Hawaiian Wedding Cake

Have you ever heard of Hawaiian Wedding Cake?  
I hadn't!  But after reading all the different versions of this cake, it made me want to recreate it allergy free.  Since we are right on the cusp of Spring, this should  fit nicely with the weather we wish we were having!    It is a light, tasty and very simple cake to make.  The traditional icing is cream cheese style.  But since we can't do dairy or soy in our home, I decided to make a coconut cream icing instead.  I think it works nicely with the pineapple, banana and hazelnuts in this recipe.  I hope you enjoy!


gf/df/sf vegan


Hawaiian Wedding Cake:
Oven 350 degrees
9 X 13 pan, parchment lined


1 Cup  Brown Rice Flour
1/2 Cup  White Rice Flour
1/2 Cup  Potato Starch
1/4 Cup  Corn Starch
1 1/2 tsp  Xantham Gum
1 tsp  Baking Powder
1/2 tsp  Baking Soda
1 - 20 oz. can  Pineapple Chunks
1 Cup  Hazelnuts, chopped
1 large Banana
1 TB  Egg Replacer (mixed w/ 1/4 cup milk substitute)
1/2 Cup  Spectrum Shortening
1 Cup  Organic Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup reserved Pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9 X 13 pan with parchment paper.
Open and drain pineapple chunks, reserving the extra liquid for the cake recipe and icing recipe.
In a large mixing bowl, add egg replacer mixture, spectrum shortening and brown sugar.  Cream on medium speed about 2-3 minutes until will mixed.  Add in whole banana and mix on medium speed until broken up and well blended about 30 seconds.  Add in drained pineapple chunks and mix another 30 seconds on medium speed until well blended.  Add in brown rice flour, white rice flour, potato starch, corn starch, xantham gum, baking powder, baking soda, 1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice and hazelnuts.  Mix on low for 2-3 minutes scraping down as needed.  Pour into prepared pan and place in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely before icing.

Coconut Cream Icing:

1/2 Cup  Coconut Butter (softened)
1/2 Cup  Spectrum Shortening
1/4 Cup  Butter Substitute- we use Earth Balance soy free
pinch of salt
4 Cups  Organic Powdered Sugar
6 tsp  Pineapple juice (reserved)
4 TB  Coconut Milk (carton)

In large mixing bowl add coconut butter, spectrum, butter substitute and pinch of salt.  Cream on medium-high speed until well blended.  Add in organic powdered sugar, reserved pineapple juice and coconut milk.  Mix on medium high about 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.  Ice cake!  This icing is always better at room temperature, so remember if you refrigerate the iced cake, always let it "rest" to room temp before eating.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes- gluten free/vegan/top 8 allergen free

If you’re enough lucky to be Irish... You’re lucky enough!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here is my take on a chocolate mint dessert for the holiday.  It consists of a a chocolate chip cupcake, topped with a creamy vanilla buttercream and drizzled with a chocolate mint "magic shell".  It is divine.  

I would have loved the buttercream to be a beautiful green, but as you can tell by the picture, the green is more of a moss color!   That's what happens when you use natural food coloring, so I decided to just let the buttercream be.  And after eating one, having the color  the perfect shade of green didn't matter to me at all.......

gluten free, vegan......allergy free!

Chocolate Chip Cupcake:

Oven 350 degrees

12 cup cupcake pan with liners

3/4 Cup  White Rice Flour

1/4 Cup  Brown Rice Flour

1/2 Cup  Potato Starch

1/2 tsp  Xantham Gum

1 Cup  Organic Sugar

1 tsp.  Baking Soda

1/4 tsp.  Sea Salt

3 TB  Cocoa Powder

6 TB  Canola Oil

1 tsp  Vanilla Extract

2 TB  Applecider Vinegar

1 Cup  Coffee (hot)  I used decaf.

1/2 Cup  Chocolate Chips (Enjoy Life)

In a large mixing bowl, sift all dry ingredients into bowl.  Mix on low to combine well.  Add in canola oil, vanilla extract, applecider vinegar and hot coffee.  Mix well on medium speed, scraping down when needed.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Divide evenly into a 12 lined cupcake pan.  Bake for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Set aside and cool completely.

Vanilla Buttercream:

1/4 + 1/8 Cup  "Butter" (we use Earth Balance soy free)

1/4 + 1/8 Cup  Spectrum Shortening

pinch of salt

2 1/4 Cups  Organic Powdered Sugar

1 1/2 TB  Coconut Milk (carton) or milk substitute

1 tsp  Vanilla Extract

Natural Green Food coloring (if desired) 

Add butter, shortening and salt into large mixing bowl and mix on medium until well blended and soft.  Add in powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract and mix on low until blended than medium until fluffy.  About 2-3 minutes.  Add natural food coloring if desired and mix until blended.  Set aside.

Chocolate Mint "Magic Shell"

1/2 Cup  Coconut Oil (melted)

1/4 Cup  Organic Powdered Sugar

3 tsp  Cocoa Powder

1/4 tsp  Mint Extract (or more if you like a stronger mint taste)

Add all ingredients into a small bowl and by hand until smooth.  It will be pourable.  Set aside.

Assembly:

Once the cupcakes have cooled completely, pipe on vanilla buttercream to a tall peak.  Put the iced cupcakes into refrigerator for about 1 hour to "set" the buttercream.  Once the frosting has set, take a spoon and drizzle the chocolate mint "magic shell" over the top of the cupcake.  The "shell" will set up fairly instantly.  At this point let the cupcakes sit until the frosting has a chance to come back up to room temperature.  The "magic shell" will stay firm and the cupcake is much more delicious to eat with a soft buttercream!  Enjoy!

Save image to computer and print!

May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks,

May your heart be as light as a song,
May each day bring you bright, happy hours,
That stay with you all the year long.

Also shared at:   Fat Tuesday, Create Link Inspire,Tuesday Talent Show,Totally Talented Tuesdays, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday, Allergy Free Wednesday,  Show & Share Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Gluten Free Fridays, Whole Food Friday, Foodie Friday, Healing With Food Friday

Cinnamon Roll Bread

If you love cinnamon rolls then you will love this recipe!  It is a take-off of a recipe from one of my most favorite blogs, The Pioneer Women.  Even though all her food is made with most everything my youngest daughter is allergic too,  I find her blog inspiring, funny and beautifully photographed.  I changed most all of the ingredients but the basic idea still worked well with all the replacements.  Once it came out of the oven, I was lucky to get pictures of it since it disappeared instantly!  

gf/df/sf/vegan



Cinnamon Roll Bread:

1 Cup  Coconut Milk
1/4 Cup  Canola Oil
1/4 Cup  Raw Sugar
1 1/8 tsp  Active Dry Yeast

1/2 Cup  Brown Rice Flour
1/2 Cup  White Rice Flour
1/2 Cup  Corn Starch
1/2 Cup  Potato Starch
1 tsp  Xantham Gum

Additional Flour:
1/8 Cup  Brown Rice Flour
1/8 Cup  White Rice Flour
1/8 Cup  Corn Starch
1/8 Cup  Potato Starch
1/8 tsp  Xantham Gum

1/4 tsp  Baking Powder
1/4 tsp  Baking Soda
1 tsp  Sea Salt

1/2 Cup  Butter, melted (we use Earth Balance)
3/4 Cup  Sugar ( I used 1/2 Cup Raw and 1/4 Cup Coconut Palm)
1 1/2 TB  Cinnamon, ground

Topping:
1/2 Cup  Organic Powdered Sugar
1 TB  Butter, melted (we use Earth Balance)
1 TB  Maple Syrup
1 TB  Coconut Milk

Turn oven onto 200 degrees.  Once it reaches that temperature, turn off.  Grease a bread loaf pan, set aside.  Heat coconut milk, canola oil and sugar to 110 degrees (I used a glass bowl, microwave and instant thermometer)  Add in yeast and stir until combined.  Put mixture into large mixing bowl and sift in the 1/2 cup measurements of brown rice, white rice, corn starch, potato starch and 1 tsp xantham gum.  Mix on low for about 2 minutes.  Remove bowl from mixer and cover with plastic wrap and place into the warmed oven for 1 hour.  After the dough has risen for 1 hour, remove and sift in the additional 1/8 cup measurements of brown rice, white rice, corn starch, potato starch, 1/8 tsp xantham gum, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt.  Mix on low until combined.  Refrigerate 30 minutes.  Reheat oven to 200 degrees and turn off once it reaches that temperature.  Remove dough and roll out on a floured surface into a large rectangle.  Spread with the melted 1/2 cup "butter" and sprinkle with the sugar and cinnamon.  Cut into 4 long strips, then lay each strip on top of each other (you'll need a spatula or scraper to  help since the dough is quite soft)  Then cut that into 5-6 slices and lay all the pieces upright into the greased loaf pan.  Place into warmed oven and let rise for 30 minutes.  Once risen remove and turn oven on to 350 degrees.  Place a foil tent over the top and place in oven and bake for 10 minutes.  Remove foil after 10 minutes and bake for a additional 15 to 20 minutes until done.  Mix the topping ingredients together; powdered sugar, melted "butter", maple syrup and coconut milk and pour over warm bread.  Once cooled, enjoy!

This recipe was shared with Allergy Free Wednesday

Monster Cookie Bars

This recipe is based off of my chocolate chip cookie recipe, but with a lot more goodies added and a quicker end result since there is no waiting by cooking them in bar form.  I originally made these for Super Bowl Sunday and we gobbled them up!  You could definitely do different add-ins depending on your own food allergy, but we are quite limited and really liked the combo we had anyway. 

gf/df/sf/nf/vegan

Monster Cookie Bars:

Oven 350 degrees
13 X 9 parchment lined pan


1/2 Cup  Spectrum Shortening
1/4 Cup  Butter Substitute - we use soy free Earth Balance
1 TB.  Egg Replacer mixed with 1/4 Cup Rice Milk
3/4 Cup  Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Raw Cane Sugar
1 1/2 Cups  Brown Rice Flour
1/4 Cup  White Rice Flour
3/4 Cup  Tapioca Starch
1 tsp.  Xantham Gum
1 tsp.  Baking Soda
1/8 tsp.  Baking Powder
1/2 tsp.  Sea Salt
3 TB.  Rice Milk (may need a tad more depending on batter)
1/2 Cup  Allergy Free Pretzels, broken into pieces
1/2 Cup  Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips
4 small (or 2 big)  Allergy Free Marshmallows, cut or tore into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 13 x 9 pan with parchment paper.  Set aside.
To a mixing bowl add, shortening, butter substitute, egg mixture and sugars.  Cream together until well mixed, scraping down sides of bowl when needed.  Add to creamed mixture;  flours, starch, xantham gum, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt and rice milk.  Mix on medium/low speed until blended.   Depending on your batter you may need to add a little more rice milk if it is not "forming", but it will be quite thick.  Mix in pretzel pieces and chocolate chips on low.  Add marshmallows pieces, but stir in by hand, as to not tear completely apart.  Spread into prepared pan.  I dipped my spatula into water to help spread the batter evenly into the pan.  Bake for 27 minutes.  Cool completely when done and cut into squares.  Enjoy!

Autism.....and tying shoes!

Sometimes with Autism, it's the little things that mean the most.  Like, tying shoes!  My amazing youngest daughter, who just turned 11, has been working very hard at mastering this skill.  I really can't think back to how long we have been practicing it, but in the world of Autism, it isn't how long things take, it's accomplishing them that's the triumph.  The joy of seeing her proud smile when she realized she got it was priceless.  I thought I would share the learning board I made from which we practiced this skill as part of our daily learning.  We had tried many different way to learn this, but for some reason she took to this one the best.   

I just used a piece of cardboard, shoe laces, sharpie and printed instructions I thought she could relate too, printed off the internet.  I ended up going with the type of tying that starts by looping the shoelaces as "bunny ears".   At least that is what we called them because she liked it!  We first criss-cross tied the first part.  Then we made up a simple saying together about making bunny ears, crossing them and then having one bunny ear jump thru the the hole.  For some reason having the bunny ear jump "into" the hole instead of coming from under and up, was easier for her.  

I hope by sharing this, it will help another add just a little more independence to their own life!
Priceless.

Strawberry Chocolate Crumb Cake

My beautiful oldest daughter loves strawberries and chocolate.  And since she did me a huge favor,  what better way to thank her than to make a delicious crumb cake!   I chopped the strawberries up very small for this recipe so my youngest daughter, with food sensory issues, could enjoy it too, which ends up making it very moist.  

gf/df/vegan

Strawberry Chocolate Crumb Cake:

oven 350 degrees

12 x 8 Brownie pan- parchment lined

For the Cake:

3/4 Cup  Brown Rice Flour

1/2 Cup  White Rice Flour

1/2 Cup  Millet Flour

1/2 Cup  Tapioca Starch

1 1/2 tsp  Xantham Gum

2 tsp  Baking Powder

1 tsp  Baking Soda

1/2 tsp  Sea Salt

1 tsp  Cinnamon  

1/4 Cup  Spectrum Shortening

1/4 Cup  Coconut Oil (non melted)

1 1/2 TB  Egg Replacer mixed with 1/4 Cup warm water

1 Cup  Coconut Palm Sugar

1/2 Cup  Pear Juice 

1/4 plus 2 TB  warm water

1 Cup  Strawberries (chopped or sliced)

1/2 Cup  Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

For the Crumb:

1/4 Cup  Brown Rice

1/2 Cup  Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup  Canola Oil

1/2 tsp  Cinnamon

1/4 tsp  Nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 12 x 8 brownie pan with parchment paper, set aside.

In mixing bowl add shortening, coconut oil, egg replacer mixture and coconut palm sugar and cream together until smooth.  Add pear juice and warm water and mix well.  At this point it may have a odd "bead" texture, but this is just fine.  Sift into creamed mixture the brown rice, white rice, millet four, tapioca starch, xantham gum, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon.  Blend until well combined, scraping down bowl when needed.  Stir in the chocolate chips and strawberries by hand.   Spoon into prepared pan.  Next in a small bowl, add  for the crumb, the brown rice, brown sugar, canola oil, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Mix together and sprinkle over the cake mixture evenly.  Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Spanish Rice

Spanish Rice

This is one of my go-to recipes during a busy week.  It is simple and filling.  You can make it "as-is" or add lots of toppings and sides and turn it into a "bar" type dish.  I have made this for company and added sides like cheese, chopped onion, salsa, sour cream, jalapenos, shredded lettuce, guacamole, hot sauces etc.. Then I set out warm corn tortillas and corn chips and everyone can decide how they would like to "build" their own plate!  If you add a salad you are set for a crowd. 

gf/df


Spanish Rice:

3 TB  Olive Oil
1/4 large  White Onion  -chopped
1/2 large  Green pepper  -chopped
2 tsp.  Garlic   -chopped/minced
1/2 lb.   Ground meat  (beef, turkey, chicken, meat substitute)
1 1/2 Cups  Spaghetti Sauce (homemade or favorite jarred)
3/4 Cups  Water (or broth)
3 Cups  Brown Rice (cooked)
1 Cup  Spanish Olives (chopped)
1/4 Cup  Sugar (or preferred sweetener to taste)
2 tsp.  Sea Salt
3 TB  Chili Powder
1/4 tsp  Chipotle Powder (omit if sensitive to spicy foods)
Pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in large skillet.  Add onion, green pepper and garlic and saute until tender.  Add ground meat and cook until browned.  Add spaghetti sauce and water to meat mixture, stir until combined.  Add cooked brown rice, Spanish olives, sugar, salt, chili powder, chipotle powder and pepper (to taste).  Stir until well mixed and simmer at low heat for 10-15 minutes.  Top with favorite topping and any extras.  Enjoy!