The best things in life are FREE

Let me begin by saying that this is not a giveaway or swag post.  It's a health post.  Please read on anyway...

As I take my time deciding which food blogs to stalk to make new desserts about which to blog, I remembered that I bought a wheat FREE, gluten FREE, cake mix.  I also have an egg replacer product to minimize the dairy in my life.  Since eggs make flour mixtures fluffy, I was concerned about the consistency during and after baking because the egg replacer is in powder form.  I was also concerned about the taste of the wheat FREE, gluten FREE mix.  I thought that wheat or gluten FREE food tastes like cardboard. But I was wrong.

Well having never tried either product before, to my delight the cake came out fluffy and moist.  Rather than using butter Paula Dean style to ensure that the cake would be moist I used EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) instead.  The box called for canola oil as well but I'm phasing canola oil out of my diet.

Click on the words canola oil anywhere in this post to read all about this GMO (genetically engineered plant) that was originally manufactured in Canada as an industrial oil and as a bonus makes a great insect repellent!   Are you kidding me?  No!  Read about it and then check your pantry to see how many prepackaged foods, snacks, etc. are made with this poison. [I'm not advising you what to eat or toss away, I'm just casting light on this product so that you can make informed decisions for you and your family.]

EVOO makes the mixture appear green at first but as you blend the mixture the color reverts back to beige or yellow.   I have to educate myself as to which organic oils are best for baking, but I'm busting at the seems with EVOO in my pantry, so that's what I used.  Per the directions it baked for 20 minutes and after that time, during the toothpick test, some batter was stuck the the pick - but I like it that way.  The batter wasn't undone, the EVOO is just very dense. Thus a moist cake middle.  Besides a cake baked too long is called a brick.

I can't imagine that a cardboard tasting brick would be a good choice for dessert.

Cake mix of choice is:
Ingredients: organic rice flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic potato starch, buttermilk solids (milk), tapioca starch, baking powder (monocalcium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate), organic vanilla flavor, sea salt, xanthan gum.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 49g mix (makes 1/12 cake) Servings Per Container: about 12 Amount Per Serving % Daily Value With Milk Calories 180 270 Calories from Fat 0 80 % Daily Value** Total Fat 0g* 0% 16% Saturated Fat 0g 0% 5% Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg 0% 13% Sodium 170mg 7% 8% Total Carb. 41g 14% 14% Dietary Fiber 0g 0% 0% Sugars 17g Protein 2g Vitamin A 0% 0% Vitamin C 0% 0% Calcium 10% 10% Iron 2% 2% * Amount in mix. Prepared as directed with eggs and canola oil contributes an additional 10g fat (1g saturated fat), 25mg cholesterol and 20mg sodium. ** Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs. Calories: 2,000 2,500 Total Fat Less than 65g 80g Sat Fat Less than 20g 25g Cholesterol Less than 300mg 300mg Sodium Less than 2,400mg 2,400mg Total Carbohydrate 300g 375g Dietary Fiber 25g 30g

The most accurate information is always on the label on the actual product. We periodically update our labels based on new nutritional analysis to verify natural variations from crop to crop and at times formula revisions. The web-site does not necessarily get updated at the same time. The values on the website are intended to be a general guide to consumers. For absolute values, the actual label on the product at hand should be relied on.

The cake has a hint of lemon flavor, and browns nicely on the surface.  It tastes best after you let it cool for 30 minutes.  I chose to not frost it since I used one cake pan for a one layer cake, no frosting needed.  That was tough because I'm a sugar junkie.


This is the egg replacer, by Ener-g, was recommended to me in the health food market by one of the mangers and one of the customers:

Ingredients

Potato Starch, tapioca starch flour, leavening (calcium lactate [not derived from dairy], calcium carbonate, citric acid), sodium carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose

Free of

gluten, wheat, casein, dairy, egg, yeast, soy, nut, low protein, rice

I don't own a microwave oven so tomorrow will be the true test of whether or not this quick fix dessert was a good idea or not.  This cake will have to hold up in the refrigerator or the covered cake pedestal without getting hard.