Gluten and Dairy Free Chocolate Ganache Cake

What can I say.  I love chocolate and I love cake.  I found this awesome recipe that I tweaked just a little to suit my tastes.

For the cake:
2 cups of gluten free all purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar (I don't like my cake overly sweet but if you do, add in 2 cups)
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used rice)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract (I make my own)
1 cup of hot, strong coffee (to bring out the chocolate)

For the ganache (original recipe here):
3/4 cup non-dairy milk of choice (I used rice)
1/4 cup soy margarine (I used Earth Balance)
1 bag of  62% dark cacao chocolate chunks (or whatever you want to use)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the 2 loaf pans with non-stick, non-flour spray. 

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda. Add in the oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla and mix until smooth. Stir in the hot coffee last. Split the batter into the two loaf pans.   You want the cake to be done about an inch or so below the pan so you only want the batter to fill it about halfway. 


Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.


Ganache:
In a small saucepan, heat the milk and margarine until the margarine melts.  Add in half the chocolate and stir until melted.  Add in the rest of the chocolate and stir until melted.  Make sure you stir often so the chocolate doesn't burn. Once melted, turn off burner. 

By this time, you should have about an inch or so of space from the top of the pan to the cake.  If you don't, you can cut some of the top off.  Pour the ganache evenly on top of both cakes.  Refrigerate for at least two hours and serve chilled.

My notes and observations:
The first time I made this, I made some cupcakes and poured the rest of the batter into a loaf pan.  I also bake with my toaster oven.  Yeah.  Don't laugh.  I really do.  My regular oven doesn't work and I have more control with my grown-up "easy bake oven".  I put too much batter into my loaf pan so while the top was baked to perfection, the middle and bottom was not.  The longer it stayed in my GUEBO (Grown Up Easy Bake Oven), the beautiful perfection that was the top layer started to burn.  So, I ended up cutting a good bit of the top off so that the rest of the cake would bake. 

I had "frosted" the cupcakes with ganache and tried it warm and it didn't excite me.  Between the cake and the ganache not being too sweet, it did leave me wishing I added some sugar to the ganache.   But I didn't.

I was already running late for work so I just poured in the rest of the ganache on top of the cake (mostly to hide the uneveness of it) and stuck it in the fridge.  And by golly, this must be what it's like to make things by accident! Not only did the cake turn out delicious served chilled but once cut, I loved how the ganache filled in the dips of the cake.
 

Got Poo?

Mustachio'd Poo Keychains

Revamping Stuff!

Hellllloooooo!

Just an FYI....I am currently in the process of redoing the format of my blog and hopefully my website so bear with me as I'm rebuilding, demolishing and trying to keep my sanity.  I'm looking to revamp my blog and FB page as more as a general crafting/cooking/blogging resource than to promote my crafty business.  The Etsy shop will still be up and I'll still list things to sell but it's not a huge priority for me anymore.   Of course, any sales are appreciated as the monies made will go towards supplies so that I can keep making stuff :)

Kids Art Case

I was asked this month to make this adorable art case for my friend's son.  She sent in her son's fabric choices and her specs and this was the result.  The case has a pocket for his color pencils and a velcro closure tab.  I've seen ones made where there were individual pockets for each crayon or pencil.  It was pretty easy to make considering that I've never made one before.  I think I will make more of these in the future to stash away as kids gifts!

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

2 cans black beans
1 large carrot, diced
1 can pumpkin puree
2 can of broth (beef, chicken or vegetable)
1 can corn
1 can diced tomato 
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Dump everything into a pot and let it simmer for an hour on low heat :)

I drained the beans and the corn but included the liquid in the tomatoes. I also used beef broth because that is what I had but next time, I am going to use vegetable instead.  

I also like my soup chunky but you can always puree the tomatoes and beans if you like.  If you puree the beans, make sure you have an extra can to add actual beans to the soup. 

Next time, I am going to use dried beans instead as I try not to do canned stuff. 

More Rick Rack Rose Rings!

A while back for my now failed craft challenge, I made some rick rack ribbon rose rings based on a tutorial I found on Pinterest.  You can see my original post here. For a custom order, I wanted to experiment with mixing different colors.  I have to say, I'm really love the black and white one!

I also made some smaller ones and glued them onto flatbback hair pins.

Instagram Bandwagon

I just got on Instagram recently and I'm already addicted. I love being able to use the filters artisfy (i made that up :) my images and to share with the world. Here's just a few of my favorite ones that I took. If you would like to stalk me, I would welcome it :)