Chocolate Toffee Espresso Cupcakes (Regular or Gluten Free)

I have been in a baking mood lately. There is so much inspiration from blogs and Pinterest. Recently I came across a blog post from Kevin and Amanda for Caramel Toffee Latte Cupcakes. I cannot tell you how amazing these fun cupcakes are. Not only are they over-the-top delicious, they are beautiful as well!

Even though I followed the recipe exactly, I felt that these cupcakes needed a new name. Since they are chocolate cake, I thought the name needed to tell you that. And because I thought the toffee and coffee flavors were more distinct than caramel, I decided on Chocolate Toffee Espresso.

I made these with a King Arthur Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake Mix, which I buy at my local Fresh Market store. These are readily available in supermarkets everywhere, and also online. This cake mix bakes up beautifully, and I use it all the time. All the gluten eaters in my family love it! And it is delicious with all the added ingredients from this cupcake recipe.

These cupcakes taste as good as any I have ever eaten, homemade or from a specialty cupcake bakery. I encourage you to get in your kitchen and bake! Have you made any yummy things lately? Please leave a comment and share what you've been up to!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cake

I love to bake. I love to cook most anything, but I especially love to bake. (Rather ironic, considering that most classic baked goods I can't have anymore since my diagnosis of celiac disease in 2007). There are so many great ideas on the internet, especially on Pinterest, for the most creative cakes, cupcakes, cookies, candy, etc. I am so appreciative of all the wonderful bakers out there that so willingly share their talents on their blogs so all of us can make fabulous creations.

One such creation is this beautiful Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cake shared by Something Shiny. I often try to make the cake that my family member wants for their birthday (sorry, Sarah--I know you didn't get one last year. Promise I'll do better this year!). About a week before my daughter Maggie's birthday I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, and she said chocolate cake with chocolate icing. A bit of a departure for her, since she is not a huge chocolate lover, but I began scouring my recipe files and the internet to see what I wanted to make. Then I came across the aforementioned beauty on Pinterest. With excitement, I shared it with Maggie because she has always loved cookie dough, and thankfully, she was sold.

As far as technique, I pretty much did everything the way it is described by Kelly on Something Shiny, with just a few changes. I baked three 8" layers; if I were doing it again I would do two 9" layers. I decided to only put cookie dough balls between the bottom two layers, with just icing between the top two. Instead of putting chocolate chip cookies around the top, I put balls of cookie dough; I liked that since it is a "cookie dough" cake. I used the chocolate chip cookie recipe recommended, but if I made it again I would use my cookie recipe found here because everyone said my cookies are better (which of course made me happy!).

The finished product was beautiful, definitely one that will be remembered. And I don't know first hand since I couldn't eat any, but everyone seemed to enjoy it very much. Definitely a keeper for the recipe file and Pinterest board.

It's Been a Long Time.....and I Have Some Amazing Bread to Share!

I've been absent from this blog for many, many months for many, many reasons. The last year was like a whirlwind for me. Once 2012 arrived I have been determined to begin blogging again. I have a lot to share, but for now I want to share two fantastic recipes.

Recently, we were honored to be joined at dinner with our son's wife (Betsy), our granddaughter (Ada) and our daughter's husband (Myles). It was a precious time and we loved every minute of our time together. So unusual to have time with our "in-law" kids and not have our kids there as well. We had a pretty simple dinner, but I wanted to try something new so I made two loaves of homemade bread. I wanted to be able to eat some, so I made one loaf gluten-free using this recipe and another loaf that was not gluten-free using this recipe. Now I will be the first to say that making bread can feel very intimidating, and I don't have much experience with it. But the few times I have attempted it I have always had success, so I think it gets a bad rap. Both of these recipes are very simple and take very little time. I encourage you to give one or both a try!

I was very interested to see what the others enjoying dinner would say about the difference in the two breads. The loaves were both beautiful, as you can see here:

First, the regular, gluten filled loaf:

Yummy looking, huh? Makes me wish I could have a bite! It was a very traditional bread, good for spreading with butter or whatever your favorite topping is, or dipping in your favorite olive oil or dipping sauce. Now I bet a lot of you are thinking....who cares about the gluten-free loaf?

Well, don't dismiss it too quickly. Here is the gluten-free beauty:


And another:


I asked each person to give their honest opinion on both breads, and they all agreed that the gluten-free loaf was best! I don't think it means the regular loaf was bad (they all loved it!). But the gluten-free one was just better. It is a lovely, rustic bread that is full of flavor and is made from several different flours. Perfect to serve with dinner, or to have with breakfast or for a snack. It reheats beautifully in the microwave. Who could ask for more?

Lovely!

I recently hosted a dinner party for some of my husband's work associates. I love flowers, so I wanted to get something beautiful for the occasion. I contemplated doing them myself, but decided instead to have a local florist handle them. I was thrilled, and thought you might enjoy seeing them. I am always looking for inspiration for things like this and appreciate other bloggers sharing beautiful images!

This is the arrangement that we had out by the pool, where we served before dinner drinks and appetizers.
We moved indoors for our formal dinner, and this is a peek at what the florist put together. Beautiful, huh? Hope it inspires you!

Almond Coated Chicken

After moving our youngest child to college in August, I gave myself a little while to get over the shock of her leaving, and then determined that I needed to find some slightly different, yet still simple, meals to prepare for my husband and I. I generally try to cook four-five nights a week, and I find myself going to the grocery store and staring at the meat counter, unable to be inspired by anything I see. It seems like I cook the same things over and over again. Does anyone else feel that way?

Some of my favorite fish dishes that I used to eat before being diagnosed with celiac disease were pecan or almond crusted. Now I normally cannot have these when we dine out because they are coated in flour. I had some chicken in my freezer that I wanted to cook, so I decided to try an almond coated chicken. I modified a Southern Living recipe that I had seen online, and it was delicious. For those of you that still have children at home, I think they would love it as well!

First, I placed chicken breasts between pieces of saran wrap and pounded them with a meat mallet until they were about 1/2-1 inch thick. I like to do this with any chicken recipe because they are often way too thick to cook thoroughly otherwise. (It's also good stress relief). Next, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour. I used gluten free flour, but regular all purpose flour will work fine.

In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and honey mustard.
Put the buttermilk mixture in a shallow bowl or pan, put the almonds in another.
Dip the floured chicken in the buttermilk and honey mustard mixture.
Dredge the buttermilk coated pieces in the almonds until they are thoroughly coated on both sides.
Cook the chicken in an oven safe skillet on medium-high to high heat for one minute on each side or until the almonds are nicely browned.
Place the pan in the oven and bake for 10 minutes. Simple, quick, and amazingly delicious. I guarantee that this will become a regular in your kitchen!
Please comment and let me know what you think! I love to hear from you.

Almond Coated Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup flour (I used Jules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour)
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons honey mustard
3/4-1 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place chicken breasts between two pieces of saran wrap and pound with either a meat mallet or the skillet you are going to cook them in until they are about 1/2-1" thick. Salt and pepper both sides. Put the flour in a shallow pan or a ziploc bag and coat the chicken evenly. Mix the buttermilk and honey mustard and put in a shallow pan or bowl. Dip the chicken in this mixture and thoroughly coat on both sides. Place the almonds in another shallow pan or bowl and coat both sides in them as well. Put the oil in an oven-safe skillet; when hot, place the chicken in it and cook for one minute on each side on medium-high to high. Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and cook for 10 minutes.

Gluten-Free Biscuits

Amazingly, I am getting another post out less than 24 hours after my last one. I know, very unusual for me, but I had something turn out so well that I have to post this recipe for all my gluten-free friends!

I discovered this recipe for gluten-free buttermilk biscuits today and decided to make it with dinner tonight. I followed the recipe as written. I used Jules All Purpose Gluten Free Flour for the flour blend, and I used shortening where there was a choice of leaf lard or shortening. I also added a tablespoon or two of buttermilk because the dough seemed too crumbly. The only other thing I did differently was I brushed the tops of the biscuits with melted butter when they had about five minutes left to bake instead of brushing the tops with egg yolk/milk mixture.

I didn't take pictures of the process because I wasn't thinking I would blog about these, but it was simple. Just be sure to use cold butter and shortening, cut them into the flour mixture until pea size clumps form, and only mix the buttermilk in until the dough holds together. And by the way, I used Jules flour mix instead of tapioca flour where the recipe calls for it to coat the rolling surface, rolling pin and biscuit cutter.

Once I got the biscuits out of the oven I couldn't get my iPhone quickly enough to snap a picture of these beauties.
Lovely, huh? Bet your mouth is watering.....but just wait....
I cannot say enough how good these biscuits are.  Bake them and let me know what you think! Thank you, Jeanne from Art of Gluten-Free Baking!

Chocolate Birthday Cake

When my husband's birthday was nearing, I asked him (as I always do) what kind of birthday cake he would like. Even though it is not what he would normally choose any other time of year, nor what he would order when he is getting dessert at a restaurant, he seems to always lean towards a chocolate cake with chocolate icing for his birthday. This year I was determined to find the best recipe out there so that he would have a delicious treat.

So what did I do? I trusted Google, of course. And the recipe I found was definitely a keeper. It is an Ina Garten recipe (of Food Network fame) called Beatty's Chocolate Cake. Hubby loved it! And so did my daughter. Since I'm celiac and couldn't eat it, I had to trust their review. I tried the icing, but didn't love it, even though they said it was delicious. I'm more a fan of cooked fudge icing for chocolate cake. I'll include the recipe for both in this post so you can choose which to use.

In the past I have steered away from baking layer cakes because they always seem to come out uneven and never look pretty. But not this cake--it came out perfectly!
I used 9" round cake pans, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It was a very easy recipe that I would recommend to anyone. Layer cakes are awesome because they allow you to use more icing.....yum!
As you can see, I didn't take the time to make the icing perfect. He was on his way home from work unexpectedly early, so by the time the cake cooled I didn't have much time to get it iced.


Chocolate Cake:
nocoupons

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.
Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee

Chop the chocolate and place it in a double-boiler or a heat proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium high speed until fluffy, about three minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating about three more minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioner's sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Beat until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee in two tablespoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the mixture until blended, but do not whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

And last but CERTAINLY not least, this is the chocolate icing I would want on a gluten-free version of this cake if it were my birthday. Don't let the fact that this icing is cooked scare you--if you follow the simple directions, it is easy as pie (or in this instance, cake!).

Never Fail Cooked Chocolate Icing:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

Mix the sugar, milk, cocoa and butter together in a medium pan. Boil hard for one minute, stirring constantly. Time it exactly from the time it begins to boil! Remove from heat and allow to cool a little, then add vanilla extract. Set in a pan of cold water and beat until it is a spreading consistency. (I usually do this by stirring with a wooden spoon).