Balsamic Berry Hand Pies

While I do love me some balsamic vinegar on my caprese, I'd never thought to use it in any but savory dishes. When July's #ImprovCookingChallenge ingredient list popped up, I figured I'd pass on this month's entry -- Berries & Balsamic -- yuk!
So I googled berries & balsamic - who knew it was a "thing"?! I figured I'd better try it, just in case the fellas might like it.
I used a mix of blueberries & raspberries.

The filling wasn't quite as bright-colored as I'd hoped, but it sure tasted killer! 

Turns out, balsamic vinegar enhances berry flavors!

I made a gluten-free pie crust and cut rounds.

Added a large dollop of filling, then topped it with a second round.

Since gf pastry doesn't always brown nicely, I brushed the tops with beaten egg & sprinkled sugar over before baking.

The crust was super flake-y and could not contain all the goodness that was the balsamic kissed berries!

So yummy! 

Good to the last crumb!


Here's what I used to make the filling:

• 12 oz. blueberries
• 12 oz. raspberries
• 2 T. balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. cornstarch
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 T. fresh lime juice

Stir in sauce pan over medium heat until mixture thickens.

Check out these other recipes from my fellow "Improvists" -- you won't be sorry!

An InLinkz Link-up

Strawberry Jalapeño Cornmeal Cream Puffs

So, along with the Pretzel Dogs, I wished to use the jalapeño & cheese #ImprovCookingChallenge ingredients in a dessert. The past few weeks I've seen quite a few recipes featuring strawberries with cornmeal -- shortcakes, muffins, waffles... I wanted to make something gluten free, of course, but desired it a little "fancier" than cornbread. I looked for cornmeal pâte à choux, but consensus seemed to deem that ingredient as too heavy for puffs. I decided to use my successful gf profiteroles recipe from December and just sub in a little cornmeal. IT WORKED! THEY PUFFED!

The texture was what I wanted. Plus, they tasted of cornmeal!

Cornmeal Pâte à choux

1 c. water
½ c. butter (if using unsalted, add a pinch of kosher salt)
¾ c. Bob’s Red Mill® Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour 

¼ c. yellow cornmeal

4 large eggs

(It’s easier to assemble ingredients before starting, because the process goes fast!) Break the eggs into a spouted measuring cup. Preheat oven to 425°. Whisk the flour & cornmeal together. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Combine the water & butter in a saucepan; bring to a rolling boil.
Remove from heat and add the flour mixture all at once, stirring vigorously.
Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat for a couple minutes until it’s cooled to below 125°F.
Beat in the eggs one at a time on medium speed; scrape the bowl after each addition.
After the last egg, beat the dough a couple minutes until it holds a peak.
Scoop about a 2 tablespoon-size portion of batter onto the prepared baking sheets for each puff. (Allow space for the puffs to expand.) This made 12 puffs for me. 
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°. Bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until the dough has risen and the pastries are a medium golden brown. (They should sound hollow if you tap them…) Remove the pastries from the oven, make a small slit in the top of each, and return them to the oven for another 5 minutes, to allow the steam to escape.
Transfer the puffs to a rack to cool.
Split each one in half & fill the bottom with a scoop of the jalapeño strawberry mixture then replace the tops. 
Serve immediately!

Now, about that filling:
It actually evolved from what I'd planned, but happened to turn out ever so much better than I thought it would.

First of all I candied fresh jalapeño slices in a piloncillo syrup.

I had found an interesting recipe for strawberry flan from Spain that I adapted for my filling. But here's what I did instead:

• 1 lb. hulled fresh strawberries
• 1 piloncillo cone, chopped
• 1 c. half-and-half
• 4 oz. caramel sirup (see Joy of Cooking pic)
• 6 Eggs
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• finely chopped candied jalapeños, to taste
• 2 T. tequila

(recipe from 1946 Joy of Cooking)

Add first 5 ingredients to blender & chop until smooth.

Pour into sauce pan & cook on medium to 180° (as if you were cooking a custard, so stir frequently...) Cover & chill.

Beat cream cheese & candied jalapeños until creamy. Add a shot of tequila & beat some more. Combine chilled strawberry mixture & beat again. Pour into freezer-safe container & freeze until firm. Scoop & enjoy!

(SOMEBODY has to eat the melty leftovers...)

(Enjoy responsibly! BTW - you don't have to add the tequila, but it just makes the flavor soooooooo much better.)

As always, check out the links to jalapeño & cheese recipes by my friends:

An InLinkz Link-up

Bananas Foster Biscotti (gf)

This mama doesn't "do" bananas. Used to -- but now, even their smell, ever since my first pregnancy, creeps.me.out. A couple of my fellas eat them, so I allow a banana or two in the house until it starts to become too yellow. Can't even have the peels in the compost bucket indoors -- straight out to the garden pile with it!
Imagine my chagrin upon learning Nichole deemed April's #ImprovCookingChallenge ingredients to be coconut & bananas! (Last time bananas happened, a couple years back, I didn't participate that month...)
Ah well! We're grown-ups! We'll add a little alcohol & make it work. Soooooooo... why don't we whip up a batch of these: 

The biscotti are a little crumbly, the rum drizzle drench is slightly tacky, but those are pretty darn good gluten-free, processed-sugar-free cookies! Here's the recipe:

#becauserum

Do you like almond butter? or cashew butter? or sun butter? I highly recommend coconut butter! I used Bob's Red Mill Shredded Coconut to make mine.

The resultant biscotti do not (thankfully) have a pronounced banana flavor. You could always add more banana liqueur to the cookie batter. ☺☺☺☺ The links below will take you to some more banana & coconut recipes:

An InLinkz Link-up

Chipotlé Chocolate Fried Ice Cream

Those of you who follow my recipes get a chocolate "two-fer" this week (this month...) Monday I posted a Brown Butter Cheesecake Truffles recipe for #FoodBloggerLove and this post is a Chocolate & Chili recipe for the #ImprovCookingChallenge today.

I was kind of glad Nichole (the wonderful blogger who organizes the Improv Cooking Challenge) chose this particular combination. For a year now I've been ordered tasked with asked to replicate this:

I've made two versions so far, but neither was satisfactory. But I think I'm getting closer...

I scream, you scream, we all scream when we have chipotlé ice cream!

I had been reading about making ice cream thickened with cornstarch instead of eggs. I'd heard that it was so silky & smooth -- so that's the direction we went today:
In a sauce pan whisk together 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup baking cocoa, 2 Tablespoons espresso powder, 1-1/2 teaspoons chipotlé chile powder, and 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon. Whisk in 2 cups whole milk and heat on stove.

While that's going, mix another 1/2 cup milk with 3 Tablespoons cornstarch until there are no more lumps. Just as the concoction in the pan comes to a boil, stir in the cornstarch mixture. Continue to stir and boil until the texture is like pudding. Remove from heat. Boil 1/2 cup heavy cream (I utilized the microwave) and pour over 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. After a minute, stir until the chips are melted.

Add this to the spicy cocoa in the pan and stir well. Chill complete mixture until ready to prepare according your ice cream maker manufacturer's directions. (You can read how I churned mine here.)

Ice cream recipe adapted from Joy the Baker.

While your ice cream maker is doing the hard work; go ahead and prepare the coating for your ice cream balls.

(please, if you are gluten-intolerant, ensure you are using a certified gluten-free corn flake product!)

I crushed until I had 2 cups corn flake crumbs. Then I stirred in 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut. (you can also use crushed nuts, if desired...) Set aside.

Form ice cream into balls (I made 6; you could make more or less depending on the size of your dessert appetite!) Freeze for an hour. Roll in crumbs and return to freezer for two hours.

(first coating -- you could fry it this way, but I wouldn't recommend it!) 

Beat two eggs in a small bowl. Dip coated balls in the egg, then again dredge in crumb mixture. Freeze for two hours.

(after 2nd coat)

I actually prepared another two eggs and repeated the process to make sure I had a good coating. Stuck them in the freezer for another 2 hours.

(last dip in crumbs -- now fit to be fried!)

Just before frying the ice cream balls, make your bed of whipped cream. (I whipped 8 oz. heavy whipping cream with 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar. You can make more, because the whip does help lower the heat from the chipotlé...)

Heat oil to 400°. Gently lower one ball at a time and fry for almost a minute.

Remove from oil (let it drip excess oil a few seconds) and serve immediately!

Did you enjoy my Chocolate & Chili choice? Check out my friends' recipes at these links:

An InLinkz Link-up

Yiaourti Me Meli ~ filled Profiteroles (gf)

Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to make croquembouche for this month’s Improv Cooking Challenge. bahahaha! Not really – I stacked up some cinnamon cream puffs filled with Greek yogurt and drizzled honey all over them. (then attempted to photograph them before the cat tried to topple my tower…)
For a couple years now the hubster likes a bowl of Greek yogurt, cinnamon, honey & frozen mixed berries before turning in for the night. Little did he know that he was “knocking-off” that famous Greek dessert called “Yiaourti Me Meli” – yogurt and honey (well, minus the walnuts and plus the berries…)
I decided to dress it up a little in a cinnamon profiterole and top it with a bit more honey.
This was my first attempt at pâte à choux using Bob’s Red Mill® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it turned out. I will definitely be making more gf puffs in the future!
I started by making the yogurt so the flavors could blend together. I used 2 cups of Greek yogurt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/3 cup local honey & 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.
With that resting in the fridge, I went to work on the profiteroles.

Cinnamon Pâte à Choux

1 cup water
½ c. butter (if using unsalted, add a pinch of kosher salt)
½ t. cinnamon
1 c. Bob’s Red Mill® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour 4 large eggs

• (It’s easier to assemble ingredients before starting, because the process goes fast!) Break the eggs into a spouted measuring cup. Preheat oven to 425°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Combine the water, butter and cinnamon in a saucepan, bring to a rolling boil.
• Remove the pan from the heat, and add the flour all at once, stirring vigorously.
• Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat for a couple minutes until it’s cooled to below 125°F.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time on medium speed; scrape the bowl after each addition.
• After the last egg, beat the dough a couple minutes until it holds a peak.
• Scoop the batter onto the prepared baking sheets using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop. (Allow space for the puffs to expand.)
• Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°. Bake for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until the dough has risen and the pastries are a medium golden brown. (They should sound hollow if you tap them…) Remove the pastries from the oven, make a small slit in the top of each, and return them to the oven for another 5 minutes, to allow the steam to escape.
• Transfer the puffs to a rack to cool.
• When they are cool enough to handle, split each one in half to air out the centers, which will help keep the pastries from becoming soggy.
• Fill the bottom half of the profiterole with the yogurt mixture then replace the top. Dip  in honey and form stack on a serving plate. Drizzle with more honey.
• Serve immediately; refrigerate any leftovers.

Yield: 2 dozen puffs

They were quite tasty! To see recipes for more tasty cinnamon & honey dishes, click on the links below:

An InLinkz Link-up

GF Red Velvet Cheesecake

Well, today is my final post for #Choctoberfest2016 … BTW – Did you enter the Rafflecopter drawing for the prize pack worth $350? (The drawing was extended to October 22nd because of weather/transportation/shipping issues related to Hurricane Matthew…)

I’m pretty sure I saved the best for last!

This cheesecake…

OH!MY!

Let’s start with the crust:

stir together

• 2 c. almond meal
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 3 T. melted butter
• 2 T. honey

Prepare the bottom (parchment or butter) of 9” springform. Combine ingredients until crumbly. Press firmly into pan.For the cheesecake:

in the mixer

• 24 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1¹/₂ c. sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 c. Greek yogurt
• ¹/₂ c. buttermilk
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 T. baking cocoa mixed with 2 oz. red food coloring
• 1 t. white vinegar with ¹/₄ t. baking soda

Cream the sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in the remaining ingredients just until everything is well-combined. Scrape batter onto prepared crust. Bake in pre-heated 350° oven for ten minutes, then reduce temperature to 300°. Bake for 75 minutes, or until firm in the center. Turn oven off, but let the cheesecake stand in there for 30 minutes. Remove to rack & let cool completely. Cover & chill in refrigerator while making the Ermine Icing.

You absolutely can not top a cheesecake with cream cheese frosting! And you should never, really, top a red velvet anything with something other than the traditional boiled milk icing. (The gentle cocoa flavor just gets too overwhelmed…) Trust me on this. {end rant }

for the icing:

• 3 T. gf flour (I used this)
• 2 T. arrowroot starch
• 1 c. whole milk
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 c. butter, room temperature
• 1 c. granulated sugar

In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk the flour & starch into the milk. Heat until it simmers, stirring constantly until it becomes thick like pudding. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla. Pour into a bowl & cover surface with plastic wrap and cool completely.

In the mixer, cream the butter and sugar until it’s light & fluffy. Beat for five minutes.

While the mixer is running (medium speed) add the cooled milk mixture about a quarter cup at a time. Beat until mixture is light & fluffy and resembles whipped cream. Top cheesecake and refrigerate.

The next time I attempt this cheesecake (and, there will be a next time!) I will probably add more cocoa. The chocolate flavor disappeared behind the cream cheese… But I had no complaints from the taste-testers.

Check out the #Choctoberfest links below:

An InLinkz Link-up