Grain-Free Pineapple Upside Down Cake

One day in early October, I said to my Husband, "I feel like baking something." He said, "Pineapple Upside Down Cake!" And I said, "Well, okay then!" What he didn't know, or maybe he did, is that months earlier I had bought a can of pineapple rings for just this purpose. I had all the other ingredients on hand to make this Coconut Pineapple Upside Down Cake recipe,which I'd printed and put into my recipe file. But, it uses a dozen eggs, and that was going to make me dangerously low on eggs in the house. So after studying it for a bit, I went back to my printed recipe file, and found this Grain-Free Coffee Cake recipe, which I'd made as written before and found awesome. I taped them both to my kitchen cabinet, and proceeded to hybridize them. The result was fantastic! So now, I'll share it with you.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

2/3c + 1/4 cup (divided use) grade B maple syrup, or honey
1/4c + 1/4 cup (divided use) coconut oil, melted
4 eggs
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk (or heavy cream if you can do dairy)
3/4 cup arrowroot powder
3/4 cup sifted coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
12 1/2-inch pineapple rings (or a can of sliced pineapple)
1/4 cup unsweetened dried tart cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil a cake pan with straight sides. (I love this coconut oil spray. It's not perfect - contains soy lecithin and "propellant", but it's far better than the alternatives.)

Mix 2/3c maple syrup or honey, 1/4c coconut oil, eggs, and coconut milk until well combined.

Stir together arrowroot powder, coconut flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.

Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients and stir well.

Put the remaining 1/4c coconut oil in a small saucepan and heat over medium high heat. Stir in the remaining 1/4c maple syrup or honey. When it foams and bubbles, pour it into the bottom of the greased cake pan. Arrange the pineapple slices and dried cherries in the bottom of the pan. Pour the prepared cake batter over the top, and pop the pan into the preheated oven. Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before running a knife around the sides, and inverting on a platter to serve.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Poppers

This is one of those "only via the Internet" stories. A friend on Facebook posted about making these poppers, with a link to where she'd pinned the recipe on Pinterest. That, of course, had been pinned by several other people - I don't "do" Pinterest, so I couldn't quite trace the path. Not that it matters. Clicking on the pinned recipe took me to a blog that posted the recipe, which that blogger had gotten from someone *else's* blog... I took a look at it, and immediately adapted it in my head to be gluten-free. A few days later, I tried out my adaptation, and if I do say so myself, they're PERFECT! So, without further ado, here is a delicious, sugary recipe, adapted to be gluten-free and nourishing, if still a bit sugary!

Pumpkin Poppers

1/2 cup coconut flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/3 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut palm sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup milk, cream, or coconut milk

For Coating - optional

4oz butter or ghee, melted

2/3 cup turbinado sugar

2 tbsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F and spray mini muffin tins with coconut oil spray.

Combine coconut flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a bowl and whisk until combined.

In another bowl, mix coconut oil, coconut  sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin, and milk. Pour in flour mixture and mix until just combined. Fill mini muffin tins until almost full and bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of one muffin comes out clean. 

If using coating: Melt butter in small bowl.  Mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate small bowl. After poppers cool for a few minutes, dip them in the butter and roll them in the sugar mixture - either the whole popper, or just the top for a bit less sweet! 

Homemade "Nutella" Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

This was a big hit at my Holiday parties, spread on apple slices and/or crispy buckwheat pancakes*!
(*Make small buckwheat pancakes, then spread them on a cookie sheet & dry them in a 200F oven until crisp. Makes a great gluten-free cracker for savory or sweet toppings!)

I adapted this recipe from here, as I didn't have hazelnut oil, and I won't touch agave nectar.

1 cup hazelnuts

¼ cup cacao powder

5 tablespoons honey, maple syrup, palm sugar, or rapadura

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon hazelnut or coconut oil

pinch celtic sea salt

Roast the hazelnuts at 350° for 8-10 minutes until they darken a bit and smell fragrant

Transfer the hazelnuts to a towel and rub off the skins if you can

In a food processor, grind the hazelnuts to a smooth butter, about 5 minutes, scraping the sides as needed

Add the cacao, sugar, vanilla, oil and salt and process until well blended, about a minute

Store in a glass mason jar in the refrigerator

Bring to room temperature prior to serving

Makes 1 ½ cups

I used Grade B maple syrup for the sugar.
I used coconut oil, and had to add a bit more to get a spreadable consistency. 

Instead of roasting the hazelnuts, I had previously soaked and roasted them. 

Enjoy!! 

Yet Another Grain-Free Muffin Recipe (Blueberry Muffins)

This one isn't sugar-free, and is also based on the original grain-free cake recipe. I'm pleased with how it came out, so thought I'd post it. 

Blueberry Muffins (Grain-Free)

1 cup coconut flour, sifted

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking soda

10 eggs, preferably room temperature

1 cup coconut oil

¾ cup raw honey, coconut palm sugar, or rapadura/sucanat

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp orange extract

1 ½ cups fresh blueberries, rinsed, and any stems removed

Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease muffin pan with coconut oil and dust lightly with coconut flour.

In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the balloon whisk, blend eggs, oil, sugar or honey, and extracts.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and blend.

Gently stir the blueberries into the batter.

Fill the muffin cups with batter. (Since gluten-free baked goods don’t rise as much as ones containing gluten, it’s okay to fill the cups completely.) Pop the pan into the preheated oven, and bake about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean. If your pan is thin, or the cups are smaller, start checking the muffins at 20 minutes. If you are using stoneware, it may take 35 minutes. Mine came out really brown on top, because I had to bake them the full 35 minutes.

Place the whole pan on a cooling rack and allow the muffins to cool completely before removing them from the pan. In addition to being really brown on top, when I popped the first one out, I was alarmed at how *black* it was. Then I realized that was just the blueberries. I broke it open, and it was pretty perfect, studded with lovely whole blueberries! 

Enjoy!

A Tale of Two Ice Creams

I wanted a basic ice cream base recipe that I could vamp on, and I found exactly what I was looking for here. The base is so easy that even my holey brain can remember it - 3 cups milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 6 egg yolks. Perfect! Or, put another way, 1/4c sugar & 2 yolks to each cup of milk.

Basic Ice Cream

I love this recipe because it's so easy to remember -- two yolks and a quarter-cup of sugar for every cup of dairy. But as long as you stick to the general idea, feel free to switch things up to taste.

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

6 large egg yolks

pinch salt

Special equipment: an ice cream maker, and a heat-proof spoon or, preferably, a heat-proof spatula

1. Heat milk, about half the sugar, half the cream, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring just to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. If steeping for flavor, add your ingredients, take off heat, and cover.

2. Meanwhile, in large-ish bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the other half of the sugar.

3. When the steeping is done, strain or fish out the flavorings and reheat the milk mixture, just until hot. Pour about half of it in a slow stream into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. (This is called tempering the yolks, and it heats them up evenly without turning them into scrambled eggs.) Pour the milk-yolk mixture back into the pot and cook it over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and making sure you're scraping the bottom. Cook it until it's thick enough to coat the back of your spoon: Swipe the spoon with your finger. If it leaves a trail about the width of your finger, it's ready. Don't let it boil.

4. Strain the ice cream base through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl. (The straining catches any bits of egg that may have scrambled; it's kind of optional if you were careful.) Stir in the rest of the cream, and let cool. Cover and chill in fridge until cold, at least 6 hours or overnight. (If you really don't want to wait, dunk the bowl in an ice water bath, stirring, until it's cold.) At this point, you have what they call crème anglaise, a lovely dessert sauce. (If using fruit purees or booze, this would be a good time to stir it in.)

5. Freeze in ice cream maker, according to manufacturer's directions or your preference.

6. If doing a mix-in, chill a large metal bowl in the freezer or set it up in ice water bath. Gently fold in the ingredients to the ice cream in this cold bowl when it's fresh out of the machine.

7. Pack ice cream in an airtight container and let it set in freezer until firm, at least another 4 hours.

Now, I wanted to make a coconut ice cream, so here is what I did:
I poured 1 can of coconut milk into a 4c measuring cup. It was not quite 2 cups. Always buy organic coconut milk, so that it doesn't have sulphur dioxide added. If you can find it not canned, that would be better, as the cans are lined with BPA, which leaches into the fatty liquid. Ugh. Oh, but don't get that coconut milk-substitute that's in the dairy case. Far too processed and too many ingredients. You want full-fat, organic coconut milk, not "lite", sometimes labeled coconut cream. But NOT cream of coconut. Clear as mud? Anyway, to the not-quite-2-cups of coconut milk, I added heavy whipping cream to make 3 cups. I poured half into a saucepan & heated it, adding 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar. I used the 6 egg yolks, a pinch of unrefined sea salt, and about 1/4cup coconut manna. This product may also be labeled "coconut butter". It's the ground up flesh & fat of coconut - think peanut butter, but with coconut. So, I cooked & processed these ingredients according to the recipe above, and it came out absolutely divine!

Now, I also wanted to make an eggless, gelatin-thickened version for my friend who is allergic to eggs. Sadly, I did not make note of where I found the eggless version, so I can't credit it. Sorry. I adapted it liberally, anyway, based on the information in the basic recipe, and on the ingredients I had on hand.

Eggless Gelatin Ice Cream

1 tbsp. (1 envelope) unflavored gelatin

2 tbsp. cold water

2 c. milk

3/4 c. sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

2 c. light cream

2 tsp. vanilla

Soften gelatin in cold water. Scald milk; add gelatin, sugar, and salt. Stir until dissolved. Cool. Add cream and vanilla. Freeze. Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

VARIATIONS: Strawberry or raspberry: Combine 2 cups mashed berries with 1/2 cup sugar; add to master recipe just before freezing.

Here is what I did: I poured the can of coconut milk into the measuring cup, and topped up with heavy whipping cream to make 4 cups this time, instead of 3. The extra liquid is making up for the loss of the egg yolks in the original recipe. Dissolved the gelatin, added the pinch of salt, 3/4 cup coconut palm sugar, and again 1/4 cup coconut manna. I forgot to cook only half the milk mixture, and heated it all - not a huge problem, just meant it took longer for the mixture to cool. I whisked it well & strained it while it was still hot. When it was thoroughly cool, I processed it in the ice cream freezer. The freezer motor shut off eventually, but the ice cream was not solidified. It had more of a marshmallow texture, which makes sense, since marshmallows are just gelatin & sugar. I spooned it into a plastic container anyway & froze it. It did freeze hard, but just a couple of minutes at room temp, and it was perfect! 

I had several friends taste-test both versions. Some liked the gelatin version better, because it was a little sweeter, and had a slightly more caramelly taste, but some liked the egg version better, as it was richer and smoother. They were both pretty darned delicious! 

The next variation will be to make it with all coconut milk, to have a dairy-free version. Coconut milk is super-rich, so just a tiny serving should be very satisfying. The one major concern is the BPA from the cans. I would be wary of serving it to children, most especially male children. They really don't need the estrogenic compounds, and their bodies are even more susceptible to contamination than ours. I will be on the lookout for a not-canned organic coconut milk, and will update this post if I find it!

Update: I did make a dairy-free version, and it came out GREAT!
2 cans organic full-fat coconut milk
5 egg yolks
3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
4 Chai Spice tea bags - steeped in the hot milk, before adding the yolk for the custard. 

Updated Almond Power Bars

The other day I was rummaging around in my recipe box, and found this recipe for Almond Power Bars, and thought, "Yum! I haven't made those in *ages*!" So, today I made a version of them, and found them good enough to repost the recipe, with today's changes. I didn't have any whole almonds, so I used all almond meal. I'm wary of stevia and won't touch agave nectar anymore, so I used a skosh of palm sugar, but with the chocolate they are really too sweet, so if you use the crystallized ginger, I'd leave out the palm sugar. Or, what I think I'll do next time is do the recipe as I did today, but leave off the chocolate.

I just tried to enter the recipe into Nutrition Data so that I could give you the macronutrient breakdown, but the stupid website didn't have listings for flax seed or shredded coconut, so I gave up. Sorry. I really wanted to see the fat/protein/carb ratios on this. (You know by now that I'm looking for a ratio pretty much opposite of the "recommended" balance.)

Anyway, here is the recipe!

Almond Power Bars

2 1/2 cups almond meal (I used Crispy Almonds that I had put through the Cuisinart.)

1/2 cup flax meal (flax seeds ground just before use in an old coffee grinder that I keep around for spices)

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup crystallized ginger

2T palm sugar

1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt

1/2 cup coconut oil 

1T vanilla extract (actually I used about 1 tsp almond & 2 tsp vanilla extracts)

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, optional (Dagoba is a recommended brand, but what I had on hand were Ghirardelli)

Place almond meal, flax meal, shredded coconut, crystallized ginger, salt, and palm sugar in food processor and process briefly, until uniform. 

Melt coconut oil in a small pan over very low heat. Pour into the almond mixture in the food processor, and add the vanilla and/or almond extracts. (Almond extract is a delicious, but VERY strong flavor, so I recommend using just a tsp of it, whether you use vanilla extract as well, or not.) 

Process this mixture until it forms a paste. Press the paste into either an 8x8 or 9x12 glass baking dish, depending on how thick you want your bars to be. 

Melt the chocolate chips over very low heat in the same pan you used for the coconut oil. Pour melted chocolate over the almond mixture in the baking dish, and spread evenly. 

Pop the whole pan into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up. Remove, and cut into bars. I like to wrap each bar in a piece of waxed paper and store them in the fridge. 

Made in the 9x12 pan, and using the chocolate, they are really like little candy bars. As mentioned above, I'm going to make them again, put them in the 8x8 pan, and skip the chocolate. I may skip the palm sugar as well, as the crystallized ginger has plenty of sugar by itself. 

Enjoy!

Update 3/11/11:
As noted above, I found the last batch to be a little too sweet, so I tweaked it yet again. I did basically the same as above, but I left out the palm sugar, and instead of melting a cup of chocolate chips on top, I put a half cup of chocolate chips in the Cuisinart with the mix and incorporated them into the "batter". I also put it into an 8x8 pan instead of a 9x12. If you want, here are today's measurements:

2 1/2 cups almond meal

1/2 cup flax meal

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup crystallized ginger

1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt

1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, optional

1/2 cup coconut oil 

1T vanilla extract

Put the first 5 ingredients in the food processor fitted with metal blade, and whir until incorporated. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and repeat. Add the vanilla extract and coconut oil, and whir until well mixed. Press mixture into 8x8 pan and refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares and enjoy! 

Gluten Free Chocolate Mug Cake

Husband's birthday is rolling around again soon, and he wants a German Chocolate Cake for it. I'm going to have a very talented pastry chef friend of ours make him one, but I wondered what I would have, as I'm totally gluten-free again now. Grain-free, in fact, for the time being. And trying to limit my general carb intake as much as I can. So I started scouring the intertubes for a gluten-free mug cake, and didn't like anything I found. They all called for too many ingredients, or one of those gluten-free baking mixes that taste kind of weird. I searched for coconut flour mug cake, but the only one I found used more rice flour than coconut. Then I thought, you know, I have a coconut flour cake recipe that I know works great, why not just chop it down and see how it comes out?? And I did, and it worked great!! So, without further ado, here is the recipe:


1 large egg
1 rounded Tablespoon coconut flour, sifted
1 rounded teaspoon cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 Tablespoons Grade B maple syrup
drop vanilla extract


Crack the egg into a large (12oz) heatproof coffee mug. Beat it with a fork until well combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to mix thoroughly. Pop the mug into the microwave, and cook on "high" for 2.5 minutes*. Take it out and let it sit for 5 minutes, then devour! Mine pulled away from the sides of the mug, allowing me to dump it out onto a plate, but I'm sure it would be just as tasty right out of the mug! 


That's exactly how long I did mine and it was right, but as we all know, microwaves vary, so watch it and see when it's done. It rose up right at first, higher than the mug, but then it went back down into the mug, and I basically just decided it smelled done and stopped it. I touched the top, and it was firm, so took it out and let it sit, and it was just right. Oh and I know, I prefer to avoid the microwave when I can - I do suppose you could pop the mug into a regular oven and bake it - not sure how long that would take, though. 

I have a friend who has to watch his sugar intake, so I ran the statistics on the recipe, as best I could figure:
454 calories
33.8g fat (65% of calories)
33.5g carb (28% of calories)
8.0g protein (7% of calories)


The vast majority of the carbs was 26.8g sugar from the maple syrup, so I suppose you could use a fake sugar if you were a person who needed, for medical reasons, to watch the sugar intake. For me, the fat/carb balance is what I watch. 


Anyway, I'm all about the *sensible* indulgences, as Mark Sisson calls them, and this one really fit the bill! 


**Update** The second time I made this, for some reason, it was quite bitter and not nearly as tasty as the first time. I can't now remember what I did differently, but I think I eyeballed some of the measurements, so maybe I over- or under-did something. Maybe I overcooked it. I'll update again the next time I try it and post how it comes out and anything I do differently. 

Hot Chocolate - Dairy Free

I was going in circles in the kitchen looking for something to perk me up. I wasn't hungry, I didn't want coffee, I just needed something to pick me up. Husband suggested hot chocolate. I said, "We haven't got any milk." But then I realized I had some coconut milk in the pantry, and thought, "Yum!" So:

I put the can of coconut milk in a saucepan, along with an equal amount of filtered water, and set it to heating. I added a tsp of dolomite powder for calcium, simply because I had it on hand and it's a part of the Nourishing Traditions "Coconut Milk Tonic" recipe. I whisked it to dissolve the dolomite powder. I added a half cup of good quality dark chocolate chips (60% cocoa Ghirardelli, I had left over from the holidays) and whisked to melt & incorporate. I poured a little into a cup & tasted it. It wasn't quite sweet enough, so I added about another 1/4 cup of chocolate chips & whisked. I tasted and it was sweet enough, but it lacked body. So I added two tablespoons of coconut oil. Then I thought, "Oh, you know what it needs? Vanilla!" So I went to the spice cabinet to get out the vanilla extract & saw the almond extract - "Ooooh! Even better!" I put in about 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract & stirred it in, and a generous pinch (1/8 tsp?) of good quality Portuguese sea salt. I whisked, tasted, and declared it *delicious*! Now it was actually a little *too* sweet, so next time I'll cut back on the chocolate & see how it is. 

All that being said, here is the recipe:

Super-Rich, Indulgent, Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate

1 14-oz can Organic Coconut Milk (full fat) (Get organic because the regular has sulfur dioxide)

filtered water (use the empty coconut milk can to measure an equal quantity)

1 tsp dolomite powder (for calcium, optional) 

1/2 cup good quality chocolate chips or pieces, preferably free of soy lecithin, but this is hard to find. 

2 T coconut oil

1/4 tsp almond extract

generous pinch good quality unrefined sea salt

Put all ingredients in a saucepan & heat over medium heat, whisking to combine. When all is mixed and warm, ladle into small mugs and serve! This is extremely rich, so I don't recommend a serving larger than about 8 ounces. 

Enjoy! 

Mom's True Texas Chili

Photo Tutorial of this recipe here.

This is my own version of my Mom's recipe for True Texas Chili. Texas Chili contains Meat. And Spices. That is ALL. No beans. And for God's sake, no tomatoes! Are you making spaghetti sauce, or chili? Anyway. I modified Mom's recipe by adding an onion. Because really, what suffers from the addition of onion? Nothing. And my unorthodox addition (Sorry, Mom) is a bit of brown rice. The original recipe called for a couple tablespoons of flour to thicken it, and in the attempt to go gluten-free, and eventually grain-free (except for rice), I've used different things over the years to thicken it, from ground millet to cornmeal to quinoa. Everything works fine, but the brown rice addition is compliant with the McCombs Plan, which we are currently following. Really, you could just skip the rice and add the water and simmer the chili. It would thicken up just fine, I'm sure. *Update 4/19/10: Trying to be grain-free now, so today I'm making it without rice or any grain. It worked great! 

Anyway, Enjoy a great big bowl of Texas Red! And if you just *want* beans, just add them at serving. But not to the pot. Okay? Oh, and "beans" means PINTOS. Not those big, weird, yucky kidney beans you Yankees think go in chili... **grimace**

Mom's True Texas Chili
(Can be halved easily, but why not make a bunch and freeze half?)

Ingredients:
5 lbs ground chuck, 80/20. (If you know me at all, you know I don't believe in lean.)
2 medium yellow onions (White or 1015 will also do fine.)
2 T garlic powder (or better, a couple cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and chopped)
1 (scant) cup chili powder (I like Fiesta "light in color" Chili Powder, but any will do.)
1/2 cup ground cumin (I like to grind my own, but pre-ground is okay.)
1/4 cup ground turmeric (If you can get this in the bulk section, it will be much cheaper than those tiny jars.)
2 T sea salt
1 cup brown rice (We are partial to Lundberg Organics Short Grain Brown Rice, but any will do.)
4 cups filtered water, plus more if needed.

Method:
Put the ground beef in a big stock pot and crank up the heat to medium-high. As the meat browns, stir and break up chunks with a wooden spoon.

While the meat browns, chop up the onions, and garlic if you are using fresh.

Measure into a bowl: 1 cup chili powder, 1/2 cup ground cumin, 2T garlic powder (if you are not using fresh), 2T salt, and 1/4 cup ground turmeric. Turmeric is supposed to be really good for your brain, and specifically in the prevention of Alzheimer's, which my Mom has, along with all of her siblings. Scare. So whenever the dish allows (chili, rice, potatoes, etc.) I try to remember (heh) to add it. I actually forgot this the last time I made chili, but I have noted it on my original recipe, so I won't forget in future!

Get the beef nice and brown. When it's fully cooked, add the onion (and fresh garlic, if using) and mix it in. Then add the spices and mix them in. Add the brown rice. Add four cups of water, and mix it all up. Turn the heat to low, and simmer this mixture for a good, long while, stirring occasionally . 2 hours is the absolute minimum. I partially cover the pot, by laying the wooden spoon across the top of the pot, and putting the lid on so that it is slightly ajar. At two hours, it's edible, but really needs more. This last batch, after two hours, I added 2 more cups of water and simmered it about another hour and a half.

When it's done - nice and thick - take it off the heat and allow it to cool for a while. Split it between two 2-quart containers. Put one in the fridge for immediate consumption, and one in the freezer for later. Chili freezes really well. And as delicious as it is, one gets tired of eating it by the time you get to the end of one of the containers. Or if you have a friend in need, you have a delicious hot meal on hand that you can take to them.

Enjoy!

Candied Citrus Peel

This is also something I make every year at Christmas time. I've done everything from pomelos to grapefruits to oranges to lemons and limes. What I've found is that smallish, thin-skinned citrus works best. So this year, I bought two five-pound bags of clementines. What follows isn't a recipe, exactly, just a method, which I've found to work over the last few years. I'm following the method outlined in the 1997 edition of The Joy of Cooking, with my own tweaks. If you can get organic fruit, so much the better, since you will be eating the peels. This is a several-day process, so be sure to start about a week before you need them.

Photos of the entire process can be seen here.

Wash all the fruit in soapy water and rinse well. Be sure to remove any labels.
Cut them in half and juice them (an inexpensive citrus juicer is recommended!)
Cut the empty halves in half again, pulling out as much of the flesh as possible.
Put the quarters into a large stockpot and cover with water.
Place on medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
Lower heat and simmer until the peels are starting to soften, 30-60 minutes. Don't overdo it.
Drain the peels in a large colander and allow to cool.
When they are cool, use an eating spoon to gently scrape the remaining white pith off the peels.
Make enough sugar syrup to cover the peels you now have. Here's how:

Mix 1 cup white sugar, 3/4 cup water, and 3T light corn syrup in a large pot over medium heat. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Is it enough to cover your peels? If not, add the same quantities again & stir to dissolve, until you have enough. For my 10lbs of clementines, I used 4 cups sugar, 3 cups water, and about 6T corn syrup, and it was just about perfect.

Add your peels to the sugar syrup, bring to boil, lower heat and simmer until the peels start to look translucent and the syrup is starting to be absorbed, an hour or two.
Turn off the heat, cover, and allow to stand overnight.
In the morning, drain the peels. If they are very sticky, you can put them back on the heat for a few minutes until the syrup liquifies again and you can drain them.
Spread the peels out on a rack or large quantity of parchment paper and allow them to dry for a while, but not completely. You want them moist, but not drippy. Don't leave them more than a day or they run the risk of getting moldy
Spread a couple of cups of white sugar in a 9x12 pan, dredge each piece of peel in the sugar, and place in a single layer on parchment to dry. If your weather is humid like mine, this can take several days.

Between the sugar syrup and sugar to dredge the peels, I used an entire 4 lb bag of white sugar for the 10 lbs of clementines.

Finally, the peels are ready to eat! You can eat them like candy, or chop and use in recipes, or dip them in chocolate and allow to harden for an even more elegant treat!

CocoChews - Koo Koo Ka Choo!

This is an entirely original recipe. I made it up based on my annual Deadly Caramels recipe, after smelling some coconut-scented lotion! I've tweaked it a couple of years now (I only do stuff like this at Christmas time) and I *think* I've got it. Because of the shredded coconut, they are not as chewy as the caramels, but more crumbly.

You can see instructive photos of the process here.

Line a 9x12 pan with 2 layers of Reynold's Heavy Duty aluminum foil. Trust me, don't use regular. Get the heavy stuff, and the store brand is *not* sufficient. Grease it thoroughly with coconut oil. Set aside. Do this ahead of time, you will not have the chance to do it after you start the recipe.

1 cup coconut oil
1 lb turbinado sugar (white sugar will also work)
1 cup light agave nectar* light corn syrup or mild honey
15oz cream of coconut (sweetened coconut milk, like you'd use for a pina colada)
1 tsp vanilla or coconut extract
4 cups unsweetened flaked coconut

In a large pot over medium heat, melt the coconut oil. Add the turbinado sugar and stir until mostly dissolved. Add the agave and cream of coconut. Bring to a boil. Clip the candy thermometer to the pan (not touching the bottom of the pan) and stir constantly for 15 minutes or so, until it reads between 148 and 152 degrees Farenheit. Turn off the heat, and stir in the vanilla, then the coconut. Mix thoroughly, then pour into the prepared 9x12 pan.

When it cools, lift it out of the pan using the foil, and cut into 1 inch squares. Wrap them in waxed paper squares. Bribe Invite your friends to help!

Update: Rather than a 15oz can of Coco Lopez, I got something called Coco Real that came in a 21oz bottle. Since that is about a half a cup more than the can of Coco Lopez, and I was going to have to supplement my agave nectar* with corn syrup, I just used the whole bottle and a half cup of agave nectar*. They came out just fine.

IMPORTANT FURTHER UPDATE: (2/13/10) Use honey, or maybe maple syrup, but not the agave nectar. I have since found out that agave nectar has more of the processed sort of fructose (versus the good stuff in fresh fruit) than the evil High Fructose Corn Syrup. Stay FAR FAR AWAY from it.

Fearless Friday: Muffins

Based on the success of the cupcakes made from the gluten-free cake recipe, I decided to try an experiment to decrease the sugar even more. So based on that recipe, I made up the following one. If it works, I'll have a snack that is free of grain, gluten, dairy, sugar, and fake sugar. The only major allergen it contains is egg. I do have at least one friend who will not be able to eat them because of that. And I guess nuts, but those are quite easily left out.

Carrot Apple Raisin Muffins
(Free of gluten, grain, dairy, sugar, & sugar substitutes)

3/8 cup coconut flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon celtic sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons flax seed, ground
(1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp allspice - suggestions*)
5 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup applesauce
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup raisins (used 1/4 cup golden & 1/4 cup regular)
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts**

In a small bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda, ground flax, & spices.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, and applesauce.
Add carrots, raisins, and pecans and mix.
Add dry ingredients into large bowl and mix.
Grease 12 cup muffin tin and dust with coconut flour, or line with muffin papers.
Pour batter into cups 2/3 full and bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.
Remove from oven, allow to cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove from pans & cool completely.

*My applesauce was homemade, and was very spicy with ginger, cinnamon, & anise seeds, so I didn't add any extra spices. Therefore these measurements are just suggestions.
**If you know me at all, you know I used pecans. I always say, "A walnut is a Yankee's poor excuse for a pecan!" That being said, I concede that walnuts would work just fine in such a recipe.

I transferred them to a cooling rack, and we each grabbed a warm one on our way out the door - Husband was halfway through his before I bit into mine, so I asked him for an assessment. He said it was, "like cornbread with fruit in it," and he liked it. I bit into mine and found the texture to be fantastic! It was pretty much not sweet at all, except for the raisins. When we got home, we each had a room-temperature one, and found it much sweeter than the warm ones had been. I refrigerated them overnight, and in the morning found them *plenty* sweet for breakfast.

There are a couple of things I will do differently next time:
- I will grease & flour the muffin cups instead of using papers, because I didn't like how much muffin stuck to the papers.
- I will try using 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut in place of the flax seed, just to see how it affects the taste & texture. Perhaps I'll try using both as well.

But all in all, I declare this Fearless Friday a success! I will *definitely* be making it again.

**Update** I made a second batch, and it did not come out anything like as well as the first. They were edible, but soggy. There were a few changes contributing to this: 
1. I used a less-expensive brand of coconut flour, which was milled less finely and had a higher fat content than the Bob's Red Mill that I used before. I now recommend *only* Bob's Red Mill Coconut Flour. It's around $7/lb, but you only use tablespoons of it at a time. My first bag lasted me an entire year.  
2. I eliminated the flax seed, and added 1/4 cup unsweetened, flaked coconut. I loved the flavor of the coconut added, so next time I will try adding both.
3. My applesauce had sort of separated and was a bit runny, and
4. I didn't measure the carrot shreds, but just grated 2 carrots into the bowl. I don't know that this threw it off, but with baking, measuring is usually a good idea.

I'll make a third batch and let you know how they come out!