Birthday [Carrot Cake] Cupcakes

Thursday was my birthday, and I made myself a special treat. Carrot cupcakes. Free of grains, gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, almonds, refined sugar...

This was my first experience with chestnut flour - baking or eating - and I must say, it will definitely not be my last. (I'm glad I signed up to get a small bag of it every couple of months through Amazon.com Subscribe & Save!) The cupcakes turned out moist, soft, and cinnamon-y delicious. Chestnut flour has swag.

I frosted the cupcakes with a quick glaze-style icing I made from palm shortening, shredded coconut, maple syrup, local honey, and coconut oil. I spooned that on while it was still liquid, then topped them with leftover grated carrot and organic dried coconut flakes and left to set.
These were good by themselves, better enjoyed with a cup of coffee, and best with a bowl of coconut ice cream on the side!
The recipe made ten cupcakes, and it was the perfect amount to share with my husband and enjoy my birthday. I ate more than half of those ten in about twenty-four hours. It was my birthday and I indulged.

I saw the recipe featured last month at Brittany Angell's gluten-free, dairy-free site Real Sustenance, and bookmarked it for my special day. If you have never checked out Brittany's blog, head over there now and look at her recipes. I have made two of them now, these cupcakes and the Samoa cookies (original recipe). She is very talented and I'm so glad to have found her blog!

I made the cupcakes according to Brittany's recipe, with a few ingredient changes, less sweetener, and a misstep in mixing. It is a forgiving recipe, because they still turned out great! I give her all credit, however I only will list the ingredients I used and the steps I took to make these cupcakes.

[Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Soy-Free, Almond-Free]

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Recipe credit: Brittany Angell, RealSustenance.com

What you need:

• 1/4 cup natural applesauce (no sweeteners added)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup grapeseed oil
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free, alcohol-free vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup Chestnut flour
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon 
• 1/4 cup Sucanat
• 2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1 cup washed, peeled, grated organic carrots (I minced mine in the small food processor)
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar*

What you do:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line muffin tin with 10 paper liners.

Measure wet ingredients (applesauce, coconut milk, grapeseed oil, vanilla, and vinegar) into a large bowl, stir together to combine.

Add in the dry ingredients (chestnut flour, cinnamon, sucanat, baking powder) and blend with a spatula. Pour in grated carrots and gently fold together until batter is evenly mixed.

Scoop the batter into muffin cups and place into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes.

(Cupcakes will be finished when toothpick comes out clean.)

These cupcakes are delicious. It was fun sharing them and hearing the reactions - "full of flavor," and "If I hadn't been told already that these are gluten-free and dairy-free, I wouldn't have known!" "Yummy!"

I'm happy to report to you, grain-free does not mean delicious dessert free. You can come up with a special birthday treat for any diet. Do you have a favorite annual celebratory treat that needs converting or replacing, to be safe and healthy for you and/or loved ones? Do share and I'd love to brainstorm with you about substitutions and new ideas. And check out RealSustenance.com for more great ideas.

Playing around with cupcakes and my Gerbera daisy plate

It was a treat to find my Gerbera daisy plant blooming on my birthday.
I thought it didn't make it through the late ice storm we had,
but it's got two beautfiul red flowers on it now!

Another birthday, another year of life and many things to be thankful for. Every year I am a little surprised at how different a birthday is as an adult. I don't know why it's taking me such a long time to adapt to that difference from childhood. But it is better, especially when you have a best friend/spouse and a precious baby girl to spend it with. 28 years of life accomplished, and so many more to come!

GF Lemon Cornmeal Cake

I made this delicious lemon cornmeal bundt cake for our open house two years ago, and it was very good. I found the recipe in a spring issue of Women's Day, and it fit in perfectly with the chicken taco buffet and cilantro lime rice we served. I didn't have any food allergies then (weird I know) and didn't think anything of the wheat flour, butter and eggs in it.

Well, I remembered this cake last week, tracked down the recipe, and decided to see if it could be pulled off in a gluten free version. While using Google to find the original recipe from Women's Day, I also happily stumbled upon someone's gluten free suggestion for the same recipe (she's got gorgeous pictures of the finished bundt cake there as well)!

I am signed up to bring dessert to our small group tomorrow, and I think the lemon and cornmeal flavors of this cake will fit nicely with the BBQ chicken lunch our hosts are cooking. And imagine, I can have a piece with everyone else when it's time for dessert! It's the simple things that I appreciate...
We don't normally keep sugar in the house, but I had some leftover from baking gluten-free sugar cookies with a friend. I had to buy a little bit more so I could bake both a test cake for home and a cake for small group. I hate buying sugar -I'd go so far as to say it makes me feel dirty to do it! But I tell myself that ONCE IN A WHILE is okay. Now is not a good time for experimenting with stevia, maple syrup or honey to try and get the right flavor for this cake and glaze.

As with all gluten free recipes, this needed testing before I share it with gluten-indulgent friends. So this morning I halved the recipe and baked an eight inch round. I had no issues with it at all, it baked up perfectly in thirty minutes! I just tried a piece, and it's delicious! I'm sure the butter, eggs and sugar have a lot to do with that. ;) (At least it's gluten free!) It's soft, a little crumbly, tangy and sweet. The glaze hardens and makes a nice sugary crunch. A must-have for a spring or summer tea party, baby shower or BBQ. Put it in a glass cake dome or on a lovely pedestal. Perfection!

Here's the recipe for an eight inch round. Double it and proceed with care to attempt the full Bundt cake - I don't know how it would turn out in a gluten free form.

Gluten Free Lemon Cornmeal Cake
Grease an eight-inch cake pan with coconut oil and dust with rice flour.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together:
1 cup rice flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Add:
1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (or less if you watch your sodium intake- I used just a sprinkle)

Whisk together well and set aside.

In the bowl of your standing mixer, beat together the following on medium speed until light and fluffy:
1 stick softened unsalted butter
Between 3/4 and 1 cup sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon

Add 2 omega-3 organic eggs and blend together.
With mixer on low, alternately beat in dry ingredients and 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt which you have stirred smooth. Mix until batter is smooth, but do not overmix (never overmix gluten-free batters).
Batter will be thick. Scrape into prepared cake pan and smooth with spatula/spoon.

Bake for thirty minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Place pan on wire rack to cool.

After five minutes, remove cake from pan and place atop a square of parchment paper. To make the glaze, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and juice of 1 lemon in a small bowl. Sugar won't dissolve completely. Pour/brush glaze over the hot cake until much of it is absorbed.

Let cool and rest for several hours, then enjoy! Serve in thin slices.
To keep overnight or longer, make sure cake is covered well. It tends to dry out quickly.

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Our camera is not working right now. We are hoping to be gifted a new one before Baby Girl arrives, because pictures of our newborn will be kind of a necessity! But I took a few pics with my phone, just for fun.

The cake, ready to go in the oven - the batter is quite thick as the recipe states:

Hot out of the oven before glazing:

Glazed and cooled and missing a piece (now it's missing two!):