Yellow Cake With Chocolate Frosting.. It's Gluten Free, Easy, and Delicious!

 

My family knows the importance of the words "yellow cake with chocolate frosting!"  Every celebration featured that exact treat as THE center of attention.  That is until I was diagnosed with Celiac disease.  Then the YCWCF love was stifled a touch.  But with "Christmas In May" (as my papa calls it because my mama, grandma, sister, and I all have birthdays in May... it's an expensive month for papa!) right around the corner I decided it was time to bust out this recipe and perfect it.

 

Lucky for me this recipe is already gluten free, and easily converted to dairy free too.  My parents had a local cake lady (shout out to Wanda Cakes!) make this exact cake for me for my 21st birthday party (that was soooo long ago!...I'm going on 27!...yikes!) and it was AMAZING.  Of course she has her special touch and noone could even tell it was gluten free.... even in an age that wasn't so gf friendly (before Kim K and a bunch of other celebs tried to jump on the bandwagon and before celiac disease pretty much started attempting to rule our population).  I'm telling you it was so good that I almost cried!  Of course that was the first time I had had cake in two years so it was a pretty emotional experience.  I had never attempted this recipe myself.. and I was pretty sure it wasn't going to live up to Wanda's... but you never know until you try.

Gluten Free Yellow Cake

 

1 1/2 cups white rice flour 3/4 cup tapioca flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

4 eggs 1 1/4 cups white sugar 2/3 cup mayonnaise 1 cup (almond or coconut) milk 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract

 

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and rice flour two 8 or 9 inch round cake pans.
2.	Sift the white rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and xanthan gum together and set aside.
3.	Mix the eggs, sugar, and mayonnaise until fluffy. Add the flour mixture, milk and vanilla and mix well. Spread batter into the prepared pans.
4.	Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Cakes are done when they spring back when lightly touched or when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool completely then frost, if desired. As for the frosting.... there is really no recipe.... Grandma taught me!  You dump a bunch of powdered sugar in a bowl, add some butter (pretend butter in my case), vanilla, cocoa poweder, and (almond) milk.  You know just a dab of this and a pinch of that... Grandma style!  Keep tasting and mixing until you get it just right.  And then if it is just right you better keep tasting just to make sure! :)  Grandma used to make extra frosting and save some in a bowl for me to snack on... some of my favorite childhood memories!  Slather that Grandma frosting all over your cake (don't be chinsy... make it thick!), add some sprinkles, and you are ready to celebrate any occasion.  Enjoy!  I sure enjoyed mine!

Here is one of the May Birthday Girls! 

She is going to be 91 on the 6th!

She makes the BEST chocolate frosting!

I'm A Catholic & A Celiac... And I Want Communion Too!

Well, I guess I'm dead inside then!  I don't like to believe that I don't have life within me.... I don't think God wants me to believe that either. However the Catholic church is making it unnecessarily difficult for me to "have life within" me.... And sadly it is pulling me farther and farther away from the faith that I thought my whole life was based around.

I admit, I used to cheat my Celiac disease. I cheated every single time I walked up to the alter. I knew all along it wasn't good for me, but I couldn't stand the thought of not receiving Communion. I told myself that God gave me this disease and he wouldn't punish me for participating in my faith. But I started having more health issues and realized I was looking at it backwards. God did give me this disease, and he wasn't going to punish me for taking care of myself.

So I quit cold turkey. No communion for me.... and I absolutely hated it! Despite my best effort to feel and think otherwise I still struggled with the fact that I was feeling guilty and unholy. I couldn't participate at mass in the only way I knew... the way that had been drilled into my brain since I first stepped foot in Catholic school at age five. I felt left out and judged. I found myself dreading going to church because I didn't want to face those feeling. I found my mind wandering while I was in church because I didn't feel the need to focus on something that I couldn't partake in. For the first time in my entire life I found myself flat out losing my faith... And it was depressing me.

I shared my thoughts and feelings with my husband and family. They all made efforts to make me feel better. But talk all they want, I was not going to feel better about this situation until I could again participate at mass. My mama, who works at the church, talked to the priests about getting gluten free hosts and I started to get some hope back... But then...It. Was. Crushed.

The Vatican apparently has this ridiculous rule that the host must contain a certain percentage of gluten to be used in holy communion. I have many issues with this absurd doctrine.  I have done A LOT of research on this topic, but I will just touch on the big picture here.  I don't want to preach to you, just simply share my personal struggle and thoughts on this issue.

First of all we Catholics believe that priests have the power to consecrate the "bread" into the body of Christ.   That is huge deal... the entire basis of the Catholic religion.  In my opinion, if you are given that kind of power does it really matter what that "bread" is made of? I mean honestly, in retrospect the contents of the "bread" are minuscule when you look at the big picture here. They are taking a substance and turning it into the body of Christ! Does it really matter what that substance is made out of? I really don't think so. 

Can anyone prove with complete certainty that the actual bread Jesus used at the last supper contained wheat?  And even if it did does that really make a difference?  Celiac disease was not a problem at that time... sadly it is now.  The reality is that the church needs to change and evolve to fit the needs of it's current time and members.  I doubt if I showed up to the last supper and told Jesus that I couldn't eat that bread that he would say "well you are shit out of luck then"  Don't think so!

Some may argue that if we truly believe that it is no longer bread, but the body of Christ, does it matter if there is gluten.  You aren't eating gluten... you are eating the body of Christ.  Yes I believe that in my heart and soul, but my intestines are just functioning organs and they sadly can't believe and don't know the difference between the two.  So something had to change.

I pondered whether my faith was what had to change.  Do I need a fresh start, a new religion that will accept gluten free bread more readily?  Other churches have no problem getting gluten free hosts for those that need them.  As I sat crying in the pew while I watched everyone else go up to communion on Palm Sunday I decided that a new faith was most definitely NOT the answer.  That thought was more like the devil tempting me.... well guess what devil.... ain't gonna happen!

The answer is that I need to work for a change.  And what better time for a change than now!  The institution of a New Pope means new ideas, new growth, and new perspectives!  I started with going back to the priest at my parish.  I sent him off to chat with the bishop of our diocese armed with a photograph of some gluten free communion wafers. 

 

He came back and told me to go ahead and order them! I happily started shopping!  Sadly the online store that I found them for sale on warns right on the page that they are not acceptable for Catholic Communion.  So I don't know what to think or feel about this.  Him allowing me to order them and use them is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't fix the entire problem.  The Catholic church is still denying the needs of it's members.  I will chat with him in more detail on this and go back to the drawing board.  We will see what happens from here.  I'll keep you posted.

 

 

Do I have any Catholic Celiac followers out there??  How do you deal with Communion?  There are "low gluten" hosts available... have any of you tried them without problems?  Personally they scare me, and seem to me like they are just a poor excuse for a real solution to the problem (on the part of the Catholic church- I place no blame on the nuns making them). 

 

Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for the effort that the nuns making them put into it... thank you ladies for being on Team Celiac Catholic!  Those wonderful women are doing everything that the Catholic church is allowing them to do to help us Celiacs, and I am so grateful for that!  Now if we can get some higher up Catholics to think like they do!  I'll say some prayers for a step in the right direction!  Join me will ya?!

 

 

 

 



But I Want A Chocolate Bunny Too!... Gluten Free & Dairy Free Chocolate

I made it happily through Valentine's Day this year... which is a success for multiple reasons... Yay me!  The main issue this year was that I am now completely dairy free.  Chocolates are what  Valentine's day is made of... so what's a girl to do??  Figure it out... that's what!

I found this recipe for Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge.  It's just five ingredients... that are all gluten and dairy free!  Yay!  I quickly mixed it all up with my hand mixer and poured it into some adorable heart molds.  After licking the bowl, I could hardly wait for them to be solid enouch to remove from the molds.  Once this happened they didn't last long! :)   I'm telling you... these are addicting.  So I didn't allow myself to make anymore! 

The bunny was about to come and as I was picking up stuff for Easter baskets I decided that Easter would not be the same without chocolate bunnies for me too.  I found a silicone bunny mold, and some egg ones too!  So I whipped up another batch of chocolates for Easter.  I shared them with my family and everyone loved them so I figured I should share the recipe with you all too... here it is!



I used this mold.... how cute!

Healthy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil (slightly melted, but not hot)

1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

1/4 cup mild raw honey

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract - I use my vanilla I picked up in Mexico...yum!

Preparation:



Put all ingredients in blender, hand mixer, or food processor.  Mix until everything is smooth and nicely combined. (It will be very liquid-y.) Don’t over-mix.  Pour the liquid fudge into whatever mold you choose, or even muffin tins.  Place in the refrigerator until the fudge has hardened.  That's it... now eat up! Store in the refrigerator. 

So easy and so good!  I'm telling you... the hardest part is waiting for it to harden!

I had the fabulous idea to add some GF Rice Krispies to some of mine and they taste just like a crunch bar.  I also chopped up some almonds in my food processor and made some almond ones too.  Yum!  I wonder what I will think of next....Oh the possibilities!

Hello Products... Seriously Celiac Friendly Oral Care



I was walking through my local Target last week and some new products caught my eye.  They were saying Hello to me too... so cute!! They were in colorful bottles and modern packaging and they advertised themselves as "seriously friendly oral care" and 99% natural.   I thought to myself... Ok, you might have some potential.  Let's see if we can be friends.  So after I quickly scanned the ingredients I emailed them.



Aren't they cute!?!



I recieved a quick friendly response that made me smile... All of the products are gluten free!  They really are friendly, and not just regular ol' friendly, but Celiac friendly!  I can get on board with that!  So I headed back to Target and picked out some new products to make my mouth happy.

They have interesting flavors to choose from and I didn't know where to begin (mojito mint anyone??).  I played it safe and got the mouthwash in sweet cinnamint.  Yum!  They are right you don't want to spit it out.   I want them to make gum so I can taste is all day long!  There is no alcohol so it doesn't burn at all, just leaves your mouth clean and fresh.  The price was also pretty decent too!  Which my husband and wallet love! :)

I'm a mojito girl!  Love them!  It's not officially summer until I have a mojito with fresh mint from my garden.  So I kept thinking about that mint mojito flavor.  I like the cinnamint so much that I just had to try the mojito mint!  I picked up the breath spray.  It's not a mojito, but it's yummy, and completely acceptable for me to indulge in on my lunchbreak from work. ;)

or...

I'll take both please and thank you!!

I told them that they should consider putting gluten free right on the label!  What do you guys think?  Either way know that they are gluten free, and that you will most likely find something you like!

This post made me think about sharing my famous secret mojito recipe with you all...

We will see how I feel about that when summer rolls around....