Gluten Free Banana Cheesecake

I first envisioned this cake on my friend Erika's birthday. I adore cheesecake in general but have been seeking out new flavor profiles. I am a huge lover of citrus so of course I gravitate toward flavors like key lime. I had no idea how wonderfully banana cheesecake would be and its immediately become a favorite of many of my friends.

This is not your typical dense cheesecake and I learned a wonderful trick from a cashier at the Smart and Final that with solve that horrid problem of cracking cheesecake. The use of condensed milk in the recipe makes it a nearly fool proof recipe as well as needing little additional sugar.

Gluten Free Banana Cheesecake

• 2 eggs
• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (8 oz) package full fat cream cheese
• 1/8 cup cane sugar
• 4 ripe bananas
• 4 Tablespoons corn starch
• 2 cups gluten free Trader Joes' Ginger Snaps
• 3 Tablespoons soft butter
• 1 cup almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Prepare gluten free cheesecake crust by dumping 2 cups of gluten free Trader Joes' Ginger Snap cookies in your food processor and blending till crumb texture has been met. Add 1 cup of whole raw almonds. Pulse till almonds are ground into cookie crumble and add 3 tablespoons soft butter. Alternately if you can not get to a Trader Joes easily you can make a plain almond crust with ground almonds, cane sugar, butter and a few tablespoons of water till a moist crumb texture has been found. You can season the almonds as well with various spices like ground dry ginger or cinnamon.

3. Place crust crumble into the bottum of spring form pan. Press gently into place. 

4. Clean food processor and combine cream cheese, ripe peels bananas, sugar, cream cheese, corn starch and condensed sweetened milk. Blend till completely smooth and combined. 

5. Pour cheesecake filling on top of crust and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until just set across the entirety of the cake.

6. Cool on counter top for an hour, loosen with a knife and then pop off spring form ring.

7. Chill in the fridge. Serve with homemade sweetened whipped cream. I like to use whiskey in my whipped cream in place of vanilla extract for this particular recipe. 

Of course once chilled this dessert can be served the same day but I have found that waiting one allows the banana flavor to fully ripen in the cake. Its also important that you use fully ripe bananas as they will provide for the sweetest and strongest flavor. 

Enjoy! xoxo - Iris

Allergies, Sensitivities, Celiacs... oh MY!

May is Celiac's Disease Awareness Month. I follow a few other gluten free bloggers, some who choose to be gluten free because of Celiacs and others because of other medical necessities. I've never been medically diagnosed with Celiac's, the blood antibody test was inconclusive for me because I had already eliminated wheat from my diet a year pior to being tested. But trust me wheat and me we are not friends, the fine flora and I are mortal enemies in fact!

I guess on some level getting some diagnosis on paper would be some sort of affirmation for me but the only confirmation I need really is how I feel. I once accidentally without knowing it ate some wheat flour in some candy and was sick for about a week after, when I found out that their was wheat in the candy a part of me was relieved to know that my symptoms were not psychosomatic.  I guess that was kind of like my unscientific diagnosis.

For some reason though this juxtaposition of "wheat sensitivity" to Celiac's Disease reminds me of a conversation I had once with my doctor. I'm like the Queen of sensitivity over here, antibiotics and most pain medications make me projectile vomit, I once had an endoscopy in which I was unsuccessfully sedated, there is a reason my high school drug experimentation was limited to marijuana.

However, in the medical world, sensitivity or adverse reactions are not regarded with the same fear that allergies are and here is why:

My doctor explained to me allergies are a histamine reaction that causes swelling, inflammation, can inhibit breathing and can cause death, quickly. So if you say to a doctor you are allergic to something they have to take it VERY seriously.

I understand this, though I mentally compare my actual allergy to pineapple to my sensitivity to wheat. Pineapple gives me hives, it also for some reason makes me irritable, I love the flavor but sadly can not eat the stuff! However, one benedryl later my symptoms rapidly subside. Wheat on the other hand I won't even realize has snuck into something or cross contaminated my food until I am doubled over half an hour later with pain in my stomach that lasts about two weeks like someone socked me in the stomach as hard as they can.  I'd take my allergy any day over my sensitivity.

This is me specifically, of course, allergies can be life threatening so I in no way mean to down play the seriousness of allergies. I do however think that its unfortunate that sensitivities are not regarded with the same respect. It essentially has left me resorting to lying at the doctors office "I am allergic to certain antibiotics." If further questioned I like to tell them the story of how when I got my wisdom teeth out the doctor assured me that these antibiotics would be fine and then I had to suffer through days of projectile vomiting out of a mouth that hardly would open. Yes, gross! But I think it drives my point home.

So now back to Celiacs versus Wheat/Gluten Sensitivity.

Here is the scientific difference. Those with Celiac's disease have an autoimmune reaction to wheat/gluten consumption that leads their body to attack itself, specifically the lining in the small intestine. This damage over time leads to a myriad of problem including malnutrition and the forms in which that effects your overall health.

Wheat/gluten sensitivity is where, as apposed to the body attacking itself, the body attacks the wheat/gluten protein as a toxic invader. The bodies reaction is to become inflamed, specifically throughout the digestive tract. There has not been enough research on this to determine what the long term effects of this on your body would be. I supposed it really would depend on how long you've been living with these symptoms and their severity.

Both have very similar body reactions and can manifest themselves in similar symptomatic ways in your body. Remember IBS? yeah, thats probably Celiacs or a wheat sensitivity...

I am not someone that preaches a gluten free lifestyle to the masses and the estimates of how many in the population are effected dramatically varies from 5% to 50%.

I can however speak to my own personal experience and the experiences of those around me.

I first eliminated wheat from my diet in November of 2011 at the recommendation of a friend/acupuncturist who was trying to assist me with my severe and sudden onset of dysphagia.

The reduction of my symptoms was dramatic enough for me to stay the course. What began to happen though was very interesting, my overall digestive health improved fairly quickly, my skin completely cleared up and I lost about 50lbs. My body was definitely appreciating the change. Shortly after this several friends of mine decided to become gluten free, one was a long time severe heart burn sufferer. Within a week of eliminating wheat from his diet he had no heart burn, reintroduction of wheat and bam symptoms returned.

My other friend had eliminated wheat on a whim because his cholesterol was high, weeks after eliminating wheat from his diet he had lost 15lbs and his cholesterol levels dropped immediately. He expressed to me that his symptoms were not so dramatic when he ate wheat again though overall he felt better when he wasn't.

Conversely I have some friends who complain to me about symptoms that I feel SOOOOOO sure would be appeased through a diet with wheat elimination but haven't successfully tried it out. And really its easy if it doesn't make you feel better then you can go back to your wheat.

I guess the point is for me its irrelevant, to get the an actual diagnosis would be just validation, somewhere in me its a validation I want but no matter what I'll be spending the rest of my life wheat and gluten free. I know what it does to me and its important to not live your life sick.

xoxo - Iris

Homemade Sodas

Grapefruit Soda, Black Currant Soda and Lychee/Strawberry Soda

It struck me as kind of strange that Hanson's soda marked their soda as gluten free until a few weeks ago when I was planning on buying a grape soda at Walgreens and discovered it had "modified food starch" as an ingredient. What the heck is that even doing in there?

I talk a lot about my gluten sensitivity but I'll explain a bit here too about what led me to a gluten free lifestyle. I suffer from, aside from the typical digestive issues associated with gluten sensitivity and celiacs, extreme dysphagia. Dysphagia basically means the sensation of choking. My diet has become slightly more limited in terms of texture because of this condition. Going gluten free dramatically reduced my symptoms but one of the interesting things that really helps is carbonated beverages. It's much easier to swallow with the sensation of the bubbles... I've also heard this technique is used with the elderly who have swallowing limitations.

So back to soda... we certainly would all like to avoid high fructose corn syrups and all the other preservatives that are unavoidable in store purchased pop. If your looking to create your own soda beverages at home but would rather not invest in one of the latest forced carbonation devices now available at Bed, Bath and Beyond and other such home gadget stores, I have the solution for you.

Champagne yeast.

I recently started ordering the stuff online, Red Star Champagne yeast. It's the yeast used to make mead
style alcoholic beverages.  However in shortened fermentation periods you can make a fabulously carbonated beverage from just a few simple ingredients.

For simple sodas with juice bases, think peach, grape, black current, grapefruit and orange you can follow these instructions.

1 liter swing top glass bottle, thoroughly cleaned, these can be found at most home brew supply stores.

1/3 cup cane sugar, you can use organic or the cheaper "non-GMO certified" cane sugar available at most markets.

Carbonation in Grapefruit Soda

1/8 teaspoon champagne yeast

12 fluid oz juice of choice

filtered water

Use a funnel to pour sugar into bottle, then add yeast, juice and then fill water up to neck line. Close bottle and shake. Set in a warm place for 24 hours. At the 12 hour market slowly rotate bottle to mix sugar.

Once appropriate fizz level has been reached refrigerate. Serve cold.

You can make your own variations on this by essentially using other juices or creating other "flavored" waters by adding homemade syrups such as ginger syrup with lemon juice for ginger ale or other varieties to create custom homemade sodas.

I swear you will NEVER want to drink store bought soda ever again... I mean EVER again! I tried to drink some Canada Dry a few weeks ago and I was like "what is this watery week flavorless stuff?!"

This is a summer MUST have! Enjoy and feel free to share whatever awesome flavor combos you come up with.

xoxo- Iris

Gluten Free Tres Leches Cake Recipe!

I have a policy at work that when someone who works in the same department as me has a birthday they can request what kind of cake they want and I'll make it. A few years ago one of the assistants in the office, who is from Mexico, requested a tres leches cake. My knowledge of tres leches cake up until this time was limited to the sighting of single slices of questionable yellow cake sitting in a puddle of milk in the bakery section of Food For Less. Needless to say I hadn't actually eaten any of the stuff myself.

wheat containing Tres Leches Cake

Not one to balk at a challenge I googled a recipe for Tres Leches Cake. At this time I was still naively poisoning myself with wheat products. The next day I brought in my homemade cake after following the recipe, which essentially is a sponge cake soaked in a sweet cream mix topped with whipped cream.  We all had a good laugh once it was actually explained to me that in fact this a cake that should remain in a dish... this seems obvious now as the milk seeped out from under the cake... Also the "traditional" cake is topped with maraschino cherries which are on my "are you sure thats edible?" list so I used fresh strawberries.  It was delicious, I still think a cake better eaten fresh homemade rather than store bought.

Flash forward...

When making a recipe "gluten freed" its important to consider texture as the key factor in replacing one flour for another. Sponge cake is actually excellent adapted to gluten free because of the egg base and the light texture.  I've been making this with a lot of success and so here is my recipe from Easter that was enjoyed by all.

Gluten Free Tres Leches Cake

• 1 1/4 cup cane sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 5 egg whites
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/8 cup potato flour
• 1/8 cup corn starch
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
• 1 pint whipping cream
• fresh berries of your choosing

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour using brown rice flour your cake pan... as long as it will fit that batter use whatever you prefer. I kind of like a casserole dish as you can serve it in the pan you bake the cake in.

2. Beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar until light in color and doubled in volume. Stir in milk, 1 tsp vanilla, combines flours and baking powder.

3. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until firm but not dry. Fold egg whites into yolk mixture. Pour into prepared pan.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes or until tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool.

5. Mix together condensed milk, evaporated milk and 1/4 cup of the whipping cream. Pour mixture over cake and allow to absorb. Whip the remaining whipping cream with a 1/4 cup of sugar and a tsp of vanilla until it thickens and reaches spreading consistency. Frost cake with whipped cream and garnish with fresh berries.

Set aside in the fridge, serve after an hour... it will instantly disappear, I kid you not people were going back for seconds and licking their plates clean. 

xoxo - Iris

Garlic Black Eye Peas

This is one of those, "yeah, of course that's gluten free" posts but I have to say I didn't grow up eating black eye peas so when I did finally start incorporating them into my diet I was like "oh my gawd! have you tried these things!?"

Black eye peas are are earthier bean, you can find them canned, fresh or dry and I think even in the frozen section. Probably the easiest to find is the dry ones but you can essentially use any of them for this recipe. This recipe can be made healthier and also it can be made vegan too (less butter or a butter substitute or probably no butter would work) but honestly I never have proclaimed to be a health food blogger, just delicious, I can promise to deliver on delicious.

Garlic Sauce Black Eye Peas

• 3 cups cooked black eye peas
• 1 tsp salt (also season to taste)
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 carrot, peels and chopped
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin seed

Directions:

1. Melt butter in large skillet and add finely chopped garlic and add carrots, celery, bell pepper and onion. 

2. Add salt and sauté until par cooked, add cooked black eye peas, and vegetable broth. 

3. Add spices, paprika, bay leaves, cumin and simmer on low for about 20 minutes. 

4. Serve warm over rice, add additional salt or pepper to taste. 

For some reason this feels like real solid comfort food and makes wonderful left overs, the broth mixed with the beans and the butter really makes a delicious sauce and really soaks into rice if you serve it that way... 

So enjoy! xoxo - Iris

Carob Peanut Butter Oat Cookies

Here is another recipe for your carob cravings and since this is a chocolate free cookie feel free to share with your dog. For some reason my oldest dog, Mina, was going nuts for these!

Please note this recipe does call for oat flour which is not always gluten free so be sure that you either verify that the oat flour you are using is gluten free or make your own from whole gluten free oats. Trader Joes sells affordable gluten free oats, just dump the bag into the food processor and blend till grainy flour texture. I return the blended oats to the original bag and store them this way on the shelf.

CAROB PEANUT BUTTER OAT COOKIES

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup cane sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup carob flour
• 1/2 cup gluten free oat flour 
• 1/8 cup brown rice flour
• 1/8 cup potato flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Mix butter, peanut butter, sugars, egg and vanilla extract in electric mixing bowl.

3. Combine flours with baking soda and salt. 

4. Add dry to wet mixture and beat till combined. 

5. Roll into balls and place on foil lined but not greased cookie sheet.

6. Flatten balls by pressing fork in crossing pattern. 

7. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven but let cool on sheet.

8. Remove from baking sheet and enjoy!

The resulting cookie is a little bit delicate but definitely soft and delicious. 

Enjoy! xoxo- Iris

Kefir Water

From left to right: ruby red grapefruit with ginger kefir soda on second ferment,  lychee kefir soda, pomegranate kefir soda and then in the mason jar kefir grains with sugar water on day 2 of initial ferment.  

I'm very proactive with my pinterest use. At least once a day I sit on my ipad perusing 2 sections: "DIY & Crafts" and "Food & Drink." I'm fairly conservative with my repinning because I actually do/make the items I mark.

One day a pin for Water Kefir Flavor Guide came up. I just discovered my love of Kombucha this last summer while selling my baked goods at the Brentwood Farmer's Market so this Kefir water stuff definitely intrigued me. While the information available online seems less than thorough the basics are that Kefir water is a bacteria that works symbiotically with yeast to create a fizzy probiotic drink. This is done through the fermentation of "kefir grains" with sugar water and then after a second ferment where juice is added for flavor.

Hydrated kefir grains in coffee filter.

I promptly ordered myself a batch of "kefir grains" from Cultures for Health. In total it cost me $20 but that includes the shipping, etc. My dehydrated kefir arrived by the end of the week. The good news about these grains, which are actually not a grain at all, is that as long as I keep them happy, healthy and fed I will never need to replace them and in fact they may even begin to multiply at which time I can make larger batches or share with friends.

Aside from the digestive and gut benefits of the water kefir, which is basically like the non-dairy alternative to the kefir you find in the grocery store (the yogurt drink,) it really is refreshingly delicious and lower in sugar than soda beverages. The kefir grains essentially eat up the sugar in the water so your final product will have less sugar than the initial sugar water mix.

Once you follow the enclosed directions to rehydrate the grains you are well on your way. I got some swing cap style bottles for my finished kefir sodas and used a quart mason jar for the first ferment step. First add 1/4 cup sugar, I used organic cane sugar, to the mason jar. Add about 1 cup of warm water, use filtered or mineral water, not tap water. Slosh water and sugar around to get the sugar to dissolve. Now add just enough water so that you are about 3 inches from the top of your jar. This also will bring your water temp down to about room temperature so that its safe to add your water kefir grain. Dump in the grains. Cover mason jar with a dish clothe or coffee filter and secure with either the metal band that comes with the jar or a rubber band. You still want the mix to breath but to keep it safe from bugs or other potential contaminants. Place in a warm but not hot, safe area off to the side in your kitchen.

Let the kefir grains and sugar water sit for 48 hours. After 48 hours you should be seeing a few small bubbles popping up from the grains. Your drink will not be fizzy yet, this won't happen till the second fermentation.

Now that 48 hours has passed you want to strain out your kefir grains. I used a funnel and a plastic coffee filter, you want to avoid metal touching your grains at any point. Make sure your bottles are very clean and pour while filtering the kefir water into the bottle.

You should have kefir grains sitting in your filter and a bottle of kefir water with no grains in it sitting on your kitchen counter now. Take the strained kefir grains and follow the steps above to get another batch going of kefir water. Cover and set aside.

You are going to prepare the bottle of strained kefir for its second fermentation at this point. This is also the stage where you add flavor and the carbonation will become active. Depending on the flavor you choose to add will really effect the overall outcome of the flavor in the end. What I mean by that is that is that if you choose to add an organic juice, for example pomegranate, grapefruit, apple juice or a berry juice you can expect the sugar in the juice to continue to ferment and your final product will be very bubbly and have a slight fermented almost cider like quality to it. The alcohol content will be negligible, I've read around .64 so thats not what you are creating but the smell and taste will be that of a fermented beverage. However, if you add lemon and ginger, one of my favorite combinations, there is less sugar to be fed on, it takes a little longer to get to the fizzy stage and perhaps its just the strength of the ginger but I find that it has less of a cider taste and more of a ginger beer taste.

Pomegranate kefir soda on ice. 

Add enough juice to your kefir water that you still leave the neck of the bottle empty and maybe about an inch below that, you can see what I mean in my picture at the top. You can also add fresh ginger slices or lemon juice. Basically add juice flavors and combinations that appeal to you. You are probably looking at adding an additional 1/2 cup to a 1 cup of juice or flavor to your water kefir. If you add fresh ginger slices be sure the slivers are big enough that you can get them out of the bottle to empty and clean the bottle once you have drank all the soda.

Seal tightly and place kefir mixed with juice in a dark warmish area to have its second fermentation. Depending on the sugar content of the juice you have added the second ferment time with vary. I check in on my soda every 24 hours to see how bubbly it has become and as soon as it reaches the level I want I put it in the fridge. Do not let it go too long as it can explode if the carbonation builds up to much. I like my drink fairly fizzy so about 72 hours generally works for me.

Once you get this process going in a cycle you should always have a kefir water going and one on its second ferment and a few in the fridge and you will have a continual supply of soda.

Enjoy and experiment! xoxo - Iris