Adopt A Gluten-Free Blogger-Johnna of 52 Sweets

I met Johnna in Washington DC at Eat Write Retreat when we ended up being gluten-free roomies. I had never heard of her blogs, 52 Sweets, or 52 Donuts, or Beyond 52, or 52 Foods on a Stick, before the conference and was delighted to meet this bubbly, energetic and fun blogger. She was up and into her pink running shoes at the crack of dawn and bouncing out the door to do a run around DC before the conference started while I dawdled in bed and drank all the hotel room coffee. Both of us fell hard for the Lindsay olives we sampled during the conference and she has been promising to make an olive cake since May. When I saw her post last month with the promised cake, I knew who I was adopting this month for Sea Maiden of Book of Yum’s Adopt A Gluten-Free Blogger. Go read about Johnna and her journey to lose half of her body weight and check out her business. It makes perfect sense to me that she owns a balloon business and she does parties.

I didn’t stray from the list of ingredients for Johnna’s Black Olive Cake except for the yogurt. I really tried to use the brand Johnna used, but they only had fruity flavors of Amande at the nearest healthy food store that carries this dairy-free yogurt. I substituted Greek yogurt since we go easy on the dairy, but use the real thing occasionally without problems. I have to say I wasn’t sure about using all those olives in the recipe, and I confess to eating quite a few as I made mixed up the batter. I was hoping I wasn’t going to waste 2 cans of olives and be disappointed. But the smell of this cake baking was delicious, so I was getting over my hesitation about an olive cake way before the thing came out of the oven. Those baking green onions were filling the house with a lovely scent. It turned out moist, tender and savory. The olives get almost buttery. I would serve this with a beautiful lunch salad or with a steaming bowl of soup and call it a meal. Of course that’s if there was any left. This cake is addicting and my son and I had several slices for taste-testing purposes before we served it with a meal. It was even good with a cup of tea. I will definitely be making Johnna’s olive cake again. Soon.

Johnna is taking on a new challenge this year with 52 Sweets that cost $5.20 or less for 4 servings and the first post is Chocomole. She is also helping me start a new project on the blog. On Friday I will announce my new series, In My Gluten-Free Kitchen, and share my kitchen story. Johnna will be my first guest the following week and the photos of her in her kitchen are so fun, just like she is. I have the next 9 months booked with guest posts from gluten-free bloggers ready to let you peek into their kitchens and they will share their gluten-free cooking tips.

Visit Book of Yum for the rest of the adoption posts later this month.