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

Chocolate Chip Scones!

Feel free to make these whatever size you like - I used the only biscuit cutter I could find at the time.  These were pretty large, but so delicious, no one seemed to mind.  You can freeze leftovers and reheat for breakfasts or snacks. Yum!  Enjoy!

Homemade Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Chip Scones

Chocolate Chip Scones

Makes ~14  3" scones

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together:
2 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix *see below for measurements just for this recipe*
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Chop in with a pastry cutter:
1/2 cup butter, chilled

Whisk together in a small cup or bowl:
1/2 cup heavy cream/whipping cream
2 eggs

Stir JUST enough cream/eggs into the flour/butter mixture with a fork until the dough forms.  You should have extra of the cream/egg mixture to brush on the tops of the scones, but if not, then it's easy to mix together an extra egg and some cream to brush the tops of the scones before baking.

Add:
1 cup high-quality dark chocolate chips (These really make the flavor, so use ones you love!)

Knead just a few times with your hands to mix in chocolate help it all hold together.   Working quickly, press into a 1/2" - 3/4" thick slab on a piece of parchment paper.  You can cut it into circles with whatever size biscuit cutter you have on hand, but all I had was a 3" cutter, which does make fairly large scones, but no one complained. :)

Place your cut scones onto baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Freshly cut out circles, ready to be brushed before baking.

Brush the tops of the scones with the heavy cream/egg mixture.   Sprinkle with coarse white sparkling sugar.  

Scones brushed with cream/egg mixture and topped with coarse white sparkling sugar before baking.

Bake scones at 425 F for 17-20 minutes, until nicely browned.  Cool on a wire rack.  Enjoy!!!

Yum!  A flaky, warm scone!

*Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix for this recipe - makes 2 cups flour mix*
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca starch
3/4 tsp xanthan gum

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Scones Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free

Mediterranean Meatballs, Rice, Veggies & Tzaziki Sauce

My entire family, young to old, have enjoyed this meal, even with the spicy rice.  Although, the little ones prefer to mix some of the meatballs and tzaziki sauce into the rice to cool it down a bit.  You can always ease up on the seasoning, if you don't want it quite as strong, but I'd recommend it like this.  It was a yummy, easy family dinner to whip together.  Leftovers were great, too! Enjoy!

Seasoned rice, sauteed vegetables, homemade Mediterranean-style meatballs, and homemade tzaziki sauce.  The best is that everything can be whipped together in about 30 minutes! 

Mediterranean Meatballs, Rice, Veggies & Tzaziki Sauce

Spicy Rice 

This can have a bit of a kick to it, but combined with the tzaziki sauce, it's great!

In a medium-sized pot with tight-fitting lid, combine:
2 cups white basmati rice
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric

Bring to a boil, uncovered.  Stir once, cover and lower heat to low to medium-low.  Simmer for 15 minutes, until liquid has absorbed.  Remove from heat, leaving the lid on.  Let rest 10 minutes before stirring and serving.

Mediterranean meatballs - begin preparing once you've started your rice

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil.

Mix together in a large bowl:
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
pinch ground cloves
1 lb ground beef
4 mushrooms, minced 
1 medium onion, minced
1 egg
2 Tbsp cream
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (optional, but they absorb a lot of the liquid that otherwise floods the pan when these bake)

Form into meatballs, flatten slightly, if desired.
For medium-sized meatballs, bake ~18-20 minutes at 400 F.

Meatballs made without breadcrumbs - they still work and taste great, but have a lot more liquid on the pan when they're done. 

Meatballs made with the 1/2 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs/panko.  You can see they end up with a lot less juice on the pan.  Either method will work! 

Sauteed Vegetables - begin preparing once you have put meatballs into the oven

In a large frying pan, over medium-high heat, cook, stirring every couple of minutes until vegetables are tender, but not soft:  (you can use whatever variety of vegetables you like - but we enjoyed onion, pepper and zucchini with this meal)
2-3 Tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
1 onion, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced into sticks
1 yellow pepper, sliced into sticks (optional)
1 yellow zucchini squash, sliced into sticks (optional)
1 green zucchini, sliced into sticks (optional)

Add the following seasons to the vegetables as they're cooking, a dash or two each works great.  You can adjust, to taste:
salt
pepper
cinnamon
cumin
coriander

Quick Tzaziki Sauce (double if you like extra sauce!)

Mix together:
1 cup plain yogurt
juice of 1/2 lemon
pinch or two dried dill (I love the freeze-dried dill, but fresh is obviously ideal if you have it!)
dash of salt & pepper
a big dash of garlic powder

Mince and add, though if you don't have a cucumber, this still tastes nice without it:
1/4 - 1/2 cucumber, finely diced

Missing the tzaziki sauce in this picture, but everyone, kids included, loves this meal.

Gluten Free Mediterranean Meatballs, Rice, Vegetables and Tzaziki Sauce Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Cheesecake with a Chocolate Brownie Crust

I had a request for a cheesecake on his birthday from my dad.  I wasn't in the mood for something with a fruit topping, so this yummy cheesecake with a chocolate brownie crust topped with homemade chocolate ganache came into creation.  It's a modification of my rustic cheesecake, but uses a modification of my favorite brownies as the crust.  Topped with some of my favorite ganache, and it's a win-win for everyone! Enjoy!

Brownie bottom, two layers of cheesecake, and a chilled ganache topping, ready to eat!

The cheesecake immediately after drizzling on the homemade ganache - serving it immediately like this would be delicious, too! 

Cheesecake with a Chocolate Brownie Crust - gluten free

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line a large 8 or 9" spring-form pan with parchment paper.

In a microwave-safe dish, melt at 50% power in 30 - 60 second increments, until melted:
3.5 oz high quality 60-70% dark chocolate
7 Tbsp butter

Add to chocolate/butter mixture:
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp white sugar

Mix in until smooth:
2 eggs

Finally, add and mix in thoroughly:
1 Tbsp brown rice flour OR Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix

Pour in the brownie batter and bake 6-7 minutes.  Remove from oven.

Brownie batter, which bakes just a bit.  

Prepare cheesecake batter.  Beat in a mixture until smooth:
16 oz cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
4 eggs

The batter should look light and fluffy.  Carefully pour/spread over the brownie base.

Cheesecake batter, light and fluffy looking, then spread over the brownie base.

Bake cheesecake at 350 F for about 35 minutes.  While baking, prepare the sour cream topping.  There will be some light brown spots on the top of your cheesecake, but this is OK.

It really is rather unattractive at this point, but don't worry! You'll add your sour cream layer and it will look great! 

While the cheesecake is baking, beat together:
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Immediately after baking your cheesecake for the 35 minutes, pour this sour cream mixture evenly over your cheesecake.  Return to the oven and bake at 350 F for an additional 7 minutes.  At this point, your cheesecake should be a little jiggly in the center, but mostly firm.  You don't want to cook any longer.

Do NOT remove the cake from the oven at this point.  Turn off the oven and open the door to the oven and let the hot cheesecake cool 15 - 20 minutes.   Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool at room temperature.  Once it's cooled, you can place it in the refrigerator.  You want it to chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving.  Yes, you can make this the day before!

Make sure you let it cool slowly, in an opened oven until removing it from the oven completely.  This will avoid any cracks in your cheesecake as it cools.  

Once your cheesecake is COMPLETELY cooled, you can remove it from the pan and remove the parchment paper.  The bottom will be nice and firm, so you can transfer it to your serving platter.

Don't like this rustic-looking edge?  No problem!  If you line your pan neatly with a thin strip of paper, rather than having folds in it, you will end up with a neatly edged cheesecake.  (I don't have patience for that sort of thing if I'm planning to drizzle chocolate over the top).

To serve, you can make the chocolate ganache to drizzle over your cooled cheesecake.  You can let this drizzle chill in the refrigerator or serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Ganache
In a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup whipping/heavy cream

Remove from heat and mix in until smooth:
4 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate

Drizzle by spoon or place in a freezer ziploc and cut the corner off in order to pipe over cheesecake.   You can also do a lighter drizzle and serve the warm ganache piped onto the side of your plate for a fancy presentation! Enjoy!

You may drizzle the ganache however you like, but with children helping, we get a decadent amount drizzled on top. Yum!

Gluten Free Cheesecake with a Chocolate Brownie Crust Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Beautiful naturally dyed hard-boiled eggs!

Eggs dyed with tumeric, blueberries (boiled in water) and grape juice!  The kids had so much fun.  There are many other varieties of natural dyes you can make and use (beets, cabbage), but here are my three favorites that are nice and easy to whip together without much effort. 

Freshly dyed Easter eggs! 

Mix together the following blends for yellow, blue and purple eggs.   Soak your hard-boiled eggs in the dye for as long or short as desired.  The longer they're left in the bowls, the darker shades you can end up with.

For yellow egg dye mix together:
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 - 3 tsp tumeric powder

For a blue egg dye:
In a small pot or in the microwave, boil together 1 cup blueberries with water to cover the blueberries.  Simmer together until the blueberries have all opened and the water has turned a nice, bright blue color.  You can leave the blueberries in the water or remove so you have ~1 cup boiling blueberry water.
Mix together:
1 cup blueberry boiling water (with or without blueberries is fine) + plus enough boiling water to have 1 cup total
1/4 cup white vinegar

For a purple egg dye mix together:
1/3 cup dark purple grape juice, heated in the microwave (you can use all grape juice, but make sure you bring it to a boil before mixing with vinegar)
2/3 cup boiling water
1/4 cup white vinegar

Let your dyes cool a bit, so they're not too hot.  Then, hard-boiled eggs can be safely dyed to the desired color.  They turn out a pretty bright yellow, pale blue and pale purple.  The longer they're left in the coloring bowls, the darker shades you can end up with. 

I love dying the eggs in colors that I feel are more natural, especially since we always eat our hard-boiled eggs! 

Just one more picture - because they're just so pretty. 

Gluten Free Naturally Dyed Hard-Boiled Eggs by Successfully Gluten Free!