discovery

A good friend had a birthday on the weekend and she is gluten free. Gluten free baking is hard. You don't always get the right texture and flavour. I have had a few successes and some failures. But I was determined to make it work. I returned to my cookbooks and came across a beautiful book that J. bought me last year called Red Velvet and Chocolate Heartache written by Harry Eastwood. I wanted the book because it looked amazing but never really thought about the actual recipes. What I didn't realize at the time was that it was a gluten free book that is also vegan.  I am a firm believer in eggs and butter but I had all the ingredients so I thought it was worth the try. I decide on the Cherry Brandy Chocolate Cupcakes. Harry (I love a boy's name for a girl) has cheeky write ups to go with each recipe and this recipe matched my friend. Sassy and bold it had a deep sweet richness brought on by quality cocoa powder. Instead of butter I swapped in butternut squash and I used almond flour and rice flour. The cupcake itself had a rich cocoa taste without being too sweet. I made the frosting which is comprised of 90% icing sugar....delicious. I wasn't sure at first but in the end it was the most moist gluten free item I've baked. At the end of the night there were on 2 out of the 12 left. So I guess it was a hit, although I still love eggs and butter in a cake this is definitely an option for the vegan friends.

opening the floodgates

After a week of strict restrictions, week two seemed like a breeze because I slowly introduced wheat, eggs, soy and dairy back into the diet. Added sugar was still out but that was okay because I had Flying Apron’s book, which was gluten free, vegan and used barely any sugar.

I’ve been really enjoying her savoury section in particular her soup one. I made the Potato, Leek & Sorrel soup and it was delicious! It had subtle yet complex layered flavours it also had spinach blended in it with our 80’s immersion style blender called Robot Susan (that’s what the package called it).

By mid-week I was ready for something sweet so I made the Wondie Bars. GF oat, mixed with raspberries and blueberries, olive oil and some corn flour. It was a little crumbly but was sweet and crunchy all rolled into one.

When the week drew to a close I kicked it off in my usually weekend bake style and tried the Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes. I used no eggs, butter or processed sugar (the holy trinity of baking). Instead the substitutes were banana, olive oil and a maple syrup, agave nectar combo. I brought it to a friend’s house and didn’t say a word. It was big hit! The texture was crumbly (a common occurrence in Flying Apron’s book) but the cupcake had a nice chocolate depth and richness I didn’t expect from a vegan recipe. I’m not saying I’m converted because I love eggs, butter and sugar, I just thought it was a nice alternative for those with food restrictions. And of course it was gluten free.

Flying high from my past successes I tried to up the ante and make the Blueberry Cinnamon Scones. I used garbanzo bean flour, my first mistake. It smelled a little like peanut butter but had none of its texture and binding power. I was not impressed because they came out dry, crumbly and a little lack luster in flavour. Thumbs down for sure on this one. J said they were fine but every time I picked them up they would explode in a crumbly mess and left a sticky dry texture in my mouth upon eating them. Ho hum indeed.

Next up the Indian Pockets (Gluten free bread wrapped around a warm yummy filling, two recipes in one). I think I like the savoury more than the sweet. And even though I had a few successes I really think baked goods need a little egg and butter to hold it all together.