Easy Gluten Free and Dairy Free Cake....I Promise!

Hi Everyone!  I hope you are all doing grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!  I've been busy with our little sumo empress (Aria is already a whopping 17.5lbs at 4.5mos!  Breastmilk is aweeeeeeeesome!) but we are happy, healthy and enjoying this sunny Spring weather.

We've been hosting a lot of playdates with Aria's little bff's :)  I try to cater to my friends' special dietary needs which usually includes being gluten and dairy free.  Gone are the days where it was just us naturopathic hippies that would bring our own gluten/dairy free desserts to gatherings....I'm finding that when I present a g/d-free treat to our "normal" friends, it's greeted with ohhhhhhhs and ahhhhs instead of groans.

It's quite trendy right now to be gluten free so I find that many people are trying it to see what all the buzz is about.  You may find no change at all but a percentage of folks that are sensitive to gluten will find themselves feeling fab....that lingering headache, never ending bloating, foggy thinking and chronic skin rash may finally disappear once you choose to eliminate gluten out of your diet.  (note:  if you really want to see if you are allergic to gluten, our clinic offers allergy testing). 

I've also been dairy free as the lactose in dairy can travel into your breastmilk and cause your little one's tummy to become upset.

I make this cake often and recommend it to my friends and patients who are looking for a RIDICULOUSLY YUMMY g/d-free dessert.  It's also super economical to make unlike most g/d-free desserts that you buy at the store....and best of all...it's embarrassingly easy to make.

First of all.....go to Food Basics and buy yourself one of these gluten free cake mixes....it should be around $3.  If you don't have a Food Basics near you, you can use another gluten free cake mix....the key is to use more dairy free milk than the box instructions usually call for....you want the batter to have a nice smooth consistency):

If you follow the directions on the box, the cake will turn out dry, gross and crumbly.  So instead, please follow my modifications:

Other ingredients needed:
1/2 cup Earth Balance (soy free) butter
1 Tbsp Coconut Oil (you don't have to put this in but i love putting a shot of this healthy medium chain fatty acid into the dessert!)
2 large eggs (I haven't tried this recipe yet with egg replacer....if you do, please let me know how it turns out!)
1 cup + 2Tbsp Dairy free milk (you choose.....I use flax/coconut/hemp/whatever is in the fridge)
1tsp vanilla extract

Now you can follow the preparation instructions on the box as well as the baking times.  If you have used another cake mix, just cream the butter and coconut oil first until fluffy then add the remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.  Before you pour your batter into the prepared pans, it should look like this in consistency:

Voila (see pic at the top of this post)!!!  I wanted to take a pic of the whole cake but Makoto already got into it!

Oh....I topped it with my fave frosting:
2 cups  Demerara brown sugar
Dairy free milk
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter

-  Put the demerara brown sugar into a sauce pan and just moisten with some milk (around 1/4c).  Bring to a boil and stir carefully for 3min making sure it doesn't boil over.  Take off heat and stir in the butter.  Use an electric beater and beat until it thickens and becomes this delicious frosting (around 7min).  I usually put the sauce pan in a shallow cold water bath in the sink while beating to cool it faster.

You can also heat some Chocolate Coconut milk to make a deelish dairy free hot chocolate for your guests too and serve it with your new favorite cake! :):):)

Have cake...and eat it too!!  Enjoy!
:)
Aileen Lim-Trotter

Flourless Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies - You Only Need 4 Ingredients!

When I was 11 years old, my parents moved our family to Rosetown, Saskatchewan. My sister and I were the only Asian kids in...well...Saskatchewan. I kid, I kid. But we were, no joke, the only two Asian kids in Rosetown, Saskatchewan.

We lived there for just under two years and some of my best childhood memories are from playing in the giant grain piles at my friend's farms and going to the harvest festivals. The farmer's markets were also out of control....I remember my mom buying a huge bucket of organic zucchinis for 25 cents.

My first introduction to baking was during one of my first classes in Grade 7 when I realized I was enrolled in Home Economics on crack. These girls were baking peach cobblers from scratch and sewing their own custom designed pyjamas on our FIRST day of class. I made a giant (burnt) cookie with Smarties and a pin cushion (roughly in the shape of a heart) for my mom. Thankfully, my little girlfriends and our teacher took me under their wings and taught me all the secret baking tricks and tips that their grandmothers had taught them from birth.

To this day, I absolutely love baking. It's something I do to relax!  The tricky part is making my favorite recipes into healthier versions.

Here is my gluten, dairy and egg free (vegan) Peanut Butter Cookie recipe….health conscious or not, you’ll love this moist and delicious cookie!