Household Blog

I’ve been working on this recipe for about a month now, and luckily there have been several social occasions on which I could test my variations: this torte is RICH – a small slice goes a long way. One torte could easily serve 15 or so people. That said, I’ve found that with practice and dedication, one can work herself up to being able to eat much more than just one small piece.

The inspiration for this torte comes from a chocolate tart recipe I tried out of the big yellow Gourmet recipe book.

Many thanks to my herbalism class at Sacred Plant Traditions for letting me take pictures. This was our last day of class together, and we had quite a feast. This group knows how to eat: marinated broccoli, quinoa with apple and chive blossoms, vegetarian chili, curried egg salad, and that’s just what I remember off the top of my head.

So without further ado:

Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Torte

Crust:

• One 9-inch springform pan
• 1 7.25 oz. package of Pamela’s ginger cookies (yields about 1 1/2 cups crumbs)
• 5 T. butter

Filling:

• 10 to 12 ounces 60% or 70% cacao dark chocolate
• 9 T. butter
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 c. organic raw sugar
• 1/2 c. whipping cream
• generous pinch of sea salt
• 1 1/2 t. vanilla extract

Wrap the bottom plate of your springform with foil or parchment paper and assemble the pan. Preheat oven to 350 and place a cookie sheet on a lower rack to catch any drips (my springform always seems to leak a little butter from its bottom seam).

Soften the unsalted butter for the crust and mix with the cookie crumbs. If you use a different kind of cookie for the crust, you just want to make sure that it equals 1 1/2 cups of crumbs. If you don’t have enough, I’ve had good luck mixing in some shredded coconut to make up the difference. Press the crumb-butter mixture into the bottom of your springform, bringing it about an inch up the sides.

Bake your crust for about 10 minutes. It will be slightly puffy and the sides may have slumped down a bit. Set the springform on a cooling rack and use a spoon to press the sides back up if necessary. Allow crust to cool.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt 9 Tablespoons unsalted butter with the chocolate until completely combined and melted. Remove from heat.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, cream, salt, and vanilla, then add the chocolate mixture. Pour this filling into the crust, using a spatula to make sure that you’ve gotten every single delicious drop. Smooth the top of the torte with the spatula, then place in the oven to cook for about 25 to 30 minutes. It will not rise much. The edges will be set but the center will still be wobbly. Remove and place on cooling rack to bring to room temperature, a couple hours.

Once cooled to room temperature, place in the refrigerator to chill until the torte is firm, another couple hours. Cut into small slices and serve.

Some variations I plan on trying in the future: adding a layer of jam between the crust and the filling; mixing coconut, dried fruit, or nuts into the filling, or using half dark chocolate batter with half white chocolate batter to do a swirled torte.

In an effort to adapt my beloved banana bread for local and seasonal considerations, here’s my July-in-Virginia version. I made this last week and was thrilled at the result. I’d recommend adding a little bit of lemon rind too, or possibly using honey instead of sugar – play with it, see what you like!

2 large ripe peaches
2 eggs
1/3 c. brown sugar or rapidura
1 T. olive oil
1 ¾ c. gluten free flour mix (I use Pamela’s) or regular flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
½ t. sea salt
¾ c. fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Slice peaches thinly and then cut slices in half. In large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, and oil, then add peaches. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, tossing together with a fork. Add the dry mix to the wet mixture and mix with fork or spoon just until combined. Add blue berries and mix gently. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake 1 hour. Enjoy!

I’ve finally found it, my uber-recipe for banana bread, the unicorn of gluten-free quickbreads, the bodacious babe of the banana cabana!

You know, I didn’t really care for banana bread when I was younger – the texture never seemed quite right, it was often dry, and why waste a perfectly good banana (or four, for that matter). But these things change. It all started with Kat.

Kat is a darling. She’s a dancer and, even though I am admittedly biased, she’s one of the most lovely and graceful and powerful dancers I’ve ever seen. She’s also a wholesome and warm person to be around, and so was the banana bread she made for our tea date one fine afternoon. It was moist, it was flavorful, it was hot from the oven, it was… healthy?

Okay lalala fad diet nonsense and what-what, but yes, healthy. Flour and sugar played their roles, but not in large portions. The real star of the bread was the FIVE bananas it used for one loaf. Currently swooning with divine memories of the goodness…

A year later, blood sugar issues have brought me to a gluten-free diet plus a sizable reduction in sugar intake, but going without banana bread??? Not an option, clearly. Another great gal pal (and chiropractor extraordinaire) by the name of Ruth took me under her wing to teach me the wiles and wonders of GF baking. Le sigh. I will never be the same again. Since then I have worked and reworked this recipe, but I’ve pretty much got it nailed down. It takes no more than 10 minutes to assemble and is guaranteed to produce good mellow smooshiness and smiles all around. Yay, therapy food!

Gluten Free Anna Banana Bread

Ingredients:
2 eggs
5 ripe bananas
1/3 C. or less brown sugar
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 3/4 C. Pamela’s flour, gluten free (can also use regular flour, for you non-GFers)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs in large mixing bowl. Add bananas, sugar, and oil and mix with potato masher (a good way to get your agression out). In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients and add to wet mixture. Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake 55 – 60 minutes.

Suggestions: Experiment with adding nummy spices – nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, etc. Also, for variation, I’ve found that using only three bananas and adding 1 cup fresh berries (oh blueberries oh) is fairly nigh exquisite. Enjoy!