Flourless Chocolate Cake

You know what's good about gluten-free eating? You can always have flourless chocolate cake.

Do you know what isn't flourless? Wedding cakes.

Excuse me while I disappear for the next week in preparation for making my first wedding cake.

Fasten your seatbelts. I'm a little scared but mostly determined and very excited. See you next week!

Flourless Chocolate Cake
adapted from Martha Stewart

6 tablespoons salted butter, plus more for pan
8 ounces 60% cocoa chips
6 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

- Preheat the oven to 275 and place a rack in the center. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9 inch spring form pan and set aside.
 - Place butter and chocolate in a large heatproof bowl and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring each time, until completely melted. Let cool slightly. Whisk in egg yolks.
 - In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar, and continue beating until glossy stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture; then gently fold in remaining egg whites.
 - Pour batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and is set in the center, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack; remove sides of pan. Serve at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar. Serve with whipped cream or raspberry reduction or your choice of toppings!

Pecan Sticky Buns with Julia

Yikes.

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie : Baking with Julia post is brought to you by five sticks of butter.

That's right, I said five.

Although Julia Child did say that "If you're afraid of butter, use cream," that wouldn't quite work in this recipe, (although I do love that quote.)

I stuck to the recipe to a T, every step, every measurement. That's kind of a tricky thing for me to do as a blogger. Afterall, we live to adjust recipes so that we can post about them, right? And I gotta say, this was the absolute easiest dough I have ever worked with. Don't worry about the fact that my poor little Martha Stewart blue artisan Kitchen Aid almost crapped out, it was worth it. I've never rolled out such a beautiful dough. Did I mention it calls for brioche? Too good.

But next time, I think I'll cut the butter that's folded into the dough and the butter in the bottom of the pans. I'm a big fan of butter being from the south, but it was even a bit much for me.

If you're striving for baking excellence and tradition, definitely give these a try for your next special brunch. Allow up to three days for prep, though! Although not actively time consuming, there is a lot of waiting!

Lobster Kielbasa Paella

Happy Mother's Day!

It's the perfect spring day in Delaware and we enjoyed our lunch outdoors in my Mom's gazebo. How cute.

This was my maiden voyage in paella-making and it is hands down one of the most simple and quick dishes that has more complex flavors then some multiple-hour dishes. I am excited to add this to my collection of go-to meals! I can't believe I've waited this long to make it myself. Don't be like me - get it done for your next meal, no special occasion required - it comes together in one hour tops! Serve it with an avocado and tomato salad topped with lime mojo and you've got one delicious meal.

Tune in tomorrow for my hopefully successful flourless chocolate cake (which is in the oven now!)

Lobster Kielbasa Paella
serves 6-8
adapted from Ina Garten

1/4 c olive oil
1.5 c chopped yellow onion (about 2 small)
1.5 c thinly sliced red pepper (1 large or 2 small)
6 cloves of garlic minced, at least 2 tbs
2 c basmati rice
5 c chicken stock
1/4 tsp saffron threads, partially broken
1/4 tsp red chile pepper flakes
1 tbs sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1.5 lbs cooked lobster meat
1 lb kielbasa, thinly sliced
1 package frozen peas (10 oz)
1 tbs parsley, chopped
2 lemons, cut into quarters for placing on the side of the skillet

-Preheat the oven to 425. Get out a large dutch oven, creuset or iron skillet. Heat oil in your pot, add onions and cook for 5 minutes over medium-low. Add red peppers and cook for another 5. Add in the garlic, cook for one minute and then stir in the rice, stock, saffron, pepper flakes, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and place in the oven for 15 minutes. At this point, gently stir the rice with a wooden spoon and return it to the oven uncovered for the rice to finish cooking (check after 10 minutes.)
- Once the rice is done, bring the pot out of the oven, stir in your proteins and peas very gently to incorporate. Cover with the lid and allow to sit for 10 minutes then serve. Garnish with the parsley and lemon.

Sweet Potato Salad

It's almost Mother's Day! So happy I get to be with my Mama this year!

Yesterday, I was attempting to compile a tasty, gluten-free menu for her special day while working on the upcoming Baking with Julia pecan sticky buns (that I obviously can't give my Mom,) and got a bit hungry.

With the breeze rustling the papers of my cookbooks and some sweet potatoes staring at me, I had the desire to make picnic food. And you know, I was thinking, a picnic with your Mom in this amazing weather would be really lovely! No matter what you're making this weekend, store this recipe away for a beautiful day. Super easy to put together and great with any grilled protein or burger, it's a must have for your outdoor event!

P.S. These pictures were taken with my new iPhone. Not bad, right? I'm not one for expensive technology but this thing is kind of totally worth it. Although if I don't calm down soon, Siri may be my only friend. But pretty good camera, right? Back to food...

Sweet Potato Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
 serves 4-6 as a side dish

2 large sweet potatoes cut into one-inch cubes, about 4 cups
2 celery stalks, finely minced
1/3-1/2 cup of red onion, finely minced
1 handful parsley, chopped
1 lemon
1/3 c milk
3 tbs mayonnaise
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

- Put the potatoes in a medium sized pot, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce to a medium-high simmer and cover for 8 minutes or until tender. Drain and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes.
- In the bowl you will store the salad in, zest a teaspoon of the lemon's rind.
- Take 2 tsp of the lemon juice and put into the bottom of your 1/3 cup measure. Top the lemon juice off with the milk and allow to sit for a minute or two (or use buttermilk!)
- Back to the bowl with the zest in it. Add the remaining lemon juice to the zest. Toss in the celery, onion and parsley and season with the salt and pepper. Add in the buttermilk once it is curdled. Toss with the sweet potatoes until well incorporated and refrigerate until ready to serve!

Easy Broccoli Pasta

Life is never just the way we want it. But it is so possible to choose happiness, to make the most of every potentially special moment, and to just soak up what you've got, you know? Yep. I know you know. And right now I know. And I am just so very thankful! My roommates are the best and the funniest, our house is delightfully quaint and is finally coming together (albeit slowly) AND I have a lovely, bright, large kitchen! Yay!

On top of all of the usual busy things happening over here plus the move, I just scored a job at my favorite store, Anthropologie! Eeeeeeeeeeee! As scary as a job in retail is for someone who has only ever been a musician, I'm super excited to work in such a creative environment, to keep blogging and to also be practicing and performing! Might be living the life over here people, so look out.

All of this to say, I've got a terrible case of the Mondays. And there's no way I'm making anything fancy for dinner tonight. So, here's a little recipe from my kitchen to yours. Super simple with fresh ingredients, healthy pasta (I used Ezekiel sprouted grain pasta) and a little reminder to always salt as you go. Salt the water you cook veggies in and always, always salt your pasta water. That's what I'm learning! Happy Monday!







































Monday Night Broccoli Pasta
serves 4-6

1 head of broccoli, florets!
1 pound of pasta
4 tbs olive oil
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp chili flakes
1/2 c parmesan

- In a large pot, steam broccoli in boiling, salted water for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Remove with slotted spoon and reserve a bit of the cooking liquid. Cook the pasta, drain, and remove. In the same pot, heat olive oil and add garlic and chili to toast for about one minute. Add in broccoli for a few minutes to toast, add in pasta. Stir in parmesan and a bit of the reserved cooking liquid to thicken the sauce. Serve warm by itself or with a protein of your choice.

Hungarian Shortbread with Lakkahillo

Welcome to Tuesdays with Dorie! TWD happens twice per month and over 300 bloggers join in baking up some of the fabulous recipes from that TV series hosted by Julia Child that we all know and love (and still watch!?)

This week's recipe is Hungarian Shortbread and with a new gluten-free roommate, I chose to make mine sans gluten. In addition to that I didn't go the traditional rhubarb filling route but used some of my favorite jam from Finland; Lakkahillo! Am I mixing too many traditions here? I think not! You see, one of my first international performance experiences was to a music festival in Hungary, where many of my closest friends formed one of the chamber orchestras I am now apart of. In addition to that, G and I began dating in Hungary! That chamber orchestra also toured to Finland, where G and I spent our first anniversary thanks to our incredible friends and family. It may seem silly to put memories like this into a recipe but I just think it's super meaningful and full of quite a bit of love.

Lakkahillo is an incredible cloud berry jam that is so flavorful and not too sweet, which is definitely a perk in our country where store-bought jam is so very sugary. Seeing as I've had that jar in my fridge for a year or more, trying to savor it slowly, I figured it was finally time to finish it off (pun intended.)

These little bars are a fantastic treat and remind me very much of the texture of lemon bars, which I love.  Made with your favorite jam, these come together in a jiff and with little mess if you follow the instructions to freeze the dough for a little while before grating into your dish.

Gluten-Free Hungarian Shortbread
serves 12


Trying not to eat too many baked goods these days, I halved the recipe. It would also do well with less sugar!!

2 sticks of butter, salted, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1/4 cup almond meal
1/4 cup flax seed, ground
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp xantham gum
1/2 cup (or a little more) of jam
powdered sugar for sprinkling

- With a stand mixer, whip butter until smooth. Add sugar and yolks and beat until light and fluffy. Mix dry ingredients together. Combine all to incorporate. Divide dough into halves, wrap with plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes or more.
- Remove dough from freezer and preheat your oven to 350. With a block grater, grate half of the dough onto a plate. Sprinkle into a cake pan or a 7x9. Don't press, just spread gently to reach corners of the pan. Top with jam. Grate remaining dough and sprinkle on top. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar and cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies

Cookies are good. Espresso is better. Add the two together and you're in for a treat.

Good for making when you need a distraction from things like moving or cleaning or job searching or practicing.

Perfect for no reason at all!

The move is complete in t-minus two days! Then on to putting everything in order. Yep, time to make more cookies.

Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies
makes 18

1 stick of butter, softened
1 c brown sugar, loosely packed
2 tbs granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 and 3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tsp espresso, ground
1 and 1/2 c semi sweet chocolate chips
(adapted from the food network website)

Preheat oven to 300. Mix the first five ingredients to incorporate. Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the wet. Stir in the espresso and chocolate, spoon onto a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on your preference for gooey to crisp cookies!