Triple Vanilla Ice Cream.

Vanilla ice cream is definitely one of  my favorite flavor of ice cream. I like to try sample at every ice cream shop I visit, to see if I have found the vanilla ice cream. So far my search has found some pretty good vanillas, and some pretty mediocre vanilla ice creams. By far, the standard of my comparison has been the storebought super premium ice cream, Double Rainbow. Since trying this ice cream, no other vanilla I've tried has stacked up to it's incredibly creamy, smooth, bright and comforting vanilla flavor.

So when I whipped up this ice cream last weekend, I thought that it would come out very well, but I didn't know how well. Even before pouring this ice cream into the ice cream maker to freeze, I knew this batch was special. It tastes like a dream, scoops like a dream, and melts like a dream (unlike some homemade ice creams which just seem to melt right away, or to never melt at all). I have to admit, it certainly rivals the amazing taste of Double rainbow, which is a feat in and of itself. I will definitely be making more vanilla ice cream exactly like this. Below is a photo from my brother's birthday celebration.

Since the vanilla sugar and cream are simmered together (in order to dissolve the sugar), the final product as a slight caramel taste! No doubt if you simmered the cream and sugar longer, you could easy make a dulche de leche version.

Triple Vanilla Ice Cream.
    makes two quarts

    6 oz  vanilla sugar - source or make your own
    4 cups (1 quart)  raw cow's milk cream
    1  vanilla bean
    1 Tbsp  vanilla extract
    1 Tbsp  coconut flour - source
    5  egg yolks
    1/2 tsp  unrefined sea salt

To make your ice cream:
  1. In a small sauce pan, combine sugar and 1 cup cream. Turn on high heat, bring almost to a boil, when first bubbles appear at sides reduce heat to simmer, and simmer, stirring frequently, for about 5-10 minutes. Mixture will thicken, coat the back of a spoon, and be caramel-like when ready. Remove from heat and allow to cool (this may take a while).
  2. In a separate bowl, combine coconut flour, salt, vanilla bean flecks, and egg yolks. Mix until yellow and thick. Add vanilla extract. Whisk in remaining 3 cups cream. Slowly add the cooled vanilla sugar mixture, whisking constantly.
  3. Add to your ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturers instructions. Mine churned for about 25 minutes. This ice cream comes out perfectly straight from the ice cream maker. Freeze overnight before scooping for hard ice cream. No need to remove ice cream from freezer for 10 minutes before serving. It's scoopable as is!
  4. This ice cream is so delicious, serve with your favorite brownies, chocolate sauce, nuts or whipped cream. Or you can serve along mint cake, like I did here! Enjoy :)

Want some cake with your ice cream? Try my grain-free chocolate cake! It's super easy, just make sure to follow instructions and to both grease and flour the pan.

Other ice creams I've made:
- Original vanilla ice cream - my first attempt, these basic proportions are what I use as a "template" for making all my other ice cream recipes
- French vanilla ice cream
- Chocolate ice cream
- Chocolate peanut butter ice cream

Have a lovely summer day!

Grain-free Lemon Poppy Seed Coconut Flour Cake.

It's a rather odd sounding title, isn't it?  This recipe was a spin off my primal gingerbread cake, as well as my grain-free waffle recipe.  I wanted a simple coconut flour-based grain-free baked good that I could whip up fast and was super easy.  So I experimented, and made this!  It was delicious on the first go! This cake has just the right amount of cakey-ness to satisfy my (occasional) bread cravings, but without being loaded with sugar or refined gluten-free grains.  It is also nut-free and Paleo!  My first version was a spiced flavor with lots of ginger and a touch of molasses, and my second (this version) was lemon poppy seed, but feel free to change spices and flavor extracts for a different taste.  I know I will be sharing several different versions as time allows me :)  This bread bakes thin in the pan, so I used two squares and spread some grass-fed butter in between both sides, to make little "sandwich" looking treats.  The whole batch lasted me nearly two weeks, and I was very happy to have something interesting (besides veggies) to nibble on at lunch time :)  It's also a great way to add some more coconut oil and grass-fed butter to your diet, which are rich in good for you saturated fats and fat-soluble activators, which our bodies, brains, and hearts desperately need!

Grain-free Lemon Poppy Seed Coconut Flour Cake.
    makes one 9x13 pan

    1/3 cup  organic coconut oil - source
    2/3 cup  warm water
    6  happy eggs
    1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp (or 1/3 cup heaping)  organic coconut flour - source
    1/4 cup  honey  - mine was wildflower runny honey
    1 tsp  baking soda
    1/2 tsp  organic lemon extract
    2 tsp  poppy seeds
    zest of one organic lemon

To make your lemon poppy cake:
   1.  Place coconut oil and warm water in a medium sized bowl, whisk vigorously for about 2 minutes or until white, glossy and homogenous (and no longer clumpy).
   2.  To the same bowl, add flour, and remaining ingredients. Whisk until incorporated.
   3.  Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan (I used coconut oil), and bake at 350 degrees non-convection for exactly 20 minutes.
   4.  Pull pan from the oven and place on a baking rack to cool. Transfer to the fridge to cool some more. Cut into squares when cool, and spread with your favorite filling. I used grass-fed butter! Yum! Sun-butter or cashew butter would go nicely with these too.

Spread something fun inside and enjoy :) PS-- Don't you love my plates! I found them last year at Sur La Table, and I absolutely love them! I'm so happy they survived the trek from Southern California to Seattle!

 

Grain-free Unsweetened Banana Cake.

Today is my birthday, so I thought sharing a cake today would be only appropriate.  I didn't make this cake today, however, but made it sometime early summer.

Banana bread has always been one of my favorites.  Since going gluten-free, I've made lots of different versions.  Up until now, my best recipe has been my original banana cake recipe.  Then there was a banana cake made with oatmeal.  There was also my gluten-free whole-grain banana bread, which I adapted from my favorite wheat-based recipe when I first went gluten-free.  And now there is this banana cake.  Made with grain-free flours, left-over soured milk, and bananas, this banana bread is easy to digest, primal and absolutely delicious!  I also love it because it give me a use for raw milk that has gone a little bit too sour to be palatable.  Raw dairy is so valuable nutritionally, it's such a waste to not use it!

I've made this recipe twice now, and it's been fantastic.  The first time I made a frosting over the whole cake made with peanut butter, butter, yogurt and coconut oils.  It was fantastic and I ended up eating it for breakfast because it had enough protein and fat to make my metabolism happy :)  The pictures you see here have one layer of a peanut butter-butter frosting in the middle, but not over the entire cake.  I hope to tweak my peanut butter recipe, get it just right, and then share it with you.  For now, feel free to mix equal parts, butter, fresh ground peanut butter, a few drops of Stevia clear, and vanilla extract together to make a wonderfully nourishing peanut butter filling for the middle of these cakes.  And be sure to share with family!  It's so good (and makes a lot) so sharing should be mandatory!  This cake is also completely unsweetened (bananas only) and it's Primal!

Grain-free Unsweetened Banana Cake.
    makes two 9" rounds

    1 cup  blanched almond flour - source
    1 cup  organic coconut flour - source
    3 cups  ripe bananas, mashed
    6 small  real eggs
    2 cups  soured raw milk
    1 Tbsp  warm spice blend (mine was a mix of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice)
    1 Tbsp  vanilla
    1 tsp  baking soda
    1/2 tsp  unrefined sea salt
    2 Tbsp  grassfed butter (to grease the pan) - source

To make your banana cake:
  1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (convection or non-convection, same results for this cake). Use your fingers to butter the cake pans liberally.
  2.  In a large bowl, mash bananas, whisk in eggs, sour milk, and vanilla.
  3.  In another medium sized bowl, combine flours, baking soda, and sea salt.
  4.  Mix wet ingredients into dry, using a spatula to incorporate.
  5.  Distribute batter evenly between both pans. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until sides have pulled away from the pan and top is golden brown. When the cakes have cooled, remove from pans by gently inverting them onto your hand or a plate.  Wait until cakes are completely cooled to frost, if desired.

Texture up close.

This cake has quickly become one of my favorites, I hope you enjoy it too!

Cinnamon Honey Almond Butter.

Almond butter is one of my mom's favorite foods.  We enjoy using to make protein bars, waffles, and as a topping of one of our morning breakfast bowls.  It's a great primal peanut butter alternative, and it is much more digestible than peanut butter.  We've both tried lots of almond butter over the years, raw, roasted, organic, natural, salted, unsalted, fresh ground, homemade, either fresh or in jars of all forms.

After trying all the different varieties, I can definitely say that fresh ground, either raw or roasted, is the best.  Fresh ground almond butter comes just like fresh ground peanut butter from those nut grinders you can find at Whole Foods or your local health food store, except these grinders have dry roasted almonds in them instead of peanuts!

I have also found that fresh roasted peanut and almond butters from these machines (that you grind right in front of you! :) are much more digestible than the jars you can buy at the store.  I think that's because fresh ground is, well, fresh, and the stuff in the jar has been there for who knows how long.  The oils there have likely become old and rancid.  That said, I always stick to fresh ground nut butters.

One day I had some of fresh ground almond butter on hand and I decided to make it a little bit more exciting.  First I added coconut oil for some nourishing MCFA's, then some raw honey for some raw enzymes and probiotics, then molasses for flavor and iron, and then some cinnamon and sea salt to really make the sweetness of the honey and almond butter come out.  What I got was a lovely new take on almond butter.  Why try to buy this in the store when you can make it yourself?  This stuff is very flavorful, spreadable and delicious!  It's also Primal and paleo!

Cinnamon Honey Almond Butter.
    makes about 24 ounces

    16 oz  fresh ground dry roasted almond butter
    4 oz  organic coconut oil
    2 oz  organic raw honey
    1T  blackstrap molasses
    1 tsp  cinnamon
    1/2 tsp  unrefined sea salt

To make your almond butter:
  1.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients together.  You can use less honey and it will be less sweet.  Personally, 2 ounces tastes very sweet to me.
  2.  Transfer to a jar of choice.  Eat within 2 weeks or store in the fridge for longer periods.

Try spreading cinnamon honey AB on homemade banana or zucchini bread for a delicious snack!  This would also go great with cacao nibs and celery to make celery logs snacks.  Or even on top of grain-free pancakes or yogurt and berry breakfast bowls!

Enjoy :D

Grain-free Chocolate Cake.

My attempts at grain-free cakes have really come a long way.  Those of you who have ever made a grain-free cake know that it's not the easiest thing ;)  I started my journey with some of Elana's recipes at Elana's Pantry.  The results were better than I hoped, but I knew I could make it better.  Over the past three summers, I've made a couple versions of her chocolate cake.  I've scoured a countless number of other food blogs, drawing ideas from what other real food bloggers have done in grain-free cake land.  I've experimented with the amounts of liquids and ratios of flours and other ingredients, changing it as I went along, longing for a certain taste and mouth feel of cake.  Now I finally have a recipe entirely my own.  Each time I've learned something new, and now this is a cake I am really happy with.  I cannot say more about this cake's texture, flavor and ease of cooking.  I know that you'll love it too.

Grain-free Chocolate Cake.
    makes two nine inch round cakes

Cake:
  3/4 cup  organic coconut flour
  1/2 cup  blanched almond flour
  1/2 cup  cocoa powder - I used Ghirardelli
  12  real eggs
  1 cup  maple syrup - grade B
  1 cup  organic coconut oil, melted
  1 Tbsp  vanilla
  1/2 tsp  baking powder
  1 tsp  baking soda
  1 tsp  unrefined sea salt

Frosting:
  4 cups  organic powdered sugar
  1 stick  unsalted butter - I used KerryGold
  ~1/2 cup  raw whole milk
  1/2 tsp  unrefined sea salt
  optional: extract of choice for flavor, here I used mint extract

Chocolate Ganache, or use my Paleo Ganche recipe:
  1 - 12 oz  package chocolate chips - I used Trader Joes brand - feel free to use unsweetened also
  1/2  stick unsalted butter - I used KerryGold

Here's the final product! Cake assembled and frosting+ganache set.

To make your chocolate cake:
  1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees convection.
  2.  In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, coconut flour, almond flour, sea salt, baking powder, baking soda. Whisk until there are no lumps.
  3.  In another bowl, whisk together eggs (room temp), maple syrup, melted coconut oil (make sure it's not hot), and vanilla.
  4.  Combine wet into dry ingredients until just combined.
  5. ****Grease and flour the sides of the pan - use butter (best) or coconut oil (ok). 
  6.  Pour equal amounts of cake batter into 2 9" round cake pans.
  7.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes or until top springs back lightly when touched and sides are pulling away from the pan.
  8.  Let cool only until you can handle the pans, then run a knife around the edges before gently inverting the cakes and removing them from the pan. If you floured and greased the sides well, getting the cakes out of the pan shouldn't be an issue, but if you didn't, you might get only the top of the cake out!

To make your frosting and ganache:
  1.  For the frosting, with room temperature butter, cream butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Add milk slowly as needed into the sugar and butter.
  2.  Add vanilla, extract (optional).
  3.  For the ganache, in a double boiler melt chocolate chips and butter. Remove from heat when 80% of the chocolate is melted. Stir. The heat will melt the remaining chips.
  4.  Let ganache cool, but still be spreadable.

Cake assembly:
  1.  Remove cake from the pans. Place one on a large plate.
  2.  Frost with one layer of frosting on the top of the cake.
  3.  Place the remaining cake on top of the frosted layer.
  4.  Frost with remaining frosting on top and sides of both layers.
  5.  Place cake in the fridge for the frosting to set.
  6.  Spread ganache on top of the cake. Return to the fridge and allow ganache to set.

Notes:
1) You can easily cut this recipe in half, and you'll have one 9" cake.
2) Do not make this with runny honey instead of maple syrup. There is less flavor and a bit less sweetness. When I made this with honey it just seemed to be lacking something.
3) Make sure your eggs are on the medium/large side. I've made this cake with small sized eggs, and the end product was a bit more on the dry side than I would like.

Here are some pictures of the first grain-free chocolate cakes I made:

At my house, cake is always served with real ice cream!

There was A LOT of filling inside, and it still wasn't enough ;)

German chocolate cake, completely finished!

This was my first attempt at grain-free chocolate cake. I wish I had remembered to snap a picture before cutting it up!

My brother's birthday is always during the summer, so I always have an excuse to make a cake.  It's my once a year cake indulgence!  However that is beginning to change since I've learned how to make these cakes so nourishing and healthy!  This summer will probably be a little different since my brother and his wife are having twins.  It's very exciting, but I doubt a birthday celebration with cake and ice cream will be the last thing on their mind ;)  This past week I made this cake in a banana version with peanut butter frosting!  It's so nourishing, low in sugar and high in protein, and I've been eating it with my yogurt and berries for breakfast.

Happy summer! Cake away :)

Gluten-free Yule Log / Buche de Noel - Step by Step with photos

When planning the menu for your own Christmas day meal or holiday party out, it can be really difficult!  Usually everyone wants to bring their own traditional or favorite dish to holiday gatherings, but with all of these Christmas parties going on, it's hard to bring what you truly would like, since sometimes there simply is not time to do it all.  At some point it's just easier to throw in the towel and make something really easy like nourishing protein bars, trail mix or deviled eggs.  

In my family, it is tradition to have what we call yule log, or more commonly known as a Buche de noel.  Yule log is a thin, rolled cake filled usually filled with fresh whipped cream, covered and decorated with buttercream and shredded coconut as "snow."  The process, however, can look a little daunting since it requires baking the cake, flipping it out onto a towel, rolling it up, rolling it back out, filling it up and assembling the log.  For a novice baker, this several step process can be a challenge, but if you make your game plan ahead of time and enlist the help of your favorite "sous" chef, the whole process can go smoothly and is actually a lot of fun.  It is honestly not as scary as it looks.  My mom and I can whip up a Yule log quite efficiently now :)  In fact, for my mom and dad's wedding, per my dad's request, my grandmother made yule logs from scratch!!  They've been married 32 years this month!

Yule log "pre" frosting.

Here's the recipe - I've posted the text below, and there are now pictures also with step-by-step instructions.  For yule log success, read through all ingredients and instructions before beginning.  You will want to lay out some tools in preparation for each step.  The recipe will easily serve 12 or more people, depending on how think you slice it, but it also freezes very well and will keep in the fridge for about a week.  So don't worry if you can't consume the whole thing, leftovers stay good!

Gluten free Yule Log / Buche de Noel

    makes one log, serves 12-14

Cake:

    4  happy eggs, from grass-fed chickens

    3/4  cup Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour and 1 Tbsp coconut flour (both to total 3/4 cup)

    1 1/4  tsp baking powder

    1/2  tsp xanthan gum

    3/4  cup organic cane sugar

    1/2  tsp sea salt

    2  heaping Tbsp cocoa powder  (I used Ghirardelli Unsweetened)

    1  tsp vanilla

    2  cups raw milk cream (for inside)

    1  deep cookie sheet 10x15 (edges of the pan need to be at least an inch tall)

    real butter, from grass-fed cows (for greasing the pan) - see ingredients page for sources

    wax paper

    organic XXX sugar (for dusting)

    1  tea cloth (I used an old linen calendar)

Chocolate Frosting: feel free to use your favorite recipe, or use my estimates

    2   cups confection sugar

    1/4   cup cocoa powder

    1 1/2   sticks grass-fed butter, softened

    6   Tbsp raw whole milk

Prepping for the Yule Log:

    1.  Preheat to 400 degrees.

    2.  Place the cookie sheet in front of you.  Take a hunky of soft room temperature butter in your fingers and rub it onto the bottom and sides of the cookie sheet, enough to grease it very well, but not in excess.  The most important thing to keep in mind here is that this step is designed to prevent sticking, so better to err on the more greased side than not enough.  Make sure to cover all the surfaces of the sheet, especially all the corners and sides.  The cookie sheet should look shiny and feel slimy.

    3.  Measure out a piece of wax paper to fit the pan, and place it on the buttered cookie sheet.  Press the wax paper down onto the sheet so it fits into corners and stays put to the edges.  The wax paper will stick to the cookie sheet since it is covered in butter.  It will also hang off the sides a little.  It does not have to be perfect, but you will need a few inches on both sides of the pan to remove the paper from the cake after baking, so don't cut off the ends too short.

    4.  Butter the top of the wax paper that you just pressed into the buttered sheet.  This makes a total of two layers of butter, one on the sheet and one on the wax paper, like this: sheet - butter - paper - butter.

Making the cake:

    5.  Using an upright stand mixer, add 4 eggs and sea salt, and beat until thick, glossy and lemon colored. Don't worry if it has bubbles, but don't try to make them.

    6.  In another small bowl, mix sugar and cocoa powder together.  Gradually add this mixture to the eggs, beating well after each addition.  Then add the vanilla.

    7.  In another small bowl (you can use the same one that you mixed the sugar and cocoa powder in), mix together the xanthan gum, flour and baking powder.  Add this gradually to the egg-cocoa mixture and beat until smooth.  Thoroughly scrape the sides to make sure all the ingredients become incorporated.  The batter may be a little thin or slightly thick depending your ingredients.  Either is fine and will not affect the final product.

    8.  Pour the batter evenly into the greased/waxed papered pan; smooth batter with a spatula, do not neglect the corners.

    9.  Bake for 10-12 minutes (usually it will be on the quicker side, but some ovens run hotter than others).  Cake will feel spongy to the touch, but is cooked through.

Assembly:

10.  While the cake is baking, lay out a tea towel and sprinkle it generously with powdered sugar.

    11.  When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and loosen the edges of the cake.  Grasping the edges of the pan, flipping out the cake, wax paper and all, onto the sugar covered towel.  Do this fast- take it out, and tip it right over.

    12.  Gently peel off the wax paper from the cake and carefully roll up the cake in the towel.

    13.  Let the cake cool on the counter wrapped in the towel.  This is an important step to make the rolled shape. 

    14.  While the cake is cooling, whip up the cream.  I highly recommend putting the attachments and mixing bowl in the fridge or freezer while you prepare the cake, then all the utensils will be really cold for whipping the cream, and the cream will whip up more easily.  

    15.  When the cake has cooled, gently unroll it (do not force it flat) and frost the inside with the freshly whipped cream.  Then carefully roll it back up, but without the tea towel this time.

    16.  Gently lift the yule log and place it on the platter you plan to serve it.  Cut off one of the ends, or both if it gets a little burnt or if it is uneven.  If some cream squirts out of the log during cutting, just spoon it into the stump and frost over it.

    17.  Make the chocolate frosting with your stand mixer.  Frost the log. 

    18.  Using one of the rolled up ends, place it on top of the log to mimic a stump.  Frost the stump.  

    19.  Decorate however you like.  The traditional way is to sprinkle coconut on top of the chocolate frosting to look like snow.  Fork marks in the frosting make the log textured and resemble bark.  You can also put some red and green MMs on top near the stump to look like berries and leaves.  If you do not have MMs or cannot eat them (I cannot) then just use whatever you can.  Have fun with it!  I have even used strawberries before!

    20.  Put the yule log in the fridge to set overnight.  Before serving, remove from the fridge for about 30 minutes.  Slice into half inch or one inch slices.  Serve with homemade vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!

Step by Step in pictures!

Grease cookie sheet with butter.

Smooth some wax paper down on top.

Butter the sheet again on top of wax paper.

To start making the cake, get out your stand mixer and add sea salt.

Add eggs.

Beat until glossy and yellow.

Add mixed cocoa powder and sugar gradually.

Add mixed flour, powder and xanthan gum into eggs, gradually.

Batters should look like this, happy and homogenous.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth out, be careful to get all the corners!

After the cake has baked, flip it over (do not wait for it to cool) onto a tea towel that has been covered in powdered sugar, and remove the wax paper gently.

Gently roll up the cake in the towel and let the cake cool.

Whip up some chocolate buttercream frosting.

When the cake has cooled (should not feel warm to touch), gently unroll the cake, do not force it flat, and smooth whipped cream out on the surface of the cake, cover it thick and out to all the edges.

Place the yule log on the desired serving platter, cut off at least one end to save for the stump.

Stuff any left over cream in here.

This side has been cut.

Frost the log and then place the stump on top.  Stuff an extra whipped cream into the stump, too.

Frost the stump and finish frosting the whole log.

Make fork "bark" marks and add coconut as "snow" and any other decorations desired.

In this version I used unsweetened coconut, chocolate and India Tree Christmas sprinkles.

This is my second time blogging about yule log. The old OLD post (probably my first post when starting this blog three years ago and was still new to photography and photo editing) can be found here, gluten-free yule log. 

Don't be afraid, this recipe is tried and true.  Unlike some other gluten free recipes floating around out there, it WILL work.  I've been making gluten free yule log for several years now.  The regular version my family has been making for over 50 years.  This is not a recipe just pulled from a hat.  You can rely on this one coming out well.  

My favorite part of the whole yule log - the cream inside!!

On another note, this basic Yule Log recipe is not mine.  It has been passed down in my family for years.  The back of my mom's recipe card has a cut out from some newspaper or magazine.  My grandmother started the tradition years ago, so we are not quite sure where the original recipe came from.  I do want to give credit to whoever the person that originally created this recipe.  All edits to be made gluten-free or more "real food focused" are mine, but the basic recipe template is not.  In other words, the adaptions to make it gluten free, etc, are entirely my own.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions (or problems?) you may have!

MERRY CHRISTMAS -- To Him be the glory!