Jump to content

  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Our Content
    eNewsletter
    Donate

gluten-free Birthday Cake

zus888

Recommended Posts

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted

My son is turning 2 this weekend, and I'm in need of a good cake recipe for it. I want it to be gluten-free so that I can also partake in the festivities. What's your favorite cake? I need something kid-friendly, so something like a simple chocolate or yellow cake would be best. It's my "thing" to make a cake from scratch, but this year I won't be able to do so since I don't have all the necessary flours. I'll have to make it from one of the mixes. I plan to tweak them into something yummy. Any ideas?

I *could* do the strawberry cake from The Cake Doctor using BC yellow cake mix. I might also have a chocolate cake mix on hand as well. I also have Pamela's pancake mix here too. Do any of those make great cakes. Just need the cake recipe. I can find a decent frosting for them. :)

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


Coleslawcat Contributor
Coleslawcat
Posted

My son is turning 2 this weekend, and I'm in need of a good cake recipe for it. I want it to be gluten-free so that I can also partake in the festivities. What's your favorite cake? I need something kid-friendly, so something like a simple chocolate or yellow cake would be best. It's my "thing" to make a cake from scratch, but this year I won't be able to do so since I don't have all the necessary flours. I'll have to make it from one of the mixes. I plan to tweak them into something yummy. Any ideas?

I *could* do the strawberry cake from The Cake Doctor using BC yellow cake mix. I might also have a chocolate cake mix on hand as well. I also have Pamela's pancake mix here too. Do any of those make great cakes. Just need the cake recipe. I can find a decent frosting for them. :)

Do you have access to Tom Sawyer or Better Batter flours? If so, you can just substitute those 1:1 in your old recipes. I use Tom Sawyer all the time and love it. For chocolate cake I usually use the Perfectly Chocolate Cake recipe on the back of the Hershey's can of cocoa and use Tom Sawyer in place of all purpose flour.

kareng Grand Master
kareng
Posted

one of my kids and the kid next door were never big on cakes. You could try the frozen donuts (somebody help me I can't remember the brand - Kinninick maybe). the other popular "cake" in our neighborhood is brownies. We love the gluten-free Pantry mix. You could get the Betty Crocker white icing and dye it a pretty color. Or leave it white and decorate with M&Ms. (Every kid at that party wanted M&Ms on thier next birthday cake, cookie or brownie.) My 15 yr old likes the icing flavored peppermint with crushed candy canes or red & white candies.

I haven't tried it but have heard the Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mixes are extra good with a pack of instant jello added.

Mizzo Enthusiast
Mizzo
Posted

We always use King Arthur gluten-free chocolate cake or Pamela's choc cake mix. Everyone (even non gluten-free choc. lovers ) in my family likes them. I add 2 tbsp instant choc pudding mix for added creaminess but it's not necessary. I find these 2 brands have NO grittiness in their texture.

KA will give you a 2 layer 9" inch cakes. Pamela's will give you a 2 layer 8" inch . KA is my first choice, but Pamela's is more readily available.

In addition (same brands ) have fabulous brownie mixes for sundae's . You can also make the cakes or brownies and turn them into pops. Home made or Pillsbury frosting both work for the pops.

IMO You might want to stick with a mix for the party and experiment with substitutes another time.

Roda Rising Star
Roda
Posted

For my 6 year olds birthday I did two boxes of the gluten free Betty Crocker yellow cake mix and added in 4 oz of softened cream cheese in the batter to make it more moist. I baked it in a 13 x 9 pan and took it out of the oven when there were still a few fudgy crumbs on the tooth pick. I ended up removing the whole cake from the pan, cut it in half lenghwise and arranged it to look like two light sabers. I frosted the whole thing. It was so good and moist that my gluten eating husband could not get enough of it.

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted
  • Author

I did the strawberry cake (The Cake Doctor) one Sunday at the party and am doing the Hershey's chocolate cake today. So far, the cake looks delicious!! One of the 9-in rounds sunk a bit in the middle. I'm really excited to see how the Better Batter does in this recipe. I went to a local natural foods place, and they told me that they heard great things about Better Batter, so I went with that instead of the King Arthur's.

The strawberry cake turned out well, and everyone enjoyed it! I'll let you know how the chocolate cake turns out. I hope this can be my new flour for all things dessert. I just substituted the flour 1:1.

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted
  • Author

I made the Hershey's Chocolate Cake with the Better Batter and it tasted GREAT, but the texture wasn't quite right. It was a cross between a cake and brownie. Sort of mushy and not cake-like. Not sure how to improve that. It is very moist - just not the texture I particularly wanted.

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):
Celiac.com Sponsor (A8):

Celiac.com Sponsor (A8-M):


sa1937 Community Regular
sa1937
Posted

I made the Hershey's Chocolate Cake with the Better Batter and it tasted GREAT, but the texture wasn't quite right. It was a cross between a cake and brownie. Sort of mushy and not cake-like. Not sure how to improve that. It is very moist - just not the texture I particularly wanted.

What a bummer...baking sure is a huge experiment, isn't it! Does Better Batter have xanthan gum in it?

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted
  • Author

Yes, it does. It's a bummer because that flour is really expensive!! I can't afford to make baking mistakes, or learn by trial and error. :(

Coleslawcat Contributor
Coleslawcat
Posted

I made the Hershey's Chocolate Cake with the Better Batter and it tasted GREAT, but the texture wasn't quite right. It was a cross between a cake and brownie. Sort of mushy and not cake-like. Not sure how to improve that. It is very moist - just not the texture I particularly wanted.

Hmm, what a bummer. I haven't tried Better Batter yet, but I've heard really good things about it. I have it sitting in my pantry waiting to try. I use the Tom Sawyer and I didn't have that result. I read a lot of reviews and they said the Better Batter was just as good if not better than the Tom Sawyer, who knows.

How do you measure out your flour? The most accurate way to measure it is to spoon small amounts of flour into the measuring cup and then level off the cup. When you scoop it tends to compact the flour too much and end up using more than you need. I wonder if that might have contributed? Just a guess.

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted
  • Author

I definitely spoon it in. I wonder if I should have baked it longer. The toothpick came out clean, but one of the 9-inch rounds collapsed a bit in the middle. That leaves me to think that maybe it's not fully baked because that's exactly what the texture is like - a not fully baked cake-brownie.

jackay Enthusiast
jackay
Posted

one of my kids and the kid next door were never big on cakes. You could try the frozen donuts (somebody help me I can't remember the brand - Kinninick maybe). the other popular "cake" in our neighborhood is brownies. We love the gluten-free Pantry mix. You could get the Betty Crocker white icing and dye it a pretty color. Or leave it white and decorate with M&Ms. (Every kid at that party wanted M&Ms on thier next birthday cake, cookie or brownie.) My 15 yr old likes the icing flavored peppermint with crushed candy canes or red & white candies.

I haven't tried it but have heard the Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mixes are extra good with a pack of instant jello added.

Are M&Ms safe now that they manufacture pretzel M&Ms? I'm wondering if they are made in the safe facility and there could be cc issues.

zus888 Contributor
zus888
Posted
  • Author

Just to follow up: I contacted Better Batter and they think that the oven temp was too high (causing the outside to cook faster than the inside and making it seem like it was baked through when it wasn't). One of the signs of this was the fact that one of the cake rounds collapsed a bit in the center. So, next time I try this, I'll set the oven a bit lower and bake it a tad longer. They said that this cake is usually a hit and comes out perfect in their kitchen tests.

Great customer service, by the way!

Looking forward to trying out some cookies with this flour! :)

Coleslawcat Contributor
Coleslawcat
Posted

Just to follow up: I contacted Better Batter and they think that the oven temp was too high (causing the outside to cook faster than the inside and making it seem like it was baked through when it wasn't). One of the signs of this was the fact that one of the cake rounds collapsed a bit in the center. So, next time I try this, I'll set the oven a bit lower and bake it a tad longer. They said that this cake is usually a hit and comes out perfect in their kitchen tests.

Great customer service, by the way!

Looking forward to trying out some cookies with this flour! :)

Glad to hear they had a suggestion for you. I just bought an oven thermometer a few weeks ago and was SHOCKED by how inaccurate my oven's temperature was.

sa1937 Community Regular
sa1937
Posted

I do have an oven thermometer but find that oven temps might also have to be adjusted depending on the color of your pans. Dark pans would bake differently than aluminum, for example. And with glass or CorningWare, I always set oven temps 25 degrees lower...obviously cake pans are not glass but I fiddle around with oven temps for baking bread, for example.

Glad to hear Better Batter has great customer service!

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):


  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      131,899
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748
    dcarter1682
    Newest Member
    dcarter1682
    Joined
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):

  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      121.4k
    • Total Posts
      1m
  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):



  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):


  • Who's Online (See full list)

  • Upcoming Events

  • Posts

    • trents
      New (possible) celiac diagnosis

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the forum, @Judy M! Yes, he definitely needs to continue eating gluten until the day of the endoscopy. Not sure why the GI doc advised otherwise but it was a bum steer.  Celiac disease has a genetic component but also an "epigenetic" component. Let me explain. There are two main genes that have been identified as providing the "potential" to develop "active" celiac disease. We know them as HLA-DQ 2.5 (aka, HLA-DQ 2) and HLA-DQ8. Without one or both of these genes it is highly unlikely that a person will develop celiac disease at some point in their life. About 40% of the general population carry one or both of these two genes but only about 1% of the population develops active celiac disease. Thus, possessing the genetic potential for celiac disease is far less than deterministic. Most who have the potential never develop the disease. In order for the potential to develop celiac disease to turn into active celiac disease, some triggering stress event or events must "turn on" the latent genes. This triggering stress event can be a viral infection, some other medical event, or even prolonged psychological/emotional trauma. This part of the equation is difficult to quantify but this is the epigenetic dimension of the disease. Epigenetics has to do with the influence that environmental factors and things not coded into the DNA itself have to do in "turning on" susceptible genes. And this is why celiac disease can develop at any stage of life. Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition (not a food allergy) that causes inflammation in the lining of the small bowel. The ingestion of gluten causes the body to attack the cells of this lining which, over time, damages and destroys them, impairing the body's ability to absorb nutrients since this is the part of the intestinal track responsible for nutrient absorption and also causing numerous other food sensitivities such as dairy/lactose intolerance. There is another gluten-related disorder known as NCGS (Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity or just, "gluten sensitivity") that is not autoimmune in nature and which does not damage the small bowel lining. However, NCGS shares many of the same symptoms with celiac disease such as gas, bloating, and diarrhea. It is also much more common than celiac disease. There is no test for NCGS so, because they share common symptoms, celiac disease must first be ruled out through formal testing for celiac disease. This is where your husband is right now. It should also be said that some experts believe NCGS can transition into celiac disease. I hope this helps.
    • Judy M
      New (possible) celiac diagnosis

      By Judy M · Posted

      My husband has had lactose intolerance for his entire life (he's 68 yo).  So, he's used to gastro issues. But for the past year he's been experiencing bouts of diarrhea that last for hours.  He finally went to his gastroenterologist ... several blood tests ruled out other maladies, but his celiac results are suspect.  He is scheduled for an endoscopy and colonoscopy in 2 weeks.  He was told to eat "gluten free" until the tests!!!  I, and he know nothing about this "diet" much less how to navigate his in daily life!! The more I read, the more my head is spinning.  So I guess I have 2 questions.  First, I read on this website that prior to testing, eat gluten so as not to compromise the testing!  Is that true? His primary care doctor told him to eat gluten free prior to testing!  I'm so confused.  Second, I read that celiac disease is genetic or caused by other ways such as surgery.  No family history but Gall bladder removal 7 years ago, maybe?  But how in God's name does something like this crop up and now is so awful he can't go a day without worrying.  He still works in Manhattan and considers himself lucky if he gets there without incident!  Advice from those who know would be appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • Scott Adams
      Patiently Waiting to See Results

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      You've done an excellent job of meticulously tracking the rash's unpredictable behavior, from its symmetrical spread and stubborn scabbing to the potential triggers you've identified, like the asthma medication and dietary changes. It's particularly telling that the rash seems to flare with wheat consumption, even though your initial blood test was negative—as you've noted, being off wheat before a test can sometimes lead to a false negative, and your description of the other symptoms—joint pain, brain fog, stomach issues—is very compelling. The symmetry of the rash is a crucial detail that often points toward an internal cause, such as an autoimmune response or a systemic reaction, rather than just an external irritant like a plant or mites. I hope your doctor tomorrow takes the time to listen carefully to all of this evidence you've gathered and works with you to find some real answers and effective relief. Don't be discouraged if the rash fluctuates; your detailed history is the most valuable tool you have for getting an accurate diagnosis.
    • Scott Adams
      Gluten free beer ?

      By Scott Adams · Posted

      In this case the beer is excellent, but for those who are super sensitive it is likely better to go the full gluten-free beer route. Lakefront Brewery (another sponsor!) has good gluten-free beer made without any gluten ingredients.
    • trents
      Patiently Waiting to See Results

      By trents · Posted

      Welcome to the forum, @catsrlife! Celiac disease can be diagnosed without committing to a full-blown "gluten challenge" if you get a skin biopsy done during an active outbreak of dermatitis herpetiformis, assuming that is what is causing the rash. There is no other known cause for dermatitis herpetiformis so it is definitive for celiac disease. You would need to find a dermatologist who is familiar with doing the biopsy correctly, however. The samples need to be taken next to the pustules, not on them . . . a mistake many dermatologists make when biopsying for dermatitis herpetiformis. 
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

NOTICE: This site places This site places cookies on your device (Cookie settings). on your device. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy.