Chocolate Valentino & Almond Marble Ice Cream

A February's Daring Baker Challenge

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad - Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

The flourless chocolate cake, the Chocolate Valentino, is inspired by Malaysia's "most flamboyant food ambassador," Chef Wan, and comes from his book, "Sweet Treats."

This cake is the perfect foil for your favorite chocolate. I made one version of this cake with Green & Black's 70% dark chocolate and another with their milk chocolate. (The mini heart cake in the picture is made from milk chocolate.) In my family, the adults liked the dark chocolate and the kids liked the milk chocolate version better. This was a wonderful cake recipe and with two growing preteens in our house it didn't last very long.

I used Wendy's Philidelphia Style Ice Cream recipe to make the Almond Marble Ice Cream. After scooping it out in the glasses, I drizzled a chocolate glaze over the ice cream. As you can imagine, our kids liked the plain vanilla ice cream the best. While my husband and I preferred the almond marble. It was so very yummy.

Recipe

Chocolate Valentino Cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Half Recipe is first/Whole Recipe is second

8 oz/16 oz (454 grams) milk or semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

1/4 cup + 1 Tb/1 stick + 2 Tb (146 grams) unsalted butter, softened

3/5 large eggs, separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heat proof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter and flour your pan, if using a cake pan line the bottom with parchment paper. For a half recipe, I used a Wilton silicone mini heart pan with 12 cakes.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater, beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocoalte mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.

8. Pour batter into the prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C.

9. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until and instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. (If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.)

10. Cool cake on rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Wendy's Ice Cream Recipe (Philadelphia Style)

Chocolate Almond Swirl

Prep time: 5 minutes

2 cups (473 ml) lowfat milk or half & half

1 cup (237 ml) half & half or heavy cream

2/3 cup (128 grams) sugar

Dash salt

1 Tb (12 grams) vanilla cognac

2 oz milk chocolate with almonds, melted

1. Mix all the ingredients together then pour into a sauce pan. Heat on low until the sugar and dissolved, then pour back into the bowl. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.

2. Then mix in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. Drizzle the melted chocolate through the ice cream. Place in the freezer until firm, then serve.

Perfect Party Cake - Coconut & Kahlua Carob

A March Daring Baker's Challenge: Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake

The hostess for this month's challenge is the lovely Morven from Food Art and Random Thoughts, she chose the Perfect Party Cake from Dorie Greenspan's book From My Home To Yours. The original recipe for the Perfect Party Cake was given to Dorie by her good friend Nick Malgieri. This is a versatile cake that has a tight crumb and a light fluffy frosting. Dorie's version of this cake is lemon, but it can easily be made in any other flavor that you like.

A week into the challenge, Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl and I decided to bake together with Esther of The Lilac Kitchen hanging out with us on email. Esther is the proud new Mama of a healthy baby boy and she wasn't up to hours on her feet in the kitchen baking. When I was choosing from the gluten free flours, I wanted the cake to be white so I selected coconut flour as the base and I chose white chocolate for the buttercream. My goal was to create a white cake that was flavorful for my son, who is a huge fan of all things flavored vanilla and white chocolate.

The cake went together easily and rose beautifully while it baked. The frosting whipped up to a frothy foam. I made two smaller cakes and filled one with mixed berry preserves. The recipe made a large quantity of frosting that I swirled around the cake in fluffy peaks.

How did the cakes taste? Overall my family thought the cake was very sweet. Their favorite bites were of the cake without the frosting. They thought that the frosting tasted good, but was way too sweet. My children weren't crazy about the fluffiness of the frosting, they prefer a stiffer frosting.

Since I felt the same way, I decided to bake this cake again and use a different sweetener and make the cake without any dairy as well. Since I had recently gotten an order from Barry Farms that contained some sweet potato flour and sorghum syrup, I decided to use these ingredients as part of my recipe.

I made the second version of the cake for Easter Supper and my family thought it tasted like a mild brownie or chocolate muffin. They enjoyed the texture and flavor of the frosting, it was firmer and lightly sweet. We had agreed that I would only frost the top of the cake, so that there was only a touch of frosting. They liked the flavor of the cake and frosting. My daughter wants me to make this frosting again, since it isn't too sweet.

Recipe

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
2 tsp chia seed meal
1 Tb baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup almond milk
4 large egg whites
1 1/2 cup cane sugar
4 Tb vegetable shortening
4 Tb coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract


Buttercream Frosting

1 cup cane sugar
4 large egg whites
8 Tb vegetable shortening
8 Tb coconut oil
8 Tb ghee
1 oz white chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a low sided pan with parchment paper and set out 4 - 5 inch cake rings. Line the cake ring sides with parchment paper for 2 smaller cakes. Or line two 9 inch cake pans with parchment paper for 1 larger cake.

2. In a large bowl, dump in the flours, baking powder, sea salt and chia seed. Stir the mixture, until the baking powder is well incorporated.

3. In a medium bowl, pour in the almond milk and egg whites, then whisk them together.

4. In a mixing bowl, plop in the vegetable shortening, coconut oil and sugar. Then beat for 3 minutes on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.

5. Pour in the vanilla extract and one third of the flour mixture, continue beating.

6. Beat in half of the almond milk mixture. Next, beat in half of the remaining flour mixture and until it is incorporated.

7. Add the rest of the almond milk mixture until blended and then pour in the rest of the flour mixture. Then beat for 2 minutes on medium speed to make sure the cake batter is well aerated.

8. Divide the batter between the cake rings or the 9 inch cake pans and smooth the tops.

9. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

10. Place the cookie sheet or cake pans on a cake rack and cool for 5 minutes. Slip the cake rings off the cakes and peel off the liner. Place right side up on a cake rack until they are room temperature. (Dorie notes that the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months.)

Buttercream

1. Place the sugar and egg whites into a heat proof bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Begin to whisk constantly, making sure to keep the mixture over the heat for 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved and it will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.

2. Using the mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it has cooled, approximately 5 minutes.

3. Add the vegetable shortening, coconut oil, ghee and then beat until smooth.

4. Once the oils are beaten in, beat the buttercream on medium high speed until it is thick and smooth, approximately 6 - 10 minutes.

Dorie's Note: During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate - just keep beating and it will come together again.

5. Then add the vanilla and white chocolate and continue to beat on medium high speed until the frosting is shiny and smooth. Press a piece of plastic on the surface of the buttercream and set aside until you are ready to use it.

Assembling the Cake:

1. Place the first layer of the cake on a cake plate or a cake round. Spread the top of the layer with the Buttercream. If you would like to use a layer of preserves, spread the preserves on first and then gently spread the Buttercream on top.

2. Place the second layer on top of the Buttercream covered first layer.

3. Use the remaining Buttercream to cover the top and sides of the cake. Top with coconut or tiny curls of white chocolate.

Storing the Cake:

1. The cake is best the day it is made, but will store in the refrigerator. Cover it very well and bring to room temperature before serving.

2. This cake can be frozen for up to 2 months covered very well. Defrost the cake in the refrigerator.


Sorghum Cake with Kahlua Sorghum Syrup Buttercream


Cake

1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup sweet potato flour*
1/4 cup carob
1/4 cup + 2 Tb arrowroot starch
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 Tb flax seed meal
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup sorghum syrup**
2 Tb vegetable shortening, melted
2 Tb cocoa butter, melted
1/2 tsp Kahlua
1/2 cup + 2 Tb almond milk

Buttercream

2 Tb sorghum syrup
2 Tb agave syrup
1 egg white
2 Tb vegetable shortening, melted
2 Tb cocoa butter, melted
2 Tb coconut oil, melted
1/2 oz Enjoy Life! chocolate chips, melted
1/2 tsp Kahlua

Recipe Variation Notes: Cake - I used a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 loaf pan. Buttercream - Step 1: The egg white, sorghum and agave syrup when cooked over the water bath will look like maple syrup and will not thicken. Once it has cooked for 3 minutes, transfer to the mixing bowl and continue with the recipe. Step 4: Beat the frosting for 10 minutes. Then continue with the recipe.

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* Sweet Potato Flour - I purchased the sweet potato flour from Barry Farms.

** Sorghum Syrup - I purchased the sorghum syrup from Barry Farms.

Marble Cake with Chocolate Frosting & Marzipan

This month our daughter is going to be nine. Recently, she received an early present, a book from American Girl called "Micro Mini's." The book kit will allow you to construct little foam, wood and bead furniture and accessories. As soon as she realized how small her hand crafted items would be, she decided that they needed to be enlarged so that her smallest dolls, the 3 1/2 inch Winx Fairies could use the furniture.

A few years ago the Winx Club fairies as well as the American Girl dolls, took our house by storm. No Barbie's and Bratz dolls for my girl, it's got to be the very cool and powerful Winx Club girls and the realistically and niftily accessorized American Girl dolls. These beautifully styled dolls complete with books and movies, make up much of her Birthday and Christmas wish lists.

The Micro Mini's quickly under went redesign. The new plans gave the fairies upscale living room furniture and then completed with a usable pool, bathtub and a picnic table so her fairies could enjoy a cool drink pool side. Her small project that started on a piece of newspaper on the kitchen counter took over the kitchen island before the end of the week. Now there is a design in the works for a cardboard treehouse so Winx Club girls can have have a home of their own.


At home, we celebrate with a small family party and a special cake. Each year, I try out several different cake recipes for the kids to try out and then choose which one they like the best for their birthday. Juggling my test baking this year around the intense fairy construction project, I began with converting the Boston Favorite Cake from the Fanny Farmer Cookbook to be gluten free. This cake has a marble version, my children's all time favorite cake.

This is a delicious cake tastes the best when made one day ahead of time. The frosting was easy to make and tasted so good that the kids kept taking spoonfuls off the cake plate. Overall the cake was a hit with my family, but my daughter discovered that she doesn't really care for marzipan. Her thinks it tastes like the allergy medicine she used to take, so her pieces of cake had the filling removed.

This cake is being submitted to the "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free Event" being hosted this month by the lovely Linda at Make Life Sweeter. The theme this month is Birthday Baking for Kids.

Recipe

Cake

3 Tb vegetable shortening
1 cup cane sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup oat milk or other milk
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup chestnut flour
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
2 tsp chia seed meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted

Frosting

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, grated
1 cup cane sugar
3 Tb cornstarch
1 cup water, boiling
1 Tb vegetable shortening
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

Filling & Decoration

1 can gluten free Marzipan


Cake Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two 8 inch cake pans with with parchment paper.

2. In a mixing bowl, dump in the vegetable shortening and cream with a paddle attachment. Slowly pour in the sugar and continue beating until the mixture. Plop in the egg yolks and vanilla extract and continue beating.

3. In a large bowl, combine all the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and chia seed meal, then stir together.

4. With the paddle attachment on slow, add one third of the dry ingredients to the creamed vegetable shortening. Then pour in one third of the oat milk. Continue to alternate between the dry ingredients and oat milk until everything is blended together.

5. In another mixer bowl, plop in the egg whites. Switch to the whisk attachment and place this bowl on the mixer stand. Beat on high until the egg whites are stiff.

6. Using a spatula, add one third of the egg whites to the batter bowl. Then gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Then fold in the rest of the egg whites into the batter.

7. Pour half of the batter into another bowl, then fold in the 1 ounce of melted chocolate.

8. Randomly place spoonfuls of the chocolate batter into the cake pans, leaving space around them. Then switch to the bowl of yellow cake batter and drop spoonfuls of the batter into the space between spoonfuls of chocolate batter. Continue like this until the pans are filled.

9. Place the pans into the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the pans to cool for about 5 minutes, before turning the cakes out onto cake racks to cool completely. While the cake cools, begin making the frosting.

Frosting Directions

10. Into a heavy bottomed saucepan, dump the chocolate, sugar and cornstarch on medium low heat. Stir in the cup of boiling water and then constantly stir the ingredients until the mixture is thick and smooth.

11. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, vanilla extract and salt. Then beat the mixture with the spoon. Allow to cool slightly before frosting the cake.

Filling & Decorations

12. Filling: On a sheet of parchment paper, place a golf ball sized piece of marzipan. Cover it with another sheet of parchment paper and roll it out until it is a thin sheet. The circle should just be big enough to cover the bottom layer of your cake.

13. Ease off the top layer of parchment paper and dust a little powdered sugar over the marzipan, so it will be easier to handle. Then lay the marzipan over the bottom layer of cake. Slowly and gently ease the top layer of parchment paper off the marzipan. Then cover with frosting.

14. Decorations: Place another ball of marzipan between the two sheets of parchment paper. Roll out the marzipan until it is about 1/8" thick. Then ease off the top layer of parchment paper and sprinkle the marzipan with powdered sugar. Gently rub the powdered sugar into the marzipan. Then using your cookie cutters create your design of flowers. Once cut, ease them off the parchment paper and place on top of the cake. To make the centers of the flowers, roll little balls of marzipan and then place in a pleasing design in the center.

Kronans Kaka (The Crown's Reward)

We were recently given a copy of the book, "Things Swedish," by Mari Hemming (Albert Bonniers Forlag, 2001) that had a few recipes that I wanted to try making for us. The first recipe I tried was Swedish meatballs and they turned out so well my family has been talking about them ever since. Then there were cookie, cinnamon bun and cake recipes that were tantalizing me, however it was the Kronans kaka ( The Crown's Reward) was enticing me into the kitchen.

Made with almonds, potatoes, sugar and butter, Kronans kaka sounded delightfully rich. However, I would need to change out a few problem ingredients for those that don't get our allergies going. I switched out the potatoes for Jersey sweet potatoes, halved the required butter with vegetable shortening and replaced the sugar with agave syrup. Next I added some psyllium (plantago) seed meal to hold the cake together.

Mild in flavor, the Jersey sweet potato is less sweet than orange fleshed sweet potatoes and their flesh is drier. They share the same nutrient profile as the orange fleshed varieties making then high in calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K and betaine. The yellow fleshed Jersey sweet potato worked beautifully in this recipe and kept the cake mild in flavor.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this cake and had a slice for breakfast over the weekend. My children weren't fond of the dark crust that this cake developed while baking, but enjoyed it once I removed the crust for them. This cake tasted the best several days after I made it, when all the flavors had fully melded together. This recipe is a keeper and destined to be made again soon.

This recipe is being submitted to the Gluten Free Teatime Treats baking event hosted by Naomi of Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried.

Recipe

Cake

1 cup (150 g) ground almonds
1 cup (150 g) butter or 1/2 cup butter & 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2/3 cup agave syrup or 3/4 cup cane sugar
4 eggs
2/3 cup Jersey sweet potatoes (yellow fleshed), baked & mashed
2 Tb psyllium (plantago) seed meal

Almond Glaze

1/8 tsp almond extract
1 cup (200 ml) powdered sugar
1 - 2 Tb almond milk

1. Line an 8 inch spring form pan with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. In a medium bowl, stir butter, vegetable shortening until creamed. Slowly add the agave syrup and stir together.

3. Plop in one egg yolk at a time and stir well. Then dump in the almond meal, psyllium seed meal and mashed potatoes.

4. Whisk the egg whites until they hold a firm peak and then gently fold them into the cake mixture.

5. Spread mixture in the springform pan. Bake in lower part of the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Note: The cake will be slightly sticky. Allow to cool before glazing the top.

6. In a small bowl, dump in the powdered sugar, almond extract and almond milk. Stir together and work out any clumps of powdered sugar with the back of the spoon. Then spread the glaze on the top of the cake and sprinkle with chopped almonds. Serves 8.

Lady Bird Johnson's Mexican Chocolate Cake - Gluten Free

Loving chocolate is in my genes. I think it's a prerequisite for being a member of my family, you must love chocolate...even if it's just a little bit.

When I was a child, my father loved to go to Sears & Roebuck not just for the hardware department, but for the candy counter. Once we'd finished our shopping, off we would go to make our selection for the drive home. My dad would slowly walk around the glass cases and contemplate the chocolate. Which kind should he buy today? It always came down to the large dark chocolate blocks. He'd order a pound and nibble on a few of them all the way home.

At seven years old I never quite understood my dad's love for solid chocolate. I liked chocolate coatings on candy centers. That's why I always liked to share my mom's bridge mix. Every piece seemed to be a surprise in a chocolate package. When I asked her why he kept getting those chocolate blocks, she would smile and say, "They are his favorite."

So when birthday's roll around at our house, there's never a question about whether or not the cake will be chocolate. The question is what kind of chocolate. Since the choices are numerous, great care is taken on deciding each element of the cake.

This year the winner was Lady Bird Johnson's Mexican Chocolate Cake recipe, from the Dallas Times Herald. Baked in a jelly roll pan rather than the traditional 9 x 13 pan, the cake is dark and moist. The boiled frosting recipe can be halved and used like a glaze or use a whole recipe to cover the entire cake. My modifications were to make the cake gluten free.

Recipe

Cake

¼ cup cocoa
1 cup butter
1 cup water or strong coffee
2 tsp kudzu powder
2 cups cane sugar
¾ cups brown rice flour
½ cup sweet rice flour
¼ cup arrowroot starch
¼ cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
2 beaten eggs
½ cup buttermilk or sour milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. In a medium saucepan place the kudzu powder, cocoa, butter and water. Bring to a boil and stirring constantly. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, dump in the sugar, flours, cinnamon and soda. Stir them together. Pour in the slightly cooled cocoa mixture into the large bowl and stir together. Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla to the large bowl and stir. Make sure the eggs aren’t added while the cocoa mixture is still very hot or the eggs will cook. The cake batter will be a bit runnier than regular cake batters. Pour the cake batter into the jelly roll pan. Then spread it around with a spatula so it is even. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frosting

½ cup butter
¼ cup cocoa
6 Tb milk
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Optional: 1 cup chopped pecans

In a medium saucepan, dump in the butter, cocoa and milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Pour in the powdered sugar and stir together. Cook the frosting until the powdered sugar is combined and thoroughly blended, about three minutes. Take off the heat and add the vanilla and cinnamon. Pour the icing over the cake. Move quickly to get it spread out before the icing cools.

What did we all think? The cake was a winner with the entire family, although my son said he really just wanted to eat the cake. It was a great party cake and best of all, there were leftovers.

Cola Cake - Gluten Free

Happy Fourth of July!

My family was together last week at my parent’s beach house. They have a home that is made for sharing family time. The type of house that is happier the more people it has in it and positively elated when filled with children squealing and laughing as they play hide and seek.

Their kitchen has enough space that we can all work at the counters together. Building memories and creating nourishment for our bodies. When we’re done we pile up at the long kitchen table to eat and share stories.

We crank up the grill for hamburgers, hot dogs and the Red Snapper a friend caught in the Gulf of Mexico the day before. Then we talk about going to the beach and what type of ice cream we bought to cool us down. The talk moves to what type of dessert we’re going to have with our ice cream and I’m nominated to do the baking as the one gluten-free member of the family. I decide on a Southern classic, the Cola Cake which makes the all the kids scream with laughter. “You can make a cake with a cola?” they cry. The adults all talk at once and agree that it’s the right dessert since none of us has had one in years.

My source of inspiration was the Coca Cola Cake recipe from Southern Living Magazine. I made my modifications to the recipe and selected which gluten free flours I was going to use. For the Cola Cake, you can use any cola from Boylan's Natural Cane Cola to the more traditional Coca Cola.

I chose to use kudzu (kuzu) powder as my binding agent. Normally, I create a slurry with one tablespoon of liquid to one tablespoon of crushed kudzu powder. This time I gelled the kuzu slurry by putting it in the microwave for ten seconds. The kuzu gel was still soft enough to be mashed and worked into cream.

As I’m working on the cake batter the children crowd around the countertop to check on my progress. Amazed at the way the cola and baking soda bubble together, just like their volcano experiments. Laughing they ask for my left over cola and take the greatest care in dividing it so each of them can have a little.

Recipe

Cola Cake

1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup + 1 Tb cocoa powder
1 cup cane sugar
3/4 cup Turbinado sugar
1 Tb crushed kudzu powder
1 cup Cola
1/2 cup sour milk or buttermilk
1 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract

Cola Frosting

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup Cola
3 Tb cocoa powder
16 0z (1 lb) powdered sugar
1 Tb vanilla extract
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped pecans for topping

Cola Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper, so that the bottom and sides are covered.

2. Measure out ½ cup of milk and pour in 1 ½ tsp of white vinegar to make the sour milk. Allow the sour milk to sit until needed later. Remove 2 Tb of the sour milk and pour it into a small bowl with the 1 Tb of kudzu powder. Stir the kudzu and sour milk together. Then place the small bowl into the microwave for 10 seconds or until a soft gel forms. Remove from the microwave and stir the gel until it has a soft creamy consistency. Set the kudzu gel to one side until it is needed later.

3. In a medium sized bowl, dump in all the flours, soda, and cocoa powder. Stir together.

4. Plop the butter into a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until the butter is soft and creamy. Add the cane and Turbinado sugar and mix well. Then pour in the vanilla extract and dump in the eggs. Mix on low speed until combined with the butter and sugar.

5. Alternate between the dry ingredients and sour milk until the both are added to the mixing bowl using low speed. Plop in the kudzu gel and mix together. Slowly add the cola to the mixture and beat at low speed until it is just mixed together.

6. Pour the cake batter into the 9x13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool before icing.

7. Turn the cake out on to a cake plate or cookie sheet and peel off the parchment paper. Then frost with the Cola Frosting.

Cola Frosting

1. Plop the butter in to a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until the butter is soft and creamy.

2. In a medium sized bowl, dump in the powdered sugar and cocoa powder and stir together.

3. Alternating between the sugar mixture and the cola, add them to the butter mixing them together using low speed. Add the vanilla extract and mix on low speed.

4. Spread the frosting evenly over the Cola Cake and sprinkle with pecans if desired.

What did my extended family think of my gluten free Cola Cake? The cake received eight votes for being very delicious and something they would want to eat again. It had one vote for liking the cake, but not the icing from my son. My daughter rounded up the voting with two thumbs down for for the whole cake. She preferred mint chocolate chip ice cream.

The cake had a nice texture that was slightly firm and held together when it was broken off with your fork. For nibbling, it stayed together when you were holding in between your fingers.

Chocolate Chestnut Cake - Gluten Free

My daughter is turning eight and I've been gearing up for the big event. The birthday party with party favors and the all important birthday cake. For my children, their cake is thought about and planned months ahead of time.

What shape shall my daughter challenge me with this year? I've done the space shuttle, G.I. Joe strategically placed behind a tree, Spirit and Rain (from the movie, Spirit), a fairy garden, a knight's castle and many others. When I asked my daughter what she wanted her cake to be like, she said a dolphin. Okay, I can do it...however I need a recipe for the cake first.

Pen in hand and my lovely sheltie note paper in front of me, I got to work on a draft recipe. I consulted a couple of recipe books for more information on leavening agents (The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum and the Fanny Farmer Cookbook). The Cake Bible has a "Special Section" that discusses the various leavening agents, liquids, and cocoa versus chocolate in cakes. Then I double checked my choices and made recipe #1. After the taste test, I went back to Rose's book to read more. Recipe #2 was crafted, baked and was promptly deemed in need of work by my trusty crew of taste testers.

I tweaked the recipe again and while it baked, we watched a movie. All of us patiently waiting for the all important taste test. When the timer went off, I pulled the cake out of the oven and the aroma was simply lovely.

Recipe

2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup chestnut flour
1/4 cup arrowroot starch
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
1/2 cup + 1 Tb buttermilk or sour milk*
1/4 cup +1 Tb cocoa powder
2/3 cup cane sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp kudzu/kuzu powder, dissolved in 1 Tb of buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
1 stick butter, softened

*To make sour milk - add 1 1/2 tsp of white vinegar to a 1/2 cup of milk or cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 6" spring form pan with parchment paper.

Place the softened butter into the bowl of your mixer and beat until fluffy. Add the sugar and vanilla and blend. Slowly add the eggs, buttermilk and the dissolved kudzu and blend. In a separate bowl, place all of the dry ingredients and mix. Then slowly add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl. Scrape down the sides and blend again. Pour the cake batter into the parchment paper lined spring form pan. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until a bamboo skewer comes out clean.

The cake came out beautifully. I topped it off with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. How did it taste? My son and I thought it was wonderful. My daughter wasn't so thrilled with the powdered sugar, but she thought the cake tasted pretty good.

Now, to plan out that dolphin....

If you'd like to learn more about Rose Levy Beranbaum, visit her websites, www.realbakingwithrose.com and www.thecakebible.com.