It's not easy coming up with a whole food-based frosting that is as nutritious as it is tasty, but way back in 2010 I came up a sweet potato icing recipe based off of the ingredients I was using in the liquids for this Buckwheat Cinnamon Roll Recipe. I've made a number of different variations on this theme and included some in my cookbooks. I have even made this into a chocolate sweet potato frosting! Below you will find a delicious dairy-free sweet potato buttercream that you can use to frost your cakes or cookies.

Use this frosting to make sandwich cookies using my Gluten-Free Shortbread Cookie Recipe, or use it to frost your favorite cupcakes. Using orange-fleshed sweet potatoes will create a beautiful orange frosting (perfect for fall holidays), while using white-fleshed sweet potatoes will create a gorgeous white frosting (to replace those sugary vanilla frostings).
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I adore cranberries as you probably already know if you've been reading my blog. This healthy cranberry orange upside down cake recipe isn't very rich or sweet. In fact I sweeten it with just a few tablespoons of maple syrup. It's plenty sweet for my family though. Once you cut sugar out of your diet your taste buds become very sensitive to the sweet flavor and you just don't crave or desire sugar. In fact, you might even become repulsed by it!

This cake uses high-fiber coconut flour with the addition of arrowroot powder. The combination of the two flours creates a fantastic texture. This recipe is very simple to make, in fact, you can put it together in minutes! I posted a recipe very similar to this last summer, remember? You can go back and check out my Apricot-Cherry Upside Down Cake post for more photos on assembling the cake.
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Summer's bounty is here and needs to be preserved or used right away! What do you do to preserve the summer harvest of fruits and vegetables? For fruit, we freeze it, dehydrate it into fruit roll-ups or small pieces, make jam, make fun cakes or crisps, and just enjoy it fresh.

This cake recipe evolved after creating a grain-free apple cobbler (with those yummy early season baking apples). I thought if my ingredient combinations worked as a topping for cobbler, they might work (with a few tweaks) as a base for an upside down cake! I'll share the cobbler recipe later in the season when more varieties of apples are available.

If you are looking for more healthy gluten-free dessert recipes like this one, then check out our new book, Nourishing Meals. I think the dessert chapter has about 50 new recipes ranging from Sweet Potato Custard and Dark Chocolate Coconut Custard to Frozen Banana Coconut Cream Pie and Lime Avocado Tart with a Macadamia Nut Crust to Pear Almond Crumble, Cashew Ginger Cookies, Carrot Orange Spice Cupcakes, and Gingerbread! All of these recipes I just listed are also free of grain flours and sweetened with a minimal amount of natural sweeteners. Some of them are vegan and some contain eggs. Our new book is due out at the end of this month and can be found on our website (with a free e-book) or on amazon.com.
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A few weeks ago, the night before Valentine's Day, my daughters asked me to make cupcakes and frosting to give out to their friends at school. I had an idea to make a healthy frosting using almond butter and coconut oil. Thinking that I needed to chill the frosting for a while before spreading it onto the cupcakes, I made it first. A few hours later I took it out of the refrigerator to whip up into what I thought would be this beautiful, light, and fluffy frosting. For a second it did look like that, and then the oil began separating. My girls tried it and said it tasted good, like brownies, and that I should bake it! I was so busy that night that I didn't have time so I got to it the next morning, Valentine's Day. I decided to add 2 eggs and put it in the oven....and voila....a beautiful, moist, tender chocolate cake emerged!

I took photos of it that day, what you see here, and planned on testing it one more time before posting it. We then took a trip to visit family for nearly two weeks. I tested it there and everyone loved it. My dad said I should call it "the accidental chocolate cake!" I've been so busy finishing the new cookbook that I have not had much time to post to my blog. Over the next month I have a few guest posts scheduled. After the book is done, I'll be back. In the meantime, enjoy this yummy cake!
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This scrumptious gluten-free, grain-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free coffee cake recipe comes from Kelly Brozyna's new cookbook, Grain-Free Baked Goods and Desserts! It is one of those recipes that is nutritious enough to stand alone at breakfast time, though I prefer to serve it with a Green Smoothie! It is filled with cooked white beans, coconut flour, eggs, and a little honey and stevia! My children love this recipe and as the neighbor girl who was visiting today said, "I can't believe this is gluten-free, it is so good!"

As a kick-off to the giving season, I have one signed copy of her book that I am giving away today! In fact, every post in the next three weeks will have a book or product being given away to one of you! All you need to do is leave a comment below to enter.

Last year I reviewed Kelly's first book, The Spunky Coconut Cookbook. A year later, I am back with more praise for her second book! I love how nutritious and kid-friendly all of Kelly's recipes are. As the title describes, this book is grain-free, but also completely casein-free, soy-free, and refined sugar-free. Many of the recipes are also egg-free. If you are vegan or are sensitive to eating eggs then you will still find plenty of recipes in this book to suit your needs. This book also works well for diabetics and others with blood sugar metabolism issues.

Both of Kelly's books are filled with beautiful, color photos. My children like to sit down with the new book and page through it picking out all of the recipes they want me to make! They also think it's pretty neat that I wrote the foreword for her book. Below is one of our favorite recipes from her book, enjoy!




Grain-Free Coffee Cake

This recipe is moist and delicious to the last bite. I never dries out and is best kept in the fridge after the first day. I've made a few changes to it, mainly doubling the cinnamon in the topping and increasing the cooking time. All of her recipes take longer for me to bake. I think that might be because Kelly creates these recipes in a very dry climate at an altitude of above 5000 feet and I am at sea level in a very moist climate. Although her recipe indicates to bake this coffee cake for 25 minutes, it takes me 45 to 50 minutes until it is cooked all the way through. No recipe can ever be perfect because of all of the variables involved. Just check for doneness in the center of the cake after 25 minutes. Then you be the judge as to how much more time it needs. Note: you can view the original recipe on Kelly's website.

Wet ingredients:
2 cups cooked and drained white beans (at room temp)
6 large organic eggs
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup melted virgin coconut oil
3/4 teaspoon liquid stevia
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond flavoring

Dry Ingredients:
1/3 cup coconut flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Topping:
2 to 3 cups raw walnuts
1/2 cup coconut sugar
4 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons cinnamon


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-innch glass baking dish.

Use an 11-cup or larger food processor fitted with the "s" blade. Add to it all of the wet ingredients. Process until smooth. Then add dry ingredients. Process again until very smooth and creamy.

Pour batter into prepared pan, scraping the sides of the processor with a rubber spatula. Then rinse the food processor to make the topping.

Place the walnuts, sugar, and cinnamon into the food processor and process until nuts are very finely ground. The add melted coconut oil and process again. Sprinkle topping over cake batter.

Bake for *25 to 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Source: www.NourishingMeals.com

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Enter to win Kelly's new book, Grain-Free Baked Goods and Desserts!
In the past when I've done giveaways such as this one, sometimes the winner doesn't respond. Since your email address is not embedded in your comment it is up to you to check back to see if you've won. If you subscribe by email or RSS you will be notified in my next post.


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This drawing is open until 9pm PST on Monday December 6th, 2010.