Sweet Pistachio Cake

Perusing the Weekend Australian magazine for the recipes, as per usual, I came across this interesting pistachio cake. What made it interesting was that all it had was pistachio, egg, sugar, and a bit of lemon juice. Since my girlfriend loves pistachio, I thought I'd give it a go. It turned out very tasty but really really sweet. More of a meringue than a cake, necessarily. I will give the recipe for how I think it should be done next time, so it's not too sweet. Also, contrary to a lot of baked goods, this should not be eaten just out of the oven. I found it MUCH better after spending overnight in the fridge.
Prepare Syrup:
-Mix about 1 cup of sugar with 180ml of water in a pot on high heat, simmer until sugar has dissolved
-Mix in about 1 tbsp lemon juice and 2 tsp (if you've got it) rosewater
-Set aside to cool

Prepare Cake:
-Coarsely chop 50g of unsalted pistachios

-Separate 5 eggs
-In a food processor with 'whipping' attachment, or using an electric beater, whisk together the egg yolks with 200g caster (icing) sugar

-In a food processor, grind 200gm (~1/2lb, sorry - no cups) of unsalted and unshelled pistachios

-Mix the pistachio meal with the whipped sugar and egg yolk-Now beat the egg whites until they turn stuff-Fold the egg-white into the pistachio mixture, not too much (don't blend it together completely)
-Put in a greased round cake tin, lined with baking paper-On top, spread the chopped pistachios

Cook:
-Preheat oven to 350F/180C
-Bake for about 45min-1 hr until nice and golden and firm on top upon pressing
-Poke about 15 holes around the cake and pour in half the syrup
-Taste a bit of the inside and if not sweet enough, add more syrup (make sure you do this and not dump all the syrup in!)
-Set the cake aside for a couple hours or refrigerate overnight and enjoy later with fresh strawberries
Tips:
-As I mentioned before, I changed the recipe to make it less sweet. You could just make half as much syrup or use the same amount of water but less sugar if you want the cake to be moist and gooey on the inside.
-I didn't have rosewater so I used the juice from one mandarin but I could hardly taste it. I would like to try it with rosewater next time.
-Make sure you clean the beater/whipping device in between whisking the egg yolk and the egg white, as fat from egg yolk changes the texture of the egg white firmness, supposedly.
-I didn't line the cake tin with baking paper and it SUCKED to clean. Please do it, you'll thank me later.

Bean and Broccoli Baked Polenta

I got some polenta from an awesome Mediterranean grocery store and whipped up (and modified) a recipe from an Italian cookbook. It was nice, if a bit bland. It is a bit intensive (you cannot stop stirring polenta, really) so make sure you have everything ready ahead of time.

Prepare:
-Ready 3 cups water with 1/2 tsp of salt in a pot
-1 cup of polenta (yellow cornmeal)
-2 tbsp olive oil
-Chop and lightly steam about 1 cup broccoli
-Drain and rinse 1/2 cup cannellini beans
-2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Cook:
-Preheat oven to 400F (205C)
-Bring the pot of water and salt to boil and then reduce to simmer
-Immediately add polenta in a light, slow, constant stream (I put the cup of meal into a glass and then poured from there), mixing it as you add it. Break any lumps that happen to form-Once all the cornmeal has been added, add the olive oil
-Continue to cook, stirring the whole time (a wooden spoon is best), for 20 minutes. Make sure it's medium-low heat (to keep from polenta sticking to bottom of pot)
-Add beans, broccoli, and some cracked black pepper and salt and mix thoroughly-Pour polenta onto a baking dish (I used a loaf pan - it came out thick)
-Sprinkle cheese on top-Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until cheese has brownedTips:
-This was a bit bland - having a tomato or pesto sauce to go with this would be great
-I served this with kangaroo sausage. I think adding sausage directly to it would be nice as well.

Fruity Gluten-free Muffins

Today is my last day in class with the teacher who has Coeliac's disease and thus needs to eat gluten-free foods. I decided to give a muffin-recipe a go, using rice flour and some fruity essence. I took the recipe largely from here and, as per usual, did some modifications. This made 11 (I know... odd number) smallish muffins. Anyway, I must warn, they turned out nice but nothing amazing unfortunately. If I were to make them again, I would up the amount of honey/sugar, for sure. Also, definitely more jam... I could hardly taste it. The rice flour was alright... a bit grainy but I guess that's what it's like. Oh well.
Prepare:
-Melt 60g (4 tbsp) of butter in the microwave (about 45 seconds)
-In a large bowl, mix butter, 2 eggs, 2 tbsp honey, 1 tsp vanilla, zest of an orange, and 1 cup milk (I used 1/3 cup vanilla yogurt and 2/3 cup milk) (I also made a batch that had about 1 tbsp of Milo - a drinking chocolate powder)-Mix into the bowl 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp baking powder, and 2 cups rice flour
-Add in dried fruit, if you'd like (I added dried currants and cranberries - not too much)Cook:
-Preheat oven to 375F/180C
-Grease muffin pan
-Add a heaping tbsp of batter into the muffin pan
-Add 1/2 tsp or so of jam (I used blackberry) onto the batter, then cover with another 1/2-1 tbsp of batter. I also made 1 batch that had jam and peanut butter inside-Bake for 25 minutes
-Let cool on a cooling rack, dust with icing sugar
Tips:
-The butter will coagulate/thicken when mixed with the milk and eggs. I don't know if that was supposed to happen... I tried to whisk it as smooth as possible and then add the flour right away and whisk a lot and it seemed to look like a pretty homogeneous mixture.
-You could substitute for the fruit (or add) nuts or chocolate chips. For the orange zest you could use nutmeg/cinnamon/clove combo for that flavor.

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

I have always loved carrot cake and was inspired to make it when my brother told me about his recent success with a batch. In order to make it gluten-free and keep it delicious, I culled ideas from these 3 different recipes: 1, 2, and 3. I was worried that it wouldn't turn out well, especially when I used olive oil since that's all I had, but the cake turned out to be very moist and delicious. The batter was enough to make one cake plus 6 muffins. What I did was bake the cake the night before serving it, then refrigerate it over night and the following day make the icing, ice the cake and then serve it cool. It turned out excellent and all my friends were pleased with it. It was one of the more involved things I've made: I'd say about 30 min of prep, 1 hr of cooking for the cake, with another 10 min for the icing. It makes for a good 50th recipe, for sure.
Prepare Cake:
-Grate 3 cups worth of carrots (this was about 4-5 carrots, pending on the size)-In a large bowl, mix 2 cups gluten-free flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, and 1 tsp baking powder
-Beat 3 large eggs in a bowl
-Chop about a handful of dried dates into small pieces-Mix the carrots, dates, and eggs with the flour, adding 1 cup of cooking oil (I used 1/4 canola, 3/4th olive)
-Add 1 tbsp of vanilla essence and 1 tbsp ground cinnamon-Pour into lightly greased cake/loaf/muffin pan, leaving room at the top since it rises a significant amountCook:
-Preheat oven to 375F/180C and bake for about 50 minutes for the cake, 30 minutes for the muffins
-Be sure to check with a toothpick! The outside should be firm yet depressible and the inside should be moist but not wet-Let cool on a drying rack and refrigerate if not eating soon

Prepare Icing:
-Let 1/2-1 cup butter and 1 8oz/225g package of cream cheese soften-Chop/crush 1/2 cup pecans and 1/2 cup walnuts
-Mix the butter, cream cheese, nuts, 1 tsp vanilla, and about a cup of icing sugar (if not sweet enough, add more)-Spread atop cake
Tips:
-This cake was very flavorful as it was; other things you might want to add would be nutmeg, cloves, ginger, or orange zest. Also, you could substitute/add to the dates with raisins, craisins, dried apricots, candied ginger, etc.
-The batter was quite runny and pour-able (like beaten eggs). That being said, if it's too runny, add a bit more flour
-With the muffins, you can slice in half, put icing in the middle, and piece back together
-I was worried about the olive oil as the batter had a distinctive olive-oily taste, but there was none after cooking. Still, in the future, I'd maybe use 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 something else. Alternatively, I may use 1/2 oil and 1/2 applesauce for a healthier and still-moister cake
-Some recipes I've seen have called for 1 cup of drained pineapple chunks to be used instead of1 cup of carrots - I did not do this but I bet it would contribute well to the moistness as well as add a bit of tart to the cake. Also, I think that maybe doing half carrot and half zucchini would work nicely
-For the icing, what I did was place the butter and cream cheese in the mixing bowl and set that atop the oven while baking something - they slowly melted and made the blending a lot easier.

Gluten-Free Cheese Balls

This was another dish that I made so my Coeliac's teacher could eat without intestinal problems: this food is a pretty quick and easy savory snack that has an interesting texture and pretty unimpeachable taste. The recipe that I used claims that these balls originate in Brazil and are called 'Pao de Quiejo'.
Prepare:
-In a saucepan on medium heat, heat 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 cup milk, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it starts boiling-Remove from heat, add 1 1/4 cup gluten-free flour, mix and set aside for 5 minutes-Mix in 1 egg, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, and whatever flavoring you would like: I used garlic salt, dried basil, and Korean pepper powderCook:
-Preheat oven to 375F/180C
-Separate the dough into 12 balls, place evenly on a sheet of baking paper on a pan-Bake for ~20 minutes, flip over (bottom should be browning), turn down heat a bit and then bake around 10 minutes more. Make sure to do the toothpick testTips:
-These are very sticky when raw! You may want to flour your hands ahead of time - I was able to spoon the balls out but it wasn't the most pleasant thing ever

Chocolate Gluten-free Puddings with Custard

I was browsing some women's magazine in the doctor's office a couple weeks ago, searching for recipes as per usual, when this one for Chocolate "Christmas" Puddings jumped out it me: it looked really good and didn't require any wheat-flour. Our discussion tutor has Coeliac's disease and thus needs to eat gluten-free foods. I surreptitiously ripped the page out of the magazine and readied to make this delectable food. Note: 'pudding' in British countries means, essentially, moist cake.
Prepare puddings:
-200g (a bit more than a cup) of chopped dried fruit (I had dates, apricots, raisins, papaya, and apple)-2 tbsp Tia Maria or Kahlua
-1 cup of gluten-free flour (this can be rice, potato, corn, or a mixture
-1 1/4 cup caster sugar
-1 tsp baking powder
-1/3 cup dark cocoa
-200g (1 1/2 cup) butter, melted-3 eggs
-1 12-hole muffin pan, with slots greased and a bit of baking paper on the bottomCook:
-Preheat oven to 180C/375F
-Mix the fruit and the liquor, sit aside
-Sift together the powders in a large bowl, make a well in the middle and-Add eggs and butter, mix well until smooth
-Add fruits and mix till heterogeneous
-Pour batter into muffin tray, leaving maybe 1/2 inch/2cm from the top-Bake for 40 minutes, let cool for 15 minutes before taking out of the tray

Prepare custard (note, this was hectic and thus I was unable to take pictures):
-1/4 cup of honey/golden syrup
-1 cup Tia Maria or Kahlua
-2 1/2 tbsp gluten-free flour
-300 ml of cream
-50g (~1/3 cup) butter
Cook:
-Melt butter in sauce pan/small pot-Mix in flour, cook for 1 minute
-Add the remaining ingredients
-Lower heat to medium low and stir constantly until sauce begins to boil lightly and thickens
-Remove and immediately cover in plastic wrap to prevent skin formingTips:
-You could substitute the mixed fruit for just one of your favorite fruits, to concentrate the flavor. Alternatively if you used half fruit and half chocolate chips, this would turn out much more chocolatey
-Make sure to grease the trey pretty well, as I had a hard time removing the puddings
-Would work great with fresh berries on top
-Do not let the custard actually boil: maintain a level of almost-boiling-ness while stirring
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