Okay, so here’s the thing. No one is close to a first birthday in this house but for Mira’s first (last August) I wrote this post and for some reason never published. I just decided to make the cake today for a kid’s party with dairy-free/gluten-free substitutions. I could not find the recipe ANYWHERE! I kept asserting I’d written a post about it but could not find the post. And now I know why, it was in my drafts folder. Well duh! 

So here it is. With not so awesome photos but hopefully I’ll remedy that today and see if I can write the recipe again, just as deliciously for the dairy-free & gluten-free crowd. The best news is that it’s already sugar free – Saweet! 

In our home the first birthday celebration is a special event with its own special traditions. One of those traditions is carrot cake. And while I love a good carrot cake, it just didn’t feel right for our heat-of-the-summer born, barefoot loving, fruit adoring little lass.

Big sis had tried her hand at cake making recently, turning out a beautiful upside down cake for our enjoyment. It was tasty but very rich (she confessed to doubling both the sugar and butter measurements….that would explain it). With boxes of fruit overtaking the kitchen, I decided to take a second look at the recipe she used and shake things up a bit for a first birthday cake.

I’m not ready for Mira to sink her four teeth into sugar, so I debated over replacing it with maple syrup or honey. I decided on honey as my sweetener and with the added sweet/tart flavour of the fruit, it was perfect.

Peachy Upside-Down Cake

While we’ve tried this with peaches and cherries, as well as peaches and blueberries, it would work beautifully with many other fruits. Just remember that local, in-season fruits will taste best.

1/2 cup + 2T butter, softened

5 peaches: halved, peeled, and pitted

1/2(ish) blueberries or pitted, halved cherries

1/3 cup honey (may be replaced with sugar or maple syrup)

2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

Preheat over to 375 F. Melt 2 T of butter in springform pan (or other large cake pan).

Arrange fruit (cut side down) in a single layer in the prepared pan.

In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and honey until smooth. Add eggs, stirring after each, then mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture in thirds, alternating with milk and ending with flour.

Scrape batter over fruit in pan. Tap the pan on a counter to remove any bubbles.

Put pan in the over for 40-50 minutes until top is browned and a toothpick (or cake tester) comes out clean.

Allow to cool in pan. Run a skewer or offset spatula around cake to loosen from pan. Place a plate over the pan and quickly flip the cake onto the plate. Remove the pan and enjoy slices served with lightly sweetened whipped cream.

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Do you have special birthday traditions in your home? I’d love to hear them – I’m a total sucker for a good family tradition.

Our kitchen has become an even busier place than usual as I’ve caught spring energy and fresh inspiration. I laughed (and sympathized with my poor hubby) as I looked around and saw the many ongoing kitchen experiments I have on the go right now.

:: the annual switch from our daily hot oatmeal to our favourite granola is happening, our big batches aren’t lasting long these days

:: hard boiled eggs for Easter dying later today, and I’m not making natural dyes although every year I hope I might

:: chicken bone broth working away on the stove – I stole from it last night to make veggie soup to help chase away a few spring coughs

:: bananas, yes, yellow bananas – I rarely get a yellow banana around here because everyone else likes them green (bleck!), I’m planning banana bread (with gf flour and almond milk), banana soft serve, and more of the cookies below

:: I’d had a tab open with this recipe for a few weeks and finally tried it last night – I think they are pretty impressive, Dan’s face made his disappointment very clear, “These are not cookies;” we’ll call them breakfast cookies then

:: my second batch of kombucha tea (scoby care of this kind blogger) is fermenting, not everyone gets excited the appearance or taste but Dan and I are loving it

:: the first kombucha batch is on to the second ferment one with ginger, and the second with lemon added in – can’t wait to crack into it

:: I’m attempting to sprout navy beans – looks like they may work despite my overlong initial soaking; our tried and true alfalfa sprouts will be my happy backup if these guys fail me

:: my kombucha flavourings have also been brewed into lemon-ginger tea with a dollop of local honey to chase away the rest of our sniffles

And last but not least, although likely the silliest:

:: I’ve adopted a ladybug – I couldn’t handle putting him outside in our cold weather last week after he woke up in some hidden corner so he’s been hanging out in a mason jar with a water moistened shred of paper towel, raisins, and honey

It’s messy but full of tasty, experimental, nourishing, and companionship (in the case of my new pet ladybug). What’s been happening in your kitchen this week?

I’ve mentioned before I can easily be scared off of trying new things. I’m not a perfectionist but I don’t like failure. So I stick to safe bets.

I’d wanted to try yogurt for a couple of years but I didn’t. There seemed to be mixed reactions from the people I mentioned it to including, “Why?” and “That’s pretty tricky!”.

Then my super thrifting fairy godmother friend, Cheryl, showed up one day with a yogurt maker she’d picked up for $2. Okay, this is progress, I thought, I might actually try this.

It took a few months and a follow-up visit where she guided me through making it before I realised that yogurt making is amazing!

After that first batch I toyed with the fat ratios (Cheryl made hers with 10% cream) and the method. A year and a half later and there is nearly always homemade yogurt in our fridge.*

We eat it with our honey sweetened jams, granola, citrus essential oils (lemon is divine), fresh fruit, or with just a dribble of maple syrup. There are endless baking uses including muffins, quick breads, biscuits, pancakes, and cakes**. The savoury uses are Dan’s favourite – yogurt in dips and dressings, with chips, or along side roasted veggies. I often replace some (or all) of the fat in different recipes (from mayo to oil) with yogurt (tangy tuna salad? yes, please!).

Yogurt is a staple we nearly always have on hand.

It’s simple, delicious, nutritious, and an exciting party trick (you know, for all those over night parties you throw).

*You may wish to remind me at this point that I’m on a dairy-free diet. Lately I’ve made an exception for yogurt and the odd knob of butter.

**You may NEED to remind me at this point that I’m off of wheat also. I want to make biscuits now.

Yogurt, Plain & Simple

I make a large amount for my large family. As long as you follow the method you can change ratios easily to make less. I haven’t gone lower fat that this (it’s about 4.7% MF using 2% milk) but if you try it keep it mind that you will likely have a runnier yogurt in the end – store bought low-fat yogurts are full of “other” ingredients to mimic a good full-fat product.

Yogurt making is simply cooking off (sterilizing) the bacteria you don’t want in your milk and adding in the yogurt cultures you want to encourage, then incubating the mixture in a warm environment until the yogurt is formed.

2 litres (8 cups) 2% or 3% milk

1 litre (4 cups) 10% cream (aka half and half)

30 – 60 ml (2-4Tbsp) plain, full-fat yogurt with active cultures (unsweetened, unflavoured, preferably organic, without additives), this is the starter yogurt (the next time you can take this from your previous homemade batch)

appropriately sized containers, washed in hot water and ready with lids (I use 500ml or 1 ltr mason jars)

a warm spot to let the yogurt cultures to develop

Remove the starter yogurt from the fridge and leave to the side.

Pour the milk and cream into a large pot (don’t skimp on size – you want a few inches of space at the top) and heat over medium-high to high heat. Watch, giving a whisk now and then to distribute the heat, until it begins to steam. Once it begins to steam it may be hot enough but I like to err on the side of caution. At this point do not look away (trust me)! As soon as the milk begins to rise up the side of the pot remove it from the heat.

Allow the milk/cream to cool to 114° F or slightly lower. If you don’t have a thermometer, cool to baby-bottle temperature (lukewarm) and test on the inside of your wrist. (If it’s too hot the bacteria from the yogurt will be killed off. Too cool and the yogurt may get too cold before it sets.)

Whisk the starter yogurt into the milk mixture. Strain, if desired, or simply pour into your waiting containers and cover. Place in a warm spot* covered with towels for 10 -12 hours (I find the longer the better).

Check to make sure it has set, then chill for a 2-3 hours before tucking in.

*My warm spot is our broken microwave – it’s the perfect insulator, I simply huddle the jars together and cover with tea towels. You could also use a small cooler filled with towels or an oven with the light left on. Our house gets pretty cold over night and I’ve never had to take any special steps (such as using a heating pad) to keep the yogurt warm enough.

Troubleshooting:

If your milk does not get to the boiling point, unhelpful (to yogurt-making) bacteria will likely interfere with the starter yogurt and you will never get yogurt.

If your milk cools too much if may have lost to much heat to encourage the yogurt cultures to grow.

If your milk is too hot the yogurt cultures will die when you introduce them.

If your starter yogurt doesn’t have live cultures, the cultures won’t grow (fresh yogurt is best – check the best before date).

If your yogurt doesn’t set, start again. I’ve reboiled failed yogurt successfully after it doesn’t set -just make sure you start fresh with new starter yogurt.

If you forget your cooling milk/cream mixture and it gets too cold you can cheat and heat it up a little – I’ve done this more than I’d like to admit.

I’m sure you’re braver than I am and I hope you’ll try it if you aren’t a yogurt maker already! It truly is quite simple and, dare I say, fun!!

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Do you make yogurt? Are there other staples you can’t do without in your home – homemade goodies or grocery store constants? Do you need someone to kickstart your culinary adventures or are you the type to dive right in? If the former, come over and we’ll hem and haw over tea; if the later, come visit and get me fired up (I’ll offer you tea, as well, love). 

There’s no denying I love sweets.

A little treat is my late-afternoon weakness. I cannot resist.

If on a given day I’m tired, on dinner-duty, thirsty, hungry, or breathing you’ll find me looking for a little something around that time of day.  Sneakily enjoyed behind a cupboard door of course because I can’t ruin anyone’s dinner.

The problem with the snacks I find myself craving at those times is the sugar. Even if it’s a healthier sugars we use almost exclusively now,  such as honey or maple syrup, I can feel my blood sugar skyrocket only to crash again far too quickly. During these times of craving crisis I know it is protein my body needs, yet it is sugar I want.

In the pursuit of protein I had my love affair with homemade larabars  – until I had to give up cashews (I miss them so). I’ve done the almond butter and apple slices. I’ve spent plenty of time with seeds and dried fruit. But sometimes I need a little more.

And then these squares came into my life.

I started with this recipe (the healthful pursuit blog has a wealth of yummy recipes!). Then I changed it around to account for some of the tastes in our family.

These squares are crispy, chewy, sweet, and delicious. Some of the kids (and even Dan) said they tasted like those junky marshmallows squares everyone loves here (although they may not be so reminiscent to someone who has actually eaten a rice krispy square in recent years). Needless to say, with that kind of recommendation, they are big hit with everyone in the family! The very best part, though, is that while they cater to my sweet tooth they don’t lead to a massive sugar-crash but give me a protein boost. Win-win!

Crispy Rice Squares

adaption of this recipe from healthful pursuit

I like the chocolate variation on these but I’m alone in enjoying them. My answer is to divide the cereal and add cocoa to the toffee mixture after I’ve poured about half, then I simply press the two flavours side by side in the pan. 

8 cups crispy rice cereal, such as Nature’s Path (puffed rice will not have the same result)

1 cup brown rice syrup

2/3 cup almond butter

1/4 cup tahini

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Heat syrup, almond butter, and tahini in a large pot. Stir constantly over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Any lumps will soften and the mixture will become more toffee-like. Remove from heat and pour over cereal.

Press the sticky mixture into a large 9×13 pan and allow to cool and firm up.

Then cut into squares and enjoy! If you can keep any beyond the first day they are even better on day two!

Chocolate Variation:

Add 4-6 Tbsp cocoa to the wet mixture before pouring over the cereal.

How do deal with cravings? Are you a sweet tooth or a salt addict? Have you found a healthy snack that beats the sugar ache? 

I am a very cautious person. Danger is not my middle name. No one would call me a risk taker.

That caution extends to the kitchen.

It’s crazy, I know. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?! I’ve had numerous kitchen disasters which have headed straight to the garbage and I hate the disappointment of it. Add to that the already pretty constant demands on my time in this busy house and I end up doing a lot of foot shuffling before trying something new.

And then suddenly, usually after much deliberation, I dive in.

That’s how I made hummus.

We love hummus. I eat it nearly daily  as my lunchtime cheese replacement. The kids scoop it out with rice crackers, I dip carrot sticks, Mira eats it by the spoonful. And, despite all the things we enjoy homemade, we buy it at Costco.

But I had a big bin of dried chickpeas I’d bought through our organic co-op begging to be hummus. They teased me from the storeroom, mocking me in my timidity.

So finally one evening I grabbed a load of them and let them soak over night. I ended up with a large potful of chickpeas awaiting their next life as hummus. A ridiculously large amount of chickpeas.

The end product is creamy, smooth, rich, and delicious, plus it packs a protein punch. Despite the child who suggested I “stop doing things homemade” after I made it, I will be making it again. And enjoying it. So there, chickpeas (and picky eaters)!

And Mira agrees. 

Roasted Garlic Hummus

Hummus can be enjoyed anyway you’d like it! We mostly eat it as a dip with veggies, crackers, or (my favourite) sweet potato chips. I made this quite mild in consideration of the little people I feed, but play with the flavours and find what you love. Cayenne, roasted red peppers, or lemon zest are yummy additions to try. 

4-7 cloves of garlic

3 cups chickpeas, either soaked over night or canned – reserve 1/2 cup liquid from either method

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 – 1/2 t. sea salt

3T tahini

1/2 cup reserved liquid from chickpeas or water

paprika, optional

Lay unpeeled garlic cloves on tin foil, drizzle with olive oil, and wrap with the foil. Roast for 20 minutes at 400 F. Once cooled remove garlic skins.

Place all ingredients, except the water, into a food processor or Vitamix. Once smooth drizzle in water to desired consistency.

Serve with a sprinkle (or more) of paprika and enjoy however you see fit.

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Do you have kitchen fears? Tackle any of them lately? Or maybe you have a favourite healthy snack to share? I’m all ears!