🦄UNICORN CUPCAKES

gf chocolate cupcakes with raspberry-blueberry-vanilla swirl buttercream

No worries people, no unicorns were harmed in the making of these cupcakes.

My baby is 11 years old and this is the 2nd batch of gf chocolate cupcakes I made for her birthday.  The first batch was with a simple vanilla buttercream and she brought all 24 to share with her class on her birthday.  Her pal is Celiac as is another child in the class so I made sure to make everything gluten free (and no nuts of course).  My daughter is allergic to nuts and so are several children in the school.

extra shiny bling from colourful dragees. I don't like their crunch but they sure are pretty

This 2nd batch of cupcakes was for her birthday party on the weekend.  We went to The Luminous Elephant and she and her gal pals made bath bombs, sang karaoke, nibbled on snacks and ate these Unicorn Cupcakes.  

there are no artificial colours in the buttercream frosting! I used organic blueberry and raspberry powders for intense flavour and gorgeous natural colour

Some of the girls were in her class and had tasted the 1st batch; so I asked which they preferred.  They all chimed at once "these!" The frosting tastes SO good!  

I had butterfly pea flower and could have made a blue buttercream too and now I'm slightly disappointed I forgot to use that too. Oh well, 3 colours is enough lol!

In fact, I have green (spinach powder), orange (carrot powder) and red (beet powder) but was hesitant to use veggie flavours because y'know kids might detect the veggies in their buttercream! Maybe next time I'll be more daring haha!

the tri-coloured swirl effect was so pretty

GF CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH UNICORN BERRY-SWIRL FROSTING

(adapted from Barefoot Contessa's "Beatty's Chocolate Cake")

• 1 3/4 cups gluten free flour [I used Namaste gf flour]
• 2 cups organic evaporated cane sugar
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder 
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup organic buttermilk [or 1 cup organic milk & 1 tablespoon lemon juice mixed with milk to acidulate]
• 1/2 cup avocado oil
• 2 extra large free range  eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 shots espresso in a measuring cup; topped up with hot water to make 1 cup coffee

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:

• 2 Muffin tins
• 24 large/extra large paper cupcake liners

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 muffin tins by lining with 24 large-extra large cupcake liners
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. 
3. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the hot coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. 
5. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

UNICORN BERRY-SWIRL FROSTING

• 4 Cups confectioner's sugar
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 1 teaspoon organic raspberry powder
• 1 teaspoon organic blueberry powder

1. In an electric mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy and smooth
2. Add the confectioner’s sugar 1/2 cup at a time
3. Add vanilla extract and gradually add milk until the buttercream is at a consistency that is not too stiff. Continue beating for 5-7 minutes at medium speed until light in colour
4. Divide the buttercream into 3 different bowls.  In one bowl, add the raspberry powder and mix well until combined.
5. In another bowl, add the blueberry powder and mix well until combined.
6. Prepare a large pastry bag by scooping the 3 different coloured buttercreams inside
7. Pipe/swirl the buttercream on the tops of the cooled cupcakes

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FATHEAD BAGELS

What kind of witchcraft is this?

I've never had a gluten free bread that has this amount of chew in it.  While mixing the dough you can imagine my skepticism that the ingredients would turn out looking like proper bagels.  I even had fewer hopes of them tasting like bagels let alone tasty ones.

Well, maybe because I topped them with black sesame seeds they assisted in making them smell positively heavenly coming out of the oven fresh.  I couldn't believe the nuts and cheese came together to create these tasty bagels!

Wthout further ado, these can be whipped up in a pinch in your food processor (which I think is probably the easier and cleanest method.)  I did mine in my huge 6 qt Kitchen Aide stand mixer and thought that the dough was probably better incorporated in a smaller machine because the dough kept pasting itself to the sides of the mixing bowl.

FATHEAD KETOGENIC BAGELS

• 1 1/2 Cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used the pre-shredded stuff in a bag)
• 2 oz full - fat cream cheese, cut into pieces
• 1 Large egg
• 1 1/2 Cups almond flour 
• 1 tbsp of baking powder
• optional, for topping: 1 Tbsp black sesame seeds, poppy seeds, anything you love sprinkled on bagels

1. Place the mozzarella cheese and cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 1 minute. Using a rubber spatula, stir well.  Place the mixture back in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute more.  Scrape the cheese into a stand mixer or food processor.  Add the egg and mix/process until smooth.
2. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix until a dough forms. At this point, it won't look like normal bread dough.  It will be very sticky and soft but it should all hold together well in a big mass.  Scrape the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap with a rubber spatula and wrap well.  Put it in the freezer until your next step.
3. Preheat oven to 400 F (rack in the middle of oven).  [I used the convection feature of my oven at 375F.]  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. When your oven reaches the right temperature, remove the bagel dough from the freezer and divide it equally into 6 pieces.  [You can also make 4 huge bagels or 8 mini bagels; but you will have to adjust the baking time accordingly].  Using plastic wrap, roll each portion into a snake and seal the ends together forming a ring. Alternatively, you might want to oil your hands and form them with your oiled hands.  Place the bagels on the parchment paper and top with your favorite topping, pressing the toppings into the top of the dough gently so they will stick.
5. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until they are golden brown. [On the convection setting, it took them 12 minutes at 375F].  Allow the bagels to cool. While warm, they are soft; but they will stiffen up once they cool down.  Place the bagels in a plastic bag or plastic lidded container to store in the refrigerator or freezer because there's a lot of cheese in them.  Split them in half and toast in the toaster...smear with cream cheese or grassfed salted butter for a treat

**NB: variations of savoury and sweet bagels can be created by incorporating things like chopped green onions, bacon pieces, cinnamon, shredded cheeses etc You are only limited by your creativity.  Keep in mind they will no longer be ketogenic if you add things like raisins and other carb-heavy items in your dough. But who even likes raisins in breads anyway? ewwww. lol. 

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SMALL BATCH CARROT BANANA MUFFINS (refined sugar free)

Would you like some muffin with your gratuitous slab of salted grassfed butter?

The 10 yr old got braces a couple of days ago and is so grouchy that she can't eat her favourite foods.  She's been complaining about her sore teeth and even decided to divvy up for her friends her salt water taffy and Hi-Chew collection that she recently purchased on our trip to Cannon Beach and Portland.  I decided to make a little treat for after rhythmic gymnastics summer camp.  She's there M-F for 5 hours each day for 3 weeks this summer and when she gets home she's hungry! 

Chock full of healthy carrot and banana, I was able to also reduce the sugar by replacing with coconut palm sugar.  You might want to use maple syrup or honey instead.

The muffins are moist and don't need frosting or butter...but what the heck--I'll stick a chunk of cold salted butter on top for the kid 'cause her metabolism can handle it.  You know what happens when salted butter hits a hot muffin right?  It looks amazing and it tastes so good.

These Carrot Banana Muffins make a small batch because we don't have a lot of sweet tooths in our household (oh the irony.)  They make a great snack for after school/sports or even a tasty breakfast with coffee or tea.

and yes, the salted butter is one of those things that you have to do one of these days if you haven't already tried it. 

SMALL BATCH CARROT BANANA MUFFINS (makes 6-7)

2 organic bananas

1 organic carrot, grated

1 free range organic egg

6 tablespoons virgin coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste

1 cup all purpose or gf flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon pink himilayan salt

*optional adult add-ins that a 10 yr old with braces won't like: nuts, craisins, coconut, chia, ground flaxseed & other such healthy junk

1. Preheat the oven to 350F

2. Prepare the muffin tin by lining with paper liners or silicone molds.  I used silicone muffin molds.

3. Using the Muffin-method, prepare your batter: In a bowl, combine the flour, soda, grated carrot and salt.  In a separate bowl, combine the bananas, egg, coconut oil, coconut sugar and vanilla.  Using a handheld immersion blender, blend all the wet ingredients.  Alternatively, you can simply mash the banana by hand and mix the rest of the wet ingredients with it.

4.  Make a well in the dry ingredients.  Pour the wet ingredients in the well and combine gently until just mixed.  At this point add optional chunky ingredients if desired. Don't overmix.

5. Fill your muffin cups 4/5 full with the batter.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffins test done with a toothpick

*Gild your hot muffins with a totally gratuitous slab of grassfed salted butter if you wish

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LEMON MERINGUE TARTS (Paleo, GF, Refined sugar free)

A tiny slice of the 4"Lemon Meringue Tart I made 

Am I in the minority? do you salivate like Pavlov's Dog when you see a lemon meringue pie cross-section like this?

Did you also purchase a huge bag of coconut flour at Costco, like I did...only to let it sit in the cupboard unopened until close to the expiry date?  Fear not! do what I did--I froze the coconut flour to extend its freshness.

This coconut flour crust is crumbly and a perfect foil to the lemon curd.  Yes, it will have distinct coconut flavour; so if you don't like coconut flavour, don't use coconut flour or bother with this recipe because the whole point is to use up your coconut flour and make a gf/paleo tart!

you can strain your lemon curd through a sieve but I couldn't be bothered and left it a little bit lumpy.  It was all good; I didn't notice any textural problem as using a whisk makes the curd pretty smooth

the best part is the piping of the meringue onto your tarts and then bruléeing them

I burnt a hold through my fave towel as I left my mini brulée torch on the counter with a small flame on. Don't do that.  Be safe

LEMON MERINGUE TARTS (GF, Paleo, Refined Sugar-free)

(Adapted from The Kitchen McCabe)

Makes four 4" Tarts
[NB: don't make crazy substitutions because the whole point of this recipe is to avoid gluten & refined sugar.  You cannot substitute regular flour for the coconut flour as the absorption rate is much higher for coconut flour.  Use the highest quality organic ingredients possible.  You may end up with a lot of meringue so you can create huge swirls on your tarts if you like meringue. Sugar and flour are cheap; this tart isn't cheap to make considering the large amount of honey and the other quality ingredients that take the place of those refined ingredients.  You're worth it though!]

COCONUT FLOUR CRUST:

• 1 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut oil

LEMON CURD FILLING:

• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teapsoon sea salt
• 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

MERINGUE:

• 1 cup honey
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 tsp sea salt

FOR THE CRUST:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degreesF.
2. Place the coconut flour and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together to break up all the lumps. Add the maple syrup and stir in until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add the coconut oil to the mixture and work into the flour with a pastry cutter or spoon until the a dough forms and there are no pieces of coconut oil remaining.
3. Divide the dough into 4 balls (approximately 1/2 cup) and press each ball into a 4" tart pan with a removable bottom. Bring the dough up the sides and use the tips of your fingers to press the dough into the tart pan ensuring even sides. Place the tarts on a baking sheet.
4. Bake the tart shells in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden brown across the bottom.
5. Remove tarts from the oven and fill each one to the top with lemon filling.

FOR THE LEMON FILLING:

1. In a saucepan, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, honey, lemon juice and salt until smooth and fully combined. Heat on medium/high heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble, about 4-5 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and whisk in the chunks of butter.
3. Divide evenly between the cooked tart shells.
4. Place tarts back in the oven for an additional 4-5 minutes to set the filling, removing before the crusts get too dark (watch closely - coconut flour browns quickly).
5. Remove and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until cold.

FOR THE MERINGUE:

1. Place the honey in a small saucepan and heat on medium/high heat to 230 degreesF. While the honey is heating, place the egg whites and salt in a bowl and beat until they reach soft peaks
2. Once the honey has reached 230 degrees F, very slowly pour it (bubbling) into the egg whites as you beat them on medium speed. continue beating until all of the honey has been incorporated. Continue to beat on med-high speed until the meringue cools down, another 5-7 minutes. During this time, the meringue should thicken up and turn lighter in colour
3. Top the chilled tarts with the cooked meringue, either with a spoon, or using a piping bag and tip.
4. Brulee the meringue with a kitchen torch or place in oven on top rack and broil for a few minutes until golden (watching closely so as not to burn the tarts)
5. Store in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days. Crusts will lose their crispness after the first day.

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VEGAN MATCHA CACAO CAKE

Organic Vegan Matcha and Cacao Cake

Dabbling in the Dark Arts:  vegan baking! ;)

I'm detoxifying from my 8 days of over-indulgence in Cancun, Mexico at one of the best all-inclusive resorts I've visited.  The Club Med we stayed at had so many activities that there was something for everybody: archery, trapeze, sailing, SUP, tennis...

We did it all...and of course I spent the first 2 days sleeping on the beach just to catch up on missed relaxation time! The food was very good too!  I tried my best to eat healthy, gf & all that.  By the 4th day, I was pretty much sick of the buffet lines and was mostly eating from the salad area.  But hey, what's a vacation if you don't eat dessert right?  I had my fair share of flan and tiny portioned dainty cakes & desserts too.  Skip to the recipe on the bottom if you don't want to hear about my back woes! lol.

Organic Ceremonial Grade Matcha is sifted over the cake after removal from the springform pan

I think I was pretty good with my workouts though!  I worked out every day except for the day we went to visit Tulum.  On the last day, I worked our for 2 1/2 hours in the morning and I was pretty much practicing IF.  I was doing fasted workouts:  weights, kettlebells and some cardio on the elliptical or treadmill to finish up. Then I would join my fam for lunch at the buffet for my first meal of the day.  I was down to 2 meals because frankly, I wasn't that hungry considering each meal was a buffet bonanza.  Unfortunately,  on the last day, I tweaked my back reaching for the two 25 lb dumbbells.  I felt a sort of a pop (ugh).  It was not great on the plane ride home and upon waking up in Vancouver on the first day back home, I could barely walk.  Yesterday I did some self-adjustments (lying on the ground, knees up, pushing/pulling on my knees alternately using my own musculature, mobility and strength to try to realign my spine & pelvis).  Today I visited my friend who is a chiropractor and I'm feeling a lot better but I've got to keep up those stretches.

Since my garden's frozen, I used dried rosebuds to decorate. The petals are crispy & add a floral scent

My GP's advice is to try low carbing it to lose more weight (it's dang difficult with Hashimoto's disease) despite my working out several hours every week consistently. Also, I have a feeling he's going to be putting me on iron supplements again.  I try to eat more protein because of this (I'm not vegan...sorry, it would compromise my health which is pretty wonky as it is).  My blood work I had done recently showed I was iron deficient :(   I told him I was losing lots of hair for the past year and bit and ya know, I used to have tons of hair before all my thyroid issues.   It sux.  Everything about Hashi's sux. Especially trying to figure out on my own what works and doesn't work with feeling optimally healthy.  I know for sure I've built up lots of muscle this past year.  The other day, I had to scratch my tricep area. Dang if I didn't feel surprised as I hit hard muscle! ya! No batwings for this English teacher.  One thing I'd like to avoid is having the waggling triceps I've witnessed in my youth as teachers wrote on the blackboard. *horrors!* lol

A hot sharp knife creates a clean cut with this frozen raw vegan cake

This raw vegan nice-cream cake is a good start to me re-igniting that low-carb lifestyle I used to lead. It's been so hard with trying to be gluten free that I didn't think I could take away even more from my diet.  My fave cruciferous veggies which was my primary diet prior to Hashi's have been put on the "moderation" list now because of all the goitrogens.  This cake has nuts, which my kid is allergic to...but I'll be working on another (better! new improved!) recipe to try to get rid of the nuts so that we can enjoy eating a cake together.  If it's not one thing it's another, eh?   So the holy grail of my life is a cake that is: low carb/ketogenic, nut free & gluten free.  It would be nice if it could be vegan too. But I am thinking it'll be difficult without the nuts.   Stay tuned for more experiments!  I have a ton of flavour variations planned and I'm going to get rid of the bananas and make this creamier like a cheesecake but without nuts! ya! no kidding! and pie! yes...for my pie-loving friends! gf, vegan, dairy free pie coming up next :)

A slice of zen. This little cake makes you feel all self-righteous and healthy. The tiny slice I had with my espresso is low  carb, paleo, ketogenic, gluten free, vegan, refined sugar free and dairy-free.  

VEGAN MATCHA CACAO CAKE

Crust:

1/3 cup organic raw almonds

1 tablespoon organic coconut oil

2 medjool dates, pitted

a pinch of Pink Himalayan sea salt

Nice Cream Layers:

4 frozen bananas

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

optional: a bit of almond mylk, soy, coconut or regular milk, cream or water to get it going in the processor, if needed

Matcha Layer:

1 tsp organic ceremonial grade matcha; plus more for dusting the tops for serving

Cacao Layer:

1 tsp organic cacao powder

Special equipment:  

2 4-inch springform pans, lined with parchment circles

Crust:

1. Pulse the almonds, coconut oil and dates with a pinch of sea salt in a food processor [I used my Bullet] until the almonds are evenly ground and combined with the rest of the ingredients.
2. Divide the mixture between the two parchment-lined springform pans. Press the crust mixture into the bottoms of the two prepared springform pans. 
3. Place the pans into the freezer for 30 minutes, or until the crust is set.

Nice Cream Layers:

1. In a high-powered blender [I used my Vitamix] combine the frozen bananas, maple syrup and vanilla and pulse to combine.  If you find it difficult to get it going, add some liquid (any milk or water a teaspoon at a time) to get it going.  Increase speed and blend until smooth.
2. Divide the nice cream into 2 bowls
3. Matcha Layer: in a small bowl, mix a tiny bit of hot water with your matcha powder to make a runny paste and mix the paste into one of the nice cream bowls.  Thoroughly combine. Cover and reserve in refrigerator
4. Cacao Layer:  Mix the cacao powder with a tiny bit of hot water to make a runny paste and continue mixing until it's smooth.  Add this to the other bowl and combine thoroughly.
5. Pour the Cacao Layer onto the two prepared frozen almond/date crusts.  Place them back in freezer for at least 30 minutes, or until set.  I lightly touch the surface to ensure it has a solid surface before proceeding with the next step.
6. Take out the matcha layer bowl from the fridge and divide the contents equally amongst the two pans.  Place in the freezer for 4+ hours; freezing until firm
7. To serve:  Remove your springform rings from the bottoms and plate. Dust with the extra matcha powder (you can also dust with cacao powder).  Decorate with fresh berries or other fruit or flowers.  Allow the cakes to warm up for about 15 min at room temperature before serving.  If you want to cut the cakes, heat a sharp knife under hot water before slicing.  Keep uneaten cakes in freezer, covered until ready to serve.

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MINI MOCHI CUPCAKES: MATCHA & CHOCOLATE

Basho's gone, but you can make these Mini Mochi Cupcakes yourself!

Do you miss this tiny Japanese cafe on E. Hastings street?  Well, cry no more because you can easily make these mini gluten-free Japanese sweets.  Just pull out your knitting needles, knit a cozy for your potted succulent plant and whip up some matcha tea to go along with your sweets.

This mochi recipe is highly adaptable; you can add your own unique flavours.  Stay tuned for more flavour possibilities!

MINI MOCHI CUPCAKES: MATCHA & CHOCOLATE

• 1 lb glutinous rice flour [I used Mochiko]
• 1 T matcha powder
• 2 T cocoa powder
• 1/3 Cup vegetable oil
• 2 Cups milk
• 2 Cups sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350Degrees F.  
2. Spray 2 mini-muffin pans with non-stick spray.
3. Combine flour, oil, milk, sugar and 3 eggs in a mixer and beat until well combined. 
4. DIVIDE the dough in half into separate bowls.
5. Add matcha powder to one bowl and mix well.  Add cocoa powder to the other bowl and mix well.  Pour into prepared muffin tins.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes (mini-muffin pans) or 30-35 minutes (regular-muffin pans). I ended up with 3 trays of mini-muffins! The recipe makes a lot of mini-muffins.  You can easily halve the recipe though.  Check often while baking because muffin pans vary and thus so do the bake-times. Mochi muffins are done when they are just slightly golden brown around the edges. Test by inserting a toothpick. 
7. Remove muffins from pan after allowing to cool slightly.  Set on a cooling rack to cool.  Invite your friends over who miss Basho for tea and mochi!

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Drip Cake: Chocolate Quinoa Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream (gluten free)

Made my own Birthday Cake. Yes I did😆

6 inch GF Chocolate Quinoa Cake layers and Vanilla Bean Buttercream

This is my favourite part of making a cake

Decorated with my fave goodies: matcha macaron, Lindt chocolate balls, dragées, a mini KitKat and mini Coffee Crisp and crushed macaron shells

The chocolate ganache was perfect. I threw dragées on the side of the cake too and they stuck🙌

It's late November and the only thing blooming in my garden are these little purple Daikon flowers.  I just let the daikon go to seed and never did harvest the daikon (so bitter!)  The flowers sure are pretty...and edible

Scroll down past the recipes to watch a video of me assembling the layers

BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE LAYER DRIP CAKE WITH VANILLA BUTTERCREAM (GF)

adapted from Quinoa 365:  The Everyday Superfood

makes 3 6-inch layers

• 2 1/4 cups cooked quinoa (see note below for instructions to cook quinoa. No substitutions)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla bean paste
• 3/4 cups coconut oil, melted and cooled (you can use unsalted butter)
• 1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened organic cacao powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

*3 6-inch cake tins (you can make do with 2 pans and after baking the first batch, make the last layer after cleaning the pan)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray the tins with coconut oil spray or non-stick spray.  Line with a round piece of parchment paper
2. In a Vitamix, heavy-duty Blender of Food Processor, combine:  milk, eggs, vanilla paste.  Blend until combined.  Add 2 1/4 cups of cooked quinoa and the melted coconut oil and continue to blend until smooth.
3. Dump in the sugar, cacao powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the Vitamix.  Blend well to combine.  [NB: if you are using a regular blender, you will encounter problems with the thick batter and may not be able to totally break down the cooked quinoa grains. In this case, you should use a food processor]
4. Divide the batter evenly between the 3 prepared cake pans. Gently tap the pans on the counter to get rid of air bubbles and smooth the tops evenly
5. Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 25-30 minutes.
6. Test the cakes for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester.
7. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Remove from the pan and allow the cake layers to cool completely on a rack. 
8. Frost with Buttercream (see recipe below).  Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes. Make the ganache (see recipe below) and allow to cool as the cake is in the fridge.  Drip chocolate ganache over the cold buttercream. Decorate with your fave chocolates and bling✨ it up with dragees if desired.
9. Cake layers can be stored sealed in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. 

COOKING QUINOA Note:  Bring 2/3 cup raw, rinsed white or golden quinoa to boil in a heavy saucepan with 1 1/3 cups water.  Cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn off heat and leave covered saucepan on burner for another 10 minutes.  Fluff with fork and allow the Quinoa to cool.

Rice Cooker Method:  Cook rinsed quinoa as you would rice, following manufacturer's instructions and the indicator lines for appropriate water levels.    I made 1 cup quinoa and found it had enough leftovers to make another dish.

VANILLA BEAN BUTTERCREAM 

(makes just enough for a nearly naked cake; or just enough to frost this little 6 inch cake)

3 cups confectioners' sugar (icing sugar)

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter [I used Kerrygold]

1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

1 tablespoon milk

1. In an electric mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy and smooth
2. Add the confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup at a time
3. Add vanilla bean paste and gradually add milk until the buttercream is at a consistency that is not too stiff. Continue beating [speed 8 on the KitchenAid] for 7-8 minutes until almost white in colour. The buttercream will be fluffy
4. Use immediately to frost the 3 cake layers.  

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

1 cup whipping/heavy cream

1 bag Wilton Chocolate Candy Melts (chocolate chips or dark chocolate will work as well)

OR

8 ounces chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

NB: before you start! if you have a kitchen scale the ratio for the ganache in weight is 1:1.  But if you don't or if you're too lazy to whip out the scale like me, you can eyeball it and adjust by adding more chocolate or cream until you get a thick pouring consistency.  

1. Put whipping cream in a microwave-safe container and heat in 30 second increments until it is hot to the touch.  Check on it at intervals so it doesn't boil over.
2. Add 1 cup of the Candy Melts or chopped chocolate and stir gently until the ganache is thick but pourable.  Mine was too runny initially so I had to add another handful of candy melts. As well, allowing it to cool will also thicken the ganache before pouring.  Test the ganache before drizzling on the cake by attempting to drip from the top edge of a glass or mug.  If it runs too quickly then add more chocolate or candy melts.  

♬Bossa Nova Royalty Free Background Music

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Gluten Free Oatmeal-Banana Bread

My 9 yr old's Gluten Free Oatmeal-Banana Bread...all made in the Vitamix!

I'm the only person in the household that avoids gluten because of my autoimmune disease...Hashimoto's.  One of the things I miss a lot is a really good Banana Bread...full of gluten. There's something about the texture of gluten-full banana bread that I miss!  But lucky for you I hit upon a lovely oat flour banana bread that is not only super easy to make (in one container!) but has an amazing texture and flavour.

She made mini doughnuts too! They were absolutely delicious with my espresso...and my 15 hours of marking

My homemade gf flour blend is great for cakes and I usually add psyllium husk powder to help with the texture (this works really well, by the way).  But sometimes I don't want to buy all those flours and have all those bags half-full of varieties of flours.  It's a pain because you have too much of one and not enough of the other!  

My 9 yr old loves anything mini and cute.  Here is her little Mouse Chef for perspective...next to  my one shot of espresso.  The kid's mini banana bread doughnuts were so moist and gave me energy to power through 15 hours of marking. geesh

Mostly all of the gf baked goods I buy in stores and gf bakeries are too dense or heavy and I don't know about you but sometimes gf flour is pasty or painfully grainy.  I have yet to find a really good gf bread that's chewy, crusty and slices well (still working on that!)  I've had great success with my own gf flour blend when I bake cakes but a recent spate of moths found in my cabinets had me throwing out everything.  I think the rice that I had stored in the cupboard had brought in some moth eggs. They even got into sealed plastic containers! ew.  Anyway, I store my oats in a sealed plastic container in a different area of the house and I thought they would make a perfect substitution for my usual gf flour blend.  There's something satisfying about grinding your own oat flour and only having to wash one container.  And only ONE flour! yay! And case in point...avoid those moths from the multitude of half-used flours you need to make your own flour blend!  

Bake your loaves until they have lovely cracks...don't be afraid to bake longer by up to 10 minutes because sometimes your bananas might be big so your batter might need the extra baking time

As a treat for the kid because after all, she did all the mixing and baking (and all I did was grind the oat flour)...I took a few of the mini banana bread doughnuts she made...and the next day coated them with a white glaze and cake sprinkles! Can you spot Mickey Mouse on Hello Kitty? 

yes, I only had red Mickey Mouse cake sprinkles so put 2 heads together for Hello Kitty's red bow

So not only is grinding your own oat flour in a Vitamix easy, but it is also a resounding success flavour-wise.  To boot, it's way cheaper than gf flour or bagged oat flour.  The oats add an amazing nutty flavour and you'll find yourself wanting to experiment with oat flour in other baked goods too (like me!) Let me know in the comments if you'd like more Vitamix recipes (which I can do because I use it a lot...but I have no idea if people actually want that?)

GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL-BANANA BREAD MADE IN A VITAMIX

• 2 Cups oat flour**[see note for how to use the Vitamix to grind oats into oat flour] (If you are Celiac, you should buy certified gluten free oats. Some Celiacs may be sensitive to gf oats too so play safe and maybe replace with a gf flour blend if you wish. I used Trader Joe's Rolled Oats) 
• 1/2 cup gluten free flour blend [any gf blend will do but I used "Namaste GF Organic Perfect Flour Blend" that I bought at Costco.  If you don't have any gf flour, you can just use another 1/2 cup of oat flour. Everything will turn out just fine!  If you're not avoiding gluten, just use 2 1/2 cups total of all-purpose flour]
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 sticks salted butter, softened [yes, you read right...SALTED. You can use unsalted but it will taste different]
• 1 1/2 Cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 Large eggs
• 3 Cups ripe bananas mashed (about 7 medium)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, nuts or whatever chunky dried fruit cranks your wheel

**GRINDING YOUR OWN OAT FLOUR IN THE VITAMIX

You will need the "Dry Grains Container" for your Vitamix for this and approximately 3 cups of rolled oats or steel cut oats.

Place the oats into the Vitamix Dry Grains Container.  Set the Vitamix to variable speed.  Start out low and slow and pulse until the oats are ground into a powder.  You may need to stop the machine and stir down any chunks that cling to the side.  Continue to do this until the oats have been finely ground.  You will have more than enough for the recipe above so you can store the rest of the oat flour in an air tight container.  1 cup of rolled oats will yield approximately 1 cup of oat flour.

1. Preheat oven to 325degrees F.  Prepare 2 loaf pans by spraying with nonstick spray (I used coconut oil spray) and line with parchment paper. [My 9 yr old used 1 mini doughnut pan and 2 small loaf tins. You can also use paper-lined muffin tins but adjust baking times according to the size of your tins]

2. In the regular ("Classic") Vitamix container, place your salted butter and brown sugar.  Pulse on variable speed until the mixture appears creamy and cohesive.  Add 2 eggs and vanilla...continue to pulse to mix well.  

3.  Turn off the machine and periodically scrape down the sides of the Vitamix container with a rubber spatula to ensure that all the contents are evenly mixed. 

4.  With the Vitamix running on medium variable speed, add the whole bananas one at a time through the lid's chute.  Continue to blend until the mixture is smooth...this should take a couple of minutes

5.  Add all the dry ingredients to the Vitamix: the oat flour, gf flour, salt and baking soda.  Blend on Variable speed until the mixture is combined well; turning off to scrape down the sides if needed.

6.  If you want to go crazy, toss in chocolate chips at this point and just stir to combine with your rubber spatula before pouring into your prepared loaf tins.

7.  Pour prepared batter into the lined loaf tins. For regular-sized loaves, bake for 60-70 minutes until toothpick inserted reveals crumbs.  [My girl's mini doughnuts took 12 minutes.  Regular muffins might take anywhere from 12-15 minutes.  The small loves took 45 minutes. Don't worry...just check that there is no jiggle in the middle and use that toothpick-test to ensure it is baked through well. If your bananas are large sometimes you will have to bake up to 10 minutes longer]

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Miso-Maple Glazed Japanese Eggplant

Here is yet another fabulously easy go-to no-recipe recipe! 

Miso-Glazed Japanese Eggplant

3 Japanese eggplant, washed and stem end trimmed off

1 tablespoon Shiro Miso (White Miso Paste)

1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (more or less to taste)

1 tablespoon hot water

1 tablespoon avocado oil

Extra avocado oil for brushing

Slivered Scallions for sprinkling (I had to use organic baby spinach lol! It's the only green stuff I had in my fridge)

1. Slice the Japanese eggplant on the bias (diagonally) into 1/2 inch slices.  

2. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet or shallow pan in a single layer.  Brush the tops of the eggplant slices with avocado oil.  

3. Preheat a broiler or crank up the bbq.  If using a bbq, you may want to place the eggplant in a foil-boat or metal veggie basket so that they don't fall through the grate.

4. Mix together the Miso paste, maple syrup and hot water to make a paste.  Add more hot water if the paste is too thick to brush.  Stir in the avocado oil.  Brush the miso mixture onto the tops of the eggplant slices.

5.  Place under the broiler and broil until golden brown and glazed.  The eggplant should be soft all the way through.  Mine took approximately 12 minutes because I had the rack placed in the middle of the oven.  I moved it up to the top third of the oven mid-point because I wanted it to brown more quickly and I was hangry!  Cooking time all depends on how far away your eggplant are from the top element...watch the eggplant carefully so they don't burn.  If you're using a bbq, your eggplant will not char if they are in a foil boat.  However, you can get char on them if you use a metal veggie basket.  

6. Sprinkle with slivered scallions to serve.

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