Tag Archives: Cane sugar free

Lemon Cake with Fresh Raspberry Filling and Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Posted on May 28, 2012 by | 1 comment

Good Memorial Day to you! I hope that you have been enjoying a wonderful holiday weekend.
In a break from a regular story-telling tradition I will start with the happy ending of the story. I created this cake for the guests at a picnic, which also marked the celebration of my mother in-law's birthday. There were a lot of oohs and aahs when everyone saw the cake, and lots of happy noises as people enjoyed it.

The surprise to everyone was that the cake did not contain one bit of refined sugar. It tasted just as sweet and satisfying as a proper cake should without that pesky cane product.

Since I have a food sensitivity to cane sugar, I am motivated to find work-around solutions because I have a large sweet tooth. I have learned, through trial and error, that one can still bake cakes (and cookies and breads) and eat them too! And as an economist by trade, I am a big fan of spreadsheets. I have created a natural sweetener conversion chart in case you want to modify some of your own recipes. My favorite natural sweeteners are agave nectar, honey and maple syrup. Whether you are sensitive or not, try a few substitutions and see what you think about the finished products.

And now I’ll end this blog with the start of the story: creating the cake. I found recipes for lemon cake and vanilla buttercream frosting, substituted the sugars with agave nectar and doubled the cake recipe to have two layers. To make the raspberry filling, I mashed one pint of raspberries with one tablespoon of agave nectar and one teaspoon of water. And I halved the frosting recipe to just cover the top of the cake. Serve with agave-sweetened ice cream or raspberry sorbet.

Lemon Cake Ingredients (one 9-inch cake):
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2/3 cup agave nectar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 large lemon
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Cake Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter, or spray with a nonstick spray, a 9 inch circular pan and dust with flour.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer) beat the butter and agave until light and fluffy and pale in color. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and then add to the batter along with the lemon juice. Mix only until incorporated. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Bake about 40 – 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Ingredients (enough to frost top and sides of a two-layer cake):
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/3 cups agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoon milk

Frosting Instructions:
After all of the ingredients are in a bowl, mix on medium-high for a few minutes until the frosting is stiff and lightened in color. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add 1 extra tablespoon of milk.

Assembling Instructions:
Spread the raspberry filling evenly between the two cake layers, and frost the top of the cake with the vanilla frosting. Decorate with your favorite fruit – I chose blueberries and strawberries.

I am sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and Food Trip Friday.

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Happiness is Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Birthday Cake

Posted on May 21, 2012 by | 4 comments

Happy birthday indeed! I enjoyed a wonderful weekend with visits, calls and cards from my family and friends. I also was treated to a delicious dinner out with my grandmother, MIL, FIL and SensitiveHusband. After the meal we drove back to our house for dessert…that SensitiveHusband baked! Not only was the cake delicious, it was free of cane sugar, yeast, and all of my other “sensitive” ingredients. I think cake tastes even better when someone else bakes it, don’t you agree?

SensitiveHusband perused my recipes and decided on the Chocolate Agave Cake with the Honey Peanut Butter Frosting. What a delicious combination! The cake was extremely light and moist and the frosting was fluffy. Good thing I have a bit left…I look forward to having another piece.

What is your favorite dessert? There is one week left to take the poll on my home page. Simply click your favorite dessert and then click “vote.”

Chocolate Agave Cake
Ingredients:
2/3 cup agave nectar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour one nine-inch round pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the agave nectar, egg, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Honey Peanut Butter Cream Frosting
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/8 cup peanut butter
1/2 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1/3 cup honey

Preparation:
Cream butter and peanut butter. Add the water, salt, and vanilla and cream again. Slowly add the honey and beat until creamy.

Please note: refrigerate the butter creams if either becomes too runny to use for frosting. A few minutes in the cool temperature will correct the consistency.

I am sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Food Trip Friday and Simple Living.

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Chocolate Dipped Bananas are Delicious Yet Gluten, Dairy & Cane Sugar Free

Posted on May 14, 2012 by | 3 comments

This past weekend SensitiveHusband and I enjoyed a lovely evening with some family friends. I have known these wonderful people all of my life and I feel privileged to be able to continue this extended family connection.

Each couple contributed something to the meal, and I was fortunate enough to be asked to bring a dessert. What a great experience to bake one of my favorites as well as try something new! As for the favorite, I made a chocolate agave cake and I doubled the recipe to make a layer cake with a cherry jam filling. I topped the cake with homemade whipped cream. I will definitely make this again!

My new creation involved chocolate dipped bananas. You can probably guess the two main ingredients! I had fun topping this dessert with all sorts of tasty treats as seen in the photograph above.

Chocolate Dipped Bananas (Gluten, Cane Sugar and Dairy Free)

Ingredients
2 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2 inch disks
1 bar (3 oz) dark chocolate (The dark chocolate with raspberries Endangered Species brand is gluten, dairy and cane sugar free)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Assorted toppings (such as peanuts, granola, coconut, or cinnamon)

Preparation
Melt the chocolate on low heat. Stir in the vanilla extract. Dip the bananas into the melted chocolate so that about half of the banana is covered. Place bananas on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Top the bananans creatively. The close-up photo shows one dusted with cinnamon. Freeze for at least half an hour. Once frozen, you can transfer the bananas to another bowl or zip lock bag. Allow bananas to defrost for a few minutes before enjoying.

P.S. If you have not already done so, please answer the poll on the web site just to the left of this post. It just takes two clicks of your time. The results are very close and I hope to get a large enough sample to declare a winning dessert. Thanks for your participation!

I am sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Cybele Pascal Allergen Free Cuisine, Food Trip Friday and Miz Helen’s Country Cottage.

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Being Naturally Sweet: Results from the CTVegFest

Posted on May 3, 2012 by | 2 comments

Greetings from a very happy CTVegFest speaker! The festival was a great weekend filled with exhibitors, raffles, cooking demonstrations and speakers. I spoke on Sunday, April 29 all about natural sweeteners. About 30 people joined the discussion “Being Naturally Sweet: The Costs and Benefits of a Refined Sugar-Free Diet.” When I polled the audience, I was quite impressed that the majority were already trying to limit the amount of refined sugars that they consume. I first talked about how I learned that I had food sensitivities, and that by listening to my body and consulting a second physician’s opinion really started me on the right path to adjusting my diet. We discussed how tricky it is to remove sugars from one’s diet, and the possible code words for “sugar” in an ingredient list – including, but not limited to, the following – dextrin, dextrose, glucose, saccharose, sucrose, and some syrups and sweeteners. By looking at cost comparisons we all agreed that the relative low expense of cane sugar is why it is the sweetener of choice for many food manufacturers – it’s just less expensive to make foods sweetened with cane sugar than with a natural sweetener.

Yet do not despair! Even though I cannot have cane sugar, and choose to limit the amount of other refined sugars that I consume, desserts can still be enjoyed! We talked about how to substitute with natural sweeteners using sweet conversions. The question did arise about liquid versus solid sweeteners – I have not found any trouble with substituting liquid alternatives like agave nectar, honey and maple syrup instead of using granulated sugar in baked goods such as cookies, cakes and brownies. For puddings, however, I sometimes have to use a little cornstarch for its thickening properties.

The benefits of natural sweeteners are many – so that’s why many of us at the CTVegFest aim to be naturally sweet. I enjoyed discussing my journey so far with the audience, and I intend to continue the discussion right here on this blog. So thank you for hearing me speak, reading my blog posts, commenting with questions and ideas – it’s wonderful to be part of a supportive community.

At the close of my speech I asked everyone to answer a short survey. Since I am an economist, I just love to collect data! I now have the results prepared for you. The survey consisted of three questions involving rating favorite desserts, naming a favorite dessert flavor, and listing a favorite food. Thirty-one people answered the survey.

The results of the favorite dessert choices are shown in this pie chart. As for first choice selections, the group was evenly split between cookies and ice cream.
However, if the first, second and third choices are included, ice cream slightly edges out cookies.

When asked to list a favorite dessert flavor, the choice is overwhelmingly chocolate! Twenty-three of the respondents selected chocolate as their favorite dessert. I am certainly not surprised by that result! Vanilla was a distant second with three responses, and cinnamon came in third with two mentions.

And what were the respondents’ favorite foods? The answers ranged from green smoothies to pasta, and from filet mignon to chickpeas. However, eight of the responses involved seafood. Yum!

Would you like to provide your dessert preference? Please do in my first poll! All you have to do is click on which dessert category is your favorite and then click on “vote.” It will be interesting to see if the results are the same as or differ from the CTVegFest audience. The poll will be available on the front page of my blog for the rest of the month, and then we can check the answers.

Thanks again to all of you who participated in the CTVegFest! And thanks for taking my dessert poll!

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Posted in Economics, Organic on a Budget, Sensitivity Lingo

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Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Posted on April 22, 2012 by | 13 comments

This recipe for honey-roasted sweet potatoes meets all of my official criteria for being a great dinner component: (1) the potatoes are really tasty with a soft texture and a hint of sweetness; (2) they are easy to prepare, especially if you can find someone else to do the peeling; (3) they travel well and can easily be reheated, so they are nice to bring to a group dinner; and (4) they are a comfortable accompaniment to a weeknight or weekend meal. The recipe below is inspired by Ellie Krieger’s Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes – I used a little less salt and just a pinch of extra honey than the original instructions.

Just in case you were wondering, sweet potatoes are a Native American plant that are packed with calcium, potassium, and vitamins A and C. Although sweet potatoes are harvested in August through October, they are available in supermarkets throughout the year. Sweet potatoes are often confused with yams, but yams are large, starchy roots grown in Africa and Asia. Yams are rarely available in American supermarkets yet it is acceptable to use the term when referring to sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes contain an enzyme that converts many of its starches into sugars as the potato matures. The sweetness continues to increase during storage and when cooked. Thanks to Food Reference for these facts!

And back to the recipe – for Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
–Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
–Peel and cut sweet potatoes into 1-inch pieces and place in 9×13 baking dish.
–In a small bowl stir together oil, honey and lemon juice.
–Pour mixture over potatoes and toss to coat.
–Sprinkle with salt, and bake, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour, until potatoes are tender.

Have a great day, enjoy your sweet potatoes, and see you at the CTVegFest next weekend!

I am sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Miz Helen’s Country Cottage, Food Trip Friday and Simple Living with Diane Balch.

Miz Helen’s Country Cottage

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Be a Guest at the CTVegFest

Posted on April 14, 2012 by | 2 comments

The Connecticut Vegetarian and Healthy Living Festival (CTVegFest) is only two weeks away! It is taking place at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford on April 28 and 29. Whether you have been a vegan for years or do not know the definition of a vegan, there is a wide assortment of speakers, demonstrations, exhibitors and entertainment that will interest you. As you know from reading my blog, I am not a vegetarian although I love vegetables and healthy living.

Speaking of speakers, the schedule is complete and there will be a great variety of issues being discussed during the course of the festival. There are presenters involving:
* Nutrition, Exercise, and Wellness
* Animal Treatment
* Cooking and Raw Foods
* Alternative Medicine
* Energy
* Film
* Entertainment

Continuing to speak about speakers, I am honored to be one! I will be discussing the costs and benefits of natural sweeteners on Sunday, April 29 at 12pm! My talk is called Being Naturally Sweet: The Costs and Benefits of a Refined Sugar Free Diet. I certainly hope that you can stop by while enjoying the rest of the festival!

If you have any ideas or questions that you would like me to address in my talk, please send me a note or comment below. Enjoy your day!

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Posted in Economics

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Chocolate Avocado Mousse

Posted on April 10, 2012 by | 2 comments

You might be thinking, “Did I read that title correctly?” You certainly did. Below is a recipe from my colleague/friend Kristi, who makes a delicious mousse that looks like a dark pudding. No one will know there is avocado in the dessert unless you tell him or her!

I love chocolate (who doesn’t), so when I started modifying my diet to include more clean foods, I was excited (and amazed, as will you) to find a wonderful chocolate mousse recipe made from…. wait for it….. avocados!! Not only is the recipe easy to make, but you will also easily fool any guests because it doesn’t look like or taste like avocados.  Enjoy!

In a food processor, blend:
4 avocados
1 cup agave
1 tablespoon vanilla (I used a homemade version from SensitiveEconomist)
1 cup raw cacao (or unsweetened cocoa powder for baking)

options: add 1 tablespoon coconut or 2 teaspoons cinnamon

I am sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Cybele Pascal Allergen-Friendly Cooking and Sweet as Sugar Cookies.

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Continuing the Celebration with Chocolate Chip Cookie 2.0

Posted on April 1, 2012 by | 4 comments

This week I have been celebrating my blog’s one year anniversary. It has been fun to think about all of the new foods I have tried and shared, and my favorite recipes that I have revised. One year ago I posted my first recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It was a wonderful recipe that substituted the refined sugars with natural sweeteners. Since then I have made that recipe dozens of times because I like to have a steady supply of dessert in the house. There is something quite nice about kicking back at the end of the day with a homemade cookie.

At first I was only concerned with getting the refined sugars out of the cookies. Over the past year I have tinkered with the ingredients – how could I add nutrients? Reduce saturated fats? Reduce gluten? Make them fluffier? Well, I think I have managed to update last year’s version – I removed one stick of butter and added applesauce, used some oat flour to reduce the overall gluten amount, let the butter soften naturally for a lighter texture, used my own homemade vanilla extract for added flavor, and added some more chocolate chips (I really tested the last point thoroughly). I hope you enjoy this recipe. Have a nice day!

Mix Dry and Set Aside: 1 cup all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup oat flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt

Mix Until Creamy: 1 stick softened butter, 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/2 cup agave nectar, 1/4 cup honey, 1 tsp vanilla extract

Add to Creamy Mixture: 2 eggs

Then Add to Creamy Mixture: the dry mix (noted above)

Then Stir In: 1 bag grain-sweetened chocolate chips plus a “few extra” (I like Sunspire brand)

Drop tablespoonfuls of batter onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-11 minutes.

Enjoy!

I am sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and Food Trip Friday.

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Celebrating One Year without Refined Sugars with Chocolate Mousse

Posted on March 29, 2012 by | 12 comments

One year ago today, I wrote my first post as SensitiveEconomist. What a fun year this has been – with almost 90 posts, more than 10,000 web views and hundreds of comments. Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts, insights and recipes. It’s quite rewarding to be part of a community that is interested in making foods healthier, removing “sensitive” ingredients, and talking about food in the economy.

In honor of this special day, I am sharing with you one of my favorite celebratory foods – chocolate mousse! When I see this dessert on the menu of a nice restaurant, I tend to order it. It’s a shame that I can’t order it out anymore because it is loaded with refined sugar…but that is not the case with the recipe below! I altered it from the original recipe for Eggless Chocolate Mousse that is adapted from “The French Women Don’t Get Fat Cookbook,” by Mireille Guiliano.

This is one delicious dessert that is sure to please. Make it for a special occasion…or just because it’s Thursday!

In the words of Lucy Van Pelt of “Peanuts” fame: “All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” Well said, Lucy!

In a small, heavy saucepan, heat 1/4 cup whipping cream to a boil; do not scorch. Meanwhile, chop 2 1/2 ounces dark chocolate (70 to 80 percent); place in a large bowl (This Endangered Species dark chocolate bar is sweetened with beet sugar). Pour hot cream over chopped chocolate. Let melt 2 minutes; stir until smooth. Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Cool until mixture is warm to the touch. Whip 3/4 cup chilled whipping cream until stiff peaks form; be careful not to over whip. Gently fold half the whipped cream into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream. Mousse will be a bit soft. Spoon into 2 serving dishes; cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Serve garnished with shelled, toasted pistachios or cinnamon and more whipped cream.

I am sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free, Food Trip Friday, Cybele Pascal Allergen-Free Cuisine and Sweet as Sugar Cookies.

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Recipe Appreciation & MaryAnn’s Gluten- and Sugar-Free Muffins

Posted on March 26, 2012 by | 7 comments

Later this week I will celebrate one year with this blog! I have learned so much about food during the past twelve months including many new, delicious recipes from a number of family members, friends, colleagues and blog writers. So many of you have taken the time to adapt your favorite foods to be free of yeast and refined sugar, and have shared your results with me. I appreciate your help tremendously! A sample of the wonderful contributors to this blog so far include:

–MIL and FIL have shared Garlic Shrimp with Pasta, Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Peach Ice Cream and Apple and Raisin Stuffing
–A tasty Spinach Gratin from Rachel
–Refreshing Salad Dressing from Natalie
–Healthy Baked Squash, Popovers and Mashed Cauliflower Potatoes from Bree
—Homemade Yogurt from Leslie and Rick that’s a great idea
–Bill’s creative Triple Nut Mix
–Wonderful Oatmeal Pancakes from Beth
–SensitiveHusband made delicious Peanut Butter Cups and Agave Chocolate Milk
–MaryAnn created some excellent Oat Bran Muffins

Thank you for all of your efforts and ideas…I appreciate you tapping into your “sensitive” side to create delicious yeast-free, refined sugar-free food!

Let’s celebrate a year of collaborating with a recipe: MaryAnn has created another great muffin and this time it is gluten- and sugar-free. You can get creative with the fruit additions to this tasty treat.

Ingredients:
–1 1/4 cup Pamela’s Muffin Mix (this is a gluten-free flour blend)
–1/4 cup water
–1/3 cup honey
–1 large egg
–1 teaspoon vanilla
–1/2 cup fruit (such as bananas or blueberries) OR 1/2 cup dried fruit (such as raisins) with 1/4 additional cup of water

Preparation:
–Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
–Grease muffin pan.
–Mix all of the ingredients together.
–Pour batter into muffin pan and bake for 18-20 minutes.
–Yields 6 muffins.

I am sharing this recipe with Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and Food Trip Friday.

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Posted in Recipes - Bread, Recipes - Breakfast

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