Archive for Special Occasion

Aug
01

Fruit Pizza Dessert

Posted by: Heather | Comments (10)

Every year, we get together with family to celebrate all the summer family birthdays. Most years, each person has already had a birthday cake to celebrate on their special day. So, when we finally all get together with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents, we often do something other than birthday cake for the dessert. Last year, we had chocolate fondue for dessert. This year, I decided to make a dessert pizza with fresh fruit.

It was a busy weekend for us, and I actually decided last minute what I was making, so I took a short cut and used Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Mix for the crust. (FYI: The mix can be made egg-free, dairy-free, and peanut-free.) I combined two mixes to make a 16″ pizza crust. Then, I made a simple cream cheese spread to cover the huge sugar cookie crust, and topped it with slices of fresh fruit. It’s a simple and easy dessert, but very satisfying and pretty. You can use whatever fruit you have available. Make a design with the fruit, like I did, or simply pile it all on.

Gluten-Free Fruit Pizza Dessert

Ingredients:

Sugar Cookie Dough (2 Cherrybrook Kitchen mixes, 1 Cup margarine, 1/2 Cup rice milk, 5 tsp vanilla)
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 Cup powdered sugar, sifted
Variety of fruit, sliced (I used 3 kiwis, a pint of strawberries and a handful of blueberries.)

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
  2. Make the sugar cookie crust. Follow the recipe as usual for the sugar cookie dough. (I combined two mixes with 1 Cup melted butter, 1/2 Cup almond milk, and 5 tsp vanilla.)
  3. Place the dough on a large sheet of Parchment Paper and top with a large sheet of plastic wrap. Then roll, or press, out the dough to a 16″ round. Remove the plastic wrap and slide the parchment paper with dough onto a Pizza Pan or cookie sheet.
  4. Place the large cookie dough into the oven, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until it starts to brown around the edges.
  5. Remove the pizza crust from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack. The parchment paper will make it easy to slide the crust off the cookie sheet and onto the wire rack.
  6. Mix up the cream cheese spread by thoroughly mixing together the cream cheese and powdered sugar.
  7. Once the crust is completely cooled, spread the cream cheese/sugar mixture evenly over the top of the crust.
  8. Now add the sliced fruit to the pizza. If you are going to make a fun design, I suggest you start in the middle and work your way out to the edges.
  9. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until time to serve.

Additional Notes:

  • We cut our pizza into 16 large servings.
  • Each Cherrybrook Kitchen Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Mix makes about 20 cookies.
  • Feel free to use any variety of fruit: berries, peaches, nectarines, mango, cherries, etc. You can also use bananas, but remember they will brown so add them right before you serve it.
  • Want more fruit? Cut thick slices, overlap the fruit, or just pile it all on. Get creative and have fun!
  • You can also use canned fruit, but be sure to drain any sauce or liquid completely from it, so it doesn’t make the pizza soggy.
  • Some of our family members added a scoop of vanilla ice cream to top their pizza slice. I don’t think it needs any topping, but if it sounds good to you, you may also consider topping with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, or a simple glaze.
  • You don’t have to make this as a round pizza. Use a baking sheet/jelly roll pan for the crust. Then, cut into squares for serving. Or, halve the recipe, press it into a 9×13 pan, and bake it for about 15-20 minutes.
  • This is such an easy dessert to make, it would be a great project for the kids to make.

Notable Links:

Earlier this year, while visiting family in Omaha, we celebrated three different birthdays. Both my mom and sister bought gluten-free cakes at the Cupcake Island so we could enjoy their birthday cakes with them. The gluten-free cakes and cupcakes were delicious and decorated perfectly for the occasions. I hadn’t really investigated getting gluten-free cakes from local bakeries in Virginia. But when I came home, I thought I’d see if a local bakery could make a gluten-free cake for my daughter’s birthday. Surprise! Cakes by Happy Eatery in northern Virginia makes gluten-free cakes. Unfortunately, my daughter was having a lot of friends at her party, and the cake large enough to accommodate was going to cost $85-100. I just didn’t think that would fit into my budget. So, I made the cake myself.

I enjoy decorating cakes, but I was short on time this year. Rather than make the cake from scratch, I took the short cuts: Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mixes and frosting. I used four cake mixes. For the bottom layer, I combined two yellow cake mixes and baked them for about 50 minutes in a 9″x 13″ pan. For the top layer I did the same thing with two chocolate cake mixes. I used chocolate frosting between the layers, and vanilla frosting tinted green to cover the top and sides.

Now to decorate. My daughter wanted a Princess and the Frog birthday cake because Tiana is her new favorite princess. I bought the little Princess Tiana dress-up doll set that came with the frogs and firefly to help decorate the cake. That way I could quickly create a swamp and lily pads for the frogs. My daughter was pleased, and I got it done without too much time and drama.

Some of the tools I used to decorate the cake:

Want to purchase a gluten-free cake or cupcakes, instead?
Give these bakeries in the DC/MD/NOVA area a try:

More Notable Links:

  • Don’t forget to visit The Gluten-Free Homemaker this week for the Cake Challenge. Lots of great gluten-free cake recipes are linked up.
  • Celebrate It! is hosting this week’s All Things Family blog carnival with a roundup of summer party and craft ideas.
Comments (13)
Apr
24

Tropical Mimosas

Posted by: Heather | Comments (4)

This month, Naomi at Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried, is hosting Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free! It’s a fun roundup of gluten-free recipes. The theme this month is Breakfast In Bed. How appropriate. It’s just in time to find some great ideas for Mother’s Day (May 9th in the US this year). I’m not exactly a “Breakfast in Bed” kind of girl, but I did think of a new recipe to share for breakfast. My mom made a great punch to go with our Easter brunch this year, and my dad decided to add it to some champagne. It was so wonderful, it inspired me to create my own champagne punch.

I knew I’d have to modify my mom’s recipe because I didn’t want a whole punch bowl filled with enough to serve a large party. (Without the champagne, this recipe makes a tropical juice punch that fills a 2-quart pitcher.) And while I was changing the recipe, I decided to change up some of the flavors, too. I think I’ll serve these Tropical Mimosas with my Banana Coffee Cake (regular and dairy-free) and Berry Fruit Salad. What an exquisite way to start the morning on Mother’s Day!

Tropical Mimosas

Ingredients:

2 very ripe bananas
24 oz. (3 Cups) pineapple juice
16 oz. (2 Cups) orange juice
12 oz. (1-1/2 Cups) mango nectar/juice
2 bottles of champagne or sparkling wine, chilled

Directions:

  1. Add all of the ingredients, except the champagne, to a 2-quart pitcher. Using an immersible blender, thoroughly blend the bananas and juice until frothy. (If you don’t have an immersible blender, just pour it all into a regular blender to mix it.)
  2. Fill a champagne flute half-way with champagne, then top with the juice.
  3. To garnish, try a fresh pineapple or mango slice. Enjoy!

Additional Notes:

  • For a non-alcoholic version, add the punch to Ginger Ale instead of champagne.
  • Or, for a smoothie, add a cup of yogurt to the juice and give it a whirl in the blender.

Notable Links:

Comments (4)
Mar
24

Chocolate Eggs in a Cookie Basket

Posted by: Heather | Comments (5)

img_1995xThis is one of my favorite Easter treats to make for the kids. OK, it’s really a treat for me, but don’t tell them that. :o ) Chocolate eggs in a “basket” made of chocolate chip cookie dough — what could be better? You will need an Individual Tart Baking Pan (also known as a tartlette pan). You may also be able to use a Mini Muffin Pan or muffin-top pan, but I’ve always used my non-stick tart baking pan. I think it makes just the right shape for the basket.

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Chocolate Eggs in a Cookie Basket

Ingredients:

Chocolate Chip Cookie dough (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix.)
Candy-coated chocolate eggs (I used Cadbury Mini Eggs, but you can use M&M’s Chocolate Eggs, too.)

Directions:

  1. img_1985xxMix up chocolate chip cookie dough according to directions, and drop a large mounded tablespoon of dough into each tart impression in the pan.
  2. Bake cookies in the tart pan according to the recipe directions.
  3. When cooking is done, remove pan of cookies from the oven and press chocolate eggs into the center of each cookie tart. Leave in the pan for 5 minutes.
  4. After 5 minutes, gently remove the cookies from the pan by grabbing the edges of the cookies and pulling out with a slight twisting motion. The pan will still be hot, so be careful not to touch it with your fingers!

Additional Notes:

  • If the cookies start to come apart while trying to remove, they are probably too soft and warm. Let them cool down for a few more minutes. If the cookies won’t move at all, they are probably too cool. Set them back in the oven for a couple minutes to warm them up. They should now release easily from the pan. (I’ve never had to spray my non-stick pan, but if yours isn’t a non-stick type, you may want to use a non-stick spray before dropping the cookie dough onto the pan.)
  • If you can’t get the chocolate eggs, or want to make these for another occasion, try using a different chocolate candy. These are really good with Reese’s Miniature Peanut Butter Cups or Hershey’s Kisses, too!
  • One batch makes about 24.

Notable Links:

Mar
17

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Posted by: Heather | Comments (3)

Hope you are enjoying this day with plenty of gluten-free Irish (or at least green) food and beer. Still looking for some recipes or ideas for celebrating the day? I’ve gathered the links below for inspiration.

Irish-inspired Gluten-Free Recipes:

Gluten-Free Beer Reviews:

Comments (3)