Giveaway: Cake Mix Doctor Gluten-Free Cookbooks

Summary: Unbelievably gluten-free pizza! Unbelievably gluten-free fried chicken! Unbelievably gluten-free pasta! Plus breads, dumplings, fritters, pies, cakes, puddings, and more. For the 30 million Americans who have an allergy or sensitivity to gluten—and their families, who want to reclaim the dinner experience of everyone eating the same thing—Anne Byrn creates 125 amazing dishes where the gluten is gone, and never missed.

Author also of The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free, and other cookbooks, Anne Byrn knows how to deliver incredible flavors. She replaces wheat, barley, and rye with gluten-free ingredients and employs creative techniques for achieving flawless textures and consistencies. These are recipes that taste as good—not almost as good—as they should: Tomato Panzanella Salad. Baked French Onion Soup. Spaghetti Carbonara. Grilled Chicken and Pesto Pizza. The Best GF Meat Loaf. Plus dessert: Warm Lemon Pudding Cake, Gluten- Free Red Velvet Cake, Fresh Orange Cupcakes, Old-Fashioned Peach and Blueberry Cobbler, and Gluten-Free Saucepan Brownies.

Includes how to convert favorite recipes and tips for eating gluten-free on a budget. -- Workman

Summary: Thirty million Americans are gluten-intolerant or have a gluten sensitivity, eliminating it from their diets because gluten—a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley—has been implicated in health issues ranging from respiratory problems and abdominal discomfort to anemia, anxiety, and infertility. The food industry has bullishly taken notice. Gluten-free baking products, including cake mixes from Betty Crocker, King Arthur, Whole Foods, and others, have increased sevenfold on grocery shelves in recent years, and the number of other gluten-free products has grown as well—832 were introduced in 2008 alone.  And gluten-free options are on the menu of national restaurants like Boston Market, Chili’s, Ruby Tuesday, Outback Steakhouse, and others.

Now comes even sweeter news for people looking to cut gluten from their diets: Anne Byrn shows how to transform gluten-free cake mixes into 76 rich, decadent, easy-to-make, impossible-to-resist desserts. Performing the magic that’s made her a bestselling baking author with over 33 million copies of her books in print, she doctors mixes with additions like almond extract, fresh berries, cocoa powder, grated coconut, cinnamon, lime zest, and more—naturally, all gluten-free ingredients—and voilà: Tres Leches Cake with Whipped Cream and Summer Berries, Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake, Chocolate Cupcakes with Milk Chocolate Ganache, Caramel Melted Ice Cream Cake, Warm Tarte Tatin Apple Cake, plus brownies, bars, muffins, and cookies. Dessert is back on the menu.  -- Workman

Over these past few weeks, I've been trying out some recipes from the new cookbook UNBELIEVABLY GLUTEN-FREE! by Anne Byrn.As part of this tour, I was asked to make the Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese, and item from the Holiday Sampler (I made the Pumpkin Spice Bread), and now any dessert from either UNBELIEVABLY GLUTEN-FREE or THE CAKE MIX DOCTOR BAKES GLUTEN-FREE. I decided to try the Warm Lemon Pudding Cake from UNBELIEVABLY GLUTEN, and I think it's my favorite of the three!

This recipe is extremely simple and starts with a gluten-free baking mix! (I guess that's why Ms. Byrn is better known as the Cake Mix Doctor!) The rest of the ingredients were fresh and included sugar, eggs, milk, and lemons. It was incredibly simple to make and only took about five minutes of prep time. I baked it for about 40 minutes and served it while it was warm. I have a feeling that this is the best way to eat it!

This Warm Lemon Pudding Cake was so light and delicious! I absolutely loved how the dessert was part cake and part pudding, and I wouldn't hesitate to serve this to my friends. I bet no one would even know it was gluten-free!

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

Giveaway alert: I have copies of both UNBELIEVABLY GLUTEN-FREE! and THE CAKE MIX DOCTOR BAKES GLUTEN-FREE to share with one lucky reader. To enter, just fill out the form below before Saturday, December 1st at 11:59 p.m. ET. I will randomly select and notify the winner the following day. This contest is open to those of you with U.S. and Canada addresses only. Good luck!