Chocolate Chip Cake, Gluten Free

I have posted this cake before, here.  This time I made it for # 3's birthday.  AND I successfully made it gluten free!

It was made to look like a lego brick, but that frosting was hard to smooth and I think the gf made it a little crumblier on the circle parts so it was hard to do.  Also my chocolate started getting cold again before I totally incorporated it so it has little 'chips' in the frosting still.  Maybe if I tempered it more, by adding the cold to the warm chocolate bowl before adding it to the rest.?

Anyway, here is the gf version *(One small change I had to make after I fixed the recipe was that I was out of eggs but had some frozen whites so instead of all the eggs I used 4 eggs and two egg whites.)

CAKE
1 cup Butter, softened
1 cup Brown sugar, firmly packed
2/3 cup Sugar
6 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 cups GF Flour mix
1 12 oz. package Little Bits Semi-sweet Chocolate chips, divided

FROSTING
1 cup Little bits semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Sifted confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1" baking pan. Line with parchment or waxed paper. In bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and salt. Mix well.  Gradually add flour. Stir in 1 cup chocolate bits. Spread in prepared pan. bake 350º for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely.

Frosting: Melt over hot (not boiling) water, 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate bits, stir until smooth. Set aside. In bowl, combine butter and confectioners' sugar; beat until creamy. Add melted chocolate and vanilla; blend until smooth.

Loosen sides of cake. Invert and peel of paper. Trim edges if necessary. Cut cake crosswise into 4 sections. Spread frosting on one layer. Top with second cake layer. Repeat layers. Frost entire cake with remaining frosting.

Original version

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Once again I did not have a 15x10 pan so I used a regular larger cookie sheet. this resulted in 5 layers for me. I cut 4 across the pan then cut some off each end to make a 5th layer. Probably for this reason I needed more frosting than the recipe made.

Zucchini Bisque

It has been 0º plus or minus a little, outside for the last two weeks, maybe more.  Needless to say hot soup has been on the menu a few times lately.  Tonight I brought out an oldey but goody.  Zucchini Bisque.  I learned to make this from the (then) head chef at the BYU Skyroom restaurant.  I remember stopping in his kitchen for some errand, watching him make it then jotting down what I learned when I got back to the catering office.  It is simple and good.

As we came in from violin lessons tonight, just the distance from the garage into the house makes you cold.  So we sad down and hurriedly ate. Which meant I didn't remember to snap a picture until it was almost gone.

For tonight's soup I used zucchini I had frozen from the summer.  I have a hard time planning meals, or remembering to plan, to use what food I have stored.  (I have bags of frozen apples waiting to make pie etc. from 2011 still.) So I was glad I thought of that. Also I tossed in a pinch or two of garlic powder and a sprinkle or two of red pepper flakes*.  I used the turkey drippings/stock I had saved from Thanksgiving instead of chicken broth but added a bit of chicken drippings as well as I was cooking a large batch in the crockpot to shred and freeze for later use. Then I added two tablespoons of corn starch (gluten free you know) to thicken it a tiny bit more for me.  You know I can never follow a straight recipe, right?

Zucchini Bisque

1/2 lb (about 1 large) Onion, chopped
2 Tbs. butter
1 1/2 lb zucchini
3 cups chicken stock
1 pint half&half
salt and pepper to taste

Sauté onions and zucchini until translucent and softened.  Add chicken broth and simmer 15 min.  Use a hand blender to blend to desired consistency.  (If you use a regular blender, let the soup cool down before adding to your blender so it doesn't explode.  Then bring back up to heat.) Add any additional seasonings* then whisk in half and half.

(I recommend the dash of red pepper flakes ;)