Fork and Beans

Making food fun for the family

Gluten-free Strawberry Shortcake

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Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake

The essence of samsara is this tendency that we have to seek pleasure and avoid pain, to seek security and avoid groundlessness, to seek comfort and avoid discomfort. The basic teaching is that that is how we keep ourselves miserable, unhappy, and stuck in a very small, limited view of reality. That is how we keep ourselves enclosed in a cocoon. If we feel ill at ease, we just fill in those gaps. Our mind is always seeking zones of safety. We’re in this zone of safety and that’s what we consider life, getting it all together, security. Death is losing that. That’s what we fear, that’s what makes us anxious. We spend all of our energy and waste our lives trying to re-create these zones of safety, which are always falling apart. That’s samsara.

Strawberry Shortcakes made with a gluten free biscuit and fresh macadamia nut whipped cream!

The opposite of samsara is when all the walls fall down, when the cocoon completely disappears and we are totally open to whatever may happen, with no withdrawing, no centralizing into ourselves. That is what we aspire to, the warrior’s journey.  That’s what stirs us and inspires us: leaping, being thrown out of the nest, going through the initiation rites, growing up, stepping into something that’s uncertain and unknown.

Strawberry Shortcakes made with a gluten free biscuit and fresh macadamia nut whipped cream! 

Samsara is preferring death to life.  When you find yourself with these old, familiar feelings of anxiety because your world is falling apart and you’re not measuring up to your image of yourself and everybody is irritating you beyond words because no one is doing what you want and you feel terrible about yourself and your whole life is fraught with emotional misery and confusion and conflict, at that point just remember that you’re going through all this emotional upheaval because your coziness has just been, in some small or large way, addressed. Basically, you do prefer life and warriorship to death.

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Gluten-free Strawberry Shortcake

  • Author: Fork & Beans
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 20 mins
  • Yield: 6 biscuits 1x
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Ingredients

  • 1 c. Cara’s All Purpose Flour Blend
  • 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
  • pinch of sea salt
  • 1 Tbsp. Earth Balance, chilled
  • 1 Tbsp. shortening
  • 1/3 c coconut cream, canned

Top with:

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flours, starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and sugar.
  3. Cut in butter and shortening. Mix in coconut cream. Your batter should be thick at this point.
  4. Drop by spoonfuls (approx 3″ sized biscuits) onto a baking sheet. Spray the tops with with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkle with raw sugar.
  5. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until brown. Allow to cool.
  6. Serve with fresh berries and a raw macadamia nut whipped cream

 

Namastasty

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Now that the company MimiCreme has gone out of business, what do you suggest using in its place?

    • NO WAY! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh! That makes me seriously so sad to hear 🙁 You can always use coconut milk since it’s thick and creamy or go ahead and just use whatever non-dairy milk you love baking with. Soy milk bakes beautifully, so does almond 🙂 Need more suggestions? Just let me know! xo

  2. love the thoughtfulness and beauty woven here. a very beautiful post, and a gorgeous dessert! and a big yes to life!

  3. Gorgeous post, I love it.
    When things get really scary, there is still dessert. Everything will be ok in the end. If it’s not ok, it’s not the end. Eat more dessert. 🙂

  4. All of those berries and a light shortcake… It’s pretty much the essence of summer!

    This is such an interesting post about how the things that we think we crave – security, safety – are also the things that can trap us in misery and separate us from our dreams and goals. Of course, that’s hard to remember when everything feels on edge and new! Still, when I think about the people whose lives I most want to emulate, it’s those who are having adventures, chasing dreams, and looking at fear in the face and saying, “Show me what you’ve got.”

    • You are so right, Cadry. We have to be careful with what we wish for–you never know the road it takes to get it. And usually the things worthwhile require a path that is difficult but worth it. xo

  5. As I read your post, I chuckle to myself…how is it you always know exactly what words reveal my life and fears? Today – I am unfettered by the fear of not knowing even though it is also unfettered by a job having been fired last week for wanting to leave. I say…Life, Bring it! Love, Me

    • Sometimes we just have to realize that the “bad” and unexpected things that happen should be our companions instead of our enemies to be resisted. I love and admire your tenacity in life, Meg. You are a true warrior, friend. xo

  6. Gorgeous Cara – how did you know Strawberry Shortcake was my all time favorite childhhood dessert? Oh wait, is that because it’s everyone’s? Maybe….looks so good!

  8. i second brooke. i need a load of these pretty shortcakes. and you my lady need a vacay to the northwest! i will lend you a fluffy pillow which licks your face on demand.

  9. Aww Cara I love your perspective! When things bother you, it’s because you care and want a better world 🙂

    This shortcake is the perfect summer treat- nothing like highlighting fresh berries!

  10. YOU, lady, are perfect as you are. Right now. In this minute. Tell Cara if she disagrees with me I’m gonna hafta take her back to the wood shed and give her what for. Then I’ll have to take my own self back to the wood shed because I just ate all my fresh strawberries. Waa. xoxo

  11. Such a great reminder that stepping out of our comfort zone is a good thing. And such a good reminder for me to get some berry shortcake into my life. This looks absolutely wonderful, Cara!

  13. Gosh Cara you are so deep, I think I need to put on my life list “become as deep and nutured in inspirational life as Cara” serious girl , this post blew me away and went straight to the heart.

    Love LOVE the Shorty cakes too – adorable!

    • Wow, I am so touched to know that this spoke to your heart. The beauty of words. I love that. Thank you for reading it and being open to whatever it might teach you, friend. It’s been kicking my butt as of late 🙂 xo

  15. I actually kind of needed this today. I need to see that what I fear, which is failure, really isn’t truly failure. Failure is when I never try to see if it could happen. Death is not failure, it is just a reminder of why we live.

    AND OMG, that shortcake looks amazing!

    • Yeah that need to be perfect can suck the life right out of you, can’t it? It’s funny because you think, if I never fail and remain perfect as I can, *then* I can experience life and never have to worry…when the truth is, that mentality only keeps you in the depths of anxiety and frustration; so desperate to keep your world orderly that you end up driving yourself mad attempting to do so. This is a lesson I need daily.

      So happy it spoke to your heart, friend. xo

  16. Looks great, Cara! You think about life an awful lot, it intimidates me a bit. Is it bad that I just sort of trundle along in optimistic self-confidence?

    • I do think about life a lot, you are right! ha. Partly because I have no job currently and all I have is time on my hands. Plus, this is what happens when SO much change occurs in life–you have to start to prioritize and clean house. I promise I’m not sitting in a corner with a cigarrette in hand, deeply thinking about this stuff always. It’s just what pops into my head at times 🙂 ha!