Last week was filled with birthday party prep! There were many birthday delights for our son! This year, we hosted a shared birthday party with one of our close family friends, and it was a huge hit! I am amazed at how quickly these kids grow up. If you aren’t a parent, the phrase “the days are long and the years are short” does not make sense. I can say with all honesty that the older Tristan gets, the faster the years seem to go by.
Today’s blog post is all about one particular birthday delight: CAKE! Like many boys his age, Tristan loves Minecraft! He had been asking for months for a Minecraft cake. We scoured the internet for inspirational ideas- and this year I jumped out of the box… box mix, that is. It has been nearly a decade since I was willing to experiment with gluten-free baking! For the most part, I have been using tried-and-true box mixes. This is not the most creative way to bake, but I cannot express how much I dislike experimenting with flour blends. The early years of my diagnosis came with baking that a friend iconically said “tasted like rice and sadness”.
A fantastic find!
In comes a fantastic find: Ardent Mills Gluten-Free Flour Blend.
I had seen this brand recommended in various Celiac groups I am in on Facebook, but had never found it at the stores nearby. I had originally planned to make the cakes with gluten-free box mixes, but the Costco near our house had it in stock! What a VALUE!! I managed to make pancakes, 4 FULL cakes, and STILL had leftover flour for 15$!! To give those who don’t have to avoid gluten an idea, each box mix usually costs 6-7$ EACH. Oh, and those boxes only include enough flour blend to make ONE slab cake OR 12 cupcakes.
I had honestly forgotten what it was like to bake in normal volume. At first, I accidentally made way too much carrot cake. Though, really, can you have too much carrot cake? We have been enjoying the extra carrot muffins all week! I made one extra cake on purpose as a gift to our family friends in thanks. It was also a hit. I admit, as I was mixing all the batter, I did question the volume. It wasn’t until I was starting to fold in the carrots that I realized where I had made the happy mistake. Gluten-free baking with box mixes NEVER yields this much.
Birthday Delights: a Minecraft Cake
Now, with white cake, chocolate cake, carrot cake, (not) Rice Krispies squares, and Jello, the cake was ready to come to life!
The cake was built in two pieces because Tristan wanted a Nether Portal on the Outworld AND the Nether. It has been a while since I have made anything this complex, but I had so much fun making it! I grew up baking every week and was hit hard when I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2012. I am so excited to keep baking with this awesome pre-made blend! It needs more liquids than regular flour, so recipes need to be modified appropriately, but that’s so much easier than figuring out the blend itself. I am so thankful that I stepped out of the box and made this cake! Tristan LOVED this birthday delight!
