Contrary Darling

Owl 5th Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 06:10:00 +0000

Hellooooo!!! Owls were the request for my truly adorable 5-year-old's birthday! She picked out the decor and what she wanted her owl to look and taste like... lime!

Here is the inspiration for the design. :) Inside is a vanilla bean cake with an Italian meringue buttercream and lime curd filling... which was absolutely delicious!!

This little tweety ended up at a party in the park!

A fabulous day for a fabulous little girl! ♥

M&M Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 02:38:00 +0000

A quick and simple birthday cake for a male friend with a love of M&M's

Vanilla bean cake stuffed with M&M's and an Italian meringue buttercream frosting.

Back To School

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:23:00 +0000

Fluffy clouds...

...float across...

...blue skies,

but it's that time of year again.

Back To School!!

Hope it's an enjoyable (and tasty) year!!

This was my first attempt at an internally sculpted cake. While there are similar techniques floating around, I have not seen anything like this done before and was looking for a challenge! It was a learning experience for sure, and I cannot wait for the next attempt!

German Chocolate Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 17:23:00 +0000

My take on a German Chocolate cake using a dark chocolate cake filled with coconut pecan icing and covered in a milk chocolate Italian meringue buttercream. This cake was for a friend's birthday. I love any excuse to use them as guinea pigs to practice my icing skills! This was my first attempt making and using Italian meringue buttercream.

Happy Father's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 22:14:00 +0000

What do you get the man who has everything...

...and likes Reese's Peanut Butter Cups?

Reese's Stuff'd Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream of course!

...and Reese's Stuff'd "Oreos" too!!

All of these treats are of course gluten free as everything from my kitchen is. :)

Happy Father's Day to all of the fantastic fathers!!

Hello Kitty Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:36:00 +0000

My first sculpted cake using internal structures for my oldest lil' girl's 6th birthday! She is a Hello Kitty fanatic and requested a cake of the same of course! Her wish is my command, and it came out spectacular! Inside is Gluten Free Rice Krispy treats for the body and vanilla cake surrounded by orange buttercream icing for the head covered in homemade marshmallow fondant, and while she looks tiny, Hello Kitty stood approximately 15 inches tall!

Happy Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:17:00 +0000

Hope your Easter is an enjoyable one!!

Ours was very cute and tasty to say the least!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 00:18:00 +0000

Who needs green beer when you can have this sitting in the refrigerator waiting for you??

Beautiful 8-layer vanilla-chocolate fade with a peppermint buttercream icing.

*yum*

Oh so simple...

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:15:00 +0000

Some days you just crave something sweet but have neither the time nor the energy for anything too complicated. I have the perfect solution for that dilemma...

30-Second Raw Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bites from Real Sustenance. The great thing about this dessert (besides the quick prep time and NO baking) is they are healthy! ...and easy to adapt to your tastes and/or dietary requirements.

These sweet treats are gluten free, grain free, egg free, and dairy free!

Head on over to Real Sustenance to get the recipe and try them out for yourself. :)

Mad Skills

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 20:11:00 +0000

One word...

A.MAZ.ING

This ain't your momma's jack o'lantern! These days many folks have turned our simple Halloween past time into an art form. This pumpkin (yes, a real pumpkin!) is the work of artist Ray Villafane. Already well known as a toy sculptor, Ray then set his sights on our favorite orange gourd, turning out pieces that look almost real and malleable. To see more of Ray's work, go here and check him out.

Cool Strawberry Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 03:25:00 +0000

Part 2 of my "what am I going to do with all of these strawberries" cooking session is Strawberry Pie!

I have had this recipe waiting patiently in my recipe binder since summer and was just looking for an ~~excuse~~ reason to make it. So when I found myself staring down 4 lbs of strawberries, I knew I had the perfect solution!! The recipe for the filling is out of an issue of USA Weekend for Fast and Fresh Strawberry Pie. I used the recipe here from Hey That Tastes Good for the crust and shazam! A cool treat to help us ignore the heat (end of October and we are still in the 90s here! Can you believe it??)

Let me say, I LOVED this crust. It was super easy and quick to make, just prebaked it before adding the filling. It is very crispy and surprisingly tasty on its own. It held up and retained it's crunch without getting soggy from the strawberry filling. With the scraps left over, I made a fruit pocket by throwing in a hand full of fresh raspberries and a sprinkling of sugar, folded it over and baked it along side the pie crust. I was in heaven!! This will for sure be a "go to" recipe for crusts in the future.

Strawberry Zucchini Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:50:00 +0000

After much washing and rinsing upon returning from a shopping trip to the Ranch Market, I found myself staring down 4 lbs of strawberries. I remembered I already had several pounds stashed away in my cramped freezer, but they were such a good deal I couldn't resist!! But now what to do with them?!?

I started rapidly flipping through recipes online, also searching because I had several zucchini that needed a home too. Suddenly a bright idea came to me! Zucchini muffins... and strawberries! Could it happen? Yes, yes, it can... and it has. Tia over at Glugle GlutenFree had just the recipe I needed... Gluten Free Strawberry Zucchini Muffins!

bad photo! evening cooking once again!

They use almond flour and no refined sugar (I subbed in honey for the agave in mine), making these mildly sweet treats healthy and perfect for a breakfast on the go! Her recipe said she made about 12 muffins, but it came out closer to 17 for me and that is with filling the muffins cups almost all the way up! Keep some in the fridge and/or the freezer for a quick and healthy snack!

...cheesecake!!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:45:00 +0000

For my birthday I decided I was going to go nontraditional for my little solo party...

CHEESECAKE!!

A few weeks back I stumbled across a new blog, My Own Sweet Thyme. While Lisa is not gluten free, the pictures of her creations draw you in and leave contemplating substitutions so you can experience some of these decadent and unusual treats for yourself.

Two in particular caught my eye. One of them was her honeyed balsamic cherry cheesecake and with only 2 minor substitutions needed, I knew I had a winner! This sweet is not your normal cheesecake. In fact, there is no cream cheese in it at all! The recipe calls for a honeyed goat cheese, and that coupled with the balsamic gives a subtle tartness to this delectable dessert.

The only substitutions I needed to make this recipe gluten free was to sub the 1-1/2 Tbs of flour with white rice flour and I used Mi-Del Ginger Snaps for the crust!! Easy peazy!!

Lisa also used a chocolate balsamic vinegar which sounded delicious, but I could not find it locally. So with a little research, I found this recipe at The Kitchn and made my own!

I threw this beauty together the night before and had a little piece with each meal, even breakfast!! If you are nice, I might be persuaded to share...

Lalaloopsy Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 05:44:00 +0000

Homemade marshmallow fondant covers a gluten free chocolate cake in my first attempt at making and using fondant. This cutie was for my littlest cutie's 4th birthday!

So "Free" there is nothing left!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 05:57:00 +0000

With the mish-mash of food allergies and intolerances in my extended family, I became determined to find a dessert everyone could enjoy!!

The treat had to be:
Gluten free.
Peanut free.
Egg free.
Soy free.
Dairy free and..
Tree nut free.

I kept running into walls. Various recipes would cover all but 1 or 2 of the criteria I was looking for. That is until I came across Kelly's recipe on TheSpunkyCoconut.com!! With just a couple minor substitutions, I had my winner! She has a few variations on this recipe, but I used the one posted here, subbed out the almond butter for Sunbutter and omitted the walnuts and ended up with the perfect chewy brownie that everyone could eat!

photo from TheSpunkyCoconut.com

With my substitutions, these babies are *deep breath* gluten-free, grain-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free, soy-free, dairy-free, casein-free, and... would've been refined sugar-free if I hadn't run out of honey!! *whew!*

Go check out the recipe here or go to TheSpunkyCoconut.com to see her other variations.

Peach Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 04:19:00 +0000

Don't feel tricked, but this is not the type of peach cake you can eat. This is a local Arizona band I stumbled across recently and have been really digging this song. :) So grab ~~a fork~~ some headphones and groove along...

Cinnamon Bun Muffins

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 04:47:00 +0000

Being gluten free generally means we have to take our own treats to parties and family get togethers. While it is a big hassle at times, I try to view it as a~~n excuse~~ way to get to try new recipes!

So, for that very reason, I whipped up a batch of these beauties...

photo courtesy of Elana's Pantry

Gluten free and dairy free Cinnamon Bun Muffins from Elana's Pantry. They use a mix of almond flour and coconut flour. Now, as I have mentioned before, there is a hate/dislike love affair with coconut flour simply because I have yet to make something I love with it. But because of the combination used in these muffins, it helped waylay my aversion to anything coconut flour.

They were delicious! Sweet, but not too much. Light and fluffy and perfect with some cream cheese frosting ~~heaped~~ spread on top. Good for a breakfast treat, or just an anytime treat...

photo: Elana's Pantry

Pink Grapefruit GF Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 21:57:00 +0000

Whenever we are at the store and Peanut wants to try a new fruit or veggie, I will buy it no matter what. I want to encourage her to try and experience new things and not limit her taste buds. Well, this week her new find was grapefruits! I bought 2 (in negotiation to the 4 she wanted) and as I guessed they were not a big hit as is. So, what do you do with 2 grapefruits that no one wants to eat??

photo courtesy of As Good As Gluten

Pink Grapefruit Cupcakes!!

While I have never really liked the fruit itself, I generally enjoy pink grapefruit flavored candies and such. So, after finding this recipe at a newly discovered blog, As Good As Gluten, I figured we would give this a go. Just look at that picture, how could you refuse that yumminess?!

I just have to say... These have got to be the lightest, fluffiest little treats I have ever had the chance to eat since going gluten free. They are so pillowy, the icing almost squashes them flat with the weight!!

In other words, wow!

I love the taste and LOVE the frosting. Sweet, yet not too sweet and a bit tart. The only downside was my fault, I think my flour blend was a bit old (I used Pamelas), and had a taste to it. I will definitely be trying these again (with fresher flour, of course)!

Nice try, kiddo.

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:54:00 +0000

Pumpkin: Can I have 1 cookie?

"Yes."

Peanut: Can I eat ALL of the spinach?!?

"Yes."

Pumpkin: Can I eat ALL the cookies??

"Ha! no."

LOVE that kid...

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:52:00 +0000

Peanut: Mommy, can we put our noses together, please?

♥

German Apple and Cranberry Puff Pancake

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 06:30:00 +0000

At our house, we LOVE dinner breakfast food! We generally do a big "breakfast" for dinner at least once a week. This week, I decided to make something new after coming across a recipe for German Apple and Cranberry Puff Pancake posted over at Lexie's Kitchen.

And, boy, let me tell you, it was TASTY!! Baked that up and served with some cheesy scrambled eggs, I think between myself and the 2 kiddos, we polished it off completely! This is definitely something we will be making again!

photo courtesy of Lexie's Kitchen
(because we ate ours too fast to get a picture!)

Midnight baking session

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:49:00 +0000

Sometimes you just want cupcakes now... as in right now, at midnight!

These bits of late night yumminess are Strawberry Cupcakes using coconut flour from Elana's Pantry topped with the Strawberry Meringue recipe found in her book. While we did eat them all, I was just not a fan. Certainly not Elana's fault!! It just seems coconut flour and I don't quite get along yet... or I haven't acquired a taste for it, because every time I have made a recipe using coconut flour, I just don't love the flavors. In addition, I was not big on the meringue "frosting" as raw eggs and also I have a hate/hate love affair. (Runny eggs just gross me out and no, you can't change my mind on that one!).

But the most important part of this midnight session was the kiddos and I having fun in the kitchen! (Yes, they were still up... my little weekend night owls!)

Definition lesson.

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 21:27:00 +0000

PUMPKIN: "Dip" is not a bad word. That other word you said... that is a bad word.

Icing awesomeness!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:20:00 +0000

If you are not a reader of CakeWrecks, you need to be! Gluten free or not, this blog will leave you giggling and wondering what the heck goes through some baker's minds. This cake, however, is NOT a wreck. This. is. icing. awesomeness!!

borrowed from CakeWrecks

You just cannot go wrong with My Little Pony and Darth Vader on the same cake!

Where to go!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:36:00 +0000

MOMMY: Go to your room Pumpkin!

PUMPKIN: No one tells me where to go!

PEANUT: Where to go Pumpkin!

PUMPKIN: No one tells me where to go!

PEANUT: Where to go Pumpkin!

~~ Too smart for their own dang good sometimes I tell ya!