Moist and delicious gluten free chocolate cupcakes covered in chocolate-coffee ganache. Sounds like an OK recipe.

I was looking for a chocolate dessert recipe (yeah, Valentine's Day) and found this one from Gluten-Free Girl at The Daily Green. Sources say these cupcakes are even better than those at the famous Magnolia Bakery in New York.

Weekly links

Last night my husband and I watched Up in the Air starring George Clooney. Both of us really liked it. A little trivia about the movie: With the exception of the famous actors, every person we see fired in the film is not an actor but a real life recently laid off person. The filmmakers put out ads in St. Louis and Detroit posing as a documentary crew looking to document the effect of the recession. When people showed up, they were instructed to treat the camera like the person who fired them and respond as they did or use the opportunity to say what they wished they had. What do you think of that?

This weekend we're planning to visit Babycakes' new digs in L.A.--I can't wait for my son to have this bakery experience alas! Here's to a delicious weekend, and here are your links...

though New Year's has passed, you still can learn 20 ways to pump up your next party at Delish via Curbly

make gluten free orange fennel salad at Food Network via Cupcakes and Cashmere

make a vintage-inspired 70's style string lampshade at Instructables via Craftzine

make a modern statement ring at The Swell Life via Curbly

make a chocolate iPhone using the iPhone packaging at Craftzine

discover 5 new uses for old t-shirts at Apartment Therapy

dust and dust mite proof your bedroom at Apartment Therapy (Beware of photo as you click through.)

(Photo via weheartit)

Babycakes opens in Los Angeles!

I just found out that New York-based Babycakes opened this weekend in the Pacific Electric Lofts at 6th and Main in downtown Los Angeles. Though we never made it to their East Coast headquarters, Babycakes L.A., here we come!

I love seeing "gluten free" written all over the display window...

No writing. Just yum.
(Photos via Style Section L.A. and Quarry Girl)

Lisa from Dandy Sugar: "Things I Love About LA"

As a regular reader of Absolutely Not Martha, I was more than thrilled when Jackie asked me if I would be interested in guest blogging. I get a kick out of reading her posts-it’s always fun to see the latest and greatest design and fashion finds. For a little creative inspiration, dreamy photos and maybe a bite of something yummy and gluten free, I eagerly await her collection of Weekly Links.

Jackie asked me to write about “Things I Love Best About Living in LA.” A very fitting and perfect topic for her since she recently made a huge move from the east coast to LA herself. I actually moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles about six months ago, so I’m a newbie to this huge melting pot of a city as well. There is so much to see and do in LA, it’s difficult to narrow down just a few favorites. So, here is just a very small slice of my life and experience here thus far.

Enjoy!

The sun and warmth.
Living close to Venice Beach.
Palm tree-lined streets.
The gorgeous Getty Villa, Museum and Gardens.

The Sensitive Baker – A delicious gluten free bakery in downtown Culver City.

A BIG thank you to Lisa (Dandy Sugar) for a fabulous post!

(All photos by Lisa except for Palm Trees which is via Flickr.)

Weekly links

School vacation starts today and I'm thinking about taking kids to New York for a day or two. If we go - BabyCakes, here we come! Do you have plans for the weekend? Here are some things to keep you busy...

make chalkboard canisters at Heart of Light

make gluten free and vegetarian Mandarin orange lo mein at Flour Arrangements

recycle junk mail into paper beads at The NewNew via WhipUp

discover eight projects to use up your wallpaper scraps at Better Homes and Gardens via Apartment Therapy (This one alone will keep you busy the whole weekend.)

discover yet another project to use up your wallpaper scraps at Design Sponge

make a tufted ottoman from a coffee table at Little Green Notebook

camouflage electrical wires as vines at Curbly

make baby pants from dish towel at Dollar Store Crafts via Craftzine

achieve a Pottery Barn office look by almost half the cost by shopping J.C. Penney at Decor Pad

make a yogurt lamp at 2Modern Design Talk

(I got somewhat carried away with links this week.)

(Photo via Le Love)

You've got to watch this.

I must think I'm her PR person or something: I wrote about Erin McKenna's BabyCakes back in February, and now here's this new music video of hers that I'm posting.

I just think it's really fun. (Wait a couple seconds for it to start.)


BabyCakes, the Book of Recipes: It's Here! from BabyCakes NYC on Vimeo.

A lady stops to look in the window of a French bakery.

Claudette contemplates entering patisserie: Mon dieu! But they all look so good. If I go in juste pour un moment, perhaps Jean-Pierre won't notice if I'm not home by six. Oh, but today is Thursday. I am making duck a l'orange.

(Photo via weheartit)

this is gluten free glamorous

A couple of weeks ago I saw a recipe on Glamour's health & fitness blog for guilt-free chocolate-chip muffins. Or as Mariska Hargitay likes to call them, "Joyful Heart Fudge Chip Muffins"--named after her Joyful Heart Foundation which supports survivors of sexual assault. *Please note that the Glamour recipe lists oat flour as one of the ingredients. The only oats that are certain to be free of contamination from gluten grains are grown in dedicated fields. Read more here about gluten contamination of commercial oats in the U.S.
So back to the glamour thing. Apparently Gwyneth Paltrow did a seven day gluten free diet cleanse which she shared in her GOOP newsletter. And let's not forget those loyal fans of BabyCakes.

Do you think there IS a Hollywood obsession with the gluten free diet?

(Photo of Mariska via Flickr)

Planning a trip to New York, babycakes?

There's a bakery on New York's Lower East Side called BabyCakes. They specialize in vegan, wheat- and gluten-free desserts. I want to go there. (Numero uno on my list of places to go on our next New York visit.) A recent article in Gourmet features BabyCakes along with a few other vegan sweet spots throughout the U.S.

I love Erin McKenna's (founder of BabyCakes) philosophy about wanting "to create something that would be fun and cool-looking and didn’t make people feel even more alienated by their food sensitivities or choices." I so get this. Recently my son (who is gluten intolerant) was invited to a friend's birthday party. I asked him if he wanted to take along some of his own food. Come on. Just in case. He insisted no. He doesn't want to be viewed as that kid. I told him: "You're not special." We laughed.

So if you're in New York and have a sweet tooth, check out BabyCakes. Let me know if you run into Natalie, Zooey or Mary-Louise. Parker. Weeds, The West Wing, Fried Green Tomatoes...

*Pre-order BabyCakes' new cookbook in which Erin finally shares her trade secrets.*

(Cupcake photo by Horacio Salinas via Gourmet; Natalie photo via Cupcakes Take The Cake via Just Jared)