Julia’s Allergy-free Birthday Cake

Julia’s Allergy-free Birthday Cake
Adapted from her Grandma Mimi’s (Sue Cibula) famous birthday cake recipe that she makes for everyone’s birthday parties. It’s a tradition in the Cibula family. Enjoy!

• 3 Cups flour (We like Tom Sawyer All purpose wheat-free for Julia but if you don’t have allergies it is an amazing cake with regular all purpose flour!)
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 6 Tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup of olive oil
• l2 tbsp white vinegar (recipe says white but I use whatever I have red, balsamic, etc. Always turns out great.)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups cold water

• Mix dry ingredients.
• Make 3 holes - oil, vinegar, vanilla
  (I do it even though it doesn't seem to make a difference....they end up merging!)
• Pour water over it all.
• Beat well.
• Bake 30-35 minutes @ 350 (the cupcakes are about 20 minutes.)
note: I think it is better to slightly undercook than over cook. The cake is moister.

Variations: We sometimes add Enjoy Life Dairy-free chocolate chips at the end before baking.
Mexican Cake: Add cinnamon, a pinch of crushed black pepper and chile pepper (ancho or cayenne pepper works well). Bananas are good too.

Julia proud of her birthday cupcakes. A couple years ago we baked these for her to take to preschool.   Dairy-free, wheat free, peanut free soy free, etc. etc. What the other kids don't know won't hurt them!!!

Chocolate-Zucchini Muffins (Vegan and Wheat free)

I'm getting lots of zukes in my CSA box so I'm looking for ways to use them up and wanted to find a dessert that Julia could eat.  I chose this recipe with a few minor tweaks and my non-allergy children loved them too.  I had to make them stop eating them so poor Julia could enjoy them.  I wish I would've doubled the recipe (while everything was still out and a mess!  I cleaned the kitchen up while they were baking.) but I wasn't sure how they'd turn out with the gluten free flour. These muffins are super-moist, a bit springy and tasty.

Chocolate-Zucchini Muffins (Fat Free, Gluten Free, Vegan)
by Speakin' Vegan on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 8:29pm ·
Servings: 12
Ingredients:

• 1¼ cups gluten free baking mix ( I used Tom Sawyer that I bought at Naturally Soergel)
• ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa (We also added Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks and Julia was heavy-handed!)
• 1¼ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 whole banana, mashed
• ½ cup raw sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce (I didn't have applesauce so I used olive oil here)
• ¼ cup non-dairy milk (I used coconut milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease muffin pan and set aside. If using paper liners, lightly spray inside of liners with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together. In another bowl, cream mashed banana with applesauce and sugar (use extra 1/2 cup for a very sweet, dessert-like muffin). Add in milk, vanilla, zucchini and any other optional add-ins you might like such as vegan chocolate chips. Stir until evenly combined. Add flour mix to wet mix in 3-4 batches and stir until just combined. Spoon batter into greased muffin pan and bake 18-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
 
Adapted for gluten free diet from http://happyherbivore.com/2009/01/chocolate-zucchini-muffins/