The Art of Living (AOL)

This weekend I was able to attend a conference at Shellbourne Conference Center in Valparaiso Indiana. This conference was designed specially for high schooler to learn how to take ordinary tasks and raise them to the level of an art. For example, cooking and baking is culinary arts. It was a lot of fun! Over 75 high schooler girls from around the country took party in it. There were different seminars and competitions. The seminars included how to garden, use tools to make a stool, make different types of salsa from around the world, and how cheese is made and what is paired well with it! I learned a lot from the seminars and the were a lot of fun! The competitions included great cakes, culinary mystery basket, be our guest, and skills gallery. I competed in the great cakes competition with my friend Katie . We made a flour less chocolate cake with a raspberry filling, and we got a silver medal! I was completely blown away by all of the incredibly artistic talent that I saw. This was an incredibly experience and I can't wait to go back next year!

Our cake

Katie, Pat (our coach), and me

Coffee chocolate cake

Inside out german chocolate cake

Carrot Cake

All of the cakes entered

Salsa seminar

Salsa seminar

skills gallery

Katie and I

Chocolate Chip Pecan Scones

Now that Lent is over, it is time to start baking and blogging again! I decided to make a yummy breakfast for my family. Since we are chocoholics it had to be something chocolaty. I was also really excited to try my new gluten free flour, cup 4 cup! This flour is a miracle worker. It makes gluten free baking so simple and it tastes exactly like normal flour and these scones are proof of that! The scones are flaky and have incredible flavor! You can't even tell that they are gluten free! 

Recipe from sugarywinzy.com

Ingredients

• **2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (8 tablespoons) butter
• ¾ cup chocolate chips
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup milk (can be substituted with skim milk, or if richer scones are preferred, use cream)
• *1/2 cup of chopped pecans

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using a pastry blender , place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl. Cut the butter to evenly distribute throughout the flour mixture, crumble until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Add chocolate chips. If mixing by hand, mix the chocolate chips with a spatula. 
4. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg, vanilla and milk until well combined. Pour egg mixture over the flour mixture. If mixing by hand, use a spatula to stir the egg mixture with the flour mixture until dough binds together. I
5. Remove dough from bowl and lightly knead on a floured countertop to form a ball. If dough tends to stick, sprinkle flour over the dough and on the countertop. Knead lightly to incorporate the sprinkled flour.
6. Flatten the dough into a disc about 8” in diameter and 1” in thickness. With a sharp knife, slice the dough into 8 equal triangles. Another option is to slice the dough in half to make two dough balls, flatten each ball into a disc about 6” in diameter and 1” in thickness, and slice each disc into 8 equal triangles to get a total of 16 scones. Flour the knife to prevent the dough from sticking to the knife.
7. Transfer the dough slices onto the prepared cookie sheet. Lightly beat one egg and one tablespoon milk. Brush egg wash over each slice and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown

*The pecans are not in the original recipe
** I used Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour instead of all-purpose flour

Flatbread Pizza

Not to long ago my mother heard of a gluten free bakery not to far from our house. It's name is Molly's gluten free bakery. They had delicious bread and amazing cupcakes. They also have flatbread that is out of this world! This flatbread is perfect for pizza, which is a very common meal in our house. The flatbread is perfect for pizza because it is thin but not to thin. No matter how you top your pizza it will be delicious!

                               

               

Recipe:

all ingredient amount varies on the amount of flavor you want

Molly's Gluten Free Flatbread

Ragu pizza sauce

Shredded mozzarella cheese 

Mushrooms thinly sliced

fresh basil

Pancetta italian-style bacon

Recipe:

all ingredient amount varies on the amount of flavor you want

Molly's Gluten Free Flatbread

pesto

tomato sliced thinly

fresh mozzarella cheese cut into thick slices

Recipe:

all ingredient amount varies on the amount of flavor you want

Molly's Gluten Free Flatbread

Ragu pizza sauce

Thick cut pepperoni

shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions for all:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the flatbread directly in preheat oven for 7 minutes before adding toppings, this makes the flatbread crispy.

Remove from oven and add your toppings to the flatbread. 

Bake for 15 minutes.

Here is the link to Molly's Gluten Free Bakery:

http://www.mollysglutenfreebakery.com/index.html

Chocolate Chip Muffins

     It safe to say that breakfast is absolutely my least favorite meal. The only thing  I like about breakfast was anything sweet and chocolate! When I became gluten free, breakfast became a challenge. I thought that all I could eat was eggs and yogurt, and both of those grossed me out (now I love them). After doing some research, I learned that I could still make my favorite breakfast food, and it would not be that much more difficult.

     These muffins were some of the first breakfast food I learned to make gluten free, and they were easy. They were not dense, which a lot of gluten free food is. They tasted so good, I was so happy that I could eat chocolate chip muffins again!

Recipe from: my baking addiction

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour*
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray the wells of the pan with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. In medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla, mixing until well combined.

4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid ingredients into the well. Stir until ingredients are just combined - do not over mix the batter. Fold in the chocolate chips.

5. Evenly divide the batter into the prepared muffin pan wells. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

6. Remove muffins to a wire rack and cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* I used Trader Joe's all-purpose gluten free flour

Milk Chocolate Florentines (Lace Cookies)

     In my family there is nothing that we love more then chocolate and thin, crispy cookies. These cookies are both of those. These addicting cookies are so delicious because they are to super thin crunch cookies held together by smooth chocolate! They are absolutely amazing, not to mention a whole plate full was gone not long after they were baked!

Here is the recipe from: verybestbaking

ingredients

• 2/3 cup butter
• 2 cups quick oats
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup light or dark corn syrup
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups (11.5 oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Milk Chocolate Morsels

• Directions

  PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Line baking sheets with foil. 

  
  

  
  

  MELT butter in medium saucepan; remove from heat. Stir in oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla extract and salt; mix well. Drop by level teaspoons, about 3 inches apart, onto foil-lined baking sheets. Spread thinly with rubber spatula.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  BAKE for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets on wire racks. Peel foil from cookies.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  MICROWAVE morsels in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; STIR. Morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10 to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Spread thin layer of melted chocolate onto flat side of half the cookies. Top withremaining cookies to make sandwiches.

Pumpkin Roll

Fall is my favorite season and I just love pumpkin! I decided to try making a pumpkin roll. It was the first time that I've ever made on of these. I've always been intrigued as to how the cake can be rolled without crumbling. It was actually one of the easiest and fasted cakes I have ever made, not to mention you don't have to worry about trying to make it look pretty because it already is! The cream cheese frosting really adds to the flavor to this cake while keeping it light!

Here is the recipe from BUCHKO at all recipes.com:

CAKE:

3 eggs

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 cup of flour*

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup chopped walnuts**

confectioner's sugar for dusting

Frosting:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons butter, soften

8 ounces cream cheese

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 15x10x1 inch baking pan and line with parchment paper. Grease and flour the paper.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs on high for five minutes. Gradually add white sugar and pumpkin. Add flour, cinnamon, and baking soda. Spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle walnuts evenly on top.
3. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Immediately turn out onto a linen towel dusted with confectioners sugar. Peel off paper and roll cake up in the towel, starting with the short end. Cool.
4. To Make Filling: Mix confectioners sugar, vanilla, butter or margarine, and cream cheese together till smooth.
5. Carefully unroll the cake. Spread filling over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Roll up again. Cover and chill until serving. Dust with additional confectioners' sugar, if desired

* I used Trader Joe's gluten free all purpose flour

**I did not add walnuts

Red Velvet Cupcakes

     I absolutely love red velvet cupcakes. I could always taste the difference between red velvet and chocolate cupcakes but never really knew what the actual difference was. I started researching an found that red velvet uses either butter milk or sour cream which gives it more flavor then just chocolate. It also keeps the cupcakes moist. These cupcakes are full of flavor and are super moist. The cream cheese frosting adds more flavor that makes these cupcakes so irresistible!

Here is the recipe from McCormick:

Serves:

Makes 30 (1 cupcake) servings.

Cupcakes:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, soften
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 bottle (1 ounce) McCormick® Red Food Color
2 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, soften
1/4 (1/2 stick) butter, soften
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 box (16 ounces) confectioner's sugar

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 350°F. For the Cupcakes, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until just blended. Do not overbeat. Spoon batter into 30 paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3 full.
      
Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pans; cool completely.

For the Frosting, beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes with Frosting.