gluten-free - Half-Size Bakes

Strawberry head

In Spring, as the poet says, a baker's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of strawberries. Here in the Carolinas, every farm stand is boasting of strawberries, and I am powerless to resist. Why would I even want to? What could be better than freshly-picked

brownie

Genius

Remember the year 2000? In the 2000 presidential election, it was said that Al Gore grandiosely claimed to have "invented the Internet". For the record, I don't think Al Gore ever said such a thing, but that discussion (politics and/or stickiness) belongs on

pie

Take it easy

Possibly the most annoying phrase in the English language is "Easy as pie". No one who makes pies says this! The truth is, pie can be tricky. Pie crust requires a light touch to remain flaky and tender: over-handle it, and you'll have a

pancake

Miss Congeniality

Way back in the olden days, when phones had cords, a camera was an expensive piece of equipment. A photographer outfitted for a shoot was weighed down with a giant bag full of lenses, film, flashbulbs, and nameless arcanery. Back in those days, my

angel food

Spring!

I remember my grandmother as a stout little old lady who walked with a cane. But in her heyday, she loved to bake and was locally famous for her angel food cake. Weddings, picnics, and school outings were all made special by Anna Flanagan's

pie

She's so fine

The Office Manager remarked the other day that she'd never had chocolate pie, and was pretty sure she wouldn't like it. Talk about throwing down the gauntlet! There was no way I was going to let a challenge like that go unanswered. So I

gougeres

Madam, will you have a gougere?

The writer Mary Stewart once described a (fictional) dish as something that "would have tempted an anchorite to break his penance". Mary Stewart was one of a kind; I don't think most of us could get away with writing like that. When I first

pie

Pi

Pi Day celebrates the mathematical constant π (3.14). It is celebrated in countries that follow the month/day (m/dd) date format, because the digits in the date, March 14 or 3/14, are the first three digits of π (3.14). Pi

cake

Vanilla Beane

My mind wanders a lot when I'm baking. As I was making this cake, I was absently pondering Suzuki Beane, a book I loved when I was a kid. Published in 1961, it is the first-person story of Suzuki, a little girl who lives

muffins

Unsecret Garden

The story of Garden of Eden seems endlessly fascinating, for people of many faiths as well as those of no particular faith at all. Some critics read it as an allegory of the agricultural revolution, where Adam and Eve are given dominion over the

cake

Heart's Desire

Here at Half-Size Bakes, there are certain holidays we always celebrate at home: New Year's Eve, Mother's Day, and Valentine's Day. Even when restaurant dining was a regular part of our lives, we avoided restaurants on those days, which we thought of as the

apple crisp

Uncomplicated

I don't have a favorite movie; there are just too many to choose from. Lately I've been thinking a lot about Bull Durham, one of the many movies I love. It's richly evocative of a time and place, the on-screen chemistry among the cast

cake

Winterlog

Part of the Pandemic Baking Adventure for me has been about trying new things. Back in former days, I would think about trying a new recipe, but I was busy with a lot of other things and just didn't have the mental energy to

gingerbread

Better yet

I made gingerbread a while back, and posted the recipe. We all enjoyed it. I was particularly pleased because my previous foray into gingerbread had been a fairly complicated gluten-free recipe developed by America's Test Kitchens, and it was pretty disappointing. More recently, I

cake

Hail and farewell

Remember back in March? The joke going around then was that we should send the year back and ask for a refund, before the warranty expired. I keep remembering that now, and wondering if we should have tried harder. Just like everyone else, I've

dessert

Little black cake

If I were doing a keyword search for dessert these days, I'd probably be looking for "rich" and "warm". And "easy". In the aftermath of Thanksgiving, with Christmas baking yet to come, "easy" is definitely high on my list. Hence this pudding cake, which

clafoutis

And now for something completely selfish

It's a reflection of the life we live these days that I often feel lonely, but also never alone. I imagine new parents must feel this way often: I miss my old life! And seeing my friends! And having a minute to myself! When

bread

What goes around

A year ago, it seemed that eating bread had become rather passe. What with paleo diets and keto diets and gluten-free diets, the bread basket as a dining room staple seemed to be going the way of the dodo. I myself grew up in

gingerbread

Once upon a chilly evening

At this time of year, I find my thoughts turning to gingerbread. The scent of gingerbread, for many of us, evokes the whole holiday season: gingerbread cookies, gingerbread houses, even gingerbread-spice lattes. Gingerbread has been associated with winter celebrations since the Middle Ages, and

cake

Perfect Noir

"Because it's so perfectly dark." That's what I said when a friend of mine asked me why I liked The Maltese Falcon. And I stand by that: it is dark. And perfect. And funny in spots. And tragic, and confused. You know. Like a

cake

A Hallowed Dessert

Host: Welcome to another exciting installment of "Things that go with chocolate"! Today's episode features an intriguing new contestant – a zesty fruit-forward little number that's both a color and a flavor – let's give it up for our guest star: Orange! Orange, tell us a

dessert

Boston cream pie

I don't know what it is about Boston. They seem to have an aversion there to calling things by their right names. I remember my disappointment as a child, when I found out what the "Boston Tea Party" really was. I mean, what kind

muffins

In a supporting role

It's a truism in life that not everyone can be in the limelight all the time, and the same thing is true of foods. In composing a meal, it's a good idea to think about one or two dishes that will be stars of

dessert

A back number

I have an irrational fascination for old recipes. I love to read them and try to puzzle out what the original authors had in mind. I can spend a lot of time wondering what they might taste like. But often I don't actually try

cheesecake

A fine pairing

Pairing: Two things, people, or organizations that work together – Cambridge English DictionaryI have written before about flavor combinations: there are many I find irresistible, but top of my list is raspberry paired with white chocolate. This can take many forms: raspberry sorbet swirled with