Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

Today, August 15th, is National Lemon Meringue Day.

And today was my first day of work!
Oh, yes... I am officially a workin' woman now!  You're looking at the new Manager for a local children's store named Generations {the website is a little out dated... that's one of my tasks I will work on up the road... but check it out!}

But enough about "work" already... let's celebrate my ability to help pay the bills with some Lemon Meringue Cupcakes - with a little surprise in the inside - strawberry preserves! 

This is my favorite lemon cake recipe to date.  I tweaked a few things here and there from Annalise Roberts' Lemon Layer Cake recipe.  I think it's to die for.  Light.  Fluffy.  Delish.

Ingredients
1 & 1/3 cups sugar 4 Tbsp ground flax mixed with 12 Tbsp warm water (mix & let congeal in fridge for 30 min or more) (OR use 4 large eggs) 2 & 1/2 cups flour mix (2 parts rice flour, 2/3 part potato starch, 1/3 part tapioca flour) 1/2 tsp salt 1 Tbsp baking powder 1 tsp xanthan gum 1 cup canola oil 1 cup milk 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 Tbsp lemon extract 1 Tbsp grated lemon rind strawberry preserves, lemon curd, other jam - optional

Method
1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.   2.  Beat sugar and flax "egg" (or real eggs) in large bowl until fluffy. 3.  Add in rest of ingredients and mix for about 1 minute on medium speed. 4.  Fill cupcake pans halfway, then spoon a little strawberry preserves (or lemon curd, other jelly, etc) into the middle of the batter, then cover with remaining batter.   5.  Bake in oven.  (to bake 12 jumbo cupcakes: bake for 25 minutes, 24 regular cupcakes: bake 18-20 minutes, 2 8inch rounds: bake  35 minutes) 6.  Cool cupcakes or cakes for 5 minutes and then take out of pan and cool completely on cooling racks.

For the lemony meringue frosting, I used the recipe from Carla's Confections but added a pinch of cream of tartar and substituted lemon extract for the juice.  I also halved the recipe. 
I piped the "frosting" with my Wilton 1M tip, placed in a preheated oven to  350 F, baked it for about 10 minutes until it turned light gold, then added some edible gold shimmer!
Linking up at these Fabulous Parties:  Made It By Monday @ Baked in the South, Made from Scratch Monday @ Living with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease , Mangia Mondays @ Delightfully Dowling, Tuesday Time Out @ Reasons to Skip the Housework Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training, Crazy Sweet Tuesday @ Crazy for Crust, Gluten Free Wednesdays @ The Gluten-Free Homemaker, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Tasty Thursday @ The Mandatory Mooch, Sweet Treats & Swanky Stuff @ Something Swanky, Anything Goes Linky @ Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo 

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

  This past weekend Beau and I took a trip "down south" to Gilroy where we attended the Annual Garlic Festival!  We watched a cooking competition, ate garlic sweet potato fries, and tasted garlic ice cream... which was actually really good!  After a few hours it got really crowded there so we decided to drive the long way home on scenic highway 1.  On our way home we stopped at a local strawberry farm and picked strawberries!  There were so red and juicy and sweet mmm.  We also found a local farm stand and came home with this bounty of freshness:

  But one thing's for sure- when you pick fresh strawberries they don't last too long.  So I needed to come up with a quick and easy way to enjoy them.  Crisps and cobblers are one of my absolute favorite desserts so I decided why not make a fresh strawberry rhubarb crisp!

Fruit crisps are one of the easiest and quickest ways to prepare a dessert.  They're perfect for serving guests as well as settling your sweet tooth without all the guilt.  I make my crisps with next to nothing sugar.  Most recipes out there call for 1 cup plus of sugar just to coat the fruit.  Fruit is already loaded with sugar so why add more?  It tastes so much better without the added sugar.  Trust me.

Ingredients (for fruit mixture)

2 pounds strawberries, washed, leaves removed, sliced

2-4 stalks green rhubarb sliced to 1 inch thickeness (I only had 2 but I wish I had more for some tartness!)

raspberries (optional)

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp cornstarch

Ingredients (for crisp topping) (I actually halved this recipe because I didn't have enough ingredients on hand!  Feel free to make as little or as much as you'd like!)

2 cups gf flour mix (1 cup rice flour, 2/3 potato starch, 1/3 tapioca flour)
1/2 cup brown sugar (or less!)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp xanthan gum
2/3 cup cold dairy free butter substitute such as Earth Balance (or regular butter) cut into chunks

Method:

1.  Place sliced fruit in large bowl and mix in sugar and cornstarch until fruit seems coated.  Place into 9x 13 in glass baking dish.
2.  Measure out your flours, spices, and xanthan gum and mix in bowl.
3.  Add your butter of choice and using a pasty tool or fork, mix butter and flour until it resembles coarse corn meal.
4.  Sprinkle topping onto fruit.
5.  Bake for about 45 minutes.  Serve warm or cool, top with homemade ice cream, and Enjoy!

Or serve for friends over for dinner!  Our neighbors loved it!  :)

 
Linking up at these Fabulous Parties: Made It By Monday @ Baked in the South, Made from Scratch Monday @ Living with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease , Mangia Mondays @ Delightfully Dowling, Tuesday Time Out @ Reasons to Skip the Housework Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training, Crazy Sweet Tuesday @ Crazy for Crust, Gluten Free Wednesdays @ The Gluten-Free Homemaker, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Sweet Treats & Swanky Stuff @ Something Swanky, Anything Goes Linky @ Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo 

California Dreaming {Reality}

So I think I've bragged a lot to my family about how I live in the most amazing place ever.
So here's the proof in the pudding  :)
These gorgeous pictures were taken while running in our "backyard"and "front yard"... all of which are within walking and running distance from our little home.
And while we're talking about running, I'd like to announce that I am officially half way through my training.  Today I ran up Montara Mountain {again} which is about 2,000 feet high.  I ran 13 miles in 2 and 1/2 hours, which isn't too shabby considering I ran up a mountain! Now I have two more months of training.  And this week I'm kicking it off with 35 miles.  

view from trail going to top of Montara Mountain

view of the Bay and Sweeney Ridge Trail, another one of my favorite places to run

the fog rolling in

Linda Mar Beach

Linking up at these Fabulous Parties:  Made It By Monday @ Baked in the South, Made from Scratch Monday @ Living with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease , Mangia Mondays @ Delightfully Dowling, Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training, Crazy Sweet Tuesday @ Crazy for Crust, Gluten Free Wednesdays @ The Gluten-Free Homemaker, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Sweet Treats & Swanky Stuff @ Something Swanky, Anything Goes Linky @ Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo 

Homemade Tortilla Chips

I love me some salt.  And with all this running, I have to make extra efforts to put more salt in my food so I stay hydrated and you won't find me face down on some trail.  Hmm, bad visual there... sorry Mom  and Dad... anyways...

Enter one of my favorite snacks: Tortilla Chips! A few weeks ago the hubby came back from grocery shopping at Costco and he bought a HUGE pack of white corn tortillas.  I rolled my eyes and said something along the lines of why did you buy that many tortillas?  You know 99% of corn is GMO.  What the heck am I going to make with all of those?  {FYI I always get grumpy when he grocery shops.  That's my job haha}

And so they went into the freezer. Until I got over my GMO issue and realized our salsa has been lonely in the fridge.  And we've been out of store bought tortilla chips for a week and a half.  What a disgrace!

pre-cooked and ready to go into the oven!

So I decided to make chips with some of those soft tortillas.   The verdict?  Pretty darn tasty!  And ridiculously easy.  Go make some.  I know you have 100+ tortillas hiding in your freezer.

crispy, crunchy, and ready to be eaten!

Ingredients: corn tortillas (white, yellow, large, small) olive oil sea salt (paprika, cumin cracked pepper, lime juice - optional) Method: 1.  Preheat oven to 350 F   2.  Brush both sides of tortillas with olive oil (or use a misto).  Make sure tortilla doesn't get too soggy. 3.  Sprinkle with sea salt and any other flavorings you'd like.  Get creative! 4.  Cut in 6 or 8 pieces and place on parchment lined baking sheets. 5.  Bake for 8 minutes, rotate baking sheets, and bake for another 8 minutes. 6.  Let cool and enjoy! Linking up at these Fabulous Parties:  Made It By Monday @ Baked in the South, Made from Scratch Monday @ Living with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease , Mangia Mondays @ Delightfully Dowling, Tuesday Time Out @ Reasons to Skip the Housework Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training, Crazy Sweet Tuesday @ Crazy for Crust, Gluten Free Wednesdays @ The Gluten-Free Homemaker, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Sweet Treats & Swanky Stuff @ Something Swanky, Anything Goes Linky @ Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo 

Pink Strawberry Cake Pops

I had the pleasure of creating these adorable strawberry shaped cake pops for a little girl's 1st birthday party!

The pops are made of red velvet cake mixed with cream cheese frosting and dipped in vanilla candy coating.

Wanna know how to make them?  It's simple!  Just takes time.

I simply shaped the cake mixture into pyramid shapes, let them chill, then dipped them in the candy coating and attached the sugar pearls while the coating was still wet {you have to work super fast... food safe tweezers come in handy!}

Lastly, color your gum paste to the desired green color and roll out about 1/16 inch thickness.  Cut out the leaves with a small sized fondant cutter (or cookie cutter), roll out a little ball for the stem and attach with a drop of water.  Let gum paste harden slightly then attach to the pops with a dab of melted candy melt.  Brush with sparkly edible glitter!

I am always so pleased and so happy when my customers love their pops.  It takes a lot of precious time and love to make these! 

here is a picture my customer sent to me... love the labels she made for her daughter's birthday party!

Linking up at these Fabulous Parties:  Made It By Monday @ Baked in the South, Made from Scratch Monday @ Living with Food Allergies and Celiac Disease , Mangia Mondays @ Delightfully Dowling, Tuesdays Time Out @ Reasons to Skip the Housework Tuesday Talent Show @ Chef in Training, Crazy Sweet Tuesday @ Crazy for Crust, Gluten Free Wednesdays @ The Gluten-Free Homemaker, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Sweet Treats & Swanky Stuff @ Something Swanky, Anything Goes Linky @ Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo 

Road Trip Day 9: California!

Oh thank goodness... we finally reached California!  We traveled through the Death Valley National Park {and on side note, maybe don't drive your 26 foot Penske truck through it?!  the mountains are very tall and very steep...}  

We had a blast and enjoyed it thoroughly!  

 We jumped out for a second to look at the old Borax mining stuff...

Then we saw this little blonde furball running through the super hot dessert whhhaaat?!  We were literally gone for 3 minutes and she busted out of the window and came looking for us.  

OMG

I almost had a heart attack when I saw her running out there.

But she does look rather pleased with her naughty self, doesn't she?

Badwater Basin... the lowest elevation in the US!  The camera didn't capture it well, but the salt had a variety of colors.

Some random sand dunes in the park!  They looked like mini pyramids.

And yes, we came down those mountains with the truck.  Even my car tires were smoking a little bit never-mind the truck's... hence, the side note: drive only normal cars in this park....!

And last but not least... we drove through the Mojave Desert and skirted around the Sierra Nevadas which had this crazy scary snow storm that we thankfully missed!

And we continued on until the ungodly hour of 4 am when we reached the Bay Area, our new and most favorite home!