If I had a nickname as a child it would have been Betty Baker

Betty Baker
My mother never gave me a nickname (because she didn’t like her own!). But if she had, I think it would have been Betty (as in Crocker, you know, the cake mixes). As a child prodigy baker, I logged many hours making desserts.

I didn’t learn how to cook. No one taught me how to bake bread, roast vegetables, toss a salad, mix up a vinaigrette, cook a chicken, grill a steak, or steam vegetables. I eventually learned how to boil and scramble eggs, cook hamburger patties, make tuna and egg salad sandwiches, Mac & cheese and pizza from a box, but the main focus was on the sugary stuff. Photo credit: Rachel Albert-Matesz 2009

I’m not alone
Ask your girl friends about their earliest memories of cooking. Most will recount adventures making cookies, cakes, brownies, pies, and pastries. That seems as common a trend now as it was 30 or 40 years ago.

When I was a kid
I first helped my mother make cookies in first grade. We started with Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies then Quaker Oatmeal Cookies. I remember the duplex we lived in at the time. I remember my mother placing a teaspoon in each of my hands, standing behind me, holding my hands, teaching me the motion of scraping the dough off of one spoon using the other spoon, so the dough would drop onto the cookies sheet. I remember sneaking raw cookie dough when she went outside to get more logs for the fireplace. Photo credit: Rachel Albert-Matesz 2009

Lasting impressions
I still remember the first and last names of a handful of my mother’s friends who taught me how to make desserts. I remember which recipes each person showed me how to make, from Rice Krispy Marshmallow Treats, Snickerdoodles, and Brownies to Mississippi Mud Pie, Fudge Marble Cake, Poppy Seed Pineapple Bundt Cake, French Crullers, and French Apple Crisp—dishes I’ve not made in decades.

The queen of desserts
By sixth grade my mother allowed me to bake anytime I wanted. I didn’t need permission or to be supervised. In seventh grade, my French teacher taught me and the rest of the French club students how to make crepes, beignets (french doughnuts), and cream puffs after school. I practiced making them at home. I remember in my mid teens baking banana and zucchini bread from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, by Marion Cunningham, and making half whole wheat versions of these and many goodies (I thought that was healthier back then). Photo credit right:  Julie Ann Elefante, 2008

When my mother had company coming or wanted to thank a neighbor for doing something for her, it was my job to make dessert. On rainy days, or when I was bored or lonely (we lived 30 minutes outside the city limits in a small town in New Mexico, so I didn’t have many playmates during some of those years), I pulled out cookbooks and baked. When I had friends over, I would often teach them how to bake cookies. Neither of us foresaw my future career in the culinary arts.

Excerpt above taken from The Ice Dream Cookbook: Dairy-Free Ice Cream Alternatives with Gluten Free Cookies, Compotes & Sauces by Rachel Albert-Matesz (Planetary Press, 2008).   

Times have changed
The way I cook and bake now (and have for the past 20 years) has changed dramatically and the frequency with which I eat sweetened treats as declined. I put far more energy into preparing eggs, fish, poultry, meat, and vegetables than sweets. When I do make desserts they have a very different composition than they used to. Fruit is usually the star ingredient (think poached, baked, or stewed fruit, or crisp) or at least a supporting character (e.g., fresh fruit sauce served over coconut milk ice cream). I use different sweeteners, higher quality fats and oils, and when I use flour, it’s gluten free. Photo credit right: Stacy Maxwell, one of my former cooking students, 2008

Cracking the coconut flour code
In December of 2008, one of my cooking students gave me a 5-pound bag of coconut flour (in frustration) and asked me if I could come up with recipes using it. Several months later the editor of Living Without Magazine assigned me a recipe article on baking with coconut flour. I was eager to explore the baking properties of coconut flour and this assignment was just the nudge I needed to get going on it.

I still enjoy playing in the kitchen, only now I get paid for it (at least some of the time) and I can write off the supplies or get companies to send me samples to use to develop new recipes. Edible office supplies are my all-time favorite. I created half a dozen winning recipes for the magazine. In fact the article just hit the news stands. You can pick up the April/May 2010 issue of Living Without Magazine in natural foods stores or at some chain bookstores or visit the web site: www.LivingWithout.com to purchase a copy or subscribe.

For my birthday
In January, when I turned 40-something, I had a special dinner with friends: one of my best friends, Heather Wolcott, and her husband, Jeff, and my friends Kenny and Brenna and their three kids.

Kenny and Brenna made grassfed beef and wild salmon tacos, guacamole, salsa, and honey sweetened lemonade with fizzy water from their Soda Stream soda maker. (I too have one of those machines and you can click the link on right side of this page above the Vita Mix banner.) Heather made two different coleslaws. I made (what else?) the cake (Calli’s Fruit Cocktail Cake from my coconut flour article adventures) and Ice Dream (not ice cream but dairy-free, coconut milk-based, honey & stevia sweetened Nutmeg Ice Dream, a variation on the basic Vanilla Ice Dream here).

Photo credit: Rachel Albert-Matesz 2009

The funny thing was that by the time we got to the dessert course, I had very little interest in eating it and it just didn’t hold much appeal. I was way more interested in and satisfied by the meat and vegetable side dishes and the freshly made lemonade. Not to worry. My seven dining companions were more than happy to help polish off the extra portions.

Here’s the recipe. For more coconut flour recipes and tips for modifying your favorite recipes to include this high-protein, high-fiber, low-carb, hypoallergenic flour, check out my article on page 42 of the April/May 2010 issue of Living Without Magazine in natural foods stores or at some chain bookstores or visit the web site: www.LivingWithout.com to purchase a copy or subscribe.

Photo credit: Rachel Albert-Matesz 2009

Calli’s Coconut Fruit Cocktail Cake     
Hands-on: 30 minutes/   Cooking: 30 minutes/ Yield: 9 squares
       
One of my former cooking assistants, Calli Overstreet, gave me her family’s favorite cake recipe and asked if I could improve it. I replaced cake flour with a combination of gluten free flour blend and coconut flour, the sugar with honey, and the milk with non-dairy milk. The result, after five tries, was a raved about recipe that worked with eggs and without.

To make your own gluten free flour blend: Combine 1/2 cup white rice flour, 1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour, and 1/4 cup organic cornstarch or potato starch. Store extra flour in a sealed jar at room temperature. If you buy a gluten free flour blend, look for one that does not contain bean flour.

Dry ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose gluten free flour blend (see notes above)
1/3 cup coconut flour, fluffed with a fork and sifted before measuring
1/3 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (pulverize in blender if mixture is not finely flaked)
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon finely ground unrefined sea salt
1/2 teaspoon guar gum or xanthan gum

Wet ingredients:
1/2 cup honey (preferably raw, unfiltered, local honey)
8-ounce can crushed pineapple in 100% real fruit juice or fruit cocktail (do not drain)
2 medium to large eggs, at room temp (see variations below)

Hot Caramel Topping:
3/4 cup full fat coconut milk or 1 1/2 cup lite coconut milk, or plain, unsweetened almond milk
1 stick butter or 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil or Palm shortening (Spectrum or Tropic Traditions brand)
1/2 cup honey (preferably raw, unfiltered, local honey)
1/8 teaspoon finely ground unrefined sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or alcohol-free vanilla flavoring

1 medium orange, cut into very thin slices for garnish

1. Position the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350˚ F. Generously grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan or 9-inch round cake pan.
2. Lightly spoon the flours into a measuring cup and level with a knife. Add remaining dry ingredients, whisk well, and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the honey, crushed pinapple and eggs. Stir in dry ingredients until combined, scraping the bowl to mix in all the flour. Fold in raisins.
4. Pour into the prepared baking pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in a preheated oven until firm and slightly golden on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
5.  Prepare the sauce by combining coconut milk, butter, honey, and sea salt in a 1 1/2 to 2-quart pot and bringing to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil until the sauce reduces to 1 cup and becomes thick and caramelized. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. (If you prepare the sauce ahead, allow to cool, then cover, and refrigerate in a heatproof Pyrex bowl. Reheat gently in a toaster oven at 225˚F until warm and runny.)
6. To assemble cake, run a knife around the edges of the pan and turn the cake onto a large plate or platter. Poke holes all over with a skewer or chopstick. Pour sauce over cake. Garnish with orange slices, and serve. Cover leftovers; refrigerate after 3 days if you still have any left.

Variation:

• For an Egg-free Fruit Cocktail Cake: Replace 2 eggs with 3 tablespoons applesauce (added to wet ingredients) + 1 teaspoon baking powder (added to dry ingredients), and 1 1/2 teaspoons Energ Foods Egg Replacer mixed with 2 tablespoons water (added when you combine the wet and dry ingredients).
• For a double batch: Double the recipe and use a 13x9x2 pan.

Comments

[Laura]

Thanks for this post! I had a copy of the new issue, but I hadn't looked at it, so I was very excited to see what you came up with. Now I am hungry! Off to bake something with the last of the nut flour and coconut flour. I think I'll make a crust for your spinach and egg pie recipe!

[Carol]

What a lovely childhood you've had! And you were definitely gifted in the kitchen. I was the opposite though. I enjoyed reading your story and amazed at the delicious dishes that you could make at a very young age. I must admit, I'm quite envying you.

[Chef Rachel]

Hi carol

Thank you for reading and commenting on my blog.

I don't know if the gift is inherited or it just flourished because I had a lot of guidance and support at a young age. I learned to follow recipes and they turned out great and that build my confidence. I meet many people who did not have the opportunity to cook or bake with adults when they were young.

Rachel