Fluffy Gluten Free Chocolate Sheet Cake

There’s nothing better than a light, airy spin on a chocolate cake. Instead of worrying about layers with icing, making a sheet cake is more time efficient and tastes just as good with a topping of your personal choice.

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Flourless Chocolate Cake

Flourless Chocolate Cake is an awesome way to go off gluten without even noticing! In fact, making a chocolate cake without flour allows it to be even richer, full of chocolate flavor, and very moist.

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When you eat this cake, you don’t even feel like you are going off gluten, because it tastes almost like brownies, and it’s hard to believe that there are no grains whatsoever in it.  You could even make it dairy free if you substituted coconut oil for the butter in the recipe.

This cake also allows the freedom to garnish with whatever you desire; fruit and caramel sauces, sprinkled with confectioners sugar, you name it. It is just as easy (if not easier) to make as regular chocolate cake and is just as rewarding.

So feel free to try it and let me know how it goes! (recipe below)


It’s More Than Just a Gift Card PART 1

Poem by Michael Metzler JR.

If you see this lying here

And see it littered far and near,

Do not question or dare discard;

I tell you: It’s more than just a gift card.

.

You can earn free drinks, and sometimes more,

If you bring it to the store,

But be specific, not any store will do.

It has to be the store that gave it to you.

.

Register this card for free awards

Register for boots and swords,

Register for lumps of clay

There are so many awards to get today.

.

For, this card can get you swirled

Coffee in a cup, and yes, the WORLD,

If you grasp the chance and dash,

And do not throw it in the trash.

.

It is plastic for good reason,

It can withstand many a season,

Biodegrade, it will not do,

But will remain just as your shoe.

.

Do not think, not for a moment,

That this card is an unnecessary component,

Do not wait, do not think,

With this, you can remodel–yes–your sink!

For Pt. II, see my next post! 🙂

Recipe below:

 


Flourless Chocolate Cake recipe – – – – PRINT

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Apple Cake

The holidays are just around the corner, and this simple sheet cake is a great way to celebrate with baking. It doesn’t need much apples, and besides slicing, coring, and peeling the apples, the rest is easy and the result is a perfectly moist cake full of apples and cinnamon flavor.

 

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Apple Cake recipe – – – – PRINT

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Almond & Fruit Cupcakes

These Almond & Fruit Cupcakes are simple and fast to make, happen to be gluten-free, and hold very little sugar. This makes them quite versatile, and can be served primarily at breakfast, lunch, eaten even as an after-dinner light dessert, or just snacked on whenever (in moderation).

Enjoy with a topping of your favorite fruit jam.

 

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I based this recipe off of the New York Times Food recipe for ‘Mini Almond Cakes’ which I really enjoyed but wanted to make my own recipe, and make it a little differently. I added egg yolks in addition to the usual fluffy egg white–but not before also fluffing the egg yolks with some confectioners sugar.

The cool thing about these Almond cupcakes is that they are automatically gluten-free, as they use almond meal instead of flour. They also do not use a ton of sugar and taste light, and go especially well with the sweeter fruit jam on the top. Enjoy!


 

Almond & Fruit Cupcakes Recipe   –   –   –   –   –   PRINT

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Chocolate Cheesecake

This Chocolate Cheesecake is packed full of rich chocolate flavor, accompanied with a homemade Oreo cookie crust, and topped with dark chocolate ganache.

I made this for an Easter 2017 party, but it is really good for any gathering on any occasion.

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This recipe promotes chocolate as the most prominent flavor, so the type of chocolate you choose will be key in determining the outcome, or quality of the finished product. For my first time making it, it turned out just fine with semi-sweet chocolate chips. But obviously, there are many better and different options of baking chocolate out there.

In fact, I don’t necessarily recommend chocolate chips for baking. I would recommend quality baking chocolate, if you don’t mind the trouble. If you do mind, then chocolate chips work just fine.

I had the idea to make my own recipe for chocolate cheesecake when our friends invited us to their house for an Easter dinner. I knew they wanted something chocolatey, so cheesecake eventually sprang to mind, and with it came Chocolate.

It turned out great and received alot of compliments.

I hope you enjoy it too!


“Chocolate Cheesecake” Recipe  –      –      –   Print

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Black Bottom Cupcakes

Black Bottom Cupcakes are a simple but delicious type of muffin; basically comprised of a chocolate-muffin base, then topped in the center with rich cheesecake filling. They satisfy chocolate lovers and cheesecake fans alike.

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This recipe may be different than others in that I use coconut oil in the batter rather than vegetable oil. I recently read a Bon Appetit snippet that explained that coconut oil was better in chocolate cake than other options; that coconut oil in fact increases the moistness of the cake the longer it sits after baked, instead of drying out. So I thought that principle should apply to these muffins.

This recipe is also different from others in that I use melted chocolate chips in addition to the usual cocoa powder. I also used hot coffee instead of the usual water, and used the hot coffee to melt the chocolate chips in. Double purpose.

The result is a great combination of rich cheesecake filling with dark chocolate base, which rises beautifully in the oven, and tastes as delicious as it looks. See recipe below.

Enjoy! Also, for full step-by-step pictures, see my post of this recipe on instructables.

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BLACK BOTTOM CUPCAKES RECIPE  – – – – – – – – – – –  PRINT

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Layered Lemon Cake

This layered lemon cake is comprised of three layers: Icing, Lemon Curd, then Icing, on three slices of cake.

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INGREDIENTS:

(Makes one medium size cake, 16 medium slices)

CAKE:

  • 3/4 cup of sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 2 tsp. lemon zest
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice

ICING:

  • 1 tablespoon of butter, melted
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

FILLING:

  • Lemon curd

You can make your own lemon curd, or buy it from the store.

DIRECTIONS:

Grease two cake pans, and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the zest off a 1 lemon. Put it, and the sugar into a food processor, and blend for one minute, until all the zest is finely blended up. Transfer mixture to kitchen aid, or a plain ole stand mixer, and cream in butter. Add eggs one at a time, and then add vanilla.

In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix into wet ingredients until combined.

Pour batter into the two prepared cake pans, making sure one is thicker (the one you’ll cut lengthwise in half) than the other. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until cake springs back up to touch.

To make icing, whip melted butter, powdered sugar, milk and 1 Tbs. of lemon juice in a smallish bowl. Set to the side.

When they are done baking a cooled off, place the thinner cake section upside down on serving platter. Take the thicker one, and cut lengthwise in half. You’ll have two perfect thin section of cake for an extra layer.

On top of the first section that you placed on the serving platter, spread on half of the icing evenly.

Place one section of the thicker halves on top of this iced layer. Then spread on the lemon curd thickly. Place on the last layer of cake. On this one, spread the final layer of icing. Now you’re ready to serve it. If you prefer, you can always refrigerate a few hours before serving, and it might hold up a little better…

See my original post of this recipe on instructables

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Chocolate Raspberry Cake

This rich chocolate raspberry cake is a great delicious cake for special occasions. The raspberry mixes perfectly with the chocolate. Raspberry jam mixture fills the middle of this cake, with not-too-rich, but delicious chocolate cake layering it, with chocolate raspberry frosting on the top.

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Ingredients: (makes two nine-inch cakes for stacking)

BATTER:

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup chocolate chips

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ cup coffee, hot

1 ¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ¾ teaspoons baking soda

4 large eggs + 2 egg yolks

½ cup oil

1 cup buttermilk

¼ cup butter, softened

 

FILLING: (Not shown in pictures)

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1/4 cup raspberry jam

 

FROSTING:

1 cup chocolate chips (8 oz)

⅔ cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon corn syrup

1 cup frozen raspberries

 

DIRECTIONS:

Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans, and line with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a saucepan full of water over medium heat, in an empty medium heat-proof bowl, pour hot coffee. Pour in the baking chocolate and cocoa powder and stir until chocolate is melted. Pour in sugar, and stir until it is dissolved. Mix oil in well. Remove from heat and set aside.

NOTE: this contraption (the saucepan with water in it, on medium heat, with a medium bowl on-top of the water) is essentially almost like a double boiler in the way that it works.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside for later.

Prepare buttermilk for pouring. If you don’t have buttermilk, just use an easy substitute: In a measuring glass as shown, pour in one tablespoon of vinegar, and then fill the rest up with milk until it reads as 1 cups worth. Set aside.

This process is called ‘ribboning’ and is a way to make cakes light and fluffy in texture. Put in eggs and egg yolks into stand mixer, if you have one, and beat for a few seconds, until mixed up. Add sugar, and whip on high for a couple minutes, until the mixture is doubled in size, and light and fluffy.

Go straight on to the next step from here.

Now is the time to add everything you’ve prepared: Add the chocolate mixture and softened butter to the sugar egg mixture, and mix until combined. Do not whip. just stir slowly into it.

Then add flour and butter mixture alternately, first flour, then buttermilk, then flour, etc., ultimately starting and ending with the flour. Scrape the sides and keep mixing for a few more seconds, until just combined. Do not overmix.

Pour in equal amounts into the prepared cake pans. Bake in preheated oven (350 degrees) for at least 25 minutes, continually checking at and after the time said.

The cakes are done when a toothpick inserted directly in the middle comes out with only a few moist crumbs.

When cakes are done, turn them upside down on a cooling rack, taking off pan, and then flipping the cakes right-side up again. Let them sit this way to cool for around two hours before attempting to put the frosting on.

Place frozen raspberries in a microwave safe bowl, and heat in ten second intervals, mashing well in between until raspberries are just like puree (as shown in pic).

Mix these crushed raspberries with the raspberry jam, and set aside.

To make the raspberry juice, which will go in frosting:

using the same process described in the last step, mash frozen raspberries in between ten second intervals in microwave, until it is just juicy mash. Strain using cheesecloth or a sieve (cheesecloth is better) into a bowl to obtain the raspberry juice (bottom pic).

This process is very similar to making ganache, just a bit different, with a bit different ingredients.

Melt heavy cream and butter in saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and stir in sugar and corn syrup until sugar is dissolved.

Chocolate chips should be in a medium, deep heatproof bowl. Pour this hot heavy cream mixture over the chocolate chips, and stir until chocolate chips are melted.

Stir in the raspberry juice, and then place bowl into an ice bath, as shown above. Stir constantly until frosting is cold, and starts hardening to the sides.

Take out of ice bath, and whip with a beater until frosting is light and fluffy.

Go onto the next instructions immediately before it melts:

Start with the first layer of cake. Spread all of the raspberry jam mixture onto this layer. Then carefully put some of the frosting on top of this. Place the second layer on top of it. Then ice the rest of the cake, sides, and top completely with all the remaining chocolate-raspberry frosting.

A cake frosting knife as shown in pic is very helpful in this situation.

Refridgerate 20 minutes before serving

Store in fridge, completely plastic wrapped to keep it from drying out.

Here’s the link to my original post of this recipe on instructables.

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