Pizza

Note: this recipe has been modified from original to meet paleo standards.

Ingredients
Crust:
1 1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs warm water
2 tsp honey or organic coconut sugar
2 Tbs olive oil
1 large egg + 1 large egg white

Topping:
Fresh tomato sauce
Oregano
Olive Oil
Olives
Fresh mozzarella (optional)

Directions
Add yeast and honey to warm water, stir until combined and let it sit for 10 minutes.
In a bowl of an electric mixer stir tapioca, coconut flour and salt together add olive oil, keep stirring for a couple of minutes, add egg plus egg white.
Add the yeast mixture to the dough and mix at low speed till well combined and smooth.
Let the pizza rise in a ceramic or glass bowl for 1 hour or longer covered with plastic wrap in a warm place.

Preheat oven at 400 F.

Roll (with a rolling pin) the dough evenly between two pieces of parchment paper greased with olive oil, then place into pan.

Poke some holes with a fork to the bottom, drizzle with a teaspoon of olive oil.

 Bake for about 10 minutes or until the dough looks golden in color.

Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.  Add toppings and bake for 15 more minutes or until toppings are cooked.

Remove from oven and let it cool for 5 minutes before cutting.  Makes one 12" round pizza.  Enjoy!

Crusty Bread

I have been working on a crusty bread recipe for a while and this is the final result... a gluten free and vegan bread.  This bread has the consistency of a dense Italian loaf!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup tapioca starch

1 cup almond blanched flour/meal

1/2 cup coconut flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp xanthan gum

1 1/4 cup warm water

1 Tbs active dry yeast

1 Tbs coconut sugar or honey

1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

• Heat water until warm.  Then add yeast and sugar, stir till it's thoroughly mixed then set aside for 10 minutes or until the surface is bubbly.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum and salt.  Add olive oil and water/yeast mixture, mix at low speed until all ingredients are well incorporated and dough looks smooth.

• Coat the dough with a little bit of olive oil and move to a plastic or ceramic bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place for 2 hours or until it is doubled in size.
• Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a cookie sheet or pizza pan covered with parchment paper and dusted with corn starch or tapioca starch.  Shape the dough into desired shape.
• Using a sharp knife, place three small slits on the top of the loaf.  Preheat oven at 400 F.  While the oven is heating, cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow it to rest and rise for an additional half hour.

• Bake the bread for about 30 minutes or until golden brown in color.  Place the bread in a wire rack to cool down.

Store in a zip lock bag at room temperature for the first day, if there is any leftover bread, refrigerate for up to a week.  Warm up in slices in a toaster oven or conventional oven for better taste.  Enjoy!

Orange Cake

Ingredients
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 oranges (peel and juice)
1/4 cup coconut sugar or honey
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil melted
1/4 cup coconut milk

Directions
Preheat oven at 350F and cover an 8 inch round pan with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl stir together coconut flour, salt, baking powder and orange peel.  In another mixing bowl whisk eggs, honey, vanilla extract, orange juice, coconut oil and milk. Pour wet mixture into dry one and stir until smooth.  Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool and enjoy.   You can also cut in half and fill it up with some delicious  Paleo Pastry Cream.

Paleo Pastry Cream

During the Holidays the cravings for sweets pushed me into experimenting more paleo dessert recipes and this pastry cream recipe is the result of one of those experiments.  The paleo pastry cream is gluten, wheat and dairy free but it still tastes sweet and smooth like the original recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups coconut milk
1 Tbs vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup honey or coconut sugar (I used coconut sugar)
1/4 cup tapioca flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon extract

Directions
In a saucepan, stir together coconut milk and vanilla extract, bring to a light boil.  Meanwhile whisk egg yolks and sugar or honey together to make a smooth cream, stir in tapioca flour stirring until smooth.  Drizzle the milk a little bit at the time over the egg/flour mix whisking constantly until smooth.  Return the mixture to the saucepan and bring to boil stirring constantly until the cream is thick and smooth.  Remove from heat and add additional 2 tsp of vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp of lemon extract.  Pour into a glass o ceramic bowl and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent skin from forming.   Refrigerate completely before using.  It makes about 2 cups... enjoy!