The Allergy-Friendly Icing On The Birthday Cupcake

Ha, ha, ha! Sorry, but I couldn't resist that silly title. It just got stuck in my head!

I found the perfect recipe for icing for Cody's birthday cupcakes. It tastes right, has the right texture, and it's allergy friendly and vegan.

Here is the link to the recipe for "Best White Icing Ever".

I used organic vegetable shortening made from palm oil and added some puréed cherries and blueberries for color and flavor.

In a previous post I posted the recipe for tasty allergy-friendly and vegan chocolate cake.

Cody really did not like the chocolate cupcakes, so I also made some vanilla cupcakes. I just substituted the cocoa with more oat flour and added another 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla.

Voila! I had birthday cupcakes after some trial and error. One important note: do not overfill the cups otherwise you will have a gooey, fun mess at the bottom of your oven. I'm sure experienced bakers know this, but I learned that one the hard way!

What did Cody think of the cupcakes? Well my little Mr. Picky was not a fan. Too sweet and sticky for him I think. Oh well, more for me!

The cupcakes are wheat free, dairy free, egg free, peanut/treenut free, corn free and vegan.

Yummy Allergy-Friendly Chocolate Cake

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm trying out birthday cake and frosting recipes for Cody's upcoming birthday.

I found many recipes for vegan chocolate cake and they were all pretty much the same. I usually try to give credit when I use someone else's recipe, but slight variations of this one seem to be so widely used that I don't know where credit should go.

This cake came out really good and I was very happy with the way it looked and tasted.

My little food critic; however, wasn't impressed. This was his first taste of something chocolate. After a couple of tiny nibbles and licks he finally took a big bite. He made his "pfffft" noise, shook his head and spit it out.

So I'll try a few more times, but I guess I'll try another flavor.

and see if he likes it better.

The frosting proved to be more difficult. My plan was to make a cherry frosting. I tried sunflower oil based recipe and it tasted funny. I tried coconut oil and that was much better, but the coconut flavor overwhelmed the cherries and my husband doesn't like coconut. Also, the oil based frostings seeped into the cake after a while.

I did some research and I think the answer is vegetable shortening. I bought an organic, palm oil shortening, but I haven't tried it out yet. If you need frosting before I can try mine out, there are many recipes for shortening frosting out there. Let me know if you try it.

Below is the recipe for chocolate cake. It's wheat, dairy, egg, soy, corn, peanut and tree nut free and vegan.

Enjoy!

Moms and Dads, what allergy friendly cakes have you made for your kids?

This recipe is free of the top 8 allergens (egg-free, dairy-free, wheat-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free, soy-free, fish-free and shellfish-free) and vegan.

Chocolate cake

1 1/2 cups oat flour
1 cup sugar

1 cup oat or rice milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 and grease cake pan or muffin pan.

Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In another large bowl combine the milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla.

Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Be sure to mix well.

Spoon the batter into the cake or muffin pan. Bake for about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cranberry or blueberry apple muffins.

It took me a few tries to get these mini muffins just right, but I finally have the right texture and taste.

I usually make these with dried cranberries, but since we have a ton of blueberries, I used those this time around.

I can't seem to keep these around very long because we all love them. Well, Cody usually loves to eat them except when he decides they are a great "throw" (his word for ball) and wants to test his arm. I can tell you that it's pretty good!

These are wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free and vegan.

Enjoy!

Mini apple and dried Cranberry muffins

Makes about 20 muffins

1 1/2 cup oat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup oat or rice milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped, dried cranberries or blueberries

1 small, finely diced apple

Brown sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 350 and grease mini muffin pans.

In a large bowl combine the maple syrup, applesauce, milk, oil, cranberries/blueberries and apples.

In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Gradually stir in the flour mixture
Spoon the batter into the muffin pan. 

Sprinkle with brown sugar and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Buffalo hummus burgers

I have always loved 4th of July. It was one of my favorite holidays as a child. Then I met my husband at a 4th of July party and we got married three years later on 4th of July weekend, so I enjoy this holiday even more now!
 

Who's grilling for 4th of July weekend? To me, a good 4th of July weekend has to include grilling. I love burgers and I like using buffalo meat instead of beef because it is much leaner than beef. The problem is that because it is lean, it can dry out easily. That's why I like to add hummus to my buffalo burgers. It adds great flavor and moisture.

Use your favorite hummus, or here's the recipe for my Sesame-free hummus. I like to serve the burgers with my Allergy friendly potato salad.

 

I have been trying to make hamburger buns, but I have not perfected it yet, so use your favorite allergy friendly hamburger buns or bread.

Happy 4th of July, happy grilling and enjoy!

 

Grilled buffalo hummus burgers

1 lb. ground buffalo
2 tablespoons finely chopped onions
1/4 cup hummus
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
Vegan rice cheese
Your favorite allergy friendly hamburger buns

In a large mixing bowl combine the buffalo, onions, hummus, salt and pepper.
Shape into 4 burger patties
Grill over medium high heat for about 4 minutes on each side.
Top with cheese and toast the hamburger buns on the grill.
Serve on the buns with your favorite toppings.

Allergy Friendly Potato Salad

We love grilling out! I used to always make potato salad, but with the mayo and egg in it I thought our days of creamy potato salad were over. That is until I discovered soy free Veganiase!

This is another of my Grandmother's  recipes adapted to make it allergy friendly.

Happy grilling and enjoy!

This recipe is egg free, peanut/tree nut free, dairy free, soy free, corn free, wheat free and vegan.

Potato Salad

8 Yukon gold potatoes
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup soy free Veganaise
2 tablespoons dill pickle relish*
1 tablespoon yellow mustard*
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives or dill
1 teaspoon celery seed**
Salt and pepper

*I make sure I get dye free mustard and pickle relish since most contain yellow dye.
**Feel free to use some celery instead. I use celery seed because I like the celery flavor, but not the texture.

Peel the potatoes and cut them in half.
Bring a pot of water to a boil.
Add the potatoes and boil for about 15 minutes until tender, but not mushy. If the potatoes get too mushy you end up with mashed potato salad!
In the meantime combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl.
Drain the potatoes and let cool completely.
Cut the potatoes into cubes, season with salt and pepper and mix with the dressing.
Adjust seasoning if necessary.
Chill in the refrigerator overnight, or until ready to use.

Awesome Allergy Friendly Chickpea Omelettes

I really can't believe how tasty these are and they're egg free and soy free!

My mother-in-law recently sent me the link to a recipe for chickpea flour omelettes. I decided to try it last weekend and we all really liked them including Cody. He finally gave it a try after making his "this is going to be yucky" pfffft noise and sliding it back and forth around his tray. He ended up eating the whole piece I gave him.

Here's the link to the recipe I used from the blog Vegan Richa:

http://www.veganricha.com/2012/08/chickpea-flour-omelette-with-spinach.html

I used zucchini, spinach and only some salt and pepper for seasoning.

Seriously, you have to try these. I know I will be making them a lot!

It's apricot season!

I get so excited when I start seeing apricots in the stores. I love them and they always remind me of my childhood.

My grandparents had apricot trees and I remember the fun of picking buckets of apricots and then watching my grandma make yummy apricot everything!

One of the things that stands out in my mind is the apricot ice cream we used to make every year. It was my favorite. I am going to try to figure out an allergy friendly version soon.

For now I made an allergy friendly version of her apricot crisp. Our grocery store recently had a huge blueberry sale and we bought a LOT of blueberries, so I added blueberries to the crisp.

Here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Apricot blueberry crisp

Fruit filling:

8 apricots pitted and chopped

1/2 cup blueberries

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 tablespoon oat flour

Crumble:

1/4 cup oat flour

3/4 cup oats

3 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

In large mixing bowl combine the fruit, maple syrup and flour.

In a food processor combine the flour, oats, maple syrup, oil and salt. Pulse to form a course crumble.

Pour fruit into a greased baking dish. Top with the crumble.

Bake until the fruit is bubbly and the crumble is golden brown about 20 - 25 minutes.