Interview with Award-Winning Author David Leite

/
David Leite interview podcast

EPISODES #8 and #9

You can make a convincing case that food defines who we are, and often who we are not. We talk about this and much more with food writer and memoirist David Leite about his most recent book, Notes on a Banana: A Memoir of Food, Love and Manic Depression. He’s the founder of Leite’s Culinaria, which was the first website to win a James Beard Award in 2006 and again in 2007. David Leite was also awarded the Julia Child first book award for his cookbook The New Portuguese Table. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, and the Los Angeles Times, among many others.

Join us next week on The Gluten Free Baking Show to learn more about Leite’s recipes!

PART 1 OF 2

PART 2 OF 2

Adapting Cake Flavors, Buttercream, and More

/
adapt cake flavors

EPISODES #6 and #7

Today we discuss a simple cake recipe and how it can be adapted to different flavors. We also talk with Vanessa Maltin Weisbrod about her book, The Gloriously Gluten-free Cookbook. We finish the show with frostings and an overview of how to make Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Italian Meringue Buttercream.

PART 1 OF 2

PART 2 OF 2

Show Notes:

The cake recipe we discussed was adapted to three different flavors: 

If you’d like to adapt the original recipe, please let me know how it goes by posting a comment below the recipe 🙂 

I would like to thank Vanessa Maltin Weisbrod’s for a wonderful interview about her book, The Gloriously Gluten-free Cookbook. And, in case you didn’t catch the name of the Japanese pastry she mentioned on the show, it’s called Umegae Mochi. 

- The British Baking Show: Prue Leith's Le Gâteau Vert (yes, it’s made with spinach)

- The best citrus zester for savory and sweet dishes

- If your’e interested in purchasing spirulina powder (or psyllium husk powder), I get mine from Starwest Botanicals online. They also have wonderful teas, and things like rose petals and lavender that I use for baking.

- More about the history of dyes.

Holiday Special

/

EPISODE #5

In this episode we talk about a few recipes from the cookbook Gluten-Free Baking for the Holidays by Jeanne Sauvage
- Lebkuchen Cookies
- Spritz Cookies
- Pfeffernusse Cookies (with black pepper)
- Mandarin Chocolate Cake

We ended with one of my recipes for Whoopee Pies. They also have a dairy free option.
Pumpkin Pie Spiced Whoopee Pies with Cinnamon Nutmeg Buttercream

gluten free dairy free whoopee pie recipe

The whoopee pies are also excellent with Swiss Meringue Buttercream, which you can add flavors or spices to. This buttercream can also be refrigerated or frozen. You just want to bring it to room temperature and stir it before using.

Here is a gluten free Lebkuchen recipe you can try. I haven’t tried it so please let me know if you like it!

Here is a fairly authentic German Lebkuchen “Gingerbread Spice” recipe.

When baking, use a measuring scale! Measuring in grams is more exact than measuring in volume. It also saves time, dishes, and most importunity your baked goods.

Classic Apple Pie, Quick Pecan Tart & an Interview With a GF Bread Company

/
Apple pie



Episodes #3 & #4 are a series.


EPISODE #3

 

EPISODE #4

SHOW NOTES:

I’d like to give a huge thank you to Jan & Lacy, the founders of Happy Campers bread for a wonderful interview.

Happy Campers gluten free bread

  • The Czech Poppyseed Pastry that Jan and Lacy talked about is called Makovnik.

  • Here is the Gluten Free and Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe from Plant Positive Running that Jan and Lacy said is delicious.

  • Also, I asked them about bread making tips. Lucky for us, they have a lot of them!

Recipes:


A little more about pie making…

We didn’t talk about this on the show but you can freeze pie crusts, so you can make them ahead. Or you can make enough dough for several pie crusts and freeze a couple of them just to have on hand.

Correction: There was a question regarding runny pie filling. I meant to say that if you have a running filling try adding about a 1/2-1 tablespoon more than what the recipe calls for. (If you only add 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch to begin with you will definitely have a runny pie!) Also, berry filling typically requires more thickening than apple pie since berries have more moisture.

Here is an interesting article about making pie making from Serious Eats:
https://www.seriouseats.com/2016/11/easy-pie-dough-crust-bravetart-food-lab.html

Overview of pie making tips from King Arthur Flour

How to crimp a pie crust