Gluten Free Baking Class – Cakes!

It was a beautiful Sunday. The sun decided to come out of hiding.

I was up and out of the house early leaving me tons of stress free time to scale out and have most things ready for me and my bake class Peep Stef.

On the menu today: carrot cake and pineapple upside down cake, both gluten-free. The ingredients we were working with included sugar, eggs, rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, carrots, walnuts, brown sugar and pineapples.

Here is the carrot cake batter all ready for the oven.

Fresh from the oven and into the blast chiller.

Bring out the cake turners.

Cake sliced in half perfectly. Getting ready to ice the carrot cake with what else? Cream cheese icing.

Roughly iced. I had intentions of finishing it off at home to make it look a little less “rustic” but it ended up over at my parent’s neighbours house before I even took it out of the box. Hope he enjoyed it!

The pineapple upside down is one of my mom’s favourites. I definitely knew this cake was not coming home with me.

First down is the butter and brown sugar glaze and the pineapple slices. Some maraschino cherries for colour.

Cake batter on top.

Freshly baked and quickly turned over.

Voila! Classic.

Super smooth and soft texture. Even with all the sugar glaze we used, it was not overwhelmingly sweet.

I was not able to try the carrot cake, but at least I was able to grab a couple of slices of the pineapple cake. I loved the soft texture of this cake. It was almost like a cheesecake but not one ounce of cheese was used here. I still don’t believe it was gluten-free. Fantastic. =)

Gluten-Free Banana Walnut Nutella Loaf

“What would I do without your smart mouth? Drawing me in, and you kicking me out. You’ve got my head spinning, no kidding, I can’t pin you down. What’s going on in that beautiful mind? I’m on your magical mystery ride. And I’m so dizzy, don’t know what hit me, but I’ll be alright.” John Legend – All of me

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So typical, what else does one make when they have bananas they need to use up? Banana loaf. This time however, this isn’t just a plain old banana loaf, it’s a gluten-free banana walnut Nutella loaf.

For this recipe, alongside bananas, I am using Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free flour and coconut sugar.

A one bowl recipe, I mixed oil, eggs, coconut sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla, gluten-free flour and xanthan gum. In the world of gluten-free baking, xanthan gum plays the important role of imitating gluten. In baking, gluten is what makes dough “doughy.” It gives the dough elasticity, as well as viscosity. Those properties help to hold a cookie together while it bakes on a sheet in the oven, and they enable cakes and breads to hold onto the gas bubbles that form inside them – this allows them to rise and take shape. Xanthan gum helps replicate these properties in recipes that do not contain gluten. I then added walnuts for some crunch and my ever favourite Nutella. A few spoonfuls.

Into the oven and after 50 minutes…

I tried to have no expectations with this recipe. For me, it was pure experimentation, just trying to put flavours I enjoy in one place. I was pleasantly surprised. The bread was soft and moist. The sweetness came from the bananas mostly and there was a perfectly subtle Nutella taste in each bite. This bread has an excellent chance of being made over and over again. =)

Gluten Free Brownies

I have just discovered my new FAVE brownie recipe. I know, I know, I said that the last time I made brownies, but seriously, this is the best batch of brownies I have ever had. You want chocolaty? You want really gooey and chewy? Nutty? And to top it off Gluten free? Then you want these brownies!!

It starts with melting dark chocolate and butter over a double boiler.