Baby Lumahai is Turning Five. Holy Moly. Chocolate Babycakes, yo.

My sweet little baby boy is now a rough-and-touble five year old. I love his crazy imagination, his intense curiosity, his compassionate nature, and his rather delectable goofiness. As for him, he just loves chocolate. 

angry birds???? 

from this

to this in the blink of an eye

ingredients:

1/4 cup agave

1/2 cup bittersweet free trade organic chocolate morsels (100g)

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup organic extra virgin coconut oil

1 1/2 cup boiling water

1 tbsp vanilla extract

 4 tbsp ground chia seeds

1 tbsp ground vanilla bean

1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon
5 espresso beans, finely ground
1 pinch chili peppers finely ground

a little black pepper finely ground

1/2 cup raw cacao

1/2 tsp baking soda

4 eggs

2 cups almond flour 

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. pour boiling water over room temperature butter and chocolate morsels to melt them

2. when they are melted, add the agave and coconut sugar, followed by the apple cider vinegar

3. add the chia seeds, vanilla, sea salt, cinnamon, chili pepper, and black pepper

4. add the raw cacao

5. add the eggs and mix well

6. add the almond flour, and combine fully

7. add the baking soda

8. scoop the batter into prepared muffin cups

9. bake for approx 45 minutes, until the baby cakes feel firm and springy to the touch

remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool before removing from the pan

Chocolate Glaze



This year's craft -- pirate snow globes!!

Lemon Baby Cakes -- Lemony Lusciousness for All My Friends

On the weekend I baked a banana bread that didn't quite achieve lift off, carrot baby cakes that marched to the beat of their own drummer in an unfortunately uncoordinated fashion, and these naughty little Lemon Baby Cakes that succeeded against all odds. Maybe I haven't completely lost my baking mojo.

We had the pleasure of tea with our neighbours Marla and Oliver, and my mother-in-law Kathryn and her charming husband Hendrik.

Now, this was not without complications, and I'll tell you why. Marla and Oliver don't like their tea snacks terribly sweet, and Kathryn cannot eat dairy. So, the banana bread and carrot baby cakes were to fit that bill. And while my son is very much enjoying both the banana bread and the carrot cakes, I didn't feel they were good enough to offer guests with tea.

Well, I got lucky,  because in this case third try was indeed the charm.

The lemon cakes are light and delicate while being moist. The flavour is both sweet and tart, with the lemon enhanced with some orange zest (from organic oranges, of course). And they were a resounding success, enjoyed very much by all in attendance, especially when they were revealed to be free of dairy for Kathryn, and free of sugar for Marla and Oliver.

Now, I will state that these baby cakes did require a little more sweetner than others that I've made, because not only is lemon not sweet, it is the anti-sweet. And in order to make a cake that tasted like a cake instead of like a punishment, I used about 50% more sweetner than I usually add to my baked confections. However, they are often sweetened additionally by sweet things like dates, raisins, and apples. And the sweeteners in this cake are all quite low on the glycemic index, won't spike your blood sugar, and seem to be tolerated well by most people who have difficulty with sugar. And are much more nutritionally rich than sugar is.


ingredients:

2 eggs
1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/4 cups water

1/4 cup clear agave
1/4 cup coconut nectar
1/4 cup coconut sugar

zest of an organic orange (or lemon)

1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon (I used ceylon cinnamon)
1 tsp ground vanilla bean
black pepper (a touch)
1 tsp sea salt

2 cups almond flour (I used JK Gourmet)
1/2 tsp  baking soda
1 cup kamut flour (whole grain and finely ground pasty flour)


directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. warm the water a little, and add it to the coconut oil to melt it. Add the sweeteners, the lemon juice, and the zest
2. add the eggs, and mix well
3. add the ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, sea salt, and pepper
4. add the almond flour
5. add the baking soda
6. add the kamut flour
7. scoop batter into prepared muffin cups
8. sprinkle the top of each muffin with a tiny bit of coconut sugar
9. bake at 345 for 30 minutes
10. remove from the oven, and allow to sit for a couple of minutes before removing from muffin cups
11. serve with a big smile and some yummy tea

Sugar Cookies -- lots of flavour, but no sugar

A couple of days ago I posted a recipe for sugar cookies made without sugar and without any grain flour. To be honest, these gluten-free cookies remind me a little of short bread cookies -- they have that kind of texture. Today I decided to make a sugar cookie without sugar, but in these I used some whole grain kamut flour in addition to almond flour. The texture is delicate and almost fluffy. They are pleasant and simple. Just the right kind of cookie to go with a cup of tea. And they partner well with the vanilla bean cookies from the other day -- different, yet charming in their own unique ways. The sweetener I have used is a clear, raw agave. I personally find cane sugar, whether organic or not, tastes great but disagrees with me. Agave is extremely sweet, so you need less of it, and I find it doesn't give me the headaches and racing heart I can get from cane sugar.

These aren't as sweet as the ones made with coconut flour and the reason for this is simple. Coconut flour absorbs so much liquid that you need very little of it, so that all the flavours and sweetners in the confection have much more potency. With these cookies, we are using twice as much flour, thus the potency of the sweetners and flavours are cut by half. If you followed this ramble, then it will be no surprise to you when I say the two cookies are different than each other.

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1/4 cup clear agave

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 eggs

1 tsp finely minced orange zest (optional -- or lemon zest -- or go crazy and try lime)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp ground vanilla bean

1 tsp cinnamon (I used ceylon cinnamon)

1 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup kamut flour

directions:

1. lightly melt the oil and combine with the agave

2. add in the vanilla and lemon juice

3. mix in the eggs (and zest if you are using)

4. add the sea salt, vanilla bean, and cinnamon

5. stir in the almond flour, followed by the baking soda

6. add the kamut flour last, and stir until fully combined

7. as with any recipe using a flour that contains gluten, try to stir it as little as possible, and work it as little as possible. This will prevent the gluten from 'activating', and limit the toughness that will ensue. All you pie pastry makers out there know what I'm talking about ...

8. wrap the dough in parchment and put it in an airtight container. Refrigerate until fully chilled.

9. divide the dough into quarters, and roll each piece between two pieces of parchment

10. cut with your favourite cutter, and place on a lined baking sheet

12. this recipe will fill two baking sheets

13. bake for a total of 14 minutes in the upper half of an oven that has been pre-heated to 345. If you are baking 2 sheets at once, switch their positions halfway through.

14. once the cookies have come out of the oven,  remove them from the baking sheets to cool on a cooling rack

15. store in an airtight container