Fluffy Flour Mix
4 Cup Organic Brown Rice flour *
4 Cup Tapioca flour
4 Cup Arrowroot flour
4 tsp. Potato flour
Whisk together in large bowl and store in air-tight container . Yields 12 Cups
*I mill most of my own flour which helps with the nutritional value and enhances flavor. If this not an option Bob's Red Mill is a good brand.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Autumn Harvest Apple Cake
When dreaming up treats for autumn, my senses conjured up the tantalizing smell of warm apples, embraced by fragrant spice, wrapped up in a light cake and slathered with soft fluffy cream. With this floating through my mind, I went in search of a base recipe to inspire me and found an pre-allergy family fave. A tweak here and a change there resulted in an amazingly soft, moist springy cake, studded with jewels of warm apples, complimented with cinnamon spice and sweet maple! This is a full thumbs-up recipe in our house and has made its way to many a friends table or after church fellowship with raving reviews!
Autumn Harvest Apple Cake
Position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350*F. Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking pan. Sift or whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, Xanthan gums and salt. Set aside. Mix together milk choice and apple cider vinegar.
1 Tsp Baking Soda
½ Tsp Nutmeg (freshly grated if you have it)
1 Tsp Cinnamon
½ Tsp Ground Cloves
½ Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Xanthan Gum
¾ Cup Earth Balance (Or Butter)
1 ½ Cup Organic Granulated Sugar
3 Large Organic Eggs at Room Temperature
½ Cup Hemp or Soy Milk
1 ½ Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
3 Cup Peeled And Diced Apples (Honey Crisp are so tasty!)
½ Cup Chopped Crispy Organic Walnuts or Soaked Crispy Organic Pecans (Optional)
In a large bowl, combine the butter and granulated sugar, using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is light in color and fluffy, 2-5 minuets. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove from mixer.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in one third of the flour mixture until almost fully incorporated. Fold in one half of the milk mixture, then fold in another third of the flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture. Add remaining flour mixture, the apples, and the nuts, if using. Using a light lifting motion and turning the bowl continuously, fold in until the batter is smooth and flour is thoroughly incorporated. Do not fold to vigorously, or the cake will be dense.
Spread the batter into prepared pan. Bake until the top is brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-45 minutes. Watch the time closely at the end so that the cake doesn't over bake.
Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool at least 15 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm, or let cool completely and frost with Maple Frosting. Or, my children's personal favorite is to spread the frosting on top while the cakes still warm and let the maple yummy-ness melt like a glaze.
Store wrapped int plastic wrap and aluminum foil at room temperature for up to 2 days (if it makes it that long with out being eaten! :)
In a large bowl, combine the butter and granulated sugar, using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is light in color and fluffy, 2-5 minuets. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove from mixer.
Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in one third of the flour mixture until almost fully incorporated. Fold in one half of the milk mixture, then fold in another third of the flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture. Add remaining flour mixture, the apples, and the nuts, if using. Using a light lifting motion and turning the bowl continuously, fold in until the batter is smooth and flour is thoroughly incorporated. Do not fold to vigorously, or the cake will be dense.
Spread the batter into prepared pan. Bake until the top is brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 35-45 minutes. Watch the time closely at the end so that the cake doesn't over bake.
Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool at least 15 minutes. Cut into squares and serve warm, or let cool completely and frost with Maple Frosting. Or, my children's personal favorite is to spread the frosting on top while the cakes still warm and let the maple yummy-ness melt like a glaze.
Store wrapped int plastic wrap and aluminum foil at room temperature for up to 2 days (if it makes it that long with out being eaten! :)
Maple Frosting
Maple Frosting
¼ Cup Earth Balance (or Butter),
2 ½ Cup Confectioners’ Sugar
Enough to make a soft smooth frosting Organic Maple Syrup
In a large bowl of a mixer or with a handheld mixer, cream softened earth balance (or butter) and confectioners' sugar together until fully incorporated. Drizzle in just enough maple syrup to make a smooth, light frosting and beat on med-high until soft and fluffy!
If you want your icing bowl thoroughly cleaned out before washing, be sure to let a child lick the bowl! :9 -If you don't gobble it up yourself! YUMM!!
Sharing the Passion
The realization that we needed to be a gluten free, dairy free home was like a death sentence to my love of baking 7 years ago. Rice cakes and rice milk where rather bland staples of the time, as GF and DF dietary needs where not so prominent and there where limited option in the market. I began experimenting with what I knew, hoping to make tasty foods appear from rice flour and oats. I had limited success. However, with time and the expanded availability of grains, flours and dairy-free substitutions, my passion for cooking no longer feels dead but alive!
Today, I create foods that nourish the body and feed the spirit of my family, surpassing my hope of palatable food, to creations so tasty my non GF, DF friends and family are asking more!
My menu has been inspired by recipes of gluten free blogger over the last few months. So much so, I find myself desiring to share this JOY of cooking with a blog of my own. I've never attempted a blog before, intimidated by my lack of computer savvy and life-long plague of poor spelling. Today I've decided to break free from these confines and try anyway, in hope that sharing my passion for cooking inspires others as much as others have inspired me!
LET’S COOK!
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