Chocolate Cake - Gluten Free

Denise's Fave Birthday Cake

Servings: 16 Serving

Ingredients

The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake - BEST EVER

CAKE INGREDIENTS:

·        3 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten free Cup4Cup brand flour)

·        3 cups granulated sugar

·        1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

·        1 tablespoon baking soda

·        1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

·        1 1/2 teaspoons salt

·        4 large eggs

·        1 1/2 cups buttermilk

·        1 1/2 cups warm water (or brewed coffee)

·        1/2 cup vegetable oil (or melted organic raw coconut oil)

·        2 teaspoons vanilla extract

NOTE:  Extra flour or cocoa powder and butter to grease and "flour" the pan.

Instructions

The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake

           1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 9-inch cake rounds. Dust with flour or cocoa powder and tap out                  the excess.

2.Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a stand mixer using a low speed until combined.  

3.Add eggs, buttermilk, warm water, oil, and vanilla. Beat on a medium speed until smooth. DO NOT OVER MIX GLUTEN FREE FLOUR.

4.Divide batter among the three pans. I found that it took just over 3 cups of the batter to divide it evenly.

5.Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

6.Cool on wire racks for 15 minutes and then turn out the cakes onto the racks and allow to cool completely.

7.Frost with your favorite frosting and enjoy!

Chocolate-Hazelnut French Buttercream

·3 large egg yolks, room temperature

·1 large egg, room temperature

·½ teaspoon kosher salt

·¾ cup sugar

·1¼ cups (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces  (try vegan butter)

·1 cup Nutella

·1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Special Equipment

·A candy thermometer

INSTRUCTIONS

1. ·While cake is chilling, beat egg yolks, egg, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until mixture is pale and thick and falls back onto itself in a slowly dissipating ribbon, about 5 minutes.
2. ·Meanwhile, bring sugar and 3 Tbsp. water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Clip thermometer to the side of saucepan and boil, swirling pan (do not stir), until thermometer registers 238˚. Immediately remove from heat.
3. ·Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually stream hot sugar syrup into eggs aiming for where the egg meets the side of the bowl (this will prevent hot sugar from splattering). Increase speed to high and beat mixture until light and fluffy and sides of bowl are cool to the touch, 5–8 minutes.
4. ·Add butter a piece at a time, beating to thoroughly incorporate before adding the next piece and scraping down sides of bowl often. Add Nutella and vanilla and beat, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl, until mixture is smooth and homogenous.
5. ·Spread buttercream all over top and sides of chilled cake, making decorative swirls and swooshes. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.  CHILLED helps because this buttercream is deliciously soft and melts easy.  
6. ·Do Ahead: Cake can be assembled 1 day ahead. Chill uncovered.

Left over cake slices freeze really well!

OH!  This recipe needs to be doubled for this 3 layer cake.  Otherwise it is only a very thin layer everywhere.  I can't remember where I found this recipe, but it was used for a regular 2 layer cake. 

Left Over Apples? Make Cake!

French Apple Cake

This is an easy, quick cake to make.  Mild in flavor and not very sweet at all.  Great with tea or coffee.

 










Ingredients

Flour, gluten free (Cup4Cup or Bob's Red Mill) – 1 cup
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Butter, Soft – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 1/2 cup
Vanilla Extract – 2 tsp
Eggs – 2
Apples –  3 cups/3-4 apples (granny smith are my fave)
RumChata – 2 T (optional)
Sugar, Raw Turbino Sugar – 1.5 T for sprinkling on top
Salt, Maldon's Flaky Sea Salt (optional) - Sprinkle a pinch on top

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Get a round cake pan and lightly grease it with shortening (I use raw coconut oil).  The size of the pan is not critical.  I usually use my round 8" or 9" pan and tend to like a smaller pan so the cake is taller.

Peel 3-4 small apples, cutting into 1/2 inch cubes.  Apples vary so much in size.  I buy organic so they tend to be quite small.  You want about 3 cups of cubed apples.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the first 3 ingredients (Flour, Baking Powder, Salt), then set aside.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar until smooth.  Then add the eggs, one at a time, blending until smooth after each egg.

Get the small bowl of dry ingredients and add it to your butter-sugar-egg mixture just until mixed.  Do not over mix.  This is a thick batter that does not "pour".

Add vanilla, RumChata (optional), and apples. Folding gently to combine.  Do not over mix.  

Spoon into cake pan.  Gently press and spread the batter evenly to the edges of the pan, making sure the center of the cake is not the thickest point.  The batter will be very chunky with apples and very thick.  This is normal; don't worry!

Sprinkle the Turbino Sugar all over the top of the cake and then sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt if you like.  The salt is totally optional, but you must do the Turbino Sugar.  The big grind of raw sugar makes and amazing crunchy crust on the top of the cake.

Just ready to remove from the oven!

Place in center of oven and bake for 30-40 minutes depending on your oven (mine likes 34 minutes) and being placed in the very center of the oven, turning half way through the baking time because the back of my oven is hotter.  The top of the cake will be golden brown when done and a cake tester or toothpick will come out clean.

Cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes, then remove from pan and place on a rack or cake stand to cool completely.  Delicious warm or room temperature. Freezes well too. 

Slice and serve!


Note:  Converted from a recipe with gluten in it that I saw on Pinterest, which linked to https://www.yummytummyaarthi.com


It is so hard to find great gluten free recipes.  I have celiac disease and miss the delicious food I used to enjoy as a major foodie!  Gluten free baking does not have to be "just okay" or have a bad texture.  Please share what you liked or didn't like when you try this gluten free recipe!  

Peanut Butter Cookies

Da Best! Peanut Butter Cookies
(Not the best Gluten Free, but plain old THE BEST)

These cookies happen to be naturally gluten free, soy free, grain free, and dairy free!

Ingredients

Natural Peanut Butter - 1 Cup
Sugar, granulated - 1 Cup
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Egg, large - 1
Smoked Paprika, Maldon’s flaky salt, & Turbino Sugar (sprinkle on cookies just before baking)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Make sure one rack is in upper third and the other is in the lower third of the oven space.

Get 2 cookie sheets ready (use parchment if you like, but not necessary)

Combine first 4 ingredients and stir until smooth.  This cookie dough is kind of sticky.  Use a small cookie dough/ice cream scooper to get consistently sized cookies (about 1 T size).  Space at least 1” between each scoop on cookie sheet.  Use a fork to press cookies down.  Do it twice so you get that cross hatch look.  To keep dough from sticking, dip fork into water before pressing on cookies.  Once all the cookies are cross hatched, sprinkle them with paprika, flaky salt, and Turbino sugar.  This is what makes them special!!  Don’t skip this step.

Place one cookie sheet on each rack.  Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.  If you want, rotate the sheets half way between cooking time.  Use a good, straight edge spatula to remove the cookies from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Good luck not eating all of these in two days!  They are amazing.

I will add photos when I make my next batch!