Gluten-Free Carrot Cake

For Easter this year I made a simple (but delicious!) Gluten-Free Carrot Cake.

I based this recipe off a recipe for carrot-cake cupcakes which you can find here: http://www.yammiesglutenfreedom.com

Gluten Free Carrot Cake

*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a small cake pan (I used a spring form pan)
*If you want to make this a layer cake then you'll need to double the recipe

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 cup white sugar (I used a little less than this)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour (I used Trader Joe's mix)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of cloves
1/8 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup of finely shredded carrots

1) Mix together the eggs, sugar, butter, coconut oil, and vanilla
2) Mix together the dry ingredients
3) Combine the wet and dry ingredients
4) Mix in the shredded carrots
5) Pour your batter into the greased cake pan
6) Place pan in your preheated oven for about 30 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean)

Frosting

5 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 tablespoon butter (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

*Put ingredients into a mixer and mix on high until everything is well combined
*Add more sugar or cream depending on the sweetness or texture you desire

Frost the cake and sprinkle chopped walnuts on top to finish!

Blackberry Mocha Cheesecake

Yesterday I created this blackberry mocha cheesecake for my brother's birthday. It turned out to be probably one of the best cakes I have ever made! I followed a basic cheesecake recipe and changed quite a few things. Also, I made the bottom of the cheesecake gluten-free!

Blackberry Mocha Cheesecake Recipe

Cheesecake Crust

1 1/2 cup nuts (I used a mix of walnuts and pecans)
1 cup sugar
5 Tablespoons butter (soft)

1) Blend nuts in food processor or blender until finely ground
2) Add the sugar and butter and blend until completely mixed
3) Press mixture into the bottom of a springform pan
4) Bake crust for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees
5) Take out of the oven and allow it to cool

Cheesecake Filling

32 oz cream cheese (at room temp.)
1/4 cup of sugar
4 eggs
1 stick of butter (4 oz)
4 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 oz of milk chocolate
6 oz of coffee chocolate (I bought a bar that was coffee flavored white chocolate. You could just add expresso as well.)
4 oz of heavy cream (1/4 cup)
2 oz of sour cream

1) Mix the cream cheese with the sugar. Add the eggs, heavy cream, and sour cream
2) Melt the butter and then set aside
3) Melt all the chocolate in a double boiler (careful not to burn!)
4) Add butter and chocolate to cream cheese mixture and mix until smooth
5) Pour filling over the cheesecake crust in the springform pan
6) Bake cake at 270 degrees for 90 minutes. Turn off oven, open the stove door, and let cake sit in oven for 30 minutes
7) Take cake out of the oven and let it completely cool

Blackberry Mousse 

1/2 Tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
10 oz of frozen blackberries
3/4 Tablespoon of sugar (you can kinda estimate)
3 oz white chocolate finely chopped
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
A spoonful of blackberry jam (optional)

1) Combine the gelatin powder and water in a small bowl and set aside (allow it to bloom)
2) Defrost and strain the blackberries to get all the juice
3) Pour the blackberry juice into a sauce pan and add the sugar
4) Over low heat, stir the juice and sugar together until the sugar has dissolved
5) Continue to stir juice over low heat for 4 minutes (allow the juice to become more concentrated)
6) Remove saucepan from heat. Add the bloomed gelatin to the juice and stir until dissolved
7)Add the finely chop chocolate and stir until smooth
8) Set mixture aside and beat the heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form (make whipped cream!)
9) Gently fold the chocolate blackberry juice into the whipped cream
10) Pour mousse onto the cooled cheesecake
11) Swirl blackberry jam onto the top of the mousse (to make it look pretty!)

Now you simply put your cheesecake into the fridge to completely cool. It turns out best if left over night.

Once you remove the cake from the fridge, drizzle some chocolate on top and add some fresh blackberries.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

For Valentine's Day this year, I made a layered chocolate raspberry cake! It was rich and delicious (plus it was gluten-free!) I found the recipe for the cake here: Fudge Mountain Cake

I ended up changing the recipe a little. First, I only made two layers and I used different frosting. I also put a white chocolate raspberry frosting in between the two layers. It turned out SO good!

Vanilla Coconut Crepes

This morning I made myself a gluten-free vanilla coconut crepe with greek yogurt and nectarines. And guess how long it took me to make this scrumptious breakfast for myself? Only 5 minutes! Originally, I found this recipe for a flaxseed wrap here: Wheat Belly: Flaxseed Wrap. I made this wrap for lunch and it turned out delicious (you should try it!). After thinking, I decided that it would make an amazing crepe.

Here’s how I did it:

Vanilla Coconut Crepes 

3 Tablespoons ground flaxseeds
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (you can add a little more if you want more vanilla flavor)
1/2 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
1 Tablespoon water
1 large egg
Pinch of salt

1) Mix all the ingredients together until smoothly blended.
2) Grease a microwave-safe pie pan with butter or coconut oil
3) Pour batter into pie pan and spread evenly
4) Microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes until cooked
5) Let crepe cool for a minute or 2

Crepe Filling

This is where you can get creative!

1) Spoon a yogurt or whipped cream of choice onto crepe (I used creamy plain greek yogurt)
2) Chop up one fresh nectarine (or any other fresh fruit of choice!) and place onto the crepe
3) Finish off the crepe with a drizzle of syrup or honey (I used honey)

See how easy that was? Once you get the hang of making them you can whip 'em up in no time! This is a perfect breakfast for when you want something filling and healthy but have limited time. You could even make this sugar free by adding honey or syrup in place of the sugar.

 

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies

Today I made these amazing chocolate cookies. They are perfect when you need a little chocolate fix. They are gooey, chewy, delicious, and gluten-free! I found this great recipe here: www.divine-baking.com.   And make sure you add the cocoa powder. The first time I made these, I totally forgot to add it and let's just say that half of the dough ended up in the trash.

Chocolate Strawberry Mousse Cake

For Easter dessert, I worked in the kitchen for almost 3 hours making a 3 layer mousse cake. This cake is perfect for chocolate lovers. I also love it because it is gluten free! The recipe I followed originally uses raspberries rather than strawberries. I suggest making the cake the day before you plan to serve it. It serves around 12 people and goes perfectly with a cup of hot coffee. You can find the recipe for this decadent cake here: hungryhappenings.com.

Rainbow Layer Cake

After seeing quite a few rainbow layer cakes on Pinterest, I decided that I just had to make one. I was actually quite surprised at how it turned out.