Today is my birthday, yeah me, and yeah, my mom. Mom, thanks for bringing me into this world.
Growing up, I often made my own birthday cake. My mom encouraged my brother and I to cook, but mainly I enjoyed the process of creating birthday treats myself. Back then, birthday cake came from a box, which is a one-80 from how I prepare, cook, create, and eat food today. Even though my kitchen skills started from a box, I am very thankful to my mother for encouraging me to get in the kitchen.
Due to my food intolerances and thus, enable myself to thoroughly enjoy my birthday cake, I like to create it myself. This cake is almost dairy free (a little bit from butter, which lends a great depth of flavor), egg free, and gluten free.
Here is the recipe, which also makes an excellent brownie sans frosting:
1 c. water
2 T. organic butter
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 T. gelatin
1/4 c.unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 c. white sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 c. almond flour
1/2 c. rice flour
1/4 c. arrowroot powder
1/4 c. coconut flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 7 inch x 11 inch brownie pan with butter and place a piece of parchment on the bottom of pan. Place 1 c. cold water in a medium sauce pan. Sprinkle gelatin over the top of cold water evenly and let it stand for a few minutes to soak up the water. Once dry spots are gone from the gelatin, place over low heat and warm through until gelatin is dissolved completely. Do not let it boil. If not all of the gelatin is dissolving, pick out any clumps so these do not end up in the final product. Add butter and chocolate, stir until melted. Add all other ingredients and stir until well combined. Pour into the greased pan. Bake for 27-30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. This is a key step in any gluten free baking endeavor. Cooling the fresh baked product allows for the adhesive ingredients like gelatin and arrowroot flour to set and really bind it all together.
For the frosting, I was able to find an amazing tasting frosting in the store that was made with unrefined organic palm shortening (a healthy tropical fat) and cane sugar, called Dollop. It was creamy and luscious.
For decorating: remove the cake from it’s pan once completely cooled. Cut the entire cake in two equal pieces in order to make a layer cake. Put one half of the cake on a large plate and frost the top of this piece then place the other half of the cake on top of that. Continue to frost the top and sides.
I have to give credit to all of the cake decorators out there, frosting cakes is a hard task, making sure the frosting sticks to the cake without incorporating crumbs from the cake so that the frosting stays white, tricky task indeed. It was not the prettiest cake I have ever seen, but it was soft and sweet, chocolatey and creamy. It was perfect for me and I wish I had more.
This cake serves about 8 people.
Looking for more gluten free treats? Try these Blueberry Plantain Muffins, this creamy, yet dairy-free Cashew Date Chocolate Mousse, or my fall favorite Grain-Free Pumpkin Pie.
Real Food, Real Health 