Crispy and Creamy Doughnuts - GF

Heather made these after a week long craving for donuts. They are not "healthy" but they delicious and are gluten free and can easily be made dairy free as well.

Gluten Free Crispy and Creamy Doughnuts

Ingredients:

1 packet or 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

1/8 cup warm water

3/4 cup lukewarm milk, almond milk, rice milk, or any milk substitute(scald then cool)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

3 tablespoons shortening(we used Earth Balance butter spread for the dairy free option)

2 cups gluten free flour blend(we used Authentic Foods)

1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum

Vegetable oil

Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine 1 cup flour with xanthum gum. In a large bowl or stand mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, sugar, salt, egg, shortening, and flour mixed with xanthan gum. Beat on low for 30 seconds scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium for 2 minutes scraping bowl occasionally. Add additional flour and beat until smooth. Dough will be soft and slightly sticky.

Dust a clean surface with flour blend. Gently roll out dough and cut into shape. Cover and let rise until double(40-50 minutes). While donuts are raising prepare glaze.

Heat the vegetable oil in a deep fat fryer to 350 degrees. Slide donuts a few at a time into the oil and fry until golden. When donuts are slightly cook dip into the glaze and let drip on a cooling sheet.

Strawberry Shortcake - GF

My dad's favorite dessert during the summer is Strawberry Shortcake so for Father's Day we gave him one entire cake just for him. I also made a gluten free version for those of us that are GF. It turned out great! It is a little time intensive, but worth it.

Gluten Free Angel Food Cake

12 egg whites, at room temperature
1 C GF flour blend (I used this one)
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C agave nectar
1 TB GF vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Separate egg whites in a stainless steel bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let them come to room temperature. This takes about an hour. If you’re in a time-crunch, put your egg whites in a zip-lock bag and place the sealed bag in warm tap water for about 10 minutes. This will bring them to room temperature quickly.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Position a rack in the lower middle portion of the oven.

Triple sift the flour. Set aside.

Beat the egg whites on low speed until they are beginning to break up and are frothy. Add the cream of tartar and salt, increase speed to medium and continue to beat until the egg whites are billowy mounds. Pour the agave about one tablespoon at a time into the egg whites until all agave is incorporated and the eggs are at the soft peak stage. This means that the peak will form and then fold over on itself. Beating the eggs to stiff peaks will make it difficult to incorporate the flour without deflating the whites. Pour in vanilla and lemon juice. Mix until just incorporated.

Sift the flour over the egg whites about 3 tablespoons at a time and fold in very gently, making sure to cut down into the bottom of the batter and lift it up over the rest of the whites. Resist the temptation to move quickly or stir.

Pour batter into angel food cake pan (or two loaf pans) and cut through batter with a knife, going around pan, to remove any large air bubbles. Smooth top of batter with a spatula. Bake for 50 – 60 minutes (0r about 40 minutes if you use loaf pans) until golden brown and cake springs back when firmly pressed. Check cake after 50 minutes as oven temperatures vary.

When cake is finished, remove from oven and immediately invert on a cake platter. Let cake cool completely, 2-3 hours. To remove cake from pan, place pan on it’s side on the countertop. Use a long, thin, flexible spatula to cut around the edge of the cake, always pushing against the pan. Pop the bottom of the cake pan up. Use a long, thin boning knife to cut around the core. Use the long thin spatula to release the angel food cake from the bottom.

Strawberry Sauce

2 lbs fresh strawberries

agave to taste

Mash strawberries and use agave to sweeten to taste.

Agave Sweetened Whip Cream

2 C Heavy Whipping Cream

1/3 C agave
1 TB pure vanilla extract

Whip cream until thickens. Gradually add in agave and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form.

* Recipe adapted from a recipe over at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

Raw Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake - GF

This recipe is raw, gluten free, dairy free....basically is sounds like a recipe that can't be good, but you would be wrong. It is amazing! My cousin that is lactose intolerant and doesn't eat healthy at all, absolutely LOVED it.

Gluten Free Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake

Graham Cracker Crust:

• 1 c Almond meal
• 1/2 c Dates
• 1 tbls Agave Nectar
• 1 tbls Filtered Water
• Pinch of Celtic Sea Salt

1. To make the crust, process the dates in a food processor until they form one ball.

2. In a large bowl add the almond meal and dates and blend using your hands. Add the agave, water and salt and continue blending.

3. Press in the bottom of an 8″ spring form pan (I happened to have access to this lovely heart shaped pan), being sure to create a hill at the edges as show in the pictures above.

Lemon Cream Cheese Filling:

• 1 1/2 c Cashews
• 1/2 c Lemon juice
• 1/4 c Coconut Oil, melted
• 1/4 c Agave Nectar
• 2 tbls Filtered Water
• 1 tbls Lemon zest
• Seeds from 1 Vanilla Bean or 1 tsp Vanilla powder

1. Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth.

2. Pour the filling over the crust and smooth out with a spatula.

Strawberry Topping

• 1 c Strawberries, chopped
• 1 tsp Agave Nectar

1. Blend the strawberries and agave in a blender, very briefly. You want to have a chunky consistency with small pieces of strawberries.

2. Spoon over the top of the Lemon Cream Cheese Filling. Let set in the fridge overnight (or freeze for about and hour and a half).
2. To serve, remove the spring form sides and garnish with lemon zest and a small strawberry on each slice.

Makes 1-8″ Cheesecake

Thanks to Cybele Pascal for creating her Allergy Free Friday and Brittany at Real Sustenance for April in the Raw; events for sharing awesome recipes! I have recently discovered these sharing events and I love seeing the recipes and discovering new blogs.