Chocolate Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting (Dairy and Refined Sugar Free with Egg Free Option)

I definitely have aa sweet tooth and don't mind dessert once in a while but I still have parameters.  It can't be too sweet and I prefer more natural sweeteners.  Here is a delightful cake that had flavour and suited a special dinner with family.

Cake Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk mixed with ½ tsp apple cider vinegar (let sit 5 minutes)
• 1 3/4 cups flour (spelt/all purpose)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cocoa powder 
• 1 egg or 1 flax egg
• 2 ripe mashed or pureed bananas 
• 1/3 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/3 cup diary free chocolate chips (optional)

Frosting Ingredients

• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter (homemade)
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons xylitol or palm sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 - 6 tablespoons non dairy milk depending on desired consistency 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 9 x 9 baking dish.
2. In a small dish combine milk and vinegar and let sit
3. In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients.
4. In a seperate bowl combine bananas, oil, maple syrup, vanilla, chocolate chips and vinegared milk.
5. Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until combined.
6. Pour into prepared dish.
7. Bake for 40-50 minutes until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
8. Combine all ingredients for the frosting and whip until smooth.
9. Pour/spread over cake when cake is still warm.  Let sit and cool to room temperature.  Add chocolate shavings if desired!
10. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday! Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing (Gluten, Grain and Refined Sugar Free)

My youngest is now 5!  Happy Birthday to our cuddly little bear. 

Today we celebrated with a few of her friends.  It was a busy, bug themed day.  Our youngest is is our little creature collector she is always out looking for lady bugs, frogs, snails, worms and even grubs. Thanks to Pinterest, I did get a few ideas for the theme.  Lady bugs became the idea for the cupcakes. Since we try to limit the wheat in our home as well as sugar and food colouring.  It can make birthdays a little more challenging, but I am usually up for a little "trial and error."

I revised my original cupcake recipe and am much happier with the results.  For the icing I used Chocolate Date Icing and they turned out really well.  The icing was great coverage and for the details on the strawberries.

For the Cupcakes

Ingredients (makes 20 mini muffins and 14-15 large muffins)

• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 1 1/4 cup palm sugar (add more if you want a sweeter cupcake)
• 1/4 cup tapioca or arrowroot starch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon psyllium husk
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup non dairy milk milk 
• 1/3 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups cook quinoa (approximately 3/4 cup dry)* 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Prepare muffin cups/tray.
2. In a large bowl combine cocoa, palm sugar, starch, baking soda, psyllium and salt.
3. In a blender combine eggs, milk, oils, vanilla and quinoa in that order and puree until very smooth. 
4. Pour liquid into dry bowl.  Using a wooden spoon, stir just until combined.
5. Fill cups until 3/4 way full.  
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes for large cupcakes and 12-15 minutes for mini cupcakes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
7. Enjoy!

* to cook quinoa soak it for 1-2 minutes to remove the saponin residue which causes the bitter taste and then cook with double the amount of water to quinoa.   Cook for approximately 20 minutes on a medium to low heat.

For the Icing
Again, this is not my recipe my slight adaptation  from Kelly Brozyna at The Spunky Coconut.  

Ingredients (makes enough for single layer cake or 12 cupcakes)

• 3/4 cup cashews
• 1 1/2 cup dates
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla
• 1 1/2 tablespoon arrowroot starch
• 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/2 cup raw cocao or cocoa
• pinch sea salt
• 1/4 cup ground palm sugar (optional-if you prefer it sweeter)

Directions

1. Soak cashews in 1 1/2 cup water for 2-4 hours to soften.  Drain and then rinse with clean water.  Set aside.
2. Soak dates in hot water for 1-2 hours to soften.  Drain water and set aside.
3. Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth.
4. Set in refrigerator to harden for 1-2 hours.
5. Pipe or spread over cake.  

A Few Pictures of the Day

Happy Birthday!  I Love You!

Natural Food Colouring or Dyes That Won't Harm Your Body

This weekend we celebrated our youngest's 4th birthday.  She is a big fan of the Despicable Me movies and in particular the Minions.  Who doesn't love these adorable little yellow guys?  My husband and I had fun decorating the house and coming up with fun activities for the day.  I love and yet always struggle with the idea of the cake.  I want to make something that other children will like but without using the harmful ingredients.  For this year's cake, we decided on my Grain Free Chocolate Cupcakes.  The icing became the next challenge. How to make yellow and blue icing without using harmful food colours/dyes?

Warning!
Food dyes have been linked to everything from bladder cancer, brain tumors, attention deficits, bed wetting, migraines etc. Most artificial food dyes are petroleum based, yes the same stuff used to make fuel for your car.  According to Dr. Mercola, artificial dyes have the same effect on your child as lead. Yikes!  Why is this stuff even aloud.
I took the girls to the dentist a few weeks ago and was completely appalled that they handed the girls toothpaste and a mouthwash filled with blue dyes and not to mention fake sugars. Yuck! Sure, according to the food industry, there is so little added to your favourite pastas, chips, drinks, pickles etc. there isn't enough to cause an effect.  That doesn't work for me.  A little is still too much. Thankfully there are a few other countries who have already banned unnatural food dyes.

At home we try to completely avoid artificial food colouring.  We have managed to make birthday cakes by using natural foods to make our coloured icing. Here are a few ways we have created coloured frostings/icing.

Yellow
-Turmeric spice works awesome.  A little goes a long way so start slowly.  If you add too much you make alter the taste.  I love this spice but not in my dessert.

Purple
-Strained blue berries work wonderfully

Blue
-Strained blueberry juice with a pink of baking soda.  It will cause a chemical reaction and make a blue

Green
-I have not yet tried this one but apparently juiced spinach works really well and doesn't not give a spinach taste

Pink
-Juiced or boiled beets, a little juice goes a long way and not it doesn't taste like beets.
-Strained raspberries or berry jam also make beautiful pink colours

If you are not up for making your own colours I have heard good things about this natural food colouring India Tree Natural Food Colouring.


Here are a few pictures of the rest of our party, I figured my family may want to see these.

Happy Birthday Beautiful!