Beautiful Mini Lemon-Strawberry Cake

A tiny cake, but with a big impact.  A nice, light lemon cake with a simple strawberry jam filling, topped with colorful marshmallow fluff frosting.  You could even go simpler, and leave off the frosting.  Just sprinkle with a little powdered sugar before serving.  This was lovely for Mother's Day!

It looks humongous in this picture, but this pretty cake is small and dainty - just 6" in diameter (a bit more with the frosting)

A lovely slice of strawberry-lemon cake, perfect for any celebration.

Beautiful Mini Lemon-Strawberry Cake - gluten free!

Makes one 6" cake with three layers

Jam: 
If you're making homemade jam, make it first so it can cool.  A high-quality store bought jam will work well, too.  For this cake, I made the following and used it to layer the cakes once it cooled.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook until starting to thicken (20-30 minutes):
~12 oz strawberries, washed, hulled, and finely diced
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

In a small bowl, mix together:
2-3 Tbsp cold water
2-3 Tbsp cornstarch

Slowly pour the cornstarch mixture into the strawberries, stirring constantly.  This will thicken up the jam nicely.  You can make this thinner or thicker, depending on your preference.  A thinner jam may run off the sides of your cake a bit.   
Pour thickened jam into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to avoid a film forming on the top.  Let jam cool completely.   To speed this, you can place the bowl in a container of ice and put a baggie of ice on top of the plastic wrap.

Freshly made jam on the left, and speeding up the cooling process on the right.  Just make sure your bag of ice doesn't leak at all as the ice melts.

Lemon Cakes:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Butter and line three 6" pans with parchment paper. I usually cut a circle for the bottom, then strips to line around the edges.

In a bowl, whisk together:
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
zest of 1 lemon

Add and whisk until smooth:
1/2 cup milk (lactose-free or dairy-free works great)
1/4 cup oil (I like avocado oil, but any light oil will work)
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
2 drops lemon essential oil (I like the DoTerra lemon oil for baking)

Divide batter between the three pans.  Bake at 350 F for about 14-16 minutes, until cakes are set in the middle.   Carefully remove from pans, removing parchment paper, too.  Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Lemon cakes, cooling.

Frosting: (this is the same as my favorite marshmallow frosting recipe)
In a mixer, beat together until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes):
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup marshmallow fluff
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste


Assembling Cake: 
Once cooled, layer your cake with jam.  Then, spread a thin "crumb/jam" coating of frosting over the entire cake - this fills any holes and smooths out the sides.  Place the coated cake in the refrigerator to chill.

Layered with jam - you can see it was a bit runny, but it didn't make the cake soggy at all, so worked just fine! 

No problem if there are little bits of jam that end up sticking through, though it is best to try to get them covered up. After chilling and adding more frosting, this was completely hidden.

Divide the remaining frosting into four bowls.  Color the frosting, as desired.  I used a mixture of purple and pink coloring, adding amounts bit by bit using toothpicks, until I ended up with the colors I wanted.  (I left one as white, and the others shades of purple).  Place each color into a small, freezer ziploc (or icing bags).   Trim the corner off each to pipe.

Four bags of frosting in freezer Ziplocs - I find the freezer Ziplocs to be tough enough to squeeze without breaking while piping.  I've had issues with other styles.

Starting at the base of your cake, pipe 2-3 circles around the entire cake.  Use the back of a spoon to spread the frosting, flattening it a bit.  Pipe 2-3 circles of your next color.  Again, use the back of a spoon to spread the frosting.  Repeat with the final colors, until your cake is a beautiful gradient of color going up the cake to a pale top.  You'll end up with something that looks uniquely your own, but the gradual coloring changes make it so pretty.

You don't have to leave any frosting white -- you could make four colors, just make them complimentary, varying shades.  

I prefer this cake at room temperature, so the frosting stays soft, but you can always keep it in the refrigerator, removing it about 45 minutes - 1 hour before serving.   Enjoy!

Yummy, simple layers of lemon and strawberry! 

Gluten Free Mini Lemon Strawberry Cake Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Scandinavian Mallow Fluff Cakes

These Scandinavian Mallow cakes are my variation on the traditional "Flodeboller" that I was lucky enough to have eaten the couple of times I've visited Sweden.  They were so amazingly light and airy - a very different sort of marshmallow taste compared to what is typically found in North America.   However, since I didn't want to use a marzipan-type of base (commonly used for these type of mallow cakes), I needed to come up with something else that I was happy with for the bottoms.  After some experimentation, I came up with these super thin, yummy coconut-chocolate chip cookie bases.  (Technically, you can make these without any biscuit bottom at all.  Just pipe the mallow fluff onto a piece of buttered parchment paper).  These were a big hit around here - not lasting long at all.  Enjoy!!!

Fresh Scandinavian Mallow Fluff Cakes, ready to eat!

A mallow cake sliced open.  These were melt-in-the-mouth delicious!

Swedish Mallow Fluff Cakes - gluten free

Coconut Biscuit Cookie Dough (make in advance, since these need to chill/freeze before baking)

Makes ~ 60 small cookies - but you'll only need about 15-18 for the amount of marshmallow you'll make here - unless you want less marshmallow per cookie.  Feel free to double the marshmallow recipe if you are hoping to make more cakes.

In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients:
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
2 Tbsp potato starch
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

In a mixer, cream together:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar

Add and mix together:
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 egg
1 egg yolk

Add to butter/egg mixture:
dry ingredients from above
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

This is just half the dough, but wanted to show the consistency.  

Divide dough into two portions and use two pieces of plastic wrap to make two 12" - 15" logs of dough.  Place wrapped dough into freezer 1-2 hours (or more - these will last several weeks before slicing and baking).

I wanted small cookies, and these will spread while baking, so I made each log of dough a good 12" - 15" long.  

When ready to bake, remove a log from the freezer and slice into thin slices.  Place on a parchment-lined pan and bake at 350 F for ~7-10 minutes, until nicely browned.   Let rest a few minutes on the pan before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Thin slices of biscuit cookies, ready to bake.  Because mini chocolate chips are used, you can get really nice, thin slices.

Fresh from the oven - they tend to only spread a tiny bit, so you can bake them four across on the pan without any problems.

Fresh from the oven, cooling so you can put marshmallow on top. Yum!

Marshmallow Filling

In a mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk together until soft peaks form:
3 egg whites (fresh eggs are best)
1 Tbsp sugar
pinch salt

In a metal pot on the stove, combine, with very little or no stirring:
2 oz water
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat over medium heat until sugar syrup reaches 238 F - 242 F.   Remove from heat immediately.  Turn mixture to low speed and slowly pour in the sugar syrup.  Increase the speed and beat on medium-high for 8-10 minutes.   The marshmallow will puff up nicely and get light and fluffy, while also cooling down.

Marshmallow fluffing up nicely.

Prepare a large piping bag with a large star-shaped tip (or just use a large round tip).  Place marshmallow into piping bag.  Pipe big swirls on top of each of the cookies, making a nice large mound on top of each.  You can make these as short or tall as you would like, depending on the mallow to cookie ratio you'd prefer.

This pipes into gorgeous swirls.  You can use a plain tip or star tip.  I like this sort of look because then you end up seeing some of the definition once you dip it in chocolate.

Let the marshmallow-topped cookies sit at room temperature to dry for 1 - 2 hours.  These won't dry well if you're kitchen is humid, so best not to make on a rainy day.

Ideally, you would want to "temper" your chocolate for an authentic Flodeboller, however, this method of covering works very nicely, too:

In a 2 cup measuring cup, fill 1 1/2 cups full with high-quality dark chocolate (or milk chocolate) chips.  Melt at 50% power in 30 - 60 second increments in the microwave, stirring regularly.  Once the chocolate is mostly melted, add an extra handful of chocolate chips into your chocolate and stir until all the chocolate is melted.  This won't "temper" your chocolate, but will help you avoid any of the bloom or swirls that can appear on non-tempered melted chocolate.  Once your chocolate is fully melted, add 1 Tbsp light olive oil or 1 Tbsp coconut oil.  This will make it a bit runnier and easier to use for dipping your marshmallow cakes!

One at a time, dip your cakes into the chocolate, rotating them in the chocolate and shaking to remove excess chocolate.  You can use a spoon of your fingers to get as much or little as you like on the bottom of the cookie biscuit.  Place dipped cakes onto a parchment-lined baking tray.  Sprinkle desiccated coconut on top of cakes, if desired.   Refrigerate until chocolate has set, then serve!   You can place them in the refrigerator until the chocolate hardens.  Remove and keep at room temperature until ready to serve!  These didn't last more than a few days around here, but they were just as delicious a few days out as on day one.  Enjoy!

Just dipped Mallow Cakes, sprinkled with desiccated coconut, and ready to chill/harden in the fridge.

These are so tasty.  Yum!  

Gluten Free Scandinavian Mallow Fluff Cakes Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Tasty Tuna Fish Salad for my Cousin Jake (and everyone else, too)

Every time I mix together tuna fish salad, it ends up slightly different.  It depends on my mood.  It depends on the ingredients in my refrigerator.  But, the version below is a pretty common version that I like to whip together.  I have another tasty tuna fish recipe I've posted here.  I'm a fan of packing lots of vegetables into dishes.  It's great made into tuna melts.  I also like to make a large batch of tuna, so we have leftovers.  My cousin requested this particular version of my tuna fish salad after coming over for lunch.  Here you go, Jake!  Enjoy!

Tasty tuna salad, made into tuna melts on homemade onion rolls (with a bit of garlic added, too), served with fresh spinach.  I used a Vermont cheddar on the left and an herb edged mozzarella on the right.  

Tasty Tuna Fish Salad

Tuna is forgiving, so adjust amounts to your personal preference (aka, more/less vegetables, as desired).  In a large bowl, mix together:

3 tins light tuna fish, drained
2 carrots, grated
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1/4 dill pickle, finely diced
4-5 green onions, thinly sliced
2 dashes salt
2 dashes pepper
1-2 dashes ground paprika
1-2 dashes garlic powder
~1/2 cup mayonnaise (more/less, depending on how you like your tuna salad, I usually add by large dollops, mix and re-evaluate)

Mix together the tuna salad.  Taste, and adjust with more salt/pepper/paprika/garlic, as desired.

Delicious heated as tuna melts:

Heat oven to 425 F.  Split homemade onion rolls (with a bit of garlic added, too) onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  *(You can make this on whatever bread/rolls you have around/enjoy eating - I've made it on all sorts of breads/rolls/focaccia/naan).  Put scoops of tuna salad on the center of each roll.  Top generously with desired cheese (I love a sharp cheddar, herb-crusted mozzarella, havarti, munster, etc. I even make these with dairy-free cheese for my grandma and she loves them).  Bake until heated through and cheese is just beginning to bubble and brown.  Serve with fresh spinach or salad on the side.  Enjoy! 

Gluten Free Tuna Fish Salad Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free