SURPRISE!
this is a virtual surprise birthday party for my dear friend, regan.
if you’ve followed this blog for any bit of time, you’ve seen her name a lot. regan and i go way, way back to our time together in the test kitchens of cooking light, southern living, and oxmoor house. she was a food editor and i was a recipe tester and stylist. we’ve rotated around each other personally and professionally for years and years. let’s just say our friendship is old enough to have a driver’s license.
since those early days, she began the incredible healthy recipe gawking site, healthy aperture, and brings us RD bloggers together once a month for a recipe challenge, the recipe redux. she’s kind of a rockstar in the RD world, and has a great influence and voice helping round out the careers of dietitians by teaching them food photography and the aesthetic of nutrition. regan is an idea magician, and the type that makes those ideas happen. it’s been an honor and a thrill to be her friend, watch her soar in her professional world, and even partner with her (and two other amazing RDs) to make an amazing project like blog brûlée become a reality!
today regan is 40!
if any birthday deserves a surprise party, it’s a 40th birthday!! so we’ve pulled together lots and lots of incredible blogger friends to celebrate you today, regan. because of your love for a good cocktail and because everyone deserves a gluten-free sweet on their birthday… we have collected lots of amazing recipes, lots of affection & appreciation for who you are, and lots of birthday love in your honor today!!
regan has pestered, i mean, encouraged me to make a gluten-free version of this quick puff pastry for a good while now. so today is that day, dear! i only wish i could hand you one, with a candle in it.
happy birthday, friend… i hope 40 is a great year. and i can’t wait to see where you go from here… xo
Pain Au Chocolat
Ingredients
- 1 cup about 140 grams kumquat's gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon about 5 grams unflavored whey protein
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chilled butter cut into small cubes
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- Dark Chocolate Chips or Chopped Dark Chocolate
Instructions
- Combine flour, whey protein, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut chilled butter into flour mixture with pastry cutter or with your hands, until butter is the size of a pea or smaller. Stir in sour cream. Mixture will still seem dry.
- Using hands, squeeze and knead mixture to become a cohesive dough. Pour out onto a surface once dough beings to come together and knead a few times until dough is just smooth.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a 4- x 5-inch rectangle. Fold dough into thirds, as folding a letter.
- Roll dough again into a 4- x 5-inch rectangle. Fold dough into thirds, as folding a letter. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a 10- x 10-inch square. Trim edges with a knife or pastry wheel to make a clean square. Cut square into 4 (5- x 5-inch) squares.
- Working with one square at a time, make two parallel lines of chocolate chips down the center of the square. Fold parallel edges of pastry over chocolate, folding slightly under chocolate, and pressing pastry edges to close seam gently with fingertips.
- Flip pastry over and place, seam side down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Repeat with remaining pastry squares and chocolate.
- Bake at 400° for 18-20 minutes or until pastries are puffed and golden. Allow to cool slightly before eating. Best served slightly warm. Heat leftovers (if you've got them) gently in a warm oven or toaster oven.
Recipe can be easily doubled.
click the blue link below to see all of the incredible bloggers who are helping us celebrate today!
