Happy Birthday!

Well, this month is Birthday month in our family. It does make it difficult for an allergy person who usually has to eat something separate. For us, I've found that I can make premixed bags of chocolate cake and store them in the cupboard for when we need it. (Picture shown above). Then, I whip it up in short order and bake it along with a "regular" cake for the rest of the family.

In March of this year, I prebagged a dozen chocolate cake/muffin mixes. I used to hand write directions on all the bags, but Kevin had a great idea to type it up and then laminate it. Inside the mix, I put a laminated card that tells me how to finish making the recipe - just like you would have on a store boughten cake mix. When I dump it out I have the directions on how to finish it and don't have to continuously look up the final directions.

The following chocolate cake mix is dairy free, egg free, and wheat free. It actually is tasty even for a non-food allergic eater. We have served it at all special occassions for my son Kaden and everyone eats it with no complaints. There is a slight difference from boxed cakes because it tastes homemade. But in my opinion unless you buy a cake mix, any cake will always taste homemade. :0)

GF Chocolate Cake

1 ½ c. flour or (1 ½ c. GF Flour + 1 tsp. xanthan gum)
6 Tbsp. cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. cold water
¼ c. oil
2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and/or parchment paper an 8x8 pan.
Combine flour, xanthan gum, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add in water, oil and vanilla. Mix well until there are no lumps. Place in baking pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pan before cutting.

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When making the prepackaged cake mixes, I will put the following in a bag:

1 ½ c. GF Flour

1 tsp. xanthan gum

6 Tbsp. cocoa

1 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

The directions on my laminated tag say:

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease 12 muffin tins.

Mix together:

1 c. cold water

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 Tbsp. vinegar

2 tsp. vanilla

Add in dry ingredients. Stir until smooth. Bake 16-18 min until toothpick comes out clean.

-Can also use as a cake in 9x9 pan; bake 25-30 min.