A Thanksgiving Gift to You

Thanksgiving is next week and one little thing that I'm thankful for is dessert. Does that sound silly? Maybe it wouldn't if you'd spent 18 years going without dessert! That's what I did. You see, I can't have sugar and all the artificial sweetners taste, well... artificial. (Sugar tastes really 'chemical' to me now, too!) I don't know why I can't have sugar. I just know what it does to me. I never bothered having tests run, because I figure they would just say "yep, you're allergic to sugar, so avoid it." What's the sense in paying for that?!

I tried a few things that were sweetened with honey... cookies, cake, etc., but lets be honest... most of them taste like sweetened cardboard. So, I chose to just go without dessert, until one day when I happened on a frozen cherry pie that said it was sweetened with fruit juice only. I decided to give it a try and OH MAN, it was goooood! Eventually, I clued into the fact that this couldn't be that hard to make and so I came up with my own cherry pie, peach pie and a fabulous apple pie.

After giving a dear friend a slice of peace pie, she went back to the doctors office she worked at and told a doctor how great this pie was. Since he dealt with a lot of diabetic patients, he was interested and from there, I wrote a cookbook consisting of sugar-free, chemical sweetener free, desserts. It was quite an experinence. I'm not really that into cooking. (Don't tell!) But, this was a project I could sink my teeth into. Literally. Happily! And so, Return to the Garden was born.

I love this cookbook. The cover is a drawing I did of my sister and I from an old photo. (My sister died of leukemia two years ago. The same photo graces the cover of the CD she made - she has an incredible voice! Yes... has. That's not a typo. She's living in Heaven now and her voice is even more amazing! I can hardly wait to see her again and to hear her sing with her 'new voice'. I can hardly wait to sing with my own new voice, either... since the one I have now is less than spectacular, but we won't talk about that right now.

This Thanksgiving, I want to share a dessert from my book with you. One that even sugar addicts enjoy! (If you don't tell them there is no sugar, they'll never know.)

Spice Cake
4 eggs
2 10 ounce jars apricot jam (unsweetened)
1 1/3 C vegetable oil
2 1/2 C flour
1 C grated carrots
2 1/2 C grated zucchini
2 tsp. each of baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon
1 tsp. each of ground cloves, allspice and powdered ginger
1/2 tsp. each of nutmeg and salt

Icing:
1 8oz. pkg. softened cream cheese
1 10oz. jar of apricot jam (unsweetened)
1 tsp. nutmeg

In large mixing bowl, with a fork, combine all dry ingredients. Set aside.
On high speed mix wet ingredients. Add to dry. Mix thoroughly. Pour into large, oiled casserole cake pan.
Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, or until inserted knife comes out clean. Allow to cool.
In small mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, Apricot jam and nutmeg till smooth and fluffy. Spread evenly over top of cake and serve.
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If you'd prefer less oil, use 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce and 1/3 cup vegetable oil --- instead of 1 1/3 cups oil.

This cake tastes pleasingly sweet and spicy, with a lovely moist, cakey texture. (Your kids won't mind eating their fruit and vegetables at all with this one!)

Enjoy! And Happy Thanksgiving from my kitchen to yours!