Dessert – Safe Eats

Lemon Pound Cake

This is a treat that many with food allergies don’t get to enjoy very often. It is commonly offered in American coffee shops and bakeries; and often appears in the office break room after a kind soul has generously brought some in to share. What’s not to love about slice of a filling but tender lemon cake? It’s so wonderful with tea or coffee.

Pound cake is the name of the original recipe (said to have originated in Northern Europe in the early 1700s) that calls for a pound each of flour, eggs, butter and sugar. As with any traditional recipe, variations have been made over time and the word “pound” in the name has come to more aptly define the expected taste and texture of the cake more so than the use of ingredients.

This recipe utilizes mayonnaise to replace the fats from dairy sources such as butter, cream cheese and sour cream, which are often called for in pound cake recipes. This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, peanut-free and tree-nut free. It does have eggs. If you replace the eggs, add an additional measure of baking powder and a slight increase in mayonnaise to support the structure and rise of the cake (measurements given below).

Note: We make general recommendations for avoiding the top 8 food allergens, however, please be careful to check the ingredients lists of all products you are using to ensure you are avoiding your allergens. Note that the mayonnaise or Vegenaise has not been evaluated by Safe Eats to be corn-free or free of pea-protein (pea and legume protein is a known cross reactive allergen to those who suffer from peanut allergies). So, please double-check.

In the meantime, enjoy this gorgeous lemon cake as you celebrate the arrival of Spring!

Lemon Pound Cake

1 and 1/3 cup (7 oz. or 198 grams) Basic Gluten-free Flour Mix

1 teaspoon of baking powder (add another teaspoon of baking powder if omitting eggs)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum

1 and 1/3 cup (7 oz. or 198 grams) of granulated sugar

The zest of two lemons (approximately 1.5 Tablespoons)

The juice of one lemon for the batter (approximately 3 Tablespoons)

Set aside the juice of the second lemon for the glaze (approximately 3 Tablespoons)

4 large eggs (omit if egg allergies)

1/2 cup (4 oz. or 118 ml) mayonnaise (if omitting eggs, use 3/4 cup [or 6oz or 177 ml] of mayonnaise substitute such as soy-free Vegenaise)

1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1/2 cup (4 oz. or 110 grams) of non-hydrogenated palm oil shortening such as Spectrum

For the Glaze:

The juice of one lemon

1 cup (8 oz. or 22 grams) of fresh confectioner’s sugar (look for one made with tapioca starch if you have a corn allergy)

*Note that confectioner’s sugar, particularly if it is made with cornstarch will go stale very quickly after it is opened. I recommend that you taste the sugar before using it or pick up a fresh small pkg of it and store the remaining in the freezer and use within two weeks.

Directions:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (162 degrees Celsius).

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients.

Using a handheld electric mixer or electric stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat together the shortening, eggs (if using), and mayonnaise. Add the lemon zest, the juice of one lemon, and the vanilla extract. Once blended, mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients on low speed for 5 minutes.

Let the mixture rest in the bowl for another 5-10 minutes. While the batter is resting (rice flours need extra time to absorb moisture than wheat flour requires), coat the inside of a loaf or cake pan with a little bit of palm oil shortening and dust with a little bit of gluten-free flour.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes, or until wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Turn cake onto wire rack to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare the glaze by pouring the lemon juice into a bowl and slowly adding the confectioner’s sugar to get a very thick consistency. Slowly pour 1/2 of the glaze onto the cake. Let drip and wait approximately 2-3 minutes to set. Slowly pour remaining glaze onto cake.

After serving, store leftover cake in refrigerator.

Bring leftover cake to room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour before serving, or warm in the oven at 200 degrees F (93 degrees C) for 7-10 minutes just before serving.

Cake is best eaten within 3-5 days of baking.

Vegan Gluten-Free Grapefruit Bars

The small addition of honey in this recipe softens the tones of raw grapefruit while leaving its extra-bright and unique flavor to shine. If you cannot tolerate honey, simply omit it and add an extra 1/4 cup of sugar or light syrup of your choosing. In this version of the classic citrus bar cookie, we have omitted eggs, gluten, dairy, and soy. We made an egg version, too, but found that this recipe turned out better. You can also try this in tangerine, lemon or lime.

For the Crust

1/2 c. non-hydrogenated shortening or non-dairy margarine

4 oz. applesauce (I used one of those single serve snack cups. I like to keep them on hand for my child and to have fresh applesauce on hand for vegan baking)

2 cups gluten free flour mix

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the Filling

2.5 Tablespoons EnerG egg replacer mixed with 1/2 cup water

Zest of two grapefruits (about 2-3 Tablespoons)

Juice of two grapefruits (about 1 to 1 1/4 cup liquid) – juice into a separate liquid measure cup, not the bowl

1/4 c. honey

2/3 cup tapioca starch

pinch salt

1 tiny drop of allergen-free red liquid food coloring (optional)

Directions – CRUST

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Coat a 9X9 inch baking dish with a little bit of the shortening or with cooking spray.

In a large bowl using a beater or in a stand mixer, beat the shortening and sugar together until well-combined. Add the remaining ingredients and beat for another minute or two until the mixture begins sticking together. If it is too crumbly, add a bit of liquid.

Press the mixture into the dish and bake for 15 minutes. Bring it out of the oven and let cool for a bit while you finish the filling.

Directions – FILLING

Stir together your egg replacer and set aside. (Note: if you do not have egg replacer and you are not allergic to eggs, use 4 eggs for this recipe. Alternatively, you can try flax or chia seed gel. If you do, let me know how it turns out as I have not tried a seed gel for this recipe yet.)

In a large bowl, add the tapioca starch and slowly whisk in the grapefruit juice until the starch is well combined. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk together until well combined. Pour the mixture gently on top of the cookie crust and return the pan to the oven.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes.* The edges will look set but the center will still be quite liquid. That is okay. Tapioca-based desserts tend not to be fully set until cooled completely.

*If using eggs in this recipe, bake about 30-35 minutes and make sure that the center is set before taking it out of the oven.

Let cool at room temperature for 15 minutes and then transfer to the refrigerator to further cool and set. It should be ready to cut and serve in about 2-3 hours.

Christmas Cookies – Free of Top 8 Allergens

This recipe is for a new online friend. I hope I’m in time for her and her children to enjoy! These Top-8-Allergen-Free Christmas Cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, and soy-free. These also happen to be rice-free, oat-free, coconut-free and sesame-free. While I do my best to eliminate these allergies, I am not well versed on all cross reaction ingredients.

Please make sure that all of your ingredients are safe for you and your family.

The goal was to eliminate rice flour and eggs and create a nice sugar “butter” roll-and-cut style cookie. I suggested that she use corn flour (masa) that is labeled gluten-free and I also suggested trying sorghum flour. I really wanted to go beyond just suggesting it and test them both out for myself.

Corn flour is typically used to make tamales and tortillas. If you’ve never used corn flour to do this, I HIGHLY recommend it. It is a lot of fun and you can avoid a lot of preservatives that are typically found in store-bought tortillas. But could corn flour be used in a butter cookie recipe? I turned to my favorite Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book and adapted the very versatile wheat-based Christmas Cookie recipe that I have loved for years and replaced the wheat flour with the corn flour, added xanthan gum, and replaced the cream cheese with 5 Tablespoons of applesauce. The result was quite delicious. There is a distinct tortilla cookie flavor but it is actually quite good, especially prepared with the frosting. The cookies are not too sweet because the frosting is very sweet and you don’t want the cookies to be too sweet. However, if you do not frost the corn flour based cookies, add an addition 1/4 cup sugar to the dough.

The next batch I made was with sorghum flour and potato starch. First of all, I noticed that Bob’s Red Mill Shortbread mix (pictured) is mostly sorghum (pronounced: sore-gum) and potato starch. There is no rice flour in this mix and it is so soft and works beautifully for roll-out cookies. Of course, I am not sure what the secret ratio is of sorghum flour to potato starch, so I tried to come up with it on my own in case my readers can’t find the shortbread mix but can find the sorghum flour and potato starch (so many stores carry such a varied set of flours that one can never tell what will be available).

I will say that we were even more pleased with the sorghum/starch mix. Sorghum flour comes from sorghum cane (the stuff they use to make molasses) and it has a wonderfully soft texture. Sorghum is a bit of a miracle worker with regards to improving gluten-free texture in baking and I highly recommend that gluten-free bakers experiment with it a little more.

That said, we are enjoying the cookies from both batches, though we prefer the corn-flour ones iced (they seem to do well with the extra sweetness) and we are preferring the sorghum ones un-iced with some hot tea. Both are delicious. Enjoy!

Corn (Masa) Flour or Sorghum Flour Christmas Cookies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together:

2 1/2 cups of Corn (Masa) Flour – make sure it is not processed with wheat and that it is certified gluten-free.

2 cups of sorghum flour mixed with 1/2 cup potato starch

THEN ADD:

1/4 teaspoon of salt

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum

THEN CUT IN:

1/2 cup allergen-free shortening such as Spectrum non-hydrogenated palm oil shortening OR earth balance

THEN ADD:

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

5 Tablespoons of applesauce

3 Tablespoons of non-diary milk or water

DIRECTIONS:

Mix together by spoon and then finish mixing with hands.

Form the dough into a ball and split in two halves.

Dust the counter with either corn or sorghum flour.

Roll out the first half of the dough to about 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutter of choice to cut out enough cookies to fill a cookie sheet. Keep re-rolling dough until you’ve used up as much as you can.

Using a fork, poke some holes in your cookies to eliminate big air bubbles in your finished cookies.

Bake for 10 minute or until edges are just a little golden brown. Your cookies will look very light and that is exactly what you want so that they don’t end up too crunchy. You want a nice firm cookie with a bit of give in the bite.

Repeat the directions with the second half of the cookie dough. If you can do all of the cookies all at once, go for it.

Next (and optional):

Egg-free, dairy-free royal icing

In a small to medium bowl add:

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 teaspoons water or non-dairy milk

2 teaspoons of honey or light corn syrup (honey seems to give the icing that cream cheese taste to it, but do not use honey for guests with bee allergy)

a few drops of liquid food coloring (be careful to get only the liquid or another food coloring that is allergy safe, the Wilton paste colors are NOT allergy safe)

Stir to a consistency of VERY thick pancake syrup. You don’t want this icing too runny because it will run off of your cookies if it is. You want it to be workable.

Repeat the above in a separate bowl for each color.

Don’t hesitate to add a little more powdered sugar to get the consistency thicker. It does dry out quickly though, so once mixed, pour into zip-lock or decorator bags (before you cut the tiny opening that you’ll need to pipe on the icing).

It’s easier to pour the icing in the bags instead of using a spoon. Also, pouring the icing into the bags will keep it from drying out and gives you a lot more time to work on decorating your cookies.

When your bags are all filled, set them on a large plate and snip the bottom corner or opening to a tiny hole. Since the icing is of a pour-able consistency, you need the small opening to have better control.

As you ice the cookies, be careful to start with an outline that leaves a little room for spreading so that it doesn’t go to the edge of cookie and fall down the sides. Then, make another line or two inside of it (don’t completely fill the outline). As you can see in the picture, the icing will spread into the outline by itself. Use the tip of the bag to push it over the gaps.

Let the cookie icing dry overnight. Can either dry at room temp or uncovered in refrigerator.

If you prefer, you can serve these sooner (after the icing has just set) if you don’t want to wait. You just won’t be able to stack them on top of each other until they are completely dry.

Enjoy!! And save a few for Santa!

Allergen-Free Vegan Pumpkin Pies – Choose Your Structure

It would feel so wrong to omit pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving but this item remains a challenge for the home baker that wishes to avoid the 8 common allergens. What do you do when you have no idea how to create this illustrious pie without animal products or allergens? You do a lot of research and get extremely creative and go through a very expensive trial and error process. We hope we have saved you at least some time and money by providing some information (and a bit of trial and error to avoid) for you. You see, pumpkin pie needs something to set it up in order for it to be pumpkin pie and not warm pumpkin sauce, but it is extremely challenging to find a solid structure option that does not hit on one of the 8 common allergens.

That said, we offer a list of things that you can use for the custard structure with the appropriate amount to be added to the recipe below. Choose your structure based on your allergy, or one of your guests’ dietary restrictions.

It is extremely important that you tell your guests what ingredients you used in your baking.

If you are having anyone over and you do not know if they have a shellfish, nut, soy, or other allergy, and you decided to use silken tofu or cashews or agar flakes, you could send someone into anaphylaxis reaction. Most people know that dairy and eggs are in the pie but a person that is allergic to iodine may not suspect that you used agar flakes for a pumpkin pie. So…

DISCLOSE! DISCLOSE! DISCLOSE!

Follow the recipe below for the pumpkin pie and use the standard 4 eggs that is typically used (2 eggs per pie). If you cannot source your eggs from a humane farm, or you are allergic to eggs, choose one of these 7 structure options to replace the eggs:

1. 8 Tbsp Agar Agar flakes (Vegan but very high in iodine, may not be good for those with shellfish or fish allergy. Sold near the sushi nori at Whole Foods). Dissolve according to package directions before adding to the pie filling.

2. 4 Tbsp of tapioca starch. This is a great vegan option that avoids all of the allergens but it is a somewhat softer and smoother set. Note that this pie will not set until it has had time to cool down and put in the refrigerator overnight. (This is the method we used and depicted in the picture above).

3. Flax seeds: mix 4 Tbsp of ground flax seeds with 3/4 cup of water (equal to 4 eggs). (Vegan and avoids the 8 common allergens)

4. Chia seeds: use the same ratio of 4 Tbsp of ground chia seeds with 3/4 cup of water (equal to 4 eggs). (Vegan and avoids the 8 common allergens)

(Formula is derived via: 1 Tbsp of seeds to 3 Tbsp of water = 1 egg)

5. Two packets of unflavored gelatin (Not vegan. Not for those with a beef, pork or poultry allergy). Dissolve according to package directions.

6. Two 16-ounce packages of silken tofu (not for those with soy allergy). Use a blender to incorporate into the pie filling.

7. 1.5 cups of unsalted cashews blended into the pumpkin pie filling recipe using a food processor or blender (not for those with nut allergy)

Once you have decided on your structure option, and you have made your crust (click here for crust recipe), follow this pie filling recipe (or your favorite pumpkin pie recipe that is enough for two pies):

Pumpkin Pie Filling – Add Your Chosen Structure Option

1 28-ounce can of pureed pumpkin

1.5 cups sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups of unsweetened hemp milk (hemp milk is creamier than rice milk and is allergen-free. If it is safe to do so, you could use coconut milk, soy milk/creamer, or almond milk. If you use these alternatives, make sure they are safe for all of your guests. Rice milk is allergen-free but it is thin like skim milk and I would only recommend it if you have a very strong structure option such as gelatin or eggs.)

Directions:

Make your pie crusts but do not pre-bake. (Click Here for Easy Allergen-Free Pie Crust Recipe)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray or lightly coat your pie dishes with vegetable oil and press your crusts into the dishes.

Combine the pie filling ingredients and add one of the 7 structure options (see above). Stir until smooth and well-mixed. Pour the filling into the pie crusts and bake on the middle rack for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 45 minutes or until filling is firm.

Cool to room temperature and then transfer pies to refrigerator until ready to serve.

The Easy No-Bake Allergen-Free Cheesecake that You’ve Been Looking For. Almost Perfect. Accepting Challenges.

Foodie Challengers: Can you bring this allergen-free cheesecake to perfection? I developed this today but the filling needs refinement. It needs a creamier texture and stronger “real cheesecake” flavor. For some reason, the flavor weakened significantly during the chill and set process. It tastes like a mild vanilla jello. It’s good on it’s own (maybe for flan?), but otherwise, the crust overpowers it.

As for the crust, it is absolutely perfect and should remain unchanged. It has a really great graham cracker flavor and texture. When I ate a slice of this, the combination of the crust with the strawberries made me feel like I was having a cheesecake experience. It is the closest thing to cheesecake that I’ve had in years.

The filling really needs the most help, it needs a richer texture and deeper flavor. Ready to take on the challenge? Here are the requirements of the challenge:

1. it must use products that you can get from a store (not special ordered online)

2. it must be no-bake. And it must be free of dairy, eggs, soy, corn, peanuts and tree nuts.

So, should a solid fat be added such as earth balance or organic non-hydrogenated palm oil shortening? What about more nutritional yeast for the distinct cheesy flavor? Would a homemade condensed unsweetened milk help? Pureed bananas? Corn-starch-free melted marshmallows? Maybe? What are your thoughts?

Anyway, if you like a milder, lighter, flan-style filling, you might want to stick with this recipe as is. It’s not bad at all. I had two slices of it and feel happy. But it could be better. And I look forward to hearing what you do with this.

Here’s the recipe:
No-Bake Crust

Coat the bottom of a spring form or cake pan with wax paper or a little oil.

In a food processor, process gluten-free chocolate rice crispy cereal until you have 3 cups of very fine crumbs. The finer, the better.

Then add crumbs to a bowl along with 1/2 cup of maple syrup. Mix until crumbs are all coated and it sticks together. Then press into the bottom of the pan. Cover and refrigerate.

The Cheesecake Filling

Boil 1/2 cup of water.

In a bowl, add 2 envelopes of non-flavored gelatin. Stir the boiling water into the gelatin and stir until dissolved.

Then add 1/2 cup sugar and stir until dissolved.

Add 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast, 1 tsp vanilla, the juice of 1/4 of a lemon and stir.

Then add a pinch of salt and 1 15 oz. can of full fat coconut milk.

Pour into the prepared crust, cover and put in refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours.

That’s it! What do you think would make the filling richer and creamier?

Easy Chocolate “Doughnut” Cake

But with a much more lively milk chocolate taste. This recipe is adapted from a standard quick and easy chocolate cake recipe. The icing consistency was an accident. I was going for a thicker decorator icing but this actually worked very well and really reminded me of going to a bakery and getting a chocolate cake doughnut. If you have a doughnut shaped pan, this cake recipe would be perfect for that!

This cake is free of all eight common allergens. The icing is made of pureed beans, confectioner’s sugar and almond milk. If you are allergic to legumes, you could puree a fruit of your choice or use a mixture of jam and your favorite non-dairy milk. Ooo… that just made me think of doing a strawberry icing with this.

The Cake

I. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly coat an 8-inch square or round cake pan (or your doughnut pan) with vegetable oil.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together:

– 2 cups of your favorite GF flour mix

– 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum

– 1/4 cup of cocoa

– 2 teaspoons of baking soda

3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together:

– 3/4 cup of mashed banana or applesauce

– 1/4 cup of canola oil

– 1 cup of brewed coffee (Note: coffee intensifies the chocolate flavor. No coffee? No problem, use water or non-dairy milk)

– 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

4. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients until well blended and pour into the pan. Bake until toothpick or knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes. With a doughnut pan, I recommend checking to see if it is finished baking after about 15-20 minutes.

After cooled, cake can be wrapped up and kept at room temperature for about three days.

The Icing

1. In a small food processor, blend until as smooth as possible: 1 cup of white beans such as cannellini or navy, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/8-1/4 cup of non-dairy milk.

2. Pour the bean puree into a mixing bowl and add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1 pound of confectioner’s (aka: powedered) sugar (example: about 1/2 of a bag of Dominoe’s powdered sugar).

3. Blend until smooth and thick but drippy.

4. Transfer to a small bowl. When you slice a piece of cake, drizzle the icing over the slice and enjoy.

The icing can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for about a week. It also goes great on cinnamon buns or buttery cinnamon toast. Yum!

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