Molasses Cake from Kathleen Grissom's The Kitchen House (Gluten Free & Vegan)

Recently over dinner, one of my best friends said she has a proposition for me. Immediately, I thought she was going to come up with a brilliant idea for a money making start-up. I began imagining myself as a COO of a hip, up-and-coming, company filled with smart and innovative talent. She interrupted my revelry with an announcement about putting together a book club. I smiled, while my get rich quick hopes were dashed and we discussed the details. In all seriousness, the book club was a great idea! Five us meet monthly to discuss books, motherhood, life, and a variety of other female-centric topics.

Last month's pick was Kathleen's Grissom's, The Kitchen House, a novel set in the plantation South in the late 1700's/early 1800's. The book centers around, Lavinia, an orphaned, Irish indentured servant who finds herself on the plantation of sea captain. The book follows Lavinia as she's adopted by the slaves in charge of keeping the home and tending to the family to her life as an adult woman. It's a fascinating story that deals with themes of racism, grief, drug addiction, rape, and child abuse all while weaving a beautifully accurate tale of life in the rural south at the time of the Revolutionary War and the slave trade.

Another reason why I enjoyed the book, is because it came with a delicious recipe for a Molasses Cake, which was made for a character in the novel named Belle. I decided to adapt the recipe to be gluten free and vegan. The cake turned out to be very moist, but is a bit of an acquired taste. Molasses tends to be a bit bitter and has a very rich deep flavor. If you've never had it before, its definitely very unique. I felt like the cake needed acid so I made a berry creme frosting to ice it.

Gluten Free & Vegan Molasses Cake
(adapted from Kathleen Grissom's The Kitchen House)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 tbsp chia seeds with 3 tbsp water
1/2 cup coconut milk or another milk alternative
1 cup of molasses
3/4 cup tapioca flour
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 hazelnut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 dashes of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt

Process:
1. Mix all wet ingredients in a bowl, then add dry ingredients

2. Beat well with a mixer or whisk

3. Pour mixture in a greased 8x8 pan or a pan of your choice (I used a heart-shaped pan)

4. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, turn off oven and leave in for another 5-8 minutes

5. Remove and let cool

6. Once cool, you can ice it (recipe below)

7. Enjoy!

Tart Berry Glaze
Ingredients:
1 cup mixed berries
1/2 coconut milk
1 heaping tbsp cashew butter

Process:
1. Mix all ingredients an blend in Vitamix

2. Glaze on cooled cake