Author Archives: Erica

Coconut Italian Cream Cake, GF/CF

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When it comes to birthday cakes, Josh’s absolute favorite is his mom’s Italian cream cake. It’s the kind of recipe that will never taste as good as her original version did. It doesn’t matter that I follow the exact recipe… it’s not her cake. I’ve made peace with that, and a few years ago kind of gave up trying to get it right. Instead, I decided to come up with a gluten-free, dairy-free rendition, and have been working to get as close as possible to the original flavors and textures. It’s almost there! In trying to be diet-conscious, my most recent cake was slightly less calorie-laden than usual. Even though it was his birthday, Josh didn’t want to let things get too far beyond his caloric goals. Unsweetened applesauce subbed out for half of the oil worked very well, and I used unsweetened, shredded coconut instead of Angel Flake. I think the cupcakes would have been more moist, had the coconut not been so dry; I need to see what I can tweak to remedy that. The cupcakes weren’t dry; they just weren’t quite as moist as Josh remembers the original cake. I used Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese in lieu of regular cream cheese for the frosting- it works very well! That’s exciting, since Josh can’t do much dairy these days. I put sweetened coconut in the frosting, and that’s a departure from the recipe. The texture is nice, but it will probably get left out next time – the frosting just seemed overly sweet (and that did not help the calorie count!).

Coconut Italian Cream Cake, GF/CF
 
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A gluten-free, dairy-free version of my husband's favorite coconut Italian cream cake.
Author:
Cuisine: dessert
Serves: 1 9-inch cake
Ingredients
  • Cake:
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup brown rice flour
  • ½ cup tapioca flour
  • ¼ cup GF oat flour
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp guar gum
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil
  • ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
  • ½ cup almond milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp coconut flavoring
  • 1 tsp butter flavoring
  • optional: ½ cup coconut shreds
  • Frosting:
  • 1 8oz tub of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
  • ½ cup Earth Balance Buttery Spread
  • ½ tsp butter flavoring
  • 2-1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 16 oz powdered sugar
  • ½ cup chopped pecans
  • optional: ½ cup coconut shreds
Instructions
  1. Cake:
  2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  3. Position rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour three 9-inch, round cake pans, or put liners in cupcake tins.
  4. Beat sugar and eggs in large bowl at medium speed for about a minute.
  5. Add flour, salt, baking powder, guar gum, oil, applesauce, milk, vanilla, coconut & butter flavorings. Add coconut shreds, if desired. Beat again at medium speed, for about a minute.
  6. Pour batter into pans, or spoon into the cupcake liners, filling the about ¾ full.
  7. Bake in center of oven for about 25-30 minutes if making cake; for cupcakes, bake 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on baking rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pans to cool further.
  8. For the frosting:
  9. Beat cream cheese, margarine, vanilla, and butter flavoring at medium speed with electric mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar, beating at low speed til blended, then beat at high speed until smooth. Stir in nuts, and coconut shreds, if desired.
  10. Let cake cool completely before frosting.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 10 Calories: 629 Fat: 29 Carbohydrates: 88 Sugar: 70 Sodium: 281 Protein: 4

Try not to eat it all at once! Even with the slight calorie savings, these are RICH. My husband found that it works well to partition the cake into thin slices and freeze them separately… it made it last a little longer, anyway.

blender fun!

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It’s Friday; that calls for celebration, right? This morning, the boys and I decided that some blender treats were in order. First up: banana ‘ice cream’. It’s super-simple, though takes a bit of prep time. You know those bananas that are getting a bit too ripe? Slice them up into good-size chunks, put them into a freezable container or bag, and then pop them into the freezer. Let them sit there for a few hours (or a few days), then get the blender ready. Just blend the bananas until they are the consistency of soft-serve ice cream, and spoon into a bowl. Voila! Dessert! My kids like it with chocolate syrup (gluten- and casein-free!), but I like it all by itself.

I guess we didn’t eat our fruit fast enough this week, because I had some mangoes get too ripe, as well. No problem: mango-peach sorbet! This one is easy, too: cut the mangoes and peaches up into chunks, then place them into your blender. Squeeze the juice of half a lime into the carafe, and if you prefer your sorbet on the sweet side, add a few drops of liquid stevia. I add a tablespoon or so of vodka to help prevent a hard freeze, but that is optional, too. You might want to consider adding another flavor. Some ginger, maybe? Cinnamon? Some finely-chopped fresh mint? Have fun… you can’t go wrong! Fire up the blender, and after you’ve got a smooth consistency, pour the mixture into a freezer-safe container. Place your creation into the freezer, then take it out every 20 minutes or so for a thorough stir. After an hour or two (depending upon how much fruit you used, and how frozen you want your sorbet), you’re good to go. YUM! Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

mushroom and sausage soup

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I try to plan meals ahead of time, but that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, the dinner plan has to be created on the fly with whatever is on hand. Isn’t it wonderful when the result is something delicious?

The soup base I use is Imagine Foods’  Creamy Portobello Mushroom; it has soy, but no gluten or dairy. The tomato soup of the same brand is excellent, as well.

I served brown rice and asparagus on the side; the brown rice works well in the soup, too. This is so very fast and simple, yet filling and delicious, too.

Mushroom and Sausage Soup
serves 5

32oz carton of Creamy Portobello Mushroom Soup

1.5 cups almond milk

1 cup mushrooms (preferably Portobello) cut into 1″ pieces

1 red bell pepper,  cut into 2″ pieces

5 Italian sausages, cooked and sliced

Mix soup, almond milk, mushrooms and pepper in large pot over medium heat. In skillet, heat Italian sausage until cooked through, then slice and add into soup.

Heat thoroughly, and serve!

Hello, world!

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Welcome! Whether you are new to gluten- and dairy-free cooking or not, finding ways to feed yourself and your family within dietary restrictions can be a challenge. I hope to use this website to assist you in finding new foods and recipes that are not only safe, but also healthy and delicious.

Thanks for visiting, and I look forward to your comments!