I’m baaaaaack!!!

I have recently felt like all of my culinary skills were GONE.  But after thinking about it, I remembered that my first love in the kitchen was not cooking.  It has ALWAYS been baking.  I can cook…but it is with desserts where I really hit my stride.

When we went gluten free, it took me a while to be able to find my way with baking.  But I did it.

HOWEVER, taking out the dairy and eggs on top has been uber hard!  Until last week.  Because one simple book changed it all!  Cybele Pascal’s: The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook

HOLY COW!! It is a book for baking without gluten, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame!  (I stole the pic from Amazon, but if you click on it, it will actually take you to Amazon to buy it.  Don’t think about it again.  Just buy it.  )

We have made a red velvet cake (only brown), some ginger carrot cupcakes, and a blueberry boy bait breakfast cake.  It is SO great to finally know that I can make stuff for others and they won’t wonder what weird concoction I have come up with!

Today is my birthday.  I told Luck not to make me a cake.  But then after lunch, I thought, “Why not have a birthday cake?”  I knew we would all enjoy it.  And I won’t be keeping it around to snack on because I have got to get back to eating well.  Hawaii, Denver, Mother’s Day, and my birthday have combined with little to no exercise because of my foot with a stress fracture to cause a little girth growth!

I by no means think that baking on a regular basis is healthy.  I don’t.  I don’t want processed foods in our regular life. And while the cake is homemade, the sugar, flours, shortening, etc…are all processed ingredients.   But on birthdays and special occasions, I would much rather our kiddos have stuff from MY kitchen than from anywhere else.

So without further ado….my birthday cake!

Brown Velvet Cake with Velvet Frosting

From Cybele Pascal’s: The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook

(modified only to take out the red food coloring…I didn’t have the natural stuff and figured I really didn’t care about the redness!)

makes one 8-inch layer cake

• 2 3/4 cups gluten free flour mix (get her cookbook and make her blend of flours.  SO good!)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups rice milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 6 tablespoons rice milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 recipe Velvet Frosting (recipe follows)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans, line with cutout parchment paper, grease again, and dust with a little cocoa powder.
2. Whisk together the flour mix, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Combine the rice milk and cider vinegar. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the shortening, sugar, egg replacer, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the food coloring and mix until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Sift in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the rice milk mixture, and beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until smooth, about 30 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
5. Divide the batter between the two pans, and smooth down the surface using a frosting spatula.
6. Bake in the center of the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Rotate the pans halfway through the baking time.
7. Let cool in the pans on a cooling rack for 30 minutes. Cover the cake pan with a large plate, flip, peel off the parchment paper, and flip the cake back onto the rack, right side up, to cool completely. Repeat with the other cake.
8. Once the cakes have cooled completely, you may use a serrated knife to trim the tops to make them level. Frost with Velvet Frosting. Once the frosting has set, store covered at room temperature. **The original recipe says that it gets better over time.  I totally DISAGREE! Eat this the first day, maybe the second!  And freeze that baby or give it away!**

Velvet Frosting

(this is a bright frosting with a lemony kick)

makes enough to frost one 8-inch layer cake

• 1 cup dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening
• Pinch of salt
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons rice milk
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the shortening and salt on medium speed for 1 minute.
2. Add the confectioners’ sugar in three batches, beating after each addition.
3. Add the rice milk, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until smooth, creamy, and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

YUM!!!! Enjoy!