Cornmeal Cake with Rosemary and Orange Icing

I've been looking for wheat free recipes for desserts for a while, with so many friends that can't do wheat. And here, based in a sweet cornbread recipe, I've finally found a cake that I can make without wheat. Now, to try it on my wheat-free friends.

Ingredients:

For the cake:
1 cup barley flour (can be wheat)
1 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup chopped pine nuts or pecans
1 Tbsp ground rosemary
Zest from one orange
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup marscapone
1/3 cup plain yogurt
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (on stick) butter, melted.

For the Icing:
1 tsp ground rosemary
zest from one orange (strips is best)
3 Tbsp Cream (can be all juice, though)
3 Tbsp orange juice
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar (sifted if you've got the time and energy).

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Butter a 9x2 inch cake pan. line the base with parchment paper. butter the paper.

In medium bowl, mix together barley flour, cornmeal, pine nuts, rosemary, orange zest, and baking powder. In separate bowl mix together marscapone, yogurt, eggs until smooth. Add sugar and stir until blended. Stir the wet and the dry together. Mix only until all the dry is moist. Do not over stir. Pour batter evenly into cake pan.

Bake for 45 minutes. (skewer should come out almost dry.)

Remove from oven and let stand in pan for 10 minutes. Cut around the edges with a knife and turn the cake over onto a plate.

In the meantime, make the icing: whisk together all of the ingredients until a thin paste forms. Spread icing over cake. Let set for at least one hour before slicing.

Chocolate Truffles

I love making these. they are an all afternoon project - it takes three different rounds. Each time I've been experimenting with different rolling methods, but I think it's just with practice that each time they get a little rounder and rounder. It's a paitence game - working between the heat of melted chocolate and the cool of chilled base. Overall, though, I love the simplicity for the elegance, the crunchy outside and the gooey inside. pure happiness in chocolate form!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup whipping cream
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Optional for coating:
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Cocoa nibs
Coconut (unsweetened or sweetened)
Chopped nuts

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, bring the whipping cream to a simmer. Simmer for 2 minutes. Then remove from heat and let cool slightly for 5-10 minutes.
While cooling, melt 9 ounces of chocolate in a small sauce pan on as low of heat as possible (can use a double boiler if you want...you'll waste less chocolate if you do, but make a bigger mess).
Whisk the cream and the chocolate together. Chill until solid (and your spoon will stand up in it), about 3 hrs. This is your truffle base. (If you want a flavored middle, add before chilling: a tsp of vanilla, balsamic vinegar, orange zest, or a half teaspoon of any spice you want such as cinnamon, or just a pinch of cayenne pepper.)

Once firm, take the truffle base by the teaspoonful and roll into balls. Place the balls (careful to make the not touch) into a glass pan or a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Chill the balls for 1 hrs, until solid.

Once the balls are solid, melt the remaining 8 ounces of chocolate in a small saucepan over very low heat. In batches, remove the balls from the fridge or freezer (so remaining balls stay cold while you are working). Take one ball at a time and place it in a spoonful of chocolate. If you are going to leave it coated only in chocolate, then let sit for 1 minute. Then roll it over and coat other side with chocolate and place on a wax paper prepared tray. If you want to roll in a topping, coat the whole ball all at once with melted chocolate and then roll it in the desired topping after it has sat for at most 10 seconds. Repeat with remaining balls.

Let cool at room temperature for 1 hour.

Chard with Cherries and Lemon

I never used to cook chard or collard greens. I knew they were good for me, but didn't like their bitter taste. But as soon as I began subscribing to a vegetable CSA, I started to get a ton of these in my boxes, so I had to figure out something to do. I finally figured this recipe for a side dish out, and I love it. It's very flexible, any jam or dried fruit will do. But the key is lemon and garlic along with the sweetness of the jam.

Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil (or even better, avocado oil)
1/2 red onion or 2 shallots
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 bunch chard (stems removed and thinly chopped, leaves thickly chopped)
Juice (no more than 2 Tbsp) and zest of 1 lemon
a quarter cup (really a handful) of dried cherries or cranberries
1 tablespoon berry jam

Directions:
Heat oil in small wok over medium heat.
Saute the onion and garlic until garlic begins to become golden.
Add chard and stir occasionally until it wilts and becoems bright green.
Stir in lemon juice and zest, dried cherries and jam. Cook for 1 more minute so flavors can mix.