Shepherds Pie and Chocolate chip muffins

Gluten Free Shepherds Pie and chocolate chip muffins

Well This weekend I decided to make a shepherds pie for my tea as I fancied something different!

I used gluten free gravy to make the main filling and added some organic carrots to it as well. Plenty of cheese on the top and there we have it!!

As well as this I made my first gluten free chocolate chip muffins! I didnt think they would rise much but they turned out great and were very moist!

Plain Sponge

Fancy A Treat

There comes a time when I dont want to spend awhile making something that looks nice and just want something that tastes nice! The reason for my vanila sponge with vanilla butter cream and strawberry jam filling!

I did put a little decoration on the top in the form of some pastel flowers.

Being gluten free means that I cant readily buy nice deserts, at least not of the muffin/cake style so I have to resort to making them. Which is why I dont always go for decorations!

It was delicious and fluffy and light. Very very nice. So I thought I would post a little picture of it here!

Here is my Saturday/Sunday desert:-

Chocolate Marshmallow Melts

Chocolate Marshmallow melts

Today I fancied something ooey and goey and sticky and wanted to incorporate it all into a cupcake.

I went through a phase of eating something from America called Marshmallow fluff. If you have never tried it then please do. Its simply divine and gluten free! I remember it being goey and amazing. Since the chocoholic in me was crying out to make something chocolaty I decided to take these two star players and bake them into a treat.

Marshmallow stuffed vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate ganache topping. I didn't know if this would work and if the marshmallow in the middle would stay in tact or melt!

First I added a little vanilla cupcake batter/mix to the bottom of a cupcake case.

I then cut some marshmallows in half and placed them right on top of that.

Lastly cover the marshmallow and vanilla mix with a chocolate cake mix to about 3/4 of the case. Then pop them in the overn for about 10 - 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

They would be delicious on their own however I needed something else to add that wow factor and made up a little chocolate ganache to top the cakes with. You can either spoon and drizzle it on top to get a very nice messy look or you can dunk them all in to get a very nice coat of chocolate ganache on the top.

I prefer the messy, shove it in your mouth, look! Enjoy!

Chocolate Marshmallow Melts

• 1 1/2 cups Doves Gluten free flour


• 1 1/2 cups sugar


• 1 1/2 teaspoon Gluten Free baking powder


• 3/4 cup cocoa


• 1 cup milk




• 2 eggs




• 2 teaspoons vanilla




• 1 cup butter




• 6 jumbo marshmallows cut in half, plus more for decorating
  

Chocolate Ganache

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
  
  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream


• 1/2 cup butter

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder together with a whisk. Add eggs and butter and whisk again until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and the milk. Seperate the mix into 2 bowls. To one of the bowls add gluten free cocoa powder.

Assemble the mix as above.

For the ganache:-

Heat the butter and cream on the stove. Heat until just before it boils. Remove and pour over chocolate. Stir until completely melted and smooth.Pour over cupcakes and add more marshmallows.

Upcakes

Upcakes!

No mistake, I did not mean cupcakes! These cupcakes are based on the film UP and are just as light and floaty and fun as the film.

They will hopefully bring a smile to everyones face!

Basically you can use any cupcake recipe and frosting you like. They use miniature multicolored sprinkles to represent balloons and buttercream frosting for clouds.

The main thing to remember is to make the frosting look sort of messy like fluffy clouds, so no piping nessercery.

For the balloons you can use either miniture donuts if you are not gluten intolerant or you can make your own. For easyness I chose to use white chocolate ganache truffles which you then dip into a bowl of sprinkles or sprinkle confetti.

For the balloon strings I used dried gluten free spagetti which is fairly ok to work with but do break easy so you could also use cocktail sticks.

Basically, take your cake already frosted. Dip your miniture balloons into the sprinkles and attach the spagetti strands to the bottom. Place them into the cupcake and smile!

The only thing I found difficult about this was the fact that the white chocolate ganache was slightly too soft. Also if you are having gluten free like me you can't actually have rainbow sprinkles which is why I chose the pink glitter ones as they don't contain gluten. Makes them look all light and airey though

Enjoy!

Simply Gluten Free

Cupcakes.....Whoever invented the cupcake was a culinary genius. A cupcake is so much more than just a smaller version of the full thing.

A cupcake is...

Portion controlled pleasure.
- Something you don’t have to share.
- A license to be naughty because there's no commitment.
- But mostly a cupcake is a whole celebration that fits in your hand!

Is there anything better than a cupcake?

Yes! A gluten free cupcake. And yes the above cupcakes are gluten free!

What I love about cupcakes is that you can make any kind you want unlike larger cakes which would take alot more to top with your chosen toppings. Your imagination is your only limit really. You can make coconut cupcakes, peanut butter and jelly cupcakes, strawberry and cream, Banoffee, lemon and lime, the list is endless! As for the toppings... well I thought I had tried them all until I discovered whipped cream frosting! Wow! It looks great and I will be topping my next lot of cupcakes with those!

On par with this is the fact I have found out how to make gluten free cream puffs! Just like the profiteroles you can get. These you can have filled with cream and jam or cream and chocolate ganache. I am going to try them dairy free as well by substituting Butter for oil and Milk for coconut cream. Which apparently tastes better! I will let you know once I have tried it!

Lets celebrate everything sweet and a gluten free diet in abundance!

My first certified cooking blog!
Well,I finally did it! After months of pouring over the vast amount of baking blogs on the Internet I finally decided to create one of my own. Not just any baking blog but a Gluten Free baking blog.

I have only been gluten free for coming up to a month however I have a passion for food and was not about to let this stop that so after tralling through loads of gluten free cooking sites I decided to start my own after all I love cooking!

When I first found out I was gluten intolerant I was taken aback. How could I live without the gluten filled pastas and cereals and bread. I decided to look at the world of food in terms of what I CAN eat not what I CAN'T eat.

Find and enjoy foods that are naturally gluten free! I love the challenge of recreating my much loved foods and making them gluten free.

So please follow my gluten free cooking blog where I will try to post as many pictures as possible!