Baked Goods, Food, Recipes

A Birthday Weekend!!

Rowan

On October 27th, Rowan turned 4 and on October 30th, Jaden turned 8.  Time  really does fly and when I look at my little boys who keep getting so darn big, intense emotions run through me. If you are a parent, you know exactly what I am talking about and trying to express the above mentioned emotions into words really is impossible.

Anyway; we had a party for Rowan on Saturday and a party for Jaden on Sunday and let me tell you, it was a CRAZY yet fabulous weekend with lots of wonderful family and amazing friends.  In my opinion, birthdays are worth celebrating and what would a birthday be without the cake!  Over our last few paleo years I have attempted to make gluten free cakes from mixes of various store bought brands with some success but this year for the Jaden and Rowan I ordered gluten and grain free baking mixes from White Lion Baking Company and holy cow, they did not disappoint.

Rowan wanted a chocolate cake and Jaden wanted cinnamon bun muffins and both turned out phenomenally well.  You know the cake is good when non-paleo eating folks say things like, “This is the best cake I have ever had!” Or, “These muffins are out of this world!” Rowan’s chocolate cake mix came with a chocolate ganache topping that we made and used to drizzle over the cake and my amazing sister Laura decorated the cake with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and homemade whipped cream. For Jaden’s birthday muffins I followed the directions that came with the muffin mix for homemade cream cheese frosting which was just cream cheese, heavy cream and a touch of honey and I also added in some cinnamon as well.

If the thought of coming up with a grain free birthday cake seems daunting or you want to avoid the store bought gluten free cake mixes that are filled with rice flour and potato starch, I highly recommend looking into White Lion Baking Company.  The high quality grain free ingredients that they use in their products shine through in the amazing end result and I will most certainly be using this company again for my future baking needs.

  

At Rowan’s party he wanted a “party at home with a bouncy house” and that’s exactly what we did but  I’m pretty sure that the adults had more fun than the kids in the bounce house.

  For party food we grilled up some hamburgers and Applegate Farm sausages and served them with lettuce wraps, sliced tomato, and onions.  I also made my No Potato Salad which is always a huge hit.  For snacks before dinner we had guacamole, fruit, veggies, salami and cheese and corn chips. Corn chips and cheese are a safe party staple for us.  No one feels horrible if we eat a few chips and slices of cheese and it’s nice to have these alternatives for a “cheat meal” (although I hate that terminology) when we want to kick up our heels.

For Jaden’s party we went to our local gymnastics academy and several of his friends from school attended the party.  I was wondering how the cinnamon bun muffins made with almond meal and coconut flour would be accepted by a bunch of 3rd graders, especially topped with homemade cream cheese frosting that really wasn’t that sweet at all. Surprisingly, all but two of the muffins were devoured and this is from a group of kids who are most likely used to the conventional cupcake.  Hurray for real food!  The snacks at the party were a duplicate of what we had for Rowan’s party the previous day.

  

It was such a blast watching the kids run around and play and the highlight at the end was the awesome zip line!  Check out Kayden of Growing Up Paleo and Rowan taking on the zip line like the big kids. Even after Kayden’s spectacular landing, the first thing he said was, “Let’s do it again!!”

Overall, the parties were successful, the kids had a blast, and my little boys are another year older but somehow I’m still only 25.  Amazing how that works, isn’t it??

Happy birthdays to my sweet little Row Row and my big guy Jaden!

Sarah Fragoso

Sarah Fragoso is an international best selling author of 6 books, co-owner of the Chico, CA based gym JS Strength and Conditioning, and founder of the Everyday Paleo franchise. Sarah is the co-host of the popular Sarah and Dr. Brooke Show podcast and she also conducts workshops and retreats on the subjects of nutrition, lifestyle and fitness.

Her message is from the heart and she carries a genuine desire to help other families looking for guidance. These attributes have contributed to her successes and provide the drive to keep the discoveries coming.

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40 Comments

  1. Rachel says:

    The cake looks delicious! Are you sharing the recipe?! What’s the whipped-cream-looking topping?

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Rachel, as stated in the post, I ordered the cake mix from White Lion Baking Company. We topped the cake with fruit and homemade whipped cream. : )

    2. Angela says:

      Hi I have been trying to find the place to order on line with no luck. Any ideas?

      1. It looks like they’ve discontinued their business 🙁

        1. jennifer says:

          Supposedly, they are selling their company to a Denver based company who will be taking White Lion national no later than June of 2012. Fingers crossed!

  2. Rachel says:

    That cake looks delicious! Are you sharing the recipe?

  3. Rachel says:

    Sorry about the double post:)

  4. Rachel says:

    Very excited because we live very close to Brookline MA and look forward to trying white lion!

  5. Oshrat says:

    Looks good, but it’s hard to find good things here in Canada, I made my son chocolate cake. with dark chocolate chips and no flour and no sugar, was really good.

    1. Trevor says:

      I’m from Canada to. Would you be able to post that recipe?

      1. Oshrat says:

        Trevor:
        Sorry it took me a while to respond here is the chocholate cake I make for my son :
        6 ounce dark chocolate chips
        1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
        3 large eggs
        1/2 cup cocoa
        1/4 teaspoon salt
        1 teaspoon vanilla
        •For Glaze:
        2 ounce chocolate chips make sure it’s dark chocolate
        1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
        1 1/2 teaspoon milk OR coconut milk
        1 1/2 teaspoons honey
        1/8 teaspoon vanilla
        Preparation:
        Preheat oven to 350°F
        oil a 7-inch tart pan with removable bottom with cooking spray. If you don’t have a tart pan, use a 6 to 7-inch springform pan.
        1.Melt 6 ounces chocolate and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until chocolate and butter are melted and smooth.
        Remove pan from heat. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. The mixture will look smooth and glossy.
        Whisk coco into mixture until the cake batter is smooth.
        Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes. The center of the cake should be just firm to the touch, but be careful to not overbake the cake or it will be dry.
        Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.To prepare the glaze, melt 2 ounces of chocolate and 1 1/2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in the same saucepan you used to make the cake. When melted and smooth, remove the pan from heat. Add milk and honey and vanilla and stir until smooth and glossy. Let the glaze cool for about 3 minutes before pouring it on the cake.
        Pour all of the glaze in the middle of the cake. Use a silicone or rubber spatula to spread the glaze evenly over the cake, allowing the glaze to evenly run down the sides of the cake.

  6. I think we should do a “Sarah Fragoso is STILL 25″ internet campaign! I’m thinking a poster mock up is in order!!”

  7. Laura says:

    Thank you so much for your post! My son will be turning one in December, and he will have a White Lion Baking Company cake! You did such a great job on both parties, and I’m sure your boys will remember this birthday for years to come 🙂

  8. Happy Birthday kiddo’s. I just found White Lion Baking Co an placed my first order. I am super excited. I am very new to Paleo and am excited about exploring through it.

  9. Katherine says:

    Thanks so much for linking to White Lion Baking Co. It will be great to give some of their products a try. Love your blog and site, too!

  10. Pam S. says:

    It is frustrating about the gluten free baking mixes I’ve seen in the stores. I just used one this past weekend in fact to make brownies (even though it included rice flour so it was not “paleo”) but most disconcerting was the amount of sugar they put into the mix. They came out incredibly sweet and I’m not used to that now.
    So I think it is worth it to try and make my own birthday cake when it rolls around so I can control the ingredients.
    The White Lion mixes look good, great idea, but more than I want to pay.

  11. Silvana says:

    The cake and the muffins look amazing! I have been following your blog for a while now and I use it as a reference and inspiration all the time. My boys are very similar in age to yours – one just turned 8 last month and the other one will be 4 next month. The kids are not eating paleo for every meal but I try my best to give them real food. I really like your school lunch ideas and my older son loves to eat boiled egg wrapped in ham. Thank you for writing this blog! Keep it up 🙂

  12. Super! Thank you SO much for telling where to get great cake! I have tried dozens of gluten free options and so many are gaggers! Thanks!

  13. Sarah J says:

    HAHAHA… is no one going to comment on little Kayden’s landing?? What a trooper!

    1. Sarah says:

      We are STILL laughing at Kayden’s landing! It was hilarious!

    2. chrissy says:

      I think that was a text book landing! 😉 Hilarious and so glad he was unharmed and ready to do it again! Thanks for the post Sarah!

      1. Trevor says:

        I wasn’t sure who did the belly flop, I’m not a parent and it still scared me. Then I watched it again and laughed.

        Both of them did an awesome job.

        And I envy them, I still haven’t gone on a zip line and they have and my Mother who is 64 has to. It’s in my bucket list, even if I have to do it at 80. lol

  14. Looks like a lot of fun and wonderful food. 🙂

    I’ve been cooking with coconut flour recipes from Cooking With Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife. So far everything has been tasty. 🙂 Still have plenty of recipes to try, though. lol

    Thanks for the review of White Lion. Always good to have alternatives.

  15. Jessica says:

    You are only 25?! Me too! :o)

    1. And she married a younger man 🙂

  16. Michelle says:

    I love following your posts as a newly converted follower and living in the UK it has been a challenge as not all ingredients are available here its been a learning curve but find your post very helpful.
    Happy birthday boys

  17. OMG! Rowan is too cute! I am a little green Sarah! You are blessed to have such an amazing family! I wish y’all many more birthdays!!!

  18. Hey Sarah, sounds like and looks like SO much fun! I’m relieved to hear those cake mixes are good – some of the others in recipe books or on blogs are SO labor intensive – it’d be nice to have some mixes around that I can count ont! Thanks again!

    1. Sarah says:

      These are not too difficult at all, just pour mix in some eggs, oil, vanilla, etc., and bake!

  19. NICOLE says:

    I have a birthday this weekend and your cream cheese frosting looks awesome but sadly I can’t find out how you made it. What’s the breakdown on the frosting?!

    1. Sarah says:

      For 1 8 oz container of cream cheese, mix in 2 tablespoons heavy cream and about 1/4 cup of honey (more or less depending on how sweet you like it. Also add about 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. If you like a lot of frosting, one 8 oz container will cover 9-12 muffins.

      1. NICOLE says:

        Thanks Sarah, this frosting will go great with the carrot cake I plan on making. Other frostings I was looking at calls for a ton of sugar.

        1. Sarah says:

          You are very welcome!

  20. Your kids are possible the luckiest kids in the world!

  21. andrea says:

    new to your blog loving it so far!
    i cant find the cinnamon roll/cupcake recipe. my girls are gf and we are doing a modified gaps diet. they soooo miss a treat like this. thank you!
    ps my daughters bday is 10/27 too =)

    1. I use this recipe for the cinnamon bun muffins from Elana’s Pantry but I sub raw organic honey instead of the agave nectar and coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil. http://www.elanaspantry.com/cinnamon-bun-muffins/

      Or you can order a mix from White Lion Baking Company found here: http://www.whitelionbakingco.com/

  22. This post is making me so hungry!!! The cake and cupcakes look absolutely delicious! I have a dairy allergy…would coconut oil be just as good as using grass fed butter? Or are there some other substitutions?

    1. Yes, you can use coconut oil! : )

  23. Rebecca says:

    As copied from White Lion’s website today: “White Lion Baking Company has realized that it cannot continue to operate in its current state or expand without a major influx of cash, labor, and effort and without incurring a considerable amount of stress.  Therefore, we have decided to discontinue taking orders.  We’ve seen that there is a niche for paleo, grain-free, gluten-free baked goods in the US and beyond, and we’d love to see the torch passed on to a group with more energy and resources.  If you’re interested in taking over the reins, please contact us.”

    Are you able to post the cinnamon bun muffin recipe? Have not had luck in contacting White Lion…

  24. NC Girl 1016 says:

    According to White Lion’s Facebook page they will restart their business in the Spring of 2012.

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