Saturday, April 5, 2008

Better than Anything Cake

In Utah, you'll find interesting names for things. While anything good is typically compared with sex, that's a taboo word among most Mormons. I used to find this a bit silly, but do find now with young children that it causes too many questions to give a favorite dessert such a name. I honestly think that desserts should have descriptive names, but "chocolate cake infused with caramel topped with whipped cream and toffee bits" seems a bit long. So, I liked Melissa's choice of names for this cake last night, calling it "Better than Anything". While I'm sure I can think of a few things better than this cake, last night it totally hit the spot. And to think, just a year ago I thought good gluten-free cakes were impossible. I must thank the ladies at eattingglutenfree.com for their excellent chocolate cake recipe that I have used as a base for so many of my favorites.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

1 ¾ c. GF flour
½ tsp. xanthan gum
2 c. sugar
¾ c. cocoa
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 c. sour cream
½ c. oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 c. boiling water


Preheat oven to 350°. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat eggs well. Add sour cream, oil, and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients. Slowly add boiling water, and mix well. Batter will be extremely thin. Pour into a greased and featherlight floured pan. (*You can use any type of GF flour to flour your pan- I just like the featherlight. Or you can just spray the pan with Pam.)

Bake a 9x13 pan for 35-40 min. Bake a 13x18 pan for 17-20 minutes.
I did use a touch less sugar in the base cake. Then immediately after taking it out of the oven and using a big wooden spoon, poke holes throughout the cake. Promptly fill those holes with some sort of caramel ice cream topping. I used Smucker's and it appears to be gluten-free. Then, let it cool. Directly before serving, I whipped up a pint of heavy cream with about a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon or two of vanilla. Once whipped I spread this over the cake and covered it with heath bar toffee bits.

1 comment:

The Kooky Queen--Rachel said...

Hi! I am a Celiac friend of one of Deans and their blog post went on and on about your site. I am SOOOOO excited to have found your blog and I hope you will continue posting recipes. YES! You should do a cookbook, especially if you include those awesome pictures because there currently isn't a decent GF cookbook out there with appetizing pics like your blog has. My mom, my 9 siblings, and a few cousins all have Celiac so I will definitely forward this on to them. Again, THANKS!!!!!