Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Mostly because all the TVs go on sale. I kid, I kid! I love the fact that we have a holiday dedicated to being grateful for our lives and the people in it. And we get to eat as much pie as we want.
Being a fall baby myself, pumpkin is undoubtedly wayyyy up there in the favorites lexicon. Had the chance to practice on some friends this last weekend, and the results were unanimous–yum! xox
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie
Heat the oven to 350 and turn on tunes! Alabama Shakes did the trick nicely for me..
For the crust:
2 1/2 cups Pamela’s Baking Mix
3 tbls. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 tbls. light agave
5 tbls. sunflower (canola or safflower work well too) oil
3 tbls. ice water
Mix the flour, butter and agave together in a large mixing bowl with a fork until the butter is the size of little peas in the mixture. You can use your fingers to help out. Then add the sunflower oil and ice water, and mix again. The crust should have a slightly doughier consistency than a wheat pie crust–it needs a little more liquid to help it hold together, since it doesn’t have gluten.
Press the dough firmly into a 9 inch deep dish pie pan, and prick the bottom with the tines of a fork. Pop in the oven for 10 minutes to pre-bake lightly, and make the filling.
For the filling:
Mix pumpkin and eggs until well combined. Add in the rest of the ingredients and add a little more spice if you like. Life is about spice! Pour the mixture in the pie shell, and pop back in the oven. Bake about 35-40 minutes, or until the mixture is fairly firm. It won’t be super hard like some pies, but it will be silky and delicious. I promise!!
Make some whipped cream to serve with, by whipping 1/2 pint of heavy cream with 1/4 cup agave and 1 tsp vanilla. Dollop and feast!! xox
P.S. Special thanks to Brooke Wilen for some of these pie pics!
With autumn falling all over the place, thoughts turn to savory risotto dishes with shavings of truffles…And a lovely glass of warm red wine with a chocolate truffle too!
This weekend I made the chocolate kind (having no deep forests or pigs around to hunt the fungal kind), and they were a hit. They were SUCH a hit that there were only 2 left by the time I snapped a pic! And super easy to make. Ready? Here you go..
Gluten-Free Chocolate Truffles (makes about 30)
12 oz. organic bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped (HIGH quality a must!)
1/4-1/3 cup heavy cream (Use 1/4 cup if you want a denser, darker ganache)
pure cocoa powder and chopped pistachios for toppings
Turn on some tunes! Friday I had James Blake’s song “Retrograde” on repeat. No particular reason, I just am in love with that song.
Melt the chocolate and cream over low heat in a sauce pan, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and evenly melted. Definitely use high quality chocolate. If you use cheap stuff, the added oils/emulsifiers will come out and your ganache will harden with chunks of grease. Yuck.
Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour, or until the ganache is firm but not hard.
Using a melon baller (like everyone has a melon baller. Please.) or a teaspoon, scoop small amounts of ganache from the bowl. Using your (clean!) hands, form a ball and place the truffle onto a plate, until all the chocolate is scooped.
Even the tulips want the last truffles!
Roll the truffles in toppings of your choice. I used chopped pistachios for some, and cocoa powder for others, but you can use whatever you want. Life is beautiful that way!!
EAT!! Mmmm…Then refrigerate any leftovers..xoxo
It’s October! It’s time for apples and pumpkins! And 100 degree heat with Santa Ana winds!
Bound and determined to have some autumn here in Los Angeles, I happened upon beautiful little early crop apples from Washington. Decided an apple galette was in order. Note: Galette is French for make-a-pie-without-the-pie-pan.
Gluten-Free Autumn Apple Galette
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and turn on tunes! Last night’s anthem was Van Morrison’s “Moon Dance”. Always reminds me of October in New England..
For the crust:
2 1/2 cups Pamela’s Baking Mix
3 tbls. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 tbls. light agave
5 tbls. sunflower (canola or safflower work well too) oil
3 tbls. ice water
Mix the flour, butter and agave together in a large mixing bowl with a fork until the butter is the size of little peas in the mixture. You can use your fingers to help out. Then add the sunflower oil and ice water, and mix again. The crust should have a slightly doughier consistency than a wheat pie crust–it needs a little more liquid to help it hold together, since it doesn’t have gluten.
Roll the dough out onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Yes it’s hard to roll gluten-free dough. Don’t worry too much about it. You can re-shape with your hands. Don’t roll it too thin–remember, this will be the pie plate as well as the crust. Using your hands, shape the dough into a rectangle and mound the crust up on the sides to make walls for holding in the apples. Pop it in the fridge to firm while you make the filling.
Apples are in the crust, ready for spice mix and baking!
For the filling:
6 medium apples of your choice (I used Gala), rinsed, peeled, cored and sliced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinammon
tiny pinch of cloves
1 tbls. organic brown sugar
agave to taste
Slice the apples, bring the crust back out and arrange the apples on top. Squeeze the lemon juice over the apples evenly. This helps bring out the flavor, and keeps them from turning brown/bruised looking.
In a small bowl, mix the nutmeg, cinammon, cloves and brown sugar. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the apples. Then squeeze a good squeeze of light agave over the whole thing to add a little more sweet. (Squeeze a good squeeze–very technical measurement.)
If you’d like, you can brush a little egg wash over the crust to help give it that polished look. Mix one egg with a little water or cream, and use a pastry brush to brush it over the crust.
After it cools, transfer the galette to a pretty board for serving..
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and the apples are bubbling. Serve plain or with whipped cream or ice cream…Sooooooooo goooooood…xox
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Mostly because all the TVs go on sale. I kid, I kid! I love the fact that we have a holiday dedicated to being grateful for our lives and the people in it. And we get to eat as much pie as we want.
Being a fall baby myself, pumpkin is undoubtedly wayyyy up there in the favorites lexicon. Had the chance to practice on some friends this last weekend, and the results were unanimous–yum! xox
Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie
Heat the oven to 350 and turn on tunes! Alabama Shakes did the trick nicely for me..
For the crust:
For the filling:
Mix pumpkin and eggs until well combined. Add in the rest of the ingredients and add a little more spice if you like. Life is about spice! Pour the mixture in the pie shell, and pop back in the oven. Bake about 35-40 minutes, or until the mixture is fairly firm. It won’t be super hard like some pies, but it will be silky and delicious. I promise!!
Make some whipped cream to serve with, by whipping 1/2 pint of heavy cream with 1/4 cup agave and 1 tsp vanilla. Dollop and feast!! xox
P.S. Special thanks to Brooke Wilen for some of these pie pics!
With autumn falling all over the place, thoughts turn to savory risotto dishes with shavings of truffles…And a lovely glass of warm red wine with a chocolate truffle too!
This weekend I made the chocolate kind (having no deep forests or pigs around to hunt the fungal kind), and they were a hit. They were SUCH a hit that there were only 2 left by the time I snapped a pic! And super easy to make. Ready? Here you go..
Gluten-Free Chocolate Truffles (makes about 30)
It’s October! It’s time for apples and pumpkins! And 100 degree heat with Santa Ana winds!
Bound and determined to have some autumn here in Los Angeles, I happened upon beautiful little early crop apples from Washington. Decided an apple galette was in order. Note: Galette is French for make-a-pie-without-the-pie-pan.
Gluten-Free Autumn Apple Galette
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and turn on tunes! Last night’s anthem was Van Morrison’s “Moon Dance”. Always reminds me of October in New England..
For the crust:
