Rice Flour

These nearly translucent, soft steamed rice crepes are served plain with slices of gio lua (sausage), or they are filled and shaped into small rolls, as they are here. Finished with cilantro, shallots, thit rouc bông (cotton pork), and a little sauce, these rolls were one of my father’s favorite foods to prepare for our family when I was growing up. In Vietnam, making bánh cuon was usually left to professional cooks who had mastered the technique of steaming a thin rice batter on fabric stretched over a pot of boiling water. In the 1970s, Vietnamese expatriates devised an easier method of making the crepes in a nonstick skillet. For the batter, they blended cake flour (very fine, soft Thai rice flour was not readily available then) with tapioca starch and cornstarch. While that approach works fine, I prefer to use Thai rice flour in place of the cake flour because it yields a more delicate result that is closer to the original version. The tapioca starch and cornstarch help the batter set up nicely and contribute to achieving the tender yet chewy texture of the traditional crepes.

Golden orange and crispy, this Hanoi specialty blends the fragrance and crunch of sweet potatoes with the brininess of shrimp. The fritters, which look like roughly formed nests on which whole shrimp rest, are cut into bite-sized pieces and bundled in lettuce with fresh herbs and cucumber. My mother taught me to soak the potatoes with a bit of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide), which Southeast Asian and Indian cooks use to crisp ingredients for frying and pickling. It is basically moistened food-grade slaked lime powder, the same compound used to treat corn for making Mexican masa. The Vietnamese call it voi and it is sold in small, round plastic containers in Chinese, Thai, and Viet markets, usually stocked in the flour aisle. Two varieties are available, red and white. I prefer the white one, though the red one, which has been colored by the heartwood of the cutch tree and is traditionally chewed with betel leaf, may also be used. A small container of slaked lime lasts for a long time because only a little is needed.

Made of a simple rice flour batter, these dainty and rich rice pancakes are akin to blini. Bánh bèo are eaten all over Vietnam and boast a number of regional variations. They come in sweet (ngot) and savory (man) varieties, and in sizes ranging from 1 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. They may be served directly from the small ceramic dish in which they are steamed or transferred to a serving platter. This recipe for savory bánh bèo features a classic topping of fragrant bits of briny shrimp, rich scallion oil, and mildly sweet chile sauce. I use small, inexpensive dipping sauce dishes for the molds. Look for them at Asian housewares and restaurant-supply stores and at some Asian markets.

Eggplants are prepared in many ways by Viet cooks, but my two favorites are deep-fried, as in this recipe, and grilled or roasted until smoky and soft , as in Grilled Eggplant with Seared Scallion (page 184). Here, I coat thickish eggplant slices with a thin batter, which yields deep-fried pieces with a moist interior and a delicate crust that remains crisp well after frying. For the best results, use slender, firm, blemish-free Chinese, Italian, or Japanese eggplants. They have an appealing meatiness and fry better than large globe eggplants.

All of the optional condiments for serving are available at most Indian grocery stores.

Whereas fried sticky rice dumplings have their alluring crispy-chewy skins, steamed sticky rice dumplings are as soft and comforting as a well-worn pair of jeans. They retain the charming soft texture and natural sweetness of sticky rice. I grew up break-fasting on Vietnamese bánh ít (“small dumplings”), though they can certainly be a satisfying brunch, lunch, or snack food. Filled with a surf-and-turf mixture of shrimp, pork, and wood ear and shiitake mushrooms, these dumplings are enjoyed warm, dipped in a pool of soy sauce and pepper. The banana leaf imparts a wonderfully tea-like quality to the dumplings during the cooking process. These are easy to make, especially when the filling is prepared a day in advance. Viet cooks often use boiling water to create glutinous rice dough, but the dough is easier to handle and control when cold water is used. I combine two kinds of glutinous rice flour (see page 15) to arrive at a texture that is pleasantly chewy, not overly sticky. The rice flours are available at Asian markets, as is fresh or frozen banana leaf.

Versatile rice sheets are an integral part of many Asian cuisines; they can be cut into fresh noodles, dried into rice papers or crackers, and used as delicate wrappers for filled treats. Called ho fun in Cantonese, the sheets are nothing but big noodles made from silky batters of mostly rice and water. Many Asian cooks purchase opaque rice sheets, but for the purposes of dumpling making, it is best to prepare them yourself, as this guarantees freshness and a terrific toothsome texture. You need just a few for an abundance of tasty shrimp- or beef-filled rolls like the ones found at dim sum parlors. The sheets can be cooked and filled hours in advance of serving. A quick steaming is all they need right before serving. I have tried soaking and grinding raw rice for this batter but have never been as satisfied with the results as when I use rice flour from Thailand. The flour is both consistent and convenient. Look for it at Asian markets in plastic bags, typically with red lettering. Adding cornstarch and tapioca starch to the batter contributes to the sheets’ resilience and slight translucence. When starting out, make a double batch of batter so you can get plenty of practice.

A great treat for children of all ages. Who can resist PB&J? For peanut allergies, substitute soy nut or other nut butter of your choice. For gluten allergies, replace the spelt flour with garbanzo bean flour. Although not essential, organic peanut butter will offer the best taste and quality.

This is a great cookie for children with gluten sensitivity. Using my daughter, her friends, and her baby-sitters as my most critical testers proved these cookies will definitely be a holiday tradition at my house. The best thing is, you can freeze part of the dough, unbaked, for later use. Just defrost in the refrigerator, roll out, and bake according to the directions for a wonderful spicy-sweet treat any time of year. If the kids, and maybe the adults, are clamoring for gingerbread people, you can add eyes, nose, and buttons by pressing raisins or currants gently into the dough before baking.

The key to the very best gluten-free baked goods is Authentic Foods superfine brown rice flour; it is the Cadillac, or cashmere, of brown rice flours and is worth its weight in gold. It is not grainy like other rice flours, and bakes the most fantastic cookies, cakes, pie crusts, and so on. If you can’t find it at your local natural foods market or Whole Foods, order it online. Both Ener-G and Bob’s Red Mill brown rice flours will also work in these recipes, but they won’t turn out quite as well. I do not recommend Arrowhead Mills brown rice flour, which I find too gritty. The brands of potato starch and tapioca flour or starch are not important; I find them all interchangeable. (Please see Resources, page 177, for more information.)

Donuts are usually fairly judged by both the quality of their crumb and the imagination of their topping, but this is one donut you will want to eat straight out of the oven as is. The chocolate swirl creates an interesting balance to all the spice, while also adding a smooth yet crunchy texture.

This is the best and easiest way to get your jelly donut fix without pulling out a pastry bag or developing some other fancy-but-messy stuffing procedure. I specifically use sugar for this recipe because I think it holds the jam together nicely, and I prefer to finish it with powdered sugar.

Don’t be fooled: Even though a chocolate donut sounds almost unreasonably decadent, this one is actually the most mellow of the bunch. It isn’t overly sweet, and it doesn’t act like a slice of cake. I purposefully didn’t amp up the sugar—primarily because that way you can go completely crazy in the glazing department to add sweetness. That said, if you really want the cake part of your donut to be sweet, you can toss in an extra 1/4 cup of sugar without repercussion.

Although replacing the sugar in the donut recipe with agave nectar takes the crunch factor down a level, these are equally as important to your breakfast arsenal. If you still want that crispiness and are open to experimenting, try switching out the agave for coconut sugar (helpful substitution suggestions on page 24!). Either way, you can’t go wrong. The donut here is shown topped with the Agave-Sweetened Chocolate Glaze (page 124).

Even though this cake is visually a stunner, it’s probably the easiest cake you will ever make. Don’t worry about putting too much filling between the layers; the messier the preserves and chocolate glaze get, the better.

I’m hoping this cake doesn’t need much introduction. It’s one of those recipes for which a photograph speaks clearly and perfectly to its mega-rich glory. I will add, however, that even though a German chocolate cake is not as recognizable without its beloved pecans, you can easily omit them if you are allergic and still achieve the same delicious experience. If you want to add a little crunch and you have extra time on your hands, you can fold in graham cracker crumbs from the S’mores recipe (page 79) along with or instead of the pecans.

In New York there is no shortage of Italian bakeries, and as a rule I try to poke my head in as many as possible to peek at the offerings. Italians are creative masters, and of course it’s always the Italian rainbow cake that first catches my eye. Probably I’m just hypnotized by a cool color palette, like a puppy watching TV. When choosing your preserves for this one, spend a little extra on the good organic stuff. The success of your cake depends on it! If you are allergic to almonds, omitting the extract won’t compromise your cake.

This is another Jewish recipe that became an instant favorite at the bakery. I don’t know about you, but I’m a complete sucker for any and all rolled pastry. Pulling apart the layers and investigating and indulging in the different textures inside are activities I would do all day if asked. Normally, rugalach recipes call for nuts but I made them optional in honor of the allergy-plagued among us.

This one earned a higher place on the BabyCakes Piece of Cake scale simply because it requires pastry assemblage, which always complicates matters. It might take a little while for you sophomores to get your rhythm down, and your first few straws will probably look more like craggy witch fingers, but it’s all going to pay off if you stick with it. Once it does, you should host a dinner party and set these out early by the pintful.

Have you noticed all the gluten-free pizza parlors popping up in major cities lately? I have, and pizza makes me incredibly excited! The end result of my version is simple and traditional—tomatoes, garlic, and a little basil atop a thin crust—even if the crust’s instructions do take some careful minding. Above all else, be absolutely sure to get the finest tomatoes you can find. If you must (and often I must), throw some cheese on top and start piling on as many vegetables as you like—just make sure to roll your dough a little thicker to bear any extra weight. For you traditionalists out there, I have included a time-tested tomato sauce (page 90) as well.