Today is Ryan's dad's birthday party. I volunteered to make dessert. The fun part of that is that his dad is gluten intolerant and his niece has decided she is vegan. I can find desserts that are one or the other, but not both. Probably because if you leave out flour- there is no gluten to be the binding agent so you need eggs, and vice versa - no eggs, you need flour for gluten to be the binder. I did find some possibilities, but I settled on doing separate desserts! I found a bunch of gluten free stuff I wanted to try anyway.
Flour-less Chocolate Cake
I've made this before- but with fresh mint leaves in it- It was delicious, so I figured this one would be good too.
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c butter
3/4 c sugar
4 eggs
1/2 c cocoa powder
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9in springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper cut into a circle to fit the bottom of the pan (grease it too). Spinkle the inside of the pan with sugar to help prevent cake from sticking.
Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in the microwave- about 1 min. Stir until smooth and cool slightly so you don't cook the eggs. add sugar, cocoa powder and eggs and beat well. (Original recipe said to beat the eggs first in a separate bowl until thickened and quadrupled in volume- but I didn't do that- Then add half the eggs to chocolate mixture and stir gently until blended then add the rest of the eggs.) Pour into prepared pan and bake for 35 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Cool on rack for 5 mins. Then remove the sides of the spring form pan and allow to cool completely. Remove from bottom of pan and parchment paper. When cooled sprinkle with a mix of powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
**VARIATION** For mint cake - stir in 2 TBSP freshly chopped mint with the sugar.
Orange and Almond Cake
I found a recipe for an orange and almond cake, and made my own variation based on reviews and how the batter tasted:
2 large oranges
6 eggs
2 cups almond flour
2 and 1/2 cups sugar (more or less to taste - depending on orange size)
1 teaspoon baking powder
Wash the oranges (scrub peels well to remove wax). Place them unpeeled in a pan with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and allow them to simmer for 2 hours. Cool, (I left mine in the fridge overnight) then cut them open and remove the seeds. Puree the oranges, including the peel, in a food processor.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch spring form pan and dust with sugar to prevent sticking.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, including the orange puree, and mix thoroughly. (This is where taste comes in- my original recipe said to add 1 and 1/4 c sugar- but the cake batter was SOOOO bitter! I added double that- maybe a little more) Pour into pan and bake for one hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took 75 mins. Cool in the pan on rack for 5 to 10 min before removing sides of pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Mix the zest of 1 orange with enough fresh orange juice and powdered sugar to make a glaze.
Coconut Lime Sorbet
This is gluten free and vegan. I got the wrong ingredients - so I had to make my own recipe (again!) FYI coconut cream is not the same as cream of coconut. Coconut cream is next to coconut milk in the asian food aisle. Cream of coconut is in the drink aisle and it's for mixed drinks. My recipe needed cream of coconut, but I got coconut cream. But it turned out really well anyway!
3 cans (approx 12- 14oz) Coconut Cream
1 cup sugar
4 fresh limes, juiced
Mix the coconut cream with sugar and lime juice. I can't remember how many I used for sure- taste it. I didn't use very much because Ryan likes coconut and I didn't want the lime to overpower it. That was a complaint the original recipe had. Chill for several hours until ready to freeze - I made mine in a 1 quart ice cream maker.
Vegan Chocolate Cake
I got the basic recipe from allrecipes. But someone said you should use balsamic vinegar instead (and red pepper - but I skipped that).
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 TBSP balsamic vinegar
1 cup water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray one 9x5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
Sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, vanilla, vinegar and water. Mix together until smooth.
Pour into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack for 5 min. Then remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Vegan frosting: I used about 1 Tbsp coconut oil, mixed with about 1/3 cup cocoa and enough powdered sugar and soy milk to make frosting. Spread evenly over cake.
I made the
gluten free salted caramel chocolate tart too - but it didn't turn out as well as when I made it with regular graham crackers. Gluten free ones didn't make as nice of crust. It's from Spicy Perspective. I like her recipes. And the caramel is DELICIOUS!
