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Gluten-Free Apple Cake

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This gluten-free apple cake is amazing! There are NO grains in the cake itself and I used gluten free oats for the topping. This one is a keeper — it’s so delicious and everyone can eat it!gluten free apple cake

I scare people when I bake. I mean, I literally scare them. I often burn things, the end result sometimes tastes… ummm… less than delicious, and I have even started fires in the oven. And yes, I did go to cooking school…

I’m a great cook because I can taste as I go and I don’t have to measure. But when it comes to baking, all bets are off  because I tend to treat baking like cooking and it just doesn’t work that way. You know… science.

But, every now and then I really get in the mood to bake something. I attribute this to my obsession with the Great British Baking Show. I can sit here and binge a ton of those shows and it truly makes me want to be a better baker. Oh, and if anyone knows where to buy Pru’s blue eyeglasses, pleeeaaaassseeee let me know because I really want them…  So, one day after watching a few episodes, I got that baking yen. So I started to peruse a ton of recipes that I have saved up and I figured I’d try my hand at combining recipes for several apple cakes until I got the desired result.

The cake needed to taste great. I wanted it to be healthy. It had to have great texture. In short I wanted it to not taste like a healthy dessert but rather like something I would actually be proud to serve.

It took some time, but this Gluten Free Apple Cake is the result. It’s great. Really. And not just great “for me”. It got the seal of approval from my family and they are the ones who are most scared to try my baked goods. This just goes to show you that anything is possible.

This Gluten Free Apple Cake is now tied with my Flourless Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies for my favorite dessert.

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gluten free apple cake

Here are some of the healing ingredients in this recipe for Gluten Free Apple Cake:

Almond flour is great. In Chinese medicine, nuts are known to be good for your brain, heart, skin and reproductive system. Almonds are particularly nutritious. They are a good source of protein and they give you energy. And, they are gluten free and make the best grain free flour! Almonds will help relieve a cough and asthma and are also good for constipation.

Buckwheat is great to eat if you have diarrhea. It also helps lower blood pressure, stops some types of sweating, and has a good amount of vitamin E. It also contains antioxidants that can help fight cancer and heart disease. Buckwheat is a seed, not a grain, so no inflammation here! I used some buckwheat flour in this cake.

It really is true that an apple a day is a good thing. Apples help to strengthen your heart. They are also good for your digestion and they can help eliminate mucus when you have a cold. So, the combination of apples and cinnamon together are great for this time of year when everyone seems to be getting sick. Apples have a high antioxidant content, especially Granny Smiths and Red Delicious. This, combined with the fact that they have a lot of healthy fiber, is why apples are good at fighting Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and some cancers. They have also been shown to help ward off diabetes, high cholesterol and gallstones.

Oats are great for the digestive system — they make you feel better if you are feeling bloated or have indigestion. This ancient grain can also help reduce some types of swelling in the body and, a little known tidbit: they can be eaten to help stop lactation. Just make sure to buy gluten-free oats if that’s your preference.

Ghee is a clarified butter that has had the milk solids removed and it is lactose free. And, it has the delicious taste of butter.  It has a high smoking point, and it doesn’t have to be refrigerated. I recommend buying organic ghee if possible. Ghee contains conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which has been shown to lower the risk of heart disease.

Cinnamon is one of the best herbs to warm the body. It’s great if you have a cold. If you are nauseous or have diarrhea, go for the cinnamon. It also gives you energy and helps with menstrual pain. Cinnamon is a Chinese herb: “gui zhi” is the cinnamon twig and “rou gui” is the cinnamon bark. Both are warming and are used for a variety of ailments. In the winter I add cinnamon to all sorts of foods. It helps with the common cold, swelling, various menstrual issues and some aches and pains. Be careful with it if you have a fever because it is so warming. Here’s an article about the benefits of cinnamon from Well-Being Secrets.

gluten free apple cake

If you make any of this recipe for Gluten Free Apple Cake, please be sure to let me know in the comments below. I love hearing how you like a recipe, and I love to answer your questions! If you make it, be sure to take a photo and tag me and post it on Instagram.

Gluten-Free Apple Cake
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Recipe type: cake, dessert
Cuisine: gluten free
Author:
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 9
This gluten free apple cake is delicious, healthy, and has all the feels of fall. You will love it!
Ingredients
  • 1-1/3 cups almond flour
  • ⅓ cup buckwheat flour
  • ¼ cup tapioca flour
  • ½ cup coconut sugar
  • ½ tsp baking soda (make sure it's gluten-free if that is your need)
  • 1 tsp baking powder (make sure it's gluten-free if that is your need)
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • ¼ cup oat milk (or can use another milk of choice -- again, make sure gluten-free if needed)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup non-dairy yogurt (I used cashew yogurt)
  • 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 green apple, peeled and finely diced
  • For the topping:
  • 3 Tbs melted ghee
  • 5 Tbs coconut sugar
  • ¼ cup rolled oats (gluten-free if needed)
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
  2. Line an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper.
  3. In a large bowl, combine all of the flours, ½ cup coconut sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir well.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla.
  5. Add the contents of the small bowl to the large bowl. Stir until combined.
  6. Stir in the yogurt, vinegar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and diced apple.
  7. Spread the contents into the prepared baking pan.
  8. Make the topping: stir together the ghee, oats, 5 Tbs coconut sugar, and the oats.
  9. Spread the topping evenly over the top of the batter.
  10. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.
  11. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack.
  12. Cut into squares and enjoy!

gluten free apple cake

Paleo Lemon Cake

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Paleo Lemon Cake! This is so delicious; it’s kind of like a cake grandma used to make, but way healthier!

paleo lemon cake

I’m a chocolate lover. But when I tasted this cake, I thought to myself: hmmmm… I think this might be better than chocolate.

And then, I remembered that it was grain-free. Yup, I actually forgot this is a paleo cake when I tasted it… it’s that good!

If you’ve been following me at all, you may know that I don’t consider myself the best baker. I’m a great cook, but baking… not so much. I’m not much of a measurer or a perfectionist, but with baking when you just wing it or go with the flow, sometimes it’s just a hot mess.

I saw a recipe for lemon bread on a blog called Connie’s Finally Losing It. Connie calls it a bread, and I’m sure hers is perfect and delicious. When I made it, mine didn’t look quite as perfect, and it tastes more like a cake, but OMG, it is just delicious!

And yes, it’s really as good as chocolate. I think part of this is due to the fact that when I made the glaze and poured it over the cake, instead of it sitting prettily on top of the cake, mine soaked into the cake and made it so sweet and lemony, that I can’t imagine doing it any other way.

I put the leftovers in the fridge and we’ve been eating it cold all week. So, put your chocolate bias aside, and try this lemony, sweet, tart, amazing cake!

paleo lemon cake

You should make this cake because it’s delicious. But you should also make it because it’s so good for you:

Lemon peel contains calcium, potassium and vitamin C. Lemons are good for your digestion, they help detoxify your body, they balance your pH, and they act as an antibacterial. They also can soothe a sore throat, lessen a cough, and hydrate the body.

I am a big proponent of eating the whole egg. So many of the nutrients and the taste are in the yolk; I’ll never understand separating nature’s perfect food. Eggs help with many types of dryness in the body. If you have a dry cough or a frog-in-your-throat, try eating some eggs. They have also been shown to help women with various conditions during and after pregnancy.

Honey is an amazing food. It is also a Chinese herb (Feng Mi). Raw honey is honey in its purest form; it has not been filtered, strained or heated above 115 degrees. This means when you eat it, the enzymes, anti-oxidants and nutrients haven’t been disturbed. I use raw honey in my tea, smoothies and in any recipe that calls for honey. Raw honey is solid and may need to be melted before you use it, but this is easy and only takes a minute or two. Honey helps with constipation, some coughs, and some stomach ulcers.

Coconut strengthens the body, reduces swelling, and stops bleeding. It kills viruses, bacteria, and parasites. It’s good for all types of infections and viruses in the body, including the flu, bronchitis, tapeworms, urinary tract infections, and herpes. It’s the coconut flour in this recipe that holds it together, and there is also some coconut oil in this cake.

paleo lemon cake

 

Paleo Lemon Cake
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Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: recipe adapted from: Connie's Finally LosingIt
Author:
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8-10
This lemon cake is sweet, and tart, and when I ate it, I forgot it was grain-free! It's so healthy and delicious and simple -- it will become your new favorite dessert!
Ingredients
  • 1 Tbs coconut oil to grease a loaf pan
  • For cake:
  • 6 large eggs
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
  • juice from 2 lemons plus enough almond milk to equal a total of 1 cup liquid
  • zest from 2 lemons
  • ⅓ cup raw honey, melted and cooled slightly
  • ⅔ cup coconut flour
  • 1-1/4 tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • For glaze:
  • 2 Tbs coconut oil
  • 2 Tbs raw honey
  • 2 Tbs almond milk
  • zest and juice from 1 lemon
  • ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Grease a loaf pan with the coconut oil.
  3. Put all of the cake ingredients into the bowl of a mixer and mix until well combined.
  4. Pour into the loaf pan.
  5. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is golden brown. Mine took 49 minutes. (Please watch the cake carefully, because the original recipe calls for only baking the cake for 32-45 minutes.)
  6. Remove the cake from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack.
  7. When the pan is cool, remove the cake and let it cool completely on the rack, out of the pan.
  8. Make the glaze: put all of the glaze ingredients into a small pot and simmer over low heat until it's all melted together. Turn off heat and let cool slightly
  9. When the cake is completely cool, pour the glaze over the top of the cake. (My glaze was very liquid, but I poured the whole thing over the cake and let it soak in and it was delicious. In the original recipe, the glaze in the picture looks while and thick and pretty... I'm just letting you know that either way it should be delicious!)

 

paleo lemon cake