Vanilla Cupcakes - Allergy Free

These are AMAZING....was the comment my daughter made when she saw me putting the final frosting and sprinkles on the top. The recipe is from the Allergen Free Baker's Handbook. I just sampled 1/2 of one. It was as my daughter said..... AMAZING. She will be taking one to her friend's birthday party tomorrow.

Gluten Free / Dairy Free / Egg Free Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes

I made another great recipe today. The best part is that these are gluten free, dairy free and egg free and contain a good fat - avocado. My son loved them (my allergy child) saying "mommy these are so good". Yeah! I used a muffin top pan so that is why they look a little odd.



GFCFEF Chocolate-Avocado Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups Mock Better Batter Mix
3/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 Avocado (pitted and peeled)
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Agave Nectar
3/4 cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk
1/3 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 - 3/4 cup Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips


Add all the ingredients into the mixer bowl and blend. Put in a cupcake pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees. Bake for 25 mins.

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Birthdays - Gluten Free Style

Last week Thursday (6/4/09) was my daughter's 7th birthday. It was our first birthday that was gluten free. We had a family party on her birthday and then we had a party at Build-A-Bear Workshop on Saturday with 4 of her friends. I made a cake for Thursday. It was a white Namaste cake. I added Penzey's Lemon Extract, Lemon Peel and Lemon Juice to it to make a lemon cake as my daughter requested. The theme of her birthday was High School Musical. You can see the cake below. It turned out really good. I love Namaste's cakes. They are so moist and close to a wheat cake.

For the birthday party I decided to make cupcakes for ease of serving with her friends. I decided to try my hand at decorating a new way - with an icing bag. These were Namaste Chocolate Cupcakes with pink frosting. Aren't they pretty?

Overall her first gluten free birthday was a success. As a mom of children with food issues I am relieved that it is over and all were happy.

Let Them Eat Gluten Free Lemon Cake

My daughter told me that she wants a lemon cake for her birthday. Since we are hot on the heels of her June birthday I decided to try my hand at it. It turned out well. I need to make it in a smaller pan but otherwise the taste and texture was good. I played with the flavors to make it a very lemon cake. It turned out more like a snack cake because my pan was too big. But that's OK. It needs some frosting now but it is still warm. The kids had a piece of warm cake.

Gluten Free Lemon Cake

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 Tbs Hot Water

Blend together until smooth.

In a separate bowl combine:

1/2 Cup Sweet Rice Flour

1 1/2 Cups White Rice Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Xanthan Gum

Add the following to the butter mixture:

1 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp Lemon Extract (I used Penzey brand)

1 tsp Lemon Powder (again Penzey's)

1 Tbs Lemon Juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 11 x 7" baking pan with cooking spray. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until center is firm.

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Gluten Free Best Banana Cake

A friend of mine asked me to make a gluten free banana cake for her twins birthday on Saturday. They know that one of their boys already has issues with wheat. When she asked I agreed to try but told her that I had not made a banana cake that was gluten free yet. So I started looking for a recipe that would work. I did a test run on Tuesday and it turned out great. Today was the day for the actual cake. I had a mishap with the size of the cake and ended up cutting off the end and made them into two small cakes for the boys to destroy. I even made the icing from scratch with Wilton's Butter Cream recipe. I highly recommend this recipe.

Gluten Free Best Banana Cake

1 1/2 Cups Bananas, Mashed, Ripe
2 tsp Lemon Juice
3 Cups Gluten Free Cake Flour Mix
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 Cup butter, softened
2 Cups Sugar (I reduced it to 1 1/2 cups)
3 large eggs
2 tsp GF Vanilla
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk (I used 1 1/2 cups raw milk w/ 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar)

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees (yes that's correct)
2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
3. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with lemon juice and set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
5. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
7. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
8. Stir in banana mixture.
9. Pour batter into a prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 60 - 75 mins or until toothpick is clean.
10. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 mins. This will make the cake very moist.
11. For the frosting I used a vanilla butter cream recipe (Wilton)


Gluten Free Cake Flour Mix

3 Cups Brown Rice Flour
1 Cup Potato Starch (not potato flour)
1/2 Cup Tapioca Flour
1 1/2 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum

Sift ingredients together, combining thoroughly. Use in place of flour in cakes and other baked goods. Store in a ziplock bag or airtight container.

Here are the little cakes that are for the boys. Cute huh?

Here is a picture of the cake I made on Tuesday for my trial run. Nice and moist. Hubby says it is moist, good flavor and texture. He joked that I have him evaluating food now. He has to test every new gluten free creation I make ...... poor guy.

Happy Birthday Owen & Ben. I hope your first birthday is great.

Stephanie

It's a Birthday Party with Cupcakes

My son got invited to a birthday part on Monday. "Oh no", I thought. Here we go! I haven't even gotten a chance to get into this diet and I already have to deal with glutenous cakes. So I called the mom and explained the situation and told her I would send a cupcake to the party with him.


I have not made a cupcake that my kids have liked that is gluten free. I like them but my palate is more tolerant of textures and flavors than theirs are. They love Bob's Red Mill GF Brownies so when I saw that they made a chocolate cake mix I was excited. Then I found sprinkles that were gluten free as well. Yippee!!


Here's what I used:

For the frosting I was stuck. I didn't want to buy the store stuff with the hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. So a friend of mine told me how she makes it. I used a stick of butter, powdered sugar and raw milk. I made some frosting chocolate with organic cocoa powder. This is the result:

The best part. MY KIDS LOVED THEM!! They commented "At least we know that we can have cake now". Whew! Another crisis solved.

To your health!

Stephanie

Almond Meal Banana Cake

This is a great recipe taken from Elana's Pantry. I love her recipes because it uses no grains. The almond meal (yes I know it says flour but I use meal) offers more nutrients than your typical breads. Plus it is gluten free! I modified the oil used to Virgin Coconut Oil.



Banana Cake



3 cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup grapeseed oil ( I use Virgin Coconut Oil from Omega Nutrition)
3 eggs, whisked
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 bananas (about one cup) mashed

In a large bowl, mix together almond flour, salt and baking soda
In a smaller bowl, combine agave, grapeseed oil, eggs and vanilla, then stir in bananas
Mix wet ingredients into dry
Place batter in either a cake pan or two small (7×4 inch) loaf pans
Bake at 350° for 40 minutes
Remove from oven and allow to cool
Serves 12

Cream Cheese Frosting

¾ heavy cream
1 cup cream cheese
¼ cup agave nectar (I used Xylitol)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Whip heavy cream until stiff

In a separate larger bowl, whip cream cheese until smooth, then blend in agave and vanilla
With a rubber spatula, gently blend whip cream into cream cheese mixture

Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes

Today is my 43rd birthday and I was craving chocolate cake. But I knew the store box brands would leave me feeling bad. I have been mostly gluten free for a few years but lately have slipped and am finding that I feel horrible. This needs to be a better year for me. I need to get rid of it once and for all. Moving my family to gluten free will help. I am really learning to cook / bake with gluten free flours and that makes it easier. My family all struggles with thyroid conditions - hubby, son (almost 9 yrs) and daughter (6). Gluten is not good for many thyroid patients and since I have issues I am concerned about my children and the effect it will have on their health.

My goal with this blog is to keep a journal of what I am making and feeding my children on our way to total gluten free. It is a journey not a destination at this point. My ingredients will be organic and clean of toxins to allow for the highest nutritional content and lowest toxic load to the body.



Gluten Free Chocolate Cake / Cupcakes


1 1/2 cups gluten free flour mix
1/2 cup organic cocoa powder
1 cup organic sugar
2 tsp aluminum free baking soda (Bob's Red Mill)
3/4 tsp xantham gum
5 Tbs Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
1 Tbs Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (I use Kirkland from CostCo)
1 free range egg
1 cup purified water (not tap or spring)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Add liquid ingredients and mix well. Bake in a greased and floured 9" square pan or cupcake pan with liners. Bake cupcakes for 18 mins and cake for 30-35 mins or until the toothpick comes out clean.