Brucecakes
This is the recipe I make a few times a week for my husband as well as others who may choose to partake in our special foods diet.
½ cup sugar;
1 ¾ cup flour;
1 TBS Stevia;
¾ cup Pure Cocoa with no additions - Pure Hersheys or other pure cocoas;
1 1/2 tspns of baking powder;
1 1/2 tspns of baking soda;
1 tspn salt;
1/8 -¼ cup of ground flax mixed with 1 cup of hot water;
1 cup water or so;
½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil;
1-2 tspns vanilla extract or almond extract;
Bake at 350 degrees about 30 mins.
I have cut the amount of sugar added to this recipe adding Stevia as well as regular sugar. The flour may be ½ white and ½ wheat or ½ rye and ½ white or ½ tapioca or sorghum or any number of flour combinations. Gluten and its Allergies are growing daily and people now more than ever have begun to watch what flours cakes or breads are made from. Other flours other than white and wheat take more time to bake so baking time will be longer for other types of flours and they must be baked at a lower temperature because they tend to brown easily. 325 instead of 350 would be better if you are using a gluten free flour and watch the cake carefully for browning. Keep your flours is good, tight air-free containers. We are not a gluten free family but for those of you who are these tips are noteworthy as I have tried recipes using the bean/sorghum flours. I can also tell you to write the recipe down if you have successfully tried it and if it is to your liking. Don't give up if it fails the first time you make it. This type of cooking is trial and error and don't be discouraged.
I add all the dry ingredients and now we come to the flax or egg substitute. Flax is very sticky when added to hot water and we want the cohesion for our ingredients. We take one cup of hot water added to 1/8 or ¼ cup of flax. I microwave them together and stir. This is quite "sticky" and good for our ingredients to cohere. Remember, eggs are very light, but our cake will not be as light as egg cake. Our cakes will be more dense. Just as the dark breads or German or Czech breads are more dense and heavy, they line the stomach moreso than white light flour breads. Using white flour, however, the cake never crumbles as the other flours may. Along with our flax we add our olive oil, extract and more water until you like the consistency. You can make a thinner liquid cake or a heavier batter cake. I make big cupcakes baked at about 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Icing
1 ½ cups of powder sugar
1-2 Tbspns Stevia
2/3 cup Pure Hersheys or other Pure cocoa
¼ -½ cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
¼/-½ cup of water
1-2 tspns of vanilla or almond extract
When a recipe says milk I substitute water. For people who are not allergic you may use rice milk, soy milk, etc. However, there are many, many substitutes for eggs. Did you know:
Original Knox gelatine may substitute for eggs?
Ground Flaxseed with hot water?
Tofu whipped can also substitute for eggs.
¼ cup of tofu = 1 egg;
1 pkg of Knox + 1 cup BOILING water is 3TBSPS=1 egg;
(you can freeze and unthaw as you cook/bake)
Pureed fruits can be replaced for oils and butters but watch cooking time, etc.;
½ cup mashed banana for one egg;
¼ cup applesauce or pureed fruit = one egg;
1 TBSPN flaxseed + 3 TBSPN water - blend for 2-3 minutes for boil for l0 minutes= one egg;
1 teaspoon soy flour plus 1 tablespoon water = 1 egg;
Mashed beans, mashed potatoes or nut butters (with a bit of water) can be substituted for eggs;
A popular substitute for eggs is Ener-G (calcium lactate, calcium carbonate, potato starch, tapioca flour, calcium carbonate and citric acid);
Healthy psyllium husk mixed with l/4 cup water=1 egg (psyllium - lines the stomach-extremely gelatinous);
Soy lecithin and water =1 egg;
Tapioca starch can be used instead of Ener-G;
2 tspns baking powder + 2 tspns water = 1 egg/
Here is a list of "hidden" words for milk in our foods:
Casein, whey, caseinate, calcium caseinate, acidophilus, hydrolyzed milk protein, lactalbumin, lactate, lacto- globulin, lactose and potassium caseinate.
Here is a list of "hidden" words for eggs in our foods:
Albumin, livetin, ovaglubin egg albumin, ovamucin, ovumucoid, ovovitellin, lysozyme, or egg whites, egg yolks, egg solids, or egg powder.
Xanthum gum seems to be indispensable when it comes to cooking/baking without wheat or gluten. It is derived from bacteria in corn sugar and it lends structure and texture to baked goods and it is a good thickener.
However, I have also read this product may upset the colon or stomach.
Did you know 1 ½ cups of flaxseed = ½ cup of butter?
For people who have flour allergies, it would be wise to make a flour blend and keep it in a container and use the blend as a substitute for 1:1 cup for any recipe.
Tofu
Tofu is a bland tasting compressed soy product, so remember, when cooking or baking with tofu, spice your meals. It has the tendency to adopt whatever it is being cooked with so you have to spice your recipe accordingly and tofu will adopt to its spices. For instance, when making chili tofu instead of meat chili, add
Tofu instead of meat but put in more chili spices than you ordinarily would and cook longer.
Tofu Cheesecake
1 ¼ cups graham crackers squashed into crumbs
3TBS sugar or Stevia
¼ cup butter, margarine, Extra Virgin Olive Oil or any substitute above for fats
2 16oz. Of firm tofu
3 Tbspn lemon juice
1-2 Tbspn vanilla
½ tspn salt if you wish
½ cup oil or substitutes mentioned above
½ cup honey
1 cup sugar of 5 Tablespoons Stevia
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix graham crackers, sugar and butter together until well blended.
Press into a 9 inch spring form pan. Bake 8-l0 minutes until firm.
Let cool. Blend tofu and rest of ingredients in a blender or food
Processor until smooth and creamy. Pour mixture into the baked pie
Shell. Bake for 40 minutes until just set.
Topping
If you wish you can top with any fruit sauce or fresh or frozen fruit.
