Success!

When navigating a major life change, like moving to a whole foods way of eating, there are many moments of utter failure with a sparse smattering of success thrown in just often enough to keep one from throwing in the towel altogether.  New ingredients and new flavors take some time to negotiate, because they don't all go happily hand in hand like I think they should.

I spend a lot of time reading cookbooks and perusing websites and collecting recipes and trying new things.  It sort of feels like the first year we were married, when all I really had to do was cook dinner in the evening. I started in the morning by making a side dish, slid into the afternoon working on dessert, and had the main dish ready when Flyboy arrived home for supper.  And I didn't repeat a meal for at least six months, when Flyboy finally said, "you know, I wouldn't mind having spaghetti again sometime.  I do like spaghetti."  These days, I spend my hours at work (not in the kitchen), but I AM plowing through a bazillion recipes and rarely repeating anything.  I feel like a baby cook all over again.

A while back, I had this little epiphany.  All of a sudden it came to me that perhaps I could take some of my tried and true recipes and try to update them so they play by the new rules.  Whole grain flour, minimal natural, unprocessed sweetener, and no hydrogenated fats.  The thing with whole wheat flour is the strong flavor, and it tends to run right over the other flavors.  I tried it recently in pizza dough and decided it was a tad overwhelming.  Not a keeper.  In the meantime, I've discovered white whole wheat flour, which is made of a milder white wheat, as opposed to the traditional red wheat that is ground into regular whole wheat flour.  I like it!

Today, the day before Flyboy's birthday (thanks, Flyboy for making it another year!  thanks, God for every day we enjoy together!), I found a way to make his birthday cake of choice.  He has had it every year for the past 35 years and wasn't about to let our new food life keep him from his Strawberry Cake.  It is made from scratch and has a rather dense consistency.  After it's cooled and poked full of holes with a fork, you dump on strawberries soaked in sugar and let the juice ooze down onto the cake.  Cover the whole thing with sweetened whipped cream, and you've got Strawberry Cake.  While I'm not sure there is any possible way to improve upon this recipe (thanks Amy for sharing it, lo those many years ago), at Flyboy's request, I have attempted to make it new.

Flyboy says it is a smashing success!  Here's how I did it:

Strawberry Cake (with a new twist)

Slice 4 baskets of strawberries and sprinkle with a tablespoon of evaporated cane juice.  Set aside.

Cream together 1 C evaporated cane juice and 1/2 C coconut oil.  Add three egg yolks and beat until smooth.  Alternately add 1 C evaporated milk and 1 C quinoa flour/ 3/4 C white whole wheat flour/ 1 t baking soda/ 1 t baking powder/ 1/2 t salt whisked together.  Fold in 1 t vanilla, followed by 3 stiffly beaten egg whites.  Bake at 350 until brown.  (I have a new oven that seems to cook a bit hot.  I baked my cake at 335 in a glass 9 x 13 for 23 min, watching it towards the end.)

After the cake is completely cool, poke holes all over with a fork.  Pour the juicy berries on top and spread them out.  Cover with lightly sweetened (I used agave nectar) whipped cream.  Chill until ready to eat.  And make a concerted effort to NOT go face first.  It could happen.