Two Minute Gluten Free Mini Cakes

One thing about baking from scratch: It takes a lot of time. But mug cakes are made in the microwave, and that means that within a few minutes, the cake is done. So what could be better than a made-from-scratch cake ready in a few minutes?

Inspired by Anne's video for gluten free Mexican mug cake, I came up with this recipe for mini cakes. Using ramekins instead of mugs, I adapted a basic cake recipe to suit the portions and the quick cook method.

You'll need four 4-ounce ramekins for this recipe, but you can halve the recipe to make two cakes, or double it to make eight cakes.

Dry Ingredients

1/2cup gluten free Bisquick Pancake mix

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp of salt

3 tbsp gluten free cocoa powder

Wet Ingredients

1 tablespoon of flax meal with 3 tablespoons of water

1 egg

1 tsp of apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp of rice milk or almond milk

Directions

Whisk together the Bisquick mix, sugar and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Sift in the cocoa powder and stir until the dry ingredients are well blended.

Add the wet ingredients all at once and stir until well combined.

Spray the four ramekins with a gluten free cooking spray. Fill the ramekins about half way full with the batter.

Microwave the ramekins two at a time for two minutes. Let the cakes cool for about 15 minutes before removing them from the ramekins.

And that's it. No turning on the oven, not waiting all day for the cake to cool. It's just a quick batter, two minutes in the microwave and 15 minutes to cool. And you're done.

If you want to make a cake, though, check out my recipe for gluten free chocolate cake on this blog, and you'll be able to watch the video. If you have any questions or comments about cooking or baking gluten free, please leave a comment in the comment section. I'll get back to you ASAP.

Making Gluten Free Rice Krispies Treats with Kellogg's Gluten Free Rice Krispies Cereal

With raised awareness of celiac disease and gluten intolerance, more companies are offering gluten free foods. When I saw Kellogg's now offers a gluten free version of its Rice Krispies cereal, my first thought was, "Yay! Rice Krispie Treats".

So I made a test batch, following the recipe posted on theRice Krispies website, except I cut it in half. The gluten free cereal is made from whole grain brown rice, which can have a kind of earthy taste to it. I worried the treats would have a weird after taste – so I made a small batch so as not to waste ingredients.

Another reason for the smaller batch is that we –meaning my family- don't need a 9x13 pan of Rice Krispies Treats. They're best when eaten within a day, and we wouldn't eat a large pan in a day.

As it turns out, there is no weird after taste. The treats taste exactly like I remember them tasting. So bravo to Kellogg's for coming out with such an excellent product.

To make the 8x8 pan of Rice Krispies Treats:

1 ½ tablespoons of gluten free butter spread

2 cups of miniature marshmallows

3 cups of gluten free Rice Krispies cereal

Melt the butter in a large saucepan.

Add the marshmallows and stir over medium heat until melted.

Add the cereal to the melted marshmallow and stir to coat.

Spread the mixture in an 8x8 pan sprayed with gluten free cooking spray.

Let the pan sit for about an hour, then cut into squares.

If you want to store any leftovers, wrap the treats in aluminum foil or store in sealed container. But eat them within a day or two.

Smaller Portions

One of the aspects of going gluten free, I've found, is that baking in smaller portions works best. Trying to bake a large batch of brownies, for example, often results in the brownies in the middle of the baking dish being undercooked, while the outer brownies are overcooked.

Gluten free bread, to, seems to have a better 'crumb' to it if the loaf is smaller. Udi's white bread, my son's favorite, is 12 ounces. And it tastes quite good, especially with hazelnut spread.

I've been buying Udi's bread, even though it's expensive, because my own attempts at breadmaking weren't all that successful. But I always tried to make a 'regular sized' loaf of bread. I think perhaps I'll try a different approach and work on something a little bit smaller.

If it doesn't work out, that's okay. I've got a whole stash of Udi's in the freezer.