Leche-Free Valentine!

It's Valentine's Day!

Unfortunately, John cannot partake of any rich, creamy goodness. 

Not to worry! I baked some fabulous dairy free chocolate snack cakes for my Valentine.
It's a wonderful and easy one-pan recipe by King Arthur Flour.

(photo credit: factretriever.com)

💓Fun Fact: On Valentine’s Day, nearly 189 million stems of roses are sold in the U.S.

We thought it was the end of desserts and treats when we first found out that John had dairy allergies. But, after a little research, a whole new world was opened up to us, the world of dairy free baking. Not every recipe I've come across has made it to our "repeat" file but this Cake-Pan Chocolate cake recipe is one of our absolute favorites and great for Valentine's Day! 

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/king-arthur-flours-original-cake-pan-cake-recipe

The ingredients and kitchen tools needed are minimal. 

The recipe calls for the basics like flour, sugar, oil, and one unusual cake ingredient - vinegar. 

I was a little apprehensive but, I gave it try and it was worth it! 

Prep time was literally less than ten minutes. It took longer to situate my photos than it did to whip up these delicious little cakes. This is usually baked in a 9" round or 8" square cake pan but, it's Valentine's day! 

💓Fun Fact: Teachers receive the most Valentine’s cards, followed by children, mothers, and wives. Children between the ages of 6-10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine cards a year.

The decadent smell of chocolate cake quickly traveled throughout the house. 

 It was hard to control ourselves while we waited for them to cool but, somehow we managed. This recipe makes a light, fluffy, moist cake. I have another chocolate cake recipe, given to me by my mother-in-law, called Mayonnaise Cake. It's also dairy free and super delicious but it's a very rich and dense cake. I bake according to my mood and today my mood begged for a light and fluffy cake! 

These little cakes popped right out of the pan.

The normal bake time for a round or square pan is 30 - 35 minutes. 

I baked my individual heart cakes for 20 minutes since they were more like large cupcakes. 

They came out perfect!

After the cakes were completely cooled I sprinkled them with powdered sugar which added a little hint of sweetness. Sometimes I make a dairy free "buttercream" frosting which also goes well with this recipe. You might consider trying the King Arthur non-dairy frosting. It seems easy to prepare however, I have yet to try it. 

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/king-arthur-flours-original-cake-pan-cake-recipe 

(The King Arthur frosting recipe can be found with their cake recipe. For your convenience, I've posted the link again.) 

💓Fun Fact: Valentine candy “conversation hearts” have a shelf life of five years.

Here's the finished product. I scattered a few fresh strawberries to give it a "Valentine" look.

 I have to admit, I was rather pleased with the way they turned out. 

More importantly, John loved his Valentine dessert. 

Happy Valentines Day from us to you! 

  

Us: John & Terri

Special thanks to our daughter Jessica for taking our picture and tolerating the silliness.

💓Fun Fact: “The High Court of Love” was established in Paris, France, in 1400 and is the first known official celebration of Saint Valentine’s Day. Composed of 30 women, it dealt with love contracts, violence against women, and betrayals.

💓 Fun Facts were provided by: https://www.factretriever.com/valentines-day-facts 

The Struggle is Real

Eating out can be a dangerous challenge, unless two factors come into play. Factor one - we plan accordingly. Factor two - the restaurant is accommodating. Or, John could close his eyes and decide to simply accept his fate. Just kidding... that would be the worst idea ever. We try to choose restaurants wisely and go to places that can accommodate his dietary needs.   

(photo credits: www.creativefabrica.com)

The last week of January through Valentines day are huge eat-out days for us. Our calendar is jam packed with family birthdays which are usually celebrated at a restaurant whose base ingredient for every recipe is butter. This can prove challenging since we don't have a say in where we go. Although, I have to admit, restaurants are definitely getting better about accommodating their patrons with dietary restrictions but, sometimes it can be a real struggle. During one of our many celebrations, we visited Carrabba's Italian Grill.

John did his usual call ahead to speak with the chef or a manager about his dietary restrictions. He ended up speaking with the manager, Marcos, who went above and beyond in helping John with menu options. Together they came up with a meal plan so when we arrived we felt fairly confident that it would be a safe and enjoyable eating experience.    

   

L: Manager - Marcos; R: Assistant Manager - Sean

    

Server - Trevor

 (Side Note: His mustache is half red and half blond!)    

Our server, Trevor, was briefed prior to our arrival. So, when John introduced himself, Trevor acknowledge my husband's dietary issues and made sure to ease any lingering concerns. Manager-Marcos and Assistant Manager-Sean made sure to periodically check-in with John to confirm that all was well. The staff was careful to balance the special attention my husband required without making him feel awkward and without ignoring the rest of the large dinner party. 

Olive Oil & Herbs

Chefs hard at work.

 

We both ordered the Italian side salad but no dressing for him. 

(He packs his own non-dairy, dye-free dressing.)

    

For his entree he ordered Linguine Positano with chicken. 

I had Pollo Rosa Maria.

We enjoyed some delicious dairy free birthday cake made by my sister-in-law. 

(John scraped off the cream cheese frosting.)

That's us: John & Terri

I wanted to highlight our wonderful food to show how John, with a few adjustments, still manages to eat deliciously, especially when planned correctly. I'm not gonna lie, we've had several bad experiences but, this wasn't one of them. We left Carrabba's with bellies full. No doubt, this was one of the most enjoyable and trouble free experiences we have ever had at a restaurant and, the food was amazing! 

I would like to thank the staff at Carrabba's for allowing me to take photos. They not only went out of their way to help my husband with the menu but were also extremely helpful  when I asked to take photos for this blog. 

www.carrabbas.com

HEB Organics Balsamic Vinaigrette and Brianna's Home Style Real French Vinaigrette are the dressings John normally packs. There are many dye-free, dairy-free dressings but these are his favorite. 

www.heb.com  

www.briannas.com