GF Chocolate Fudge Cake/Cupcakes

Couldn't believe it when hubby took a bite of these cupcakes and said he couldn't tell that this was gluten free! These are chocolatey and light and fluffy and there is no need for another chocolate cupcake made with wheat.

4oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 3/4 c Brown Rice Flour Mix

1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 c canola oil

1 1/2 c fat-free milk

2 c granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 9-inch round layer cake pans with parchment or wax paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. If making cupcakes, line 24 cupcake pans, set aside.

2. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, until completely melted. Set aside to cool to lukewarm.

3. Put flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum in medium bowl and whisk to mix. Set aside.

4. Place canola oil and milk in a measuring cup and whisk thoroughly. Set aside.

5. Beat sugar and eggs in a large bowl of electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Blend in melted chocolate and vanilla. Add dry and wet ingredients in two additions at low speed, and then mix at medium speed for 1 more minute.

6. Pour batter into prepared pans. Place in center of oven and bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Bake 18 - 20 minutes for cupcakes.

7. Cool cake layers in the pans on a rack for five minutes. Use a small knife to cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Invert cake layers onto a rack, peel of paper and cool completely.

8. Frost with buttercream or chocolate fudge.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

3 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped, melted and cooled

1/2 c (1 stick) butter, softened

2 c powdered sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Beat butter until light and fluffy. Add melted chocolate and mix well.

2. Fold in powdered sugar gradually, beating until sugar is completely incorporated. Add vanilla and beat well. Frosting should be soft and spreadable. Frosting will stiffen slightly at room temperature.



Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcakes

These are some seriously good cupcakes! Thank you Annalise Roberts.

 

 

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups Brown Rice Flour mix

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners ina 12-cupcake baking pan.

 

2. Beat eggs and sugar in a large bowl until mixture is light lemon in color.

 

3. Add flour, salt, baking powder, xanthan gum, oil, milk and vanilla, and beat at medium speed for 1 minute.

 

4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Place in center of oven and bake for about 15 - 18 minutes or until center springs back when touched lightly.

 

5. Cool on rack for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan onto wire rack and cool completely.

 

6. Frost with favorite frosting or glaze.

 

 

Note: This recipe can be halved. Cupcakes can be frozen up to three weeks.



Lemon-Lime Pound Cake

My sister's mention of using 7-Up in cakes during the 70s brought back many pleasant memories of the marathon baking that we used to do for Christmas as the Monsoon rains pounded the windows. And as luck would have it, Southern Living's February issued featured this Lemon-Lime Pound Cake on the front cover, tempting me -- "bake me ... bake me" ... it called out to me.  And this weekend I gave in.

1 1/2 cups (12 oz.) butter, softened

3 cups sugar

5 large eggs, room temperature

2 Tbsp. lemon zest

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup lemon-lime soft drink (7-Up/Sprite)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just blended. Stir in lemon zest and vanilla extract.

4. Add flour to butter mixture alternately with lemon-lime drink, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed until just blended after each addition.

5. Pour into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan.

6. Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Check on cake after 40 minutes to make sure that cake doesn't brown too quickly (tent with foil if it does).

7. Cool cake in pan for 10 - 20 minutes; remove cake from pan and finish cooling on wire rack.

8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or make a glaze with powdered sugar and lemon juice (I use 1 cup of powdered sugar and about 3 tsp. of lemon juice -- add a teaspoon at a time).





Lemon Cornmeal Cake

This recipe reminded me of the kind of cake I used to have for tea as a child. A plain but flavorful cake. And so when I had a neighbor over for tea some weeks ago, I decided to make this cake. I liked it and will definitely make it again.

1 1/3 cups (5.7 oz/161 g) all-purpose flour

1 cup (5.3 oz/150 g) stone-ground yellow cornmeal

1 cup (7 oz/200 g) granulated sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups (12.75 oz/363 g) sour cream

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks/6 oz/170 g) unsalted butter, melted

1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest

1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 x 3-inch springform pan. Dust the pan with flour.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt, set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs until blended. Add the sour cream and whisk until combined. Add the butter and whisk until blended. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.

4. Using a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing until just blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

5. Bake the cake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a wire rack.

6. Unmold the cake and dust the top with confectioners' sugar or a lemon glaze.

Note: I substitute 1/2 cup of the sour cream with mascarpone cheese simply because I had it and the cake was delicious. I also make a lemon glaze using half a cup of confectioners' sugar and 1 - 2 tsp. of freshly squeezed lemon juice. If you want the glaze more runny use more juice and reduce the juice if you want a thicker glaze that you can pipe.

Coconut Cake

This has become the favorite office Coconut Cake. It's a two-layer cake which can easily be cut into a four-layer cake ... there is plenty of creamy frosting to cover the layers.

3/4 lb. (3 sticks of butter), at room temperature

2 cups sugar

5 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp. almond or coconut extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

4 oz. sweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 9-inch cake pans and dust lightly with flour.

2. In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high for about four minutes until light and fluffy.

3. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond/coconut extracts and mix well.

4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and milk to the batter in three parts, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined. Fold in the coconut with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.

5. Pour the batter evenly into the pans and smooth the tops.

6. Bake in the center of the oven for 40 - 45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. The cakes should be a golden brown. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes and then remove from pan to cool completely.

Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature

3/4 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 tsp. almond/coconut extract

5 cups confectioners' /powdered sugar

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter, vanilla and almond/coconut extract on low speed.

2. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix only until just combined. Do not whip!

3. To assemble cake, place one layer (top down) on a cake plate and spread with a generous amount of frosting. Sprinkle a light layer of coconut on top of the frosting. Place the other cake (topside up) on the frosted layer, and spread frosting on the top and work your way down to the sides of the cake. Sprinkle the rest of the coconut on the top and sides of the cake. This is a messy process ... I usually put the cake plate on a clean baking sheet and toss the coconut at the sides of the cake.

This cake bakes into a beautiful golden brown.

Rich Marble Pound Cake with Chocolate Glaze

3 cups (12 oz.) cake flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 (17.6 oz.) cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup (1.4 oz.) natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)

6 Tbsp. water

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks/12 oz.) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

5 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch bundt pan and dust with flour.

2. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, whisk the cocoa powder, 1/2 cup sugar and water until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

4. Place softened butter in the bowl of a mixer and cream for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Gradually add the 2 cups of sugar, mixing well for 4 minutes until mixture is well blended.

Add the vanilla and mix well.

5. At medium speed, beat in the eggs one at a time.

6. At low speed add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Begin and end with the flour mixture.

7. Add 3 cups of the butter batter to the cocoa mixture and fold until well blended.

8. Spoon a third of the plain batter into the bottom of the bundt pan. Add a layer of the cocoa batter. Then add another layer of plain batter. After which add the last layer of cocoa batter and end with the plain batter.

9. Bake the cake for about 60 - 70 minutes or until a cake tested comes out clean. Cool the cake on a wire rack for about 20 minutes before removing from the pan. Cool completely before glazing.

Glaze:

4.25 oz. dark chocolate (I used Hershey's Special Dark)

1/3 cup heavy cream

1. In a heat proof bowl break the chocolate bar into pieces, add the milk, and cook over a double boiler until all the chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth.

2. Remove from heat and set aside for about 7 minutes. Keep an eye on it because you do not want it to become too hard to drizzle.

3. Once glaze is thick enough to drizzle, glaze the entire cake.

This makes a beautiful tall cake

Note: If you want to run a knife through your cake batter to swirl it before baking, you can. I left it in layers because I felt like a layer kind of cake, and I figured the baking process would create its own marbling effect.

Banana Pecan Torte

I must confess that I do not normally like bananas in cakes but this is a recipe I tried out for folks at work and found that it was very good. This is one of those cakes that tastes better when eaten a day or two later and the cake actually gets more moist.

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 -4 medium)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Frosting:

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Beat in bananas and vanilla.

4. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in pecans last.

5. Pour into three greased and floured 9-inch round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees F., for 30 -35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

6. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

7. For the frosting: beat the cream cheese, butter and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Add vanilla. Spread between layers and over top of cake. Sprinkle with pecans or shaved chocolate. Store in refrigerator.