June 12, 2009

A Gluten-Free Twinkie...and a Cherry on Top


Many times I have envisioned myself recreating favorite foods of my childhood to be healthy and gluten-free. When I saw a recipe for a healthy and gluten-free Twinkie created by a gluten-free master, Elana of Elana's Pantry , I decided that she should get the "Takes the Cake" award, if ever there was such award.

For concern that my kids would see me reading her blog with the mouth-watering Twinkie picture, I quickly closed the page. I began wondering how would they understand having to wait for me to order a Twinkie pan. Without a "Twinkie pan" or injectors to fill the twinkies in site, I decided to bake into cupcakes and top with a cherry sauce and coconut cream in hopes of filling my children (and husband) with delight.

It is unusual that I find a recipe that only needs a slight modification to fit my needs. In this case, I replaced the vanilla extract with fresh lemon juice and used canola oil just because I don't have the grapeseed oil as used by Elana.
This cake recipe is deliciously simple and light in texture, which doesn't usually go along as a description of healthy gluten-free delights. I believe this cake will be a favorite of my families' for many years to come. Thank you, Elana!


Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Twinkies
(reprinted with permission by Elana of Elana's Pantry)

3 eggs, separated
¼ cup grapeseed oil (I use canola oil)
¼ cup agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I use fresh lemon juice)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 tablespoons coconut flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
  1. In a large bowl, whip egg whites to stiff peaks, then set aside
  2. In a medium bowl, whip egg yolks until pale yellow, then whip in grapeseed oil and agave
  3. Whip vanilla and lemon juice into egg yolk mixture
  4. In a medium bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda and salt
  5. Blend flour mixture into egg yolk mixture, then whip ingredients together until smooth
  6. Gently fold egg whites into yolk-flour mixture
  7. Spoon batter into Twinkie molds until they are half full (you will get 8 twinkies)
  8. Bake at 350° for 11-12 minutes
  9. Remove from oven and allow Twinkies to cool
For the complete recipe for making Twinkies, please visit Elana's site. I know you will enjoy her recipes and beautiful photos.

Now for my additions:

Cherry Sauce

approximately 1/2 of a 10-ounce bag of frozen organic cherries
1 Tablespoon arrowroot powder
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons raw honey
just a bit of water to make the sauce

Cook on low heat and stir until thickened.

Coconut Creme Topping
1 can of coconut milk, full fat, chilled in the refrigerator
agave nectar to your taste
When ready to serve remove the canned coconut milk from the refrigerator. With a spoon remove the fat or solid part of the coconut milk, leaving the liquid behind. Add honey to sweeten to your taste. Whip with a hand mixer until creamy.

Sending lots of love to all my readers. Enjoy!

6 comments:

  1. This look fabulous! I never thought to make cream out of the coconut milk! I use coconut milk for everything else. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh,my that looks delicious. The cherry sauce alone looks divine!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I didn't see these on her blog -- how fun! Nifty idea to make them into cupcakes. It makes me happy to come across old favorites turned gluten free :).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow get me at them!

    http://joanne-helpinghands.blogspot.com/2009/05/hello-this-is-me.html

    This is a link re a gluten free post I did, don't feel obliged to look - just in case you feel like it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear friend, my name is Sonia and I have a Spanish celiac granddaughter of six years.

    Since his diagnosis dedicate much of my time to spread the celiac level "nterna", not as to menus is concerned that there is already much in blogsfera if not celiacs areivindicar for collective security measures for their life coidiana .
    Waschiton The other day, I attended a conference of gastroenterologists in the U.S. there is a very high number of celiac patients ill, who do not know who they are, this is a serious problem in adults sometimes damage to the body and are forever .


    Trust in the group of celiac U.S., the association and I am working to get some medical protocols that quickly diagnose celiac disease.

    Thank you very much
    affectionate greetings

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, I don't think I could want to eat anything else in the whole world right now besides this. It looks amazing - you have lucky, lucky boys!!

    ReplyDelete

I am made richer by your being here. Please leave us a comment.

LinkWithin

Related Posts Widget for Blogs by LinkWithin