THE CAKE MATTERS

Remember that you heard it HERE, first - 'Cake Matters'.  My daughter and I, forever in the spirit of true entrepreneurs, have decided that people suffering from celiac disease should NOT go without cake!  There are some food items that cannot be ingested because of gluten issues, but cake should never be among them.


So, we are baking.

Don't imagine, for one moment, that gluten-free is synonymous with penny-wise.  This stuff is EXPENSIVE!  We need to find a wholesaler.  That xanthan gum retails at $10.99.  Yup.  Okay - hoist up the big girl pants and set to peeling some beets.  That's right, I said BEETS!

Fresh beets may be the secret ingredient to successful Devil's Food cake.  Call me skeptical - say the jury is still out, and, while you're at it, give me something that will remove the beet stains so that I can knit later on!

Can you imagine how much wholesome beet goodness you could pass off as 'chocolate cake' to your children IF this recipe really turns out to be splendid?  Holy cow.  Talk about subversive parenting!

The beet puree is gorgeous.  I split a vanilla bean and added its paste to the mix as well as the shell for extra vanilla goodness.  (shell removed before baking!) Little known fact - vanilla extract is NOT gluten-free.  So we go for the purest state.

You can see that I'm cooking carrots down for another cake in the background.  Hilary and I are serious about bringing delicious gluten-free cakes to our little corner of the world.  And who knows?  We could end up being the next famous duo - the cake version of Ben & Jerry!  And, really?  I cannot think of a better person to hang out with in the kitchen than my darling first born!

I'll admit - when it was time to turn these beauties out of their pans I got very nervous!  In the first place, they were WAY TOO HEAVY to be cooked through!  I thought, oh crappers - when I flip these I'll end up with half of the cake left in the pans.  When you've baked as many cakes as I have through the years, you intuitively KNOW if the batter is cooked, or not!  Weight is important.  But, hello?  The absence of gluten makes for a denser batter!  Dense = heavy!  I'm learning.

They slid out of those pans like greased piglets!  And smell divine ...

And I promise you - the flavor was amazing.  Hilary and Carson and Mom loved this cake.  I am still fussing over the texture, as it doesn't meet the standard I have for chocolate cake.  I'll keep baking and tweaking the ingredients, raising that gluten-free bar until it sings CAKE MATTERS!  


In case you are wondering - I still knit and quilt.

 ANOTHER Yappity Yap block.  I had a real love affair going with this design.  And, as you can see, I have always suffered from UFO syndrome (unfinished objects).

At least I'm consistent!  Yesterday we celebrated my mother's 83rd birthday!  She likes to remind us that she's "hanging in there", and she is, God bless her!  With all of the change and turmoil and sadness over my father's condition these last 18 months, she has managed to keep going.  She tends to her beloved gardens, she keeps her house exquisitely clean, she visits my father every other day at the nursing home and she makes time to read and nap and dream.  She's started to knit a little this year - I tempted her with Lantern Moon needles and some delicious yarns.  I don't know what it is about those exotic wooden needles - maybe it's the slide, maybe the deep rich sound that they make when they bump into one another - perhaps the smooth warmth that they exude after some substantial knitting time ... whatever the secret is - ADDICTED!  Does anyone else feel this strongly about their needles?  Anne Hanson's 'Oh, Canada' called to me -

Mom likes to wear small scarves under her coats.  And she likes anything that I create to be beaded!  The yarn that I used for this project was an old stash item - the label long lost.  I know that it is synthetic, but it feels like a baby's cheek.  Mom cannot wear wool next to her skin, so this is perfect.  I'm so glad that she didn't pass that particular (no wool) gene along to her daughter!

It's Saturday morning and I need to go upstairs to reacquaint myself with my sewing room!  Happy weekend all!  Get out there and rake some leaves for me!