Gluten Free Layered Lemon Cake Dairy Free

My husband ordered a layered grapefruit cake at the Brown Derby in Walt Disney World. It looked lovely, but of course I couldn't eat it with all the gluten and dairy it was composed of! I purchased a copy of Delicious Disney with Pam Brandon, and I have been having fun adapting recipes to suit our gluten free dairy free family needs.

Fair Warning: This is not a health food posting. MOST of our family eating is all healthy, or as much as we can be, but this recipe falls off the wagon. Every now and then even WE cave for some refined sugar, but the important thing is that occasional refined sweets do not take place of a balanced whole foods diet. This recipe can be made healthier by subbing out the refined sugar with Lakanto, which would work nicely. To create a healthier icing, try using small amounts of whipped honey instead, and refrigerate immediately.

Now for my adapted recipe- Gluten Free Dairy Free Layered Lemon Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Oil 2 pie dishes (I used 1 ceramic dish and 1 glass)

In a Large Bowl Mix:

• 1 1/2 Cups all purpose gluten free flour (I used Bob Red Mill for this - it contains more fiber and protein than most all purpose gluten free mixes)
• 1 tsp milled flaxseed
  
• 3/4 Cup sugar (or lakanto - or mixture of both)
• 2 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

In 2nd Medium Bowl Mix:

• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 Cup avocado oil
  
• 1/4 Cup water
• 3 Tablespoons Orange Mango Juice (or Grapefruit juice!)
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest from organic lemon

Add mixture from Bowl 2 to Bowl 1 and blend ingredients together by hand.

In 3rd Medium-Large Bowl Mix:

• 3 additional egg whites with 1/2 tsp cream of tarter. Mix until peaks form

Fold this egg white mixture into the cake batter, gently.

Pour into the two pie dishes and bake for aprox 20 minutes, or until cake comes clean with toothpick. Cool completely. I put mine in the fridge and then freezer after it had cooled on wire racks sufficiently.

Frosting: To make my life easy, I went with Pamela's Vanilla Frosting Mix. This has a nice vanilla flavor. I added 1 stick of Earth Balance Butter, softened to the point that it was nearly melted. I also added the juice from 1/2 a lemon. I mixed this together and spread 1/4 of the frosting on the pie dish in the ceramic pan. I then popped out the second cake and put it on top and used the remaining frosting to cover the top of cake. This serves well cold and fresh, so I recommend it for an early morning baking to chill and serve same day/evening.

As for the book, I have enjoyed many recipes such as Trout Meuniere with Pan Roasted Pecan Sauce, Crystal Palace Adobo Pulled Pork (leftovers make the base of a fabulous fajita night!), and Carmelized Pineapple Pepper Relish. If you like experimenting with new cookbooks and you're not afraid of adapting recipes, I highly recommend this one (and especially if you are a fan of Walt Disney World Dining :) )