Gluten Free Pumpkin Roulade Cake with Cream Cheese Vanilla Bean Filling

Well, it seems my little 2 week vacation from blogging turned into a ::ahem:: a 6 week one. To be fair, I went back to school this semester for the first time in 6 years, and oh my gosh people, did you know that have to do homework when you are are in school? I seem to have forgotten this, and how much time it takes up. Especially when you have a 2 year old interrupting you every 30 seconds (not exaggerating) because he wants you to play choo-choos with him. I've found myself snapping "go play!" at him more than once, and it's definitely been an adjustment, figuring out how to balance getting my stuff done and being a good attentive mom.

And lest you think I am poring over the books (I mean I do, sometimes), I'm going back to school to pursue costume design, which means I have to sew all the time. Doing this with James around is a real challenge. Either he's yanking the fabric out of the machine with his sticky little hands that have been God knows where (Chocolate on silk! Nooooo!!), or worse, he's trying to help! A couple of months ago when he was trying to help, he was sitting next to me watching the machine when suddenly, he reached out mid-stitch and tried to grab the moving needle! I think you know what happened next. Yes, I stitched through his finger. I stitched him TO the fabric I was sewing. The needle went all the way through the finger and back out again, leaving threads running through his flesh. There was a moment while we both just sat there in shock, his finger caught in the machine, before we both started screaming. Yikes! I quickly cut the threads to get him out of the machine, and luckily, the needle puncture was a very clean wound and it didn't hit the bone (I'm thankful we avoided another ER visit). Still! Now I pretty much only sew during naps or after he's gone to bed for the night. This is, of course, when I used to blog (it's hard to use a computer when James is up - he's always pushing it out of my lap and trying to play with it), so you see my conflict. My blogging time is now sewing time.

I'm finally sort of getting the hang of it though, and I'm back with a bang! This recipe is hands down my absolute favorite autumnal recipe, and it's so, so good. It was a huge favorite at parties last year, and I must have made it 8 times. In fact, the only reason I didn't post it then was that I was never able to get a picture of it before someone or other had gobbled it up! My sister (who is also gluten-free) also made this cake over and over again, to rave reviews. And though this cake is quite impressive and looks difficult to make, it's actually very easy! Just follow the step by step guide, and you'll have your own pretty pumpkin roulade in no time!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Roulade Sponge Cake with Cream Cheese Vanilla Bean Filling
adapted from Ina Garten

I tried using Ina Garten's mascarpone filling over and over again, and ever single time it was curdled, runny, and disappointing. So I started substituting this filling, and boy was it ever popular! My filling is practically foolproof and everyone loves it, so I'll never go back. Ina calls for chopped crystallized ginger in her filling, and I would say it's optional. Some people love it, but when I'm making it for a crowd I leave it out so the cake suits everyone's taste.

For the Cake:
3/4 cup gluten free flour (I like to use 1/4 cup gluten-free oat flour [such as the certified GF oat flour from Bob's Red Mill], 1/4 cup sweet rice flour, and 1/4 cup superfine white rice flour, but any all-purpose mix will work great!)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup powdered sugar

For the filling:
8oz cream cheese
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar

OPTIONAL:
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup crystalized ginger, finely chopped
1/4 cup pumpkin butter

1. Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan (a large baking sheet with sides that go up about 3/4 of an inch) with parchment. Lay out a large dish towel or tea towel on a flat surface, and sift the 1/4 cup of powdered sugar over it (this keeps the cake from sticking to the towel).

2. Sift together the gluten free flour(s), baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a stand mixer, beat the 3 eggs on medium-high speed with 1 cup granulated sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes (set a timer!). Add pumpkin, and mix until fully incorporated. With mixer on low, add flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour batter into prepared jelly roll pan and spread evenly (I like to give the pan a tap or two to really even it out). Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until cake is golden, and spring back to the touch.

3. Remove cake from oven, and flip face down onto the prepared tea towel. I know this move is scary - you can do it! Yes, do this when the cake is hot. We have to roll it up before it cools, so that it doesn't crack or break.

Peel the parchment off the back of the cake. Look how not-perfect my cake is - and it still turned out lovely! Yours will too :)

Fold one end of the tea towel over the cake, then roll it up. Let cool completely - if it's still warm at all, it will melt the filling and you will have a mess on your hands!

For the filling: While cake it cooling, beat the cream cheese in a stand mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 5 full minutes (you can bring your cream cheese to room temperature first, but if you often forget like me, just beat it a little longer and it will warm up in the bowl!). Mix mixer on low, add in heavy cream, and mix until incorporated. Once the cream is incorporated, increase speed to medium high, and beat until light and fluffy. Add in optional flavorings - 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or chopped ginger.

To assemble: Unroll fully cooled cake. If you are using (I love the additional pumpkim kick!) smooth on 1/4 cup pumpkin butter. Evenly spread cream cheese filling over cake, and roll cake up (but without the towel this time!) Place on a serving dish with the seam side down. Refrigerate to retain shape and for easy slicing. Just before serving, sift a little powdered sugar over the top. Tada!

Grilled Tuscan Lemon Chicken with Garlic and Rosemary • Grilled Chicken at its Best!

Hi Readers. I'm sorry I just basically disappeared for two weeks, but you know, it was August. And August is hot. And when it's hot, I lay on the couch and eat popsicles all day, and then after that I go somewhere air-conditioned like the mall, because it's so hot. I do not sit around in my hot hot house and blog for you, because I am selfish like that. Sorry.

But now it's September! The month of pumpkin spice lattes, crisp autumn leaves, snuggly sweaters and scarves, and fresh notebooks full of crisp white paper ready for a school years worth of notes! I love September. (And true to form, we had a chilly overcast marine layer all summer and them today was THE hottest day of the entire year. Thanks California! Love how you never go with the seasons like everywhere else does! Stay classy!) And with September comes more recipes. That's right - I'm blogging even though it's the hottest day of the year. That's how committed I am to September people!

And here is a recipe for you. This recipe is seriously the best grilled chicken I have ever had. Pardon me if I tread on your toes, but generally I really don't like grilled chicken. It's just always so dry and so bland, and the only thing that gives it any interest at all is barbecue sauce, and that generally only makes it edible - hardly delicious. And yet for whatever reason, this recipe is so moist and tender, and busting with flavor. It's so delicious! And the lemon garlic sauce is seriously to die for. We served this with roasted potatoes and grilled veggies and it was an absolutely delicious meal.

Tuscan Lemon Chicken with Garlic Rosemary Sauce
adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home, By Garten

Ok, don't freak out because this recipe calls for a whole stick of butter. When you divide that up amongst all the people eating (not to mention that part that is most regrettably left in the pan) it really comes out to very little. and it's SO delicious. And honestly, in the grand scheme of things? A little butter in not so bad. It much, much less bad than a fast food hamburger, or a candy bar, or a soda, and I bet you have that every now and then, don't you?

Ingredients
1 3.5ish pound chicken (fyi, I am sure you could make this with any other cut of chicken from the grocer - I just happen to love that it works with whole chicken so well, because it's the cheapest by far! I also love to save the bones from whole chickens for stock!)

1/3 cup good olive oil
zest of two lemons
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3-4 large cloves fresh garlic, minced or passed through a garlic press
2 tbs finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 stick unsalted butterfreshly ground pepper
kosher salt
1 lemon, halved

1. (This is the grossest step, fyi, but it really makes it easy to grill!) Rinse chicken and pat dry. With a pair of cooking shears (or a VERY clean pair of scissors - wash them with dish-soap or run them through the dishwasher - Or of all else fails, a large cooking knife), cut out the backbone of the chicken (I always throw it in a ziplock bag in the freezer for stock). I just cut right up each side of the chicken. Trim any large chucks of excess fat. Spread the chicken open, cavity side down, and press down firmly with the hell of your palm, until the chicken is flat. Sprinkle both sides generously with salt and pepper

2. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and 1 tsp pepper. Place chicken in a large 1 gallon ziplock bag, and pour marinade over chicken. Seal bag, removing as much air as possible, and turn to coat. Refridgerate chicken a minimum of 4 hours, but up to overnight, turning once or twice.

3. When ready to grill, heat grill to medium high. Remove chicken from bag, saving whatever juices are left over in the bag, and place chicken on the grill skin side up. Cook 15 - 25 minutes, until golden brown (adjust heat if necessary if chicken browns too quickly or begins to burn. Grills can be so different from one another!). Turn the chicken skin side down, and cook for another 15 - 20 minutes, until skin is brown and crisp, and meat is cooked through. Grill the lemon halves, cut side down, for the last 10 minutes of cooking.

4. Remove chicken from heat, and let rest on a cutting board (tented with foil or something like that, so it doesn't get cold) 5 minutes. Remember that left over marinade? I hope you saved it! In a small saucepan, combine leftover marinade, butter, and any juices from chicken resting place. Heat, and bring to a boil, whisking to combine. Chop the chicken into 4 pieces, and top with garlic rosemary sauce. Enjoy!

Ina Garten's Mustard Roasted Potatoes

If you can believe it, I have had this recipe on my list of things to cook for almost three years, and I only just now got around to trying it. This is so sad, because these potatoes are UH-MAY-ZING. I have cooked many a so-so dish over the past three years, and I really wish I had made these instead, because they are hands down some of the delicious, flavorful potatoes I have ever had. I want to run away with them and get married and live happily ever after, I love them so. Is that enthusiastic enough of an endorsement? Are you convinced? Maybe you need a man to tell you what's what. If that's the case, here's Nate's opinion:

"The mustard seeds lent an lighter yet deeper flavor. It made them different than just...mustard, but, much more interesting. They needed to be cooked longer. They were good. I don't know. Do you want your wine? What, are my comments not enough? It's what I got right now. Oh, wait, you should tell them those spots on the potatoes are mustard seeds. I saw them and I was like, what the heck is this on my potatoes? You should definitely tell them that."

There you go. Lighter yet deeper flavor people. And also, they were good. He's a real Don Draper, that one, am I right?? ;)

We thought these were spectacular with steak, and I think it helps to use a really high quality mustard. Definitely making again!

Ina Garten's Mustard Roasted Potatoes
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics

Nate's "they needed to be cooked longer" comment was due to the fact that I pulled the potatoes out early so he could eat them WITH HIS STEAK before he left for his book club. His life is so hard, isn't it?

Ingredients
2.5 lbs small flavorful potatoes, such as red or Yukon Gold
1 onion (white or yellow)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
kosher salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Scrub and dry potatoes, slice into wedges, and place on a rimmed baking sheet or in a baking dish.

2. In a small bowl, stir together olive oil, whole grain mustard, salt, pepper, and parsley. Pour over potatoes, and toss to coat. Bake in preheated oven 30 - 40 minutes, until potatoes are soft when pierced with a fork, and are crisp around the edges. Remove from oven, let cool slightly, and enjoy!

Pomalicious Pomegranate Raspberry Popsicle ~ Ice Pop Joy!

This pop is definitely a grown-up favorite (I don't think kids always appreciate the delicious complexity of pomegranate), but when a batch of these pops, they were practically inhaled at my Bible study group. Of all the flavors I had floating around in my fridge, this is the one everyone wanted. I had to beat the crowd off with a stick to have a single one left for pictures, and as you can see, it's cracked! This pop is definitely bursting with juicy flavor, and is a big favorite at our house. Just make sure you aren't wearing white when you eat it - this pop is a powerhouse of anti-oxidants, flavanoids, and vitamin C, which means it has a lot of color! One melty drop on a hot summer day, and whatever you're wearing is colored forever. In fact, do yourself a favor and eat this one in your bathing suit!

Pomalicious Pomegranite Raspberry Popsicle
adapted from Ice Pop Joy! by Anni Daulter

the original recipe also called for 1/2 a cup of cherry tomatoes, but I just wasn't into that. If that sounds like something you would like, by all means include them!

I thought these pops were a bit tart, so I added about 2 tablespoons on honey to sweeten them up. You can sweeten them to whatever tastes right to you!

1 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
(optional: 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes)
honey to taste

1. Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add honey to taste if too tart for your liking.

2. Pour into popsicle molds, and freeze 5+ hours until solid. Enjoy!

Melon Madness Honeydew Popsicle ~ Ice Pop Joy

This popsicle is way more delicious than I thought I was going to be - I looked at the ingredient list (melon, mint, agave, lime. . . cilantro? Hm.) and I had my doubts, but the finished product totally put them to rest. This pop is totally refreshing, unexpected, and delicious! It is SO good on a hot summer's day, barely register's as a blip on the calorie meter, and is loaded with vitamin C. It's definitely one of James' favorite pops, and I know we will be making this one for a long time.

If you haven't entered yet, make sure to stop by this post, and register to win a copy of Ice Pop Joy or the Progressive International popsicle mold!

Melon Madness Honeydew Popsicle
from Ice Pop Joy! by Anni Daulter

1/2 honeydew melon, scooped from shell and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons raw agave nectar
juice of 1 fresh lime (2 tablespoons)
juice of 1/2 a lemon (1.5 - 2 tablespoons)
1 cup ice

1. Put the melon, mint, and cilantro in a blender and puree until smooth. Add the agave, lime juice, lemon juice, water, and ice, and blend all the ingredients until smooth.

2. Pour into molds, and freeze until solid, 5+ hours. Enjoy!

Pure Sunshine Strawberry Mint Pops ~ from Ice Pop Joy!

These pops are incredibly refreshing, bursting with fresh strawberry flavor! They are such perfect pops for summer - strawberries are so juicy and flavorful in the summer, and kids love them! As some of you may know, my 2 year old son James pretty much only eats white food (and chocolate. But that's another story). We've been working on eating colors, but the only red food I've gotten him to eat so far is watermelon... and these pops!

Getting kids to eat fresh (or raw) fruits and veggies is not always easy. Heck, getting adults to eat fresh fruits and veggies is not always easy. But somehow, if it's pureed into a pop, it somehow seems so much more delicious. I doubt I will be getting James to try strawberries any time soon, but he will totally eat them in this pop! And to be honest, I will too! I love these - they are the perfect non-guilty afternoon treat.

Pure Sunshine Strawberry Mint Pops
from Ice Pop Joy! by Anni Daulter

1 cup hulled and chopped strawberries
juice of 1.5 meyer lemons (regular lemons will do, but you may need to increase the sweetener)
1/2 a tablespoon chopped fresh mint
4 tablespoons honey (or more to taste)
1/2 cup purified water
1 cup ice

1. Puree the strawberries, lemon juice, mint, honey, purified water, and ice in a blender until smooth.

2. Pour into mold, and freeze until solid, 5+ hours. Enjoy!

Toasted Coconut Popsicles ~ A Mexican Paleta by La Newyorkina

I'm posting this popsicle recipe first by request, because, as my friend Kathy puts it, "this popsicle is changing my life." It's that delicious! In fact, it's one of the most popular pops flavors at La Newyorkina, and I can see why: it's decadently rich and creamy, but the toasted coconut brings it to a whole new level with it's nutty crunch. It's the perfect icy summer treat! If you like coconut, you will love this.

Toasted Coconut Popsicles ~ A Mexican Paleta by La Newyorkina
from Paletas, by Fany Gerson

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 can (140z) coconut milk
3/4 cup half & half
1 can (13.5oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread shredded coconut in a thin layer on a rimmed cookie sheet. Toast 10-15 minutes, stirring often to ensure even browning and no burning. Remove from oven, and let cool to room temperature.

2. In a blender, combine coconut milk, half & half, sweetened condensed milk, salt, and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth, then stir in the toasted coconut by hand. Pour into molds, and freeze 5+ hours until firm. I store mine wrapped in an airtight container in the freezer, wrapping each pop in a piece of parchment paper to keep them from sticking together.