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

German Chocolate Cake Pops, gluten-free

 

(adapted from gluten-free girl)

On this fourth recipe for #Choctoberfest I decided I would try something along the lines of my grandma’s favorite cake, which was German Chocolate. But one slice was always a little bit too much sticky sweetness for me; so I decided I would turn it into a cute little round “cakelet” one can pop into one’s mouth.

GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE POPS  (gluten free)

for the cake:

Whisk together in mixing bowl:

• 2½ c. gf flour blend
• 1½ t. unflavored gelatin
• 2 c. sugar
• ½ c. baking cocoa
• 1 t. kosher salt
• 2 t. baking soda

In separate bowl combine:

• ²/₃ c. coconut oil
• 2 t. vinegar
• 1 t. vanilla
• 2 c. cold water

Pour this liquid into the flour mixture and beat for about a minute. Scrape the batter into greased pan(s) and bake in a pre-heated 350° oven for 35-40 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Let cake cool completely.

to make the pops:

Add 1 c. brown sugar to 1 c. cream, heating only to dissolve sugar. Let cool. Crumble cake into mixing bowl. Add 1 cup dried coconut flakes, 1 small box (instant) chocolate pudding and the sugar/cream mixture. Stir on low until well combined. Roll into balls and chill to firm. (makes about 5 dozen)

Melt 12 oz. milk chocolate with 1½ t. coconut oil in double boiler. In a separate dish combine 1 c. chopped pecans with 1 c. dried coconut flakes.

Dip tip of candy stick into chocolate and insert in cake balls. Chill until set.Dip balls into chocolate and then in the coconut/pecan mixture. Chill until set.

Make sure you check out all those delicious #Choctoberfest recipes below:

An InLinkz Link-up

GF Mexican Chocolate Churros

Well, have you entered the Rafflecopter giveaway for #Choctoberfest2016 yet? You should probably do that here right now! The sponsors have some great prizes they would love to send you…
This is the third day of our chocolate celebration, so I wanted to try something to put a little “pep” into the middle of your week. The subtle cayenne addition will wake your mouth up! (But you can soothe it with our luscious dairy-free caramel sauce, if you’d like…)

Gluten-Free Mexican Chocolate Churros

Whisk together in mixing bowl:

• 1 c. gf flour
• 1/2 c. arrowroot starch
• 2 T. baking cocoa powder
• 2 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. cayenne
• 1/2 t. espresso powder

Heat to rolling boil in microwave-safe cup:

• 1 c. water
• 1/2 c. butter
• 2 T. brown sugar
• 1/4 t. kosher salt

Pour boiling liquid ingredients onto dry ingredients, add 1/2 t. almond extract and beat until smooth. Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating until the dough is shiny after each addition. Spoon into pastry bag fitted with large star tip. Pipe 6-inch length of dough into 350° oil, and fry both sides. Drain excess oil and dredge in 1/2 c. Demerara sugar mixed with 1 t. cinnamon. Serve immediately.Our gluten-free churro batter was a little too thin to pipe with the star tip, so we had to improvise with a ribbon shape using this wonderful little Wilton candy-melt tool:

Dairy-free Caramel Sauce  (adapted from a Silk® recipe)

Stir together in saucepan:

• 1 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. water
• 1/4 t. lime juice (to inhibit crystallization)

Heat on medium for about 15 minutes without stirring, or until the mixture turns amber. Remove from heat and stir in:

• 1/2 c. Silk® Coconutmilk (watch out! it will bubble up – just keep stirring until smooth.)

Add:

• 2 T. coconut oil
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/4 t. kosher salt

Stir to combine, then serve immediately.

The churros taste so wonderful on their own – but when you dip them in that caramel sauce… ohhhhhhhhhh!
Thank you for joining us today! Make sure you check out some more #Choctoberfest recipes by following the links below:

An InLinkz Link-up

GF Lucky Jack® Wacky Cake

Well, here we are – 2nd day of #Choctoberfest and I promised you a simple cake. (Oh, by the way, did you enter that Rafflecopter to win prizes from our sponsors? You can find it here.)

Wacky Cake was developed during the Depression when often you couldn’t afford to use eggs or milk in your desserts. I’m always amazed at how deliciously moist this cake can be – and even more so because I made this one with gluten-free flour!Also impressive is the fact that you don’t dirty any extra utensils. I just used an 8x8 glass dish & a fork (aside from measuring cups & spoons, that is…)

You’ll need to pre-heat your oven to 350°. Into the dish (don’t even need to grease it!) you’re going to measure:

• 1 & 1/2 c. gf flour blend (I used  Bob’s Red Mill^® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. baking cocoa
• 1/2 t. Kosher salt
• 1 t. baking soda

You could sift this all together, but I just dumped it in & mixed carefully (that dish might not be as deep as you think…) with a dinner fork. After it’s thoroughly blended, you’ll need to make three holes, or “wells,” in the powder.

Into the first you will put 1 t. Kahlúa (mine is home-made, leftover from Christmas gifts…) and in the second you’ll pour 1/3 c. coconut oil (melted) and 1 T. vinegar goes in the last. (Don’t be surprised if that one fizzes a bit with the presence of the soda.) Lastly, you will pour one cup of Lucky Jack^® Double Black over all the ingredients. (Unfortunately, I’m afraid you’ll just have to drink the remaining 2 oz.)

Carefully stir until everything is completely combined. Pop it in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a pick comes out clean. Let cool.(mine cracked a bit… No worries! We’ll soon cover that up!)

While your cake is baking, measure out 2 T. whipping cream and dissolve 1 t. instant coffee crystals. After the cake has cooled, pour 2 c. cold whipping cream, 3 T. honey and the dissolved instant coffee into the Blendtec (or food processor, or mixer, or metal bowl with French whisk…)Seriously, 5 or 6 seconds on “high” gave me luscious Honey Java Whipped Cream. (Please ignore that finger-swipe strange crease, I have no idea how it got in there!)Toss a dollop on a slice of cake and you’re ready for a tea coffee party!

Check out all of today’s #Choctoberfest recipe links below:

An InLinkz Link-up

Strawberry “Cashtella” Galette

For my very first #Choctoberfest post I decided to incorporate my new-found favorite “health” food – CASHEW BUTTER. It was but one short month ago I blended up my very first batch…

Since Nutella^® is made with ground hazelnuts, I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to recreate it with ground cashews… In order to save time, I ground my cashew butter at the store, but their machine didn’t get it anywhere near as smooth as the Blendtec^®. That means the final product was much granier than intended, but none of my test subjects minded, at all !

 

Needing to make a dent in my 25# bag of Bob’s Red Mill^® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour , I decided to try my hand at a gluten-free pie crust.

If you wish for a sweeter crust (the filling was sweet enough for us!) you can add one tablespoon sugar. You could also do an egg wash prior to baking, but I knew that this flour mixture would brown nicely on its own at this temperature.

After the dough chilled for about an hour, I rolled it out on parchment paper. I spread about a cup of “Cashtella” around the center (make it as thick or thin as you desire) then added a cup of strawberry jam on top of that.(Tried to) gently fold up the edges of the pastry and baked in a preheated 350° oven for about 20 minutes.

The crust was amazingly flaky (as far as gf items go…)Unfortunately, when it came time to serve our galette, “all” I could find to top it was Chocolate Fudge Ribbon ice cream…

 

Come back by tomorrow because I’ve made you a chocolate cake with very little effort, but GIGANTIC flavor! And be sure to enter the sponsors’ giveaway. In the meantime, you should probably check out the recipes in the #Choctoberfest linky down there ↓

An InLinkz Link-up

#CHOCTOBERFEST

Today is one of my favorite days of the year... because it is the first day of #Choctoberfest 2016! #Choctoberfest is a virtual event put together by The PinterTest Kitchen. Bloggers from around the world will be posting their favorite chocolate recipes, and you’ll get a chance to win some awesome prizes. What’s not to love?

Thank you to the sponsors who make #Choctoberfest possible! This year, Imperial Sugar is back as our Gold Sponsor. They have been a trusted name in kitchens since 1843, and their website is home to thousands of sweet recipes tested in the Imperial Sugar Kitchen. You can find Imperial Sugar on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, or join their Sweet Community so you can share your own recipes, save recipes to a virtual inbox, print Imperial Sugar coupons, and connect with other sugar lovers.

Imperial Sugar and our silver sponsors have banded together to offer a huge #Choctoberfest prize pack, which you can enter to win below! One lucky winner will be chosen at random to receive the following:

• From our Gold Sponsor Imperial Sugar: 1 case of granulated sugar (40 pounds), 1 case of brown sugar (24 pounds), 1 case of dark brown sugar (24 pounds), 1 case of powdered sugar (24 pounds bags), and an Imperial Sugar red ruffle apron
• From our Silver Sponsor Nature Nate's: 32 oz. Raw & Unfiltered Honey bottle, Honey Syrup, Honey Packets, a Nature Nate’s T-shirt, various kitchen supplies, and $50 Amazon gift card
• From our Silver Sponsor Barlean's:16 oz Barlean’s Butter-Flavored Coconut Oil, 9.52 oz canister of Chocolate Silk Greens, and 8oz bottle of Essential Women Omega-Swirl Chocolate Mint
• From our Silver Sponsor Caveman Coffee: 1 Bag of Coffee (you choice of blacklisted or sabertooth), 1 coconut MCT oil, and 1 Cacao Butter
• From #Choctoberfest blog hosts The PinterTest Kitchen: 1 specialty chocolate gift pack (your choice of dark or milk chocolate), 1 tin (14 ounces) drinking chocolate, and Divine's Fair Trade Gift Set

Enter now to win our #Choctoberfest 2016 prize pack! We'll be picking a winner at random winner on Saturday, Oct. 15, so enter by Friday to make sure your name is in the drawing:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a list of all of the bloggers participating in #Choctoberfest 2016. Visit any of their blogs to get delicious chocolate recipes throughout the week:

The PinterTest Kitchen • 2 Cookin’ Mamas • A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures • addicted 2 recipes • Amy’s Cooking Adventures • An Affair From The Heart • Balancing Motherhood • Body Rebooted • Bottom Left of the Mitten • By the Pounds • Canning and Cooking at Home • Coconut & Lime • Cook with 5 Kids • Cook's Hideout • Cookaholic Wife • Cooking with Carlee • CopyKat Recipes • Cricket's Confections • Crumbs in my Mustachio • Elisabeth Jean • Fairyburger • Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice • Family Around the Table • Fantastical Sharing of Recipes • Feed Your Soul Too • Feeding Big • Frankly Entertaining • Full Belly Sisters • Get the Good Stuff • Grumpy’s Honeybunch • Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks • Hostess At Heart • Ink and Sugar • Jane’s Adventures in Dinner • Join Us, Pull Up a Chair • Karen's Kitchen Adventures • Kate's Recipe Box • Kudos Kitchen by Renee • Kylee Cooks • Letz Eat • Life Currents • Life on Food • Making Miracles • Monica's Table • Moore or Less Cooking Food Blog • My Catholic Kitchen • My Gluten Free Miami • Our Good Life • Palatable Pastime • Restless Chipotle • Seduction in The Kitchen • Sew You Think You Can Cook • Simple Food 365 • Southern With A Twist • Sumptuous Spoonfuls • Take Two Tapas • Tampa Cake Girl • Teaspoon of Goodness • That Recipe • The Crumby Cupcake • The Flavourista • The Food Hunter's Guide To Cuisine • The Freshman Cook • The Pajama Chef • The Redhead Baker • The Spiffy Cookie • Tramplingrose • Wildflour's Cottage Kitchen • Zesty South Indian Kitchen

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the yummy recipes posted on these blogs. Check them out throughout the week and don't forget to follow our sponsors and bloggers using the Rafflecopter giveaway widget above for your chance to win our sweet prize pack.