Cooking recipes

An elegant and luscious twist  to a classic dessert ~ Its superb!

Servings: (6)
Prep: 15 Mins. |
Bake: 1 Hr. |
Stand: 10 Mins.

Posted by Sandra

INGREDIENTS

***Rice Pudding:
2 cups cooked rice
3 eggs, beaten
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of fine-grain kosher salt
1 (13.5 oz. can) coconut milk
½ cup whole milk
½ cup raisins

***Raspberry Cinnamon Puree:
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup frozen raspberries

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9x9x2 casserole dish by spraying it with baking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and kosher salt. Gradually add the coconut milk, and whole milk; whisking to combine. Fold in the rice and raisins; mixing to combine. Pour into a prepared 9x9x2 square casserole dish. Place casserole inside of a larger baking pan. Pour hot tap water 1-1/4” deep around casserole into larger pan (for even cooking of rice pudding). Bake for 1 hour. Remove casserole from water and place on cooling rack, letting it stand for 10 minutes to set before serving.

Meanwhile, whisk together all the puree ingredients, except the raspberries, in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar and cornstarch are dissolved. Add the raspberries and constantly stir with wooden spoon until mixture boils, and then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes, while occasionally stirring. Carefully pour the hot mixture into a blender and remove center of lid. Place a clean kitchen towel over the hole of the lid, and puree until smooth, and then strain through a sieve using a spoon to push the puree through to remove most of the seeds. (Please use a cheesecloth to strain the puree instead if you want to remove all of the seeds.)

To serve, spoon the raspberry sauce onto serving plate, and dampen an ice cream scoop with tap water (to prevent sticking) to scoop a mound of rice pudding on top of puree (see above photograph). – Enjoy!

Cake lovers unite. Skip the pie. An apple pie spiced cake!

Coffee Cake to the Rescue

Knee deep in book boxes, I decided to bake a cake. Because trying to wrestle gluten-free pie dough for an apple pie just seemed too fussy. Too complicated. Though in all honesty, that isn't the whole, unvarnished truth. The whole, unvarnished truth is, Yours Truly is more of a cake person than a pie person (downright blasphemy this time of year, I realize, as Thanksgiving looms large). But yeah. It's true. Pies have their charm. I've been known to inhale a slice or two of apple pie in my day. But here's the thing.

And I'm going to be blunt.

Gluten-free pastry crust is simply not as flaky and tender and melt-in-your-mouth wonderful as wheat pastry crust. There. I said it. Fighting words, to some. And if you are among those true believers feel free to disagree. And go eat your gluten-free pie. I bless you with a thousand sprinkles of pie fairy dust. With love. And kisses.

And pink ponies.

Respectfully.

Gluten, you see, is more than a pesky protein with a bad rep. Gluten is what makes pastry dough soft, flaky and tender. Gluten is what inspired bakers to bake all those years ago, firing up their hand-hewn brick-lined ovens. Gluten was their muse. Their seductive mistress. Gluten took them beyond three ingredient pancakes and palm-tossed flatbreads. Gluten fed their imagination. Inspired tarts, baklava, cupcakes. Napoleons.

And yes.

Apple pie.

Because gluten is a magical ingredient (despite its bad press these days).

We have to admit it. She's not an easy paramour to replace.

Perhaps some day soon I'll be tempted to experiment with a gluten-free pastry dough. I'll be lured into believing I can recreate such delicate, fragile beauty. But not today. If I do crave pie I'll bake this no apology necessary Apple Crisp and serve it warm with a snowy scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream. Or this vegan Pumpkin Pie with Coconut-Pecan Crust.

And for breakfast, I'll eat cake.

Applesauce cake.

Right now, I can live with that.

Read more + get the recipe >>

It's all good.


Read more + get the recipe >>