{What's Cooking?} Gluten Free Brownies 'n Berries Dessert

We had friends over for dinner this past weekend that follow a Gluten Free diet for health reasons. While many of the foods that our family eats are gluten free, I had never consciously prepared a gluten free meal before. It turned out great! We grilled out (meat and veggies) and also served a white bean dip with veggies, fresh fruit, a Quinoa Pilaf, and Gluten Free Brownies 'n Berries for dessert. Everyone especially loved the dessert (the kids all wanted seconds), which was super easy to make. Did you know that Betty Crocker has gluten free mixes? I didn't until this past weekend. Well, I found this recipe on the Betty Crocker website, made a few of my own adjustments, and the final dessert was a winner.

{Image: Betty Crocker}

The recipe that I found was for a Brownie Pizza (pictured above). While I loved the idea of a brownie pizza and will probably try it out next time, I decided to go with a more traditional brownie dessert instead. I baked the Gluten Free Betty Crocker Brownies as the package instructed using an 8x8 baking dish. Once the brownies were baked a cooled, I covered them with a cream cheese "frosting" (see below) and topped with freshly cut strawberries and blueberries. Then I covered the dish and refrigerated for about 2 hours. So easy and super yummy!

Cream Cheese "Frosting":

- 1  package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened (I used light cream cheese)

- 1/3 cup sugar

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
                                                                                               
In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.

Cute As A Button and Ruffled, Two!

Today I am excited to share a dessert table that I designed for a baby shower this past January. The guest of honor was already a mother of two girls and was expecting her third AND fourth (yes, twins!). One boy and one girl. So exciting! I wanted to keep the theme gender neutral, casual, and bright and cheery. I came up with the theme Cute As A Button and Ruffled, Two!

After choosing a theme, I decide on two main gender neutral colors: a bright yellow and an aqua blue. I also used white as my neutral base. I added ruffles that I made from white crepe paper streamers to the cake stand and serving pieces (see my post about this, here) and then finished them off with mini paper fans that I made and/or a little ribbon.

Cute As A Button printables were created for the dessert table (will be available in the Sheek Shindigs Etsy Shop, here, soon!) and embellished with mini paper buttons.

I also made paper fans and embellished them with Cute As A Button stickers to hang above the table for a little extra fun. You can find instructions on how to make these, here.

The main attraction of the table was the button cake. To create, I simply purchased a double-layered 8" cake from my local bakery and decorated it with edible sugar buttons myself (buttons are available in the Sheek Shindigs etsy shop, here). This was an easy and inexpensive way to dress up a standard, store-bought cake. I created a coordinating cake topper by accordion folding a 7" x 1 1/4" piece of paper, embellishing it with two mini paper buttons, and attaching each end to a white candy stick.

In addition to the button cake, there were cupcakes, cake balls, and mini meringue cookies for the guests to enjoy.

What a fun day it turned out to be for a special woman and her growing family!

Credits:

Sheek Shindigs: design, set-up, decorations, desserts

With Love Photography and Design: Photos