Gluten-Free Pita

The pita recipe is the result of some online recipe research combined with my own experimentation. These work very well with traditional chick pea falafel, millet falafel, or hummus. Or, you can pour a good fruity olive oil onto a plate, sprinkle with za'atar spice, and dip away.

Ingredients

• 3 cups GOOD gluten-free baking flour (I recommend Better Batter or America’s Test Kitchen recipe) plus extra to for rolling out pitas
• 2 teaspoons xanthan gum (if not already in flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 cup plain yoghurt
• 1½ cups warm 1% or 2% milk, about 100 to 110 °F

Place a baking stone in a cold oven and preheat to 450°F.

Whisk together 3 cups of flour, xanthan gum, salt, yeast, and sugar in a stand mixer bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together oil, yoghurt, and milk.

With the mixer on low speed, add the milk in a slow pour and mix thoroughly until completely incorporated into the flour. If you do not have a stand mixer, the dough can be mixed by hand with a wooden spoon for about two minutes. The dough should be moist and tacky, but it should hold together.

Divide the dough into 8 balls. Wet hands and on a sheet of parchment paper the diameter of the baking stone, press out each ball to a thickness of about one quarter inch, making sure the flattened balls are not touching. Let dough rise for 45 minutes. You may need to use multiple sheets of parchment paper.

Place the sheet of parchment with the flattened dough onto the hot baking stone in the oven. Bake for 4 minutes, flip each pita with a spatula, and bake for 4-5 additional minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack. If pita does not puff up, you can carefully slit it open with a sharp knife.

Makes 8 pitas.

Coconut Lime Rum Cake - Gluten Free

My favorite rum cake can now be made gluten free, and it comes out incredibly well. Make this at your next party, and your celiac friends will love you forever. Of course they may slur their words a bit while expressing their love, but if you are like me, you will take all the validation you can get.

Cake

• 1¼ cups GOOD gluten-free baking flour (I recommend Better Batter or America’s Test Kitchen recipe) plus extra to prepare pan
• 1¼ teaspoon xanthan gum (if not in baking flour)
• 1½ teaspoons baking flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs plus 3 large yolks
• 1½ cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• 1 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• ¾ cup well-stirred sweetened cream of coconut such as Coco López
• 2 tablespoons rum

Rum Syrup

• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• ¼ cup water
• juice of one lime
• pinch of salt
• ¼ cup shredded coconut
• ½ cup rum

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Lightly butter cake pan, coat pan with a little flour, and tap out excess flour.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

With an electric mixer, Mix together whole eggs and yolks, sugar, vanilla, rum, cream cheese, and Coco López in a large bowl until smooth. Pour in melted butter in a smooth stream and mix until just combined. Add flour mixture to wet mixture and beat at low speed until just combined. Pour into cake pan and rap pan on counter to expel air bubbles.

Bake until golden brown and cake starts to pull away from side of pan, about 45 minutes. While cake is baking, prepare the rum syrup. Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Once it is melted, add the sugar, water, lime juice, coconut, and pinch of salt. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat and stir in the rum. Once it is mixed in, return the pan to medium heat for about 30 seconds.

When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately pour about one quarter of the rum syrup over the bottom of the cake. Pour slowly so the sauce has time to seep into the cake. Cool the cake in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and cool 10 minutes more. Once cool, carefully cake from bundt pan. Using a fork or skewer, poke holes all over the top and sides of the cake. Slowly pour the remaining syrup over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. If any of the syrup pools at the bottom, scoop it up with a small spoon and repour over top of cake.