Paleo German Chocolate Cake

Last Sunday was my birthday! 

It was super low key because the weekend before we were in San Francisco, and in my old age I don't really care too much about my birthday anymore.

It's just an excuse to eat cake, really.

A cake that everyone on restrictive diets could eat, which meant a cake without cane sugar, dairy gluten or grains.

And yes, I make my own birthday cakes. I enjoy doing it, and have the excuse to make it however I want because it's my day and I can do whatever I want.

Amy's Organic Gluten Free Brownies // and a change of tune

Oh hey guys, Hows it goin'?

Its been awhile, I know-I stink.

But, I'm back from that impromptu hiatus, and ready to share some more food finds.

I had a mighty overage of foods to review over the summer, and between a wedding, a funeral, sickness, and a new job I have slacked on posting them.

So this week, I will finish up those that I'm sitting on, then I will move onto some new exciting recipes. So fresh and new, that I'm not even sure what they are gonna be yet. But the holidays are coming up my dears, and you can bet I will have some festive foods for ya'll.

To start off, I want to bring you all back to this post.

In trying Amy's Organic chocolate cake, I decided it was gross.

I tried to be nice-ish about it, but it was almost completely inedible.

But, the kind people at Amy's were sure that their product was better then I thought, and they decided to send me a fresh box, strait from the kitchen.

And guys, I'm gonna have to eat my words on this one.

It was good. 

It was dense, and sweet and full of chocolate goodness.

Still slightly grainy, but it did not have that gross bitter taste that the first one did.

Along with a chocolate cake, Amy's also sent me their new gluten free brownies.

These brownies are not dairy free, which is a little sad; but they are delicious, so thats not so sad.

My best description, the first thought that came to my mind when I bit into a square, was that it tasted like hot cocoa.

Hot cocoa, in a brownie form.

Who doesn't want that?!

But for reals guys, they are good stuff.

Heres eight hundred pictures to prove it:

Is it weird that I like taking pictures of food so much?

Because its basically my favorite photo subject. Did I ever tell you about the time I wanted to be a professional food stylist? Well I did, and then came this blog. And then came two long months of neglecting this blog.

Sorry about that.

Check out more of Amy's Organic Gluten Free products here.

Have you tried any of Amy's products? Which ones, what did you think about it?

*I'm also thinking that this blog needs a little revamping again. Is it wrong to go in to full fledge construction mode, when you have a zillion other things to do, and absolutely no time to waste on doing so? I think not.

:)

{While the products reviewed today, were provided for testing; no monetary compensation was provided. All opinions and photos are entirely mine, without further influence.}

Gluten free Chocolate Pancakes

I did something the other day, that I really shouldn't have.

I made cake, and tried to disguise it as a meal.

Then I put chocolate sauce and strawberries on top, and called it breakfast.

Although, if you wanna get all technical and stuff; I actually ate it for dinner.

Thats better isn't it?

But in seriousness, if you want some chocolate cake, but don't want to wait for it to cook forever.

Or if you want a super special breakfast, 

these pancakes are for you.

Go make them, right now.

Here's the recipe, so you can :)

Enjoy!

Amy's Organic Kitchen Review

Time for another food find review!! 

You are all jumping in your seats, I can tell. (insert winky face here)

Today I am discussing some products, for your tasting pleasure, from Amy's Organic Kitchen.

If you've ever been to a grocery store in the last several years, you've probably seen these products.

I know for a fact, that every store in my town carries at least one of Amy's products.

While this brand has like a million different products, not all of them are gluten free; so make sure you check before you buy. I have made that mistake before. Even though its so clearly labeled gluten free in big bold letters on the front, the non-gluten free items are not labeled "not gluten free", thus I have come home with inedible items several times. Such is the life of the nonobservant.

Actually, I am really quite observant-I just unintentionally pick and choose what I am going to pay attention to. 

Now you know.

I had the opportunity this week to try three of Amy's Gluten free products.

I tried black bean chili, GF/DF Mac and cheese, and GF/DF chocolate cake.

Let's start with the chili:

This particular chili that I tried, was the Low-Fat Black Bean. This flavor is labeled as medium spice, which I chose over the spicy spice for some unknown reason. I always convince myself in stores that I don't like what I like. I have seriously deep conversations in my head sometimes, battling out a ongoing pro/con list. End of the day, I thought spicy would be too spicy, and medium would be just right.

 I was sorta right.

The chili was great, it really was. Nice flavor with a hint of spice, good texture to the beans and the sauce. {nothing worse than chili thats super mushy, or in a sauce thats too liquid--this guy didn't break either of those rules.}

I just found myself wishing for a little more spice. Thats just me though. Overall, this is a great can o' beans. Most likely I will buy the spicier flavor next time, and most likely at that time I will be craving this particular chili. There is no winning with myself.

Moving on...

Chocolate cake. Gluten free, dairy free, vegan. What's in it anyway?

This cake, as the majority of Amy's products do; comes in the freezer section. This entails, as you can only imagine, that the cake is frozen. To unfreeze it, you have to thaw it out in the fridge. To make it easy: I just threw it in the fridge after buying it until I was ready to eat it. (the next day)

Now, I don't know if it was my thawing technique or what-but I did not really enjoy this cake.

It looks beautiful, and appears super moist and chocolatey. It was moist, and it was chocolatey, but it was also incredibly grainy, bitter, and crumbly. The chocolate flavor was there, but not nearly enough.

To dress it up a little, I topped it with some strawberries and homemade coconut whipped cream. You know the super easy recipe thats all over pinterest, that all you have to do is chill a can of coconut cream, whip it up, and your set with whipped cream that tastes just like the real deal? It doesn't. It's gross. Between the gritty cake, and the nasty coconut cream; I left this dessert pretty disappointed.

Now that all said, A few days later while discussing this cake with my mother; she pulled out a fully frozen piece of cake and ate it. She loved it. I was shocked, so I tasted some. It was not all that bad, much better than it had been thawed. A few more days later, my nephew was over and graced by the presence of gluten and dairy full cupcakes, that he couldn't eat. So I pulled out a piece of that chocolate cake for him (again fully frozen) and he loved it.

Moral of the story: this cake is good when frozen, and its also a super convenient item to have on hand for emergencies. 

What emergency involves eating cake? I bet you can figure that out. (insert winky face)

For the main course of this review, I tried out the gluten free, dairy free, soy free Mac n' cheeze.

This product you really have to pay attention to at the store; Amy's has a billion different Mac n' cheese varieties. Regular, low sodium, gluten free, gluten and dairy free, lactose free, and whatever else they have.

This macaroni dish though, is what makes me excited about life. A gluten free product that is also dairy free, and doesn't have soy?! Unthinkable, is what that is.

I loved this dish. It tasted just like macaroni and cheese should: creamy, cheesy, soft, smooth and yummy. The sauce does leave kind of a slimy feeling in your mouth, but it didn't bother me much.

Definitely home comfort at its finest.

At the end of the day, I enjoy Amy's products. In addition to these three, I have also tried some burritos,  freezer meals, soups, and pizza. Most of them where tried back in the beginnings of my Celiac journey, before I avoided dairy, corn and soy--so not all of them are free of all that bizness. 

Amy's website however, has a really convenient allergen search on their website, here. 

This pizza by the way, which I haven't had in a very long time, is super scrumptious.

Enjoy!

{Disclaimer: While the products tested today where provided for review, no monetary compensation was exchanged for this post. All opinions are mine without further influence.}

Gluten free and Dairy free Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Curd

I was looking through all my recipes on here the other day, and realized that I haven't really talked about chocolate cupcakes.

Sure I posted this back in twenty-ten (can you believe this blog has been around for three years already? I can't..but maybe thats because I abandoned blogging for a year or so in that time..)

Anyway, that post. Oh those early posts. I like to think that over the years the content of this little blog of mine has gotten better; especially when I see how awful those earlier days where. 

I  mean really- in your face photos, lots of dairy, gf flour I thought was good at the time, and the ever changing font size ala the fad of 2010.

Classy stuff I tell you.

I should just delete those early days, but it just would feel wrong to do so. Not all babies start out cute, ya know? Things progress, it would be unnatural to pretend they didn't..does that even make any sense to anyone but myself?

But cupcakes...

I now have to perfect cupcake situations. A white cake filled with lemon curd, and a chocolate cake filled with raspberry curd.

Both will soon make appearances at some upcoming events, me thinks.

{I also realize I never shared my lemon curd recipe with you, that will make an appearance soon as well :) }

Raspberry curd, is basically the same as lemon curd--except it takes like twice as long. It may just be easier to use raspberry jam. (with the seeds strained out)

Why did it take an hour and a half to make this little jar of sauce, you may ask. 

Seeds. That is why.

Unlike lemons, that you just have to juice, raspberries have to be smashed. Smashed and de-seeded. Its about as fun as it sounds. By that, I mean not at all.

Than if you get impatient, and decide to put half of the raspberries in with seeds-you'll have to spend another forty-five minutes straining out seeds at the end.

ugg. 

Worth it though.

You want to make it the day before you need to fill your cupcakes, so that it will firm up in the fridge over night. Also, try to limit the amount of times you take a spoonful to your mouth.

I also went ahead and made the cupcakes the day before use, so that they would be all ready for finishing touches in the morning. In the morning, when I would be visiting one of my longest friends brand new baby girl, and bringing some treats with me. My mother taught me to never make a house visit empty handed, so I don't. Actually now that I say that, I'm not sure if she taught me to, or thats one of those things I tell myself I need to do... 

I also, listen to this, used these same cupcakes for two other things.

The recipe made 26 regular size cupcakes, and 10 mini. Four to new momma, 20 to my momma (to bring for one of her students b-days) and 1 regular, and 9 minis to my sunday school class. The three year old-turning four year old requested chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting and sparkles for her birthday. So thats how all this began in the first place. (she got the big one to take home, the rest of the kids ate the mini ones in class)

If you know your math, you'll notice that that leaves 1 big cupcake, and 1 little one unaccounted for. I can tell you, I ate the mini one (I had to make sure it was edible, it would be wrong if I didn't, right) the regular sized one was eaten by someone else in the house. Because sharing is caring.

(recipes at the end of the post)

Now that you have your fresh raspberry curd, and cooled cakes its time to fill 'em up, and make them pretty!

Get your cake, and either a cupcake corer, or an apple corer (honestly, they work the exact same) and drill a whole smack in the middle.

like so:

Now this next step is very important.

Take that little middle, smear it with raspberry curd, and stuff it in your mouth. 

It is absolutely crucial that you don't forget this step.

Unless you want to pretend that the whole never happened, and filling miraculously appeared in the middle--don't eat it. Cut it in half, and save to put on top of the filling. (you want to replace the piece with the top of the cake, back in its place)

You got your wholes, just go on and fill them up with curd.

for some reason that last sentence does not sound so appetizing...

Next, frosting!

Because the cupcakes I was making where going to celebrate a new baby girl, and a birthday girl-I chose to frost with pink rosettes. Similar to what I did for my birthday cake, but it worked out a lot better ;)

The secret: a bigger tip.

To make the rosettes, you use the biggest star tip you can find. I have three sizes, a small, medium and large. The large was used.

Frosting the rosettes is actually really easy: you just do it from the inside out, as opposed to the outside in you would use for a regular star frosted cupcake.

You start with a little dollop in the middle, and stretch it around and around until your cupcake is covered.

I wish I was talented enough to photograph myself while doing it, but alas I am not...

so here is a helpful video someone else did :)

For the min cupcakes, I did not fill them, and I used the medium sized star tip. They look a little sad because I decided to only frost the ones I needed to deliver, put the remaining frosting in the fridge and left to snuggled a baby for a couple hours. When I came back, and was ready to frost my little guys, the frosting was rock solid. Once it was soft enough to use, I frosted them; but the frosting was a little runny. Luckily they are only for three year olds.

Here are the recipes guys:

For the cake, I use Bakers German Chocolate cake recipe.
 Here are the ingredients I used, click on the link for complete recipe!

1 package BAKERS German Sweet Chocolate

1/2 cup water

4 eggs, seperated

2 Cups GF flour ( I use King Arthurs GF Flour or Trader Joe's GF Blend)

2 tsp Xanthan Gum

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1 Cup Dairy free Butter

2 Cups Sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup Buttermilk (to make: 1 cup dairy free Milk (almond for me) plus 2 tsp apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice. Let sit for 10 minutes, then ready to use!)

Wow that was a long post. 

Thanks for tuning in and reading everyday guys, your the best!

Enjoy!!

Gluten Free White cake

Growing up, my mother always made a special cake for each of our birthdays. We got to choose the flavor of the cake, the filling, the frosting and what color sprinkle it would have. She would than make said cake, from scratch {or a box, nothing to be ashamed about :) } and hide it in the back of the fridge until after dinner, when the baked creation would be revealed. 

For some weird reason, I always wanted a store bought cake. All my friends got store bought cakes, and in my young mind I thought that homemade was inferior to store bought. 

Now I know better. 

My mom is really just the bomb-diggity.

Anyway, in my early teens I started on an anti homemade cake phase for a couple years. This phase was enabled by the recent opening of a Costco down the street. One year it was a birthday pie (I was anti cake in general that year, for some reason) the next a giant sheet cake with fluffy strawberry mouse and a purple princess piped on top. 

But then, Duff Goldman and food network entered my life.

I wanted to try my hand at all those creations, and various frosting techniques. 

So that next birthday I made my own cake. 

I baked up some fresh cake, trimmed it until it was perfect and smeared it with fluffy white frosting. 

I rolled and shaped some fresh fondant to cover it, and piped out a swirly white design to the sides.

Ever since then, I have used my birthday cake as a vessel to try out new things. 

Even though I prefer a layered cake to cupcakes any day, a real cake only ever really gets made for birthdays around here. Which means I make plenty of cakes for other people, to their likings; but not to experiment with.

This years project had two parts; to try out frosting rosettes and to finally create delicious dairy and gluten free white/yellow cake. A lot of chocolate cake is had around here, as it is amazingly scrumptious. But a good white cake had yet to happen. They always turned out dry, or with a funny taste.

But not this one guys.

This one was great. 

I'm really pretty excited about it.

As for the rosettes, they worked out, but it definitely needs more practice.

 I filled the cake with fresh made dairy free lemon curd, which is one of my favorite sweet things on the planet.

 I ate a lot of this cake, and I'm still trying to recover from it.

Sugar is not my friend for sure..... 

{but it was kinda worth it..}

Heres the recipe:

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Mississippi Mud Cake

About two weeks ago, my mother made a treat. 

It was a treat full of chocolate and marshmallows, all bundled together underneath some scrumptious frosting. These treats had me salivating for days, just looking at them. But these little bars of happiness were not meant for me, and that was proved by the amount of gluten and dairy they possessed.

sigh.

Days later, I was still thinking about them, and how much they needed to be mine. But being off of sugar once again, I had to keep pushing off my craving. 

Until now.

Then, the other day a treat had to be made for a church function. I knew I had to make a gluten free and dairy free version of this cake.

I made these cakes in my little (4inch) spring-form pans, but the recipe is for a batch the size of a 9x13 pan, and it gets served as bars.

I warn you though, these little cakes are very dangerous. You will not be able to stop. 

Every single bite, is a little piece of heaven. A pillowy cloud of cake and marshmallows, with a frosting so delectable it hurts. The whole thing just melts away in your mouth, and brings pure bliss.
Its my new favorite thing ever.

Where has this been all my life? Seriously.

(the answer: in the infamous family cookbook. Who knew?)

I am not sure why its called a Mississippi Mud cake, all I know is that I have to sing the M-i-ss, i-ss. i-pp-i song when I am spelling Mississippi.

I suppose it has that name because its sort of a rocky road cake of sorts. Nuts, chocolate, marshmallows. Thats a rocky road, and thats my best guess.

Without further ado, 

Heres the recipe:

Enjoy!