Chocolate Cocoa Cake

9X13 ", preheat 350 degrees F

Ingredients

Cake

- 1/2 c sorghum flour

- 1/2 c all-purpose gluten-free flour (a mixture of several flours)

- 1/2 c rice flour

- 1 c cocoa powder

- 1 1/2 Tbsp xanthan gum – too much: gelatinous dough. Try tsp instead of Tbsp

- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 3/4 c butter at room temperature

- 3/4 c brown sugar

- 1 c white sugar (both sugars may be organic)

- 4 eggs

- 2 tsp vanilla

- 1 1/2 c sour cream

- (1/2 to 1 c brewed coffee) (optional)

Frosting

- 5 oz chocolate chips

- 1/2 c sour cream

- 1/2 tsp vanilla

- 1 Tbsp heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven. Grease pan.

Sift together sorghum, all-purpose, and rice flours, cocoa, xanthan gum, baking powder, and baking soda.

Cream butter. Beat in sugars until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Add vanilla and sour cream.

On low speed, alternately add flour mixture and other liquid (coffee? cranberry juice?) to make batter. Put into pan.

Bake 30 - 35 minutes in preheated oven, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan.

Use your favorite frosting, or this one: Barely melt chocolate chips in double boiler. Stir in sour cream and vanilla; add heavy cream to desired consistency. Ice when cake is cool.

Cheater's Ultra-delicious Frosting (this one in vanilla flavor; you can make the change for an orange, raspberry, or chocolate-flavored frosting)

In a pan, combine 2 Tbsp smooth flour (any kind; sift it if it's lumpy) and 1/4 to 3/4 c milk

Heat gently, stirring constantly, until thick. Add as much liquid as necessary; the final consistency while hot should be pudding-like. Cool completely.

Cream until fluffy

- 1 c shortening (butter is OK, of course)

- 1 c granulated sugar (any color, organic also just fine)

- 1-4 tsp vanilla (your taste)

- pinch salt

When cool, add the paste to the shortening mixture and -- this is important -- my recipe from a sweet elder who absolutely does not cuss says -- beat like Hell.

It might take 10 minutes at high mixer speed (or a pair of very tired arms and a whisk) to achieve a consistency only a tad thicker than fluffy whipped cream.

About that cake: it rose...

...like a souffle... like an amorphous chocolate sculpture...well, there's no single word for it.
Then it fell to moist, fudgy cake-pan-sized confection. We'll eat it tonight and let interested folks know.
Next time, I'll use 2 1/2 TEASPOONS of Xanthan gum. I thought the TABLESPOON designation was high, but it was my first use of this bacteria-related thickener.

Another recipe:

Raisin Granola
Mix:
- 1 c each cornmeal, (buckwheat groats), any other preferred non-gluten grain that's rolled or small enough to eat raw
- 5 c non-gluten oats
- 1 c each nuts (cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds: you choose), sunflower seeds, pepitas -- all nuts raw
- 1 c sesame seeds
Mix in:
- 1/2 c innocuous oil (much as I love olive oil, its taste is too strong)
- 1 1/2 c honey
Spread this in large, flat pans (1" deep is about the maximum for good cooking).
Bake 1 hour at 300 degrees F.
Stir in total of 2 c raisins and other dried fruit.
Good eaten out of hand; cold with milk; or as hot cereal, with boiling water added and a wait of 5 minutes to steep.