German Chocolate Cake - Gluten Free

I've been making cakes that I've never made before as gluten-free.  I ran into some issues recently trying to make my own gluten-free flour and well...I won't be doing that mess again.  Nothing worse than an ugly cake that tastes good.  NOTHING!  Cake should be pretty.

Moving on...

The Robinator requested a German Chocolate Cake for his birthday this year and, since I've started using Bob Mill's Gluten-Free Baking Flour...life has been good.  So I just swapped out the flour and made the old super-dooper delicious and word that I hate which starts with a 'M' and ends with a 'T' and is sometimes used to describe non-dry cake.  

CAKE INGREDIENTS

2 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking soda

Kraft Baker's German Sweet Chocolate Bar - 4 oz.

1/2 cup water

1 cup butter

4 large eggs, separated

2 cups sugar

1.5 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 tsp salt

ICING INGREDIENTS

1.5 teaspoons vanilla

4 large egg yolks

Can of evaporated milk - 12 oz

3/4 cup of butter

1.5 cups sugar

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1.5 cups chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS - You need 4 bowls:  2 small glass bowls, a medium and a large bowl.

Small bowl: Break up chocolate chunks, add 1/2 cup of water.  Add an inch of water to the bottom of a pot, bring water to bowl and place bowl on top.  Stir until chocolate is melted.   Remove from heat.

Medium bowl:  Sift together flour, baking soda and salt.

Large bowl:  Beat 2 cups sugar and 1 cup butter until fluffy.  Add egg yolks one at a time blending after each egg until mixed. Add chocolate and vanilla.  Beat.  Add 1/2 cup of flour mixture and 1/4 cup of buttermilk.  Beat.  Repeat until all has been incorporated.

Small bowl:  Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Fold into cake batter gently.

Split between 3 round cake pans which have been buttered and floured.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Leave in pan for half an hour or so before you take them out of pans to cool.

Make icing.  (This tastes like pecan candy.)

In a saucepan, whip together can of milk and egg yolks over medium / high heat.  Add butter and sugar.  Stirring constantly, bring to boil.  Remove from heat and add coconut and pecans.  Let cool.

To frost, add icing between each layer.  I do it by pouring in the middle and the pushing out to the edges allowing it to drip down the sides.  All the leftover icing should be poured all over top and moved around to spill over.

This cake is ridiculously delicious.

Sweet Potato and Pecan Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Week before last I was sitting at a red light in a bit of traffic.  I looked to my right and caught the eye of the elderly gentleman on side of the road who was selling sweet potatoes.

Him:  You don't need no sweet potatoes?

I laughed and pulled over.  Apparently, I needed sweet potatoes.  

So I returned home with 20 pounds of sweet potatoes for $10 which is a REALLY good deal but um...there are  only two of us and sweet potatoes will probably go bad before sweet potato PIE time.  That said...I've been being uber creative with sweet potatoes and searching out all types of different recipes online.    

Today, I roasted cubes of sweet potatoes tossed in olive oil on a cookie sheet for thirty minutes at 425 degrees.  Then...I put two cups to the side and seasoned the rest for lunch.  

Have I mentioned we had 20lbs?  

Yeah.

I found a recipe for Sweet Potato Pecan cupcakes with Cream Cheese frosting which looked promising so I swapped out the can of sweet potatoes for my smashed cubes of potatoes and they were soooooooooooooooooooooo delicious!  I'm not a big icing person so I put far less icing on them than it seems most folks do but they were so good.  Not too sweet and just perfect!  The Robinator had three in twenty minutes.  LOL!  Good thing the recipe made 24!  

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I gave some to the neighbor using the awesome Dollar Store boxes I buy all of when I see them in NON-traditional Christmas print.  LOL!  They are $1 for 3 and they are super nice with a peek-a-boo top.  And they are way nicer than the ones at The Container Store that you pay $6 for.  

I feel safe telling yall that because I have like...a LARGE drawer full of them so I won't run out if there is a shortage.  LOL!

This is a 3 bowl recipe for the cake.  Use the biggest bowl for the creaming together the butter and the sugar.  Oh...you'll need another bowl for the frosting.  LOL!

Sweet Potato and Pecan Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 4 large eggs
• 1 (16-oz.) can mashed sweet potatoes OR two cups of mashed roasted sweet potatoes
• 2/3 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour OR 3 cups of Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Baking Flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Garnish: coarsely chopped pecans

1. Place pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan.

2. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted, stirring once after 4 minutes.

3. Beat sugar and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.

4. Whisk together mashed sweet potatoes, orange juice, and vanilla extract. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with sweet potato mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Fold in toasted pecans. Place foil baking cups in muffin pans, and coat with vegetable cooking spray; spoon batter into cups, filling two-thirds full.

5. Bake at 350° for 28 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove immediately from pans, and cool 50 minutes to 1 hour or until completely cool. Spread cupcakes evenly with Cream Cheese Frosting. Add a pecan half to the top to make pretty.

The cream cheese frosting is the basic recipe.

1 package of cream cheese, softened

1 stick of butter, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream together cream cheese and butter until fluffy, gradually add powdered sugar on low until all gone and then add vanilla.  Voila...cream cheese frosting!  

These are EXCELLENT fall cupcakes and will be great for the dessert station for Thanksgiving!  GO YOU!

12 Minute Gluten Free Chicken and Broccoli!

I love Chinese take out.  Or, should I say...LOVED it.  Since pretty much every sauce has a base which includes soy sauce I can't eat it in restaurants and the few recipes I've tried before tonight simply didn't do it any justice.

I ran across this recipe and it made tonight:  12-MINUTE CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI

The only thing I changed was that I added red pepper flakes.  I had two substitutions because well...I'm crazy but instead of cornstarch I had to use flour because I was out and instead of rice wine vinegar I used a Serrano Honey Balsamic vinegar because, again...that's what I had.  Since one of the ingredients was honey...I felt like this wouldn't be a big deal.  

I also did something that has changed my life as of tonight.  Instead of grating up fresh ginger...I cut a piece about the size of my garlic press and peeled it.  Then...I pressed it.

LIFE.CHANGING!

This was soooooooooooooooooooooo good!

YIELD: ABOUT 2-4 SERVINGS

12-MINUTE CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI

This classic chicken and broccoli recipe is full of fresh and delicious flavor, and it's ready to go in just 12 minutes!

PREP: 3 MINS COOK: 9 MINS TOTAL: 12 MINS

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 Tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce

• 2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

• 2 Tbsp. honey

• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

• 1 tsp. sesame oil

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

• salt and pepper

• 1 bunch broccoli, chopped into small florets

• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

• 1 tsp. toasted sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts, and season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned and mostly cooked through.

While the chicken is cooking, make your sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, cornstarch, garlic, ginger and sesame oil until combined. Set aside.

Once the chicken is browned, add the broccoli and stir to combine. Continue cooking for an additional 3 minutes, until the broccoli is bright green. Stir in the soy sauce mixture, and cook for an additional 1 minute until the sauce has thickened.

Remove from heat and serve immediately, garnished with green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

Super Moist Lemon Pound Cake - Gluten Free!!!!!

I hadn't decided on the cake I was going to make today yet and then my boy, Tali 2, helped me out.  See...his mother bought a lemon pound cake for Easter and set the poor, sweet dear child up by putting it where he could see it a full two days before he'd be able to have a slice.  Straight up entrapment.  The cake got the best of him and well...he started nibbling around the edges.  It was SO good...the poor sweetheart ate all the edges off the cake.  

I imagined that poor child's pain at having such a delicious looking cake so near...and yet so far and decided right then and there that my Easter dessert was going to be lemon pound cake.

I haven't made it in a while and started searching for gluten free recipes.  I didn't see one that made sense to me so I just made the recipe of one that did sound right and simply substituted the all purpose flour with Bob's Red Mill all purpose gluten-free flour.

When looking for a pound cake recipe, don't be fooled by any of the recipes you see that use words like, 'quick' and 'easy' or any recipe that doesn't have one ingredient on the list with the word 'cream' in it.  GOOD pound cake cooks slow and low and includes sour cream or cream cheese.  If the recipe doesn't have one of those in it...keep it moving.

Swiftly.

Oh...and a glaze is a must.

The recipe I settled on was this one:  Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

“INGREDIENTS

For the Lemon Pound Cake
3 sticks butter (1½ cups)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
6 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of one lemon
3 cups sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla

For the Lemon Buttermilk Glaze
1½ cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon buttermilk

INSTRUCTIONS

For the Lemon Pound Cake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare bundt or tube pan by coating with shortening or butter and flouring light. Set aside.
Let butter, cream cheese, and eggs come to room temperature.
Cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar til fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add lemon juice and zest and combine well. Add flour and salt and vanilla.
Mix until just well-combined but do not over mix.
Pour into prepared bundt or tube pan.
Bake until golden brown and skewer inserted into middle of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 - 30 minutes.

For the Lemon Buttermilk Glaze
As the cake is cooling, whisk together ingredients confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and buttermilk to make the glaze. Allow to sit until cake has fully cooled, then drizzle over top of lemon pound cake.”

Now...please read the recipe first.  Note that this cake should not be on your list of things you bake regularly.  Why?  It's probably a gamillion calories per slice.  LOL!  The most difficult part of this cake is making the lemon zest.  As always.  I'd seriously pay for lemon zest.  Can you buy it?  I've never thought about buying it but sheesh...I would.  There have probably only been two times in my life when I was getting the zest off a lemon and didn't scrape my dang knuckles. 

UGH!

Hate that!  I must be getting better though because I didn't do it this time.  LOL!  Don't try and skip steps like add all the eggs at once.  Do it the way the recipe tells you to do it and your cake will be guaranteed to be super moist.  Soooooooooooo good!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!!  What cake did you end up baking?

Dear TarshaB: Blueberry Muffins Recipe

I blame TarshaB. for what I'm currently doing.  I'm sitting in my kitchen smelling the goodness that smells like blueberry muffins.  See...she made muffins the other day cuz that's how the hell she gets down-t and I've been thinking about those dang muffins ever since.

She posted this on Instagram the other day:

http://instagram.com/sogirlcityswirl/

So duh...I've wanted muffins ever since.

This evening I was sitting here making guacamole for Robby's Super Bowl party of one thinking...the person most impatient for the guac is always the person who has never cut up not nainh avocado.  Humph and I thought about Tarsha's muffins again.  I asked Mr. Google for a good blueberry muffin recipe and then crossed my fingers that I'd have all the ingredients cuz I wasn't leaving the house for muffins.  

I had every thing except for fresh blueberries.  I had frozen and where I'm from...we make it do what we do.  :)

It made me think about kitchen staples and how I generally always have whatever I need to bake something sweet if we decide we want something sweet.  I have flour, baking soda, baking powder, butter, vanilla, sugar, chocolate chips, pecans, dry milk and walnuts pretty much always.  If we feel like some chocolate I can whip us up brownies or chocolate chip cookies in a jiffy cuz you know...I'm all fly like that.  LOL!

This is the recipe I found:  

Headed into the oven!

11 NOT 12 survived the cooling process.  *sigh*

I haven't tasted one yet but the dude of the household has and says they are delicious.  Ours are gluten-free, of course.  I'll let you guys know tomorrow if the frozen blueberries made a difference.  I can't tonight because the cheating football team won and apparently we're going to bed now.  *BLINK*

Do you bake?  What's the last thing you baked?  Do you ever make muffins?