First of all, Tawny, Thank you for sharing your story.You are such an amazing person. The way you handle life’s bumps is done with such finesse and balance. From an outsider, it looks like you have it all- you are beautiful, you have a wonderful family, friends, your talented and you would never know that your life has anything but perfect in it- it is only because you handle the unexpected so positively, your prospective is so consistently clear and somehow you are so wise! You have seen a few dark days in your life and you have risen above everything and remained such a shining light. You are a wonderful example- I know you so well, and I can truly say you are genuine, and in every category purely amazing! – I admire you to the fullest.You melt my heart and I am so blessed to have you as a friend!! And I mention this on here because this is a girl you want to stick by! She is amazing, and she has so much to offer!
Second of all, before we jump into one of my most favorite gluten free, egg free, sugar free cakes in the world… Tawny and I would like to give a big thank you to Heather from Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes for nominating Tawny and I for the Versatile Blogger Award! Wooohoo! We are stoked and flattered to even be thought of, let alone awarded, so thank you, thank you!
We were asked to share 7 things about ourselves that you guys may not already know so here they are…. Tawny you are up first!
Tawny
I use to compete in Tahitian Dance!
I lived just out side Bordeaux, France for a year to study the Language and his is now my dream destination to live and be!
I spent a summer in the Amazon doing volunteer work building houses.
My favorite drink is a green tea frappe from Starbucks
I love anything adventurous and am down for pretty much anything anytime.
My hair almost touches my butt right now.
I have been made fun of my whole life for unknowingly making up my own words!
Andrea
I come from a family of 7 kids, and married into a family of 7 boys!
My husband and his family own a mom and pop + 7 boy restaurant on the North Shore, Hawaii- Kahuku Grill.
I drink hot chocolate most every day with cereal on top- a habit I never grew out of I suppose!
My BA is in teaching English as a second language, yet I don’t think I could learn a language my self shhhhh…
I have taught English in Korea a couple of times, Hawaii, Canada, and Italy.
I am a dreamer, and I constantly look at airline tickets online and look for an excuse to plan a trip!
When I was in Elementary school I use to walk to school on top of the snow banks (in Saskatchewan) in the dead of winter, dreaming about Hawaii, looking at the sun thinking, “wow that is the same sun in Hawaii. And now I live and married here! –I believe in dreams!
We were also asked to select a few blogs that we have discovered and that we love so here they are!
Chocolate and Zucchini
Citron et Vanille
Joylicious
Ravishing Hunger
Tartelette
There was a total of five blogs that won the awards and here is a little about each of them!
The Inventive Vegetarian – Elana’s blog is a new one for us and we are excited to spend a day and get to explore it in more depth. Her writing is up beat and her recipes are definitely innovative. For example, Cauliflower Popcorn anyone?
K’s Veg Recipes- You have to check out her “vegify” section! Kg’s Veg Recipes is a lot of fun with a ton of healthy ideas!
The Veggie Nook- You can learn a whole lot from Gabby! She is one knowledgeable woman and we cannot wait learn from her! My father in law now a vegan and loves to eat so I am always looking for new dishes for him! This is a great place to do just that.
That was Vegan: Right off the bat you can tell Barbara is a fun loving lady with a great sense of humor! Package that with being talented and knowledgeable and it’s easy to say that she is the whole package!
Again, thanks Heather for making our day and making us feel special! And for those of you that have not seen this ladies blog… it’s amazing. The photography, the food… her… everything! She is one gifted lady and its a pleasure to visit her site!!
Now, for the GF apple cake…this is one of the first winner gluten free recipes that I discovered when my dad was first diagnosed with an allergy towards gluten, dairy and eggs. My mom bought this gluten free cook book (The All Natural Allergy Cookbook Dairy-Free Gluten-Free by Jeanne Marie Martin) that I loved to experiment with, trying all the new flours like amaranth, spelt, arrowroot etc. All of these flours were so foreign at the time but it was fun to find something that was tasty for my dad.
Moist, full of huge chunks of apple, with comforting cinnamon, makes this cake so delicious, and makes for a great breakfast option as well!
The brandy sauce is an add on to make it a little more fancy- dancy, rich and desserty! Oh I wish I have been adding this sauce for the past 15 years!
The brandy sauce is a simple, quick sauce that you could put on most anything from cake to ice cream or dip fruit (fondue style), pancakes, or eat it by the spoon 
.
Thanks to Marisa at make-happy.blogspot.com, I have some of this sauce sitting in my fridge, happily waiting for the next time it can compliment a dish!
1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 tablespoons brandy
- Combine butter, sugars and cream in a small, heavy saucepan.
- Stir mixture over low heat until sugar dissolves, then increase heat to medium and bring the sauce to a very gentle boil, stirring all the while.
- Cook five more minutes, then remove from heat and stir in brandy.
- Serve immediately, or cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate up to three days.
- Rewarm in microwave on low power or in saucepan over low heat.
- Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup applesauce
- ¾ cup honey
- ¼ cup of maple syrup or apple juice
- ¼ cup of rice milk or apple juice
- ½ cup oil
- 2 tsp vanilla
- Dry ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups brown rice flour
- ½ cup tapioca flour (starch)
- 2 T arrowroot powder.
- 4 tsp baking powder (wheat free if necessary)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½-1 tsp cinnamon
- 1-2 meduim sized apples chopped, peeled and steamed for 5 minutes
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Combine wet ingredients well.
- Sift dry ingredients into separate bowl. Lightly oil 2- 9”x9” cake pans or 2 loaf pans, or a 9 inch spring pan.
- Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.
- Pour half the batter into cake or loaf pans.
- Top layer with half of the 1-2 apples chopped small and steamed until tender and sprinkle ½ teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Repeat the layers. (Pour the rest of batter and spread the remaining apples.
- Bake for 20 or 30 minutes depending on oven. Cook longer if using loaf pans or 9 inch spring pan (around 35-40 min).
- Toothpick should not come out with wet batter on it.
- Top with Brandy Sauce if desired!
- Note: I sprinkled the top with some sugar and cinnamon to add a little crust and make it pretty.
This looks absolutely heavenly!
Aww thank you for the lovely shout out!
Tawny- I spent some time in te Amazon doing sustainable farming and my favourite drinks at starbucks are the green tea lattes and fraps (I work there and have tried everything so that’s saying something).
Andrea- so cool about teaching English in Korea and that hot chocolate/cereal thing sounds amazing- probably going to try that now
Love your blog ladies! This cake looks to die for!
Gabby, sounds like we have a few great things in common! I like your style
Doesn’t the Amazon just stay in your heart forever? I still talk about going back with my husband, I won’t let it go. When I order the green tea frapps, I ask for an extra scoop of the matcha to really get a good earthy flavor.
SO Crazy – in my que to make this weekend was an apple maple walnut cake with bourbon frosting, we are totally on the same page- this looks AMAZING!
I loveed all the fun facts about the 2 of your, nicely done!
Haha No kidding! Secretly I am trying to sneak into your thoughts and be you
. Bourbon frosting… dang that sounds like something I would use on everything! I hope you still post this! I want a apple cake that isn’t gluten free too! Thanks Heather!!
That cake looks amazing! I have pretty much zero experience with gluten-free baking, but it’s an area I’d like to experiment with.
Barb! Thank you so much. Gluten Free is easy with a good recipe. I guess the biggest step is having a couple new flours on hand. Most health food stores have a wide variety in the bin section. Also, I love Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour for most everything. It is interchangeable cup for cup! Good luck! Have fun with it and hope to keep in touch Barb!