No Confectioners' Sugar? No Problem.

   

   The things you learn when you don't have all the ingredients. This goes for more than food.. it sounds like my every day life, too! 

   To those of you who don't know.. I've been sick with a rundown body since June 11th. (Really, it all started back in April, but that's another day's story.) Everything from immune to adrenals to liver and kidneys and skin and blood cells... just assume anything that's supposed to work, probably isn't. With the exception of my heart, and lungs, and being alive. God has kept me through this, and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.

   So, for me to do anything much past laying in bed reading a book or sleeping- that's a big activity. Also, before all this happened I was super energetic, worked out a lot, ran several miles a day, cooked 2-3 meals per day, and so on. Guess this girl learned that even young folks need to learn to not pile too much on their plate at once. Even WE need sleep. Can you imagine? 

   Lately it's been improving to where I can do one load of laundry. Or take one bath. Or make a very simple, small meal. Well, today I made me man a Lemon Blueberry coffee cake. Well, that's what the recipe said anyway. Turned out, I didn't have any blueberries.. but I had this smoothie blend my husband had made (not a smoothie yet, just the fruits) mostly consisting of blackberries and raspberries with a few blueberries. The recipe called for a cup, so I measured out a cup, and mixed it with my lightly beaten egg, by 1/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup rice milk (did I mention I don't eat gluten or dairy now, among many other banned foods? So I didn't have any regular dairy on hand, and surprisingly, rice milk tastes fantastic in baked goods.) and 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest. The flour mix (my shortcut to baking, also homemade) was in there as well, and actually the berries were added last. Into my round baking pan it went, to the oven, and baked for 25 minutes. 

   Then I realized.. 'oh.. I don't have any confectioners' sugar for the frosting! Hm...' I scrounged through my cabinets seeing what I could find for a substitute. Then I came across the white chocolate in my freezer. Ooh! I bet this would taste good. But upon looking up recipes on the internet, it seemed even all the white chocolate frosting recipes called for the same kind of sugar I did not have. Now it was time for some improvising. I took three 1-ounce blocks off my baking bar. I placed them in a pan, over low heat, and waited for them to melt, stirring occasionally. After it was completely liquified, I put about a 1/4 cup of rice milk in the microwave for 15 seconds, then gradually poured it into the chocolate, blending after each small addition. After that I added 3 teaspoons of lemon juice (The recipe called for 4, but I'd already put in that milk, so I figured 3 would do.) It looked and smelled delicious, so I placed it on the back of the stove, to stay warm -and not harden!- while the cake finished in the oven.

   My cake is now on the counter cooling, it's time to take it out of the pan and frost it with white chocolate goodness. I'll post pictures tonight, when my husband gets home and will enjoy it. My camera battery is charging right now, otherwise I could have gotten pictures of the melting process! 

   Recipe to follow tonight! 

With Love and Joy,
~The Wooden Spoon Girl