Coconut & Pumpkin Cake with lots of dark chocolate on top!

Damn that last bit of the big ole pumpkin that was still taking up refridgerator space. It had to go, so I just had to make sonmething with the last itty bit of it (you don't throw away perfectly good & nutricious food even if you don't know what to make with it, now do you?). And since I couldn't bear to eat pumkin soup again and my kids would kill me if we ate pumpkin risotto for the millionth time, it had to be a cake of some kind. This recipe is my own invention, no 'inspirational stealing' from anywhere so it's a Wendy-original... and it turned out soooo good!

Yes, it tastes as good as it looks

Ingredients:

• 550 grams  (1 lb 4 oz) of cooked and mashed pumpkin (cooled)
• 220 grams (8 oz) of basic gluten free cake flour (iIused Schar's cake & cookie flour - Mix C)
• 200 grams (7 oz) of sugar
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of soft butter
• 4 eggs
• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of grated coconut and some extra for decoration
• 10 grams (0.25 oz) of cream of tartar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of dark chocolate

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade or 350 degrees fahrenheit
• Cream the butter and the sugar in a big bowl until it's light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs and then add the flour, cream of tartar, gluten free flour & the coconut. When that's all combined add the pumpkin. Fold it in carfully so your batter won't lose the air you've beaten into it.
• Butter a cake tray and pour in the batter.
• Place it in the middle of the oven & let it bake for about 40-45 minutes, until your house smells heavenly and the cake is risen and golden.
• Take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes before you gently take it out of the tray. Place it on a wire rack and let it cool completely.
• Melt the chocolate (chunks) in a bowl that you place on a pan with softly boiling water. Make sure the water does not touch the bowl. When it's completely melted pour it over your cake & sprinkle it with coconut. Leave it till it's completely cooled & serve with tea!

Enjoy!

My other gluten free pumpkin recipes:

• Pumpkin & buttermilk bread
• Pumpkin & walnut cupcakes
• Pumpkin pie with cream cheese frosting

Gluten-Free Raspberry, Walnut and White Chocolate Cake

This recipe is based on a Jamie Oliver recipe that was published in the Dutch edition of Jamie Magazine (nr.24 to be precise). My son saw that recipe and begged me to make it. I had to substitute certain things, because it was a 'normal' recipe at first, and decided to add white chocolate to it and substitute the hazelnuts for walnuts as we all like those more. As usual, I ended up with a different recipe and thus had to figure out everything by trial and error again. I kept to the normal baking temperatures and times as the original recipe and found out that wasn't getting me anywhere. My cake was totally uncooked and so I kept adding time. In the end, this cake took 2 hours to bake, but it was well worth it. 

So the moral of this story: gluten free baking is totally different, but don't despair, it will be alright in the end if you just keep your head cool and the oven at a constant temperature. ;-)

This cake is quite heavy, so cut it up in small slices! 

Fresh raspberries make all the difference and give this cake just the right texture and taste!

Ingredients:

• 175 grams (6 oz) of butter
• 175 grams (6 oz) of granulated sugar (and three tablespoons for the topping)
• 3 eggs
• 200 grams (7 oz) of walnuts (chopped or blitzed in the food processor) to tiny pieces
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of white chocolate (chopped or blitzed)
• 150 grams (5.5 oz) of all purpose flour (I used Schärs C - cake & cookie mix)
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 175 grams (6 oz) of raspberries (and some extra for decoration)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade (350 degrees fahrenheit)
2. Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a bowl till you have a light and frothy substance.
3. Beat in the eggs. 
4. Fold in half of the walnuts and all the white chocolate. 
5. Sift the flour, xanthan gum and cream of tartar over the bowl and fold it in. 
6. Add the Raspberries and fold them in. 
7. Grease and line a spring cake tin and scoop in the cake batter. Smooth the top and then mix 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar with the remaining chopped walnuts and spread it over the the top. Add a few small knobs of butter on top and cover the cake tin with aluminiumfoil. 
8. Put the cake tin in the oven and leave it in for about 90 minutes. Then take off the aluminiumfoil and bake the cake for another 30 minutes till the walnuts have turned golden, your kitchen smells heavenly and the cake bounces back when you tap on the top. 
9. Leave it to cool and then serve it with fresh raspberries and maybe a bit of whipped cream. 

Enjoy!

Upside Down Apple Raisin and Cinnamon Cake

One of my favorite pies is apple pie. Proper Dutch apple pie with raisins and cinnamon. I haven't, however, been able to recreate the real thing gluten free. It is just not the same. Somehow gluten free dough doesn't have that same texture that I love so much. But I've found something else. This upside down cake is tasty, soft, fragrant and delicious. It is easy to make and makes a perfect treat for a lazy Sunday, a birthday or for an ordinary day that you just want to treat yourself. Or bake something, just like me. 

Simple & Delicous! 

Here's the recipe to the upside down cake:

Ingredients:

For the topping: 

• 75 grams (2.75 oz) of butter
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of brown sugar
• a bit of cinnamon sugar
• 25 grams (1 oz) of raisins (soaked in water or if you won't serve it to kids, some liquor)
• 2 apples, peeled and sliced into thin slices

For the cake:

• 125 (4.5 oz) grams of sugar
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of soft butter
• 1 egg
• 150 (5.5 oz) grams of rice flour
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of almond flour
• 1.5 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum
• 0.25 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
• 100 ml (3.5 fl oz) of milk

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grab a round silicone cake pan and butter it. 
3. Put a pan on the stove, put in the butter and brown sugar and melt the butter. take the pan from the heat when the sugar is dissolved. Pour it in the silicon pan. 
4. Scatter the raisins onto the butter & sugar mixture and then put the slices of apple on top. Sprinkle with some cinnamon sugar for extra taste. 
5. Now make the batter:
6. Beat the granulated sugar and butter in a bowl untill it's light and airy. Beat in the egg. Add the rice flour, almond flour, cream of tartar, xanthan gum, salt & cinnamon & mix well. Beat in the milk & pour the batter over the slices of apple. Smooth the top and put it in the oven for about 25-35 minutes. 
7. When the top feels firm, bounces back when you softly touch it and looks all golden & pretty, take it out of the oven and let it cool a bit. Then turn it over using a plate on top. 

Enjoy!

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free Raisin & Rooibos Tea Cake

It has been a while since I blogged a recipe. I've baked (I always bake, it's my second nature), but I just haven't had the time to write my recipes down in my blog, I've been so busy. I've jotted them on little pieces of paper, so eventually I hope they will end up here, in black & white. 

I'm glad the holidays are over and life is slowly returning to normal. Even though I like the time off, somehow the days toward the holidays are just insanely busy. So much to do, so little time. All the Christmas activities at school & daycare (bring this, bring that, don't forget this, don't forget that), the usual baking and then of course the inevitable school Christmas dinner, which means I need to bake or cook for the whole class (as do all parents) and I separately need to create a gluten free dinner for my boy, just so he can enjoy his dinner as well without worrying he might eat something wrong. I'm always exhausted when the Christmas vacation is actually here. 

In the mean time I (well... we as a family actually) have been putting a lot of time & energy into our youngest son as well, who is a cute little whirlwind with a brain that amazes me in many ways. He is so smart, funny and he has the most fantastic imagination, but his amazing, chaotic brain is very confusing to him and us sometimes. So, while we are looking into all that, the doctor suggested to limit the amount of sugar as well. In most things that isn't too difficult a except when I bake. I bake with sugar a lot. Oh and he loves his chocolate sprinkles... hmmm...  Anyway, I'm used to baking with sugar because it tastes great and is common in almost all recipes. So today, as a fresh start, we've baked our first gluten free, sugar free Raisin & Rooibos Tea Cake that so happens to be dairy free as well. 
I probably will still bake with sugar from time to time, but if limiting the amount of sugar will help my little whirlwind munchkin, I will do so. In this case, Gijs loved the batter and that is a good sign & a great motivation to adapt more recipes along the way. Let the gluten free and sugar free baking commence! ;-)

Here's the recipe for the cake that we made today. 

Not bad for a first time!!

Ingredients:

• 125 grams (4.5 oz) of raisins
• 200 ml (7 fl oz) of Rooibos tea
• 50 grams (1.75 oz) of buckwheat flour
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of chestnut flour
• 150 grams (5.5 oz)of almond flour
• 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar
• 1.5 teaspoon of fiber husk
• 90 grams (3.25 oz) of honey
• zest of a large tangerine
• The contents of one vanilla pod
• 4 eggs
• 100 ml (3.5 fl oz) of olive oil

Instructions:

1. Soak the raisins in the warm Rooibos tea for an hour or so.
2. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade / about 350 degrees fahrenheit.
3. Put all the flour, cream of tartar, and fiber husk into a bowl and mix.
4. Add the eggs, the zest of a tangerine (you can also use a lemon, but I like the combination of the raisins and the softer, sweeter taste of the tangerine) and scrape the inside of a vanilla pod and add it to the mixture. 
5. Mix it all well and then add the olive oil and the raisins. If your mixture is a bit tough, add a bit of the rooibos tea, but not to much. You want a soft dough with just enough moisture.
6. Put the cake in the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes. 
7. take it out of the oven, poke in a skewer to see iff the cake has cooked properly 9it will come out clean when it is) and let it cool on a wire rack. 
8. Serve with a cup of (Rooibos) tea and... enjoy!