Corn Free Dairy Free Vegan Caramel

There is something about fall that makes certain foods more appealing. You know what I'm talking about... all things apple and/or caramel.  But you throw in a food allergy like dairy or corn and literally half of the most tempting fall deserts are eliminated.  Caramel is by definition butter, sugar and milk.  When planning my daughter's early fall birthday party this year I was determined to figure this one out: a dairy free and corn (syrup) free caramel for caramel chocolate covered apples.

I started with this basic recipe.  The proportions seemed right and I would only need to attempt one major substitution.  When you are playing with specialty ingredients, it can get expensive so you want to do most of the guessing before you actually start.

Please read through instructions a couple times before attempting.  I promise after you make it once, it will all make perfect sense the next time!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups organic sugar
• 2 cups almond milk
• 1 cup agave 
• 1 cup earth balance or your normal butter substitute

Equipment required:

• large pot, at least 6 quart
• candy thermometer

Instructions:

Place all ingredients in you pot and clip your candy thermometer onto the side.  Warm over low to medium heat.  I hovered around a three or four.  Stir, stir, stir.  The liquid will boil at 212*F and stay at that temperature until the water has evaporated.  Eventually the mixture will begin to rise in temperature again and being to thicken.  Around 230* you will begin to see a significant change, this is about 30 minutes since you started.  The mixture will bubbly continuously.  Keep stirring.  When the mixture reaches 245* the resulting caramel will harden when cooled.  You can test this by spooning some onto a plate and placing it in the freezer for just a minute.  When you take it out it should be very hard, not runny at all.  At this point, you can either pour the hot caramel into a buttered baking pan (8 X 8) and let cool, or you can allow it to cool and thicken slightly in the pot 

and dip clean, dry organic apples into to caramel.

You can see in this picture how my caramel pooled around the base of the apple.  That is just because I am impatient and began dipping my apples in the very hot caramel.  The second tray came out much better!  

After allowing the caramel apples to harden (about 20 minutes) I dipped them again, only halfway this time, in chocolate (corn free and vegan enjoy life chips) mixed with a couple tablespoons of almond milk to thin it.  I then quickly dipped the apples in either chopped almonds (for the adults) or sprinkles (for the kids)!

so festive!

The apples were a huge hit.  It wasn't until later that I realized I served sugar (organic apples) covered in sugar (corn free dairy free caramel) dipped in more sugar (chocolate)!  Wow, maybe next time I'll just make the brownies... but even they are better with caramel! 

(If you want to keep the caramel in a liquid state to use as a sauce for brownies or ice cream or even in a hot fall beverage, heat only to 230*F and keep it in a glass jar with a tight lid and refrigerate.  Yum!)

Good Food Friday: Chocolate Apricot Bars

I love the idea of unprocessed food.  Real food.  Whole food.  Foods that heal.  That benefit my body.  I would say I eat this way about 80% of the time. The 20% of the time that I don't is normally for dessert.  But why?  Because healthy desserts have a nasty reputation for being boring, tasteless or just plain weird. As I have been reading more and more, learning about how individual ingredients function in a recipe it is getting so much easier to discover satisfying sweets that fit in the whole unprocessed category.  

Like this.  

Almost completely nuts and fruit this is just about the healthiest treat I can imagine.  And with the addition of dark chocolate chips, it tastes indulgent.  Almost like a granola bar I'm betting this will be great in the morning with a piece of fruit and mug of hot tea for breakfast!

Chocolate Apricot Bars (Gluten Free)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ground almonds (I did mine in a coffee grinder, but a food processor would work too)
• 3/4 cup rice flour
• 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots 
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 2 eggs, beaten
• a few tablespoons water
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 dark chocolate chips

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350*.  Lightly grease an 8X8 baking dish.  
• Combine dry ingredients besides chocolate.  
• Add beaten eggs and mix with a fork until ingredients are no longer dry.  If the dough is not sticking together, add water a tablespoon at a time. 
• Add chocolate chips.  
• Lightly press dough into the pan.  Bake for 25 minute.  Allow to cool or if you can't wait, go ahead and sneak a square.  They hold up well (if you eat gluten free and avoid synthetic binders you know what I mean) and are quite filling.

Inspired by Elana's Pantry


P.S. I was right... they do make an excellent breakfast!

Gluten Free White Cake

I don't do cakes. I never have. In my mind, cakes and cupcakes are always a total disappointment. The presentation lures me in, with its fancy frosting and picture perfect display but it's just that, a facade, like an empty promise. The actual taste always lets me down. It's either way too sweet and dense or so dry you wish you could rewind and choose the brownie instead. And it goes that if I won't eat it I surely will not bake it. Well, I broke that rule this past holiday weekend. Seriously, you can not avoid cakes for the fourth. Apparently the most respectable way to show your patriotic spirit is with a red white and blue cake. What really wore me down was the presentation. I wanted to be the one to show up to the party carrying a cake worth envying. So there I was in the kitchen hours before a big party attempting my very first gluten free cake. How did it turn out?

Gorgeous and tasty if I do say so myself. I don't even like cake and ate two slices. The crumb was excellent and the taste was perfectly delicate without too much sweet. The key to seeing this one disappear is not telling all the guests how much butter you used because that will shake the faint at heart. Cakes aren't as scary as I thought so maybe I will become a fan yet.

Gluten Free White Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk, room temp
• 3/4 cup egg whites, room temp
• 2 teaspoons almond extract (I used amaretto flavored organic syrup)
• 2 cups rice flour minus 2 tablespoons
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour/starch plus two tablespoons
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 stick butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350*. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.
• In a small bowl, combine milk, whites and flavoring. Mix until blended.
• In a large bowl combine flours, sugar, powder, salt and xanthan gum with an electric mixer. Add butter and mix at low speed until it is no longer powdery, but looks like crumbs. Add milk mixture and beat until combined, scrape sides down once and beat again.
• Pour batter into pans and bake for 22-25 minutes. Test with a toothpick at 22 minutes and adjust your time accordingly. The toothpick should come out clean.
• Let the cakes cool slightly so the cake comes away from the sides of the pan, about 3-5 minutes. Invert cakes onto a plate then again onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

inspired by classic white layer cake recipe from the best recipe by cook's illustrated

This pretty cake was frosted with two sticks of butter and about a pound of powdered sugar. Whoa! Don't see that very often in this kitchen. Funny thing is that the original cake and frosting recipe this is adapted from called for over one pound of butter. That is one of the awesome things about cooking gluten free. You can use way less butter! Who knew? Well, I guess I did and now so do you!

Chocolate Covered Peppermint Marshmallows

Gosh, hope you weren't expecting this to be a recipe, but look at what I have been indulging with..

Yes, a little bit of Christmas clearance from Target.

And heaven, tastes just like heaven.

So simple too I'm sure its a breeze to duplicate. Just marshmallows, covered in dark chocolate with a bit of crushed peppermint stick on top. With that said, I can honestly say some of you will be receiving some of this goodness next Christmastime!

And they are individually wrapped so i don't feel compelled to eat the whole darn box. These things are as close to magic as afternoon snacks get and may help me get through this today...

I know. This photo should come with a warning. But this is what laundry looks like after two weeks and seven people. The poor dog can't even get to her bed in the corner! Its creeping into the kitchen.... Okay, just one more and then back to laundry...

Enjoy your first day back!

Pumpkin Bars with Maple Whipped Cream

Pumpkins are all over the place right now. On front porches, in holiday cards, on kids t-shirts and of course, food! For some reason I crave all things pumpkin right now. In my opinion, foods this time of year must contain pumpkin. Coffee, cookies, breads... I think you know where I am going here... So when we hosted our fall dinner party, dessert was simply assumed to be pumpkin. This wonderful cake is made in a 9X13 dish but could easily be made into two 9 inch rounds and frosted. The original recipe called for a cup of oil (yikes!) Since that grossed me out, I replaced it with applesauce. Still super moist! And the only thing better than dessert at the end of a great party is getting sent home with more dessert to enjoy as breakfast the following morning. I made one recipe for the party and then another half recipe to make individual muffins to send home with each guest. I also gave each couple a half-pint of homemade pumpkin butter. Like I said, the theme is pumpkin!

Pumpkin Cake with Maple Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

• 4 whole organic eggs (preferable from your own chickens)
• 1 2/3 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 cup applesauce
• 15 oz can pumpkin or about 2 cups fresh steamed and smashed squash
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat over to 350*. Grease and flour a 9X13 pan.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, applesauce and pumpkin until combined.
• In a separate bowl, sift together flour, powder, soda, salt and cinnamon.
• Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until just combined.
• Bake for 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick. Cool completely. (Cake is awesome the next day!)

Maple Whipped Cream

• whipping cream
• maple syrup (the real stuff!)

Five minutes before you would like to serve dessert, chill a large stainless steel bowl and

beaters in freezer. Take the bowl out of the freezer and pour whipping cream in bowl. Begin to beat on high. Drizzle syrup over cream, to taste. Beat again until the cream begins to hold shape and can round up high on a spoon. Do not over beat.

The cream is delicious and beautiful on the cake and simply perfect served dolloped on coffee and sprinkled with cinnamon or pie spices. Please do not attempt to top this gorgeous fall desert with store bought whipped cream topping as opposed to the real thing. I promise, once you try it, you will NEVER go back!