Own your life.  Own every last bit of it.

Don’t send your Christmas cards out until you’re good and ready.  Wear neon purple tights with a grey dress… why not ?  Go heavy on the gold eyeshadow…tis the season.  Green nail polish?  Go on.   Run through the rain… or sleep in and skip exercise class.

Fashion your cakes into a roll and slice generous portions for yourself, and skinnier portions for other people.  Pretend not to notice what you’re doing.

Whatever it is:  own it!

Maybe you’re one of those people who thinks that rolling a cake is bonkers crazy and waaaaay too hard for you to do.

I’m hear to change your heart and mind.  Ok?  Let’s do this!

The secret to this roll cake is its spongy texture.

The spongy texture comes from eggs.  Egg yolks and egg whites are separated, beaten in a mixer until thick and stiff, then folded back together.

Want to know the other good news about this cake?

It’s GLUTEN FREE! I know… there’s no flour.  Plain and simple.

There are some specific things you need to make this cake happen.

There’s 4 ounces of chocolate.  Treat yourself to some fancy chocolate.  It’s worth it for this recipe.

You’ll also need parchment paper.  Essential.  Don’t skip this step.

Egg yolks and sugar are beaten until pale and thick then folded with melted chocolate.

Thick and pale yellow egg yolks mixed with glossy brown melted chocolate.  The batter will be thick and fluffy.  Amen.

Egg whites are beaten to stiff, slightly glossy peaks.  Stiff like this!  Egg whites that stand their ground.

The egg whites are folded into the chocolate egg yolk-y mixture.  Folded and folded.  Bit by bit into a fluffy chocolate batter.

Cake batter.  So sweet and innocent.  Just waiting to be baked.

The baked cake come out spongy and light.  It’s just begging to be spread with whipped cream and rolled into a festive shape.

Are you scared of cake cracks?  Sure… this will happen to the best of us.  Just remember… this cake was born to be rolled.

Spread with a thin layer of peppermint, vanilla bean whipped cream.

Or just crazily spoon the whipped cream into you mouth.  Whatever works.

This is the part that might make you want to hold your breath.

Ok… it makes me want to hold my breath.  Maybe it’s just me.

Let’s roll.

Start rolling the short side of the cake.  A loose roll.  No biggie.

Use the parchment paper to help you roll.  Use the parchment paper and peel it away.

See that giant crack through the center of the cake.

No biggie.  That’s going to be in the center of the cake.  Stay on your roll!

Finish with the cake seam side down.

Nevermind that little crack.

Give yourself, and the cake a little pat on the back.

Then pour chocolate all over it… all the heck over it.

Crushed candy canes are a lovely last minute garnish.

Look how pretty you can make life!

Do you see all those cracks in the cake?  Nope… you don’t see em at all.  They’re all folded and rolled up… and covered in whipped cream and chocolate.  Even when things go cracked… whipped cream heals most wounds.

This cake is such a lovely holiday treat.  It’s festive and way way impressive.  It’s so light.  It’s effortless to eat.  It reminds me of fluffy cake ice cream.  So so dang yummy!

Don’t like peppermint?  Feel free to flavor your whipped cream filling with only pure vanilla, with almond extract, or orange zest and extract.

Make it yours.  Own it (then share it)!

I know what you’re craving.  I know what you’ve got on your mind.  I know juuuuust the thing you need.

Cold.  Green.  Soup.

Sexy right?  Just the thing you’ve been yearning for?  The answer to all of your burning questions?  The great treasure?

Wait…. no!?

Cold green soup isn’t your thing?  Come on…. let me at least try to change your mind.

This soup starts with creamy, ripe, delicious avocados.  We’re off to a wonderful start!  It’s the start of amazing things like guacamole.  But wait… stop thinking about guacamole.  We’re not making that.

Psssst!  Sneak up top and check out the podcast page for the latest Joy the Baker Podcast!

Look how pretty food is!

This is going into the creamy, cold, green goodness.

Sweet corn is worth freaking out over.

Sweet corn with lime and cooked onions is worth triple freaking out over.

We’re going to cook up all of these pretties and spoon a generous portion into the center of the creamy, cold, green goodness soup.

These corn, spice, and bacon mixture will add just the kick and crunch the soup needs.  Lime?  Zesty.  Parsley?  Bright.

The recipe is adapted from this month’s Bon Appetit magazine.

They also have a clever corn-cutting trick.  I didn’t use their clever corn-cutting trick.  I prefer to have my corn fly all over my counter and floor as I cut it.

Also… please look at the cover on Bon Appetit.  It’s pietown central in this month’s issue.

How is it that I decided to make cold, green soup?  I dunno.  I don’t.  I have issues.

The soup is as smooth as can be.  Avocado blends beautifully and creates a pure velvet soup.  It’s flavored delicately with only lime and salt, so the avocado flavor really shines through.  A generous amount of sweet corn and salty bacon  hash give each bite of this soup a kick of flavor and a touch of crunch.  The soup and hash are a match made in heaven.

Creamy, bright, salty, rich and delicious.  I wasn’t sure I would love this soup… I’ll be honest… then I finished two bowls.  It’s different, and sometimes different is delicious!

Baby steps.

I need to take baby steps when it comes to gluten-free baking.

Maybe the flours confuse me.  Maybe I have no idea what guar gum is.  Maybe arrowroot is intimidating.

… It’s just that I know exactly what all-purpose flour is going to do when I combined it with baking soda and buttermilk… it’s going to make me delicious, fluffy pancakes.  I like knowing that.

But I’m being a brat.  A total brat.  I like the sound of coconut flour.  I learned that arrowroot is just a thickening starch that comes from a plant.  I can still use eggs in gluten-free baking, and I’m totally on-board with agave nectar.

I made gluten-free cupcakes.  I was a brat for thinking that it would be torture.  Considering how delicious these are… I’m totally done being a brat, probably until the next time something challenges my sensibilities.

There’s a new book in my collection. Gluten-free cupcakes I can get down with.  All of the recipes are made with either coconut or almond flour.  They all have agave nectar, sometimes coconut oil (yum!), and arrowroot.  I was amazed at how sweet coconut flour is. Seriously… amazing.  And boy is that stuff absorbent!  Crazy.  Yes.  You’re watching me learn new things.  Bare with me.

I’m stoked on this book, Gluten-Free Cupcakes.  Elana has made gluten-free baking feel not so daunting… not to mention that these cupcakes are totally delicious.  Her recipes have as little as three ingredients, usually six or so.  Totally do-able.    I want one of you to have a copy of this book.  I also want one of you to have a bag of coconut flour and a bag of arrowroot powder.  I’ll send those along too.  Get started!  There’s nothing that should stop you from gluten-free goodness.

Leave a comment with this post.  Tell me what you’re doing this weekend that might me just slightly outside of your comfort zone.  A winner will be chosen on Sunday night and announced on Monday.  Get on it!

 

UPDATE: Winner!  Kerry Edwards!  You randomly won the Gluten-Free Cupcake Book!  I’m stoked!  I hope you are too!!

It’s strawberry time.

I’m totally ready to perfect my strawberry dice.

Listen… sometimes pictures of batter aren’t as glamorous as you want them to be.  Well… most time they aren’t.

But there is some coconut flour and arrowroot magic going on here.

This recipe called for 4 large eggs and half a cup of coconut flour.  I said… no way.  And yet… way!  These cupcakes turned out tender, moist, cakey, and delicious.  Fan.

I topped these little cakes with agave sweetened Cream Cheese frosting.  I am absolutely amazed at how simply delicious these are.  I think I just got 46 times more popular with my gluten-free friends.  I’m just sayin’.

Something pretty remarkable happened.  I stepped in my kitchen and baked something without flour… without milk or eggs or butter… and without sugar.

I was wide-eyed.  I was nervous.  This sort of thing is way out of my sugar/butter/flour comfort zone.

It turns out… I might have a new comfort zone.

… A new, delicious comfort zone free of all of the fats and flours I know and love.

I started this giant batch of everything-free granola with gluten-free oatmeal.

While oatmeal in itself is gluten-free (or at least extremely low in gluten)… actual, safe gluten-free oatmeal is made of gluten-free processing equipment.

It’s hardcore.

Since I’m going all out, I used Coconut Oil instead regular old olive oil.

My friend Tracy got me absolutely obsessed with coconut oil.  It comes in a jar.  It’s opaque and solid at room temperature.  It’s high in fat but better for your body than butter or oil.  It’s got acids that your body loves.  Kinda rad.  Oh!  Bonus!!  It tastes like sexy sexy coconut.  I loooove this stuff.

I also used macadamia and cashew nut butter and honey as a binder.  Crazy stupid delicious.

If you’re not feeling fancy, however… feel free to use extra-virgin olive oil and almond or peanut butter as a binder.  Still delicious.  To be sure.

This granola is super lovely.  It has a richness from coconut oil and the macadamia nut butter feels so indulgent.  It’s lightly sweetened and… completely satisfying.  I served my granola over vanilla yogurt.  Yes.  Dairy.  I’m just a rebel like that.

I’m not sure exactly how to say this, so I’m just going to go ahead and put it out there.

For the first time in…. ever… I had fun at a baby shower.   Real time, legitimate good times at a baby shower.  I wasn’t even faking it, not even a little bit.

I’m going to stand by what may be an unpopular position.  In the past I’ve found most baby showers I’ve had to attend, a troubling combination of boring and humiliating.  Between standing around listening to various labor horror stories and playing disgusting baby games that involve Tootsie Rolls and diapers, I typically just barely manage a fake smile.

This weekend’s baby shower was different.  My friends Mitch and Lara got together, got married, and made another human that Lara is currently growing in her belly.  These people are filled with hilarity, and an uncommon and humble goodness.  Watching them open their baby gifts with grace and a downright speedy efficiency (thanks!), I couldn’t help but imagine their little girl filling the onesies, hats and socks they received.  While it may sound silly, the reality of this impending life became more lovely and amazing as each gift was opened.

That I may or may not have been able to cheat at one of the baby team relay games has very little to do with me having a great time at the shower.  Don’t press me on this.  Please.

Now, without a well-crafted transition, I bring you Crustless But Still Dang Good Quiche.

Yes, I think the best part of a slice of quiche is the crust.  Yes, I still made this quiche without crust.  Sometimes crust, with all of its cutting butter and dusting and rolling pins, seem just a little too daunting for my late morning weekend breakfast.  It turns out, if you slather the pie plate with butter, the quiche will bake up beautifully and when sliced, jump out of the dish with no problem.

I used a combination of spinach, mushroom, walnuts and blue cheese in this quiche.  Feel free to play around with any ingredients you might have on hand.  Next time I make this, I’m going to stay away from blue cheese.  The flavor almost took over the whole quiche.  I think a nice cheddar or gruyere would work better.

This I Used To Believe

I believed that if I wore  a stretched out paperclip across my front teeth I would be one of the cool kids with a retainer.  It turns our that retainers only seem cool when you don’t actually have to wear one.

I believed that if I sunk down in my chair low enough in Honors Algebra, I wouldn’t be called on the answer questions that I didn’t have answers to.  I didn’t have answers to any… aaany of the questions.  In reality, that posture was like a giant, neon, blinking arrow pointed right in my direction.

I believed that if I stayed up all night chewing gum, I was bound to get the part of Violet Beauregarde in the sixth grade performance of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.  That part went to my best friend Lindsay.  What does it say about me if I still think about that from time to time?

I believed that Dylan would never leave Brenda on Beverly Hills, 90210.  Um… remember what happened in the pool?  With Kelly!? Brenda’s best friend!?  Yea… so that didn’t work out.

I believed that really good cookies simply had to have at least a few cups of all-purpose flour flour in them.  These Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies changed my mind.  Seriously.  I know you’re thinking  They’re better than you think.  Way way better.  These are great!

This post was inspired by last weeks episode of  This American Life which, in turn, was inspired by the international essay project, This I Believe.  Yaaaaay for  public radio!

Believe me when I say that these cookies will surprise you.  They’re exactly everything I wanted from a peanut butter cookie, without the flour. With only four ingredients (5 if you add the chocolate) I had perfectly chewy and flavorful peanut butter cookies on my table.  With a glass of cold milk… my goodness… swoon!  Trust me.  Try them!

These cookies aren’t the type that you throw in your purse for an afternoon snack.  Because they don’t have flour, they’re just a bit more delicate.  If you use all-natural peanut butter, you’re cookies will hold up a bit better than if you use the fake stuff.  K?

Please allow me this bright and promising Monday morning to keep it one hundred percent real with you.  While this gluten free cake was buttery, nutty, bright with the flavor of lemon and perfectly sweet, the truth is, it ended up all over my floor.  Well… ok, bits on the floor, chunks on the counter, and pieces in my dirty sink.  Basically, this cake landed everywhere except the cake plate where I wanted it.

I salvaged a few if the larger pieces to mock up a pretty picture for you.  For a few moments I thought I might not even tell you about my cake accident.  But… see, my cake didn’t just land on the floor because I’m clumsy, but because I was taking baking liberties that I shouldn’t have.  Fact.

This cake taught me a small lesson about baking pan choices and cooking times.  It also helped me get my cake dropping out of the way for the next several months.  I only drop a cake every three months or so.  I feels good to be free and clear for a few months to come.

Here’s what you should know about this cake.  The crumb is held together with butter, almond flour and eggs.  While the cake is full of great flavor, it’s a bit crumbly.  To best work with the crumb of this cake, I think it would be best baked in mini loaf pans, or mini bundt pans, or those long and skinny loaf pans (6×2 1/2-inches) if you have them.  Cupcakes also worked out well, baking for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges were nice and brown.  Regular sized, larger loaf pans will most likely create a cake that is sunken in the middle.  Bundt pans.. well that’s how I dropped my cake on the floor… no good.

When it comes to baking this beauty, you might be surprised when I say: longer is better.  We’re not looking for a lightly colored American style cake here.  We’re looking for a French brown:  a baked good left to bake until the sides are beautifully dark brown.  I think the longer cooking time will help the crumb stay together better.

I’m thinking my mistakes will help you create a better cake.  Go on… bake away!