Buckwheat Bread

On a beautiful fall day in the Shenandoah Valley, we stopped in Wade's Mill in Raphine, Virginia, and much to my delight, I found that the store was selling some of its milled products including the much elusive (at least in Henrico, VA) buckwheat. I grabbed the last two bags!

I haven't wasted any time trying out my buckwheat. Today I made buckwheat bread with a recipe I found on the internet (and yes, I made some adjustments), and it is a keeper.

 

Wade's Mill in Raphine, Virginia, built around 1750

 

Buckwheat Bread

 

1 1/2 cups glutenfree flour

1/2 c buckwheat flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 egg whites or 1 egg

1 c reduced fat milk

1/2 c vegetable oil

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

2. Grease a medium sized loaf pan.

 

3. Sift flours, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Set aside.

 

4. Beat egg or egg whites. Stir in milk and oil.

 

5. Add flour mixture to egg & milk mixture, and beat for 3 minutes.

 

6. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 40 - 55 minutes.

 

7. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

 

 

 

Note: Store buckwheat flour in the fridge or freezer for a longer shelf life.



Peanut Butter Frosting

 

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 cups icing sugar

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

 

 

1. In an electric mixer bowl, beat peanut butter and butter until combined and fluffy.

 

2. Add vanilla extract and beat well. Add a 1/3 of icing sugar until well combined and add 1/2 of milk and beat well, and continue until sugar and milk are used up. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy.

 

3. Makes 2 1/2 cups frosting for 24 cupcakes.

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

There is no need to ask Sarah what kind of cake she wants -- it is always going to be devil's food cake with buttercream frosting! The question is -- what kind of design does she want? This year she wanted something called Dave, the Minion cake. I had never heard of or seen the movie and so I had to google Dave the Minion, and after studying a few birthday creations, I came up with my own.

First there was the devil's food cake to be made. I have a tried and tested recipe that I have been using for a number of years.



 



 

Deeply Dark Devil's Food Cake 



 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cups Dutch-processed cocoa powder

11 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/3 warm water or milk

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 11 x 7 x 1.5 - inch rectangular glass pan and set aside.

 

2. In a medium bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.

 

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar and beat at high speed until light and fluffy.

 

4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla extract and beat well.

 

5. At low speed add the flour mixture in three additions and alternate with warm water or milk in two additions.

 

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If making cupcakes, bake for 18 - 20 minutes. This batter will make 24 cupcakes.

 

 

 

To make Dave the Minion Cake 

 

Work on the cake when it is completely cool

 

 

Round off the edges of the cake

 

 

Cover 3/4 of the cake with yellow colored buttercream frosting, shaping

the bottom to leave space for the top of a bib overalls

 

Using blue buttercream frosting fill in the bib overall and pipe two straps. Use brown M&Ms

for the buttons. Take apart two double stuffed Oreo cookies, place a brown M&M

on each cookie, use the silver rings from two Mason canning jars for Dave's glasses -- position the glasses before placing the cookie eyes in. Using black icing pipe Dave's mouth, his hair and the side of his eye glasses

 

Dave's stringy hair

The happy birthday girl



Blackberry Cobbler

August means a trip up to our land in Derby, Vermont, to pick blackberries. This year John made that trip by himself because I am trying to preserve my limited vacation for our trips to the Homestead and to Hawaii. My good husband picked enough for me to make a cobbler and to freeze enough for use later in the season.

 

Instead of pouring a batter over the blackberry mixture, I decided to try using buttermilk biscuits on top of the blackberry mixture, simply because I wanted to try out the gluten free biscuit recipe.



 

Blackberries ripening on the vine on our Mad Moose Farms in Derby, Vermont

 

Blackberry Cobbler Filling

 

4 cups blackberries

1 cup granulated sugar

2 Tbsp corn starch

1/2 tsp lemon juice

 

 

1. Place blackberries in a large saucepan. Using a potato masher, crush blackberries, and then stir in sugar.

 

2. In a small bowl, mix corn starch with enough blackberry juice to form a smooth paste. Mix corn starch mixture into blackberries in the saucepan. Add lemon juice.

 

3. Bring blackberry mixture to a boil, stirring often, until thickened, about 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

 

4. You can cool off the mixture and place in a covered container and store in the fridge, or before it's cool, you can can place in canning jars, process and store until needed. You can use this mixture as a jam, or filling for cobbler or a blackberry pie.

 

 

 

Buttermilk Biscuits



 

3/4 Brown Rice Flour Mix

1/4 sweet rice flour

3 tsp. granulated sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. xanthan gum

1 Tbsp. buttermilk powder (or other dried milk powder)

1/4 tsp salt

5 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into five pieces

1 large egg, separated

3 tbsp. water

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

 

2. Mix Brown rice flour mix, sweet rice flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, buttermilk powder, and salt in a large bowl of electric mixer. With mixer on low speed, cut butter into flour mixture untile mixture is crumbly and resembles coarse meal. Put mixture in smaller bowl and set aside.

 

3. Beat egg white in the same large bowl until very foamy. Add water, beaten egg yolk, and flour mixture all at once, and mix at medium-low speed for 1 minute. Use lightly floured hands to pat out dough into a large 3/4-inch-thick on lightly floured surface. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch round cookie cutter. Press dough scraps together and repeat.

 

4. Place biscuits on lightly greased baking sheet, and place in oven. Turn oven temperature down to 400 degrees. Bake 15 - 18 minutes or until medium golden brown.

 

5. Serve hot with butter and jam.

 

6. Makes six biscuits.

 

 

 

Blackberry Cobbler

 

 

1. Place blackberry mixture in a small rectangular dish large enough to hold blackberry filling and six buttermilk biscuits. Sprinkle teaspoon of granulated sugar on biscuits. Bake in 35o degree oven for 10 - 15 minutes until blackberry mixture is bubbly.

 

2. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

 

 

Blackberry cobbler is scrumptious with french vanilla ice cream or vanilla bean ice cream