British Desserts

We recently made our first trip across the Atlantic.  Our passports have been stamped and we have been bitten hard by the travel bug to do it all again.  Because cakes and all desserts are of course "my thing" I tried to grab a few photos before we gobbled them down.  That turned out to be a harder issue than it sounds like.  We walked all day and enjoyed  so many sights that by the time we sat down to dinner and started recapping the day with each other we just dug right in before thinking half of the time.  So some of these are also just what we found enjoyable through the window.

Coffee of many varieties was a daily necessity - several times actually!! This one was from Jacob's Coffee House in Bath.

No bake cookies

A few weeks ago I was standing at the grocery store counter waiting to pay just like any other time.  But this time I succumbed to the impulse buying strategy imposed upon us while we wait.  There was a beautiful looking no bake cookie all packaged up and waiting to help me make my drive home nice and yummy and I didn't resist.  Afterward, however, I started looking at the ingredients list and realized that I could make that same cookie very easily.  It was a good one; no preservatives or gluten or anything.  I looked through my recipe box and found a couple of different ones and compared them to the ingredient list.  With a couple modifications I came up with the same components and adjusted the amounts to what looked to be right.  I was so pleased with the results!

The only problem is that now I have a wonderful recipe that takes very little time to put together and makes absolutely delicious cookies!  I call them 4 way stop cookies because

British Flag Cake

My daughter loves all things British.  In fact she is kind of obsessed with the music scene over there and that fits since she is studying to work in the music industry after college.  So it was with all of our blessing that she applied for the study abroad program and it was all of her own effort that gave her the ability to go.  She was accepted and without hesitation we decided it was the best excuse ever to make it a family vacation!

Her birthday is in the middle of the summer so I have had the opportunity to spend it with her each summer so far.

Gluten Free Crispy Peanut Butter balls

Peanut butter balls are typically one of those treats that are made during the Christmas holidays.  But sometimes there are events that need to be given that much special attention too.  Unfortunately these came to my mind to make for the family gathering after the memorial service for a very special woman - Craig's aunt Joyce.

The three sisters: June, Joyce and Dixie

I always held a special place in my heart for Joyce because I felt that she and I were alike in some ways.  Only, she was much better at showing her love and compassion than I have ever been.  She was a strong woman of faith, put her family as her top priority, was very strong in her opinions, kept lists and bins, travelled all over the world and spent more years than she would have liked in the middle of house remodeling projects.  My girls loved her deeply, Craig loved her deeply and I loved her deeply.  But even more than that - we all confidently know that she loved us just as deeply too.

So with that said, and now that I've wiped my still-fresh tears away, I will try to describe this recipe.

Surprise inside "sweet" 16 gluten free cake

I'm still cleaning up my files to get all the baked goods posted that I have actually been able to make in the last couple months.  This one was a favorite for sure!  My young cousin was turning 16 and I very much wanted to do something special for him.  I've made a couple pretty nice cakes for his little sister (you can look at here at one of them) but had never had the opportunity to make one for him.  But, being a guy, and a quiet one at that (not to mention that he's grown up with 4 older girl cousins and a little sister), I couldn't make some "sweet 16" style cake.  He is a wonderful swimmer so I decided to do an understated blue, wave style ombre

GF Banana Donuts with Maple Bacon glaze

It's been a while. . . . I had to stop baking each week because there wasn't anyone to give everything to and the scale was obnoxiously telling me it wasn't a good idea that I was eating it all.

Sometimes I just get a craving for something and can't get it out of my head.  That's what happened with these donuts.  Actually it was the maple bacon glaze that I really wanted

Strawberry Pavlovas for Valentine's Day

With Valentine's Day approaching it is required to have a great dessert.  Or at least it should be and chocolate is by far the top choice for most.  I thought I would try to come up with something a little different this year, and lighter if possible.  Upon going through several old pictures I came across a pavlova I had done before with lemon curd and berries - very yummy - and I thought about changing it up a little for this holiday.

Pavlova's are a large version of a meringue cookie and will hold whatever shape you put it into before it goes into the oven.  I decided that instead of just going with the standard round, I would give it the festive heart shape for this season.  I also thought that I would go with the traditional color scheme as well and nothing says love in February like pink with strawberries and sprinkles.  Then because I was trying to keep this light, gluten free and do something new, I decided to add some coconut milk whipped cream also.

It is a pretty easy dessert for a lot of wow factor you just have to be ready to put a little time into it

Molasses Cookies - gluten free of course

Molasses cookies are one of my all time favorites, right behind a good chewy peanut butter one!  The recipe I have, is the one my mom used to make when I was growing up and it had to be rolled and cut out.  I don't make sugar cookies for the same reason; I'm too lazy to go to that kind of mess and trouble very often.  While I love decorating a cake, decorating cookies is somewhat tedious to me.  It's kind of like working in miniature, or accessorizing.  I'm more of a big picture kind of person.

So when I came across this recipe in my trusty box and my desire built for the soft, chewy, rich goodness I remembered - I decided to go through the trouble.  Then I let the card sit in the holder  I keep on my counter until it basically became part of the decor.  Finally I couldn't find enough excuses to ignore it any longer, rolled my sleeves up and went for it.

I started out doing all the same steps.  I floured the counter (which uses far too much of my precious gluten free mix I think) kneaded the dough a bit, rolled it out and cut the circles.  I thought I might put a glaze on the top when they were finished, then I thought to sprinkle some organic sugar on top before they went into the oven.  That was a great idea!! It took the cookie I loved and gave it just that little bit more in all the right ways!  They were the same soft consistency, same chewy goodness, same deep rich flavor but with a little sweetness on top.  Yet, I still hated the rolling.  So, I thought, "I'm already changing things up a bit, why not try a different approach".

Gluten-free Spritz cookies

Spritz cookies.  That sounds easy enough.  I've been wanting to try them for quite a while now because I've had the press for several years actually and just never got around to giving it a try.  The recipe is very easy, yes, but the contraption that is supposed to push the dough out was ridiculous!  I think it was a cheap model so I'll cut it some slack but it did not want to push the dough.  It would only go about half way and then it was done.  It also wouldn't cut off the dough so I had to pull it off after each press.

It was a little frustrating of an experience but, I'll try it again some time and give it another chance.  Maybe the press was just having a bad day, we don't know what's happening in another's life when they choose to be a complete poop to you sometimes and I always try to give at least a second chance :)

The recipe that I used for these came from the book "Gluten-Free Christmas Cookies" by Ellen Brown

1 c. white rice flour

1 c. confectioners' sugar

1/2 c. sweet rice flour

1/2 c. potato starch

1/2 c. almond meal

1 tsp. xanthan gum

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 pound butter (2 sticks), sliced

1 lg egg

1 lg egg white

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

Gluten free sprinkles

Combine white rice flour, confectioners' sugar, sweet rice flour, potato starch, almond meal, xanthan gum and salt in a food processor (I used my blender - but it was a little messy and I think I'll skip this step next time and just go straight to the stand mixer) blend for 5 seconds.  Add butter to the flour mixture in the bowl and pulse until mixture looks like coarse meal.

Combine egg, egg white, vanilla and almond extract in a small cup and whisk well.  Drizzle into work bowl and pulse 10 times or so until the dough comes together (or using the paddle attachment of the mixer, stir on low for @30 seconds) if the dough is dry and doesn't come together add milk by 1 tsp amounts until dough forms a ball.  I had to do this and used almond milk.

Divide dough into 2 balls, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 2 days.  When ready to use take it out and let it get to room temperature before adding it to the press.  Run it through the press according to your press' instructions, decorate with sprinkles or other toppings and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.  Or until the edges are just brown.  

I found this recipe to be a little less flavorful than I was hoping, just a little bland for me.  I think that next time I try my press I might use a full sugar cookie recipe and see how that goes.

Glorious Gluten Free Fudge

Fudge is one of the staples of the holidays, but I don't know why it needs to be pushed to such a small portion of the year!  It is one of my favorite treats - just enough for those afternoon chocolate cravings.  Yum! 

This recipe is a tried and true one for me and I've been making it for years; it is Foolproof chocolate fudge from the Hershey's Chocolate Lover's cookbook.  I was a little sad when I started preparing for the holiday baking season and thought I might not be able to make it because of the gluten-free standard I now live by.  But I was so excited to realize that it was already gluten free as long as I bought the right brands as ingredients.  

                                            

I spent quite a bit of time trying to research each brand and came to the conclusion that most likely all sweetened condensed milk brands are naturally gluten free, but the only one that actually stated it was Eagle brand.  It can be frustrating when something is naturally gluten free because it's not always easy to tell when shopping.  However, now there seems to be more and more products that are being re-labeled as gluten-free and sold as a specialty product.  Sometimes sitting right there on the same shelf, side by side and even though they are exactly the same product the one with the new label is significantly higher priced.  It pays to do your homework, but it is a time-consuming venture to be sure.

But, back to the fudge itself.  I love the texture of this recipe because it is smooth and creamy with a dense melt-in-your mouth richness.  It is sturdy and can hold up to sitting out all day without drying out or melting yet, as soon as you take a bite you are feeling velvety goodness immediately.  

Recap of 2013

Happy 2014!!  I thought I would do a photo recap of some of my favorite baking/decorating adventures from the last year.  I went on a lot of road trips in 2013 as well and I thought I would try to count the states I visited and maybe put up a picture for each one.  Just a fun way to decide how many pictures to include, except that I was in 32 states!  I have been to 46 of our 50 states so far and plan on completing Alaska, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana in the next couple of years but this year checked off a lot!  I went through some of them before and just "re-visited" but it was still a lot!

I think I'll just hit the highlights in cake :)

Have a sweet and blessed 2014!