whole clove
1 piece lemon rind
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
3 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
1/2 lemon

Peel and chop 6 pears and cook them in a saucepan with 1 tbsp butter, 1 whole clove and a piece of lemon rind (as big as the one you'd use for a martini). After 15 minutes they should be nice and soft. Remove from heat and let them cool off.

In the mean time, for the pastry shell: mix 1 1/2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 sticks of softened butter, 3 egg yolks, 1/2 teaspoon dry yest and grated rind of half a lemon. Knead until you have a heavy, smooth ball of dough. Take 1/3 of it and set aside.

Place a large square of parchment paper on your working surface, place biggest of the two doughs on it and roll out with a rolling pin. Lift parchment paper and place in a 11 inch pie dish. Pour pear mixture on the dough. Break a small dark chocolate bar into pieces and scatter over pear mixture. Take the little ball of dough and roll it out on a piece of parchment paper like you did with the first one. Gently slide the second "disc" of dough and use it as a lid over the pear mixture. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes or until it looks done.

Let cool and enjoy!

Gaia's "cobbler pie"

If you are wondering who Gaia is, she's my little niece and this pie is named after her because I made it for the first time 4 years ago today, when she turned 1. Although this year we'll have to celebrate her birthday with a few days of delay, I thought it would be appropriate to post the recipe for this cobbler today, the day she turns 5.
I call it a cobbler "pie" because unlike cobblers it has a crust both on the bottom and on top, something I made up because the first time I made waaaaaay to much Graham cracker mixture. But everyone loved it, so from then on my cobbler always had a bottom crust as well as a crumble topping. I make it with strawberries, but bluberries or a mix of berries work just as well.

GAIA'S COBBLER PIE:

3 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

5 cups chopped strawberries
1 cup sugar
Cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Melt butter in a small pan, then mix with crumbs, sugar ad cinnamon. Divide in half. Pat half of the mixture on bottom of a 9-inch pie tin.

In a large pot cook strawberries, sugar and lemon juice for about ten minutes. Add enough cornstarch to thicken slightly. Pour into pie tin. Cover with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake at 375F until crumbs look browned and "done", about 25 minutes.