Red Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting

I have to admit, this red velvet recipe has given me some grief. As you may have read in my Chicken and Dumplings post on June 10, the first batch wasn't blog-worthy. What that means is they had that "too much food coloring" taste. So, I went back to the drawing board. 

I thought I had it all figured out with my second try, and I probably did; but I didn't get to try them. As I was trying to get them out of the pan, it shattered all over my kitchen counter. 

Isn't that depressing!?!

I was so distraught over the mess, that I decided to go in a different direction. Instead of brownies, I would make cupcakes. They say, "third times a charm", and they are right. These cupcakes are red as velvet and tasty as can be (no food coloring flavor), and they are topped with sweet white chocolate frosting.


Makes approximately 18 cupcakes.

What You Will Need:
Cupcake Tins
Cupcake Liners
Cooling Racks

Ingredients:
For Cupcakes
3/4 cup Soy Flour
1/4 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/4 cup Potato Starch
1/4 cup Ground Flax Meal
1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vinegar
1 Large Egg
1/4 cup Canola Oil
3/4 teaspoon Red Gel Food Coloring

For Frosting
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
8 oz. White Chocolate, melted and cooled
2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream

Directions:
I recommend making the frosting first to allow time for the flavors to marry.

For Frosting
1. In a small microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate in 30 second intervals, stirring between, until chocolate is completely melted. Set aside to cool.

2. In KitchenAid Mixer bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar together until well mixed. Start on low, or you will be wearing the powdered sugar instead of eating it.

3. Add vanilla and mix.

4. Add melted white chocolate and mix.

5. Add heavy cream and mix until frosting is desired consistency.

For Cupcakes
1. In a 2 cup measuring cup, mix milk and vinegar. Set aside.

2. Place cupcake liners in cupcake tins. Set Aside.

3. Preheat oven to 400° F. 

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together soy flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, flax, xanthum gum, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt and sugar.

5. To the milk mixture, add the egg, oil and food coloring.

6. Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well.

7. Pour batter into cupcake tins. Fill tins 1/2 - 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.

8. Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely on cooling racks.

9. Frost and share!

"Take pride in how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go."

Sheryl

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Our friend Mark loves carrot cake. His 60th birthday is tomorrow, so we threw him a surprise birthday party last night. It was a huge success. His daughter even drove from Tennessee to Michigan to surprise him. 

I had the pleasure of baking the cake for the party, so of course, I made carrot cake. And you can't have carrot cake without cream cheese frosting. The cake was a big hit, and it was nice to see people other than my close friends and family enjoying one of my recipes.

What You Will Need:
Grater
Cake Pan(s) (I used three 8 inch rounds, but you could also use a 9x13.)
Cooling Rack(s)
KitchenAid Mixer
Offset Spatula

Ingredients:
For Cake
3 cups Grated Carrots (8-10 Large Carrots)
1 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2 cups Sugar
4 Large Eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cups Soy Flour
1 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1 cup Potato Starch
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 cups Milk, hot
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
1 cup Pecan Pieces

For Frosting
2 cups Powdered Sugar
8 ounces Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter
2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:
For Cake
1. Grate carrots. Set aside. (I used a cheese grater to grate my carrots. It works great.)

2. Grease and flour cake pan(s).

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together soy flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthum gum, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

4. In a microwave safe measuring cup, heat milk on high in microwave. Heat for 30 seconds at a time and stir. Add vinegar and set aside.

5. In bowl of KitchenAid Mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.

6. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well in between.

7. Add vanilla.

8. Preheat oven to 350° F.

9. Add half of the dry ingredients, then half of the milk mixture, then the remaining dry ingredients and milk mixture. Mix well.

10. Remove KitchenAid mixing bowl from the machine. Add carrots and mix by hand.

11. Add pecans and mix by hand.

12. Pour batter into cake pan(s). Place in oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. (Time will vary for 9x13 pan.)

13. Remove from oven. Cool in pan(s) for 10 minutes. Then cool completely on cooling racks.

For Frosting
1. In bowl of KitchenAid Mixer, mix together all ingredients on medium until smooth. 

Frost your cake, and share it!

"You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." ~C.S. Lewis

Sheryl

Chicken Divan

If you've never had chicken divan before, you are in for a treat! It is a casserole with chicken, vegetables, a creamy-cheesy sauce that has a little zing from the mayo and crunchy bread crumbs as a topping. We serve it atop rice. My whole family loves it, even though they are typically not big fans of casseroles. 

I originally received this recipe from my brother's mother-in-law at my wedding shower. My mom had sent a blank recipe card with each shower invitation and asked the guests to write one of their favorite recipes on it and bring it to the shower for the bride and groom. All these years later (13), I still have all of the cards; and some of them, including chicken divan, have become staples in our kitchen.

When I received the recipes, I hadn't been diagnosed with Celiac's yet; so most of them are not gluten free. But, as you know, I love the challenge of converting recipes to gluten free. This one was a bit of a challenge, because the original recipe called for two cans of a "cream of" soup. I haven't found one of these canned "cream of" soups that is gluten free. 

Then I found this recipe for make your own "cream of something" soup on the One Orange Giraffe blog. I reduced the minced onions to two tablespoons in my recipe; because the first time I tried it, all I could taste was onions. Once I made the adjustment, it was perfect. Think of the possibilities, with a gluten free recipe for cream of something soup mix.

What You Will Need:
9 x 13 Casserole Dish

Ingredients:
For Casserole
3-4 Chicken Breasts, cooked and cut into pieces
The Equivalent of 2 Cans of Cream of Something Soup
3 teaspoons Lemon Juice
1-2 cups Mushrooms, chopped (I usually use button mushrooms, but baby bellas were on special when I was shopping this time. My husband loved them. I suppose you could use whatever kind of mushroom you like.)
1-2 cups Broccoli, chopped
1 1/3 cups of Mayo
2 cups Velveeta cheese, cubed
Gluten Free Bread Crumbs for topping (After much searching, I found some great bread crumbs from a small local shop. Since it is just a topping to add some crunch, you can really use any gluten free bread crumbs. You could also make your own with my "Best Gluten Free Bread". Some other options might be potato chip crumbs or tortilla chip crumbs.)

For Cream of Something Soup Mix
1 cup Non-Fat Dried Milk
3/4 cup Corn Starch
1/4 cup Bullion (You can use beef, chicken or vegetable. I used chicken broth base.)
2 Tablespoons Dried Minced Onions
1 teaspoon Basil
1 teaspoon Parsley
1 teaspoon Pepper
1 can = 1/3 cup mix and 1 1/4 cup water, cook until thick

Directions:
1. Prepare Cream of Something Soup. In a small saucepan, measure 2/3 of cream of something soup mix. 

2. Add 2 1/2 cups of water to soup mix in saucepan.

3. Cook on medium heat until thick, stirring regularly. Let cool. Set aside.

4. Chop chicken, mushrooms, broccoli, and cheese.

I had already mixed the sauce when I took this
picture. That is the next step.

5. Add mayo and lemon juice to cream soup. Mix well.

6. Preheat oven to 350° F.

7. In 9 x 13 pan, layer sauce, chicken, veggies, cheese and repeat. 

This is where you might think I'm a little crazy.
You might notice that I only have broccoli on
one side of the pan, mushrooms on the other
side, and no veggies in the middle. My husband
doesn't like broccoli, my daughter and I don't
like mushrooms, and my son doesn't like either.
I know, crazy, but it works for us.

8. Top with bread crumbs. Bake uncovered for one hour.

Serve it atop rice. It is amazing fresh out of the oven, but it might be even better as leftovers for lunch the next day.

"Sometimes God doesn't give you what you think you want, not because you don't deserve it, but because you deserve better."

Sheryl

Banana Nut Muffins

When the bananas in my house start looking like the ones below, I only have two choices: 1) freeze them for future use in smoothies or 2) make banana nut muffins; because nobody in my house is going to eat them. Let me share a little secret with you, I did both! hehe. I love smoothies with frozen bananas! They are so smooth and banana-y, but that is not what this post is about. So let's get to making banana nut muffins, cuz I love them too.

Makes 24 muffins

What You Will Need:
KitchenAid mixer or hand mixer
Muffin Tins
Muffin Liners
Cooling Racks

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cup Sugar
2 large Eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 cup Mashed Bananas (3-4) (I used four fairly large bananas, cuz I like them banana-y)
1/2 cup Milk
1 teaspoon Vinegar
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup Soy Flour
3/4 cup Potato Starch
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup Ground Flax Meal (If you don't have flax or don't want to use it, you can substitute 1/4 cup soy flour and 1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour)
1 teaspoon Xanthum Gum
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Chopped Walnuts

Directions:
1. Mash bananas. Set aside. (I just used a fork, because I am all about keeping it simple; but you could use a potato masher or whatever you have. Your hands would even work, if you are into that kind of mess.)

2. In a small container or measuring cup, mix milk and vinegar. Set aside. (The vinegar makes the milk a little sour and thicker. Kind of like buttermilk without the expense.)

3. In a small bowl, whisk together soy flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthum gum, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

4. Place muffin liners in muffin tins. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350° F.

5. With your KitchenAid mixer set on medium-high, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.

6. Add eggs one at a time and mix well.

7. Add milk mixture.

8. Add mashed bananas.

9. Add vanilla.

This is what your mixture should look like at this point.

10. Add dry ingredients and mix until just blended. 

This is what your batter should look like.

11. Remove bowl from KitchenAid mixer. Add nuts and mix by hand.

12. Pour batter into muffin tins.

13. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks. 

They are super moist with just enough crunch from the nuts. Thankfully the recipe makes 24, so there are plenty to share. Enjoy!

"Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful of your life." ~ Mark Twain

Sheryl