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Scroll down to Download the PDF with the cake mix recipes, and to see store-bought shortcuts, my favorite baking brands and other tips!
To keep with the theme of Make It Easy, I came up with a handful of desserts that could all be made-ahead. A few use a store-bought shortcut of purchasing a grain-free cake mix such as Simple Mills or Thrive Market (another big bonus of the book is nearly all the recipes have store-bought shortcuts!), and I wanted to be sure to offer a tree nut-free version in addition to the homemade almond flour based one.
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Ina’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake
I knew that to fully put this cake mix to the test, I needed to test it in a solid recipe that uses all purpose flour or a cake mix. Ina’s never fail. She’s meticulous in her testing, and her recipes always work.
Because grain-free mixes that contain coconut flour are very absorbent, and this mix already includes a leavening agent, sweetener, and salt, I made some tweaks to make it work and substituted in the cake mix for the cake flour that was called for. I list out all of my tweaks, and the reasoning for them, below the recipe so you can take this and test substituting it into your own recipes confidently.
Swapped coconut sugar for white sugar, and cut it by half because the cake mix is already sweetened (3/4 cup total)
Swapped Green Valley Organics lactose free sour cream
Swapped Vanilla Tree Nut Free Cake Mix (below) for cake flour
Omitted baking soda
Omitted salt
Added 1 egg
I baked at 350 in a 9-inch square pan for 40 minutes.
More Make It Easy Sneak Peeks!
High Protein Savory Breakfast Muffins
Egg Roll Bowls with Crispy Onions and Spicy Aioli
Grain-Free Cake Mixes (Vanilla, Chocolate, and Tree-Nut Free Vanilla)
Download the PDF below and see store-bought shortcuts, favorite brands and other tips!
Tools
BASIC GUIDELINES
The 3 grain-free cake mixes below work, as written, for all recipes that use a store-bought cake mix in Make It Easy
They will work as a 1-for-1 substitute for any recipe that calls for a cake mix and if the recipe does not call for any additional sweetener, leavening agents, or salt. Just add 1 additional egg if you’re using it in a conventional recipe that calls for a wheat-based cake mix.
To substitute it in place of “all purpose flour” or “cake flour” in a standard recipe:
add 1 additional egg (coconut flour is very absorbent and needs the moisture, plus it helps the cakes rise without the gluten in the wheat).
omit the baking soda and salt that is called for in the recipe
omit or reduce the sweetener called for in the recipe (I reduced to 3/4 cup coconut sugar from 1 1/2 cups white sugar for Ina’s)
If both baking soda and baking powder are called for in the original recipe, omit the baking powder from the original recipe and keep in the baking soda.
Vanilla Grain-Free Cake Mix
Makes 9 1/2 cups
570g finely ground almond flour (6 cups)
170g coconut flour (1 1/3 cups)
130g maple sugar (3/4 cup)
120g arrowroot powder (1 cup)
30 g baking soda (2 tablespoons + ½ teaspoon)
20 g cream of tartar (2 tablespoons)
5 g sea salt (1 teaspoon)
Chocolate Cake Mix
Makes 10 1/2 cups
570g finely ground almond flour (6 cups)
170g coconut flour (1 1/3 cups)
160g coconut sugar (1 cup)
120g arrowroot powder (1 cup)
60g Dutch Cocoa Powder (1/2 cup)
30 g baking soda (2 tablespoons + ½ teaspoon)
20 g cream of tartar (1 1/2 tablespoons)
5 g sea salt (1 teaspoon)
Vanilla Tree-Nut Free Cake Mix
Makes about 6 cups
INGREDIENTS
260g (1 1/2 cups) cassava flour
170g coconut flour (1 1/3 cups) coconut flour
300g (2 cups) maple sugar
60g (1/2 cup) arrowroot powder
30g (2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon) baking soda
20g (1 1/2 tablespoons) cream of tartar
5g (1 teaspoon) sea salt
METHOD
Measure into a large mixing bowl. Whisk well to ensure all of the ingredients are blended well. Store in a large glass jar with a tight fitting lid at room temperature for 6 months, or in the freezer for 12 months.
Use as an even substitute in place of grain-free cake mixes such as Simple Mills or Bob’s Redmill.
*Be sure to note that this includes sweetener and leavening agents, so this is not the same as an all purpose flour mix. It is a cake mix used to make cakes, muffins, cupcakes, mug cakes, pancakes, etc.
Make It Easy - Grain-Free Cake Mixes