Gluten-free | Fifty-Two Cakes: Baking Recipes

February 27, 2012June 17, 2017

Cookie 8: Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-Free)

Gluten-Free Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ingredients

1/2 cup almond butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 whisked egg white
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Cookie Recipe Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix almond butter, brown sugar, whisked egg white, baking soda, vanilla extract and salt just until blended. Stir in dark chocolate chips with a spatula. Drop into cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. (I use my cookie scoop to get consistent sizing.) Bake for about 12 minutes. Slide the parchment paper off of the cookie sheet and onto a cooling rack to cool. This is a very soft and crumbly gluten-free cookie recipe, so let them cool completely before enjoying! Easily one of the least bad-for-you cookies I’ve made, and bonus points for being flourless for those folks with a sweet tooth who also happen to have gluten-free diets.

June 23, 2011June 17, 2017

Cake 45: Chocolate Hazelnut Cherry Cake

This recipe is modified slightly from a Nigella Lawson Chocolate Hazelnut Cake recipe. It was inspired by a crepe that my friend Angela had at the local creperie in downtown St. Louis called “Rooster.” She ordered a nutella crepe with liquor-poached cherries. Correct me if I’m wrong, but this flourless cake is also gluten-free. I served it at my going away happy hour to celebrate my departure from St. Louis back to my hometown of Kansas City next week.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cherry Cake Recipe Ingredients

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
6 eggs, separated into yolks and whites
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
13 ounces of chocolate hazelnut butter (I used Justin’s brand from Whole Foods)
1 tablespoon Frangelico
1/2 cup ground hazelnuts
1/2 cup canned dark, sweet cherries, sliced and soaked in Frangelico (could also use dried cherries)

Chocolate Hazelnut Cherry Cake Recipe Directions

Soak the 1/2 cup of sliced cherries in enough Frangelico for them to be covered. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you need them. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9-inch round springform pan. In a double-boiler, melt the chocolate over low heat, then remove from heat to cool at room temperature. In your kitchen mixer with a clean bowl and clean beaters, whisk the egg whites and salt until stiff. In a separate bowl, cream the butter, chocolate hazelnut spread, Frangelico, egg yolks and ground hazelnuts. Fold in the melted chocolate. Stir a bit of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate batter and mix gently with a rubber spatula, then fold in the remaining egg white mixture, about one third at a time. Be gentle, but blend just until complete. Drain cherries and add to cake batter. Pour into your prepared springform pan and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes. You know your cake is done when you insert a wooden tester and it comes out clean, and your cake top should bounce back when gently pressed, and the edges will start to pull away from the pan ever-so-slightly.

Toasted Hazelnut Ganache Recipe Ingredients

4 ounces whole hazelnuts
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon Frangelico
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Toasted Hazelnut Ganache Recipe Directoins

In a dry skillet, toast the hazelnuts over medium heat for about 4 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely. Remove most of the hazelnut skins with a towel after toasting them. In a small saucepan, mix the heavy cream, chopped chocolate and Frangelico and stir over medium-low heat until combined, then cool at room temperature. Pour the ganache over the chocolate hazelnut cherry cake, then top with the toasted hazelnuts.

September 23, 2010January 10, 2012

Cake 8: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Goodness I love Autumn! Crisp, cool, smells nice, great for bike rides. And I do love pumpkin! I can’t stand pumpkin pie, but I love pumpkin cake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin bread and pumpkin beer. My challenge this week was to make something flourless or gluten-free, so I thought I would incorporate the deliciousness of fall as it is cooling down here with the gluten-free challenge for our gluten-allergy/celiac friends here at the office. This one is pretty easy and straightforward to make, and it is nice to accommodate our gluten-free friends once in a while! Even flourless folks deserve tasty desserts. 😉

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake Ingredients

1 stick (0.5-cup) softened butter
1.5 cups sugar
2 eggs
1.25 cup mashed pumpkin
1/3 cup water
1.75 cups gluten-free flour mix w/ xantham gum in it
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese
2 cups confectioner’s/powdered sugar

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake Recipe Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream together softened butter, sugar, eggs and mashed pumpkin. Mix the gluten-free flour mix with xantham gum, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a separate bowl. Beat half of the dry ingredient mixture into your batter (I use my wonderful KitchenAid from my husband for this), then beat in the water. Beat in the remaining dry ingredient mixture completely. Pour into a greased cake pan and bake for about 35 to 45 minutes, or until your toothpick inserted in a dense point comes out dry. I used a funky flower-like cake pan I found in my cabinet that I have been looking for an excuse to use forever. Cool completely before frosting with the cream cheese glaze.

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe Directions

Blend together the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a large bowl over until it is thick, gooey and creamy. Drizzle over your cooled gluten-free pumpkin cake. To get the look I did, I poured all the cream cheese frosting right in the middle of the cake and used a spatula to spread it out to each flower petal.