Pretty In Pink ~ Lemon Lime Cakes with Coconut Frosting

Yep, that day is here.

Love it or dread it, it’s pretty much a national holiday.

For those of you who dread it, this is for you, courtesy of my friend Julie on Facebook. Ha!

Thankfully, I’ve never had reason to dread it. Tony and I have been together for 24 years and who really cares about Valentine’s Day prior to those years? It’s the 24 that count and he’s made all of them special in his own way.

This morning he surprised me with three gorgeous, pink Lillies. I oohed and ahhed over them; I love to get flowers!

Then he said, “Wait!” and he ran down to the basement.

He came up the stairs with a huge, beautiful, white lily plant. He knew I was sad because I had to leave all of my beautiful plants behind when we moved to New Hampshire. They wouldn’t have survived the moving company and it was too cramped in the trailer.

He asked the florist to put it in a pretty basket because he knows I love baskets.

He’s thoughtful like that.

Aren’t I lucky?

Then, he ran off to Brooklyn. Thankful he has a job in today’s world, I’m certainly not complaining.

He’ll be back tomorrow and we’ll celebrate again this weekend. Having him for 23 other Valentine’s Days makes it easier to just appreciate what we have right now. There’s no heart break if it isn’t a perfect day where we spend every moment together, because we can make any day, Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day (or Vodka day) whatever suits you.

A little love from me to YOU.

I made you special little cakes to say Thank You.

I’m thankful for you and thankful that you like my little blog. I’m thankful that you’re willing to consider looking at recipes that are gluten free and dairy free. And very thankful that you don’t mind when I veer off every now and then and turn it into a travel blog, a birding blog, or a “this is what I’m doing today” blog.

I’m almost to 68,000 views. That couldn’t have happened without YOU.

I’m not much of a frosting girl, it’s the cake that interests me. And as you can see, I’m not much of a froster, either.

So please, if  you choose to make these, get creative and frost however you like, and don’t watch an hour of YouTube videos trying to learn how to frost a cupcake to look like a rose or the form of cupid or a ridiculous circus animal. Those people who can do that have special powers that normal people aren’t privy to. Just do it any way you like it, or any way it comes out of the tip like I did, or dip it or spread it with a spoon… and don’t fret.

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” ~ Mother Theresa

Lemon Lime Cakes with Coconut Frosting

*This recipe was adapted from Gluten Free Mama’s White Cake recipe.

1 1/2 Cups Mama’s Gluten Free Almond Flour Blend

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt

3/4 teaspoon Xanthan gum

1/2 Cup Earth Balance Soy Free Butter

1 Cup Sugar

1 teaspoon Pure Lemon Extract

1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

4 Egg Whites

2/3 Cup Buttermilk (Almond milk with 1/4 lemon & 1/4 lime juice)

2 Lemons (zested)

1 Lime (zested)

Frosting:

Dairy Free Butter

Powdered Sugar

Coconut Extract

Food Coloring

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pur the almond milk into a measuring cup and cut 1 lemon and lime (after zesting) into quarters. Squeeze a quarter of each into the almond milk and set aside. Fill muffin pan with liners or use cupcake cups and place on baking sheet. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum and whisk together. Set aside

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy. Running on low speed add 1 egg white at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat on high for 30 seconds. Add the zest from both lemons and the lime. Add the lemon extract and vanilla extract. On low, alternate adding flour and buttermilk until both are mixed into batter.

Fill liners 1/4 inch from top. Bake for 25-29 minutes (I use convection), or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.