Nicole's Bridal Shower - Gluten-Free Desserts

July 31, was my daughter Nicole's Bridal Shower. She is gluten-free and I wanted the day to be an extra special day filled with lots of sweets. Being gluten-free doesn't mean you need to miss out on delicious desserts. I got creative and enjoyed the challenge!

Pictured to the left, is gluten-free, Nutella stuffed cupcakes, Nutella frosting, and gluten-free rice paper decorations. Her bridal party did a wonderful job on the decorations and the theme was succulents. I ordered these rice paper succulents from Amazon.com. (I find everything on Amazon!)

All platters were placed on the dessert table enclosed in cellophane and had a plastic succulent to hold it close.

Baking gluten-free can be a challenge but here are a few things I learned along the way:

* Always sift the GF flour (I use Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1) to aerate it.

* Toast all nuts and seeds before using them to enhance the flavors.

* Over spice (really add a little more than what is called for) to your gluten-free baking. It wakes up your taste buds and helps brighten up your dessert.

* Get disposable pans and designate bowls/utensils just for GF baking. I keep a large plastic zip-top bag (ones used to hold toys and other large items) in my pantry filled with GF baking items.

I'm going to present the desserts I made for the shower. If you would like any of the recipes, drop me a note and I'll post them.

Gluten-free mini cheesecakes with GF Ginger Snap Crust. The challenging item was to make "fruit caviar" from fruit juice and Agar Agar. I felt like a mad scientist. It was challenging but they were made a beautiful presentation and tasted so good. It was a fun surprise when they popped in your mouth with fruit flavors.

This dessert can be made a few days before and then frosted with a soft cream cheese frosting kissed with the fruit caviar.

Hayless Hay Stacks - was my future-son-in-law Dave's favorite. Butterscotch chips and white chocolate chips held the mini marshmallows in place.

These were very sweet, so I cut them into smaller pieces. I also brought small take-out containers, along with plastic containers so our guests could take goodies home for later.

Somehow I envisioned eating one of these with a cup of hot espresso!

White Chocolate Chip Gluten-Free Biscotti - These are my little girl's favorite! They are crispy and chewy at the same time, yes that is possible. In the gluten-free biscotti dough, I added dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, toasted sliced almonds, and almond paste.

I made a triple batch of biscotti so Nikki (yes Nicole has many nicknames, Nikki, Colie, Nicolina - depends on what moves me that day) could have some for during the week with her coffee.

I normally make these around the holidays with all different fruits and nuts added to the dough. My favorite is sour dried cherries, toasted chopped walnuts, and mini chocolate chips.

YUMMMMMMY.

Kahula Cups with Gluten-Free Oreo Cookies-

These of course had no calories - let's just say I used two quarts of heavy cream.

Each cup-full-of-goodness had two full shots of Kahula in them.

This was the Mother-of-the-Bride VERY HAPPY! I love a good boozy dessert.

Oreo crusted peanut butter pie -

This one was not a looker but WOW - it was a chewy gluten-free brownie on top of gluten-free Oreos with creamy peanut butter swirled in the batter.

This dessert is one that happy dreams are made of. It is rumored, that one of the guests took some home to have after the kids went to bed. Yes, it's that good!!

Blueberry Gluten-Free Chewy Cookies

My talented sister Julie, gave Willy Wonka a run for his money with her amazing homemade chocolates.

The bridal party brought gluten-free jellies, French macarons, and other fun desserts.

The baking took a little more than a week and there were a lot of "Pinterest Fails" - some were very, very funny.

I'm honored to have been able to bake all these yummies for my daughter. No matter how old they may get, they will always be your little girl.

Can't wait for the wedding!!