GLUTEN, DAIRY & REFINED SUGAR-FREE EVERY OCCASION CAKE!

Dear friends,

I am considering this my biggest recipe success to date! Here's the history on the why. I love creating healthy alternatives for my family to eat. My daughter already recognizes what a "birthday cake" looks like from images in books and television and so on. I wanted to be able to make her an actual cake for her birthdays to come. One that I can frost and color (naturally) and make look special and well...like a "birthday cake." I don't think you have to miss out on aesthetically pleasing foods just because it's healthy. I rarely bake with sugar, even though we use raw and organic sugar. We have bee hives and so I have honey available to me. I realize this is not the case with most, but that's why I use a lot of honey in my recipes. I don't know if a gluten, dairy and refined sugar-free cake sounds easy to create...but it was NOT! Baking without gluten is tricky enough, but you take away dairy and take away sugar and it's beyond tricky! It felt impossible! I've been pretty successful with many of my recipes right off because I'm becoming more and more familiar with which things work together, but this cake!!! I had several fails...I became a little down-hearted about it, I won't lie. I thought maybe it's just not possible to achieve what I'm envisioning without some of those ingredients I was trying to keep out. I even did some searching of gluten-free cakes online to see if I was missing some key in it all. But I couldn't even find a cake recipe that excluded all three of those things! Well, when I have my heart set on something...I keep trying. I tried again with a new thought train and was amazed to get the consistency I wanted. The taste though was terribly off. So I tweaked it...and...I DID IT!!!! I was ELATED!! I did it! I actually created a gluten, dairy and refined-sugar free cake that cut like a cake, looked like a cake, was moist, fluffy and DELICIOUS!!! It's the perfect cake for any flavor icing or putting fruit on or whatever! I just had to share that first because this is such a huge recipe-creating victory for me! From here on, I can tweak my icings and colors and so on, but for now, I want to share with you this wonderful recipe that I worked so very hard on to make just right! I had three bowls (4.5", 4" and 3") that I purposely used to create a mini three-tiered cake, but you could easily make them into cupcakes or a round sheet cake! Just fill whatever you use 2/3 of the way because it will rise! Of course you can use your own frosting, but I created two icings that were loved by all who tasted them (free of the three...gluten, dairy, sugar) and I'm sharing those too!!!! Make sure your measurements are exact and read my directions! Happy baking!!!

EVERY-OCCASION CAKE!

4 tbs - White Rice Flour (all flours are Bob's Red Mill Brand)
2 tbs - Tapioca Flour
2 tbs - Potato Starch
4 tsp - Baking Powder
1/4 tsp - Baking Soda
2 tbs - Raw Honey
3 tbs - Organic Maple Syrup (do NOT use any syrup other than real, organic maple)
2 tsp - Rice Milk (NOT vanilla)
8 tbs - Unsweetened Organic Applesauce (I used Kroger's Simple Truth Brand)
2 tsp - Vanilla Extract
2      -  Duck Egg Whites - OR 4 CHICKEN EGG WHITES
**VERY IMPORTANT - I USE DUCK EGG WHICH RENDERS A MUCH LIGHTER AND FLUFFIER BAKED GOOD THAN CHICKEN EGG** USING CHICKEN EGG MIGHT NOT BE THE VERY SAME**
2 tbs - Melted Coconut Oil

Throw it all in one bowl and mix it with a hand beater for around 2-3 minutes. You will notice that the batter will fluff up because of the egg whites and start to look a bit foamy. That's what you want! The egg whites keep it light and mixing it longer creates more air in the batter, so that when it bakes, it renders a light and fluffy cake!

*Use non-stick items if you must, but to oil the bottom of your pan, USE THE TINIEST BIT OF COCONUT OIL ON YOUR FINGERS...THE TINIEST. It only needs the bare minimum! It doesn't need a layer of oil! If you use more than just enough to make the bottom feel a little slick then it might make the bottom of the cake too wet.*

Fill your pan(s) 2/3 of the way so that it can rise!

Bake at 350 F degrees for at least 20 minutes and then begin to watch it. It might take up to 30 minutes depending on the oven or the pan you're using, but start checking it by 20 minutes and do the toothpick check in the middle to see if it comes clean.

*LET IT COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE REMOVING THE CAKE FROM THE PAN* Otherwise you risk losing some of the bottom of your cake.

LOVELY LEMON ICING

4-6 tbs - Arrowroot powder
8 drops - Lemon Essential Oil
1 tbs - Raw Honey
splash of fresh lemon juice

Now, the icings are a little tricky only because you need to start small and then add on if you need to. You want it thick, but keep in mind that it will firm up greatly once it's been refrigerated. You will also need to taste it to see if it's the sweetness you want. You might want to add more honey or lemon to it depending on what you want. If you want more of a frosting and fondant type of consistency then you need to refrigerate it a bit first to let it harden some.


CHOCOLATE ICING

1 tsp - Raw Cacao Powder
3-6 tbs - Arrowroot Powder
2 tbs - Raw Honey

Again, you may need to add more honey or arrowroot depending on your preference.