Luscious strawberries. Fancy them up a bit!

One of my favorite (because it's quick and elegant!) recipes is chocolate dipped fruit: apples, pineapples, strawberries and whole bananas which I sprinkle with chopped nuts and freeze--that's for another time. For now let's concentrate on the lovely strawberries. Strawberries have been on sale at every grocery store for the past few weeks in my neck of the woods. Some stored did indeed try to pass off some white necked ones but I knew better. Always go for the fully ripped ones that are bright luscious red from the bottom to top and firm not squishy! This dessert pairs so well with wine and cheese plus it's super expensive pre-made at the stores and online-- it's ridiculous to me why I wouldn't make these myself for 1/3rd of the price.

Ingredients (makes 50 depending on size of berries): 

2 lbs of fresh ripped strawberries
1 pk each of white, milk and dark chocolate (I like to use the bagged chocolate with the heaviest % of cocoa when applicable)
3 Tablespoons of heavy cream
3 teaspoons of butter

Directions: 

Thoroughly wash and dry your strawberries. I mean completely dry--no moistness at all otherwise it will mess with the chocolate when drying and you'll get those strange dusty chocolate marks on your berries. The goal here is to get a unified chocolate color. 

Time to temper (melt) your chocolate. As you're berries are drying, fill skillets with 1/3 to 1/2 full of water and bring to a simmer. Or use a double boiler. I don't have one and made do with what I have on hand. Once you have a nice hot simmer going (The optimal temperature to melt bittersweet and semisweet chocolate 122°F/50°C, for milk and white chocolate it's 105°F/40°C), add cream and butter and chocolate chips/chunks or shavings into bowls. Place filled bowls into the hot water.  Remember a simmer not a boil! If your water is too hot it'll ruin your chocolate by making it separate and cook too much and you'll have to start again. Fill metal or heatproof bowls with each type of chocolate.

Be patient and don't jump the gun by trying to stir the chocolate too soon. Wait until you can see the all of chips or chunks glisten/shine.  Now stir. Once it's nice and smooth, turn off the heat and get ready to dip.

Line a 2 baking trays with wax paper or Silpat mats. Gently dip each strawberry by grasping the tops with 2 fingers and dipping. Swirl the strawberry as you dip to coat all sides. 

Lay each berry on tray and continue dipping your berries.

Place your trays in the freeze for about 10 to 15 minutes to help the chocolate set. Time to drizzle. Now fill piping bags fitted with a small tip with the leftover melted chocolate. In a pinch you can use a plastic sandwich bags and clip a tiny bit of the corner off. Now go to town and drizzle. Place back into the fridge to set for at least 30 minutes. When they are chilled, arrange on a tray and serve. Leftover strawberries should be stored in the perforated plastic containers they came in. Just be sure to wash and dry the containers first. 

Crispy GF Waffles! Sunday morning family traditions don't need to stop.

One of the many recipes we're now enjoying are these gluten free waffles. Mighty Moe has me make a supply of them to freeze every other week in which he dutifully gobbles up for breakfasts and snacks. Between pancakes, french toast and waffles, he picks these waffles everytime--sometimes to my French Toast loving chagrin. Don't get me wrong, these are really good but sometimes a gal just wants a eggy rich French Toast breakfast. First World problems I know. Sigh. If you're craving these wonders, please do give this recipe a try--they are super easy to make. Psst. . .add a scoop of pralines and cream icecream to make them an over the top dessert!

Ingredients (makes 12 waffles): 

3 cups GF flour blend (see recipe at end of photos) 

2.5 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon Xanthum Gum or Guar Gaur powder

2.5 Tablespoon gluten free baking powder 

1 teaspoon fine sea salt 

6 large eggs

4 1/2 cups milk

1 & 1/2 cup cooking oil 

2.5 teaspoon vanilla extract

*For bacon waffles--add 1/4 cup real bacon bits 

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl combine all ingredients except for salt. Beat with hand mixer until creamy. Add the salt and mix. Heat waffle iron and spray with butter or Pan on both sides. Once heated, ladle batter into waffle iron and close. Cook until the waffle iron light say's it's done. Serve with maple syrup, fruit and whipped cream. 

Note: This is my go to Gluten-free AP flour recipe from King Arthur Flour's website. It uses brown rice flour instead of the typical mix of white and brown rice flour for a less gritty texture. They use stabilized  I haven't been able to find it yet, my brown rice flour seems to work just fine. I've found this works great for me. I mix a batch up and store it in a container for ease of use and add xanthum or guar guar when necessary.

6 cups brown or white rice flour (they use stabilized  I haven't been able to find it yet, my brown rice flour seems to work just fine.)

2 cups potato starch

1 cup tapioca starch 

May I tempt you with GF Cream puffs?

To make up alittle for my LOOONG blogging absence; I'd like to offer my new GF Creampuffs recipe as an apology. You all know since I've switched the name from the Naughty Chef to Blissfullious I've had nothing but issues with my blog. No one can contact me or subscribe etc. Well, until I find a remedy or switch over to Wordpress, I've decided I need to keep blogging. I have collected a years worth of GF recipes to share--some are wonderful and some are warnings of what not to do. Here's an absolutely WONDERFUL one that you and your non GF friends will enjoy! 

Ready?

First up is the delicious pastry cream. I made a cream cheese flavored one which pairs nicely with berries as a garnish. It's important to make the pastry cream first since it requires at least 1 hour of chilling in the fridge.

Pastry Cream Ingredients:

1 package cheese cake instant pudding ( or your choice of flavor)

2 packets unflavored Knox gelatin 
4 tablespoons hot water (to help dissolve gelatin)
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (plus more for dusting cream puffs)

Pastry Cream Directions: 

In small cup stir together gelatin and water. It's important to quickly stir in the hot water and not let it sit--you don't want the gelatin to harden. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine instant pudding, whipping cream, powdered sugar, milk. Beat on high, as it starts to cream add in the the dissolved gelatin while the mixer is still beating. Beat for 6 minutes or until the pastry cream forms stiff peaks. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in fridge until you're ready to fill the puffs.

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Ingredients for GF Cream Puffs (makes 9 large or 12 medium ones)

1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup GF flour mix (The GF flour recipe is at the bottom of this recipe.)
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare your baking tray by simply placing a silpat mat on it. 

In a medium nonstick soup pan, add the water, salt, butter, vanilla. Using a wooden, rubber or silicon spoon, stir until butter is melted on medium heat. Turn the stove off and add in the GF flour mix. As you stir it'll quickly form a ball of dough. Remove pan from stove and beat in the eggs until it's as smooth as you can get it. About 4 minutes. It'll be alittle lumpy looking but that's okay. 

Scoop mixture into large piping bag. Once filled, cut off about a quarter inch of the bag's tip. 

Using the circle templates on your silpat, start piping the pastry dough onto the mat in a circular motion, going round and round until the dough disks are as large as you'd like. I made 12 medium ones.

Place on the lower oven rack for approx. 45 minutes. Let cool for 30 to 40 minutes before slicing in half and filling. 

Time to pipe. Fill another pipping bag with the pastry cream. I don't use a tip because I like a big swirl of cream. Once again I simply snip off the bottom of the bag. 

Once they're all filled, dust with powered sugar. When serving, garnish with strawberries, blueberries or your favorite fruit. Enjoy!

Note: This is my go to Gluten-free AP flour recipe from King Arthur Flour's website. It uses brown rice flour instead of the typical mix of white and brown rice flour for a less gritty texture. They use stabilized  I haven't been able to find it yet, my brown rice flour seems to work just fine. I've found this works great for me. I mix a batch up and store it in a container for ease of use and add xanthum or guar guar when necessary.

6 cups brown rice flour (they use stabilized  I haven't been able to find it yet, my brown rice flour seems to work just fine.)

2 cups potato starch

1 cup tapioca starch