The owner of this web based company has suffered from Crohn's Disease and then was diagnosed with Celiac so they really know what they are doing.  I appreciated the fact that they were part of this community and really wanted to provide quality products to people on the gluten free diet.  I think it is very important to support businesses like this so I was over the moon to get my first kit in the mail.  I ordered the Golden Challyeah because it was their most popular bread and I couldn't wait to give it a try.

 These might seem like they take a long time and they do but that is just freezing time.  You really want to make sure that your ice cream is firm when you cut the sandwiches or they will turn into a mushy mess.  Having the ice cream firm will make them so much easier to work with.  When you pull them out of the freezer, make sure you work fast because they melt a lot faster than you might think they will.  If they get too melty, just pop them back in the freezer for a few minutes so that you can work with them. I did let the ice cream get soft when I spread the ice cream over the cookie slabs.  It makes the ice cream more spreadable if you leave it out for a few minutes.  After you get that ice cream spread, you have to get it back in the freezer quickly.  This is the most frustrating part of the whole thing because ice cream just can't be out for long until it turns into liquid.
 I wanted to get the cookie a bit thinner than they turned out but having the cookie a bit thicker made it easier to work with.  It becomes really brittle when too thin so that is why the cookie part is as thick as it is.  I ended up cutting the sandwiches a bit smaller and added more ice cream in between to offset the thickness of the cookie part.  You can play with it to find how you like it but I cut them pretty small because I have kids and I didn't want them to have too much or eat one and not be able to finish it.
 These were so fun to eat and my family all ate them sitting by the pool after a fun afternoon of swimming.  It was such a refreshing and delicious snack.  They also keep really well because they have to be frozen, so just wrap them individually and keep them in your freezer for when you need a sweet treat. It has been a really long time since I have eaten an ice cream sandwich but they were just as good as I remember them. My kids say they are now spoiled and just want homemade ones instead of the store bought ones.  They absolutely loved them and we all had a great time eating them.

So my husband is obsessed with fruit trees. We have a fairly small backyard but it is packed with all kinds of different trees.  We have 4 different orange trees and this year we got hundreds of oranges off of them.  My family loves them so much but since we had so many this year, I found myself trying to find different things to use them up before they went bad.  One day I was talking to my oldest son about what we should bake this week and he came up with orange cupcakes with orange frosting.  I thought it was the perfect idea and I set out to make these amazing cupcakes.
Orange is such a subtle and not very strong flavor so you really need to add a lot of zest in order to be able to taste the orange in these cupcakes.  I just love these because I think they just taste like springtime and they are just the perfect dessert for this time of year. The cake is just perfectly light and fluffy with just a hint of orange.  They are so well balanced and I didn't think that an American buttercream would be the right pairing for these because of how light and fluffy they are.  I thought that a Swiss Meringue Buttercream would be absolutely perfect because it is just so equally light and fluffy.
 If you have never made or eaten Swiss Meringue or Swiss Meringue Buttercream then you are missing out.  This frosting is life changing and I mean that, with every fiber of my being.  This frosting is like none you have every had before.  The first time that I made it was a few months ago and I about died.  It was pure perfection.  I always shied away from it because it just looked so complicated but I found that it really isn't.  It's actually quite easy to make and it is so good.  It is the best frosting that I have ever had.  I didn't know that frosting could be that light and delicate while still having so much flavor.  It is simple amazing and I just want to shout it from the rooftops!
 I made these awhile ago for my husband's family and his aunt was visiting.  She told me that these were the very best cupcakes that she has ever had.  She is not gluten free and she wasn't saying that to just make me feel good.  I could tell that she liked them that much.  They really are just the perfect cupcake.  I also candied some orange peel to put on the top and they were so good.  I've also never made candied orange peel before but it was also something that was not difficult to make either and added a lot to the cupcakes.  The orange peels were the perfect decoration for these cupcakes and a sweet addition.

 If you are a big cinnamon roll fan, then these cookies are a must for you to make.  They might look difficult but if you follow the steps that I laid out and used some of my recommendations then you will be whipping them up in no time.  My advice to all gluten free baking is to be patient and to not rush through steps.  Whenever I do that, I am bound to make a mistake and will have to start over so be patient and go slow until you really get the feel of what you are doing.  Let me know how yours turn out. I love to hear from you guys about all your baking adventures.