Gingerbread Cake

You know, the first time I mentioned I was baking a gingerbread CAKE, Steve said 'cake?  I don't know if I've ever had it as a cake.'  Yes, CAKE!  All that rich, dark, molasses flavor in a light, fluffy cake instead of those awful dry cookies they use like bricks to make houses out of.  My dad's mom used to make this cake for Christmas dinners, and she served it with a heaping spoonful of real whipped cream.  The cake was so intense-tasting that you HAD to have the whipped cream to cut the flavor down a bit, it was that intense.  And I LOVED it that way.  Years later, when I was living for a short period with my Aunt (my dad's sister), we'd make this cake just because we loved it--at any time of year--and it always tasted like Christmas to us.

So here's to kicking off the Christmas season.  While everyone south of the border is celebrating their Thanksgiving over turkey (ours is long-since past), I will be eating Christmas dinner (yea, Christmas in November, don't ask, it just IS this way in my family) and I will be eating some of this cake, and getting all nostalgic about it.

So this is an adaptation of the recipe that came from my grandma.  I don't know where she got the recipe (she passed away years ago)--maybe the Toronto Star newspaper published the recipe 50 years ago or so.  She got a lot of recipes from the Toronto Star over the years.

Little bit of trivia here; the Toronto Star used to publish a new recipe every week--and they tried to use ingredients that were affordable for those times--like making cookies with lard instead of butter because it was much cheaper and more available at the time.  Homemakers would eagerly await the next new recipe each week.  Through the 40's and 50's, houses all over Toronto would be serving up the same Sunday night dinner--whatever was featured that week in the newspaper.

So here's my paleo-adapted version.  Let's be honest here, it may not contain flour and may have reduced and altered healthier sweeteners in it, but it's still cake.  During the holidays, you still deserve to eat cake.  Just let it be cake that doesn't turn your guts inside-out.  Don't eat the whole cake (once you taste it, you'll want to!).  Share it with guests like a nice host/hostess...

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c lard
• 1/2 c coconut sugar
• 1/3 c molasses
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 c boiling water

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 pan with whatever fat you want to use (I used coconut oil).  Using a hand-mixer or stand-mixer, cream lard and coconut sugar together until fluffy.  Add molasses and eggs, mix thoroughly.  In separate bowl, mix all remaining dry ingredients.  Add to molasses mixture, alternating with boiling water, until all is added in.    Pour/spread in prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.  Serve with real whipped cream or whipped coconut milk (with just a pinch of coconut sugar in it--trust me on this one).

Grain-Free Pancakes

Alright, I cannot take any credit for these.  I found this awesome cookbook last time I was in Chapters called "Everyday Grain-Free Gourmet", by Jodi Bager and Jenny Lass.  The pictures were spectacular, so I had to take a really good look at some of the recipes.  Though the book does not tout itself as being paleo, the fact that it is not just gluten-free but instead is grain-free pretty much sold me on it.

This is their recipe for waffles and pancakes.  The recipe warns to cook these at a bit lower of a heat setting than you would cook typical batter pancakes-so I cooked mine over medium heat.  And it also warns to make the pancakes small because they are hard to flip.  I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter, and they were perfect.  I did put the lid on the pan to help them cook through.  These were a total hit--everyone loved them!  The batter was quite yellow at first, but as soon as they hit the heat of the pan, they solidified and cooked up looking exactly like traditional pancakes.  We will definately be eating these ones again.  Sure, I love my Big-Ass pancake recipe, too, and when you want the protein hit, stick with the Big-Ass pancake recipe.  But if you really crave a treat to remind you of those old days...  This is the way to go.  In fact, once you add some kind of syrup, you wouldn't know they weren't the real deal.  Perfect for sneaking grain-free food into your non-grain-free family!!

If you try these and love them, I highly recommend buying the cookbook.  The cookbook also has a recipe for crepes, for pound cake and a sturdy base for a tuna melt that I want to try soon.  Everything I saw in the cookbook was either already paleo-approved, or easy to tweak to make it primal/paleo.  No weird ingredients to be seen.

So here it is...

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond meal/flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbs honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 4 eggs

Method:

Mix all ingredients in mixing bowl.  Cook over medium heat with lid on pan, turning once.

Serve these immediately.  Serve with berries and a drop of honey, maple syrup, or sugar-free syrup.

These re-heat well in the microwave, but will burn if you try to toast them.