gluten-free chocolate mousse cake

My baby girl turned 15 this week! 

So I baked her a cake...

A gluten-free cake.

Week two: no wheat. The good and the bad.

So far I don’t miss it. I’ve made some simple, fabulous meals (which I’ll share with you soon). I’ve also started exercising more... running/walking, weight workout, yoga, and now I’ve just added pilates to my routine. It was by accident that I found myself in the middle of an advanced pilates class yesterday while working out at the gym. My daughter and I went into the empty exercise classroom to stretch and use the barre. The room started filling up, and the next thing I knew we were joining in. I learned that my abdominal muscles are not what they used to be, but I can’t wait to go back for more next week.

That’s the good.

The bad: I’ve only lost two pounds. Maybe it was the chocolate cake.

The cake was delicious. Serve it at your next dinner party. If you’re eating gluten-free, no one will need to know.

Chocolate Mousse Cake (gluten-free)

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Cake:

8 oz semi-sweet chocolate

1 cube butter

7 egg whites at room temperature

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup granulated sugar

7 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting:

2 cups whipping cream (Can use less)

1/2 powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°. Grease sides and bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and set aside. 

In a large bowl at high speed, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until very stiff. Beat in 4 Tablespoons of the sugar, 1 Tablespoon at a time. Set aside. 

Without washing beaters, in a small mixing bowl, at medium high speed, beat egg yolks and remaining 3/4 cup sugar for two minutes or until thick and pale yellow.

At low speed, gradually beat in the chocolate mixture, and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla until blended. Stir 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, and carefully fold in the remaining whites.

Pour about 3/4 of the batter into the spring form pan. Cover the remaining batter and refrigerate it. Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes or until dry. Cool in pan on wire rack. 

In a small bowl, beat whipping cream, powdered sugar, and remaining 

1 teaspoon vanilla, until stiff peaks form. 

Remove outer rim of cake pan and place the cake with metal base on a serving plate. Fill the center of the cake with refrigerated mousse. Top sides and top with whipped cream frosting. 

Chill for 2 hours or up to 12 before serving. Decorate with grated chocolate.

no wheat, no gluten?

While waiting for summer weather to arrive, I found myself eating more, exercising less. My brain thinks it’s fall, so it sends my body into comfort food craving mode. In other words, a few extra pounds found its way onto my body, so I need to make a few changes. I’m starting with what I eat.

Due to a fast metabolism, that has allowed me to eat whatever I want without gaining weight, I’ve never dieted (please don’t hate). I’ve heard a lot about gluten-free or wheat-free diets in the last few years. So I decided going wheat-free would be a good place to start.

Four days into it, I’m in the trying-to-figure-out-what-to-eat, or not-eat, stage. I’m still finding the whole no-wheat versus no-gluten thing a bit confusing. Is there a difference between the two? I don’t even know if wheat is the reason I’ve put on a few pounds, but I’d rather start with that instead of say, chocolate! I did find a few blogs on the no-wheat/gluten subject ... glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com, heatherstrang.com/wheat-free (Heather lives in Portland), glutenfreegirl.com

Wish me luck. No doubt I’ll be posting a few of the delicious, no-wheat recipes I try here.

Right now I’m enjoying the fresh fruits and veggies of my small backyard garden. Despite it’s rather uncommon blend of ingredients, this smoothie was really good.

Place one peeled, ripe banana into your blender

Add frozen blueberries, spinach leaves, yogurt, protein powder and lowfat milk

Banana, Blueberry, and Spinach Smoothie
Serves 1-2

1 ripe banana
3/4 cup frozen blueberries (you could also use fresh, but I like the icy quality of frozen)
1 cup fresh spinach leaves
1/4 cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
3/4 cup lowfat milk
1 scoop whey protein powder (optional)

Blend it all up until smooth and creamy.

Trust me, you won’t even taste the spinach!

If anyone has knowledge and/or information about eating wheat-free, please share. I hope you have a happy, safe 4th!