Crumbs Gluten Free

Cupcakes, as a rule, should be delicious.  I think we can all agree that cupcakes are the world's compromise on what kind of cake to eat.  Why choose one flavor of cake for a gathering when we can get a few of these, and a few of these, and a few of those?

However, as another harsh slap in the face to those of us with Celiac, sometimes gluten free cupcakes are down right bad.  A bad cupcake may sound like an oxymoron, but let me tell you, it's possible and they are lurking out there.  Even on the glossy streets of New York City.  I won't name names, because that's not my style, but they are there.

Crumbs cupcakes, also as a rule, are decadent and delicious.  But until this week, they were way off limits to those of us with Celiac as they were basically baseball sized hunks of gluten rolled in sugar and pretty colors and fairy dust.  Lucky for us, on October 3rd Crumbs opened it's first dedicated gluten and peanut free store.  Crumbs Gluten Free is located in New York City at 37 East 8th Street between Broadway and University.

I went on Thursday and was really impressed.  They had samples and I was able to try the vanilla coconut, red velvet, and some chocolate something or other.  I got a small carrot cake cupcake to take with me and it was really good.  So were the samples.  They have all their regular flavors and some other baked goods available that I did not try.

Thanks for making this happen Crumbs.  I'll definitely be back.

Main Line Baking Co.

Ok, so my last post was about eating healthy on the road, and this one is about a bakery...oops?  But everyone needs some sweets in their lives, and this is just what I got at Main Line Baking Co.  I have tried a few of Main Line Baking Co.'s treats at G-Free NYC, but this was my first time visiting.

The bakery is very simple and located inside the Wynnewood Train Station in Wynnewood, PA outside of Philly.  They have cupcakes, muffins, cookies, brownies, pound cake, coffee cake, and they even cater.  Everything they have is gluten free and dairy free.  There is nowhere to sit, but it's a great treat for people commuting into Philly - gluten free or not.

I tried a vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting.  The cupcake was very light (compared to many gluten free cupcakes that are often too dense) and the frosting wasn't too sweet.  I also got a piece of coffee cake to take with me.  They were both very good.

If you aren't in the Philly area, Main Line Baking Co. treats are also offered at other locations in PA, NJ, and NYC.  Enjoy!

Gluten Free Agave Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

After bringing baked goods to my brother's event a few weeks ago, a woman wanted to hire me to make a carrot cake for her daughter's birthday!  She wanted it gluten free and refined sugar free.  Yikes.  I knew I could use agave, but I had never baked with it before.  I got started on test batches immediately.

It turned out to be very easy to substitute agave for sugar.  According to advice I read on various websites, I ended up using 1/4 a cup more flour and 1/3 cup less sweetener than my original recipe called for.  This is to compensate for substituting a liquid sweetener for a solid one.

I bought agave from Trader Joe's.  It was less than half the price of the agave at my local health food store ($3 vs. $8 per bottle).  You'll need 2 cups total of agave for this recipe, which is two of these bottles:

This is a really easy recipe.  I like it because it only requires one bowl.  I do not like it because you have to grate a pound of carrots.  Don't let this deter you, that's the hardest part by far.  This recipe is for a 10 inch round cake, but you can make it a different size and simply alter the cooking time.

Ingredients
Cake:
4 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1 pound grated carrots
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 cups Bob's All Purpose GF Flour, and 3/4 cup rice flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/3 cup agave

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 a stick)
8 ounces cream cheese (I used low fat, but it works either way)
2/3 cups agave
1 tsp vanilla

To Do:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• Stir together the eggs and applesauce
• Grate the carrots and add them to the bowl
• Add the vanilla and stir
• Add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and agave.  Stir.
• Pour the batter into a greased 10 inch round cake pan and bake for 45 minutes
• Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting
• To make the frosting: beat together the butter, cream cheese, agave, and vanilla until smooth

Not only is this recipe gluten free and made with agave, but I like to pretend it's healthy because it has applesauce instead of over a cup of butter.  The applesauce and agave make it really moist.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Baking Class

These are snickerdoodles.  Not gluten free.

Right before I left for Mexico I went to a private baking class at Ivy Bakery in Brooklyn.  My man friend had gotten me the class for my birthday last year.  I love baking so it was a great present but I kept having scheduling conflicts so I didn’t use it for a long time.  This turned out to be a good thing because months later when I found out I was gluten intolerant I was at a loss for how to bake without regular flour.  In fact, thinking I couldn’t bake anymore made me sad.  In high school Richie Fries said he’d marry me for my snickerdoodles.  He might not remember it, but I do.  So when I found out I couldn’t use regular flour anymore, I thought I couldn’t bake, and then who’d want to marry me?  Fortunately, I now know I can bake with or without gluten.

Daniellan Louie of Ivy Bakery is about my age and opened her own bakery when she was only 20.  That is pretty impressive.  Last Friday I took an hour and a half train ride from my home in Queens to her shop in the bottom of Brooklyn.  The kitchen of her small shop is tiny.  I was given a small workspace, sanitized utensils to prevent gluten cross contamination, a recipe, all the ingredients, and she told me to get to work.  With Daniellan’s guidance I made gluten free banana bread and gluten free carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  They were both extremely easy, much like the regular gluten recipes, and delicious.  I worked with an all purpose gluten free flour mixture, rice flour, and quinoa flour.  I don’t like quinoa and I learned that I don’t like quinoa flour either.  I’m sure I’ll post about quinoa soon.  Preview: I think it’s gross.

Daniellan uses oil instead of butter in her gluten free baking because she says that butter doesn’t mix as well with gluten free flours for some reason.  This was good to learn.  All that oil kind of creeped me out though, so I think next time I’ll use at least half applesauce instead (also so I can pretend I’m being healthy).  I’m not sure it’ll work, but I’ll give it a try.  I also used xantham gum for the first time.  This is supposed to make gluten free baked goods rise.  Or do something.  I’ve heard from some people you need it and some people you don’t.  I’m too cheap to buy it, and I can’t spell or pronounce it, so I pretty much refuse to buy it unless I determine I really need it.

The class was fun and I’m glad I finally went.  I now have the confidence that I can bake gluten free, which means I’m eligible for marriage again.  Phew.  And of course I can still bake with gluten, which I’ve done only once since going gluten free.

Daniellan does regular baking as well as allergy free baking.  If you are looking for an adventure, head to her store in Brooklyn.  She’s also opening a shop in Manhattan soon, or you can get your baked goods delivered.  Need a gift idea for your girlfriend/daughter/cousin/friend?  A baking class is a nice idea, unless that would offend her.  In that case, get your own idea.

Update: I now offer my own baking classes!