Twin Cities Food Photographer - Gluten Free Chocolate Lava Cakes

I have no illusions - I am in no way an illustrious cook. Not even a lustrious one. In fact, I'm barely a cook.

BUT, I do try. And every so often I'm successful at it. So lets pretend I'm a foodie for just a moment...

My recent try: Gluten Free Chocolate Lava Cakes. These were such a huge success that I simply have to tell you about them. They have changed the very tone of my recent (mostly) gluten free existence!

I created this recipe by mixing two recipes together...with just a little of my own ingenuity involved. So here I am taking a thankful nod towards Gluten Free Fix, and Cooks Illustrated {*nod*,*nod*}.

But why is this recipe so amazing? Well, besides the fact that they are delicious (and cakey - a treat seldom found within the gluten free diet), I love the fact that you can easily save and cook this dessert for a later date. - Catch that? You can pre-make this dessert, and then days/weeks/months later have it baked up and fresh within approximately 12 minutes. Oh, how I love love love love this simple fact!!!  This makes it the perfect dessert for random company - or possibly for those times you bring someone a meal. A new mom / neighbor / friend perhaps?

No matter who you make it for, they will love this cake too, I promise.
(Unless of course they are allergic to chocolate, butter or eggs...heh. Keep that in mind.)

So, on to the recipe.

You will need:
6 Ramekins & an Electric Mixer
...as well as (hopefully) more obvious essentials, such as an oven, measuring spoons, etc...

Ingredients:

6oz Dark Chocolate (I used approximately 15 squares from Trader Joes' 72% Dark Chocolate "Pound Plus" bar. Because I *heart* Trader Joes.)
1/2c butter (+ extra for buttering the Ramekins)
4 eggs
4 drops of Stevia Concentrate (if you don't have/want to use Stevia, simply increase the sweetener to 2/3c)
1/3c Maple Syrup or Honey
2Tbs Coconut Flour (or regular flour if you're not going the gluten free route)
1t Vanilla Extract
1/4t Salt

• Step 1. Preheat oven to 400.


• Step 2. Butter Ramekins GENEROUSLY (I've also used Coconut oil for this step. Successfully, I might add.)


• Step 3. Melt butter and chocolate together (I use the microwave. You can if you want).


• Step 4. In a separate bowl, add Eggs, Maple Syrup/Honey, Vanilla, and Salt. Using the electric mixer, whip these ingredients together at a crazy high speed until the volume nearly triples. You will know it's ready when the mixture drops from the whisk in a thick stream. It may take 5-10 minutes to reach this consistency, depending on your mixer.


• Step 5. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate, as well as 2Tbs Coconut Flour. Whip all of this together until you get a nice even chocolate color.


• Step 6. Pour the mixture into 6 prepared Ramekins.

At this point you can choose to cover the Ramekins with plastic wrap and SAVE them for a later date (place them in the fridge or your freezer), or you can cook them right away. When cooking immediately, bake for 12-14 minutes.  However, if refrigerated/frozen it may take slightly LESS time for them to bake (funny how that works!).

Bake the cake until it has a thin crust on top, but you can still see a runny chocolate center (clue #2 - the center will jiggle if shaken slightly).

I recommended baking one cake individually at first, just to get your timing right. That way you don't end up with a bunch of cakes too runny or too done (too done is particularly sad - the creamy melted goodness is the best part!).

Once baked, let cool for about a minute. Then set a plate upside down on top of the hot ramekin, and (using something to protect your hands of course!) quickly flip the whole thing over. The lovely little cake should flop right out of the ramekin if you buttered it enough - otherwise you'll need to loosen the cake by running a knife around the edges.  If that doesn't work - just eat it out of the Ramekin.  It tastes just as good. ;-)

This dessert is phenomenal when paired with ice cream. It's also quite fantastic when paired with berries and whipped cream. Either way, it's an amazing, easy gluten free dessert that I simply can't get too much of. Be sure to let me know what you think, if you try it!

Twin Cities Baby Photographer - Little Dahl Boy

Poor kid.  Doesn't stand a chance. ;-) (Caption courtesy of my dear husband!)

Seriously, how cute is that???!!

Twin Cities Child Photographer - Easter Joy

This was my little girl's first memorable Easter.  Debbie was ecstatic to join the time-honored Hunt for the Egg!



My lucky girl even got to hunt those eggs twice - once at G-ma & G-pas (as she affectionately calls her paternal grandparents) with 8 of her 14 cousins (I just realized that I'd love to share pictures of them, but need to check with their parents first!)...



...and she hunted a second time, on Easter Sunday.  Isn't her Easter dress adorable (and the sweater in the above photo for that matter)??!  I can't take credit for any of it, her ever-stylish Grandma Peggy found them for her. :-)



I found myself having so much fun, simply watching.  It seems not so long ago that I was the little girl in the easter dress, excitedly chasing down those marvelous candy-filled eggs!  Funny how things change.  Now I'm just as pleased to look on...and take pictures.  :-)

Twin Cities Birth Photographer - How I Chose a Birth Photographer

In my last post I discussed Why I chose to hire a birth photographer.  I will now tell the tale of how I found, and Chose my birth photographer.

Professional birth photography is a relatively new idea.  Because of this, the search for a good birth photographer can prove a little difficult.  Among those photographers who might be interested in photographing a birth,  few are capable of being on call 24/7 - so it isn't even a plausable option for them.   And even if you are lucky enough to find a willing and capable photographer, there is still that very important question...is this the sort of person I will be comfortable having at my birth?

It is always important to feel comfortable with any photographer you hire (this is key to getting good images!), but it is particularly vital in the case of birth photography - and understandably so!

When I started looking for a birth photographer, I knew that I needed someone whom I could trust fully.  Someone I could trust to be both tasteful and discreet with the images, as well as other aspects of the event.  But probably just as important - I needed someone I could like! Someone I could like as a friend.  Because birth is hard enough without adding personality concerns to the mix.  She (and yes, it must be a she) had to be someone I felt so comfortable with that I could entirely forget at the birth.

As a birth photographer myself, I knew what I was looking for - but I still had to find it.  I started and ended my search with birthphotographers.com.  Though I did some googling and asking around as well, I found this website to be the most helpful go-to resource for my area.

Lucky for me, birthphotographers.com listed several photographers in my area.  And all of them do some really nice work!  But having never met them (something I intend to change soon!), I had only their websites to go on.  It was based on what I saw of her on her website, that I decided to interview Erika Laurice - first on the phone and later in person.  I really liked her photography style, loved that she was a mom of two kids, and surmised that she might be my sort of "comfortable".  After meeting with her in person I felt even more confident with my choice - I could just chill with her and we actually ended up talking for quite a while - no worries!  Among various topics (but more on point) we discussed the upcoming birth, what I was looking for in a photographer, as well as the images I expected (or did not want)...and that was that. I signed the contract (she signed a confidentiality agreement) and sent in the retainer.  Simple as that, she began to anticipate my call.



Erika turned out to be fabulous at the birth.  So fabulous that I barely noticed her until the baby had finally arrived!  She did great with the photography and captured some great moments that I will cherish always.  I am so happy with my choice and now truly view her as a friend (life-changing events do that to people :-)  ).  Thank you so much, Erika! You rock!!

Twin Cities Birth Photographer - Why I Hired a Birth Photographer

After reading my last post you are probably wondering why I would hire a birth photographer at all.  Seeing as I'm not fond of my own pregnant pictures - why in the world  would I want images from the actual birth??!

Because of moments like this.

At the birth of my first child, I did not know any better. Someone did take a few photos - but the light was very dim/tricky (common at births!), and this person did not know how to use my camera very well. Because of this, of the few images taken I do not have a single image from the day that was not blurry. Totally my fault. I had not prepared. But moreover, I was not prepared for how much I would care about those images after the birth. Before the birth I had seen other people's birth videos and thought to myself "why in the world would you ever want to remember that?!".   Birth was scary enough to me at this point - I had no interest in preserving those moments forever, because I had no reason to think that I would or could ever appreciate them!

Thankfully somebody else decided to care - realizing that one day, I would care too.
Now I cherish the few blurry image from that birth!  And now I realize how important it is to have a birth photographer.

But why are these birth images so important to you?

1. My birth images empower me to be a better, stronger person. There are few times in my life when I've been given strong and constant support and affirmation, towards achieving a goal.  And so far, I've only experienced a couple times when I've achieved something unarguably incredible (here is a hint -giving birth!).  I may not have looked my best at the time, but that's really not the point.  It's about what I was able to achieve, with the help of God and support of others.  These images remind me "If I can do that, I can do anything"!


2. My birth images help me to never forget the "firsts". I forget things so easily (my husband can attest to this!).  It actually scares me sometimes, how easily I forget things.  I think this is part of the reason why I became so interested in photography in the first place - because it became so important to me, to remember. To always remember the people most important to me, and the times we've shared together.  So of course, after I determined I actually wanted to remember the births of my children ( ;-) ), capturing images from those moments became paramount.  I can hardly express how happy I am that 5 years from now I'll be able to look at these birth images, and be reminded what those "first moments" looked like.  I'll remember how thrilled my little Debbie looked, the first time she saw her baby brother!  How proud my husband looked the first time he saw his son (awww!!); and how my sweet baby looked, the moment I met him for the very first time.  These "firsts" are captured moments I'd be sad to forget - and so I thank God for cameras and birth photographers.

These are also some of the reasons related to why I became interested in birth photography as a profession.  But I'll leave the details on that for a future post. :-)

So why did you hire a professional birth photographer?




1. I couldn't take them, myself! Obviously.  But I also knew that unless I specifically asked assigned someone to exclusively take photos, I would have a very difficult time finding anyone else with the "free time" to take pictures.  Afterall, my husband would be paying full attention to me (and I wanted him in the photos!), and my doula and the midwives would have their hands full as well.  I didn't want a repeat of the first birth, where I only got a few blurry photos...so I knew professional was needed.


2. I wanted good pictures of my brand-new baby. Come to find out - new babies are exhausting.  So exhausting in fact, that I barely have any pictures of my first baby before she was three weeks old (just fyi, camera phones don't [yet] make for quality documentation), and by then she looked so different from when she was first born!  By hiring a birth photographer I was assured that I would have quality images of my baby as a newborn.  This was important to me, so I knew I needed a birth photographer.  This turned out to be a wise decision, as my hardy little boy has grown out of his "newborn look"  very quickly.  By hiring a professional birth photographer I was able to get some beautiful images of my brand-new baby, and I am so happy to have them!

Now I know I have yet to tell the tale of how I came to choose the fabulous Erica Laurice as my birth photographer...but I'll have to leave you in some suspense.  Babies to tend to, and all that!  But go ahead and view more images from the birth on her blog...and stay tuned for my next post.

Twin Cities Birth Photographer - Byron is finally here!

It's been so long since I wrote last - and no doubt you've forgotten all about me!  But in my defense, some very big things have been happening around here lately.  And most importantly...

[caption id="attachment_1749" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Me, at the baby shower - week 40!"]

Byron is finally here!