28Dec

Gluten Free Lemon Birthday Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

elijahandcakecrop2

This week I’ve been reflecting on the past two years of my life and how amazing it has been to watch Elijah grow into the boy he is today.  He turned two last week and my husband’s birthday was just a few days before so we did a birthday party for them on Sunday last week.

Over three years ago when I first felt like a baby was soon going to be coming into my life, I was excited and scared.  And when I felt my heart and what this child would bring, I remember feeling that this child would be a great blessing to my life.

What child isn’t a blessing?  They bring all the joy, excitement, and love that we are usually craving by the time we’re adults and have lost touch with the childhood magic.

But I never would have imagined the trials and hardships we ended up facing when he was a young baby nor how much my life would change for the better through raising him.  All of this has made me who I am today and I am grateful for all of it, even the hard stuff.  I know I’m not giving much detail here but I hope to elaborate on this subject sometime in the near future.

But for now, I want to share the birthday cake recipe that I made for my husband and son for their birthdays.  The original recipe is here, but I added the lemon zest and juice and adjusted some of the other ingredients.  It turned out to be a hit.

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18Dec

Recipe for Sugar-free Almond Roca Candy

Sugar-free Almond Rocha Candy

Sugar-free Almond Roca Candy

This stuff is yummy!  It tastes like the inside of a heath bar!  The above picture shows two different batches – the darker one got heated a bit longer than the golden one.  They are both yummy though!  My mom made these to test an Almond Roca recipe for the Just Desserts for Limited Diets e-book.  It does contain butter and from my experience, it is better to use butter verses coconut oil.  But if you can’t eat butter, coconut oil will work – it just may not be as crunchy.

I do feel I have to say a word or two about heating honey.  I believe that eating raw honey is absolutely the best option for everyone.  Raw and untreated honey is not only healthy but it also has been used for centuries as a healing remedy for many illnesses.  Unfortunately though, when honey is heated to high temperatures (not clear how high), certain chemicals start to form that are not good for you.

However, the reason why I used honey here is because it is one of the only GAPS friendly sweeteners.  Also, I believe that candy like this shouldn’t be eaten in handfuls, only a little bit at a time (it is very rich.)  I also think that if you make this only once  a year for the holidays, it is not going to do that much harm.  I think that eating heated honey is better than eating sugar and corn syrup.

These are my thoughts – what do you think about using honey to make candy?

Here’s the recipe:

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