Tori’s Writing Hole

I need to diet. And I’ve really, really been trying. But before I started this round of diet hopes, I made a cupcake that was so good, I’m still drooling over it. Really. I think there’s a little drool on the keyboard right now. It wasn’t particularly difficult, but oh, my - so so good. And I will share.

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes (adapted from Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa container)

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350º and grease two regular sized muffin tins. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt
in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of
electric mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

Portion batter into a measuring cup and pour carefully into muffin tins. You’ll get about 20 cupcakes if you fill to top (optimal if you want nice bakery style cupcakes). Bake for about 25 minutes and check with a toothpick - you may need more time depending on your pan. Remove cupcakes from tins ASAP - about five minutes of cooling time will work. Let cool before frosting.

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (from Food and Wine)

• 1 c softened butter
• 1 c confectioners’ sugar
• 12 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, using a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter at
medium speed until creamy. Beat in the melted white chocolate. Add the
confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and beat at low speed, scraping the
sides and bottom of the bowl, until light and fluffy.

Frost cupcakes and try not to inhale them all yourself. Try. I’m not promising you won’t.

Technorati Tags: baking, chocolate, cupcakes, delicious

Ok, so I’ve had the opportunity to sample quite a few foods now that I’ve gone on this gluten-less journey. Here are my favorites and not-so-favorites:

• Bob’s Red Mill GF Chocolate Cake Mix - crumbly and dense, this cake reminded me of a regular cake that was missing some of the ingredients. The “garfava” flour (garbanzo bean and fava bean flour) left a distinctly beany aftertaste and Mom, who baked the cake, said the batter was horrid and required several different foods and drinks to get the taste out of her mouth. I can’t recommend this one.
• ‘Cause You’re Special Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins - these were great - smaller than regular muffins due to the use of potato starch and rice flour, they were yummy and consistency-wise, very similar to “normal” muffins. I will be buying these again. They can be made vegan if you use margarine and egg replacer. Biggest drawback was the price - $6 for 12 muffins.
• ‘Cause You’re Special Golden Pound Cake - at first, I loved this. Tasted just like real poundcake. However, you need to eat it within a day or so, because it went bad very quickly (dried out and got a funny taste). I’d recommend this for a family gathering (no one will know it’s GF - gluten free).
• DeBoles Rice Pasta - spirals - Ick. No flavor, bad consistency (I think under cooked, but still). Not going to purchase again - I’m trying the Tinkyada brand next.
• Chebe Pizza Crust - so yummy! Makes a great pizza, some springiness to the dough means it has a good mouthfeel. Just tapioca flour, along with seasonings, means this is great for any allergic person. You can make it with real eggs and olive oil/milk, or substitute for other allergies. The price is right too… at around $3 for the mix.

Well, that’s all I can remember so far. I will be trying to make my own bread (how I miss bread) once I get some xanthan gum. Damn, that stuff’s expensive ($13 for a package of 10 oz!).

Technorati Tags: gluten free, cooking, baking, pizza, pasta

Friday was my birthday. My birthdays have a history of being pretty crappy - from car accidents, to illness and bad weather. For some reason, Mar 2 is just not a happy day. This year, it started with a few inches of ice on the car and driveway, and finished with not being able to go out to dinner (my parents were coming as well) because my dad’s work schedule was messed up. Arrgh. It wasn’t all bad, of course - my mom made me a gluten free cake by Bob’s Red Mill - which was a great gesture. I can’t recommend the cake, however, because it’s made with garbanzo bean flour and has a distinct beany aftertaste.

Yesterday, I was supposed to go to my nephew’s birthday party, and I couldn’t - silly hormonal migraine got me again.

In all, I do feel that I’m doing better on this gluten free diet. I have more energy and I feel less depressed. I also did find a great gluten free treat - the lemon poppy seed muffins from ‘Cause You’re Special. These muffins (mix) taste awesome!

Technorati Tags: birthday, migraine, gluten free

Actually, no I don’t. I’m missing one. And dental insurance is no friend of mine. So now I have to wonder how long I’ll be avoiding smiling, talking and eating in public. Some b-day I’ll be having on Friday… supposed to go out to dinner, can’t get anything with wheat so that rules out some of my fav places, and I can’t eat anything that requires me to open my mouth wide. (No jokes!) The next day is my nephew’s birthday party, and while my hubby has convinced me that family will understand my toothless status, I’m still not keen on the idea of showing off my gaping hole (still, no jokes, please).

On another topic, by mistake I ate part of a fortune cookie yesterday (wheat based) and today I feel poopy (not literally, which is a problem). Is this coincidence, or does it show that I really have a problem with gluten? I guess it’s too early to tell. Julia makes the whole day ok, though… she was just running through the house saying the names of all of her cousins - she hasn’t seen them in a few weeks. It was so cute! (Btw, Emery seems to be her favorite name).

I’ve also written some poetry that I’m really proud of in the last few days, and I’m hoping to get some more “for me” writing done as soon as I meet my end-of-the month freelance writing deadline.

Technorati Tags: gluten, teeth, dentist, writing

So I’ve spent the last few days trying to figure out if I have a food allergy or intolerance. I don’t believe it’s a dairy thing, rather, I think I’m gluten (wheat) intolerant. The list of symptoms is a perfect match for my ailments, from muscle pain to fatigue to the horrible bowel symptoms. I registered on Celiac.com and began reading the message boards and I was so very, very shocked…

I also have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which is pretty darn rare (1 in 5000 to 1 in 10,000 people are afflicted with it). While on the Celiac board (Celiac Disease is the most severe form of gluten intolerance) I found other people who have noticed a correlation between these two genetic disorders (Celiac Disease afflicts 1 in 100 people). How freaky is that? I’ve never even encountered others with my connective tissue disorder outside of a specific group for EDS, and here on this board there were several!

So next week will be the litmus test (well, really, the allergy test) when I ask the doc to test me for food allergies. Until then, I’ve cut gluten out of my diet, which is so very hard. I love bread - I think I’d choose bread above all other foods. Give me a crusty loaf of French bread, some butter, and I’m in heaven. No more, if this is my illness (and albatross). At least I can still have chocolate.

Technorati Tags: celiac, gluten, gluten free, bread, chocolate