The Baking Beauties

Grilled Turkey and Pineapple Stuffed Mushrooms {Free E-Book}

Jeanine Friesen — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:11:23 +0000

Note: This is a sponsored post, however, the comments and opinions are completely my own.

There is something about cooking your food on a barbecue that just screams SUMMER. Whether you are grilling on a charcoal or gas barbecue, the food just tastes much better when it is cooked outside, in the fresh air, over a fire. Not to mention, on those beautiful summer days, no one wants to be cooped up in the kitchen, with the oven on and pots boiling. It’s much more relaxing to be in the great outdoors while the smell of your grilling food wafts through the neighborhood. Have you ever gone for a walk through your neighborhood and been able to smell someone’s grilled food while walking by? Even if you’ve just eaten, it is sure to make your mouth salivate just a little bit.

If you’re tired of grilling the same old hot dogs & hamburgers, maybe it’s time to add some new, exciting recipes to your BBQ repertoire. Like these Grilled Turkey and Pineapple Stuffed Mushrooms. They are perfect as an appetizer, or as a light side. A few of these, paired with a salad, is a nice light summertime dinner.

This recipe, along with 19 more mouth-watering recipes, can be found in two fabulous new FREE grilling e-books. I am one of 10 blogger contributors to Mushrooms Canada and Turkey Farmers of Canada‘s new summer grilling e-books. I am so impressed with the recipes that everyone has contributed, you will be blown away by all the different ways that they have prepared mushrooms and turkey on the grill.

NOTE: Not all recipes in these e-books are gluten-free. Some may contain ingredients that contain gluten. Please read the labels on your ingredients to ensure they are gluten-free.

Click here to download the Mushrooms Canada e-book, where the recipe for the Grilled Turkey and Pineapple Stuffed Mushrooms can be found.

Click here to download the Turkey Farmer’s of Canada e-book.

Gluten Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Jeanine Friesen — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:23:41 +0000

When the weather finally begins to warm up here, and the snow is just beginning to melt, I begin the ritual of checking my rhubarb plant for signs of life. My plant is on it’s 3rd year now, we planted it when we moved here, and each year it grows bigger. This year is looking quite promising so far. I’ve picked from it twice already, and have been giving it some water, since we’ve had a bit of a dry spring in my area of Manitoba. One of the first things I prepare with my freshly picked rhubarb is a Crisp or Crumble. A fresh, warm-from-the-oven Rhubarb Crisp. There isn’t much more that says the beginning of summer than the tart taste of rhubarb baked to saucy deliciousness. The other day I saw that I still had some strawberries in my fridge, it seems I can’t go to the grocery store without picking up a container of strawberries lately, so I decided to treat my family to a warm Gluten Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp for dessert that night. Served with some vanilla ice cream, or a drizzle of heavy cream, this crisp will be devoured quickly. Thankfully, it is also really easy to prepare, perfect for a weeknight indulgence, or an early summer dinner with friends.

Gluten Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Recipe type: Dessert

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups cut up rhubarb
2 cups cut up strawberries
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup certified gluten-free oats
1/4 cup brown rice flour (can be substituted with your favourite gluten free flour, or almond meal)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, cut into cubes

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar and cornstarch. Stir in the rhubarb, strawberries, and vanilla. Pour into an 8 x 8-inch baking pan.
Stir together the oats, brown rice flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the cold butter into the oat/flour mixture, until large crumbs, about the size of a pea, remain.
Sprinkle the crisp topping over the top of the fruit in the baking dish, and spread to create an even layer.
Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the fruit is hot and bubbly.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving, the fruit sauce is very hot straight out of the oven. Delicious served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Notes

Place the 8×8-inch baking dish on a larger cookie sheet to bake. That way, if your fruit juice bubbles over while baking, it will not be in the bottom of your oven, and clean up will be made much easier.

What is your favourite way to use rhubarb? I’ve been thinking of trying a rhubarb barbecue sauce – can anyone recommend a fabulous recipe?

Need more rhubarb recipes? Check out the other gluten-free rhubarb recipes on The Baking Beauties HERE.

Healthy Gluten Free Potato Pancakes with Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce

Jeanine Friesen — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 15:50:12 +0000

Earlier this year I was approached by the Dairy Farmers of Canada, asking if I would be interested in participating in their Anyday Magic contest, aptly called “The Great Cream Challenge.” Now, I use cream on a regular basis, so I knew that creating recipes for the challenge would not be difficult for me. The thing is, when you sign up, you don’t know exactly what the challenge is that you will be facing. I watched the challenges from earlier in the year and with things like “Chocolate Desserts,” “Ultimate Soup,” and “Caramel Challenge,” I figured this would be a walk in the park. Chocolate, soup, or caramel using cream – EASY! Then I was handed my challenge – Healthy Pancakes. We all know, I’ve made plenty of pancakes in my time, pancakes is not a problem for me, and incorporating cream into them would be easy. The challenge for me was the Healthy part. When I envision the words “pancakes” and “cream,” I picture a rich, decadent pancake topped with a dollop of whipped cream and cascading with fresh berries. Delicious? YES. But, I didn’t feel it would live up to the “healthy” part of the challenge they were asking me to complete. So, I took a different direction.

I went savoury.

I made healthy little savoury pancakes that use fresh baby potatoes, in their thin, delicate skin, fresh chopped dill, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, and some chopped green onion to really bring this dish to life. I believe that if you want to eat healthy, you have to use fresh herbs to bring amazing flavour to your food. This dish did just that.

Get the Recipe and a Chance to WIN!

Head on over to Anyday Magic’s “Great Cream Challenge” for the full recipe for these wonderful little Healthy Gluten Free Potato Pancakes with a Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce, and while you’re there, VOTE for my recipe. By voting, you are also entering to WIN the ultimate blender, a Cuisinart Blend ’N Cook Soup and Beverage Maker, valued at $200. Open to Canadian residents only (excluding Quebec and Territories). For full contest rules, click HERE.

Gluten Free Strawberry Cream Roll Cake

Jeanine Friesen — Fri, 31 May 2013 11:45:17 +0000

Picture this – It’s Sunday afternoon. You’re lounging on the patio, enjoying a highly anticipated newly-released book by your favourite author. The smell of the lilies and roses in full bloom waft through the neighborhood. The kids are out in the yard, quietly playing a non-competitive game of croquet together. In your hand you have a icy cold Sangria, and the heat of the sun reminds you of that vacation you’d taken to Mexico years ago.

Ah – perfection.

In reality – You haven’t had a chance to sit down since you got up in the morning. You’re spending the day catching up on the ever-growing pile of laundry, working on the never-ending yard work, and wondering what that smell in the fridge is coming from. The only thing wafting through the neighborhood is the smell of gas fumes from everyone trying to catch up on their yard work. The kids have begun clobbering each other with the croquet mallets, and you’re sure a trip to the ER will be added to the list before the day is done. To top it off, global warming has become a reality, since it feels like you are now living on the sun.

Welcome to Summer!

Even with all the craziness that summer brings our way, it also brings a chance to break out of the normal routine. The kids are out of school, so the time they go to bed can be relaxed a little. The rush to get supper on the table in time so that everyone can get on with their evening fades. The sun hangs just a little longer in the sky. Summer also gives us a chance to enjoy lighter foods. Meat and veggies that is simply cooked on the grill. Salads that are tossed with a light vinaigrette. Desserts become lighter as well, very often featuring fresh, in season flavours. That is where this gluten free Strawberry Cream Roll Cake comes in. The light lemon sponge cake is rolled around a decadent creamy strawberry filling. Although this fare isn’t ‘light’ in the sense of low calories, it is light in taste and flavour, and it is not something that will make you feel like you have over done it after you’ve enjoyed it.

Chocolate. Whipped Cream. Buttercream. Nuts. Lemon Curd. Berries. The list goes on. The possibilities of what you can roll a sponge cake around are nearly endless. Whether you call it a Swiss Roll, Jelly Roll, or a sweet Roulade, the simple dessert is sure to impress a crowd. One of the best things about this extraordinary dessert is that it can be made in advance. Even on those crazy busy summer days, it only takes a short while to prepare this enticing gluten free Strawberry Cream Roll Cake. The cake itself only takes 12 minutes to bake, and while it is cooling you can prepare the filling. Once you have rolled your cake, simply wrap in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

5.0 from 2 reviews

Gluten Free Strawberry Cream Roll Cake

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Recipe type: Dessert

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 12 mins

Total time: 27 mins

Serves: 8-10

Roll Cakes are simple to put together, low in fat, and can be made in advance, making them the perfect dessert for summertime gatherings.

Ingredients

For the Cake

4 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners’ (icing) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one small lemon
pinch salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup sweet rice (glutinous) flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
additional confectioner’s (icing) sugar for sprinkling

For the Filling:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 ounces (1/2 cup) cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped strawberries

Instructions

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line the bottom of a 10″x15″ jelly roll pan with parchment paper.
Use an electric mixer, whip together the egg yolks and confectioners’ sugar until pale yellow, and nearly double in volume. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest.
In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites with the salt, until foamy. Increase the speed, and gradually add 3 tablespoons sugar. Beat until the egg whites hold medium peaks (do not over beat).
In another bowl, whisk together the rice flour, sweet rice flour, cornstarch, and xanthan gum.
Fold half of the flour mixture into the egg yolks, followed by half of the whipped egg whites. Follow up by folding in the remaining flour, and then the remaining egg whites. Do not over mix, just gently fold until fully incorporated.
Spread the batter in an even layer in the prepared baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until the cake springs back when gently pressed.
Let cake cool for 2-3 minutes before using a spatula to loosen the sides. Generously sift confectioners’ sugars on the top of the cake. Lay a clean tea towel over the cake, and place a larger baking sheet over top. Carefully flip the pans, remove the pan you baked the cake in, and peel the parchment paper off the bottom of your sponge cake. Sift with more confectioners’ sugar
While the cake is still warm, using the towel and starting at the short end, carefully roll the cake up into a roll. Allow the cake to cool completely. Rolling the cake into a roll while it is still warm will help prevent it from cracking when you roll it up with the filling.
Unroll the cake, spread the filling evenly over the cake, leaving 1 1/2-inches on the 10″ side clear.
Re-roll the cake, without the towel, and sift more confectioners’ sugar over the top. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. You may need to sift with more confectioners’ sugar before serving.

For the Filling:

In a deep, chilled bowl, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
Add half of the whipped cream mixture, and beat until evenly mixed. Add the remaining whipping cream, and whip to blend.
Fold in the strawberries.Spread on cooled sponge cake.

Notes

You can reserve some of the whipped cream/cream cheese mixture before folding in the strawberries, and pipe it onto the top of the roll using a pastry tip.
Cake adapted from Anna Olson.

Gluten Free Classic Strawberry Shortcake

Jeanine Friesen — Fri, 24 May 2013 11:53:48 +0000

Summer’s here and that means it’s time for a trip to the berry patch. As a child, my mom would lug me, my brother and an armful of empty ice cream pails to our local U-Pick strawberry field. It was messy business crawling along the straw-packed rows of ripe berries. It was impossible to keep our clothes from getting stained and dirty so, in her motherly wisdom, mom dressed us in our oldest, rattiest, nearly-grown-out-of clothes. This way it wouldn’t matter when our knees were stained crimson red from the juice of the berries we’d accidentally crawl over, or if the front of our shirts were full of strawberry juice that had dribbled down our chin as we bit into the biggest berry we could find.

To keep herself sane, Mom always had a check list to complete before we left the house on our berry wrangling adventure.

First on that list was to always make sure to go to the bathroom before heading out on our adventure, since we knew the berry farm only had one lone outhouse along the side of the field. Enough said.

Secondly, we’d nearly bathe in mosquito repellent. If you think grocery shopping with an impatient child in your cart is hard to do, you should attempt getting 8 ice cream pails of strawberries off the plant with two whining, complaining kids that are getting eaten by mosquitoes. It’s not going to happen. You will pack up with the one-and-a-half pails you managed to get off the plant before the kids went berserk and head for home, stopping to buy some strawberry jam at the store along the way.

And lastly, we made sure to not have any breakfast before heading to the farm (OK, maybe that was on our list, not hers). We always joked about how it was a good thing that the farmer didn’t weigh us before and after picking. If my Mom had to pay for the berries my brother and I put in our bellies instead of our pails, I doubt she would have taken us picking anymore. It would have led to financial ruin.

I’m grown now, with children of my own. Although we’re not able to make it to the berry patch every year, when we can, we get out there to pick our share of fresh strawberries. The kids love homemade strawberry jam, and they know that for fresh jam, we need to get fresh berries. And while we slowly move our way along the row, picking only the reddest berries, I know that they are busy filling their bellies more than their baskets. And I smile.

My Strawberry Shortcake after a visit to the berry patch when she was 3.

Anytime berry season hits, the one dessert that people typically think about is Strawberry Shortcake. There are two kinds of strawberry shortcake; the sponge cake-type, and the biscuit-type. Today I am sharing my recipe for Gluten Free Classic Strawberry Shortcake, which is the light biscuit-style shortcakes that many of us had to leave behind when going on this gluten-free journey. After several attempts, I believe I got it just right. The biscuits are airy and delicate, overflowing with luscious strawberries and lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Gluten Free Classic Strawberry Shortcake

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 8

In about 25 minutes, you could be enjoying these simple Gluten Free Classic Strawberry Shortcakes, topped with sweet, juicy berries and airy whipped cream. To make things easier, the strawberries and whipped cream can be prepared hours in advance.

Ingredients

Filling

1 1/2 pounds strawberries, washed & cut up
3 tablespoons granulated sugar (less if your berries are sweet)
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Dry Ingredients

1 1/4 cups brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch/flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Chill Your Butter

1/2 cup unsalted butter, placed in the freezer for 30 minutes before use

Wet Ingredients

6 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

For Topping

1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons coarse sugar

Whipped Topping

1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Filling:

Sprinkle berries with sugar and lemon juice. Toss to coat. Allow to sit for at least 20-30 minutes before serving.

Biscuits:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients until evenly combined.
Using a coarse grater, grate the slightly frozen butter into the dry ingredients. Stir to coat the butter with the dry ingredients.
Whisk the wet ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour over the dry ingredients and stir until the dough begins to come together.
Place a sheet of plastic wrap on a slightly damp counter. Sprinkle the plastic wrap with sweet rice flour or potato starch. Turn the dough out onto the plastic wrap, and without handling the dough too much, knead it until it comes together in one ball. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the dough and roll to about 3/4″ thick. Cut into circles using a 3″ biscuit cutter, and place biscuits on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until the dough has all been formed into biscuits, trying to handle it the least amount possible.
Brush the tops of the biscuits with heavy whipping cream, and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake biscuits in preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, or until a nice golden brown on top. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Whipped Topping:

Place cold whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla in a deep, chilled bowl. Using an electric mixer, whip the cream until soft peaks form. This can be done hours in advance, and stored covered in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

To Serve:

Slice biscuit in half. Top with about 1/3 cup cut up strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream before placing the top of the biscuit back on top. Garnish with more strawberries if desired.

Notes

Alternately, you can prepare the biscuit dough by using a food processor. Add the dry ingredients first, pulsing to blend. Add the butter, cut into cubes, and pulse until the butter is about the size of a pea. Pour in all the wet ingredients at once, and pulse until the dough comes together. I just found I got better results using the above method.

Other Berry-licious Gluten-Free Recipes You Might Enjoy: