the gluten free authority

Our kid had a bit of a sh-t day on Friday. Literally. I’ll let you interpret that as you will seeing that this is a site encouraging yummy things not gagging. Her poor Pops got to dealt with the aftermath of a particularly fragrant situation so he definitely needed some kind of delicious pick-me-up for dinner.

I bopped (booped?) into Memphis Blues on Commercial Drive for some ridiculous (and sadly not gluten free) pulled pork & cornbread. On my way out, dodging fat rain drops and cursing my totally inappropriate sandals, I realized Caffe Amici was right next door. 

Caffe Amici! I’d heard they were carrying goodies from Cloud 9 Specialty Bakery, which is a) dope and b) meant I didn’t have to trek out to New West to try some new gluten free treats. While stinking up the poor place with my pig, I chose a lemon square (god I love lemon), a vanilla cupcake with raspberry frosting and a tiny piccolo bun - imagine a chuck of focaccia shrunk down to the size of your hand.

Here’s the straight (gluten free) goods: whatever blend of flour they use (it’s a secret which I can totally get behind) is speckled through with dark mysteries. It’s totally sci-fi flour! Ahem, the blend lends itself well to some great textures that morph from chewy to firm. That is not easy with gluten free flours.

For the lemon square I would have preferred more lemon and less crust. That’s my thing. I could squeeze a whole lemon on top of any food and be totally content. It was not too sweet and the crust didn’t crumble all over my lap because, yes, I ate it in the car and don’t you dare judge me.

Once home I sliced that tiny bun in two and toasted it. It had the beautiful familiar herby flavours and taste of a focaccia bread, and holding folded ham slices, chunks of cheddar and enough mayo to choke a horse it made the perfect little sandwich. Why I only got one I DO NOT KNOW. For $1 each they are a terribly good bargain. My kid also enjoyed it, hanging off my waist begging for more “toatht.”

Finally, the cupcake. The remains of which you see above. Sometimes you just can’t coordinate a photo of something before it gets crammed down your throat. Take my word for it - it was pretty. Super pretty and pink with a light raspberry frosting that made me feel like a bit of a princess even as I ate it more like an ogre. The most impressive part was the cake was still pretty moist. I find a lot of gluten free cupcakes that have to be refrigerated kick ass with the frosting but the cake part gets stuck in your throat. This went down way too easily.

It says a lot about a bakery if you’re sad when all the goodies are gone. Thank you Caffe Amici for taking a chance on a seriously Italian street and foregoing traditional wheat-y Italian treats for gluten free ones instead. And thank you to Cloud 9 for creating special new flavours that make the start to a weekend that much sweeter.

(In less than sweet news, my Twitter is down. I am fighting for it to come back up, but in the meantime, find me on Facebook & Instagram (gfauthority).
I’ll keep you updated as I figure sh-t out. Blargh.)

We all grumble about the weather in Vancouver. Yes, we’ve had a heinous run of rain lately, but I am choosing to see the glass as half full. Full of local ripe berries that is. And it’s a bowl. IT STILL WORKS.

This weekend (after a much overdue haircut tonight - hello my old friend BANGS!), I am going to google ‘strawberry recipes’ and get crazy inspired. My old standard is to just wash, pluck the stem out and pop each one into my mouth, letting the earthy sweet perfume of the berry explode everywhere. It’s time I introduce them to new ingredients. (But not pepper - f-ck off with that combination.)

When I was in Victoria last weekend I went to my favourite island gluten free spot Origin Bakery. (*You like how I keep plugging the hell out of this place? Rest assured that will continue for as long as their ovens work. Their stuff is SO GOOD.) I had an orchard cupcake - vanilla cake topped with a super light frosting and tiny strawberries. I could have eaten six. Seriously.

When you put strawberries with other ingredients, everybody wins. So, I will go forth and expand my stubborn cooking boundaries. Because if there was a contest for loving strawberries I would win King & President For Life.

(*Next week I will be interviewing the geniuses behind Origin bakery PLUS I will run my first contest! Can you feel my excitement humming through the screen?)

The game done changed. As soon as the Gluten Free Epicurean opened for business, Vancouver became a beautiful place to be gluten free.

Go there. Park awkwardly but know it’s worth it. Step in. The interior is so white and crisp and lovely it feels like (bear with me) you’re stepping into a little corner of heaven.

Then you see the apple fritters the size of your head, the S’mores bars, the cinnamon rolls, the baking mixes, the ice cream bars in the freezer and you pass out. You wake up and realize you have some serious eating to do. This sh-t is real and it’s getting better every day.

I’d been following them on Facebook to see what new amazing concoctions they were coming up with. (On weekends when I don’t have to drive I cling close to home. So I look at gluten free food online like it’s delicious porno.) I saw promises of pizza the other day. And then milk and cookies bars. I don’t even know what those are, but I have full faith that they will be NUTSO AMAZING.

But, looking at that picture up there, that angel food cake, fully dressed, that was the reason I finally dragged my lazy ass down to the bakery.

Every celiac has that one food they would cheat with on their deathbed. Mine has always been angel food cake. I used to make them from a mix during summers spent in the country at my Grandparents. Tiptoe around while it was baking to ensure the cake wouldn’t fall - a culinary disaster that would ensure a dense chewy beast instead of a light fluffy airy concoction in your mouth.

When it was done, tipped upside down to cool, I’d carefully ease it onto a plate and if nobody was around, carry the entire thing out to the TV, settle in and steadily rip off ragged sweet chunks of cake and eat until there was nothing more.

I have never attempted to bake a gluten free angel food cake. It felt like it would be impossible - something I would get really excited about and spend an afternoon doing, ignoring my kid and making a yolk-y mess and then…what? It wouldn’t be the same. It couldn’t. Could it?

That piece of cake, nestled in a take-out bed of tangy lemon curd, dollops of cold white whipped cream and sweet slices of berries, was as good as I could hope. I sat in my car, windows down, (only minutes to myself before dashing off to a meeting) and let the flavours pass my lips, dally in my mouth and spread such a sweetness through me. The sun poured in and and even if it looked like a crazy pig eating by myself in a dirty white car, I did not give a sh-it.

I had found what I was looking for. My celiac heart was soothed. Go. Go eat there. It will be the best part of your day, anyday. I promise.