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.)

That right there, friends and celiac countrymen, is a chocolate cherry gluten free cupcake, made from a gluten free devil’s food cake mix by Betty Crocker.

Fact: this is the best cupcake a celiac will ever eat. I swear to God, and it’s the only legit way I can convince you, it tastes exactly like a wheat-y cupcake. Betty Crocker does not f-ck around. And for $2.99 a box it is MILES cheaper and faster than me pulling some together with my gf flour, xantham gum, mismatched measuring spoons and 20 month old wanting to “help.” I added in a few globs of cherry pie filling (DO NOT JUDGE) to each muffin tin and the result was pure f-cking magic in the mouth.

That terrible toothpaste-looking icing is a really tart and lovely cherry butter cream that I made with the leftover pie filling (AGAIN, DO NOT JUDGE), butter and gf icing sugar. It was looking glorious for the first few blasts of the beaters and then I dared to dream and added another glob of cherries. It suddenly separated like my parents in 1986 (ZING) and nothing I did helped. It still tasted really really good but those teeny tiny knobs of butter just took away the full pretty factor. Shame. 

But again, despite the icing flop, this is so goddamn good. Fluffy, light, a little sticky, moist for days and perfectly chocolate-cherry-y, I could eat 12 for dinner and then 12 more for breakfast the next day.

You sweet SWEET ass talker Betty Crocker. Thank you.

Recommended for a fast and delicious dessert for yourself, kids, husband, but mostly you.
Best served on a small delightfully patterned plate, so even the crumbs look great.
Gluten Free Authority rating: a rousing and high kicking 11/10. (CRAZY TALK)