1 of 133

Gluten-Free
Chocolate Layer Cake

For the Cake Layers
Vegetable oil cooking spray
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour
3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 cup quinoa flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp coarse salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 low-fat (1 percent) buttermilk
1 ounce (2 tbl) unsalted butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the seven-minute frosting
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tbl plus 1 tsp corn syrup
5 large egg whites
3/4 pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

1. Make the cake layers: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat two 8-inch cake pans with cooking spray. Line bottoms with parchment; spray parchment.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Divide batter between pans.
3. Bake cakes until they pull away from sides of pans, about 1 hour. Let cool in pans on wire racks. Cakes will keep, covered, for up to 1 day.
4. Make the frosting: Place sugar, water, corn syrup, and whites in a heatproof mixer bowl over a pot of simmering water. Cook, whisking occasionally, until sugar dissolves and mixture resgisters 160 degrees on a candy thermometer.
5. Attach bowl to mixer. Whisk hot sugar mixture on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 7 minutes. Whisk in vanilla and salt.
6. Assemble the cake: Place a cake layer on a plate. Spread 2 cups frosting on top. Place remaining cake layer on top of frosting. Frost top and sides with remaining frosting. Cake is best eaten within 1 hour of frosting.

Recipe from Martha Stewart April 2009


Celiac Sprue



Four years ago, my oldest daughter was not feeling well. We lived in Virginia at the time and my husband was military so I took my daughter to the best medical care our country has to offer the dependents of active duty military. (Picture my tongue in my cheek at this point) The doctor who barely spoke English suggested I should have her at OB/Gyn or Behavioral Medicine rather than a check up. (Picture irritated mother at this point) He did run a CBC and imagine my surprise when I got a phone call from him on a Saturday morning with as close to an apology as I was ever going to get as he let me know my daughter was anemic and hypothyroid...she would need a follow up at Walter Reed with a pediatric endocrinologist. We went to the endocrinologist, he did some more lab work and prescribed some iron. It was late June or early July before we saw the endocrinologist again, the hypothyroid was better and for giggles and grins, he ran some lab work to see what was causing the anemia. A few weeks later, I received a phone call from a nurse, whose first language was not English and said it looked like my daughter had "Syriac." What? Could you spell that? C-E-L-I-A-C. What? I googled. I found out what it is...In September, my daughter had an upper and lower endoscopy which confirmed she had celiac sprue. Celiac Sprue occurs in 1 out of 130 Americans. It often takes ten years to diagnose in the United States...two weeks in Italy...and in Italy, every child is tested before they begin kindergarten.

If you are like me, you have no idea what this is...let me explain: it is an autoimmune disorder that causes the body to perceive gluten as a toxin. Any gluten that reaches the small intestine damages the lining, causing inflammation (my daughter's lining was the worst they had ever seen) Ultimately, the body isn't able to absorb nutrients properly, which can lead to a host of physical ailments, including anemia and osteoporosis. My youngest two children had to have blood tests since biologically they are closest genetically to her, along with my husband and myself. H and M have to be tested every 2-3 years unless there are symptoms, my husband and me are to be tested every 10 years unless there are symptoms.

I educated myself, tried to educate my daughter and was appalled by how little the nutritionist at Fort Belvoir knew on the subject. I knew more than this professional and I only had one week with google before this appointment. The professional was very caught up with the pyramid diet and had no suggestions on what a teenage girl who can't wheat, food that contains wheat and just about every condiment readily available could actually eat.

Four years later, my daughter is still in denial of how serious this disorder is and continues to eat gluten. I will be honest, it is hard to watch...it is kind of like watching a child with a drug or alcohol problem, she is destroying her body for a temporary feel good...she won't blackout in an alley but there will be damage. Let's just pray there won't be any lifelong damage to her system...