Coconut Cake

Easter just came and went and what better way to celebrate with a coconut cake?  So I set out to find a cake that would be wonderful for Easter dessert!


I started out using GF Goddess's coconut cake: found here (but of course I changed it).  I wanted 3 layers so I 1 1/2-ed the recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line three 8-inch cake pans with a circle of parchment paper.


In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients:

2 1/4 cups tapioca starch
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup organic coconut flour2 3/4 cups organic cane sugar
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Add in and beat:

4 1/2 free-range organic eggs, beaten, or egg replacer *I separated the last egg into a bowl and then just scooped out about 1/2 of it -- not an exact science at all*
1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup coconut oil

      *instead of just using 3/4 cups of oil, I separated that into 3 different 1/4 cups and did oil, shortening, and coconut oil since I am not a fan of straight oil*
1 1/2 14-oz can organic light coconut milk  *this was about 3 cups of coconut milk*
2 teaspoon lime juice
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
*my batter needed a little extra liquid, so I added 1/4 cups of rice milk*

*Mine baked for 33 exactly and turned out perfect*

Continue to beat until smooth. It should resemble a slightly thick and sticky cake batter.


Using a silicone spatula, divide and scoop the cake batter into the three prepared cake pans and spread evenly. Use wet hands, if necessary, to smooth out the tops. Bake in the center of the pre-heated oven, side by side for 33 minutes, or so, until firm and springy. A cake tester inserted into the center should emerge clean. Cool on a wire rack.

So, now that the cake was made, what to do about the frosting?  When researching for cakes, I found a Bobby Flay coconut cake that he had done for a "Throwdown" episode.  The cake had a custard filling.  That sounded wonderful.  But how to make a custard without dairy?  Why not try my new favorite ingredient, coconut milk?

There is light coconut milk which resembles more of a milk consistency and just regular coconut milk.  This is a thick and rick consistency -- something that resembles more of a cream consistency.  This could work....

Coconut Custard:

1/3 cup rice milk

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/3 cup light coconut milk 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 large egg yolks

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons vodka

2 teaspoons lime zest

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine the milks and vanilla in a medium nonreactive saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat.


Whisk together the yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Slowly whisk the warm milk into the egg mixture then return the mixture to the pot over medium heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, until thickened. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and whisk in the vodka. lime zest, and vanilla extract. Let cool to room temperature then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours.

Then comes the tricky part....

Finishing the Custard:

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup rice milk

Combine these two in a small saucepan -- be sure to whisk out all the lumps!  Heat on medium heat, stirring constantly, until it becomes thick.  Once thick and smooth, remove from heat and let cool.  [Note that once the mixture starts to go thick, it gets thick fast so keep stirring and don't cook it too long!]

Add to the custard along with 2 heaping tablespoons of shortening and about a 1/3 cup of powdered sugar.  Beat all of the ingredients together until custard is smooth.

(The boys -- my fiance and his friends -- who taste tested the custard decided that it was just amazing on its own!!)

The Frosting:

1 bag of powdered sugar

1/2 cup shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon coconut extract

enough hot water to make the frosting the desired consistency (I usually use around 1/4-1/2 cup)

Mix all the ingredients together -- add the water as needed.  Super easy!

Now to assemble the cake.  Take the three cooled layers and shave off the tops to make them all flat and smooth on top. 

Place one layer, cut side up, on a plate.  Spoon about half of the custard filling onto the layer -- put don't spread it out all the way to the edge, leave about an inch all the way around.  Place the next layer on -- cut side up again.  The custard will squish out to the edges!  Put the rest of the custard on doing the same as the first layer. 

Place the last layer on -- this time cut side down.  Finally frost the cake as you wish!  And if you want, put some shredded coconut on the sides of the cake.

[*By the way -- the foil is around the plate to make sure that the plate stays clean.  Just take 3 or 4 pieces and fold around the side of the plate.  Frost away then pull out the foil!  Et Voila -- a perfectly frosted cake and a clean plate!]

The cake being served at our "family" Easter Dinner!!!

The final product turned out pretty good.  I would tweak a few things next time -- like maybe using some rice milk mixed with coconut milk and I probably would not use sorghum flour.  I like the lighter textures of the not as "healthy" gluten free flours.  But, I still ate it and I still ate some seconds :)

Our Terms

We use some silly words around our two houses.  Everything often has "faux" in front of it!  Or we replace the first letter with an "f" -- to symbolize fake/faux.  We also use some of the same products over and over again.  When you find something you like and you can't really eat that much....  you stick with what you like!

So when you read:

1) Futter -- it really means our favorite butter alternative.  The amazing people over at Earth Balance have actually created a margarine-type spread that is soy and dairy free.  Did you know that margarine is made with soy? 

2) Shortening -- we are referring to the best butter substitute for baking.  Palm oil shortening.  And no, this is not the palm oil that everyone said was bad for you -- this is actually the pure stuff.  No words you can't pronounce in the ingredients!  The best brand (meaning free of other allergens as well) is Spectrum Shortening

3) Gluten Free Flour Blend -- we stole this from Cybele Pascal.  She really got us hooked on baking allergen free.  But since we aren't all that talented (yet) in playing with different flours, we have been sticking with her blend which is: Mix together 4 cups fine brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch and 2/3 cups tapioca flours -- then put in a airtight container and put in the fridge!

More on the products we love at a later date!  But we have discovered "foreos!!"

Lime Coconut Blueberry Scones

Yeah, I went a little overboard with the ingredients but they sure turned out good!  I had some blueberries and was craving scones.  So away I went...  I did a little research on the Internet for a starting off point but my favorite bloggers were of no help.  I did find one recipe that I was able to adapt.  These scones were not originally dairy-free so I adapted.  And I seem to be on a coconut kick, so why not make it rich without adding the fat of traditional cream!
 

Without further ado:

2 C GF flour blend [here]
1/2 C sugar + more for sprinkling
1 T baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

1/2 t xanthum gum

1-2 t lime zest
3 T futter

3 T shortening

3/4 C coconut milk (use the stuff in the can -- and be sure to stir it first!) + more brushing the scones

1 egg

1 t vanilla extract

1 C frozen blueberries

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2) Mix all dry ingredients (plus the lime zest) in a large bowl

3) Cut the butter in with a pastry blender or two knives, coating the pieces with flour as you go, until the largest pieces of butter are pea-sized. Keep this mixture cold, chilling it in the refrigerator if the butter starts to soften

4) Add in the blueberries

5) Whisk together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl

6) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until the mixture starts to hold together, then gently knead the dough a few times with your hands. Depending on your flour mix, the dough may be very sticky. While this makes it difficult to handle, it is okay. If the dough seems dry and won't hold together easily, add 1-2 T more coconut milk and knead it in (*I had to add about one more tablespoon of coconut milk*)

7) Put the dough on a large baking sheet (I used my silpat as well). Gently push the dough into a flat disk about one inch high. Cut into eight equal pieces and arrange them on the baking sheet about one inch apart. Brush some coconut oil onto the tops of the scones, the sprinkle with sugar.
(*Mine turned out pretty big, so you could easily make smaller ones*)

8) Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one comes out clean. (*Mine baked for 20 minutes!*)

They turned out a little purple but they sure tasted good.  They didn't need futter, or anything!  I couldn't believe how creamy they were -- by far the best scones I have ever made, even when I was baking with gluten and butter!

I am tempted to go back for seconds right now....

Best Frosting EVER!

I (AK) am a teacher.  More specifically a special education teacher.  I teach students who are diagnosed with behavior disorders. They don't always have the easiest home lives, nor do they have a lot of people in their lives who care about them.  So -- I take whatever chance I get to let my knows know that someone cares.  Often times I do this by baking. 

HSPE (aka the new WASL) testing -- I made yummy brain food treats for the kids.  Birthdays -- they get to pick their birthday treat that I make and bring in.  Good week -- why not bring in treats?!

This led me to creating a YUMMY carrot cake.  We also had a potluck at school and the kids had a good week, so why not bring something in?

I had made a carrot cake from Cybele in the past and my students loved it.  But I wanted to try another recipe.  So I found this one: Living Without's Carrot Cake.  But as usual I changed it up.  To save space, I will just let you know what I changed.....

1) Instead of the 1/2 cup oil I used: 1/4 cup shortening (my usual Spectrum) and 1/4 cup Coconut Oil (I wanted some extra flavor and coconut oil works great without making it too rich)

2) I used my usual GF flour blend [here] and I did use eggs (not replacer)

3) The FROSTING!  It turned out so good that my co-workers just kept eating it off the top of the cake!
[A few weeks ago I found flavored goat cheese in the grocery store.  This was not just any goat cheese.  It was a cream cheese substitute.  The flavors were: coffee, fig, honey, and cinnamon.  Since I can handle goat (and sheep) products, I bought some to try.  It was delicious!]
So I decided to use the rest in my frosting since carrot cake traditionally has cream cheese frosting.  I luckily had bought the cinnamon goat cheese.  I used about 1/4 cup of the goat cheese and probably about the same amount of shortening.  I am really bad about measuring when it comes to my frosting!  I used an entire bag of powdered sugar (I think this ends up to about 9 cups).  I also added some cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg (which is not part of a nut!).  So for my recipe:

Cinnamon Cream "Cheese" Frosting
1/4 C cinnamon goat cheese (I think the brand is Montchevre)
1/4 C Spectrum Shortening
about 1/4 C hot water (don't need to heat it up on the stove, just use hot tap water) -- and add a tablespoon at a time (you may need to add more or less to get the consistency that you want)*
8-9 C powdered sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t ginger

1) Put all ingredients into a mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid), and about 1-2 tablespoons of water and mix away!  Add more water as needed.

And enjoy -- don't eat too much of the frosting, you may actually need to frost the cake!  Let us know what you think!

*Depending on what you are making, you may want a runnier or thicker frosting.  When I frost cakes, I want it to be able to spread easily but when I frost cupcakes, I want the frosting a little thicker so it stays on top of the cupcake.  Just add water one tablespoon at at time so you don't end up with super runny frosting!  Experiment with flavors and amounts of water to powdered sugar to shortening ratio.  Frosting is hard to mess up!

Biscuits

It has been at least a year since I have eaten a good biscuit.  I always get a little sad when I go out for breakfast...  People around me get to eat the yummy, warm, and usually homemade biscuits with their breakfast.  However, I am stuck just wishing I could eat it.

But just last week I found a recipe that I could adapt. Away I went experimenting.

The first time I made these, I had to use real butter.  I was at my parents' house and I didn't have my "futter" (fake butter) or shortening...  They turned out good but made me a little sick.  So just today I remade them again today with shortening.  They turned out GREAT!

Here is the recipe for AK's Allergen-Free Biscuits:

2 C GF flour blend (see GF Flour Post) + more for dusting
1 1/2 T sugar
3/4 t xanthum gum (this binds everything together since there isn't gluten to bind, you need this!)
1 T baking powder\
3/4 t baking soda
1 t cream of tartar
1/4 C palm oil shortening or futter (either Spectrum Shortening or Futter) **make sure it is cold**
3/4 C rice milk (or whatever milk product you can use) **use up to 1 C as needed**
1 egg (you could also easily use egg replacer)

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2) Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Then in a separate bowl (or measuring cup) mix the rice milk and egg together. 

3) Cut in the futter/shortening -- use a pastry cutter or you can do all of this in your Cuisinart.  You should have pea size futter/shortening mixed in with the flours.  You don't want to fully mix in the futter/shortening -- this will not create the pastry that you want for moist, yummy biscuits!

4) Slowly mix in the rice milk/egg mixture.  This works best with a fork or wooden spoon.  You should have a sticky dough -- add more liquid or flour as needed.

5) On a floured surface (use the GF flour blend) pat out the dough to about an inch thick round thing.  Use a round cookie cutter, a cup -- anything round to cut the biscuits.  You should end up with about 10.  (You will need to put the dough back together and pat it out again a few more times to get all the biscuits cut).

6) Place biscuits on a greased cookie sheet (I use futter or shortening -- or you can use a silpat sheet).  Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown!

I am continuing to experiment on how to make these just a little bit better.  So far these biscuits hit the spot, but I am sure I can make them even better....

[Since I/we are new to writing recipes -- let us know if anything you try on our blog that doesn't work!  We want everyone to eat the best foods possible, and if that means retrying or rewriting a recipe, we will do it!]

Welcome!

Jessica Addie and I (Abby Kathryn) have been good friends since 2005.  JA always thought she had acid reflux disease, but it turned out to be allergies!  She gave up dairy, gluten, tree nuts, soy, and peanuts about 3 years ago and has been a healthy, happy woman ever since! 

I found out I was allergic to foods the hard way... I kissed a boy after he ate peanut butter and I went into anaphylactic shock!  Turned out I was really allergic to peanuts, tree nuts and soy.  Let me just say that although the ER doctors/nurses were awesome -- they did all find it hilarious that I wound up in the hospital for kissing a boy!

This event happened to bring JA and myself closer together.  She helped me figure out what to eat since everything contains soy or has traces of nuts.  This was also before the "allergen-free" craze started so it was hard to find food to eat.  Then a year ago, I got sick and had to give up gluten and dairy.  JA was there again to help me figure out what to eat!

The two of us then began experimenting with baking to figure out how to create the foods that we missed -- cakes, pies, cookies, and anything sweet.

We fell in love with a few blogs to help us get started on our baking adventures:
     - Cybele Pascal
     - GF Goddess
     - GF and the Chef (she happens to live near us!)

But we wanted to make our own things.  We are still using Cybele's gluten free flour blend:
     Mix together:
        4 cups brown rice flour (try and find superfine)
        1 1/3 cups potato starch (not flour -- that is a thickener)
        2/3 cups tapioca starch (sometimes called tapioca flour)

We hope to use this blog to figure out our own cooking styles and maybe become experts in baking allergen free!

And remember: just because we don't use any gluten, dairy, soy, nuts or peanuts doesn't mean our stuff isn't good -- our cookies ARE better than your cookies!