Chocolate Coconut Flag Cake (Gluten, Dairy and Dye Free)

My daughter wanted to make a flag cake to celebrate the 4th today, and we needed to make something gluten and dairy free.  I also recently purchased some coconut oil to experiment with in the kitchen, so I decided to incorporate the coconut oil into our cake.  We all love chocolate, so that decision was easy.  We made a Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil's Food Cake and substituted coconut oil for the butter.  The mix is designed for a smaller 9x9 pan, but it worked fine to make a thinner cake in a larger 9x12 glass baking dish.  You could also use two cake mixes if you prefer a thicker cake or need more servings.  We topped the cake with coconut icing.  I used the icing recipe from these Fluffy Coconut Cupcakes.  Then we used blueberries and sliced strawberries to decorate.  Voila!  Simple, allergy friendly cake.

Carrot Cake - Are you sure this is gluten free?

Today was my husband and I's anniversary.  He loves carrot cake, so I wanted to surprise him with his favorite cake.  If I made regular carrot cake, he'd be the only one that could eat it.  That wouldn't be any fun, so I searched for a gluten free version.  I decided to try the Gluten Free Carrot Cake recipe posted on the Betty Crocker website.  The result was so delicious.  Even my husband was amazed that it was a gluten free cake.  He said it was the best that I've ever made.

The base of the cake is the Betty Crocker® Gluten Free yellow cake mix, and you just add shredded carrots, cinnamon, nutmeg, and walnuts.  I shredded up some baby carrots in my Ninja QB900B Master Prep Revolutionary Food and Drink Maker, Gray for the cake.  After reading through the recipe reviews, I decided to add 1/2 cup of applesauce to the recipe to add moisture.  We also also like coconut, so I added a 1/2 cup of coconut as well.  The box says to bake it in a 9x9 pan, but I was able to make two small 8inch circle layer cakes.  I topped the cake with the Betty Crocker® cream cheese icing.