Pecan Pie?! Don't mind if I do.

Everytime I mention anything about pecan pie, I never get the response that I want. It's always ewww! Pecan pie is gross, o so gross. NO THANK YOU! Then they try my pecan pie and realize it is delicious. I got the recipe from Betty Crocker's monthly calendar of baking. This chocolate pecan pie is quick and easy to make! enjoy!! xo

Gluten Free Chocolate Pecan Pie

Ingredients

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Pamela's Gluten Free Bread Mix
2/3 cup sugar (cut it by half if using Stevia)
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt (cut in half if using salted butter)
3 eggs
1 cup pecan halves or broken pecans
1 bag (6 ounces/1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips
 

We decided to make it a flower

Heat oven to 375ºF.
1. Follow the recipe for Pamela's pie crust.
2. In large bowl, beat sugar, butter, corn syrup, bourbon, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the eggs with hand beater. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.    3. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excess browning; remove foil during last 15 minutes of baking.
4. Bake pie 40 to 50 minutes or until set. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 2 hours until chilled.

we wanted to decorate more!

so pretty & tasty



yum!

My favorite pie is Pumpkin!

This past weekend we had the pleasure of having an early Thanksgiving dinner with my grandpa & cousins in North Carolina. We had such an amazing feast (sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, mashed potatoes, beans, deviled eggs, turkey, stuffing, & our dessert was gluten free pumpkin pie. Everything was so delicious & Pop had two slices of the pie! This was such a quick recipe to follow and the total time from start to end was about an hour. I look forward to making this pie in just a couple weeks for Thanksgiving! Enjoy the photos from our trip!
xo Mum & Shari

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie

 
  Ingredients

• Pamela's Gluten-Free Bread mix (this mix will yield 3 pie crusts)
• 3/4 cup white sugar (Half this if you use Stevia)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15 ounce) can 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can Evaporated Milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.
3. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F.; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. (Do not freeze as this will cause the crust to separate from the filling.)




gluten free pumpkin pie






Josh & Ethan





Mike & Mum doing the crab dance



Cotton Cotton Everywhere



Pop



Pop doing the crab dance

 



yummy pumpkin pie



HALLLOOWEEEEEEEEEEEN(ie)!

What a great holiday this is! I loooove getting dressed up, decorating, baking, eating lots and lots of candy, making costumes (normally for myself; mum used to make most of our costumes), & baking + decorating. As we baked the last time, we also multitasked & made costumes for Derek & his friend Hunter. We decided we would share what we made & a couple pictures from Halloween. Enjoy!


candy rush!

Mum in my Rizzo wig



Oompa Loompa costume





scary haunted house



Ethan wishing you a Happy Halloween!

The Pink Ladies & The T Birds

pumpkin carving

oompa loompas post Trick or Treating & a Hay Ride



The Camel got into the Halloween spirit too!



Muffin Mania..not an entire failure.

My mom and I have decided to bake some muffins tonight since she couldn't resist buying blueberries on sale the other day. I searched the internet for a gluten free recipe that did not use rice flour. There is nothing wrong with using this flour, but mum & I want a challenge and simply because she doesn't like using rice flour. I found this recipe from the blog, Tasty Yummies (http://tinyurl.com/32a8zhb). 



**Ok! Mum & me decided that we wanted to do things a little different with the flour choices in this recipe. I noted it throughout the original recipe. This made the muffins still pretty doughy after baking for almost an hour. However! We had extra batter & added 1/2 c. rice flour (against our will) & about 2 tbs. sugar. This made the batter change the taste in flavor (the other batter was most delicious), but made us realize this experiment was not a total failure! We shall try this one again...



blueberry mix



Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins with Almond Flour

makes a baker’s dozen

adapted from Gluten Free Goddess



Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

Sift together: (Note: Sifting is a must!)

1 1/3 cups almond meal (use Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour) (we used 1 1/3 c. coconut flour)
1 cup sorghum (or brown rice flour, if desired) (we used tapioca flour) 
1/2 cup tapioca starch or potato starch (not potato flour!) (we opted for potato starch)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

Beat in:

1 1/3 cups organic light brown sugar
2 tablespoons light olive oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 organic free-range egg whites (depending on the size, you are looking to get 1/4 cup of liquid), beaten until frothy
1/2 cup warm water, more as needed, up to 3/4 cup*
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Beat the batter until it is smooth, like a slightly thickened cake batter.
*Sub milk for water- we used Vitamin D milk because it has more nutrients & it tastes better! Also with the flours we used we found the batter to be thick. In order to thin the mix to make it more of a cake batter instead of a cookie batter consistency, we added 1/4 c. at a time of milk (after adding up to the original 3/4 c). We used all together 2 1/4c.

Add in:

1 pint fresh blueberries, washed and patted dry

Stir gently and briefly.

Plop the blueberry muffin batter into the twelve lined cups. You’ll probably have some xtra- for a baker’s dozen.

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 23 to 25 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch. A wooden pick inserted into the center should emerge clean.

Cool the muffin pan on a wire rack for five minutes. Gently pop the muffins out to continue cooling on the rack (don’t cool them in the hot pan- they’ll get soggy).

If your muffins are soggy or slightly underdone– due to unforeseen oven temperature variations– place them back into the warm oven directly on the center rack for five minutes or so.


getting excited for the muffins!



With a little help from our friends...

My friend Kristel (http://stirringuptrouble.wordpress.com/) sent me a picture of a flour-less cake & this instantly struck my fancy to bake this with my mum particularly because my baked item of the month for November is a flour-less torte. So after a short search I found this delicious sounding dessert. It was pretty simple to do considering all that was involved was using a double boiler, a hand mixer, & the oven. After making it & trying it, it definitely needs something sweet to go with it or we need to put something sweeter in it. With the unsweetened cocoa powder & bittersweet chocolate chips it was not as delicious as I would like. With that being said, I look forward for to making this similar dessert next month. Enjoy!

Mum & I love multitasking. As we made this dessert, we also made Derek (my nephew) & his friend's Halloween costume. They are going to be oompa loompas. We dyed the turtlenecks brown & sewed the pants, hemmed them, & put in a waste band. We like to stay busy!!

Gluten-free Flour-less Chocolate Cake w Almond Whipped Cream

Ingredients

12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips or bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 3 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
1 1/4 cups sugar (we used 3/4 cups of Stevia)
6 eggs
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon milk

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

Almond Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoons sugar (1/2 tsp Stevia)

1 teaspoon almond extract



almond whipped cream



Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with a circle of parchment paper. Spray the paper and edges of the pan with cooking spray, and lightly dust with cocoa powder, then set the pan aside.

Place two-thirds (8 ounces) of the chocolate and 1 cup (2 sticks) of the butter in a double boiler  over medium heat. Stirring often, melt chocolate with butter until completely blended. Remove from heat add sugar and mix well. Let the mixture cool slightly and add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition (this made it really pudding like). Sift cocoa into bowl and stir until just blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake has risen and top has formed a thin crust. The cake should be just firm in the center when done. Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate, removing sides of springform pan. Remove and discard parchment paper and set cake aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the chocolate glaze. Melt remaining 4 ounces chocolate and 3 tablespoons butter in a double boiler over medium low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat, then stir in milk, honey and vanilla. Set aside to cool slightly.

When cake has When cake has cooled, pour glaze onto the center. Using a spatula very gently smooth glaze along the top and sides of the cake. Chill cake, uncovered, for 30 to 60 minutes before serving to set the glaze and make the cake easier to slice.

For the almond whipped cream.  Add the cream, sugar, and almond extract to a bowl.  Beat on low speed until the volume begins to grow.  Increase to high speed until peaks begin to form.  Be careful not to overbeat or you will end up with almond flavored butter…

Serve cake with a dollop of whipped cream and garnish with fresh berries and mint. 



after flourless cake!



Yummy!



Special thanks to the following website, A Gluten-Free Guide (http://tinyurl.com/2wsll7m), for this yummy recipe!

Cherry Cake w Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting

This was one of the simplest desserts to bake. The only prep time that was needed for this was for the homemade cream cheese frosting. Mom had made it a few days before for my nephews homemade gluten free chocolate cookie. One of the cookies made regular, the other with coconut (blog to come soon). This cake even though not made from scratch, made for a quick & easy dessert that leaves your mouth wanting more.

Cherry Cake 

Betty Crocker's Gluten Free white cake mix

2 cans of cherry filling

cream cheese frosting:

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature

8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature

2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. Follow the directions on the white cake mix package

2. Be sure to grease thoroughly. Fill bundt cake pan halfway with the cake mix. Pour cherry filling on top of cake mix. Top with the rest of the cake mix.  

3. Bake!

After baking this delightful dessert, my cake fell apart.

Luckily for me, Mom is a genius & helped me fix my disaster into a beautiful presentation!

When Heaven hit our lips..

This heavenly dessert turned my negative thoughts about how difficult it would be to actually enjoy desserts that are gluten free. Chocolate Caramel Shortbread tastes even better than it sounds.

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread

(serves 12)

Crust:

1/2 c. butter, extra for greasing

(sift the following ingredients)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 c garbanzo flour

1/4 c. sorghum flour

1/4 c. superfine sugar

Caramel:

3/4 c. butter

1/2 c. superfine sugar

                3 Tbs. dark corn syrup (we used light corn syrup)

                     14 oz/400g canned condensed milk

             70z/200g semi-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces

1. Preheat to 350F. Grease & line the bottom of a 9-in shallow square cake pan. Place the butter, flour, & sugar in a food processor until the mix binds together. Press in the pan & level. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

2. Mix all of the caramel ingredients in a heavy bottom pan. Heat gently until sugar melts. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat & simmer 6-8 minutes, stirring, until very thick. pour over shortbread & chill for 2 hours or until firm.

3. Melt chocolate, spread over caramel. Let chill in the fridge for 2 hours or until set. Cut & serve.