Delicious Desserts 

Living gluten-free, casein free certainly shouldn’t mean that you have to be deprived of the sweeter things in life like…..Dessert!  This month we would like to bring you some of our favorite gfcf desserts – all of these desserts have received rave results by test subjects who are not even gluten-free or casein free.  

Lime Cheesecake

Ingredients

For crust:

• 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
  
• 1/4 cup sugar
  
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  
• 1/4 cup gf flour
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped

For cheesecake:

• 1-1/2 pounds cream cheese
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 4 whole eggs
  
• 2 egg yolks
  
• Juice of 4 small limes (approx. 3/4 cup lime juice)

Directions
For crust:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan.

Bring a small amount of water to boil in a medium saucepan. Melt the butter and 2 ounces of chocolate, stirring constantly, in a double boiler over simmering water; water should not touch the top pan. Remove the chocolate mixture from the heat and let cool slightly. Stir 1/4 cup sugar and 1 egg into the chocolate mixture.

In a small bowl, whisk the gf flour with the baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture. Stir in the chopped walnuts.

Spread the batter in the prepared springform pan and smooth the surface with a spatula.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until risen and dry to the touch. Let cool.

Set the springform pan on a large sheet of foil and fold the sides up around the sides of the pan.

Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar. Beat in the eggs and egg yolks. Add the lime juice. Pour the cream cheese filling onto the chocolate brownie base.

Set the springform pan in a medium roasting pan. Add enough hot water to the roasting pan to reach halfway up the side of the springform pan.

Bake the cheesecake at 325°F for 1-1/2 hours, or until it is firm around the edges, but slightly jiggly in the center. Turn the oven off, prop the oven door open and let the cheesecake stand in the water bath in the warm oven for 1 hour, or until completely set.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and let cool completely. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove the foil and springform pan ring from the cheesecake. Carefully transfer the cheesecake to a platter, cut into wedges and serve.

Casein Free Crème Brulee

Ingredients

• 4 large egg yolks
  
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  
• 2 cups Silk soy milk creamer
  
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
  
• 1/4 cup air-dried light brown sugar (see Tip)

Directions
Preheat oven to 275º F.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with half of the granulated sugar. In a small saucepan, warm the soymilk creamer with the vanilla-bean scrapings and the remaining granulated sugar until the soymilk creamer is steaming. Gradually whisk the hot soymilk creamer into the egg-yolk mixture until blended. Strain the custard and pour it into four 5-ounce ramekins or shallow gratin dishes.

Set the ramekins in a small baking dish and add enough hot tap water to the dish to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the custards are just set. Let the custards cool in the water bath for 10 minutes, then remove from the baking dish and allow them to cool completely. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. The custards may crack a little on top, this will not affect the taste.

Preheat the broiler. Sift a thin even layer of the air-dried brown sugar over each of the custards. Broil one ramekin at a time as close as possible to the heat source until the brown sugar melts, forming a caramelized crust on top of the custard. Serve immediately.

Tips
Instead of cream, we used Silk soymilk creamer which produced a lovely creme brulee. Their web site is www.soymilk.com and it is distributed by White Wave, Inc. from Boulder, Colorado.

To air-dry brown sugar, sift it onto a plate and leave it out, uncovered, for 1 day. Alternatively, if the weather is humid, the sifted brown sugar can also be dried in the oven. Set the temperature at 250ºF and put the sugar in the oven for 20 minutes.

Apple Cinnamon Cake

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups sugar
  
• 1/2 cup Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
  
• 1/4 cup Tofutti mock sour cream
  
• 1/2 canola or vegetable oil
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1-1/2 cups gf flour
  
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  
• 1/4 cup sugar
  
• 2 large apples, peeled, cored and diced
  
• Earth Balance butter substitute for greasing pan

Directions
Grease a 8"-9" springform pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place 1-1/2 cups sugar, cream cheese and sour cream substitutes, oil and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until well blended. Beat in eggs one at a time.
Add flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and blend. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and mix on low speed until blended. In a separate medium bowl, combine cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar. Add diced apples and toss to coat. Fold apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into prepared springform pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cake cool completely before cutting.

Tips
Tofutti products are made from soy and are a great substitution for dairy in baking. Another great casein-free product is Earth Balance butter substitute. This product will substitute for butter in almost every application.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
  
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
  
• 1-1/2 cups gf flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 cup milk
  
• 1/2 cup sour cream
  
• 1/2 cup canola oil
  
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

For the Frosting:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
  
• 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions
For cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups with liners.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler over hot, not boiling water. Remove pan from heat.

Combine sugar, gf flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, sour cream and canola oil. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Stir in chocolate. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until all ingredients are smoothly blended.

Fill muffin cups about two-thirds full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For frosting:
Place (cold) cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar in a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Add food coloring if desired. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes prior to frosting cupcakes.

Enjoy!

- Chef Jessica