Cinnamon Spice Zucchini Cake With Honey Buttercream Frosting (GAPS, Paleo, Primal, gluten Free, grain free)

By Kristen

Let's face it, cake is amazing. It takes any event to the next level. That is why you should bring a cake to every function you attend, including the DIY roadkill taxidermy class you just signed up for.

Cake Ingredients:

 4 cups blanched almond flour

1 teaspoon sea salt 

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

1/2 cup butter (or palm or coconut oil or lard), melted

1/2 cup honey

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

6 eggs, separated 

2 cup raw zucchini, shredded

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch cake pans. 8 inch pans would work too.

Mix the almond flour, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add the honey to the melted butter, then add the vanilla. mix into the almond flour mixture. Stir in egg yolks. Whip egg whites to form stiff peaks, then gently fold into batter. Pour into pans and smooth with a spatula until even. Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown on top. This happens really fast, so check your edges. Allow to cool and then remove from pans. Frost with this recipe for real buttercream. Make sure you use honey for GAPS.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake With Marshmallow Cream Frosting (GAPS, Paleo, Primal, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Dairy Free)

By Kristen

This springalicous lemon cake will make you want to tiptoe through the tulips, or barrel through the 20 inches of snow that just fell in Colorado. Either way just don't get drug tested for opium because rumor has it that poppy seeds make you test positive.

Cake Ingredients:

4 cups blanched almond flour

1 teaspoon sea salt 

1/2 cup lard (not a joke! So delicious. Okay, you can substitute butter, but you really should try the lard)

1/2 cup honey

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

6 eggs, separated 

Zest from 2 lemons

Juice from 1 1/2 lemons

4 tablespoons poppy seeds

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch cake pans. 8 inch pans would work too.

Mix the almond flour, lemon zest, poppy seeds and salt in a medium bowl. Melt the lard or butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add the honey to the melted fat then add the vanilla and lemon juice. Mix into the almond flour mixture. Stir in egg yolks. Whip egg whites to form stiff peaks, then gently fold into batter. Pour into pans and smooth with a spatula until even. Bake 20-25 minutes or until VERY lightly brown on top. This happens really fast, so check your edges. Allow to cool and then remove from pans. Frost with 1 1/2 batches of Cheeseslave's amazing marshmallow cream. Addition: Just wanted to let you know I found a way to make the frosting stiffer. Heat 2 oz of the honey (I used a makeshift double broiler that consisted of a glass measuring cup in a pan of boiling water), add 2 tablespoons gelatin, allow to cool to room temp, add to the rest of the honey, follow Cheeseslave's directions and you are golden.

Deck Your Halls With Bourbon Balls (or Rum Balls) (GAPS, paleo, Primal, dairy free, gluten free)

By Kristen

There is something about food in ball form that pleases everyone, from your lumberjack cousin to your blue-blooded grandmother, everyone will be smiling when they lay eyes on this slightly sinful treat.

Part 1: Coconut Vanilla Cookies (don't worry, you can't taste the coconut once the balls are complete)

Have you ever noticed that honey cookies are always soft? That's because honey is a humectant, which means it both attracts and retains water. However, this dessert desires a dry cookie to start, which is why you have to throw these into the inferno of your oven until they are seconds away from burning.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup sifted coconut flour

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 cup honey

1 pinch Celtic sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a largish bowl combine the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients. Slowly mix the coconut flour into the liquid ingredients using an electric mixer. The dough will be dryish but will still stick together. These cookies do not need to be pretty my friends, they will soon be decimated into tiny little crumbs, so grab an inch-sized ball and smash it down flat on a well greased cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until they are so dry and brown they are almost burned.

Part 2: The Balls

1 batch coconut vanilla cookies

1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons honey 

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons small batch bourbon or dark rum (rum is not GAPS legal)

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate 

1/8 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

11/2 cup lightly toasted pecans (or walnuts for rum balls) pulsed in your food processor until they are fine little pieces.

Pulse the coconut vanilla cookies in the food processor until they are small crumbs. Melt the chocolate over a double broiler or one you make by putting a metal bowl into water that has just been boiled. stir the honey into the chocolate. Stir the bourbon into the chocolate, one tablespoon at a time. Mix 1/2 the nuts into the cookie crumbs along with the salt. Stir the chocolate into the cookie crumb mixture. Form into balls and roll in the remaining nuts. Let sit in your fridge for a day to allow the flavors to mingle. They really are better with age, but who am I kidding? You are totally eating one right now :) One more thing: you can freeze these and they will keep in the fridge for at least a week.

Chocolate Chips and Chocolate Chip Cookies (GAPS, Paleo, Primal, gluten free, dairy free)

By Kristen

Who, besides a smug few, doesn't revel in the indescribable flavor of chocolate? There is nothing else like it, but unfortunately our modern ways have led us to mixing sugar mountains into our precious cocoa. This recipe uses honey and none of the misplaced coconut oil found in other honey sweetened chocolate recipes.

Ingredients:

8 ounces unsweetened organic chocolate

2 tablespoons honey (or a bit more if you like things on the sweeter side, but no more than 2 1/2 tablespoons)

1/8 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Do it:

On super low heat melt the chocolate. Be careful, it can burn REALLY easily. If you have it use a double broiler or make one by boiling water in a saucepan and putting a metal bowl on top. When melted remove from heat and stir in honey and salt. Finally, stir in the vanilla. Take foil and pinch up the sides to make a vessel. Spread the chocolate into a flat bar, about 1/4 inch thick, or thinner depending on what size you want your chunks. Allow to cool. Use a sharp knife to cut it into chunks.

Use it:

Chocolate chips cookies using the Bake Me Home Tonight recipe:

1/4 Batch chocolate chunks
1/2 a stick butter (or palm or coconut oil), melted
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon Celtic salt

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the honey. Hint: if you grease your tablespoon the honey slides right out. Remove from heat. In a medium sized bowl mix the dry ingredients. Add the vanilla to the butter mixture. Combine wet and dry ingredients. Drop overflowing tablespoons of batter on to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on your altitude and the actual internal temp of your oven, which can vary from what your dial says.

Zucchini Muffins (GAPS, Paleo, Primal, gluten Free, grain free, dairy free) )

By Kristen

You know when you find that zucchini in your garden the size of a submarine torpedo that you may or may not have been ignoring the past few weeks? This recipe is especially for you.

Ingredients:

2 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 teaspoon sea salt 

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/4 cup butter (or palm or coconut oil), melted

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 eggs, separated 

1 cup raw zucchini, shredded

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix the almond flour, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add the honey to the melted butter, then add the vanilla. mix into the almond flour mixture. Stir in egg yolks. Whip egg whites to form stiff peaks, then gently fold into batter. Divide evenly into 12 paper lined muffins. Bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown on top.

Arugula Pesto Sauce ((GAPS, Paleo, Primal, gluten Free, grain free, dairy free, nut free)

By Kristen

Pesto has a ridiculously high flavor to time in kitchen ratio, making it a super simple way to make your summer grilled meats and veggies pop. Additionally arugula is the classiest of greens, once it joins the party your dish is instantly propelled into flavors of the upper class, leaving you feeling like one of the 2%.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch arugula (about 8 cups), chopped.  Arugula is most often found in your garden, CSA or farmer's market

• 1-2 cloves garlic depending on the strength and size of your garlic

• Juice from 1 lemon, about 2 tablespoons

• 1/2 cup olive oil (add more if you want a thinner sauce)

• Celtic sea salt to taste. Add pepper too if it pleases you.

Method:

Throw it all in your food processor with the regular blade. Process until it has reached desired consistency.

Serve on burgers, grilled chicken fish or shrimp, grilled vegetables, or whatever else inspires you.

Banana Babycakes at the Beach (GAPS, Paleo, Primal, gluten Free, grain free, dairy free)