Chocolate Birthday Cake - Gluten Free

It was my birthday.

And my mother went to Costco and bought this.

She followed the instructions carefully and

this is what was created.

I can attest to the fact that this was, in fact, delicious.

Delicious.
I thought so, my celiac brother thought so, my dad who is a gluten lover and a chocolate addict thought so.

At Costco.

For like 6 dollars.

My mother, being the kind person that she is, sent me home with the leftovers (there weren't many). And with the additional cake and frosting mix (it comes two to a box).

I am calling this a success.

Thank you Costco.

Please don't stop selling this product anytime soon.

Or at least before I can go pick up a hundred boxes.

Sof'ella, you rock.

Thank you for making such a delicious chocolate cake mix with frosting included. I can't wait to try more of your products.

GF Pantry Ginger Spice Cake Mix, and Frosting

Gluten Free Pantry Ginger Spice Cake Mix
Plus Lemon Butter Frosting

I've tried this mix before and have been pretty happy with it. It's especially good warm. When you cool and frost it, it becomes a little dry, but not excessively so. My daughter gave this a thumbs up.
We used lemon butter frosting, which complements the cake very well. It gives the cake a little zest. All you do is add a lemon juice instead of milk to your butter frosting recipe. Soooooo good. I'll give you my recipe, but it's just an approximation. I never measure when I make frosting, I just add a little liquid if it's too stiff and dry, or a little sugar if it's too runny. I continue to alternate the two ingredients until I have my desired amount.

Lemon Butter Frosting

1/4 cup butter
2-4 Tbps lemon juice
2-4 cups confectioners sugar

Beat butter. Add 2 Tbsp lemon juice and 2 cups confectioners sugar. Beat well. Keep adding lemon juice and sugar until you reach your desired consistency.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Gluten Free Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cake

2 cans Garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

In food processor, add beans, eggs, sugar, and baking powder and process until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Add melted chocolate chips and process until incorporated. Grease 2-9 in pans or 1-9x13 pan and pour in batter. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes for the 9 in and 35 minutes for the 9x13, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I admit, I was a little skeptical about this recipe when I first saw it. Our blogging friend Michelle at Gingham World posted it here.

But yesterday I was feeling adventurous and just happened to have garbanzo beans on hand. Can I just tell you, YUM! This cake is moist and chocolatey and without even a hint of bean taste. Plus, no expensive obscure flours to try to find. I made the Coconut Pecan Frosting too, just cause I was feeling like it and it worked out so well.

Note: When you open a can of garbanzo beans, they will smell funky. You're just going to have to trust me on this, it won't taste like that smell. And, if you aren't used to eating beans, and this will be hard, don't eat 5 pieces of this cake in one sitting. Again, trust me.

Texas Sheet Cake

Texas Sheet Cake

cake:

2 cups gluten-free flour mix*

1 tsp xanthan gum

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

2 sticks margarine or butter

1/2 cup water

1 cup milk

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

frosting:

1 stick butter

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup milk

Heat oven to 350. In large bowl, mix together flour, xanthan gum, and sugar. In medium saucepan, melt 2 sticks butter and then add cocoa and water. Bring to boil and remove from heat. Pour chocolate mixture into flour mixture. Add milk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well.

Pour batter into greased jelly roll pan, 15 1/2 x 11 in size. Bake 20 minutes.

Meanwhile for frosting, melt 1 stick butter in medium saucepan. Add powdered sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and milk. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Pour hot frosting over warm cake. Serve warm.

*Ahhhh...gluten free flours. If you don't already know, using a mixture of flours works best. The mixture I used for this recipe is 2 parts rice flour, 2/3 part potato starch flour, and 1/3 part cornstarch. After mixing these together, you then measure and use in place of wheat flour in your recipes. I find this particular flour mixture works well, and the flours are not too difficult to find in my area. I am not a huge fan of online shopping when it comes to food, as I don't like to wait, so if I can find it in a nearby store, then it's a winner in my book.

Potato starch flour is not the same thing as potato flour. You can find it in a health food store like Whole Foods or Sprouts. I found this mixture recipe in Bette Hagman's book, The Gluten-Free Gourmet.