Gluten Free Strawberry Tartelettes

I wanted to be able to eat everything at Little Miss' party. So I baked everything at Little Miss' party. Gluten-free of course.

Gluten free tartelettes:
The dough tastes wonderful. It is relatively easy to handle, and very easy to bake. It is adapted from this Smitten Kitchen recipe. (Just add this gluten free flour mix instead of regular flour. Oh, and don't forget to add 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum too.)


I rolled out chilled dough to about 1/4 of an inch thick, punched out circles with a cookie cutter, and then pushed them into mini muffin tins. To get the circles into the concave muffin mold, I made a Pac-Man of sorts. Join the "mouth" edges, and push that little guy (who is now like a cone) into the mold. Press down on all sides, and presto, fast and easy, tartelette crust.

I just used a traditional pastry cream recipe and used gluten-free flour again, for regular flour. I almost forgot that real vanilla beans truly are heaven.

Fill that tartelette crust with a bit of cream, top it with a fresh strawberry and pop it in your mouth, only to remember you forgot to take a picture of it. Good thing I made 47 more.

Gluten-free petit fours

This was an interesting experiment. Not because of the taste, but because of the talent. I felt all elbows making these. It was as if all my years of fondant experience had melted away like candy sugar in hot water, and there I was as green as the day I started baking cakes.

Although these turned out a bit wonky looking, they tasted pretty darn great. (I am eating a left over as I write this up.)

My gluten-free secrets...
I used the betty crocker yellow cake mix. The back of the box says to mix everything at once. Don't do it I tell you. Make sure your butter is extra soft. Add it and a bit of the mix to a bowl and beat it well. Add room temperature eggs one at a time and incorporate them well. Add the vanilla and mix well. Then add the rest of the cake flour mix alternately with the water. (First flour, then water, then flour, then the rest of the water and then the rest of the flour.) Beat on high for 3 minutes or so, until the entire thing is very, very, very smooth.


I used 11X17 jelly roll pans, buttered, lined with parchment, and then buttered again. I spread the cake batter, super thin, like 1/4 of an inch or less onto the parchment with an off set spatula. Make sure there aren't lumps or bumps.

Bake it at 350 for about 10 minutes. Check it after 8 minutes though. It should be very slightly brown around the edges, and set in the middle. Don't bake it too long! It will dry out and be crumbly.

Invert the cake onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment and let it cool completely.

I cut each 11X17 rectangle in half to get four layers (that would be 11X8 1/2 inch rectangles.)

Cake done.

Then I followed this poured fondant recipe. Very very good instruction. Except, she left one very important part out. DON'T touch the sugar when you are dipping the cakes. It is SO Hot!! I kept an ice pack handy because I was the stupid one. Seriously, 150 degree sugar versus my finger tips...whose gonna win?

Okay. I added almond extract, which is clear and doesn't change the color of the fondant, and I forgot about the marzapan. I added like 1/2 teaspoon of almond, just enough for that hint of flavor.

These were a hit. The product: well worth the effort. The sugar dried onto everything cleans up easily in some warm soapy water. And, I just hope my dentist doesn't find out.

A February Birthday

February is the time for birthdays in this home. Little Miss turned 4 years old last Saturday. A big number for a big girl. In the past year, she entered a new pre-school class. She graduated to a car booster seat. We topped 30 pounds, learned to use the potty, learned to feed herself and turned into an older sibling. And we were accepted into Montessori school.

 

Since she is the only little girl in our family, we go all out. Part of me just can't help it.

This year it was a garden tea party. Fairy wings and wands, vintage touches, and tiny tea cups and treats completed the event. A couple of peeks into what went on behind the scenes this week.

We gave fairy wings and wands to each little friend to take home. We made special picture frames, adorned with sticky jewels, to frame the portrait of all the party goers.

I made sewed little purses out of vintage-like blue floral fabric, one for each little shoulder.

And I made paper roses out of coffee filters and watercolors.

Oh, and the gluten free goodies, linzer cookies, petite fours, and strawberry tartelettes...delicious. More to come on that later.

All for a little girl who turned four. For a mama who loves to craft and bake...and a sweet little girl who loves to help...it was definitely worth it. Oh

Paper Roses

I remember seeing this Martha Stewart Show segment years ago. Sitting in my living room, with a baby and crafting fingers just itching to create...I said to myself, "I could do that." And so I did. Some years later. Learning all the way.

Making these beauties is a labor of love. Tracing, cutting, arranging, taping, painting, drying, painting again, curling, and shaping...all turns into a lovely product.

A little knowledge about paper crafts and water color painting is very helpful. My later specimens are much better than the earlier ones.

Not having the cash at this juncture to spend on fresh flowers for Little Miss' fairy garden tea party, this was the time investment that will have to do.

Oh, the craft tutorial is here.

Fairy Tea Party!

If you are four years old, or are going to be four, you might want a tea-party! Fashioned by this mama, it means, vintage linens, tiny tea-cups small enough for those dainty four-year-old fingers, fairy-wings and wands, and an extra special sweet menu.

If you are a mama out there with car-pooling issues, school activities, summer-camp director duties, and three other family birthdays to worry about all in the same week...you might ask, how? Take is slow. And start planning before Santa even thinks about venturing south of his polar abode.

A couple peeks. Here and more later. So that I can remember what I am planning since my "can't-think-because-7-month-old-is-teething-and-waking-during-the-night" brain isn't working well at the moment.

If you love it, if designing, creating, baking, and crafting is your passion, there is always time in the day, in the busy schedule to sneak in a bit of creativity.