Maw-Maw's Ugly Cake

- the ugly duckling -

if you haven't figured it out already from the uncountable times i have mentioned that i was born and raised in the deepest depths of southern Louisiana - that's right the southern area of the south - then well here its is: i am a southern girl (in that cool new-agey way, not the weird tight black pants/ neon pink stretchy deep V-neck sequin studded top and wedge flip flops kinda way). ahh yes i grew up in the part of the country where it wasn't strange to see t- shirts and shorts on Christmas day and deep fried turkeys are the standard fair for any party over a 3 head count. and all that saturated fat means that a pecan pie is in order at every get together no matter the size or occasion, which is great - if you're into that kind of thing. don't even get me started on chocolate bourbon pecan pie, i mean really people one at a time ok?!

enter my grandmothers seemingly out of place "ugly cake". out of place not because of the unappealing name, but because it always stood tall and proud, almost always barely touched, along side the sinuously dark pie she provided like it was water. this cake is amazing, i think i was the only one in the family who longed for this cake - everyone else was too busy sneaking in another piece of the pie between cheesy jokes or

family gossip around the pearlescent formica table. so while everyone else buzzed around being as loud as they needed to be and as crude as the watchful eye of my grandfather would allow i was in the corner sneaking in slices of this cake the size of my head.

firstly this is no ordinary cake, its my grandmother's cake so i want none of this nonsense about "oh yeah i have a recipe similar to this" - no you don't. secondly its light as air, contains no butter (yet tastes like it might) and has just enough fruit layered into it that you pretty much just love yourself for ever putting this food item into your mouth. and while i will not be sharing the entire recipe with you - because well, you are not related to my grandmother, nor me of-course - i will give you the recipe for the base. simply enough; the base is classic angel food cake - what happens from there is magic or maybe voodoo since we are in louisiana but that may be wrong too considering my grandparents are staunchly devout catholics.

with out further ado - the recipe for the makings of magic:

- yes it tastes that good too -

ANGEL FOOD CAKE (for ugly cake)

12 egg whites (measured out to be 1 1/2c)

1 1/2c powdered sugar

1c, minus 2 tbs sifted flour

2 tbs cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1 c granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp almond

*put egg whites in a large bowl, cover with plastic and let sit at room temperature for about an hour

*preheat oven to 350F

*sift together the powdered sugar, flour, cornstarch and salt

*beat the egg whites until frothy, add in the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.

*add granulated sugar slowly, continue to beat until glossy and soft droopy peaks form

*add in extracts

* evenly sift of the top of the eggs 1/4 of the flour mixture, gently fold with spatula in until combined

*continue, adding in flour at quarters until all is added

* gently and evenly pour the batter into your (un-grease) angel food cake pan

* bake for 45 minutes until the cake springs back lightly pressed

*invert pan and stand on its feet (if you don't have feet, you need to get a real angel food cake pan) until completely cooled

*to remove from the pan run a knife around the edge of the pan to help loosen and invert

* do as you please with this beauty!

Apricot & Coconut Almond Tea Cakes_GF

-gluten free apricot and coconut tea cake, made specifically for the best of snackers-

i finally had a chance to make another recipe out of the gluten-free almond flour cookbook - i love this book btw. every saturday or sunday morning for the past month or so i pull out this little treasure trove and flip through it while my weekend pancakes are getting all heavenly and golden. every time i avow that i will make this or that. then get diverted by something else. but alas - i did it! i made these delicious little tea cakes. suppose i don't have to tell you that they really are perfect with a little cup of tea, but i will anyways - or i guess i already did. hmm.

these have no added sugar other than the natural sweetness of the apricots as well as the more subtle coconut and almonds. they are kinda perfect to me. these can be classified as those grand treats that aren't sweet but yet leave a sweetness in your mouth that satisfies any sweet tooth you have. like i said, pretty damned perfect.

the one note i have: make sure and use good quality, fresh dried apricots - make sure there's no funny business in the ingredients like sulphur dioxide which is rampant in dried fruits particularly apricots. not only does it diminishes vitamins in foods but will spur an asthma attack and possibly cause stomach problems in people lucky enough to be like me. i always stick to organic Turkish apricots, brown and all - yum!

if i've totally freaked you out about apricots (understandably) then i am sure you can substitute any dried fruit -- i would say fig. if you do let me know how it turns out.

APRICOT & COCONUT ALMOND TEA CAKES_GF

1c dried apricots

1c unsweetened shredded coconut

2c blanched almond flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 egg

1 tbs vanilla

*preheat oven to 350F, grease an 8x8 pan

*in a food processor chop the apricots and coconut to a crumbly mixture

*add in the almond flour, pulsing

*add in salt & baking soda, pulse a bit to combine

*add in the egg an vanilla, blend to combine

*empty out into the prepared pan and pat down to evenly distribute

*bake 20-25 minutes until golden

*let cook completely (about 30-45 minutes) before cutting

Cornmeal Jam Muffins

-cormeal jam muffins that kinda resemble a rooster-

I've been promising josh, for about a year, that i would make some breakfast corn muffins. cornbread is much adored around this apartment so i'm not really sure why these haven't come into existence until yesterday morning. so thank god i woke myself up, against my will, at 6 am yesterday morning. i had an extra hour to kill before heading to work, where i would spend my day wondering why i was so tired, and remembering the fancy jellies i scored from the fancy breakfast platter someone (not me) had donated to the community office kitchen after their fancy meeting. don't worry i don't get invited to the fancy meetings, i just do the work for them and then scavenger the left overs after the fact. ahhh the joys.

so anyways i remembered all that and got to work with hep from my trusty culinary friend - ina garten. i only made a small change, substituting half of the sugar with brown sugar. i think it makes a difference - but try it yourself. the jam i used was actually a mix of raspberry, grape and apricot - hence the "sample" sizes i swiped. non-the less these are delish and as far as i'm concerned you can use whatever jam you have on hand, they all kinda taste the same after a while anyways - right?

CORNMEAL JAM MUFFINS

via Ina Garten

1 1/2c AP flour

1/4c granulated sugar

1/4c light brown sugar (lightly packed)

1/2c yellow cornmeal

1 tbs baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

3/4c whole milk

4 oz butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

6 tbs jam (of your choosing)

*preheat oven to 350F, line muffin tin

*sift together flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar

*in a separate bowl combine the milk, butter and egg

*quickly stir in the milk mixture into the flour mixture - do not over mix

*pour into lined muffins tins (about 10-11)

*cook for 20 minutes, or until toothpick is clean

*once the muffins have cooled, fill a pastry bag with fitted with a round tip and squeeze in the jam into middle of the muffins.

Banana Coconut & Carob Bread_vegan & GF

-taste the tropical goodness-

about every other week or so i am faced with the "dilemma" of what to do with numerous overly ripe bananas. i don't really eat bananas , unless baked into a delicious cake or muffin, what have you. so when the banana order arrives 9 to a bunch. leftovers are going to happen.

so this leaves quite the opportunity for a sugar sensitive, health conscious (to an extent) foodie freak like myself. the problem is; bananas can be used for anything. seriously. do a quick google search for banana recipes - you will be bombarded. at first they all seem to be the same - banana nut muffins, banana cream pie, banana chocolate chip bread.... yadda yadda. so anyways i ran into a recipe for banana's and coconut "bars" which made me think - yeah lets get tropical with this eh?

and here we have it - a healthy, vegan, low fat, gluten free, low GI little treat for your morning enjoyment!

BANANA COCONUT CARON BREAD (vegan, gluten free)

3 (very) ripe bananas

2 tbs molasses

1/3c unsweetened applesauce

1/4c agave

1/4c maple syrup

2c spelt flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4c unsweetened shredded coconut flakes

1/2c carob chips

*preheat oven to 350F, grease an 8"x8" pan

*mash the bananas in a small bowl, add in molasses, applesauce, agave and maple syrup. Stir to combine

*in seperate bowl sift together the spelt, baking powder, baking soda and salt

*stir in the banana mixture, just to combine

*fold in coconut and carob chips

*pour into prepared pan

*cook for 45-50 minutes - until toothpick is clean

*let cool and slice.