Triple Chocolate Cake Pops

Triple Chocolate Cake Pops

OK, I made these SWEET looking cake pops and someone asked me, "Who had a birthday?" and I'm thinking, "There needs to be a birthday to make cake pops?" Not in my house. I made them JUST BECAUSE.

These are fun to make but, be prepared to spend a little longer in the kitchen than my usual short time. Most of your time consumption is waiting time. Waiting for the cake to bake, waiting for the cake to cool, waiting for the pops to semi-freeze. Well, I have a tendency to get distracted. "Scarf" Yes a scarf can be enough to distract me. We won't talk about that right now.

I followed the recipe right up until it was time to dip the pops and had to wait a day to coat them in delicious dark chocolate. I got distracted. OK there you have it. Delicious anyway!

Triple Chocolate Cake Pops

Chocolate Cake

cake crumbs

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 5 whole eggs, room temp.
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup coconut nectar(or maple syrup or agave or honey)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life) Set aside.

Chocolate Ganache

Ganache

• 1/3 cup coconut oil, liquidfied but not warm
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup coconut nectar(or maple syrup or agave or honey)
• 2 Tbs cold full fat coconut milk or coconut cream

Dipping Chocolate

• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 tsp coconut oil

Instructions:

Mix crumbs and ganache

Chocolate Cake:

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees
2. In a small bowl combine all dry ingredients.
3. In a medium bowl combine all wet ingredients.
4. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using a hand mixer at medium speed. Beat until all lumps are gone. Batter will thicken to a pancake batter consistency.
5. Pour into a 7X10 inch or 8X8 inch greased dish.
6. Bake for 25 minutes or when cake springs back to touch.
7. Prepare Ganache below while cake is baking.
8. Cool cake slightly. Break apart and crumble into fine pieces and cool COMPLETELY before adding the ganache.

Chocolate Ganache:

1. In a small bowl, combine oil, cocoa and coconut nectar.
2. Using a hand mixer, combine until all lumps are gone.
3. Add coconut milk/cream and continue beating until the ganache becomes thick, smooth and glossy.

Let's put it all together:

1. Mix the ganache, reserved chocolate chip and cake crumbs. Combine well.
2. I used sturdy straws, cut in half for the cake pop stick
3. Use a rounded tablespoon, scoop out dough and form round balls (about 1 1/2 inch balls) around the end of the straw. You can use your hands here. Don't worry if it isn't perfectly round. No one cares it's going to get covered by chocolate.
4. Place each pop on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. 
5. Place cookie sheet in freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up the cake pops.
6. While pops are in freezer, melt chocolate chips and oil in a double boiler.
7. Pour melted chocolate into a glass to make dipping easier.
8. Carefully dip each pop into the melted chocolate and place back on the parchment paper.
9. Return to freezer for another 10 minutes.
10. DO NOT leave in the freezer longer then 10 minutes as condensation will form on the chocolate coating making it sticky.
11. Store at room temperature in a sealed container.
12. ENJOY!

This makes about 20 cake pops.

The original chocolate cake recipe called for 1/2 tsp Chipolte powder and I used Ancho powder. I didn't get the bang I thought I should get so I eliminated the chile powder from this recipe. You can add it back in if you want to play around with that little pop of spiciness. I guess my Ancho chile powder lost it's pop.

Finished cake pops

Thank-you to Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations for the inspiring this recipe.

Frozen Pumpkin Spice Frappe

Better then Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Frappacino, just sayin'. Sorry SB!!

Liquid yumminess

Thanksgiving pumpkin pie in a cup with whipped cream(no whip for me please) on top. I loved it so much, I drank it for dinner the other night. Yep!! Pumpkin Spice Frappe was my dinner.

After making this frappe I CANNOT go back to the SB Pumpkin Spice Frappacino. Just can't do it!

Calorie comparison is approx 280 calories for SB grande to about 50 calories for this recipe.

I think you got the point.

No whip please

Pumpkin Spice Frappe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup full fat canned coconut milk
• 1 cup SB VIA coffee* (I make a couple cups of VIA coffee and keep it in the refrigerator)
• 2 heaping Tbls pumpkin pulp
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1full dropper liquid stevia (cinnamon or vanilla flavored stevia will work for this also)
• A handful or two of ice or enough ice to make this drink frothy and thick.

Directions:

1. Put it all in the blender and WHIRRRRRRRR
2. Pour into your cup
3. Insert straw
4. ENJOY!

* You can make this a Pumpkin Spice Chai Frappe by substituting 1 cup chilled chai tea for the coffee. If you don't like coffee or chai tea, just use water.
ENJOY!!
Inspired by this recipe. THANKS!!

Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze

When I was growing up, my dad was the experimental cook in our family. One of my favorite baked goods he makes is a most excellent pound cake. I never tried to reproduce the dense delicious cake that was flavored with almond or lemon or just a rich vanilla. Why should I when he is still around to fulfill a request to bake and bring a pound cake to a family gathering. Now that I have eliminated grains and refined sugar, my dad's pound cake is off limits to me.

Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze

When I saw Paleotable posted "Best Lemon Pound Cake Ever", I was very interested.
I was NOT disappointed.
Apparently it was adapted from this other blog  Heal-Balance-Live.
It's super moist and full of flavor that doesn't overwhelm. It gives me everything I expect from a pound cake EXCEPT, it gives me better nutritional value that is missing from my dad's version. It is higher in protein than my dad's pound cake. Refined sugar is absent from this pound cake and REAL lemon is used, not a fake flavoring. I know you are already jumping ahead to see what the dealeo is. So here's my adaptation of the recipe.

Pound Cake with Lemon Glaze

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together dry ingredients in a medium bowl

• 2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 heaping tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbs lemon* zest (I used dried lemon peel)

Mix together wet ingredients in a large bowl adding eggs one at a time

• 2/3 cup honey or maple syrup or agave or coconut nectar
• 2/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 4-5 eggs, (4 extra large eggs or 5 large eggs)
• 1/2 cup plus 3 Tbs unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 Tbs real vanilla extract

1. Here's where you add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. You can use a hand mixer here if you like.
2. Pour the batter into a 9X9 baking dish that has been greased with coconut oil. Lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper is also helpful. (I actually used a decorative bundt pan for this cake. Cook time is the same)
3. Bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
4. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes.
5. Turn cake out onto your serving plate.
6. Remove the parchment paper if you used it.
7. Let the cake cool completely.
8. Use a fork or knife to poke holes all through the cake.
9. Pour the cooled Lemon* Glaze(recipe below) over the cake.
10. Let it soak in for about 30 minutes.
11. Store in refrigerator.

Lemon* Glaze

While the cake is baking, mix together the following in a small saucepan.

• Juice of 2 lemons*
• 1 tsp lemon* zest (I used dried lemon peel)
• 4 Tbs honey or maple syrup or agave or coconut nectar
• 2 tsp vanilla

Cook over a medium heat to simmer. Lower heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

* You can substitute orange in place of lemon.

Special baking notes:
I have also used mini-muffins tins(15 to 20 minute cooking time) to bake this recipe as well as a sweet "half roll" loaf  pan(as seen in the pictures). My only challenge was that I needed 2 of these pans for this size recipe, which meant I had to bake half the batter and turn it out and then bake the other half of the batter. So worth the time. 30 to 35 minutes baking time. Using a bundt pan takes about 35 to 40 minutes to bake.

The reviews of this cake have been incredible. One person said it simply, "If heaven had a taste this is what it would taste like." Most people just said "yummmm....mmm....nom nom nom nom" SERIOUSLY! That's what they said.
Enjoy!!

Pumpkin Granola, grain-free

Fall is the time of year when pumpkins and gourds are plentiful and Pumpkin Spice Latte is available at Starbucks. YAY!! I'll be posting a dairy-free and sugar-free Pumpkin Spice Frappe before the fall gets away from me.

CEREAL!!!

Today I was perusing all the recipe blogs(thank-you Juli from PaleOMG blog) that drop into my email and I saw this recipe. I got so excited! I MISS cereal. I have not eaten cereal in over a year, It's not like I used to eat cereal everyday, but, I like to eat a bowl of cereal every so often. After work today, I had a window of opportunity, just enough time to throw together a batch and get it baked before an evening meeting. It took less then 10 minutes to mix together and about 40 minutes to bake. The granola needed to cool once it was out of the oven, so I left it on the stove and went to my meeting. Breakfast couldn't come fast enough. It's going to be a staple in my pantry for sure!!

Grain-free Pumpkin Granola

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds(pepitas)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup raisins or crasins
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup pumpkin pulp
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbs cinnamon
1 Tbs nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp ginger
pinch salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 325 degrees
2. In a medium mixing bowl, add, pumpkin pulp, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and all spices. Mix well.
3. Add nuts, seeds, raisins and coconut to the wet mixture.
4. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread the mixture evenly on the paper.
5. Place in oven and bake for about 40 minutes stirring occasionally to bake evenly.
6. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Cooling with crisp up the granola.
7. I serve it in a bowl with coconut milk.
8. Enjoy!!

This recipe takes a little longer to make then most of my recipes but it is mostly baking time. REMEMBER to stir the granola every so often during the 35 to 40 minutes baking time. The pumpkin aroma that drifts from the container each time I open it is INCREDIBLE!

Happy Fall!!

Schedule a Grain-free Cooking Class/demo

Grain-free cooking class

If I can do this, YOU can do this. 

If you have made the decision to go gluten-free or eliminate refined sugar or (cow)dairy from your diet,  or even if you don't have to eat gluten-free or refined sugar free but want to feed your family better, healthier meals, I have some incredible recipes that you can make and enjoy with a few changes in your pantry.

Like you, I lead a very busy lifestyle with work and travel so I don't have a lot of time to spend in the kitchen. I create fast, easy, "real food" meals that don't take all day to prepare and that allows me the time to do what I love to do.

For the cost of food, I'll come to your location* and we'll make 4 to 6 courses with 5 to 10 of your friends. I cook grain-free, refined sugar-free and mostly dairy-free. This does not mean flavor-free. You'll take away the tools you'll need to make a few changes to your pantry to eat healthier and not spend all day in the kitchen.

My hope and prayer is that you are inspired to eat healthier by making a few changes in what you put into the food you feed your family.

"I can do all thing through Jesus Christ who strengthens me." This is meant for you too! Because of Him, you can make the changes for a healthier life.

You can contact me on Facebook or email me to talk about scheduling a time for a class.

* Northside Indianapolis, Hamilton, Madison and Boone Counties. 

Flax Seed Tortilla/Pita wraps

Tacos...Gyros....Crepes.....Tortillas....Pancakes
It's all about wraps. That's what I'm making today. I have used this wrap for a soft shell taco. I also used it as a pita for a gyro using my recipe for greek style meatballs. I even added a little agave and cinnamon and made a crepe that was filled with summer berry compote and goat milk yogurt sweetened with a little agave.
It's super easy to make substitutions and create a totally different dish with the same basic recipe.
I use ground golden flax seed that I bought at Costco. It is a little lighter texture and lighter in color.

I picked this recipe because of ease of preparation. One recipe I tried used egg whites. That left me with a whole lot of egg yolks in my refrigerator. Now I found a great recipe for the egg yolks but I prefer using the whole egg. SOOOO whole eggs are used in this recipe.

Flax Seed Pita

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup water(more water if you like the batter thinner, I added more water)
• 3/8 cup ground flax seed
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 Tbs melted coconut oil or grape seed oil

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Heat skillet and add a little coconut oil to skillet.
3. Add just less than 1/4 cup batter to skillet and spread batter thin using a spoon or spatula.
4. Once the batter begins to bubble it is time to flip the pita.
5. Watch the heat as it can over heat very quickly.
6. This batter makes approx 5 or 6 pitas based on how big you make them.

Remember, It's all about the wrap. It's easy to keep these wraps on hand by making extra and storing in a ziplock bag in the fridge.
It doesn't take a lot of time to make wholesome food that is good for you and the bonus is, you KNOW what is in your food.
ENJOY!!!
How did you make your wraps?