Brazilian Cheese Bread ~ #BreadBakers

Brazilian Cheese Bread are golden little cheesy puffs of deliciousness

that just happen to be gluten-free.

Gluten-Free Petite Vanilla Bean Scones ~ #BreadBakers

Just sitting here on the corner of awesome and bombdiggity - that is how I would describe these gluten free scones.

Gluten-Free Almond-Raspberry Bundt Cake ~ #BundtBakers

"Don't despair over the food you can't have, remind yourself of all the good food that you can have."

The theme for #BundtBakers this month is Gluten-Free. I don't bake gluten-free very often, and I wondered if I should sit out this month.  One of my daughters tried going gluten-free for a while, so I made a few baked goods for her, but it didn't last long. However I love baking with the group and wanted to give it a try.  This recipe was originally just an almond bundt cake, but I love the combination of almond and raspberry.

This cake was made at the last moment since I mixed up my dates (I thought it was due next week - oops!) and had to bake it after work, so I was extremely grateful that it is easy to put together. I think that cleaning up afterwards took more time than getting it in the oven.  Instead of using the almond essence in the glaze I added some raspberry essence and it was the perfect touch of sweetness. As you can see from the photo below is was very easy to cut, and everyone agreed that it had a nice delicate crumb and was delicious.

If you would like to know more about #BundtBakers and see what the other bakers made for our Gluten-Free theme please scroll down below the recipe.

Gluten-Free Almond-Raspberry Bundt Cake 
Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients
Cake ~

• 235g (1½ cups) Gluten-Free Multipurpose Flour (that contains xanthan gum)
• 145g (1½ cups) almond flour
• 300g (1½ cups) granulated sugar
• 115g (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 25ml (2 tablespoons) vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 4 large eggs
• 152ml (⅔ cup) milk, at room temperature
• 200g (1⅔ cup) fresh raspberries

Glaze ~

• 125g (1¼ cups) confectioners' sugar
• ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon almond extract or 1 drop bitter almond oil
• 30g to 45ml (2 to 3 tablespoons) heavy cream

Preparation

Cake ~

1. Preheat the oven to 165℃ (325°F).
2. Spray a standard-size Bundt pan with baking spray; set aside
3. To make the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours and xanthan gum.
4. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat together the sugar, butter, oil, salt, baking powder, and vanilla and almond extracts until smooth and fluffy. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl once to incorporate any unmixed ingredients.
5. Beat in the eggs one at a time; the mixture should become quite fluffy and light. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and beat briefly.
6. Gently stir in the milk alternately with the flour mixture, one-third at a time, ending with the flour mixture. Scrape the bowl once more, and gently beat for 1 minute.
7. Gently fold in the raspberries.
8. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan.
9. Bake the cake for 60 to 70 minutes, about 3 to 4 minutes past the point where the cake springs back when touched lightly in the center and a cake tester (or toothpick) inserted into the center comes out clean.
10. Remove the cake from the oven, and cool it in the pan for 15 minutes before turning it out onto a rack to cool completely.

Glaze ~

1. Whisk the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over the cooled cake.

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on the BundtBakers home page. Many thanks to Stacy from Food Lust People Love, who is not only the host this month, but also the one who keeps everything in good working order here at #BundtBakers.  Thanks Stacy for all you do.

And don’t forget to take a peek at what other talented bakers have baked this month ~

• Buckwheat Bundt Cake with Red Fruits Jam from Pat y Co. Candy Bar
• Clementine Almond Bundt from Food Lust People Love
• Coconut Rum Gluten-Free Bundt from Sweet Sensations
• Gluten-Free Sweet Cornbread Bund Caket from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Flourless Carrot Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• Gluten Free Chocolate Bundt Cake from I Love Bundt Cakes
• Gluten Free Holiday Rum Cake from The Queen of Scones
• Gluten-Free Almond-Raspberry Bundt Cake from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Gluten-Free Carrot Bundt Cake from Merce's Cake

Hazelnut Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ #Creative Cookie Exchange

Sometimes me think, “What is Friend?” Then me say, “Friend is someone to share the last cookie with.” - The Cookie Monster.

These gluten-free Hazelnut Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies are definitely share-worthy.

Homemade Twix Bars (Paleo, GF + Refined SF)

I'm still experimenting with various gluten-free and paleo-friendly flours so that my daughter can enjoy sweets too. Almond flour has a wonderfully nutty flavor that pairs really well with these Homemade Twix Bars.

Chocolate Espresso Coconut Cake

This cake is basically everything you look for in a chocolate loaf cake - delicious, tender,

moist, and chocolatey. And it is gluten-free.

Mardi Gras Macarons ~ #CreativeCookieExchange

#CreativeCookieExchange is celebrating Mardi Gras! this month. Instead of handing out beads we are handing out cookies.

The traditional dessert for Mardi Gras is King Cake, which is made from a cinnamon-filled dough. It is glazed and then sprinkled with three colored sugars - purple (representing justice), green (representing faith) and gold (representing power). I decided to take these colors and use them to make macarons.

This was my first attempt at macarons and they turned out to be a little easier than I expected, although I will say that you need to have a few bowls handy.  Having a macaron silicone mat made the shaping a lot easier but I still found that they stuck slightly - I didn't think anything stuck to these mats.  I managed to pry them loose by using an offset spatula to gently lift them. The filling was a vanilla buttercream, which was a bit too sweet for my liking, but it did suit the theme.  The recipe makes way more buttercream than you need for the macarons, so you could either halve it or keep it to be used on another cookie.

If you would like to know more about #CreativeCookieExchange and see what the other bakers made for the Mardi Gras! theme please scroll down below the recipe. Thanks to Laura from The Spiced Life, who is our host & fearless leader, and Karen from Karen's Kitchen Stories who did the links for us this month.

Mardi Gras Macarons

Printer Friendly Recipe

Ingredients

Macaron shells ~

• 95g almond flour
• 100g powdered sugar
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 pinch cream of tartar
• 100g extra-fine sugar
• violet and green gel food coloring

Buttercream Filling ~

• 225g butter 
• 360g powdered sugar 
• 5ml vanilla extract 
• gold sanding sugar 

Preparation

Macaron shells ~

1. Preheat oven to 190℃.
2. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
3. Sift almond flour and powdered sugar together 2-3 times, and set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk egg  whites until foamy.
5. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.
6. Reduce speed and gradually add extra-fine sugar, then increase speed and beat until stiff peaks form.
7. Sift flour mixture over whites with a fine sieve.
8. Fold mixture together with a rubber spatula until just combined, note that the batter will be very stiff. 
9. Divide batter into two bowls and place a small amount of green food coloring in one bowl and violet in the other.
10. Fold each batter until it loosens considerably (when batter is ready, it should fall from the spatula in a thick ribbon).
11. Transfer each color of the mixture to a piping bag.
12. Pipe 2.5cm to 3cm rounds on the parchment-lined baking sheets.
13. Let piped macarons stand uncovered for 15 minutes to form a crust.
14. Decrease temperature to 160℃ just before placing the baking sheet in the oven.
15. Bake pans one at a time for 10 minutes, turning halfway through (after the first batch has baked, the oven temperature should be increased to 190℃ then decreased to 160℃ just before the second baking sheet goes in).

Buttercream Filling ~

1. Cream butter and powdered sugar together in a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer.
2. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. If mixture is stiff, use 1 or 2 tablespoons of cream to loosen.
3. Add vanilla. Beat until flavor is thoroughly incorporated.
4. Transfer icing to a piping bag and pipe onto the green macaron shells; sandwich with the purple shells.
5. Place the gold sanding sugar in a small bowl and roll the edges of the sandwich cookies in the sugar.
6. This recipe make 15 sandwich cookies, keep macarons refrigerated in an airtight container.

Recipe from HGTV

For US measurements please click here

Are you ready for Fat Tuesday? The theme this month for the Creative Cookie Exchange group is Mardi Gras! If you are a blogger and want to join in the fun, contact Laura at thespicedlife AT gmail DOT com and she will get you added to our Facebook group, where we discuss our cookies and share links. You can also just use us as a great resource for cookie recipes--be sure to check out our Pinterest Board and our monthly posts (you can find all of them here at The Spiced Life). We all post on the first Tuesday after the 15th of each month!

Also, if you are looking for inspiration to get in the kitchen and start baking, check out what all of the hosting bloggers have made ~

• King Cake Cookie Bars from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• King Cake Spritz Cookies from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Mardi Gras Macarons" from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs