Gluten-Free is not a fad

It seems that in the healthy baking arena demand is growing for gluten-free products.  Most consumers who buy gluten-free foods do so because they need them for restricted diets, not because they desire them for nutritional benefits. These consumers suffer from celiac disease, a chronic condition in which proteins derived from gluten in ingredients such as wheat, rye and barley, damage the small intestine.
The disease affects 1 out of every 133 people, or just less than 1% of the population, according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. In addition, another 40 million Americans are thought to have non-celiac gluten intolerance.

As the number of people diagnosed with celiac disease has increased, so has demand for gluten-free products. Sales of labeled gluten-free bread and bakery foods in natural foods retail outlets increased 60% from $17 million for the 52 weeks ending June 2008 to an estimated $27.2 million for the like period ending June 2010, according to Mintel International Group, Chicago.

The growth of gluten-free bakery sales is not a fad, unlike the no-carb craze that fizzled. A core segment of consumers needs these products, and the upward trend is helping to raise the bar on product quality and variety for consumers with celiac disease and other gluten sensitivities.

I have done reasearch on gluten-free recipes and below you will find a great vanilla cake or cupcake recipe.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, margarine or Spectrum Organic Shortening

2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3½ cups gluten-free All-Purpose Flour Blend+ extra for dusting
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups cow’s milk or rice milk, hot
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans and dust with gluten-free flour.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat margarine and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower speed to medium and add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and beat until fluffy again, scraping down bowl.
3. In a separate bowl or on a piece of waxed paper, sift together flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt.
4. Add half the dry mixture to the sugar mixture and beat at low speed until combined. Add half the milk and blend. Then add remaining dry ingredients and milk. Mix on medium-low speed until smooth, approximately 2 minutes.
5. Divide batter equally between the two prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 35 minutes or until done. Cool the cake for 20 minutes in pans. Then turn cake onto wire racks and cool completely before frosting.
Cake serves 16. Each serving contains 324 calories, 13g total fat, 5g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 53mg cholesterol, 49g carbohydrate, 370mg sodium, 0g fiber, 3g protein.
TIP This cake can be made egg free. Replace 4 large eggs with 6 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce mixed with 2 teaspoons baking powder + 4 tablespoons warm water mixed with 1 tablespoon gluten-free egg replacer.

The French Macaroon

Although predominantly a French confection, there has been much debate about its origins. Larousse Gastronomique cites the macaron as being created in 791 in a convent near Cormery. Some have traced its French debut back to the arrival of Catherine de' Medici's Italian pastry chefs whom she brought with her in 1533 upon marrying Henry II of France.^[6]

In the 1830s, macarons were served two-by-two with the addition of jams, liqueurs, and spices. The macaron as it is known today was called the "Gerbet" or the "Paris macaron" and is the creation of Pierre Desfontaines of the French pâtisserie Ladurée,^[7] composed of two almond meringue discs filled with a layer of buttercream, jam, or ganache filling.
^{Here is an Awesomely ddelicious recipe.}
 Macaron Batter

^{1 cup  powdered sugar
½ cup powdered almonds  (sliced almonds, pulverized)
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
Chocolate Filling½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
4 ounces  bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon  butter, cut into small pieces}

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch) ready.

Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn’t quite fine enough.

In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you’re alone).

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch apart.
Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 15-18 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

To make the chocolate filling:

Heat the cream in a small saucepan with the corn syrup. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth. Stir in the pieces of butter. Let cool completely before using.

Assembly

Spread a bit of batter on the inside of the macarons then sandwich them together. (You can pipe the filling it, but I prefer to spread it by hand; it’s more fun, I think.)

I also tend to overfill them so you may or may not use all the filling.

Let them stand at least one day before serving, to meld the flavors.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze. If you freeze them, defrost them in the unopened container, to avoid condensation which will make the macarons soggy.

The Whoopie Pie

I've been doing research about the latest baking trends and today I found an article about whoopie pies.  Everyone knows what a pie is but do you know what a whoopie pie is?  I'll tell you.  A whoopie pie is like a sandwich, but made with two soft cookies with a fluffy white filling. Traditional whoopies pies are made with vegetable shortening, not butter. The original and most commonly made whoopie pie is chocolate.

The recipe for whoopie pies has its origins with the Amish, and in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, it is not uncommon to find roadside farm stands offering these desserts. Amish cooking is about old recipes that have fed families for generations, with no trendy or cross-cultural fusions or mixtures. These cake-like whoopie pies were considered a special treat because they were originally made from leftover batter. According to Amish legend, when children would find these treats in their lunch bags, they would shout "Whoopie!"
Main's earliest claim is from the Labadie's Bakery in Lewiston, Massachusetts. They first started selling Whoopie Pies in 1925 with the opening of their bakery. The Labadie's Bakery remains in the same location today.
The Berwick Cake Company of Roxbury, Massachusetts, also manufactured “Whoopee pies” since at least 1931. Some think that Berwick’s pies actually date to 1927. Berwick closed its Roxbury plant in 1977.
The question of how the Amish dessert got to be so popular in New England probably is addressed in a 1930s cookbook called Yummy Book by the Durkee Mower Company, the manufacturer of Marshmallow Fluff. In this New England cookbook, a recipe for Amish Whoopie Pie was featured using Marshmallow Fluff in the filling.
According to the Marshmallow Fluff website:

The origins of Marshmallow Fluff actually go back to 1917. Before WWI, a Sommerville MA man named Archibald Query had been making it in his kitchen and selling it door to door, but wartime shortages had forced him to close down. By the time the war was over, Mr Query had other work and was uninterested in restarting his business, but he was willing to sell the formula. Durkee and Mower pooled their saving and bought it for five hundred dollars. Having just returned from France, they punningly renamed their product "Toot Sweet Marshmallow Fluff" but "Toot Sweet" didn't stay on the label for long. The situation of "no customers, but plenty of prospects" didn't last long either.
An early receipt still in the company's scrap books records the sale in April, 1920 of three one-gallon cans to a vacation lodge in New Hampshire. The price at the time was $1.00 a gallon! The door to door trade gained a reputation among local housewives that eventually placed Fluff onto local grocers shelves. Retail trade spread from there to the point where in 1927 they were advertising prominently in Boston newspapers.
Durkee-Mower became a pioneer in radio advertising when in 1930 they began to sponsor the weekly "Flufferettes" radio show on the Yankee radio network, which included twenty-one stations broadcasting to all of New England. The fifteen minute show, aired on Sunday evenings just before Jack Benny, included live music and comedy skits, and served as a steppingstone to national recognition for a number of talented performers. The show continued through the late forties.

Each episode ended with a narrator reporting that Boswell had disappeared to continue work on his mysterious book, which was assumed to be a historical text of monumental importance. On the last episode the Book-of-the-Moment was revealed. It was a collection of recipes for cakes, pies, candies, frostings and other confections that could be made with Marshmallow Fluff, appropriately entitled the Yummy Book. The book has been updated many times since then, and the most recent version is thirty-two pages long.

Gob History:
It seems that only in western Pennsylvania, mainly the Johnstown area, they are know as "gobs." The bakers at the now closed Harris & Boyar Bakery in Morrellville, PA, claimed to have invented the treat sometime in the 1920s. Probably they adapted what was already a regional favorite inspired by the cream-filled whoopie pies of Pennsylvania Dutch country, in the eastern part of the state.
According to an article in the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat newspaper, Johnstown’s Gob - A mealtime tradition, March 12, 2009:

Susan Kalcik, a folklorist and archivist with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission in Johnstown, said her research shows that the Gob’s origin can be traced back to medieval Germany. "They were making a cake-like pastry with a filling. It probably was brought to America by various German groups like the Amish or German Brethren."
But Kalcik said the Gob is not a Johnstown invention. The Amish in Lancaster make them and she’s seen them as far south as Virginia. "They don’t call them Gobs, they’re called Whoopee Pies, " she said. "I’ve also found Whoopee Pies in New England and as far away as Hawaii."
Kalcik believes that the Gob became popular because it was easy to carry in a lunch bucket. "Men went into the coal mines or steel mills and the little cake with the icing on the inside instead of on the outside served their purpose," she said. "I’m convinced that the name Gob is related to the coal mines. Lumps of coal refuse were called gob piles. These working people adapted the name to the dessert."
But technically, not just anyone can use the name "Gob" for the familiar icing filled treats. The name-along with all the rights to market "Gobs"- belongs to Tim Cost, owner of Dutch Maid Bakery. Cost, who bought the rights from Harris & Boyar Bakery in Morrellville, said he’s always had a passion for the cake.
 

At the Hershey Farm and Inn in Strasburg, PA, an annual Whoopie Festival is held featuring a whoopie pie eating contest and the coronation of the Whoopie Pie Queen.
In 2011, The Maine State Legislature considered making the Whoopie Pie the official state's dessert.

Now you know a little about whoopie pies!

 

This year I am going to be successful!  This year I'm going to make it happen.  I'm going to be driven.  How many times have you said this to yourself?  I say it daily.  I then follow it with "tomorrow I'll start".  Well. I'm not getting any younger.  I need to do it today!  So, I begin. 

My goals for this week

-Play with my kids
-Bake a cake from scratch
-Make something new for dinner

 I know these seem like little goals but I need to start small.  I know myself and this is big for me.  I need to grow up and make things happen.  How many times have you started over?  I do it everyday and fail miserably.   Lets start all over together.

Cake Balls The newest baking trend

Cake balls?  This is a YUMMY new trend soon to hit your local upscale market.  I made these for Valentines Day and sold out almost instantly.  I called it  "Truffle on a Stick" but really, it's nothing more than cake on a stick.  I took the best chocolate cake in the Twin Cities and dumped it in a bowl.  I added my smooth as silk chocolate ganache and gourmet raspberry marmalade, mixed it all together, and rolled it into a bite size morsel.  I refrigerated it overnight to bring it to a temperature low enough to withstand dipping.   Before I dipped the bite size pieces into locally sourced, high quality gourmet milk chocolate, I added a lollipop stick.  After that, I rolled them in festive Valentine sprinkles to celebrate the holiday.  After a setting up for a few minutes, they where ready to be eaten.  This is truly a great treat for any pallate, sophisticated or simple.  Everyone had to buy them for their sweet hearts!

Steps for Hope walk for autism.

This is a fun way for our son Miller James VanderWoude who has ASD to suppport the Autism Society of Minnesota.

Steps for Hope Team VanderWoude

Never in my life did I think I would raise money for a cause.....
That was until I had a heart to heart conversation with a special needs worker for my son who was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. Most of us have inborn social skills, such as being able to read others' body language, start or maintain a conversation, and take turns talking. But my son was not. He avoids eye contact, it is next to IMPOSSIBLE for him to begin a conversation with others and he becomes preoccupied with only one or few interests, just to name a few things about his Aspergers.
If children and teachers (yes, teachers are even out of the loop on these things!) in schools were educated about Aspergers, my son would be better understood and may find it easier to cope with his lack of social skills.
I believe raising awareness about Aspergers Syndrome is a worthy cause! I hope you are able to give. We will be attending "Steps of Hope 2011" at Ridgedale Mall - March 6, 2011. Please find time to donate or even take the time to walk with our family to raise money for this important cause.

AUTISM SOCIETY OF MINNESOTA

• Phone

  (651) 647-1083

• Address

  2380 Wycliff St Ste 102, St Paul, MN 55114

• EIN

  411718029

• Web

  http://www.ausm.org/

• Email

  news@ausm.org

• Summary

  We exist to enhance the lives of individuals living with autism, their families and the people who serve them.