Grain Free Apple Butter Walnut Cake

I realized today that it has been close to forever since I have posted a new recipe! This seems to happen a lot when I am planning new cooking classes for work. All of my energy and creativity goes into the new recipes for the class, and you, my poor loyal blog fans, are left so deprived!  It is also the beginning of gardening season in southern Ontario where we live, and being an avid gardener, my priorities have definitely been focused elsewhere for the last month or so. Enough with the excuses though, however good they are! I am fixing it here and now, before another minute goes by! 

I made this cake this afternoon, while doing another test run of a new grain free bread recipe that is very (very!)  promising. (I did have some gardening to do but mother nature was not cooperating, so I opted to stay inside!) Both recipes turned out well, but the bread has a few minor issues that I still want to tweak before I post it. (I have to tell you, though, that it stays soft, it slices thin, and lasts for a few days wonderfully as the recipe stands right now…but I will save the rest for another post! It will be worth waiting for, trust me!)

Now, back to the cake! I was initially aiming for something close to a cinnamon bun flavored cake (because grain free dough does not like to roll up!)  But, when I was getting the eggs out of the fridge, the jar of apple butter was staring at me with such aplomb that I knew it wanted to be a part of the cake. Apple butter, in my humble opinion, is such an under-utilized ingredient in the kitchen. It has a much more concentrated apple flavour than applesauce, and lends itself to many different uses in the kitchen. I have made a killer salad dressing, a marinade, and now this lovely cake, all with fantastic results.   Be sure to buy one that has no added sugars, the apples are sweet enough on their own. (Eden makes a lovely one, I highly recommend it!) It would also be divine on a slice of my new grain free bread, toasted, with a slathering of butter…just sayin…

Grain Free Apple Butter Walnut Cake

Batter:

5 eggs

½ cup coconut flour

1/3 cup arrowroot starch/flour

¼ cup chickpea flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 Tbsp Apple cider vinegar

½ tsp salt

1/3 cup coconut sugar

1/3 cup kefir, yogurt or non dairy alternative like cultured coconut yogurt

¼ cup melted coconut oil

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Topping ingredients:

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup apple butter

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 tsp cinnamon

¼ cup coconut sugar

Preheat oven to 350F

Line an 8x8 glass baking pan with parchment or grease well.  Set aside.

Measure all of the batter ingredients into a medium to large mixing bowl. Using an immersion blender, (or a whisk and lots of elbow grease) mix until very well combined and smooth.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and set aside.

Using  the same bowl, measure the topping ingredients and mix well to combine. Drop spoonfuls of topping evenly around the top of the batter, giving a swirl with a knife to distribute it slightly.

Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the middle comes out just clean.

Remove from oven and cool before cutting and serving. 

Grain Free Refined Sugar Free Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Somehow I ended up with 2 tubs of dates in my pantry. Not a bad thing, necessarily, but I didn't want them to go to waste. I generally don't need an excuse to bake, but this was a good one!

Dates make an awesome natural sweetener, being on the lower end of the glycemic index (I believe they are a 9) means less of a blood sugar spike, great if you happen to be diabetic. They are also rich in polyphenols  and fiber, making them a smart alternative to refined sugars that bring nothing to the table but sweet!

This cake is lovely for breakfast. (or any time of the day for that matter!) Moist and flavourful, it is not overly sweet, and virtuous enough in its ingredients to make having cake for breakfast an OK thing. (My blueberry shunning teen even packed two pieces in his lunch today, a definite seal of approval!)

The batter is made, start to finish, in the food processor.  If you don’t have one, I might suggest that you soak the dates to soften them, and whiz them with the banana and other liquid ingredients in your blender, pour into a mixing bowl and proceed with the recipe from there.

Grain Free Refined Sugar Free Blueberry Breakfast Cake

6 Medjool dates

2 ripe bananas

4 eggs

1/3 cup yogurt or kefir

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup softened coconut oil

1/3 cup coconut flour

2 Tbsp chick pea flour

2 Tbsp arrowroot powder

1 tsp baking soda

¾ tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

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Topping:

Generous ½ cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Cinnamon to sprinkle

Preheat oven to 350F. Slice the dates open and take out the pit. Line an 8X8 glass pan with parchment.

Place pitted dates and peeled bananas in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the dates and bananas make a nice smooth puree. Small bits of date are ok.

dates and bananas

Add the rest of the ingredients and process again until you have a nice smooth batter. Scrape into parchment lined pan and smooth the batter into the pan.

a sprinkle of cinnamon

Scatter the blueberries evenly on top of the batter and lightly press down. Sprinkle with a light coating of cinnamon to taste, I probably used around ½ -1 tsp.

Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven, and carefully lift the parchment paper out of the pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

Store leftovers in a sealed container at room temperature for up to 2 days. If it lasts longer than that in your house, store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Grain Free Crockpot Chocolate Fudge Pudding Cake

With the colder weather , as I have said before, I crave comfort foods. But my dietary needs and taste buds have changed so much in the past few years, those typical good old comfort foods just don’t fit anymore. So when I really get a craving for something, like this pudding cake I remember from my childhood, I reinvent it to suit the way we eat now. It is still definitely a treat, but one that you can indulge in without “most” of the guilt!

This cake is made in the Crockpot or slow cooker (I use my smaller 3 quart one, if you only have a large one, this recipe could easily be doubled, the leftovers are great!), and is typical of an old fashioned pudding cake, where you make the batter, and (gasp!!) ...pour a bunch of water on top of it...seriously! It then magically creates a moist fudgy pudding en-robed cake that cooks merrily away on its own while you throw together a nice healthy supper to balance it all out. It is best served at room temperature or chilled, IF you can wait long enough to let it cool! The pictures do not do it justice, it is just not photogenic.  But, what it lacks in beauty, it makes up for in flavour! (It also goes really well with a scoop of your favourite vanilla ice cream...just in-case you were wondering :)

You want a nice thick batter--if it appears
too thin, add another Tbsp or two of
coconut flour.

Grain Free Crockpot Chocolate Fudge Pudding Cake

Cake batter:

3 eggs

2 tbsp chickpea flour

1/3- ½ cup coconut flour (start with the 1/3 and add more if needed)

2 tbsp arrowroot powder

¾ tsp baking soda

2 Tbsp coconut sugar

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup of milk (use a non-dairy alternative if you wish!)

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

_____

Topping:

1 tsp organic instant coffee powder (optional, but deepens the chocolate flavour!)

1/3 cup cocoa powder

½ cup coconut sugar

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grease pan

2 cups boiling water

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Butter/coconut oil or coconut oil butter ghee spray to grease the crockpot

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together all of the batter ingredients with an immersion blender until well combined. Scrape sides as needed.  (it should be nice and thick, add more coconut flour if needed to thicken it up) Spoon batter into the bottom of your greased crockpot, and smooth slightly.

Mix the topping ingredients together in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly across the top of the batter.

Gently pour the boiling water into the crockpot, completely covering the batter. Cover with the lid, and turn on to high. Cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Remove lid and let cool at least to room temperature before serving. The “pudding” part of the cake will thicken up the longer it sits. 

spread batter in greased pot

 sprinkle with coconut sugar-cocoa mixture

now, pour on the boiling water (!!!!) cover and cook!

the results? not pretty, but tasty!

Grain And Gluten Free Honeyed Pear Upside Down Skillet Cake

 A customer of mine gave me a box of pears from her backyard tree last week (have I ever mentioned how much I love my job?) . I think they are Bartlett’s, but I am not quite sure. I do know that they are very tasty though.  I needed to get them used up, so I threw this recipe together this afternoon. The results are definitely worth sharing! The cake to fruit ratio was ideal, and the honey complimented the flavour of the pears perfectly. Pretty enough for company, but easy enough to make any day.
I used my 9 inch cast iron skillet for this cake  (mine measures 9 inches across the bottom on the inside) because it goes easily from the burner to the oven. If you don't have a cast iron pan, you could use a cake pan and transfer the honeyed pears into a cake pan and continue with the recipe, although the cooking time would probably be a wee bit longer. The cast iron's heat holding qualities speed up the baking process being as it goes in the oven hot. (in my last cooking class I talked about seasoning cast iron pans, this link gives a great step by step tutorial. Coconut oil is my "seasoning oil" of choice)

Grain And Gluten Free Honeyed Pear Upside Down Skillet Cake

Fruit layer:

3 cups peeled and thick sliced ripe pears (quartered and then ½’d again)

¼ cup butter (mine was salted)

¼ cup honey

Melt butter over medium heat in the bottom of a 9 inch cast iron pan. Add the pears and honey, and sauté until the butter and honey start to reduce, and the pears just start to soften, about 10-15 minutes. Stir often.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cake Layer:

Measure into a  medium mixing bowl:

3 eggs

2 Tbsp chickpea flour

¼ cup coconut flour

2 Tbsp arrowroot flour

¾ tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

2 Tbsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp honey

¼ cup kefir

Mix together well with an immersion blender, scraping the sides of the bowl if necessary.  Spoon evenly onto the hot sautéed pears, and carefully place in preheated oven (remember the cast iron pan will be hot!!). Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are starting to brown and top feels firm when pressed.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan, place a large plate over the pan, and invert carefully out on to your plate from the hot pan. Let cool slightly before serving, or serve at room temperature. Store leftovers, if you have any, in the fridge.

Grain Free Nut Free Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake

If you garden, and you grow zucchini, you know as well as I do that one plant can supply you with more zucchini than you can possibly use in one season. In my garden this year I planted 3 zucchini seeds. I am still not sure why I did that...at the time it seemed like a great idea. Mother nature vetoed my crazy plan though, and only one plant actually grew. In hind-site, mother nature was smarter than I, one plant was the perfect amount of zucchini for us, three would have been overwhelming. The illustrious "zucchini fairy" would have been gracing everyone on my street with a plethora of zucchini had all three actually grown!

I am always trying new recipes for zucchini, to use up the bounty from our garden. We have made lots of zucchini noodles with our spiral slicer this summer, multiple simple salads from the zucchinis thinly sliced on my mandolin, lightly marinated in Herbamare,  and grilled zucchini from the gargantuan ones that grow seemingly overnight have become a favourite this year as well. 

This cake is a favourite too. It is a  nice moist chocolaty treat, perfect for an after school snack, lunch box treat, or even a dessert if you dressed it up with a little cream cheese icing. 

Grain Free Nut Free Chocolate Zucchini Snack Cake

2 cups grated zucchini

1 tsp salt 

3 eggs

1 banana, very ripe

1/3 cup kefir or yogurt

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup coconut flour

1/3 cup hemp flour

1/3 cup chickpea flour

¼ cup coconut sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup cocoa powder

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350F

Sprinkle the grated zucchini with 1 tsp salt, stir and set aside to drain in a colander. (this helps to release the moisture from the zucchini, helping to keep the snack cake from being too moist)

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl with an immersion blender until well mixed, scraping down the sides as needed.

Squeeze and drain the excess moisture from the zucchini. Mix into the batter well.

Scrape into a greased or parchment lined 8x8 glass baking pan

Bake for 50-55 min or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in pan completely before cutting.