Domestifluff : Food, Craft, Etc. » Cakes and Cookies

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Kristen — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:04:12 +0000

Picture it, my living room, three or so years ago. I was at the tail end of an elimination diet (no sugar, dairy, or gluten), which I’d undertaken in desperation after having been told by my doctor that nothing was wrong with me. Yeah, right.

My carb-loving self was having a mean craving for anything cakey, and I didn’t know how long I’d be able to last if I didn’t get a cupcake or muffin in the very immediate future. Apprehensively, but hungrily, I made my way to the kitchen cupboard that contained my then tiny supply of gluten free baking ingredients. Having never baked gluten free before, I wasn’t sure what to make, but after flipping through my only gluten free cookbook at the time, Gluten Free Baking Classics by Annalise Roberts (still a favorite!), I decided on the carrot spice muffins. It’s amazing how easily I can justify eating several muffins or cupcakes in one sitting when they have something healthy like carrots in them.

I mixed up the batter, using these strange new ingredients and agave nectar as the sweetener, popped the muffins into the oven, and hoped for the best. Looking back, I think I can say that I was extremely lucky to have tried such a great recipe for my first gluten free baking adventure, because I knew after taking my first bite of that slightly spiced, moist muffin that it was completely possible to make something that tasted just as good (or better) than what I was used to in my pre-gluten free days.

As a result of my first experience baking gluten free, carrot-y baked goods still hold a yummy place in my heart, and this time around I tried the prize carrot cake recipe from Bette Hagman’s The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods, which has become another of my cookbook favorites. Though I was intrigued by the fact that the original recipe called for a healthy amount of pureed green tomatoes, they’re not exactly easy to find in a city, so I replaced them with applesauce, which provided the same moistness, as well as a little bit of sweetness. I do wonder how different the flavor would’ve been if I would’ve used the tomatoes, because I can tell you that this cake was absolutely delicious even without them. Seriously, I think that this may rank in my top three favorite gluten free recipes. The texture was amazing, and boy was this cake ever moist, even after three days (that’s how long the cupcakes lasted) and even though I used the sugar free sweetener xylitol, which tends to suck the moisture out of baked goods.

I halved the recipe because I didn’t want to make a full cake, but you can double it if you want to make a three layer cake, which is what the original recipe made.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
makes approximately 12 standard-sized cupcakes

Note: Try substituting crushed pineapple for the applesauce 1:1 for a little more “tropical”. Because pineapple is very sweet, you may want to use one to two less tablespoons of sweetener if you’re concerned about the cake being too sweet.

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE
adapted from The Gluten Free Gourmet Cooks Comfort Foods

1 1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp. gluten free featherlight blend (find the recipe in this post)
1/2 + 1/8 tsp. xanthan gum
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
3/4 cup xylitol
1/4 tsp. liquid stevia
2 eggs
3/4 cup coconut oil
6 oz. unsweetened applesauce
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (optional)

FOR THE FROSTING
adapted from my grandmother’s recipe

8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup xylitol (you can replace 1:1 with sugar)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1/4 tsp. agar agar (optional – to prevent the cream from weeping)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners, and set aside.

2. FOR THE CAKE: In a medium bowl, whisk together the featherlight flour blend, xanthan gum, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and xylitol (or sugar).

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs slightly. Add the stevia, coconut oil, and applesauce and whisk until mixed. Stir slowly while adding the dry ingredients. Stir only until incorporated, then stir in the carrots and nuts.

4. Spoon or scoop the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool on racks before frosting.

5. FOR THE FROSTING: Using an electric mixer, in a large bowl, mix the xylitol and agar agar (or gelatin), if using. Add the cream cheese and vanilla and beat until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream. You can chill the frosting for an hour or so until it’s firm, or frost immediately and refrigerate the frosted cupcakes.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Orange Poppyseed Cake

Kristen — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:10:26 +0000

Glazes, drizzles, and any confectioner’s sugar based frostings have become the bane of my sugar free existence, so we’re just going to ignore the fiasco of an attempt at an orange glaze on what is otherwise a very nice cake. Okay, now that we’ve gotten that unpleasantness out of the way (and, hey, if you’re on a sugar free diet and have come up with a nice glaze or drizzle recipe, I’d love to hear it!), I want to talk about my new favorite flour blend.

Late last year, I picked up a copy of Elana Amsterdam’s The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook (her chocolate chip scone recipe is a must try!). I’ve been using almond flour in my baking for a couple of years, but this cookbook has taken my interest to the next level. I’ve been blending almond flour with my other new favorite flour, coconut flour, and a bit of a starch like cornstarch or arrowroot starch with great results!

This orange poppyseed cake is a new favorite. The crumb is fantastic, and it stayed very moist for at least four days (that’s how long it lasted before we gobbled it all up). It’s a dense cake, like a pound cake, but it’s not heavy. In other words, it doesn’t sit in your stomach like a brick, which is a very good thing.

At the last minute, I decided to add almond extract to the batter because I’ve been hoping to recreate the taste of these yummy almond poppyseed muffins that I had years ago (in my pre-gluten free and sugar free days) at an office potluck, of all places. I think I came pretty close to the flavor with this cake, but unfortunately the almond sort of overpowered the orange, so if you want an orange-ier cake then you can leave out the almond flavoring. And, if you’re not sugar free, you should be able to substitute table sugar 1 to 1 for the xylitol with no problems.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Orange Poppyseed Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch (or cornstarch)
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup xylitol
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract (optional)
5 eggs
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2-3 oranges)
1 Tbsp. grated orange zest
1/3 cup poppyseeds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line a 9 inch cake pan with oven parchment, and spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl, add the softened butter and xylitol and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until blended.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Blend with a fork until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the orange juice to the egg and butter mixture and mix until you can no longer see pockets of dry ingredients throughout the batter. Add the orange zest and poppyseeds and mix until evenly distributed.

4. Using a spatula, spread the batter evenly in the prepared cake pan. The batter will be very thick.

5. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on a cooling rack before turning the cake out of the pan and serving.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Thumbprint Cookies

Kristen — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:16:07 +0000

Cookies have been one of my biggest challenges since I started a gluten and sugar free diet. Cakey cookies are usually no problem, but crunchy, crispy, or chewy cookies? It just hasn’t been easy for me to replicate these textures with the ingredients that I use. I’m sure it’s down to chemical makeup and reaction or non-reaction, which I’m certainly finding out more about as I go along, but I’m no expert … yet. However, I am starting to get better cookie results, so I guess I must be learning something. Or it’s dumb luck. Either way, I’ll take it.

My gluten and sugar free take on one of my favorites, thumbprint cookies, comes pretty darn close to the “real” thing. I’ve always enjoyed the balance of the subtly sweet, shortbread-like cookie, covered in toasted walnuts, with a sweet burst of jam in the center. My favorite jams to use are raspberry and strawberry, and I’ve also seen them with chocolate frosting or ganache in the center.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Thumbprint Cookies
recipe yields 12-16 cookies

Notes: Instead of chopping the walnuts with a knife, I place them into a zip top bag and use a can of something from the pantry or a rolling pin to crush them into small pieces.

Ingredients

1 stick (4 oz.) butter, unsalted
1/3 cup xylitol, powdered (I use a coffee grinder to powder the xylitol granules)
½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups gluten free flour blend (the blend I use can be found here)
1/8 tsp. xanthan gum
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
1 egg (for egg wash)
¾ walnuts, chopped into small pieces
1/3 cup sugar free jam, any flavor

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine the gluten free flour blend, xanthan gum, and salt. Stir with a fork until combined.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl with a hand held mixer, beat the butter and xylitol until light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and beat until thoroughly incorporated. Add the dry ingredients, one third at a time, and beat on low until incorporated. Cover and chill dough for up to 1 hour.

4. Separate the egg, placing the egg white into a small bowl and whisking until frothy. Place the chopped nuts into a separate bowl.

5. Roll chilled dough into 1 inch round balls. Roll the dough balls in the egg white until thoroughly covered. Shake off any excess, and roll the dough balls in the chopped walnuts until covered. Place onto a cookie sheet and, using your thumb, gently press down on the center of the dough ball until an indentation is formed. If the dough cracks around the edges, reshape until rounded. Place approximately 1 teaspoon of jam into the indentation.

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Cool and serve.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Whoopie Pies

Kristen — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:25:02 +0000

You didn’t think that I’d leave you hanging with a recipe for luscious buttercream and nothing on which to slather it, now, did you? Well, I guess I did leave you hanging for a few days, but I’m here today to tell you all about the most incredible whoopie pies (aka gobs) that I’ve ever eaten. I’m not speaking in hyperbole, either. These things were awesome, better even than the gluten and sugar-filled version, in my opinion, anyway.

Before I went gluten and sugar free, my go to whoopie pie recipe was Two Brothers’ Chocolate Gobs by Paula Deen. It was pretty good, but I always thought that the filling was a bit flour-y, and the cakey part was a little lacking in the chocolate department. Ironically, I guess I needed a more restrictive diet to start thinking outside of my little whoopie pie box.

I translated this recipe from one featured in the January 2003 issue of Gourmet, so you can find the gluten and sugar-filled recipe here, though I’d still recommend that you use the meringue buttercream for the filling instead of the filling recipe that they have listed. The buttercream really does rock. I haven’t tried the recipe in its original form, but my gluten free version is very moist and probably a bit denser than the original. I played around with the amount of xanthan gum, and 1 teaspoon was enough to give the cakes great texture and to help keep them moist for at least three days (that’s as long as they lasted in my house).

Whoopie Pies
cake recipe adapted from Gourmet, January 2003
recipe yields 8 whoopie pies

Notes: Double the cake recipe if you’d like to use the entire buttercream recipe.

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKES

2 cups gluten free flour blend
½ cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup xylitol (brown or white sugar, if you’re not sugar free)
1 egg

FOR THE FILLING

½ recipe sugar free buttercream (get the recipe here)

Instructions

1. Make the cakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 or 3 cookie sheets (enough to fit 16 2 oz. cakes) with either oven parchment or by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, xanthan gum, baking soda, and salt. In a separate small bowl, mix together the buttermilk and vanilla.

3. Using a stand mixer or an electric mixer and a large bowl, beat together butter and xylitol (or sugar) for 3 to 5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and continue beating until combined.

4. On low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. If you’re using a stand mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally and continue to mix until smooth.

5. Using a 2 oz. disher or a large spoon, scoop 2 oz. (¼ cup) mounds of batter roughly 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, switching the position of the cookie sheets halfway through baking, until the tops of the cakes are puffy and spring back when touched. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

7. Make the filling: Spread 2 tablespoons of freshly made buttercream or buttercream that has been made previously and allowed to soften and come to room temperature on the flat side of half of the cakes. Top with the remaining cakes and serve immediately or store in the refrigerator.

Sugar Free Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Kristen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:20:06 +0000

For months, I’ve been mulling over the idea of making a sugar free Swiss meringue buttercream, but every time it would cross my mind I would worry that the xylitol wouldn’t work in the meringue and that the whole thing would be a flop.

However, an interesting thing happened. I noticed that, in recipes I made which required the sugar (xylitol, in my case) to be whipped together with whole eggs until they were at the ribbon stage, the xylitol performed as well or better than regular sugar. These experiences gave me enough evidence that I finally decided to attempt a sugar free meringue buttercream.

Oh, my goodness. I don’t normally describe food as gorgeous, but this buttercream is truly a thing of beauty. Again, I find myself wondering what took me so long to try a recipe idea. Honestly, I cannot tell that this is sugar free, as it tastes almost identical to a buttercream made with cane sugar. And the texture, well, it’s silky, smooth, and … drool. I can’t express how excited I am that this worked out, because having a base recipe for something so versatile will finally allow me to get away from the sub par “quickie” buttercreams that I’ve tried using sugar free confectioners’ sugar recipes. They never did taste quite right.

Swiss meringue buttercream is all about the technique, but it’s actually not difficult at all once you get the hang of it. Your mixer does most of the work. The key is to make sure that the meringue is completely cooled before you start adding the butter. If you do that, then you should be good to go!

Sugar Free Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Notes: If you aren’t sugar free, then you can replace the xylitol 1 for 1 with cane sugar.

Ingredients

4 egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup xylitol (or sugar)
10 ounces (2 ½ sticks) of butter, cubed and at room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Add egg whites and xylitol to the bowl of your mixer and place over a pan of boiling water. Lightly whisk the mixture constantly (no need to whip yet) until the xylitol is completely dissolved, about 7-10 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and move the bowl to your stand mixer (you can use also use a hand mixer). Using the whip attachment, whip the eggs and xylitol on medium until a stiff peaked meringue is formed and the mixture is completely cool. Your mixing bowl should be completely cool to the touch before you go to the next step.

3. Switch out the mixer’s whisk attachment with the beater attachment, and start to beat on low speed. Slowly add the softened butter, one piece at a time, and wait until the current piece is completely incorporated before adding the next piece. At some point in the process, the buttercream may start to appear somewhat curdled, but it will eventually come back together, so please don’t fret and think that you have to start over. Just keep adding that butter!

4. Add the vanilla (or your flavoring of choice) and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Frost cakes, cupcakes, etc. immediately, or store in the refrigerator to use at a later time. If you chill the buttercream, be sure to allow enough time for it to come to room temperature before you use it to frost anything.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Orange Polenta Cake

Kristen — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:27:11 +0000

The February issue of Gourmet has a recipe for orange polenta cake, and the accompanying photo was enough for me to get a mean polenta cake craving. I’ve actually been looking for an excuse to make some sort of polenta/cornmeal cake, so this recipe served as a perfect reminder.

If you’re new to gluten free baking, or if you’re looking to convert your first gluten-ful recipe to gluten free, a cake like this is the perfect place to start because it’s already practically gluten free in its original form. I simply subbed out the 1/2 cup of all purpose flour with my new favorite, Bette Hagman’s featherlight blend (see recipe area below), added a bit of xanthan gum, and slightly bumped up the amount of baking powder.

I also parted ways with the original recipe by leaving out the caramel orange layer — I haven’t experimented yet with making caramel using xylitol or erythritol and, frankly, the orange layer didn’t appeal to me. I finished the cake off with a glaze made using sugar free confectioners’ sugar (a surprisingly decent, diabetic-friendly recipe can be found here — I used xylitol as my sweetener).

I didn’t have any of the orange flower water found in the original recipe, and while I’m sure it would’ve added a nice floral note that was absent in my version, I really didn’t miss it. This cake smells absolutely wonderful, has great texture that’s somewhere between cornmeal and an airy sponge, and has very bold orange flavor. Definitely a keeper! In the future, I may have to try this with a mix of lemon and orange, grapefruit and orange, or with a mix of other citrus fruits.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Orange Polenta Cake

Ingredients

FOR CAKE
adapted from Orange Polenta Cake (Gourmet, February 2009)

1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup xylitol (or granulated sugar, if you’re not sugar free)
3 large eggs
2 Tbsp. orange zest (roughly 2 large navel oranges)
juice of 1/2 navel orange
1/2 cup featherlight gluten free flour blend (see below)
1/8 tsp. xanthan gum
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups almond flour/meal
2/3 cup finely ground cornmeal or quick cooking polenta

FOR GLAZE

1 1/4 cups sugar free confectioners’ sugar (recipe here)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tsp. vanilla

FEATHERLIGHT GLUTEN FREE BLEND (Bette Hagman)

1 part brown rice flour
1 part tapioca flour
1 part cornstarch
1 tsp. potato flour (not potato starch) per cup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9 inch round cake pan with non-stick spray and line bottom with parchment paper.

2. Grate zest from oranges and set aside.

3. Cream butter and xylitol (or sugar) using an electric mixer until thoroughly mixed. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each is added. Add orange juice and orange zest and mix until incorporated.

4. Combine flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, almond flour, and cornmeal/polenta. Turn mixer to low and slowly add the dry ingredients until just combined. Spread batter in prepared pan (batter will be thick) using a rubber spatula or, preferably, an offset spatula. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The original recipe stated that the cake should bake 1 to 1 1/4 hours, but my cake was done at about 50 minutes, so be sure to check a bit early just to make sure.

5. Cool cake in pan for 5 minutes. Invert onto cooling rack and let cool completely.

6. For glaze: add confectioners’ sugar to small bowl and add vanilla. Mix in orange juice slowly, until you have the desired consistency (thick enough that it won’t run right off the cake). Pour over cooled cake and allow to set. Move to a cake plate and serve.