Incredible Icing
First I want to thank each and every one of you for praying, for sending me written out prayers, and/or for sending me encouraging words. Please continue praying. Baby Adriana is doing as well as expected; however, it is a trying time especially the stress on the family.
I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. My family and I spent the day on horseback. We went on a five hour trail ride. A cool front had come through (our first for the year). The high was in the low 90s with a nice breeze. The skies were clear. It was one of the most beautiful days we have had in some time.
Unfortunately the breezes and dry conditions helped fuel numerous wildfires. We had one to the north of us and a large one to the south of us again. We finished the day with smoke billowing to our south and huge pieces of ash falling from the north. As dry as it is, it was unsettling and worrisome. My husband picked up a few pieces of the ash to investigate. They were like hunks of fiberglass. As bad as these fires are, the worst in the state is in Bastrop. Please pray for the firefighters, volunteers, evacuees, and families who have lost everything. In addition, please pray for a change in the weather. No wind, rain, and cooler temperatures are what we need.
Tuesday morning it felt like fall. It was 53 degrees! We wanted to drink our coffee on the front porch and enjoy the coolness of the morning, but the smell of smoke in the air prevented us from doing it. We did get our fall garden planted and spent the entire day outside. The high was again in the low 90s.
My husband’s birthday is coming up and I have been trying to find an excellent recipe for his birthday cake. The problem I find with most recipes is that the icings are not that wonderful. I love butter cream or cream cheese frostings. I love their consistencies and their levels of sweetness.
I ordered Elana Amsterdam’s new cookbook, Gluten-Free Cupcakes. Her recipes rely on almond flour and coconut flour, which are both legal flours on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. With just a little substitution here and there, I am able to adapt her recipes to our dietary needs.
My sister-in-law, Lori, and I worked in the kitchen together trying out a few of the recipes. Our favorite was the Pecan Pie Cupcakes. Yummy! The problem we ran into was with the frosting. Many of her recipes call for coconut milk. I had a can in my pantry, but it contained guar gum, which is a starch. So, Lori and I came up with our own icing, which is simply incredible. For some unexplainable reason, it tastes like a cream cheese icing. We adapted it to go with the Pecan Pie Cupcakes by adding coconut and pecans, but you could change the recipe as needed.
Incredible Icing
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup coconut butter*
3/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp vanilla (unsweetened)
pinch of salt
1/4 unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 chopped pecans
Beat the first five ingredients with a hand mixer until smooth. Then add the coconut and pecans. Stir by hand until combined well. Refrigerate until it hardens up to a nice, spreadable consistency. Then ice your cake or cupcakes. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
*Coconut butter is hard to find. Most health food stores carry it. It is worth the trouble to find for this recipe.
Whether you have a birthday party coming up or not, try this icing out on your favorite cake recipe. If you have my Texas Homesteader Wheat-Free Cookbook, spread it on the Pumpkin Pound Cake recipe made into cupcakes. That is actually a great Thanksgiving Day idea.
Again, thank you for your prayers.
We had Tropical Storm Lee blow in for Labor Day. He brought us a 42-hour power outage, but 12″ of rain in 30 hours, so we aren’t complaining–now that our power is back on, that is. Fortunately, my husband got the last generator at Lowes’ so we could keep our freezer full of chicken and garden produce running as well as one of our inside fridges. I truly wish we could send you some of that rain.
Just one question on coconut butter. Are you concerned about the effect of saturated fats like coconut butter on your cholesterol? I occasionally use palm oil because we learned to love it in Africa, but I try to only do it rarely because I have high cholesterol.
Susan,
I do not worry about cholesterol when using coconut butter. We do not eat icing everyday, and I don’t have any guilt about it.
Understand that I do not hold to most traditional health and doctor advice. We stay away from soy for example.
If you are interested in more information about healthy oils and cholesterol with a non-conformist perspective, then read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon particularly the section on Fats.
She also has a list of foods you can eat daily, including fresh cream and butter, lard, fat from pastured animals, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and palm oil. Fats she recommends never putting in your mouth are margarine, vegetable oil, and shortening.
If you are uncomfortable using coconut butter or butter, please stick with your gut instinct. Hope I answered your question.
Lara