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Cacao Love Birthday Cake

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September is my birthday month and up until my birthday, I am planning out my birthday cake every year. The store bought cakes won’t do. I have food allergies and eat gluten free and dairy free so I have to create my own. This version includes bean flour to make it grain free plus organic cacao I picked up from Bedner’s local farm a few weeks ago – my new obsession and coconut oil, another favorite of mine for baking or just eating by the spoonful.

Cacao Love Cakes - pic monkey

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Garbanzo and Fava Flour

3/4 cup Turbinado sugar

1/4 cup organic cacao powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 Tablespoons ground flax meal

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar (I like Bragg’s)

4 Tablespoons applesauce PLUS 2 Tablespoons coconut oil

1 cup water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. Sift flour, sugar, cacao, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flax meal together into a medium size bowl.

3. Add in wet ingredients: vanilla, cider vinegar, applesauce, coconut oil, stir then add water last. Mix well to combine.

4. For mini cupcakes, put 1 Tablespoon batter into each mini cupcake tin. For regular size cupcakes, put 1/4 cup batter into each cupcake tin.

5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes (mini cupcakes) or 30 minutes (regular size cupcakes) or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

6. Cool completely, then frost with your favorite icing (see suggestion below).

Divine and chocolately, just the way a birthday cake should taste!

Cacao Love Frosting (vegan)

I love frosting, but the junk they sell at the store is less than appealing. Too many chemicals and an imminent belly ache for me.

Instead I created one with my favorite cacao and coconut oil!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Organic cacao powder

1/4 cup Organic coconut oil

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 teaspoon raw honey, add more if you like it sweeter

Add ingredients to a small bowl and stir until well combined. Chill until ready to frost cupcakes.

Cacao Cake - PicMonkey Collage

What is you favorite kind of birthday cake? I grew up eating yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Now I go for chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Yum!

 

Top 3 Reasons To Crack Open A Coconut

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Vitacost.com offered to share a guest post with me about coconuts. You may have heard a lot about coconuts in the news lately. Katie from Vitacost gives you 3 reasons to give coconut oil a try. Thanks Katie!!

If you have tried coconut oil, what are your favorite ways to enjoy them?

By: +Katie Kaleita, writer for Vitacost.com

More and more, people are going coo-coo for coconuts – and not because they had one too many piña coladas. Coconuts are breaking out of their shells and into the spotlight for their array of health benefits. You have probably used coconut flakes in desserts or coconut milk in curry dishes. And maybe you lathered your skin in coconut-scented tanning oil, trying to achieve that “I-live-on-an-island” look. But what do you know about pure coconut oil?

Coconut oil is extracted from the flesh, or meat, of the coconut. Depending on the oil’s end-use, coconut oil can be extracted through various methods. One important thing to note: coconut oil is naturally rich with antioxidants and fatty acids. In many cultures, coconut oil has long been used in recipes, hair care concoctions and natural medicines. Luckily, word is spreading that coconut oil is truly all that it’s cracked open to be. Here are the top three ways to benefit from this island staple:

1. Balanced eating – Coconut oil is rich in medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs); whereas, other triglycerides contain long-chain fatty acids that your body stores as fat. Coconut oil’s MCTs make it a comparable substitute for butter or vegetable oil. Try baking with coconut oil for a healthier sweet treat, or add it to your post-workout smoothie to give your muscles the nutrients they need.

2. Skin health – Coconut oil’s antioxidants make it a natural skin-nourishing moisturizer. Adding virgin coconut oil to your daily beauty regimen may help your skin maintain its supple, youthful quality. Transport yourself to a spa everyday by whipping up an all-natural moisturizing mask with coconut oil, melted beeswax and water.

3. Hair care – The protein and nutrients of coconut oil’s fatty acids help protect hair from damaging free radicals. Pure coconut oil can be massaged directly onto your scalp and through hair for regular conditioning and salon-style strands.

This article has been provided by the folks at Vitacost.com. They know that a healthy lifestyle is more than organic vitamins and natural supplements.  That’s why Vitacost.com offers essentials for your home, your baby, your pantry, your beauty routine – even your furry, four-legged friends! Since 1994, Vitacost.com has been taking the cost out of healthy living. Today, you can shop over 35,000 products like elderberries to reishi mushrooms from your computer, tablet or smartphone with just a click of a button. Some might say Vitacost.com is the silver platter of healthy living – let them serve you. Vitacost.com is not affiliated with this blog and isn’t responsible for content outside of this article.