Gluten Free Ice Cream Cake Roll

 This has been one of my favorite desserts since I was a little girl.  Our family eats a lot of these around the holidays, and it is usually the Christmas Eve dessert of choice.  If you have never made a cake roll, they really are easy to make, and I included some pictures to help.  Another plus, is that you can make it a few days before the event, therefore one less thing to do at the last minute!  We love to fill it with peppermint/candy cane/mint ice cream, however, you can do whatever you like.  Plus, you can fill it with a dairy/soy free ice cream as well.  Let your imagination run wild and top it off with some hot fudge.

Ice Cream Cake Roll

Beat until thick:    4 egg yolks

¼ c. sugar

½ tsp. vanilla

In another bowl, beat:     4 egg whites

                                      ½ c. sugar

Fold together and add:    1 tsp. baking powder

                                      ½ tsp. salt

                                      ½ tsp. xanthan gum

                                      ¼ c. each of millet flour, tapioca flour, potato starch

You need to use a jelly roll pan that measures 15"x10".  The big cookie sheets most people use are too big.  Grab your pan, grease it with shortening then put on some wax paper(this keeps the wax paper in place).  Then liberally grease the wax paper and pour batter into prepared pan and bake 375 for 12 min.(see pict. 2).   When done, turn onto a dish cloth sprinkled with powdered sugar(this will keep the cake from sticking to the towel).  Peel off the wax paper and roll(see pict. #3 & 4). When cool, unroll, fill with ice cream, roll back up and freeze(see picture #5).  Wrap it up in a few layers of foil to keep in the freezer until consumption.

Enjoy!
*Check out some other Holiday favorites at Linda's gluten-free-wednesdays!

Candy Cane Cookies

This Holiday Season our family is starting some new traditions, based on the book, "A Christ-Centered Christmas," by Emily Freeman(a fellow Celiac).  The book guides you through 7 traditions inspired by the nativity.  This week we focused on the shepherds.  As part of the evening we made these candy cane cookies, that were the shepherd's staffs.  The kids had so much fun rolling and twisting their dough to form these delicious cookies.  They came out perfect.  The original recipe comes from the book and I just altered it to fit our diet.
Here is the gluten free version so you can enjoy them with your family.

1/2 c. butter(I used Earthbalance's Dairy Free butter)
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk( I used 1 T. lite coconut milk + water to = 1/2 c.)
1 egg
 1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 1/2 t. xanthan gum
1 t. unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 c. sorghum flour
1 c. millet flour
1 c. tapioca flour
1 t. peppermint extract
red food coloring
Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add in milk, egg, vanilla and mix well.  In a separate mixing bowl sift togehter the dry ingredients and then add to the butter mixture.  Mix well.  Divide dough in half.  Stir red food coloring and peppermint flavoring into half of the dough.  Refrigerate doughs for 4-6 hours.
For each candy cane, roll 1 Tablespoon from each of the red and white dough into a 4 in. rope( if your hands get sticky, spray them lightly with cooking spray).  Place one red rope and one white rope side by side, press together gently and twist.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet (or Silpat). Curve top down to form a candy cane.  Bake at 425 for 9-11 min.  Let cool.

One of my favorite blogs is the Gluten Free Homemaker.  She hosts a cooking challenge each month and for December it is Christmas cookies.  I thought these would be perfect.  Check out her blog for other great recipes. www.glutenfreehomemaker.blogspot.com. 
This is also linked to http://www.thesensitivepantry.com/the-sensitive-pantry/2010/11/30/calling-all-cookies.html, this is a new blog I found and I can't wait to check it out even more.  They have some great cookie recipes posted.  Check them out!