The First Few Bakes in the Rock Oven…

Food & Drink Completed Projects
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Ok, so I have been baking since I was little and then I found out when I was 30 that I have Celiac’s Disease, so I started converting all my recipes to gluten free. At various points in life I have gotten totally sidetracked from doing much baking but I always come back to it like an old friend.
Thanksgiving 2024 I just really really needed to bake. When we sold our house the previous Winter, I did a bunch of baking in the days leading up to packing the kitchen and hadn’t baked since because we’ve been living in a converted school bus all year.

So, these are the baking projects since my husband built an oven for me out of rocks and clay. Let me see if I can figure out linking to my other post…
Got it!

First, cinnamon bread seemed like a good way to test the oven.
Batch #1:

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Lots of burn on the bottom but otherwise amazing. This was baked right on the rebar grate, so next we added the pizza stone….

Cinnamon bread, batch #2:

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Still burnt but not as much, so we added about 3 inches in height away from the fire and made cookies…. Biscochitos - New Mexican anise cookies.

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And then I made apple cake for a Christmas Party with the Taos Watercolor Society

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I never got a pic after I poured caramel sauce all over it. I transported the cake to the party on my bike so I poured the sauce on after I got there and then my goofy friend Nancy photobombed my cake pic attempts. (I knit the bunny sweater I am wearing there years ago.)

Then, before I got sick, i made more biscochitos AND my first gluten-free focaccia.

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The focaccia had a good rise but I also spread it out too thin. I was getting ready to make a second batch with a bunch of herb and veggie toppings when I ended up sick for the holidays. bleh…

On to more amazing gluten-free baking in 2025!

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I’m amazed by all that you’re baking with your rock oven!

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Thanks… I have been kind of amazed this works the whole time. It started out as a joke. :laughing:

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Oh, side note, here’s how I transport a cake by bicycle. It’s inside the canning pot on the trailer, in a nest made by a towel.

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I think it is fabulous that you are so willing to try things out and refine as you go! Very adventurous and probably a necessity given your current living situation (which is also amazing that you are building a home!).

I can almost smell the cinnamon bread!

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Definitely a necessity right now… without adaptability and adventurousness 2024 would have been a total disaster. We didn’t start the year intending to live in the schoolie full time AND build our own house. But so much just didn’t go as planned, so here we are. Lol… Laughing about the whole thing as we also cringe.

That cinnamon bread turned out SO yummy. If you love cinnamon, it is perfection. I got the recipe from Bob’s Red Mill’s website.

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I have some sunflower flour that would probably work well for cinnamon bread…thanks for the info!

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Amazing bakes!! I will also have to try cinnamon bread… :thinking:

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Everything looks so tasty….

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That apple cake looks amazing and I love your oven!

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That’s amazing! And the food looks delicious.

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