My Five for 2010

Here's a list of my top 5 favorite recipes I've posted this year. I really wanted to do a top 10 of 2010, but I didn't feel that was being selective enough since I lagged most of the year and only shared 23 recipes. These are favorites because they're gluten-free, delicious, and easy to make or worth the effort. If they're somewhat healthier that also counts to their advantage.

Narrowing it down to 10 was no problem, and picking out my top 4 was easy enough, but I really struggled with number 5. I couldn't decide between Chocolate Torte Dressed in Berries, Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies, or Gluten-Free Shortbread. I finally settled on the peanut butter cookies, since they're so easy to make and can be considered somewhat healthy. Also, the dough can double as a pie crust.

I really liked the Mini Lemon Tarts I made last week, even if nobody else did. They are a bit time consuming to make if you use a mini muffin pan, but that just means they're more of a special occasion type treat as opposed to a snack to keep on hand. I think they'll get better as I make them more and figure out why my filling didn't set up. I'm putting them in at number 4 since I thought they were yummy, and I see potential for playing around with different fillings.

Number 3 would have to be the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Tarts. Again, these require a bit of time and effort, but they are so delicious.

The blueberry pie I made (several times) is my second favorite. I love the almond crust, and just thinking about the filling is making my mouth water. I'm looking forward to next summer now.

My top favorite recipe for 2010 is the Fresh Peach Cobbler. By far. This was a recipe I just kept making while there was an endless supply of Farmers Market peaches.

My top 5 favorite recipes for this year:

1. Fresh Peach Cobbler

 

2. Blueberry Pie

 

3. Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Tarts

4. Mini Lemon Tarts 

5. Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Mini Lemon Tarts

I found another recipe I wanted to try courtesy of my Epicurious iPhone app. This one is vegan, gluten-free, and raw. I usually really like raw desserts, so when I saw Lemon Pudding Filled Coconut Cupcakes with Shaved Coconut Topping I was practically drooling just reading over it.

I made mine in a mini-muffin tin and didn't have enough coconut left to top them, so they are more like tarts than cupcakes, but they're still super yummy. I also didn't have any agave nectar on hand, so I used maple syrup instead. Apologies for not having any pictures of the beginning steps for this recipe, as I only took photos of the assembly, but these are really easy to make in a food processor.

Lemon Pudding filling

1/3 cup cashews
1 1/2 bananas
1/4 cup lemon juice (from 1 to 2 lemons)
2 tablespoons agave nectar (I subbed pure maple syrup)

Grind cashews into a powder in food processor. Add the bananas, lemon juice, and maple syrup and process until smooth. Let chill in the refrigerator.

Cupcakes/tart shells

2 1/2 cups dry pecans

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup firmly packed pitted dates

3 tablespoons alcohol-free vanilla extract 

One thing about raw recipes, don't ignore the "alcohol-free" detail when it comes to using vanilla extract. Trust me on this one. As it happened, I didn't have any alcohol-free vanilla extract, so I used 2 tsp of my pure vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons plus a teaspoon of water.

Combine the pecans, coconut, and salt in the food processor and process into evenly sized small pieces, taking care not to overprocess into a butter. Scoop the mixture into another bowl. Combine the dates and vanilla in the food processor and process into small pieces. Return the pecan mixture to the food processor and pulse to mix. It should have a crumbly but sticky texture.

 

I put mine in the refrigerator overnight, and then it was nice and cold when I was ready to use it. The recipe says to use a cupcake pan, but I wasn't sure how rich these would be so I decided to use a mini-muffin tin to make them more bite-sized. I don't think removal would be an issue either way, but I lined mine with some festive mini-muffin baking cups.

 

I used my measuring spoon to put a teaspoon of the cupcake/tart shell mixture in each, then used the back of it to press it into the cavity.

  

I then added another teaspoon to the top and used the flat top of my spurtleto press the mixture deeper into the bottom of the cup and up the sides. I had to use my fingers to tidy the tops and make sure the sides were evenly distributed.

 

I used a clear plastic disposable piping bagto add the lemon filling. 

  

Then the mini tarts got to sit in the fridge for a few hours to chill and firm up. 

 

I think the filling was supposed to set up more than it did. For some reason, my filling stayed pretty runny even after it chilled in the refrigerator overnight, so I maybe added too much lemon juice or something, but I'll figure that out on the next round.

The recipe was supposed to only make 6 standard-size muffins, but I got nearly 18 mini tarts. You're also supposed to top them with more coconut, but I didn't do that. Apparently the filling keeps for a few days in the refrigerator when stored separately, and the cupcakes/tart mixture will keep for several weeks. Keep the assembled tarts in the fridge and use within a few days. If they last that long. Making these bite-sized seemed like a good idea at the time for portion control, but I find myself snacking on them.