The Queen of Gluten Free

Before we made aliyah, celiac disease (or as we knew it to be called, celiac sprue), was barely known to us.  David's cousin has it, but she was literally our only encounter with the disease.  Then we moved, and while at first we only knew a small handful of people with celiac, the number of sufferers has increased dramatically over the last six years.  And not only do people with celiac have to avoid gluten, but we know other people who avoid gluten religiously for a variety of health reasons.

Gluten, for the uninitiated, is a protein found in wheat and related species, and it's what gives dough its elasticity. For people with celiac disease, gluten can cause many unpleasant, very serious, and long-reaching consequences.  While it was not as well known before, more celiac disease is being diagnosed, and the levels of gluten in flour has risen in the last decades, causing people increased sensitivity (or so I have been told). I myself was tested for celiac this year, thanks to a lifetime of stomach issues, and while the test was negative, the wait for results gave me a lot of food for thought, about what I would do with my business if the result was positive.

The thing is, gluten is in a lot of foods. Surprising and unexpected foods. So it can be hard to avoid. But the amazing thing to me was that most cake decorating ingredients are actually gluten free, so to make a beautiful cake that has no gluten, you just need to find a great cake recipe. That I did with a little help from a few friends with family members with celiac. Since I started working on these GF recipes, I am sort of feeling like that is the most popular thing I do.  Believe me, the smiles I get from producing a cake or cupcakes that actually taste good - even to wheat eaters! - makes me feel so good!  I love knowing that a person who might not otherwise have had a cake to enhance their celebration will now get to indulge just like the rest of us.  I can't share the recipes with you (so far just chocolate and vanilla cake) as it's my livelihood we are talking about here, but I can show you what we have created. It's all GF!!

60th birthday celebration

Engagement party

Multiple birthday celebration

Engagement

Bat mitzvah dessert buffet

Bat mitzvah

 

17th birthday celebration

 

Sheva brachot

5th birthday celebration

 

But to make it up to you, I am going to give you a GF recipe - for the most delicious brownies ever.  So why am I sharing davka this recipe with you?  Because to be quite honest, the ingredients in this recipe are rather pricey (an entire pound of bittersweet chocolate, for starters), so I don't think selling them would ever be worthwhile.  I made them this summer for my GF sister and brother-in-law, and no one at the table missed the gluten.

 

Gluten Free Brownies 

adapted from Pragmatic Attic

Ingredients:
6 tablespoons margarine (75 grams in Israel)
5 tablespoons canola oil
16 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I prefer Vered HaGalil for daily use, but check with your gluten-free person about what chocolates are okay for them - here, Carmit 60% seems to be considered the "cleanest", though many brands claim to have less than 20ppm, which is the gold standard) or semi-sweet, or a combination - whatever you favor
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
3 tablespoons cocoa
6 tablespoons corn starch, called cornflour in Israel (or potato starch - kemach tapuchei adama)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
Line an 9x13 pan with foil then parchment paper extending over the ends for ease of removal after baking. Spray exposed foil with cooking spray.
Melt together the chocolate and margarine, either on the stove top over a very low heat, stirring frequently, or in the microwave on a half power setting. when the chocolate and margarine are melted, add in the oil, then the sugar, stirring well. Add the eggs, one at a time, then add the salt.
In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder, coffee powder andstarch to evenly combine. Add to the melted chocolate mixture and mix vigorously to evenly combine.
Mix vigorously until the batter is smooth and well combine.  Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly with an offset spatula.Bake for about 35 minutes, checking beginning at about 25 minutes. Brownies are done when an inserted toothpick comes out nearly clean, with just a few moist crumbs.  Cool completely.  Use the parchment paper to aid in removal from pan, and cut into squares - these are very rich, so 32 brownies is a fair number.

Whether you avoid gluten or not, ENJOY!

Dvora

Welcome to the Tribe!

It is an amazing feeling to help people celebrate their good times.  Engagements, weddings, sheva brachot, bar and bat mitzvahs, anniversaries, birthdays, achievements - what a privilege to help make someone's day a little sweeter.  One of the more recent additions to the repertoire of life cycle cakes we've been doing is the brit milah cake.  Don't get any ideas!  It's nothing graphic or icky; just cakes welcoming a new arrival into the family and into the tribe.

This was a particular favorite, as it incorporates one of the traditional blessings for the newborn - "As he entered the covenant, so may he enter into Torah, Chuppah (marriage), and good deeds." Each part of the blessing is represented with a symbol:

A pillow to rest the baby on - with the blessing "May this little one become great" or more plaintively, "May this little one grow up."

Torah

The Chuppah, or marriage canopy



Good deeds - charity

 


The priestly breastplate, for the family's Cohen status

In the meantime, my apologies for pictures that refuse to line up properly - new formatting is giving me headaches...

The next was for the same family, several months later. This cake was for the brit of a grandson born to a "Steps and Stairs" family - boy, girl, boy, girl, and now another boy.

 And the final brit cake is a fun twist on the car window stickers that keep popping up everywhere.

This cake featured the whole family - the dad, who loves to play piano; the mom, who is a loving wife and mother; big brother, who loves playing soccer; big sister, who loves playing on a slide; and the new baby, whose interests we look forward to learning as he grows!

May all the new arrivals continue to bring joy to their families!

Dvora

That Devil Technology

Technology seems to be much the topic of the day - or at least it was of late, what with the giant Internet Asifa and all.  Far be it for me to say whether technology and the Internet (should it be capitalized? - I kind of feel it should) represent the ultimate good or evil in our lives, but I can point out just a couple of points.
1.  For probably the first time in my life, I counted the Omer from beginning to end this year, thanks to the handy-dandy email  I received nightly, (not to mention the seven sms's in one evening I received when I signed on for that service; rest assured I cancelled the next day) except for Shabbat and Chag, of course.

2. My phone has both siddur and sefer tehillim apps on it, making it much easier to keep up with davening, bentching, and the tehillim gemach I take part in.

3.  I receive weekly divrei Torah and parsha questions via email and find links to Torah related blogs posted by friends on Facebook.

4. I have met interesting people through my blog and Facebook page - new clients and fellow bloggers - and I have enjoyed and benefitted from the interactions.

5.  Rarely does a week go by when we are not asked to make a "Favorite Thing" cake that includes a computer/iPod/iPhone.  For better or for worse, I know what kids these days are into, because that's what their parents put on their birthday cakes...  Pretty sure there is no putting that genie back in the bottle!

So with the desire to make the great devil a little more palatable and a whole lot sweeter, I present to you a few examples of technology gone cake-y... (Forgive the bad puns, I am a little punchy right now.  So if this post up and disappears or seems wildly edited in the morning, you will know I thought better of it in the morning light.

The laptop and the cellphone are nearly mandatory at this point.

Honestly, what self-respecting teenage would want to do without?

And of course, the ever-present iPod (not an exact replica.  Like a memoir, it conveys the spirit rather than absolute verisimilitude.)

Though you've got to love the anti-technology that this particular birthday boy loves just as well, the Rubik's Cube.

And let's not forget the video games, be they on the computer, phone, gaming system, or just hand drawn on fondant...

But when it comes to the iPod, I have to admit I was a novice, a know-nothing.  Then came the cake order that changed it all, the one that included "that fruit cutting game with the sword."  Just for the record, the new mother-in-law who ordered it didn't know what it was either.  But I was able to ask my kids, and in the name of research, learned to play Fruit Ninja. And play research a little more. And just a bit more.  And to decorate a cake like it.

The best-known game, of course, is Angry Birds.  Why are they so angry?  Dunno, maybe it's from being flung from a slingshot.  As Dani said, my birds are a little more annoyed than angry...

Maybe it's because I keep missing the pigs. :-(

Which brings us to the final nail in the coffin, the iPod cake.  The whole darned cake is an iPod, in the artistic license sense, with the birthday boy's favorite apps on the sides.

Apps. Gosh, who would have imagined not too long ago that I would even know what that meant.

And aren't you just loving those earbuds?

Not posted from my Android, though it could have been...

Dvora

P.S. Did you all notice this new feature - click on any photo in the post, and you can see a slide show of all the post's photos.  You can see the detail in pictures that otherwise might be hard to see perfectly.  It's especially worth it for the iPod cake.  And if it's not a new feature, well, it's new to me!! Cool!

Here Goes Nuthin'!!

And so it begins, the attempt to re-enter blogging life. In the spirit of gratitude I mentioned in yesterday's post, I present to you the "ThankYou" cake.  This cake was a contribution to a brunch get-together for the families in our yishuv (currently 38!) who form a monthly rotation to bring the chayalim at the near-by machsomim a nightly dose of coffee, treats, and appreciation. Some nights the chayalim are too busy to do much more than say a quick thanks - or no, thanks - to the offers of coffee, tea, or shoko and something home-baked.  They can be darned busy, and under tremendous pressure.  And we serve the drinks, and hand out the snacks, and go home happy to have taken our turn.

Other nights, you feel a little like Santa Claus.  The smiles on these young kids faces are beautiful, and grateful, and they want to chat a little, maybe practice some English, play a little Jewish geography...  And they act like we have brought them manna from heaven, and we go home glowing, and a little sad, hoping that someday our chayal will get the same treatment, wishing it would all be unnecessary.

Some of the chayalim who man the checkpoints came to the breakfast, and it was lovely to see them and hear a little about their feelings about the program.  Our little yishuv seems to have become known for the coffee and kindness, and that is a wonderful feeling.

The cake is a two layer chocolate cake, filled with a whipped chocolate filling, and covered in ivory colored vanilla buttercream.  The decorations are made of hand-cut, hand-painted fondant in a "cafe" theme.  "Intern" Shana did a magnificent job making the decors.  It was a real privilege to be able to use our art to express our appreciation to everyone involved, from the families to the soldiers to our fearless leader Deena, who keeps everything going.



 The lettering spells "Todah" - thank you!

Wishing you a sweet week!

Dvora

Bragging rights

This post features a cake that I did not make, though I feel I had a little something to do with it...

I celebrated (yes, actually celebrated) a really big birthday this summer. Let's just say it ended in 0, and did not start with a 1, 2, or 3. My wonderful husband took me away for a relaxing, amazing spa vacation, and while we were gone, the kids prepared a great birthday surprise. Ayelet baked and Shana decorated this beautiful cake, and I wanted to share my amazement at their skill. Gorgeous, right?! And so delicious.

Yummy chocolate cake, with a LOT of frosting and some really beautiful flowers. And Shana even learned from me to take pictures of anything that might be interesting.


Thus, the artist's pallete, filled with drying gumpaste gerber daisies, becomes a work of art...

Just schepping a little...

Dvora

Summer remnants

With apologies to all those who have been waiting a looooong time to see their cakes here, I am attempting to get some of this summer's neglected items posted.

First - an anniversary cake to celebrate a very special milestone

Two layers of vanilla cake, filled with chocolate ganache, covered in chocolate buttercream to celebrate 50 years together.

Next, a birthday cake in the stripes and dots motif.

Two layers of chocolate chip cake, filled with chocolate fudge,

then covered in vanilla buttercream and fondant dots and stripes in brown and shades of blue - very striking for a 40th birthday.

And a cake for a birthday girl who loves arts and crafts.

Toppers included tools of the trade, such as gumpaste scissors,

an artist's palette with a brush and watercolor paints, plus a bottle of white glue, also gumpaste.

The sides of the cake, including the number 11, were covered in paint splatters, evidence of lots of creativity and hard work. Happy birthday, Shoshana!

Hope you are having a sweet week!

Dvora

Dog days are on their way

It's getting hot. I mean really hot. Life is heating up, too. Shana graduated from high school! Then, three weeks later, she finished all her tests and actually completed high school. Hmm... Ayelet celebrated her fifteenth birthday, and later went to the wedding of one of her teachers - Dani and Shana had both enjoyed that experience in the States, but when they were much younger. Ayelet and her friends were old enough to be a real part of the celebration, dancing up a storm and singing with the kallah before the badeken. Dani finished the school year, and is now attending gemara "camp" until the end of the month. He is still in the throes of bar mitzvah partying, with many events still to come. And poor, poor Lola. She still has school for another day, and boy is she peeved about it. But come 11:45 tomorrow, she too will be done with the school year, and my nerves will be totally fried. And I am getting old. I will hit the big 4-0 shortly, but I am oddly okay with that. My life is in a good place, my family is in a good place; really no legitimate gripes. What I am not okay with? My eyes getting old, my hair getting old, my joints getting old. I am hoping for some real psychic rejuvenation this summer, and some time outside the kitchen, though not too much. But be careful what you wish for...

To celebrate Ayelet's birthday, Shana, who is becoming severely underpaid as my unpaid intern/indentured servant, was allowed to go crazy on cake decorating. The canvas? Vanilla cake with chocolate fudge filling and iced smooth in white vanilla buttercream.

And then Shana went to town with flowers in teal and mint, accented with yellow.

She used large sunflower/daisy cutters, and small blossoms.
She even did the funky style lettering on her own. We may have to open a branch in the big city next year, when she is living away from home!

Happy Birthday Ayelet - hope this year is as sweet as can be! And since the summer has begun, let's hope we can all keep our cool...

Imma (Dvora)

Ninety Years Young

You are never too old for a fun birthday cake. Case in point, this young at heart grandmother - can you guess how old she is?

Okay, maybe that picture (and the title of this post) was too much of a hint. But yes, this is a ninetieth birthday cake.
Pretty darned impressive - no traditional flowers and bows for this bobie (one of the many spelling variations for the Yiddish term for grandmother - sure glad I double checked the spelling with the client!). She got stripes and polka dots in yellow and shades of purple, on a background of lilac buttercream.

The cake inside was two layers of moist chocolate cake, filled with fluffy vanilla cream. Almost like a devil dog. But with the added bonus of frosting on top.

Hope this was a wonderful birthday! Ad meah v'esrim in health and happiness.

Dvora