November 11, 2010

Oktoberfest dinner

Wow, this post was really intense to write. Thank goodness I'm mostly caught up now :)


At my house we often have Sunday night dinner potlucks, and on the last Sunday in September we had an Oktoberfest dinner. I wore my dirndl and made gluten-free homemade pretzels and gluten-free german chocolate cupcakes! My housemates helped with the pretzels and made German potato salad and a lovely green salad. It was quite the gluten-free feast!


The pretzels were a bit of a challenge, but once we got the dough to the right consistency it was smooth sailing. We used Bob's Red Mill bread mix and followed the directions on the back, then formed the risen dough into long thin ropes - ideally about a foot long by an inch diameter, but the gluten-free dough is tricky to roll out. We then formed them into pretzel shapes on a sprayed cookie sheet and baked them in a 425 F oven for about 12 minutes until they were golden brown. I made a dipping sauce for them using 1/2 meadowfoam honey (agave or brown rice syrup could substitute!) and 1/2 mustard. So tasty!


Bretzeln! 

Honig senf sauce!

For the German potato salad we used red potatoes. I believe my housemate followed this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chic-easy/german-potato-salad-recipe/index.html omitting the bacon and adding fresh rosemary from our garden.

Kartofellsalat!

German chocolate cupcakes are one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. The chocolate with the coconut and the caramel and the pecans... mmmmmmm. 


I combined several recipes to make these, since I did not want to use eggs or garbanzo bean flour. I knew my vegan friends would want to enjoy them, and garbanzo bean flour always seems to lend a distinct flavor to baked goods that I have not yet come around to. I used the gluten free pancake and waffle mix from Trader Joe's as my base (which I recently discovered has been discontinued... du-oh!) and added cocoa. 


For the cupcakes: 


3 c TJ's GF pancake and waffle mix (which is mostly just rice flour, baking powder and baking soda)
1 t baking powder (probably 2 t when using just plain rice flour)
1t baking soda (Same as above)
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa powder
1 c organic evaporated cane juice
3 T ground flax meal + 9 T warm water
3/4 c rice milk + 3 T apple cider vinegar
3 T vanilla extract
1/4 c grapeseed oil
1/2 c coconut oil


I mixed all of these together, then filled about 24 cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full and placed in a pre-heated 325 F oven. I checked the cupcakes for done-ness after 25 minutes using a toothpick and found they needed a bit more time, but somewhere between 25 and 30 minutes should do the trick. 


Let these cool before you frost them!


For the frosting:
1/2 c coconut oil
1/2 c toasted unsweetened coconut
3 c powdered sugar
1/2 c 'dulce de coco-leche' - recipe to follow
1/4 c toasted pecan pieces (optional)


Beat these ingredients together at room temperature, then chill until it firms up enough to frost - about an hour.


For dulce de coco-leche I used this recipe, but halved the ingredients since I only needed 1/2 a cup for my frosting: 
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Coconut-Dulce-de-Leche-240759


German chocolate cupcakes (are not authentically German; are delicious)


Glamour shot :) Happy baking!

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