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

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Chocolate Beet Cake

Kristen — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:50:51 +0000

It was the night before my first ever CSA pickup, and it felt like Christmas Eve. What great produce was I going to find in my share? What was I going to make with it? Ooh, the sheer excitement of it all!

I knew that I was probably going to find beets in my share, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on those fuchsia beauties because I had plans for them. Nevermind that I’d wanted to gag every single time that I’d tried beets in the past. I was determined to make a beet-filled something or other that would also be something that I would like, and a chocolate cake seemed like just the thing to rid me of my beet blahs.

In my defense, I will say that I would very much like to enjoy beets. They’re extremely nutrient rich, and they’re bright pink (one of my favorite colors), but they’re just too earthy for me on their own. So, this cake was the perfect solution because the earthiness of the beets blended wonderfully with the chocolate. I don’t think that I can say that I like beets now, but I can say that I love beets … if they’re in this cake.

I’ve been working on a gluten free, sugar free chocolate cake recipe for a while, and this one is my absolute favorite. The recipe is very flexible; you can replace the beet puree with unsweetened applesauce, mashed bananas, or pumpkin puree (I’ve done all three) and still get a rich, moist cake that will stay moist for many days.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Chocolate Beet Cake
recipe by Kristen Magee
yields one 9 inch cake

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE

1/3 cup millet flour
1/3 cup almond flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoom baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup xylitol
1/2 teaspoon liquid stevia
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup beet puree (see instructions below)

FOR THE GANACHE

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup xylitol
1/4 teaspoon liquid stevia

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F. Wrap beets (about 3 medium or 2 large beets for 3/4 cup of puree) loosely in aluminum foil and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the beets are soft enough that a knife can easily be inserted. Remove from the oven, carefully unwrap (beware of hot steam), and allow to cool for about 15 minutes, or until the beets are not too hot to touch. Remove the skins (you might want to wear kitchen gloves so you don’t stain your hands), cut beets into large chunks, and puree in a blender with the canola oil. You can also use a hand blender. Set aside.

Lower the oven temp to 350F, and line a 9 inch cake pan with oven parchment, or grease with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the millet flour, almond flour, cornstarch, cocoa, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, add the xylitol, stevia, eggs, and canola oil/beet mixture. Mix on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, or until all of the wet ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet, one third at a time, and mix until just combined. After all of the dry ingredients are added, mix for an additional minute. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan, and smooth evenly using a spatula. Rap the pan against a hard surface to get rid of any large air bubbles, and bake until an inserted toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool completely before removing from the pan and topping with ganache.

In a small saucepan, add the coconut milk, xylitol, and stevia and cook on low, stirring occasionally, until the xylitol is completely dissolved. Break the chocolate into large chunks and place into a medium heatproof bowl. Add the coconut milk mixture and stir until glossy and smooth. Pour over the cooled cake and spread with an offset spatula or spoon. Serve immediately, or chill in the refrigerator.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Carrot (Pulp) Bars

Kristen — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:14:11 +0000

I’ve been feeling rather guilty lately, and it’s all because of juice. See, I’ve started making my own homemade veggie juice on a regular basis, but the problem is the leftover pulp. I’d love to compost but 1) we live in a high rise apartment building, and though we have a balcony, there’s not a whole lot of room to do composting, and 2) I have no idea what I’d use the compost for because I don’t actually grow anything (brown thumb). So, I end up having to throw out the leftover pulp, which really bums me out.

I got to thinking about my pulp problem, and I had an idea: carrot cake! Since carrots make up the bulk of the pulp, I thought that I could at least save that and put it to good use. Turns out that many other inventive juice makers had the same idea, because when I started looking around there were carrot pulp recipes all over the place. Yes!

These carrot (pulp) bars are ridiculously good – so very moist, too, and when autumn rolls around (if I can hold out that long), I’m totally trying this recipe using pumpkin puree in place of carrot pulp.

Bonus: I think I’ve finally concocted a sugar free cream cheese frosting recipe that can be put into regular rotation. Sure, it may cancel out some of the nutritiousness of the carrots, but it’s so freakin’ good that I’m not losing any sleep over it.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Carrot (Pulp) Bars
recipe makes 12 bars

Ingredients

FOR THE BARS

1/3 cup millet flour
1/3 cup blanched almond flour
6 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup carrot pulp
4 oz. unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup xylitol
1/2 tsp. liquid stevia

FOR THE FROSTING

1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup xylitol
1/2 tsp. liquid stevia
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 inch pan with oven parchment, or lightly coat the bottom and sides of the pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the millet flour, almond flour, cornstarch, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a medium mixing bowl and hand-held electric mixer), combine the carrot pulp, applesauce, eggs, canola oil, xylitol, and liquid stevia. Beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, or until well mixed.

Add the dry ingredients to the carrot mixture, half at a time, on low speed and mix until the ingredients are thoroughly combined and the batter is smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and spread evenly in the pan using a rubber spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out of the center with just a few crumbs on it.

While the cake is cooling, add all of the frosting ingredients (minus the cinnamon) to a medium mixing bowl. Using a hand-held electric mixer, beat on high for 2-3 minutes, or until the frosting is fluffy and the xylitol granules have dissolved. Add the cinnamon and mix for another minute. When the cake has cooled completely, frost and cut into bars to serve.

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.