Mini Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pies

It’s a beautiful fall day in Minnesota today. It’s been freakishly warm this month. Not that I’m complaining. I love hot weather. People often ask why I still live in Minnesota since most of the year I’m wearing 3 layers – and I’m still chilly if there is a breeze. I tell them it’s because the spiders don’t get as big up here.

But as much as I really don’t like sub-zero temps and bundling up to the point that only my eyeballs are showing, I love the change of seasons. The leaves have been amazing this year. The tree in our front yard right now is a palette of green, yellow, orange and red.

I love how warm breezes blow the leaves through the street like an applause for the coming of the new season. And who doesn’t love the sound of crunching leaves under their feet? I purposely walk in the gutter where most of the leaves gather, for maximum crunch and that feeling of being carefree and childlike.

So, in going with the childlike fall theme, I decided to make some mini pumpkin pies. Bite size goodies that I wanted to make with a gluten free gingerbread crust. I had to make a trip to the store to get a few things before I started. Once back I was ready to go. Although I knew what I was going to do, I couldn’t resist looking at some cookbooks and came across a recipe for a Pecan Butter Crust.

Now I had a dilemma. Which crust do I make? I used the pumpkin pie filling recipe from the Libby’s canned pumpkin (the kind my mom always uses). It was more than enough filling for both recipes so I decided to make both. Which meant another trip to the store for the one ingredient I was short.

I made 48 mini-pumpkin pies and thinking I had more than enough bite size pies, I decided to just make a small tart with what was left. I was a little disappointed in that decision after I flipped one pan of mini-pies onto the oven door as I was taking it out. My tart was still baking so I didn’t want to keep the oven door open too long. Murmuring curse words to myself for making the mess and destroying my cute little pies I quickly scraped the pile of goo into a bowl and shut the oven door. That will be fun to clean later.

I looked at the mess piled into the bowl. It wasn’t pretty but it was pumpkin pie- even if it didn’t look like pie. I decided to have a taste. The goo tasted delicious! I couldn’t just throw it away! There must be something I can do with pumpkin pie mush…

It didn’t take long before I decided to do what I do with a lot of my gluten-free flops. It would make a great topping for ice cream. Another trip to the store.

Pecan Butter Crust
from Gluten-Free Baking by Rebecca Reilly

1/4 cup pecans, toasted (place raw pecans in 350° oven for 10 min.)
1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (separated)
1 cup Basic Gluten-Free Mix*
1 Tablespoon sweet rice flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Preheat oven to 375°.

Finely grind the toasted pecans and the 1 Tablespoon sugar in a food processor.
Mix together the ground nuts, gluten-free mix, 1/4 cup sugar, sweet rice flour and salt. Blend well. Using a pastry blender or fork work the butter into the dry ingredients until you have coarse crumbs.

Place 1 Tablespoon of the crumbs into each cup of a mini-muffin pan. Place a small amount of sugar in a dish. Dip mini-tart press in sugar then press down crust in each cup. (A small shot glass may work as well). Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven. Increase heat to 425°. Fill each cup with pumpkin pie filling. A liquid measuring cup works great for this. Once the oven is at 425°, bake another 12 – 13 minutes. It is done when a small knife poked in one comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pan 5 minutes before carefully removing each pie to fully cool on rack. Top with fresh whipped cream. I like mine lightly sweetened with sugar and a little vanilla.

*Gluten-free mix– 2 cups brown rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca flour

The directions are basically the same for the Ginger Snap Crust with only a few minor changes.

Ginger Snap Crust

1 bag MI-DEL Gluten-Free Ginger Snaps (8 oz bag)
6 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place ginger snaps into food processor and process until fine crumbs. Place in bowl and add melted butter. Stir until well combined.

Place 1 Tablespoon of the crumbs into each cup of a mini-muffin pan.  Using mini-tart press, press down crust in each cup. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven. Increase heat to 425°. Fill each cup with pumpkin pie filling. Once the oven is at 425°, bake another 12 – 13 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in pan 5 minutes before carefully removing each pie to fully cool on rack. Top with fresh whipped cream.

Filled Cupcakes

 

I don’t typically make New Year’s Resolutions. I like to think of them as positive intentions instead. Then I guess I don’t feel so guilty when I inevitably slip up. So this year, one of my positive intentions is to do a better job with updating this site.

I’m starting off with a recipe I’ve had since a child. I got it from a friend of my mothers, but where it originally came from, I have no idea. I came across it recently while going through my old recipe box. It is written on a 3×5 card in the hand of myself as a 10 or 12-year-old and I remembered it as being easy and delicious. It is made using a boxed cake mix but a scratch cake mix would work as well. I’ve always used Chocolate cake- since it’s my favorite. I love the chocolate-cream cheese combination. Perhaps other flavors would work as well. Let me know if you try something different.

I made the following recipe with Betty Crocker’s Gluten Free Devils Food Cake mix so the cupcakes could be gluten-free. I did end up with extra filling though since this cake mix only makes 18 cupcakes. The recipe says cupcakes but last time I doubled the recipe and got tired of making cupcakes so I put the rest of the batter in a small spring form pan lined with parchment and swirled in the cream cheese mixture. It was great! A Chocolate Cream Cheese like Cake. Yum! 

In the spirit of the upcoming Valentine’s Day I decided to add red food coloring to the filling although I usually leave it uncolored. So here it is. Hope you enjoy!

Filled Cupcakes

1 Chocolate cake mix- mixed according to directions

Fill cupcake papers 1/2 to 2/3  full.
 

Filling

2/3 cup sugar
8 oz. cream cheese (I like Philadelphia)
1 egg
1 cup chocolate chips (I use the mini)

Put 1 teaspoon filling into each cupcake. Bake according to cupcake mix directions.

Concord Grape Sorbet

 

 

After moving last fall my sister had a bumper crop of concord grapes from the grape vine she inherited. Since she did not have the time or desire to do anything with them I gladly took a couple bags full.

I had made grape jam in the past and remembering how time consuming canning it seemed to be, I decided to find something else to make with them. Sorbet and a grape reduction sauce were what I was thinking. I wasn’t sure what I would do with the reduction sauce (crepes maybe?) but I wanted to try it. However I let it get away with me and it turned to jam. So I promptly put it in a jar in the fridge.

On to sorbet. It was actually quite simple although I had to make it over the course of several days due to time constraints. It was delicious for those last few hot days left of summer. Make sure before you begin that you have your ice cream maker already prepared.

Grape Sorbet

4 lbs concord grapes
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water

(Some recipes add 1 Tbsp. vodka to the recipe to keep it from getting too frozen. I chose to leave it out. Just take it out a few minutes before you want to serve it and it scoops just fine. 

Combine all ingredients into a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes. Stir and mash grapes occasionally with a potato masher.

Pour into a sieve or colander lined with cheese cloth set over a large bowl. Let sit for several hours or overnight in the fridge, stirring and mashing occasionally to extract all the juice. Some sediment will form and can be restrained through cheesecloth again if desired. You should have about 4 cups juice. It is quite sweet so you can add water to your taste. Pour juice into ice cream maker and mix according to the manufacturers instructions. Enjoy!

The Wild Women and Chocolate Soufflés

 

A fun night for me includes cooking dinner, preferably with a good glass of wine and some friends or family. Going out to eat gets more difficult as I get older.  If I’m going to pay someone else to make my dinner, it had better be as good as, or better than, what I can make at home, otherwise what’s the point? Fortunately I have friends and family who feel the same way.

 

In walk the Wild Women.  I’m not sure who came up with the name but it started because the first time many of us met (most of us only knew my sister) was on a rustic weekend where we learned how to dogsled. By rustic I mean outhouses in January in Northern Minnesota, woodstove heat in our cabin that we had to get up in the middle of the night to add more wood to and no running water or telephones or TV… you get the point. There was electricity but it was solar and had to be conserved. There is more to this story but maybe another time.

 

We didn’t know then how much we all enjoyed cooking. It was on a second trip that this became more evident. This one was cross-country skiing, also in Northern Minnesota. Only this time we stayed in a beautiful two-story fully furnished cabin. Here part of the weekend was planned to cook food together and we had some wonderful meals.

 

We’ve done a few things since then; small bike trips, a hot air balloon attempt – we never had decent enough weather to go before the owner died; making our pre-paid tickets void- and a few potluck and restaurant get togethers. But a few months ago we decided it would be fun to get together once a month and cook dinner together.

 

I have come to appreciate and anticipate these nights. We all tend to be a bit adventurous and don’t mind trying new things. And of course we all love to cook – and eat.

 

Following is the recipe for the decadent chocolate dessert we had on that cross-country skiing weekend. It still gets mentioned from time to time. It is quite rich but we have an ongoing argument about the term “too rich.” You be the judge.

 

 

Warm Chocolate Soufflés with Bittersweet Sauce

 

This recipe is from the cookbook “Linda McCartney On Tour”

 

Serves 6

 

1 cup superfine sugar, plus 6 teaspoons

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter

¾ cup unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces

pinch of sea salt

4 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 medium organic egg whites

Confectioners’ sugar to decorate

Bittersweet Sauce (see below)

 

Lightly butter six individual soufflé dishes and sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar into each one. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add the chocolate, a pinch of salt, the cocoa powder, and 3 Tablespoons of the sugar. Mix until smooth, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Allow it to cool slightly.

Whisk the egg whites until they become stiff, then whisk in the cup of sugar until the mixture becomes thick and glossy. Stir 2-3 Tablespoons of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the rest.

Spoon the chocolate mixture into the soufflé dishes, filling each about two-thirds full. Place the dishes on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 15- 20 minutes, until the soufflés have puffed up and set lightly.

Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve warm or cold.

 

 

Bittersweet Sauce

(I made the sauce a bit thicker than what this makes)

 

½ cup strong black coffee

3 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

¾ cup unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces

½ cup warmed light dairy or soy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Gently heat the coffee in a heavy-based saucepan over low heat before adding the confectioners’ sugar and continue to heat until it bubbles.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted, then stir in the cream and vanilla extract.

 

(I broke open the souffle and put the sauce inside. It would also work to put on a plate and place the souffle on top of the sauce)