GF Lucky Jack® Wacky Cake

Well, here we are – 2nd day of #Choctoberfest and I promised you a simple cake. (Oh, by the way, did you enter that Rafflecopter to win prizes from our sponsors? You can find it here.)

Wacky Cake was developed during the Depression when often you couldn’t afford to use eggs or milk in your desserts. I’m always amazed at how deliciously moist this cake can be – and even more so because I made this one with gluten-free flour!Also impressive is the fact that you don’t dirty any extra utensils. I just used an 8x8 glass dish & a fork (aside from measuring cups & spoons, that is…)

You’ll need to pre-heat your oven to 350°. Into the dish (don’t even need to grease it!) you’re going to measure:

• 1 & 1/2 c. gf flour blend (I used  Bob’s Red Mill^® Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/3 c. baking cocoa
• 1/2 t. Kosher salt
• 1 t. baking soda

You could sift this all together, but I just dumped it in & mixed carefully (that dish might not be as deep as you think…) with a dinner fork. After it’s thoroughly blended, you’ll need to make three holes, or “wells,” in the powder.

Into the first you will put 1 t. Kahlúa (mine is home-made, leftover from Christmas gifts…) and in the second you’ll pour 1/3 c. coconut oil (melted) and 1 T. vinegar goes in the last. (Don’t be surprised if that one fizzes a bit with the presence of the soda.) Lastly, you will pour one cup of Lucky Jack^® Double Black over all the ingredients. (Unfortunately, I’m afraid you’ll just have to drink the remaining 2 oz.)

Carefully stir until everything is completely combined. Pop it in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a pick comes out clean. Let cool.(mine cracked a bit… No worries! We’ll soon cover that up!)

While your cake is baking, measure out 2 T. whipping cream and dissolve 1 t. instant coffee crystals. After the cake has cooled, pour 2 c. cold whipping cream, 3 T. honey and the dissolved instant coffee into the Blendtec (or food processor, or mixer, or metal bowl with French whisk…)Seriously, 5 or 6 seconds on “high” gave me luscious Honey Java Whipped Cream. (Please ignore that finger-swipe strange crease, I have no idea how it got in there!)Toss a dollop on a slice of cake and you’re ready for a tea coffee party!

Check out all of today’s #Choctoberfest recipe links below:

An InLinkz Link-up

Backside of the June…

The 6^th month of the year is has always been a whirlwind for my family. When I was growing up, my grandparents’ anniversary was on the 2^nd, my parents’ the 6^th, then came Father’s Day & my birthday right on top of each other. Grandpa & Grandma had a camp that they ran for at least two weeks of this month as well.

Then I decided to have a June wedding, and my in-law’s decided to have both their birthdays in June, too!

If you blend the above facts with this month’s trips, you can see that June was, well, INSANE!

In between the two Colorado jaunts we took Mom & Dad out for dinner to celebrate their joint birthdays. Creative planning running thin, we decided to take them to, ummmmmmmm, Rudy’s.

I was able to muster a few creative juices to make their gifts.

I made this for my MIL with the help of my digital cutting machine & a frame from the HobLob.

For the FIL (a man who ♥s coffee & adores fudge) I whipped up a batch of Espresso Toffee-topped Espresso Fudge.Silly me, I made the old-fashioned recipe of fudge where you have to beat it until your arm falls out of the socket.

But it was worth it!The toffee was my favorite part of it all.Although, the fudge wasn’t too bad…

Pretty sure it’s all gone now…

Black & White Russian Macarons

I know, I know, I know! I am sooooooo late to the macaron party… My motto is, however, if you must be tardy – then at least be well-dressed. Black & white is always appropriate, for any occasion.
And our occasion today is the “Ebony and Ivory” Improv Cooking Challenge.

(Thanks to Kristen, we’ve had this song playing in our heads all month! )
I really wanted to try gluten-free chocolate cream-filled cookies; but because I made these a few months ago, I figured I should probably move in a different direction.I’d been studying up on macarons for a couple years. My Pinterest boards are loaded with soooooo much inspiration. The sites I used for most of my ideas are Mardi’s & BraveTart. Because they are so knowledgeable & helpful, I’m not going to waste space here telling you how to make macarons. (Also because I’ve made macarons once…) I will tell you my mistakes, though.
First, here is my recipe:

for the macarons:
	115 g.	ground almonds
	230 g.	powdered sugar
	10 g.	instant coffee granules
	5 g.	finely ground coffee beans
	1 T.	black powdered color
	144 g.	egg whites
	72 g.	superfine sugar
simple buttercream filling:
	½ c.	softened butter (salted)
	1 lb.	powdered sugar
	¼ c.	half & half (could use milk or cream)
	1 T.	Kahlúa®‎
	3 T.	Whipped Cream Vodka

Be sure to use a scale to have accurate measures.I didn’t have enough lovely white Bob’s Red Mill almond flour, so I had to fill in with TJ’s colorful meal – didn’t matter much ‘cause it was triple sifted then colored with black.(Speaking of color… if I use the black again, I will use at least twice as much powder to attain a good hue.)The aged whites whipped up so nicely following Mardi’s directions. The folding in of the almond flour mixture took more strokes than she suggested.I was thankful for the wonderful template from Yumarama. You can see the trouble I had “free-handing” it…My piping skills obviously need much work!
The buttercream turned out quite delicious. I’ve got half of it left to top some cupcakes after Easter. YUM!Pairing up the shells before piping the filling saves a bunch of time!The coffee smell from the shells while filling was overwhelming!So overwhelming that I had to pour a cuppa and sample the wares right away…
If you’d like to see more interpretations of our Ebony & Ivory theme; check out these links:

An InLinkz Link-up

some mo’ joe

My friend Sara had a yard sale last fall. I got a great deal on a slightly beat up canvas --  50¢!

It was the perfect size for a little project I had in mind for Keith’s coffee corner in my kitchen.I found a logo I liked and set up my lettering in the Silhouette software.I cut a stencil from the cheapie shelf vinyl.Let me tell you – that logo was a pain to “weed”! All those itty-bitty pieces! argh!Decided on a blue metalic-looking acrylic paint. Then I antiqued it a bit with some black glaze. The hubs still needs to hang it over the doorway; but for now his new sign rests atop the dusty cupboards.Soon it will take its place with the other signs:

me & Joe

we’re like this, see…

Last week I was perusing one of my favorite embroidery design shops and found this:I knew we were destined to be together! Bought him, ran him through the processand stitched away until I came up withBut… I just felt like I wouldn’t be happy until he was framed and hung in my coffee gallery over my pantry door.I carefully trimmed my cardboard backerand neatly swiftly glued the fabric around it.Paid big bucks for found a tab for hanging purposes and glued that, too.I know I checked and double-checked before I glued the tab, but evidently should’ve triple-checked, ‘cause I got it on the wrong side.Found another monster tab-top and glued it into place.Cute pictureand my husband doesn’t mind at all.