Fruit kabobs? Strawberries and chocolate dip?

gluten free banana bread, make it today, take it tomorrow

This post was edited by sffog on Wed, Sep 11, 13 at 13:36

I like the fresh fruit idea as well, especially if it's still as hot there as it is here........

Have you checked Elana Amsterdam's website (linked below)? I use a lot of recipes from her book "The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook", if you need a cookie, cake, dessert, or muffin type treat. I use the pulp (dehydrated) from making almond milk in the recipes.

From the book:

Apricot Tea Squares
(makes 16 - 1" squares)

Make sure your apricots are soft and moist for best results.

1 c. dried apricots
1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted
2 c. blanched almond flour
1/2 t. sea salt
1/4 t. baking soda
1 lg. egg
1 T. vanilla extract
(I also add 2 T. palm sugar, or any kind of sweetener you'd like, especially if your apricots aren't very sweet.)

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish with grapeseed oil and dust with almond flour (I use Bakers & Chefs Cooking Spray)

In a food processor, blend the apricots and coconut until the mixture is crumbly. Pluse in the almond flour, then add the salt, baking soda, egg, and vanilla extract. blend until well combined. Press the batter into the prepared baking dish.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until firm. Let cool in the baking dish for 1-hour. Cut into squares and serve.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Elena's Pantry

Hot here again, 90.
Maybe something non-bake like cucumber cups filled with cherry tomato halves, goat cheese pesto, a toasted pecan/basil leaf garnish. And/or filled with smoked salmon, goat cheese, olives, capers, dill garnish.
-have all that in my fridge right now so i would not need to shop, lol. My garden produce more cucumber than it normally does. Cute little lemon ones and lots of them.

Meringues or coconut macaroons!

This hostess generally puts out a dish of almonds and a plate of fruit slices. Since I'm the only baker in the group they've come to expect I'll show up with the sweet treat (many from recipes I've found here!) so I'd hate to disappoint. I'm leaning toward the apricot bars if I can find almond flour @ my nearby grocery store.
Thanks for your replies.

I make the peanut butter cookies for my stepdaughter that only contains a cup of peanut butter, a cup of sugar, an egg, a teaspoon of vanilla. Bake at 350F 10 minutes. Sometimes I make a "thumbprint" and fill them with jam or chocolate. They have no leavening, so they won't puff up or spread, so if you make them small, they'll be small.

Ann T's chocolate meringue cookies are yummy too.

Chewy Chocolate Meringue Cookies
Source:
Wives with Knives/The Cafe Sucre Farine

3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2-1/2 cups chocolate chips
4 egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
optional ingredients: dried cranberries, dried cherries, toffee bits

Position 2 racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Stir in chocolate chips. Add egg whites and vanilla; mix with a fork or electric mixer on medium until batter is just moistened. (Do not overbeat or batter will stiffen.)
Drop batter by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets in evenly spaced mounds. Bake cookies until tops are lightly cracked and glossy, about 15 minutes. Cool briefly, then carefully remove from parchment paper with a spatula. Cookies may be soft and fragile so proceed carefully to lift cookies and place them on racks to cool. Do not wait too long to remove them from baking sheets, for they will stick, even to parchment paper. Repeat with remaining batter. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Notes

Chris’s (The Cafe Sucre Farine) notes:
~ I found that slightly rounded teaspoons of batter work best. I tried making bigger ones and they did not bake as nicely. Also, make sure to leave plenty of room around each one as they will spread.
~ When I made these cookies I found, through trial and error, that if I lightly buttered the parchment paper, then left the cookies right on the paper till they were cool there was no problem removing them.
~ I tried them with 2 cups of chocolate chips and a cup of roughly chopped dried cherries �" fabulous!
I also tried them with 2 cups of chocolate chips and 1 cup of toffee bits, even better!!

There is the ever popular flourless chocolate cake:

Flourless Chocolate Torte

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, plus 1/2 tablespoon
1 pound semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup amaretto
8 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder, for garnish
Fresh raspberries, for garnish
Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Using 1/2 tablespoon butter grease a 9-inch springform pan and line bottom with a parchment round. Cover pan underneath and along sides with foil and set in a roasting pan. Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil.

Combine the chocolate, butter, and amaretto in a metal bowl set over simmering water or in the top of a double boiler. Melt the mixture, stirring constantly, until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes; reserve.

Meanwhile combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until frothy and almost doubled in volume, about 5 to 10 minutes. Fold 1/3 of egg mixture into chocolate mixture using a rubber spatula. Repeat this process 2 more times - until all of egg mixture has been folded into chocolate mixture.

Pour batter into prepared springform pan and place in the roasting pan. Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to come about halfway up the sides. Bake until cake has risen slightly and edges are just beginning to set, about 40 to 45 minutes. Remove cake from roasting pan and cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove foil, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Remove cake from refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving. Remove springform pan sides, invert cake onto a large plate, and peel away the parchment paper from bottom. Reinvert cake on another large plate or serving platter and garnish with confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder immediately before serving.

Too bad it's a drive away, or homemade ice cream would go well.

Elery makes a cheesecake with a crust from gluten free gingersnaps, and crème brulee is just cream, eggs, sugar, vanilla, basically. And there's always fudge, truffles, caramels, assorted candy.

Have fun!

Annie

The chewy chocolate meringue cookies are excellent. Other flourless cookies are amaretti or florentines.

If it doesn't have to be finger food, then rice pudding is another gluten free option.

Here is Nigella Lawson's Clementine Cake. It has been posted a few times and appears to be beloved although it's still in my huge "to be tried" stack. One day....

Ingredients

4 to 5 clementines (about 1 pound total weight)
6 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/3 cups ground almonds
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

Directions

Put the clementines in a pot with cold water to cover, bring to the boil, and cook for 2 hours. Drain and, when cool, cut each clementine in half and remove the seeds. Then finely chop the skins, pith, and fruit in the processor (or by hand, of course).

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter and line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper.

Beat the eggs. Add the sugar, almonds, and baking powder. Mix well, adding the chopped clementines. I don't like using the processor for this, and frankly, you can't balk at a little light stirring.

Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, when a skewer will come out clean; you'll probably have to cover the cake with foil after about 40 minutes to stop the top from burning. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, in the pan on a rack. When the cake is cold, you can take it out of the pan. I think this is better a day after it's made, but I don't complain about eating it anytime.

I've also made this with an equal weight of oranges and lemons, in which case I increase the sugar to 1 1/4 cups and slightly Anglicize it, too, by adding a glaze made of confectioners' sugar mixed to a paste with lemon juice and a little water.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/clementine-cake-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

I make the clementine cake often during the holidays and think I have posted it here, but clementines may be in short supply this time of year? At least around here.

I was looking for a gluten free dessert using meringues and found this tonight. I'm going to be making it this weekend. I'll be using Trader Joe's Meringues - they are very good.

Vanilla Berry Parfaits with Meringue cookies
Recipe from Cooking Light

Custard:
2 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks $
1 tablespoon butter
Remaining ingredients:
1/4 cup raspberry preserves
1 tablespoon framboise (raspberry brandy)
1 2/3 cups fresh blackberries (about 5 1/2 ounces)
1 1/3 cups fresh raspberries (about 6 ounces)
1 cup fresh blueberries (about 4 1/2 ounces)
12 large fat-free vanilla meringue cookies (such as Miss Meringue), divided

To prepare custard, place milk in a medium saucepan. Scrape seeds from bean; add seeds and bean to milk. Heat milk mixture over medium heat to 180° or until tiny bubbles form around the edge (do not boil); discard bean.
Combine sugar and next 3 ingredients (through egg yolks) in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Gradually add hot milk mixture to sugar mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan; cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 5 minutes), stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add butter, stirring until melted. Pour into a bowl; cool completely. Cover and chill at least 4 hours.
Combine preserves and framboise in large bowl. Reserve 6 blackberries, 6 raspberries, and 6 blueberries. Fold remaining berries into preserves mixture.
Reserve 6 cookies. Place remaining cookies in a large zip-top plastic bag. Crush cookies using a rolling pin.
Spoon 1/4 cup custard into each of 6 tall glasses; spoon 1/3 cup berry mixture over each serving; top each serving with 1/3 cup crushed meringues, 1/4 cup custard, and 1/3 cup berry mixture. Top each serving with 1 blackberry, 1 raspberry, 1 blueberry, and 1 cookie.

Jeanne Kelley, Cooking Light
JUNE 2006

Nutritional Information
Amount per serving

Calories: 268
Calories from fat: 21%
Fat: 6.3g
Saturated fat: 3.2g
Monounsaturated fat: 2.1g
Polyunsaturated fat: 0.6g
Protein: 5.8g
Carbohydrate: 48.8g
Fiber: 3.7g
Cholesterol: 115mg
Iron: 0.6mg
Sodium: 125mg
Calcium: 149mg

Here is a link that might be useful: Gluten free Parfaits

This is a simple recipe I make as a gluten-free substitute for Pineapple Upside Down Cake and doesn't require special gluten-free flour/s or ingredients.

BAKED CRUSHED PINEAPPLE

3/4 c. sugar (I use 1/2 c. palm sugar)
1 t. cinnamon
dash nutmeg and cloves
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 c. cornstarch
20-oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
2 T. melted butter
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. In a mixing bowl combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cornstarch. Stir in pineapple, eggs, and butter. Mix completely. Pour into pan. Bake 20-25 minutes until set and lightly brown.

My favorite gluten-free banana bread recipe.

BANANA BREAD
(source: "Cooking for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet" by Erica Kerwien)

Makes one 7-1/2 x 3-1/2" loaf.

3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. sea salt
3/4 c. almond flour
1/4 c. coconut flour
2 T. olive oil (or other cooking oil - I use coconut oil)
3 eggs
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1-cup)
1/4 c. honey (I use coconut nectar or agave nectar)
1/2 c. walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 350-degrees F. Oil pan (I use Bakers & Chefs Cooking Spray).
2. Using a whisk or fork, blend the baking soda, salt, and flours in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, eggs, mashed bananas, and honey. Combine the blended wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. (I use an electric mixer to ensure the batter is well blended.)
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the sides and top are browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
5. Let cool in the pan or on a cooling rack, and slice. To store, cover and refrigerate....

Olychick, you can also make Eton Mess, which is crushed meringues, raspberries or strawberries and unsweetened whipped cream, blended lightly in the proportions you prefer. Yum!

Colleen! That was exactly the kind of dessert I was looking for...so much easier than making a custard. I'd never heard of Eton Mass, but everyone has posted a fave recipe for it! Thank you so much.

Is that like an unblended Pavlova?

Thanks so much for all the great suggestions. I ended up making the Clementine Cake. I dusted it w/ powdered sugar & garnished it with blackberries in the center with a few fresh mint leaves. It was just the right thing & so well received! I'll keep the other recipes in mind for future get-togethers.