Author Archives: Dawn Allen

Grain-Free Chocolate Cake

by

4

spunkycakeKelly, from The Spunky Coconut, has a great white chocolate pie recipe. I have made it too many times (you know- as in eating too many treats). I came up with some fun modifications and ways to make it cute that I want to share with you. Plus I created a new cake base and I now call Kelly’s recipe “white chocolate frosting” instead of “pie”.

Above I cooked my cake base as a three tiered cake. Then I took Kelly’s recipe and split it into three parts: white chocolate (standard), pink chocolate (standard plus beet juice- can’t taste a difference), and dark chocolate.

spunkycake2Another time I split Kelly’s recipe and added peanut butter to part, and chocolate to another part and made a swirl by pouring all the white in first, then drizzling the dark over the top.

spunkycake3

And another time… I made mini cakes in tart pans and let three lucky girls decorate three cakes with homemade gummies, chocolates, homemade pink frosting, and cereal.

ladybug5

So here is what my cake looks like up close.

Frosting Recipes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Notes on Kelly’s recipe:
1) It works perfectly as written.
2) I prefer the white without vanilla extract.
3) I find it works a bit better to “bloom” the gelatin before adding it to the mixture. Just soak the gelatin in a couple of tablespoons of cold water. (I learned this watching Master Chef).
4) I don’t bother melting the cacao butter separately- I just toss it in after the heat is off, then blend it all together.

Peanut Butter White Chocolate: The Spunky Coconut Recipe plus… 1/4 cup of peanut butter or more to taste (I like it with salted peanut butter).

Dark Chocolate: The Spunky Coconut Recipe minus 2-3 ounces cacao butter… plus… 2 ounces baker’s chocolate (I use Ghirardelli) This can be a bit “un-sweet” so you may want to add a bit of honey (but I don’t).

Pink: The Spunky Coconut Recipe plus… a few tablespoons of beet juice. (I put beet peels in a pot with about a 1/4+ cup of water, boil it, then strain it.)

Grain-Free Chocolate Cake Recipe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 1/2 cups mashed Hannah Yams (sweet potatoes are not the same but they can work)
1/4 cup sunbutter
2 eggs
1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup egg white (protein powder)
1/4 cup cacao powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons cacao nibs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a cake pan or pans with parchment paper and oil the sides. You can use an 8 or 9-inch cake pan. Use smaller or bigger pans depending on the design plan. Remember to leave room for the frosting (a pan with tall sides).

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl.

Smooth the batter in the pan.

Bake for 20-35 minutes. The time will depend on the size of the pan. The cake is done when it is spongy to the touch in the center of the cake and the sides are looking done.

Allow the cake to cool. Loosen it from the pan, then put it back into the pan. Pour the frosting on top and allow the frosting to fully set in the refrigerator. Run a knife around the edges and carefully tip the cake out of the pan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am sharing this recipe on Allergy Free Wednesdays,

Fruit Sundaes

by

4

 bananasundae
The idea: to create a delicious dessert without any sweetening other than whole fruits. No concentrated fruit juice, no stevia;  just whole food ingredients.
The Banana Ice Cream was the launching point. This recipe has already made its rounds on other blogs, certainly not my original creation. But I am re-sharing it because everyone deserves to know exactly how to make this sundae.
The other stuff… Coconut Whipped Cream- use the recipe in my book but omit the sweetener. Deydrated strawberries are from Trader Joes. Unsweetened coconut flakes- I toasted them in the oven. Pecans. A cherry. And homemade fruit juice gummies. There are recipes online but I hope to post a good recipe for that soon.
bananasundae5
This sundae got rave reviews and everyone (including people who eat typical ice cream) said it was sweet enough and very creamy.

Banana Ice Cream Recipe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 banana per person
cacao powder (for chocolate)
Frozen cherries (for cherry ice cream)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chop up the bananas and set them out on a tray in the freezer. Once the bananas are frozen you can make your ice cream. You need a food processor- a blender will not work.

Put the bananas in the food processor with cherries or cacao (or both- my favorite!). Use a ratio of about 3 cups to 1 cup (bananas to cherries). As for the cacao, add to taste but I do about 1 tablespoon per 2 bananas.

Process until the whole thing comes together as an ice cream- soft serve almost. It takes a bit of shoving around so don’t be discouraged if it feels like it isn’t working. Also don’t over process or it will get slimy. You can put it in the freezer for a bit before serving but I don’t like it to be fully refrozen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am sharing this recipe on

Another First Day (With Tears)

by

3

Last week I shared Sierra’s first day of school, today was Hannah’s first day. Before I tell you more about that, let’s back up a bit.

I realized that looking at the pictures on my blog gives a bit of an idyllic image. In part because I choose my favorite photos, and in part because I assume you don’t want to hear every detail of how much my kids fuss. But maybe some of you moms look at my blog and wonder- is it really so easy for her? Well if you ever wondered that I will tell you- sometimes it is so hard. So unbelievably impossible just to get through one morning. And other times it is a little easier.

hannah1st1

The night before Hannah’s first day of school, she thought the dinner was so disgusting she couldn’t even be at the table. She laid on the ground and cried while we tried to have a nice dinner. So she went to bed with an empty belly. Then in the morning I cut her food wrong. And she cried and cried. With some extra complaining in-between the tears. I wish I could tell you some of this is unusual, but it happens on a semi-regular basis with her. I eventually gave up and spoon fed her the food so she wouldn’t go to school hungry.

Then I showed her the bento I made, and instead of any kind of excitement she exclaimed, “I don’t like some of that!”

hannah1st3

I wish I could say I was a model of patience, but I got mad and started threatening to never cook for the family again.

Eventually we pulled it together and got out the door.

hannah1st

I will post a new recipe next week. In the meantime keep trucking along all you moms!

First Day of First Grade

by

4

Sierra had her first day of school today, and I sent her off with a proper cute lunch.

firstday3

Her little sister doesn’t start preschool until next week, so we had a day with just the two of us. I cleaned the whole house (that felt awesome). Then Hannah and I planned a “first day of school party”. Hannah loves planning parties- she made a cute sign for the front door- it said, “You are invited to a party… surprise.” She wrote all of the letters herself and was very proud. We set the table, picked flowers, hung some streamers, and baked brownie cupcakes (I used this recipe). Hannah said she was “hoping for a hug” from Sierra (so sweet)!

firstday2

firstday

Triple Berry Pie

by

3

berrypie

My 6-year-old daughter has been ill. Today it seems she is turning a corner and feeling better, so we are grateful for that. She is already a slender child, but with her fever this week she was unwilling to eat. She dropped 2 pounds and suddenly you can see all of her little bones sticking out. So worrisome (and please know we are on top of the illness and have plenty of doctors on our side). I was offering her any food under the sun. Literally, I said, “I will go to the store and buy you anything you want. I will make you ice cream or cake or beef stew or ANYTHING.” She finally agreed that she could eat raspberries. So we bought two containers… Then last night I finished baking a chocolate cake made with sweet potatoes, eggs, cashew butter, and coconut milk at 10 PM. (I thought that might put some meat on her bones.) (And that recipe will come up on the blog at some point!) This morning I got up at 6:30 AM and made maki rolls- she ate about 5 pieces (not much but a start!)
The recipe for this pie is one I wrote a while back for an Earthbalance contest.
Cherries, cranberries, and blueberries give this pie a special tangy-sweet quality. I stopped making this pie after perfecting the recipe to save myself from gaining ten pounds. I kept sneaking into the refrigerator for “one more bite”. That being said, it would be very nice to make for guests!

Triple Berry Pie Recipe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CRUST
3/4 cup almond meal, packed
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
3 tablespoons buttery spread or butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
Pinch salt

FILLING
1 1/2 cups pitted black cherries (fresh or frozen)
1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 tablespoon bourbon (optional)
3 tablespoons agave
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch (or arrowroot)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2) Generously prepare 4 (4-inch) tart pans or a pie pan with buttery spread.
3) Combine all of the crust ingredients in a mixing bowl.
4) Press the crust mixture into the prepared tart pans. It is sticky, but with a bit of patience it will make a great crust. You can pop it in the freezer for a few minutes if it gets too sticky.
5) Bake the crust for 10-12 minutes until golden. (It also puffs up a bit.)
6) Combine the berries, bourbon, and agave in a sauce pan and simmer on medium heat until the berries start to break down.
7) Create a slurry with the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water. Add to the berries and bring the mixture to a boil briefly. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool a bit.
8) Transfer the berry mixture into the prepared pie crusts. Enjoy warm, room temperature, or cooled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am sharing this recipe on Allergy-Free Wednesday,

Chocolate Rootbeer Frosting

by

3

rootbeerfrosting
I was in the midst of trying to think of an original recipe. Let me tell you, that is nearly impossible. For example, try to think of a pie flavor. Something that would be edible but you think no one has done it before. Now Google it. It was there right? If not, go write that recipe quick before someone beats you to it! In any event, most “original” recipes are variations on existing recipes. So back to my project; I wanted to write a new recipe for an avocado contest. I came up with lots of ideas- but found most had already been done. Then I thought of Chocolate Root Beer Frosting on Chocolate Brownies. I made it without checking the search engines. It tasted fantastic! Just now I popped it into Google and there was one recipe there… but it was not made at all like mine. Anyways, if you have my cookbook you can easily whip up this recipe.

Hints on Making Chocolate Root Beer Frosting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BROWNIES- your recipe or from my book on page 127 (omit the walnuts)
CHOCOLATE FROSTING – page 155 (omit the vanilla extract) ADD 3/4 – 1 1/4 teaspoon Root Beer Extract

Serve with:
VANILLA ICE CREAM- page 136

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the frosting, you need will need to taste as you go, to get the right balance of root beer flavoring. (I use Baldwin’s Extracts for the root beer extract.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most of you know by now that my posts usually contain free recipes. Every now and then, I mention my book instead of giving out new recipes because- it is a great book, I put a lot of work into it, and I hope to sell a few books here and there. Thank you for your support.