Chocolate cupcakes

Some days you need a cupcake. Sometimes a vanilla cupcake hits the spot, but today, it was chocolate all the way.

Chocolate cupcakes

1/4 c. softened dairy free butter

1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. gf flour

1/4 c. cocoa

1 t. baking powder

1/4 c. almond milk

Preheat the oven to 350. 

With a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until it's creamy. Mix in the egg, milk, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix for 1-2 minutes. The batter will be fluffy.

Spoon into muffin tins, lined with a paper cupcake liner and spritzed with cooking spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Makes 4-6 cupcakes, depending on how full you fill the wells.

To make the chocolate buttercream, mix the following with a hand mixer:

1/4 c. butter, softened

3/4 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. cocoa

2 T. almond milk

1/4 t. vanilla

pinch of salt

vanilla cupcakes

Today I needed a cupcake. Specifically, a vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting and sprinkles.

So, I made some. I intentionally made a small batch because if I make them, I will eat them. This makes between 4-6 cupcakes, depending on how full you fill the wells.

Vanilla cupcakes

1/4 c. softened dairy free butter

1/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 t. salt

3/4 c. gf flour

1 t. baking powder

1/4 c. almond milk

Preheat the oven to 350. 

With a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until it's creamy. Mix in the egg, milk, and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix for 1-2 minutes. The batter will be fluffy.

Spoon into muffin tins, lined with a paper cupcake liner and spritzed with cooking spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Frost with your favorite frosting. I used the recipe that was printed on the powdered sugar bag. 

I am not even a little bit ashamed to say that I had finished them all by dinnertime. 

So good. 

gf birthday cake

I quietly turned 35 yesterday. I spent the day relaxing, without any fanfare, and it was pretty great.

When my brother and sister-in-law found out that I didn't have a birthday cake, they went to two different stores to find me one. Isn't that sweet?

We didn't even take it out of the grocery bag before lighting the candles, lol. 

It was delicious. So delicious that we each had a small piece, then we each got another small piece, and then I ate another small piece.

I sent the rest home with them so I wouldn't continue to stuff my face. My niece-in-utero could use the calories, right??

I would have simply gone without a birthday cake if it wasn't for them. It's so great that things like this exist, and I'm grateful that they went to the trouble to search for a gluten free cake for me.

Feeling very loved. 

Carrot bread cake ish

Hey, I made something and didn't put pumpkin in it!

Dorie Greenspan's carrot cake recipe in the October issue of Better Homes and Gardens caught my eye, so I bookmarked the page and shredded some carrots and then life got in the way. Then I won an adorable new loaf pan at bingo and suddenly I had to make carrot cake. But I made it in a loaf pan so it has to be called carrot bread?

Either way, the house smells fantastic and I have a treat to enjoy this rainy Sunday.

Obviously I adapted the recipe to be gluten free and I cut back on the sugar. Other than that, I followed it. Which I hardly ever do. So here it is!

Carrot Cake (bread)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix in Bowl #1:
1/2 c. almond flour
1/2 c. GF flour blend
1 tsp. each: baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix in Bowl #2:
1 1/2 cups grated carrot (the kitchen aid attachment is AWESOME for this)
1/2 c. coarsely chopped pecans
1/2 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c. craisins, soaked in hot water 5 minutes and drained

Beat in the kitchen aid:
1/2 c. brown sugar, loosely packed
1/2 c. light olive oil

Mix in:
2 eggs

Then mix in the contents of Bowl #1.
Then mix in the contents of Bowl #2.

Grease the loaf pan and pour in the batter. Bake at 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I declined  to add frosting, and it was great. However the first link above had a recipe for cream cheese frosting which I'm sure is divine.

Coffee cake bites with cream cheese streusel

There's nothing like a sweet treat on a Saturday morning when the sun decides to shine between the cracks in the blinds and creep around the curtains and demand that you enjoy the gloriousness.

The truth is, these muffins would be mediocre without the streusel topping. I'm not above admitting that.
This streusel is not just any streusel. It's a cream cheese streusel. Because I saw it in the fridge next to the butter and thought, "Why not?"
It's not the first time I've subbed cream cheese for butter, and once again, cream cheese enabled these mediocre muffins to become special. [With the help of our friends sugar and flour, of course.]

Coffee Cake Bites with Cream Cheese Streusel

1 c. GF flour mix
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. milk
2 T. light olive oil (or melted butter)
1/2 t. vanilla

Streusel topping:
Using forks or a pastry blender, crumble together:
1/2 block cold cream cheese
2 T.  GF flour mix
1/4 c. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
In another bowl, mix the eggs, milk, and oil.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Pour the batter into a greased mini muffin pan.
Top with the streusel.
Bake 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Makes 24 mini muffins

Pumpkin swirl cheesecake

Happy Thanksgiving!

I've got dinner to cook so let's just jump right into this:

Make cheesecake. Swirl in some pumpkin. Simple but looks like you worked really hard.

Crust:
1/2 c. GF flour
1/4 c. butter, melted

Mix together, and press into pie pan.

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. greek yogurt
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
dash of salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1 1/4 t. [Pumpkin pie spice:]

• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. ginger
• 1/8 t. nutmeg
• 1/8 t. cloves

With a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and yogurt until well-incorporated. Beat in sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the eggs one at a time until they're just mixed in. (Apparently over-mixing eggs can lead to cracking.)

Pour half of the mixture into the pan. Mix the pumpkin and spices into the other half.
Drop the pumpkin mixture into the pan at random. Globs are okay.

Swirl with a knife and bake at 325 for around 1 hr, until the middle looks set. Chill in the fridge before serving.

-Or, make Pumpkin Pie!

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

I made these because Hubs got cinnamon rolls this morning and I didn't want to feel left out, but I didn't feel like going through the process of making actual cinnamon rolls. Or Waffles.

All it takes is a small variation of a basic muffin recipe to get that same taste.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

1 c. GF flour mix
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. ground cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. milk
2 T. light olive oil (or melted butter)
1/2 t. vanilla

Topping:
1/3 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and cinnamon.
In another bowl, mix the eggs, milk, and oil.
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Pour the batter into muffin pans- with muffin liners or without; if not make sure you grease.
Sprinkle with the cinnamon/sugar topping.

Bake 20-25 minutes.
Let them cool.
If you're feeling the sugary need, top with cream cheese frosting. (I used store-bought this time but there's a recipe on the Waffles link.)

Makes 6 muffins. Or cupcakes?

Chocolate Cupcakes (S'more version!)

This morning, during that half-sleep right before I woke up, I started thinking about the extra marshmallows in the pantry, and the graham crackers in the freezer. Leftovers from camping.

Several ideas drifted through my mind, from cheesecake to rice krispie treats, but ultimately, this idea won: S'more Cupcakes.

The graham crackers get incorporated into the batter, but still hold their shape and give it that graham cracker flavor. The chocolate cupcake is perfect. Not too intense to overpower the other flavors, but still genuinely there. The marshmallow on top? Well, that steals the show.

S'more Cupcakes

2/3 c. GF Flour Blend
1/3 c. corn starch
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 c. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. cocoa
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. milk

marshmallows
GF graham crackers

Heat the butter and milk in the microwave or on the stovetop. The goal is to get it hot but avoid boiling. If it boils for a second, it's okay. Just don't let it get to a full rolling boil. When it's hot, stir in the cocoa.
Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Stir in the coca mixture, eggs, and vanilla.

[At this point, don't get any genius ideas and stir mini marshmallows into the batter. Remember, marshmallows expand as they get hot. Your cupcakes will ooze all over the sides of the pan. I learned that the hard way.]

In greased muffin pans, sprinkle about 2 T. graham cracker crumbs/chunks into the bottom of each well. Top with the cupcake batter. Don't stir.

Bake at 350 for about 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Place marshmallows on top of each cupcake, and broil until they get melty & browned on the top. WATCH THIS CLOSELY or you will set a marshmallow on fire in your oven. Also learned this the hard way...

The end result? Delicious s'more flavor in a really cute cupcake. Even without the s'more factor, this recipe makes a dynamite chocolate cupcake.

Makes 6.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I made Hawaiian pork in the crock pot, and had a few pineapple rings left over.
[This was made with pineapple rings canned in juice]

You know what that means...

Pineapple Upside Down Cake! Yay!

I used this recipe for my cake, with a few adjustments:

1 cup gluten free flour (1/3 c. each brown rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, 1/8 t. xanthan gum)
1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar, + 2 T. extra
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened + 1/2 T. extra
1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup pineapple juice (use what was in the can)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
5 pineapple rings
5 maraschino cherries (Oops! Didn't have any. I survived!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Melt 1/2 T. butter right an 8-inch cake pan while the oven's preheating. Take it out and tilt the pan to make sure the butter is covering the bottom. Sprinkle 2 T. brown sugar evenly over the pan. Lay the pineapple rings in the bottom and place a cherry in the middle.

In a mixing bowl sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter, milk, pineapple juice, and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, occasionally scraping sides of bowl. Add eggs, beat for 3 more minutes. *Honestly I don't think I reached the 3-4 minute mark on either of these steps. I just eyeballed it until it all looked well-mixed.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in the pan only for a couple minutes. Turn out onto a big plate, and leave the pan on top for a minute to let the juices run back into the cake. Do not forget to turn it out- you'll lose the valuable brown sugar crusty deliciousness that gets stuck to the pan.

 P.S. You can put booze in this! Oh, I'm so doing that for Christmas...

Yogurt Cake/ Waffles

This is a yogurt cake made on a waffle iron.
They are fantastic. Even though they look kinda meh. (That's not almost-burned. That's golden brown...)

There was a tub of yogurt on its' last days in the back of the fridge. I dunno about you, but about halfway through a tub, I get tired of yogurt. And it just sits there.

Fortunately, I found this recipe that uses a cup and a half of yogurt. Original recipe found here at thekitchn.com. Converted to be GF here:

Yogurt Cake

1 1/2 cups strawberry yogurt
1 T. strawberry preserves
2/3 cup olive oil
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups gluten free flour- 3/4 c each brown rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch
1/8 t. xanthan gum
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch freshly ground nutmeg

Pour ~1/2 c. of batter into a preheated waffle iron and cook for a few minutes- I check to see if they're done when the steaming has calmed down. Don't overfill because they rise and spill out of the sides and it's a pain in the butt.

They turn out soft but the outside sorta caramelizes and it's delightful. Subtle strawberry taste. Awesome with tea.

Makes 12 waffles.

Single serving microwave cake

I'm sure you've seen the single serving microwave recipes around. I think they're a freaking amazing idea. The only thing that bothers me is that most require separating an egg. I feel like that defeats the purpose of a quick, simple recipe. My opinion: Streamline!

So I came up with this.

It actually makes two servings, because there's always someone around who's going to be eyeing your treat. Like a husband with a sweet tooth (sigh- not soon enough). Or a pregnant sister. Or a mom who's always down for a treat. Or, at the very least, an extra treat for myself for later.

 This was originally intended to be a chocolate chip cookie, but turned out with a cake-like texture. I call that a win-win situation, especially since it makes a great basic recipe for other cake flavors. But for today, we enjoy chocolate chip-- A la mode.

 Single-serve Chocolate Chip Microwave Cake

Gather:
2 ramekins

1 egg
1 T melted butter or olive oil
1 T brown sugar
1/8 t. vanilla
pinch salt
1/3 c. gluten free flour**
pinch baking soda
2 T mini chocolate chips

**Or blend of flours- see right sidebar for my preference: (2 T each of brown rice flour,sorghum flour, potato starch)

In a bowl, beat the egg, sugar and butter until combined. Add in the other ingredients and mix well. Spoon into ramekins. Microwave for ~60 seconds, and check to see if they're done with a toothpick that comes out clean. If they're not done, just pop them back in for a few more seconds. (Keep in mind that my microwave came free with the purchase of a george foreman grill about 10 years ago, and it took a little over a minute to cook mine)

P.S. Beats the heck out of heating up an oven in the middle of the summer.

Gluten Free Carrot Cake Bites

Now that it's warmer I will be mostly using my toaster oven and Xpress Redi Set Go. It's one of those as-seen-on-tv things that I actually use a lot. No sense in heating up my oven if I don't have to, and as a bonus I get a lot of mini-treats. (The mini-muffin insert is much easier to clean than the larger pan.)

I've never made carrot cake, and have always liked it. It seemed intimidating, but it's really not. It's just a glorified muffin recipe, and the hardest part is shredding the carrots- not hard at all. Rather than make these into a dessert with that glorious cream cheese frosting, I decided these would be best for a lightened up for a mid-morning snack.

Gluten Free Carrot Cake Bites

1 egg, beaten
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/4 t. vanilla
1 c. shredded carrots (about 3 carrots)


3/4 c. gluten free flour (1/4 cup each brown rice flour, sorghum flour, potato starch)
1/8 t. xanthan gum
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. baking soda

Optional: 1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat your oven to 350 or turn on your Xpress Redi Set Go. Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Regardless of what kind of pan you're using, grease it well. There is no oil in these muffins and they will stick without it. Spoon the batter into mini-muffin cups and bake for 5-6 minutes.

When they're done, turn them out onto a cooling rack. After they've cooled for a few minutes, dust with powdered sugar.

Makes appx 18 mini muffins

Orange cupcakes

- - the flavor, not the color. Of course, you could color the icing orange and have both.

Orange cupcakes.

Subtle but noticeable flavor, delicious cupcake.

Grab a GF Betty Crocker Yellow cake mix*- Or other gluten free cake mix that you like. Make it according to package directions, but substitute orange juice for the water.

Easy peasy.


*I love Betty Crocker's yellow cake mix. I even used it to make my sister's wedding cake and it was awesome. Apparently they've changed the recipe and some people are saying it's not as good. Haven't tried the new recipe, as I used a box that was purchased a while back. Has anyone noticed the change?

Cupcake win

Chocolate cupcake (made with black beans!) + Nutella frosting* = WIN

*To give the Nutella a stiffer consistency for piping, mix 1/4 c. Nutella with 1 t. corn starch.

Black Bean... Cake!

We've all heard of the chocolate cake or brownies made using black beans instead of flour. After trying one of these cupcakes that a friend made, I was amazed and finally decided to try it.

It's so freaking easy, and I have to admit I was skeptical as I was mixing the batter together. It's very wet. And even though I pureed the heck out of the beans, there were little bean skin pieces floating around in it.

However, when they came out of the oven and eventually made their way into my mouth, I was a believer all over again.

I used the recipe provided at Chocolate and Carrots (darling blog). Instead of all the embellishments, I made the basic cake recipe and added store-bought german chocolate icing for my sister's favorite birthday cake.

Unfortunately, the only picture I took was one with my crappy camera phone, sent to her with a note: Come over after work. (She did.)

They are moist, a bit dense, and perfectly chocolatey.

I fed them to my family, watched them eating, and asked, "You wanna know what's in there??"
They stopped eating and their faces became skeptical. When I told them, they were all, "No way!" and polished them off. You really can't tell there are beans in the batter.

One thing to note: they don't rise very high and get that traditional domed cupcake shape; I suppose it's just the nature of the recipe, but it's ok because you get to put more icing on that way. :o)

So, whether you make the surprise cupcakes with peanut butter frosting (which are, by the way, AH-MAY-ZING) or just use the plain chocolate cake recipe, it's all good.

Just make them.

Robot Birthday Cake

First Birthday Cake!

Fondant robot parts, Betty Crocker GF Vanilla Cake mix.

Inspired by a picture that my friend sent me and wanted something similar; don't know the source.

Circles were made using piping tips- the small ones were made using a number 12 round tip, and the larger circles were just the larger end of the tip. I glued the fondant pieces together using a small paint brush and water.

If I were to do this again, I'd make sure the color of icing that I chose for the cake wasn't the same as some of the parts- they kinda blend in.

Overall, I thought it was cute. :o)

Birthday Oreo Cake

This is what I chose for my birthday cake this year. 25, you guys! Ack! I feel like I should "feel" like more of a grown up than I do. I don't feel like an adult at all... except when I pay bills but that's no fun.

Anyway, I was browsing through blogs and I came across this cake at Gluten Free is Life and I HAD to make it.

I'm so, SO glad I did. We used the recipe here, but substituted Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate cake mix and Kinni-toos. My mom was amazing and went to 4 different stores to find the mixes. This is the first time I've tried the chocolate cake mix, and I really like it. I will definitely be buying it again.

The cake didn't look exactly like the one on Kraft's website, but it tasted freaking awesome. Not even gluten free at ALL. People were asking for the recipe, and today I was craving it all day through class.

A crowd-pleaser and a must-make.

P.S. Over Thanksgiving I went to this store in College Station that had a bunch of neat GF items, and I've been dying to do reviews but I'm so busy with the end of the semester. Gah! Soon.

Chocolate Cake

My sister Suzy just had her gall bladder removed, so she is on a low-fat diet for a while. It also happened to be my other sister Ashley's birthday this weekend. Both Suzy and I eyed the german chocolate birthday cake on the table, unable to take a bite. I found a vegan chocolate recipe here that I've been wanting to try. I've also been trying to cut down on my sugar intake, and decided to go wild and modify it to be low-fat, sugar-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free. That's a lot of "frees."

It went okay, I just didn't use enough agave syrup so it was just not sweet enough. It was close, so I sprinkled some powdered sugar on top. It helped a little, and turned it into an almost sugar-free cake. The amount of agave I'm putting here is pretty close to what it should be. The cake was very moist, thanks to the applesauce and agave syrup. I'm probably going to make it again.

Chocolate Cake

1/2 c. brown rice flour
1/2 c. sorghum flour
1/2 c. potato starch
1/4 c. cocoa
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. agave nectar
5-6 T. unsweetened applesauce
1 T. vinegar
1 t. vanilla
1 c. water

Mix up the dry ingredients, then just plop the wet ingredients in and whisk it all together. Pour it into a 9x9 pan and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until it's done.

I'm trying to figure out an acceptable sugar, dairy, and fat-free frosting, but I'm pretty much getting nowhere with the ingredients I have. I can make it low-fat so Suzy can have some, but I guess frosting is just going to be sugary. It's not really something you eat every day, so that's okay. I did see a neat recipe that uses tofu, but I don't have any and I'm not that concerned about it. If you have any other suggestions, let me know!

Pamela's Chocolate Cake Mix

You know you've got a great friend when your non-celiac friend requests a gluten free birthday cake just so you can have some. Talk about rockage. Gluten free enchiladas to boot? Makes me feel like it's my birthday! Like I said, that's a great friend right there. Happy 25th birthday to Missy!

The cake they chose: Pamela's Chocolate Cake Mix.

It was really good. Missy commented on how good it smelled as it was baking. We were all stuffed on enchiladas so we only had a few bites, but another non-celiac friend of ours ate his entire piece and agreed that it was really good. I took a peek at the directions, and they seemed pretty simple; you have to add only a few ingredients.

The cake is very moist, with a nice chocolate flavor and soft texture. It's got a good mouth feel. The cake is not very sweet by itself, and was very tasty with a dusting of powdered sugar. We didn't add frosting so I don't know how the sweetness of a frosting would complement the cake. I imagine it would be delicious without being overly sweet.

Will I finish the leftovers I got to take home? Oh yes. I know I'll have some with my coffee for breakfast- I won't be able to help myself.

Would I buy this and make it myself? Definitely.

chocolate cupcakes

Please ignore the awful, hastily-taken picture. This recipe transforms beautifully into cupcakes. I found it somewhere on the internet, so if you came up with it, let me know so I can give credit!

Some things you should know:

When making the batter, it may seem as if the ingredients aren't mixing. Just keep the heat on low and keep stirring- they will come together.

I routinely give my cupcake liners a little spritz of cooking spray to keep the liner from sticking to the cake, but don't do that here or they will be greasy on the bottom.

The batter will be very runny. I use a ladle to fill the cupcakes.

Bake the cupcakes at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Test with a toothpick because the tops will still look wet when they are done.

This makes a very soft cake. Very yummy. Make sure they are cooled completely before frosting.

The recipe makes 2 dozen cupcakes, or 1 dozen if it is halved.