Caramelized Apple Upside Down Cake - Paleo Friendly!

I came up with this recipe a couple of weeks ago when my friend Megan, who is currently doing the Paleo Diet, came over for dinner. I wanted to make a dessert that she could enjoy too, since she couldn't take part in the crusty bread that was served with the entree. I had some apples on the kitchen table and decided I wanted to attempt an apple upside-down cake. I adapted Mangia's Honey Almond Cake and the result was delicious! At the very last minute I decided it needed some sort of topping or sauce, so I threw this almond butter creation on top. Even I liked this dessert, and I'm not into Paleo desserts.




This cake was moist and slightly sweet. The caramel sauce on top put it through the roof (in a good way). If you're not huge on sweets, I'd recommend skipping the sauce. But man, the sauce...It was the best part, in my opinion. This is coming from a girl who can eat a jar of maple almond butter in one sitting, however.



Looking at these photos is making me want to make this cake again. Sadly, I'm trying to stay away from dessert after over-eating this entire weekend.



Ingredients:


1 large apple, sliced thinly
2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
dash of cinnamon


2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup olive oil or coconut oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg yolk (room temp)
4 egg whites (room temp)

Caramel Sauce:

2 tablespoon almond butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons almond milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9 inch cake pan and set aside. In a sautee pan on medium-low heat, add apples, coconut oil, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Sautee apples until sauce starts to thicken and apples start to become tender, about 5 minutes. Add apples to cake pan and evenly distribute along the bottom of the pan.

Meanwhile, mix together one egg yolk, honey, oil, and vanilla. Add almond flour, baking soda, and cinnamon and mix well. In a separate bowl whisk egg whites until they begin to form stiff peaks. Fold whipped egg whites gently into batter, until just mixed, and pour over apples in cake pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean once inserted.

While cake is cooling, add all ingredients for caramel sauce into a small pot on medium heat. Whisk until all the ingredients form a thick caramel sauce.

Once cake has cooled, gently flip cake over onto a serving plate. Serve hot or cold, with caramel sauce on top.

Crunchy Almond Butter Granola Bars

So I introduced my husband to Cascadian Farm's Almond Butter Granola Bars and he loves them. He loves them so much that he goes through an entire box of them in a matter of days (that is not cheap!). So I decided that I would start making them at home. I searched an Almond Butter Granola Bar recipe and decided to tweak it a bit. I used Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain Cereal instead of the puffed kamut and grape-nuts cereal. I also opted out of the brown sugar and added agave nectarinstead. I also did away with the dried fruit and substituted raw almonds instead of pumpkinseeds and sunflower seeds. The result tastes almost exactly thesame as Cascadian Farm's! I think Brett will be pleasantly surprised to find a giant bag of his favorite granola bars in the cupboard.

Ingredients:

1½ cups Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Whole Grain Cereal

1½ cups traditional rolled oats (not the quick-cook kind)

¼ cup raw slivered almonds

3½ tablespoons almond butter (can substitute soy butter or peanut butter), creamy or chunky

1½ tablespoons brown rice syrup

2 tablespoons agave nectar

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line and 8- or 9-inch square pan with a long sheet ofparchment paper (so ends extend over edges of pan). (I recommend spraying the parchment paper with cooking

spray because the parchment paper stuck to my bars pretty badly once they cooled).

2. Mix the Ezekial cereal, oats, and raw almonds in a large bowl.

3. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the almond butter, brown rice syrup, honey, agave and vanilla until sugar has melted and the almond butter has thinned.

4. Pour the liquid mixture on top of the dry ingredients, mixing well. When everything is equally coated, spread the mixture into the pan. Press the mixture down with the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

5. When you remove the pan from the oven, again use the bottom of the measuring cup to press the bars flat. Allow to cool completely before touching them again.

6. When totally cooled and hard, lift the ends of the parchment and put onto a cutting board and cut into bars or squares. I wrapped the individual bars in foil and stored them in a ziploc bag at room temperature.