Cake! Simple gluten free, grain free cake. Lovely.

Let them eat cake. Let them eat simple cake. Let them eat a piece of cake. Let them eat gluten free, grain free, sugar free cake. Cake cake cake. Let them eat cake.


This cake is lovely.

Simplest cake in the world. Taste like a cake you might read about in a story of long ago. Simple light spice flavour, uncomplicated taste, mildly sweet, and fully satisfying. And you don't have to grind anything ... but I confess the xanthan gum gets me a little, and I like to use a hand blender to fully incorporate it ...

3 cups of water
1 cup coconut sugar

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon (I went heaping this time)
1 tsp ginger (again, a little rounded)

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/4 cup white chia seeds
1/2 cup hemp hearts

3 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup coconut flour


directions:

preheat the oven to 345!

1.  combine the ingredients in the order listed. If you are like me, you might want to take a hand blender to the mixture after you add the xanthan gum so that you can incorporate it well ... other wise maybe mix it in fully into your almond flour and coconut flour prior to adding those so that it doesn't clump up.

divide into 2 square silicone pans, push it down with a rubber scrapper and smooth the top. bake at 345 for 60 minutes

cool fully before removing
(I cut it into squares with a blunt stainless steel spatula so as not to score the silicone, and then lifted them out. Lovely!)

Vanilla Honey Cake -- a gluten free, grain free super yummy cake to temp you

I am forced to ask myself: is it possible to love peanut butter not wisely and too well? As I find myself sneaking it into a vanilla honey cake, I guess the answer is yes. That, and the fact that I am talking to myself are both cause for concern.

The tastes of peanut butter is not overwhelming in this cake. It is a super moist, light, delicate, and yummy taste. My husband thought it tasted like more.

The cake is pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Thank you Bubbi Sarah. I seem to take after you both in the love of baking, and the tendency to toot my own horn about it. I miss you.

ingredients:

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups hot water

1/4 cup chia seeds
1 tbsp ground vanilla bean
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ceylon cinnamon



4 cups almond flour

2 eggs

1/2 tsp baking soda


directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. combine the honey, peanut butter, coconut oil, and hot water
2. add the chia seeds, vanilla, sea salt, and ceylon cinnamon
3. add the almond flour and the baking soda
4. add the eggs
5. prepare a baking dish by greasing it with coconut oil.
6a. pour the batter into a large rectangular glass baking dish (3 L baking dish)
6b. think of someone you love
7. bake at 345 for 45 minutes
8. store in an airtight container when fully cooled

Cornmeal Muffins -- Savoury or sweet, gluten free and dairy free.

Despite rarely using corn, I was still in the mood after our delectable chili con broccoli on polenta this week. So, I decided to make cornmeal muffins. I wanted to make them gluten free, and although they have 2 xl organic eggs, they are dairy free. These muffins are super versatile. I made this batch with some cinnamon and vanilla, and a little coconut sugar. But they could easily be make with some salt and pepper, a generous dose of chili powder, and a couple of handfuls of corn kernels thrown into the batter. Super yummy to go with soup, me thinks. I think these muffins would take blueberries beautifully, but I didn't add anything this time, because I wanted to make sure the texture of the pastry would be suitable.

So, plain with just a hint of cinnamon and vanilla, they are simple and homey tasting, perfect with a cup of tea, and could take a little butter or honey beautifully.

Unlike some cornmeal muffins, the coconut flour keeps these ones nice and moist, and the texture is light and delicate, with that lovely cornmeal crunchiness.

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

2 cups water

2 xl organic eggs

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp ground vanilla

2 tsp ceylon cinnamon

1/4 cup flax meal

1 cup almond meal

1 cup organic cornmeal

4 tbsp coconut flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

optional, to be added at the end:

1/2 cup blueberries (frozen are fine --  add them at the end when they are still frozen fully)

and add 5 minutes to the baking time

or 

1/2 cup corn kernels -- these you can defrost before using

(eliminate the vanilla and cinnamon, increase the sea salt to 1 tsp, add some black pepper, and 1/2 - 1 tsp chili powder)

directions:

preheat the oven to 345

1. pour warm water over the coconut oil to melt it

2. add the apple cider vinegar, and eggs (makes sure the water is not too warm)

3. add the coconut sugar, if using

4. mix in the spices and sea salt

5. add the flax meal

6. add the almond flour

7. add the corn meal

8. add the baking soda

9. add the coconut flour

10. finally, when the batter is fully mixed, add the blueberries or corn kernels if you are using any

11. scoop into 24 prepared muffin cups, and bake at 345 for 25 to 30 minutes (in the upper half of the oven), until the muffins feel resiliant to the touch

12. remove the muffins from the muffin cups shortly after taking them out of the oven

Chocolate Banana Cakes

One of these things is not like the other ... wait a minute. Scratch that. Neither of them are like the other. In one small way. Okay, I'll admit it. They are almost identical. :)

They are both delectable chocolate banana cakes made with a couple of over ripe bananas just begging for a chance at fate. They both have everyone's favourite superfood -- raw cacao. They both contain very little sweetner and a decent amount of protein. In fact, they are identical in every respect except for one naughty little detail. The bottom cake contains an addition of a few decadent morsels of Callebaut dark chocolate ...

Now, I have to confess I'm not much of a chocolate eater, and I tend to turn up my nose at banana. (Cooked is okay, but raw? Erk.) However, I live with a couple of true chocolate lovers and banana eaters. My little son's first experience with chocolate was raw cacao nibs, which taste to me exactly like dirt. However, to him they are wonderful. I guess I don't  need to bring up the cigarette butt eating incident again, but ...

These little cakes were very popular in our house. We did half the batch with Callebaut morsels, and half sans. The raw cacao make them taste gratifyingly chocolately even without the punch of the chocolate. However, my husband will attest that they certainly aren't harmed in any way by the addition. ;)

ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup clear agave

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 over ripe bananas (about 1 cup)

1 cup pecan meal

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of freshly ground black pepper (optional)

1/4 cup raw cacao powder (or cocoa if you must ;))

1 cup kamut flour (finely milled, pastry flour texture, whole grain, please)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 to 1/2 cup of high quality chocolate morsels

directions:

preheat oven to 345 and prepare 24 muffin cups (or use a rectangular pan if you prefer)

1. lightly warm the milk and oil together to melt the oil (coconut oil is a solid below 24 degrees)

2. add agave, and eggs, and stir briskly to combine

3. add vanilla

4. lightly mash the bananas (don't puree), and stir into the wet ingredients

5. stir in the pecan meal, sea salt, cinnamon, and black pepper

6. stir in the raw cacao and baking soda

7. add the kamut flour and mix thoroughly

8. if you are not adding chocolate morsels, spoon the batter into 24 muffin cups

9. if you are using chocolate morsels, add 1/2 cup chocolate morsels to the batter, and spoon the batter into 24 muffin cups

10. if you are adding chocolate to half the recipe as we did, spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups, then add 1/4 cup chocolate to the remaining batter, and spoon the remaining batter into 12 more muffin cups.

11. bake at 345 for 22-24 minutes in the upper half of the oven, or until the tops spring back when pressed lightly with a brave finger.

12. use them to bribe your husband to clean up his room.