Anyone remember Suzy-Q's?

Bet you thought the taste of Suzy-Q's and HoHos was lost forever on a gluten- and casein-free diet. Well, it doesn't have to be. I know, I know. I'll bet you're saying, but ... I can't use eggs, or soy or even chocolate! You don't have to. This is the allergy-friendly version -- all allergies. And, it's easy. Here's how:

Ingredients:
1 recipe of "chocolate" cake (use either cocoa or carob powder) made in two round cake pans (split the recipe)

1 cup powdered sugar (Domino sugar is GF. Miss Robens sells corn-free powdered sugar. Or, make your own.)
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp unflavored gelatin powder (I use Knox)
1 tbsp water

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Make the cake recipe, splitting the recipe between two cake pans. I grease them with Spectrum organic shortening. The cakes bake together in about 15 mins. Use a toothpick to be sure.

When done, let cool 5 mins. Carefully pull the sides away from the pan and ease them onto cooling racks. Let cool thoroughly.

When cool, mix the powdered sugar, xanthan gum and gelatin in a bowl and stir. Add the water. Use a hand mixer on slow speed to blend until a creamy, icing texture is reached. Don't let this sit long. Use a knife to spread the icing onto one layer of the cake. Wet the knife is necessary to help spread. Immediately place second cake layer on top and gently push down.

Now, you can serve this cake style. Or you can cut it into any shape you want. I trimmed the edges to form a squarish shape and then cut into 16 "bars."

You can play around with this now. Next time, try chocolate or carob icing by adding some of that powder into the sugar mix. Try a Twinkie type cake by making a white cake and white filling. Try getting some of this stuff into a syringe and squirting it into a cupcake. Or, make the Suzy-Q even better by doubling the icing recipe -- it'll make the center filling thicker.

Have fun.

Molasses tip

I've found that several of my entries have started with the phrase, "This is silly..." Well, this is another one of those entries. Yet, I felt I had to share.

I've been baking gingersnaps and gingerbread cookies lately and using molasses and thick cane syrup. It's kinda tough getting that stuff to pour entirely out of a measuring cup. However, I've stumbled upon a little trick that helps that situation (no laughing from the expert chef section, please). If you coat the measuring cup with oil beforehand, the molasses will slide right out.

Actually, many of these recipes called for oil anyway. So, I measure the oil first, then the molasses. No waste.

A good shampoo

I recently switched shampoos for my kids and the new product works so well that I thought I'd mention it here. I bought the Shikai brand shampoo, which really lathers well and leaves a very healthy looking and feeling hair. We do use conditioner also, which helps with brushing -- they have very fine hair. You can research the product online at http://www.shikai.com/.