"Regular" Recipes and a Little Inspiration

It's feast or famine with me and baking. In fact, I'm a lot like that with most things. I have moments of great accomplishments and being a busy bee. Those are punctuated with moments (and days) of feeling very lazy. Well, I can't be too lazy with two little boys, but you know what I mean. I get them fed, dressed, make dinner, do the dishes, read a story and play a bit, but beyond that I try my best to do nothing.

I've been in the "feast" stage of baking lately. I'm wanting to make new things (and some old things). I also want to encourage you to stop by a "regular" good blog and get some ideas there as well. If you are well versed on what ingredients are GF or not, then you might be able to modify some things and come up with a new GF dish. Remember to use a GF mix of some sort or make sure to use starch and not just flour. For instance, if the regular recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups flour, then you might use 3/4 cup rice flour and 3/4 tapioca flour. Or, you might use 1/2 cup sorghum flour, 1/2 cup corn starch, and 1/2 cup tapioca flour. Such is the life with GF Baking - you have to be willing to experiment. And what ever you do - write down how you modified the recipe. If it's a winner, you want to replicate it! Don't forget to add xanthan or guar gum - I always add about a teaspoon unless I want some "chew" - then I add a couple of teaspoons. The xanthan gum doesn't just help hold it together, it helps it to rise as well!

I found a great recipe that I was able to modify. It was on the "Not GF Blog" I have listed on my sidebar: Mennonite Girls Can Cook. It's called "Raspberry Slice". (This site also has a category of GF recipes also). I made up some gluten free graham crackers first for this recipe. I actually needed close to three cups for the base. I'm not sure how it would have turned out with the 1 1/4 cups they called for but it seemed too greasy to set up and harden. I also didn't have any raspberries, so I used some fresh strawberries and frozen blackerries. Be careful when adding the frozen fruit to the jello mix. It will set up real quick. You'll need to catch it before it sets all the way so you can spread it over the cream cheese layer. I also used a couple cups of cool whip for the topping. It was really delicious and I highly recommend it. It was fine the next day also so this is one you can make slightly ahead.

What "regular" recipes have you modified and been successful with?