Tag Archives: peanut/nut free

Recipe Revamping: Chocolate Chip Cake

dairy free, gluten free, nut/peanut free, reduced refined sugar Leave a comment

“You need a reset….”

I always anticipate summer to be an opportunity for rest and relaxation, and every year, summer whizzes by with a full schedule of appointments and family visits and school readiness with little rest and even less relaxation. Though we do take time here and there as a family to capture little pockets, the concept of taking time to sit back and revive one’s energy remains just that, an idea.

Some of the reason is simply the season of life we are in at the moment. The years raising children tend to be rather hectic and chaotic. Another reason is that working in the public school system during the year means having to work during the summer to supplement the income which precludes “vacation time”. Yet a third is that we live in a world that is busy, and we get caught up in that busyness.

As I was pondering busyness this week, I realized that as a family we are beginning a time where a “reset” is quite possible. Two of our three children will be away at graduate and undergraduate schools. I have stepped down from most of the obligations I have spent 17 years pursuing. My husband and I are looking at new life ventures. If ever we could make choices about health and lifestyle and time spent, it is now.

Deciding to make the choices, though, tends to be easier than following through with action. A recent email illustrated this. Someone’s health issues meant she had to really begin to watch what she ate. Her grandmother, however, had passed down a chocolate chip cake recipe which she loved and made frequently for the family. Lately, though, as her health has had more complications, she finally realized she couldn’t continue to eat her grandmother’s cake as it was originally made. She needed to remove the gluten and dairy which were making her sick and to make it healthier, fat-wise.

She reached out to me to see I might be able to revamp the recipe. The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of butter, 2 1/2 cups of sugar, 4 whole extra large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 4 cups all purpose white flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 2 cups full fat sour cream, and 2 1/2 cups chocolate chips.

You can see why she shouldn’t be eating it on a regular basis!

Making the cake gluten free was simply a matter of swapping a gluten free flour blend. I chose to use King Arthur’s wholegrain blend, but since I wanted to give the cake more protein and fiber, I opted to substitute one cup of the flour with gluten free oat flour which I made by finely processing gluten free whole rolled oats into a flour. This added the overall protein and fiber count of the cake.

Since making things healthier for me always includes removing the white refined sugar, I reduced the sweetener down to 1 cup and used agave instead of sugar.

The butter, sour cream and eggs, however, required some thinking. I needed to reduce all three if we wanted a healthier cake but how to do that without sacrificing the moisture in the cake? I switched vegan butter for the regular butter and reduced it to 1/2 cup. I substituted tofu sour cream for the regular and used only 3/4 cup. Then I reduced the eggs to two large.

All these reductions needed to be replaced, though, and as I thought about it, I finally decided to use banana cream. For folks not familiar with this, you simply freeze banana slices to the point where they’re mostly frozen but still a little flexible. Then you pop them into your food processor and let it zoop for several minutes until the frozen banana slices become the consistency of soft ice cream, which is how many folks eat it. I used it as a replaced for the missing butter, eggs and sour cream, and it worked beautifully, adding the moisture needed but not tasting overly much like bananas.

The final few changes I made were to use mini allergy friendly chocolate chips instead of the regular larger sized ones and to reduce the amount to 1 cup. Since the chips are mini, they distribute more evenly into the batter, and you need a lot less to get the same chocolate chip to cake ratio. I also added a tablespoon of cinnamon to add flavor and to help regulate blood sugar levels.

The folks I served it to this week, thought the cake was delicious, and the person who had originally emailed was glad she could eat it without making her health issues worse.

Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vegan butter

1 cup agave

3 cups banana cream*

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

3 cup whole grain gluten free flour blend

1 cup gluten free oat flour**

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup tofu sour cream

1 cup Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

*To make banana cream: Slice bananas into three cups worth and put into the freezer. Freeze just long enough to begin to freeze but so they are still slightly flexible. If you put the banana slices until a shallow pan in an even layer, this would only take 15 to 30 minutes. You can also freeze the bananas ahead of time in a tupperware, and when you need it, microwave them for just a few seconds to keep them frozen but pliable. Put the mostly frozen pieces of bananas into a food processor and begin to process until the pieces turn into a creamy soft ice cream mixture. This will take several minutes. Make the mixture just before you are ready to add it to the wet ingredients.

**You can use store bought gluten free oat flour, but if you want more protein and fiber, take gluten free wholegrain rolled oats and put them into your food processor and process until you have oat flour. This will take several minutes.

Baking Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and prepare a Bundt pan. (I used a non-aerosol olive oil and ground flaxseed.)
  2. In a mixer, cream the vegan butter. Scrape down, and with the mixer on low, slowly pour in the agave and blend the butter and agave until smooth.
  3. Add the banana cream and blend just until mixed. Add the vanilla.
  4. Add the eggs, one at time, mixing well with each addition. Set the wet mixture aside.
  5. Mix the flour blend, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
  6. Add half the dry ingredients to the wet and blend. Add the tofu sour cream. Mix well, and then add the second half of the dry ingredients.
  7. Mix in the mini chocolate chips.
  8. Add the vinegar and mix just until blended.
  9. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes until the cake has puffed, is golden, and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
  10. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Creative Cooking: Chicken-Kale-Corn Fritters

dairy free, gluten free, low fat, nut/peanut free Leave a comment

“You deserve it….”

I have been thinking a lot lately about the idea of what people deserve. My daughters recently graduated from college and high school and received honors and recognition, and folks said, “They deserved it!” I received an award, recognizing 17 years of volunteer work in our school district, and everyone said, “It’s about time! You deserved it!” A person I know who has made bad choices was told, “You get the consequences you deserve.”

We hold notions about worth very highly in our society. The standards of worth vary from situation to situation, within contexts, and between race, gender, class, and other constructs, but the idea of folks being deemed deserving, whether of something good or something bad, hold strong and fast, even if people are not always aware that they do.

Recently, some friends and I went out to dinner, and in an age of food allergy awareness, I was surprised that this particular restaurant only offered two options for me to be able to eat out a very extensive four page menu of selections. I could have grilled chicken or grilled steak. Fortunately, I am not vegan, so I opted for the grilled chicken, but what if I had been? As I pondered this with my husband, we concluded that the restaurant might presume folks with dairy allergies would just go someplace else to eat, given that they don’t cater to that type of clientele.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. Plenty of other restaurants do cater to folks with multiple food allergies, and now my friends and I know not to choose that particular restaurant for a future gathering. I can’t help but wonder, though, about whether or not folks with food allergies “deserve” to be able to have more than a choice of grilled chicken or grilled steak when going out to eat to a restaurant which comes highly recommended.

Whether we think we do deserve it or not won’t change that particular restaurant’s menu for now, but it serves as yet another reminder to me that I firmly do believe all people deserve to be able to eat good food, regardless of food allergies and health restrictions. So, last week, when I decided to make chicken and corn fritters, my goal was to create something which was healthier than all the recipes I found.

I had leftover corn and chicken which I wanted to use, and when I put the ingredients into “recipes”, out popped many recipes for chicken and corn fritters. The problem, though, was that they all called for deep or pan frying with a lot of oil, as well as a lot of white flour and many eggs. I wanted something which I could feel good about eating.

So, I made several changes. First, I added kale to the chicken and corn, because I also had leftovers of that. Secondly, I opted to puree cooked carrots as the main binder which allowed me to reduced the flour substantially and use half as many eggs. I also chose oat flour for my flour to add protein and fiber, and used egg whites instead of whole eggs. Finally, instead of frying the fritters in oil, I used the Pompeian non-propellant olive oil only spray and cooked the fritters on a griddle. The result were delicious, healthier fritters which used up my leftovers and didn’t leave anyone with that heavy feeling you often get with fried foods.

Chicken-Kale-Corn Fritters

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped, cooked chicken

3 cups cooked corn, cut off the ears

1 cup cooked, chopped kale

3 cups cooked, chopped carrots

1 cup “milk” (I used soy milk but you can use whatever type you’d like)

1 cup chopped green onions

3/4 cup egg whites (can also just use 3 whole eggs or if you want an egg free version, substitute 3 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 9 tbsp of hot water which you let sit to thicken or use 3/4 cup of aquafaba or simply increase the flour below to 1/2 to 3/4 cup)

1/4 cup gluten free oat flour (or any high protein/high fiber flour you’d like)

1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs (I used cilantro and basil, but feel free to vary it)

2 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional but I like the flavor it adds)

Pompeian non-propellant olive oil cooking spray

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Mix the chopped chicken, kale and corn together.
  2. Puree the cooked carrots with the “milk” and add to the chicken-veggie mixture and blend well.
  3. Add the green onions.
  4. Whisk the egg whites (or whole eggs or flaxseed mixture) and add to the fritter mix, stirring well.
  5. Add the oat flour, herbs, garlic and the peppers and stir until all is well incorporated.
  6. Preheat a griddle to 350 or a shallow pan over medium heat and spray with the Pompeian olive oil spray.
  7. Stir the fritter batter and scoop mixture by the 1/4 cup and drop onto the hot griddle. Using a spatula, spread the mixture into 1/2 inch think circles.
  8. Cook for a couple of minutes on one side until browned. Flip with the spatula and cook on the other side until browned. Remove and repeat with the remaining mixture. You may need to occasionally respray the griddle with the olive oil spray. (Tip: to keep them warm, preheat the oven to the lowest temperature and put the fritters onto an oven safe plate in the oven.)

 

Recipe Revamping: Carbonara

dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut/peanut free, reduced refined sugar, soy free Leave a comment

“It’s just that it was one of his favorites….”

Most folks ask me to revamp baked recipes since that is what I mostly post about, but I received a request this week from a mom after she saw my roasted garlic bread recipe, asking if I might help with one of her son’s favorite recipes, carbonara. Her son is eight, and the family recently learned that much of his stomach issues were due to eggs, dairy and wheat, all three of which are in carbonara.

For anyone who might not be familiar with carbonara, it is an Italian pasta dish which is essentially a creamy, cheesy sauce over noodles which tends to use cured meat products such as bacon, pancetta, prosciutto, or Italian sausage to flavor the sauce. To make the sauce creamy, recipes usually use cream or half and half and egg yolks with a variety of fancy cheeses and then adds the cured meat and white pasta to the dish. So, as a rule, even if you do not have food allergies, you probably should not make carbonara a regular part of your diet.

Unless, of course, you can find a way to create a healthier, allergy friendly version….

My first order of business was to tackle the cheesy sauce. The beauty of a carbonara sauce is that it clings to the noodles, so the sauce needs to be a thick, heavy sauce, which is why usually cream and egg yolks are utilized. I opted to make a basic white sauce with olive oil, millet flour and dairy free milk. To that I added Daiya cheddar cheese, garlic, onions, oregano, basil, and a tiny bit of red pepper.

The next item to tackle was the cured meat. To make it a tiny bit healthier, I chose to chop just four low fat, reduced salt, no nitrates, sweet Italian style fully cooked chicken sausage links into small pieces. This distributed the flavor without all the extra added fat and sodium and nitrates.

The final decision I made was to nix pasta altogether and use spiral cut veggies. I used a mixture of turnips, yellow squash and zucchini. Because I like my food to have lots of color, I also added diced petite tomatoes, which added a slight flavor twist to the whole dish. The result was quite yummy!

Vegetable “Noodle” Carbonara

(This recipe makes a lot because I wanted to feed a family of five and have leftovers for a second meal. You may want to halve the recipe.)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp extra light olive oil (you don’t want a heavy taste)

1/4 cup millet flour (or any other variety you’d like to use)

2 cups dairy free “milk” (I used soy but any variety will work)

8 oz shredded Daiya cheddar cheese

garlic, onions, oregano, basil, and red pepper (to your taste and liking)

16 oz each spiral cut turnip, yellow squash, and zucchini (you can change up the spiral cut noodle veggies as long as you have 48 oz total so the sauce and “noodle” amounts are in a good sauce to noodle clinging ratio)

4 low fat, reduced salt, no nitrates sweet Italian style fully cooked chicken sausage links

garlic, onions, oregano, basil, and red pepper (to your taste and liking)

14 oz can of no salt, no sugar added petite diced tomatoes (optional)

Cooking Instructions:

  1. In a shallow sauce pan, heat the olive oil for a minute over medium-low heat, and then stir in the millet flour until well mixed and cook for another 30 seconds.
  2. Slowly add one cup of the milk, stirring until the flour mixture is incorporated into the milk. Let the mixture begin to thicken. Time will vary, depending on how shallow your pan is but shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.
  3. Slowly add the second cup of milk, stirring to evenly mix the sauce.
  4. Add the Daiya cheese and stir well. Add the spices, and stir until the cheese is all melted, and turn the heat to low, stirring occasionally.
  5. In a larger shallow nonstick pan (if you aren’t using a nonstick pan, drizzle a tiny bit of olive oil), cook the turnips until softened, usually about 3 to 5 minutes.
  6. Dice the sausage links into small bits and add to the turnips. Mix well and cook for a minute.
  7. Add the yellow squash and zucchini with the spices, and cook just until the squash and zucchini begin to soften.
  8. If you are using the tomatoes, add the diced tomatoes to the cheese sauce and stir well. Then add the sauce to the veggie noodles, mix well and serve. (As a garnish, you may sprinkle a mixture of fresh basil and chopped garlic as I did in the picture.)
  9. If you are not using the tomatoes, simply add the cheese sauce to the veggie noodles, mix well, and serve.

 

 

Roasted Garlic Bread

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“It’s the simple pleasures….”

I celebrated another birthday this year, and unlike many people, I don’t mind that I did. While I am not thrilled that my metabolism is slowing down and that aches tend to last longer, I am grateful for the maturing process which only aging and experience can bring. One gets to know oneself better as time goes on, and that’s a good thing, in my opinion, because only then can you really embrace your strengths, recognize and work on your weaknesses, and allow yourself to be the best version of yourself.

My husband wanted to know what I wanted to do for my birthday this weekend, because we have had a particularly stressful couple of weeks with a funeral and a graduation and time at a hospital with a dear friend. As I thought about what I wanted, I realized I simply wanted to hang with my family, particularly to have a good meal and to watch a movie while all three of my children were actually with me on my birthday for the first time in a few years.

Now, both cooking and watching a movie are not my husband’s ideas of a good time, but as a loving husband, he dutifully grilled the zucchini and chicken I prepared and sat through a movie. My gift to him for being kind enough to grill for me was to figure out a starch to go with the meal. Since I do have that slowing-down metabolism, I tend to eat less carbs these days, but I know that my husband thinks a meal is not complete without bread.

So, I decided I’d make garlic bread, but I didn’t want to use traditional white bread or the large amounts of butter. As I thought about garlic bread, I realized what I love best is the garlic so it occurred to me that garlic should be the the “showpiece” of garlic bread as opposed to the minced versions usually made, which led me to the idea of roasting the garlic and making a garlic bread similar to bruschetta which used olive oil, tomatoes and basil, only I used a gluten free whole grain bread instead.

The roasted garlic bread was ridiculously easy to make and added a nice dimension to the grilled dinner!

Roasted Garlic Bread

Ingredients:

peeled garlic cloves

olive oil

whole grain bread (gluten free or whole wheat or multi-grain)

fresh basil

grape tomatoes (optional)

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
  2. Mix a couple of cups of peeled garlic cloves (how much you need depends on how many slices of bread you are making; also if you buy them already peeled, it makes life easier) with just enough olive oil to coat them, and roast them in the oven, turning them every five minutes until the garlic has darkened in color. (Usually this only takes ten to 15 minutes.)
  3. Remove the garlic from the oven and reduce the oven to 350 degrees. Let the garlic cool for a few minutes.
  4. While the garlic is cooling, slice your whole grain bread (whether gluten free or not) into thin slices (unless you bought the already sliced version, in which case you’re set) and place the slices on a cookie sheet or shallow pan.
  5. Chop up a couple of cups of fresh basil into small sprinkle-able pieces (how much you need depends on how many slices of bread you are making; also, if you don’t have fresh basil, you can also use dried basil, but you’d only need a couple of teaspoons then).
  6. Slice the roasted garlic into thin slices and sprinkle evenly among all the bread slices. Then sprinkle the basil. (Optional: slice grape tomatoes into think slices and sprinkle in between the garlic before sprinkling the basil.)
  7. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over each bread.
  8. Bake in the reduced-heat oven for five to ten minutes until the bread is toasted.
  9. Serve immediately and enjoy.
  10. Leftovers keep well in the fridge. Simply reheat in the oven for a few minutes for crispy bread or microwave for a few seconds if you simply want it warm.

Creative Cooking: Cranberry Orange Chocolate Cupcakes

dairy free, egg free, gluten free, nut/peanut free, soy free Leave a comment

“It’s your decision….”

Few of us like uncertainty. Not knowing what we should do in a situation, being unable to predict the outcome of a choice we make, having to wait upon someone else’s decision which will impact our lives.

My middle child has to decide by tomorrow between two colleges and whether or not to take a gap year. She continues to seek my advice, wanting in many ways that she did not have to choose herself. Unfortunately for her, she has a mother who believes it really does need to be her decision.

In our conversations recently, she has talked about her friends’ parents, all of whom are handling this life stage of their children differently. Some parents have issued ultimatums about where their children will go. Others have given no help to the process at all.

I like to think that I have been in the middle and not at either extreme. My husband and I have shared our thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of all her choices, but have also given our daughter the freedom to think about who she is and what she thinks would be the better choices.

Being able to take the middle ground, though, is not always easy. Extremism is a simpler path in many ways. You do not need to work as hard to consider all the options and everyone else’s thoughts and feelings.

I recently sat in on a meeting where a parent coordinating a school-wide breakfast told me that if a parent had a child with food allergies, that it was up to the parent to provide food for their child. On the one hand, I understood the parent’s position. Parents who don’t have children with food allergies are not going to think about the need for providing food which is not traditionally made. On the other hand, if an event is being put on for all students by the school, then shouldn’t the folks in charge be considering all students’ needs?

Where is the middle ground?

In this case, the middle ground is that I will be providing food for the students with allergies because I am on the committee and understand such needs. This is actually a middle ground I have been in for many years for other events, and recently I made cupcakes for a staff appreciation event which are free of the major allergens and which I thought I’d share for this post. The recipe is below. Enjoy!

Cranberry Orange Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

3 cups Gluten free whole grain flour blend

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup Hershey Special Dark unsweetened cocoa

10 oz package Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips

2 cups finely chopped dried cranberries (I give them a whirl in my food processor to make tiny pieces.)

1 cup Agave

3/4 cup safflower oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup unsweetened orange juice

1 cup water

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Chocolate Ganache Ingredients:

3/4 cup vegan soy free butter

10 oz Enjoy Life chocolate chips (I use dark chocolate chips but you can use semi-sweet if you like a sweeter cupcake)

Frosting Instructions:

  1. Put the chocolate chips into a large microwave safe bowl with the vegan butter and heat for one minute. Stir. Then continue to heat for 15 seconds at a time, as needed, just until stirring melts all the chips.
  2. Put the mixture into the freezer for 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the type of bowl you opted to use. The more shallow the bowl, the faster the mixture will begin to freeze. You just want the mixture to freeze around the edges and the center to still be soft.
  3. Mix the partially frozen mixture with a Kitchen Aid or hand blender, scraping down occasionally, until light and fluffy.
  4. Set aside until needed for frosting.  Just before using re-blend to make it light and fluffy again.

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 30 muffin cups with liners and set aside.

2. Mix together the flour, baking soda, salt, and unsweetened cocoa powder. Add the chocolate chips and cranberries.

3. Blend together the Agave, oil, vanilla, orange juice, and water.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet with the vinegar, and mix quickly just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

5. Pour into the prepared muffin tins, and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cupcakes are puffed and firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Cool the cupcakes on wire cooling racks; then frost and enjoy!

Recipe Revamping: Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

dairy free, gluten free, nut/peanut free 1 Comment

“What image represents me?”

If you have not had the experience yet of the college application process for a child in today’s world, you are bound to be surprised when you do. Unlike the applications of my day, students now are asked questions which, to me, seem a bit odd.

“What your favorite website is.” Presumably, colleges believe this is a window into a part of the students’ lives, an indication of what they enjoy, an inkling of where their time is spent…. Maybe?

“How did you spend your summer?” Another question probably designed to give insight but reminds me of those first week of school essays assigned in elementary school.

But my favorite: “If you had to pick an image that best represents who you are, what would it be?” As you can imagine, my daughter came downstairs from her room for that one.

“Mom, what image represents me?”

My wise, motherly response? “Huh?”

After she explained why she was asking and read the question in it’s entirety, my equally insightful, wonderful answer?  “Um. I’m not really sure, honey. Dance shoes since you’re a dancer? Books because you’re so studious? People since you are always serving others? That’s a tough question. Why don’t you go ask your father?”

At that moment, our son walked into the kitchen, so our daughter asked him, and his response? “I don’t know for you, but mama would be a ‘to-do’ list.”

Out of the mouth of babes, as they say….

I am famous for my to-do lists. Every project I work on, every task for the organizations I chair, every time we travel, every coordination email I send, every event I cater, every birthday party planned… literally everything I do is organized by a to-do list.

Part of it is my personality. I like structure and being organized. Some of it is the satisfaction of crossing off an item from the list and seeing your progress as the list gets smaller. Most of the reason, though, is that simply that I’m visual and if it’s not in writing, it doesn’t exist as far as my brain is concerned, and I won’t remember to do it. (As you can imagine, this has become more of an issue the older I become!)

This week on my to-do list was to bake a poppy seed layer cake for a luncheon my husband and I had been invited to attend. As I rummaged through cook books and googled online recipes, I noticed that while a myriad of recipes existed, they all seemed to use a lot of butter, shortening, eggs, and/or cream cheese or sour cream, all of which are high in saturated fats and cholesterol which I wanted to avoid in addition to, of course, making the cake gluten, dairy, and nut free, so I, too, could enjoy it.

This meant rethinking a few things. So, the first thing I did was opt to make a lemon poppy seed cake, because the lemon would flavor everything and reduce the need for flavor from butter or cream cheese or sour cream. The second thing I did was choose to use egg whites instead of whole eggs. The third decision was to make a “buttermilk” out of soy milk and lemon juice to replace sour cream or cream cheese in the recipe and to cut the amount to 1/2 cup. The fourth change was to use olive oil in the cake with its good fats and a vegan olive oil butter for the frosting which had a little saturated fat but much less than butter and far more good fats. And as always, I did what I could to cut the use of sugar, confining it to just the frosting. The result was a delightfully light tasting cake which all enjoyed.

Frosted Lemon Poppy Seed Layer Cake

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups your favorite Gluten Free Flour blend (I used King Arthur’s whole grain blend)

2 tsp gluten free baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

½ cup Truvia

1/2 cup poppy seeds

2/3 cup extra light olive oil

2/3 cup Agave

½ cup “buttermilk” (I used soy milk mixed with 1/2 tbsp lemon juice)

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (depending on size of lemons, you will need anywhere from 3 to 6 lemons; you really do want to use fresh lemons if at all possible for the best taste)

1/2 cup water

6 egg whites, at room temperature

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three 9 inch round cake pans for use. (I just line the pans with parchment paper.)

2. Mix the flour with baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the truvia and poppy seeds. Set aside.

3. Mix oil, Agave, buttermilk, lemon juice and water. Set aside.

4. In a large mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar with the whisk attachment until thick, white peaks form when you lift the whisk.

5. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Combine well until the dry ingredients are completely moistened.  Batter will be thick.

6. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter, a little at at time, until all the egg whites are fully incorporated into the batter.

7. Evenly and equally spread batter into each of the three cake pans and bake for about 15 minutes until the cake layers are puffed, golden, and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. (Mine took 17 minutes.)

8. Cool on the cake layers in their pans until completely cool.

9. Frost the layers with the lemon frosting below, and store in the refrigerator until close to serving time. Let the cake come to room temperature before serving. Enjoy!

Lemon Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

8 tsp gluten free flour (I opted to use rice flour so the color would be white)

2 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup lemon juice (use fresh lemons if you can; depending on the size of the lemons you will need about 2 to 4 lemons)

2/3 cup milk

1 cup vegan olive oil butter (I used the Earth Balance version)

1 tsp vanilla

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt in a pan. Whisk in the “milk” until smooth.
  2. Over low heat, stir constantly until the mixture begins to boil and thicken. Depending on how shallow your pan is, this will probably take about 4 to 8 minutes.
  3. Once the mixture is thick, pour the mixture into a shallow glass container to cool. I find that a glass pie pan works very well. It usually takes an hour or more to fully cool.
  4. Once the mixture is cool, in a mixer, beat the vegan butter until light and fluffy, and then scrape down the sides of the butter.
  5. Add the cooled mixture with the vanilla and beat the frosting on a low speed to incorporate the mixture into the butter. It will look a bit curdled. Scrape down the sides.
  6. Increase the speed and beat until the mixture looks like a light and fluffy frosting. Its texture and taste will be similar to a whipped cream frosting.
  7. Use the frosting to frost between the cake layers and the outside and top of the cake. (This made enough frosting to generously frost a three layer cake.)

 

 

Breakfast Buffet: Spinach Strata

dairy free, gluten free, nut/peanut free Leave a comment

It’s already out of print….”

Last Saturday the writing collaborative I helped to found brought in an illustrator who gave me a wonderful book she had illustrated for an author who wrote about a girl who was gluten-sensitive, celebrating her birthday. The illustrator knew I did workshops for allergy-friendly baking and thought I’d enjoy the book. When I mentioned that it would be nice to purchase a few, she told me that the book had already gone out of print. (It was published in 2013.)

I was bummed. Not only because I wouldn’t be able to purchase more copies of the book but because there had been such a lack of interest in such a great book.

I should not have been surprised, though. My own experience has taught me that unless it affects folks personally, the impetus to consider other people’s plight and show consideration seems to be non-existent at times, and such a book would not need to be purchased by those of us who already know but by those who need to learn.

That does not mean that we stop trying to teach, though. Recently I met with the principal of our high school about a staff appreciation luncheon, and he, too, surprised me.  He asked me if I was considering staff with food allergies in my planning. Since this was the same principal who had held a breakfast for the senior students without any food that students with food allergies could eat, my astonishment must have shown on my face. He was quick to explain that he’d “learned his lesson” about food allergies, which I took to mean that a whole lot of parents must have called him about that breakfast!

Only when we continue to share will people start to come around. I have spoken so many times to the local PTO and my church that, though it has taken several years (years!), people finally have started to make changes. Not at every event, which they still need to consider, but at least at events where they know for sure that people with food allergies will attend.

Recently a local group called me to ask if I could make a breakfast dish for some folks with dairy and gluten allergies. I had the perfect hot dish which I had made over Christmas, a Spinach Strata. Made with gluten free bread, eggs, soy milk, and spinach sautéed with tofu cream cheese, it is cheesy and gooey and yummy. We had enjoyed it at Christmas, and the folks at the breakfast buffet the other day apparently enjoyed it as well.

The recipe is below so you can, too!

Spinach Strata

Best if prepared the night before and cooked in the morning.

Ingredients:

six slices favorite gluten free bread (I used Ancient Grains whole grain millet-chai bread; I used an 8 x 11 pan; if you use a larger pan or smaller pan, you may need to adjust the slices of bread you need to cover the bottom of the pan)

dairy free mozzarella (I used about a cup of the Daiya brand but how much will depend on what size strata you may be making; you want to cover the top of the bread cubes)

fresh spinach (I used a 16 oz package of washed baby spinach; a smaller strata may need a less; a larger strata may need more, depending on how much spinach you like)

one container tofu cream cheese (I used an 8 oz container of Tofutti brand cream cheese; unless you aer halving the recipe, slight decreases or increases in spinach does not warrant changing the amount of cream cheese used)

eggs (I was making the dish in an 8 x 11 pan and ended up using six whole eggs, but the amount will vary depending on the size pan you use; you want the egg/milk mixture to cover come to the top of the spinach mixture)

“milk” (I used soy milk but you can use whatever you like; I also used a cup and a half for the six eggs because I was making the dish in an 8 x 11 pan, but the amount will vary depending on the size pan you use and how many eggs; you want the egg/milk mixture to cover come to the top of the spinach mixture; ratio is usually about 1/2 cup of milk per egg)

herbs and spices (I used black pepper, a little bit of red pepper flakes, onion powder, oregano and thyme, but you can use what suits your tastes)

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Grease a pan of your choosing.
  2. Cut the slices of bread into small cubes and spread the bread over the bottom of your pan.
  3. Sprinkle the bread cubes with the dairy free mozarella.
  4. In a pan saute the spinach with a little bit of water just until the spinach begins to wilt. Add the tofu cream cheese and stir well until the cheese has melted into the spinach.
  5. Carefully dollop the spinach mixture over the top of the bread and mozzarella cheese.
  6. Whisk together the eggs, dairy free milk, and herbs until well blended.
  7. Carefully pour the egg mixture over the bread and spinach. You want the egg mixture to reach the top of the spinach. If you need a little bit more, simply whisk up an additional egg or two and add it to the pan.
  8. Wrap the dish well in plastic wrap or foil and let it sit overnight in the fridge. If making the same day, let it sit at least an hour in the fridge so the bread can soak up the egg mixture.
  9. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until the strata is puffed and golden. Time will depend on the size and shallowness of your pan. My 8 x 11 pan took about 45 minutes.
  10. Leftover strata stores well in the fridge and tastes just as good when microwaved the next day.

 

New Year Visions: Vegan Spanakopita

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Happy New Year!

A friend of mine wrote in on December 31, 2017, that this was a day where all the adults living (as in over 18) were born in the 20th century (1900s) and all the minors (under 18) were born in the 21st century (2000s). It made me think about the changes I’ve seen in life from the 1970’s until now and also consider what I’d like to see going forward into 2018. The result was an ABC’s of wishes I wrote. If folks are interested in reading it, feel free to click here: Wishes

In addition, I thought about all the ways food has changed from the 70’s until now.  Cheese Whiz to organic, artisan cheeses… Chef Boyardee ravioli to whole wheat, butternut squash, kale ravioli…white flour noodles to gluten free quinoa pasta… Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies to Enjoy Life cookies free of 12 major food allergens. The list goes on, and the point is the same: what we consider to be “normal” eating conventions is different going into 2018.

This was evident in our home as we were deciding what to make for a New Year’s dinner we were hosting with some friends. Between food allergies and vegan children, coming up with a satisfying entree wasn’t easy. In the end we opted to make a vegan spanakopita which would have protein, fit dietary needs, and be a satisfying holiday-ish entree for the folks who neither have food allergies or are vegan. To make the dish, though, required work, specifically how best to alter a “normal” spanakopita recipe.

For folks not as familiar with spanakopita, it is a traditionally Greek dish which mixes spinach and feta cheese as a filling to go between layers of phyllo or filo dough which are thin sheets of a low-fat flour dough. Folks with gluten or wheat issues cannot use the filo dough found in stores, and folks with dairy issues cannot eat the cheese, so in the past, these folks could not have spanakopita, but those days are now gone.

How to make spanakopita:

  1. The filo dough: Folks with no wheat or gluten issues can purchase filo dough at the store. A variety of companies sell them in sheets of 20 which is what you usually need (10 sheets for the bottom and 10 sheets for the top). If people want to make their own, The Spruce has a good recipe: Filo Dough Recipe.  If folks have allergies, though, the only option currently is to make your own gluten free filo sheets.  Gluten Free on a Shoestring has the best recipe that I have tried: Gluten Free Filo Dough Recipe . It is not really all that hard, and it is worth the work.
  2. The cheese: Traditionally, spanakopita uses feta cheese. Some folks combine feta and ricotta. Others combine feta and cottage cheese, but feta is always a key ingredient. If there are no food restrictions, there are plenty of recipes online using feta which one can follow. If dairy is an issue or one is vegan, there are basically two options for replacing the cheese: nut or tofu, both of which require making your own “cheese”. For folks who might be allergic to both nuts and tofu, I have not tried any of the cheese, but One Green Planet has “cheese” recipes made from other food like zucchini and hemp and paprika which might be worth trying: Nut and Dairy Free Cheese Recipes
    1. Nut “feta”: Folks who do not have nut allergies can consider making “feta cheese” out of cashews. You simply soak cashews overnight, drain them, and crumble in a food processor with lemon juice, salt and nutritional yeast to your taste and liking and to a feta consistency.
    2. Tofu “feta”: Folks with nut allergies can crumble firm tofu into a bowl to resemble feta chunks, and mix with lemon juice, nutritional yeast, white miso and/or apple cider vinegar, and salt to your taste and liking. I have found that to get the most “feta-like” texture, that it also helps to add a little bit of “milk”. (I usually use soy milk.)
    3. “Ricotta”: If you want to have the texture of “feta” with the texture of “ricotta” in your spanakopita, you can make your own ricotta, too. For tofu ricotta, puree tofu with lemon juice and nutritional yeast to taste and until smooth. For cashew ricotta, soak cashews overnight and then puree with lemon juice, water or “milk”, and nutritional yeast to taste and liking.
  3. The filling:  Usually spanakopita is a mixture of the cheese with cooked spinach which you combine with just enough beaten eggs to hold it together. You can saute fresh spinach. You can use thawed frozen spinach. Your choice. If using frozen spinach, it is best to squeeze out as much of the excess liquid as possible.  When I made our spanakopita, however, I wasn’t going to be using eggs because I needed it to be vegan, so I used a combination of thawed frozen spinach and kale and didn’t squeeze out the liquid. Instead, I added extra nutritional yeast as well as ground flaxseed to absorb the liquid and help bind the “cheese” and veggies which worked incredibly well.
  4. The seasonings: Spanakopita traditionally uses garlic and onions to season the dish. Recipes will vary as to what else is added. Oregano and basil and black pepper are common but it really depends on your tastes and liking. You can experiment and see what you prefer.
  5. Assembling the dish: To make spanakopita, you layer the filo sheets on the bottom of your dish (at least a 9 x 13; I use an 11 x 15 pan) by brushing the dish with olive oil or melted butter, layering on a sheet, brushing the sheet with olive oil or melted butter, and repeating until the top of the last sheet has been brushed with oil or butter. (Olive oil is a healthier fat and you can brush a thinner layer of it than butter so you end up using much less than you would of the butter.) Then you spread the spinach-cheese mixture onto the filo layers and begin the process of layering filo dough on top of the spinach mixture. If your filo dough is larger than your pan, simply tuck the excess into the sides. It is important to be sure to brush the top and final sheet of filo dough with oil or butter.
  6. Baking the dish: Because the filo dough crisps and fluffs up, it can be difficult to cut after it is cooked, so it’s best to cut through the top layers before you put the spanakopita into the oven. Don’t cut through to the bottom, though. Just the top. Then when it cooks, it puffs up around your cuts and makes it easy for you to cut the final slices after it is done. You can bake the spanakopita at any temperature between 325 degrees and 375 degrees. Depending on the temperature you choose, it will take between a half an hour and a hour usually to brown and crisp.

Paula’s Vegan Spanakopita Recipe:

Ingredients:

Tofu Ricotta: 14 oz firm tofu, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Tofu Feta: 14 oz firm tofu, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, 2 tsp lemon juice, 2 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup soy milk, 1/4 tsp salt

Seasonings: 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1/2 cup chopped onions, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp black pepper

Veggies: 10 oz thawed frozen chopped kale, 32 oz thawed frozen chopped spinach

Filling Binders: 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, 1/4 cup ground flax seed, 8 oz Daiya mozzarella

Olive oil

20 sheets preferred type of filo dough

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Make the tofu ricotta by pureeing all the ingredients together in a food processor. Set aside.
  2. Make the tofu feta by crumbling the tofu into feta size chunks and mixing it with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a small pan, saute the seasonings with a small amount of olive oil just until fragrant. Set aside to cool.
  4. In a small bowl, mix the filling binders together and set aside.
  5. In a large bowl, combine the thawed kale and spinach with the ricotta and feta and seasonings. Add the filling binder.
  6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  7. Brush an 11 by 15 pan with olive oil. Just enough to very lightly coat it.
  8. Layer a filo sheet and lightly brush the layer with olive oil. Repeat until ten sheets have been done.
  9. Spread the spinach mixture atop the filo layers.
  10. Layer a filo sheet and lightly brush the layer with olive oil. Repeat until ten sheets have been done. Be sure to brush the top layer.
  11. Cut the spanakopita into slices, slicing only through the top layers of filo dough and not the bottom.
  12. Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, then turn the spanakopita around and bake for another 15 to 30 minutes, until the top has browned and crisped and the filling is hot.

Holiday Happenings: Cranberry Cheesecake

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“If you have a good allergy…”

My oldest went to a restaurant where the menu said, “If you have a good allergy, let your server know.” She texted the picture of this typo to me, and when I responded, she said that it got worse. The rest of the blurb: “We have a glue tin free menu.”

Now, I am willing to believe the owners/managers of the restaurant didn’t catch the mistakes when they were ready to print the menus and afterwards decided that the costs of reprinting were prohibitive, but this serves as a good illustration of why folks with food allergies sometimes feel like people don’t care about their feelings.

After all, what is a good allergy? If we have the bad ones, we can’t let our server know? And it’s great that their food is free of glue and tin but what about those of us who can’t eat gluten? It’s easy for the restaurant owners/managers to wave off the typos, but for folks who live with the reality of life-threatening allergies, their dismissal can feel marginalizing.

Having had four too many anaphylactic episodes in the past several years (for most, it was how I learned I had these new food allergies!), I tend to be rather careful about food other people prepare. It meant a lot to me when my brother called to ask what he’d need to do to make the mashed potatoes dairy free for me to eat. It showed that he was taking my allergy seriously and that he wanted me to be able to partake of all the offerings and not be limited.

For most of us with food allergies, we’re not asking that people always accommodate us. We know it’s not easy and convenient to do at all times. We do ask, though, that folks at least be sensitive to the fact that we have allergies and that it’s not always easy for us either.

I always make sure to make and bring food which I can eat so that it’s not a hardship on the folks hosting, and this Thanksgiving was no exception. I ended up making those mashed potatoes for my brother, simply because I had all the ingredients and he didn’t, but I was glad he asked. And I contributed a green bean dish and homemade cranberry sauce, made without sugar, since I don’t encourage anyone to eat sugar.

There was enough of the cranberry sauce left for me to ponder a use for it, and this past week I made a gluten, dairy free cranberry cheesecake for a brunch I hosted. It came out so creamy, and the tang of the cranberries was a wonderful complement to the cheesecake. I used only one half a cup of agave to sweeten the entire cake. It was so good! I’m going to include the recipe below. For folks who need tips on making cheesecake, see Cheesecake Tips

Cranberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

3 8 oz containers of tofu cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup agave

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 cup tofu sour cream, at room temperature

1 cup leftover cranberry sauce (I made a homemade version which was just fresh cranberries with water and two tablespoons of agave)

1/4 cup unsweetened orange juice

Baking Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cover the bottom of a cheesecake springform pan with aluminum foil so it’s completely covered. You may need two or three layers to make it waterproof. I used an 8 inch pan for this cake to make it thicker but you can use a 9 inch pan for a thinner cheesecake. You’ll just need to adjust the cooking time. Grease the pan with your favorite method.  I just used vegan butter.
  2. In a mixer, blend the tofu cream cheese until smooth.
  3. Slowly pour in the agave, mixing the entire time on low. Scrape down as needed.
  4. Add the vanilla.
  5. Add the eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition.
  6. Pour the cream cheese mixture into your prepare pan.
  7. If you want the chunkiness of the cranberries, then just dollop the leftover cranberries on top of the cheesecake and swirl through. If you want it smooth like I made it (because my autistic children have a thing about chunks!), put the leftover cranberry sauce in a blender or food processor with the orange juice and puree. Then dollop onto the cheesecake and swirl.
  8. Put the cheesecake pan into a larger pan and fill the larger pan with hot water, halfway up the cheesecake pan.
  9. Bake in the preheated over until the cheesecake is firm around the edges (a knife inserted will come out clean) but still a bit jiggly in the center. If you used the 8 inch pan, it may take 75 to 80 minutes or so. If you used the 9 inch pan, it may be slightly less. Don’t stress if you “overcook” by a little bit of time. It’ll just give you a firmer cheesecake, which some people actually prefer.
  10. When the cheesecake is done, turn off the oven and leave the door open and let the cheesecake cool in the oven before putting it into the fridge to chill.
  11. When you’re ready to serve it, you can drip some melted allergy-friendly chocolate as I did to make it festive or just serve as is or serve with an allergy friendly whipped cream.
  12. Enjoy!

 

Holiday Happenings: Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Pudding Pies

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“Well, I prefer chocolate….”

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and that means pies. If your family is like ours, everyone has a different favorite. My husband prefers apple pies. My son and mom like pumpkin. My dad wishes folks would go back to making traditional minced meat pies. I enjoy experimenting and making pies like pear-cranberry or sweet potato. My oldest will eat any pie. For my younger daughter, however, who is a chocoholic, there’s nothing like a chocolate pie.

For folks who are in agreement with her, there are two different ways that I make a chocolate pie, one version uses my dark chocolate mousse recipe which is made with tofu. The other adapts a chocolate pudding recipe because some folks are allergic to soy.

For both I make a chocolate cookie crumb crust. Often I make my own chocolate cookies but when I’m pressed for time I like to use Enjoy Life’s chocolate or chocolate mint cookies because they are free of 12 of the major food allergies.  Most recipes call for 1 1/2 cup to 2 cups of crumbs mixed with 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup butter.  Since I tend to use a 10 inch pie pan, I process enough chocolate cookies to make 2 cups of crumbs but I have found that 2 tbsp of a fat is all you really need. So, choose a plant based oil or melted vegan butter or coconut oil and mix it well with the crumbs. Press the crumbs into your pan to cover the bottom and all the way up the side. Then you can choose to either bake the crust in a preheated 325 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes to set the crust or you can simply freeze it for half an hour which will also set it.

To make the first version of the chocolate filling, you make the dark chocolate mousse recipe and then sprinkle two teaspoons of unflavored gelatin or agar powder or Vegan Jel over 2 tbsp of cold water. Let it sit for a couple of minutes to soften, then dissolve with 2 tbsp of hot water. Mix well into the mousse and then pour the mousse filling into your prepared pan and put it in the fridge for several hours to set.

To make the second version of the chocolate filling, you make the dark chocolate pudding recipe with whatever “milk” suits your allergy need, only before you thicken the pudding, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of dark chocolate or mini chocolate chips and stir until they’re melted to make for a richer-tasting pudding and increase the cornstarch to 4 to 5 tbsp to make a thicker pudding. Then pour the pudding into the prepared cookie crust, cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming, and put into the fridge for several hours to set.

You can leave the pies as they are, or to make them prettier, you can sprinkle chopped dark chocolate over the top. Then enjoy!

 

Hashing it Out: Veggie Hash

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“You seem to like to take the easy way….”

Folks who have been following this blog know that every once and a while I branch out of baking to post “how-to’s” about food other than baked goods. Usually that is because someone asks me a question which I think others might like to know the answer to as well. This week someone read a couple of posts of mine and asked an interesting question about hash.

If you are not familiar with hash (or know it only as the shorten form of hashish, a stronger form of marijuana), hash is a dish that began as a way of stretching meat during times of scarcity. You take leftover meat, dice it up, and add diced potatoes (because potatoes were filling and cheap) and anything else you can dice to make the dish more satisfying. Almost every country has its version of hash, which comes from a French word meaning “to chop”.

Over the centuries, the versions of hash recipes which exist has exponentially grown with every type of meat or poultry and potatoes variations being explored. In more recent years, folks started adding vegetables and tofu and legumes to make the hash more “healthy” and edible by non-meat eaters. This week, someone asked me, though, “The recipes for hash seemed to require so much work! All that cutting and chopping. You seem to like to take the easy way. How would you make hash quick and easy?”

I just had to laugh. Someone who knows how lazy a cook I am! School nights are always a rush at dinner time because of the children’s activities or my and my husband’s meetings, so yes, I do find ways to make meals quick and easy. Folks who have read other posts know that I love my crock pots, and many days of the week, meals are crock pot dinners which were assembled in the morning and ready to eat at dinner time. When that is not possible, though, then something like hash for dinner is perfect as long as you have ready-made items on hand.

For quick and easy hash, I keep diced potatoes in the fridge. Simply Potatoes is the brand I usually purchase at the store because it stores well in the fridge. Because we usually make a vegetarian version, I also stock the freezer with frozen, chopped kale or swiss chard or collard greens or spinach, and I keep cans of no salt and no sugar added petite diced tomatoes in the pantry. In the spice cabinet I have freeze-dried fresh herbs, onion powder and pepper, and in the fridge, I keep diced garlic. All this is all one needs to make a quick and easy vegetable hash. Should you want a meat version, then make the hash on a night when you have leftover meat or poultry from another meal which you can just add near the end of the cooking time. When I make hash, I can have dinner on the table in less than 30 minutes.

Vegetable Hash

Ingredients:

Olive oil

two 20 oz packages of Simply Potatoes with Onions (or another brand)

one 20 oz package frozen, chopped kale, collard greens, swiss chard or spinach

one 29 oz can of no salt, no sugar added petite diced tomatoes

Freeze dried or fresh Herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, dill, rosemary, marjoram, etc…; if you use dried herbs, you should add them with the potatoes so that the flavors have time to meld)

Black pepper

Onion powder

minced garlic

Optional: add leftover chopped meat or poultry or rinsed, canned beans or tofu

Optional (which is how we eat it): Serve the hash with a cooked egg atop of it

Cooking Instructions:

  1. In a large, shallow pan, on the stove top, put just enough olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Add the diced potatoes and cook the potatoes until they are browned on all sides. To brown potatoes well, you need to let them just sit and cook. They will stick to the pan, but that’s what you want. That is how the crispy coating is formed. Just use your spatula to unstick the potatoes and turn them. Any browned crusty pieces which stick to the bottom of the pan will come up later when you add the greens and tomatoes.
  2. After the potatoes have browned, add the frozen chopped greens and cook through, stirring frequently, until the  greens have thawed.
  3. Drain the canned tomatoes and add the tomatoes without the juice to the pan, along with herbs of choice, black pepper, onion powder and minced garlic, all to your taste liking. (I don’t add salt because the store bought potatoes have more than enough salt in them for the entire dish, but if you like things saltier, that’s your call.) Mix well and let the hash simmer, stirring every once and a while, for about five minutes until the browned crusty pieces have come off the bottom of the pan and mixed in with the hash.
  4. If adding the meat, do so now and cook just until everything is thoroughly warm.
  5. If eating as a vegetarian dish, serve as is. If eating it as we do, fry eggs hard or over-medium and place one on top of each serving of hash.
  6. Enjoy!

 

 

Recipe Revamping: Lemon Bundt

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“The world as best as I remember it….”

A musician named, Rich Mullins, released an album years ago titled, “The World As Best As I Remember It.” The songs in the album challenged folks to think about what they thought they knew, to consider how our current perceptions can affect memories and views of “history,” to understand that much is simply “as best as we remember it.”

Food memories are often “as best as we remember it” because the emotions around them can cloud or enhance what we remember. For example, when I was pregnant with my second child, I simply could not eat iceberg lettuce. It made me so sick that to this day I cannot eat it. What’s interesting is that when I think about iceberg lettuce now, I don’t seem to have memories of eating it ever, though my parents will tell you that I most definitely did, and for a time, wouldn’t eat any other type of lettuce as a child.

Another example is a friend whose mother always made cake from a box for his birthday which was the only time his mother ever baked, so in his memory, his mother made the best cakes ever. As a grown up, after eating one of my homemade cakes, his mother made him a cake from a box, and he couldn’t believe the difference in taste because he was sure his mother’s cake would win the “best ever” taste test over my homemade cake, which he had to admit, it didn’t.

This week I received an email from someone whose grandmother used to make a lemon bundt cake that held fond memories for her. She wanted to be make the cake for her granddaughter but realized that with all her granddaughter’s food allergies she couldn’t. So, she asked if I might help her find a way to recreate the cake so that it tasted and looked just like her own grandmother’s recipe.

Her grandmother’s recipe called for 3 cups of all purpose flour, 1 cup of butter, 2 1/2 cups of sugar, 6 eggs, and 1 cup of sour cream in addition to the salt, baking soda and lemon juice. When I read the recipe, I realized that in addition to the allergy substitutions, the cake needed a health-makeover as well!

Substituting and recreating the lemon bundt cake:

The Flour: Since the granddaughter needed to be gluten free I opted to use King Arthur’s gluten free blend, but to make the cake a bit healthier, I chose the whole grain blend instead of the straight rice flour blend and reduced the flour to 2 1/2 cups.

The butter: The granddaughter’s dairy allergy meant substituting the butter with something else, but to make it healthier as well, I decided to use olive oil which has good fats and to reduce the amount to 2/3 of a cup. Because I didn’t want a heavy olive oil flavor, I used the extra light version.

The sugar: 2 1/2 cups of sugar is a lot! My friend didn’t ask me to do anything about the sugar, but I couldn’t help myself. I opted to use a combination of agave and truvia. To create the exact same sweetness as the original cake, I used 2/3 cup agave with 1/2 cup truvia. To make the came so I’d like it, which meant it being much less sweet, I reduced both amounts by half. So, folks can choose what they’d prefer.

The eggs: Six eggs is a lot! I reduced the amount by half and added some water to help fill out the liquid ingredients. Since I was using the agave which is a liquid, between the agave and the added water, the reduction in eggs was fine.

The sour cream: Since the granddaughter had a dairy allergy, I couldn’t use the sour cream, so I opted to make a buttermilk from soy milk and lemon juice but I reduced the amount to 1/2 since it was a liquid as opposed to the solid sour cream, which reduced the amount of fat in the cake.

The flavoring and leavening: I added baking powder to the baking soda since it was a gluten free cake and I used fresh lemons to achieve the most lemony taste by grating the peel and then squeezing the juice.

The cake came out amazing! When I served it to company, which included my friend, she said it tasted just like her grandmother’s. So, now she had her grandmother’s cake to serve only allergy friendly and as a much healthier version!

Lemon Bundt Cake

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups Gluten Free Flour blend (I used King Arthur’s whole grain blend)

2 tsp gluten free baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp freshly grated lemon peel (from fresh lemons is the best way to go)

2/3 cup extra light olive oil

1/3 to 2/3 cup Agave (use higher amount if you like a sweet cake)

1/4 to ½ cup Truvia (use higher amount if you like a sweet cake)

½ cup “buttermilk” (I used soy milk mixed with 1/2 tbsp lemon juice)

3 large eggs

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (depending on size of lemons, you will need anywhere from 4 to 6 lemons)

1/4 cup plain water

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a bundt pan for use.  (I coated the pan with vegan butter, and then I sprinkled the pan with ground flaxseed.)

2.  Mix the flour with baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add the lemon peel and mix well. Set aside.

3.  Mix oil, Agave, Truvia, buttermilk, eggs, lemon juice and water.

4.  Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Combine well until the dry ingredients are completely moistened.  Batter will be thick.

5.  Evenly spread batter into bundt pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

6.  Cool on wire rack for at least 15 minutes before removing from the pan and cooling completely.