Gumpaste Shoe and bow

Each month for the last 4 years I have been providing a cake for the women's mission.  Knowing that I'd be moving soon I wasn't sure how many more I'd be able to make so I decided to put a few extra touches on this one.  It was also helpful to practice for a show cake that I was preparing for a week or so later.

I love making bows too.  There's just a certain satisfaction watching it all come together and look so beautiful.  I of course have to add a few sparkles to make it complete.

After some airbrushing, I think it came together nicely and all the ladies at the mission seemed pretty happy when they saw it too.

Cinderella Barbie Cake

 It's been such a long time since I've been able to get anything up but that doesn't mean it's been quiet in the kitchen, however!  I've been trying to keep up with my baking but there's been a few curve balls thrown our way lately.  First - my husband was offered a new territory in his job and that means we need to move.  It wasn't necessarily a choice in the "offer" but it is a step up and a really good move for his career.  So we are headed further west - while at the same time our oldest daughter, Sydney, has settled into her first job in Tampa, FL.  And of course our youngest, Audrey, is trying to transfer colleges to go to school in Nashville, TN.  It is a little unsettling to have my whole family scattering all over - but we trust that the plan for our lives is in His good hands.

We have been in our house for 13 years and it was a "project" to begin with.  It has been more than a little challenging to finish all of the little improvements we had started over the years not to mention the bigger issues that needed dealt with.  For the last several months we've been working day and night getting everything ready.  It's almost finished and then we'll get it on the market and wait to see what happens.  In the meantime - I'm trying to get as much baking as I can in before the kitchen has to stay pristine.

This cute Cinderella cake was for a beautiful little girl at the Ronald McDonald House.  It really warms the heart to see the joy on a child's face when you make a special cake for them, but it is even more special when that little one is bald and battling cancer.  The cake itself was strawberry with a vanilla buttercream frosting.  And of course a little sparkle too!

Chocolate Mini Donuts and 100 posts!

This is my 100th post!  I was really surprised when I saw that it was coming up - I kind of froze up a bit too because I started overthinking what I would do to celebrate it.  I decided in the end that I needed to just keep doing what I have been doing and keep baking :)

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have purchased a few new cookbooks on gluten free baking.  It seems that every one of them felt the need to tempt me with wonderful looking chocolate donuts.  I finally broke down and bought a mini donut pan so that I could give these little gems a try.  They did not disappoint!  They were perfectly cake-like with a light airy texture and rich dark chocolate

Cupcakes for Two

Now that my girls are both out on their own - one at college and the other navigating the challenges of her first job after college - there are times that we still need some dessert.  After all, I am a cake decorator, so cake is important to me.  I was ecstatic to find a recipe for just two cupcakes recently.  I've tried it twice so far.  The first time it was St. Patricks Day and my husband really wanted a Guinness to celebrate and I really wanted to try to make a Guinness cupcake.  So when I found out it only took a few tablespoons of a bottle he was opening anyway. . . well, it was like it was meant to be!  I could do this every night frankly.  I didn't try to use my gluten free flour, however, I mean, really what was the point when the Guinness already ruined it.  So these were just for experience - pain to deal with later.

They turned out great and it was a fun holiday time.  The next time

Magic Bars

For some reason I wanted to make a blondie type brownie really bad!  It was one of those things that I got in my head and it just wouldn't go away.  I was so excited when I found this recipe in one of my new gluten free cookbooks!  I've spent quite a bit of time going over recipes lately; in the store, online and in my own recipe box.  Trying to figure out how to rework what I already have into gluten free options and learning new recipes that have already been reworked by others.  This one comes from "Gluten-Free on a Shoestring, quick & easy" by Nicole Hunn. 

First, of course, I got all of my supplies ready - including the AP Flour mix that I made from Silvana Nardone's book "Cooking for Isaiah".

 

After that it pretty much worked out just like any other recipe or brownie style batter. 

Gluten Free Flour

One of the biggest challenges that I found when I first started baking gluten free was that everyone seems to have a different opinion about what flour to use. I looked at countless websites and spent hours in the cookbook isle at Barnes & Noble. The main thing I learned is that everyone seems to come up with their own formula. I really think that it comes down to personal preference and that depends on what you like in your end product. If you like things a little denser or lighter; if you've grown fond of the taste of certain flavors, etc.

Realizing that I was going to have to gather several different kinds of flours the obvious next question came up - how do you store all of them? I looked into some nice containers but I wasn't sure what sizes I would need and the nice containers (and let's be honest - the cute ones) are kind of expensive. Then I remembered that I had a bunch of mason jars in my craft room in various sizes and decided to use those.

After all that research I decided that for an all purpose mix I would go with Sylvana's recipe from her book Cooking for Isaiah.  It has been working great so far.  I'll have some of those results in upcoming posts :) 

Banana Pancakes

Sometimes there are just some things that have to be made - this was one of them!  I don't normally make pancakes, at least I'm not the one to do the cooking of them.  I get annoyed by how long it takes and then everyone always wants to eat them right off the griddle while I'm still making them.  And then when I finally want one I get the cold ones.  I solved this problem by allowing my husband the privilege of making them :)  He has become the pancake king to our youngest daughter and even though she is 18 and off to college, when she comes home and wants pancakes she expects them to be "Daddy's" pancakes.  Which includes a full amount of chocolate chips as well. 

Because Craig has been traveling a lot lately, a LOT, and Audrey is off to college - we haven't had pancakes in a very long time.  I actually missed them.