Paleo Beet Cakes- NUT FREE, Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free

 BEET ''RED VELVET'' MUDCAKES- Nut Free Version. Also Paleo, Gluten-Free, Refined Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free! 

  Here is a NUT FREE version of the original beet cakes previously posted! They turn out almost the same as the original, but are made entirely with coconut instead of nuts! 

  These delightful red heart shaped cakes are super fun to make and completely guilt-free to eat! So, while your friends (or kid's friends!) are enjoying sugar-loaded red velvet cake, you'll be enjoying these healthy little cakes while getting your veggies in as well. These cakes do have a slightly earthy taste from the beets, but it blends delightfully with the carob and chocolate flavor making these unique and enjoyable. Even my adult brother who doesn't usually eat as healthily as I do (he still loves his sugar-loaded sherbert and icecream) asks for these treats! 
Choose beets that are on the smaller side: fresh looking, bright toned and without spots or wrinkles.

3 dates (I used deglet noor but medjoul dates are bigger and sweeter which would work best for this recipe)
2 TB raisins or other dried berries
1 1/2 beets, peeled and grated
2 cups plus 2 TB unsweetened shredded or desiccated dried coconut 
2 TB raw cacao powder
2 TB carob powder
1 TB ground flaxseed
1 TB coconut oil, melted
Optional: 1 tsp. xylitol or coconut sugar or 1/2 tsp stevia to taste

Icing: 
1 avacado, halved, pitted and peeled
1/4 cup raw cacao powder
3 1/2 tsp powdered xylitol 
1 1/4 tsp powdered stevia (if you hate stevia, don't worry! The chocolate masks the taste)
1 TB coconut oil
1.4 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp sea salt

To make the cakes, process the dates in a food processor or blender until they are in smaller pieces. Add dried berries or raisins and oil and process until smooth. Add the beets, coconut, cacao and carob powders, vanilla and flaxseed meal and blend until combined and even in texture. Taste mixture to see if you would like to add sweetener of your choice: stevia, xylitol or coconut sugar. I only needed a little of sweetener in this recipe, but each person is different! 
You can continue blending until desired consistency is reached. I like mine a little crunchy but if you have patience, you can reach a lovely smooth texture for these cakes! 

   Line a small baking sheet or flat container with parchment paper. Place heart cookie cutters on the parchment paper and using your fingers or a spoon, firmly press beet filling into molds. Carefully remove molds and tada! you have perfect red heart shapes! 

Place in freezer on parchment paper to firm up for about 30 minutes. Or, leave in fridge over night. 

For icing, blend (or mash) avacadoes, in a small bowl and add all other ingredients. Mash or mix until blended and smooth. Spread over chilled beet cakes and chill for 30 minutes. Or, you can enjoy immediately!

 Garnish however you like, with berries, chocolate shavings, melted chocolate, cacao dusting or anything! 

Sugarless Cheesecake recipe!

Mini version: I halved the recipe,
which made two small ones like this. One I kept raw in the fridge- shown above- and the other
I cooked for the next day! 

• Finally: a healthy cheesecake made by Mazzou for Valentine's Day 2013! (thanks to Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions for the original recipe!)
• Ingredients:
• 2 cups nuts (I used almonds and walnuts)
• 1 cup pitted dates and/or raisins (you could even use figs or apricots- whichever you prefer/whatever is cheaper! I used dates and raisins)
• 4 cups cream cheese softened
• 4 organic or free range eggs, separated, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups milk, preferably raw milk
• 2 tablespoons gelatin
• 1/2 cup raw honey (I used about half the amount called for because I'm trying to eat a very minimal amount of sweet things.)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla (sugarless; preferably homemade!)
• pinch sea salt
• some raspberries (to taste!)
• unsweetened dark chocolate or pieces of an organic chocolate bar (to taste!)

In a food processor, process dates (and/or raisins) and almonds (and/or walnuts) until they form a sticky mass. (if not sticky enough, you could add some melted butter and/or honey! Also consider flavoring your crust with lemon zest or cinnamon...) Press into a buttered 9 inch by 13 inch pyrex pan to form a crust. (Next, I did bake my crust for 10 minutes in a 325 F degree oven just for fun, and then cooled it in the freezer while I prepared everything else!)

Put egg yolks and milk in a sauce pan, beat lightly, sprinkle with gelatin and warm slightly until gelatin is dissolved. In a food processor (or mixer), combine cream cheese, honey and vanilla and process until smooth. Add yolk/milk mixture and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and place in refrigerator while beating egg whites. Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, fold into cream-cheese mixture along with your desired amount of raspberries and chocolate pieces/crumbles and pour into crust. Chill several hours before serving. Garnish with extra raspberries and chocolate pieces.

Optional, but not as healthy: I cooked my second mini cheesecake in a 325 F degree toaster oven until it was set and golden on the top. Pictured above is the raw version.
With the minimal amount of honey which I put in the recipe, the raw version was sweeter than the cooked version, which was more like an Italian cheesecake appetizer!

DO ENJOY! :) 

Cranberry Morning Streusel Coffee Cake recipe

                  Cranberry Morning Streusel Coffee Cake:
                             
   What a delicious Christmas morning dessert, or accompaniment to tea-time this cake makes! Although fairly easy and quick to make, it turns out beautifully! Our Grandma used to bring it all the way from Canada every year for Christmas morning; and we still love making and savouring it any special day!

Ingredients:
-½ cup butter
-1 cup granulated sugar
-2 eggs
-1 tsp. Vanilla
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 tsp. Baking powder
-1 tsp. Baking soda
-½ tsp. Salt
-1 cup sour cream
-2 ½ cups cranberries fresh or frozen

For Streusel:
-¾ cup lightly packed brown sugar
-½ cup all-purpose flour
-1 ½ tsp. Cinnamon
-¼ cup butter (more if needed)
Mix together and blend in butter until crumbly

For Cake:
Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Sift dry ingredients together and add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream.
Spread half the batter in a greased and floured pan ( 10 inch springform or angel food) Sprinkle with first with half the streusel mixture, follow with half the cranberries, then the remaining batter, remaining cranberries, and the rest of the streusel mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F. about one hour, till skewer inserted into cake comes out clean.

Serve warm, with butter. (optional) Makes about 12 good-sized slices.
Note: Can be frozen. Let cool suspended on glass bottle, remove cake from pan, wrap well in foil paper, freeze. When the time comes for enjoying it, simply re-heat in 250 degrees F. oven for about 20 minutes.

Pear Ginger Upside-Down Cake with Whipped Cream

     Looking for something to please your family this Thanksgiving?
     This is the perfect Thanksgiving, or anytime Autumn cake! 
   I hope you try it for your Thanksgiving breakfast this year, or perhaps as a simple (but delightful) dessert after your Thanksgiving meal. It is one of my favorite cakes now! If you love pears, or ginger, or just coffee cakes in general, you will enjoy this treat.

Pear Ginger Upside-Down Cake with Whipped Cream
(Mazzou-version adapted from original recipe by Rebecca Rather from the cookbook The Pastry Queen Christmas- a favourite cookbook of ours by the way, with a variety of dishes, not just desserts!)

   Make sure you have an appropriate dish in which to create this delightful dessert. You need one with 2-inch tall sides. 
  Our family used a ceramic dish which was about 9-inch square, and taller than 2 inches. Worked well. This is one of our favourite yet easiest cakes to whip up! Can be served warm or cool. You just can't go wrong with this cake!

Serves: 6 to 8

Topping
•1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
•1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
•2 to 3 ripe but firm pears, such as Anjou or Bartlett
•2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger (if you don't have this on hand, see alternative at bottom of post!*)

Cake
•1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature (plus a tiny bit to grease sides of pan)
•1 cup granulated sugar
•2 large eggs
•1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
•1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
•1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
•1/2 cup milk
•2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•3 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger ( If you don't have this on hand, see note below! *)

Whipped Cream - recipe below

Method
You need a 9 or 10-inch cake pan with sides that are at least 2 inches tall.

To make the topping:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. (Grease sides of pan with a little extra butter. I think I also gave a hint of butter to the bottom of the pan, since I didn't want the carmelizing brown sugar to stick in the following part)...
2. Put the butter and brown sugar in the cake pan and place it in the oven until melted and bubbly, about 10 minutes.
3. Core the pears (no need to peel them) and cut them into 1/4-inch thick slices.
4. Remove the pan from the oven, stir to combine the butter and sugar, and arrange the pears on top of the mixture in a circular pattern. Don't worry if you end up with a second layer of pears. Sprinkle the candied ginger (or gingered pear bits*) evenly over the pears.

To make the cake:
1.  Using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2. Add the eggs and beat for another 30 seconds.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
4. To the butter mixture, add the flour mixture in 3 increments alternating with the milk in two increments, starting and ending with the flour, beating on low speed between each addition.
5. Stir in the vanilla and candied ginger. (or gingered pear bits*)
6. Pour the batter evenly over the pears. Bake for about 45 minutes if using a 10-inch pan and about 55 minutes for a 9-incher. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Remove from the oven and immediately (or within 5 minutes but no longer!) invert onto a large cake plate. Let cool for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the whipped cream.

Whipped Cream
•1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
•1/8 cup powdered sugar (optional)
•2 tsp. vanilla extract
Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla.

Serve the cake, slightly warm, with the whipped cream alongside.
Serves: 6 to 8

Variation:
-Serve with vanilla icecream- delicious!
- Serve with entirely unsweetened whipped cream
-Thirdly, if you must, you may serve this with whipped topping.

*Gingered Pear bits*
-1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
-2 pears, preferably not too ripe, chopped
- honey (about 2 Tablespoons, depending on how much ginger you use)
-dried ginger  (about 3 tsp.)
-optional: chopped fresh ginger
This is a play-by-taste little recipe!
   Using a small pot, heat the butter and add the chopped pear with the honey. Heat until bubbling, making sure  honey doesn't burn!
   Add ginger in increments, tasting as you go. You may need to add more honey! That is fine. Your goal is a strong ginger flavour with a bit of chew/crunch. Think candied ginger...
I will try to get a real recipe written up soon! Next time I make this delicious cake for my family!

Persimmon cake layered with whipped cream- Sugarless! Flourless! Delicious!

SUGARLESS, FLOURLESS PERSIMMON BREAKFAST CAKE

layered with whipped cream

This delightful and healthy cake can be served warm with whipped cream on the side, or cooled with fresh whipped cream filling! 

Mmm...You haven't tasted Autumn 'til you've tried this amazing cake!

I had it for breakfast on my birthday this year.

Ingredients for cake:

1 ½ cups of ripe persimmon puree (I use native wild persimmons which are abundant here in MO. Important: persimmons must be quite soft and sweet)
7 eggs
¾ to 1 cup of pitted dates, packed (about 18-24 deglet dates)
2/3 cups of full fat coconut milk or 2/3 cup cream or full fat milk!
1/3 cup of coconut oil (you can substitute butter or mix both as I do)
1/3 cup of coconut flour (I grind my unsweetened desiccated coconut quite fine and use that!)
1/3 to ½ cup of raisins 
1 tbsp of orange zest
2 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp of baking soda
½ tsp of nutmeg
½ tsp of salt
pinch of ground cloves 

For serving: 
2 oranges1⁄2 tsp. cream of tartar (or 1 tsp. arrowroot powder)1 pint (2 cups) icy-cold heavy or whipping cream2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

To make the cake:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
• Make sure that the persimmons are ripe and soft. You can always test by tasting one. If they are unripe, your mouth will pucker up. If you are using native persimmons, thede-seeding step may take some time. But I assure you this cake is worth it! This site has an excellent process for de-seeding persimmons. If you are low on persimmons or are Scottish, you may want to painstakingly pull the pulp off of every seed, as I do! This can be done with a fine knife and results in much more pulp. Experiment! And don't worry if you get messy. :) 

• 

  Persimmon puree from de-seeded Missouri persimmons

• Using a blender or food processor, blend the dates with the eggs, milk and coconut oil (or butter) until the dates are completely ground. OR grind the dates and then beat in your mixer with eggs, milk and oil. 
  
• Add the rest of the ingredients and blend a couple more seconds or until well mixed. Finally, mix in the raisins by hand. 
• Grease and line (I use parchment or wax paper; whatever we have on hand!) a 8”x8” baking dish OR a 9-inch springform pan (see picture below) and pour the batter in it.
• Bake for a 45 minute or until a knife inserted in the middle of the pudding comes out dry  
• Shut the oven off, but leave the pudding inside for an additional 30 minutes with the door closed, this will help it set and dry some more, without burning it.
• 
• Remove from oven, wait for it to cool and carefully remove from pan. Serve immediately with whipped cream on the side, or assemble into a layer cake with whipped cream layer as I have done.
  
• To assemble:
• Carefully take cooled cake and slice in half horizontally. This can be tricky since the cake is moist, but don't worry if it breaks. The cake pictured to the right did, and you can't tell! 
• Place bottom layer on a serving plate. 
• Spread 3/4 of the whipped cream (see below) on this layer
• Top with top half of cake. 
• Arrange orange slices around the edge and fill center with remainder of whipped cream!
• The Whipped Cream:
• • 3 Tbs. confectioners' sugar
  • 1⁄2 tsp. cream of tartar
  • 1 pint (2 cups) icy-cold heavy or whipping cream
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1. Chill the bowl and mixer beaters (this is very important if your kitchen is warm). 
  • 2. Mix the sugar and cream of tartar together. 3.Whip the cream in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high just until it begins to thicken. 
  • 4. With the mixer running, add the sugar mixture, then the vanilla, and continue beating until the cream stands up in peaks that are stiff but still soft enough to flow. Don't over beat at this stage or the cream will curdle. 
  • 5.For best results, use immediately or refrigerate and use within 30 minutes.
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Apple-spice layer cake with Caramel swirl icing recipe

                         Apple-spice layer cake with Caramel swirl icing

visit this site for a picture!``This 3-layer extravaganza has a touch of molasses and shredded apple to keep it moist. As the cake bakes, it fills the house with the fragrance of autumn…``

This cake created by Rebecca Rather is just the best `Autumn Cake`ever! We enjoyed it for a fall birthday a couple years ago- an instant success! As a bonus, it’s not too hard to make, or assemble! (Make cake layers the night before, and refrigerate them.)